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Author: Andrew Kim

  • Allmendinger rolls to a chaotic Xfinity victory at Nashville

    Allmendinger rolls to a chaotic Xfinity victory at Nashville

    AJ Allmendinger survived a series of caution periods and on-track chaos, including one that involved him at the start of the second stage, to muscle his way to the front, assume a late lead and fend off the field during two late-race restarts to win the Tennessee Lottery 250 at Nashville Superspeedway on Saturday, June 24.

    The 41-year-old Allmendinger from Los Gatos, California, led three times for 25 of 196 over-scheduled laps in an event where he rolled off the starting grid in 11th place. After settling in third place at the conclusion of the first stage, he was then involved in a multi-car wreck at the start of the second stage that eliminated a handful of front-runners that included Cup Series rookie Ty Gibbs.

    Following a methodical drive back to the front for the remainder of the event, he then muscled his way into the lead with 46 laps remaining. Despite losing ground amid a slow pit service under green during the proceeding laps, Allmendinger then managed to reassume the lead from Parker Kligerman with 11 laps remaining. Despite having to endure two late-race restarts, including an overtime attempt, Allmendinger did not relent as he fended off the field of Xfinity Series regulars to grab his second checkered flag of the 2023 season.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Cole Custer notched his third pole position of the season after posting a pole-winning lap at 157.020 in 30.493 seconds. Joining him on the front row was rookie Chandler Smith, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 156.302 mph in 30.633 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Connor Mosack and Zane Smith dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. Joey Gase also dropped to the rear of the field as he started the event in a backup car and as a result of a driver change, where he replaced CJ McLaughlin.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, early trouble struck through Turns 1 and 2 when Jeb Burton and Kyle Sieg made contact and triggered a multi-car wreck that included Ryan Sieg, his brother Kyle and Stefan Parsons while the rest of the field veered to the bottom lane to avoid the carnage. Also involved was Justin Allgaier, winner of last year’s event at Nashville, after he collided into Parsons sideways while Parsons smacked the outside wall head-on. Despite suffering cosmetic damage to his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro, Allgaier managed to continue while remaining on the lead lap along with the Sieg brothers and Jeb Burton while Parsons retired.

    During the following restart on the eighth lap, Custer, who retained the lead through the event’s start and early caution period, continued to lead ahead of rookie Sammy Smith while Chandler Smith and Ty Gibbs battled for third. Entering the backstretch, Gibbs and Smith made contact, which caused the field behind Custer and Sammy Smith to fan out to three lanes. Then entering Turns 3 and 4, Austin Hill, who tried to overtake Gibbs and Chandler Smith for third amid three lanes, made contact beneath Gibbs and was sent spinning up the track as he barely clipped Jeb Burton before lightly backing his No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet Camaro into the outside wall while the rest of the field managed to dodge Hill’s incident. The incident was enough to draw the event’s second caution period.

    At the start of the proceeding restart on Lap 14, Sammy Smith and Custer dueled for the lead as the field fanned out. With Ty Gibbs also fanning out and overtaking teammate Smith for second, Custer retained the lead as the field navigated its way through a full lap under green flag conditions. With Custer leading, Carson Hocevar, winner of Friday night’s Craftsman Truck Series event at Nashville, muscled his way into third while Sammy Smith and Riley Herbst occupied the top five ahead of AJ Allmendinger.

    Three laps later, the event’s third caution flew when Chad Chastain, who was running in the middle of the pack, got loose entering Turns 3 and 4 and spun backward toward the outside wall as he also collected Ryan Ellis, who veered sideways and scrubbed the wall, while the rest of the field escaped unscathed.

    When the race restarted on Lap 21, Custer and Ty Gibbs dueled for the lead as the field fanned out to three lanes entering Turn 1. Through the turns, Gibbs started to peek ahead with the lead ahead of Custer before he assumed the spot with full authority during the following lap. With Gibbs leading Custer, Sammy Smith was in third followed by Hocevar and Allmendinger while Herbst was in sixth ahead of Chandler Smith, Parker Kligerman, Brandon Jones and rookie Parker Retzlaff.

    At the Lap 30 mark, Ty Gibbs was leading by more than a second over Custer followed by Sammy Smith, Allmendinger and Hocevar while Chandler Smith, Herbst, Parker Kligerman, Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer were in the top 10. Behind, Brandon Jones was in 11th ahead of John Hunter Nemechek, Josh Berry, Allgaier and Hill while Retzlaff, Zane Smith, Brett Moffitt, Daniel Hemric and Kaz Grala occupied the top 20.

    Nearing the Lap 40 mark, Ty Gibbs extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Custer while third-place Sammy Smith trailed by more than four seconds. Behind, Allmendinger and Hocevar remained in the top five while Chandler Smith was in sixth ahead of Herbst.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Ty Gibbs, who was making his fourth Xfinity start of the season and swept both stages at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, claimed his third Xfinity stage victory of the 2023 season. Custer trailed in second place by more than a second while Allmendinger, Hocevar, Sammy Smith, Chandler Smith, Herbst, Mayer, John Hunter Nemechek and Kligerman were scored in the top 10.

    Under the first stage break, the lead lap field led by Ty Gibbs pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Hill exited first after only opting for fuel to his car followed by Gibbs. During the pit stops, Nemechek was penalized for having too many crew members over the pit wall.

    The second stage started on Lap 52 as Hill and Gibbs occupied the front row. At the start, trouble struck for the front-runners when Hill made contact with Gibbs and sent Gibbs’ No. 19 He Gets Us Toyota Supra spinning through the first two turns, where he clipped Allmendinger and sent him spinning with damage before being hit by Hocevar’s No. 77 Premier Security Chevrolet Camaro against the outside wall as the rest of the field turned to the bottom of the track to avoid the carnage. In the midst of the carnage, Custer escaped with the lead followed by Mayer, Chandler Smith, Herbst and Creed while Gibbs and Hocevar retired.

    During the proceeding restart on Lap 59, Custer and Mayer battled dead even for the lead until Custer, who restarted on the outside lane, prevailed to retain the lead ahead of Mayer. The caution, however, quickly returned during the following lap when Connor Mosack slid sideways toward the outside wall in Turn 2. While trying to straighten his car, his car then jerked back across the wall and smacked the wall before emerging with extensive damage on both the front and rear ends.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 65, Mayer peeked ahead to lead a lap for himself, but Custer reassumed the top spot amid a fierce battle between himself, Chandler Smith and Mayer. On Lap 67, Chandler Smith made his move to the front and emerged as the new leader while Mayer, Custer and Herbst battled for second. During the following lap, the caution flew again when Sammy Smith, who was battling Sheldon Creed for fifth place, was bumped by Creed through Turns 1 and 2. The contact sent Smith back hard against the outside wall as the rear end of Smith’s No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota Supra was left destroyed while Creed, who veered sideways amid the contact, was hit by an oncoming Brandon Jones, who veered sideways with left-front damage to his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro.

    As the event restarted under green on Lap 75, Chandler Smith retained the lead ahead of Mayer while Custer rocketed his way up to third followed by Hemric, Herbst and Zane Smith.

    By Lap 80, Chandler Smith was leading by more than a second over Mayer followed by Custer, Hemric and Herbst while Zane Smith, Nemechek, Josh Berry, Brett Moffitt and Retzlaff were in the top 10 ahead of Kligerman, Ryan Sieg, Allgaier, Hill and Grala.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 90, Chandler Smith claimed his second stage victory of the 2023 season. Custer settled in second followed by a hard-charging Hemric while Mayer, Herbst, Nemechek, Zane Smith, Berry, Retzlaff and Moffitt were scored in the top 10.

    During the second stage break, where the event surpassed its halfway mark, the lead lap field led by Chandler Smith pitted. Following the pit stops, Chandler Smith retained the lead after exiting first followed by Custer, Hemric, Herbst, Nemechek and Zane Smith. Amid the pit stops, Herbst was penalized and sent to the rear of the field for an uncontrolled tire violation. In addition, Mayer, who pitted from fourth place, exited just outside of the top 10 amid a slow pit service, where he had to back his car while trying to leave his pit box after being blocked by Blaine Perkins.

    With 91 laps remaining, the final stage started as Chandler Smith and Custer occupied the front row. At the start, Chandler Smith retained the lead following a push from teammate Hemric while Hemric challenged Custer for second. With Custer retaining the runner-up spot over Hemric, Chandler Smith continued to lead while Nemechek charged his way in fourth followed by Zane Smith and Allmendinger.

    Six laps later, the caution returned when Kligerman spun in Turn 4 after receiving a bump by Kaz Grala, though Kligerman managed to quickly straighten his car below the apron and proceed without sustaining any significant damage.

    With the race restarting under green with 79 laps remaining, Chandler Smith retained the lead ahead of Custer and Hemric, with Hemric launching his charge for the lead as he overtook Custer for second. Then two laps later, Hemric assumed the lead over teammate Chandler Smith. Smith, however, reignited another charge on his Kaulig Racing teammate as he reassumed the top spot during the following lap with Custer rechallenging Hemric for second. Behind, Nemechek and Allmendinger battled for fourth as Chandler Smith stabilized his advantage to half a second.

    With 70 laps remaining, Chandler Smith was leading by four-tenths of a second over Custer and by more than a second over teammate Hemric while Nemechek and Allmendinger trailed in the top five. Smith would continue to lead with 60 laps remaining, but his advantage decreased to a tenth of a second over Custer as Custer methodically caught and challenged Smith for the lead. By then, Allmendinger, Hemric and Berry were in the top five while Nemechek, who was running in the top five a few laps earlier, made an unscheduled pit stop after reporting a vibration to his No. 20 Pye Barker Fire and Safety Toyota Supra.

    Five laps later, the battle for the lead intensified as Custer drew his No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang into a side-by-side battle against Chandler Smith’s No. 16 Quick Tie Products Chevrolet Camaro. While Custer had the advantage on the inside lane, Smith refused to relent as he remained on the gas and maintained the momentum with a narrow lead on the outside lane. With both continuing to duke for the lead, Allmendinger joined the battle as he gained massive ground on the two leaders in his No. 10 Bailey Zimmerman – Religiously Chevrolet Camaro. The battle amongst Smith, Custer and Allmendinger soon narrowed down to six-tenths of a second with the trio still dueling for the lead with 50 laps remaining.

    Two laps later, Allmendinger made his way into the runner-up spot after overtaking Custer before he proceeded to challenge his Kaulig Racing teammate Chandler Smith for the lead. With Custer losing ground on the two leaders, Allmendinger, who had managed to methodically carve his way back to the front following his Stage 2 incident, assumed the lead for the first time with 46 laps remaining while their third teammate, Hemric, was trailing in fourth place by more than three seconds.

    Then with under 45 laps remaining, green flag pit stops commenced as Allgaier pitted along with Custer, Chandler Smith and Jeremy Clements. The race leader Allmendinger and teammate Hemric would also pit with 43 laps remaining as Berry cycled his way into a brief lead. Amid the pit stops, Smith and Custer managed to cycle ahead of Allmendinger, who endured a slow pit stop.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event and with nearly the entire field having made a pit stop under green, Kligerman, who had yet to pit, was leading followed by Allmendinger, who had overtaken teammate Chandler Smith, who was dealing with an ill-handling race car amid a slide, on the track while Brandon Jones, Smith and Custer were in the top five.

    With 20 laps remaining, Kligerman, who remained on the track and was trying to conserve fuel to finish, continued to lead by more than six seconds in his No. 48 Spiked Light Coolers Chevrolet Camaro and over a hard-charging Allmendinger with third-place Custer trailing by more than nine seconds. Kligerman would proceed to lead by more than two seconds over Allmendinger with 15 laps remaining.

    Then with 11 laps remaining, Allmendinger, who methodically gained ground and drew himself alongside Kligerman during the proceeding lap, overtook Kligerman for the lead entering Turn 1. Allmendinger would proceed to stretch his advantage to more than two seconds over Kligerman, who continued to run on fuel-conserve mode, with 10 laps remaining while third-place Custer trailed by more than three seconds.

    Then with six laps remaining, the event’s 10th caution period flew when Chad Chastain spun in Turn 4. The caution period stalled Allmendinger’s progress as he was leading by more than two seconds over Custer while Kligerman was in third. During the caution period, six competitors that included the leader Allmendinger, Chandler Smith, Hill, Herbst, Berry and Hemric remained on the track while the rest led by Custer and Kligerman pitted.

    With the race restarting under green with two laps remaining, Allmendinger was drafted into the lead with help from Hill as the front-runners fanned out, among which included Herbst as he bolted his way towards the front. Then in Turns 1 and 2, trouble struck for Chandler Smith after contact with Berry amid a tight four-wide action that also included Custer and Hemric sent Smith spinning up the track while the rest of the field scrambled to the bottom of the track to avoid Smith’s incident. Amid the incident, Allmendinger remained as the leader followed by Herbst, Hill, Hemric, Berry and Kligerman, but the return of the caution sent the event into overtime.

    At the start of the first overtime attempt, Allmendinger managed to rocket away from Herbst and the field. The field behind would then fan out to multiple lanes through the backstretch as Allmendinger continued to muscle away with the lead entering Turns 3 and 4.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Allmendinger remained as the leader by eight-tenths of a second over Herbst, who was trying to fend off Hemric. Then just past the start/finish line, Hemric veered sideways, but he managed to straighten his car without triggering a wreck. Hemric’s loose moment, however, cost him a bevy of spots as Herbst, Hill and Mayer went by him. By then, Allmendinger was long gone with an advantage of more than a second through the backstretch. With the field battling amongst one another for as high as second, Allmendinger was able to cycle his way back to the finish line uncontested and score his second Xfinity victory of the 2023 season just as a multi-car wreck in the middle of the field erupted.

    With his first victory at Nashville, Allmendinger scored his 17th career win in the Xfinity Series, his second of the season after winning at Circuit of the Americas in March and his first oval, superspeedway venue victory since winning at Talladega Superspeedway in October 2022. In addition, this marked the third victory of the season for Kaulig Racing’s No. 10 “all-star” entry: twice made by Allmendinger and once by Kyle Larson at Darlington Raceway in May.

    “All thanks to all the men and women at Kaulig Racing,” Allmendinger said on USA Network. “We got [country artist] Bailey Zimmerman. He flew in from Chicago this morning. [It’s] Awesome to have him here and win a race for him. The car was really good. [I] Got caught up in that wreck on that one restart. [I] Thought at least our chance to win was over, but the guys did such a great job of fixing [the car]. This is one of those iconic trophies [Gibson guitars] you wanna win. What a cool way to do it.”

    “All these wins are amazing,” Allmendinger added. “I love winning on ovals because I know a lot of people doubt me being on an oval. What a great time.”

    Herbst, racing for the first time with new crew chief Davin Restivo, settled in a career-best second place for the third time in his career and after coming off eight consecutive events of finishing no higher than 14th. Mayer ended up third while Hill and Berry finished in the top five.

    Nemechek came home in sixth place while Zane Smith, Hemric, Custer and Retzlaff finished in the top 10. Behind, Kligerman, Moffitt and Allgaier, all of whom wrecked approaching the finish line, ended up 11th, 14th and 15th, respectively, while Chandler Smith rallied his way to 12th.

    There were 17 lead changes for 11 different leaders. The race featured a record-tying 11 cautions for 58 laps. In total, 16 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    With 11 Xfinity regular-season events remaining on the schedule, John Hunter Nemechek leads the regular-season standings by nine points over Austin Hill, 41 over Justin Allgaier and 51 over Cole Custer.

    Results.

    1. AJ Allmendinger, 25 laps led

    2. Riley Herbst

    3. Sam Mayer, six laps led

    4. Austin Hill, three laps led

    5. Josh Berry, one lap led

    6. John Hunter Nemechek

    7. Zane Smith

    8. Daniel Hemric, one lap led

    9. Cole Custer, 32 laps led

    10. Parker Retzlaff, three laps led

    11. Parker Kligerman, 22 laps led

    12. Chandler Smith, 74 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    13. Jeb Burton

    14. Brett Moffitt

    15. Justin Allgaier

    16. Kaz Grala

    17. Sheldon Creed, one lap down

    18. Kyle Weatherman, one lap down

    19. Ryan Sieg, one lap down

    20. Brennan Poole, one lap down

    21. Joe Graf Jr., one lap down

     22. Jeremy Clements, one lap down

    23. Anthony Alfredo, one lap down

    24. Brandon Jones, one lap down

    25. Kyle Sieg, one lap down

    26. Blaine Perkins, two laps down

    27. Jeffrey Earnhardt, two laps down

    28. Ryan Ellis, two laps down

    29. Chad Chastain, two laps down

    30. David Starr, three laps down

    31. Joey Gase, three laps down

    32. Mason Massey, 10 laps down

    33. Josh Williams – OUT, Alternator

    34. Sammy Smith – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    35. Connor Mosack – OUT, Dvp

    36. Carson Hocevar – OUT, Accident

    37. Ty Gibbs – OUT, Accident, 28 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    38. Stefan Parsons – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ inaugural event at the Chicago Street Course in Downtown Chicago, Illinois. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, July 1, at 5 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Hocevar scores second Truck career triumph at Nashville

    Hocevar scores second Truck career triumph at Nashville

    In a season where he silenced his doubters and became a NASCAR race winner for the first time in his career, Carson Hocevar doubled down with another reason to celebrate after scoring a late victory in the Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville Superspeedway on Friday, June 23.

    The 20-year-old Hocevar from Portage, Michigan, led the final 40 of 150-scheduled laps in an event where he rolled off the starting grid in seventh place before keeping pace with the front-runners as the event proceeded under the lights. He assumed the lead for the first time during a restart with 40 laps remaining and Hocevar appeared to be heading toward a potential victory when a late two-truck incident with 10 laps remaining stalled his momentum momentarily. After being one of select competitors to remain on the track instead of pitting for fresh tires, Hocevar then managed to fend off a late charge from reigning series champion Zane Smith during a three-lap shootout to claim the second checkered flag of this season and of his youthful career.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, rookie Nick Sanchez notched his third career pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 161.915 mph in 29.571 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Bayley Currey, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 161.844 mph in 29.584 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Toni Breidinger and Dean Thompson dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective trucks.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Sanchez and Currey briefly dueled for the lead entering the first turn until Sanchez rocketed ahead on the inside lane through the first turn. With Sanchez out in front through the backstretch, rookie Rajah Caruth, who qualified third, battled Currey for second. Corey Heim, the series points leader who returned from a one-race absence due to illness that caused him to miss the previous event at World Wide Technology Raceway in early June, joined the battle entering the third turn. Caruth would muscle ahead and acquire the runner-up spot as Sanchez proceeded to lead the first lap.

    Three laps later and amid a series of early on-track battles while Sanchez continued to lead ahead of Caruth, the first caution of the event. Hailie Deegan, who was battling Lawless Alan for a spot within the top 20, got loose underneath Alan in Turn 3 as both competitors slipped sideways up the groove, with Deegan barely clipping the No. 51 Rowdy Manufacturing Chevrolet Silverado RST piloted by Jack Wood. While Deegan backed her No. 13 ThorSport Racing Ford F-150 into Turn 3’s outside wall, Alan, who was trying to save his sideways truck, ended up darting back towards the wall as he was hit by Wood before both competitors hit the wall and emerged with damaged trucks.

    When the race restarted under green on the ninth lap, Sanchez fended off Caruth entering the first turn to retain the lead while Zane Smith, who restarted within the top six, got loose entering the first turn, but managed to continue without losing ground of the leaders. Shortly after, however, the caution returned when Alan blew a right-side tire and smacked the outside wall in Turn 1, his second incident of the night, and became the first retiree of the event.

    During the proceeding restart on Lap 16, Sanchez and Caruth battled for the lead until Sanchez managed to pull ahead of Caruth to retain the lead during the following lap. With Sanchez leading the field, Carson Hocevar, who started seventh, battled and overtook teammate Currey for third as Corey Heim, Zane Smith and rookie Taylor Gray battled for fifth.

    Through the first 25 scheduled laps, Sanchez was leading by two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Caruth while third-place Hocevar trailed by more than a second. Behind, Zane Smith and Currey battled for fourth while Heim, Tyler Ankrum, Taylor Gray, Grant Enfinger and Tanner Gray were running in the top 10. Meanwhile, Matt DiBenedetto was in 11th ahead of Stewart Friesen, Christian Eckes, Ben Rhodes and Chase Purdy while rookie Daniel Dye, rookie Jake Garcia, Matt Crafton, Ty Majeski and Colby Howard occupied the top 20.

    Five laps later, Sanchez continued to lead by a tenth of a second over Caruth, who continued to intimidate and challenge Sanchez for the lead through every turn and corner. Behind, Zane Smith muscled his Speedco Ford F-150 into third place over Hocevar and Currey while Heim trailed in sixth place.

    During the proceeding five laps, the battle for the lead continued to ignite between Sanchez and Caruth. With both competitors encountering lapped traffic, Caruth made several side-by-side challenges on Sanchez to acquire the lead, but Sanchez would manage to fend off Caruth’s attacks by the time both returned to the start/finish line.

    On Lap 36, Caruth managed to lead a lap for himself over Sanchez. A lap later, however, Caruth was quickly overtaken by Sanchez as Zane Smith followed suit. Zane Smith would then become the new race leader on Lap 39 after assuming the top spot over Sanchez while Caruth, who was off the pace, made an unscheduled pit stop to address a loss of fuel pressure to his No. 24 Born Driven Chevrolet Silverado RST.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Zane Smith, who stretched his advantage to more than two seconds after acquiring the lead on Lap 39, captured his second stage victory of the 2023 season. Sanchez settled in second as he trailed Smith by more than two seconds while Currey, Hocevar, Heim, Ankrum, Tanner Gray, Enfinger, DiBenedetto and Taylor Gray were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Zane Smith pitted. Following the pit stops, Heim managed to squeak ahead and exit first with the lead followed by Sanchez, Currey, Zane Smith, Ankrum and Taylor Gray.

    The second stage started on Lap 53 as Heim and Sanchez occupied the front row. At the start, Heim retained the lead followed by Currey, who overtook Sanchez for second after pushing Heim into the lead at the restart mark. Taylor Gray would then challenge Sanchez for third entering the backstretch before Sanchez retained the spot followed by Zane Smith. Gray would then get dropkicked to eighth as Rhodes, Hocevar and Ankrum overtook him for spots within the top seven. Soon after, Gray would be challenged by Matt DiBenedetto, Eckes and a steaming pack of competitors for eighth during the proceeding laps as Heim retained the lead over Currey and a hard-charging Zane Smith.

    By Lap 60, Heim’s No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro was leading by two-tenths of a second over Currey’s No. 41 Unishippers Chevrolet Silverado RST while third-place Zane Smith trailed by more than a second. Sanchez, meanwhile, was in fourth ahead of Hocevar while Rhodes, Ankrum, DiBenedetto, Taylor Gray and Christian Eckes were in the top 10.

    Two laps later, Currey led a lap for himself amid a fierce battle with Heim. Both competitors would then duel for the lead before Heim reassumed the top spot during the proceeding lap. With both competitors continuing to battle for the lead by Lap 65, Heim fended off Currey’s repeated attacks to retain the lead as Zane Smith narrowed his deficit to six-tenths of a second as he started to join the battle for the lead.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 75, Heim was leading by two-tenths of a second over Currey followed by Zane Smith, Hocevar and Sanchez while Rhodes, Ankrum, DiBenedetto, Tanner Gray and Taylor Gray were in the top 10. Behind, Eckes was in 11th ahead of Enfinger, Stewart Friesen, Chase Purdy and Daniel Dye while newcomer Jake Drew, Jake Garcia, Dean Thompson, Matt Crafton and Colby Howard were running in the top 20. Meanwhile, Ty Majeski, who was slow on the track three laps earlier due to an electrical issue, had pulled his truck off the course without drawing a caution.

    Then on Lap 84, the fourth caution of the event flew when Stewart Friesen spun his No. 52 Ferris Commercial Mowers Toyota Tundra TRD Pro entering Turn 4. During the caution period, DiBenedetto remained on the track to assume the race lead in his No. 25 Rackley Roofing Chevrolet Silverado RST while the rest of the lead lap field led by Heim pitted. Following the pit stops, Heim exited pit road first followed by Zane Smith, Hocevar, Rhodes and Currey. Amid the pit stops, Crafton was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation while Layne Riggs was also penalized for speeding on pit road.

    With five laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted under green. At the start, DiBenedetto maintained the lead through the first two turns as Rhodes, Heim and Zane Smith battled behind while fanned out to three lanes. Through the backstretch, however, Heim made his move beneath DiBenedetto and reassumed the lead. Amid the on-track jostles for spots, DiBenedetto was left to battle Hocevar and Zane Smith to retain second amid competing on worn tires while Heim started to pull away with the lead.

    Then with three laps remaining in the second stage, the caution returned when Daniel Dye, who was running outside the top 10, got loose as his truck washed up the track through Turns 1 and 2. Dye then clipped Layne Riggs as his truck started to turn down towards the track’s banking as Riggs was sent spinning through the backstretch. Riggs was then T-boned by an oncoming Bret Holmes as both competitors came to a rest with wrecked trucks.

    The recent caution period for the multi-truck wreck was enough for the second stage scheduled to conclude on Lap 95 to finish under caution as Heim captured his fifth stage victory of the 2023 season. Hocevar trailed in second followed by DiBenedetto while Zane Smith, Rhodes, Ankrum, Currey, Tanner Gray, Jake Drew and Eckes were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, select names that included DiBenedetto pitted while the rest led by Heim remained on the track. Among those who pitted included Grant Enfinger, the series’ recent winner at World Wide Technology Raceway who pitted for repairs to his left front after making contact with Dean Thompson on pit road during the previous caution period.

    With 48 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as Heim and Hocevar occupied the front row. At the start, Heim rocketed away from Hocevar and the field to retain the lead, though Hocevar kept Heim close within his sights. Behind, Zane Smith and Ben Rhodes battled for third while Currey trailed in fifth ahead of Ankrum, Tanner Gray, Jake Drew, Eckes and Sanchez.

    Two laps later, the caution returned when Thompson, who was battling Eckes for ninth, got loose beneath Eckes and started to wash up the track as he barely clipped Eckes’ No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST before he spun and backed his No. 5 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota Tundra TRD Pro into the outside wall, thus damaging his rear deck lid, in Turn 3. During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Heim remained on the track while select names that included Enfinger, Eckes, Friesen and Layne Riggs pitted.

    During the following restart with 40 laps remaining, Heim and Hocevar dueled dead even for the lead entering the first two turns until Hocevar rocketed his No. 42 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Silverado RST into the lead. With Hocevar emerging as the new leader of the event, Heim fell back to second while Zane Smith and Currey battled for third in front of Ankrum and Rhodes.

    With 35 laps remaining, Hocevar was leading by nine-tenths of a second over Heim while Currey and Zane Smith, both of whom trailed the leader by more than a second, continued to battle for third as Ankrum was trying to fend off Rhodes and Sanchez for fifth. Hocevar would proceed to extend his advantage to more than a second over the new runner-up competitor Zane Smith with 30 laps remaining.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Hocevar stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Zane Smith while third-place Heim trailed by more than three seconds. Currey and Rhodes were running in the top five while Sanchez, Ankrum, Purdy, Drew and Tanner Gray were battling in the top 10.

    Then with 10 laps remaining, the caution flew when Friesen, who was running 22nd, got loose and slipped sideways entering Turn 4 as he clipped Enfinger before colliding into Eckes and sending both to spin across the frontstretch grass. At the moment of caution, Hocevar was leading by more than a second over Zane Smith while Heim, Currey and Sanchez were scored in the top five.

    During the caution period, names that included Hocevar, Zane Smith, Heim, Chase Purdy, Tanner Gray and Jake Garcia remained on the track while the rest led by Currey and Sanchez pitted amid a mixed strategy.

    Down to a three-lap shootout, as Hocevar and Zane Smith occupied the front row, Hocevar received a big push from Chase Purdy to rocket ahead with the lead at the restart zone. As the field fanned out entering the first turn, Hocevar retained the lead while Zane Smith and Heim pursued the leader. Hocevar would continue to lead throughout the circuit while the field behind jostled for late positions.

    With two laps remaining, Sanchez, racing on fresh tires in his No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado RST, overtook Heim for third while Hocevar stabilized his advantage to three-tenths of a second over Smith.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hocevar remained as the leader by three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Zane Smith. Smith then tried to gain ground on Hocevar entering Turn 1, but he went wide and lost his momentum as Hocevar muscled away on the inside lane. Then through the backstretch, Smith and Sanchez set their final lap moves on Hocevar, but neither prevailed approaching Turns 3 and 4. This allowed Hocevar to pull away and beat both within three-tenths of a second to grab his second checkered flag of this season and of his career.

    With the victory, Hocevar joined Zane Smith, Christian Eckes and Grant Enfinger as the only competitors to achieve multiple Craftsman Truck Series victories this season while also recording the sixth career victory for Niece Motorsports. The Nashville victory occurred more than two months after the Michigan native claimed his first Truck triumph at Texas Motor Speedway amid a wild last-lap battle involving Nick Sanchez and Zane Smith.

    In addition, Hocevar, who is coming off four consecutive top-five results in recent weeks, claimed the third and final $50,000 bonus as part of this year’s Craftsman Triple Truck Challenge bonus.

    “I would say I enjoy [this ride] a lot right now,” Hocevar said on FS1. “I led [a race] to the [start/finish] line after the white [flag] and carried it around, so I could finally get that out of the rest. Hopefully, that puts together any doubters. [Team owner] Al Niece, I hope he lets me drive a truck for a long time because I wanna win a lot of races for him. In the meantime, hopefully, I can win a lot more races everywhere else, under the sun or any car I get in. [Crew chief] Phil Gould’s a magician with these things and just glad I’m finally being able to put a fraction together of what he deserves.”

    Meanwhile, Zane Smith, who is coming off four consecutive weeks of finishing 20th or worse, rallied by finishing in second place at Nashville for a second consecutive season while Nick Sanchez claimed his second top-three result of his career by finishing in third place.

    “Yeah, definitely frustrating,” Smith said. “I wanna win here really bad. I love this place. Just needed to be better on restarts. [I] Struggled really bad all night from first to second [gear], but third to fourth, that was really good. [The leaders] would just be too far ahead and then, that final restart, [Heim] had just jumped outside of us and just pulled us back even more. I was catching [Hocevar]. I feel like we were better than him, but he just had the track position and he had the clean air. We did not.”

    “At the end of the day, it was a good points night,” Sanchez added. “That’s what we needed, but I’d kind of be lying if I said I wasn’t a little disappointed. Third’s good, but I think we had the fastest truck. Just got to get better on my end. Got to execute a little better. I lost a little bit on pit road, so that hurt us. [I] Felt like we were always fighting behind, but can’t say enough about this No. 2 Rev Racing, Gainbridge Chevrolet crew. Every week, fast truck, so just go to Mid-Ohio and try again.”

    Heim ended up in fourth place despite leading a race-high 57 laps, but he managed to retain the lead in the regular-season standings, while Bayley Currey notched his second top-five career result by finishing fifth.

    Chase Purdy, Matt DiBenedetto, Tyler Ankrum, Ben Rhodes and rookie Jake Garcia completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    Notably, Jake Drew, the reigning ARCA Menards Series West champion, finished 12th in his Truck Series debut while Toni Breidinger finished 17th in her third Truck career start. Enfinger ended up 13th while Friesen and Eckes settled in 18th and 23rd, respectively, following their late wreck.

    There were nine lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 43 laps. In addition, 18 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 13th event of the 2023 Craftsman Truck Series season, Corey Heim leads the regular-season standings by 16 points over Zane Smith, 31 over Grant Enfinger, 44 over Ty Majeski and 47 over Ben Rhodes.

    With three regular-season events remaining on the schedule, Christian Eckes, Zane Smith, Carson Hocevar, Grant Enfinger, Corey Heim and Ben Rhodes are currently locked into the 2023 Truck Series Playoffs based on winning at least once throughout the regular-season stretch. Ty Majeski, Matt DiBenedetto, Matt Crafton and Nick Sanchez are above the top-10 cutline based on points, with Sanchez occupying the final transfer spot by six points over both Stewart Friesen and Tanner Gray, 39 over Chase Purdy and 63 over Jake Garcia.

    Results.

    1. Carson Hocevar, 40 laps led

    2. Zane Smith, 11 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    3. Nick Sanchez, 38 laps led

    4. Corey Heim, 57 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    5. Bayley Currey, one lap led

    6. Chase Purdy

    7. Matt DiBenedetto, three laps led

    8. Tyler Ankrum

    9. Ben Rhodes

    10. Jake Garcia

    11. Tanner Gray

    12. Jake Drew

    13. Grant Enfinger

    14. Taylor Gray

    15. Matt Crafton

    16. Timmy Hill

    17. Toni Breidinger

    18. Stewart Friesen

    19. Nick Leitz, one lap down

    20. Mason Maggio, one lap down

    21. Cory Roper, two laps down

     22. Daniel Dye, two laps down

    23. Christian Eckes, two laps down

    24. Jonathan Shafer, three laps down

    25. Spencer Boyd, three laps down

    26. Chase Janes, three laps down

    27. Layne Riggs, three laps down

    28. Hailie Deegan, four laps down

    29. Colby Howard, six laps down

    30. Jack Wood, six laps down

    31. Ty Majeski, 17 laps down

    32. Rajah Caruth, 31 laps down, one lap led

    33. Dean Thompson – OUT, Dvp

    34. Bret Holmes – OUT, Accident

    35. Memphis Villarreal – OUT, Electrical

    36. Lawless Alan – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season is the series’ second annual visit to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. The event is scheduled to occur on July 8 at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Bubba Wallace to make 200th Cup career start at Nashville

    Bubba Wallace to make 200th Cup career start at Nashville

    In his sixth full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series, Bubba Wallace is primed to achieve a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s Cup event at Nashville Superspeedway, the driver of the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota TRD Camry will achieve 200 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series.

    A native of Mobile, Alabama, Wallace made his inaugural presence in NASCAR’s premier series at Pocono Raceway in June when he was named an interim competitor of the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford Fusion in place of Aric Almirola, who was recovering from a compression fracture to his T5 Vertebra after being involved in a vicious multi-car wreck at Kansas Speedway in May. By then, Wallace, who had recently lost his ride at Roush Fenway Racing in the Xfinity Series due to sponsorship issues, became the first African-American competitor to compete in a Cup Series event since Bill Lester made the last accomplishment at Michigan International Speedway in June 2006. During his Cup debut at Pocono, Wallace started 16th and finished 26th after serving multiple pit road speeding penalties. He returned for the following three of four Cup events, where he finished 19th at Michigan International Speedway in June, 15th at Daytona International Speedway and a season-best 11th at Kentucky Speedway in July, respectively, before Almirola returned to competition and Wallace was left without a full-time ride for the remainder of the season.

    In late October 2017, Wallace was named a full-time competitor of the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the 2018 Cup season, thus making him the first African-American competitor to compete on a full-time basis in NASCAR’s premier series since the late NASCAR Hall of Famer Wendell Scott made the last accomplishment in 1971. Making his Daytona Speedweeks debut in February, Wallace notched a strong third-place result in the first of two Daytona Duel events as he lined up in seventh place for the 60th running of the Daytona 500. He then edged veteran Denny Hamlin by 0.002 seconds in a two-lap shootout to finish in second place behind race winner Austin Dillon in the 500, which made him the highest-finishing African-American competitor in the Daytona 500’s history as he eclipsed the previous record made by Scott’s 13th-place result in 1966.

    Commencing his first full-time Cup season on a strong note at Daytona, Wallace then finished no higher than 20th during the following five scheduled events before posting his second career top-10 result at Texas Motor Speedway in April. He then led six laps during the following scheduled event at Bristol Motor Speedway before falling back to 16th place in the final scoreboard. Finishing no higher than 14th for the remaining 18 regular-season events, Wallace did not clinch a spot to the 2018 Cup Playoffs. After finishing no higher than 19th throughout the Playoffs, Wallace managed to finish 10th in the penultimate event at Phoenix Raceway in November before capping off the season in 21st at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Ultimately, he capped off his first full-time Cup campaign in 28th place in the final standings and in the runner-up spot behind William Byron in the rookie standings on the strength of three top-10 results, 10 top-20 results, 19 total laps led and an average-finishing result of 24.5.

    Through the first 12 events of the 2019 season, Wallace achieved only two top-20 results and finished no higher than 17th, which occurred at Martinsville in March. Then during the All-Star weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, he and the No. 43 RPM team rose to the occasion as the Alabama native fended off Daniel Suarez in a two-lap shootout to win the second stage of the All-Star Open and transfer to his first career appearance in the All-Star Race, where he went on to finish in fifth place. From the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in May through the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in September, Wallace notched a total of two top-15 results before achieving his second career top-five result in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which marked his second top-three run in NASCAR’s crown-jewel events. The top-three result at Indy, however, was not enough for him to make the 2019 Cup Playoffs. Managing only two additional top-15 results throughout the 10-race Playoff stretch, Wallace concluded his sophomore season in 28th place in the final standings and with an average-finishing result of 23.9.

    In 2020, which marked his third Cup season driving for Richard Petty Motorsports, Wallace commenced the season by finishing 15th in the 62nd running of the Daytona 500. He then posted a strong sixth-place result at Las Vegas Motor Speedway following a late strategic call to remain on worn tires during a two-lap shootout before finishing 27th and 19th during the following two scheduled events at Auto Club Speedway and Phoenix. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic season that initially paused all racing activities until May and throughout the Carolinas, Wallace finished no higher than 16th during his next four scheduled starts before notching a 10th-place result at Bristol Motor Speedway in June. He then earned an additional three top-15 results throughout the following four events before finishing ninth at Indianapolis in July and ninth at Michigan in August. Despite achieving his lone top-five result in the regular-season finale at Daytona in August, Wallace fell short of making the Playoffs for a third consecutive season. With a total of two top-20 results throughout the 2020 Playoffs, Wallace capped off his junior Cup season in 22nd place in the final standings as he also achieved a total of five top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 21.1. By then, he surpassed 100 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series.

    In September 2020, Wallace was named a full-time competitor of the newly formed No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota Camry team that was formed by NBA legend Michael Jordan and NASCAR veteran Denny Hamlin for the 2021 Cup season. Despite finishing second in the second of two Bluegreen Vacation Duels, Wallace’s first run with 23XI commenced on a fiery note after being involved in a multi-car wreck on the final lap of the 63rd running of the Daytona 500 and settling in 17th place in the final running order. He then finished no higher than 11th during his next 18-scheduled starts before notching his first top-five result of the season at Pocono Raceway in July by finishing fifth. Wallace’s top-five run occurred through fuel strategy as he remained on the track with enough fuel to finish.

    After posting three top-20 results during the following five events, he ended up in second place in the regular-season finale at Daytona in August, but fell one spot short of racing his way into the 2021 Cup Playoffs. Five races later at Talladega in October, though, Wallace achieved his first career win in NASCAR’s premier series after the event was concluded 71 laps shy of the full distance due to inclement weather, where Wallace made a late surge to the lead before fending off Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano amid the draft. By recording the first career win for 23XI Racing, Wallace became the 198th different competitor to win in NASCAR’s premier series and the first African-American competitor to win in NASCAR’s premier series since Wendell Scott made the first accomplishment in 1963 at Speedway Park in Jacksonville, Florida. Managing two 14th-place results for the final five scheduled events, Wallace capped off the season in 21st place in the final standings on the strength of his Talladega victory, three top-five results, 62 total laps led and an average-finishing result of 19.7.

    Remaining at 23XI Racing for the 2022 season, Wallace commenced the season on a high note by finishing in second place in the 64th running of the Daytona 500 after being beaten by rookie Austin Cindric by 0.036 seconds. He, however, finished no higher than 13th through the following 11-scheduled events before recording his second top-10 result of the season at Kansas Speedway in May. By then, Wallace and the No. 23 team had achieved a total of seven top-20 results. After finishing no higher than 12th during the next six events, he then ignited a hot streak by notching four consecutive top-eight results. This included a third-place result at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and a fifth-place run at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in July. He also posted a strong runner-up result at Michigan in August after starting on pole position for the first time in his career. With two top-13 results in the final three regular-season events, however, Wallace fell short of making the Playoffs for a fifth consecutive season.

    Then prior to the Playoffs, Wallace was moved to pilot 23XI Racing’s No. 45 entry that was competing for the owner’s title. Commencing the Playoffs with a ninth-place result in the Southern 500, Wallace earned his second Cup career victory at Kansas in September after leading 58 of 267 laps and beating owner Hamlin by a full second. The Kansas victory, which transferred the No. 45 team from the Round of 16 to 12 in the owner’s standings, made him the first African-American competitor to achieve multiple victories in NASCAR’s premier series and the 18th different winner of the 2022 campaign. The team’s entry, however, was eliminated from the owner’s battle after finishing no higher than seventh during the Round of 12. Then at Las Vegas in October, Wallace experienced a low point to his career by intentionally wrecking reigning champion Kyle Larson across the frontstretch and engaging in a shoving match with Larson following earlier contact with Larson that led to the incident. The wreck prompted NASCAR to suspend Wallace for the following event at Homestead as John Hunter Nemechek piloted the No. 45 entry. Returning for the final two events, Wallace capped off his strongest season to date by finishing eighth and 22nd at Martinsville and Phoenix, respectively, before ending up in 19th place in the final standings. By then, Wallace had achieved career-high stats in top fives (five), top 10s (10) and laps led in a season (150) while also achieving a career-best average-finishing result of 18.3.

    Through the first 16-scheduled events of the 2023 Cup Series season, Wallace is off to his strongest starts of a season to date. He and the No. 23 team have rallied from posting back-to-back DNFs through the first two scheduled events by finishing fourth at Las Vegas in March. After posting two top-14 results for the following five scheduled events, he then notched a ninth-place run at Martinsville in April. A week later, he was leading on the final lap at Talladega when he and fellow competitor Ryan Blaney made contact that resulted with Wallace triggering a multi-car wreck and ending up 28th in the final running order. Wallace, though, rallied by finishing 12th, fourth, fifth and fourth, respectively during the proceeding four events. Despite coming off two consecutive results outside the top 15 in 30th and 17th, respectively, he is currently ranked in 15th place in the driver’s standings and is inside the top-16 cutline to make the 2023 Cup Playoffs by 26 points.

    Through 199 previous Cup starts, Wallace has achieved two victories, one pole, 15 top-five results, 27 top-10 results, 299 laps led and an average-finishing result of 21.1.

    Wallace is scheduled to make his 200th Cup Series career start at Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday, June 25, with the event’s coverage to occur at 7 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Palou capitalizes late for third IndyCar victory of 2023 at Road America

    Palou capitalizes late for third IndyCar victory of 2023 at Road America

    After spending a majority of the event trailing dominant pole-sitter Colton Herta, Alex Palou executed a late pit strategy to his advantage and emerge ahead of Herta and the competition before cruising to a late victory in the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America on Sunday, June 18.

    The 2021 NTT IndyCar Series champion from Sant Antoni de Vilamajor, Spain, led three times for 10 of 55-scheduled laps in an event where he started in third place and spent the bulk of the event battling within the top five amid mixed pit strategies and full-contact racing. The key moment for Palou occurred with 15 laps remaining when Herta pitted under green for fresh black tires. Instead of pitting with Herta, Palou opted to wait during the proceeding lap to pit for fresh tires. By the time he returned to the track, he was methodically gaining ground on Herta, who was in fuel conservation mode. Then with seven laps remaining, Palou executed his winning pass on Herta entering Turn 1. From there, the Spaniard was able to pull away from the field and proceed to claim his third IndyCar Series victory of the 2023 campaign.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, June 17, Colton Herta notched his first IndyCar pole of the season and the 10th of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 144.223 mph in one minute, 40.1945 seconds. Joining Herta on the front row was Pato O’Ward, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 143.979 mph in one minute, 40.3643 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced amid a fanned-out restart, Herta rocketed ahead with the lead entering the first turn as Alex Palou made an early move on Pato O’Ward for second. Then in Turn 1, early trouble struck for Kyle Kirkwood after he ran into the rear of O’Ward and spun in Turn 1, which sent O’Ward’s No. 5 Arrow McLaren Dallara-Chevrolet briefly off the course while Kirkwood’s No. 27 Andretti Autosport Dallara-Honda was stalled backwards.

    With the event remaining under green flag conditions, the field continued to bump and jostle for positions throughout the 14-turn circuit. At the front of the pack, Herta was leading ahead of the new runner-up competitor Alex Palou followed by teammate Marcus Armstrong, Josef Newgarden and Alexander Rossi while O’Ward was back in seventh behind Christian Lundgaard. As the field was making its approach back to the start/finish line, the first caution of the event flew for Kirkwood, who was still stalled in Turn 1 as the on-track safety workers came to his assistance before he was eventually able to re-fire his car and drive away.

    During the event’s first caution period, a majority of the field running within the bottom half of the pack that included Kirkwood, Felix Rosenqvist, Romain Grosjean, Scott Dixon and Will Power made a pit stop while the rest led by Herta remained on the track.

    When the race restarted under green on the third lap, Herta maintained the lead ahead of Palou and Armstrong, with Armstrong making an early attempt in battling teammate Palou for second, but the latter prevailed in retaining the spot as Newgarden was in fourth. Behind, Lundgaard was in fifth while Rossi settled in sixth in front of teammate O’Ward, who would be assessed a penalty and forced to yield two spots for blocking during the start of the event. Amid more bumps and jostling for spots in the middle of the pack, the field led by Herta managed to navigate its way through the 14-turn circuit under green for the following lap.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Herta was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Palou while Armstrong trailed in third place by more than a second. Meanwhile, Newgarden, who forced Lundgaard off the course in Turn 5 during the previous lap, retained fourth ahead of Rossi while Lundgaard slipped back to sixth. Behind, Devlin DeFrancesco was in seventh followed by Santino Ferrucci, O’Ward and Marcus Ericsson while Scott McLaughlin, Callum Ilott, Rinus VeeKay, Felix Rosenqvist and Graham Rahal rounded out the top 15.

    At the Lap 10 mark, Herta extended his advantage to more than eight-tenths of a second over Palou while third-place Armstrong trailed by more than a second in his No. 11 Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara-Honda. Newgarden and Rossi continued to run in the top five while Lundgaard, O’Ward, DeFrancesco, Ericsson and McLaughlin, who made a bold overtake on Ferrucci through the frontstretch, were running in the top 10. Meanwhile, Rosenqvist, who received a bump from Rinus VeeKay’s No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara-Chevrolet in Turn 3 two laps earlier, had plummeted to last place in 27th after battling for a top-15 spot and while trying to carve his way back to the front on his fresh tires while pitting during the first caution period.

    Two laps later, a host of competitors led by the race leader Herta pitted under green while Rosenqvist cycled into the lead. Shortly after, however, the event’s second caution flew when Grosjean, who snapped sideways and spun his No. 28 Andretti Autosport Dallara-Honda off the course in Turn 3 on Lap 11, had stalled his car on the gravel trap and needed the on-track safety crew to tow his car back onto the course and re-fired. Amid the pit stops, more trouble struck for Kirkwood, who stalled his car while trying to enter his pit box, but had to take evasive action to avoid being hit by Rinus VeeKay, who was exiting his pit stall. In addition, Armstrong was assessed a one-spot penalty for an unsafe release after he nearly hit Simon Pagenaud, who was trying to enter his pit stall at the same time when Armstrong was exiting his pit stall. VeeKay would also be assessed the same penalty as Armstrong for nearly colliding into Kirkwood.

    Just as the event was ready to restart under green on Lap 15, the caution quickly returned when Jack Harvey, who was running in the middle of the pack went off the course and dead straight towards the tire barriers in Turn 14.

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 19, Herta maintained the lead ahead of Palou and Newgarden while Armstrong was intimidating Rossi for fourth place. With the field behind bumping and jostling for spots, including some going off the course, Herta maintained his advantage over Palou and Newgarden while Armstrong trailed in fourth by more than two seconds.

    Then four laps later, Palou, who came under pressure from Newgarden, slipped and went off the course in Turn 5. This allowed Newgarden to move his No. 2 Team Penske Dallara-Chevrolet into second place as Rossi, Armstrong and O’Ward joined the battle. Meanwhile, Herta stabilized his advantage to more than a second while Newgarden maintained second place over Palou. Behind and during the following lap, Rossi and Armstrong continued to fight fiercely for fourth as O’Ward tried to close in. Then in Turn 5, O’Ward gained a strong run on Armstrong in Turn 5 and survived a side-by-side battle on Armstrong for a top-five spot in Turn 6 as O’Ward overtook Armstrong while Lundgaard tried to challenge Armstrong for sixth.

    Then during the event’s third caution period on Lap 25 for David Malukas, who pulled his car off the course in Turn 8 and became the first retiree of the event, a majority of the field led by Herta pitted while Armstrong remained on the circuit to inherit the lead. With the event surpassing its halfway mark under the caution period, Herta now found himself strapped behind Palou and Newgarden, both of whom managed to exit pit road ahead of Herta, while Armstrong was the leader.

    With the race restarting under green on Lap 28, Armstrong maintained the lead ahead of Will Power, both of whom were off sequence amid pit strategy, while Newgarden was overtaken by Herta and O’Ward entering the first turn. As the field continued to fan out and jostle for late spots, Power, who was running in second and trying to fend off Grosjean, who was a lap down, briefly touched the gravel and went off the course in Turn 6 as Grosjean overtook him. Behind him, Palou maintained third ahead of Herta and a hard-charging O’Ward while Newgarden fell to sixth.

    During the following lap, Herta overtook Palou for third place in Turn 6 as O’Ward closed in on Palou for a top-five spot. As the battles behind continue to ignite, Armstrong maintained the lead ahead of Power, who was trailing by more than two seconds and trying to navigate around the lapped competitor of Grosjean.

    Then with 24 laps remaining, Armstrong surrendered the lead to pit as Power cycled into the lead. Herta, Palou, O’Ward and Newgarden each moved up spots within the top five while Dixon, Rossi, Rosenqvist, McLaughlin and Ericsson were in the top 10. Herta would then manage to reassume the lead two laps later as Power pitted.

    With 20 laps remaining, Herta was leading by six-tenths of a second over Palou while third-place O’Ward trailed by more than a second. Newgarden and Dixon were scored in the top five while Rossi, Ericsson, Rosenqvist, McLaughlin and Lundgaard were in the top 10. Behind, Rahal was in 11th ahead of Kyle Kirkwood while VeeKay, Pagenaud, Ilott, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Helio Castroneves, Benjamin Pedersen, Devlin DeFrancesco and Agustin Canapino were in the top 20.

    Then with 15 laps remaining, Herta surrendered the lead to pit under green. Lundgaard, Rahal, Pagenaud and Ryan Hunter-Reay would also pit while Palou inherited the lead. Palou would then pit during the following lap under green as he was pursued by O’Ward, Newgarden, Dixon, Ericsson, Rossi, McLaughlin, Kirkwood, VeeKay, Castroneves, Ilott, Pedersen, Canapino and Ferrucci. Amid the pit stops, Herta managed to overtake all of them on the track, but he found himself mired by Will Power as Power returned to the lead.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Power, who last pitted on Lap 33 and has yet to make another pit stop amid a differing pit strategy, was leading by more than 10 seconds over Herta while Palou, Newgarden and O’Ward trailed under 15 seconds.

    Then a lap later, Power pitted under green. This enabled Herta, who was trying to conserve fuel to finish, to reassume the lead, but he was only three-tenths of a second ahead over Palou, who was trying to close in while third-place Newgarden trailed by nearly three seconds. Palou would then trail the race leader Herta by four-tenths of a second during the following lap as Palou continued to put pressure on Herta for the lead.

    Then with seven laps remaining, Palou, who was within a tenth of a second trailing Herta, overtook Herta’s No. 26 Andretti Autosport Dallara-Honda with a bold move to the outside lane entering Turn 1 as he assumed the lead in his No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara-Honda. As Palou tried to pull away with the lead, Herta maintained second in spite of being under fuel conservation mode as Newgarden closed in for the runner-up spot.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Palou was leading by more than two seconds over Newgarden, who overtook Herta for the runner-up spot. O’Ward would then overtake Herta for the final podium spot along with Dixon as Herta continued to run under a cautious pace on the track while trying to save fuel for the finish.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Palou remained as the leader by more than five seconds over Newgarden and more than seven seconds over O’Ward. With close competition lurking behind him, Palou, who wrecked a day ago during the event’s practice session but rallied with a repaired car, was able to cycle his way around the 14-turn circuit smoothly for a final time as he returned to the finish line and claimed his third checkered flag of the 2023 season.

    With the victory, Palou notched his seventh career victory in the NTT IndyCar Series and his second at Road America after winning his first in 2021. He also collected his third victory of the season and in recent weeks following his recent victories at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in May and at the Streets of Detroit two weeks earlier. Palou also recorded the fourth IndyCar victory of the season for Chip Ganassi Racing and the fifth for Honda.

    The victory also extended Palou’s hot streak of this season, where he has finished no lower than eighth through the first eight-scheduled events.

    “It’s been an amazing weekend, honestly,” Palou said on USA Network. “We started with a lot of speed. Big mistake by my part in practice too, but it was amazing. [The team] had only an hour and a half to rebuild all the car. We went back on track and it was even better than practice too. Super happy. They gave me the pit stop that gave us the win as well, so [I] cannot thank them enough. It was an amazing day for the No. 10 American Legion Ganassi car and we’re gonna keep on going. We’re gonna try to keep it rolling. We have an amazing team behind.”

    “[Herta] was really quick on the first couple of laps on the blacks [tires],” Palou added. “I thought I was not gonna catch him, but anyway, I knew while our tires were a bit slower on getting up to temperature, we kept on pushing, kept on putting some pressure and we finally made it happen.”

    Newgarden, this year’s Indianapolis 500 champion who won at Road America a year ago, finished in second place as he trailed Palou by more than four seconds while O’Ward, who is still pursuing his first victory of the season, fended off a late charge from Dixon to round out the podium in third place and claim his fourth podium result of the season.

    Dixon came home fourth after starting 23rd while Herta concluded his dominant run in a disappointing fifth place after leading a race-high 33 laps.

    “It was unclear to me like how the race was gonna play out at that point,” Herta said. “It was hard to say what was gonna happen with fuel numbers. I knew it was about 15 laps to go and that’s usually pretty reasonable fuel number. It ended up being quite a bit more. It’s frustrating. We had the best car. We were cruising the whole time. Like I had so much more in it and we just never really got to show it because we were always saving fuel, trying to go that lap later. That’s a killer. We still got a fifth out of it, which is nice. Not what we want, though, so for that reason, it’s pretty frustrating.”

    Ericsson, Lundgaard, McLaughlin, Kirkwood and Rossi finished in the top 10.

    There were nine lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 10 laps. In total, 23 of 27 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the eighth event of the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series season, Alex Palou continues to lead the championship standings by 74 points over Marcus Ericsson, 81 over Josef Newgarden, 98 over both Pato O’Ward and Scott Dixon and 125 over Scott McLaughlin.

    Results.

    1. Alex Palou, 10 laps led

    2. Josef Newgarden

    3. Pato O’Ward

    4. Scott Dixon

    5. Colton Herta, 33 laps led

    6. Marcus Ericsson

    7. Christian Lundgaard

    8. Scott McLaughlin

    9. Kyle Kirkwood

    10. Alexander Rossi

    11. Graham Rahal

    12. Rinus VeeKay

    13. Will Power, seven laps led

    14. Simon Pagenaud

    15. Helio Castroneves

    16. Santino Ferrucci

    17. Ryan Hunter-Reay

    18. Callum Ilott

    19. Agustin Canapino

    20. Felix Rosenqvist

    21. Benjamin Pedersen

    22. Sting Ray Robb

    23. Devlin DeFrancesco

    24. Marcus Armstrong, one lap down, five laps led

    25. Romain Grosjean, one lap down

    26. Jack Harvey, one lap down

    27. David Malukas – OUT, Off Course

    The next event on the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series schedule is the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. The event is slated to occur on July 2 at 1:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Truex dominates Sonoma for second Cup victory of 2023 season

    Truex dominates Sonoma for second Cup victory of 2023 season

    More than a month after snapping his one-year winless streak at the Monster Mile, Martin Truex Jr. doubled down on a sunny afternoon in Northern California and capped off a dominant run with a victory in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday, June 11.

    The 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion from Mayetta, New Jersey, led four times for a race-high 51 of 110-scheduled laps, including the final 13 after overtaking Chase Elliott while on four fresh tires for the lead compared to Elliott’s worn tires during a 15-lap dash to the finish. Once he acquired the lead, Truex then fended off a late charge from ex-teammate Kyle Busch to claim his second checkered flag of the 2023 Cup season and fourth overall at Sonoma.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Denny Hamlin notched his second Cup Series pole of the 2023 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 92.178 mph in 77.719 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Tyler Reddick, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 92.068 mph in 77.812 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Hamlin jumped ahead with an early advantage entering the first two turns. As the field navigated its way through Turns 3 and 4 before proceeding through the Chute corner, Hamlin maintained the lead ahead of teammate Christopher Bell while Reddick slipped to third. In addition, teammate/rookie Ty Gibbs challenged teammate Martin Truex Jr. for fourth while Michael McDowell and AJ Allmendinger were dueling for sixth. With the field navigating its way through the 12-turn circuit, Hamlin proceeded to lead the first lap ahead of Toyota teammates Bell, Reddick, Truex and Ty Gibbs.

    During the second lap, Hamlin was leading by eight-tenths of a second over teammate Bell while Toyota teammates Reddick, Truex and Ty Gibbs remained in the top five. Behind, Allmendinger was in sixth followed by McDowell, Chris Buescher, Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch while Austin Dillon, Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Bubba Wallace, Aric Almirola, Joey Logano, Corey LaJoie, Ross Chastain and Ryan Preece occupied the top 20.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Hamlin’s No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota TRD Camry continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over teammate Bell’s No. 20 Rheem Toyota TRD Camry while Reddick’s No. 45 Unleashed the Beast Toyota TRD Camry trailed in third place by more than a second. Truex and Ty Gibbs remained in the top five while Allmendinger, McDowell, Buescher, Elliott and Kyle Busch retained their spots in the top 10. Meanwhile, William Byron trailed in 21st place ahead of Chase Briscoe, Justin Haley, Kevin Harvick, Erik Jones and Brad Keselowski while Daniel Suarez, who over-revved his engine at the start of the race and lost a bevy of spots from starting 10th, was mired in 28th. In addition, Ryan Blaney was mired back in 32nd in front of teammate Austin Cindric, Harrison Burton, Andy Lally and Grant Enfinger.

    At the Lap 10 mark, Hamlin, who was leading by more than a second two laps earlier, had his lead shrink to four-tenths of a second over teammate Bell, who was slowly catching teammate Hamlin for the lead while teammate Truex moved his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota TRD Camry into third. Reddick and Ty Gibbs continued to trail in the top five followed by Allmendinger, McDowell, Buescher, Elliott and Kyle Busch. Behind, Larson was in 12th after starting 16th, Logano was mired in 15th ahead of Aric Almirola and Ross Chastain, Byron worked his way up to 20th, Bubba Wallace slipped back to 21st and Harvick was mired in 23rd behind teammate Chase Briscoe.

    Two laps later, Truex overtook teammate Bell for the runner-up spot in Turn 7 as Hamlin retained the lead by nearly two seconds. Soon after, Allmendinger overtook Ty Gibbs for fifth while Reddick retained fourth. By the time the event reached its Lap 15 mark, the top-eight nine competitors were separated by more than nine seconds as McDowell, Buescher and Elliott tried to close in on the top-six competitors led by race leader Hamlin.

    A lap later, Keselowski pitted his No. 6 King’s Hawaiian Ford Mustang under green. Blaney would then pit his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang under green during the proceeding lap while Hamlin continued to lead by more than three seconds over teammate Truex and more than four over teammate Bell. Blaney, however, would be penalized for speeding while exiting pit road.

    By Lap 20, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to more than three seconds over teammate Truex as Bell remained in third. Behind, Allmendinger overtook Reddick for fourth place in Turn 11 as McDowell followed suit. With Reddick back in sixth, Ty Gibbs trailed in seventh in his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota TRD Camry followed by Buescher, Elliott and Larson. Meanwhile, Zane Smith, Suarez, and Harrison Burton, among others, made pit stops under green.

    A lap later, Kyle Busch pitted his No. 8 McLaren Custom Grills Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 from 11th place. A host of names that included Larson, Elliott, Logano, Austin Dillon, Chastain, Byron, Harvick, Briscoe and Cindric would pit during the following lap as Hamlin remained on the racetrack with the lead.

    At the conclusion of the first stage on Lap 25, Hamlin captured his third stage victory of the 2023 season. Teammate Truex followed suit by more than two seconds in the runner-up spot while Bell, Allmendinger, McDowell, Reddick, Buescher, Ty Gibbs, Bowman and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were scored in the top 10. By then, a trio of Ford competitors that included Harrison Burton, Blaney and Cindric were mired towards the rear of the field as Almirola pitted under green. Ty Dillon, Erik Jones, Haley and a host of other names also pitted under green with Almirola.

    A lap later and as the event proceeded under green to start the second stage, Hamlin steered his No. 11 Toyota to pit road to pit under green followed by teammate Truex, McDowell, Allmendinger, Bell, Reddick, Buescher, Ty Gibbs, Bowman, Corey LaJoie and others. By the time the leaders completed their pit stops, Hamlin retained the lead by more than two seconds over teammate Truex while Elliott and Larson, both of whom pitted earlier than Hamlin, cycled their way into third and fourth. Bell, meanwhile, slipped back to fifth while Kyle Busch, Allmendinger, McDowell, Reddick and Buescher were running in the top 10.

    Thirty laps into the event, Hamlin retained the lead by eight-tenths of a second over teammate Truex while Elliott trailed in third place in his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 by more than six seconds. Bell was in fourth as he also trailed by more than six seconds while Larson settled in fifth. Meanwhile, Reddick and Ty Gibbs were strapped in eighth and 11th, respectively, while Byron navigated his way up to 15th.

    Then on Lap 32, Truex drew himself alongside teammate Hamlin in Turn 12 in a bid for the lead. After dueling for the lead through the first two turns, Truex made the pass stick through Turns 3 and 4 as he emerged as the second different leader of the afternoon.

    At the Lap 40 mark, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Truex was leading by a full second over teammate Hamlin while teammate Bell trailed by less than eight seconds in third place. Hendrick Motorsports’ Elliott and Larson trailed in the top five while Allmendinger, McDowell, Buescher, Reddick and Ty Gibbs were in the top 10 ahead of Kyle Busch, Bowman, Logano, Austin Dillon, Byron, Chastain, Stenhouse, Harvick, Almirola and Ryan Preece.

    Nearly five laps later, a second wave of green flag pit stops slowly commenced as Kyle Busch pitted along with names that included Suarez, Logano, Austin Dillon and Byron while Truex retained the lead by more than a second over teammate Hamlin. By then, Keselowski, Harrison Burton and Cindric pitted under green a few laps earlier as Harvick pitted under green on Lap 46.

    Nearing the Lap 50 mark, Truex continued to lead by more than a second over teammate Hamlin while third-place Bell, another teammate, trailed by more than 13 seconds. Behind, McDowell was in fourth ahead of Elliott and Allmendinger while Larson was scored in seventh ahead of Buescher, Reddick and Ty Gibbs. Just then, the first caution of the event flew on Lap 49 when a right-front wheel rolled out of Zane Smith’s No. 38 pit box just as his pit service was complete, with the wheel rolling into the center of pit road. The caution period occurred just as Ross Chastain had pitted in his No. 1 Kubota Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

    During the event’s first caution period, nine competitors that included Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Byron, Austin Dillon, Stenhouse, Chastain, Brad Keselowski, Harvick and Suarez remained on the track while the rest led by the race leader Truex pitted. Following the pit stops, Truex exited pit road first followed by teammate Bell, McDowell, Hamlin, Buescher and Elliott.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 52, where Kyle Busch and Logano occupied the front row, Busch launched ahead with the lead on the inside lane and entering Turns 1 and 2. He then cleared the field through Turn 2 while Logano and Byron battled for second. Behind, Chastain and Stenhouse battled for fourth while Austin Dillon was in sixth ahead of Harvick, Keselowski and Truex. With the field scrambling, fanning out and jostling for positions through the Chute corner before entering a series of right- and left-hand turns through Turns 7 to 10 before entering a steep right-hand, braking turn in Turn 11, Busch remained as the leader ahead of Logano while Chastain muscled his way into third ahead of Byron and Stenhouse.

    At the conclusion of the second stage on Lap 55, which marked the halfway point of the event, Kyle Busch claimed his second stage victory of the 2023 season. Logano followed suit in second while Chastain, Byron, Stenhouse, Austin Dillon, Truex, McDowell, Bell and Harvick were scored in the top 10.

    With the event proceeding under green with 54 laps remaining, Kyle Busch stretched his advantage to a second-and-a-half over Logano followed by Chastain, Byron and Stenhouse while Truex, McDowell, Bell, Austin Dillon and Buescher were scored in the top 10. Behind, Harvick was in 11th ahead of Allmendinger, Keselowski, Hamlin and Elliott while Suarez, Larson, Bowman, Ty Gibbs and Preece were running in the top 20. Meanwhile, Wallace was in mired in 21st ahead of teammate Reddick, LaJoie, Almirola and Briscoe while Josh Bilicki, Erik Jones, Blaney, Haley and Todd Gilliland were strapped in the top 30. Ty Dillon, Cindric, Harrison Burton, Enfinger, Andy Lally and Zane Smith rounded out the 36-car field, with all running on the circuit.

    With 50 laps remaining, Busch stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Logano while third-place Chastain also trailed by more than a second as he tried to catch Logano for the runner-up spot. Meanwhile, Truex carved his way up to fourth over Byron. McDowell would then overtake Byron for fifth during the following lap as Bell, Stenhouse, Buescher and Harvick were battling within the top 10. Soon after, Chastain overtook Logano for second entering the first two turns, but he went wide in Turn 2, which allowed Logano to reclaim the spot as Truex joined the battle. Truex would overtake Chastain during the proceeding lap before overtaking Logano for the runner-up spot with 47 laps remaining. All in the process, Kyle Busch increased his advantage to more than two seconds.

    Then with 46 laps remaining, Austin Dillon ran into late trouble after receiving a bump from Ty Gibbs that sent him spinning in Turn 11 while battling for 17th. Despite stalling his car while off the racing course, he managed to continue without drawing a caution.

    During the proceeding lap, Kyle Busch, who nearly got loose in Turn 10, was leading by a second over a hard-charging Truex while Logano trailed in third place by more than three seconds. Behind, McDowell carved his way up to fourth while Chastain settled in fifth. After cutting Busch’s advantage during the following three laps, Truex executed his move beneath Busch in Turn 7 as he reassumed the lead with 42 laps remaining. Truex would proceed to stretch the advantage to more than a second over Busch as McDowell started to intimidate Logano for third.

    With 38 laps remaining, names that included Bell, Bowman, Ty Dillon and Harrison Burton pitted under green. Byron would pit during the following lap along with Hamlin, Larson and Cindric. Another lap later, the pit strategy games ensued as more drivers including Logano, Chastain, Stenhouse, Preece, Almirola, Briscoe and Corey LaJoie pitted.

    Then with 36 laps remaining, the leader Truex pitted along with Kyle Busch and Allmendinger while McDowell inherited the lead after remaining on the track. Buescher moved up to second after he also remained on the track while Elliott, Harvick and Ty Gibbs moved up into the top five.

    With 35 laps remaining, McDowell surrendered the lead to pit under green followed by Buescher as Elliott, who last pitted on Lap 51, assumed the lead. By then, Keselowski and Justin Haley also pitted. Once McDowell and Buescher exited pit road together and in close-quarters racing, McDowell managed to cycle past Erik Jones, Chastain and Byron on the track while Buescher was trapped behind Chastain and Erik Jones.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Truex, who last pitted on Lap 75, reassumed the lead as both Elliott and Harvick pitted under green. By then, Reddick cycled back into second as he trailed Truex by nine-tenths of a second while Suarez, Kyle Busch and Logano were in the top five. Behind, Bell was in sixth ahead of McDowell, Wallace, Chastain and Buescher. During the following lap, Reddick, along with his teammate Wallace, and Suarez pitted under green as Busch, Logano, Bell and McDowell were scored in the top five.

    With 25 laps remaining, Truex extended his advantage to more than four seconds over Kyle Busch while third-place McDowell trailed by more than six seconds. Logano and Buescher were mired in the top five while Bell, Chastain, Byron, Hamlin and Larson were scored in the top 10 ahead of Stenhouse, Allmendinger, Bowman, Preece, Elliott and Harvick.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Truex continued to lead by more than four seconds over Kyle Busch as McDowell retained third place despite trailing by nearly seven seconds. Meanwhile, Buescher overtook Logano for fourth place two laps earlier while Chastain was up in sixth ahead of Bell, Larson, Byron and Hamlin.

    A lap later, the caution flew when Hamlin, who was running in 10th, scrubbed the inside wall entering the frontstretch. The incident caused him to get loose and spin in the middle of the frontstretch as he smacked the frontstretch’s wall and damaged his pole-winning Toyota TRD Camry along with his toe link and right-rear suspension. The damage to Hamlin’s car was enough to terminate his strong run in the garage.

    During the caution period, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Truex pitted while Elliott, Reddick and Blaney remained on the track as Elliott cycled into the lead. Following the pit stops, Truex exited first followed by Kyle Busch, Buescher, Logano, Chastain and Larson. In the midst of the pit stops, McDowell exited pit road 11th after enduring a slow pit service from his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports pit crew.

    With the race restarting under green with 15 laps remaining, Elliott took off with the lead entering the first two turns. With Elliott maintaining the lead through Turns 3 and 4 before entering the Chute corner, Truex quickly charged his way into second as Kyle Busch challenged Reddick for third. Logano would then challenge Reddick for fourth after overtaking teammate Blaney through Turns 7 and 8. As the field jostled for late positions throughout the 12-turn circuit, Elliott maintained the lead by four-tenths of a second over Truex while Kyle Busch trailed in third place by more than a second.

    Then during the following lap, Truex rocketed past Elliott’s No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the lead entering Turn 7. With Truex back out in front, Kyle Busch then closed up on Elliott’s rear bumper through Turns 8 to 10. Busch then moved up to second after overtaking Elliott, who was losing ground on worn tires, through Turn 11 as he set his sights on Truex for the lead. Way behind the leaders, Reddick fell off the pace after cutting a left-front tire after through Turn 11, but he proceeded to cut the Turn 11 corner and limp his No. 45 Toyota TRD Camry to pit road without drawing a caution, though NASCAR assessed Reddick a pass-through penalty for cutting the course. The race remained under green flag conditions during the following lap despite Almirola spinning but continuing in Turn 7.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Truex was leading by nine-tenths of a second over Kyle Busch while third-place Elliott trailed by more than three seconds. By then, Erik Jones, who spun in Turn 3A and briefly stalled his No. 43 Allegiant Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 between Turns 3 and 4, proceeded without drawing a caution.

    Truex would continue to lead by more than a second-and-a-half over Busch with five laps remaining and as Logano, Buescher and Elliott occupied the top five. By then, Blaney, who was running in the top 10 two laps earlier, had plummeted to 31st after getting hit by McDowell and spinning in Turn 7, as his roller-coaster day went from bad to worse after he spun again in Turn 2 when he got hit by Chase Briscoe.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Truex remained as the leader by more than three seconds over Kyle Busch. After smoothly navigating his way through the 12-turn circuit for a final time and with Busch unable to close the gap, Truex was able to the frontstretch victorious as he streaked across the finish line in first place and with his second checkered flag of the 2023 season.

    With the victory, Truex, who endured a dismal run at Sonoma along with his Toyota teammates a year ago, became the fourth Cup Series competitor to win multiple races this season as he notched his 33rd career victory in NASCAR’s premier series. He also notched his first Cup victory since winning at Dover Motor Speedway this past April and his fourth at Sonoma, with his last at the circuit occurring in 2019. In addition, Truex recorded his 14th victory driving for Joe Gibbs Racing and the 175th Cup career win for the Toyota nameplate.

    Ironically, this marked the fifth 1-2 finish in a Cup Series race overall for Truex and Kyle Busch where Truex ended up victorious.

    “[It took] A lot of hard work by everybody,” Truex said on FOX. “Everybody at Toyota, [Toyota Racing Development], everybody at [Joe Gibbs Racing] in the off-season to redesign. We got to do some work with NASCAR to pre-design some stuff. Everybody did and they did a good job there. Just hats off to my team. To be so bad here last year and to come back and do that with the same car, basically, is really unbelievable. Just proud of [my team]. We’re having a great year. I feel really good about our team. We couldn’t do it without all our partners, all of our fans. Man, it just feels so incredible to have a day like that and a run like that, and a team like I have. They’re doing everything right right now and it’s a lot of fun to drive these cars.”

    Kyle Busch, winner of last weekend’s Cup Series event at World Wide Technology Raceway, settled in second place for the second time this season and his fourth top-two result at Sonoma while Logano came home in third place for his fifth top-five result of the season.

    “Yeah, not too bad,” Busch said. “[I] Wished we had a little bit more. I tried there really hard at the end to, at least, try to keep Martin honest and felt like I could beat him a little bit on a lap and then, I would mess up and he’d beat me by a little bit more on the next lap. We were just trading a little bit there, but then, he was able to pull away there late. Great job by all the guys on this McLaren Grills Camaro. Proud of the effort. We gave it everything that we had. We made a lot of changes. We got a lucky break there with the yellow [flag on Lap 49], with only three laps on tires, so we were able to cycle to the front. Once we got up there, we could maintain pace with some of the good cars and have a good top-three speed race car and just flip-flop the race a little bit. Good fortunes for us. Nice to come out of here with a [runner-up result] after a win last week.”

    “Overall, the team did an amazing job,” Logano added. “Great execution. We got the car a lot better last night and to where I could, at least, hang in the top five. I wasn’t good enough to win at all means, but to get the AutoTrader Mustang up towards the front, get some momentum, we got lucky a few times today. We got pretty lucky today to get through it and get some points and get some momentum back going.”

    Meanwhile, Buescher, who finished second to Daniel Suarez at Sonoma a year ago, posted another strong result in Northern California by finishing fourth while Elliott capitalized in his return to racing following his one-week suspension along with his late strategic call to remain on the track on old tires to bid for a win by finishing fifth. Elliott, however, is currently situated in 31st place in the driver’s standings and trails the top-16 cutline to make the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs by 148 points.

    “[It was] Nice to get a top five,” Elliott said. “[I] Just felt like our only play was to stay out. I was really hoping that more people would [stay out] with us, where you had three or four rows and probably, still wouldn’t have been enough, but I do think it would’ve been nicer to have a couple more rows of a buffer before the [competitors on] tires got to us. Good fight. Certainly have one of our better runs there the last couple, so always good to finish strong. To kind of fight through there and get a top-five is a good thing. Looking forward to trying to build on that and hopefully, contend for a win here before long. Definitely closer today.”

    AJ Allmendinger settled in sixth while McDowell, Larson, Bell and Chastain finished in the top 10.

    Notably, Kevin Harvick finished 11th in his 23rd and final run at Sonoma, William Byron settled in 14th, rookie Ty Gibbs posted a 16th-place result in his first run at Sonoma, Suarez ended up 22nd and Blaney fell back to 31st following his two late-race spins. In addition, Grant Enfinger, who filled in for rookie Noah Gragson as Gragson continues to recover from concussion-like symptoms, finished 26th in his Cup Series debut while Andy Lally ended up 35th.

    There were 10 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured two cautions for six laps. In total, 31 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    With 10 Cup regular-season events remaining on the schedule, Martin Truex Jr. leads the regular-season standings by 13 points over William Byron, 24 over both Ryan Blaney and Ross Chastain, 25 over Kevin Harvick and 29 over Kyle Busch.

    William Byron, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. are currently guaranteed spots for the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs based on winning at least once throughout the regular-season stretch. Ross Chastain, Kevin Harvick, Chris Buescher, Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace and Alex Bowman occupy the remaining vacant spots in the Playoffs based on points, with Bowman occupying the 16th and final vacant spot by three points over Daniel Suarez, 11 over rookie Ty Gibbs, 14 over Michael McDowell, 33 over AJ Allmendinger, 39 over Austin Cindric and 40 over Corey LaJoie.

    Results.

    1. Martin Truex Jr., 51 laps led

    2. Kyle Busch, 17 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. Joey Logano

    4. Chris Buescher

    5. Chase Elliott, seven laps led

    6. AJ Allmendinger

    7. Michael McDowell, one lap led

    8. Kyle Larson

    9. Christopher Bell

    10. Ross Chastain, one lap led

    11. Kevin Harvick

    12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    13. Ryan Preece

    14. William Byron

    15. Alex Bowman

    16. Brad Keselowski

    17. Bubba Wallace

    18. Ty Gibbs

    19. Austin Dillon

    20. Corey LaJoie

    21. Justin Haley

    22. Daniel Suarez

    23. Ty Dillon

    24. Todd Gilliland

    25. Austin Cindric

    26. Grant Enfinger

    27. Harrison Burton

    28. Aric Almirola

    29. Chase Briscoe

    30. Josh Bilicki

    31. Ryan Blaney

    32. Erik Jones, one lap down

    33. Tyler Reddick, one lap down

    34. Zane Smith, one lap down

    35. Andy Lally, one lap down

    36. Denny Hamlin – OUT, Accident, 33 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    The NASCAR Cup Series teams and competitors enter a one-week break period before returning to action at Nashville Superspeedway on June 25. The event’s air coverage is scheduled to occur at 7 p.m. ET on NBC, which will launch NBC’s and USA Network’s coverage for the remainder of this year’s Cup season.

  • Almirola wins inaugural Xfinity Series event at Sonoma

    Almirola wins inaugural Xfinity Series event at Sonoma

    In a race dominated by Kyle Larson, a late opportunity presented itself for Aric Almirola and it resulted in the Floridian veteran fending off road ringers AJ Allmendinger and Larson to win the inaugural DoorDash 250 at Sonoma Raceway on Saturday, June 10.

    The 39-year-old Almirola from Tampa, Florida, led twice for 17 of 79 scheduled laps in a weekend where he was one of eight competitors pulling double-duty roles between the Xfinity and Cup Series divisions in Wine Country. Initially appearing to settle for a top-five result, a late caution period with 19 laps remaining followed by a restart with 15 laps remaining enabled Almirola to carve his way into the lead amid a scramble between Daniel Suarez and Alex Labbe.

    In the proceeding laps, however, Almirola found himself being pressured by hometown hero Kyle Larson through every corner and turn. A mistake, however, by Larson, where he clipped a tire barrel in Turn 11 and briefly lost control of his steering with eight laps remaining, allowed Almirola to place a reasonable gap between himself and Larson as Allmendinger joined the battle. With Allmendinger and Larson battling for second, Almirola was able to drive away and retain the lead through the final seven laps as he claimed his first Xfinity checkered flag in six years.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Kyle Larson notched his sixth career Xfinity Series pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 91.393 mph in 78.387 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Justin Allgaier, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 90.562 mph in 79.106 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Anthony Alfredo was the only competitor to drop to the rear of the field in a backup car after wrecking his primary car during Friday’s practice session.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Larson rocketed away with the lead entering the first two turns. Larson would continue to lead through Turns 3 and 4 while Allgaier was trying to fend off Aric Almirola for second. As the field fanned out and jostled early for positions, Larson would cruise to lead the first lap while Almirola was up in second after overtaking Allgaier entering Turn 8.

    During the second lap, Larson stabilized his advantage to a second-and-a-half over Almirola followed by Allgaier, Sheldon Creed and AJ Allmendinger while Ty Gibbs was in sixth after nearly turning Sam Mayer in Turn 7, with Mayer settling suit in seventh. Daniel Hemric was in eighth followed by John Hunter Nemechek and rookie Sammy Smith while Parker Kligerman, Alex Labbe, Austin Hill, Ross Chastain and Brett Moffitt were running in the top 15. Behind, rookie Parker Retzlaff, Daniel Suarez, rookie Chandler Smith, Josh Berry and Kyle Weatherman occupied the top 20.

    As the race proceeded through the third lap, Larson extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Almirola while Allmendinger moved up to third. Allgaier, meanwhile, was being challenged by Creed for fourth while Ty Gibbs retained sixth. Larson would continue to lead by more than two seconds over Almirola as the event reached its Lap 5 mark.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Larson continued to lead by more than two seconds over Allmendinger while third-place Almirola trailed by more than five seconds. Allgaier and Ty Gibbs were in the top five followed by Hemric while Mayer moved up to seventh after overtaking Creed, who locked up his tires in Turn 7. Kligerman and Nemechek filled out the top 10 on the track while Sammy Smith, Austin Hill, Chastain, Brett Moffitt and Retzlaff were mired in the top 15.

    Three laps later, on-track troubles occurred for a pair of RSS Racing competitors as Ryan Sieg spun in Turn 7. At the same time, teammate Joe Graf Jr. spun prior to entering the chute corner between Turns 4 and 7. In spite of both incidents, the race remained under green flag conditions as Larson continued to lead by more than two seconds over Allmendinger.

    Then on Lap 18, Chastain bumped and sent Nemechek’s No. 20 Yahoo Toyota Supra for a spin in Turn 11 while both were battling with Austin Hill in the top 15. With Nemechek falling back to 18th and the race remaining under green, Larson stabilized his advantage to more than two seconds over Allmendinger.

    At the conclusion of the first stage on Lap 20, Larson captured the stage victory after leading all the laps within the stage. Allmendinger trailed by more than two seconds while Almirola, Allgaier, Ty Gibbs, Hemric, Mayer, Kligerman, Creed and Sammy Smith were scored in the top 10. By then, Riley Herbst and Retzlaff had pitted under green a lap ago.

    Not long after, the first caution of the event flew when Josh Berry stalled his No. 8 Tire Pros Chevrolet Camaro in between Turns 7 and 8. Prior to the caution being displayed for Berry’s issue, Nemechek, Hill and Sage Karam pitted.

    During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Larson pitted while the rest that included Hill, Nemechek, Karam and Herbst remained on the track. Following the pit stops and amid the field cycling past Berry’s car that was slowly limping onto pit road, Larson exited first followed by Allmendinger, Allgaier, Ty Gibbs, Mayer and Kligerman. Amid the pit stops, Berry returned to the track in spite of being scored two laps down following early mechanical issues to his car while Retzlaff’s car was being pushed behind the pit wall.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 25, where Hill and Nemechek occupied the front row, Hill and Nemechek dueled for the lead through the first two turns. As the field bumped and jostled for positions through the first two turns before entering Turns 3 and 4, Hill managed to pull ahead with the lead followed by Nemechek and Herbst while Larson carved his way up to fourth in front of Karam and Allmendinger. With the field continuing to fan out and jostle for positions through a series of right- and left-hand turns through Turns 7 to 10 before entering a sharp right-hand turn in Turn 11, Hill retained the lead by four-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Larson while Nemechek, Allmendinger and Herbst were scored in the top five. By then, Ty Gibbs was in sixth while Allgaier, Karam, Kligerman and Creed were scored in the top 10.

    A lap later, Larson overtook Hill’s No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet Camaro entering Turn 7 to reassume the lead while Allmendinger pressured Nemechek for third. Allmendinger would then succeed and overtake Nemechek entering Turn 11 as Ty Gibbs muscled his way into the top five after overtaking Herbst’s No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang in Turn 11.

    By Lap 30, Larson was leading by more than two seconds over Allmendinger while Hill fell back to third, though he trailed by more than two seconds. Ty Gibbs moved his No. 19 He Gets Us Toyota Supra into fourth after bumping and overtaking teammate Nemechek in Turn 11 while Allgaier was in sixth ahead of Herbst, Kligerman, Karam and Almirola.

    At the halfway mark between Laps 39 and 40, Larson retained the lead by more than six seconds over Allmendinger and more than seven seconds over third-place Ty Gibbs while Hill and Allgaier were scored in the top five. Almirola, Nemechek, Herbst, Kligerman and Mayer trailed in the top 10 while Sammy Smith, Chandler Smith, Creed, Hemric, Custer, Brett Moffitt, Daniel Suarez, Chastain, Alex Labbe and Josh Bilicki were mired back in the top 20. By then, 35 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    At the conclusion of the second stage on Lap 45, Larson remained dominant as he claimed his second consecutive stage victory of the day with an advantage of more than nine seconds. Allmendinger and Ty Gibbs followed suit in second and third while Allgaier, Hill, Almirola, Nemechek, Herbst, Kligerman and Mayer were scored in the top 10. By then, Cole Custer pitted his No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang a lap earlier.

    With the event proceeding under the final stage with 34 laps remaining, Allmendinger, who was engaged in a tight battle with Gibbs to retain second during the closing laps of the second stage, pitted a lap later followed by Allgaier, Mayer, Hemric and others. Larson then surrendered the lead to pit under green with 33 laps remaining followed by runner-up Gibbs, Hill, Nemechek and more competitors as Almirola cycled into the lead.

    With 30 laps remaining, Almirola pitted from the lead along with Sammy Smith as Larson cycled back into the lead. By then, he was more than 10 seconds ahead of Allmendinger, who was strapped in third behind Suarez, who trailed Larson by more than four seconds despite needing a pit stop. Meanwhile, Ty Gibbs was back in fifth as he trailed by more than 14 seconds.

    Two laps later, Suarez surrendered second place to pit under green as Allmendinger cycled back into second, though he trailed Larson by more than 10 seconds. In the process, Ty Gibbs moved up to third as he trailed the lead by more than 14 seconds while Allgaier and Hill were running in the top five. Following his pit stop after leading a handful of laps prior to the final 30-lap mark, Almirola was in sixth.

    With less than 25 laps remaining, Larson stretched his advantage to more than 11 seconds over Allmendinger and more than 15 seconds over third-place Ty Gibbs while Allgaier and Hill retained their spots in the top five. Almirola also retained sixth while Nemechek, Mayer, Herbst and Kligerman were running in the top 10. Behind, Cole Custer was back in 11th while Chandler Smith, Sammy Smith, Creed and Brett Moffitt were running in the top 15.

    Five laps later, Larson continued to extend his advantage as he now led by more than 13 seconds over Allmendinger while third-place Ty Gibbs trailed by more than 16 seconds. Meanwhile, Almirola carved his way up to fourth followed by Allgaier while Hill was back in sixth ahead of Nemechek, Kligerman, Herbst and Mayer.

    A lap later, the caution flew when Jeffrey Earnhardt got loose, spun and wrecked his No. 45 ForeverLawn Chevrolet Camaro against the tire barriers in Turn 10. The incident all but erased Larson’s advantage of more than 13 seconds over Allmendinger. During the caution period, Alex Labbe and Suarez remained on the track while the rest of the lead lap field led by Larson pitted. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategy, Larson, who opted for no fresh tires during his pit stop, exited first followed by Allmendinger, who opted for two fresh tires. Almirola followed suit in third along with Allgaier, Hill and Nemechek while Ty Gibbs exited seventh after losing four spots on pit road.

    Down to the final 15 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Labbe and Suarez dueled for the lead entering the first two turns. Suarez then slipped up the track in Turn 2, which allowed Almirola, driving the No. 28 Michael Roberts Construction Ford Mustang, to move into the lead amid the scramble. Through Turns 3 and 4, Suarez got loose again as Allmendinger and Larson quickly moved up to second and third. Behind, a series of bumps and jostles ensued within the middle of the pack from the Chute corner towards the entrances of Turns 7, 8 and 9 while Almirola continued to lead ahead of a fierce battle for second place between Allmendinger and Larson.

    A lap later, Larson overtook Allmendinger for second as he began his charge on Almirola for the lead. Amid a series of late jostles and fierce battles around the circuit, trouble struck for Brandon Jones as he spun within the middle of the pack in Turn 8, but the race remained under green flag conditions. In the midst of the battles, Daniel Suarez was black-flagged for a restart violation.

    With 10 laps remaining, Almirola continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Larson while third-place Allmendinger trailed by more than a second. Behind, Ty Gibbs cycled his way back into fourth while Allgaier was in fifth ahead of Hill, Kligerman, Custer, Mayer and Sammy Smith.

    Then with eight laps remaining, Larson, who kept putting pressure on Almirola for the lead, made the slightest of contact against a tire barrel in Turn 11, which caused him to slip wide and lose his momentum briefly as he tried to steer his No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro straight. This allowed Allmendinger to move his No. 10 Gabriel Glas Chevrolet Camaro into second while Larson fell back to third as Almirola was now leading by more than two seconds.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Almirola continued to lead by more than two seconds over Allmendinger and Larson, with Larson still trying to navigate his way around Allmendinger for second. With Ty Gibbs retaining fourth and trailing by more than five seconds, Allgaier was engaged in a fierce battle with Kligerman for fifth.

    A lap later, Larson gained a run on Allmendinger and overtook him for second in Turn 7. Allmendinger, however, was able to execute a crossover move on Larson to reassume the spot while Almirola was still leading by nearly three seconds.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Almirola remained as the leader by less than three seconds over Allmendinger with Larson still stuck in third. With both Allmendinger and Larson unable to close the deficit throughout the 12-turn circuit, Almirola was able to smoothly cycle his way back to the finish line and claim the checkered flag for an upset victory in Northern California.

    By becoming the inaugural Xfinity Series winner at Sonoma, Almirola notched his fourth career victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in his 104th series start, his first on a road course venue and his first since winning at Talladega Superspeedway in May 2017. He also recorded the first NASCAR career win for RSS Racing.

    SONOMA, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 10: Aric Almirola, driver of the #28 Michael Roberts Construction Ford, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series DoorDash 250 at Sonoma Raceway on June 10, 2023 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images).

    “This [win] is so special,” Almirola said on FS1. “It’s hard to explain. I know it’s an Xfinity win. It’s not a Cup win, but after [Circuit of the Americas], I was like, ‘Man, I really don’t think I should run any more road course races in the Xfinity car.’ I lose self-confidence going into Sunday, but I knew that this racetrack; this is one that I can run good at. I’ve run good here my whole career. I don’t know what it is about this place, but I love racing here. Just so thankful to everybody on this race team. It’s been a really tough year on the Cup side and to come out here, get a win and get to celebrate,…[my kids]’re gonna get to go to Victory Lane. That is so special. So excited to share this Victory Lane here. Man, this is awesome. I can’t wait to get to Victory Lane.”

    Allmendinger, who led two laps, came home in second place as he trailed Almirola by more than a second followed by Larson, who led a race-high 53 laps compared to Almirola’s 17 but was unable to claim another victory at his home track.

    “I just got too greedy,” Larson said. “If you can get your rights [tires] below the rumbles, into the paint, it’s a lot of grip. I got it good a couple of times and then, I was just tucked up behind [Almirola] and clipped the tire [barrel]. It knocked the wheel out of my hand and after that, the toe [link] was off. I was really tight in the lefts and really loose on the rights, so we couldn’t make runs at it. I hate it for [crew chief] Kevin Meendering and everybody. They deserve a win so badly with his No. 17 car. Just bummed and mad at myself.”

    Ty Gibbs finished in fourth place as the top-four finishing spots were occupied by Cup Series regulars. Parker Kligerman was the highest-finishing Xfinity Series regular in fifth place while Custer, Allgaier, Austin Hill, rookie Sammy Smith and Sam Mayer finished in the top 10.

    Notably, John Hunter Nemechek ended up 16th, Ross Chastain finished 18th in his 100th Xfinity career start and Suarez ended up 27th following his late penalty.

    There were 10 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured two cautions for eight laps. In total, 31 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    With 12 Xfinity regular-season events remaining on the schedule, John Hunter Nemechek leads the regular-season standings by four points over Austin Hill, 25 over Justin Allgaier and 59 over Cole Custer.

    Results.

    1. Aric Almirola, 17 laps led

    2. AJ Allmendinger, two laps led

    3. Kyle Larson, 53 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    4. Ty Gibbs

    5. Parker Kligerman

    6. Cole Custer

    7. Justin Allgaier

    8. Austin Hill, four laps led

    9. Sammy Smith

    10. Sam Mayer

    11. Sheldon Creed

    12. Brett Moffitt

    13. Daniel Hemric

    14. Chandler Smith

    15. Riley Herbst

    16. John Hunter Nemechek

    17. Jeremy Clements

    18. Ross Chastain

    19. Josh Bilicki

    20. Kaz Grala

    21. Brandon Jones

    22. Kyle Weatherman

    23. Ty Dillon

    24. Dylan Lupton

    25. Alex Labbe, two laps led

    26. Jeb Burton

    27. Daniel Suarez

    28. Ryan Sieg

    29. Brad Perez

    30. Blaine Perkins

    31. Joe Graf Jr.

    32. Connor Mosack, one lap down

    33. Josh Berry, three laps down

    34. Sage Karam – OUT, Transmission

    35. Josh Williams – OUT, Suspension

    36. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Accident

    37. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Suspension

    38. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Transmission

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series teams and competitors enter a one-week break period before returning to action at Nashville Superspeedway on June 24. The event’s air coverage is scheduled to occur at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network, which will launch USA’s and NBC’s coverage for the remainder of this year’s Xfinity season.

  • Hamlin edges Reddick for first Cup pole award at Sonoma

    Hamlin edges Reddick for first Cup pole award at Sonoma

    Denny Hamlin saved his best lap for the last as he claimed the Busch pole position for the 2023 Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on Saturday, June 10.

    The three-time Daytona 500 champion from Chesterfield, Virginia, posted a pole-winning lap at 92.178 mph in 77.719 seconds, which was enough to claim the top starting spot over his 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick, who ended up posting the second-best qualifying lap at 92.068 mph in 77.812 seconds.

    With his accomplishment, Hamlin notched his 38th NASCAR Cup Series career pole, his first at Sonoma and second of the 2023 season. He also recorded the 138th Cup career pole overall for Joe Gibbs Racing.

    Through 629 previous starts and 49 victories in NASCAR’s premier series, Hamlin’s lone victory on a Cup road course venue occurred at Watkins Glen International in August 2016. Two months earlier, he was in position to win at Sonoma until he got bumped and overtook by former teammate and three-time Cup champion Tony Stewart on the final lap and final corner, which relegated him back to second place in the final running order. With a total of seven top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 17.9 through 16 previous starts at Sonoma, Hamlin will aim to achieve his first victory at Sonoma on Sunday, June 11.

    Reddick, who won at Circuit of the Americas in March and at Road America in July 2022, will start alongside his owner Hamlin on the front row.

    Michael McDowell, who finished third at Sonoma a year ago, posted the third-fastest qualifying lap at 92.060 mph in 77.819 seconds. Christopher Bell will line up in fourth place while AJ Allmendinger, who is pulling double-duty roles between the Xfinity Series and Cup Series doubleheader features this weekend, will start fifth.

    Following suit on the starting grid is rookie Ty Gibbs along with Chris Buescher and Martin Truex Jr., thus placing five Toyota competitors in the top eight starting spots. Daniel Suarez, who notched his first Cup career victory at Sonoma a year ago, will line up in ninth place while Chase Elliott, who returns from a one-race suspension, will complete the top-10 starting lineup in 10th.

    Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch, teammates of Richard Childress Racing, will start 11th and 12th, respectively, after both were the first two competitors to miss the final round cutoff to contend for pole position.

    Notably, Kyle Larson, who started on pole in the last five Cup events at Sonoma, will line up in 16th. In addition, teammate Alex Bowman will start 14th in front of Ross Chastain, Joey Logano will start 17th in front of Bubba Wallace, Kevin Harvick will line up 21st in his 23rd and final start at Sonoma, William Byron will start in 26th behind Brad Keselowski and regular-season points leader Ryan Blaney will start Sunday’s event in 31st.

    In addition, road-ringer Andy Lally will line up 33rd while Grant Enfinger, who is filling in for rookie Noah Gragson as Gragson continues to recover from concussion-like symptoms, will start 35th.

    Qualifying position, speed, time

    1. Denny Hamlin, 92.178 mph, 77.719 seconds

    2. Tyler Reddick, 92.068 mph, 77.812 seconds

    3. Michael McDowell, 92.060 mph, 77.819 seconds

    4. Christopher Bell, 91.877 mph, 77.974 seconds

    5. AJ Allmendinger, 91.873 mph, 77.977 seconds

    6. Ty Gibbs, 91.819 mph, 78.023 seconds

    7. Chris Buescher, 91.811 mph, 78.030 seconds

    8. Martin Truex Jr., 91.736 mph, 78.094 seconds

    9. Daniel Suarez, 91.449 mph, 78.339 seconds

    10. Chase Elliott, 91.308 mph, 78.460 seconds

    11. Austin Dillon, 91.780 mph, 78.056 seconds

    12. Kyle Busch, 91.703 mph, 78.122 seconds

    13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 91.425 mph, 78.359 seconds

    14. Alex Bowman, 91.380 mph, 78.398 seconds

    15. Ross Chastain, 91.347 mph, 78.426 seconds

    16. Kyle Larson, 91.341 mph, 78.431 seconds

    17. Joey Logano, 91.289 mph, 78.476 seconds

    18. Bubba Wallace, 91.254 mph, 78.506 seconds

    19. Corey LaJoie, 91.126 mph, 78.616 seconds

    20. Aric Almirola, 91.087 mph, 78.650 seconds

    21. Kevin Harvick, 91.052 mph, 78.680 seconds

    22. Ryan Preece, 91.052 mph, 78.680 seconds

    23. Justin Haley, 90.995 mph, 78.730 seconds

    24. Chase Briscoe, 90.958 mph, 78.762 seconds

    25. Brad Keselowski, 90.707 mph, 78.980 seconds

    26. William Byron, 90.569 mph, 79.100 seconds

    27. Ty Dillon, 90.525 mph, 79.138 seconds

    28. Erik Jones, 90.311 mph, 79.326 seconds

    29. Josh Bilicki, 90.261 mph, 79.370 seconds

    30. Zane Smith, 790.115 mph, 79.498 seconds

    31. Ryan Blaney, 90.001 mph, 79.599 seconds

    32. Todd Gilliland, 89.862 mph, 79.722 seconds

    33. Andy Lally, 89.789 mph, 79.787 seconds

    34. Austin Cindric, 89.718 mph, 79.850 seconds

    35. Grant Enfinger, 89.301 mph, 80.223 seconds

    36. Harrison Burton, 89.148 mph, 80.361 seconds

    With the starting lineup set, the 2023 Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway is set to occur on Sunday, June 11, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Larson wins pole position for inaugural Xfinity event at Sonoma

    Larson wins pole position for inaugural Xfinity event at Sonoma

    Kyle Larson commenced his double-duty weekend at Sonoma Raceway on the right foot by winning the pole position for the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ inaugural DoorDash 250 at Sonoma on Saturday, June 10.

    The 2021 Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, posted a pole-winning lap at 91.393 mph in 78.387 seconds in the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. It was enough for him to best 40 competitors vying for 38 starting spots on the grid as he will lead the field to the start of the series’ first-ever event at the 12-turn, windy circuit in Northern California.

    The pole award was Larson’s first of this season as he will be making his second Xfinity start of the 2023 campaign, but first in the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro entry. It also marked his first pole since Road America in July 2022 and the sixth of his Xfinity career. The last time Larson competed in the Xfinity Series was this past May at Darlington Raceway, where he piloted the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro to a thrilling last-lap victory over John Hunter Nemechek.

    “[The qualifying lap] was really good,” Larson said on FS1. “I feel like I got through most areas really well. I felt like, maybe, I over-slowed [Turn] 3 some, maybe over-slowed entry of [Turn] 4, but other than that, I felt really good. [The pit crew has] done an amazing job on this car. Every time they bring the No. 17 [Chevrolet] out, it’s fast. I knew we were gonna have a quick car. It’s up to the driver at this point to just put it all together. It’s been fun, though, so far this weekend. Hopefully, we can give [owner Rick Hendrick] another good run today.”

    Larson will share the front row with veteran Justin Allgaier, who posted the second-fastest qualifying lap at 90.562 mph in 79.106 seconds. With Allgaier having made two previous Cup starts at Sonoma in 2014 and 2015, Saturday afternoon’s Xfinity event will mark Allgaier’s first career start in an Xfinity car.

    Sheldon Creed, a native of Alpine, California, will line up in third place after posting a fast-qualifying lap at 90.429 mph in 79.222 seconds. He will be followed by Aric Almirola and AJ Allmendinger, both of whom join pole-sitter Larson as double-duty competitors between this weekend’s Xfinity-Cup doubleheader feature.

    Sam Mayer will start in sixth place while Ty Gibbs, Daniel Hemric, John Hunter Nemechek and rookie Sammy Smith, all of whom contended for pole position in the final qualifying round, will start in the top 10. Alex Labbe and Parker Kligerman will start 11th and 12th, respectively.

    Notably, Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez and Ty Dillon, all of whom join Larson, Almirola, Allmendinger and Ty Gibbs as Cup Series competitors performing double-duty roles for this weekend’s Xfinity-Cup feature, will start 15th, 17th and 32nd, respectively. In addition, Cole Custer, a native of Ladera Ranch, California, and winner of last weekend’s Xfinity event at Portland International Raceway will start 26th.

    With 41 competitors vying for 38 spots, Brennan Poole, Leland Honeyman and Mason Filippi were the three competitors who failed to qualify.

    Qualifying position, speed, time

    1. Kyle Larson, 91.393 mph, 78.387 seconds

    2. Justin Allgaier, 90.562 mph, 79.106 seconds

    3. Sheldon Creed, 90.429 mph, 79.222 seconds

    4. Aric Almirola, 90.375 mph, 79.270 seconds

    5. AJ Allmendinger, 90.274 mph, 79.358 seconds

    6. Sam Mayer, 90.210 mph, 79.415 seconds

    7. Ty Gibbs, 90.172 mph, 79.448 seconds

    8. Daniel Hemric, 90.017 mph, 79.585 seconds

    9. John Hunter Nemechek, 89.918 mph, 79.673 seconds

    10. Sammy Smith, 89.780 mph, 79.795 seconds

    11. Alex Labbe, 89.886 mph, 79.701 seconds

    12. Parker Kligerman, 89.872 mph, 79.713 seconds

    13. Austin Hill, 89.868 mph, 79.717 seconds

    14. Brett Moffitt, 89.868 mph, 79.717 seconds

    15. Ross Chastain, 89.550 mph, 80.000 seconds

    16. Parker Retzlaff, 89.549 mph, 80.001 seconds

    17. Daniel Suarez, 89.512 mph, 80.034 seconds

    18. Kyle Weatherman, 89444 mph, 80.095 seconds

    19. Josh Berry, 89.377 mph, 80.155 seconds

    20. Chandler Smith, 89.310 mph, 80.215 seconds

    21. Sage Karam, 89.232 mph, 80.285 seconds

    22. Josh Williams, 89.214 mph, 80.301 seconds

    23. Riley Herbst, 89.130 mph, 80.377 seconds

    24. Jeremy Clements, 88.942 mph, 80.547 seconds

    25. Josh Bilicki, 88.898 mph, 80.587 seconds

    26. Cole Custer, 88.850 mph, 80.630 seconds

    27. Kaz Grala, 88.658 mph, 80.805 seconds

    28. Brandon Jones, 88.650 mph, 80.812 seconds

    29. Connor Mosack, 88.644 mph, 80.818 seconds

    30. Jeb Burton, 88.591 mph, 80.866 seconds

    31. Brad Perez, 88.510 mph, 80.940 seconds

    32. Ty Dillon, 88.444 mph, 81.000 seconds

    33. Dylan Lupton, 88.390 mph, 81.050 seconds

    34. Ryan Sieg, owner points

    35. Jeffrey Earnhardt, owner points

    36. Blaine Perkins,  owner points

    37. Anthony Alfredo, owner points

    38. Joe Graf Jr., owner points

    With the starting lineup set, the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ inaugural running of the 2023 DoorDash 250 at Sonoma Raceway is set to occur on Saturday, June 10, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Several Cup and Xfinity drivers performing double duty roles at Sonoma

    Several Cup and Xfinity drivers performing double duty roles at Sonoma

    For a second consecutive season, Sonoma Raceway is in for a delightful treat as NASCAR makes its annual return to the 12-turn circuit in Sonoma, California, on June 9-11, 2023.

    In a similar approach from last year, two of NASCAR’s top three national touring series will run on the same weekend in conjunction with the ARCA Menards Series West at Sonoma. Compared to a year ago, where the Craftsman Truck Series competition made its return to the circuit for the first time in 24 years, the NASCAR Xfinity Series competition will experience its first taste of the twists and turns in Wine Country this upcoming Saturday, June 10, with DoorDash returning as a title sponsor of the 250-mile event.

    With the return of the highly anticipated racing weekend in Northern California, a host of NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series stars will be attempting to pull double duty efforts within all three series.

    The driver who headlines the double duty role for this weekend’s Xfinity-Cup doubleheader feature is Kyle Larson. The 2021 Cup Series champion and 21-race Cup winner from Elk Grove, California, is scheduled to make his first of two starts this season in the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro for Hendrick Motorsports. His Xfinity start will occur a day prior to climbing aboard his iconic No. 5 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the Cup division.

    Aside from being a hometown hero, Larson is no stranger to achieving success at Sonoma. He notched a Cup victory at the circuit in 2021 after leading a race-high 57 of 92 laps and has started on pole position in the last five consecutive Cup events at Sonoma. He has also achieved his share of success on road course venues after winning the last two Cup events at Watkins Glen International, the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course venue in October 2021 and his first Xfinity road course victory at The Glen last August.

    While this weekend is set to mark his first Xfinity start of this season in HMS’ No. 17 entry, Larson has already made one start in the series in May. There, he piloted Kaulig Racing’s No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro entry to a thrilling last lap victory over John Hunter Nemechek at Darlington Raceway. With the Darlington victory being the first for him ever in NASCAR, Larson aims to achieve another accomplishment by adding a Xfinity victory at Sonoma to his racing resume.

    Speaking of the No. 10 Kaulig Racing entry, AJ Allmendinger returns to pilot the entry for a second time this season. The 41-year-old veteran from Los Gatos, California, will be receiving sponsorship support from Gabriel Glas for this weekend’s Xfinity and Cup rides, where he currently drives the No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry for Kaulig in NASCAR’s premier series.

    Of his 16 career victories in the Xfinity circuit, 11 of them have occurred on road course venues, which makes Allmendinger the winningest competitor on road courses in the series. Despite winning on seven different road courses between the Xfinity and Cup levels, including his two Cup victories at Watkins Glen International and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course venue, Allmendinger has yet to achieve a win at Sonoma. In 11 previous starts at Sonoma in the Cup Series, he has led a total of 65 laps, but has only managed to finish in the top 10 twice, with his best result being seventh in 2009. He has managed to start on the front row three times between 2014-16, including on pole position in 2015. With his most recent victory in the series occurring this past March at Circuit of the Americas, Allmendinger strives to extend his road course dominance by checking off another road course venue off his bucket list.

    Photo by Chad Wells for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    Joining the list of double duty competitors between the Xfinity-Cup action is Ross Chastain, who drives the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Trackhouse Racing in the Cup Series. The 30-year-old Chastain from Alva, Florida, is scheduled to drive the No. 91 Chevrolet Camaro for DGM Racing sponsored by Skip Barber Racing School, with the event set to mark his third series start of this season after competing at Auto Club Speedway in February and at Darlington in May.

    In three career starts at Sonoma in the Cup Series, Chastain has notched two consecutive seventh-place results, including this past season. He was one of five Cup competitors who competed in last year’s Truck Series event at Sonoma, where he led 19 of 75 laps before finishing fourth while driving for Niece Motorsports. Chastain also has one road course victory stored in his resume, which occurred at Circuit of the Americas in March 2022 on a day where he also notched the first Cup career win for himself and Trackhouse Racing. On the Xfinity side, his best series’ result on a road course venue was at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course circuit, where he finished fourth.

    Ironically, a year after making his 100th Truck career start overall at Sonoma, Chastain is also primed to achieve another milestone start in Northern California. By qualifying and taking the green flag in this Saturday’s event, he will make his 200th career start in the Xfinity circuit. Through 199 previous Xfinity starts, the Floridian has achieved two career victories, one pole, 23 top-five results, 49 top-10 results, 961 laps led and an average-finishing result of 16.7. His best points result in the series is seventh place, which occurred in 2020. During that season, he notched career-high stats in top-fives (15), top-10s (27), laps led (553), overall average-starting result (7.7) and overall average-finishing result (8.2) despite going winless and while driving for Kaulig Racing.

    Veteran Aric Almirola from Tampa, Florida, is also scheduled to pull double duty efforts as he will be piloting the No. 28 Michael Roberts Construction Ford Mustang for RSS Racing on Saturday before driving the No. 10 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing on Sunday. The Xfinity event is set to mark Almirola’s 104th career start in the series and second of the season after he competed at Circuit of the Americas this past March, where he finished 24th while competing for SS-Green Light Racing.

    Through 10 Cup career starts at Sonoma, Almirola has achieved two top-10 results, with his best result being eighth in June 2018. While this weekend is set to mark his first Xfinity start at Sonoma, it will mark his third different series where he has competed at the circuit. In June 2018, Almirola competed in the ARCA Menards Series West event at Sonoma for Stewart-Haas Racing, where he finished second after leading 23 of 64 laps. With his last Xfinity victory occurring at Talladega Superspeedway in May 2017 and his best road course result in the Xfinity circuit being a fifth-place run at Watkins Glen in August 2018, a first road course victory is still something Almirola continues to pursue.

    Photo by Bruce Nuttleman for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    Another competitor attempting to participate in double duty efforts is Ty Dillon, who will be piloting the No. 4 Chevrolet Camaro for JD Motorsports. The 31-year-old Dillon and grandson of championship-winning owner Richard Childress from Welcome, North Carolina, is coming off his recent series start at Darlington in May, where he finished 19th while driving the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro.

    Dillon has made a total of four Cup starts at Sonoma, with his best result being 23rd a year ago while driving for Petty GMS Motorsports. Like Almirola, he has yet to achieve a road course victory to his resume. The closest Dillon came to winning on a road course circuit was during the inaugural Truck Series event at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in September 2013, where he was leading on the final lap until he got wrecked by Chase Elliott entering the final corner. His best Xfinity result on a road course venue is third, which was achieved at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in August 2015. With his latest Xfinity victory spanning back to July 2014 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Dillon, who currently competes full time in the Cup Series and in the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports, aims for a momentous boost to his racing career as he fights his way back to championship-caliber form.

    In a youthful career highlighted with an abundance of success and a rapid ascend to the Cup Series level, Ty Gibbs is set to experience another first to his career as he prepares to tackle Sonoma Raceway for the first time ever and twice in one weekend. The 20-year-old reigning Xfinity Series champion and grandson of championship-winning owner Joe Gibbs from Charlotte, North Carolina, will return as the driver of the No. 19 Toyota Supra sponsored by The He Get Us campaign for his third series start of this season.

    While racing on Sonoma’s surface will be new for Gibbs, racing on road courses is something he is familiar with, with some of his success occurring on road course venues. He achieved his first Xfinity career victory in his series debut at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course in February 2021. He then proceeded to win at Watkins Glen in August 2021 before winning at Road America last July following a last lap battle against Kyle Larson. With 11 Xfinity victories achieved, three on road courses, in 53 series career starts, Gibbs, who earned top-five results in two Xfinity starts this season at Circuit of the Americas in March and at Charlotte in May, aims to extend his top-five streak to three and potentially, emerge victorious while continuing his pursuit of claiming this year’s Cup Rookie-of-the-Year title behind the wheel of JGR’s No. 54 Toyota TRD Camry in the Cup circuit.

    Lastly on the Xfinity side, Daniel Suarez becomes the seventh Cup participant for the inaugural Xfinity event at Sonoma as he will be piloting the No. 07 Chevrolet Camaro for SS-Green Light Racing. The 2016 Xfinity Series champion from Monterrey, Mexico, enters the Sonoma weekend with high momentum after notching his first Cup Series career victory at the circuit a year ago and becoming the first Mexican-born competitor to win in NASCAR’s premier series.

    While this season marks his third as a full-time Cup Series competitor in the No. 99 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Trackhouse Racing, this Saturday’s Xfinity event is set to mark Suarez’s first start in the Xfinity circuit since racing at Chicagoland Speedway in June 2018. Suarez, though, made his name made within the Xfinity circuit with 84 career starts in the series, a Rookie-of-the-Year title from 2015 and three career victories, including the 2016 championship as he became the first Latin American competitor to win a title across NASCAR’s top three national touring series. His highest Xfinity result on road courses stands at fourth place, which he achieved twice at Watkins Glen and at Road America in August 2016.

    For Sonoma, Suarez returns to the circuit with vast experience. In conjunction with his five total Cup Series start, he competed in two consecutive ARCA Menards Series West events at Sonoma, where he finished 11th and fourth, respectively, in 2017 and 2018. Suarez also competed as a relief competitor for the injured Carson Hocevar and Niece Motorsports during the Truck Series’ Sonoma event a year ago, where he rallied from two laps down after relieving Hocevar early in the event to finish sixth. Given his strength of the circuit, Suarez aims for a repeat victory while pursuing his first Cup victory of the 2023 campaign.

    Photo by David Myers for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    A day prior to the Xfinity Series’ inaugural event at Sonoma, the ARCA Menards Series West division will make its return to the circuit for the 44th time overall as General Tire retains its right of sponsoring the 200-mile event. The lone Cup Series competitor who is entered for the event is Ryan Preece, who drives the No. 41 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing. The 32-year-old Preece from Berlin, Connecticut, will be piloting the No. 9 Ford for SHR in the ARCA West region, which will mark his second career start in the series. His lone start in the series occurred at Sonoma in June 2019, where he led a race-high 33 of 57 laps and was in position of winning until he was penalized for a late restart violation and demoted to the last competitor running on the lead lap in 20th place. A former winner across the Truck and Xfinity circuits, Preece has also made two previous starts at Sonoma in the Cup Series in 2019 and 2021, with his best result being 21st from the 2021 season. His best results on road courses within NASCAR’s top three national touring series are a pair of fourth-place runs at Watkins Glen and the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in 2018.

    For Friday’s ARCA West event at Sonoma, Preece will be competing alongside a host of Xfinity Series regulars that include Cole Custer, Riley Herbst, Parker Retzlaff, Kyle Sieg and Sammy Smith, all of whom will receive a head start to their weekend prior to their series’ debut at the Northern California circuit.

    Custer, a former Cup Series Rookie-of-the-Year recipient from Ladera Ranch, California, will retain driving responsibilities of the No. 55 Ford for High Point Racing for a second consecutive week after competing in last weekend’s event at Portland International Raceway. Custer is also coming off a dramatic weekend at Portland, where he notched his first Xfinity victory of the season during an overtime shootout. Herbst, Custer’s Xfinity teammate at Stewart-Haas Racing from Las Vegas, Nevada, will also be returning to the series for a second consecutive week as he will be driving the No. 5 Jerry Pitts Racing Ford.

    Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    Retzlaff, a Xfinity rookie competitor from Rhinelander, Wisconsin, who currently competes for Jordan Anderson Racing, will be piloting the No. 02 Young’s Motorsports Chevrolet for a second consecutive week while Kyle Sieg, a full-time Xfinity competitor for RSS Racing from Tucker, Georgia, will be assuming the No. 46 Ford for Lowden Jackson Motorsports.

    Lastly, Sammy Smith, a Xfinity rookie from Johnston, Iowa, who currently competes for Joe Gibbs Racing, will be joining Hattori Racing Enterprises for a one-race effort in the No. 81 Toyota. Smith, who notched his first Xfinity career victory at Phoenix Raceway in March, has not yet competed at Sonoma throughout his youthful racing career, but he has achieved an abundance of success within the ARCA divisions, with six victories in the ARCA Menards Series, two consecutive ARCA East titles and a single ARCA West victory that occurred at Phoenix last November.

    With Sonoma Raceway serving as the next scheduled event on the 2023 NASCAR schedule and with the drivers’ roster for this weekend’s events set, the weekend commences with the ARCA Menards Series West running the General Tire 200 on Friday, June 9, at 6:30 p.m. ET as the event will air live on FloRacing. The Xfinity Series’ inaugural DoorDash 250 at Sonoma will occur the following day on Saturday, June 10, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1. The Cup Series’ Toyota Save/Mart 350 will cap off the weekend as the series’ top premier competitors compete on Sunday, June 11, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Custer grabs dramatic Xfinity victory in overtime at Portland

    Custer grabs dramatic Xfinity victory in overtime at Portland

    From starting at the rear of the field to muscling his way to the front, Cole Custer found himself at the right spot at the right time to steal the spotlight and drive to an overwhelming victory in the second annual running of the Pacific Office Automation 147 at Portland International Raceway on Saturday, June 3.

    The 25-year-old Custer from Ladera Ranch, California, led two times for five of 77 over-scheduled laps as he methodically carved his way to the front despite starting at the rear of the field for unapproved adjustments to his car. Then after spending the majority of the event running towards the front, where he claimed the second stage victory in a photo finish, Custer seized an opportunity during an overtime shootout when Parker Kligerman collided against the leaders Justin Allgaier and Sheldon Creed entering the first turn. This caused Kligerman to lose his momentum as both Allgaier and Creed took the chicane before blending back onto the circuit while Custer muscled into the lead. Once he had the lead, the Californian spent the final two laps fending off a late charge from Allgaier to claim his first Xfinity victory of the 2023 season.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Sheldon Creed notched his first career pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 95.694 mph in 74.111 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Cole Custer, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 95.398 mph in 74.341 seconds.

    Prior to the event, however, Custer joined Blaine Perkins, Sam Mayer, Garrett Smithley, Brandon Jones, Joe Graf Jr., Parker Kligerman, Jeremy Clements, Patrick Emerling, Anthony Alfredo and Josh Williams as a host of competitors who started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. Stefan Parsons also dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change made to his car.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Creed and John Hunter Nemechek, who moved up to the front row, dueled for the lead entering the first two sets of sharp turns. Then as Creed fended off an early challenge from Nemechek, where Nemechek bumped Creed through the first two turns, rookie Chandler Smith spun in the middle of the turn after getting hit by Connor Mosack while running in the top 10. This caused the rest of the field to scatter and fan out across the chicane and the turns while Creed maintained the lead. After navigating his way through the 12-turn circuit, Creed proceeded to lead the first lap ahead of Nemechek as Jordan Taylor, Josh Berry, Justin Allgaier and Austin Hill followed suit.

    During the second lap, rookie Sammy Smith pitted to address a shifter issue to his No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota Supra that was stuck in second gear. Amid Smith’s issues, Creed retained the top spot with a steady advantage over Nemechek while Jordan Taylor retained third.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Creed was leading by half a second over Nemechek followed by Taylor, Berry and Allgaier while Austin Hill, Daniel Hemric, Myatt Snider, Kaz Grala and Jeb Burton in the top 10. By then, Connor Mosack was in 11th ahead of Riley Herbst, Alex Labbe, Brett Moffitt and Dylan Lupton while Cole Custer, Anthony Alfredo, Leland Honeyman, rookie Parker Retzlaff and Ryan Sieg occupied the top 20. Two laps earlier, Parker Chase, who was running towards the rear of the field, had plummeted below the leaderboard after spinning in Turn 1.

    Just past the Lap 10 mark, Creed continued to lead by more than eight-tenths over Nemechek while Allgaier, Taylor and Berry were in the top five. By then, Custer had cracked the top 15 after starting at the rear of the field. A lap later, Ryan Sieg and Leland Honeyman spun in Turn 4 after making contact and going off the course.

    On Lap 16 and while Creed retained the lead by more than a second over Nemechek, Brennan Poole ran into early issues after he went off the course in Turn 11. He would then take his JD Motorsports entry to the garage without drawing a caution.

    Nearing the Lap 20 mark, however, the first caution of the event flew when Stefan Parsons came to a stop in Turn 3 Then prior to a restart with five laps remaining in the first stage, Hemric, who was in the top 10, pulled his No. 11 Cirkul Chevrolet Camaro that was on fire off the course as his event came to an early end.

    With the restart occurring with two laps remaining in the first stage, Creed and Nemechek dueled for the lead entering the first turn as Myatt Snider, who restarted in the top 10, fanned out in an attempt to gain spots. In spite of the bumps that were ongoing amid the front runners, the field navigated smoothly through the first two tight turns as Creed retained the lead over Nemechek and Berry while Allgaier, Hill and Taylor were in the top six.

    Prior to the final lap, Nemechek made his move beneath Creed entering the frontstretch as he assumed the lead entering the first two turns. Creed quickly responded back through Turns 4 and 5 before Nemechek fended off Creed’s run and maintained the top spot. Then after fending off Creed’s attacks through Turns 5 to 7, Nemechek appeared to pull away through Turns 8 to 10. In Turn 11, however, Nemechek went wide, which allowed Creed to draw beneath him and lightly rub fenders with Nemechek before he reassumed the lead. With the lead back in his grasp, Creed managed to pull away and conclude the first stage scheduled on Lap 25 with his second stage victory of the season. Nemechek ended up second followed by Allgaier, Hill and Berry while Taylor, Custer, Snider, Parker Kligerman and Herbst were scored in the top 10. With the rest of the field making its way to the start/finish line, Joe Graf Jr. spun off the course in Turn 11.

    During the first stage break, all competitors pitted for non-competitive pit stops, with each given three minutes to make any changes. Amid the pit stops, Brad Perez replaced Leland Honeyman as Honeyman had been under the weather.

    The second stage started on Lap 27 as Creed and Nemechek occupied the front row. At the start, Creed launched ahead with the top spot over Allgaier and Nemechek while Custer, who restarted seventh, fanned out to three lanes as he managed to move up to fourth entering the first turn. As the field navigated its way through the first two sharp turns, trouble struck for Berry as Hill hit and sent Berry’s No. 8 Tire Pros Chevrolet Camaro for a spin. With Berry spinning his car off the course, the event remained under green flag conditions as Creed retained the lead while the field behind scrambled and jostled for positions.

    Then on Lap 33, Allgaier gained a run and battled dead even with Nemechek, who briefly lost his momentum while challenging Creed for the lead, through Turns 7 and 8 before gaining second place. In the process, Creed managed to maintain the top spot by nearly half a second. During the following lap, the battle for the lead became a six-car battle as Custer, Kligerman and Jordan Taylor closed in for the battle of the lead.

    By Lap 40, Creed continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over Allgaier followed by Nemechek, Custer and Kligerman while Taylor, Myatt Snider, Hill, Herbst and Sam Mayer were in the top 10. Behind, Alex Labbe was scored in 11th over Jeb Burton, Chandler Smith, Connor Mosack and Brett Moffitt while Anthony Alfredo, Retzlaff, Kaz Grala, Brandon Jones and Josh Williams were running in the top 20.

    Two laps later, trouble struck for Preston Pardus, who spun in Turn 10 and briefly stalled his car before he limped it back to pit road. With the event remaining under green, Creed maintained the lead as Allgaier, Nemechek and Custer engaged in a fierce battle for second place. Kligerman would close in to join the battle as the top-five competitors were separated by less than two seconds.

    Another four laps later, Chandler Smith, who served an early pass-through penalty for missing the chicane, spun in Turn 11 while running within the top 15, but he continued despite plummeting to 20th. Not long after, Snider spun his No. 19 Tree Top Toyota Supra in between Turns 8 and 9 while running in the top 10, but he also continued as he dropped to 12th. In the process, the battle for the lead ignited between the top six as Creed remained out in front ahead of Allgaier, Nemechek, Custer, Kligerman and Taylor.

    Prior to the final lap of the second stage, Nemechek made his move beneath Allgaier through Turns 10 and 11 as he overtook him for second. Custer would then follow suit and move up to third entering Turn 1 as Allgaier slipped to fourth while Creed retained the lead. Then after trailing Creed for nearly the entire final lap, Nemechek put the front bumper to Creed’s rear bumper and sent Creed’s No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro spinning off the course in Turn 11. This allowed Custer to draw even beneath Nemechek entering the frontstretch as he and Nemechek dueled for the stage victory. At the start/finish line, Custer managed to peek ahead and edge Nemechek in a photo finish to capture the second stage victory on Lap 50, which also marked Custer’s third stage victory of the season. Nemechek ended up in second followed by Allgaier, Kligerman and Taylor while Creed was able to salvage sixth. Mayer, Herbst, Hill and Jeb Burton were scored in the top 10.

    During the second stage break, all competitors led by Custer pitted for non-competitive pit stops as they all retained their respective spots from the second stage’s conclusion.

    With 23 laps remaining, the final stage started as Custer and Nemechek occupied the front row. At the start, Custer had appeared to pull ahead from the field until he went wide and missed the first turn as he was forced to take the chicane. With Custer off the track and pulling a stop-and-go move to avoid a penalty, Allgaier assumed the lead followed by Nemechek, Kligerman and Creed through the first three turns and entering a series of right and left-hand turns in Turns 4 and 5. As the field behind jostled, Allgaier managed to maintain the top spot by a steady margin over Nemechek while Creed battled Kligerman for third.

    A few laps later, Sam Mayer carved his way to the front as he battled and overtook Kligerman for fourth while Allgaier remained as the leader over Nemechek and Creed.

    With 20 laps remaining, Allgaier was leading by six-tenths of a second over Nemechek followed by Creed, Mayer and Kligerman while Taylor, Hill, Custer, Snider and Herbst were in the top 10. Behind, Mosack was in 11th ahead of Brett Moffitt, JEb Burton, Labbe and Alfredo while Jones, Berry, Retzlaff, Chandler Smith and Dylan Lupton were mired in the top 20.

    Then approaching the final 19 laps of the event, Creed delivered payback to Nemechek as he tapped and sent Nemechek’s No. 20 Red Bird Farms Toyota Supra for a spin in Turn 11 while the rest of the field scattered to avoid hitting Nemechek. With the race remaining under green and as Nemechek continued, Kligerman overtook Creed for second as Hill, Taylor, Custer and Mayer joined the battle for second. In the process, Allgaier retained the lead by nearly three seconds.

    Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Allgaier maintained the lead by more than two seconds over Creed and more than three seconds over third-place Kligerman while Hill and Custer were scored in the top five. Meanwhile, more trouble struck for Nemechek as he got slammed by teammate Sammy Smith, who overshot the first turn and had to take the chicane. Shortly after continuing, Nemechek ran into the side of Smith to express his displeasure as both sustained tire rub and damage to their cars. Both Joe Gibbs Racing teammates would pit simultaneously for repairs.

    With 10 laps remaining, Allgaier continued to lead by more than four seconds over Kligerman while Creed, Hill, Custer and Mayer occupied the top six on the track. Behind, Taylor was in seventh followed by Snider, Mosack and Labbe. By then, Nemechek, who returned to the track, was lapped by the leaders.

    Two laps later, the caution flew when Herbst, who was running a lap down in the top 30 amid overheating issues, pulled his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang off the course in Turn 9 as the car went up in smoke and flames. The caution erased Allgaier’s advantage of more than four seconds over Kligerman.

    Down to the final five laps, the race restarted under green. At the start, Allgaier and Kligerman dueled for the lead entering the first turn. Then entering the first sharp turn, Allgaier managed to pull ahead while Creed quickly followed suit in second. Meanwhile, Kligerman locked up the tires and slipped to battle with Custer for third while Mayer and Snider pursued. Through Turns 4 to 7, Allgaier maintained the lead over Creed while Custer and Kligerman battled for third.

    As the field returned to the frontstretch to hit the final four-lap mark, Alfredo and Retzlaff spun in Turn 11, but the race remained under green as the field scrambled and jostled for spots. Shortly after, Jeb Burton spun in Turn 4 after getting hit by Chandler Smith whom he had a run-in with through the frontstretch. Then with three laps remaining, the caution returned for debris on the backstretch. The caution period was enough to send the event into overtime.

    At the start of the first overtime attempt, Allgaier peeked ahead of Creed while receiving a push from Kligerman before Kligerman tried to make his move beneath Allgaier entering Turn 1. Through the turn, however, Kligerman locked up the front tires and could not steer his No. 48 Big Machine Racing entry to make the turn as he collided against Allgaier and Creed, sending both into the chicane while Kligerman was trying to regain his momentum on the track. Amid the chaos, Custer came out on top in his No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang with the lead while Allgaier and Creed managed to blend back onto the track in second and third with Mayer joining the battle. With the field behind jostling for late positions through Turns 4 to 7, Custer ran away from the field as Allgaier, Mayer and Creed continued to battle for second. Through Turns 8 and 9, Allgaier claimed second while Mayer dueled Creed for third.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Custer remained as the leader ahead of a hard-charging Allgaier. By then, Mayer had shoved Creed off the course in Turn 11 as Creed fell back to seventh behind Hill, Snider and Berry while Mayer moved up to third. Back at the front, Allgaier narrowed the deficit to six-tenths of a second as Custer retained the lead through the first three turns and entering Turn 4. Then after fending off Allgaier’s No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro through Turn 9, Allgaier gained more momentum into Turn 10 and got to Custer’s rear bumper approaching the final set of turns. He then tried to bump and overtake Custer entering the frontstretch, but it was not enough as Custer managed to fend off Allgaier by 0.142 seconds to grab his first checkered flag of the 2023 season in dramatic fashion.

    With the victory, Custer claimed his 11th career win in the Xfinity Series, his first since winning at Auto Club Speedway in February 2022 and his first on a road course venue. He also recorded the first Xfinity victory for Stewart-Haas Racing since Chase Briscoe won at Kansas Speedway in October 2020, the first NASCAR victory for crew chief Jonathan Toney and he became the seventh Xfinity regular to win and be guaranteed a spot for the 2023 Xfinity Series Playoffs.

    Ironically, Custer’s Portland victory occurred as the Californian achieved his seventh consecutive top-seven finish in recent weeks. This occurred after Custer finished no higher than ninth during the first six-scheduled events on this year’s schedule.

    “[I was telling myself] Just try and not make mistakes [on the restarts],” Custer said on FS1. “I saw [Kligerman] drive in there so deep. I did the same thing like two restarts ago. Man, I’m just so happy. I’ve never won a road course race before. I’ve been so close so many times and it’s just awesome to win this. I can’t thank Haas Automation, everybody at Stewart-Haas [Racing] in the Xfinity program and the Cup program. This is just a great day. It’s awesome to get this trophy and get that out of the way. I’m pumped for the rest of the year. We got fast cars and we’re starting to put it all together.”

    Allgaier, coming off last week’s victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway, finished second after leading 23 laps while Mayer, Berry and Hill finished in the top five. Myatt Snider came home in sixth place in his second start of the season while Creed, who led a race-high 47 laps ended up seventh. Connor Mosack, Chandler Smith and Nemechek completed the top 10 on the track.

    There were five lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 10 laps. In total, 27 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    With the 2023 Xfinity Series regular-season stretch reaching its halfway mark, John Hunter Nemechek leads the regular-season standings by 14 points over Austin Hill, 44 over Justin Allgaier, 65 over Cole Custer and 91 over Josh Berry.

    Results.

    1. Cole Custer, five laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Justin Allgaier, 23 laps led

    3. Sam Mayer

    4. Josh Berry

    5. Austin Hill

    6. Myatt Snider

    7. Sheldon Creed, 47 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    8. Connor Mosack

    9. Chandler Smith

    10. John Hunter Nemechek, two laps led

    11. Alex Labbe

    12. Brett Moffitt

    13. Brandon Jones

    14. Parker Kligerman

    15. Blaine Perkins

    16. Josh Williams

    17. Parker Retzlaff

    18. Ryan Sieg

    19. Jeffrey Earnhardt

    20. Patrick Emerling

    21. Anthony Alfredo

    22. Jeremy Clements

    23. Joe Graf Jr.

    24. Garrett Smithley

    25. Jeb Burton

    26. Kaz Grala

    27. Jordan Taylor

    28. Leland Honeyman – OUT, Accident

    29. Dylan Lupton, one lap down

    30. Sammy Smith, two laps down

    31. Preston Pardus, five laps down

    32. Riley Herbst – OUT, Engine

    33. Daniel Hemric, 30 laps down

    34. Kyle Sieg – OUT, Rear gear

    35. Parker Chase – OUT, Tie rod

    36. Mason Maggio – OUT, Transmission

    37. Stefan Parsons – OUT, Overheating

    38. Brennan Poole – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ inaugural event at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, June 10, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.