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Author: Andrew Kim

  • Rinus VeeKay to make 50th IndyCar career start at Barber Motorsports Park

    Rinus VeeKay to make 50th IndyCar career start at Barber Motorsports Park

    Competing in his fourth full-time season in the NTT IndyCar Series, Rinus VeeKay is set to achieve a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park, the driver of the No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara-Chevrolet will reach 50 career starts in the IndyCar circuit.

    A native of Hoofddorp, Netherlands, VeeKay, whose racing career started with karting, made his inaugural presence in the IndyCar circuit at the start of the 2020 season when he was signed by Ed Carpenter Racing to replace Spencer Pigot in the No. 21 Dallara-Chevrolet. By then, he had made previous starts in MRF Challenge Formula 2000, USF2000, Pro Mazda Championship, F3 Asian Winter Series and Indy Lights. His top accomplishments included championships during the 2018 Pro Mazda Championship season and the 2019 F3 Asian Winter Series.

    During his maiden IndyCar career start at Texas Motor Speedway in June 2020, VeeKay finished 22nd after being involved in an early incident. He rebounded during the following week at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course by finishing fifth before finishing no higher than 13th during the following five events. He then finished no lower than 11th during the next four events before having a breakout run during the first of an IndyCar Harvest Grand Prix doubleheader feature at Indy by claiming his maiden pole and maiden podium with a third-place result. With back-to-back top-20 results to cap off his maiden IndyCar season, VeeKay ended up in 14th place in the final standings and with a career-best average-finishing result of 12.9.

    Remaining at Ed Carpenter Racing for a second full-time season, VeeKay commenced the 2021 campaign with a sixth-place result at Barber Motorsport Park in April followed by a ninth-place result at the Street of St. Petersburg in April. Three races later, he scored his maiden IndyCar career victory in the GMR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in May after beating pole-sitter Romain Grosjean by more than five seconds. Following another three-race stretch, which included an eighth-place result in the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500 in May and a strong runner-up result in the first of a Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix doubleheader feature at Belle Isle Street Circuit in June, VeeKay was absent and replaced by Oliver Askew for the following Grand Prix event at Road America after undergoing a surgery to repair a fractured left clavicle that he suffered from a bike incident earlier in the week. Returning at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in July, VeeKay finished no higher than 16th during the remaining seven-scheduled events and capped off his sophomore season in 12th place in the final standings.

    In 2022, which marked VeeKay’s third stint in the IndyCar circuit with ECR, he commenced the season with another sixth-place result at the Streets of St. Petersburg followed by a 10th-place run at Texas. At Barber Motorsports Park in May, he led a race-high 57 of 90 laps before being overtaken late by Pato O’Ward and finishing third on the track. With just three additional top-10 results during the remaining 13 events on the schedule, VeeKay capped off his junior season in 12th place in the standings. By then, he had led a career-high 94 laps throughout the season and improved on his average-finishing result from 14.5 to 14.1.

    Through 49 previous starts in the IndyCar Series, VeeKay has achieved one victory, two poles, four podiums, 180 laps led and an average-finishing result of 14.1. He is currently ranked in 22nd place in the driver’s standings with an average-finishing result of 19.3 through the first three-scheduled events. His current best on-track result to this season is an 11th-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway in early April.

    VeeKay is scheduled to make his 50th NTT IndyCar Series career start at Barber Motorsports Park for the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama on Sunday, April 30, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Kyle Busch avoids final lap carnage for wild Cup victory at Talladega

    Kyle Busch avoids final lap carnage for wild Cup victory at Talladega

    In a similar scenario to the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course a year ago, Kyle Busch found himself situated at the right place to strike at the right time as he dodged a final lap carnage involving race leaders Bubba Wallace and Ryan Blaney to net a big victory in the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, April 23, amid two overtime attempts.

    The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion from Las Vegas, Nevada, led three of 196 over-scheduled laps as he placed himself in contention to win while starting on the front row during the second of two overtime attempts. Despite being overtaken by Wallace and a hard-charging Blaney on the frontstretch and as the final lap started, the seas parted ways for Busch as Wallace, who went from the bottom to the top lane to block Blaney, got bumped and turned sideways in front of Blaney on the outside lane.

    The result triggered a multi-car pileup between Turns 1 and 2 as Busch dodged the carnage to reassume the lead before the caution flag waved to officially conclude the event on the final lap. Amid fuel concerns, Busch had enough fuel to coast his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 across the finish line first and claim his second checkered flag of the 2023 season and his first at Talladega in 15 years.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Denny Hamlin started in pole position for the first time in 2023 after posting a pole-winning lap at 180.751 mph in 52.979 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Aric Almirola, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 180.642 mph in 53.011 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Austin Cindric, AJ Allmendinger and Todd Gilliland dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Hamlin and Almirola dueled for the lead amid two tight-packed lanes entering the first turn until Almirola received a strong push from teammate Chase Briscoe to launch ahead and assume control of both lanes through the backstretch. With the field fanning out to two tight-packed lanes, Almirola proceeded to lead the first lap ahead of Briscoe, Christopher Bell, Joey Logano, Hamlin and Chris Buescher.

    Then prior to the second lap and as Logano challenged Almirola for the lead, the first caution flew when Michael McDowell, who was running within the top 20, spun in the middle of the pack through Turns 3 and 4 after losing a right-rear tire. Amid the spin, the field scattered to avoid hitting McDowell as he pitted his No. 34 Love’s Travel Stop Ford Mustang for repairs.

    During the first caution period, a host of names that included Ross Chastain, Erik Jones, Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott, Justin Haley, Ty Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Riley Herbst, Corey LaJoie, JJ Yeley, Ryan Preece, Austin Cindric, Todd Gilliland, Zane Smith, BJ McLeod and Austin Hill pitted while the rest led by Almirola remained on the track.

    When the event restarted on the sixth lap, Almirola maintained the lead on the outside lane followed by Logano while Briscoe challenged Buescher for third. As the field returned to the frontstretch, Briscoe drew himself into a side-by-side battle with teammate Almirola for the lead as the former led a lap for himself. Then on the eighth lap, Bubba Wallace was drafted into the lead on the outside lane as he had rookie Ty Gibbs and Ryan Blaney drafting him. As Wallace fought for the lead on the outside lead, Briscoe also fought back on the inside lane with drafting help from teammate Almirola and Logano.

    At the Lap 10 mark, Wallace was leading ahead of Gibbs, Briscoe, Blaney and Almirola as the field battled amid two tight-packed lanes. Despite being pressured by Briscoe on the inside lane, Wallace maintained the lead on the outside lane through the Lap 20 mark.

    By Lap 25, Wallace continued to lead as Blaney moved up to second. Martin Truex Jr. also moved up to third followed by Gibbs and Daniel Suarez while Briscoe fell back to sixth ahead of Kyle Busch, Almirola, Harrison Burton and Ross Chastain. By then, all but one of 38 starters were separated within two seconds amid a tight pack and two lanes.

    Then as the first wave of green flag pit stops commenced approaching Lap 35 with Wallace leading his Toyota teammates to pit road, early trouble struck for teammate Tyler Reddick, who made a late dart to the left and locked up his front tires while trying to slow his car prior to entering pit road. After getting loose, Reddick then spun and hit the inside wall as he was dodged by Wallace and all four Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota competitors. Despite the incident, the race proceeded under green as Reddick navigated his No. 45 MoneyLion Toyota TRD Camry back to pit road for repairs.

    On Lap 39, another wave of competitors, mainly Chevrolet competitors, led by Chastain, who passed Kyle Busch for the lead on Lap 36, pitted as Preece cycled to the lead. Then as another wave of competitors, mainly Ford competitors, led by Preece pitted by Lap 41, trouble struck for Briscoe, who spun after locking up his tires and trying to slow his No. 14 Mahindra Tractors YOG Ford Mustang while trying to enter pit road.

    While the rest of his Ford competitors proceeded to pit, Briscoe’s event then went from bad to worse when he flattened his tires and was left stranded on pit road while the rest of his fellow competitors pitted. As a result of his mishap, the caution returned on Lap 42. By then, Erik Jones was leading ahead of Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ty Dillon, Haley, Corey LaJoie and AJ Allmendinger. During the caution period, some led by Erik Jones, who had yet to pit, pitted while the rest led by Elliott remained on the track.

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 47, teammates Elliott and Bowman dueled for the lead in front of the pack. They continued to duel for the lead through the backstretch and entering Turns 3 and 4 until Bowman peeked ahead in his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and led the following lap. While Bowman had drafting help from teammate Kyle Larson, Elliott had drafting help from Chastain as both Hendrick Motorsports teammates continued to swap back and forth for the lead.

    Nearing the Lap 55 mark, the battle for the lead continued to intensify as Elliott reassumed the top spot with drafting help from Chastain on the inside lane while Bowman fought back on the outside lane with drafting help from teammate Larson. As the field remained dead even in a tight pack, Almirola tried to start a third lane towards the outside lane entering the frontstretch. Kyle Busch would then move up in front of Almirola along with Blaney and Zane Smith towards the outside lane as Elliott retained the lead.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 60, Elliott, who swapped the lead with teammate Bowman since the previous restart amid the draft, claimed his first Cup stage victory of the 2023 season. Bowman, Chastain, Byron, Larson, Cindric, Gragson, Logano, Preece and Suarez were scored in the top 10. By then, the event featured 15 lead changes for 10 different leaders while 36 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the second stage, the field led by Elliott returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Hamlin exited first after only opting for fuel. Harvick, who pitted for two fresh tires, exited second followed by Haley, Chastain on four tires, Truex and Cindric. Amid the pit stops, Todd Gilliland was penalized for having his crew members jump over the pit wall too soon. Buescher was also penalized for running over equipment along with Herbst, who was nabbed for pitting outside his pit box. JJ Yeley was also assessed a penalty for vehicle interference.

    Prior to the start of the second stage, the following names that included Buescher, Kyle Busch, Zane Smith, Erik Jones, Keselowski, Stenhouse, Austin Hill and Herbst pitted to top off on fuel.

    The second stage started on Lap 67 as Hamlin and Justin Haley occupied the front row. At the start, Hamlin pulled ahead on the outside lane in his No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry through the first two turns as Haley tried to fight back on the inside lane with drafting help from Chastain. Hamlin, however, had drafting help from Harvick as he maintained the lead in front of the field battling in tight formation through two lanes.

    Four laps later, Harvick, who drew himself in a side-by-side battle with Hamlin for the lead, led a lap for himself as he tried to receive drafting assistance from Truex while Hamlin moved in front of Haley on the inside lane. With Harvick in the lead, Logano then drew himself behind Harvick’s No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang in the draft while Truex drew himself in a side-by-side battle with Harvick for the lead.

    At the Lap 75 mark, Harvick was leading ahead of Logano, Preece, Truex and Hamlin while Larson, Haley, Wallace, Chastain and Ty Dillon were scored in the top 10. By then, the top-36 competitors were separated by two seconds, with the first 21 separated by under a second.

    Two laps later, Logano was drafted into the lead as he led a lap for himself. Another lap later, however, Truex made his move to the front after receiving a draft from teammate Hamlin and Harvick on the outside lane while Logano remained on the inside lane.

    Through the first 90 scheduled laps, Truex, who had been swapping the lead with Logano since Lap 77, was out in front ahead of Logano while Hamlin, Haley and Harvick were in the top five. By then, Chastain was in sixth followed by Preece, Cindric, Wallace and Bell while Ty Dillon, Larson, Austin Dillon, Byron and LaJoie were scored in the top 15 ahead of Elliott, Almirola, Harrison Burton, Bowman and Blaney. In addition, 36 of 38 starters scored on the lead lap were separated within two seconds.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 94, Truex continued to lead ahead of teammate Hamlin while Harvick, Logano, Preece, Haley, Wallace, Chastain, Ty Dillon and Cindric were battling within the top 10. By then, the top-26 competitors were separated by less than a second while a total of 36 lead lap competitors were separated by over a second and a half.

    Three laps later, the field fanned out to three tight-packed lanes as Wallace mounted a charge on the outside lane with drafting help from Erik Jones. Another lap later, Wallace was drafted into the lead as he moved in front of Truex and Hamlin while Harvick and Logano occupied the top five. By Lap 100, Harvick moved back into the lead as he battled Truex to maintain the spot while Preece and Ty Dillon moved up into the top five.

    Three laps later, the second wave of green flag pit stops commenced as a host of competitors, mainly Chevrolet competitors, led by Chastain pitted. Another lap later, a mix of Toyota and Chevrolet competitors led by Truex and Hamlin pitted under green for service. Another wave of competitors, mainly Ford competitors, led by Harvick would then pit under green by Lap 105, mainly for fuel. Amid the pit stops, Logano was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    Nearing the Lap 106 mark, the top-four competitors led by Keselowski and followed by teammate Buescher, Yeley and Riley Herbst pitted. Once the second cycle of green flag pit stops concluded, Truex cycled his No. 19 Bas Pro Shops Toyota TRD Camry into the lead followed by Austin Dillon and Byron while Kyle Busch, Bowman and Elliott were scored in the top six. By Lap 110, however, Wallace navigated his way back into the lead over Elliott, who led the previous lap.

    Then on Lap 115, the field split Logano in the middle as Logano, who was left out of the draft prior to the field catching him, was mired a lap down following his pit road penalty. As Logano received drafting help from teammate Cindric to battle Briscoe for the free pass spot, Elliott, who spent the previous several laps battling Wallace for the lead, was out in front. By then, Almirola moved up to second followed by Harvick, Burton and Preece while Wallace was left battling Truex for sixth.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 120, Almirola executed a move on Elliott with drafting help from teammate Harvick on the outside lane to claim his first Cup stage victory since 2020. Elliott settled in second followed by Harvick, Wallace and Burton while Truex, Preece, Hamlin, Stenhouse and Gragson were scored in the top 10. By then, the event featured 33 lead changes for 16 different leaders. In addition, Logano was the beneficiary of the free pass and cycled back to the lead lap after managing to remain ahead of Briscoe and BJ McLeod, both of whom were a lap down, on the track.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Almirola returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Almirola exited first to retain the lead followed by Hamlin, Wallace, Elliott, Burton and Harvick.

    With 62 laps remaining, the final stage started as Almirola and Wallace occupied the front row. At the start, Wallace peeked ahead with the lead on the inside lane with drafting help from Burton as he then darted up the track to block Almirola. This enabled Burton to be drafted into the lead on the inside lane followed by Gragson as Wallace battled Truex for third. Burton would then maintain the lead in front of Gragson, Wallace, Truex, Blaney and Almirola as the event reached its final 60-lap mark.

    With 50 laps remaining, Blaney was leading NY a hair over Burton and followed by Wallace, Gragson and Almirola while Hamlin, Truex, Reddick, Elliott and Harvick were running in the top 10. By then, the top-22 competitors were separated by under a second while 35 lead lap competitors were separated by less than two seconds amid the tight two-lane packed racing.

    Then with 47 laps remaining, the caution flew when Burton, who was being drafted by Gragson while battling for the lead, spun off the front nose of Gragson as he spun his No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang below the Turn 3 apron, though he managed to sustain no significant damage. As the field checked up to avoid Burton’s spin, however, Logano got into the rear of Zane Smith, who then collected Austin Dillon as Dillon spun his No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 below the apron and the grass while Smith made more contact with Austin Hill.

    During the caution period, the field led by Blaney pitted, mainly for fuel, and Blaney retained the lead after exiting first followed by Almirola, Wallace, Hamlin, Truex and Gragson. Prior to the restart, names that included Keselowski, Buescher, Erik Jones, Logano and Hill pitted to top off with enough fuel for the finish.

    With the event restarting with 41 laps remaining, Blaney and Wallace dueled for the lead before Wallace received a draft from his owner Hamlin to move into the lead on the outside lane. With Blaney remaining on the inside lane and in front of Almirola, Wallace maintained his momentum and lead on the outside lane in front of Hamlin and Truex as the field fanned out to three tight-packed lanes.

    With 38 laps remaining, the outside lane led by Wallace briefly stacked up, which enabled Preece to try to ignite a drafting charge on the outside lane as Blaney was pushed clear to the lead followed by Almirola, Gragson and Harvick. As the field continued to fan out through three tight-packed lanes, Gibbs charged his way into third in front of Gragson, Wallace, Hamlin and Harvick as Blaney retained the lead. Gibbs then started to challenge Blaney for the lead with 35 laps remaining while running in the middle lane while Preece launched another bid for the front on the outside lane.

    A lap later, the battle for the lead fanned out to three tight-packed lanes amid the draft as Blaney, Gibbs and Preece, all of whom were the front-runners of each of the three lanes, dueled for the lead. As Gibbs managed to peek ahead to lead a lap for himself, Blaney and Preece fought back from their respective lanes, with Blaney receiving a strong push from Almirola on the inside lane to move ahead. With Preece slowly falling back on the outside lane, Gibbs received drafting help from Wallace and his Toyota teammates to keep Blaney within his sights under the final 30-lap mark.

    Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Blaney was leading ahead of Almirola, Gragson, Gibbs and Harvick while Wallace, Chastain, Hamlin, Truex and Larson were scored in the top 10. By then, the top 20 competitors were separated by less than a second, with the top 33 separated by one-and-a-half seconds amid the tight-packed draft racing fanning out to three lanes.

    Five laps later and with the field still fanned out to three lanes, Blaney and Gibbs continued to duel for the lead ahead of Almirola, Wallace and Gragson while Stenhouse tried to form a third drafting lane to the front. Another two laps later, the inside lane gained momentum as Blaney started to pull ahead followed by Almirola, Gragson, Harvick, Chastain, Larson, Kyle Busch and Allmendinger while Gibbs, Wallace and Hamlin were losing touch with the leaders while running on the outside lane. With 15 laps remaining, however, the outside lane led by Gibbs and followed by Wallace, Hamlin and Truex regained their momentum as Gibbs started to challenge Blaney for the lead.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event and with fuel becoming questionable for the front-runners, the top-33 competitors were separated within a second and in tight formation amid the draft as both Blaney and Gibbs continued to fight for the lead followed by Wallace, Hamlin, Almirola, Gragson, Truex, Harvick, Haley and Chastain.

    With seven laps remaining, the top-four competitors that included Blaney, Almirola, Gragson and Harvick broke away from the tight pack while Gibbs was trying to maintain momentum as the lead competitor on the outside lane. Then as the intensity toward the front continued, the caution flew with five laps remaining when Logano, who darted to the outside lane to ignite a charge to the front while running in the middle of the pack, got bumped and loose by LaJoie as he briefly bounced off of Suarez before making contact with the backstretch’s outside wall and spinning below the track. Stenhouse and Herbst also sustained damage along with Byron, who made contact with Burton as Burton spun and slapped the inside wall, as the event was sent into overtime.

    During the caution period, select names that included Byron, Bell, Stenhouse and Ty Dillon pitted for fuel while the rest led by Blaney remained on the track.

    At the start of the first overtime attempt, where Blaney and Gragson occupied the front row, Gragson received a push from Chastain to peek ahead of Blaney entering the first turn. Then through Turns 1 and 2, Chastain tried to make a move between Blaney and Gragson for the lead. Amid the tight racing, Chastain and Gragson ended up making contact as Gragson’s No. 42 Wendy’s Beef is in the Bag Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 ended up shooting back across the track and hitting the outside wall. In the ensuing process, Larson got turned by Harvick as he spun below the apron. Larson then came back across the track and despite being dodged by most of the oncoming field, he was T-boned by Preece’s No. 41 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang as both of their events came to an end.

    Under the caution period, Harvick, Hamlin, Chastain and Haley pitted for fuel while the rest led by Blaney remained on the track.

    During the start of the second overtime attempt, where Blaney and Kyle Busch occupied the front row, the momentum occurred on the outside lane as Busch was drafted into the lead followed by Wallace and Keselowski while Blaney was left to battle Truex for fourth. By then, Gibbs pulled his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota TRD Camry below the track after running out of fuel. Through the backstretch, the inside lane led by Busch continued to gain more momentum while Truex was mired back in sixth despite remaining on the outside lane.

    Then through the frontstretch, Wallace made his move on Busch and assumed the lead on the outside lane in his No. 23 Columbia Toyota TRD Camry with drafting help from Blaney’s No. 12 Wurth Ford Mustang as he started the final lap of the event. Through Turn 1, however, Blaney tried to make a move beneath Wallace for the lead but was blocked. He then moved up the track along with Wallace and the two made contact, which resulted in Wallace getting loose and spinning sideways as he came down the track and clipped Keselowski before spinning within the middle of the pack and towards oncoming competitors. Among those involved on the final lap included Keselowski, Truex, Allmendinger, Cindric, Gilliland and Byron while the rest of the field scattered to avoid the carnage.

    With the caution waving and the race deemed official, Kyle Busch was back in front ahead of Blaney. Amid concerns of not having enough fuel to finish, Busch was able to have enough to remain ahead of Blaney and navigate his No. 8 McLaren Custom Grills Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through the frontstretch before claiming the checkered flag and the official victory.

    With the victory, Busch, who won earlier at Auto Club Speedway in late February, notched his second NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2023 season, which makes him the third multi-time winner of this season. He also notched his 62nd career win in NASCAR’s premier series, which makes the 2023 season Busch’s 13th of 19 full-time seasons with multiple Cup victories. The Talladega victory was also Busch’s second of his Cup career, with his first dating back to April 2008, and the 13th overall for Richard Childress Racing. Ironically, Busch’s Talladega victory marked his first restrictor-plate victory since winning at Daytona International Speedway in July 2008.

    “Sometimes, you got to be lucky,” Busch said on FOX. “Some of these races come down to that. You gotta take’em when they come your way. The seas kind of parted there when [Wallace and Blaney] went up the racetrack. They were trying to push draft. These cars are just not stable enough to do that. Seeing [Wallace] just turn a little bit sideways, I was like get out of the way, just miss it and try to see if I was ahead of [Blaney] by the time [the race] was called. Just a great day for another new sponsor at [Richard Childress Racing] with McLaren Custom Grills. We have a great time being able to come out here and race and be a part of Team Chevy and get this Camaro in Victory Lane.”

    “We were sweating it being close [on fuel],” Busch added. “I thought back to California, Fontana, earlier this year where we have a win. I’m like we gotta gamble. We’re up here, you gotta take the track position when you have it and go give it what you can on the restarts and see what happens. Low and behold, it worked out. Knock on wood for this one.”  

    Following an extensive review of the finishing order amid the final lap chaos, Blaney settled in second place after leading a race-high 47 laps. Buescher made his way to third followed by Briscoe, who rallied from losing a lap to the leaders, while Keselowski ended up fifth.

    “You get big runs and you take’em when you can,” Blaney said. “I’m glad everyone’s OK, but on my mind, you kind of triple move like that, triple block and you can’t block three times. Just the runs are so big and as the leader, with Bubba, he’s trying to block, which is the right thing to do, but I think he kind of moved three times. You don’t really get a lot of those. I gotta go somewhere, so I hate that good cars got torn up. I hate for us being so close for the win. I’m not blaming anybody. It’s just hard racing at the end of this thing. Unfortunate [that] cars got tore up and we just missed out on another win.”

    Erik Jones, Byron, Bell, Suarez and Todd Gilliland finished in the top 10. Notably, Elliott finished 12th in front of Bowman, Ty Dillon and Stenhouse while Hamlin ended up 17th behind Reddick. Almirola fell back to 22nd behind teammate Harvick, who made his 800th Cup career start, while Truex ended up 27th. Meanwhile, Wallace, who led 35 laps, was left in 28th place while Ty Gibbs ended up 31st after not having enough fuel to finish.

    There were 57 lead changes for 21 different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 34 laps. In addition, 27 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 10th event of the 2023 Cup Series season, Christopher Bell leads the regular-season standings by 12 points over Ross Chastain, 20 over Kevin Harvick, 36 over Kyle Larson, 41 over Kyle Busch and 45 over Tyler Reddick.

    Results.

    1. Kyle Busch, three laps led

    2. Ryan Blaney, 47 laps led

    3. Chris Buescher

    4. Chase Briscoe, one lap led

    5. Brad Keselowski, two laps led

    6. Erik Jones, three laps led

    7. William Byron, one lap led

    8. Christopher Bell

    9. Daniel Suarez, five laps led

    10. Todd Gilliland

    11. JJ Yeley

    12. Chase Elliott, 18 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    13. Alex Bowman, eight laps led

    14. Ty Dillon

    15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    16. Tyler Reddick

    17. Denny Hamlin, seven laps led

    18. BJ McLeod

    19. Justin Haley

    20. Riley Herbst

    21. Kevin Harvick, 11 laps led

    22. Aric Almirola, 11 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    23. Ross Chastain

    24. Austin Hill

    25. Corey LaJoie

    26. Austin Cindric

    27. Martin Truex Jr., 19 laps led

    28. Bubba Wallace – OUT, Accident, 35 laps led

    29. AJ Allmendinger – OUT, Accident

    30. Joey Logano, one lap down, three laps led

    31. Ty Gibbs – OUT, Fuel, four laps led

    32. Noah Gragson – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    33. Kyle Larson – OUT, Accident

    34. Ryan Preece – OUT, Accident, two laps led

    35. Michael McDowell, 13 laps down

    36. Harrison Burton – OUT, Accident, 11 laps led

    37. Zane Smith – OUT, Accident

    38. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ lone visit of this season to Dover Motor Speedway in Dover, Delaware. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, April 30, at 2 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Jeb Burton upsets the competition with thrilling Xfinity victory at Talladega

    Jeb Burton upsets the competition with thrilling Xfinity victory at Talladega

    In an event mired with multiple lead changes amid a series of competitive battles plus multiple carnages and two rollovers, Jeb Burton and Jordan Anderson Racing Bommarito Autosport pulled the upset by fending off the competition through two overtime attempts and steering their way to victory in the Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, April 22.

    The 30-year-old Burton from Halifax, Virginia, led three times for 17 of 121 over-scheduled laps in an event where he kept pace with the front-runners amid the draft. After falling short of winning the first stage before winning the second, Burton seized an opportunity for the win when he dodged a multi-car pileup with two laps remaining that eliminated initial leader Daniel Hemric to reassume the lead. From there, he fended off late charges from Sheldon Creed and Parker Kligerman through two overtime attempts to claim his second NASCAR Xfinity Series career victory and the first ever for Jordan Anderson Racing Bommarito Autosport at the 2.6-mile superspeedway venue.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Richard Childress Racing’s two-car stable comprising of drivers Austin Hill and Sheldon Creed swept the front row, with Hill claiming the pole position at 182.459 mph in 52.483 seconds while Creed started on the front row with a fast qualifying lap at 181.632 mph in 52.722 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Cole Custer, Sam Mayer and Parker Kligerman dropped to the rear of the field for unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, teammates Hill and Creed dueled for the lead in front of two tight-packed lanes through the first two turns and entering the backstretch. Then through the backstretch, Creed gained momentum on the outside lane followed by rookie Parker Retzlaff before moving in front of teammate Hill through Turns 3 and 4. Retzlaff, however, seized the clean air opportunity in front of him by storming to the lead on the outside lane through the frontstretch as he managed to lead the first lap over Creed.

    Through the second lap, Retzlaff continued to lead while fending off Alfredo and Creed from the top to the bottom lane. As the field fanned out through the backstretch, Alfredo started to challenge Retzlaff for the lead on the outside lane while Creed and Jeb Burton battled Hill for third.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Alfredo was leading ahead of both Jeb Burton and Retzlaff while Brett Moffitt and Riley Herbst were scored in the top five. Behind, Creed was in sixth ahead of rookie Sammy Smith, Hill, Ryan Truex and Daniel Hemric. By then, all 38 starters were separated by three-and-a-half seconds as the field continued to jostle for positions amid three tight-packed lanes.

    Three laps later, Hemric muscled his way into the lead over Alfredo. He continued to lead at the Lap 10 mark while Moffitt tried to launch a challenge on the inside lane. Hemric, though, moved from the outside to the inside lane to fend off Moffitt with the lead as Alfredo fell back to fourth in front of Justin Allgaier. By Lap 13, however, Creed moved his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro into the lead as he led a lap for himself.

    Just past the Lap 16 mark, the battle for the lead intensified amid four tight-packed lanes as rookie Chandler Smith tried to use the draft to move his No. 16 Quick Tie Products Chevrolet Camaro into the lead on the inside lane. Creed, however, maintained the lead on the outside lane in front of teammate Hill and Moffitt while Smith had his teammates Hemric and Derek Kraus coming to his assistance within the draft and the middle lane. By then, Ryan Truex ignited a third lane on the inside lane as he tried to move his way to the front.

    At the Lap 20 mark, the top-21 competitors were separated under a second as Creed retained the lead ahead of teammate Hill with Moffitt, Chandler Smith and Alfredo in close pursuit while Hemric, Herbst, Kraus, Sammy Smith and Allgaier were in the top 10. By the following lap, however, Chandler Smith peeked ahead to lead a lap for himself before Creed reassumed the lead with drafting help from Hill on the outside lane. The intensity towards the front continued during the following lap as Allgaier carved his No. 7 Fight Hunger Spark Change Chevrolet Camaro towards the front amid three lanes and challenged Creed for the lead on the inside lane. Both Creed and Allgaier would battle dead even for the lead during the following lap and in front of the pack.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 25, Allgaier, who dipped his car below the double yellow lines through the backstretch and nearly lost the lead to Jeb Burton, fended off the pack and a hard-charging Creed through the final turns to claim his fourth stage victory of the 2023 Xfinity season. Creed settled in second while Sam Mayer, Jeb Burton, Hill, Kligerman, Truex, Chandler Smith, Josh Berry and Herbst were scored in the top 10. By then, the event featured seven different lead changes for six different leaders.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Allgaier pitted amid mixed strategy while some led by Brennan Poole remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Ryan Truex was the first competitor to exit pit road first after only opting for two fresh tires followed by Allgaier, John Hunter Nemechek, Moffitt and Creed. Amid the pit stops, Hill and Josh Williams were penalized for speeding on pit road. Once the remaining names led by Poole who had yet to pit pitted, Truex cycled his way into the lead under caution.

    The second stage started on Lap 31 as Truex and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, Truex and Allgaier dueled in tight formation for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. Soon after, the field fanned out to three lanes as both Truex and Allgaier remained dead even for the lead in front of Moffitt, Nemechek and Sammy Smith. During the following lap, Moffitt launched a charge for the lead amid the draft on the inside lane as Allgaier managed to move in front of Truex for the lead both on the outside lane and the overall race.

    By Lap 34, Moffitt managed to pull himself from the top to the outside lane in front of Allgaier as he had the clear air to his advantage. Allgaier, however, fought back on the outside lane as he led the following lap with the field behind jostling for positions amid the draft and the pack.

    Then on Lap 37, the caution flew when Derek Kraus turned Parker Chase into Retzlaff through the backstretch, which nearly turned over Retzlaff as Retzlaff spun in the middle of the pack before he was hit by Alfredo’s No. 78 RTIC Chevrolet Camaro while the rest of the field scattered to avoid the melee mayhem. In the ensuing mayhem, Chase went dead straight towards the inside wall on the backstretch and sustained more damage as both his and Alfredo’s run came to an early end.

    During the caution period, names that included Hemric, Kraus, Gray Gaulding, Joey Gase, CJ McLaughlin, Kyle Sieg, Berry, Ryan Sieg, Poole and Josh Williams pitted while the rest led by Moffitt remained on the track.

    With eight laps remaining in the second stage, the race proceeded under green as Moffitt and Herbst occupied the front row. At the start, Moffitt managed to pull ahead and move in front of Herbst for the lead as both had Cole Custer drafting on them on the inside lane. As Sam Mayer tried to challenge Moffitt for the lead on the outside lane, Jeb Burton made a bold move beneath Custer through the frontstretch to move up to third followed by Hill as Custer dropped out of the top five. By then, Moffitt continued to lead ahead of Herbst.

    By Lap 44, Jeb Burton moved into the lead followed by a hard-charging Hill, who then tried to make his move for the lead. Hill, however, got shuffled out by Nemechek through Turns 3 and 4 before fighting back through the frontstretch as he then drew himself alongside Burton for the lead. With the event surpassing the Lap 45 mark, the field fanned out to three packed lanes as Jeb Burton maintained a narrow lead ahead of Chandler Smith, Hill and Brandon Jones before Josh Berry started to carve his way to the front.

    Then on Lap 47 and amid the tight battles towards the front, the caution flew for a harrowing multi-car wreck on the backstretch that started when Dexter Stacey got loose and spun below the track while clipping Blaine Perkins before he slammed the inside wall at full speed. Meanwhile, Perkins spun back across the track and towards the outside wall before he got T-boned by Jade Buford, which sent the latter airborne and flipping multiple times as the right-rear wheel of Perkins’ car flew off, which would be hit by Kaz Grala, before coming to rest right-side up. Despite his wild rollover ride, Perkins along with Stacey emerged unscathed as they made the trip to the infield care center. Perkins would eventually be transported to a local hospital for further evaluation. The wreck, however, put the race in a 12-minute red flag period to remove the carnage.

    Once the red flag lifted and the field proceeded under a cautious pace, the second stage scheduled to conclude on Lap 50 concluded under caution as Jeb Burton claimed his first Xfinity stage victory of the season. Chandler Smith followed cautiously in second while Truex, Berry, Hemric, Hill, Kraus, Creed, Brandon Jones and Allgaier were scored on the lead lap. By then, the field featured 14 lead changes for 10 different leaders.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Burton pitted while some led by Poole remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Hemric, who only opted for fuel, exited pit road first followed by teammate Kraus, who also opted for fuel, while Truex, Nemechek and Sammy Smith exited in the top five. Once the rest of the field, led by Poole, had to pit, Hemric inherited the lead.

    With 59 laps remaining, the final stage started as Hemric and Ryan Truex occupied the front row. At the start, Hemric and Truex dueled for the lead in front of the pack submerged in two tight-packed lanes. The field would quickly fan out to three lanes through the backstretch as both Hemric and Truex continued to duel for the lead in front of Kraus, Nemechek, Jeb Burton and Sammy Smith.

    During the following lap, Hemric managed to break away from the pack on the outside lane followed by teammate Kraus, Truex, Nemechek and Ryan Sieg while Hill and Jeb Burton battled for sixth. Creed would then muscle his way into seventh behind teammate Hill while Berry and Chandler Smith battled Burton for eighth amid three lanes. By then, the event surpassed its halfway point while Hemric maintained the lead.

    Then with 50 laps remaining, the caution returned when Sammy Smith and Brandon Jones made contact entering the backstretch, which resulted in Smith spinning and pounding the inside wall hard in his No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota Supra while Jones emerged with significant front nose damage to his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro. By then, Hill, who overtook Hemric following a strong move to Hemric’s outside on the backstretch during the previous lap, was still leading as Creed, Chandler Smith and Berry were in the top five.

    During the caution period, some led by Hill, Creed and Josh Bilicki remained on the track while a majority, led by Hemric, pitted amid mixed strategies for enough fuel for the finish.

    With the event restarting under green with 44 laps remaining, Hill and Chandler Smith dueled for the lead until Hill peeked ahead with drafting help from teammate Creed. Hill then pulled ahead in his No. 21 Bennett/Realtree Chevrolet Camaro through the backstretch while running on the outside lane as Chandler Smith tried to keep pace as the lead competitor on the inside lane.

    A lap later, Chandler Smith gained a run on Hill through the backstretch as he tried to snatch the lead away, but Hill received another boost from teammate Creed to maintain the lead. Then through the frontstretch, Cole Custer, who was pushing Chandler Smith, launched a three-wide battle on Chandler Smith and Hill for his bid for the lead, though he moved up to second. Creed quickly overtook Custer to move back into second as Hill maintained the lead in front of two tight-packed lanes.

    With 40 laps remaining, Hill was leading ahead of teammate Creed followed by Hemric, Custer and Truex while Chandler Smith, Berry, Kraus, Moffitt and Gray Gaulding were scored in the top 10. By then, the top-19 competitors were separated under a second amid the tight-packed competition.

    A lap later, the caution returned when Brandon Jones, who received front nose damage during the previous caution after his on-track incident with Sammy Smith, went up the track entering Turn 1 after blowing a tire and clipped the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang piloted by Herbst as he made contact with the wall. In the process, Mayer, who was running behind teammate Jones, slipped sideways in front of his other teammate Allgaier as he spun below the apron. During the caution period, some led by Hill pitted while the rest led by Truex remained on the track.

    During the following restart with 34 laps remaining, Truex fended off Moffitt to maintain the lead entering the backstretch as Retzlaff made his way into second. As Truex tried to fend off Retzlaff, Moffitt assumed the lead during the following lap followed by a hard-charging Nemechek as the field fanned out to three lanes. It would not take long until the caution flew with 32 laps remaining when Nemechek, who moved up the track in front of teammate Truex, was bumped by Truex just past the start/finish line as he spun his No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota Supra below the frontstretch and hit the inside wall on the driver’s left side while damaging his rear suspension.

    With 24 laps remaining, the race restarted under green as Moffitt and Ryan Sieg occupied the front row. At the start, Moffitt jumped ahead with a strong start as he moved from the top to the inside lane in front of Sieg to maintain the lead. Behind, Kaz Grala was up in third followed by Hill and Creed while Truex fell back to sixth. As Moffitt led through the backstretch, Hill moved up to third while Moffitt maintained the lead in front of Sieg.

    During the following lap, Ryan Sieg made his move beneath Moffitt on the backstretch to move into the lead and in front of two tight-packed lanes with multiple competitors bumping, pushing and jostling for late positions. With Sieg maintaining the lead on the outside lane, Creed tried to launch a charge on the inside lane followed by Chandler Smith and Kaz Grala.

    With 22 laps remaining, Hill made a move beneath Moffitt in his attempt for the lead, but he could not gain drafting help from teammate Creed as he began to lose a bevy of spots on the inside lane while Moffitt retained the lead in front of a bevy of cars opting to run in a single file line on the outside lane. With both Hill and Creed falling back, Moffit was in second while Kligerman, Hemric and Ryan Truex were in the top five.

    Then with 19 laps remaining, the caution returned when Hill and Berry made contact as a result of Berry trying to block Hill with the former spinning in Turn 4. Berry, though, managed to continue without sustaining any significant damage to his No. 8 Tire Pros Chevrolet Camaro.

    During the following restart with 15 laps remaining, Sieg battled and fended off Moffitt to maintain the lead. Shortly after, Hemric launched his bid for the lead against Sieg, with Hemric side-drafting Sieg to slow his momentum and take the lead on the outside lane. With the field behind fanning out to four lanes, Sieg maintained the lead on the inside lane followed by Moffitt as Hemric, Kligerman, Truex and Jeb Burton were all in the midst of the battle for the lead.

    Then with 13 laps remaining and as Sieg continued to lead in front of Hemric and Moffitt, the caution flew when Mayer spun off the front nose of teammate Berry, came down across the track and collected teammate Justin Allgaier in Turn 3, thus sending all three JR Motorsports’ competitors with wrecked race cars as Derek Kraus and Gray Gaulding also received damage.

    Down to the final six laps of the event, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Moffitt peeked ahead with drafting help from Kligerman while Ryan Sieg fought back on the outside lane followed by Hemric. As the field battled through two tight-packed lanes, Sieg emerged with the lead on the outside lane with five laps remaining as Hemric moved up to second and made a bid for the lead. In the process, Jeb Burton challenged Moffitt for third while Sieg remained in front of Hemric with the lead. Moffitt would then gain the draft on the inside lane and nearly make contact with Hemric as he battled for second with drafting help from Kligerman.

    With three laps remaining, Hemric muscled his way into the lead through the backstretch followed by Jeb Burton as Creed followed suit in third. Then as the battle for the lead intensified through the backstretch, the caution flew amid another multi-car wreck in Turn 3 when Creed made contact and turned the leader Hemric around as Hemric tried to block Creed, which resulted in Hemric spinning and getting hit by Ryan Sieg. Hemric’s No. 11 Cirkul Chevrolet Camaro then shot back across the track and towards the outside wall amid a vicious hit from Herbst as Hemric rolled upside down while towards the wall and the catchfence before his car slid below the apron and came to rest while still on its roof. Among other names involved in the wreck included Hill, Moffitt, Jeremy Clements, Ryan Truex, Josh Bilicki, Chandler Smith, Grala, Retzlaff and Joey Gase. Amid the carnage, all competitors, including Hemric, emerged uninjured. The carnage, however, was enough to send the field into a second red flag period for nearly 14 minutes. Meanwhile, Jeb Burton carved his way into the lead followed by Creed while Kligerman, Poole, Kyle Sieg and Custer were scored in the top six.

    When the red flag lifted and the race restarted in an overtime attempt, Burton and Creed dueled for the lead entering the first turn as Creed peeked ahead with drafting help from Kligerman. Burton, however, fought back on the outside lane with help from Kyle Sieg through the backstretch before Creed muscled back into the lead through Turns 3 and 4. Then as the field entered the frontstretch, the caution returned and the event was sent into a second overtime attempt due to debris reported on the track that came off of Hill’s car. At the moment of caution, Burton was deemed the leader over Creed.

    At the start of the second overtime attempt, Burton peeked ahead on the outside lane entering the first turn until Creed claimed the lead with a push from Kyle Sieg on the inside lane. Through the backstretch, however, Burton received another push from Kligerman as he cleared the field and had both lanes to his control with the lead. In the process, Kligerman moved his No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet Camaro up to second while Creed slipped to third.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Burton remained as the leader ahead of Creed, who overtook Kligerman as he reignited his sights on Burton for the lead and win. After keeping his No. 27 Solid Rock Carriers Chevrolet Camaro in front of Creed’s through the first two turns, Burton then went from the top to the bottom lane to fend off late charges from both Kligerman and Creed through the backstretch. Through Turns 3 and 4, Burton started to pull away followed by a hard-charging Creed. Then as names that included CJ McLaughlin, Clements, Garrett Smithley, Moffitt and Ryan Ellis wrecked entering the backstretch, Burton managed to block and hold off Creed to return to the finish line and claim the checkered flag for his first series victory in two years.

    With the victory, Burton, who swapped teams from Our Motorsports to Jordan Anderson Racing Bommarito Autosport prior to this season, notched his second career victory in the Xfinity circuit in his 118th series start, both occurring at Talladega Superspeedway and became the sixth different winner of the 2023 season. Compared to his first victory at Talladega and of his career, which occurred in a rain-shortened event in 2021, Burton’s second career victory in the series and at Talladega was all earned on the track and amid a wild finish to the checkered flag. It also served as a redemptive moment for Burton, who claimed his first top-five finish in the series since September 2021 at Darlington Raceway and after posting an average-finishing result of 20.9 all during the previous Xfinity season with no top-five or top-10 results.

    The first NASCAR victory for Jordan Anderson as an owner in his third season was also a redemptive one for the Forest Acres, South Carolina, native, who survived a fiery incident during the Craftsman Truck Series’ Talladega event in October 2022, where he sustained second degree burns on his body.

    “The only thing I’m disappointed about is that I didn’t get to do a burnout,” Burton, who celebrated with his crew and team owner Jordan Anderson on the frontstretch, said on FS1. “I blew the transmission out of [the car]. Man, I’m pumped up. I’m out of breath from yelling. [I] Went through some stuff on the off-season [period]. I’m more focused now than ever. These [Jordan Anderson Racing] guys made racing fun again for me. Our little team, you have no idea how big this is. This is huge. We’re locked in the Playoffs. I can promise you one thing. We’re gonna drink a lot of beer tonight. I hope my buddies better be ready when we get home because we’re gonna burn it down.”

    Sheldon Creed tied his career-best result of second place followed by Kligerman while Cole Custer claimed the third Dash 4 Cash bonus by finishing fourth and emerging as the lone Dash 4 Cash competitor to finish the race while his opponents (Josh Berry, John Hunter Nemechek and Sammy Smith) were eliminated due to wrecks. Poole claimed fifth place while Caesar Bacarella, Parker Retzlaff, Gray Gaulding, Joey Gase and Josh Williams finished in the top 10.

    Custer along with race winner Jeb Burton, Sheldon Creed and Parker Kligerman will contend for the fourth and final Dash 4 Cash bonus of this season at Dover Motor Speedway next Saturday.

    There were 28 lead changes for 12 different leaders. The race featured 10 cautions for 48 laps, including two red flag periods. In addition, 18 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap while 19 sustained DNFs.

    Following the ninth event of the 2023 Xfinity Series season, Austin Hill leads the regular-season standings by four points over John Hunter Nemechek, 19 over Chandler Smith, 32 over Riley Herbst, 36 over Josh Berry and 41 over Justin Allgaier.

    Results.

    1. Jeb Burton, 17 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Sheldon Creed, 11 laps led

    3. Parker Kligerman

    4. Cole Custer

    5. Brennan Poole, two laps led

    6. Caesar Bacarella

    7. Parker Retzlaff, two laps led

    8. Gray Gaulding

    9. Joey Gase

    10. Josh Williams

    11. Ryan Ellis

    12. Brett Moffitt, 20 laps led

    13. CJ McLaughlin

    14. Brandon Jones

    15. Kyle Sieg

    16. Garrett Smithley

    17. Ryan Truex, nine laps led

    18. Austin Hill, 14 laps led

    19. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Accident

    20. Joe Graf Jr., eight laps down

    21. Daniel Hemric – OUT, Accident, 15 laps led

    22. Ryan Sieg – OUT, Accident, 18 laps led

    23. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident

    24. Kaz Grala – OUT, Accident

    25. Chandler Smith – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    26. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Accident

    27. Derek Kraus – OUT, DVP

    28. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident, seven laps led, Stage 1 winner

    29. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

    30. Josh Berry – OUT, Accident

    31. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Transmission

    32. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident

    33. Sammy Smith – OUT, Accident

    34. Blaine Perkins – OUT, Accident

    35. Dexter Stacey – OUT, Accident

    36. Jade Buford – OUT, Accident

    37. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident, five laps led

    38. Parker Chase – OUT, DVP

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ lone visit of the season to Dover Motor Speedway in Dover, Delaware, which will serve as the site of the fourth and final Dash 4 Cash event of this season. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, April 29, at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Richard Childress Racing’s No. 3 team issued L1-level infraction penalty from Martinsville

    Richard Childress Racing’s No. 3 team issued L1-level infraction penalty from Martinsville

    NASCAR issued its penalty report following the sport’s triple-header weekend at Martinsville Speedway, where the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team piloted by Austin Dillon in the Cup Series headlined the report.

    Per the report, NASCAR penalized the No. 3 team for an L1-level infraction after it was discovered that the team violated Sections 14.6.1 A&B from the NASCAR Rule Book pertaining to the underwing assembly mounting and underwing stay assembly hardware. The infraction was discovered after NASCAR took Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet to the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina, following the Martinsville event this past Sunday, April 16, where Dillon finished 12th.

    As a result, Dillon and his team have been penalized 60 points and five NASCAR Cup Series Playoff points. In addition, crew chief Keith Rodden has been issued a two-race suspension and a $75,000 fine. The points penalty dropped Dillon from 21st to 29th in the regular-season standings as he went from a 24-point deficit to an 84-point deficit to make the top-16 cutline for the 2023 Cup Playoffs.

    NASCAR also issued two-race suspensions for crew members Chris Jackson and David Smith from Live Fast Team Motorsports Racing Team for the loss of a wheel on the track during the Martinsville event, where the right-rear wheel came off of the team’s No. 78 entry piloted by Anthony Alfredo nearing the final quarter-mark of the event. Alfredo proceeded to finish 35th of the 36-car field.

    In the Xfinity Series, crew chiefs Mike Bumgarner, Jeff Meendering and Mike Scearce were fined $5,000 apiece for lug-nut violations for their respective entries and teams following the Xfinity event at Martinsville that occurred this past Saturday, April 15.

    There were no penalties issued for any NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers or teams during the series’ event that occurred this past Friday, April 14.

    The next event on the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ first of two-scheduled visits to Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. The event is scheduled to occur this upcoming Sunday, April 23, at 3 p.m. ET on FOX. It will take place a day after the Xfinity Series hosts its lone annual visit to the superspeedway venue on Saturday, April 22, at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Larson capitalizes late for first Cup triumph at Martinsville

    Larson capitalizes late for first Cup triumph at Martinsville

    Kyle Larson struck gold following a late strategic call to pit for two fresh tires and place himself in race-winning contention, where he then navigated his way to the front during a late-race restart and proceeded to win the NOCO 400 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, April 16.

    The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, led the final 30 of 400 scheduled laps in an event that was dominated by all four Stewart-Haas Racing competitors. During a caution period with less than 60 laps remaining amid JJ Yeley’s wreck, Larson pitted with a host of lead lap competitors and opted for two fresh tires to restart towards the front. During the final restart with 46 laps remaining, Larson tracked and overtook Joey Logano, who was running on worn tires, with 30 laps remaining and never looked back as he proceeded to claim his first victory at the Paperclip-shaped short track and his second of the 2023 Cup campaign.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Ryan Preece notched his first Cup career pole after posting a pole-winning lap at 84.780 mph in 19.979 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Daniel Suarez, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 94.298 mph in 20.081 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Joey Logano dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his car.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced amid an early start due to weather concerns, Preece and Suarez dueled for the lead amid a side-by-side battle through the first two turns until Preece managed to peek ahead and clear Suarez through Turns 3 and 4 as he proceeded to lead the first lap. With Preece out in front of Suarez, Aric Almirola trailed in third followed by Martin Truex Jr. and Chase Briscoe while the rest of the field behind jostled for early positions through two tight-packed lanes.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Preece was leading by a second over Suarez followed by Almirola, Truex and Tyler Reddick while Briscoe, Kevin Harvick, Bubba Wallace, Denny Hamlin and William Byron were in the top 10. Behind, Todd Gilliland was in 11th followed by Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, Chris Buescher and AJ Allmendinger while rookie Ty Gibbs, Austin Dillon, Brad Keselowski, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Christopher Bell occupied the top 20. By then, Chase Elliott, who returned to competition after recovering from his leg injury from a snowboarding accident in Colorado in early March, was back in 22nd in his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 behind teammate Alex Bowman. In addition, Ryan Blaney was in 24th, Erik Jones was back in 28th behind teammate Noah Gragson and Ross Chastain was mired back in 31st while battling Harrison Burton.

    Fifteen laps later, Preece maintained his advantage to more than a second over Suarez’s No. 99 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 while third-place Almirola also trailed by more than a second. Truex and Reddick continued to run in the top five while Larson cracked the top 10 in 10th behind Hamlin as Byron dropped to 11th. Meanwhile, Elliott was mired back in 23rd, Logano was in 32nd and Austin Cindric was all the way back in 34th.

    Another 10 laps later, Preece continued to lead by nearly a second over Suarez, who was slowly starting to close in on Suarez while Almirola trailed by a second in third place. The remainder of the top 10 spots that included Briscoe, Harvick, Wallace, Hamlin and Larson remained unchanged as the leaders started to approach lapped traffic.

    At the Lap 50 mark, Preece, who continued to navigate his way through lapped traffic, retained the lead ahead of Suarez and Almirola as Suarez continued to close in for the lead. Behind, Reddick was in fourth and trailing by nearly four seconds while Briscoe was in fifth ahead of a battle between Truex and Harvick. Wallace, Hamlin and Larson occupied the remaining spots in the top 10 while Byron trailed in 11th. By then, Cindric was lapped by the field.

    By Lap 65, Preece maintained the lead by a second over both Suarez and Almirola while Reddick and Briscoe remained in the top five. Meanwhile, Logano, who was still mired in 32nd, was lapped by the field while Elliott was in 23rd behind Bell and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. In addition, teammates Byron and Bowman along with Truex battled for 10th while Blaney was up in 14th in front of Kyle Busch.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 80, Preece steered his No. 41 Haas Ford Mustang to his first Cup career stage victory after leading every lap thus far. Teammate Almirola navigated his way into second followed by Reddick, Suarez and Briscoe while Harvick, Wallace, Hamlin, Larson and Byron were scored in the top 10. By then, 31 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Preece pitted. Following the pit stops, Preece, who received a stellar pit stop from his pit crew, edged Suarez and Almirola off of pit road first to retain the lead while Redick, Harvick and Hamlin exited fourth through sixth, respectively. Following the pit stops, Zane Smith, who was filling in for the suspended Cody Ware, was penalized for speeding on pit road. Kyle Busch and Buescher were also penalized for equipment interference.

    The second stage started on Lap 91 as Preece and Suarez occupied the front row. At the start, Preece battled and pulled ahead of Suarez through the backstretch and entering Turns 3 and 4 to maintain the lead while the field behind battled through two tight-packed lanes for positions. Soon after, teammate Almirola made his way up to second while Harvick and Hamlin were in the top five ahead of 23XI Racing’s Wallace and Reddick.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Preece was leading just ahead of teammate Almirola, Suarez, Harvick and Hamlin while Wallace, Reddick, Larson, Bowman and Truex were in the top 10. Behind, Briscoe was in 11th ahead of Brad Keselowski, Byron, Todd Gilliland and Blaney while Austin Dillon, Bell, Ty Gibbs, AJ Allmendinger and Stenhouse rounded out the top 20.

    Ten laps later, Preece maintained the lead by seven-tenths of a second over teammate Almirola, who continued to close in on his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate for the lead despite reporting early concerns of a loose lug nut and wheel to his No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang.

    Just past the Lap 125 mark, Preece stabilized his advantage to four-tenths of a second over teammate Almirola while third-place Suarez trailed by more than a second. Meanwhile, fourth-place Harvick trailed by more than two seconds while Bowman cracked the top five in fifth. Hamlin, Wallace, Reddick, Larson and Briscoe were scored in the top 10 while Truex was mired back in 11th ahead of Keselowski, Byron, Gilliland and Blaney. Meanwhile, Bell was in 18th, Chastain was back in 25th, Elliott was mired in 28th and Logano was stuck back in 29th in front of Kyle Busch.

    On Lap 132, the event’s second caution of the event flew when Harrison Burton spun through Turns 1 and 2 amid contact with Erik Jones while Elliott was able to carve his way through without sustaining damage. During the pit stops, nearly the entire field led by Preece returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Preece barely edged Suarez and Almirola in a three-wide photo finish off of pit road first to maintain the lead while Todd Gilliland, Harvick and Bowman followed through from fourth to sixth, respectively. Following the pit stops, however, Preece was penalized and sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road. Wallace and Truex were also sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road. Back on the track, however, Chastain, who nearly lost a lap to the leaders during the first stage, remained on the track as he inherited the lead.  

    During the following restart on Lap 142, teammates Chastain and Suarez led the field to the start as Chastain rocketed with the lead on the inside lane. Behind, Almirola and Suarez battled for second in front of Gilliland while Harvick and Larson engaged in a fierce battle for fifth. Not long after, Suarez and Almirola engaged in a fierce battle for second, where Suarez bumped Almirola and both battled dead even through the backstretch and the frontstretch. This allowed Gilliland, who opted for two fresh tires during the previous caution period, to join the battle while Chastain pulled away by more than a second.

    By Lap 160 and amid a series of on-track battles, Chastain was leading by a second over Gilliland while Stewart-Haas Racing’s Harvick and Briscoe moved up to third and fourth in front of Hamlin. Behind, Reddick was in sixth ahead of Suarez, Almirola, Keselowski and Larson while Bowman, Ty Gibbs, Bell, Stenhouse and Allmendinger were in the top 15. Byron, Blaney, Justin Haley, Gragson and Corey LaJoie occupied the top 20 while Preece was mired back in 26th, two spots behind Elliott.

    Seven laps later, Harvick carved his No. 4 Realtree/Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang into the lead after overtaking Chastain. Teammate Briscoe would follow suit another lap later in second followed by a hard-charging Hamlin in his No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota TRD Camry. With Gilliland dropping to seventh behind Keselowski, Reddick would then navigate his No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota TRD Camry into fourth over Chastain just past the Lap 170 mark while Suarez and Almirola, both of whom ran upfront in the early stages, were back in eighth and ninth.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 180, Harvick, who was making his penultimate Cup start at Martinsville, captured his first stage victory of the 2023 Cup season and his first since 2020. Teammate Briscoe followed suit in second followed by Hamlin, Reddick and Keselowski while Chastain, Gilliland, Suarez, Almirola and Larson were scored in the top 10. By then, 31 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap while names that included Byron, Blaney, Preece, Kyle Busch, Elliott, Logano, Wallace and Truex were mired back in 16th, 17th, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th, 28th and 31st. In addition, the sun overshadowed the track.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Harvick pitted. Following the pit stops, Briscoe exited with the lead followed by teammate Harvick, Keselowski, Hamlin, Almirola and Larson.

    With 208 laps remaining, the final stage started as Briscoe and Keselowski occupied the front row followed by Harvick and Almirola. At the start, Briscoe maintained the lead as he jumped away from the field followed by teammate Harvick while Keselowski and Hamlin battled for third in front of Almirola, Larson and Suarez. By then, the field engaged in two tight-packed racing through the corners and straightaways while the cloud cover returned above the Paperclip-shaped track.

    At the race’s halfway mark with 200 laps remaining, Briscoe was leading by three-tenths of a second over teammate Harvick followed by Hamlin, Keselowski and Almirola while Larson, Reddick, Gilliland, Suarez and Chastain were scored in the top 10. Meanwhile, Bell was in 11th in front of Bowman, Blaney, LaJoie and Gibbs while Allmendinger, Stenhouse, Byron, Haley and Elliott were in the top 20. By then, Preece was in 21st ahead of Kyle Busch, Wallace, Logano and Erik Jones while McDowell, Buescher, Austin Dillon, Truex and Gragson rounded out the top 30.

    With 175 laps remaining, Briscoe continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over teammate Harvick while also approaching lapped traffic while third-place Hamlin trailed by four-tenths of a second. As Almirola and Keselowski trailed in the top five, Larson was in sixth ahead of Reddick, Gilliland, Suarez and Chastain.

    With less than 150 laps remaining, Briscoe maintained the lead by two-tenths of a second over Hamlin while Harvick fell back to third in front of teammate Almirola and Keselowski. Then with 143 laps remaining, Hamlin made his move beneath Briscoe’s No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang and captured the lead while Harvick kept the two leaders within his sights. Harvick would then move into second place after overtaking teammate Briscoe with 137 laps remaining while teammate Almirola followed suit during the following lap, thus placing three of four Stewart-Haas Racing competitors in the top four.

    With 120 laps remaining, Hamlin was leading by two seconds over Harvick followed by Harvick’s teammates Almirola and Briscoe while Keselowski occupied fifth in front of Larson, Reddick, Gilliland, Suarez and Bell. By then, Preece, the fourth Stewart-Haas Racing competitor, was mired in 21st, the final competitor on the lead lap, behind Elliott while names that included Wallace, Logano, Austin Dillon, Michael McDowell, Truex, Erik Jones, Kyle Busch, Gragson, LaJoie, Harrison Burton and Cindric were lapped by the field.

    Seven laps later, Blaney pitted his No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang under green as Hamlin lapped Preece while trying to lap Elliott. By then, Wallace was trying to keep pace with his owner Hamlin to cycle back on the lead lap as Bowman, Reddick, Kyle Busch and Bell pitted. This commenced a cycle of green flag pit stops as Harvick pitted along with Haley, Almirola, Briscoe and others. Not long after, the leader Hamlin pitted under green followed by Larson, Byron, Gilliland and Elliott. Amid the pit stops, AJ Allmendinger was penalized for speeding on pit road. Erik Jones would also be penalized for improper fueling.

    Back on the track and with 107 laps remaining, Keselowski was leading followed by Suarez, Wallace, Logano, Austin Dillon and McDowell and Truex, all of whom had yet to make a pit stop. Meanwhile, Harvick, the first competitor who pitted, was up in eighth as he cycled ahead of Hamlin, Almirola and Briscoe. Suarez would then assume the lead with 100 laps remaining followed by Wallace as Keselowski pitted.

    With 98 laps remaining, however, the caution flew after the right-rear wheel from Anthony Alfredo’s No. 78 BJ McLeod Motorsports entry came off on the frontstretch as the wheel came to rest against the outside wall while Alfredo limped his car back to pit road. During the caution period, a host of lead lap competitors led by Suarez pitted while the rest led by Briscoe, Reddick and Larson remained on the track.

    Down to the final 88 laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Briscoe and Larson occupied the front row. At the start, Briscoe fended off Larson to retain the lead as the field stacked up and battled amid two lanes. With Larson maintaining second ahead of Harvick, Reddick and Suarez were in the top five while Logano and Wallace battled for sixth in front of Almirola, Hamlin and Truex.

    With 75 laps remaining, Briscoe was leading by a second over Larson and Reddick in third place, while Harvick and Suarez were in fourth and fifth. By then, 24 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap as the field continued to bump and jostle for late positions.

    Then with 58 laps remaining, the caution returned when JJ Yeley went dead straight into the Turn 3 outside wall while locking up the brakes. By then, Briscoe was leading ahead of Larson, Reddick, Harvick and Suarez. During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Briscoe pitted while the rest that included Logano, Almirola and Hamlin remained on the track. Following the pit stops, late disaster struck for Harvick, who returned to pit road with a flat right-front tire as a result of a wheel nut coming loose.

    With 46 laps remaining, the race restarted under green as Logano and Almirola occupied the front row. At the start, Logano, who rallied from being mired a lap down during the first stage, gained the advantage on the inside lane as he took off from Almirola and assumed the lead while Hamlin battled and overtook Almirola for second place during the following lap. Larson and Briscoe would then challenge Almirola for third while Logano checked out with the lead by half a second.

    With 35 laps remaining, Logano was leading by two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Larson and over a second over third-place Hamlin while Briscoe and Almirola were in the top five. Behind, Stenhouse was up in sixth ahead of Blaney, Truex, Wallace and Suarez while Austin Dillon, Bowman, Chastain, Reddick and Buescher. Meanwhile, Preece was in 17th, Byron was back in 20th after reporting a potential vibration to his car and Harvick was mired back in 24th behind Kyle Busch.

    Then with 30 laps remaining, Larson, who tracked Logano on two fresh tires since the start of the latest restart, overtook and fended off Logano to assume the lead in his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 while third-place Hamlin kept the two leaders within his sights. By then, teammates Briscoe and Almirola remained in the top five while Truex challenged Stenhouse for sixth.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Larson was leading by more than two seconds over Logano and more than three seconds over Hamlin. Larson then extended his advantage to more than three seconds with 10 laps remaining and with five laps remaining. By then, Logano retained second over a hard-charging Truex while Hamlin, Briscoe and Almirola fell back to fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively. Meanwhile, Elliott cracked the top 10 in 10th place after overtaking Austin Dillon as he had Wallace within his sights.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson remained as the leader by nearly four seconds over Logano. With a clear view in front of him and no challengers lurking behind, Larson was able to cycle his way around the Paperclip-shaped short track for a final time as he returned to the frontstretch and claimed his first checkered flag at the track.

    With his first victory at Martinsville, Larson notched his 21st NASCAR Cup Series career victory and his second of the season after winning two weeks ago at Richmond Raceway. As a result, he joined teammate William Byron as the only other multi-race Cup winner of this season and delivered the all-time leading 28th Martinsville victory for Hendrick Motorsports. Larson’s victory occurred as crew chief Cliff Daniels returned atop the No. 5 pit box following a four-week suspension amid the hood louver penalties that affected all of Hendrick Motorsports’ entries from Phoenix Raceway in March.

    “Huge congratulations to this whole No. 5 team and Hendrick Motorsports,” Larson, who had two top-three finishes at Martinsville prior to his victory, said on FS1. “I feel like [crew chief] Cliff [Daniels] and everybody did a great job all day on pit road. Making the right calls, having great pit stops and then, it all kind of worked out for me there at the end. We had a great car. That was the best my car had been in being able to get out front and manage. I never ever would have thought that I would won here at Martinsville. This place has been so tough on me. [The track] Just does not suit my driving style at all. I like to charge the center. I like to roll momentum. That’s just not what this place is like, but thanks to Cliff Daniels and everybody for making me feel like I know what I’m doing sometimes around here. Just can’t believe it.”

    Logano fended off Truex to finish second while Hamlin and Briscoe finished in the top five.

    “It’s a solid recovery for what the start of the race looked like,” Logano said. “We went down a lap twice, two times. At one point in the race, I would have been just happy to finish on the lead lap. [Crew chief] Paul [Wolfe] did a good job of getting some good changes to the Verizon Mustang to where I got competitive. We just needed track position. [I] Was able to stay out, get a lucky caution there during a green flag cycle. Stayed out again when everyone pitted. It put ourselves on the front row and a shot to win the race. I tried holding off Larson as long as I could, but overall, there’s days when you’re mad about second. Today’s not one of those days when you’re pretty stoked that you finished a little better than I thought we were going to.”

    “We had kind of a crazy day with our Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry TRD,” Truex said. “Really just got a little bit lucky there, getting back to the lead lap midrace and just kept working on our car. We were just loose all day long and then finally at the end, we got it a whole lot better. It was fun at the end, passing a lot of cars and getting up there. Still needed to be a little bit better, but overall, proud of everybody sticking with it and just grinding one out today.”

    Almirola navigated his way to a sixth-place result followed by Blaney, Stenhouse and Wallace while Chase Elliott earned a 10th-place result in his return to competition following a six-race absence.

    “[Today] was pretty good,” Elliott said. “It was about what I expected, so it was a good thing. It was warm and I’ve been sitting on the couch for six weeks, so I think that probably hurt me more than anything. Our NAPA Chevy, we struggled really bad, honestly, for every run but the last. We finally got it going there at the end and I was able to make some passes and do things that I didn’t really think I was capable of doing early. I was pleasantly surprised by that and got us a top 10 out of our first day back, so that was definitely nothing to be too bummed out about.”

    Notably, Preece ended up 15th after leading a race-high 136 laps, Suarez finished 17th, Harvick settled in 20th and Byron fell back to 23rd behind Reddick.

    There were 10 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 50 laps. In addition, 24 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the ninth event of the 2023 Cup Series season, Christopher Bell leads the regular-season standings by five points over Ross Chastain, 15 over Kevin Harvick, 17 over Kyle Larson, 36 over Martin Truex Jr. and 37 over Tyler Reddick.

    Results.

    1. Kyle Larson, 30 laps led

    2. Joey Logano, 25 laps led

    3. Martin Truex Jr.

    4. Denny Hamlin, 36 laps led

    5. Chase Briscoe, 109 laps led

    6. Aric Almirola

    7. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    8. Ryan Blaney

    9. Bubba Wallace

    10. Chase Elliott

    11. Alex Bowman

    12. Austin Dillon

    13. Ross Chastain, 31 laps led

    14. Chris Buescher

    15. Ryan Preece, 135 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    16. Christopher Bell

    17. Daniel Suarez, seven laps led

    18. Ty Gibbs

    19. Michael McDowell

    20. Kevin Harvick, 20 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    21. Kyle Busch

    22. Tyler Reddick

    23. William Byron

    24. Brad Keselowski, seven laps led

    25. Todd Gilliland, one lap down

    26. Corey LaJoie, one lap down

    27. AJ Allmendinger, one lap down

    28. Justin Haley, two laps down

    29. Harrison Burton, two laps down

    30. Noah Gragson, two laps down

    31. Erik Jones, two laps down

    32. Ty Dillon, three laps down

    33. Austin Cindric, three laps down

    34. Zane Smith, five laps down

    35. Anthony Alfredo, 10 laps down

    36. JJ Yeley – OUT

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ first of two visits to Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama, for the GEICO 500. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, April 23, at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • John Hunter Nemechek clocks in for dominant Xfinity victory at Martinsville

    John Hunter Nemechek clocks in for dominant Xfinity victory at Martinsville

    Two weeks after having a victory at Richmond Raceway slip out of his grasp in the late stages, John Hunter Nemechek doubled down with resilience and rose to the occasion after scoring a dominant victory in the Call811.com Before You Dig. 250 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, April 15.

    The 25-year-old Nemechek from Mooresville, North Carolina, led three times for a race-high 198 of 250-scheduled laps, including the final 33, as he also capitalized on the final restart with 18 laps remaining to beat teammate Sammy Smith and Cole Custer by more than a second to claim his second checkered flag of the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series season in an event where he swept both stages. As an added bonus, Nemechek claimed the second Dash 4 Cash bonus with his victory at the Paperclip-shaped short track.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Cole Custer notched his second Xfinity pole of the season after posting a pole-winning lap at 94.411 mph in 20.057 seconds. Joining him on the front row was John Hunter Nemechek, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 94.331 mph in 20.074 seconds.

    Prior to the event, names that included Sheldon Creed, Jeremy Clements, Kaden Honeycutt, Anthony Alfredo and Alex Labbe dropped to the rear due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Custer launched ahead with a strong jump on the inside lane as he cleared Nemechek and assumed the lead for a full circuit, where he proceeded to lead the first lap. Behind, the field fanned out to three tight-packed lanes as rookie Parker Retzlaff, who qualified fourth, was getting shuffled out of the racing groove while rookie Sammy Smith and Samy Mayer moved up and battled for third in front of Riley Herbst and Josh Berry.

    Three laps later, Nemechek launched his bid for the lead as he drew his No. 20 Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota Supra beneath Custer’s No. 00 Haas Ford Mustang through Turns 1 and 2. After dueling with Custer amid a tight side-by-side battle during the following lap, Nemechek became the new leader of the event on the sixth lap after clearing Custer in Turns 3 and 4 while Sammy Smith trailed behind in close distance.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Nemechek was leading by more than half a second over Custer followed by Sammy Smith, Sam Mayer and Riley Herbst while Berry, rookie Chandler Smith, Justin Allgaier, Daniel Hemric and Parker Retzlaff were in the top 10. Behind, Austin Hill was in 11th over Brandon Jones, Ryan Sieg, Brett Moffitt and Derek Kraus in the top 15 while Ryan Truex, Connor Mosack, Parker Kligerman, Kaz Grala and Josh Williams occupied the top 20.

    Fifteen laps later, Nemechek continued to lead by half a second over Custer while third-place Sammy Smith trailed by more than a second. With Herbst and Mayer remaining in the top five, Berry also remained in sixth followed by Chandler Smith, Allgaier, Hemric and Retzlaff.

    Another 11 laps later, the first caution of the event flew when Moffitt got loose while battling Austin Hill through Turns 3 and 4 as he spun without getting hit by the oncoming field. By then, Nemechek and Custer had reignited their early battle for the lead amid lapped traffic while 30 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap. During the caution period, some like Josh Berry, Hill, Jeb Burton, Brennan Poole, Dawson Cram, Kaden Honeycutt, Gray Gaulding and Anthony Alfredo pitted while the rest led by Nemechek remained on the track.

    During the following restart on Lap 43, Nemechek retained the lead and pulled ahead of Custer after receiving a bump and shove from teammate Sammy Smith on the inside lane amid a stacked-up restart. With Nemechek out in front, teammate Sammy Smith battled and fended off Custer to assume second while the field behind jostled amid tight-quarter lanes for positions.

    At the Lap 50 mark, Nemechek was leading by half a second over teammate Sammy Smith while third-place Custer trailed by more than a second along with Mayer and Herbst.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 60, Nemechek captured his second stage victory of the 2023 Xfinity season after fending off teammate Sammy Smith by more than six-tenths of a second. Custer trailed the two Joe Gibbs Racing competitors in third while Mayer, Herbst, Allgaier, Hemric, Chandler Smith, Retzlaff and Brandon Jones were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Nemechek pitted while others led by Hill and Berry, both of whom pitted on Lap 39, remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Nemechek exited pit road first followed by Sammy Smith, Hemric, Chandler Smith and Herbst.

    The second stage started on Lap 71 as Hill and Berry occupied the front row followed by Dawson Cram and Jeb Burton. At the start, Hill rocketed with the lead on the inside lane followed by Berry as the field fanned out and stacked up through the turns and the straightaways. With Berry trying to close back towards Hill’s rear bumper for the lead, Nemechek shoved his way up to fourth on fresh tires behind Jeb Burton while Cram was shuffled out and falling below the leaderboard. In the process, Hemric carved his way up into the top five while Sammy Smith was mired in sixth as he battled Custer to retain the spot.

    Three laps later, Berry moved his No. 8 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro into the lead as the front-runners settled in a single-file line. This kept Nemechek in fourth behind Jeb Burton while Hemric was in fifth ahead of Custer and Sammy Smith. By Lap 78, however, Nemechek navigated his way into second as Hemric and Custer joined the battle while Berry continued to lead.

    Nearing the Lap 85 mark, the second caution of the event flew when smoke billowed out of the No. 74 entry piloted by Kaden Honeycutt exiting the frontstretch and entering Turn 1, with the driver proceeding to park his car towards the outside wall in Turn 1 as he became the first retiree of the event. During the pit stops, names that included Moffitt, Parker Kligerman, Josh Williams, Joe Graf Jr., Ryan Ellis and Brennan Poole pitted while the rest led by Nemechek opted to remain on the track.

    Following an extensive caution period amid Honeycutt’s mechanical issue, the race restarted on Lap 100. At the start, Berry and Nemechek dueled for the lead entering Turn 1 before the former managed to pull ahead of the latter. Then entering Turn 3, Sammy Smith vaulted his No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota Supra past Nemechek as he challenged Berry for the lead on the outside lane, which he succeeded. During the following lap, Berry made contact with Smith in Turn 1, but Smith returned the favor entering Turn 3 as he bumped and moved Berry out of his path, which moved Smith back into the lead after Berry got loose and slipped up. In the process, teammate Nemechek moved into second while Berry fell back to third in front of Custer and Hemric. Meanwhile, Hill, who was stuck on the outside lane, was also locked in a side-by-side battle with Brandon Jones for sixth.

    Not long after, a side-by-side battle for the lead ignited between teammates Nemechek and Sammy Smith as Nemechek, who drew himself beneath Smith, peeked ahead to lead Lap 107. Nemechek then managed to pull ahead of Smith and assume full control of both lanes with the top spot while Berry tried to close in on Smith for second.

    Just past the Lap 110 mark, Berry and Sammy Smith were locked in a tight side-by-side battle for second in front of Custer through every corner and straightaway. This, however, allowed Nemechek to pull away by nearly a second with the lead.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 120, Nemechek, who extended his advantage to more than two seconds, claimed the second stage victory of the night and the third of this season. Berry muscled his way into second followed by Custer, Sammy Smith and Hemric while Brandon Jones, Ryan Truex, Herbst, Chandler Smith and Derek Kraus were scored in the top 10. By then, 32 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Nemechek pitted while Brennan Poole remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Nemechek exited first followed by teammate Sammy Smith, Brandon Jones, Custer, Berry and Hemric.

    With 119 laps remaining, the final stage started as teammates Nemechek and Sammy Smith occupied the front row. At the start, Nemechek, who restarted on the outside lane, rocketed ahead with a strong start entering Turn 1 while Sammy Smith, who restarted on the inside lane, engaged in a side-by-side duel with Custer, who battled Smith hard on the outside lane, for second. In the process, JR Motorsports’ Brandon Jones and Berry battled for fourth in front of Kaulig Racing’s Hemric and Chandler Smith. It would only take three laps, however, for the caution to return when Joe Graf Jr. and Ryan Ellis made contact and wrecked up against the Turn 1 outside wall. During the caution period, Berry, who initially reported his spoiler was delaminated pitted as his pit crew later determined he had a right-front tire going down.

    During the following restart with 108 laps remaining, Nemechek, who restarted on the inside lane on this occasion, muscled away from teammate Sammy Smith with the lead while Custer drew himself alongside Sammy Smith in his bid for second. It would only take one lap for the caution to return for a multi-car wreck that erupted on the backstretch that involved Dawson Cram, Ryan Ellis, Alex Labbe and Kyle Sieg.

    At the start of the following restart with 95 laps remaining, Nemechek retained the lead on the inside lane while Sammy Smith and Custer reignited their side-by-side battle for second in front of Hemric and Brandon Jones. Following a heated side-by-side battle for second for two laps, Custer made contact with Smith and moved him up the track as he managed to peek ahead and grab second place. Sammy Smith, however, came under attack from Hemric and Herbst for third while Nemechek was pulling away with the lead. Then as Hemric battled and cleared Sammy Smith for third place with Herbst joining the battle, the caution returned with 89 laps remaining when Josh Williams spun between Turns 1 and 2 after cutting a right-rear tire.

    During the following restart with 82 laps remaining, Nemechek pulled ahead of Custer on the inside lane to retain the lead through the first two turns. In the process, Custer, who restarted on the outside lane, fended off Hemric for second while Sammy Smith trailed in fourth in front of Chandler Smith and Herbst.

    With less than 75 laps remaining, Nemechek was leading by six-tenths of a second over Custer followed by Sammy Smith, Hemric and Herbst while Chandler Smith, Brandon Jones, Kraus, Jeb Burton and Mayer were in the top 10. Behind, Creed, Retzlaff, Ryan Truex, Grala and Ryan Sieg were in the top 15 while Berry and Hill were mired back in 17th and 19th.

    Down to the final 60 laps of the event, Nemechek continued to lead by a second over Custer while Sammy Smith Hemric and Brandon Jones trailed in the top five. By then, Creed cracked the top 10 in 10th, Berry moved his way up in 12th and Hill had fallen back to 20th.

    Ten laps later, Nemechek stabilized his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Custer while third-place Sammy Smith trailed by more than two seconds.

    Then with 42 laps remaining, the caution flew when Jeremy Clements, who nearly made contact with the wall a few laps earlier, slapped the outside wall between Turns 1 and 2. By then, Nemechek retained the lead by a second over Custer despite encountering lapped traffic while Berry had worked his way up to eighth, though he had no fresh sets of tires for another pit stop for the remainder of the event. During the pit stops, the leaders led by Nemechek pitted and Nemechek retained the lead after exiting first followed by Custer, Hemric, Sammy Smith and Berry, who pitted for scuffed tires. Back on the track, however, a handful of competitors led by Patrick Emerling and Allgaier, who was also out of fresh tires, remained on the track. While Emerling would eventually surrender the lead to pit, Allgaier remained on the track alongside Labbe while Nemechek lined up in third place and as the first competitor on fresh tires.

    During the following restart with 33 laps remaining, Allgaier, Nemechek and Custer launched ahead on the inside lane while Labbe, who restarted on the front row and on the outside lane, struggled to launch ahead of Hemric on old tires as the field stacked up. With the field fanning out to three lanes amid a stacked-up restart, Nemechek dueled and overtook Allgaier during the following lap. Sammy Smith quickly followed suit in second while Custer battled Allgaier for third. Then as Sammy Smith tried to close in on teammate Nemechek for the lead, the caution returned with 29 laps remaining when Ryan Truex turned and sent Mayer into Herbst as the latter two spun. While Herbst backed his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang into the Turn 1 outside wall, Mayer came back down the track and collided with Jeb Burton as he emerged with extensive nose damage. The incident prompted Mayer to display an obscene gesture to Truex after emerging from his wrecked car.

    Following an extensive caution period for the wreckage to be cleared, the race restarted with 18 laps remaining. At the start, Nemechek, who restarted alongside Custer on the front row, rocketed away with the lead as teammate Sammy Smith quickly vaulted himself into second. Behind, Custer battled and fended off Allgaier for third with Berry joining the battle.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Nemechek was leading by six-tenths of a second over Custer, who overtook Sammy Smith for the runner-up spot four laps earlier, while Berry moved his way up to fourth. Meanwhile, Allgaier settled in fifth as he was locked in a battle with teammate Brandon Jones for the spot while Creed, Hemric, Kraus and Moffitt were mired back in the top 10.

    With five laps remaining, Nemechek retained the lead by six-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Custer, who continued to try and close in for his bid for the victory while third-place Sammy Smith trailed by a second. By then, fourth-place Berry trailed by two seconds while Brandon Jones was in fifth ahead of Allgaier and Hemric.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Nemechek remained as the leader by nearly a second over Custer as Sammy Smith tried to close in on Custer for second. Amid the battles within the field, Nemechek was able to cycle his way around the Paperclip-shaped circuit for a final time and claim the checkered flag for his second victory of the season just as the caution flew when Sheldon Creed wrecked on the backstretch while vying for a top-15 finish.

    With the victory, Nemechek, who delivered the third victory of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing, claimed his fourth career victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, his first since winning at Auto Club Speedway in February and his second national touring series win at Martinsville after winning the Truck Martinsville race in 2018. He also became the second multi-race winner of this year’s Xfinity season as he pocketed the second Dash 4 Cash bonus of $100,000, which was also his first in the series, to go along with the race-winning grandfather clock trophy.

    “I’m just grateful for [sponsor] Pye Barker Fire & Safety,” Nemechek, whose car caught on fire while performing his victorious burnout across the frontstretch wall, said on FS1. “Martinsville Speedway, actually, uses Pye Barker Fire & Safety fire extinguishers. Thank you to them for all the safety equipment, for that amazing burnout that caught on fire. I can’t say enough about this whole team. If you would’ve asked me yesterday if we would’ve won, I thought we were a 10th-place car in practice, didn’t think we were very good. Just grateful that the guys made the right adjustments and gave me a Pye Barker Toyota GR Supra as fast as Xfinity 10G. Let’s celebrate. We’ll go celebrate with [family]. [Wife] Taylor, we got another grandfather clock to bring home.”

    Behind, Sammy Smith pulled a bump-and-run move on Custer on the final turn to claim second place as Custer fell back to third. Berry navigated his way through the scuffed tires to finish fourth while Brandon Jones claimed his first top-five finish of the season by finishing fifth. The top-four finishers that include Nemechek, Sammy Smith, Custer and Berry will contend for the third Dash 4 Cash bonus next weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.

    “[I] Just a little bit more drive off,” Smith said. “Congrats to [Nemechek]. They were the best car all night. We just needed a couple more adjustments to get our Pilot Flying J Toyota GR Supra in Victory Lane, but close. We’ll get’em next week.”

    Like Berry, teammate Allgaier navigated his way through worn tires to finish sixth while Hemric, Kraus, Moffitt and Chandler Smith finished in the top 10.

    There were seven lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured 10 cautions for 82 laps. In total, 27 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the eighth event of the 2023 Xfinity Series season, John Hunter Nemechek leads the regular-season standings by 21 points over Austin Hill, 34 over Chandler Smith, 38 over Riley Herbst and 43 over Josh Berry.

    Results.

    1. John Hunter Nemechek, 198 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    2. Sammy Smith, six laps led

    3. Cole Custer, five laps led

    4. Josh Berry, 27 laps led

    5. Brandon Jones

    6. Justin Allgaier, six laps led

    7. Daniel Hemric

    8. Derek Kraus

    9. Brett Moffitt

    10. Chandler Smith

    11. Parker Retzlaff

    12. Ryan Truex

    13. Blaine Perkins

    14. Jeb Burton

    15. Kaz Grala

    16. Austin Hill, eight laps led

    17. Parker Kligerman

    18. Ryan Sieg

    19. Josh Williams

    20. Jeffrey Earnhardt

    21. Patrick Emerling

    22. Matt Mills

    23. Gray Gaulding

    24. Anthony Alfredo

    25. Leland Honeyman

    26. Alex Labbe

    27. Sheldon Creed

    28. Ryan Ellis, one lap down

    29. Brennan Poole, four laps down

    30. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident

    31. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

    32. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Accident

    33. Connor Mosack, 45 laps down

    34. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Suspension

    35. Kyle Sieg – OUT, Accident

    36. Dawson Cram – OUT, Accident

    37. Joe Graf Jr. – OUT, Accident

    38. Kaden Honeycutt – OUT, Engine

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ lone visit of the season to Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama, which will serve as the site of the third Dash 4 Cash event of this season. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, April 22, at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Conor Daly to make 100th IndyCar career start at Long Beach

    Conor Daly to make 100th IndyCar career start at Long Beach

    Nearly two months after competing in this year’s 65th running of the Daytona 500, Conor Daly is set to achieve a milestone start in his sixth full-time season in the NTT IndyCar Series. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach at the Streets of Long Beach, California, the driver of the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara-Chevrolet will make his 100th career start in the IndyCar circuit.

    A second-generation racer from Noblesville, Indiana, Daly, whose racing career started with karts before proceeding to win the 2010 Indy Pro 2000 title, made his IndyCar debut in the 2013 Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where he piloted the No. 41 A.J. Foyt Enterprises Dallara-Honda to a 22nd-place result. Two years later, he competed in a total of five IndyCar events between Dale Coyne Racing and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Daly’s deal with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports occurred as he replaced James Hinchcliffe for three events following Hinchcliffe’s harrowing accident during a practice session leading up to the 99th running of the Indianapolis 500. During the five-race span, his best on-track result was a sixth-place finish at Belle Isle during a Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit.

    In 2016, Daly joined Dale Coyne Racing on a full-time IndyCar basis. Commencing the season with a 13th-place run at the Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, the Indiana native notched five top-10 results throughout the 16-race schedule. He also achieved his maiden podium at The Raceway at Belle Isle Park during a Chevrolet Dual in Detroit by finishing second behind Sebastien Bourdais. When the final checkered flag of the 2016 season flew, Daly settled in 18th place in the final driver’s standings with 313 points. Throughout the season, he led a career-high 56 laps and notched an average-finishing result of 14.4, which is his best as a full-time IndyCar competitor.

    The following season, Daly joined A.J. Foyt Enterprises as a full-time IndyCar competitor in the No. 4 Dallara-Chevrolet. He concluded the season in 18th place in the final standings for a second consecutive season on the strength of four top-10 results, a season-best fifth-place finish at Gateway Motorsports Park and 305 points.

    For the 2018 season, Daly, who lose his ride at A.J. Foyt Enterprises, made his first IndyCar start of the season during the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500, where he drove the No. 17 Dallara-Honda for Dale Coyne Racing in conjunction with Thom Burns Racing to a 21st-place result. He would then compete in three of the final six scheduled events for Harding Racign, where he notched a season-best 15th at Pocono Raceway.

    The 2019 IndyCar season featured Daly competing for three different organizations, starting with Andretti Autosport for the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500. Piloting the No. 25 Andretti Dallara-Honda, he notched his first top-10 career result at his home track by finishing 10th. Three races later, he replaced Max Chilton in the No. 59 Carlin Dallara-Chevrolet for Texas Motor Speedway as he finished 11th. He returned to Carlin for the following three oval events at Iowa Speedway, Pocono and Gateway, where he notched a season-best sixth-place finish at Gateway. Then for the penultimate event of the season at Portland International Raceway, Daly drove the No. 7 Dallara-Honda for Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in place of Marcus Ericsson, who was called up by Alfa Romeo to serve on a reserve driver duty for the upcoming Formula One event at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Finishing 21st for the Arrow Schmidt Peterson organization, Daly capped off the 2019 season by competing for Andretti Autosport at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, where he ended up 22nd.

    For the following two seasons, Daly competed between Ed Carpenter Racing and Carlin. In 2020, he recorded six top-10 results throughout the 14-race schedule and a season-best sixth-place result during the season opener at Texas and a 29th-place run during the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500 following a late wreck before finishing in a career-best 17th-place in the final standings with 237 points and an average-finishing result of 14.5. The following season, he led for the first time at his home track, Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500, as he led a total of 37 laps before finishing in 13th place while competing for Ed Carpenter Racing. The 13th-place run at Indy would also mark his highest-finishing result in 2021 as he averaged a 16.6 running spot throughout the 16-race schedule before settling in 18th place in the final standings with 235 points. Nonetheless, he accumulated 40 laps led, which marks his second-highest laps led in a season.

    This past season, Daly inked a full-time deal to pilot the No. 20 Dallara-Chevrolet for ECR. After finishing no higher than 12th during the first four scheduled events, he notched his first top-five result of the season in the GMR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. Two weeks later, he led seven laps during the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 before settling in sixth place in the final running order, which marks his best result during the Indy 500. Daly, however, would proceed to finish no higher than 12th for the remaining 11 events on the schedule before tying his best result in the standings of 17th place and with 267 points.

    Through 99 previous IndyCar starts, Daly has achieved one pole, one podium result, 136 laps led and an average-finishing result of 15.5. He is currently ranked in 14th place in the championship standings after finishing no lower than 20th during the first two events on the schedule, with his best result being 14th during the 2023 season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

    Daly is scheduled to make his 100th career start in the NTT IndyCar Series at the Streets of Long Beach for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday, April 16, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Alex Palou to make 50th IndyCar career start at Long Beach

    Alex Palou to make 50th IndyCar career start at Long Beach

    Competing in his fourth full-time season in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, Alex Palou is set to achieve a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach at the Streets of Long Beach, California, the driver of the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara-Honda will achieve career start No. 50 in the IndyCar circuit.

    A native of Sant Antoni de Vilamjaor, Catalonia, Spain, Palou made his inaugural presence in the IndyCar circuit at the start of the 2020 season, where he was signed by Dale Coyne Racing in conjunction with Team Goh. By then, he entered the sport with an extensive racing background that included starts in the GP3 Series, All-Japan F3 Championship region, World Series Formula V8 3.5, FIA Formula 2, European F3, Super Formula and Super GT. He was also coming off an eventful season in 2019, where he competed for McLaren Customer Racing Japan in the Super GT GT300 class and TCS Nakajima Racing for Super Formula in Japan, where he achieved a single victory and a third-place result in the championship standings.

    Making his maiden IndyCar start at Texas Motor Speedway in June 2020 amid a shortened season due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Palou finished 23rd after being involved in an early incident. Two races later, he achieved his maiden podium result after finishing third during the first of a Road America doubleheader feature in July. The Spaniard would proceed to finish seventh in the second Road America doubleheader feature before recording his third top-10 result of the season in the second of an IndyCar Harvest Grand Prix doubleheader feature at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in October. With an average-finishing result of 14.7 throughout the 14-race schedule, Palou ended up in 16th place in the final standings.

    In 2021, Palou was signed by Chip Ganassi Racing to pilot the No. 10 Dallara-Honda. His maiden start with Ganassi commenced on a high note by fending off former champion Will Power to score his maiden IndyCar victory at Barber Motorsports Park in April and claim an early lead in the championship standings. He then achieved his maiden pole position at Texas Motor Speedway during a doubleheader feature in May while also achieving three additional podiums and a total of five top-10 results during the following seven events. This included a strong runner-up finish behind Helio Castroneves in the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Palou then claimed his second career victory in IndyCar competition at Road America in June following a late overtake on former champion Josef Newgarden as he also reassumed the points lead over title rival Pato O’Ward. Another four races later, where he earned two top-10 results before sustaining back-to-back DNFs at Indy and at the World Wide Technology Raceway in August that made him lose the lead in the standings, Palou responded back with vengeance after winning for the third time in his career at Portland International Raceway in September. After finishing second at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Palou entered the season-finale event at the Streets of Long Beach with a 35-point advantage over Pato O’Ward and 48 over Newgarden. With a fourth-place result during the finale, Palou secured his maiden IndyCar Series championship by 38 points over Newgarden and 62 over O’Ward. By then, he became the third different competitor representing Chip Ganassi Racing and the first Spaniard to win an IndyCar title.

    Palou’s quest to defend his title in 2022 commenced on a strong note by finishing in the runner-up spot behind Scott McLaughlin at the Streets of St. Petersburg in February. He then finished seventh at Texas in March and third at the Streets of Long Beach in April before achieving another runner-up result at Barber Motorsports Park in May. After finishing no higher than ninth during the following four events, which included an 18th-place result during the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500, the reigning champion captured his third runner-up result of the season at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course behind McLaughlin.

    In mid-July, Palou was surrounded by controversy after he disputed a report he had been re-signed by Chip Ganassi Racing for the 2023 season by announcing through social media of his intentions to join McLaren Racing for the upcoming racing season. Chip Ganassi Racing would then respond to the report by reiterating their claim to Palou’s contract and their intention of filing a lawsuit against the Spaniard. By September, however, both parties reached a settlement that would result with Palou remaining at Chip Ganassi Racing for the 2023 season while also planning a McLaren Formula One test during the off-season period. From the Exhibition Place in Toronto in July through Portland in September, Palou recorded five top-10 results, including a podium result at Nashville Street Circuit in August. By then, however, his hopes to defend his series title were diminished. Nonetheless, he managed to secure his first elusive victory of the season during the finale at Laguna Seca as he capped off the season in fifth place in the final standings.

    Through 49 previous starts in the IndyCar Series, Palou has achieved one championship, four victories, one pole, 16 podiums, 333 laps led and an average-finishing result of 9.6. He is currently ranked in fifth place in the championship standings and is coming off his first podium result of this season after finishing third at Texas Motor Speedway.

    Palou is scheduled to make his 50th career start in the NTT INDYCAR Series at the Streets of Long Beach for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday, April 16, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Bell strikes late with first Cup victory of 2023 at Bristol Dirt Course

    Bell strikes late with first Cup victory of 2023 at Bristol Dirt Course

    In a war of attrition match involving NASCAR’s elite around the Last Great Colosseum on dirt, Christopher Bell benefitted from a late strategic call to remain on the track. He then controlled the final stage to his advantage and motored his way to win the third annual running of the Food City Dirt Race at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course on Easter Sunday, April 9.

    The 28-year-old Bell from Norman, Oklahoma, led the final 100 of 250-scheduled laps. Once he gained control of the lead for the start of the final stage spanning 100 laps, the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota TRD Camry survived a flurry of on-track chaos, caution periods and challenges from former dirt veterans turned NASCAR premier series stars to claim the first checkered flag of the 2023 Cup Series season for himself and for the JGR organization.

    The starting lineup for the main event was determined through four 15-lap qualifying events that occurred on Saturday, April 8, where the 37 competitors that entered the main event accumulated points for their finishing results and passes by improving from their original starting spots during their respective heat events.

    With that, Kyle Larson, who won the third qualifying event after starting sixth and accumulating 15 points, claimed his second pole position of the 2023 Cup Series season. Joining him on the front row was Austin Dillon, who won the first qualifying event after starting fifth and earning 14 points.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Larson took off with the lead on the outside lane and pulled away as the field slipped and slid their way through the first two turns on the dirt. With the field returning to the frontstretch, Larson led the first lap ahead of Austin Dillon, who was being challenged early by Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick. As Larson continued to lead through the Lap 5 mark, he also extended his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Austin Dillon while Ryan Preece moved up into the top five. By then, JJ Yeley, who qualified an impressive third place in his No. 15 Rick Ware Racing entry, had fallen back to eighth in front of Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano while Kyle Busch and Austin Cindric moved up to sixth and seventh.

    On the 10th lap, the first caution of the event flew when Bubba Wallace, who was running near the top 10, got loose entering Turn 2 and collected Logano, who spun Wallace right at the same time he got turned by William Byron and hit the sand barrels near the backstretch’s pit road entrance. Todd Gilliland then made contact with the outside wall after making contact with Byron, who was trying to straighten his No. 24 Raptor Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Larson managed to fend off Austin Dillon for the lead while Bell, Reddick and Preece remained in the top five. During the event’s first caution period, names like Gilliland, BJ McLeod, Brad Keselowski and Logano pitted while the rest led by Larson remained on the track.

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 20, Larson fended off Bell and Austin Dillon to retain the lead while having the outside lane to his advantage as the field jostled and slid on the dirt between two lanes for positions. As Larson retained the lead over Austin Dillon and Bell, Reddick retained fourth while Kyle Busch started to challenge Preece for fifth.

    At the Lap 35 mark, Larson was leading by more than eight-tenths of a second over Austin Dillon and more than three seconds over third-place Bell while Kyle Busch and Reddick were in the top five. Preece, Blaney, Cindric, Chase Briscoe and Byron were in the top 10 while Michael McDowell, Alex Bowman, Bubba Wallace, JJ Yeley, Aric Almirola, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., rookie Ty Gibbs, Erik Jones, Justin Haley and Matt Crafton occupied the top 20.

    Two laps later, the second caution of the event flew when Matt Crafton, who was filling in the No. 51 Rick Ware Racing entry for Cody Ware, spun between Turns 3 and 4 and barely made contact with the outside wall. In the process, Logano made slight contact with Crafton while jamming on the brakes to avoid colliding with Crafton.

    With the field restarting under green on Lap 45, Larson pulled away in his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 with the lead on the outside lane followed by Austin Dillon while Kyle Busch moved his No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 up to third in front of Bell. In addition, Blaney muscled his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang into the top five while Reddick fell back to sixth.

    Through the first 50 scheduled laps, Larson was leading by more than eight-tenths of a second over Austin Dillon while Dillon’s teammate Kyle Busch trailed in third by more than a second. As Bell and Blaney occupied the top five, Preece overtook Reddick for sixth while Briscoe, Byron and Cindric were in the top 10.

    Seven laps later, the third caution of the event flew when Brad Keselowski spun by himself in Turn 4 and continued without sustaining any damage to his No. 6 King’s Hawaiian Ford Mustang. By then, Erik Jones and Corey LaJoie had made on-track contact and pitted while falling out of the lead lap category.

    During the proceeding restart on Lap 64, Larson fended off Austin Dillon to retain the lead while Kyle Busch launched a challenge on teammate Dillon for second, which Dillon blocked Busch before the latter succeeded during the following lap. Meanwhile, Preece moved up to fourth followed by Blaney while Bell was back in sixth. As the field continued to jostle for positions, Larson retained a steady advantage over Richard Childress Racing’s Busch and Dillon, both of whom duked for second, as the event surpassed the Lap 70 mark.

    Then on the final lap of the first stage, the caution flew for a multi-car wreck in Turn 4 that involved Denny Hamlin and Josh Berry. The incident in Turn 4 was enough for the first stage scheduled on Lap 75 to conclude under caution as Larson captured his second stage victory of the 2023 Cup season. Teammates Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch were scored in second and third followed by Preece, Blaney, Bell, Briscoe, Reddick, Justin Haley and Byron. By then, 35 of 37 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Larson pitted under a six-minute, non-competitive break period while names that included Reddick, Wallace, Martin Truex Jr. and Ty Dillon remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 76 as Reddick and Truex occupied the front row. At the start, Reddick maintained the lead through the first two turns while teammate Wallace muscled his way into second over Truex. Behind, Larson, the first competitor on four fresh tires, was back in fifth behind Ty Dillon while Preece joined the battle.

    Four laps later and with the field jostling for positions while slipping and sliding in the dirt, the caution returned when Jonathan Davenport, a three-time Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champion who was making his NASCAR debut with Kaulig Racing, got loose and spun entering Turn 4 as the field scattered to avoid him. By then, Reddick retained the lead in front of teammate Wallace, Truex, Ty Dillon and Larson, who made contact with Preece and sent Preece into the wall a few laps earlier. The on-track contact prompted Preece to pull his No. 41 United Rentals Ford Mustang alongside Larson’s to express his displeasure.

    With the event restarting under green on Lap 86, Reddick retained the lead as the field fanned out to three lanes through the turns and the straightaways. A lap later, however, the caution quickly returned when McDowell got loose and did a full 360 spin entering the backstretch, but he managed to drive away without being hit by the oncoming field.

    During the proceeding restart on Lap 94, Reddick rocketed with the lead on the outside lane while teammate Wallace fended off Truex and Ty Dillon to move to second as the field fanned out. A few laps later, trouble ensued for Daniel Suarez as he spun on the backstretch while Logano had smoke billowing out of his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang. Then shortly after, McDowell went for another 360 spin entering Turn 4, though he continued without sustaining any damage, while AJ Allmendinger made contact with the Turn 1 barriers. Amid all the issues, the event remained under green flag conditions as Reddick continued to lead. By then, Logano, who was aiming for a doubleheader sweep after winning Saturday’s Craftsman Truck Series event on the Bristol Dirt, pitted and fell out of the lead lap category. He would eventually nurse his damaged car to the garage and retire in last place.

    Through the first 100 scheduled laps, Reddick was leading by six-tenths of a second over teammate Wallace followed by Truex, Ty Dillon and Kyle Busch while Preece, Blaney, Austin Dillon, Briscoe and Larson were scored in the top 10. Three laps later, however, the caution returned when Preece, who was running in the top 10, got loose and spun on the backstretch due to a broken right-rear toe link.

    As the event restarted on Lap 111, Reddick received another strong start on the outside lane to retain the lead followed by teammate Wallace, who restarted behind Reddick on the outside lane during the last several restarts to remain within striking distance of the lead. With both 23XI Racing competitors running towards the front, Kyle Busch was in third followed by Truex and Ty Dillon while Larson was back in sixth in front of Blaney and Austin Dillon. A few laps later, Ty Dillon made contact towards the Turn 2 outside wall and slipped out of the top 10, but the event remained under green flag conditions. Then towards the Lap 120 mark, Wallace lost a bevy of spots after making contact with the wall.

    Then at the halfway mark on Lap 125, the caution flew when Keselowski spun for a second time of the night, this time in Turn 2. By then, Reddick had maintained the lead over Busch, Austin Dillon, Larson, Bell and Truex while Wallace had plummeted back to 16th. In addition, Larson, who was running towards the front, made contact with the wall while battling Dillon for third before running into Bell to defend his spot.

    The following restart on Lap 131 saw Reddick retain the lead over Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon amid a stacked-up field while Larson tried to use the outside lane to slip and carve his way back to the front. Soon after, Erik Jones spun entering Turn 2, but the event remained under green as a tight battle for the lead between Reddick, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon and Larson ensued.

    Then on Lap 135, Busch pulled a slide job beneath Reddick entering Turn 4 to assume the lead. As Busch maintained the lead by a narrow margin over Reddick, Austin Dillon fended off Larson to remain in third while Bell was in fifth in front of Briscoe and Truex. Reddick, however, would seize an opportunity and overtake both Dillon and Busch in Turn 4 to reassume the lead on Lap 141 as Dillon and Busch engaged in a fierce battle for second with Larson closing in.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 150, Reddick captured his second stage victory of the 2023 Cup season. Dillon settled in second in front of Larson while Bell managed to overtake Kyle Busch to claim fourth while Briscoe, Truex, Blaney, Haley and Aric Almirola were scored in the top 10. By then, 32 of 37 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, names that included Bell, Briscoe, Almirola, Byron, McDowell, Gilliland, Hamlin, Josh Berry and Ross Chastain remained on the track while the rest led by Reddick pitted during a six-minute break period.

    With 100 laps remaining, the final stage started as Joe Gibbs Racing’s Bell and Ty Gibbs occupied the front row. At the start, Bell retained the lead and checked out away from the field while Briscoe launched his way into second followed by Almirola, Gilliland and Berry as the field behind fanned out and jostled for late positions. Four laps later, however, the caution returned when Larson, who was trying to carve his way back to the front while on old tires after electing not to pit during the second stage’s break period, spun in Turn 4 as he plummeted below the leaderboard.

    During the following restart with 89 laps remaining, Bell retained the lead in front of Briscoe, Almirola, Gilliland and Berry amid a packed field. As Hamlin spun with 82 laps remaining through Turn 2, he continued without drawing a caution as his teammate, Bell, maintained a steady advantage over Briscoe while Almirola, Gilliland and Berry remained in the top five. By then, Kyle Busch was trying to carve his way back to the front as he navigated his way up to seventh behind teammate Austin Dillon as Byron joined the battle. Amid all the battles, however, Bell continued to lead as the laps began to dwindle.

    Then with 76 laps remaining, the caution flew when Larson, who got bumped and squeezed against the frontstretch’s wall with help from Preece, veered back left into Preece before spinning up against the track and wrecking against the Turn 1 outside wall. The damage to his No. 5 Chevrolet was enough to conclude Larson’s event in the garage while Preece continued. The incident, however, was not viewed kindly from Larson’s perspective and it hinted at retaliation from Preece, who made contact with the wall earlier with help from Larson.

    “Yeah, I’m guessing [Preece] was paying me back for whatever I did earlier,” Larson, who emerged from the infield care center uninjured, said. “He ran me straight into the fence, and my car was broke and we crashed. It sucks, but I should just be mad at myself for spinning out earlier and putting myself back there. Just sucks.”

    In the ensuing restart with 69 laps remaining, Bell retained the lead over Briscoe and Gilliland amid a flurry of jostles for positions within the field. A lap later, Austin Dillon worked his way back up to third as he went after Briscoe for second while Kyle Busch challenged Almirola for fifth. By then, Berry and McDowell, who endured two 360 spins, were running in the top 10 as Reddick tried to work his way back into the top 10.

    With nearly 60 laps remaining, Chastain spun in Turn 2, but the event remained under green as Bell continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over Briscoe while Austin Dillon trailed by seven-tenths of a second in third.

    With 50 laps remaining, Bell was leading by six-tenths of a second over Briscoe followed by Austin Dillon, Gilliland and Reddick while Kyle Busch, Berry, Stenhouse, Blaney and McDowell were in the top 10. By then, the event’s 12th caution period flew when rookie Noah Gragson spun in Turn 1 due to a broken toe link.

    With the field restarting with 43 laps remaining, Bell retained the lead on the outside lane while Briscoe, who restarted on the front row and the inside lane, maintained second over Austin Dillon as Reddick and Gilliland battled in the top five. As Austin Dillon and Reddick battled for third, the battle at the front began to slowly brew between Bell and Briscoe, with the former holding the top spot.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, the battle for the lead continued to intensify as Briscoe tried to navigate his way around Bell for the lead through the turns and the straightaways while third-place Reddick tried to close in on the two leaders. Despite having an opportunity to assume the lead through the backstretch, Bell managed to rocket away from Briscoe, who briefly stumbled through the frontstretch, as Reddick launched his challenge on Briscoe for second. He would succeed with 28 laps remaining as Briscoe fell back to third. Soon after, Briscoe made contact with the wall as Dillon and Blaney overtook him for top-five spots.

    With 20 laps remaining, Bell was leading by four-tenths of a second over Reddick while Blaney emerged in third place as he trailed the leaders by more than two seconds. Dillon, who scrubbed the wall, dropped to fourth in front of Briscoe while Gilliland, Stenhouse, Bowman, Truex and Haley were in the top 10.

    Nearly five laps later, the event’s 13th caution flew when Kyle Busch, who was being told to pick up his pace, spun entering Turn 4 while nearly collecting ex-teammate Hamlin as he quickly nursed his No. 8 Chevrolet onto pit road with suspension damage. By then, LaJoie had spun in Turn 4 without drawing a caution.

    Down to the final eight laps of the event, the race restarted as Bell rocketed away from Reddick and Blaney to retain the lead through the first two turns. Then through Turns 1 and 2, Briscoe made contact with Blaney and sent him spinning in the midst of oncoming competitors, but the event remained under green as Blaney continued without getting hit. By then, however, Bell had pulled away with the lead and Reddick was in second followed by Stenhouse, Austin Dillon, Briscoe and Gilliand.

    With five laps remaining, Bell continued to lead by more than half a second over Reddick while third-place Stenhouse trailed by more than a second.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Bell remained as the leader by three-tenths of a second over Reddick, who tried to close in on Bell for the lead and the win. Behind the leaders, a multi-car wreck erupted when Suarez got loose off the front nose of Buescher and collected Berry, where both spun across the backstretch as Preece and Chastain collided into Berry with significant damage. Amid the carnage, the event concluded under caution on the final lap. This enabled Bell to cycle his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota TRD Camry back to the frontstretch under a cautious pace and claim the checkered flag over Reddick.

    With the victory, Bell, a dirt racing specialist with three consecutive Chili Bowl Nationals sprint car victories and a former Truck Series winner at Eldora Speedway, became the seventh different winner through the first eight events on the 2023 Cup Series schedule. He recorded his fifth career win in NASCAR’s premier series, his first at Bristol, the first of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing and the second for the Toyota nameplate.

    “Man, let me tell you, those were some of the longest laps of my entire life,” Bell said on FOX. “This place is so much fun, whether it’s dirt or concrete. Whenever the cushion got up there on the top [lane], it was very tough because you couldn’t drive it super hard. Otherwise, you get sucked in. If you got your right front into it, you push a little bit. If you got your right rear into it, you’d slide. It was a lot of fun. Man, I’m just so grateful to be here, driving this No. 20 [car] for DeWalt, Joe Gibbs Racing. That was a lot of fun. Man, I just can’t get over how long those laps feel. It’s a 20-second lap and you’re moving the wheel 18 times a corner. It feels like a long time to get around there.”

    Reddick settled in second place on the Bristol Dirt Course for a second consecutive season while Austin Dillon, Stenhouse and Briscoe completed the top five.

    “It was a lot of fun, honestly,” Reddick said. “Really intense. Towards the end there, [I] definitely feel like I found a little bit more. I thought I had the edge, but I wasn’t quite there in the last couple laps. Definitely found it. Just hate it for everybody on this SiriusXM Toyota Camry TRD. Just needed to be a little bit closer than I was. I think with two [laps] to go, it would have been really bold to try to make that move work. Obviously, on the white flag coming into [Turns] 3 and 4, I was going to see. We’ll never know if it [would have] worked. Still a good rebound for us.”

    “I had a blast out there,” Dillon added. “I don’t care what anybody says about the dirt, the concrete. That was cool. That was one of the coolest races I’ve ever been in. [Speedway Motorsports] did a great job of making a track where you can just slide around, top to bottom, and it constantly was changing. It was a blast out there, really was. Just wished we could’ve brought home the win. We’ll keep working. Hopefully, we can carry this momentum. We got a lot of points tonight.”

    Haley emerged with a strong sixth-place result while Truex, Gilliland, Kevin Harvick and rookie Ty Gibbs completed the top 10 on the track.

    There were four lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured 14 cautions for 73 laps. In addition, 27 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the eighth event of the 2023 Cup Series season, Christopher Bell leads the regular-season standings by 13 points over Ross Chastain, 26 over Kevin Harvick, 39 over Kyle Larson, 46 over Tyler Reddick, 47 over Kyle Busch and 49 over Martin Truex Jr.

    Results.

    1. Christopher Bell, 100 laps led

    2. Tyler Reddick, 69 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. Austin Dillon

    4. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    5. Chase Briscoe

    6. Justin Haley

    7. Martin Truex Jr.

    8. Todd Gilliland

    9. Kevin Harvick

    10. Ty Gibbs

    11. Michael McDowell

    12. Bubba Wallace

    13. William Byron

    14. Erik Jones

    15. Harrison Burton

    16. AJ Allmendinger

    17. Brad Keselowski

    18. Chris Buescher

    19. Austin Cindric

    20. JJ Yeley

    21. Ty Dillon

    22. Denny Hamlin

    23. Ryan Blaney

    24. Ryan Preece

    25. Daniel Suarez

    26. BJ McLeod

    27. Josh Berry

    28. Ross Chastain, one lap down

    29. Alex Bowman, two laps down

    30. Corey LaJoie, three laps down

    31. Aric Almirola, 10 laps down

    32. Kyle Busch – OUT, Suspension, six laps led

    33. Noah Gragson, 45 laps down

    34. Matt Crafton – OUT, Engine

    35. Kyle Larson – OUT, Accident, 75 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    36. Jonathan Davenport – OUT, Accident

    37. Joey Logano – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ first of two scheduled visits this season to Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia. The event is scheduled for next Sunday, April 16, at 3 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Logano masters Bristol Dirt Course for second Truck career victory

    Logano masters Bristol Dirt Course for second Truck career victory

    Total dominance was the single phrase to summarize Joey Logano’s one-race return to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series as he proceeded to win the third annual running of the Weather Guard Truck Race at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course on Saturday, April 8.

    The reigning two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion from Middletown, Connecticut, led two times for a race-high 138 of 150-scheduled laps, including the final 99, and swept both stages en route to a wild victory at Thunder Valley amid 11 caution periods and a series of carnages from start to finish. Amid the carnages, Logano was not to be denied as he executed every restart to his advantage, including the final one with nine laps remaining, to claim his first checkered flag of the weekend and second overall in the Truck circuit.

    The starting lineup for the main event was determined through four 15-lap qualifying races on Saturday, April 8, as the competitors accumulated points for their finishing results and passes to improve their original starting spots during their respective heat events.

    With that, Zane Smith, who accumulated a total of 17 points, nine for finishing second behind Stewart Friesen in the second qualifying event and eight for improving from starting 10th, claimed the pole position for the main event. Joining him on the front row was Ty Majeski, who notched 16 points including nine for finishing second behind Joey Logano in the third qualifying event and seven for improving from his starting position of ninth.

    With 41 competitors vying for 36 spots, the five drivers who did not qualify for the event were Lawless Alan, Josh Reaume, Jessica Friesen, Jerry Bohlman and Andrew Gordon.

    Prior to the event, Ben Rhodes, Kris Wright, rookie Daniel Dye, rookie Taylor Gray, Jonathan Davenport, Colby Howard, Tanner Carrick, Spencer Boyd and Corey Heim dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments that were made to their respective trucks.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Zane Smith rocketed to the lead on the outside lane as the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes while slipping and sliding on the dirt. Through the first two turns, however, Majeski made his move beneath Smith and managed to clear the field and lead the first lap. Then during the second lap, Joey Logano moved his No. 66 Hang 10 Car Wash Ford F-150 into the lead after overtaking teammate Majeski into Turn 3. As Logano pulled away to maintain a steady advantage over the field, Hailie Deegan started to challenge teammate Majeski for second while Zane Smith and Kaden Honeycutt trailed in the top five.

    On the seventh lap, the first caution of the event flew for a multi-truck wreck in Turn 4 that started when Mason Massey slid up the high line entering Turn 4 and spun as Ben Rhodes also spun his No. 99 Campers Inn RV Ford F-150 to avoid hitting Massey. In the process, Massey was then rammed into by Taylor Gray and Stefan Parsons as both tried to avoid Massey while Tyler Carpenter clipped Gray’s damaged No. 17 JBL Toyota Tundra TRD Pro as he sustained damage to his No. 41 Niece Motorsports entry. By then, Logano was the leader over teammates Majeski and Deegan while Zane Smith and Kaden Honeycutt were in the top five. Behind, Christian Eckes was in sixth while Stewart Friesen, Matt Crafton, Grant Enfinger and rookie Rajah Caruth were in the top 10.

    During the following restart on Lap 19, Logano retained the lead following a strong start while Majeski and Zane Smith battled for second. Honeycutt would then battle Smith for third as Deegan remained in the top five despite being challenged by teammate Matt Crafton.

    By Lap 25 and with the field jostling for positions, the caution returned when Tyler Ankrum, who pitted to address a flat tire during the pace laps prior to the event’s start, spun his No. 16 LiUNA! Toyota Tundra TRD Pro below the track entering Turn 4 and was piled into by Spencer Boyd, Kris Wright and Timmy Hill, igniting a second multi-truck pileup, while Carpenter spun behind the carnage.

    With the event restarting on Lap 33, Logano maintained the lead over teammate Majeski while Honeycutt made his way past Crafton for third. Behind, William Byron muscled his No. 51 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST into the top five while Zane Smith fell back to sixth in front of Deegan, Grant Enfinger, Eckes and Chase Briscoe. As Byron continued to methodically work his way to the front amid a series of on-track battles, Logano was able to pull away and maintain a comfortable advantage over teammate Majeski while Honeycutt was in third as the laps within the first stage continued to dwindle.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 40, Logano claimed the stage victory after beating Byron and teammate Majeski while Honeycutt, Crafton, Deegan, Enfinger, Zane Smith, Stewart Friesen and Parker Kligerman were scored in the top 10. By then, Carson Hocevar, who was battling within the top 20, had smoke coming out of his No. 42 Niece Motorsports entry due to a power steering issue as the field fanned out to conclude the first stage.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Logano pitted while Matt DiBenedetto, Bret Holmes and Tanner Gray remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 40 as DiBenedetto and Tanner Gray occupied the front row. At the start, DiBenedetto maintained the lead by a steady margin over Tanner Gray and Bret Holmes while Logano was trying to carve his way back to the lead from fourth. Three laps later, the caution returned when Christian Eckes spun his No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST in Turn 1 after cutting a left-tire tire caused by contact with Rhodes between Turns 3 and 4. By then, DiBenedetto remained as the leader over Holmes while Logano, who put the bumper to move Tanner Gray out his path, was up in third followed by Majeski and Gray.

    With the field restarting under green on Lap 51, DiBenedetto and Logano engaged in a side-by-side battle for the lead for a full lap as Logano managed to pull ahead to lead the following lap. Logano would then lead the proceeding lap on Lap 53 as he started to pull ahead of DiBenedetto and the field.

    Just past the Lap 60 mark, Logano was the leader over teammate Majeski and followed by DiBenedetto, Tanner Gray and Byron while Stewart Friesen, Holmes, Zane Smith, Crafton and Honeycutt were in the top 10. By then, 28 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap. Shortly after, the caution flew when Tyler Carpenter spun in Turn 4.

    While the field restarted on Lap 67, where Logano maintained the lead, the caution returned five laps later for a hard wreck involving Kris Wright on the frontstretch.

    As the field restarted on Lap 79, with the event surpassing its halfway mark, Logano rocketed with the lead over Byron and teammate Majeski while Friesen battled Gray and Crafton for fourth as DiBenedetto eventually joined the battle. As Gray, Friesen and Crafton battled closely for fourth, Logano maintained the lead while teammate Majeski and Byron battled for second. With the laps in the second stage dwindling, Parker Kligerman made contact with the wall, but the event remained under green flag conditions as Logano pulled away by more than a second over a fierce battle for the runner-up spot between Majeski and Byron.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 90, Logano captured his second consecutive Truck stage victory of the season and of the event. Behind, Majeski fended off Byron to settle in second while Friesen, DiBenedetto, Tanner Gray, Crafton, Zane Smith, Briscoe and Bret Holmes were scored in the top 10. By then, 26 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, 14 competitors led by Logano remained on the track while the rest pitted. By then, reports of drizzle and rainy conditions were noted around the circuit while the field remained on the track in preparation for the final stage.

    With 60 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as teammates Logano and Majeski occupied the front row. At the start, Logano continued to use the outside lane to his advantage as he retained the lead over Majeski and Byron while Friesen and Crafton battled for fourth. With Crafton fending off Friesen for fourth, he then started to challenge Byron for third while Logano pulled away and increased his advantage to more than a second.

    Following another caution period with 55 laps remaining amid a multi-truck wreck that involved Chase Purdy, Eckes, Zane Smith and Bret Holmes in Turn 3, the event restarted with 48 laps remaining, where Logano took off from Byron and Majeski to retain the lead through the first two turns. With Byron struggling at the start, Majeski assumed full authority on second while Crafton and Friesen battled behind Byron. With Logano extending his advantage beyond half a second during the proceeding laps, Enfinger emerged in the top five in fifth after overtaking Friesen while Ben Rhodes tried to close in for sixth. Byron, meanwhile, remained in third behind Majeski.

    Then with 41 laps remaining, Purdy’s night took another eventful turn as he spun his No. 4 Bama Buggies Chevrolet Silverado RST in Turn 2 and drew a second consecutive caution period involving himself. With the event proceeding under green with 35 laps remaining, Logano rocketed with another strong start to retain the lead. Behind, Majeski carved his way into second while Enfinger challenged Byron for third. In addition, Crafton tried to close in and challenge Enfinger for fourth, which he would succeed past the final 35-lap mark while Friesen and Rhodes trailed behind in sixth and seventh.

    With 30 laps remaining, Logano was leading by more than a second over Majeski and a second and a half over Byron amid a series of on-track late battles ensuing behind. Shortly after, the caution flew for Carpenter and Timmy Hill crashing in Turn 3.

    During the next restart with 21 laps remaining, Logano managed to fend off a brief challenge by Majeski to retain the lead as Byron and Crafton pursued and challenged Majeski for second. A lap later, the caution returned when Rhodes, who was running sixth, got loose and spun below the track entering the frontstretch. He was then piled into by Friesen, Heim and Hocevar as the caution returned while the field scattered to avoid the chaos.

    With the field restarting with nine laps remaining, Logano engaged in another brief battle with teammate Majeski until he managed to pull ahead and retain the lead over the field as the competitors behind jostled for second. With Majeski settling in second, Byron was in third while Enfinger and Crafton battled for fourth. This allowed rookie Jake Garcia to close in for sixth followed by Briscoe, Honeycutt and Rajah Caruth.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Logano was leading by seven-tenths of a second over teammate Majeski followed by Byron, Crafton and Enfinger while Garcia, Briscoe, Honeycutt, Caruth and Tanner Gray battled within the top 10.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Logano remained as the leader by more than a second over teammate Majeski and over third-place Byron. With a clear racetrack in front of him, Logano was able to slip and slide his way around the circuit for a final time and cycle back to the frontstretch to claim his first checkered flag of the season in the series.

    With the victory, Logano achieved his second career victory in the Craftsman Truck Series in his ninth series start, his first since winning at Martinsville Speedway in March 2015 and his second Bristol Dirt victory after winning the inaugural Cup Series’ Bristol Dirt feature in 2021. He also recorded the third victory of the season for the Ford nameplate and the first of the season for ThorSport Racing.

    “The [ThorSport Racing] guys gave me an amazing race truck,” Logano, who will start 12th in Sunday’s Cup event, said on FS1. “It was a great F-150. [Sponsor] Hang 10 Car Wash came on for a last-minute thing, [saying] ‘Hey, let’s give this a shot’. [They] Called up ThorSport. They had an extra truck with some extra people, and put it together. Obviously, they gave me a really fast truck here today that qualified good in the heat race and able to drive to the lead pretty early in the race and then, just pretty much be able to control it. I’m not sure I learned anything for tomorrow because I didn’t get to race the whole bunch, but it was fun leading all the laps. I had a great spotter with [teammate Ryan] Blaney. He was up there spotting for me…My fun meter was pegged tonight. I had a lot of fun out here racing at Bristol. The dirt’s a lot of fun. It’s a lot of fun in there as a driver, moving around and seeing the lanes move a lot. Hopefully, tomorrow is just as good with the other car.”

    Teammate Ty Majeski finished second for his third consecutive top-five result in recent weeks while William Byron, who was making his first of three Truck starts this season for Kyle Busch Motorsports, finished third.

    Crafton and Enfinger finished fourth and fifth while rookie Jake Garcia, Chase Briscoe, Tanner Gray, Kaden Honeycutt and Matt DiBenedetto finished in the top 10.

    There were four lead changes for three different leaders. The race featured 11 cautions for 64 laps. In total, 24 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the sixth event of the 2023 Craftsman Truck Series season, Ty Majeski leads the regular-season standings by 34 points over Zane Smith and 47 over Ben Rhodes.

    Results.

    1. Joey Logano, 138 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    2. Ty Majeski, one lap led

    3. William Byron

    4. Matt Crafton

    5. Grant Enfinger

    6. Jake Garcia

    7. Chase Briscoe

    8. Tanner Gray

    9. Kaden Honeycutt

    10. Matt DiBenedetto, 11 laps led

    11. Rajah Caruth

    12. Dean Thompson

    13. Hailie Deegan

    14. Jonathan Davenport

    15. Corey Heim

    16. Spencer Boyd

    17. Carson Hocevar

    18. Nick Sanchez

    19. Ben Rhodes

    20. Bret Holmes

    21. Zane Smith

    22. Daniel Dye

    23. Stewart Friesen

    24. Norm Benning

    25. Timmy Hill, two laps down

    26. Tanner Carrick, three laps down

    27. Colby Howard, three laps down

    28. Chase Purdy, three laps down

    29. Tyler Carpenter – OUT, Accident

    30. Christian Eckes – OUT, Accident

    31. Parker Kligerman – OUT, Accident

    32. Kris Wright – OUT, Accident

    33. Tyler Ankrum – OUT, Accident

    34. Taylor Gray – OUT, Accident

    35. Mason Massey – OUT, Accident

    36. Stefan Parsons – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season is the series’ lone visit of the season to Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia. The event is scheduled to occur next Friday, April 14, at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.