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Author: Andrew Kim

  • Mayer avoids title elimination with dominant Xfinity victory at Charlotte Roval; Playoff’s Round of 8 field set

    Mayer avoids title elimination with dominant Xfinity victory at Charlotte Roval; Playoff’s Round of 8 field set

    After crashing out of his last three consecutive starts, including his latest two that nearly derailed his championship hopes, Sam Mayer capitalized after being in a “must-win” situation and earned a walk-off win into the Playoff’s Round of 8 by dominating from pole position and winning the sixth annual running of the Drive for the Cure 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course on Saturday, October 7.

    The 20-year-old Mayer from Franklin, Wisconsin, led four times for a race-high 50 of 67 scheduled laps in an event in which he entered 34 points below the top-eight cutline and in a “must-win” situation to transfer to the next round after crashing and not finishing his previous two events. Commencing his weekend by winning the pole position, Mayer briefly lost the lead to teammate Justin Allgaier at the event’s start before claiming it for the first time on the fifth lap. Despite surrendering the lead to pit prior to the first two stage’s conclusion and sacrificing stage points, Mayer, who restarted in the top six with 11 laps remaining, capitalized on two late caution periods to overtake Cole Custer with four laps remaining and rocket away to score his third NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the 2023 season and be one of eight Playoff competitors to race their way into the Round of 8.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Playoff contender Sam Mayer started on pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 101.798 mph in 82.045 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate and Playoff contender Justin Allgaier, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 101.751 mph in 82.083 seconds.

    Prior to the event, a bevy of names that included Playoff contender John Hunter Nemechek, Kyle Sieg, Ryan Sieg, Jeremy Clements, Conor Daly and Josh Williams dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, teammates Mayer and Allgaier dueled for the lead amid two stacked lanes through the first three turns until Allgaier managed to muscle ahead from the inside lane and assume the lead through the infield road course turns. With the field navigating its way through the road course turns and back onto the oval turns, Allgaier managed to retain the lead as he proceeded to lead the first lap while Mayer, Josh Berry, Sheldon Creed and Daniel Hemric followed suit.

    Through the second to fourth lap, Allgaier stabilized his advantage to as high as half a second over a hard-charging Mayer while Berry, Creed and Hemric remained in the top five. Behind, Parker Kligerman was in sixth while Cole Custer, Austin Hill, Riley Herbst and Alex Labbe were running in the top 10.

    Through the fifth lap, Mayer, who used the frontstretch chicane to claim the lead back from Allgaier, was leading by four-tenths of a second over teammate Allgaier while Berry, Creed and Hemric were scored in the top five. Behind, Kligerman was in sixth ahead of Custer, Hill, Herbst and Alex Labbe while Kaz Grala, Brandon Jones, Jordan Taylor, rookie Chandler Smith and Kyle Weatherman were in the top 15. Meanwhile, Playoff contenders Sammy Smith and Jeb Burton were in 17th and 18th while John Hunter Nemechek was mired in 27th.

    At the Lap 10 mark, Mayer continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over teammate Allgaier while Berry, Creed and Hemric retained their respective spots in the top five. With Custer, Kligerman and Hill running sixth through eighth, Chandler Smith, Sammy Smith and Jeb Burton were in 13th, 15th and 16th, respectively, while Nemechek was still back in 27th.

    Seven laps later, a host of names that included Berry, Custer, Herbst, Labbe and Grala pitted under green. More names that included Connor Mosack, Brandon Jones, Jordan Taylor, Parker Retzlaff, Myatt Snider and Nemechek would follow suit on pit road before the leader Mayer pitted on Lap 18, just before pit road closed and as Allgaier reassumed the lead.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 20, Allgaier, who had already secured his spot for the Playoff’s Round of 8 by virtue of winning the Playoff opener at Bristol Motor Speedway in September, claimed his 12th Xfinity stage victory of the 2023 season. Hemric settled in second followed by Creed, Kligerman and Hill while Chandler Smith, Sammy Smith, Mayer, Jeb Burton and Josh Bilicki were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Allgaier pitted while the rest led by Mayer remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Jeb Burton was penalized for speeding on pit road while Conor Daly was also penalized for his crew being over the pit wall too soon.

    The second stage period started on Lap 24 as teammates Mayer and Berry occupied the front row. At the start, the field quickly fanned out entering the first turn as teammates Mayer and Berry dueled for the lead. After being locked in a dead even battle against Berry through the first three turns, Mayer muscled ahead from the outside lane and retained the top spot through the infield turns before blending back on the oval turns ahead of the field. As the field continued to jostle for spots back on the oval turns and through the backstretch chicane, Mayer was leading by nearly a second over teammate Berry while Custer, Riley Herbst and Alex Labbe followed suit. Mired within the on-track battles was the battle for the transfer spots to the Playoffs with Mayer, Hill, Chandler Smith, Creed and Sammy Smith currently scored above the cutline while Hemric, Kligerman, Berry and Jeb Burton were scored below the cutline.

    Through the Lap 30 mark, Mayer extended his advantage to more than two seconds over teammate Berry with Custer, Herbst and Labbe were in the top five. Behind, Nemechek, Brandon Jones, Allgaier, Hemric and Creed were in the top 10, Sammy Smith, Kligerman and Hill were running 12th through 14th, Chandler Smtih was in 20th and Jeb Burton was back in 28th.

    Two laps later, Berry, who came into the event below the cutline, spun and backed his No. 8 High Rock Vodka Chevrolet Camaro into the wall in between Turns 3 and 4 while running second, which dropped him to 13th. Amid Berry’s incident, the race remained under green flag conditions as Mayer continued to extend his advantage by more than five seconds over Custer. With Herbst, Nemechek and Brandon Jones running in the top five, Playoff contenders Allgaier, Hemric, Creed and Kligerman were battling in the top 10 while Sammy Smith, Berry and Hill were in the top 14. Meanwhile, Chandler Smith was in 19th and Jeb Burton was up to 23rd.

    By Lap 37, green flag pit stops ensued for a second time as Herbst pitted his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang from third place followed by Hill, Grala, Berry, Myatt Snider, Mosack, Jordan Taylor, Sage Karam and Retzlaff as Mayer stabilized his lead by more than six seconds over Custer. Mayer then pitted during the following lap along with Custer, Jones and Allgaier as Nemechek assumed the lead just as pit road closed. Shortly after, Conor Daly drew a caution after he blew a left-rear tire and spun towards the outside wall in Turn 15 before he limped his damaged car and came to a stop towards the frontstretch chicane. Daly’s incident was enough for the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 40 to conclude under caution. As a result, Nemechek, who had already secured his spot into the Round of 8 based on winning the previous Xfinity Playoff event at Texas Motor Speedway, captured his 10th Xfinity stage victory of the 2023 season, Hemric followed suit in second while Kligerman, Creed, Labbe, Sammy Smith, Mayer, Chandler Smith, Bilicki and Stefan Parsons were scored in the top 10.

    During the stage break, some led by Nemechek pitted for service while the rest led by Mayer remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Brandon Jones was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    With 24 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Mayer and Custer occupied the front row. At the start, Mayer used the outside lane to retain the lead from Custer through Turn 1. As the field behind jostled for positions, Mayer started to pull away from Custer while Allgaier was in third ahead of Herbst and Grala. By then, Hemric and Creed were currently tied for the eighth and final transfer spot to the Playoffs, with Hemric owning the tie-breaker by virtue of securing a higher result within the Round of 12, while Kligerman, who was in 12th, was two points below the cutline.

    With 20 laps remaining and amid the on-track battles, Mayer extended his advantage to a second over Custer followed by Allgaier, Herbst and Grala while Hill, Berry, Connor Mosack, Ryan Sieg and Myatt Snider were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Kligerman was in 11th ahead of Hemric, Jeb Burton, Sammy Smith and Creed while Nemechek and Chandler Smith were in 17th and 18th, respectively.

    Five laps later, Mayer continued to lead by more than a second over Custer while Allgaier, Herbst and Grala were in the top five. Meanwhile, Kligerman and Hemric were in ninth and 10th while Creed was back in 15th, which currently placed him a single point above the cutline over Hemric while Kligerman trailed the cutline by three points. In addition, Sammy Smith, who was in 14th, was five points above the cutline while Jeb Burton and Berry were currently scored out of the cutline. Shortly after, Hemric and Creed were scored tied for the final transfer spot after Hemric moved into 10th place on the track, with Creed in 15th and eighth-place Kligerman behind by two points while Sammy Smith was still scored above the cutline while running 14th on the track.

    Then with 12 laps remaining, Allgaier pitted under green as Mayer continued to lead by more than a second over Custer. Shortly after, the caution flew due to debris reported in Turn 17. During the caution period, Allgaier along with Jeb Burton and Blaine Perkins remained on the track while the rest, led by Mayer, pitted.

    Down to the final eight laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Jeb Burton and Allgaier dueled for the lead until trouble struck after Burton got sideways and sent him and Allgaier sliding into the wall, with Perkins also hitting the wall while slamming on the brakes as the caution quickly returned and Allgaier was left eliminated from contention. With the leaders wrecked, Custer assumed the lead followed by Mayer, Bery, Herbst and Hill.

    During the proceeding restart with five laps remaining, Custer and Mayer dueled for the lead entering Turn 1 until Custer managed to muscle his No. 00 Haas Ford Mustang ahead entering Turn 2 and the infield turns. With Mayer keeping Custer within his sights, Custer retained the lead through infield turns and the oval turns. Amid Ryan Ellis getting into the wall and Brandon Jones spinning on the frontstretch, the race remained under green as Custer retained the lead back to the frontstretch ahead of Mayer, Berry, Herbst and Grala.

    Then during the following lap, Mayer, who came into the event below the cutline and in a “must-win” situation, overtook Custer for the lead through Turn 4. Mayer’s move moved him back above the cutline. As a result, Creed was now scored a single point above Hemric on points and above the cutline with Kligerman behind by six points. Amid the battles, Sammy Smith was also scored above the cutline by three points.

    During the proceeding laps, Mayer extended his advantage to more than a second over Custer with Berry, Herbst and Grala were in the top five. Behind, Kligerman was in sixth and scored five points below the cutline, Hemric was in sixth and scored two points below and Creed was in 10th behind teammate Hill while scored two points above the cutline.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Mayer remained as the leader by more than two seconds over Custer. With Custer unable to close the gap, Mayer was able to smoothly navigate his way around the infield road course and oval circuits for a final time before returning to the frontstretch chicane and crossing the finish line to claim his third checkered flag of the 2023 Xfinity season.

    With the victory, Mayer notched his third NASCAR Xfinity Series career victory in his 80th series start, all occurring on road course events, and his first since winning at Watkins Glen International in August. The victory was also the sixth of the season for JR Motorsports and the 15th for the Chevrolet nameplate. By winning the Playoff’s Round of 12 finale, Mayer clinched his spot for the Round of 8 as he continues in his pursuit of winning his first Xfinity Series title.

    “I knew we had time,” Mayer said on NBC. “Our car was so fast. What a day. We kicked their tails today. It just feels so great. Bonus points feel great, winning feels great. Winning solves everything. That’s the name of the game. Getting another shot at [the title], I think this is our second chance moment and I think we can make something out of it. Winning still feels great.”

    Meanwhile, as Custer, Berry and Herbst finished second through fourth, Kligerman, who was locked in a tight battle against Kaz Grala for fifth place, made contact with Grala through the frontstretch chicane before he, Grala and a hard-charging Daniel Hemric crossed the finish line in a three-wide photo finish as Grala edged Kligerman and Hemric, respectively, to finish fifth. The sixth- and seventh-place results for Kligerman and Hemric, however, were not enough for both to transfer into the Round of 8 as Creed, who ended up 10th on the track, claimed the eighth and final transfer spot by two points over Hemric and four over Kligerman.

    As a result, Creed joins Sam Mayer, John Hunter Nemechek, teammate Austin Hill, Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer, Chandler Smith and Sammy Smith as competitors to transfer into the Playoff’s Round of 8 while Daniel Hemric, Parker Kligerman, Josh Berry and Jeb Burton were eliminated from title contention.

    “[I] Just kind of stumbled our way through this first round to make it,” Creed said. “Really just fortunate that we have the luck we did at the times we did. At the end of the day, we need to bring faster race cars. Just proud of everyone’s fight. We can’t stumble our way through the next [round], that’s for sure.”

    “It’s the way it is,” Hemric said. “Before the day started, I said I’m gonna be humble in victory and gracious in defeat. We were defeated this round. It’s the way it goes. We carry on. I put [my team] in a hole, for sure, there in Texas. I hate it for these guys. We got a long road ahead of us. It’s just part of the journey, man. Journey makes the man. Looking forward to what’s ahead and  what’s ahead for this race team.”

    “[I was saying] Just get every spot I could and hope something happen,” Kligerman said. “I just knew I had to pass people and I was just trying everything I could to get spots. I’m more upset because I love the pressure of all of this. I love the idea of fighting for something so big like we were, but it’s been a big achievement to be a part of the Playoffs for this race team. I think I can be a better driver in 2024 than I was this year for [the team]. Man, I feel like every move, aside from that one restart, I felt like we were money. Just not enough.”

    There were 10 lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 12 laps. In addition, 33 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Sam Mayer, 50 laps led

    2. Cole Custer, four laps led

    3. Josh Berry

    4. Riley Herbst

    5. Kaz Grala

    6. Parker Kligerman

    7. Daniel Hemric

    8. John Hunter Nemechek, two laps led, Stage 2 winner

    9. Austin Hill

    10. Sheldon Creed

    11. Sammy Smith

    12. Chandler Smith

    13. Ryan Sieg

    14. Myatt Snider

    15. Alex Labbe

    16. Jordan Taylor

    17. Brennan Poole

    18. Stefan Parsons

    19. Rajah Caruth

    20. Josh Williams

    21. Leland Honeyman

    22. Parker Retzlaff

    23. Jeremy Clements

    24. Connor Mosack

    25. Josh Bilicki

    26. Kyle Weatherman

    27. Sage Karam

    28. Blaine Perkins

    29. Brandon Jones

    30. Anthony Alfredo

    31. Joe Graf Jr.

    32. Kyle Sieg

    33. Alex Guenette

    34. Jeb Burton, one lap down, one lap led

    35. Conor Daly, one lap down

    36. Ryan Ellis – OUT, Accident

    37. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident, 10 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    38. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Ignition

    *Bold indicates Playoff competitors

    Playoff standings

    1. John Hunter Nemechek – Advanced

    2. Justin Allgaier – Advanced

    3. Sam Mayer – Advanced

    4. Cole Custer – Advanced

    5. Austin Hill – Advanced

    6. Chandler Smith – Advanced

    7. Sammy Smith – Advanced

    8. Sheldon Creed – Advanced

    9. Daniel Hemric – Eliminated

    10. Parker Kligerman – Eliminated

    11. Josh Berry – Eliminated

    12. Jeb Burton – Eliminated

    The Round of 8 in the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs is scheduled to commence next Saturday, October 14, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event’s broadcast is slated to occur at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Rudy Fugle to call 100th Cup event as crew chief at Charlotte Roval

    Rudy Fugle to call 100th Cup event as crew chief at Charlotte Roval

    A significant milestone mark is in the making for Ryan “Rudy” Fugle, crew chief for William Byron and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team in the NASCAR Cup Series. By participating in this weekend’s Playoff event at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course for the Bank of America ROVAL 400, Fugle will call his 100th career race as a crew chief in NASCAR’s premier series.

    A native of Livonia, New York, Fugle made his inaugural presence as a NASCAR Cup Series crew chief at the start of the 2021 season, where he was hired by Hendrick Motorsports to lead the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team piloted by the 2017 Xfinity Series champion William Byron. By then, Fugle was coming off seven seasons in the Craftsman Truck Series, where he worked as a crew chief for Kyle Busch Motorsports and had accumulated 28 victories and two championships (2015 with Erik Jones and 2017 with Christopher Bell). The move also reunited Fugle and Byron, both of whom won seven races during the 2016 Truck season.

    During the first two scheduled events of the 2021 season, Fugle and Byron finished no higher than 26th and were mired back towards the top-30 cutline. Then during the third event of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway in February, Fugle achieved his first career victory as a Cup crew chief after Byron led a race-high 102 of 267 laps to claim his second career win in NASCAR’s premier series. The Homestead victory would serve as the first of 16 top-10 results, including two runner-up finishes, achieved between the duo along with two poles during the 26-race regular-season stretch as they claimed a spot to the 2021 Cup Playoffs. Their title hopes came to an end following the Round of 12, but Fugle led Byron and the No. 24 team to four top-six results during the 10-week Playoff stretch before concluding the season in 10th place in the final standings. By then, Byron had tripled his top-five results compared to his previous two Cup seasons at 12, achieved a career-high 20 top-10 results and finish in the top 10 in the final standings for the first time in his career.

    Remaining as Byron’s crew chief for the 2022 season, Fugle led the No. 24 team to its first top-five result of the season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March following two consecutive DNFs during the first two scheduled events. He then earned his second career victory as a crew chief after Byron notched a dominant win at the reconfigured Atlanta Motor Speedway. The duo went on to win at Martinsville Speedway in April and endure an up-and-down regular-season stretch before securing their spots for the 2022 Cup Playoffs. Finishing no lower than 16th throughout the Round of 16 and 12, Fugle and Byron transferred to the Round of 8. Despite achieving respective finishes of 13th, 12th and seventh during the penultimate round, they were unable to transfer to the Championship 4 round. Nonetheless, a sixth-place result during the finale at Phoenix Raceway in November was enough for Fugle, Byron and the No. 24 team to settle in a career-best sixth place in the final standings.

    This season, Fugle and Byron have notched five victories (Las Vegas and Phoenix in March, Darlington Raceway in May, Atlanta Motor Speedway in July and at Watkins Glen International in August), nine top-five results and 14 top-10 results in 25 events. Fugle’s low point of this season was being suspended for four events from late March through early April as part of Hendrick Motorsports being hit with a severe points and fine penalty involving its hood louvers being confiscated from all four entries during the Phoenix weekend at March, which the event was won by Fugle and Byron. Despite all four Hendrick entries each being docked 100 points and 10 Playoff points, Fugle and Byron made the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs on the strength of their five regular-season victories. After finishing no lower than 15th during the first three Playoff events and transferring from the Round of 16 to 12, the duo notched their sixth Cup victory of the season at Texas Motor Speedway in late September. The victory not only guaranteed them and the No. 24 team into the Round of 8, but they delivered the record-setting 300th Cup career victory for Hendrick Motorsports. Currently, they are coming off a runner-up result at Talladega Superspeedway as they continue their pursuit of winning their first Cup Series title, beginning in the Round of 8 following this weekend’s Round of 12 conclusion.

    Through 99 previous Cup events, Fugle has achieved nine victories, five poles, 28 top-five results and 47 top-10 results while working with William Byron and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team.

    Fugle is primed to call his 100th Cup Series event as a crew chief at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course for the Bank of America ROVAL 400 on Sunday, October 8, with the event’s broadcast to commence at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Blaney edges Harvick in thrilling finish to win at Talladega, clinch Playoff’s Round of 8 berth

    Blaney edges Harvick in thrilling finish to win at Talladega, clinch Playoff’s Round of 8 berth

    In career start No. 301 in NASCAR’s premier series, Ryan Blaney punched his ticket into the Playoff’s Round of 8 after edging Kevin Harvick in a photo finish to win the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, October 1.

    The 29-year-old Blaney from High Point, North Carolina, led four times for eight of 188-scheduled laps in an event where he started 10th and competed towards the front amidst the draft, aggressive shuffling and tight-packed competition while needing to rebound after retiring late during last weekend’s Round of 12 opener at Texas Motor Speedway. After winning the first stage, Blaney, who restarted on the front row during the final restart with 13 laps remaining, seized an opportunity for the win as he was drafted by Riley Herbst to duel against Kevin Harvick with two laps remaining.

    Then after emerging out in front at the start of the final lap, Blaney, who lost the lead to Harvick, made a crossover move from Harvick’s blocking attempt to draw even with him through the backstretch and approaching the tri-oval. With nearly the entire field wrecking through the tri-oval, Blaney then received a push from William Byron to edge Harvick at the finish line by 0.012 seconds to notch his second NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2023 season, his third at Talladega and race his way into the Round of 8.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, September 30, Aric Almirola notched his second Cup pole position of the season and the sixth of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 181.656 mph in 52.715 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Joey Logano, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 181.642 mph in 52.719 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Carson Hocevar dropped to the rear of the field due to an unapproved adjustment made to his No. 42 Legacy Motor Club entry.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Almirola gained a slight advantage on the inside lane through the first two turns until the outside lane led by Logano caught back up through the backstretch. With the field stacked up amid two tight-packed lanes, Almirola and Logano continued to duel dead even for the lead through Turns 3 and 4 and the tri-oval until Logano managed to lead the first lap in his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang by a hair.

    Through the second to fifth lap, the field continued to run stacked amid two tight-packed lanes as Logano and Almirola continued to battle dead even for the lead, with Almirola having teammate Chase Briscoe draft him on the inside lane while Logano, who remained on the outside lane and continued to lead the proceeding laps, had drafting help from Playoff contender Kyle Larson. By then, Riley Herbst, who was competing in the No. 36 Beast Unleashed White Haze Ford Mustang for Front Row Motorsports, was battling within the top five while Playoff contenders William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney along with Alex Bowman were in the top 10.

    By the sixth lap, the field fanned out to three packed lanes as Herbst jumped to the outside lane and formed a third drafting lane as he had drafting help from Hamlin, with Logano leading the middle lane and Almirola still leading the inside lane. The expansion of the lanes allowed Almirola to lead the sixth lap before Logano reassumed the top spot by the seventh lap.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps and amid the three-wide racing, Logano was leading ahead of Byron, Blaney, Larson and Austin Dillon while Almirola, Martin Truex Jr., Briscoe, Todd Gilliland and Brad Keselowski were in the top 10. By then, Herbst, Austin Cindric, Michael McDowell, Hamlin and Kevin Harvick were in the top 15 while Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace, Alex Bowman, Christopher Bell and Chris Buescher occupied the top 20. Meanwhile, Ross Chastain was back in 25th and Kyle Busch was mired in 32nd while all 38 starters were separated by more than a second.

    Five laps later, Logano and Byron dueled for the lead as the field continued to fan out to three lanes, with Blaney, Austin Dillon, Truex and Larson jostling in the top six. A few laps later, Truex drafted his way to the front and led Lap 17 as he, Logano and Byron were the front-runners of the three-wide drafting competition.

    As the field surpassed the Lap 20 mark, the front-runners continued to run three wide amid a stacked field with Logano, Byron and Truex leading the three lanes. By then, Playoff contenders Blaney, Reddick, Larson, Wallace, Hamlin and Keselowski were running within the top 20 along with Truex and Byron while Bell, Kyle Busch, Buescher and Chastain were running towards the rear of the field. In addition, all 38 starters were separated by less than two seconds.

    Three laps later, Ryan Preece, who was sporting the Wonder Bread Ricky Bobby scheme on his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang, muscled his way into the lead after receiving a draft from Logano to move ahead of Truex followed by Austin Dillon, Byron and Blaney. By then, Truex slipped out of the top 10 while Hamlin, who lost the draft and dropped towards the rear of the field earlier, was trying to muscle his way back to the top 10 as he was working with his 23XI Racing drivers, Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace, within the draft on the outside lane. Truex would then blend in within the draft and work with his Toyota teammates.

    A lap after the Lap 30 mark, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who started 35th, used the outside lane amid the draft to move his No. 47 Sara Lee Artesano Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead ahead of Preece. By then, the field settled back to competing amongst two tight-packed lanes as Erik Jones and Cindric moved up towards the front in front of Logano while the Dillon brothers joined the battle. By then, Byron was the highest-running Playoff contender in eighth place while his remaining 11 title rivals were mired within the top 26.

    Then on Lap 39 and as Ty Dillon assumed the lead, the first cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as a bevy of Ford competitors, including Blaney, Cindric, Logano, Harvick, Almirola, Keselowski, Briscoe, Harrison Burton and Buescher pitted. The following lap, another wave of competitors, mainly Chevrolet competitors led by Justin Haley and Byron, peeled off the track to pit. During the following lap, select names led by Ty Dillon pitted while Bell assumed the lead. By Lap 42, the final group of competitors, mainly Toyota competitors led by Bell, pitted under green. Once the first cycle of green flag pit stops concluded, Stenhouse reassumed the lead before Austin Cindric assumed the top spot by Lap 43. By then, the final wave of competitors who pitted drifted back towards the rear of the field. Amid the pit stops, Erik Jones was penalized for having men over his pit box too soon.

    At the Lap 50 mark, Stenhouse was still leading by a hair over Cindric as he had Kyle Busch drafting him while Cindric, Blaney and Byron were also battling towards the front and within the draft. By then, Playoff contender Larson was in seventh while Keselowski, Buescher and Chastain were in the top 15. Meanwhile, the remaining Playoff contenders included Wallace, Truex, Bell, Reddick and Hamlin were mired back within the top 31.

    Then on the final lap of the first stage period, Lap 59, the event’s first caution flew when Stenhouse, who was trying to muscle his way to the front with drafting help from Kyle Busch, fell off the pace after running out of fuel through the backstretch. With Busch stuck behind Stenhouse, Ross Chastain then came surging towards them in his attempt to win the stage, but he ended up making contact with Busch as he veered sideways in Turn 3 before getting hit by Bell’s No. 20 DeWalt Toyota TRD Camry and shooting back across the outside wall. The incident was enough to conclude the first stage period under caution as Playoff contender Ryan Blaney, who came into Talladega 11 points below the top-eight cutline, notched his fourth Cup stage victory of the 2023 season. Byron followed suit in second while Larson, Elliott, Bowman, Cindric, Haley, Harvick, Logano and Preece were scored in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Kyle Busch, Bell, Wallace, Reddick, Keselowski, Buescher, Truex, Hamlin and Chastain did not score the first wave of stage points. Amidst the incident, the damage to the No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was enough to terminate Playoff contender Chastain’s event early in the garage while Bell, Allmendinger and Chandler Smith pitted for repairs.

    Under the stage break, the entire lead lap field led by Blaney pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Harrison Burton exited pit road first followed by Blaney, Elliott, Larson, Byron, Bowman and Logano. Amid the pit stops, a bevy of names including AJ Allmendinger, Keselowski, Wallace, Buescher, Truex, Stenhouse, the Dillon brothers, Hamlin, Daniel Suarez and Chandler Smith pitted again to top off on fuel.

    The second stage period started on Lap 65 as Blaney and Elliott occupied the front row. At the start, Blaney and Elliott dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. With the field stacked up in two tight-packed lanes, Blaney and Elliott continued to duel for the lead as Elliott had teammate Larson drafting him on the outside lane while Blaney had Byron drafting him on the inside lane.

    Ten laps later, Bowman, who led Lap 73 by a hair, was leading by a hair over Cindric followed by Elliott, Harvick and Almirola while Larson, Blaney, Preece, Corey LaJoie and Byron were battling within the top 10 and amid two tight-packed lanes. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch was in 11th, Reddick was in 18th and Truex was back in 21st while Bell and Keselowski were within the top 25 on the track. Meanwhile, Wallace was in 29th ahead of Buescher and Hamlin, both of whom were in 31st and 32nd.

    Another 10 laps later and amid the jostling of positions within the field that fanned out to three stacked lanes, Erik Jones, who led for the first time two laps earlier, was leading ahead of McDowell, Stenhouse, Gilliland and Cindric while Bowman, Herbst, Harvick, Elliott and Reddick were in the top 10. Another lap later, McDowell received a draft from teammate Gilliland to move his No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang into the lead. McDowell and Herbst, who navigated his way back to the front, would then swap the lead through Lap 90 as all three Front Row Motorsports competitors, including Gilliland, were running first through third. By then, 23XI Racing’s Reddick and Wallace were trying to navigate their way into the top five.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 94, Herbst was scored the leader followed by Reddick, McDowell, Wallace and Gilliland while Cindric, Erik Jones, Harvick, Stenhouse and Almirola were battling in the top 10 amid two long stacked lanes. By then, Playoff contenders Larson, Hamlin, Bell, Blaney, Truex, Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Buescher and Byron were mired within the top 33 as 33 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap and separated by two seconds.

    Six laps later, Wallace drafted teammate Reddick into the lead as they made their way past Herbst and the Front Row Motorsports group while the field behind fanned out to three packed lanes. McDowell would fight back on the inside lane during the proceeding lap as Preece navigated his way back into the top five. Not long after, Hamlin assumed the lead on Lap 102 as Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski followed suit. By then, McDowell challenged Hamlin for the top spot on the inside lane while Wallace and Reddick fell back to sixth and seventh.

    Then on Lap 105, the second wave of green flag pit stops commenced as a bevy of competitors led by Hamlin and Wallace, who locked up the front tires, pitted. Amid the pit stops, Hamlin was penalized for speeding on pit road. During the following lap, another wave of competitors, mainly Ford competitors, pitted before the final wave of competitors led by Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon pitted. Cindric would also be penalized for speeding on pit road while Keselowski cycled his way into the lead by Lap 108. With Keselowski leading through to the Lap 110 mark, Logano followed suit in second before he assumed the top spot during the following lap. Behind, Almirola made his way into second over Keselowski while Blaney, Austin Dillon, Harvick, Kyle Busch, Buescher, LaJoie and Preece were scored in the top 10.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 120, Keselowski, who navigated his way into the lead over Byron during the previous lap and came into the event eight points above the top-eight cutline, fended off the field to claim his sixth Cup stage victory of 2023. Byron settled in second followed by Logano, Austin Dillon and Elliott while Suarez, Larson, Briscoe, Ty Dillon and Reddick were scored in the top 10. Amid the battles for stage points within the lead lap group, Carson Hocevar managed to claim the free pass spot after crossing the start/finish line ahead of Hamlin to be the first competitor that was scored a lap down.

    During the stage break, the field led by Keselowski returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Logano exited first while Keselowski, Larson, Suarez, Byron, Elliott, Austin Dillon and Blaney followed suit. Amid the pit stops, Ty Gibbs was penalized for removing his gas can out of his pit box, which then dropped in the middle of pit road, ignited and erupted into a huge fire. With Gibbs serving his penalty, a number of competitors that included Austin Dillon, Erik Jones, Harvick, Almirola, Briscoe, Buescher, Wallace, McDowell, Preece, Gilliland, Herbst, Allmendinger and LaJoie returned to pit road to top off on fuel.

    With 63 laps remaining, the final stage started as Logano and Larson occupied the front row. At the start, Logano and Larson dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. Amid two tight-packed lanes, Logano muscled ahead on the outside lane followed by Keselowski while Larson remained on the inside lane as he had Daniel Suarez and Byron drafting him. Logano would retain the lead with 60 laps remaining while Playoff contenders Larson, Keselowski, Byron, Kyle Busch, Reddick, Blaney and Truex were running in the top 10. Meanwhile, Buescher and Wallace were in 17th and 19th while Bell and Hamlin were mired back in 29th and 33rd.

    With 50 laps remaining and as the field slowly fanning out to three packed lanes, Logano was leading ahead of Keselowski and Elliott while Kyle Busch and Larson were mired in the top five. By then, Reddick, Suarez, Truex, Byron and Blaney were in the top 10 while Wallace was in 11th. By then, Hamlin, who was still scored a lap down, was blending in within the lead lap pack and leading the outside lane with drafting help from Wallace while Logano continued to lead ahead of Keselowski, Elliott and Kyle Busch.

    A few laps later, Buescher, who moved up to the outside lane, received a huge push from Hamlin amid a stacked three-wide battle to move toward the front while Logano retained the lead. With Hamlin moving down in front of Logano through the middle lane, Buescher would launch his bid for the lead against Logano while Keselowski, Almirola, Wallace and Larson moved up and battled toward the front. Amid the continuous shuffling and drafts within the three stacked lanes, Wallace would then make his way into the runner-up spot with 40 laps remaining behind the leader Logano before Byron assumed the lead during the proceeding lap followed by Blaney. This would drop Logano and Wallace to third and fifth while Bowman moved up to fourth as Keselowski occupied sixth.

    Then with 34 laps remaining, Wallace made his way into the lead as he overtook Byron through the tri-oval before fending off Buescher. Wallace would spend the next two laps leading in his No. 23 Leidos Toyota TRD Camry until Byron reassumed the top spot in his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 with 31 laps remaining. Byron’s move occurred as the field fanned out to nearly four lanes as Almirola, Blaney and Bowman followed suit. Soon after, Wallace, who was being drafted by Hamlin, slipped out of the top 10 as Byron, Blaney, Bowman, Larson and Stenhouse occupied the top five amid three stacked lanes.

    With 27 laps remaining, the caution flew for a multi-car wreck on the frontstretch after Hocevar, who was leading the outside lane amid a three-wide battle, got sideways off the front nose of Keselowski as Hocevar spun and clipped Ty Gibbs, who collected Austin Dillon in the process, as Dillon clipped Keselowski and sent the No. 6 Solomon Plumbing Ford Mustang for a spin, with Keselowski’s car briefly coming off the ground, towards the inside wall before Dillon made hard impact against the outside wall head-on along with Gibbs as Harrison Burton, Briscoe and Allmendinger also wrecked. At the moment of caution, Harvick had assumed the lead while Almirola, Herbst, Byron, Wallace, Blaney, Bowman, Larson, Suarez and Stenhouse were scored in the top 10. The incident would be enough to place the event in a red flag period for nearly 10 minutes as the on-track safety crew proceeded to repair the track’s damage across the walls and the carnage.

    Once the red flag lifted and the field proceeded under a cautious pace, the lead lap field led by Harvick pitted for service. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, but mainly for fuel, Logano exited first followed by LaJoie, Almirola, Harvick, Bowman, Blaney and Larson. Meanwhile, Hamlin received the free pass and cycled back on the lead lap.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, where Almirola and Bowman occupied the front row, the race restarted under green. At the start, Almirola and Bowman dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch as the field stacked up within two tight-packed lanes. Both Almirola and Bowman continued to duel for the lead through the tri-oval as Almirola had teammate Harvick drafting him on the outside lane while Bowman had drafting help from Blaney.

    Three laps later and as the field started to fan out to three lanes, the caution returned due to debris reported on the backstretch. By then, Bowman was the leader followed by Blaney, Almirola, Herbst and Harvick while Elliott, Larson, Logano, Byron and LaJoie were in the top 10.

    During the following restart with 13 laps remaining, Bowman muscled ahead of Blaney to retain the lead as the inside lane gained the advantage through the first two turns and the backstretch. With the outside lane trying to regain the advantage through the tri-oval, Bowman retained the lead as Harvick ignited his charge to the lead. Harvick would then be drafted into the lead with 11 laps remaining followed by Blaney as Elliott, Herbst and Larson were battling within the top six. As the field fanned out to three lanes with the competitors jostling and shuffling within the pack and the draft, Harvick retained the lead with 10 laps remaining before the Hendrick Motorsports competitors led by Bowman and followed by Elliott assumed the top spot during the following lap.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Elliott was leading ahead of teammates Larson, Byron and Suarez while the outside lane led by Harvick tried to gain the run towards the front. In the midst of the battles towards the front, the field fanned out to three lanes as the competitors started to shuffle and draft their way to the front. Shortly after, Bowman was shuffled out of the lead draft as he started to lose ground of the front-runners while Harvick assumed the lead.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Blaney and Harvick, both of whom spent the previous three laps locked dead even for the lead amongst two packed lanes, were in front of the field as Blaney led the previous lap by a hair. Through the frontstretch, Harvick would receive a push from Byron to muscle ahead as he then moved his No. 4 Busch Light Camo Ford Mustang up the track to block Blaney. Blaney, however, made a crossover move to dive his No. 12 Menards/Pennzoil Ford Mustang beneath Harvick through the backstretch before he gained a slight advantage entering the tri-oval. Harvick then had Herbst drafting him as he started to gain ground on Blaney with the three-wide stacked field approaching the finish line. Then with nearly everyone behind the front-runners wrecking as Herbst got turned across Elliott and Larson, Blaney, who remained ahead of Byron, managed to edge Harvick, who had no drafting help, by 0.012 seconds to claim the victory.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    With the victory, Blaney achieved his ninth NASCAR Cup Series career victory, his third at Talladega Superspeedway, his third in the Cup Series Playoffs, his second of the season and his first since winning the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. The third-generation racer also recorded the third victory of the season for Team Penske and the seventh for the Ford nameplate.

    The victory automatically guarantees Blaney and the No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang team a spot into the Round of 8 along with William Byron as Blaney, who transferred into the Round of 8 for the fifth time in his career, continues his pursuit for his first Cup Series championship.

    “Yeah, I don’t really know [how we won],” Blaney, who celebrated on the frontstretch with the fans, said on NBC. “Yeah, pretty wild [the] last restart, but let alone, last couple laps, kind of lose the momentum, getting it back. Just getting cleared to the bottom to get to the front row and drag-race it out with Kevin [Harvick]. Really proud of the whole No. 12 group. It’s so cool to win three times here at Talladega. That’s super cool. I have to give a big thanks to Riley Herbst. He did a really good job there the last couple restarts. He doesn’t have a lot of Cup starts, but he did a great job at pushing me, so thanks to him. This is so cool. I’ve won it by more than I have the last couple years, but that one might’ve been about four feet. The others [Talladega wins] were about two, but you just don’t know. You just got to drag-race to the line, hope you get help. William [Byron] gave me a pretty good shove on the bottom [lane]. He’s kind of forced to. I wasn’t sure [that I won] till [spotter] Josh [Williams] said something. Josh did a fantastic job on the roof like always. This is such a special place to win at, so I cannot wait to go to Victory Lane.”

    While Blaney celebrated with his team in Victory Lane, Harvick was left disappointed, but still smiling, over his runner-up result in his 46th and final career start at Talladega and on a day where he led 11 laps and notched his seventh top-five result of the season. Despite having his Playoff hopes evaporated following the Round of 16, Harvick continues his pursuit for his first victory of the season as he is down to his final five Cup career starts before retiring from full-time competition.

    “I just tried to block the lanes and then, I was kind of late blocking [Blaney] there,” Harvick said. “He got to the outside of us, but it actually worked out OK because [Byron] was a great pusher and then, it got shuffled again and I had Riley [Herbst] behind me. I thought I was in a really good spot headed down the back straightaway with everything that was happening because I knew if I could get off the tri-oval with Riley right on my bumper, I was still gonna be OK and then, he got spun in the middle of the tri-oval. Great day. Great way to end at Talladega. Always want to win. It is what it is. Last superspeedway race and went out with everything rolling, so that’s a good thing.”

    Following the event, however, Harvick was disqualified from his runner-up result due to the windshield fasteners from his car not being properly secured. As a result, Byron, who led 12 laps and is already guaranteed a spot in the Playoff’s Round of 8 after winning last weekend’s event at Texas Motor Speedway, was promoted into the runner-up spot followed by Denny Hamlin, who rallied from being mired a lap down to finish third in his No. 11 Mavis Tires & Brakes Toyota TRD Camry. Corey LaJoie avoided the carnage to finish fourth in his No. 7 Gainbridge Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and notch his second top-five result of the season while Cindric ended up fifth.

    Haley, Elliott, Ryan Preece, Riley Herbst and Daniel Suarez finished in the top 10 on the track. Notably, Playoff contenders Bell, Larson, Reddick, Truex, Buescher, Wallace and Kyle Busch ended up 14th, 15th, 16th, 18th, 19th, 23rd and 25th, respectively.

    There were 70 lead changes for 24 different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 17 laps. In addition, 29 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Ryan Blaney, eight laps led, Stage 1 winner

    2. William Byron, 12 laps led

    3. Denny Hamlin, three laps led

    4. Corey LaJoie

    5. Austin Cindric, 15 laps led

    6. Justin Haley, one lap led

    7. Chase Elliott, eight laps led

    8. Ryan Preece, eight laps led

    9. Riley Herbst, 10 laps led

    10. Daniel Suarez

    11. Chandler Smith

    12. Todd Gilliland

    13. Chase Briscoe

    14. Christopher Bell, two laps led

    15. Kyle Larson, one lap led

    16. Tyler Reddick, two laps led

    17. Aric Almirola, seven laps led

    18. Martin Truex Jr.

    19. Chris Buescher, three laps led

    20. AJ Allmendinger

    21. Michael McDowell, five laps led

    22. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 14 laps led

    23. Bubba Wallace, three laps led

    24. Joey Logano, 48 laps led

    25. Kyle Busch, two laps led

    26. Erik Jones, four laps led

    27. Ty Dillon, two laps led

    28. Alex Bowman, 13 laps led

    29. BJ McLeod, one lap down

    30. Brennan Poole, two laps down

    31. Harrison Burton – OUT, Suspension

    32. Brad Keselowski – OUT, Accident, five laps led, Stage 2 winner

    33. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    34. Ty Gibbs – OUT, Accident

    35. Carson Hocevar – OUT, Accident

    36. JJ Yeley – OUT, Fuel pump

    37. Ross Chastain – OUT, Accident

    38. Kevin Harvick – Disqualified, 11 laps led

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. William Byron – Advanced

    2. Ryan Blaney – Advanced

    3. Denny Hamlin +50

    4. Christopher Bell +22

    5. Chris Buescher +19

    6. Martin Truex Jr. +17

    7. Kyle Larson +15

    8. Brad Keselowski +2

    9. Tyler Reddick -2

    10. Bubba Wallace -9

    11. Ross Chastain -10

    12. Kyle Busch -26

    The Round of 12 in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is set to conclude next weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in Concord, North Carolina, where the second of three eliminations will occur and the Round of 8 field will be determined. The event is scheduled to commence next Sunday, October 8, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Harrison Burton confirms return to Wood Brothers Racing for 2024 Cup Series season

    Harrison Burton confirms return to Wood Brothers Racing for 2024 Cup Series season

    Harrison Burton will remain with the Wood Brothers Racing and continue to drive the No. 21 Ford Mustang in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, as confirmed during this weekend’s activities at Talladega Superspeedway.

    The news comes as the 22-year-old Burton from Huntersville, North Carolina, is currently campaigning in his second full-time season in NASCAR’s premier series for the legendary organization, where he is currently ranked in 31st place in the driver’s standings on the strength of two top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 24.5.

    “At the end of the day, it’s fairly easy for me because I am happy where I’m at, and I hope to continue to race where I’m at,” Burton said. “You know, it’s fairly easy for me to kind of just go to work with the guys that I’ve worked with for the last year and a half or so, and yeah, it’s not super distracting at this point.”

    During the 2021 season, Burton, who was campaigning in his second full-time stint in the Xfinity Series for Joe Gibbs Racing, made his inaugural presence in the Cup Series at Talladega Superspeedway in April 2021 for Gaunt Brothers Racing, where he finished 20th. Three months later, Burton was named a full-time Cup competitor for Wood Brothers Racing for the 2022 season, where he replaced Matt DiBenedetto and piloted the iconic No. 21 Ford Mustang. In his first full-time Cup season, Burton notched a career-best third-place finish at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. He proceeded to collect two top-10 results, lead 35 laps and record an average-finishing result of 22.8 before settling in 27th place in the final standings and runner-up to the Rookie-of-the-Year battle behind Austin Cindric.

    This season, Burton’s highest on-track results include a sixth-place finish at Darlington Raceway in May and an eighth-place run at Pocono Raceway in July. After spending the first 26 scheduled events with crew chief Brian Wilson, who was with Burton since last season, Burton has been paired with veteran crew chief Jeremy Bullins as part of a Team Penske-Wood Brothers crew chief swap that involved Austin Cindric since the start of the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs and the duo are coming off a 20th-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway. Both Burton and Bullins are scheduled to remain together with the No. 21 team for the 2024 season.

    Through 67 Cup starts, Burton has notched one top-five result, four top-10 results, 60 laps led and an average-finishing result of 23.5 as he continues his pursuit for his first victory in NASCAR’s premier series.

    With his plans for next season set, Burton’s next scheduled Cup start is slated to occur at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, October 1. The event’s coverage is scheduled to air at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Moffitt triumphs in Truck Series return at Talladega amid overtime shootout

    Moffitt triumphs in Truck Series return at Talladega amid overtime shootout

    With his racing plans for next season undetermined, Brett Moffitt made the most of a one-race NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series return for Front Row Motorsports by winning the Love’s RV Stop 250 at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, September 30, amid an overtime shootout.

    The 2018 Truck Series champion from Grimes, Iowa, led five times for 22 of 99 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started 31st before methodically drafting his way towards the front amid a total of 23 lead changes for 11 different leaders, eight caution periods and late on-track chaos that ensued and collected a host of competitors and Playoff contenders. Leading for the first time on Lap 63, Moffitt lost the lead at the start of overtime to Christian Eckes and Chandler Smith but was quick to cross underneath Eckes and shove Eckes out of the draft at the start of the final lap to muscle ahead from Smith with drafting help from Parker Kligerman through the backstretch. For the final two turns, Moffitt fended off late challenges from Kligerman, Smith and Ben Rhodes through the tri-oval to claim his first checkered flag in the Truck Series in three years and serve as the spoiler for winning the Truck Series Playoff event at Talladega as a non-title contender.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Chase Purdy notched his second Truck pole position of this season and of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 179.433 mph in 53.368 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Nick Sanchez, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 178.480 mph in 53.653 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Dean Thompson and Greg Van Alst dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective trucks. Byan Dauzat also dropped to the rear of the field for missing driver introductions. Soon after, rookie Jake Garcia, who qualified third, took his truck to the garage due to a mechanical issue.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Purdy quickly transitioned from the outside to the inside lane in front of Sanchez entering the first turn while teammate Jack Wood was trying to keep pace on the outside lane. With the field quickly fanning out to three lanes through the backstretch, Purdy maintained the lead ahead of Sanchez and Ben Rhodes led a charge from the outside lane followed by teammate Matt Crafton while Wood was falling back after losing the draft. With rookie Rajah Caruth igniting another drafting lane towards the outside wall, Purdy proceeded to lead the first lap ahead of Sanchez, Ty Majeski, Carson Hocevar and Corey Heim. By then, Wood was penalized for pulling out of line before the event’s start and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty through pit road.

    Through the second to fifth lap, Purdy maintained the lead from the inside lane ahead of Sanchez while Caruth was the lead competitor on the outside lane in sixth place. As Chandler Smith tried to form a third drafting lane, Purdy transitioned from the outside to the inside lane to maintain the lead amid the draft. Not long after, Caruth challenged Purdy for the lead on the outside lane, but Purdy rocketed ahead to maintain it on the inside lane. Then as Purdy tried to block Caruth, which he was too late to do so, he got stuck in the middle lane, allowing Sanchez to muscle ahead on the inside lane. With Sanchez leading Majeski, Hocevar, Caruth and Heim, Purdy fell back into the top 10 and towards the middle of the pack that fanned out to three lanes and continued to jostle for early positions.


    Through the first 10 scheduled laps and as the field continued to battle amid two tight-packed lanes, Sanchez maintained the lead ahead of Majeski, Hocevar, Parker Kligerman and Heim while Purdy, David Gilliland, Jake Drew, Bret Holmes and Dean Thompson were in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Grant Enfinger, Christian Eckes and Zane Smith were running in the top 16 while Ben Rhodes was back in 24th.

    By Lap 15, Sanchez continued to lead ahead of Majeski, Hocevar, Kligerman and Purdy while Heim, David Gilliland, Thompson, Holmes and Enfinger were jostling and battling within the top 10 along with the rest of the field. Behind, Eckes was in 12th, Zane Smith was in 14th and Rhodes was in 20th.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 20, Sanchez, who came into the event 22 points below the top-eight cutline in the Playoff standings, fended off the stacked field to notch his third Truck stage victory of the 2023 season. Hocevar trailed in second while Heim, Majeski, Holmes, Colby Howard, Kligerman, Tanner Gray, Gilliland and Thompson were in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Zane Smith, Rhodes, Enfinger and Eckes were in the top 20 while 32 of 36 starters were scored on lead lap.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Sanchez pitted for the first time as mixed strategies ensued with some taking two tires while the rest opted for four fresh tires. Amid the pit stops, Playoff contender Zane Smith slid his truck sideways while trying to enter his pit stall as he ended up clipping his tire carrier, which sent the tire carrier and two tires the carrier was carrying flying, with the tires rolling out of the pit stall, as Smith ended up having his truck serviced backward in the pit stall.

    The second stage started on Lap 27 as Sanchez and Kligerman occupied the front row. At the start, Sanchez received a strong push from Majeski to muscle ahead of Kligerman and retain the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. With the field quickly fanning out to three stacked lanes, Sanchez continued to lead until Kligerman received drafting help from Gilliland to assume the top spot in his No. 75 Tide Chevrolet Silverado RST through the frontstretch and back to the start/finish line.

    At the Lap 30 mark, Kligerman was leading ahead of Hocevar followed by Gilliland, Sanchez and Holmes while Thompson, Majeski, Rhodes, Chandler Smith and Wood were in the top 10.  In the midst of the battles towards the front, Playoff contenders Enfinger, Eckes and Heim were running 16th to 18th. Meanwhile, Zane Smith, who sustained damage to the right-rear quarter panel of his truck amid his pit road incident, was mired a lap down in 35th after he had reported his No. 38 Love’s Ford F-150 was jumping out of gear.

    Five laps later, Hocevar, who assumed the lead three laps earlier, was leading ahead of Majeski followed by a hard-charging Kligerman, Rhodes and Sanchez while Holmes, Tanner Gray, Taylor Gray, Thompson and Heim were mired in the top 10 and amid the stacked pack. Behind, Eckes was in 14th and Enfinger was back in 27th while Zane Smith took his truck to the garage.

    Then with two laps remaining in the second stage period, the caution flew after Eckes made contact with Stewart Friesen, which resulted in Friesen clipping Tyler Ankrum before Friesen’s No. 52 GearWrench Toyota Tundra TRD Pro went dead straight towards the Turn 3 outside wall and wrecked hard as David Gilliland was also collected. As a result of the multi-truck incident, the second stage period that was scheduled to end on Lap 40, instead, concluded under caution as Kligerman claimed the stage victory. Sanchez settled in second followed by Playoff rivals Hocevar, Majeski and Rhodes while Tanner Gray, Taylor Gray, Holmes, Thompson and Heim were scored in the top 10. By then, Eckes and Enfinger were mired in the top 20, Rhodes was scored outside the top 20 and Zane Smith was in the garage amid his mechanical issues.

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Kligerman returned to pit road as various pit strategies again occurred with Colby Howard opting for fuel only to his truck and select names including Tanner Gray, Purdy, Heim, Enfinger, Tyler Hill and Dean Thompson changing two tires while the rest opted for four fresh tires.

    With 48 laps remaining, the final stage started as brothers Tanner and Taylor Gray occupied the front row. At the start, Tanner Gray muscled his No. 15 Sport Clips Toyota Tundra TRD Pro ahead on the inside lane while the field quickly fanned out to three lanes through the first two turns and through the backstretch. As the field made its way back to the tri-oval to reach the halfway mark on Lap 47, Tanner Gray maintained the lead ahead of Howard, Heim, Sanchez and Tyler Hill while Thompson, Taylor Gray, Purdy, Holmes and Wood were in the top 10. In the process and amid the stacked racing, Eckes was in 12th, Rhodes was back in 15th followed by Enfinger in 17th, Majeski was strapped in 20th and Hocevar was back in 22nd.

    Four laps later, the caution returned after Taylor Gray got turned sideways off the front nose of Bayley Currey entering the backstretch, which resulted in Gray spinning and clipping Ankrum, who also clipped Crafton in the process, as Playoff contender Enfinger was also involved as he spun sideways and emerged with damage to his No. 23 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet Silverado RST. During the caution period, select names that included Lawless Alan, Currey, Kligerman, Chandler Smith, Cory Roper, Ryan Vargas, Hailie Deegan and Garrett Smithley pitted while the rest led by Tanner Gray remained on the track.

    During the proceeding restart with 38 laps remaining, Tanner Gray and Sanchez dueled for the lead ahead of the stacked pack through the first two turns and the backstretch. Gray and Sanchez would remain in a dead heat for the lead for the next two laps until the caution returned as Currey and Enfinger made the slightest of contact through the frontstretch that got Enfinger loose and turned Currey into the path of Tyler Hill as Currey ended up hitting the inside wall. With Enfinger initially being in the position of cycling back on the lead lap due to being the first competitor a lap down when the carnage ensued, he lost the benefit due to being involved in the incident.

    Amid the incident, the field led by Sanchez returned to pit road for service and mainly for fuel. Following the pit stops, Sanchez retained the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Purdy, Moffitt, Tanner Gray, Chandler Smith and Hocevar.

    With the event restarting under green with 33 laps remaining, Sanchez and Holmes battled for the lead entering the first two turns until Sanchez muscled ahead from the outside lane. Then as Sanchez moved to the inside lane and regained drafting momentum, Brett Moffitt muscled his way into the lead after receiving drafting help from Chandler Smtih as Hocevar followed suit. Soon after, Sanchez steered his No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado RST to pit road and served a pass-through penalty for a restart violation as a result of hanging back on the restart. Amid the penalty, Moffitt retained the lead ahead of a long line of competitors with 30 laps remaining.

    Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Moffitt continued to lead ahead of Purdy, Chandler Smith, Rhodes and Jake Drew while Crafton, Heim, Hocevar, Lawless Alan and Holmes were in the top 10. Behind, Eckes fell back to 11th, Majeski was back in 20th and both Sanchez and Enfinger were in 25th and 26th.

    Two laps later, the caution flew after the hood off of Jack Wood’s No. 51 TrueTimber Chevrolet Silverado RST came loose and disintegrated through the backstretch. The caution occurred after teammate Purdy had reassumed the lead with 27 laps remaining.

    During the ensuing restart with 19 laps remaining, trouble struck for Purdy, who started alongside Moffitt on the front row but stacked up the inside lane and dropped off the pace due to a power issue to his No. 4 Bama Buggies Chevrolet Silverado RST. With Purdy dropping out of the racing groove, Moffitt assumed the lead until Crafton challenged on the outside lane with drafting help from Bret Holmes.

    Then with 16 laps remaining, the caution returned after Caruth and Ryan Vargas made contact through the frontstretch, which resulted in Vargas hitting the outside wall and Caruth spinning just past the start/finish line while Playoff contender Hocevar barely dodged the incident.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Moffitt rocketed ahead on the inside lane with drafting help from Rhodes, who moved to second through the backstretch before Eckes regained the momentum and assumed the lead through the backstretch with drafting help from Chandler Smith. As Eckes and Smith moved in front of Moffitt, Rhodes and the field entering the frontstretch, the caution quickly returned when Colby Howard and Purdy made contact as Purdy turned Howard before both veered towards the outside wall, with Purdy slapping the wall and damaging his pole-winning truck while Howard spun across the track, the tri-oval grass and down pit road as the field scattered to avoid the carnage. The incident and leaked fluid across the tri-oval would be enough to place the event in a red-flag period for more than five minutes as the on-track safety crew proceeded to clear the carnage.

    Once the red flag lifted and the race restarted under green with three laps remaining, Eckes and Moffitt dueled for the lead through the first two laps as Eckes had Chandler Smith drafting him while Moffitt had drafting help from Rhodes. Then as the field approached the tri-oval, the caution returned and the event was sent into overtime after Sanchez made contact with Crafton, who rammed into Bret Holmes and clipped Tanner Gray, with a multi-truck wreck ensuing that collected Caruth, Enfinger, Hocevar, Garrett Smithley, Majeski, Cory Roper and Van Alst, who impacted the outside wall head-on. Amid the carnage, Eckes retained the lead ahead of Moffitt while the event was sent into a second red flag period that spanned for more than five minutes.

    Once the red flag lifted and the event restarted in overtime, Moffitt and Eckes dueled for the lead exiting the frontstretch until Moffitt received a shove from Rhodes, Thompson and Kligerman to muscle ahead through the first two turns. With Moffitt briefly losing the draft through the frontstretch, Eckes and Chandler Smith responded back amid a two-truck draft as Smith drafted Eckes into the lead through the frontstretch.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Eckes was leading ahead of Chandler Smith as the rest of the field regained their momentum to catch the two leaders. With Eckes and Smith getting separated, this allowed Moffitt to jump to the outside lane and close in on Eckes for the lead through the first two turns. Eckes then moved his No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST up to try to block Moffitt, but Moffitt crossed his No. 34 Fr8Auctions Ford F-150 underneath Eckes. This resulted in Eckes losing momentum and falling out of the draft while Moffitt and Smith dueled for the lead ahead of two stacked lanes through the backstretch. Moffitt then started to muscle back ahead with the lead followed by Kligerman as both managed to move in front of Smith and Rhodes through Turns 3 and 4. Then as Kligerman tried to make his move to Moffitt’s outside, Smith and Rhodes remained with Moffitt on the inside lane while Kligerman started to lose the draft entering the tri-oval. Smith and Rhodes then tried to fan out and gain a final lap run on Moffitt, but the momentum for both was not enough as Moffitt managed to retain the lead and win by 0.089 seconds over Rhodes.

    With the victory, Moffitt notched his 13th career win in the Craftsman Truck Series, his first both at Talladega and on a superspeedway venue, and his first since winning at Kansas Speedway in October 2020, which marked his latest full-time stint in the series. In addition to achieving his first Truck victory driving a Ford, Moffitt also recorded the eighth Truck career victory for Front Row Motorsports and the first for FRM’s No. 34 entry in the entry’s debut.

    With Moffitt being a former winner and champion in the Truck Series but competing this season on a full-time basis for AM Racing in the Xfinity Series, this season marks the eighth consecutive season where the Truck’s Talladega Playoff event was won by a non-Playoff contender, which extends the streak of non-Playoff competitors winning at Talladega and preventing the current seven Playoff contenders from winning and earning an automatic berth to this year’s Championship 4 field.

    “It’s pretty awesome,” Moffitt, whose racing plans for 2024 remain undetermined, said on the frontstretch on FS1. “I’ve notably struggled at superspeedways in the past and dreaded coming to them, but this was all “pressure off” situation that Front Row [Motorsports] gave me, Fr8Auctions to come here and just go out there and try to help a teammate. Obviously, that didn’t work out for that group, but to come here and have a shot at a win and to do it is pretty amazing. Reminds me of the good old days that I wanna get back to doing this on a regular basis, so we’ll see what happens.”

    Playoff contender Ben Rhodes was the highest-finishing Playoff contender on the track as he settled in the runner-up spot for a second consecutive year at Talladega while Dean Thompson tied his career-best result of third place. Chandler Smith, who was piloting Rackley W.A.R.’s No. 25 Chevrolet Silverado RST, came home in fourth place while Corey Heim, who is already guaranteed a spot for this year’s Championship 4 finale after winning at Bristol Motor Speedway, finished fifth.

    Rookie Daniel Dye, Nick Sanchez, Hailie Deegan, Kligerman and Lawless Alan completed the top 10 on the track. Notably, Hocevar and Enfinger finished 11th and 13th while Eckes drifted all the way back to 19th. In addition, Majeski retired in 21st while Zane Smith capped off his long afternoon in 32nd.

    There were 23 lead changes for 11 different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 41 laps. In addition, 19 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Brett Moffitt, 22 laps led

    2. Ben Rhodes

    3. Dean Thompson

    4. Chandler Smith

    5. Corey Heim

    6. Daniel Dye

    7. Nick Sanchez, 25 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    8. Hailie Deegan

    9. Parker Kligerman, 10 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    10. Lawless Alan

    11. Carson Hocevar, five laps led

    12. Rajah Caruth

    13. Grant Enfinger

    14. Jack Wood

    15. Garrett Smithley

    16. Bret Holmes, three laps led

    17. Ryan Vargas

    18. Taylor Gray, one lap led

    19. Christian Eckes, eight laps led

    20. Jake Drew, one lap down

    21. Ty Majeski – OUT, Accident

    22. Cory Roper – OUT, Dvp

    23. Colby Howard – OUT, Accident

    24. Matt Crafton – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    25. Tanner Gray – OUT, Accident, 12 laps led

    26. Greg Van Alst- OUT, Accident

    27. Jason M. White, 11 laps down

    28. Chase Purdy – OUT, Accident, 11 laps led

    29. Jake Garcia, 20 laps down

    30. Tyler Hill – OUT, Accident

    31. Bayley Currey – OUT, Accident

    32. Zane Smith, 44 laps down

    33. Tyler Ankrum – OUT, Accident

    34. Stewart Friesen – OUT, Accident

    35. David Gilliland – OUT, Accident

    36. Bryan Dauzat – OUT, Handling

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. Corey Heim – Advanced

    2. Carson Hocevar +23

    3. Christian Eckes +9

    4. Nick Sanchez +3

    5. Grant Enfinger -3

    6. Ben Rhodes -5

    7. Ty Majeski -19

    8. Zane Smith -36

    The Round of 8 in the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs is set to conclude at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida, on October 22, where the Championship 4 field will be determined. The event’s coverage is set to commence at noon ET on FS1.

  • Daniel Dye joins McAnally-Hilgemann Racing for 2024 Truck Series season

    Daniel Dye joins McAnally-Hilgemann Racing for 2024 Truck Series season

    Daniel Dye will be joining McAnally-Hilgemann Racing to pilot a Chevrolet Silverado RST with sponsorship support from Race to Stop Suicide for the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season.

    The news comes as the 19-year-old Dye from DeLand, Florida, is currently campaigning in his first full-time season in the Truck Series for GMS Racing, which is set to cease operations at this year’s conclusion. Through 20 scheduled starts, Dye has recorded four top-15 results, 10 top-20 results and an average-finishing result of 20.3 as he is currently ranked in 18th place in the driver’s standings.

    “I am excited to finally announce we’ll be racing with McAnally–Hilgemann Racing in 2024,” Dye said. “I’m looking forward to working alongside everyone at MHR and go run up front and compete. I learned so much this year at GMS Racing and looking forward to using that knowledge next season and beyond in my career. I can’t wait to get to Daytona in February and get the new season underway.”

    Dye, who grew up competing in quarter midgets and late models, made various starts across the ARCA Menards Series, ARCA East and West from 2020 to 2021 for organizations that include Ben Kennedy Racing and GMS Racing. Achieving his first ARCA career victory at Berlin Raceway in 2021 during a part-time season, Dye competed on a full-time basis for GMS during the 2022 ARCA Menards Series season, where he notched a pole, 13 top-five results, 17 top-10 results, 226 laps led and an average-finishing result of 6.4 through 20-scheduled starts before finishing in the runner-up spot in the championship standings. During the 2022 season, Dye made a single ARCA West start for Bill McAnally Racing at Portland International Raceway, where he finished fourth after starting in the pole position.

    Currently, McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, which is expected to field three entries in 2024, fields two full-time entries in the Craftsman Truck Series: the No. 19 for Christian Eckes and the No. 35 for rookie Jake Garcia. Eckes, a three-time race winner for MHR this season, is a Playoff contender and currently ranked in the runner-up spot in the Playoff standings while Garcia is in 13th place in the standings on the strength of eight top-10 results.

    “We are excited to have Daniel join MHR and be part of our continued growth forward,” Bill McAnally, team owner of McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, added. “We have worked with Daniel in the ARCA Series at Portland where we won the pole and had a great top-five finish. We’re all committed to putting in the efforts and see the same results for our No. 43 team starting in 2024 and beyond.”

    Despite McAnally-Hilgemann Racing’s intention for Dye to continue to sport the No. 43, additional details regarding Dye’s official number, crew chief, extra partners and the team’s full driver lineup for next season remains to be determined.

    With his future plans set, Dye’s next scheduled Craftsman Truck Series event is set to occur at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, September 30. The event’s broadcast time is slated to occur at 1 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Preece confirms return to Stewart-Haas Racing for 2024 Cup Series season

    Preece confirms return to Stewart-Haas Racing for 2024 Cup Series season

    Ryan Preece scratched his name off of this year’s Silly Season list after announcing that he will retain driving responsibilities of the No. 41 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season.

    The announcement, which was made through SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, comes as the 32-year-old Preece from Berlin, Connecticut, is campaigning in his fourth full-time season in the Cup Series level and first with Stewart-Haas Racing, where he has notched a single top-five result, one pole position, 141 laps led and an average-finishing result of 21.9 through 30-scheduled starts.

    “I’m gonna be here with the No. 41 at [Stewart-Haas Racing] next year,” Preece said on SiriusXM. “Definitely looking forward to it.”

    Preece, the 2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion and race winner across the NASCAR Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series divisions who made his first five Cup career starts for Premium Motorsports in 2015, first became a full-time competitor in NASCAR’s premier series in 2019 when he replaced AJ Allmendinger in the No. 47 entry for JTG-Daugherty Racing. Transitioning to the team’s No. 37 entry in 2021, Preece recorded a combined two top-five results and nine top-10 results with his best points result being 26th in 2019.

    After JTG-Daugherty Racing scaled down to a one-car entry in 2022, Preece spent the season competing in 15 events across NASCAR’s top three national touring series, two occurring in the Cup level with Rick Ware Racing. During the season, he became a reserve competitor for Stewart-Haas Racing and was eventually named a full-time Cup competitor for SHR’s No. 41 entry for the 2023 season last November, where he replaced Cole Custer.

    Through 30 starts this season, Preece’s highlights include a fifth-place run at Richmond Raceway in August and winning his first pole position at Martinsville Speedway in April, where he would lead a race-high 135 laps before finishing 15th after being nabbed with an early pit road speeding penalty. Amid the strong performances, Preece’s season has been mired with on-track difficulties, including 16 results outside the top 20 and five DNFs, including his harrowing barrel-roll accident at Daytona International Speedway last August while vying for a 2023 Cup Series Playoff spot.

    Despite the struggles endured throughout this season, Preece remains optimistic about the progress made by Stewart-Haas Racing that can enable him to still be competitive with six races remaining in this year’s Cup Series schedule and prior to the 2024 season.

    “We’ve made a lot of gains,” Preece added. “Moving forward, I like the direction of the things that we’ve been working on here at SHR. We have a good couple races coming up.”

    Preece’s announcement adds another missing element to Stewart-Haas Racing’s 2024 Cup Series lineup as he will compete alongside Chase Briscoe, who is signed through 2026, and incoming rookie Josh Berry, who will be replacing the retiring Kevin Harvick at season’s end. Additional announcements regarding SHR’s No. 10 entry, veteran Aric Almirola and program for the 2024 season remain to be determined.

    With his plans for next season set, Preece’s next scheduled NASCAR Cup Series start of this season will occur at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, October 1. The event’s broadcast time is slated to occur at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Hendrick Motorsports adds Boris Said, Rajah Caruth to Xfinity Series lineup for Charlotte Roval, Phoenix

    Hendrick Motorsports adds Boris Said, Rajah Caruth to Xfinity Series lineup for Charlotte Roval, Phoenix

    Hendrick Motorsports will be fielding the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro entry for two additional NASCAR Xfinity Series events in the closing stretches of the 2023 season as Boris Said and Rajah Caruth will be taking turns piloting the entry.

    As part of the entry’s two-race feature, Said will be piloting HMS’ No. 17 entry at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course on October 7 while Caruth will be driving the car at Phoenix Raceway on November 4 to cap off the 2023 Xfinity Series season.

    The news comes as Hendrick Motorsports is coming off its milestone 300th career victory in the NASCAR Cup Series after Playoff contender William Byron won at Texas Motor Speedway, which also locks him and the No. 24 HMS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team a spot into the Round of 8 as they pursue their quest to win the 2023 Cup title.

    Said, a 61-year-old veteran from New York City, is a well-accomplished sports car racer, having achieved two-time 24 Hours of Daytona class winner along with being the 1998 12 Hours of Sebring class winner and the 2004 Rolex Sports Car Series GT Class champion. He also became the first American to win the 24 Hours Nürburgring in 2005.

    In addition to his sports car accomplishments, Said has made a total of 149 career starts across NASCAR’s top three national touring series, 29 of which occurred in the Xfinity Series. He achieved his first and only recorded Xfinity victory to date at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 2010 after edging road-ringer Max Papis in a photo finish while driving for RAB Racing. Coupled with a total of two poles, seven top-five results and nine top-10 results, Said’s latest Xfinity start occurred at Circuit of the Americas for MBM Motorsports in 2021.

    Meanwhile, Caruth, a 21-year-old native from Atlanta, Georgia, is currently competing as a full-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competitor for GMS Racing, which marks his first full-time campaign within NASCAR’s top three national touring series. Through 20-scheduled starts, Caruth has achieved three top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 19.3 as he is ranked in 17th place in the driver’s standings.

    In addition to his full-time Truck campaign and previous full-time stint in the ARCA Menards Series for Rev Racing in 2022, Caruth has also made a total of 15 Xfinity Series starts to date, eight of which occurred this season but all with Alpha Prime Racing. His best on-track result to date is a 12th-place finish at Martinsville Speedway last October. He has also recorded a total of five top-20 results in the series.

    The addition of Said and Caruth to Hendrick Motorsports’ Xfinity Series program will make them the fifth and sixth competitors, respectively, to pilot the team’s No. 17 entry throughout the 2023 season.

    The No. 17 HendrickCars.com entry made a total of five appearances this season with HMS’ Cup Series drivers Alex Bowman, William Byron, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson piloting the entry while Greg Ives and Kevin Meendering served as crew chiefs. The entry’s best on-track result this season is a runner-up result at Circuit of the Americas in March with Byron driving. The entry proceeded to finish third at Sonoma Raceway with Larson, third at Pocono Raceway with Elliott, ninth at Watkins Glen International with Bowman and 38th at Darlington with Larson, respectively.

    Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 17 entry debuted last season and appeared in four events as Larson, Bowman and Byron took turns driving the entry. The entry achieved a pair of runner-up results at Road America with Larson and at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course with Bowman.

    To date, Hendrick Motorsports has achieved one championship (Brian Vickers in 2003) and 26 career victories in the Xfinity Series. The team’s latest Xfinity victory occurred at Daytona International Speedway in 2009 with three-time Cup champion Tony Stewart.

    With the team’s Xfinity Series plans for the remainder of this season set, Said will make his lone Xfinity start for Hendrick Motorsports at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course on October 7 at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC. Meanwhile, Caruth’s Xfinity start for HMS will occur in the championship event at Phoenix Raceway on November 4 at 7 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Kirkwood retained by Andretti Global in new multi-year extension deal

    Kirkwood retained by Andretti Global in new multi-year extension deal

    Kyle Kirkwood has inked a multi-year contract extension to remain with Andretti Global in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, beginning in 2024.

    The news comes as the 24-year-old Kirkwood from Jupiter, Florida, is coming off his second full-time campaign in the IndyCar Series and first with Andretti, where he notched his first two career victories in the series, the first occurring in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach at the Streets of Long Beach, California, in April and the second occurring in the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Street Circuit in August. Coupled with five additional results in the top 10, Kirkwood finished in 11th place in this year’s driver’s standings with 352 points.

    “I am thrilled to be able to continue with Andretti Global for years to come,” Kirkwood said. “We have built something special within the team this year and I’m excited to see what we can do next season in the No. 27 AutoNation Honda. It’s fantastic that I will now have the opportunity to work with the same group – it’s a luxury I haven’t had the privilege of having since my karting days. Now we can put our heads down and fully focus on winning races and becoming a strong Championship contender. I have such a huge respect for this team and it will be an honor to continue to call myself an INDYCAR driver for Andretti Global.”

    Kirkwood, whose racing career started with karts, is the first competitor to win a championship across every Road to Indy series, a program that provides a scholarship-funded path for aspiring competitors to compete in IndyCar and the Indianapolis 500. He accomplished this feat by winning the U.S. F2000 National Championship in 2018, the Indy Pro 2000 Championship in 2019 and the Indy Lights Championshp in 2021. He also recorded the Formula 4 United States Championship in 2017.

    A year after winning the Indy Lights title with Andretti Global, Kirkwood joined A.J. Foyt Enterprises for his first full-time stint in the IndyCar Series in 2022. During the season, his best on-track result was a 10th-place run at the Streets of Long Beach. He concluded the season with an average-finishing result of 20.2 and a 24th-place finish in the final standings with 183 points before joining Andretti Global.

    Through 34 career starts in the IndyCar Series, Kirkwood has achieved two victories, two podiums, one pole, 93 laps led and an average-finishing result of 16.6.

    With the announcement, Kirkwood becomes the third Andretti Global competitor to be locked into a multi-year contract with the organization alongside teammates Colton Herta, whose contract runs through 2027, and Marcus Ericsson, who joins Andretti after spending thre previous four seasons at Chip Ganassi Racing.

    “Kyle’s dedication and talent have been instrumental in our team’s success this past season, and he has continued to show that he has what it takes to compete at the highest level in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES,” Michael Andretti, Andretti Global CEO & Chairman, added. “Our goal has always been to consistently compete for wins and Championships and we felt that solidifying Kyle’s future at Andretti was key to making that happen. Bringing Kyle into the multi-year plans along with Colton [Herta] and Marcus [Ericsson] will only strengthen the continuity we’ve been looking for in our INDYCAR program.”

    With his future plans set, Kirkwood and Andretti Global will return to action at the Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, on March 10, 2024, for the start of a new NTT INDYCAR season.

  • Chandler Smith joins Rackley W.A.R. for Truck Playoff event at Talladega

    Chandler Smith joins Rackley W.A.R. for Truck Playoff event at Talladega

    Chandler Smith will be spending the upcoming off-weekend period from NASCAR Xfinity Series competition by competing in this weekend’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoff event at Talladega Superspeedway for Rackley W.A.R.

    The news comes nearly a week after Rackley W.A.R. parted ways from Matt DiBenedetto for the remaining three Truck Series events of the 2023 season. Prior to this news, DiBenedetto had announced that he would not remain with the organization for the 2024 season. The news also comes as the 21-year-old Smith from Talking Rock, Georgia, is currently campaigning in his first full-time season in the Xfinity Series for Kaulig Racing, where he is vying for both the rookie and driver’s titles in a season where he has achieved one victory at Richmond Raceway in April, three poles, seven top-five results, 11 top-10 results, 295 laps led and an average-finishing result of 15.0 through 28 starts.

    “I’m super-grateful for Rackley W.A.R. giving me the opportunity to run their truck this weekend at Talladega [Superspeedway],” Smith said. “Being able to represent Rackley Roofing, W.A.R. Shocks, and this entire organization, is extremely cool. I’m definitely proud of and looking forward to the opportunity.”

    Smith is no stranger to the Truck Series. After making a combined 16 starts from 2019-20 for Kyle Busch Motorsports, Smith competed in the Truck Series on a full-time basis for KBM in 2021. During the season, he made the Playoffs based on points and notched his first two career victories (Bristol Motor Speedway in September and Phoenix Raceway in November) before finishing in eighth place in the final standings and capturing the Rookie-of-the-Year title. The 2022 Truck season was a breakout year for Smith, who achieved three victories throughout the 23-race schedule (Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March, Pocono Raceway in July and Richmond Raceway in August). Coupled with nine top-five results and 16 top-10 results, Smith made the 2022 Playoffs, transferred to the Championship 4 round and was in contention for the series’ title before finishing in third place in the final standings.

    Through 61 career starts in the Truck Series, Smith has achieved five victories, one pole, 23 top-five results, 34 top-10 results, 755 laps led and an average-finishing result of 12.6.

    The driver change for Rackley W.A.R. for the upcoming event at Talladega comes at a pivotal weekend for the team, which achieved its first victory at Talladega a year ago with Matt DiBenedetto and is currently situated in ninth place in this year’s owner’s standings. DiBenedetto made the 2023 Truck Playoffs based on points, but was eliminated from title contention following the Round of 10. Nonetheless, he had recorded two top-five results, 12 top-10 results, 16 laps led and an average-finishing result of 14.0 prior to his release from Rackley W.A.R.

    Overall, Smith is set to become the eighth different competitor to compete in at least one Truck Series event for Rackley W.A.R., joining a list that includes Willie Allen, Josh Berry, William Byron, Matt DiBenedetto, Tate Fogleman, Brett Moffitt and Timothy Peters.

    “We are really excited to have Chandler in the truck this weekend at Talladega,” Willie Allen, co-owner of Rackley W.A.R., said. “I’ve known Chandler and his family pretty much his whole life. They’re really good people and Chandler is a great driver. We’re looking forward to the weekend.”

    In addition to the 2024 season, the team’s driver plans for the final two Truck events of this season at Homestead-Miami Speedway and at Phoenix Raceway remain to be determined.

    Smith is scheduled to make his Truck Series return with Rackley W.A.R. at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, September 30. The event’s broadcast time is slated to occur at 1 p.m. ET on FS1.