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Author: Andrew Kim

Brad Keselowski to make 500th Cup career start at Gateway

Competing in his 14th full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series, Brad Keselowski is set to achieve a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s event at World Wide Technology Raceway, the driver/owner of the No. 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford Mustang will make his 500th career start in NASCAR’s premier series.

A second-generation racer and native of Rochester Hills, Michigan, Keselowski made his inaugural presence in NASCAR’s premier series at Texas Motor Speedway in November 2008. By then, he was competing in the Xfinity Series on a full-time basis for JR Motorsports and had accumulated two victories in the season while battling for the series’ championship. Driving the No. 25 Chevrolet Impala for Hendrick Motorsports, Keselowski started 37th and finished 19th in his Cup debut. He returned to compete in the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he finished 23rd after starting 31st.

The following season, Keselowski, who remained at JRM as a full-time competitor in the Xfinity circuit, spent the majority of the season splitting between the No. 25 HMS Chevrolet Impala and the No. 09 Phoenix Raceway Chevrolet Impala. After finishing outside the top 20 in his first two Cup starts of the season with HMS, he then made his first start with Phoenix Racing at Talladega Superspeedway in April. It was there where Keselowski achieved an upset by winning his first Cup career race after making contact with Carl Edwards on the final lap, where a late blocking move from Edwards to stall Keselowski’s run through the frontstretch sent Edwards’ No. 99 Ford sideways, airborne and into the catchfence while upside-down after getting hit by Ryan Newman. Keselowski’s Talladega victory occurred in his fifth career start in NASCAR’s premier series and it was also the first for Phoenix Raceway. He then backed up his Talladega victory by finishing seventh at Darlington Raceway with HMS in May and sixth at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with Phoenix in June. During his next seven scheduled Cup starts between HMS and Phoenix, Keselowski’s best result was eighth at Talladega in November. He then competed in the final three scheduled events of the season in the No. 12 Dodge Charger for Team Penske, where his best result was 25th at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November.

In 2010, Keselowski joined forces with Team Penske in both the Xfinity and Cup Series circuits, where he replaced David Stremme to drive the No. 12 Dodge in the Cup circuit. While Keselowski’s campaign in the Xfinity circuit was a success by winning the series championship and gifting team owner Roger Penske his first NASCAR championship, the Cup circuit was a difficult season for the Michigan native, who commenced the season by finishing 36th in his Daytona 500 debut. Three races later at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March, he was poised for a top-six run until he was intentionally turned, sent airborne and hit the frontstretch outside wall roof-first by Edwards with three laps remaining. The incident occurred after Keselowski had hit and wrecked Edwards on Lap 41, which prompted NASCAR to park Edwards for the remainder of the event. Despite rallying to finish in the top 15 six times for the remaining 22 of 26 regular-season events, he did not accumulate enough points or results towards the front to make the 2010 Cup Playoffs. Keselowski went on to achieve his first Cup career pole at New Hampshire in September followed by back-to-back 10th-place runs at Talladega and Texas Motor Speedway between October and November. With a 13th-place result at Homestead, he concluded his first full-time Cup season in 25th place in the final standings and with an average-finishing result of 22.4.

In April 2010, Keselowski was named the driver of Team Penske’s iconic No. 2 Dodge while teammate Kurt Busch, who piloted the No. 2 car since 2006, moved over to Penske’s No. 22 Dodge entry for the 2011 Cup season. Commencing the season with a 29th-place result in the 53rd running of the Daytona 500 after being eliminated in a late wreck, Keselowski finished no higher than 15th during the first nine events of the season. Despite capitalizing on a late strategic call to finish third at Darlington in May, he then finished 13th and 19th during his next two scheduled starts. Then at Kansas Speedway in June, he executed on another pit strategic call by leading the final nine laps and beating his mentor Dale Earnhardt Jr. by nearly three seconds while on a low tank of fuel to achieve his second Cup career victory and snap a 75-race winless drought. After recording three top-10 results during his next seven starts, he then achieved his second victory of the season at Pocono Raceway in August following a late duel against Kyle Busch. The victory occurred after Keselowski rallied from a harrowing accident during a test session at Road Atlanta, which left the driver with a broken left ankle and back pain. Despite his injuries, Keselowski’s Pocono victory ignited a hot streak that would see the driver of the No. 2 Dodge finish second and third during his next two starts before grabbing his unprecedented third victory of the season at Bristol Motor Speedway in August. After finishing sixth during the following weekend at Atlanta in September, Keselowski solidified his spot to qualify for the 2011 Cup Playoffs. With four top-five results recorded during the first six Playoff events, he ran as high as third place in the standings. Four consecutive results outside of the top 15, however, dropped Keselowski to fifth place in the final standings. Overall, the 2011 season delivered great success for Keselowski and the No. 2 Team Penske Dodge team on the strength of three victories, 10 top-five results, 14 top-10 results, 298 laps led and an average-finishing result of 14.8.

The 2012 season was a career year for Keselowski, who rallied from being involved in a late multi-car wreck during the 54th running of the Daytona 500 to grab his first victory of the season at Bristol in March. He went on to win at Talladega in April and at Kentucky Speedway in June while racking 10 top-five runs and 15 top-10 results during the 26-race regular-season stretch before making his second consecutive appearance in the Playoffs. By then, he surpassed 100 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series. At the start of the Playoffs, Keselowski prevailed in a late battle against five-time champion Jimmie Johnson to win the Playoff opener at Chicagoland Speedway in September. Two races later, Keselowski reaffirmed his bid for the title by prevailing in a late fuel strategic call to win at Dover Motor Speedway. By then, he was leading the series standings for the first time in his career. Despite finishing no worse than 11th during the following five Playoffs events, which included a runner-up result at Texas Motor Speedway in November, Johnson managed to gain ground and assume the points lead with back-to-back victories at Martinsville and Texas between October and November. Then during the penultimate event of the season at Phoenix Raceway, Keselowski capitalized on a late incident that involved Johnson and dodged two multi-car wrecks in the closing laps to finish sixth and reassume the points lead by 20 points entering the finale at Homestead. At Homestead, Keselowski capitalized on another late misfortune impacting Johnson’s title run due to a rear gear failure to finish 15th and clinch the first NASCAR Cup Series championship for himself and for Team Penske. With the accomplishment, Keselowski joined Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon as the only competitors to win a Cup title within the first three seasons of full-time competition. He also recorded the final championship for the Dodge nameplate, which was set to depart NASCAR following the 2012 season. In total, Keselowski capped off his championship season with five victories, 13 top-five results, 23 top-10 results, 735 laps led and a career-best average-finishing result of 10.1.

Piloting a Ford Fusion while remaining in the No. 2 entry in his bid to defend his series title, Keselowski commenced the 2013 season with four consecutive top-four finishes. Despite earning 11 top-10 results throughout the 26 regular-season stretch, including a strong runner-up result at Watkins Glen International in August, he endured a series of inconsistent runs in the spring and summer periods, including a 25-point dock in points due to a rear-housing infraction at Texas in April, that left him and the No. 2 team outside of the Playoff cutline in September. With his bid to defend the title evaporated, he proceeded to finish in the top 10 five times during the Playoffs. This included achieving his first elusive victory of the season at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October. With a total of one victory, one pole, nine top-five results, 16 top-10 results, 476 laps led and an average-finishing result of 14.9 throughout the 2013 season, Keselowski settled in 14th place in the final standings.

After finishing in second place in the Clash at Daytona International Speedway in February, Keselowski rolled out of the gate with three consecutive top-three runs to commence the 2014 Cup season. This included his first victory of the season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March after overtaking Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the final lap when Earnhardt Jr. ran out of fuel. He went on to win at Kentucky and New Hampshire in July before capping off the regular-season stretch with a win at Richmond Raceway, which marked the 400th motorsports victory all-time for Team Penske. With four regular-season victories, Keselowski earned the top seed to the newly formatted Playoffs. He then commenced the Playoffs by winning at Chicagoland and earning a one-way transfer from the Round of 16 to 12. During the Round of 12, he was involved in a late wreck at Kansas due to a blown right-front tire and controversial run-ins involving Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart at Charlotte. On the verge of being eliminated early from title contention, Keselowski responded back with vengeance by winning at Talladega in October and transferring to the Round of 8. Keselowski’s late misfortunes, however, continued, starting at Martinsville, where he ignited a late multi-car accident amid a stack-up due to a mechanical issue. This was then followed by another controversial run-in at Texas, where he ran into the side of Jeff Gordon’s No. 24 Chevrolet on a late restart that knocked Gordon out of contention for the win and led to a brawl on pit road following the race. Despite finishing fourth during the final Round of 8 event at Phoenix, Keselowski was eliminated from title contention. Nonetheless, he capped off the season with a third-place run at Homestead before settling in fifth place in the final standings. Despite falling short of winning his second Cup title, Keselowski concluded the season with multiple career highs in victories (six), poles (five), top fives (17) and laps led (1,540).

Poised to make another run for his second title, the 2015 Cup season produced a single victory for Keselowski and the No. 2 team, which occurred at Auto Club Speedway in March following a last lap pass on Kurt Busch. Despite making his fourth career appearance in the Playoffs and transferring all the way from the Round of 16 to 8, he fell short of making the Championship 4 finale and settled in seventh place in the final standings on the strength of nine top-five results, a career-high 25 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 11.1. During the following two Cup seasons, he made the Playoffs and accumulated a total of seven victories, four poles, 25 top-five results, 47 top-10 results and average results within 11th place. While he ended up in 12th place in the 2016 standings after being eliminated following the Round of 12, he transferred all the way to the Championship 4 finale in 2017, where he ended up in fourth place in the final standings. By then, he surpassed 300 Cup career starts.

In 2018, Keselowski won the Clash at Daytona in February before enduring a winless stretch during the first 24 regular-season events. His first elusive victory then occurred in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in September followed by another crown-jewel event, which was the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which solidified his spot to make the 2018 Cup Playoffs. The momentum did not stop there for Keselowski and the No. 2 team as they racked up a third consecutive victory at Las Vegas to commence the Playoffs and deliver the 500th motorsports victory for Team Penske. Keselowski’s title hopes, however, came to an end following the Round of 12 as he went on to finish in eighth place in the final standings.

For the 2019 season, it only took the first two races of the season for Keselowski to record a victory, which occurred at Atlanta in February as he recorded the first Cup victory for the Ford Mustang brand. Backing up his Atlanta victory with wins at Martinsville in March and at Kansas in May enabled the Michigan native to make the Playoffs for the eighth time in his career. Despite transferring from the Round of 16 to 12 on the strength of three consecutive top-five results, he missed the cutline to the Round of 8 by a mere margin after finishing no higher than 11th during the Round of 12. With just two top-10 results during the final four events, Keselowski concluded the 2019 Cup season in eighth place in the final standings for a second consecutive year.

Keselowski’s first victory of the 2020 Cup season occurred in the seventh event of the season and during the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May following an overtime shootout. Two races later, he achieved another victory to the season at Bristol Motor Speedway in June after dodging a late incident involving teammate Joey Logano and Chase Elliott. He went on to win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July before entering the 2020 Cup Playoffs, which marked his ninth trip to NASCAR’s postseason battle for the title. A dominant victory at Richmond in September enabled Keselowski and the No. 2 team to transfer from the Round of 16 to 12. He then achieved three consecutive top-six runs during the Round of 8 to grab a spot to the Championship 4 finale for the second time in his career. During the finale at Phoenix Raceway in November, he finished in second place behind title rival Elliott both on the track and in the final standings. By then, Keselowski concluded the season with 24 top-10 results, which marked his seventh time concluding a season with 20+ top-10 results along with four victories, 13 top-five results, 952 laps led and tying his career-best average-finishing result with 10.1. He had also surpassed 400 Cup career starts.

In 2021, which marked his 15th season driving for Team Penske, Keselowski commenced the season on a fiery note after being involved in a final lap multi-car wreck with teammate Logano on the final lap of the 63rd running of the Daytona 500 while bidding for the win. Nine races later, he achieved his lone victory of the season at Talladega in April after overtaking Matt DiBenedetto on the final lap. With a total of 10 top-10 results throughout the regular-season stretch, including his victory at Talladega, Keselowski achieved a spot in the Cup Playoffs for the 10th time in his career. His bid for a second title, however, came to an end following the Round of 8, but seven results in the top 10 were enough for Keselowski to cap off the season in sixth place in the final standings.

Following 15 memorable seasons at Team Penske, Keselowski embarked on a new phase to his racing career in 2022 by joining Roush Fenway Racing as the driver of the No. 6 Ford Mustang and co-owner of the organization, which was rebranded to Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing. He commenced the season with early momentum after winning the first of two Bluegreen Vacation Duels at Daytona in February, which allowed him to start in third place for the 64th running of the Daytona 500. During the 500, he led a race-high 67 laps and was in position of winning the event during a two-lap shootout until he got shuffled back to ninth place in the final running order. Four races later, where he finished no higher than 12th on the track, Keselowski and the No. 6 RFK Ford team were slapped with an L2-level penalty and docked 100 driver/owner points following a post-race infraction at Atlanta in March, where the team violated two sections pertaining to the modification of a single source supplied part (rear fascia) within NASCAR’s rulebook. Amid the penalty, Keselowski endured a dismal regular-season stretch as he recorded a total of three top-10 results and finished no higher than seventh, which occurred at New Hampshire in July, as he did not make the 2022 Cup Playoffs. This marked his first absence from the Playoffs since 2013. Keselowski, however, rallied throughout the Playoffs by finishing seventh in the Southern 500 before notching his first pole of the season at Texas in September, where he went on to finish eighth. Prior to this, he led 109 laps at Bristol and was within striking distance of contending for the victory until he cut a tire late while leading and falling back to 13th place in the final scoreboard. Keselowski then captured his first top-five result in the No. 6 entry by finishing fifth at Homestead in October. He also crossed the finish line in fourth place during the penultimate event at Martinsville in November, but was disqualified due to his car failing to meet the minimum weight requirements during post-race inspection. Capping off his difficult season in 35th place at Phoenix due to an electrical issue, Keselowski concluded the season in 24th place in the final standings on the strength of a single top-five result, six top-10 results, 224 laps led and an average-finishing result of 19.2.

Currently, Keselowski has achieved three top-five results, six top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 14.8 through the first 14-scheduled events of the 2023 Cup season. His best result of the season thus far has been a runner-up finish at Atlanta in March, where he led 47 of 260 laps and was leading before being overtaken by ex-teammate Joey Logano on the final lap. Nonetheless, the results have placed Keselowski in ninth place in the regular-season standings as he is 102 points above the top-16 cutline to be in contention to make the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs.

Through 499 previous Cup starts, Keselowski has achieved one championship, 35 victories, 18 poles, 142 top-five results, 239 top-10 results, 9,022 laps led and an average-finishing result of 14.0. By making his 500th career start at Gateway, he will become the 46th different competitor to achieve the milestone mark.

Keselowski is primed to make his 500th Cup Series career start at World Wide Technology Raceway on Sunday, June 4, with the event’s coverage to occur at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

May 31, 2023
Stewart Friesen to make 150th Truck career start at Gateway

In his sixth full-time season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Stewart Friesen is primed to achieve a milestone start. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s event at World Wide Technology Raceway, the driver of the No. 52 Halmar Friesen Racing Toyota Tundra TRD Pro will be making his 150th start in the Truck circuit.

A native of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Friesen, whose racing career started with go-karts before ascending to over 200 World of Outlaws sprint car victories and over 900 starts in dirt events, made his Truck Series debut at Eldora Speedway in July 2016. Driving the No. 16 Chevrolet Silverado for Halmar Racing, Friesen started 12th but finished 28th in his debut after being involved in an early multi-truck wreck. He went on to compete in five additional Truck events for the remainder of the season, where his best on-track result occurred at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September after finishing 13th.

Entering the 2017 season, Friesen and his team, Halmar Friesen Racing, commenced the season with plans on competing in the Truck Series on a full-time basis. After finishing no higher than 19th during the first seven scheduled events, however, the driver and team did not compete for the following two events before returning to action at Kentucky Speedway in July. Then at Eldora, Friesen qualified on pole position and led a race-high 93 of 150 laps before finishing a career-best second behind two-time champion Matt Crafton. Remaining in competition for 10 of the final 12 Truck scheduled events, Friesen recorded four top-10 results before ending up in 14th place in the final standings.

Friesen commenced the 2018 season by finishing 27th at Daytona after being involved in a late multi-truck wreck. He rallied with a strong, consistent run for the remaining 15 regular-season events as he posted three runner-up results, seven top-five results and 11 top-10 results. The results were enough for him and the No. 52 team to qualify for the 2018 Truck Playoffs. Despite finishing no worse than 17th during the Round of 8, Friesen was eliminated from title contention. Nonetheless, he went on to finish no lower than 11th for the final four scheduled events as he capped off the 2018 campaign in seventh place in the final standings along with nine top-five results, a career-high 16 top-10 results, 188 laps led and an average-finishing result of 9.1.

The 2019 season was a breakout year for Friesen, who started the season by finishing 10th at Daytona. Despite finishing 18th at Atlanta during the following scheduled event, he then posted three consecutive top-five results for the following three events before finishing 12th at Dover Motor Speedway. At Kansas Speedway in May, Friesen led a race-high 87 of 167 laps and was leading with two laps remaining before he ran out of fuel and ended up in 15th place. While continuing to pursue his first NASCAR win, he went on to finish in the top five five times during the following seven events. Then at Eldora in July, Friesen achieved his first NASCAR Truck career victory after leading 57 of 150 laps and capitalizing on a two-lap restart over rookie Sheldon Creed. To cap off the regular-season stretch with an eighth-place run at Michigan International Speedway in August, Friesen and the No. 52 team earned a one-way ticket to the Playoffs for a second consecutive season. At the start of the Playoffs, Friesen finished no lower than 19th during the Round of 8 as he transferred to the Round of 6. After finishing fifth and sixth at Talladega Superspeedway and Martinsville Speedway, respectively, in October, he then rallied from serving an opening lap penalty for jumping the start to fend off Brandon Jones and notch his second career win at Phoenix Raceway in November. The victory was one that punched his ticket to the Championship 4 round. During the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, however, Friesen finished 11th on the track and fourth in the final standings behind title rivals Crafton, Chastain and Brett Moffitt. Despite falling short of his first title, Friesen capped off the season with his first two career victories and career-high season stats in top fives (12), top-10s (16), laps led (256) and average-finishing result (8.5).

For the 2020 season, Friesen and Halmar Friesen Racing changed manufacturers from Chevrolet to Toyota while receiving technical support from Kyle Busch Motorsports. Compared to his previous two full-time seasons while piloting a Chevrolet and receiving support from GMS Racing, the 2020 campaign was a difficult one for Friesen, who posted nine top-10 results and finished no higher than fourth during the 16-race regular-season stretch as he did not qualify for the Playoffs. During the Playoff event at Kansas Speedway in October, Friesen skipped the event and competed in the Short Track Super Series at Port Royal Speedway, where he finished second. With three top-six finishes during the final seven Truck events, the Canadian concluded the season in 15th place in the final standings. In total, he only achieved three top-five finishes, 12 top-10 results, 31 laps led and an average-finishing result of 15.7.

The following season, Friesen returned to the Truck Playoffs despite recording three top-five results and four top-10 results during the regular-season stretch. At the start of the Playoffs, he transferred from the Round of 10 to 8 on the strength of three consecutive top-four results. With only a single top-10 result during the Round of 8, however, he did not transfer to the Championship 4 round. He managed to close the season with a runner-up result in the finale at Phoenix in November and in sixth place in the final standings. By then, he surpassed 100 career starts in the Truck Series and racked up four additional top-five results compared to his previous season.

This past season, Friesen finished no lower than 16th during the first eight scheduled events. Then at Texas Motor Speedway in May, he overtook Christian Eckes during an overtime attempt to score his third Truck career victory and snap a 54-race winless drought. The Texas win along with a total of nine top-10 results during the regular-season stretch locked Friesen and the No. 52 HRE Toyota team into the Playoffs for the fourth time in their career. Despite posting three top-seven results throughout the Playoffs, including a strong third-place finish at Homestead in October, Friesen fell short of transferring to the Championship 4 round by a single point. With his title hopes of the season evaporated, he went on to finish fifth at Phoenix in November and cap off the season in sixth place in the final standings for a second consecutive time. Friesen also managed to cap off the season with a total of nine top-five finishes, 13 top-10 results, 130 laps led and an average-finishing result of 9.9

Through 149 previous Truck starts, Friesen has achieved three victories, three poles, 45 top-five results, 74 top-10 results, 731 laps led and an average-finishing result of 12.9. He is currently ranked in 11th place in the driver’s standings while trailing the top-10 cutline to make the 2023 Truck Series Playoffs by a single point. He has also racked up three top-five finishes through the first 11 events on the schedule, with his best on-track finish being a second-place result at Darlington Raceway in May.

Friesen is scheduled to make his 150th Craftsman Truck Series career start at World Wide Technology Raceway on Saturday, June 3, with the event’s coverage to occur at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

May 31, 2023
NASCAR issues one-race suspension for Elliott as part of penalty report from Charlotte

NASCAR released its penalty report and a notable name was issued a major suspension following the recent on-track action at Charlotte Motor Speedway that spanned throughout the Memorial Day holiday weekend. The first news to headline the penalty report is that Chase Elliott, the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion, has been suspended from competing in next weekend’s Cup Series event at Gateway’s World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois.

The news comes after Elliott was found to have intentionally wrecked veteran Denny Hamlin on Lap 185 of 400 during the Coca-Cola 600 that occurred this past Monday, May 29.

During the event, Hamlin and Elliott were battling inside the top 10 when Hamlin slipped up the track and crowded Elliott towards the frontstretch’s outside wall which resulted in Elliott making contact with the wall. Elliott quickly responded back by veering his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to the left and turning Hamlin head-on into the frontstretch’s SAFER Barriers at full speed that resulted in both competitors being wrecked out of the event. After the incident, Elliott cited the lack of control over his damaged car after scrubbing the wall that resulted in the contact with Hamlin.

“[Hamlin] ran us up in the fence,” Elliott said in the infield care center on FOX. “Once you hit the wall in these [cars], you can’t drive it anymore. An unfortunate circumstance.”

Hamlin, however, did not mince his words over the incident and called for Elliott to be suspended for the upcoming Cup event at Gateway for jeopardizing a driver’s safety amid a retaliatory act.

“I got right-rear hooked in the middle of the straightaway,” Hamlin said. “It’s a tantrum and he shouldn’t be racing next week. Right-rear hooks are absolutely unacceptable.”

Following the news of Elliott’s suspension for violating NASCAR’s Behavioral and Code of Conduct policy, Hendrick Motorsports released a statement, citing the team’s decision to not appeal the penalty and submit a formal request for a Playoff waiver for Elliott to remain in contention to make the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs. In addition, HMS announced that Corey LaJoie will be serving as an interim competitor for the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry for the upcoming event at Gateway. LaJoie currently competes as a full-time Cup Series competitor for Spire Motorsports. He is set to become the third different competitor to pilot HMS’ No. 9 entry alongside Josh Berry and Jordan Taylor.

With LaJoie joining HMS for a one-race deal, Carson Hocevar, a full-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competitor for Niece Motorsports, will make his inaugural presence in NASCAR’s premier series by piloting LaJoie No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry this upcoming weekend at Gateway.

Elliott’s suspension marks the first time NASCAR has suspended a competitor for a retaliatory act since Bubba Wallace was suspended from competing in the Cup Series Playoff event at Homestead-Miami Speedway last October for intentionally turning and sending Kyle Larson into the frontstretch’s outside wall during the previous event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The incident involving Wallace and Larson mirrored the on-track scuffle between Hamlin and Elliott, where Larson forced Wallace up the track as Wallace hit the frontstretch’s outside wall before Wallace quickly retaliated by veering left, clipping and sending Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry into the outside wall as both competitors were knocked out of the event.

Elliott’s suspension also means that he is set to miss his seventh event of the 2023 Cup Series season. He was absent for six consecutive events from early March to the first half of April after suffering a left leg fracture from a snowboarding accident in Colorado during the week of the Cup Series event at Las Vegas. In eight starts through the first 14-scheduled events, including the Coke 600, Elliott has secured two top-five results and four top-10 results, with his best on-track finish being a runner-up result at Auto Club Speedway in February. With an average-finishing result of 14.6, however, he is currently situated in 29th place in the driver’s standings with 215 points and trails the top-16 cutline to make the Playoffs by 81 points. Elliott has until the series’ return to Daytona International Speedway on August 26, which marks the conclusion of the regular-season stretch, to win or point his way into the Playoffs, which will commence at Darlington Raceway on September 3.

In other penalty news highlighting the Cup Series, the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang team piloted by Michael McDowell has been penalized for the loss of a wheel or a wheel that was improperly installed on a racing vehicle when a right-front wheel rolled off of McDowell’s entry on the track’s backstretch with 57 laps remaining. As a result, front-tire changer Scott Brzozowski and jackman Adam Lewis have been suspended from NASCAR competition for the following two Cup Series events.

In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Jeff Meendering, crew chief for rookie Sammy Smith and the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Supra team, has been fined $5,000 due to a lug nut infraction, where one lug nut was found to have not been properly secured on Smith’s entry following Monday night’s action. In addition, the No. 74 CHK Racing team piloted by Dawson Cram at Charlotte has been docked 10 driver/owner points for violations involving the air duct, outlet hose and quarter window of Cram’s entry that did not meet NASCAR standards.

In the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Derek Hartnagel, truck chief for rookie Daniel Dye and the No. 43 GMS Racing Chevrolet Silverado RST team, has been indefinitely suspended from NASCAR for violating the sport’s substance abuse policy.

With this past extended weekend’s events at Charlotte Motor Speedway complete, the Cup and Craftsman Truck Series embark to World Wide Technology Raceway for their next scheduled event while the Xfinity Series travels west to compete for the second-ever time at Portland International Raceway in Portland, Oregon. The Truck Series’ event at Gateway, which is also set to serve as the second of three Triple Truck Challenge events, will occur this Saturday, June 3, at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1 while the Xfinity Series event at Portland will follow suit at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1. The Cup Series action at Gateway will conclude the weekend and occur on Sunday, June 4, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

May 30, 2023
Allgaier gambles for first Xfinity victory of 2023 at Charlotte

In an event that was delayed for two days and more than nine hours, the early season wait for Justin Allgaier and JR Motorsports evaporated under the lights at home turn after Allgaier made a late fuel strategic call work to perfection by winning the rain-postponed Alsco Uniforms 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Monday, May 29.

The 36-year-old Allgaier from Riverton, Illinois, led three times for a race-high 83 of 200-scheduled laps in an event where he started on pole position, led early and ran up front throughout the event that was scheduled to start on Saturday, May 27, but was postponed to Monday and delayed yet again for another nine hours amid ongoing precipitation and steady rain.

Once the racing resumed nearing the one-quarter mark, Allgaier, who remained in contention as the race proceeded, seized upon an opportunity to pit for a final time with less than 70 laps remaining during a caution period. Then during the final 66-lap dash to the finish, Allgaier swapped the lead with John Hunter Nemechek before assuming it for good with 33 laps remaining. He then stretched his low fuel tank to the absolute distance as he managed to coast across the finish line and claim his first elusive Xfinity victory of the 2023 season.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Justin Allgaier notched his first Xfinity pole of the 2023 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 181.172 mph in 29.806 seconds. Joining him on the front row was John Hunter Nemechek, who clocked in the second-best qualifying lap at 180.246 mph in 29.959 seconds.

Prior to the event, the following names that included Josh Berry, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Stefan Parsons, Parker Retzlaff and Kyle Sieg dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. Ryan Sieg also dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change to his RSS Racing entry. Then with the event being postponed to Monday, Justin Haley also dropped to the rear of the field due to a driver change as he replaced Kyle Busch in the No. 10 Kaulig Racing entry, with Busch setting his focus on the Cup Series’ Coca-Cola 600 that occurred prior to the Xfinity Charlotte event.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced amid a two-day delay due to the ongoing precipitation, Allgaier launched ahead on the inside lane and assumed an early command through the first two turns while teammates Nemechek and Ty Gibbs battled dead even for second. As the field fanned out to three and four lanes through the backstretch and in Turns 3 and 4, Allgaier proceeded to lead the first lap. Allgaier then managed to extend his advantage to half a second over Nemechek while Ty Gibbs settled in third and trailed by less than eight-tenths of a second.

Through the first five scheduled laps, Allgaier was leading by more than a second over Gibbs while Nemechek, who got loose in Turn 1, fell back to third as Brandon Jones and Cole Custer were in the top five. Behind, Sheldon Creed was in sixth ahead of Daniel Hemric and rookie Chandler Smith while Jeb Burton and Riley Herbst were battling in the top 10. Meanwhile, Carson Hocevar was in 11th in his No. 77 Premier Security Chevrolet Camaro ahead of Brett Moffitt and Austin Hill while rookie Sammy Smith, Sam Mayer and Anthony Alfredo battled within the top 16.

At the Lap 10 mark, Allgaier continued to hold a steady advantage over a hard-charging Gibbs, who cut the deficit to within half a second in his No. 19 He Gets Us Toyota Supra, while Nemechek trailed by more than a second in third place. Behind, Creed moved up to fifth place behind Custer while Brandon Jones fell back to sixth. Jones would then slip to ninth as Hemric, Chandler Smith and Moffitt overtook him for spots while Gibbs tried to challenge Allgaier for the lead.

When a scheduled competition caution flew on Lap 20, Allgaier fended off Gibbs’ challenges on the outside lane to maintain the lead. By then, Nemechek, Custer and Creed were scored in the top five ahead of Hemric, Chandler Smith, Moffitt, Hocevar and Brandon Jones.

During the competition caution period, nearly the entire field led by Allgaier pitted, except for Ryan Sieg as Sieg remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Nemechek exited pit road first ahead of Gibbs, Custer, Creed, Allgaier and Hemric.

Not long after, the field was brought down to pit road and the race was placed in a red flag period on Lap 25 due to a steady increase of mist. Nearly 27 minutes later, the red flag lifted and the field led by Ryan Sieg returned to the track under a cautious pace.

When the race restarted under green on Lap 31, Nemechek quickly assumed the lead in his No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota Supra followed by teammate Gibbs as the field fanned out entering the first turn. As Ryan Sieg began to slip and lose spots while on worn tires, Nemechek assumed a steady advantage over teammate Gibbs followed by Creed, Hemric and Allgaier while Custer, who tried to launch to the front during the restart and ended up with a tire rub, was mired back in seventh behind Chandler Smith.

At the Lap 40 mark, Nemechek was leading by two-tenths of a second over teammate Gibbs, with both Joe Gibbs Racing teammates battling close for the lead, while Hemric trailed in third place by more than two seconds. Behind, Allgaier was in fourth ahead of Creed and Chandler Smith while Custer slipped to eighth behind Austin Hill.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Ty Gibbs, who assumed the lead from teammate Nemechek on Lap 42 after Nemechek scrubbed the outside wall between Turns 1 and 2, captured the stage victory. Teammate Nemechek settled in second while trailing by more than a second while Allgaier, Hemric, Creed, Chandler Smith, Hill, Josh Berry, Custer and Riley Herbst were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, the field led by Gibbs returned to pit road and the race was placed under a second red flag period on Lap 48 due to the return of the mist that eventually resulted in an increase of rain. Not long after and with the precipitation increasing, NASCAR declared that the event would resume at the conclusion of the Cup Series’ Coca-Cola 600 which was scheduled to commence within 3 p.m. ET.

More than nine hours later and moments after Ryan Blaney withstood a long, chaotic and delayed Coke 600 event to emerge victorious, the red flag period for the Xfinity Series competition was lifted and the field returned to track under a cautious period. During the caution period, the field led by Gibbs returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Gibbs retained the lead ahead of teammate Nemechek, Allgaier, Hemric, Creed and Chandler Smith.

The second stage started on Lap 55 as Gibbs and Nemechek occupied the front row. At the start, Gibbs retained the lead as the field fanned out through the first two turns. With Gibbs maintaining the lead, teammate Nemechek retained second in front of Allgaier as Hemric fended off Creed, Chandler Smith and Hill for fourth.

Just past the Lap 60 mark, Gibbs was leading by eight-tenths of a second over Nemechek while Hemric moved up to third after he overtook Allgaier for position. Hemric, however, shortly pitted under green after reporting concerns of a loose wheel to his No. 11 Cirkul Chevrolet Camaro. The move dropped Hemric out of the lead lap category as Gibbs continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over teammate Nemechek and more than two seconds over Allgaier.

By Lap 70, Gibbs stretched his advantage to more than a second over teammate Nemechek while third-place Allgaier trailed by nearly four seconds. Behind, Richard Childress Racing’s Hill and Creed occupied fourth and fifth while Chandler Smith settled in sixth in front of Mayer, Brandon Jones, Hocevar and Sammy Smith.

At the Lap 80 mark, Gibbs continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over teammate Nemechek while Allgaier, Hill and Creed remained in the top five.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 90, Ty Gibbs notched his second consecutive stage victory of the night after cruising to the start/finish line with an advantage of more than a second. Teammate Nemechek settled in second while Allgaier, Hill, Creed, Chandler Smith, Sam Mayer, Brandon Jones, Cole Custer and Carson Hocevar were scored in the top 10. By then, 27 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap. In addition, Brett Moffitt was scored out of the lead lap category after making contact against the wall a few laps earlier and pitting under green.

Under the stage break, the field led by Gibbs returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, however, Nemechek emerged with the lead after exiting first followed by Creed, Allgaier, Hill, Chandler Smith and Custer. Meanwhile, Gibbs was mired back in 28th amid an extensive pit service to resolve a radio issue.

With 103 laps remaining, the final stage started as Nemechek and Creed occupied the front row. At the start, Nemechek launched ahead with a strong start while Creed and Allgaier dueled for second. With Allgaier moving up to second, Custer challenged Creed for third as the field fanned out and jostled for late positions.

At the halfway mark with 100 laps remaining, Nemechek was leading by four-tenths of a second over Allgaier while Custer, Creed and Brandon Jones trailed in the top five. Meanwhile, Ty Gibbs, who restarted just outside the top 20, had carved his way up to 13th while Josh Berry overtook Creed for fifth. In addition, Hill was in seventh ahead of Chandler Smith, Mayer and Sammy Smith while Justin Haley carved his way up to 11th.

Ten laps later, Nemechek continued to lead by more than a second over Allgaier while third-place Custer also trailed by more than a second. With JR Motorsports’ Brandon Jones and Berry trailing in the top five, Ty Gibbs re-entered the top 10 as he was in ninth behind Creed, Hill and Chandler Smith. Gibbs would then get bottled within a tight battle involving himself, Mayer, Sammy Smith and Hocevar as his fast charge to the front stalled.

Another 15 laps later, Nemechek stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Allgaier followed by Custer, Brandon Jones and Berry while Hill, Ty Gibbs, Creed, Chandler Smith and Mayer were scored in the top 10. As Sammy Smith, Hocevar, Haley, Herbst and Kaz Grala were scored in the top 15, Hemric was still mired a lap behind in 28th.

With 73 laps remaining, the caution flew when Mayer, who was running 10th, spun off of the Turn 2 outside wall, slid down to the track and pounded the inside wall as he limped to pit road with a shredded right-front fender as a result of a flat tire. During the caution period, the field led by Nemechek returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Nemechek retained the lead after exiting first ahead of Allgaier. During the pit stops, Creed pitted for a second time for repairs after making contact with Berry on pit road.

As the race proceeded under green with 66 laps remaining, Nemechek and Allgaier dueled for the lead as Allgaier tried to peek ahead through the backstretch. Then as Hill launched himself into the picture and made it a three-wide battle at the front, Allgaier assumed the lead during the following lap while Hill battled Nemechek for second. Nemechek would fend off Hill for second as Custer tried to challenge Hill for third in front of Berry and Brandon Jones.

With less than 60 laps remaining, Allgaier maintained the lead by nine-tenths of a second over Nemechek while Hill trailed in third by a second and a half. With Custer and Brandon Jones running in the top five, Chandler Smith was in sixth followed by Ty Gibbs while Berry fell back to eighth. Behind, Hocevar was in ninth ahead of a battle between Sammy Smith and Haley while Kaz Grala, Jeb Burton, Connor Mosack and Kyle Weatherman battled inside the top 15.

Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Allgaier’s advantage evaporated to a tenth of a second over Nemechek as he re-ignited his battle for the lead. Not long after, they both made contact, but both competitors continued to run straight as Allgaier retained the lead by nearly half a second while third-place Hill trailed by more than a second. Meanwhile, Custer occupied fourth while Brandon Jones and Ty Gibbs battled for fifth.

With less than 40 laps remaining, Allgaier and Nemechek re-ignited their battle for the lead before Nemechek reassumed the top spot off of Turn 4 with 36 laps remaining. Then just as Alfredo pitted under green with 33 laps remaining, Allgaier muscled his Chevrolet back to the top of the leaderboard. He would maintain the lead over Nemechek under the final 30-lap and 25-lap marks of the event.

Then with 20 laps remaining and as Allgaier continued to lead by four-tenths of a second, Hill surrendered third place to pit his No. 21 Alsco Chevrolet Camaro. He would then be followed by Chandler Smith, Sammy Smith and Ty Gibbs, who had worked his way up towards the front. By then, Allgaier, who was leading, started to back off his pace in an attempt to save fuel under the direction of his team.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Allgaier stretched his advantage to more than a second over Nemechek while trying to stretch his fuel tank to the finish. By then, Nemechek, who was trying to pounce on Allgaier, started to back off on his pace to have enough fuel to finish. Nearing the final five-lap mark, more names that included third-place Hocevar, Brandon Jones and Haley pitted, but Allgaier continued to run under power with the lead. As runner-up, Nemechek trailed by more than five seconds with third-place Custer trailing by more than nine seconds, Hill, who pitted earlier and had enough fuel to finish under full power, was in fourth, but trailing by more than 25 seconds.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Allgaier, who continued to run under a conservative pace on the track, remained as the leader by more than seven seconds over Nemechek, who too was still remaining on the track while on low fuel. Despite being overtaken by lapped competitors while managing his throttle through the turns and straightaway, Allgaier was able to make the low fuel tank last to perfection as he cycled his No. 7 Unilever Military DeCA RCPT Chevrolet Camaro back to the frontstretch and streaked across the finish line for his first victory of the season.

With the victory, Allgaier notched his 20th career victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and his first at Charlotte. He also returned to Victory Lane for the first time in the Xfinity circuit since winning at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July 2022. By recording his 17th victory as a driver for JR Motorsports, the Illinois veteran recorded the first NASCAR victory of the season and the second consecutive victory at Charlotte for JRM. In addition, Allgaier, who became the ninth different winner of this year’s Xfinity season, achieved his first victory with new crew chief Jim Pohlman.

Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“I’m speechless, man,” Allgaier said on FS2. “You fans that stuck it out here tonight, thank y’all so much. I just cannot say enough about [crew chief] Jim Pohlman, everybody on this No. 7 team. It’s not been for lack of speed this year. We’ve battled. Tonight was kind of the opposite. We had to go slow to go fast. I’m speechless, man. I really am…I didn’t know how much [fuel] to save. Just lucky we had enough.”

Nemechek, who led 57 laps and was pursuing his third Xfinity victory of the season, settled in second place for the third time this season as he trailed Allgaier by seven seconds to the finish.

“It was definitely tough to not push as hard as you could there at the end when trying to run Allgaier back down,” Nemechek said. “We raced each other really hard, really clean. Overall, our Mobil 1 Toyota GR Supra was fast as Xfinity 10G [Internet]. I didn’t do us any favors by stuffing [the car] in the fence before we had our whole rain delay today. Just hats off to all the guys, the effort at this Joe Gibbs Racing organization. Man, if consistency is key to win a championship, then we are pretty consistent. Just gotta keep plugging on and we’ll go click off some more wins.”

Custer, who also gambled late on fuel, came home in third place while Hill ended up fourth after narrowing the gap to only 16 seconds. Ty Gibbs ended up in fifth after leading 52 laps followed by rookie Parker Retzlaff and Jeb Burton, all of whom rounded out the top-seven lead lap finishers. Carson Hocevar, the first competitor to finish a lap down, ended up eighth while Brandon Jones and Sammy Smith completed the top 10 on the track.

There were eight lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 31 laps. While all but one of 38 starters finished the race, seven finished on the lead lap.

Following the 12th event of the 2023 Xfinity Series season, John Hunter Nemechek leads the regular-season standings by 10 points over Austin Hill, 50 over Justin Allgaier, 74 over Cole Custer and 85 over Josh Berry.

Results.

1. Justin Allgaier, 83 laps led

2. John Hunter Nemechek, 57 laps led

3. Cole Custer

4. Austin Hill

5. Ty Gibbs, 52 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

6. Parker Retzlaff

7. Jeb Burton

8. Carson Hocevar, one lap down

9. Brandon Jones, one lap down

10. Sammy Smith, one lap down

11. Kyle Sieg, one lap down

12. Justin Haley, one lap down

13. Chandler Smith, one lap down

14. Riley Herbst, one lap down

15. Josh Berry, one lap down

16. Kaz Grala, one lap down

17. Joe Graf Jr., one lap down

18. Josh Williams, one lap down

19. Jeremy Clements, two laps down

20. Kyle Weatherman, two laps down

21. Jeffrey Earnhardt, two laps down

22. Daniel Hemric, two laps down

23. Connor Mosack, two laps down

24. Ryan Sieg, two laps down, eight laps led

25. Rajah Caruth, three laps down

26. Stefan Parsons, three laps down

27. Ryan Ellis, three laps down

28. Sheldon Creed, three laps down

29. Brett Moffitt, three laps down

30. Brennan Poole, three laps down

31. Patrick Emerling, five laps down

32. Anthony Alfredo, five laps down

33. Garrett Smithley, five laps down

34. Natalie Decker, five laps down

35. Sam Mayer, seven laps down

36. Dawson Cram, seven laps down

37. Blaine Perkins – OUT, Engine

38. Parker Kligerman, 56 laps down

Next on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is a trip back to the West Coast for the series’ second-ever event at Portland International Raceway in Portland, Oregon. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, June 3, at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

May 30, 2023
Ryan Blaney dominates for triumphant return to Victory Lane in the Coca-Cola 600

Ryan Blaney erased his winless drought spanning more than a season by emerging victorious in a wild, rain-postponed Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Monday, May 29.

The 29-year-old Blaney, a third-generation racer from High Point, North Carolina, led seven times for a race-high 163 of 400-scheduled laps, including the final 26. The event was originally scheduled to occur on Sunday, May 28, before being postponed to Monday amid ongoing precipitation and an increase of steady rain. Even when the race was delayed again for half an hour in the early stages due to light precipitation, Blaney prevailed through 6 cautions, on-track chaos and seven side-by-side restart battles against pole-sitter William Byron, including the final one with 20 laps remaining, to fend off the competition and claim his first NASCAR Cup Series checkered flag in 59 races.

With on-track qualifying that was scheduled to occur on Saturday, May 27, being canceled due to inclement weather, the starting lineup for the main event was determined through a metric formula per the NASCAR Rule Book. As a result, William Byron, winner of the previous Cup event at Darlington Raceway, was awarded pole position and was joined on the front row by Kevin Harvick.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, William Byron managed to pull ahead of Kevin Harvick and clear him to assume an early lead through the first two turns. As the field fanned out through the backstretch, Byron managed to retain the lead through Turns 3 and 4 and back to the frontstretch as he led the first lap while Brad Keselowski challenged Harvick for second place.

During the second lap and with Byron leading, Harvick managed to pull ahead of Keselowski exiting the backstretch to retain the runner-up spot as Keselowski was then overtaken by Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney for top-five spots. Kyle Busch would then overtake Keselowski and drop him out of the top five on the track while Byron continued to lead.

Then on Lap 13, Byron, who led the first 13 laps, was overtaken by the No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota TRD Camry piloted by reigning Coke 600 winner Hamlin. Hamlin would proceed to lead at the Laps 20 and 25 mark. By then, teammates Christopher Bell and Martin Truex Jr., who started 10th and 18th, respectively, carved their way into the top five while Harvick, who started on the front row, was clinging a spot within the top 20 as he continued to slip backward.

When the scheduled competition caution flew on Lap 35, Christopher Bell, who assumed the lead from teammate Hamlin a lap earlier, was scored the leader in his No. 20 Interstate Batteries Toyota TRD Camry by nearly a second over Blaney, who just managed to overtake Hamlin for the runner-up spot. By then, Truex overtook Byron for fourth and Keselowski overtook Kyle Busch for sixth place while Tyler Reddick, Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher were running in the top 10.

During the competition caution, the field led by Byron pitted. Following the pit stops, Byron reassumed the lead after exiting first followed by Blaney, Bell, Keselowski, Hamlin and Reddick while Truex dropped to seventh. Amid the pit stops, Joey Logano plummeted within the leaderboard after he slid through his pit box while running in the top 15.

When the race resumed under green on Lap 41, Byron retained a narrow advantage until Blaney managed to muscle ahead on the outside lane in his No. 12 BodyArmor Cherry Lime Ford Mustang and assume the lead during the following lap. With Blaney leading Byron, Keselowski battled Bell for third while Hamlin and Buescher battled for fifth.

Just past the Lap 50 mark and amid a series of early on-track battles, Blaney was leading by nearly a second over Byron followed by Bell, Keselowski and Hamlin while Kyle Busch, Truex, Reddick, Buescher and Larson were scored in the top 10. Behind, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was in 11th ahead of Chase Elliott, rookie Ty Gibbs, Daniel Suarez and Erik Jones while Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman, Austin Cindric, Michael McDowell and Justin Haley were running in the top 20. Meanwhile, AJ Allmendinger was running in 21st ahead of Corey LaJoie, Bubba Wallace, Logano and Harrison Burton while Jimmie Johnson, Zane Smith, Austin Dillon, Ryan Preece and Harvick rounded out the top 30, with names that included Aric Almirola, rookie Noah Gragson and Chase Briscoe mired outside top 30.

Thirteen laps later, Bell, who methodically carved his way back to the front, reassumed the lead from Blaney. By then, Byron was in third ahead of Keselowski and Hamlin while Reddick overtook Kyle Busch for sixth. Behind, Truex was mired in eighth ahead of Larson and Stenhouse while Bowman, who made his return from a four-race absence amid a fractured vertebra from a sprint car accident at Iowa in late April, was scored in 16th.

On Lap 74, the second caution of the event flew when Jimmie Johnson spun his No. 84 Club Wyndham Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 off of Turn 2 and the outside wall. By then, Bell was scored the leader by more than a second over Blaney followed by Byron, Keselowski and Hamlin. During the caution period, the field led by Bell returned to pit road amid a stack-up. Following the pit stops, Byron reassumed the top spot after exiting pit road first from his first pit stall ahead of Blaney, Bell, Hamlin, Reddick and Kyle Busch while Keselowski, who pitted from fourth place, dropped to 10th due to a slow pit stop and hesitancy from the jackman. Amid the pit stops, Michael McDowell, who hit Bubba Wallace on pit road, was penalized for an equipment interference along with AJ Allmendinger. Austin Dillon would then pit for a second time for repairs to his front nose.

When the race restarted on Lap 79, Byron and Blaney dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Byron managed to pull ahead on the outside lane through the backstretch. Bell would then follow suit in second over Blaney, where both would battle for the runner-up spot, while Reddick marched his way up to fourth ahead of Larson, Truex and Hamlin.

At the Lap 90 mark, Byron retained the lead by two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Blaney while third-place Bell trailed by nearly a second. Amid a series of on-track battles within the middle of the pack, Reddick retained fourth while Truex moved up to fifth ahead of teammate Hamlin. In addition, Kyle Busch was in seventh, Larson fell back to eighth and Keselowski was back in ninth over Stenhouse, Erik Jones, Suarez, Ty Gibbs, Chase Elliott and Buescher.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 100, Byron fended off late charges from Bell and Blaney to claim his seventh stage victory of the 2023 season. Bell settled in second as Blaney dropped to third while Reddick, Truex, Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Larson and Stenhouse were scored in the top 10. By then, 33 of 37 starters were scored on the lead lap.

Under the stage break, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Byron returned to pit road for service, except for McDowell as he assumed the lead. Following the pit stops, Byron exited pit road first for a third consecutive time following a fast pit service from the No. 24 pit crew ahead of Bell, Blaney, Reddick, Truex and Keselowski. Amid the pit stops, Austin Cindric was assessed a vehicle interference penalty while Legacy Motor Club’s Erik Jones and Noah Gragson took their respective cars to the garage due to mechanical issues as a result of running over the same debris on the track.

The second stage started on Lap 107 as McDowell and Byron occupied the front row. At the start, Byron and McDowell dueled for the lead until Byron pulled ahead through the backstretch. With Byron back in the lead, Bell, Reddick and Blaney would overtake McDowell for positions as the field fanned out and jostled for positions. McDowell then began to fade and lose the track positions he gained while Byron was leading by a steady margin over Bell and Blaney.

On Lap 117, Bell tracked down and overtook Byron for the lead. Reddick would soon follow suit in second while piloting the No. 45 Carolina Blue Jordan Brand Toyota TRD Camry along with Blaney and Keselowski while Byron dropped to fifth at the Lap 120 mark. Through the Lap 125 mark, Kyle Busch was in sixth followed by Hamlin, Truex, Suarez and Stenhouse while Buescher, Elliott, Harvick, Gibbs and Larson occupied the top 15. Behind, Logano was mired in 16th ahead of Wallace, Haley, Almirola and Preece while McDowell had fallen back to 25th behind Cindric, Bowman, Austin Dillon and Allmendinger. In addition, Chastain was mired in 26th, LaJoie was in 29th and Briscoe, who received the free pass to cycle back on the lead lap during the first stage break, was back in 32nd.

By Lap 135, Bell continued to lead by a tenth of a second over Reddick while third-place Blaney trailed by more than a second. Bell would then manage to stretch his advantage to four-tenths of a second over Reddick at the Laps 140 and 145 mark. Meanwhile, Cindric made an unscheduled pit stop under green after scraping his No. 2 Menards Ford Mustang into the outside wall entering the backstretch. McDowell had also pitted under green, with both competitors falling out of the lead lap category.

Within the Lap 145 mark, green flag pit stops slowly commenced as Hamlin pitted, though he stalled his car upon his service’s completion. Kyle Busch would then pit his No. 8 Alsco Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 under green followed by Keselowski, Truex, Reddick, Blaney, Chastain, Byron and a host of other competitors. Bell would then surrender the lead to pit by Lap 148 as Elliott, who had yet to pit, was leading. Upon his completed pit stop, which was slow, Bell was overtaken by Reddick, Keselowski and Blaney while trying to blend back onto the track. Amid the pit stops, Wallace was penalized for an equipment interference violation.

Once the remaining competitors led by Elliott pitted, the No. 45 Carolina Blue scheme piloted by Reddick assumed command of the field on Lap 154 followed by Keselowski, Blaney, Truex and Bell. A lap later, however, the caution flew due to precipitation reported in Turns 3 and 4 as the field was brought down to pit road and placed in a red flag period on Lap 158.

Half an hour later, the red flag lifted once the precipitation cleared and the track was dried as the field returned to the track under a cautious pace. During the caution period, some led by Byron and Keselowski pitted while the rest led by Reddick remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Larson had the hood of his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 raised up while Logano was penalized for an equipment interference.

When the race resumed under green flag conditions on Lap 163, Reddick and Blaney dueled for the lead until Reddick pulled ahead through the backstretch as Truex made his move for second. Shortly after, the caution quickly returned when Johnson, who was multiple laps down, made contact with his driver Gragson against the Turn 2 outside wall, which resulted in Gragson scrubbing the wall and debris being scattered while Johnson spun.

During the following restart on Lap 169, Reddick and Blaney dueled for the lead for a second time. They remained dead even during the following two laps until Reddick managed to muscle ahead of Blaney on the outside lane. With Reddick leading, Truex was in third followed by Elliott while Daniel Suarez battled Buescher, Keselowski and Byron for fifth.

Then on Lap 175, the caution returned when Kyle Busch, who was battling within the top six, got loose entering Turns 1 and 2 and made contact with Keselowski, sending Keselowski scraping into the outside wall, before Busch spun from the top to the bottom lane of the backstretch while being barely hit by Suarez as the field scattered to avoid Busch. Following his spin, Busch reversed his car below the apron towards Turn 4 before spinning his car the right direction and pitting for repairs. During the caution period, names that included Keselowski, Ty Gibbs, Larson, Logano, Haley, Allmendinger, Bell, Cindric, Preece and Suarez pitted while the rest led by Reddick remained on the track. During the pit stops, Larson’s No. 5 pit crew popped the hood up on the car for a second time for adjustments.

At the start of the following restart on Lap 181, Reddick and Blaney battled dead even for the lead entering Turn 1 until Blaney managed to pull ahead and assume the lead from the inside lane. As the field fanned out through the backstretch, Almirola, who had a brief shoving match with Wallace during the red flag period, got loose and hit the backstretch’s outside wall while running within the top 10 and began to plummet below the leaderboard while the race remained under green flag conditions.

Then on Lap 185 and amid the on-track battles, the caution returned when Hamlin, who was battling Elliott within the top 10, slipped up and squeezed Elliott into the outside wall entering the frontstretch. With both managing to continue straight, Elliott then seemingly retaliated by darting back to the left and sending Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota straight into the outside wall head-on, thus collecting Elliott in the process with both sustaining significant damage to their respective entries as Keselowski barely dodged the incident. Despite sustaining heavy front nose damage to his car, Hamlin emerged uninjured as Elliott nursed his damaged No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to the garage. The incident was one that prompted Hamlin to voice his displeasure towards Elliott while suggesting NASCAR to suspend Elliott for next weekend’s event at Gateway.

During the caution period, some that included Byron and Chastain pitted while the rest led by Blaney remained on the track.

When the race restarted on Lap 191, Buescher made his presence at the front known as he battled Blaney for the lead, which he succeeded during the following lap, while Reddick trailed in third. Behind, Harvick carved his way up to fourth followed by Logano and Keselowski while Truex was in seventh.

A few laps later, Harvick moved his No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang up into second place as he battled Blaney and Keselowski to defend the spots while Reddick slipped to seventh behind Keselowski, Logano and Ty Gibbs. In the process, Buescher maintained the lead in his No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang.

Then on the final lap of the second stage, the caution flew due to BJ McLeod spinning and stalling his car in Turn 4. The caution was enough for the second stage’s conclusion scheduled for Lap 200 to conclude under caution as Buescher captured his first stage victory of the 2023 season. Harvick settled in second while Keselowski, Logano, Blaney, Bell, Ty Gibbs, Byron, Chastain and Wallace were scored in the top 10. By then, 25 of 37 starters were scored on the lead lap.

Under the stage break, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Buescher pitted while Stenhouse and Kyle Busch remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Harvick beat Buescher off of pit road first followed by Logano, Gibbs, Blaney, Byron and Keselowski, whose pit stall erupted in flames upon exiting his stall.

The third stage started on Lap 207 as Stenhouse and Busch occupied the front row. At the start, Stenhouse peeked ahead with the lead on the outside lane while Harvick battled Busch for second. Harvick then made his move on the frontstretch during the following lap as he assumed the lead while Logano challenged Stenhouse for second. As Logano assumed second in his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang, Blaney battled Busch and Stenhouse for third while Buescher was back to sixth in front of Keselowski.

At the Lap 220 mark, Harvick was leading by eight-tenths of a second over Blaney followed by Logano, Busch and Byron while Bell, Truex, Buescher, Gibbs and Chastain were scored in the top 10. By then, Keselowski dropped out of the lead lap category after pitting a lap earlier under green amid concerns of a loose wheel to his No. 6 Castrol Edge Ford Mustang.

Ten laps later, Blaney, who assumed the lead from Harvick four laps earlier, was leading by more than a second over Harvick while Busch maintained third ahead of Byron and Bell, who rallied from starting at the rear of the field during the race’s resumption after his No. 20 pit crew made an unapproved adjustment to his car during the red flag period. A lap later, however, Bell drew the caution after getting loose underneath Byron entering the frontstretch and spinning through the front-stretch’s grass. Bell, however, was able to prevent his car from hitting the wall as he slid through pit road before proceeding.

During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Harvick pitted. Following the pit stops, Byron reassumed the lead after exiting pit road first from his first pit stall followed by Harvick, Blaney, Gibbs, Logano and Buescher. Amid the pit stops, Kyle Busch, Truex, Buescher and Chastain made contact on pit road after getting squeezed into one another, with Truex later being assessed an equipment interference penalty.

With the race restarting on Lap 236, Byron and Blaney battled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch until Blaney peeked ahead and assumed command during the following lap. Behind, Harvick and Logano jostled for third as Larson drew himself into the picture. Reddick also carved his way up to sixth in front of Ty Gibbs while Kyle Busch was back in eighth ahead of Stenhouse and Chastain.

By Lap 240, Larson carved his way into third followed by Reddick while Logano and Harvick dropped to fifth and sixth. Meanwhile, Blaney maintained the lead by half a second over Byron as Wallace cracked the top 10 by moving into 10th.

Ten laps later, Blaney extended his advantage to more than a second over Byron as Reddick was in third followed by Larson and Harvick. By then, Busch was in sixth ahead of Gibbs, Logano, Stenhouse and Wallace while Bowman, Cindric, McDowell, Chastain, Truex, Preece, Haley, Bell, Zane Smith and Austin Dillon were scored in the top 20.

Another 10 laps later, Blaney continued to lead by four-tenths of a second over Reddick while Larson, Byron and Harvick trailed in the top five.

On Lap 274, the 10th caution of the event flew when Keselowski got loose and clipped the right rear of the No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford Mustang piloted by Todd Gilliland as both spun through the backstretch. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Blaney pitted, but Byron reassumed the lead with the benefit of his first pit stall and another stellar pit stop from his No. 24 pit crew. With Byron exiting pit road first, Blaney followed suit along with Reddick, Harvick, Gibbs and Larson.

During the following restart on Lap 280, Byron retained the lead as the field fanned out through the first two turns. Behind Byron, Blaney retained second while Reddick used the outside lane to battle and overtake Harvick for third. Two laps later, Blaney reassumed the lead after gaining a strong run beneath Byron’s No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through Turns 2 and 3. Meanwhile, Harvick fell back to seventh as Larson, Truex and Gibbs occupied spots in front of him.

By Lap 290, Blaney maintained the lead by three-tenths of a second over Reddick while Truex carved his way up to third while trailing by more than a second, all while Byron slipped to fourth in front of teammate Larson.

When the third stage concluded on Lap 300, Blaney fended off a late charge from both Reddick and Truex to capture his first stage victory of the 2023 season. Reddick settled in second followed by Truex while Byron, Gibbs, Larson, Kyle Busch, Harvick, Stenhouse and Alex Bowman were scored in the top 10. By then, 27 of 37 starters were scored on the lead lap.

During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Blaney pitted. Following the pit stops, Byron retained the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Blaney, Larson, Ty Gibbs, Reddick, Kyle Busch and Harvick.

With 93 laps remaining, the final stage started as Byron and Blaney occupied the front row. At the start, Byron and Blaney engaged in another tight battle for the lead before Blaney pulled ahead and motored away with the lead.

Eighteen laps later, Blaney was leading by more than two seconds over Reddick followed by Kyle Busch, Byron and Larson while Gibbs, Stenhouse, Bowman, Wallace and Harvick were scored in the top 10. Behind, Truex was mired in 11th ahead of Haley, Zane Smith, Austin Dillon and Logano while Cindric, McDowell, Allmendinger, Chase Briscoe and Preece rounded out the top 20. Meanwhile, Buescher was mired back in 21st while Bell, Harrison Burton, Almirola, LaJoie, JJ Yeley and Chastain rounded out the 27-car field of competitors scored on the lead lap.

With 60 laps remaining, Blaney maintained the lead by more than three seconds over Kyle Busch while Reddick was back in third ahead of Larson and Byron.

Then with laps remaining, the caution flew when a right-front tire came off of the No. 34 Chicago Pneumatic Compressors Ford Mustang piloted by McDowell in Turn 2. During the caution period, the field led by Blaney peeled to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Byron’s pit crew continued to deliver after enabling their driver to exit first and reassume the lead ahead of Reddick, Busch, Blaney, Larson, Harvick and Truex. During the pit stops, Wallace, who pitted within the top 10, dropped to 19th after getting blocked by Bowman while trying to exit his pit stall.

With 51 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Byron and Reddick battled for the lead but Byron quickly retained the lead. Meanwhile, Reddick slipped up the track as Busch, Larson and Blaney overtook him. Truex also made his move into the top five during the following lap as Reddick fell back to sixth in front of Ty Gibbs and Harvick. Not long after, Larson battled Kyle Busch for second as Truex joined the battle with less than 50 laps remaining.

With 43 laps remaining, however, the caution flew when Harvick, who was battling Gibbs and Reddick for spots in the top 10, made contact against Reddick’s Toyota entering the front stretch and sent spinning through the frontstretch grass, though he continued and directed himself to pit road. During the caution period, all but Zane Smith pitted as Byron was the first competitor to exit pit road first.

Down to the final 38 laps of the event, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Byron assumed the lead from Zane Smith as the field fanned out, with Larson challenging Blaney for second. Nearly a lap later, however, the caution returned when Allmendinger received a nudge from Stenhouse, slipped sideways and spun towards the Turns 3 and 4 outside wall, barely clipping Logano in the process as Harrison Burton was also involved.

With the race restarting with 31 laps remaining, Byron received a strong push from teammate Larson to retain the lead over Blaney. As the field made its way through the backstretch, trouble struck again as Cindric, who was running within the middle of the pack, got sideways and slapped the inside wall head-on as his long event came to a late end.

During the following restart with 26 laps remaining, the calamity continued as Larson, who was running fourth, slipped sideways and ignited a multi-car wreck in Turn 2 that involved Gibbs, Bell, Logano and Almirola. At the moment of this recent caution, Blaney had managed to reassume the lead over Byron.

With the race restarting with 20 laps remaining, Blaney used the outside lane to retain the lead over Truex and Byron. Through Turns 3 and 4, however, Blaney briefly lost his momentum, which allowed Byron to fight back on the inside lane while Truex had to also step out of the gas to avoid hitting Blaney. Byron, however, was unable to mount his charge as Blaney retained the lead while Byron and Truex battled for second. Shortly after, Reddick made his charge to the front as he overtook Truex for third. Behind, Wallace carved his way to fifth while Kyle Busch, who nearly got turned by Stenhouse, was mired in sixth.

With less than 15 laps remaining, Blaney was leading by half a second over Byron and more than a second over Truex. Blaney continued to lead by six-tenths of a second with 10 laps remaining as 23XI Racing’s Wallace and Reddick were scored in fourth and fifth.

Down to the final five laps of the event, Blaney retained the lead by more than a second over Byron and Truex while Wallace and Reddick trailed by more than two seconds.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Blaney remained as the leader by nine-tenths of a second over Byron. Despite Byron mounting a final lap charge as he cut the deficit down to six-tenths of a second, he ran out of time as Blaney, who had a clear vision in front of him, was able to cycle his way back to the frontstretch and claim his first checkered flag in 59 races.

With the victory, Blaney, who also achieved his first Coke 600 victory, notched his first Cup Series victory since winning at Daytona International Speedway in August 2021. He became the 10th different winner of the 2023 Cup season and the second Team Penske competitor alongside Joey Logano to win this season as he notched his eighth career win in NASCAR’s premier series.

As an added bonus, Blaney’s Coke 600 victory capped off a memorable weekend for his team owner Roger Penske, who notched his 19th Indianapolis 500 victory a day ago with the help of two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Josef Newgarden. Blaney also recorded the first Cup points-paying victory for crew chief Jonathan Hassler.

Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“I might shed a tear,” Blaney said on FOX. “Man, this has been a cool weekend. Obviously, Memorial Day weekend, it means a lot. I’ve been growing up here, watching dad [Dave Blaney] run this race for a long time. It’s just so cool to be a part of it, let alone win it. I was able to get the lead on the restart. Our car was so good that I could kind of bide my time a little bit and we were able to drive off. I was hoping no caution just because you never know. I knew we had the car to do it, but restarts can be crazy. You start to get to feel like you can’t win anymore and when you don’t win [a race] in a while, it kind of gets hard. Just super thankful to the No. 12 guys for believing in me and thank you [fans] for sticking around.”

Byron, the pole-sitter who led 91 laps and received superior service from his pit crew amid the long event and delay, settled in second place for his best result at his home track.

“We just needed a little bit,” Byron said. “Just really happy for Ryan. He really deserves it. He’s a good dude. Cool to see him get a win. I felt like there were enough restarts for him to get back towards the front. I knew [Blaney] and [Reddick] were a little bit stronger than us, but just thanks to this Liberty University Chevrolet team. The car was great tonight. Just not quite good enough, but really proud of the effort. Pit crew was phenomenal on pit road. Those guys are just high energy and that [number one] pit stall helps, so just a credit to the few weeks before Darlington. Just proud of where our team is at. Just needed a little bit more.”

Truex, a two-time Coke 600 winner, came home in third while Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick finished in the top five. Kyle Busch, Stenhouse, Buescher, Austin Dillon and Zane Smith completed the top 10 in the final running order. Notably, Harvick finished 11th in his final Coke 600 event while Alex Bowman finished 12th in his first event since returning from his fractured vertebrae injury.

There were 31 lead changes for 13 different leaders. The race featured 16 cautions for 83 laps. In total, 25 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.

With 12 regular-season events remaining of this year’s Cup Series schedule, Ross Chastain leads the regular-season standings by a single point over Ryan Blaney, four over William Byron, eight over Kevin Harvick and 13 over Martin Truex Jr.

William Byron, Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr., Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, Denny Hamlin, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Joey Logano 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, Brad Keselowski, Chris Buescher, Bubba Wallace and Alex Bowman occupy the remaining vacant spots to the Playoffs based on points, with Bowman occupying the 16th and final vacant spot by four points over Chase Briscoe, 15 over rookie Ty Gibbs, 20 over Daniel Suarez, 38 over Corey LaJoie and 42 over Austin Cindric.

Results.

1. Ryan Blaney, 163 laps led, Stage 3 winner

2. William Byron, 91 laps led, Stage 1 winner

3. Martin Truex Jr.

4. Bubba Wallace

5. Tyler Reddick, 28 laps led

6. Kyle Busch, one lap led

7. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., four laps led

8. Chris Buescher, 12 laps led, Stage 2 winner

9. Austin Dillon

10. Zane Smith, three laps led

11. Kevin Harvick, 19 laps led

12. Alex Bowman

13. Ryan Preece

14. AJ Allmendinger

15. Justin Haley

16. JJ Yeley

17. Corey LaJoie

18. Harrison Burton

19. Brad Keselowski

20. Chase Briscoe

21. Joey Logano

22. Ross Chastain

23. Daniel Suarez

24. Christopher Bell, 48 laps led

25. Aric Almirola

26. Ty Gibbs, two laps down

27. Ty Dillon, three laps down

28. Michael McDowell, four laps down, four laps led

29. BJ McLeod, eight laps down

30. Kyle Larson – OUT, one lap led

31. Austin Cindric – OUT, Accident

32. Erik Jones, 59 laps down

33. Todd Gilliland – OUT, Accident

34. Chase Elliott – OUT, Accident, six laps led

35. Denny Hamlin – OUT, Accident, 20 laps led

36. Noah Gragson – OUT, Engine

37. Jimmie Johnson – OUT, Accident

Next on the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ second annual event at Gateway’s World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, June 4, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

May 30, 2023
NASCAR postpones Coca-Cola 600 to Monday amid inclement weather

NASCAR announced another shakeup to this year’s Memorial Day weekend events at Charlotte Motor Speedway as the Coca-Cola 600 has been postponed to occur on Monday, May 29, at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.

The news comes amid ongoing precipitation and steady rain that has and will continue to fall for the duration of Sunday, May 28, with no big weather breaks being indicated. This, in turn, will prevent the Coke 600 from starting at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday as initially scheduled, with NASCAR’s longest event on the schedule being postponed to Monday for the first time since 2009.

The news also means that the Coke 600 will occur after the Xfinity Series’ Alsco Uniforms 300 as part of a doubleheader feature on Memorial Day, with the Xfinity event now scheduled to start at 11 a.m. ET on FS1 after being bumped up from noon ET on Monday. The Xfinity event at Charlotte was initially scheduled to occur on Saturday, May 27, at 1 p.m. ET prior to the weather delay. Amid the weather concerns, the event was then bumped up to commence at noon ET on Saturday before the start was delayed amid the precipitation and eventually led to NASCAR to postpone the event to Monday morning.

For the Xfinity Series’ Alsco Uniforms 300, Justin Allgaier will lead the field from pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 181.172 mph in 29.806 seconds during a qualifying session that occurred on Friday, May 26. Joining him on the front row will be John Hunter Nemechek, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 180.246 mph in 29.959 seconds.

When the green flag waves for the Coke 600, William Byron, winner of the previous Cup Series event at Darlington Raceway two weeks ago, will lead the field from pole position. The 25-year-old Byron from Charlotte, North Carolina, was awarded the top starting spot based on a metric formula per the NASCAR Rule Book after the event’s qualifying session that was scheduled to occur on Saturday was canceled due to the steady precipitation. Joining him on the front row will be Kevin Harvick, a two-time Coke 600 winner who will be making his final 600-mile career start.

May 28, 2023
NASCAR cancels Saturday’s Charlotte activities; Xfinity event postponed to Monday

NASCAR announced changes to the remainder of this weekend’s Memorial Day feature events at Charlotte Motor Speedway due to ongoing inclement weather that has impacted on-track activities for Saturday, May 27.

The Xfinity Series’ Alsco Uniforms 300 that was scheduled to occur today at noon ET on FS1 has been postponed to occur on Monday, May 29, at noon ET. The news comes a day after NASCAR bumped the startup time for the 12th Xfinity event of the 2023 season an hour early from 1 p.m. ET to noon amid the inclement weather and increased rain that will remain persistent for the remainder of the weekend.

When the Xfinity event commences under green, Justin Allgaier will lead the field from pole position after posting a pole-winning qualifying lap at 181.172 mph in 29.806 seconds during the series’ qualifying session on Friday, May 26. Joining him on the front row will be John Hunter Nemechek, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 180.246 mph in 29.959 seconds.

In addition, the Cup Series’ Coca-Cola 600 practice and qualifying sessions that were originally scheduled to occur after the Xfinity event on Saturday have been canceled. With qualifying canceled, the starting lineup for the Coke 600 at Charlotte will be based on a metric formula per the NASCAR Rule Book system. As a result, William Byron, winner of the previous Cup points-paying event at Darlington Raceway two weeks ago, will lead the field from pole position. He will be joined on the front row with Kevin Harvick, a two-time Coke 600 winner who will be making his final career start in NASCAR’s longest events on the schedule.

The Coke 600 is still scheduled to occur on Sunday, May 28, at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.

May 27, 2023
Ben Rhodes lands first Truck victory of 2023 at Charlotte

From rolling off the starting grid in 19th place to claiming the checkered flag in first place, Ben Rhodes emerged victorious for the first time in the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season after winning the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Friday, May 26.

The 2021 Truck Series champion from Louisville, Kentucky, led two times for 37 of 134 scheduled laps as he managed to reassume the lead from Carson Hocevar during a late restart with 24 laps remaining. From there, he managed to pull away from the field and beat runner-up Corey Heim by more than two seconds to win for the first time in the 2023 season and at Charlotte.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Tanner Gray claimed his first career pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 180.385 in 29.936 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ty Majeski, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 180.180 mph in 29.970 seconds.

Prior to the event, Tyler Ankrum dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change made to his Hattori Racing Enterprises entry. Rookie Nick Sanchez also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his Rev Racing entry.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Tanner Gray received a push from teammate Corey Heim on the inside lane to muscle ahead of Majeski with the lead entering Turns 1 and 2. As the field fanned out to three lanes through the backstretch and entering the frontstretch, Gray managed to fend off Majeski and Heim as he led the first lap.

During the second lap and amid a series of early on-track battles, Tanner Gray retained the lead by half a second over a side-by-side battle between Majeski and Heim while rookie Rajah Caruth closed in while running in fourth. Shortly after, Armani Williams had early on-track issues after he made contact with the wall and limped his damaged truck to pit road, but the race remained under green.

Then on the fourth lap, Heim gained a strong run beneath teammate Tanner Gray entering the frontstretch as he assumed the lead in his No. 11 Rootly Toyota Tundra TRD Pro. Entering Turn 1, Majeski attempted to overtake Gray, but he got loose beneath Gray as his truck slipped sideways, but he managed to straighten his truck entering the backstretch as Gray and Caruth overtook him for top-five spots. In the midst of the battle, Heim stretched his advantage to eight-tenths of a second.

Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Heim was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Caruth and more than a second over third-place Dean Thompson while Majeski and Tanner Gray trailed in the top five. Behind, David Gilliland was in sixth ahead of Carson Hocevar, Christian Eckes, Zane Smith and Stewart Friesen while Grant Enfinger, Bayley Currey, Taylor Gray, Lawless Alan and Chase Purdy rounded out the top 15. Meanwhile, Jack Wood was in 16th ahead of Ben Rhodes, Colby Howard, Matt DiBenedetto and Matt Crafton while rookie Nick Sanchez was up to 21st ahead of Hailie Deegan and rookie Jake Garcia.

Ten laps later, Heim continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Caruth as Dean Thompson retained third while trailing by seven-tenths of a second. Behind, Majeski also retained fourth while Hocevar carved his way up to fifth. With Zane Smith moving up to sixth, Tanner Gray fell back to seventh ahead of David Gilliland while Taylor Gray cracked the top 10.

Another four laps later, Hocevar carved his way up to second place as he trailed Heim by more than a second while Caruth, Thompson and Majeski dropped a spot, but remained in the top five.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 30, Heim claimed his fourth Truck stage victory of the season after fending off Hocevar by a tenth of a second. Hocevar settled in second followed by Thompson, Caruth and Zane Smith while Majeski, Tanner Gray, Friesen, David Gilliland and Taylor Gray were scored in the top 10. By then, 29 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Heim pitted and after the pit stops, Heim retained the lead after exiting pit road first ahead of Hocevar, Zane Smith, Tanner Gray, Thompson and Gilliland. Following the pit stops, Majeski pitted for a second time for repairs to his quarter panel. Caruth also made another pit stop due to a jack issue from his initial stop.

The second stage started on Lap 36 as Heim and Hocevar occupied the front row. At the start, Heim and Hocevar dueled for the lead through the first two turns amid a tight pack of competitors. Just as Hocevar tried to peek ahead on the outside lane, Heim managed to muscle ahead on the inside lane through Turns 3 and 4 as he retained the lead while teammates Tanner Gray and Thompson battled for third. Behind, Friesen was in fifth while David Gilliland carved his way to sixth ahead of Taylor Gray, Zane Smith, Eckes, Bayley Currey, Colby Howard and Matt DiBenedetto.

Just past the Lap 40 mark, Heim was holding a steady advantage over Hocevar followed by Thompson, Tanner Gray and Friesen while Zane Smith, Taylor Gray, Gilliland, Rhodes and Eckes were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Colby Howard was in 11th ahead of DiBenedetto, Crafton, Sanchez, and Currey while Purdy, Deegan, Enfinger, Garcia and Caruth were running within the top 20.

Five laps later, Hocevar emerged as the third different leader of the event as he overtook Heim for the lead while third-place Thompson trailed by more than two seconds. By then, Caruth and Majeski were mired back in 18th and 20th, respectively, as Friesen and Zane Smith rounded out the top five.

At the Lap 50 mark, Hocevar extended his advantage to more than two seconds over runner-up Heim while third-place Thompson trailed by more than four seconds. Behind, Friesen and Zane Smith remained in the top five while Taylor Gray retained sixth ahead of Ben Rhodes.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 60, Hocevar claimed his second stage victory of the 2023 Truck season. Heim settled in second ahead of Thompson, Zane Smith and Friesen while Taylor Gray, Rhodes, Gilliland, Sanchez and Eckes were scored in the top 10. By then, 30 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Hocevar returned to pit road. Following the pit stops, Heim managed to edge Hocevar to reassume the lead followed by Taylor Gray, Thompson, Zane Smith and Sanchez. Following the pit stops, Tanner Gray pitted for a second time with the hood up on his truck.

With 66 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as Heim and Hocevar occupied the front row. At the start, Heim and Hocevar dueled for the lead until Heim launched ahead with the lead on the inside lane through the first two turns. Heim would retain the lead through the frontstretch as Hocevar overtook Taylor Gray for second while the rest of the field fanned out and jostled for positions.

With 60 laps remaining, Heim continued to lead by a tenth of a second over Hocevar. A lap later, however, Hocevar reassumed the lead over Heim as Thompson, Rhodes and Friesen were scored in the top five.

Then with 54 laps remaining, the caution flew when Armani Williams slipped sideways and spun entering Turn 4 as his truck dipped below the apron and onto pit road, where he collided against the pit road wall and damaged his truck. Despite the incident, Williams emerged uninjured as his incident also did not involve any crew members.

Following an extensive cleanup period and while still under a caution, Hocevar led a parade of competitors to pit road with 48 laps remaining. Amid mixed strategy, Chase Purdy exited first after only opting for fuel as he was followed by Rhodes, Hocevar, Deegan, Taylor Gray and Thompson.

During the following restart with 45 laps remaining, Purdy struggled to launch on the inside lane while Rhodes received a strong push from Hocevar’s No. 42 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Silverado RST to assume the lead on the outside lane. The field then fanned out to three lanes entering Turn 1 as Hocevar quickly challenged Rhodes for the lead. Entering the frontstretch, however, the caution returned when Zane Smith got loose underneath Taylor Gray while battling for third, spun across the track and clipped the side of Hailie Deegan’s No. 13 Ford F-150 before spinning across the frontstretch grass.

With the race restarting with 38 laps remaining, Rhodes managed to launch with a strong start and retain the lead ahead of Hocevar while transitioning from the outside to the inside lane entering Turn 1. After being placed in a three-wide battle between Hocevar and Christian Eckes through the backstretch, Rhodes maintained the top spot as he gained a strong start on the outside lane and muscled away from the field. Behind, Hocevar and Eckes battled for second in front of Majeski and Taylor Gray.

With 33 laps remaining, Hocevar managed to reassume the lead from Rhodes as Eckes fell back to third ahead of Heim and Thompson. Two laps later, however, the caution returned as Tyler Ankrum and Kris Wright wrecked in the backstretch.

As the race restarted under green with 24 laps remaining, Rhodes gained a strong push from Eckes on the inside lane to pull ahead of Hocevar and reassume the lead entering the first turn. With the rest of the field jostling for positions, Rhodes retained the lead by a tenth of a second with 20 laps remaining.

With 15 laps remaining, Rhodes was leading by three-tenths of a second over Heim followed by Hocevar, Thompson and Eckes while Enfinger, Majeski, Taylor Gray, DiBenedetto and Gilliland were scored in the top 10. Behind, Caruth was in 11th ahead of Currey, Crafton, Sanchez, and Garcia while Daniel Dye, Purdy, Tanner Gray, Jack Wood and Friesen were running in the top 20.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Rhodes continued to lead in his No. 99 Campers Inn RV Ford F-150 by eight-tenths of a second over Heim and more than a second over Thompson while Hocevar and Enfinger were in the top five. Rhodes would retain the lead by a second over a three-truck battle between a tight three-truck battle between Heim, Thompson and Hocevar with five laps remaining.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Rhodes remained as the leader by more than two seconds over Heim with Hocevar, Thompson and Enfinger scored in the top five. With Heim unable to narrow the deficit for a final lap and with Rhodes having a clear view in front of him, the Kentucky native was able to cycle his way back to the frontstretch for his first elusive checkered flag of the 2023 campaign.

With the victory, Rhodes became the ninth different winner of the 2023 Truck season and the sixth series regular to place himself in contention to make the 2023 Truck Playoffs. In addition to scoring his seventh series career victory and the second of the season for ThorSport Racing, Rhodes notched the first Truck victory at Charlotte for himself and the Ford nameplate as he claimed the first $50,000 bonus for winning the first Triple Truck Challenge event.

Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“I didn’t think we were that good in practice,” Rhodes said on FS1. “I didn’t qualify the best, and here, [the truck] came to life at night. Oh, man, I had so much fun. This is so much fun. Charlotte is a track that we come to. ThorSport Racing, we’re based in Sandusky, Ohio. We come to the North Carolina guys’ house and we like to win.”

“I’ll take the championship right now,” Rhodes added. “The whole season is so hard to put together. It’s unbelievably hard and it’s only gotten more difficult over the years. I started running this series in 2016 and I’ll tell you, I keep getting better every year and so does the competition. The harder I try, the harder it is to win a race, so a championship, being locked [into the Playoffs], I’ll take that. The last three races have been so unbelievably hard on my team. We’ve been wrecked in the last three and haven’t had any good showings because of it. I’ll take the points. Thank you.”

Heim, who led four times for a race-high 49 laps, settled in second place for the second time this season but managed to extend his lead in the regular-season standings with five regular-season events remaining on the schedule.

“Me and [Hocevar] and [Thompson] were probably the best trucks,” Heim said. “[Rhodes] just came along really strong, and once we got to second on the restart, where [Hocevar] got put in the middle there, I really thought we had a shot at it. It just proves that clean air is king here, but I feel like if I did a better job of getting by as soon as possible rather than waiting on a run, we might have had a better opportunity.”

Dean Thompson, Heim’s teammate at TRICON Garage who qualified seventh, had a career night as he claimed third-place results in both stages before settling a career-best third-place in the final running order for his first top-five result in the series.

“This season, so far, has been so up and down,” Thompson said. “We’ve had such good runs. We had [good runs at] Texas, Kansas, and it just ends up wrecking. To have this turned around like this is just massive. Not just for me, but for my team too. This plays a lot in my confidence so we can carry it to Gateway.”

Hocevar, who led five times for 43 laps, came home in fourth place followed by Grant Enfinger while Eckes, Majeski, DiBenedetto, Sanchez and Taylor Gray finished in the top 10.

There were 12 lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 32 laps. In total, 26 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

Following the 11th event of the 2023 Craftsman Truck Series season, Corey Heim continues to lead the regular-season standings by 26 points over Ty Majeski, 43 over Zane Smith, 63 over Grant Enfinger and 76 over Ben Rhodes.

Results.

1. Ben Rhodes, 37 laps led

2. Corey Heim, 49 laps led, Stage 1 winner

3. Dean Thompson

4. Carson Hocevar, 43 laps led, Stage 2 winner

5. Grant Enfinger

6. Christian Eckes

7. Ty Majeski

8. Matt DiBenedetto

9. Nick Sanchez

10. Taylor Gray

11. Rajah Caruth

12. Matt Crafton

13. Bayley Currey

14. David Gilliland

15. Jake Garcia

16. Chase Purdy, two laps led

17. Lawless Alan

18. Jack Wood

19. Daniel Dye

20. Colby Howard

21. Bret Holmes

22. Stewart Friesen

23. Zane Smith

24. Tyler Hill

25. Mason Maggio

26. Ryan Vargas

27. Tanner Gray, one lap down, three laps led

28. Tyler Ankrum, two laps down

29. Josh Reaume, three laps down

30. Matt Mills, three laps down

31. Spencer Boyd, three laps down

32. Kris Wright, four laps down

33. Hailie Deegan six laps down

34. Justin Carroll, 12 laps down

35. Armani Williams – OUT, Accident

36. Keith McGee – OUT, Fuel pump

Next on the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season is the series’ annual visit to Gateway’s World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois, which will serve as the second site of this year’s Triple Truck Challenge program. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, June 3, at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

May 27, 2023
Travis Mack to call 100th Cup event as crew chief at Charlotte

A significant milestone start is in the making for Travis Mack, crew chief for Daniel Suarez and the No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team in the NASCAR Cup Series. By participating in this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Mack will call his 100th career event as crew chief in NASCAR’s premier series.

A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Mack’s racing career began as a mechanic for Frank Kimmel’s ARCA Menards Series team before joining Hendrick Motorsports as a shock specialist and front-end mechanic in 2004, where he worked with Jeff Gordon before eventually teaming up with Dale Earnhardt Jr. Nine years later, he served as a car chief for JR Motorsports’ No. 7 team and driver Regan Smith in the Xfinity Series before moving over to JRM’s No. 9 team and rookie Chase Elliott for the 2014 season, where the team ended up winning the series championship. Beginning in 2015, he became a car chief for Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports team in the Cup circuit.

At Richmond Raceway in September 2017, Mack made his debut as a Cup Series crew chief in an interim role for Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 HMS team after Earnhardt’s regular crew chief, Greg Ives, was suspended due to a lug nut infraction stemming from the previous event at Darlington Raceway. During the event at Richmond and with Mack atop the pit box, Earnhardt Jr. led 13 laps before finishing 13th.

In 2018, Mack was named crew chief for Leavine Family Racing’s No. 95 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry piloted by veteran Kasey Kahne. Following the first 15 events of the 2018 season, however, Mack was replaced by Jon Leonard after the team posted five top-20 results and finished no higher than 17th three times. Mack would return to the Xfinity Series to serve as a crew chief for Michael Annett and the No. 5 JRM team for the remainder of the 2018 season.

In November 2020, Mack, who achieved his first Xfinity victory as a crew chief with Annett at Daytona in February 2019, was named crew chief for the newly formed Trackhouse Racing and driver Daniel Suarez for the 2021 Cup season. Despite being suspended for two of the 26 regular-season events, Mack and Suarez achieved a strong fourth-place run at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course in March along with a total of three top-10 results and nine top-15 results. While they did not make the 2021 Cup Playoffs, the duo proceeded to finish in the top 15 five times throughout the postseason before concluding the season in 25th place in the final standings.

Remaining at Trackhouse Racing and paired with Suarez for the 2022 season, Mack led the No. 99 team to two fourth-place results and a total of four top-10 results through the first 15-scheduled events. Then at Sonoma Raceway in June, Mack achieved his first Cup Series career victory as a crew chief when Suarez led a race-high 47 of 110 laps and notched his first career win in NASCAR’s premier series, thus becoming the first Mexican-born competitor to win a Cup event. To go along with five additional top-10 results for the remainder of the regular-season stretch, Mack and Suarez qualified for the 2022 Cup Playoffs. Despite transferring from the Round of 16 to 12 on the strength of three consecutive top-20 results, the duo missed the cutline to the Round of 8 by a mere margin and after a power steering issue at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in October diminished the team’s title hopes. With only a single top-10 result during the final four scheduled events, Mack and Suarez capped off the season in 10th place in the final standings.

This season, Mack, who remains at Trackhouse for a third consecutive season, has led Suarez and the No. 99 team to four top-10 results through the first 13-scheduled events, with their best on-track result being a fourth-place finish at Auto Club Speedway in February. The duo is ranked in 18th place in the driver’s standings and trail the top-16 cutline to make the 2023 Cup Playoffs by 13 points.

Through 99 previous Cup events, Mack has achieved one victory, eight top-five results, 21 top-10 results and 395 laps led while working with three different competitors.

Mack is scheduled to call his 100th Cup Series event as a crew chief in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 28. The event is scheduled to commence at 6 p.m. ET on FOX.

May 25, 2023
Larson cruises to third All-Star career victory at North Wilkesboro

From an early speeding penalty to cashing in a million dollars in NASCAR’s revival of one of the sport’s oldest venues, Kyle Larson cruised to a dominant victory in the 2023 NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, on Sunday, May 21.

The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, led two times for a race-high 145 of 200-scheduled laps in a weekend where he started 16th out of the 24-car field and rallied from speeding on pit road during a caution period past the Lap 15 mark to methodically carve his way through the field. After assuming the lead from pole-sitter Daniel Suarez on Lap 55 of 200, Larson never looked back as he also retained the lead during a 90-lap shootout to beat runner-up Bubba Wallace by more than four seconds and win the All-Star Race for the third time in his career.

The starting lineup for the main event was determined through a Pit Crew Challenge that occurred on Friday, May 19, two 60-lap heat events. with the drivers’ qualifying time determined based on their respective crew’s pit stop time through a four-tire pit stop and the timing lines being established one box behind and ahead of the designated pit box. The teams who delivered the fastest pit services would enable their respective entries to start towards the front of two All-Star Heat Races comprising 60 laps that occurred on Saturday, May 20, and that set the official starting lineup for the All-Star event.

At the conclusion of both events, Daniel Suarez, whose No. 99 Trackhouse Racing pit crew executed a fast pit stop service in 13.297 during the Pit Crew Challenge that put him on the pole for the first Heat Race, earned the pole position for the main feature after winning the first Heat. Joining him on the front row was Chris Buescher, whose No. 17 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing pit crew delivered a pit stop service in 13.381 seconds that enabled him to start on the pole for the second Heat Race and carried forth to the driver winning.

Suarez and Buescher were among 21 competitors to have earned a spot for the 2023 All-Star Race by virtue of winning a Cup Series points race between 2022-23 or being a former Cup and All-Star Race winner. The eligibility list included Joey Logano, Austin Dillon, Chase Briscoe, William Byron, Christopher Bell, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson, Austin Cindric, Ross Chastain, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Tyler Reddick and Erik Jones.

The eligible competitors were joined by Josh Berry and rookie Ty Gibbs, both of whom transferred to the All-Star Race after finishing first and second, respectively, during the All-Star Open. The 24th and final starting spot went to rookie Noah Gragson, who was named the Fan Vote winner.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Suarez launched ahead with a strong start on the inside lane followed by Joey Logano and Chase Briscoe while Buescher, who started on the front row, struggled to launch on the outside lane, though he managed to draw even against Briscoe for third. As the field battled amid two lanes, Suarez managed to cycle back to the frontstretch with a clear view and lead the first lap.

During the second lap, Suarez retained the lead ahead of Logano followed by Briscoe and Christopher Bell while Buescher was struggling to transition from the outside to the inside lane for grip as he was locked in a tight battle against Denny Hamlin for fifth place. Buescher, however, would continue to lose more spots through Turns 3 and 4 as William Byron and Ryan Blaney overtook him. As the 24-car field settled in a long single-file formation, Suarez retained the lead by two-tenths of a second over Logano by the fifth lap.

Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Suarez was leading by four-tenths of a second over Logano followed by Hamlin, Byron and Briscoe while Blaney, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr. and Bell were in the top 10. Behind, Buescher dropped to 11th ahead of Kevin Harvick, Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. while Ty Gibbs, Kyle Busch, Erik Jones, Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, Kyle Larson, Josh Berry, Noah Gragson and Tyler Reddick trailed behind within the 24-car field.

Five laps later, the first caution of the event flew when Stenhouse, who slid up the track between Turns 3 and 4 and was trying to transition from the outside to the inside lane, got hit by Erik Jones as he spun his No. 47 Kroger/Coca-Cola Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 around in Turn 4 before proceeding without sustaining any significant damage. During the first caution period, names like Austin Dillon, Erik Jones, Wallace, Larson, Berry, Gragson, Reddick and Stenhouse pitted while the rest led by Suarez remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Larson was penalized for speeding on pit road.

When the race restarted under green on Lap 20, Suarez and Briscoe dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Suarez managed to peek ahead on the inside lane in his No. 99 Trackhouse Motorplex Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and retain the lead. Behind, Briscoe and Hamlin battled for second as Briscoe was trying to transition back to the inside lane. Despite losing spots to Hamlin and Logano, Briscoe managed to settle in fourth place in front of Elliott on the inside lane as the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes.

At the Lap 30 mark, Suarez was leading by over a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Hamlin followed by Logano, Briscoe and Elliott while Byron, Truex, Blaney, Keselowski and Buescher were running single file in the top 10. Behind, Gragson moved up to 11th ahead of Berry, Bell, Larson and Erik Jones while Reddick, Wallace, Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch and Harvick trailed in the top 20.

Ten laps later, Suarez continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over Hamlin while Logano, Briscoe and Elliott remained in the top five. Behind, Larson carved his way up to eighth on fresh tires behind Byron and Truex while Bell, Kyle Busch and Harvick were mired from 18th to 20th, respectively. In addition, Chastain was back in 21st while Cindric, Gibbs and Stenhouse were stuck from 22nd to 24th, respectively.

Through the first 50 scheduled laps, Suarez stabilized his advantage to four-tenths of a second over Hamlin followed by Logano while Larson was up in fourth place. Briscoe fell back to fifth ahead of Elliott, Truex and Buescher while Byron and Blaney were scored in the top 10.

Five laps later, Larson, who overtook Hamlin and Logano earlier, made his move on the frontstretch beneath Suarez as he rocketed his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead. Larson started to pull away on fresh tires as he was scored as the leader by more than a second-and-a-half over Suarez at the Lap 60 mark. Behind, Logano overtook Hamlin for third while Briscoe was in fifth ahead of Elliott, Buescher, Truex, Blaney and Erik Jones.

Shortly after, Byron and Kyle Busch pitted under green, a move that dropped both competitors out of the lead lap category, as Larson remained as the leader by more than two seconds over runner-up Suarez and more than three seconds over third-place Logano.

At the Lap 75 mark, Larson extended his advantage by six seconds over Suarez as Logano, Hamlin and Briscoe remained in the top five. Behind, Elliott retained sixth ahead of Buescher while Wallace and Blaney moved up to eighth and ninth in front of Truex and Reddick. By then, Larson was also starting to approach Harvick and Keselowski to lap both former Cup champions while Cindric and Stenhouse were also lapped.

Just past the Lap 90 mark, Larson continued to lead by more than 11 seconds over Suarez while Wallace moved his No. 23 Columbia Sportswear Company Toyota TRD Camry up to third. Logano was back in fourth followed by Briscoe, Reddick and Hamlin while Elliott, Buescher and Blaney were running in the top 10. By then, 16 of 24 competitors were scored on the lead lap.

When the competition caution period flew on Lap 100, which marked the halfway point of the event, Larson had retained a commanding lead over Wallace, who overtook Suarez for the runner-up spot four laps earlier. By then, 16 of 24 competitors were still scored on the lead lap, none of which included Truex, Byron, Gragson, Harvick, Keselowski, Cindric, Kyle Busch and Stenhouse.

During the competition caution period, the lead lap competitors led by Larson pitted. Following the pit stops, Larson retained the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Wallace, Suarez, Reddick, Briscoe and Elliott. Amid the pit stops, Chastain, who exited pit road seventh, was penalized for speeding on pit road. Logano and Bell were also penalized for uncontrolled tire violations.

When the race resumed under green flag conditions with 90 laps remaining, Larson retained the lead on the inside lane as he took off followed by Wallace as Suarez battled Reddick for third. Reddick would then bump Suarez to assume third place as the field jostled for positions.

With 75 laps remaining, Larson was leading by more than a second over Wallace while third-place Reddick trailed by more than two seconds in his No. 45 Beast Unleashed Toyota TRD Camry. Suarez retained fourth as he too trailed by more than two seconds followed by Buescher while Elliott, Briscoe, Blaney, Erik Jones and Ty Gibbs were scored in the top 10. By then, names that included Harvick, Byron, Keselowski, Cindric, Kyle Busch, Gragson and Stenhouse were not scored on the lead lap category.

Down to the final 60 laps of the event, Larson extended his advantage to more than two seconds over runner-up Wallace while Reddick, Suarez and Buescher remained in the top five. Larson would continue to extend his advantage to three seconds over Wallace with 50 laps remaining and more than four seconds with 40 laps remaining.

With 25 laps remaining, Larson stabilized his advantage to more than three-and-a-half seconds over Wallace followed by Reddick as Briscoe carved his No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang up to fourth ahead of Elliott. Behind, Suarez was back in sixth ahead of Blaney while Buescher, Erik Jones and Gibbs remained in the top 10. Meanwhile, Logano was in 11th ahead of Hamlin, Chastain, Bell, and Truex while Berry, Austin Dillon, Harvick, Keselowski and Byron were strapped in the top 20.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Larson continued to lead by more than four seconds over Wallace while both third-place Reddick and fourth-place Briscoe trailed by more than seven seconds. Larson would stabilize his advantage to over four seconds over Wallace as the event reached its final five-lap mark.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson remained as the leader by more than three seconds over Wallace. Despite dealing with lapped traffic for the majority of his dominant run in the second half of the event, Larson was able to smoothly cycle his way around the short circuit for a final time and back to the frontstretch as he streaked across the finish line to claim his third checkered flag in the All-Star Race.

With the victory, Larson notched his third All-Star career victory overall and in his previous four All-Star starts as he became the first competitor to win the All-Star Race in three different venues (North Wilkesboro Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway). He joined Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt as competitors to win the All-Star Race three times. He also recorded the 11th All-Star Race victory for Hendrick Motorsports and the 21st for Chevrolet while becoming the first competitor to win a Cup Series event at North Wilkesboro Speedway since Gordon won the last points-paying event at the track in September 1996.

As an added bonus, Larson’s All-Star victory capped off a weekend sweep after he won Saturday’s Craftsman Truck Series event at North Wilkesboro while driving for Spire Motorsports.

Photo by Andrew Boyd for SpeedwayMedia.com.

Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images.

“I can’t even tell you what [the win] means,” Larson said on FS1. “This is my third All-Star win at my third different track. At a historical place like this. You guys in the crowd made this weekend so awesome. We could feel the atmosphere all weekend. So much fun there. That was old-school ass-whoppin’, for sure. We had a great car on the long run there. I was just thinking that, for sure, there was gonna be a caution, right? I got out to a big lead. I could see everybody’s cars were driving like crap in front of me, but I cannot thank this No. 5 team enough. We were God-awful all weekend. Obviously, I had some strategy work out there at the beginning, but we drove from dead last to the lead and checked out by 12 or 13 seconds, and then I could just pace myself there that last run. What an amazing car. Everything that my car did bad on Friday and Saturday did great today.”

Wallace, who started 10th, retained the runner-up spot he acquired towards the end of the first half of the event as his second-place finish marked his career-best result in his third start in the All-Star event. Wallace’s 23XI Racing teammate Reddick rallied from starting 20th to finish third and notch his best result in his second All-Star career start.

“[Larson’s] capability throughout the whole run [made the difference],” Wallace said. “He could attack hard and then have something there at the end. If this was any other race, I’d be excited, but it’s for a million dollars, you come up short and walk home with nothing. Tail tucked between our legs, but all in all, just continuing to ride the momentum train. I wanna get [sponsor] Columbia in Victory Lane. We come up one spot short, so congrats to Larson. He’s been on a rail lately, so just have to keep it going. Now, we show back up to home turf and really got to keep the momentum going there and get ourselves deeper in the Playoffs here. Excited to be where we’re at right now. Just come up one spot short.”

“[I] Just needed a little bit on the balance, but the Beast Unleashed Toyota Camry TRD was really fast,” Reddick added. “I made a mistake earlier in the race back in the first 100 laps and let Kyle [Larson] squeeze by and he really mowed through traffic. We lined up, obviously, behind him on that restart and we could kind of stay in touch, but he was able to just keep far enough away. Honestly, a good, solid car. I had more left in the tank than I thought. [I] Wished I could have that back, but solid effort by our guys and our team. We stumbled a little bit in the Pit Crew Challenge and started deep, but we were able to claw our way through it.”

Briscoe charged his way to a strong fourth-place finish followed by Elliott while Blaney, Suarez, Erik Jones, Ty Gibbs and Logano capped off their runs in the top 10.

Notably, Kevin Harvick finished 18th in his 23rd and final career All-Star Race. In addition, Hamlin ended up 13th in between teammates Bell and Truex, Josh Berry finished 15th while subbing the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the injured Alex Bowman, Buescher fell back to 16th, Keselowski settled in 19th in front of Byron and Kyle Busch concluded his long night in 22nd.

There were three lead changes for two different leaders. The race featured two cautions for 13 laps. While all 24 starters finished the event, 12 finished on the lead lap.

Results:

1. Kyle Larson, 145 laps led

2. Bubba Wallace

3. Tyler Reddick

4. Chase Briscoe

5. Chase Elliott

6. Ryan Blaney

7. Daniel Suarez, 55 laps led

8. Erik Jones

9. Ty Gibbs

10. Joey Logano

11. Ross Chastain

12. Christopher Bell

13. Denny Hamlin, one lap down

14. Martin Truex Jr., one lap down

15. Josh Berry, one lap down

16. Chris Buescher, one lap down

17. Austin Dillon, one lap down

18. Kevin Harvick, two laps down

19. Brad Keselowski, two laps down

20. William Byron, two laps down

21. Austin Cindric, two laps down

22. Kyle Busch, two laps down

23. Noah Gragson, three laps down

24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., four laps down

Next on the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the 64th running of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, May 28, during Memorial Day weekend at 6 p.m. ET on FOX.

May 21, 2023