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Author: Andrew Kim

  • Byron becomes first repeat Cup winner of 2022 with dominant Martinsville victory

    Byron becomes first repeat Cup winner of 2022 with dominant Martinsville victory

    Having a fast and strong race car when it mattered from start to finish, including through a late overtime shootout, William Byron became the first repeat winner in the early stages of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series after scoring a dominant victory in the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, April 9.

    The 24-year-old Byron from Charlotte, North Carolina, led three times for 212 of 403 laps as he fended off a late challenge from Joey Logano through an overtime attempt to grab his second Cup victory of the season and his second grandfather clock trophy two days after winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at Martinsville, which marked his first NASCAR national touring series victory at the Paperclip-shaped short track in Ridgeway, Virginia.

    With on-track qualifying occurring on Friday, Chase Elliott claimed his first pole position of the season after recording a pole-winning lap at 96.151 mph in 19.694 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Aric Almirola, who posted a fast qualifying lap at 95.641 mph in 19.799 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the race started amid a delay due to rain, Elliott launched his No. 9 Llumar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to the front and clear of the field entering the first turn. He then went on to lead the first lap ahead of Aric Almirola, Cole Custer and the field. During the opening lap, AJ Allmendinger served a drive-through penalty through pit road due to his No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 failing pre-qualifying inspection three times on Friday.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Elliott was leading by more than a second over Custer followed by William Byron, Christopher Bell and Almirola while Chris Buescher, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson were in the top 10.

    Fifteen laps later, Elliott continued to lead by less than two seconds over Custer’s No. 41 Haas Ford Mustang while third-place Byron trailed by two seconds in his No. 24 Raptor Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. By then and with Elliott still leading, Hendrick Motorsports became the first Cup team to lead 10,000 laps at a single track.

    By the Lap 50 mark, Elliott, who was approaching lapped traffic, remained the leader by more than two seconds over teammate Byron followed by Custer, Bell and Almirola while Buescher, Harvick, Keselowski, Larson and Joey Logano were in the top 10. Rookie Austin Cindric trailed in 11th followed by Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, Kurt Busch, Bubba Wallace, Chase Briscoe, rookie Todd Gilliland, Austin Dillon and Justin Haley. Tyler Reddick was mired in 21st ahead of Ross Chastain, Martin Truex Jr., Michael McDowell, Erik Jones, Denny Hamlin, Daniel Suárez, rookie Harrison Burton, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Corey LaJoie.

    Twenty laps later, the battle for the lead intensified as Byron caught and pressured teammate Elliott for the lead, though the former could not find a way to navigate his way around his teammate. By then, Hamlin, who was in 25th place behind Michael McDowell and Erik Jones, was trying to remain on the lead lap.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 80, Elliott, who was able to navigate his way through lapped traffic while also putting McDowell, Hamlin, Daniel Suárez and Erik Jones a lap down, captured his first stage victory of the season. Teammate Byron settled in second followed by Custer, Bell, Almirola, Harvick, Blaney, Logano, Cindric and Kurt Busch.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Elliott retained the lead after exiting pit road with the lead followed by teammate Byron, Bell, Almirola, Custer and Logano. Following the pit stops, Bubba Wallace was penalized for having a crew member jump over the pit wall too soon. In addition, Justin Haley and Brad Keselowski were penalized for having equipment over the wall too soon.

    The second stage started on Lap 91 as teammates Elliott and Byron occupied the front row. At the start, Elliott took off with the lead while Byron and Custer battled for the runner-up spot. Behind, Bell and Logano dueled for fourth place in front of Almirola while Blaney moved up to seventh in front of teammate Cindric, Bowman, Harvick, Austin Dillon and Kurt Busch.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Elliott was leading by more than a second over teammate Byron while Custer, Bell and Logano settled in the top five. Meanwhile, Hamlin and Erik Jones were battling for the 24th-place spot while both were scored two laps behind the leaders.

    Twenty-five laps later, Elliott continued to lead by nearly seven-tenths of a second over teammate Byron followed by Custer, Bell, Logano, Almirola, Blaney, Cindric, Harvick and Austin Dillon. By then, Larson was in 11th ahead of Kurt Busch, Bowman, Briscoe, Kyle Busch, Truex, Chastain, Buescher, Reddick and Gilliland. Bubba Wallace was mired in 23rd behind Keselowski while Hamlin was pinned in 25th place, the second competitor a lap behind Erik Jones.

    Through the first 150 scheduled laps, Elliott remained as the leader despite having his advantage decreased to four-tenths of a second over teammate Byron. By then, 22 of 36 competitors were scored on the lead lap while names like McDowell, Erik Jones, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Denny Hamlin, Harrison Burton, Daniel Suárez, AJ Allmendinger, Ty Dillon, Corey LaJoie and Justin Haley were lapped.

    By Lap 165, Elliott stabilized his advantage to nearly half a second over teammate Byron. Behind, Team Penske’s Logano and Blaney moved into third and fourth while Custer was being pressured by Bell and Almirola for more.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 180, Elliott, who was navigating his way through lapped traffic, claimed his second consecutive stage victory of the event and of the season. Teammate Byron settled in second followed by Logano, Blaney, Custer, Austin Dillon, Almirola, Cindric, Bell and Harvick.

    Under the stage break, the leaders returned to pit road and Byron managed to emerge out in front of teammate Elliott for the first time after exiting with the top spot followed by Blaney, Logan, Austin Dillon and Almirola. During the pit stops, Custer was penalized for hitting a loose tire while exiting his pit stall. In addition, Stenhouse was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    With 208 laps remaining, the final stage started. At the start, Byron retained the lead ahead of Elliott and Logano while Blaney followed in pursuit. Behind, Austin Dillon was in fifth followed by Bell, Almirola, Kurt Busch, Cindric and Larson. Way behind the field, a brief stack-up occurred that started with Larson and involved Harvick, Kyle Busch, Bowman, Chastain and Briscoe, with the latter two making contact with Bowman, Busch and Harvick. 

    With less than 200 laps remaining and the race surpassing its halfway mark, Byron was out in front by seven-tenths of a second over teammate Elliott followed by Logano, Blaney and Austin Dillon while Bell, Almirola, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch and Cindric were in the top 10.

    Fifty laps later, Byron continued to lead by less than three-tenths of a second over teammate Elliott, who started to reel in on his Hendrick Motorsports teammate for the top spot, while Logano, Blaney and Austin Dillon stabilized themselves in the top five. By then, 22 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Another 25 laps later, Byron extended his advantage to more than a second over teammate Elliott while the third- and fourth-place competitors of Logano and Blaney trailed by less than two seconds. Austin Dillon, meanwhile, was still in fifth place while trailing by more than three seconds.

    A few laps later, Logano made contact with Elliott as Logano moved into the runner-up spot followed by Blaney and Austin Dillon while Elliott, who was trapped on the outside lane, fell back to fifth place. By then, Allmendinger, who was two laps behind, pitted.

    Nearing the final 110 laps of the event, green flag pit stops ensued as Kyle Busch pitted his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota TRD Camry. Shortly after, teammate Martin Truex Jr. pitted his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota TRD Camry, but he eventually returned to pit for a second time due to a flat right-front tire. Bowman also pitted along with Keselowski, Reddick, Bell, Elliott, Kurt Busch, Bubba Wallace, Almirola, Harvick, Larson, Logano, Austin Dillon, Cindric, Byron and others. Following the pit stops, Bell was penalized for having a crew member over the pit wall too soon along with Larson, who sped on pit road.

    With 91 laps remaining, Byron cycled back to the lead after Blaney pitted. Logano cycled back into the runner-up spot followed by Austin Dillon and Elliott while Blaney settled in fifth. 

    A few laps later, the caution flew when Hamlin stalled his No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota TRD Camry through the frontstretch after running out of fuel.

    Under caution, some like Elliott, Kyle Busch, Harvick, Erik Jones, Buescher, Bowman and Wallace pitted while the rest led by Byron remained on the track.

    With 80 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green as Byron and Austin Dillon occupied the front row. At the start, Byron fended off Dillon to retain the lead while Dillon managed to fend off Logano for the runner-up spot. Behind, a flurry of battles ignited within the pack as Blaney and Kurt Busch battled for fourth place in front of Almirola, who ran into the rear of Blaney’s No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang, while Chastain, Kyle Busch, Briscoe and Cindric duked for seventh place.

    Fifteen laps later, Byron stabilized his advantage to nearly seven-tenths of a second over Austin Dillon followed by Logano, Kurt Busch and Blaney while Almirola, Chastain, Kyle Busch, Briscoe and Reddick were in the top 10. By then, Elliott was in 11th followed by Cindric, Erik Jones, Wallace, Bowman, Buescher and Harvick, who got bumped by Elliott earlier and trapped on the outside lane as he lost a bevy of spots.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Byron continued to lead by more than a second over Austin Dillon followed by Logano, Kurt Busch, Blaney, Chastain, Almirola, Kyle Busch, Briscoe and Reddick.

    Twenty laps later, Byron stabilized his advantage to a little above one-and-a-half seconds over Austin Dillon while Logano, Kurt Busch and Blaney remained in the top five. 

    With 20 laps remaining, Byron remained as the leader by less than two seconds over Austin Dillon while third-place Logano trailed by more than two seconds. 

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Byron was leading by more than two seconds over Austin Dillon followed by Logano, Kurt Busch and Blaney while Chastain, Almirola, Briscoe, Kyle Busch and Elliott were in the top 10. Cindric was in 11th ahead of Erik Jones, Wallace, Bowman, Harvick, Reddick, Keselowski and Buescher, all of whom were on the lead lap.

    Just then, the caution flew with six laps remaining when Todd Gilliland locked up his front tires and hit the wall between Turns 3 and 4. The caution all but erased Byron’s advantage of more than two seconds over Austin Dillon as the field stacked up under a cautious pace. It also sent the event into overtime.

    Under caution, some led by Kyle Busch pitted while the rest led by Byron remained on the track.

    During the first overtime attempt, Byron and Logano occupied the front row followed by Austin Dillon, Blaney, Kurt Busch and Chastain. At the start, Byron dueled with Logano through the first turn until Byron managed to clear Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang to retain the lead through the backstretch and entering Turns 3 and 4.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Byron continued to lead by a narrow margin over Logano while Austin Dillon followed in pursuit. Through the final circuit, Logano drew himself close to the rear bumper of Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet, but he could not execute a bump-and-run move through Turns 3 and 4 as Byron managed to pull away and fend off Logano to claim his second victory of the weekend and add another grandfather clock to his trophy case. 

    In addition to claiming his second victory of the season and second of the weekend at Martinsville, Byron claimed his fourth career win in NASCAR’s premier series in his 152nd career start. The victory was also the 27th at Martinsville for Hendrick Motorsports as HMS’ No. 24 car returned to Victory Lane at the Paperclip-shaped short track since Jeff Gordon won in November 2015.

    “Man, it feels awesome,” Byron said on FS1. “I knew when that last caution came out, I thought everybody behind us would pit. Luckily, we stayed out. We were aggressive. We felt like we could re-fire on the tires and be OK. You got one of the most aggressive guys behind you and Logano. I chattered the tires in [Turns] 3 and 4 and left the bottom [lane] open, but [I] was able to block my exit and get a good drive off.” 

    This one’s for my mom,” Byron added. “This same weekend last year, she had a mini-stroke and was diagnosed with brain cancer. It means a lot to have her here. It’s been a crazy year, but she’s doing great. Thanks, everybody for the support. Kind of felt like she was riding there with me. It’s cool to have her here and I’m definitely gonna enjoy this one.”

    Logano, who was within striking distance of claiming his first victory of the season, settled in second place followed by Austin Dillon, who has not won in the Cup Series since winning at Texas Motor Speedway in July 2020.

    “It was a good race down to the end,” Logano said. “[It was] Really hard to pass…That final restart there, I had a front row. That’s what you can ask for. Got cleared to second, and Willy [Byron] kind of messed up off of [Turn] 4 and let me get to him, and he did a really good job of brake-checking…He did what he was supposed to do, and kind of got me all stuffed up behind him, and I couldn’t accelerate off the corner and be as close as I needed to be down into [Turn] 3 to execute the ol’ bump-and-run. [I] Couldn’t get quite to him, but his corner entry was really strong, too, which I think allowed him to get in there pretty strong. Overall, the Shell/Pennzoil Mustang had a solid run. Just hate being that close to winning and not making it happen. But big points today, and it just stings. Second just sucks sometimes, that’s all.”

    “Well, I’m a little bummed,” Dillon added. “I’d like to pride myself in when we get in those situations is being clutch. That was anything but that on that last restart. I spun the tires pretty good through the gears. Once I got back in line there, I had some grip and I feel like we had good forward drive all night long. I just felt like if we got through the gears, we’re gonna have a shot at them, but our Get Bioethanol Chevy was really fast. We’ve been working our tails off. I’m not gonna say we haven’t because we’ve been in the simulator. We’ve been working really hard to make these cars as good as possible. We wanna get [Richard Childress Racing] a win and that’s what we’re here racing for. Thank the good Lord for bringing us a good run. That was a lot of fun.”

    Blaney and Chastain finished in the top five while Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Almirola, Briscoe and Elliott completed the top 10 on the track. 

    There were five lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 36 laps.

    With his 10th-place result, Chase Elliott leads the regular-season standings by three points over Ryan Blaney, 12 over teammate William Byron, 27 over Joey Logano, 42 over Ross Chastain and 51 over both Alex Bowman and Martin Truex Jr.

    Results.

    1. William Byron, 212 laps led

    2. Joey Logano

    3. Austin Dillon, one lap led

    4. Ryan Blaney, five laps led 

    5. Ross Chastain

    6. Kurt Busch

    7. Kyle Busch

    8. Aric Almirola

    9. Chase Briscoe

    10. Chase Elliott, 185 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    11. Austin Cindric

    12. Alex Bowman

    13. Erik Jones

    14. Kevin Harvick

    15. Chris Buescher

    16. Bubba Wallace

    17. Brad Keselowski

    18. Tyler Reddick

    19. Kyle Larson

    20. Christopher Bell, one lap down

    21. Cole Custer, one lap down

    22. Martin Truex Jr., two laps down

    23. Ty Dillon, two laps down

    24. AJ Allmendinger, two laps down

    25. Michael McDowell, three laps down

    26. Harrison Burton, three laps down

    27. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., three laps down

    28. Denny Hamlin, three laps down

    29. Daniel Suarez, four laps down

    30. Todd Gilliland, four laps down

    31. Justin Haley, five laps down

    32. Corey LaJoie, six laps down

    33. Cody Ware, nine laps down

    34. JJ Yeley, 11 laps down

    35. Josh Bilicki, 12 laps down

    36. BJ McLeod – OUT, Handling

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ second annual Food City Dirt Race at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course in Bristol, Tennessee, on April 17, which marks Easter Sunday. The event is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Brandon Jones capitalizes with a wild Xfinity victory at Martinsville

    Brandon Jones capitalizes with a wild Xfinity victory at Martinsville

    Brandon Jones seized an opportunity in the second of two overtime attempts to overtake teammate Ty Gibbs on the final lap and win the Call 811 Before You Dig 250 on April 8. It was a wild Friday night at Martinsville Speedway with on-track chaos, a multitude of cautions and flaring tempers ensuing throughout the event, and even between two young guns.

    The 25-year-old Jones from Atlanta, Georgia, utilized pit strategy to win the second stage in a one-lap dash while on worn tires. After pitting prior to the start of the final stage, he methodically carved his way to the front and was up in the top five under the final 10 laps. Then through a series of late carnages and with the event sent into two overtime attempts, Jones intimidated his teammate Gibbs before managing to draw dead even with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate through the backstretch on the final lap. He then managed to clear Gibbs as Gibbs got tangled with Sam Mayer, whom he confronted following the event, to muscle away and claim his first victory of the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.

    With on-track qualifying occurring on Thursday, Ty Gibbs, winner of last weekend’s Xfinity event at Richmond Raceway, notched his third consecutive Xfinity pole position in recent weeks after posting a pole-winning lap at 95.985 mph in 19.728 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Justin Allgaier, who posted a fast lap at 95.496 mph in 19.829 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Noah Gragson, Derek Griffith, Kyle Weatherman and Howie Disavino III dropped to the rear due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective cars. Another competitor who dropped to the rear due to unapproved adjustments was Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was making his lone Xfinity start of the season. 

    When the green flag waved and the race started amid a brief delay due to rain, Gibbs launched ahead of rookie Sheldon Creed, Justin Allgaier and the field with an early advantage as he went on to lead the first lap. Shortly after, the first caution of the event flew due to a blown engine and smoke billowing out of the No. 47 car piloted by Brennan Poole that started in the first turn. 

    Thirteen laps later, the race restarted under green. At the start, Gibbs prevailed in a full side-by-side battle against Allgaier to retain the lead while Creed battled and prevailed in a brief battle with Allgaier for the runner-up spot. In the midst of the battles, Brett Moffitt pitted after falling off the pace due to a transmission issue. 

    Through the first 25 scheduled laps, Gibbs was leading by more than a second over Allgaier followed by Ryan Truex, Landon Cassill and Creed while Daniel Hemric, Ryan Sieg, AJ Allmendinger, Riley Herbst and Josh Berry were in the top 10. By then, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was in 31st. 

    On Lap 39, the caution returned due to Howie Disavino III stopping on the track in Turn 4. Under caution, some drivers including Earnhardt Jr., Noah Gragson, Jade Buford and Myatt Snider pitted while the rest, led by Gibbs, remained on the track.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 45, Gibbs retained the lead while Allgaier retained second ahead of Ryan Truex. Behind, Creed and Cassill battled for fourth place while Ryan Sieg and Hemric battled for sixth. In addition, Josh Berry and Allmendinger battled for eighth place.

    By Lap 50, Gibbs was leading by nearly half a second over Allgaier followed by Truex, Cassill and Hemric while Allmendinger, Brandon Jones, Berry, Sam Mayer and Creed were in the top 10. 

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 60, Gibbs claimed his second stage victory of the season. Allgaier settled in second followed by Truex, Cassill, Hemric, Allmendinger, Brandon Jones, Berry, Mayer and Creed. By then, Gragson was up in 13th place while Earnhardt Jr. was in 22nd place.

    During the stage break, a majority of the field led by Gibbs pitted, while the rest, led by Gragson remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 69 as Gragson and Myatt Snider occupied the front row. At the start, Gragson retained the lead while Snider and rookie Austin Hill battled for the runner-up spot. Behind, Gibbs was in fourth in front of Earnhardt Jr. 

    Four laps later, the caution flew when a bump from Joe Graf Jr. sent Jade Buford spinning against the outside wall between Turns 3 and 4. 

    By Lap 79, the race restarted under green. At the start, Gragson rocketed away with the lead entering the first turn while Gibbs fended off Austin Hill to retain the runner-up spot. Behind, Earnhardt Jr. battled with Snider for fourth place in front of Truex and Allgaier. Shortly after, Earnhardt Jr. was slowly being overtaken and was falling out of the top 10 as he was trapped on the outside lane. 

    Back at the front by Lap 90, Gibbs, who reassumed the lead over Gragson on two laps earlier, was leading by half a second over Gragson followed by Hill, Brandon Jones and Allgaier, who wheel-hopped but managed to lose one spot in the process. Behind, Snider was bumped and shuffled out of the racing groove by Creed while racing in the top 15. 

    Through the first 100 laps of the event, Gibbs continued to lead by more than a second over Gragson while Hill, Brandon Jones, Allgaier, Truex, Allmendinger, Mayer, Cassill and Hemric were in the top 10. Berry, Earnhardt Jr., Riley Herbst, Creed and Jeremy Clements were in the top 15 followed by Ryan Sieg, Jeb Burton, Brandon Brown, Derek Griffith and Alex Labbe. 

    Two laps later, the caution returned when Joe Graf Jr. sent Stefan Parsons for a spin between Turns 1 and 2.

    By Lap 107, the race restarted under green. At the start, Gibbs continued to lead followed by teammate Brandon Jones while Gragson fell back to third place in front of Hill and Allgaier. 

    As the laps in the second stage dwindled, Gibbs remained as the leader by nearly a second over teammate Brandon Jones and Gragson while Allgaier was up in fourth place in front of Hill, Truex, Allmendinger, Mayer, Cassill and Berry.

    Then on Lap 115, the caution flew when Anthony Alfredo turned Derek Griffith in Turn 1. Under caution, a majority of the field led by Gibbs pitted while the rest led by Brandon Jones remained on the track. 

    During a one-lap dash to conclude the second stage scheduled for Lap 120, Brandon Jones was able to muscle away from Cassill and the field to claim his first stage victory of the season. Cassill retained second place followed by Ryan Sieg, Brandon Brown, David Starr, Anthony Alfredo, Stefan Parsons, Jeremy Clements, Riley Herbst and Shane Lee while Gibbs settled in 11th.

    Under the stage break, some led by Brandon Jones pitted while the rest led by Stefan Parsons remained on the track. 

    With 122 laps remaining, the final stage started. At the start, Parsons retained the lead through the first two turns until Herbst and Gibbs made a three-wide move on Parsons through the backstretch to move into first and second. Shortly after, a Monster Energy duo occurred between Herbst and Gibbs for the top spot before the latter prevailed. 

    With 115 laps remaining, Gibbs was out in front by nearly nine-tenths of a second over Herbst, who was being pressured by Allgaier for more. Gragson, Truex, Allmendinger, Earnhardt Jr., Parsons, Berry and Hemric followed pursuit in the top 10.

    Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Gibbs continued to lead by more than a second over Allgaier while third-place Gragson trailed by one-and-a-half seconds. Ryan Truex and Allmendinger were in the top five while Herbst, Berry, Hemric, Earnhardt Jr. and Creed were running in the top 10. 

    Six laps later, the caution flew when the runner-up competitor of Allgaier slapped the outside wall in Turn 1 after wheel-hopping, thus sustaining rear-end damage to his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro. Under caution, a majority of the field led by Gibbs pitted while others like Creed, Brandon Jones, Brandon Brown, Anthony Alfredo and Matt Mills remained on the track.

    With 88 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Creed retained the lead ahead of Jones and Mills while Gibbs muscle his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra to fourth place.

    Four laps later, the caution flew when Ryan Truex spun his No. 18 ShopUSAPickleball.com Toyota Supra between Turns 1 and 2 following contact with Alex Labbe.

    Another five laps later, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Brandon Jones continued to lead followed by teammate Gibbs and the field. Just then, the caution returned when Berry spun in Turn 3 after cutting a left-rear tire on his No. 8 Harrison’s Chevrolet Camaro, an issue that started when he made contact with his boss Earnhardt Jr. entering the backstretch. 

    With 72 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Brandon Jones retained the lead followed by Gibbs, Creed and the field through the first two turns. Then, the caution returned when Matt Mills backed his car into the outside wall in Turn 3 after receiving contact from Herbst.

    Eight laps later, the race proceeded under green. At the start, teammates Brandon Jones and Gibbs battled for the lead until he took over the lead another two laps later. Following a brief duel with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Gibbs managed to retain the top spot. Shortly after, Gragson moved into second place followed by Allmendinger while Jones was trapped on the outside lane. 

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Gibbs was leading by nearly seven-tenths of a second over Gragson while third-place Allmendinger trailed by more than two seconds. Brandon Jones and Creed were in the top five followed by Herbst, Hemric, Mayer, Cassill and Brandon Brown while Earnhardt Jr. was in 11th place in front of Alfredo, Jeb Burton, Hill, Ryan Sieg and Ryan Truex.

    Fifteen laps later and with the leaders surrounded in lapped traffic, Gibbs continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over Gragson, who continued to pressure the leader for the lead and with a potential win in sight. Allmendinger, meanwhile, remained in third place followed by Jones and Mayer while Creed, Herbst, Cassill, Hemric and Earnhardt Jr. occupied the top 10.

    Then with 30 laps remaining, the caution flew when Parsons lost his brakes and got into the outside wall in Turn 2. 

    Down to the final 24 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Gibbs cleared Gragson to retain the lead while Gragson managed to fend off Allmendinger and Mayer to retain second place. Soon after, Mayer moved into third place over Allmendinger while Brandon Jones was in fifth place. 

    Just then, the caution flew when Hemric, who made contact with both Creed and Hill entering Turn 2, lost a left-rear tire and spun his No. 11 Cirkul Chevrolet Camaro between Turns 3 and 4. In the midst of Hemric’s incident, Earnhardt Jr. and Ryan Sieg made contact as Sieg’s rear bumper ripped off.

    With 16 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Gibbs retained the lead with a strong race car while Mayer battled and overtook teammate Gragson for second place. Behind, Brandon Jones and Allmendinger remained in the top five ahead of Herbst. 

    Two laps later, the caution flew when Jade Buford spun in Turn 1 as Derek Griffith sustained front-nose damage.

    Down to the final eight laps of the event, the race proceeded under green. Just as Gibbs and Mayer briefly dueled for the top spot, the caution quickly returned when a stack-up and a bump from Berry sent Clements into Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 88 Hellmann’s Chevrolet Camaro, which sent Earnhardt sideways in the midst of the incoming field, though he was able to continue.

    Under caution, some like Creed and Alfredo pitted while the rest led by Gibbs remained on the track.

    With the event sent into overtime, the first overtime attempt did not last long as Mayer, who spun the tires on the outside lane, was bumped as he clipped Gragson, which sent Gragson’s No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro backward into the outside wall before he was t-boned by Jeb Burton. The incident sparked a multi-car wreck on the frontstretch that involved Alex Labbe, Mason Massey, Bayley Currey, Allgaier, Parsons, Derek Griffith, Parker Retzlaff, Alfredo, Snider, Berry, Kyle Weatherman and Brown while the second half of the field was blocked off by the carnage. The wreck forced NASCAR to place the event in a red flag situation as the on-track safety crew went to work to clear the carnage.

    When the red flag was lifted and the second overtime attempt commenced under green, Gibbs briefly launched ahead of Mayer until Brandon Jones made the slightest of contact against teammate Gibbs, which got Gibbs loose entering the first turn as Jones tried to draw himself alongside Gibbs’ No. 54 Toyota for the top spot through the backstretch.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Gibbs continued to lead while teammate Jones launched another attack on Gibbs for the lead entering the first turn. Through the first two turns, Jones, this time, managed to draw dead even with Gibbs. Then between Turns 3 and 4, Jones muscled his No. 19 Menards Toyota Supra out in front on the bottom lane while Mayer rubbed against Gibbs, which stalled the latter’s run to the finish. This allowed Jones to pull away as he crossed the finish line to steal the win in upset fashion.

    With his first victory at Martinsville, Jones claimed his fifth Xfinity Series career victory in his 211th series start and his first since winning at Darlington Raceway in September 2020. He also became the sixth different winner, fifth series regular, through the first eight scheduled Xfinity events.

    “What a day!” Jones exclaimed on FS1. “I can’t say that we could’ve played it out any better. I loved the call we made to get stage points. [I] Drove the thing all the way from the back to the front and had older tires than all those guys at the end. This is a driver’s race track right here. I’ve won in a lot of different places now and this is one that you have to get after it. Ty [Gibbs] ran a really hard race. [I] Can’t believe he cleared me there really early in Stage 3. Fun to beat him. He’s hot right now. He’s tough to beat, so that’s a good one…Really happy with the way it ended.”

    In the midst of the on-track chaos, Landon Cassill came home in a career-best second place followed by Allmendinger, who claimed the second Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus a week after missing out on the bonus at Richmond Raceway. Allmendinger, Brandon Jones, Cassill and fourth-place finisher Austin Hill will contend for the third Dash 4 Cash bonus at Talladega Superspeedway scheduled for April 23.

    Mayer completed the top five while Herbst, Ryan Truex, Gibbs, Ryan Sieg and Clements finished in the top 10. 

    Following the event, tempers flared on pit road between Gibbs and Mayer following their final lap incident. The post-race activity started with Gibbs ramming into the rear of Mayer’s car before both competitors confronted one another face-to-face as the punches and the shoves ensued, with Gibbs throwing punches across Mayer’s face and Mayer getting his left eye cut as the crew members and NASCAR officials got involved to separate both competitors. In the midst of the fight, a NASCAR official was injured and taken to the care center for evaluation. Following the chaos, both Gibbs and Mayer were summoned to the NASCAR hauler to meet with the officials.

    “I tried to talk to [Mayer] and then, he got all over my face,” Gibbs said. “At that point, you got to start fighting. We got put in a bad position. The only thing I’m mad about is [Mayer] wasn’t gonna get past [Allmendinger] there and I just got hit in the left rear. It’s just frustrating. I just got drove into the fence at the end. I was on the other side of it last week, so that’s just part of it.”

    “I had $100,000 in my sights and I was gonna do what I had to do to try and get that,” Mayer said. “I put the bumper to [Gibbs]. In my opinion, and we talked in the trailer, it was just a clean bump-and-run – and [Cassill)]kinda stuck it in there and kinda got us both crossed up and that’s kinda when it went to crap. I put the bumper to him. He came back over and he was upset and decided to throw a couple punches, but that’s fine by me. We talked about it. We’ll be good going forward, especially at Talladega. That’s a place where you don’t want to be enemies, so we’re gonna move on and be A-OK, keep our head down and go out and try to get a win next time.”

    Following his late spin, Dale Earnhardt Jr. managed to finish 11th in his lone Xfinity start of the season.

    There were 12 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured 16 cautions for 100 laps.

    With his top-five result and a $100,000 bonus added to his paycheck, AJ Allmendinger leads the regular-season standings by 20 points over Ty Gibbs, 42 points over Noah Gragson, 89 over Brandon Jones and 94 over Josh Berry.

    Results.

    1. Brandon Jones, 28 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Landon Cassill

    3. AJ Allmendinger

    4. Austin Hill

    5. Sam Mayer

    6. Riley Herbst, one lap led

    7. Ryan Truex

    8. Ty Gibbs, 197 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    9. Ryan Sieg

    10. Jeremy Clements

    11. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    12. Parker Retzlaff

    13. Daniel Hemric 

    14. Anthony Alfredo

    15. Alex Labbe

    16. Kyle Weatherman

    17. Bayley Currey

    18. Matt Mills

    19. Josh Berry

    20. Noah Gragson, 23 laps led

    21. Derek Griffith

    22. Jade Buford, one lap down

    23. David Starr, one lap down

    24. Myatt Snider, one lap down

    25. Ryan Vargas, one lap down

    26. Joe Graf Jr., one lap down

    27. Shane Lee, one lap down

    28. Stefan Parsons, one lap down, five laps led

    29. Justin Allgaier, one lap down, one lap led

    30. Sheldon Creed, two laps down, six laps led

    31. JJ Yeley, two laps down

    32. Jeb Burton – OUT, Accident

    33. Mason Massey – OUT, Dvp

    34. Brandon Brown – OUT, Accident

    35. Natalie Decker, 19 laps down

    36. Howie Disavino III – OUT, Driveshaft

    37. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Driveshaft

    38. Brennan Poole – OUT, Clutch

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ first of two visits to Talladega Superspeedway, where the third Dash 4 Cash event will occur. The event is scheduled to occur on April 23 at 4 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Byron scores a dominant victory in Truck return at Martinsville

    Byron scores a dominant victory in Truck return at Martinsville

    From the rear of the field to the front and straight to Victory Lane, William Byron made a triumphant return to the winner’s stage in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series after surviving a carnage-filled event to dominate and win the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 200 at Martinsville Speedway on Thursday, April 7.

    The 24-year-old Byron from Charlotte, North Carolina, led three times for a race-high 94 of 200 laps, including the final 84, as he fended off Johnny Sauter, Kyle Busch and the field through the final 36 laps to claim his first Truck victory in six years while piloting the No. 7 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST for Spire Motorsports, which recorded its first victory in the Truck circuit.

    With on-track qualifying initially scheduled for Thursday canceled due to inclement weather, the starting lineup was determined through a calculated formula factoring in the results from the previous event along with the fastest laps and points positions. With that, Zane Smith, winner of the previous Truck event at Circuit of the Americas, started on pole position as he shared the front row with Kyle Busch, who was making his third of five scheduled Truck starts. 

    Prior to the event, Modified competitor Dillon Steuer dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to his No. 20 Young’s Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST. 

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Zane Smith fended off Ben Rhodes and Kyle Busch to retain the lead for a full lap as he led the opening lap. Behind, Rhodes, who attempted a three-wide move at the start, moved in front of Busch for the runner-up spot while Chandler Smith and John Hunter Nemechek settled in the top five.

    Seven laps into the event, the first caution flew when Kris Wright and rookie Jack Wood collided on the frontstretch, with the latter ramming into the former that was spinning. 

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 13, Zane Smith and Rhodes briefly dueled through the first two turns until Smith cleared the field through the backstretch while Stewart Friesen moved up to third place. Just then, the caution returned when the No. 40 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST piloted by Dean Thompson came to a stop on the frontstretch, which soon after came on fire inside the cockpit as the driver hopped out. Eventually, the fire situation was enough to terminate Thompson’s run early.

    Ten laps later, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Zane Smith retained the lead while Friesen and Rhodes battled for second in front of Kyle Busch and Chandler Smith. Behind, Christian Eckes was up in sixth place followed by Grant Enfinger and John Hunter Nemechek, who was losing spots on the track.

    Through the first 30 laps of the event, Zane Smith was leading by more than a second over Friesen followed by Rhodes, Kyle Busch and Chandler Smith while Eckes, Enfinger, Nemechek, Derek Kraus and Matt Crafton were in the top 10. 

    Three laps later, Johnny Sauter and Hailie Deegan made contact while battling for 22nd place entering the frontstretch, which resulted in Deegan sustaining a tire rub, but the race proceeded under green.

    Nearing the Lap 40 mark, the caution returned when Spencer Boyd stalled his No. 12 Young’s Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST near the exit of the backstretch due to a loss of fuel pressure.

    Under caution, some led by Kyle Busch pitted while the rest led by Zane Smith remained on the track. During the pit stops, Matt Crafton was penalized for speeding on pit road. In addition, Tate Fogleman was penalized for pitting outside of his pit box.

    With six laps remaining in the first stage, the race restarted under green. At the start, Zane Smith retained the lead once again while Rhodes challenged Friesen for the runner-up spot. As the field scrambled for positions behind, Smith continued to lead. 

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 50, Zane Smith claimed his third Truck stage victory of the season. Friesen fended off Rhodes to retain the runner-up spot while Nemechek, Enfinger, Eckes, Kraus, Tanner Gray, Chase Purdy and Tyler Ankrum were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, some led by Zane Smith pitted while the rest led by Ben Rhodes remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 60 as teammates Rhodes and Eckes occupied the front row. At the start, Rhodes, competing on worn tires, cleared the field on the inside lane through the backstretch and retained the lead while Kyle Busch and Eckes battled for second. Just as Busch prevailed, Carson Hocevar went to work on Eckes for more followed by Ty Majeski, Matt DiBenedetto, Johnny Sauter and William Byron.

    By Lap 70, the caution returned when Boyd stalled his truck for a second time in the event, this time between Turns 1 and 2.

    At the Lap 75 mark, the race restarted under green. At the start, Rhodes fended off Kyle Busch to retain the lead once again while Byron, who moved into the top five, battled and overtook Hocevar for third place in front of Eckes.

    On Lap 78, the caution returned when Lawless Alan spun following contact with Tate Fogleman in Turn 2. Under caution, some led by Busch and Byron pitted while the rest led by Rhodes remained on the track.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 85, Rhodes fended off Hocevar to retain the lead while Eckes, Ty Majeski and Matt DiBenedetto battled in the top five and in front of sixth-place Zane Smith. 

    At the Lap 90 mark, Rhodes extended his advantage to more than a second over teammate Eckes while Hocevar, Majeski, Zane Smith, Nemechek, Matt DiBenedetto, Parker Kligerman, Enfinger and Colby Howard were in the top 10. By then, Byron was in 13th while Busch was mired outside of the top 20.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 100, which marked the halfway point of the event, Rhodes, who managed to complete the event’s first half without pitting once, claimed his third stage victory of the season. Teammate Eckes settled in second ahead of Hocevar, Zane Smith, Nemechek, Majeski, DiBenedetto, Kligerman, Enfinger and Taylor Gray.

    Under the stage break, some led by teammates Rhodes and Eckes pitted while the rest led by Byron and Chandler Smith remained on the track. During the pit stops, Hocevar overshot his truck while pitting. Following the pit stops, Zane Smith, who led the first 55 laps, was penalized for speeding on pit road. 

    With 92 laps remaining, the final stage started under green. At the start, Byron retained the lead ahead of Chandler Smith and the field through the first two turns and the backstretch. Shortly after, however, the caution flew when Kaden Honeycutt, who replaced Matt Jaskol in the No. 46 G2G Racing Toyota, got sideways after making contact with Austin Wayne Self. He then made contact against the trucks of Tanner Gray and Blake Lothian before getting hit by Dillon Steuer and coming to rest sideways in Turn 2.

    Eight laps later, the race restarted under green. At the start, Byron fended off Chandler Smith to retain the lead while the field fanned out to three lanes through the backstretch. 

    Another five laps later, the caution flew again when Kris Wright and Dillon Steuer wrecked in Turn 4.

    With 73 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Byron rocketed away with another strong restart while Chandler Smith and Johnny Sauter dueled and battled for second, with the latter prevailing. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch was in fourth while Matt Crafton and Stewart Friesen battled for a spot in the top five.

    Six laps later, the caution flew again when Rhodes, who was racing in the top 10, attempted to make a bold move on teammate Eckes for position, and then made contact that sent Eckes into Friesen’s No. 52 Halmar Toyota Tundra TRD Pro. As a result, Friesen, who was in seventh place, spun in Turn 3, though he continued without sustaining any significant damage.

    When the race restarted with 62 laps remaining, Byron launched ahead with another strong start to retain the lead while Sauter settled in second ahead of Chandler Smith, Kyle Busch, Crafton, and Nemechek.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Byron was leading by nearly a second over Sauter followed by Kyle Busch, Chandler Smith and Crafton while Nemechek, Ty Majeski, Rhodes, Enfinger and Kraus were in the top 10. Zane Smith was up in 11th place followed by Eckes, Ankrum, Kligerman, DiBenedetto, Chase Purdy, Carson Hocevar, Friesen, Hailie Deegan and Lawless Alan.

    Six laps later, the caution flew when Jesse Little spun entering Turn 2 off the front nose of Tate Fogleman, which he was then hit by Bret Holmes as Kris Wright rammed into the side of Little in a billow of smoke. Under caution, some like Zane Smith, DiBenedetto, Hocevar, Colby Howard and Deegan pitted while the rest led by Byron remained on the track.

    With 36 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Byron retained the lead followed by Sauter and Kyle Busch while Nemechek battled and overtook teammate Chandler Smith to move into fourth place on fresh tires. Behind, Crafton was in sixth ahead of Rhodes, Enfinger, Kraus and Majeski. 

    Six laps later, Byron stabilized his advantage to less than a second over Sauter while Busch, Nemechek and Chandler Smith trailed by less than two seconds. Shortly after, Chase Purdy limped to pit road with a flat tire.

    With 20 laps remaining, Byron extended his advantage to more than a second over Sauter while Busch, Nemechek and Chandler Smith remained in the top five. Rhodes was in sixth ahead of Crafton, Enfinger, Majeski and Zane Smith while Kraus, Ankrum, Eckes, Friesen and DiBenedetto were in the top 15. 

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Byron, who carved his way through lapped traffic, continued to lead by more than a second over Sauter followed by Kyle Busch and Nemechek while Rhodes was in fifth in front of Chandler Smith.

    With five laps remaining, Byron remained the leader by more than a second over Sauter while third-place Kyle Busch trailed by two seconds. Behind, Nemechek and Rhodes trailed by less than three seconds while Chandler Smith trailed by more than four seconds.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Byron stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Sauter. Remaining uncontested at the front, Byron was able to navigate his way around the paperclip-shaped short circuit for a final time and claim the checkered flag for his first grandfather clock trophy.

    In addition to claiming his first NASCAR national touring series victory at Martinsville, Byron recorded his eighth career victory in the Truck Series and first since winning the 2016 finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway when he drove for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Byron also recorded the first Truck victory of the season for Chevrolet.

    “It was a lot of fun,” Byron said on FS1. “Great crowd here at Martinsville. I’ve never won a race at Martinsville. [I] Struggled here when I was in late models. Just awesome to get the win tonight. Great truck. HendrickCars.com, Chevrolet. Thanks to Spire [Motorsports]. All the guys back at their shop, they don’t have a lot of guys, but they do alright. It was fun to work with [crew chief] Bono [Manion]. [I] Had a little help from [Cup crew chief] Rudy [Fugle]. He knows the truck really well. Yeah, just awesome. Thanks to Mr. [Hendrick] for letting me come do it. Pretty awesome. I’m excited.”

    Sauter, the 2016 Truck Series champion who competes on a part-time basis between ThorSport Racing and G2G Racing, settled in second place for his highest on-track result since finishing second at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in February 2020.

    “It was fun,” Sauter said. “It’s been a while. Just so proud of everybody at ThorSport. This is our first in-house chassis, in-house body complete. I called for an adjustment early in the race to just tighten it up a little bit and at the end it was just too much. This is the way it’s supposed to be. This is what this whole deal is about: to go for wins. To start shotgun on the field and finish second, that’s a solid day. I knew it was gonna be good. I knew on Lap 2, we had something we could race with. I’ve been doing this long enough to know. I wish I didn’t call for that adjustment. Who knows, you think that’s enough but all in all a solid night. The goal was to win and we just came up one spot short.”

    Kyle Busch came home in third place in his third of five Truck starts this season while Nemechek and Rhodes finished in the top five. 

    Chandler Smith, Crafton, Enfinger, Zane Smith and Tyler Ankrum completed the top 10 on the track. Ty Majeski, Christian Eckes, Stewart Friesen, Derek Kraus and Matt DiBenedetto finished in the top 15 wile Hocevar and Hailie Deegan, who confronted Lawless Alan following the event, finished 17th and 19th.

    There were nine lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured 11 cautions for 71 laps.

    With his fifth-place result, Ben Rhodes leads the regular-season standings by four points over Chandler Smith, 21 over Zane Smith, 25 over Stewart Friesen and 44 over both John Hunter Nemechek and Christian Eckes.

    Results.

    1. William Byron, 94 laps led

    2. Johnny Sauter

    3. Kyle Busch, one lap led

    4. John Hunter Nemechek

    5. Ben Rhodes, 47 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    6. Chandler Smith, two laps led

    7. Matt Crafton

    8. Grant Enfinger

    9. Zane Smith, 55 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    10. Tyler Ankrum

    11. Ty Majeski

    12. Christian Eckes

    13. Stewart Friesen

    14. Derek Kraus

    15. Matt DiBenedetto

    16. Parker Kligerman

    17. Carson Hocevar

    18. Colby Howard

    19. Hailie Deegan

    20. Lawless Alan

    21. Tanner Gray

    22. Tate Fogleman

    23. Timmy Hill

    24. Bret Holmes, one lap down

    25.  Chase Janes, one lap down

    26. Taylor Gray, two laps down

    27. Jesse Little, two laps down

    28. Blake Lothian, two laps down

    29. Chase Purdy, three laps down

    30. Kris Wright, five laps down

    31. Austin Wayne Self – OUT, Brakes

    32. Dillon Steuer – OUT, Accident

    33. Spencer Boyd – OUT, Electrical

    34. Kaden Honeycutt – OUT, Accident

    35. Jack Wood – OUT, Accident

    36. Dean Thompson – OUT, Electrical

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule is the series’ second annual running of the Pinty’s Truck Race at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course, which will occur on April 16 at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Logano to make Truck return with David Gilliland Racing at Bristol Dirt Course

    Logano to make Truck return with David Gilliland Racing at Bristol Dirt Course

    The 2018 NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano will be making a one-race return to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for the upcoming Pinty’s Truck Race at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course on April 16.

    In a news release through social media from David Gilliland Racing, Logano, who currently competes as a full-time Cup Series competitor for Team Penske, will be joining the organization and pilot the No. 54 Ford F-150 sponsored by Planet Fitness as he seeks his second victory on the Bristol Dirt Course one year after winning the inaugural Cup event on Bristol’s dirt layout.

    Logano, who won the non-points Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum this past February, is embarking in his 10th full-time Cup season for Team Penske, where he has recorded one top-five result and three top-10 results through the first seven scheduled events. He is ranked in fifth place in the regular season standings.

    The Bristol Dirt event will mark Logano’s first event on a dirt course in the Truck Series and first appearance in the Truck circuit since he last competed at Martinsville Speedway in March 2015, where he notched his lone Truck career victory from pole position while competing for Brad Keselowski Racing. He made his Truck debut at Talladega Superspeedway in October 2008 for HT Motorsports, where he finished 26th, before competing in six additional Truck events between 2013 and 2015 for Brad Keselowski Racing.

    In seven Truck career starts, Logano has recorded one victory, one pole, four top-five results, 191 laps led and an average-finishing result of 11.1.

    The news comes nearly two weeks after Logano took to social media to unveil his plans of competing in the event. It also comes a day after David Gilliland Racing announced that Harrison Burton, a 2022 NASCAR Cup Series rookie candidate, will be making a one-race Truck return in the team’s No. 17 Ford F-150 entry for the event. Both Logano and Burton will compete alongside David Gilliland Racing’s full-time competitors Hailie Deegan and Tanner Gray

    https://twitter.com/dgr_racing/status/1511735846180986880?cxt=HHwWgIC9ncPv4fopAAAA

    Logano is scheduled to compete in the Pinty’s Truck Race at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course on April 16 with coverage to occur at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Brian Pattie to call 500th Cup career race as crew chief at Martinsville

    Brian Pattie to call 500th Cup career race as crew chief at Martinsville

    A significant milestone achievement is in the making for Brian Pattie, crew chief for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and the No. 47 JTG-Daugherty Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the NASCAR Cup Series. By participating in this weekend’s 400-mile Cup event at Martinsville Speedway, Pattie will call his 500th event as a crew chief in NASCAR’s premier series. 

    A native of Zephyrhills, Florida, Pattie made his debut as a NASCAR Cup Series crew chief at Watkins Glen International in August 1999, where he was paired with Canadian Ron Fellows and the No. 87 NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet team. By then, he was in his fifth season working for NEMCO Motorsports and had made select starts as a crew chief for the organization between the Camping World Truck Series and Xfinity Series. In Pattie’s first event as a Cup crew chief, Fellows started seventh and notched a runner-up result behind Jeff Gordon.

    Pattie spent the following two seasons working as a crew chief for NEMCO Motorsports that was campaigning on a part-time basis in the Xfinity Series and making limited Cup Series starts on the road course events (Sonoma Raceway and Watkins Glen). Paired with Fellows, Pattie and Fellows made a total of three starts between 2000 and 2001, where Fellows did not finish during his three starts.

    Then in 2002, Pattie reunited with Hendrick Motorsports and worked as a crew chief in a total of 22 events for the team’s No. 25 Chevrolet entry that started the season with driver Jerry Nadeau. Making his first appearance of the season at Darlington Raceway in March, Pattie led Nadeau and the No. 25 team to only one top-10 result, which was an eighth-place at Bristol Motor Speedway in March, through seven events, which concluded at Richmond Raceway in May. Prior to the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, Nadeau was replaced by Joe Nemechek due to performance issues. Pattie and Nemechek, however, struggled through the following 15 scheduled events as they finished no higher than 18th place before Pattie was replaced by Peter Sospenzo for the rest of the 2002 season.

    From 2003 to early 2008, Pattie scaled back to the Xfinity Series. During the 2003 season, he took over as the team manager for NEMCO Motorsports before joining Chip Ganassi Racing in mid-2004 and reassuming his role as crew chief for CGR’s “all-star” entry that was shared between Reed Sorenson, Casey Mears and Jamie McMurray. During the following five seasons at CGR, Pattie achieved three victories and tallied his win column to 11, with his previous eight victories occurring at NEMCO.  

    Then in June 2008, Pattie returned to the Cup Series as a crew chief for Juan Pablo Montoya and the No. 42 Dodge team. By then, Montoya had undergone his third crew chief change of the season after posting a single top-five result (second place at Talladega Superspeedway in April) through the first 16 scheduled events. Making his first appearance at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Pattie led Montoya and the No. 42 team to a single top-five result, which was a fourth-place result at Watkins Glen in August, and a 25th-place result in the final driver’s standings.

    Remaining as Montoya’s crew chief in 2009 as Chip Ganassi Racing merged with Dale Earnhardt Inc. and swapped manufactures from Dodge to Chevrolet, Pattie and Montoya had a breakout season, where they achieved two poles, 12 top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch. They nearly won at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July before Montoya, who led a race-high 116 of 160 laps, was penalized for speeding on pit road during a cycle of green flag pit stops with 35 laps remaining, which relegated him back to 11th place in the final running order. Nonetheless, Pattie led Montoya and the No. 42 Chevrolet team into the 2009 Cup Playoffs and with an opportunity to compete for the title. The duo earned four consecutive top-four results at the start of the Playoffs, but only two top-10 results during the remaining six events as the No. 42 team settled in eighth place in the final standings.

    Through the first 21 events of the 2010 Cup season, Pattie and Montoya achieved three poles, four top-five results and eight top-10 results, but a series of inconsistent results prevented the team from returning to the Playoffs. Nonetheless, the duo scored a breakthrough victory at Watkins Glen in August after Montoya led 74 of 90 laps en route to his second Cup career victory as Pattie achieved his first win in NASCAR’s premier series as a crew chief. Pattie and Montoya went on to record five additional top-10 results through the remaining 14 scheduled events before settling in 17th place in the final standings. By then, Pattie surpassed 100 career events as a Cup Series crew chief.

    Pattie initially commenced the 2011 Cup Series season as Montoya’s crew chief for a third full-time season, where they achieved two poles, two top-five results and six top-10 results during the first 19 scheduled events. Following New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July, however, Pattie was replaced by Jim Pohlman for the remainder of the season.

    Then five months later, Pattie was named a full-time Cup Series crew chief for the No. 15 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota Camry team piloted by Clint Bowyer for the 2012 season. Following two top-five results and eight top-10 results during the first 15 scheduled events, Pattie and Bowyer achieved their first victory with MWR after Bowyer led a race-high 71 of 112 and fended off the field during a two-lap shootout to emerge victorious at Sonoma Raceway in June. Ten races and an additional five top-10 results later, the duo rallied from a midway spin and survived a late fuel mileage battle to claim a second victory of 2012 at Richmond Raceway in September, which marked the regular season finale before the Playoffs commenced. 

    Pattie, Bowyer and MWR began their charge for the 2012 Cup championship by posting three consecutive top-10 results during the first three Playoff events. After being involved in a last lap multi-car wreck at Talladega Superspeedway in early October, they rallied the following weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway by claiming a third victory of the season after Bowyer fended off Denny Hamlin in another fuel mileage battle to the finish. Four races later, Pattie and Bowyer, both of whom were coming off three consecutive top-six results, were within striking distance of narrowing the deficit of the championship battle. Then at Phoenix Raceway in November, their title hopes evaporated after Bowyer was involved in a late controversial incident with Jeff Gordon, where Gordon retaliated from an earlier contact with Bowyer by wrecking Bowyer head-on into the Turn 3 wall and igniting a scuffle between the two respective crew members in the garage area. Pattie and Bowyer managed to record a runner-up result in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but settled in second place in the final standings and 39 points shy of the title to Brad Keselowski. While they did not emerge as the champions, Pattie and Bowyer collected a total of three victories, 10 top-five results, 23 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 10.9 in their first campaign with MWR

    The 2013 Cup Series season saw Pattie and Bowyer return to the Playoffs, but only achieve 10 top-five results, 19 top-10 results and a seventh-place result in the final standings as they were unable to record a single victory. The consistent season for the duo, however, was overshadowed with their involvement in manipulating the final results at Richmond in September, where Bowyer spun intentionally late in the event and gave teammate Martin Truex Jr. an opportunity to capitalize on a three-lap shootout and make the 2013 Cup Playoffs. A few days after Richmond, MWR was fined $300,000 and docked 50 driver/owner points, which knocked Truex out of the Playoffs while Bowyer, who had secured a Playoff spot prior to Richmond, remained in the postseason. In addition, all three MWR crew chiefs, including Pattie, were placed on probation for the remainder of the season. In the midst of the controversy, Pattie surpassed 200 Cup events as a crew chief.

    Following two consistent seasons at MWR, Pattie and Bowyer struggled in 2014, where they only achieved five top-five results and 15 top-10 results as they did not make the Playoffs and fell back to 19th place in the final standings. Pattie then spent the first 16 events of the 2015 season with Bowyer, where they recorded four top-10 results, before MWR underwent a crew chief swap to the team’s two-car effort that saw Pattie move to the No. 55 Toyota team piloted by David Ragan while Billy Scott took over as Bowyer’s crew chief. Pattie’s best result with Ragan in 20 races was 12th place at Daytona in July. When the 2015 Cup Series season concluded, MWR ceased operations.

    The 2016 Cup Series season marked a new beginning for Pattie, who joined Roush Fenway Racing as a crew chief for the No. 16 Ford Fusion team piloted by veteran Greg Biffle. The new duo, however, struggled with consistency as they managed a single top-five result together throughout the 36-race schedule, which was a fifth-place result at New Hampshire in July. Failing to make the 2016 Cup Playoffs, Biffle settled in 23rd place in the final standings. Despite being absent for four events, two of which stemmed from post-race violations discovered at Charlotte Motor Speedway between late May and early June, Pattie surpassed 300 Cup events as a crew chief.

    The following season, Pattie, who remained at RFR, was paired with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and the No. 17 Ford Fusion team. Pattie and Stenhouse collected four top-10 results through the first nine scheduled events and were coming off a fourth-place effort at Richmond Raceway in April. Then during the following event at Talladega in May, the duo, which started on pole position, emerged victorious after Stenhouse outlasted a late battle with Kyle Busch during an overtime restart to claim his first Cup career victory. The victory snapped a three-year winless drought for Roush Fenway Racing and a five-year winless drought for Pattie.

    Seven races later, Pattie and Stenhouse went to Victory Lane for a second time in 2017 after Stenhouse survived another overtime restart to win at Daytona in July. The pair of superspeedway victories were enough for the No. 17 RFR Ford team to qualify for the 2017 Cup Playoffs. Despite finishing no higher than 15th place during the Playoff’s Round of 16, Pattie and Stenhouse earned valuable stage points to transfer to the Round of 12 by a mere margin. Their 2017 title hopes, however, came to an end during the Round of 12 after finishing no higher than 13th place during the round’s three events. Nonetheless, they capped off their season with two top-10 results during the final four scheduled events and a 13th-place result in the final standings.

    Compared to the 2017 season, the 2018 and 2019 Cup seasons were difficult seasons for both Pattie and Stenhouse as they accumulated a total of four top-five results and eight top-10 results, with their best result in the standings being 18th in 2018. In the midst of the two seasons, Pattie surpassed 400 Cup events as a crew chief. 

    In 2020, Pattie and Stenhouse both departed RFR and joined JTG-Daugherty Racing, where Stenhouse took over the No. 47 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. They commenced the season on a high note by claiming the pole position for the 62nd running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in February. During the main event, however, Stenhouse was penalized late for advancing his position below the double yellow line “out of bounds” zone. He was then involved in a late collision while trying to pit under green and relegated back to 20th place in the final running order. Despite posting three top-five results during the following 12 scheduled events, a series of inconsistent results prevented the duo from making the 2020 Cup Playoffs in their first campaign with JTG-Daugherty Racing. Finishing no higher than 12th place during the 10 Playoff events, Pattie and Stenhouse finished in 24th place in the final standings.

    Remaining at JTG-Daugherty Racing in 2021, Pattie and Stenhouse commenced the season with six consecutive top-20 results before notching a strong runner-up result at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course in April. They managed a sixth-place effort at Nashville Superspeedway in June before enduring another inconsistent season as they missed the Playoffs and settled in 22nd place in the final standings.

    Through 499 previous Cup events, Pattie has achieved with six victories, nine poles, 56 top-five results and 127 top-10 results while working with eight different competitors. He and Stenhouse have finished no higher than 10th place during the first seven events of the 2022 season and they are ranked in 28th place in the regular season standings.

    Pattie is scheduled to call his 500th Cup Series event at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, April 9, with coverage to occur at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Rossi to make 100th IndyCar career start at Long Beach

    Rossi to make 100th IndyCar career start at Long Beach

    Competing in his seventh full-time season in the NTT IndyCar Series, Alexander Rossi is set to reach a milestone start. 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. 27 Andretti Autosport Dallara-Honda will make his 100th career start in the IndyCar circuit.

    A native of Auburn, California, Rossi made his inaugural presence in the IndyCar Series at the start of the 2016 season. By then, he was coming off a part-time stint for Manor Marussia F1 Team, where he competed in five Grand Prix events as a reserve F1 competitor. Despite remaining as a reserve competitor for Manor entering the 2016 season, Rossi opted to compete in the IndyCar Series on a full-time basis and in the No. 98 Dallara-Honda for Andretti Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian. 

    Making his debut in the 2016 season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in March, Rossi finished 12th after starting 18th. Through the following four events, he recorded his first top-10 career result by finishing 10th in the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in May.

    A week later, Rossi achieved a pinnacle moment in his racing career by winning the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and claiming his maiden IndyCar career victory. The win came after Rossi took the lead with four laps remaining while the front-runners pitted for fuel and barely had enough to coast across the finish line with the victory over teammate Carlos Muñoz, Josef Newgarden and Tony Kanaan. With the victory, Rossi became the 70th different winner of the Indy 500 and the first rookie IndyCar competitor to win the event since Hello Castroneves made the last accomplishment in 2001. He also achieved the fifth Indy 500 victory for Andretti Autosport.

    Following his Indy 500 victory, Rossi went on to finish in the top 10 in four of the remaining 10 IndyCar events of the 2016 season. A day after finishing in fifth place in the season-finale GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma at Sonoma Raceway and capping off his first full-time IndyCar campaign in 11th place in the final standings, Rossi was named the 2016 IndyCar Rookie of the Year.

    Remaining at Andretti Autosport on a new multi-year contract deal, Rossi recorded two top-five results and five top-10 results through the first 11 IndyCar scheduled events and was ranked in ninth place in the standings. He then picked up his first podium result of the season after finishing second in the Honda Indy Toronto at Exhibition Place in July before claiming another podium result in the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway in August with a third-place effort. Two races later, Rossi claimed his second IndyCar triumph at Watkins Glen International after starting on pole position for the first time in his career and leading 32 of 60 laps. He went on to conclude the season in seventh place in the final standings.

    For the 2018 IndyCar season, Rossi, who remained at Andretti Autosport for a third full-time stint, swapped numbers with teammate Marco Andretti, giving the Californian the No. 27 to sport to his Dallara-Honda. Three races into the new season, Rossi claimed his third IndyCar career win following a dominating performance from pole position in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach in April. The early win to the season marked the first time where Rossi emerged as the points leader.

    Rossi, however, lost the points lead during the following three events, but reassumed it after finishing in third place in the first of a Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix doubleheader feature in The Raceway at Michigan’s Belle Isle. During the second Belle Isle event, however, Rossi, who dominated and was battling teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay for the win, locked up his car with seven laps remaining and plummeted to 12th place in the final running order. In addition, he dropped from first to third in the standings while being overtaken by Will Power and Scott Dixon.

    Despite the misfortune, Rossi remained in contention for the title for the remaining nine events of the schedule, where he finished on the podium four times. During this stretch, he also claimed back-to-back victories in the season at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and at Pocono between July and August.

    Entering the finale at Sonoma, which marked Rossi’s 50th IndyCar career start, he trailed Dixon in the standings by 29 points. At the start of the finale, however, he made contact with teammate Andretti that damaged the front wing of his car and sent him to the rear of the field. He recovered to finish seventh despite running out of fuel on the final lap, but he concluded the season as the championship runner-up behind Dixon. Though he fell short in claiming his first IndyCar title, the 2018 season was a career season for Rossi, who achieved career-best results in wins (three), podiums (eight), poles (three), laps led (415), average-finishing result (5.7) and standing result (second).

    Rossi commenced the 2019 season with a fifth place result at the Streets of St. Petersburg. Three races later, he claimed his first victory of the season at the Long Beach Street Circuit, which also marked his second consecutive win at the circuit in Southern California. In a similar fashion to the previous season, Rossi remained in contention for the title as he earned another victory of the season at Road America in June along with six podium results through the following 12 scheduled events. When the season concluded at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on September, however, Rossi, who finished sixth in the finale, settled in third place in the final standings and 33 points shy of his first IndyCar title.

    Coming off two strong seasons, the 2020 season, which was reduced to 14 scheduled events amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, was a disappointing season for Rossi, who endured a winless season for the first time in his career. Despite recording five podium results throughout the season, including two season-best runner-up results at Mid-Ohio and Indy’s Road Course event between September and October, he was not a factor for the title as he settled in ninth place in the final standings.

    Rossi endured another difficult season in 2021, where he only managed a single podium result with second place at Portland International Raceway in September along with four starts on the front row. When the season concluded, he ended up in 10th place in the final standings. 

    Through 99 previous IndyCar starts, Rossi has achieved seven victories, six poles, 25 podiums, 814 laps led and an average-finishing result of 9.8. He has finished 20th and 27th respectively during the first two IndyCar events and is ranked in 27th place in the championship standings while he continues his pursuit for his first IndyCar title.

    Rossi is set to make his 100th NTT IndyCar Series career start in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach at the Streets of Long Beach, California, on Sunday, April 10 on NBC. The event’s coverage is scheduled to commence at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Harrison Burton joins David Gilliland Racing for Truck return at Bristol Dirt Course

    Harrison Burton joins David Gilliland Racing for Truck return at Bristol Dirt Course

    David Gilliland Racing took to social media to announce that Harrison Burton will be driving for the team in the upcoming NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ Pinty’s Truck Race at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course on April 16.

    The 21-year-old Burton from Huntersville, North Carolina, will be piloting the No. 17 Ford F-150 with sponsorship support from Hunt Brother’s Pizza, where he will compete alongside David Gilliland Racing’s full-time competitors Hailie Deegan and Tanner Gray.

    Burton is currently embarking in his first full-time season as a NASCAR Cup Series competitor, where he is piloting the iconic No. 21 Ford Mustang for Wood Brothers Racing. Through the first seven Cup events, he has achieved an average-finishing result of 25.3 with a best on-track result of 16th place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March. He sits in 29th place in the regular season standings.

    The Bristol Dirt event will mark Burton’s first start in the Truck Series since competing as a full-time competitor in the series in 2019 for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Making his Truck debut at Martinsville Speedway in October 2016 through his latest start at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November 2019, Burton has recorded one pole, 11 top-five results, 18 top-10 results, 88 laps led and an average-finishing result of 11.3 in 38 Truck career starts, all with KBM.

    The Bristol Dirt event will also mark Burton’s first Truck start with David Gilliland Racing, in a Ford and on a dirt course since competing at Eldora Speedway in August 2019.

    Burton is scheduled to compete in the Pinty’s Truck Race at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course on April 16 with coverage to occur at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Hamlin rebounds with a dramatic Cup victory at Richmond

    Hamlin rebounds with a dramatic Cup victory at Richmond

    In a season that has been mired with on-track difficulties and misfortunes for Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota, all three responded back with vengeance after emerging victorious in the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway on Sunday, April 3, with Hamlin delivering in the late stages.

    The 41-year-old Hamlin for Chesterfield, Virginia, executed a pit strategy by pitting with less than 50 laps remaining to methodically carve his way to the front before overtaking William Byron, who was contending for the win through a different pit strategy as he pitted earlier than Hamlin, with five laps remaining. From there, Hamlin then fended off a hard-charging Kevin Harvick to grab his elusive first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2022 season and to become the seventh different winner through the first seven scheduled events. 

    With on-track qualifying occurring on Saturday, Ryan Blaney captured his third pole in four races with a pole-winning lap at 119.782 mph. Joining him on the front row was William Byron, who posted a qualifying speed at 119.585 mph.

    Prior to the main event, rookie Austin Cindric dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his No. 2 Team Penske Ford Mustang. In addition, Greg Biffle and Justin Haley were assessed drive-through penalties through pit road at the start of the event and had a crew member of their respective teams ejected from Sunday’s main event due to their respective cars failing Saturday’s inspection three times, which prevented them from recording a qualifying lap.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Blaney jumped ahead with an early advantage as he went on to lead the first lap and break away ahead of Byron, Kyle Busch, Chase Briscoe and the field. Shortly after, Martin Truex Jr. battled and overtook Erik Jones for fifth place.

    With a series of battles ensuing around the three-quarter mile short track, the first caution of the event flew on the ninth lap when Kurt Busch fell off the pace through the frontstretch a lap earlier due to a fuel pump issue. As he was trying to limp his No. 45 Embrace Home Loans Toyota TRD Camry back to pit road, he then came to a stop on the backstretch as he was lapped by the field.

    Under caution, some like Kyle Larson and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. pitted while the rest led by Blaney remained on the track. By then, Kurt Busch, who needed a push from a wrecker, took his car to the garage,

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 15, Blaney took off with another strong start as he retained the lead while Byron and Kyle Busch battled for the runner-up spot. Behind, Ross Chastain, winner of last weekend’s event at Circuit of the Americas who restarted in sixth place, marched his way into third place after overtaking Truex and Kyle Busch before Busch reassumed third. Busch then tried to overtake Byron’s No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the runner-up spot, but the latter was able to retain the spot as the run progressed. 

    Through the first 25 scheduled laps, Blaney was the leader by approximately six-tenths of a second over Byron and Kyle Busch while Chastain and Truex were in the top five. Briscoe was in sixth followed by Christopher Bell, Erik Jones, Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick. 

    By Lap 50, Blaney continued to lead as he stretched his advantage to more than a second over Byron while third-place Kyle Busch trailed by more than three seconds. Chastain and Truex remained in the top five followed by Christopher Bell, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin. Brad Keselowski was in 11th place ahead of Erik Jones, Tyler Reddick, Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson while Aric Almirola Chris Buescher, Cindric, Ty Dillon and rookie Harrison Burton occupied the top 20. Briscoe, who started towards the front, was falling back in 21st ahead of Daniel Suarez, Stenhouse, Cole Custer and rookie Todd Gilliland while Austin Dillon, Bubba Wallace, Justin Haley, AJ Allmendinger and Cody Ware were in the top 30.

    Nearing the Lap 65 mark, Blaney stabilized his strong start and advantage to more than a second over Byron while Chastain was in third place ahead of Kyle Busch and Truex. By then, Hamlin was back in 11th while Keselowski marched his way into ninth place after overtaking Harvick. In addition, names like Cole Custer, Allmendinger, Corey LaJoie and Michael McDowell were lapped

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 70, Blaney, who had never led a lap at Richmond prior to Sunday’s event and whose best result at Richmond was 10th place that occurred during last September, captured his third stage victory of the 2022 season after leading all scheduled laps. Byron settled in second ahead of Chastain, Truex, Kyle Busch, Elliott, Bell, Logano, Keselowski and Harvick.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted for their first round of adjustments and Blaney retained the lead after exiting pit road with the lead ahead of Chastain, Elliott, Bell, Kyle Busch and Truex while Byron fell back to eighth. During the pit stops, Alex Bowman was penalized for pitting outside of his pit box. 

    The second stage started on Lap 80 as Blaney’s No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang and Chastain’s No. 1 iFly Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out after Elliott, who restarted on the second row, spun the tires. While Blaney maintained the lead ahead of Chastain, Kyle Busch moved his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota TRD Camry into fourth place ahead of Elliott’s No. 9 A SHOC Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 while Bell was in third place. Behind, Logano and Byron battled for seventh place in front of Keselowski, Harvick and Hamlin while Truex retained fifth place. 

    At the one-quarter mark on Lap 100, Blaney, who was the only leader thus far but was experiencing brake shakes to his No. 12 Ford, was leading by nearly seventh-tenths of a second over Chastain while Bell, Kyle Busch and Elliott occupied the top five. Truex was back in sixth ahead of Logano, Keselowski, Byron and Harvick while Hamlin, Chris Buescher, Erik Jones, Larson and Cindric were in the top 15. 

    Twenty-five laps later, Blaney continued to lead by nearly nine-tenths of a second over Bell, who overtook Chastain for the spot, while Elliott and Kyle Busch remained in the top five.

    Shortly after, pit stops under green ensued as Truex pitted followed by Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Buescher, Byron, Cindric, Harvick, Suarez, Reddick, Allmendinger, Bowman, Harrison Burton, Bubba Wallace, Larson and race leader Blaney. Soon after, Elliott pitted along with Logano, Chastain and Ty Dillon.

    Back on the track nearing the Lap 130 mark, Bell assumed the lead followed by teammate Hamlin, Erik Jones, Aric Almirola, Austin Dillon, Elliott, Briscoe and Gilliland, all of whom were on the lead lap but needing a pit stop. 

    By Lap 150, Bell continued to lead by more than nine seconds over teammate Truex, who was charging towards the front on fresh tires, while their third teammate, Hamlin, was back in third place. Meanwhile, Austin Dillon and Todd Gilliland had pitted while Almirola was in the top 10 and continuing to run on worn tires like Bell. 

    Shortly after, Almirola and Hamlin surrendered their spots on the track to pit along with Bell while Truex moved into the lead by Lap 155.

    At the Lap 175 mark, another round of pit stops under green commenced as Chastain pitted followed by Blaney, Harvick, Logano, Elliott, Kyle Busch, Harvick, Keselowski and race leader Truex. Also pitting included Reddick, Bowman, Larson, Harrison Burton, Cindric, Ty Dillon, Suarez, Byron and Stenhouse pitted.

    Back on the track, Bell returned to the lead as he reignited his one pit stop strategy followed by teammates Hamlin and Truex, both of whom were trailing by no more than 15 seconds. Also on the same one-stop strategy with Bell and Hamlin included Erik Jones, Almirola and Austin Dillon while Truex was the first competitor on the track with four fresh tires and on a two-stop strategy.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 200, Bell continued to lead by more than six seconds over teammate Truex while Hamlin, Chastain, Blaney, Elliott, Logano, Kyle Busch, Harvick and Larson were scored in the top 10. By then, 17 competitors were scored on the lead lap.

    Eleven laps later, Truex reassumed the lead over teammate Bell with the conclusion of the second stage approaching.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 230, Truex claimed his third stage victory of the season. Behind, Bell made the one-stop strategy pay to perfection as he settled in second followed by Chastain, Logano, Blaney, Elliott, Harvick, Kyle Busch, Larson and Keselowski.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Truex retained the lead followed by Bell, Chastain, Logano, Kyle Busch and Blaney.

    With 160 laps remaining, the final stage started. At the start, Truex retained the lead as he took off with a strong start while teammate Bell fended off Chastain to retain the runner-up spot until Joey Logano joined the party. Not long after, Logano moved his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang to the runner-up spot over Bell’s No. 20 SiruisXM Toyota TRD Camry. Behind, Chastain got bumped by Blaney as he slipped out of the racing groove and was losing spots while Kyle Busch moved in fourth. 

    Under the final 155 scheduled laps, the caution flew due to Cody Ware getting into the Turn 2 wall after making contact with Erik Jones while Stenhouse also made contact with Ware. Under caution, some like Buescher, Suarez, Hamlin, Byron and Austin Dillon pitted while the rest led by Truex remained on the track.

    With 148 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Truex rocketed away with another strong restart while Bell issued another challenge on Logano for the runner-up spot. Behind, Kyle Busch and Blaney battled for fourth while Harvick battled with Chastain for sixth place. In addition, teammates Elliott and Bowman battled for eighth place.

    Four laps later, the caution returned when contact between Ty Dillon and Cole Custer entering Turn 2 created a chain reaction incident that resulted with Custer sending Cindric’s No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang spinning in a cloud of smoke. Under caution, a majority of the field led by Truex pitted while the rest led by Byron remained on the track.

    With 137 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Byron maintained the lead followed by Suarez while Truex battled and overtook Austin Dillon for third place while running on four fresh tires. Teammate Hamlin and Blaney also made their march to the front while teammate Bell was being held up by Dillon. 

    Seventeen laps later, Byron was leading ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing’s Truex, Hamlin and Kyle Busch while Blaney was in fifth ahead of the fourth JGR competitor, Bell. Harvick was in seventh ahead of Suarez, Larson and Austin Dillon while Chastain was back in 11th ahead of Bowman, Briscoe, Reddick and Logano.

    Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Byron continued to lead by nearly half a second over Truex while Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Blaney remained in the top five. Harvick muscled his No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang into sixth place followed by Bell, Larson, Suarez and Austin Dillon. By then, 19 competitors were scored on the lead lap.

    Nearly 10 laps later, pit stops under green commenced as Harvick pitted followed by Elliott, Bell, Hamlin, Austin Dillon, Keselowski, Reddick, Harrison Burton and race leader Byron. 

    Back on the track, Truex, who remained on the track, was leading followed by teammate Kyle Busch, Blaney, Larson and Suarez while Chastain, Briscoe, Logano, Bowman and Cindric were in the top 10. Byron, the first competitor with four fresh tires, was in 11th place despite being pinned a lap behind the leaders. 

    Under the final 80 laps, Blaney surrendered third place to pit along with Logano, Larson, Briscoe, Cindric, Kyle Busch, and Trackhouse Racing’s Suarez and Chastain. Then with 75 laps remaining, Byron cycled his way back to the lead as Truex pitted along with Bowman.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Byron was leading by nearly five seconds over Hamlin followed by Harvick, Truex and Bell. By then, sixth-place Kyle Busch was black-flagged for having tape on the front grille of his No. 18 Toyota, thus needing to pit to have the tape removed. In addition, Keselowski had made a pit stop under green.

    Not long after, another round of pit stops under green initiated as names like Austin Dillon, Harvick, Bell, Reddick, Elliott, Harrison Burton and Hamlin pitted. With more pitting, Byron continued to lead by nearly six seconds over Truex, both of whom were five competitors scored on the lead lap but still needing to pit.

    With 30 laps remaining, Byron continued to lead by less than three seconds over Truex while Larson, Blaney and Briscoe were in the top five. Meanwhile, Hamlin, the first competitor on four fresh tires, settled in sixth place followed by Harvick, Bowman, Logano and Bell.

    Ten laps later, Byron remained in the lead by more than two seconds over Truex and less than five seconds over third-place Larson. Meanwhile, Hamlin and Harvick, both of whom were running on fresher tires than the top-three competitors, were trailing by less than 11 seconds as they both continued to pursue the leaders.

    Another five laps later, Hamlin’s gap to Byron reduced to less than seven seconds and Harvick’s gap reduced to seven seconds while Truex, who was more than a second ahead, started to close in on Byron in a bid for the lead.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event and with the leaders mired in lapped traffic, Byron was leading by half a second over Truex while Hamlin moved into third place, trailing by less than three seconds. Soon after, Harvick overtook Larson to move into fourth place.

    With five laps remaining, Hamlin, who overtook teammate Truex to move into the runner-up spot despite being blocked by the lapped car of Harrison Burton, managed to close in and move his No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry into the lead. Behind, however, Harvick made his way into the runner-up spot over Byron as Byron started to fade on worn tires while Harvick started to reel in on Hamlin for the win.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hamlin and Harvick were running nose to tail with the former leading by four-tenths of a second over the latter. Then in Turn 1, Hamlin made a bold three-wide move on Almirola and Logano to clear himself of lapped traffic through the backstretch while Harvick was still trying to navigate himself through Almirola and Logano. With the gap stabilizing to approximately half a second, Hamlin had just enough muscle and power to cycle back to the frontstretch and beat Harvick by more than half a second to win. 

    The victory at Richmond was Hamlin’s fourth at his home track, the 47th of his Cup Series career and the 16th season where he has won at least one event. The victory was also a first of the season for both Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota, which featured the all new Toyota TRD Camry in Victory Lane for the first time.

    Prior to Sunday’s event, Hamlin’s average-finishing result through the previous six events was 24.0 that was coupled with three DNFs, three results outside of the top 25 and no top-10 results as he was scored outside of the top 20 in the regular season standings. With the Richmond victory, Hamlin is now guaranteed a spot in the 2022 Cup Playoffs. 

    “Great strategy there,” Hamlin, who only led the final five laps, said on FOX. “[I] Just drove as hard as I could. Just so proud of this whole FedEx Camry team. Man, just never giving up. There was no doubt in my mind. Maybe just a little, but [the crew] got this car right there towards the end. Wow. Just unbelievable. We needed a data point. We needed something. A good run to balance ourselves on other tracks and obviously, I think we got it here.”

    Meanwhile, Harvick, who was seeking his first victory since winning at Bristol Motor Speedway in September 2020, settled in second place for his best result of the 2022 season thus far while Byron, who led 122 laps, finished in third place for his career-best result at Richmond.

    “Yeah, just really proud of everyone on our Mobil 1 Ford Mustang for just staying in there, having a great strategy and doing everything that they did all day,” Harvick said. “It was really the first clean day that we’ve had all year. [Our] Cars have been fast. [I] Had a shot there at the end. I wanted to be close enough with the white [flag] to just take a swipe at [Hamlin], but the lapped cars there got in the way and I lost a little bit of ground. Still a great day for us and just hopefully, a little momentum in a positive direction.”

    Truex, who initially launched a challenge on Byron for the win, slipped back to fourth place despite leading 80 laps while Larson completed the top five on the track.

    “It’s frustrating, but it’s part of it here,” Truex said. “It’s part of the whole day. Obviously, we did good there for a while. [Crew chief] James [Small] did a great job all day with strategy, getting us upfront, getting us the lead. Our Auto-Owners Camry TRD was just super fast out front. Super fast in clean air. At the end there, I think we just tried to gamble and tried to gamble on beating [Byron]. He ended up doing our strategy, which we both screwed up. Obviously, heads up the other way, I think we had the best car, but it doesn’t matter. Overall, just really proud of our guys. A big step in the right direction from Phoenix. Completely different mindset coming here and after today, what we can do going forward. Excited about that.”

    Bell, Blaney, Bowman, Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon finished in the top 10.

    There were 13 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 35 laps. Sixteen of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.

    With their top-15 results, Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott are tied for the lead in the regular season standings as they both lead by 19 points over Martin Truex Jr., 23 over William Byron, 26 over Joey Logano, 27 over Ross Chastain and 29 over Alex Bowman.

    Results.

    1. Denny Hamlin, five laps led

    2. Kevin Harvick

    3. William Byron, 122 laps led

    4. Martin Truex Jr., 80 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    5. Kyle Larson

    6. Christopher Bell, 63 laps led

    7. Ryan Blaney, 128 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    8. Alex Bowman

    9. Kyle Busch, one lap led

    10. Austin Dillon

    11. Chase Briscoe

    12. Tyler Reddick

    13. Brad Keselowski

    14. Chase Elliott

    15. Chris Buescher

    16. Daniel Suarez

    17. Joey Logano, one lap down, one lap led

    18. Harrison Burton, one lap down

    19. Ross Chastain, one lap down

    20. Austin Cindric, one lap down

    21. Aric Almirola, two laps down

    22. Cole Custer, two laps down

    23. Erik Jones, two laps down

    24. Ty Dillon, two laps down

    25. Todd Gilliland, three laps down

    26. Bubba Wallace, three laps down

    27. AJ Allmendinger, four laps down

    28. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., four laps down

    29. Justin Haley, four laps down

    30. Michael McDowell, five laps down

    31. Corey LaJoie, eight laps down

    32. Landon Cassill, 10 laps down

    33. JJ Yeley, 10 laps down

    34. BJ McLeod, 14 laps down

    35. Kurt Busch, 109 laps down

    36. Cody Ware – OUT, Accident

    37. Greg Biffle – OUT, Suspension

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ first Saturday night event of the season at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia, on April 9. The event is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Ty Gibbs overtakes teammate Nemechek for an Xfinity win at Richmond

    Ty Gibbs overtakes teammate Nemechek for an Xfinity win at Richmond

    In a classic short-track style of racing between two teammates who dominated and refused to lift out of the throttle, Ty Gibbs overtook, bumped, and fended off teammate John Hunter Nemechek on the final lap to win the ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, April 2.

    The 19-year-old grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs from Charlotte, North Carolina, started on pole position and was out in front for 114 of 250-scheduled laps, but came under attack from teammate John Hunter Nemechek, who led a race-high 135 laps, under the final five laps. Following a side-by-side duel, Nemechek appeared to have the upper hand at the start of the final lap until Gibbs bumped and mounted a challenge on his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate entering the backstretch. He then made slight contact with Nemechek that sent the latter out of the racing groove before snatching the lead back and having enough momentum to win for the third time in 2022.

    With on-track qualifying occurring on Saturday, Ty Gibbs notched his second consecutive pole of this season after posting a pole-winning speed at 121.836 mph. Joining him on the front row was John Hunter Nemechek, who posted a fast qualifying lap at 121.098 mph and was making his first of three scheduled starts with Joe Gibbs Racing.

    Prior to the event, Daniel Hemric, Jeb Burton and JJ Yeley dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective cars.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Gibbs jumped ahead with an early advantage entering the first turn. Through the first lap, Gibbs retained the lead ahead of teammate Nemechek, Noah Gragson, rookie Austin Hill and Brandon Jones while a series of early battles ensued.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Gibbs was leading by nearly three-tenths of a second over teammate Nemechek followed by Gragson, Brandon Jones and Ryan Preece while Hill, AJ Allmendinger, Jeremy Clements, Sam Mayer and Ryan Sieg were in the top 10. 

    Two laps later, however, Nemechek muscled his No. 18 Safeway Toyota Supra to the lead over Gibbs’ No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra.

    By Lap 25, Nemechek was leading by more than three-tenths of a second over Gragson, who was reeling in the leader for the top spot. Gibbs was back in third ahead of Allmendinger, the leading contender for the first Dash 4 Cash bonus, and Brandon Jones.

    Twenty-five laps later at the Lap 50 mark, Nemechek continued to lead as his advantage was more than four seconds over Allmendinger, who continued his methodical march to the front with a fast race car. Gragson was back in third followed by Gibbs and Josh Berry while Brandon Jones, Hill, Ryan Sieg, Mayer and Parker Retzlaff were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Justin Allgaier was mired in 11th place.

    By Lap 70, Nemechek remained as the leader by more than four seconds over Allmendinger while third-place Gragson trailed by more than five seconds. Meanwhile, Berry was up in fourth place ahead of Gibbs while names like Jeremy Clements, Ryan Preece and Brett Moffitt along with newcomers Derek Griffith and Rajah Caruth were a lap behind the leaders.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 75, Nemechek captured his first Xfinity stage victory of the season. Behind, JR Motorsports’ Gragson and Berry settled in second and third followed by Allmendinger, who was held up by the lapped competitor of  Rajah Caruth. Gibbs settled in fifth ahead of Ryan Sieg, Parker Retzlaff, Brandon Jones, Hill and Mayer. By then, Creed was in 12th ahead of Riley Herbst while Daniel Hemric was in 15th ahead of teammate Landon Cassill, and Allgaier.

    Under the stage break and prior to pit lane being open for the competitors to pit, Gragson pitted to address potential brake issues to his No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro. When pit lane opened, the field pitted and Nemechek retained the lead. Following the pit stops, Hemric was penalized for speeding on pit road,

    The second stage started on Lap 85 as Nemechek and Allmendinger occupied the front row. At the start, Nemechek jumped ahead to retain the lead followed by teammate Gibbs, who dueled with Allmendinger for the runner-up spot.

    Three laps later, the caution returned due to a brake rotor reported on the track in Turn 1 that came off of Gragson’s No. 9 Chevrolet as the Las Vegas driver continued to battle with brake issues.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 95, Nemechek rocketed away with another strong restart with the lead followed by teammate Gibbs while Sieg challenged Allmendinger for third place. 

    At the Lap 100 mark, Nemechek was leading by more than a tenth of a second over teammate Gibbs, who started to pressure his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate for the top spot, while Allmendinger, Sieg and Berry were in the top five. Hill was in sixth ahead of Brandon Jones, Allgaier, Creed and Anthony Alfredo. Meanwhile, driver Kyle Sieg pitted after falling off the pace.

    When the race reached its halfway mark on Lap 125, Nemechek remained as the leader by more than half a second over teammate Gibbs while Berry, Allmendinger, Ryan Sieg, Allgaier, Hill, Brandon Jones, Alfredo, and Creed were in the top 10. Herbst was in 11th followed by Mayer, Cassill, Parker Retzlaff and Hemric while Alex Labbe, Jeb Burton, Preece, Gragson and Clements were in the top 20. In addition, 23 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    With six laps remaining in the second stage, Gibbs moved into the top spot and started to pull away from teammate Nemechek.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 150, Gibbs, who was mired in lapped traffic, captured his first stage victory of the season. Teammate Nemechek settled in second ahead of Berry, Ryan Sieg, Allmendinger, Alfredo, Mayer, Allgaier, Herbst and Parker Rtzlaff. 

    Under the stage break, the leaders returned to pit road for service and Gibbs retained the lead after exiting pit road in first place followed by teammate Nemechek, Berry, Allmendinger and Ryan Sieg. Following the pit stops, Berry was penalized for speeding along with Retzlaff for an uncontrolled tire violation. In addition, Stefan Parsons was penalized for removing the jack out of his pit box and onto the track.

    With 90 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as teammates Gibbs and Nemechek occupied the front row. At the start, Gibbs muscled with the lead followed by teammate Nemechek, Allmendinger, Allgaier and Sieg, who was locked in a battle with Mayer.

    Fifteen laps later, Gibbs continued to lead by more than a second over teammate Nemechek while Allgaier, Allmendinger and Brandon Jones were in the top five. Ryan Sieg was in sixth followed by Hemric, Mayer, Preece and Cassill while Hill, Alfredo, Herbst, Jeb Burton, and Brandon Brown were in the top 15. By then, 22 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Gibbs was leading by seven-tenths of a second over teammate Nemechek followed by Allmendinger, Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Ryan Sieg, Preece, Hill, Mayer, Hemric, Herbst, Berry, Alfredo, Cassill and Jeb Burton.

    Then under the final 40 scheduled laps, the battle for the lead ignited between teammates Nemechek and Gibbs with the former having caught the latter as they dueled amid lapped traffic. With both making slight contact in Turn 1, Gibbs continued to fend off teammate Nemechek on the outside lane. Following an intense duel, Nemechek managed to clear teammate Gibbs and reassume the lead with 33 laps remaining. Gibbs, however, fought back during the following lap after overtaking Nemechek entering Turn 3 and reassuming the lead despite getting bumped by Nemechek’s No. 18 Toyota. 

    With 25 laps remaining, Gibbs was leading by more than four-tenths of a second over teammate Nemechek while third-place Allmendinger, who was in position to claim the first Dash 4 Cash bonus, trailed by more than five seconds. Meanwhile, Sam Mayer, who was battling Allmendinger for the first Dash 4 Cash bonus, was up in fourth place ahead of Ryan Sieg while Allgaier, Herbst, Brandon Jones, Berry and Preece were in the top 10. Racing in 11th place was Austin Hill, who was also contending for the first Dash 4 Cash bonus. 

    Five laps later, the gap between teammates Gibbs and Nemechek dwindled down to less than four-tenths of a second with Gibbs carving his way through lapped traffic while also trying to fend off Nemechek for the win. Behind, third-place Allmendinger was less than a second ahead of Mayer in a battle for the first Dash 4 Cash bonus.

    Another four laps later, Mayer overtook Allmendinger to move into third place as he placed himself to claim the first Dash 4 Cash bonus. By then, Gibbs overtook two lapped competitors to retain a steady advantage ahead of Nemechek. 

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Gibbs remained as the leader by half a second over teammate Nemechek while third-place Mayer was more than three seconds ahead of Allmendinger in a bid for the first Dash 4 Cash bonus.

    With five laps remaining, Nemechek narrowed the gap to less than three-tenths of a second over Gibbs as he launched another challenge on his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate for the top spot.

    Shortly after, both dueled dead even for the next two laps until Nemechek peaked ahead with three laps remaining. Just as he cleared Gibbs for the lead, Gibbs fought back entering the first turn as he bumped his teammate. During the following lap, he bumped his teammate again in Turn 1 before drawing even with him through the backstretch. Gibbs then slid up the track and nearly spun his teammate, but Nemechek retained the lead by a narrow margin. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, teammates Nemechek and Gibbs were running in a close single-file line of one another before Gibbs bumped and launched a final challenge on Nemechek for the lead entering the backstretch. Then with both dead even entering Turn 3, Gibbs made contact against Nemechek’s No. 18 Toyota, which sent Nemechek wide on the outside lane and allowed Gibbs to reassume the lead and have all lanes in control entering the final straightaway. With Nemechek unable to regain his momentum, Gibbs streaked across the finish line with the win while nearly sideways by 0.116 seconds just ahead of Nemechek.

    Just after both crossed the finish line, Nemechek was quick to run into the rear bumper of Gibbs’ No. 54 Toyota to express his displeasure before nursing his car back to pit road while Gibbs celebrated with victorious burnouts on the frontstretch.

    The Richmond victory was Gibbs’ third of the 2022 season, thus making him the first three-time winner of this year’s Xfinity season, and the seventh of his Xfinity Series career. All told, Gibbs and Nemechek led all but one of the 250-scheduled laps.

    “I definitely deserve one back,” Gibbs said on FS1. “We’re racing for wins and they’re hard to come by. I had to take it. We were just fighting tight [conditions] all day. Just couldn’t hold the bottom. John Hunter was just a little bit faster and we had a great race. Good for Toyota to finish one, two. [I] Just got in there deep, had to bump him out of the way up the track, so we’re short track racing. Thank you to Monster Energy. What a great car. This is awesome for Toyota. Cool to get our third win, so hopefully, we can keep it rolling ”

    “[Gibbs] and I will settle it on Monday,” Nemechek, who was left disappointed on pit road, said. “I don’t want to say too much to get myself in trouble, but [I] just got drove through. He didn’t even try to make the corner there, so racers never forget. That’s for sure.”

    Meanwhile, Sam Mayer came home in a career-best third-place, nearly six seconds ahead of Allmendinger, and claimed the first Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus of the season. Mayer’s first Dash 4 Cash bonus also marks the fifth consecutive Dash 4 Cash initiative that has been claimed by a JR Motorsports competitor.

    Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images).

    “By the end of it, our Accelerate [Professional Talent Solutions] Chevy Camaro was as fast as Xfinity Internet,” Mayer said. “That’s a really feels good moment for us. Obviously, my best career finish and a hundred grand to go with it. It’s unbelievable. This team definitely deserves it.”

    Sam Mayer, race winner Ty Gibbs, fourth-place finisher AJ Allmendinger and fifth-place finisher Riley Herbst have qualified for the second Dash 4 Cash event that will occur next weekend at Martinsville Speedway.

    Hemric finished in sixth place while Berry, Brandon Brown, Ryan Sieg and Parker Retzlaff completed the top 10. Jeb Burton, Anthony Alfredo, Brandon Jones, Justin Allgaier and Landon Cassill finished in the top 15 followed by Ryan Preece, Mason Massey, Austin Hill, Alex Labbe and Jeremy Clements. Noah Gragson settled in 21st place following his brake issues while Rajah Caruth and Derek Griffith finished 24th and 26th in their Xfinity debuts.

    There were eight lead changes for three different leaders. The race featured three cautions for 24 laps.

    With a fourth-place result, AJ Allmendinger leads the regular-season standings by 20 points over both Ty Gibbs and Noah Gragson while Josh Berry trails by 76 and Justin Allgaier trails by 87.

    Results.

    1. Ty Gibbs, 114 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. John Hunter Nemechek, 135 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    3. Sam Mayer

    4. AJ Allmendinger

    5. Riley Herbst

    6. Daniel Hemric

    7. Josh Berry, one lap led

    8. Brandon Brown

    9. Ryan Sieg

    10. Parker Retzlaff

    11. Jeb Burton

    12. Anthony Alfredo

    13. Brandon Jones 

    14. Justin Allgaier

    15. Landon Cassill

    16. Ryan Preece

    17. Mason Massey

    18. Austin Hill

    19. Alex Labbe

    20. Jeremy Clements, one lap down

    21. Noah Gragson, one lap down

    22. Sheldon Creed, one lap down

    23. David Starr, two laps down

    24. Rajah Caruth, two laps down

    25. Brett Moffitt, two laps down

    26. Derek Griffith, two laps down

    27. Josh Williams, three laps down

    28. Kyle Weatherman, four laps down

    29. Joe Graf Jr., four laps down

    30. Myatt Snider, four laps down

    31. Bayley Currey, four laps down

    32. JJ Yeley, five laps down

    33. Jade Buford, five laps down

    34. Joey Gase, five laps down

    35. Stefan Parsons, five laps down

    36. Ryan Vargas, seven laps down

    37. Kyle Sieg – OUT, Engine

    38. Brennan Poole – OUT, Rear gear

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ first of two visits this season to Martinsville Speedway, where the second of four Dash 4 Cash events will also occur. The event is scheduled to occur on Friday, April 8, at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • McDowell to make 400th Cup career start at Richmond

    McDowell to make 400th Cup career start at Richmond

    Competing in his 16th season in the NASCAR Cup Series, Michael McDowell is scheduled to achieve a milestone start. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s event at Richmond Raceway, the driver of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang will make his 400th career start in NASCAR’s premier series.

    A native of Glendale, Arizona, and a former champion of the Star Mazda Championship region, McDowell had made five career starts between the Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series before being announced as a Cup Series competitor and in Michael Waltrip Racing’s No. 00 Toyota Camry for Michael Waltrip Racing, beginning at Martinsville Speedway in March 2008. McDowell’s promotion to NASCAR’s premier series came after Dale Jarrett, the 1999 Cup Series champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer, retired from competition while David Reutimann took over Jarrett’s No. 44 Toyota. Starting in 34th place, McDowell finished 26th in his Cup debut after cutting a tire in the closing laps.

    The following weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, McDowell was involved in a horrific accident during his qualifying session, where he got loose entering Turn 1, veered into the outside SAFER barriers head-on at over 180 mph, rolled over on his roof and barrel rolled seven times down to the apron before coming to rest on all four wheels. Despite the wild ride, McDowell was able to emerge uninjured as his wreck exemplified the effectiveness of modern safety enhancements made, from the SAFER barriers to the HANS device and the 2008 Car of Tomorrow stock car, to keep the competitors safe in the event of an on-track incident. McDowell went on to finish 33rd in the main event.

    Following the Texas incident, McDowell continued to drive MWR’s No. 00 Toyota in the Cup Series from Phoenix Raceway in April through Kansas Speedway in September. During this span, his best on-track result was 20th at Richmond Raceway in September. McDowell, however, was released by the team for the rest of the season after he failed to qualify at Kansas Speedway in September.

    The following season, McDowell campaigned on a full-time basis in the Xfinity Series, starting with JTG Daugherty Racing before transitioning to MacDonald Motorsports and Whitney Motorsports. His first Cup Series start of the 2009 season did not occur until September at Richmond, where he drove the No. 36 Toyota for Tommy Baldwin Racing to a 41st-place result after retiring early due to an engine issue. He competed in seven additional Cup races with Tommy Baldwin, where he did not finish in all of them and was credited with a result no higher than 38th place.

    McDowell started the 2010 season on a high note by driving the No. 55 Toyota Camry for Prism Motorsports to a 14th-place result in the first of two duel races at Daytona International Speedway in February. The result rewarded him with one of two transfer spots to the 52nd running of the Daytona 500. During the main event, however, he finished 33rd due to a drive shaft issue. He competed in 23 additional events throughout the 36-race schedule, where he failed to finish in all but one race, which was at Talladega Superspeedway in October as he finished 35th, two laps behind the leaders.

    McDowell competed in 32 of the 36-race schedule in 2011 with nearly all of his starts occurring with HP Racing. His best result with HP Racing was a 30th-place result at Sonoma Raceway in June. Then in November at Texas, he served as an interim competitor in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 Toyota Camry and in place of Kyle Busch, who was suspended by NASCAR throughout the weekend as a result of intentionally wrecking NASCAR Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday Jr. in the early stages of the Truck Series event at the Lone Star state two days prior to the Cup event. During the event, however, McDowell, who struggled with pace, finished in 33rd place, three laps behind the leaders. He went on to conclude the season in 36th place in the final standings.

    In 2012, McDowell remained with HP Racing that was renamed to Phil Parsons Racing. Driving the team’s No. 98 Ford Fusion in all but six of the 36-race Cup schedule, his best result was a 23rd-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway in August as he settled in 37th place in the final standings, one spot lower from 2011. By then, McDowell surpassed 100 career starts in the Cup Series.

    Following the 2013 Cup season, where he competed in all but three races between three organizations (Phil Parsons Racing, Front Row Motorsports and HScott Motorsports) while achieving his first top-10 career finish during the 55th running of the Daytona 500 in February (ninth place), McDowell joined Leavine Family Racing to pilot the No. 95 Chevrolet SS for the 2014 season. He failed to qualify for the 56th running of the Daytona 500, but went on to compete in 19 of the 36-race schedule. His best on-track result during this span was seventh place in the rain-shortened Coke Zero 400 at Daytona in July.

    McDowell continued to drive for Leavine Family Racing in 2015, where he made 16 starts with the team and finished no higher than 20th place at Watkins Glen International in August, and in 2016 when LFR formed an alliance with Circle Sport and changed manufacturers from Ford to Chevrolet. Starting the 2016 Cup season in the No. 59 Chevrolet SS, McDowell finished in 15th place in the 58th running of the Daytona 500. He then split driving responsibilities of the No. 95 LFR Chevrolet with Ty Dillon throughout the season, where he finished 10th at Daytona in July, 12th at Richmond in September and 14th at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October. He concluded the season by finishing in 10th place at Homestead-Miami Speedway and a career-best 30th place in the final standings. By then, McDowell surpassed 200 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series.

    The 2017 Cup Series season marked McDowell’s first time competing the entire 36-race schedule as he remained at Leavine Family Racing for a fourth consecutive season. Throughout the season, he earned his first top-five career result after finishing fourth at Daytona in July along with 14 top-20 results before finishing in 26th place in the final standings, which marked his first top-30 result in a driver’s standings.

    In 2018, McDowell moved to Front Row Motorsports to pilot the No. 34 Ford Fusion, where he replaced Landon Cassill. He commenced the season with a ninth-place finish in the 60th running of the Daytona 500 in February. He went on to record nine additional top-20 results, a career-high 33 laps led and a 26th-place result in the final standings for a second consecutive season.

    Returning to Front Row Motorsports for the 2019 season, McDowell started the season by finishing in fifth place in the 61st running of the Daytona 500. This marked his third top-10 result in the 500. He then achieved three additional top-15 results over the next 29 Cup races before he logged in another fifth-place result at Talladega in October. He went on to finish in 27th place in the final standings. Following the 2019 season, McDowell surpassed 300 Cup career starts.

    In 2020, McDowell notched a career-high four top-10 results throughout the 36-race schedule with his best on-track result being a seventh-place finish at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July. He ended the season improving four spots from his result in the 2019 driver’s standings by settling in 23rd place in the 2020 standings.

    Then in 2021, McDowell, who returned to FRM for a fourth consecutive season, pulled off the upset by claiming his first elusive Cup Series victory in the 63rd running of the Daytona 500 after dodging a multi-car wreck on the final lap while running in third place. The victory snapped McDowell’s 358-race winless drought, which marks the second-largest winless streak in NASCAR history prior to a first victory and right behind Michael Waltrip’s 463-race drought prior to claiming his first win in the 2001 Daytona 500. With the victory, McDowell became the 40th different competitor to win the Daytona 500 and the 196th different competitor to win in the Cup Series as he recorded the first 500 victory for Front Row Motorsports. The 500 win guaranteed McDowell and his No. 34 FRM team a spot into the 2021 Cup Playoffs.

    The early momentum into 2021 for McDowell did not stop there as he finished eighth during the following weekend at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course, which was followed by a sixth-place result at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Seven races later, McDowell collected a strong third-place result at Talladega in April following a late battle with eventual winner Brad Keselowski. He went on to collect a seventh-place result at the Circuit of the Americas in May before entering the 2021 Cup Playoffs for the first time in his career. His title hopes, however, came to an end during the Round of 16 after finishing no higher than 24th during the opening round’s three events. Nonetheless, he finished a career-best 16th place in a season where he claimed his first victory, a career-high five top-10 results and a career-best average result of 20.5.

    Through 399 previous Cup starts, McDowell has achieved one victory, five top-five results, 18 top-10 results, 118 laps led and an average-finishing result of 29.0. His highest-finishing result through the first six scheduled events of 2022 is seventh, which occurred in the 64th running of the Daytona 500 in February, and he currently sits in 26th place in the regular season standings.

    McDowell is scheduled to make his 400th Cup Series career start at Richmond Raceway on Sunday, April 3, with coverage to occur at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.