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Author: Andrew Kim

  • Bubba Wallace makes history, earns first Cup career victory at Talladega

    Bubba Wallace makes history, earns first Cup career victory at Talladega

    History was made under a wet, cloudy afternoon at Talladega, Alabama, after Bubba Wallace won the rain-shortened YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Monday, October 4, and claimed his first elusive NASCAR Cup Series career win.

    Wallace, who dodged a late-race multi-car wreck, stormed to the lead with drafting help from Brad Keselowski with seven laps remaining in the second stage and continued to lead when another multi-car wreck occurred behind him two laps later that drew a caution. Soon after, rain, which dominated the weekend and forced the event to be postponed from its scheduled start on Sunday, October 3, began to pour across the superspeedway venue, which forced NASCAR to red-flag the event and park the field to pit road.

    Nearly an hour after the event was red-flagged and with lightning strikes being reported along with continuous rain, NASCAR made the race official and Wallace was handed his first career win at his home track in NASCAR’s premier series and in his 143rd series start, thus becoming the second African-American competitor to win in the Cup level.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Denny Hamlin, winner of last weekend’s Playoff event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and last year’s fall event at Talladega, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with teammate Kyle Busch.

    Prior to the event, Quin Houff and Joey Gase started at the rear of the field due to failing pre-race inspection twice. James Davison also started at the rear of the field for replacing David Starr for the event.

    Following a one-and-a-half-hour delay due to morning precipitation on the track on Sunday, October 3, the competitors fired up their engines and hit the track in an attempt to commence the event on a cloudy afternoon. Not long after, however, precipitation hit the track again, which forced the pace car to lead the field back on to pit road and under another weather delay. 

    Then, NASCAR made the call to postpone the event from Sunday to Monday due to the continuous rain and no weather relief in sight.

    When the competitors returned a day later, the race was able to start under green on a clear, cloudy afternoon. At the start, Kyle Busch jumped ahead with the lead on the inside lane followed by Chase Elliott while Hamlin slipped to third on the outside lane.

    As Kyle Larson, Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski started to gain a run exiting the backstretch and entering the frontstretch, Kyle Busch was able to lead the first lap as the field began to fan out to multiple lanes and in a tight pack.

    Just past the start/finish line, Logano stormed to the lead on the outside lane with drafting help from teammate Keselowski and Hamlin. Despite receiving a strong push to jump ahead through the backstretch, Logano nearly lost the top spot to Kyle Busch entering the frontstretch, but he was able to lead the following lap by a nose.

    Through the first five laps of the event, Kyle Busch, who moved back to the lead on the third lap, was leading ahead of Elliott, Larson Kevin Harvick and Alex Bowman. Tyler Reddick was in sixth ahead of Logano, rookie Chase Briscoe, Matt DiBenedetto and Bubba Wallace. By then, Hamlin pulled his car out of the pack as part of a strategic move and settled his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry in 29th place.

    By Lap 10, Harvick, who took over the lead on the sixth lap, was leading ahead of Ford teammates Logano, DiBenedetto, Ryan Blaney, Keselowski and Aric Almirola. Austin Dillon was in seventh ahead of William Byron, Cole Custer and Kyle Busch. 

    Soon after, the field, which had broken apart and was divided into certain sections of competitors, was back competing in a tight pack within the draft and beginning to fan out to multiple lanes. Then, the field fanned out three lanes deep as Truex, who received drafting help from Wallace, challenged Harvick and DiBenedetto for the lead, which he succeeded on Lap 15 before being overtaken by Larson two laps later.

    By Lap 20, Custer, who received drafting help from teammate Harvick, emerged with the lead ahead of Larson, who led the previous three laps, while Logano and Wallace were in the top five ahead of a steaming pack of cars. By then, 38 of the 40 starters were separated by less than six seconds. 

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 25, Custer was still leading in his No. 41 Autodesk Ford Mustang ahead of Harvick, Logano, Blaney, Elliott, Keselowski and the field that settled through double lanes. By then, names like DiBenedetto, Ryan Newman, Austin Dillon, Daniel Suarez, Aric Almirola, Briscoe, Reddick, Hamlin and Christopher Bell were running outside the top 20 while Truex, Alex Bowman, Byron, Larson and Kyle Busch were back inside the top 20. 

    Under the competition caution, the majority of the field pitted while 12 competitors led by rookie Anthony Alfredo remained on the track. During the pit stops, Hamlin slid through his pit box and had to back up for fresh tires while Elliott nearly made contact with Cody Ware while exiting his pit stall.

    A lap later, the 12 competitors led by Alfredo who remained on the track pitted, giving the lead to Harvick.

    When the race restarted on Lap 29, Harvick briefly jumped ahead with the top spot on the inside lane before Truex received a big push from Kurt Busch and Keselowski to take the lead through the backstretch. 

    Then, Kurt Busch moved his No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to pass Truex on the inside lane and lead the following lap. Truex, though, fought back on the outside lane as the field was engaged in a competitive, tight pack within the draft. 

    By Lap 35, Harvick, who reassumed the lead a lap earlier, was ahead of Team Penske’s Blaney and Logano. Austin Dillon was up in fourth ahead of Keselowski, Chris Buescher, Hamlin, Custer and the field. Meanwhile, Kurt Busch was in ninth, Truex was in 11th, Kyle Busch was in 14th, Byron was in 20th, teammates Larson and Bowman were in 22nd and 23rd, and Elliott was in 29th.

    Approaching the Lap 38 mark, the field fanned out to three lanes at the front as Hamlin challenged Keselowski and Harvick for the top spot. In the middle of the pack, a four-wide action nearly occurred that included Logano.

    Through the first 40 laps of the event, Keselowski was leading ahead of Buescher, Hamlin, Logano, Austin Dillon, Harvick and the field. By then, Michael McDowell, who suffered damage under the competition caution and lost in touch with the field and the draft prior to the restart, was lapped by the leaders.

    Three laps later, the top-26 competitors were separated by a second as Keselowski challenged and overtook Hamlin, who led the previous two laps, for the top spot. By then, Keselowski had drafting help from Ford teammate Chris Buescher and Logano while Hamlin was trying to keep Bowman in the draft. Meanwhile, Austin Dillon was trying to form a third line on the inside lane, but he was overtaken by the other two lanes that had a multitude of cars within the draft. 

    By Lap 50 and through the closing laps of the first stage, the majority of the field were running in a long single-file line on the outside lane led by Keselowski. In addition, names like Chris Buescher, Bubba Wallace, Justin Haley were in the top 10 while names like Ross Chastain, Corey LaJoie, Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick were in the top 15. Justin Allgaier, an Xfinity Series veteran, was in 16th ahead of Elliott.

    Four laps later, Buescher, who bumped and moved Keselowski out of the way through the backstretch, led a lap for himself ahead of Logano and Harvick. Keselowski, meanwhile, was back in fourth alongside teammate Blaney.  

    On Lap 56, the caution flew when Justin Allgaier, running within the top 10, got bumped and turned off the front nose of Byron entering the frontstretch, where he collided against Larson’s No. 5 Cincinnati Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE against the outside wall before sliding across the track and near the pit road exit. Briscoe and Ryan Preece were also involved in the accident.

    The early incident concluded the first stage scheduled on Lap 60 under caution as Buescher claimed his second stage victory of the season and the first since Homestead-Miami Speedway in February. Logano, the highest-running Playoff contender, settled in second ahead of Keselowski, Harvick, Reddick, Blaney, Elliott, Ross Chastain, Kurt Busch and Alex Bowman. By then, names like Byron, Kyle Busch and Truex were in the top-17 while Hamlin was in 23rd. Meanwhile, Larson, who was having issues re-firing his car during the repairs, lost a lap to the leaders.

    Through the first stage, 12 different competitors had led at least a lap, comprising of 17 different lead changes.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire field pitted while names like Ricky Stenhouse Jr., DiBenedetto and Daniel Suarez remained on the track. Once the competitors who did not pit earlier pitted, Logano was leading ahead of Hamlin, Keselowski, Buescher and Blaney. Meanwhile, Harvick pitted a second time after reporting a flat left-rear tire, which sent him to the rear of the field.

    The second stage started on Lap 64. At the start, Logano received a push from teammate Keselowski to maintain the top spot on the inside lane through the first turn while Hamlin challenged Blaney on the outside lane.

    The following lap, Kyle Busch intentionally drew his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry out of the pack to settle behind the pack as Reddick challenged Logano for the lead. Reddick, however, was overpowered by Team Penske’s three Playoff competitors led by Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang. 

    Shortly after, the caution flew when Larson, who continued with the damage on his No. 5 car, lost the right-front tire, smacked the Turn 2 outside wall and shredded debris across the racing surface, making his day go from bad to worse.

    Under caution, some led by Reddick and Hamlin pitted, mainly for fuel, while the rest led by Logano and Keselowski remained on the track. By then, Larson, who was four laps behind, was able to continue after meeting the minimum speed allotted while damaged.

    On Lap 70, the entire field pitted for enough fuel to complete the second stage with weather threats looming near the track and the teams aiming to reach the halfway point to make the race official. During the pit stops, Hamlin nearly clipped Blaney while trying to enter his pit stall, which cost him time and positions. 

    Following the pit stops, Cody Ware was the leader ahead of Logano, Keselowski, Buescher, Blaney and Harvick while Bell, Kyle Busch, Reddick and Joey Gase were in the top 10. 

    Soon after, reports of rain near Turn 1 were reported as the pace car continued to lead the field at a cautious pace. Then on Lap 73, the pace car led the field to pit road and the race was red-flagged for a weather delay and for the jet dryers to dry the racing surface in Turns 1 and 2.

    More than 18 laps later, the competitors returned to their cars and re-ignited the engines after the racing surfaces through the first two turns were dried, though weather threats and a flash flood watch remained within sight of the superspeedway venue. 

    When the field returned to the track, the competitors returned to pit road for another round of topping off with fuel to get to the conclusion of the second stage. Meanwhile, Justin Haley and LaJoie remained on the track ahead of Team Penske’s three competitors along with Buescher, Reddick, Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch and Harvick.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 77, Haley, piloting the No. 16 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Kaulig Racing, received drafting help from Logano on the inside lane while LaJoie had drafting help from Blaney on the outside lane through the first two turns.

    Through the backstretch and entering the frontstretch, a third lane formulated on the outside lane as Buescher jumped ahead of LaJoie to move towards the front. Meanwhile, Haley continued to lead ahead of Logano and Keselowski. 

    By Lap 80, Bell moved his No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry to the lead as he received drafting help from Harvick and Hamlin while Buescher, who briefly led, nearly wrecked entering the second turn. Meanwhile, Bell was in front of a long single-file line running on the outside lane. In addition, names like Ryan Preece, Stenhouse, Cody Ware, Michael McDowell and Erik Jones were in the top 10.

    Four laps later, Hamlin, who moved to the inside lane entering the frontstretch, received a push from former teammate Erik Jones to take the lead over teammate Bell. With Hamlin out in front, Jones and Custer were in second and third while Bell fought back on the outside lane with drafting help from Harvick. 

    Through 90 laps and with the intensity of the pack racing crescendoing, Harvick, who took over the lead a lap earlier, was leading ahead of Alex Bowman and Bell, who led the previous six of nine laps. Hamlin and Stenhouse were in the top five followed by Elliott, Erik Jones, Keselowski, Custer and Alfredo. By then, the top-36 competitors were separated by three seconds. Meanwhile, Larson was mired back in 39th, four laps behind. In addition, Briscoe was lapped by the field.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 94, which would make the race official, Bell, who reassumed the lead two laps earlier, was out in front with drafting help from teammate Hamlin. Bowman then challenged on the outside lane followed by Harvick, Stenhouse, Erik Jones, Elliott, Custer, Keselowski, Buescher and the field mired in a tight three-wide pack.

    Three laps later, the caution flew when Alex Bowman, who led the previous lap and was challenging Bell for the lead, was bumped by Stenhouse exiting the backstretch and made head-on contact into the outside wall before he was hit hard by Ross Chastain, which demolished his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. While most of the field dodged the incident, names like Reddick, Kyle Busch, Truex, DiBenedetto, Quin Houff, BJ McLeod and Preece were involved. The wreck, however, placed Bowman in a “must-win” scenario for next weekend’s Playoff event at the Charlotte Roval to keep his title hopes alive.

    With 17 laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted under green as Stenhouse and Bell filled in the front row. At the start, Stenhouse had drafting help from Chase Elliott on the outside lane while Bell had teammate Hamlin and Harvick pushing him on the inside lane through the first two turns.

    When the field returned to the frontstretch, Stenhouse maintained the lead followed by Elliott and Keselowski while Bell slipped back to fourth after losing the draft with Hamlin and Harvick. A lap later, though, Bell fought back on the inside lane, but Stenhouse continued to maintain the lead with continuous help from Elliott.

    By Lap 108, Kurt Busch, who initially was pushing Bubba Wallace a lap earlier, stormed to the lead ahead of a three-wide cluster of cars with the skies darkening. 

    Down to the final 10 laps of the second stage, Kurt Busch was leading ahead of Harvick, Bell, Stenhouse and Hamlin while Wallace, Jones, Elliott, Austin Dillon and Keselowski were in the top 10. 

    Not long after, Harvick was drafted out of the lead pack as Kurt Busch and Stenhouse engaged in a heated duel for the lead. 

    On Lap 112, Bubba Wallace and Kurt Busch, Wallace’s future teammate at 23XI Racing, dueled for the lead as Wallace received a push from Keselowski on the outside lane to lead the following lap. Wallace then moved his No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota Camry in front of Busch and Bell while Keselowski remained on the outside lane in front of teammate Logano.

    With five laps remaining in the second stage, the caution flew when Preece, who was running towards the front, got bumped and turned by Buescher, spun and smacked the backstretch outside wall before he clipped DiBenedetto and Byron, who had flames bursting out of his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Like teammate Bowman, the wreck placed Byron in a “must-win” scenario for the Roval to maintain his title hopes.

    At the time of caution, Wallace retained the lead ahead of Keselowski and Logano while Kurt Busch and Bell were in the top five. Just then, the skies darkened and the track was overshadowed with scattered rain and clouds, which forced the pace car to lead the field to pit road and to a stop on Lap 117, three laps shy of the second stage.

    While Wallace and the field awaited the decision, the jet dryers returned to the track to dry the racing surface. Soon after, reports of continuous precipitation along with lightning were made as nearly the entire grandstands were emptied and the competitors and teams took shelter near their respective pit box.

    Then, 17 minutes after the lightning report was made, NASCAR declared the race official and Wallace, who awaited the decision in his pit box, was named the winner, having led the final five laps prior to the call and with the race 71 laps shy of its scheduled distance.

    With the victory, Bubba Wallace became the 198th different competitor to win in the NASCAR Cup Series, the third first-time Cup winner of 2021, the 12th first-time winner at Talladega and the second African-American competitor to achieve a win in the NASCAR Cup Series. The first African-American competitor to win in NASCAR occurred in December 1963 made by the late NASCAR Hall of Famer Wendell Scott.

    “Part of me was just sitting there waiting,” Wallace, who was anxiously awaiting NASCAR’s decision to declare the race official, said on NBCSN. “It’s not over with. Just sit there, bide our time. If we go racing again, that’s fine. We’ll put ourselves in position. But we had so many cool fans behind us in the pit box, just cheering for it to rain, so it kind of amped up the intensity a little bit.

    “Just so proud of everybody at 23XI [Racing],” Wallace added. “New team. Coming in and getting a win late in the season. [It] Reminds me of 2013. Waited so long to get that first Truck win. I know a lot of history was made today, I believe, which is really cool, but it’s about my guys, it’s about our team, it’s about what we’ve done. Appreciate Michael Jordan, appreciate Denny [Hamlin] for believing in me, giving me the opportunity. Like we talk, it’s pretty fitting that it comes here at Talladega.”

    When asked about being the second African-American competitor to achieve a win in the NASCAR Cup Series, the emotions began to pour out of Wallace’s face and voice while recognizing the significance.

    “I never think about those things,” Wallace said. “When you say it like that, it brings a lot of emotions, lot of joy to my family, fans, friends. It’s pretty damn cool. Just proud to be a winner in the Cup Series.”

    Finally, Wallace evoked an inspiring message to future inspirers following his long journey and hurdles to become a NASCAR Cup Series winner.

    “This is for all those kids out there that want to have an opportunity, whatever they want to achieve and be the best at what they want to do,” Wallace said. “You’re gonna go through a lot of [expletive], but you always got to stay true to your path and not let the nonsense get to you. Stay strong, stay humble, stay hungry. There’s been plenty of times where I wanted to give up. You surround yourself with the right people and it’s moments like this that you appreciate.”

    In addition to Wallace achieving his first win as a driver, the victory was also a first for veteran crew chief Robert “Bootie” Barker, who replaced Mike Wheeler as Wallace’s crew chief in mid-September. It was also the first for 23XI Racing, a newly formed NASCAR team that debuted this season and is co-owned by NASCAR veteran NBA legend Michael Jordan and NASCAR veteran Denny Hamlin.

    “It’s just way more emotional [as an owner] because I know how difficult it is,” Hamlin, who finished seventh on the track, said. “These guys just worked so hard over the last 10 months to put this team together. We just spent a lot of hours getting this all put together. It’s great to see the results from all the work from these team guys. It means so much. It’s a learning process. We knew it was gonna be a learning process, but I’m so happy for the team…This is just the building step. We’re still in the beginning stages of our team. We’re still growing. We got some great things on the horizon, but this is just a great moral booster for everyone.”

    Wallace’s first Cup victory at Talladega capped off a historic NASCAR triple-header weekend at Talladega filled with first-time winners as Tate Fogleman claimed his first Truck Series career win in a wild finish while Brandon Brown achieved his first Xfinity career win, both occurring on Saturday, October 2.

    Wallace’s victory also meant that none of the remaining 11 Playoff contenders, aside from Hamlin, earned a one-way ticket to the Round of 8 by winning, leaving them to battle for the remaining seven vacant spots to the penultimate round in the Playoffs next weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (Roval).

    Brad Keselowski was the highest-finishing Playoff contender on the track in second place while teammate Logano settled in third. Kurt Busch finished fourth while Christopher Bell completed the top five. Chris Buescher, Hamlin, Harvick, Erik Jones and Alfredo finished in the top 10.

    Truex, Blaney and Elliott finished 12th, 15th and 18th while Kyle Busch ended up 27th, Following their misfortunes, teammates Byron, Larson and Bowman finished 36th, 37th and 38th.

    There were 35 lead changes for 19 different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 27 laps. Only nine of the 40 starters did not finish on the lead lap.

    Results:

    1. Bubba Wallace, five laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Brad Keselowski, 13 laps led

    3. Joey Logano, nine laps led

    4. Kurt Busch, nine laps led

    5. Christopher Bell, 12 laps led

    6. Chris Buescher, seven laps led, Stage 1 winner

    7. Denny Hamlin, six laps led

    8. Kevin Harvick, 16 laps led

    9. Erik Jones

    10. Anthony Alfredo, one lap led

    11. Austin Dillon

    12. Martin Truex Jr., two laps led

    13. Cole Custer, seven laps led

    14. Chase Briscoe

    15. Ryan Blaney

    16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 10 laps led

    17. Michael McDowell

    18. Chase Elliott

    19. Quin Houff

    20. Justin Haley, four laps led

    21. Ryan Newman

    22. Corey LaJoie

    23. Daniel Suarez

    24. Landon Cassill

    25. Joey Gase

    26. Aric Almirola

    27. Kyle Busch, four laps led

    28. Cody Ware, four laps led

    29. Garrett Smithley

    30. BJ McLeod

    31. Josh Bilicki

    32. Ryan Preece – OUT, Accident

    33. Ross Chastain, one lap down

    34. James Davison, one lap down

    35. Matt DiBenedetto – OUT, Accident, two laps led

    36. William Byron – OUT, Accident

    37. Kyle Larson, four laps down, three laps led

    38. Alex Bowman – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    39. Tyler Reddick – OUT, Accident, two laps led

    40. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident

    Bold indicates Playoff contenders.

    Playoff standings.

    1. Denny Hamlin – Advanced

    2. Kyle Larson, +22

    3. Joey Logano, +21

    4. Brad Keselowski, +20

    5. Martin Truex Jr., +20

    6. Ryan Blaney, +15

    7. Chase Elliott, +9

    8. Kyle Busch, +9

    9. Kevin Harvick, -9

    10. Christopher Bell, -28

    11. William Byron, -44

    12. Alex Bowman, -52

    The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will continue at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course for the Bank of America Roval 400 on Sunday, October 10, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, which will mark the series’ seventh and final road course event of this season. It is also where the second round of eliminations in the Playoffs will occur. 

  • NASCAR postpones Cup Playoff event at Talladega following weather delay

    NASCAR postpones Cup Playoff event at Talladega following weather delay

    Following early precipitation that proceeded into the afternoon in Talladega, Alabama, NASCAR announced that the Cup Series Playoff event at Talladega Superspeedway scheduled for Sunday, October 3, has been postponed to Monday, October 4, at 1 p.m. ET (noon CT) on NBCSN.

    Rain hit the superspeedway venue early Sunday morning and continued throughout the afternoon with the track-drying personnel and jet dryers attempting to dry the racing surface. Following a one-and-a-half-hour delay due to the inclement weather, the crew members rolled their respective cars on to pit road. Once the competitors ignited the engines, they made their way onto the track for pace laps.

    Not long after, however, another round of heavy precipitation hit the venue, which forced the pace car to lead the field back to pit road as the decision to postpone the race a day later was made since the venue has no lights installed around the superspeedway turns or straightaways and would not run as a night race.

    This marks the third consecutive season where a Cup event at Talladega will be postponed and have the finish of the event determined a day later due to inclement weather. In October 2019, the fall Talladega Playoff event was postponed a day later following the first stage due to inclement weather. The same thing occurred in June 2020 when lightning reports led to a series of storms sweeping the venue and prevented the race from starting.

    The event, named the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway and spanning 188 laps, will serve as the sixth event of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs and the second Round of 12 event.

    When the green flag waves on Monday, Denny Hamlin, winner of last weekend’s Playoff event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, will lead the field to the start alongside teammate Kyle Busch. Hamlin is the only Playoff competitor guaranteed a spot in the Playoff’s Round of 8.

    The YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway will return and commence on Monday, October 4, at 1 p.m. ET on NBCSN, NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

  • Brandon Brown achieves first NASCAR Xfinity career win at Talladega

    Brandon Brown achieves first NASCAR Xfinity career win at Talladega

    An ultimate underdog story was made on a dark afternoon in Talladega, Alabama, after Brandon Brown dodged two late multi-car wrecks and emerged out in front of the field to win the weather-shortened Sparks 300 at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, October 2, and score his first NASCAR Xfinity Series career win.

    Brown, who achieved his first Xfinity win in his 114th career start, had managed to remain as the leader ahead of Playoff contenders Brandon Jones and Justin Allgaier when the caution flew for a late multi-car wreck involving Harrison Burton. During the cleanup session, the track was beginning to darken and NASCAR eventually made the call for the race to be deemed official six laps shy of the scheduled distance and under caution, thus handing a first career win for the Woodbridge, Virginia, native and his family operated team.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Xfinity event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Xfinity race. With that, Playoff contender Justin Allgaier started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Austin Cindric.

    Prior to the event, Justin Haley, winner of both Xfinity events at Talladega in 2020, started at the rear of the field due to illegally applied decals that were found on the rear roof of his car during pre-race inspection. In addition, he was forced to serve a pass-through penalty at the start of the race.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Allgaier jumped ahead with an early advantage through the first turn until Cindric fought back on the inside lane entering the backstretch. 

    With the field fanning out to double lanes and running in a tight pack for a full turn, Cindric, who moved in front of Allgaier through the backstretch, led the first lap by a nose over Allgaier. Cindric was the lead car on the inside lane followed by Josh Berry while Allgaier led the outside lane, where he received drafting help from teammate Noah Gragson.

    Two laps later, Berry, winner of last weekend’s Xfinity event at Las Vegas, gained a draft on Cindric through the frontstretch and pulled a slingshot move to lead a lap for himself.

    Through the first six laps of the event, Cindric, who reassumed the lead two laps earlier, was leading followed by Berry, Allgaier, AJ Allmendinger and Gragson while Brandon Jones, Daniel Hemric, Harrison Burton, Myatt Snider and John Hunter Nemechek were in the top 10 as Jeb Burton, winner of the spring Talladega event, was in 11th.

    By Lap 10, Allmendinger was leading ahead of Brandon Jones, Cindric and a steaming pack of cars competing in close quarters and double lanes. By then, three different competitors (Allmendinger, Cindric and Berry) had led a lap, comprising of six lead changes.

    Five laps later and as the field fanned out to three and four lanes, Brandon Jones, who took over the lead on Lap 13, was leading followed by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Harrison Burton, Nemechek and Hemric while Allmendinger settled in fifth ahead of teammate Jeb Burton and Myatt Snider. 

    A lap later, Harrison Burton took the lead after Jones got stalled by Justin Haley in Turn 1, who was trying to remain on the lead lap following his opening lap penalty. Behind, Allgaier and Jeb Burton made contact and nearly wrecked in the middle of the field. 

    The following lap, Jones shoved Haley out of the draft with the pack, placing him a lap behind the leaders as Harrison Burton continued to lead ahead of the field. 

    Then through the frontstretch, Harrison Burton was placed in a three-wide battle with teammates Jones and Nemechek before he got shuffled out, which allowed Nemechek to take the lead on Lap 20. By then, the field started to get dicey with multiple competitors fanning out as high as four lanes and trying to formulate a run to the front.

    Then on the final lap of the first stage, the caution flew when rookie Sam Mayer got turned out of a four-wide battle with Allmendinger, Brandon Brown and Brett Moffitt before he made hard contact into the outside wall in Turn 3, collecting Allmendinger as both competitors were taken out with demolished race cars. 

    “I just got hung up there and once you get back [to the field] with the people that you’re racing, there’s a chance of [a wreck] happening,” Allmendinger, who was released from the infield care center, said. “At the end of the day, it’s disappointing, but that’s why you work hard in the regular season, to gain all those bonus points. [It] Doesn’t completely put you in a hole. We’re going to a pretty good race track for us [next weekend]…It is what it is.”

    The wreck involving Allmendinger and Mayer ended the first stage scheduled on Lap 25 under caution as Nemechek, who zigged and zagged through the inside and outside lanes to maintain the lead, claimed the stage victory. Jeb Burton settled in second followed by Riley Herbst, Cindric, Harrison Burton, Snider, Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Blaine Perkins and Daniel Hemric. By then, six different competitors led at least one lap.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Herbst, who opted for a two-tire service, left his pit stall with the lead followed by Nemechek, Snider, Cindric and Harrison Burton. Jeb Burton, who was second, got boxed behind Tommy Joe Martins while exiting his stall and came out in 10th.

    Not long after, the race was red-flagged for five minutes due to repairs being made on the SAFER barriers in Turn 3 where Mayer and Allmendinger wrecked.

    When the red flag lifted and the second stage started on Lap 30, Herbst gained a brief advantage through the first turn until Nemechek fought back on the inside lane. With the field running in close quarters and double lanes through the backstretch and entering the frontstretch, Herbst managed to maintain a brief advantage ahead of Nemechek and Cindric.

    By Lap 35, Herbst was leading ahead of Cindric, Hemric, Blaine Perkins and Gragson while Nemechek, Brandon Brown, Brett Moffitt, Jeb Burton and Snider were in the top 10. By then, Haley, who received the free pass under the first stage, was up in 12th behind Allgaier.

    Five laps later and with the field running in a long, single file line, Herbst continued to lead followed by Cindric, Hemric, Perkins, Brown and Jeb Burton.

    In the closing laps of the second stage, the field started to fan out to multiple lanes and charge to the front as Herbst continued to lead by a narrow margin. 

    Then on the final lap of the second stage, Blaine Perkins challenged Herbst for the top spot through the backstretch. Despite the field gaining a run on him through the frontstretch, Perkins managed to claim the stage 2 victory on Lap 50. Moffitt settled in second followed by Nemechek, Herbst, Allgaier, Jeb Burton, Harrison Burton, Haley, Cindric and Gragson. By then,  the race featured nine different leaders for 14 lead changes.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Herbst reassumed the lead followed by Haley. During the pit stops, names like Joe Graf Jr., Bayley Currey, Ryan Vargas and Mason Massey remained on the track, though all pitted prior to the restart.

    With 59 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Herbst and Haley started on the front row. At the start, Herbst jumped ahead of Haley followed by Allgaier before Allgaier moved to the lead the following lap. With Allgaier leading, he was followed by Cindric and Harrison Burton.

    The following lap, Cindric moved to the front followed by Herbst, Allgaier, Harrison Burton and the field.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Allgaier was leading ahead of Moffitt, Gragson, Jeb Burton and Berry while Hemric, Haley, Perkins, Cindric and Herbst were in the top 10. Harrison Burton was in 11th while teammate John Hunter Nemechek was in 13th. 

    A lap later, Moffitt moved into the lead. Another two laps later, Jeb Burton led a lap for himself before Cindric re-took the top spot. 

    Shortly after, Moffitt joined Berry, Allgaier and Gragson in pitting under green. A few laps later, names like Cindric, Harrison Burton, Herbst, Hemric and Nemechek pitted under green. While most of the Toyota competitors pitted, Brandon Jones failed to dive on to pit road with his teammates. 

    Soon after, names like Jeb Burton, Haley, Jones, Jade Buford, Snider, Jordan Anderson and others pitted under green. 

    With 40 laps remaining, names like Mason Massey, Kyle Weatherman, CJ McLaughlin and Jason White had yet to pit while the first 10 competitors, running in a single file line on fresh tires and full fuel led by Herbst, were trailing by 20 seconds. 

    Just then, the caution flew when Bayley Currey stalled his car on pit road. Under caution, names like Massey, Weatherman, McLaughlin, White and Moffitt pitted while the rest led by Herbst and Cindric remained on the track. Playoff contender Jeremy Clements also pitted due to experiencing cylinder issues in his car.

    With 34 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Herbst received a push from Allgaier to jump ahead with the lead and in front of Cindric. Then through the backstretch, Herbst and Cindric moved up to the outside lane as Gragson challenged for the lead on the inside lane.

    As Gragson took the lead, Herbst challenged on the outside lane followed by Cindric and Allgaier while Josh Berry closed in on teammate Gragson’s rear bumper.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event and with the field fanning out to multiple lanes in a pack, Gragson was leading ahead of teammate Berry, Moffitt, Jeb Burton, Snider, Brandon Jones, Cindric, Jordan Anderson, Haley and Herbst. Allgaier was in 12th, Henric was in 14th and Harrison Burton was in 17th in front of teammate John Hunter Nemechek.

    Five laps later, Moffitt and Gragson challenged in a side-by-side battle for the lead. Then, the caution flew for a vicious crash that started when Jeb Burton and Moffitt made contact in Turn 3, which sent Moffitt turning into Gragson as Gragson pounded into the outside wall and was hit by Myatt Snider. As more cars wrecked behind, Gragson received another vicious hit by McLaughlin and Caesar Bacarella before his battered No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro came to a rest below the apron. Among those involved included Jeb Burton, Moffitt, Berry, Brandon Jones, Bacarella, Vargas, Garrett Smithley, McLaughlin, Santino Ferrucci, Ryan Sieg and Mason Massey. The wreck was enough to pause the race for more than 15 minutes as all competitors, including Gragson, were okay.

    Following an extensive cleanup period and with the skies darkening as rain was being reported near the superspeedway, the race restarted with 20 laps remaining as Jeb Burton and Brandon Jones occupied the front row. 

    At the start, Brandon Jones jumped to the lead followed by Allgaier, Hemric and Haley while Jeb Burton was falling behind on the outside lane. 

    The following lap, Jeffrey Earnhardt made contact with the outside wall near the pit entrance and spun, but he was able to nurse his car to pit road as the race remained running in green. 

    Back on the track, Jones continued to lead followed by Allgaier, Hemric, Haley, Brown, Jade Buford, Jeb Burton, Harrison Burton, Jordan Anderson and Austin Cindric. 

    With 15 laps remaining, Brandon Jones was leading a long single-file line ahead of Allgaier, Hemric, Haley and Brown as Jeb Burton led a charge on the outside lane. Burton’s momentum, though, stalled was the leaders moved up the outside lane.

    A few laps later, the field fanned out to multiple lanes and in a tight pack as Brandon Brown and Jordan Anderson challenged for the lead alongside Brandon Jones. 

    Then with 11 laps remaining, the caution returned when Harrison Burton got sideways entering Turn 3 and turned back across the track and into the Turn 3 outside wall, where he collected Nemechek, Moffitt, Herbst, Josh Williams, Alex Labbe, Jason White and Jeb Burton, who bumper cover got clipped off. At the time of caution, NASCAR ruled that Brown was the leader ahead of Brandon Jones and Allgaier.

    Following the cleanup, the field continued to run behind the pace car and under caution as darkness began to overshadow the track. With darkness looming and beginning to cover the superspeedway, NASCAR then decided to declare the race official six laps shy of the finish. The decision handed the victory to Brandon Brown, who crossed the finish line under cautious pace with the lead.

    With his victory, Brown became the 169th different competitor to win in the Xfinity Series. He also became the fifth first-time Xfinity winner of 2021 and the sixth to do so at Talladega.

    While celebrating on the frontstretch amid a chorus of cheers from the crowd, Brown dedicated the win to his family operated organization, Brandonbilt Motorsports.

    “Oh my God!” Brown, who celebrated on the frontstretch, exclaimed. “This is a dream come true! Wow, Talladega, winner in NASCAR! Oh my God! Dad, we did it! Let’s go! This is everything we hoped and dreamed for. Everything I’ve wanted to do was to take the trophy home for mom and dad. Oh my God. Thank you so much. Thank you to all our partners. It’s just such an unbelievable moment. We saw our moment and we seized it. I’m just so proud of Brandonbilt Motorsports, so proud of everybody on our team, here and at home. Everybody that’s worked on our team since the beginning. We did it, we did it, we did it.”

    Brandon Jones was the highest-finishing Playoff competitor in second place while Justin Allgaier ended up in third place.

    “First off, let me just say how grateful I am to have Menards on our Supra,” Jones said. “It’s a big day for us. You look at the whole day and all the scenarios that happened. I think that’s probably the best option without us winning, to have [Brown] win. Good for him. Also, I think that it obviously doesn’t affect the point too bad for us. [I] Had some solid moments there. Don’t know how we missed the Big One there in [Turns] 3 and 4 early on in the day. Lot of positives, but we’re close. It’s tough to swallow.”

    “It’s disappointing to get that close and not being able to race for [the win],” Allgaier said. “Congrats to Brandon. Those guys worked really, really hard. It’s cool to see a first-time winner. Obviously, they did what they needed to do there at the end. Really proud of my team. The BRANDT Professional Agricultural Camaro was really good. We did what we needed to do. We come out of here with a good points gap. We didn’t lock our way into the next round, but we can go to the [Charlotte] Roval next week, have some fun and hopefully, go for it. “

    Daniel Hemric ended up in fourth for his 11th top-five result of the season while Jordan Anderson emerged with his first top-five result in the Xfinity Series by finishing fifth.

    Haley, teammate Jeb Burton, Cindric, Berry and Joe Graf Jr. completed the top 10 on the track.

    Cindric’s eighth-place result was enough for him to clinch his spot in the Playoff’s Round of 8 based on points as he continues his pursuit to defend his series title. Meanwhile, names like Jeb Burton, Myatt Snider, Riley Herbst and Jeremy Clements are below the top-eight cutline entering next weekend’s Playoff elimination event at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course.

    There were 33 lead changes for 17 different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 21 laps.

    Results.

    1. Brandon Brown, eight laps led

    2. Brandon Jones, 12 laps led

    3. Justin Allgaier, seven laps led

    4. Daniel Hemric

    5. Jordan Anderson

    6. Justin Haley

    7. Jeb Burton, seven laps led

    8. Austin Cindric, 10 laps led

    9. Josh Berry, three laps led

    10. Joe Graf Jr., one lap led

    11. Ryan Sieg

    12. Jade Buford

    13. Blaine Perkins, two laps led, Stage 2 winner

    14. Josh Williams

    15. Joey Gase

    16. JJ Yeley

    17. Santino Ferrucci

    18. Tommy Joe Martins

    19. Garrett Smithley

    20. Kyle Weatherman

    21. Alex Labbe

    22. John Hunter Nemechek, eight laps led, Stage 1 winner

    23. Matt Mills, one lap down

    24. Jeremy Clements, three laps down

    25. Harrison Burton -OUT, Accident, two laps led

    26. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Accident, three laps led

    27. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident, 26 laps led

    28. Jason White – OUT, Accident

    29. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Accident

    30. Noah Gragson – OUT, Accident, eight laps led

    31. Myatt Snider – OUT, Accident

    32. Caesar Bacarella – OUT, Accident

    33. Ryan Vargas – OUT, Accident

    34. CJ McLaaughlin – OUT, Accident

    35. Mason Massey – OUT, Accident, four laps led

    36. Bayley Currey – OUT, Drifeshaft, two laps led

    37. Landon Cassill – OUT, Engine

    38. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

    39. AJ Allmendinger – OUT, Accident, three laps led

    40. David Starr – OUT, Engine

    Bold indicates Playoff contenders.

    Playoff standings.

    1. Austin Cindric – Advanced
    2. Justin Allgaier, +55
    3. Daniel Hemric, +41
    4. AJ Allmendinger, +33 
    5. Justin Haley, +24
    6. Brandon Jones, +21
    7. Noah Gragson, +18
    8. Harrison Burton, +8
    9. Jeb Burton, -8
    10. Myatt Snider, -24
    11. Riley Herbst, -32
    12. Jeremy Clements, -48

    The 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs will continue next weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course venue, where the Round of 8 field will also be determined. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, October 9, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Team Penske reveals 2022 Cup Series crew chief lineup

    Team Penske reveals 2022 Cup Series crew chief lineup

    Team Penske took to social media to reveal its crew chief lineup for the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, featuring a new member to the roster.

    Jonathan Hassler, a former race engineer, will be serving as a full-time crew chief for Ryan Blaney and the No. 12 Ford Mustang team next season. Hassler currently serves as crew chief for the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang team driven by Matt DiBenedetto. In 15 races this season, Hassler, who replaced veteran Greg Erwin in June, has guided DiBenedetto and the Wood Brothers’ No. 21 team to one top-five result and five top-10 results.

    Hassler is set to replace Todd Gordon, the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series championship-winning crew chief who is set to retire following the 2021 season. Currently, Gordon has won three races with Blaney and the No. 12 team.

    Veteran Jeremy Bullins will be remaining as crew chief for Team Penske’s No. 2 Ford Mustang team set to be piloted by Austin Cindric, who will enter the 2022 season as a full-time Cup Series rookie candidate following four full-time seasons in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Cindric, the 2020 Xfinity champion who is currently in pursuit to defend his series title, is set to replace Brad Keselowski, the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion who is set to join Roush Fenway Racing as a driver and part-owner.

    Paul Wolfe, the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series championship-winning crew chief, will also retain his role as crew chief for Team Penske’s No. 22 Ford Mustang team and driver Joey Logano. Wolfe and Logano are currently in their second full-time season together, where they amassed four victories, 20 top-five results, 35 top-10 results and a third-place result in the 2020 Cup Series final standings.

    All three of Penske’s Cup operations are competing in the Round of 12 in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs that is set to continue at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, October 3, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

    The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season is scheduled to commence at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for The Clash on February 6 followed by the 64th annual running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 20.

  • Zipadelli to serve as Harvick’s crew chief at Talladega

    Zipadelli to serve as Harvick’s crew chief at Talladega

    Greg Zipadelli is slated to serve as an interim crew chief for Kevin Harvick and the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team for the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series Playoff event at Talladega Superspeedway.

    Zipadelli, a two-time Cup championship-winning crew chief with 34 career victories, serves as competition director for Stewart-Haas Racing. He will be filling in for Rodney Childers, who will not be participating this weekend at Talladega after Harvick’s car was found with two lug nuts not secured following last weekend’s Playoff event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In addition to serving his one-race suspension, Childers is anticipated to be fined $20,000 from NASCAR.

    With Zipadelli serving as Harvick’s crew chief, veteran Tony Gibson will be serving as competition director for all SHR operations this weekend.

    Talladega will mark Zipadelli’s first time serving as an interim crew chief this season. The previous season, he served as an interim crew chief for six NASCAR national touring series events (four with Chase Briscoe in the Xfinity Series and two with Clint Bowyer in the Cup Series). During the six-race schedule, Zipadelli guided Briscoe and the No. 98 SHR Ford Mustang team to three victories (Homestead-Miami Speedway and Pocono Raceway in June along with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in July).

    Currently, Harvick, who finished ninth in the previous Cup event at Las Vegas, is ranked in 10th place in the Cup Playoff standings and is seven points below the top-eight cutline. While he has yet to record his first victory of this season, he has achieved eight top-five results and 20 top-10 results as he is nearing 750 Cup career starts.

    The upcoming Cup Playoff event at Talladega is scheduled to occur on Sunday, October 3, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Hamlin dominates for Playoff win at Vegas, advances to Round of 8

    Hamlin dominates for Playoff win at Vegas, advances to Round of 8

    Denny Hamlin took another step closer in achieving his first NASCAR Cup Series championship after the veteran Joe Gibbs Racing competitor held off Chase Elliott to win the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, September 26.

    The victory was enough for Hamlin and his No. 11 JGR Toyota team to earn a spot in the Playoff’s Round of 8.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Kyle Larson, winner of last weekend’s Playoff event at Bristol Motor Speedway, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Ryan Blaney.

    Prior to the event, Playoff contenders William Byron and Martin Truex Jr. started at the rear of the field after their respective machines failed pre-race inspection twice. Aric Almirola and JJ Yeley also dropped to the rear of the field for meeting the same fate as Byron and Truex. For Yeley’s case, however, his car failed pre-race inspection three times, resulting with his crew chief, Ty Brazeal, being ejected from the event and the driver penalized with a drive-through penalty at the start of the race.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Larson peaked ahead on the outside lane, but Blaney fought back on the inside lane through the first two turns. Through Turn 3, Blaney received a push from Kevin Harvick to clear Larson and lead the first lap in his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang. In Turn 3, Harvick got loose and shuffled back to sixth while mired in a tight, three-wide battle. During this process, Denny Hamlin moved up to third followed by Brad Keselowski, Alex Bowman and Kyle Busch as Joey Logano and Matt DiBenedetto joined the battle.

    The following lap, Hamlin muscled his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry into the runner-up spot over Larson as Kyle Busch, DiBenedetto and Joey Logano battled for fourth through the backstretch and returning to the frontstretch.

    Through the first five laps of the event, Blaney was leading by two-tenths of a second over Hamlin while Kyle Busch, Larson and Logano were in the top five. Alex Bowman, meanwhile, muscled his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE into sixth followed by DiBenedetto, Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott and Harvick. By then, Byron was in 21st behind Kurt Busch and Bubba Wallace while Truex was in 24th behind Ryan Newman.

    Three laps later, Hamlin emerged as the new leader over Blaney as Larson and Kyle Busch, both of whom battled for third, closed in on Blaney for more. Behind, Logano moved into the top five ahead of DiBenedetto, Harvick and Bowman.

    By Lap 20, Hamlin continued to lead by nearly six-tenths of a second over Blaney. Kyle Busch was in third ahead of Larson while DiBenedetto was in fifth. Harvick, Logano, Erik Jones, William Byron and Keselowski were in the top 10 followed by Chase Elliott, Bowman, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell and Austin Dillon. Kurt Busch, who was making his 750th career start, was in 16th ahead of rookie Chase Briscoe while Truex was in 19th ahead of Ryan Newman, Bubba Wallace, Michael McDowell and Ross Chastain.

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 25, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to approximately six-tenths of a second over Blaney and more than a second over teammate Kyle Busch, who was making his 600th Cup career start. By then, Byron was up in ninth behind Erik Jones while Truex was mired in 18th behind Briscoe. In addition, teammates Elliott and Bowman were in 11th and 13th.

    Under the competition caution, the leaders pitted and Kyle Busch emerged with the lead following his pit stops followed by teammate Hamlin, Blaney, Larson, Harvick and DiBenedetto. During the pit stops, Kurt Busch and Christopher Bell pitted again to have their respective machines repaired after both made contact with one another. In addition, Logano pitted again to have the lug nuts on his No. 22 Pennzoil Ford Mustang tightened.

    When the race restarted on Lap 30, teammates Kyle Busch and Hamlin were locked in a heated, side-by-side battle in front of the field running in two lanes for a full lap. The following lap, Hamlin managed to squeak ahead of Kyle Busch as Larson and Blaney joined the battle. Behind, DiBenedetto battled Harvick for fifth. Another lap later, Kyle Busch retained second followed by Blaney as DiBenedetto shoved Larson through the frontstretch while battling Harvick.

    By Lap 35, Byron battled teammate Elliott for seventh while DiBenedetto and Harvick battled for fifth. In addition, Blaney and Larson continued to battle for third while Kyle Busch kept teammate Hamlin within his sights for the lead.

    Five laps later, the top-three competitors were separated by half a second as Hamlin continued to lead ahead of Kyle Busch and Larson. Meanwhile, the fourth-place competitor of Blaney was trailing by nearly a second while Harvick was in fifth. Byron was up in sixth while DiBenedetto fell back to seventh. Elliott, Tyler Reddick and Keselowski were in the top 10 followed by Bowman and Truex. 

    On Lap 44, Hamlin and Larson split the lapped car in Turn 3 while battling for the lead. Another lap later, Larson, who won at Vegas in March, made his way into the lead. Shortly after, Kyle Busch moved his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry into the runner-up spot. 

    Through the first 50 laps of the event, Larson was out in front by eight-tenths of a second over Kyle Busch while Hamlin was in third, trailing by more than a second. Blaney and Harvick were in the top five followed by Byron, Elliott, Reddick, DiBenedetto and Keselowski. Truex and Bowman were in 11th and 12th, Logano was back in 20th behind Michael McDowell and Christopher Bell was mired back in 25th behind Aric Almirola and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    By Lap 60, Larson extended his advantage to more than a second over Kyle Busch. While Hamlin and Blaney remained in the top five, Byron made his first appearance in the top five after overtaking Harvick earlier. In addition, Elliott overtook his new rival, Harvick, in sixth while Truex was in 10th. Logano and Bell, meanwhile, were mired back in 19th and 23rd.

    Fifteen laps later, Larson continued to lead by nearly two seconds over Kyle Busch while Hamlin, Blaney and Byron remained in the top five. Elliott, Reddick, Harvick, DiBenedetto and Truex stabilized themselves in the top 10 ahead of Keselowski, Bowman, Erik Jones, Briscoe, Austin Dillon, Logano, Kurt Busch, Ross Chastain, Bubba Wallace and McDowell.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 80, Larson captured his 15th stage victory of the season. Kyle Busch settled in second followed by Hamlin, Blaney, Byron, Elliott, Reddick, Harvick, DiBenedetto and Truex.

    Under the stage break, the leaders returned to pit road and Hamlin emerged with the lead ahead of Larson, Elliott, Blaney, Byron and Reddick while Kyle Busch dropped back to seventh following a slow pit stop. During the pit stops, Aric Almirola was penalized for equipment interference. In addition, Bell, who pitted a lap earlier to have some damage repaired on his car, lost a lap to the leaders after he failed to beat the pace car off of pit road.

    The second stage started on Lap 87. At the start, Hamlin received a push from Blaney on the inside lane to retain the lead while Larson remained in the hunt. In the midst of the battle at the front, the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the backstretch. Then during the following lap, Larson made a bold move on the outside lane to reassume the lead as Elliott motored his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE into third. In addition, Byron challenged Blaney for fourth while Reddick was in sixth ahead of Harvick and Kyle Busch. 

    On Lap 90 and with the field competing in close quarters towards the front, Byron bolted his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE into the lead following a bold three-wide pass on Larson and Hamlin through the frontstretch and entering Turn 1. Larson then retained second followed by Blaney while Hamlin fell back to fourth in front of Elliott and Reddick. 

    Shortly after, the caution flew due to a heavy accident involving Joey Gase, where he lost a left-rear tire in Turn 1 and pounded the outside wall as he nearly flipped before coming to a rest below the Turn 2 apron and with significant rear-end damage. Despite climbing out under his own power, Gase was later transported to a local hospital for further evaluation. 

    Under caution, some led by Hamlin pitted while the rest led by teammates Byron and Larson remained on the track.

    When the race restarted on Lap 98, Larson and Byron battled dead even for the top spot through the backstretch until Larson made his way to the front in Turn 3. Behind, teammates, Elliott and Byron battled for second while Bowman was up in fourth ahead of Blaney. Meanwhile, the field fanned out to multiple lanes as Kyle Busch was in ninth behind teammate Hamlin, Logano was in 11th ahead of Truex and Harvick got shuffled back to 16th. 

    At the Lap 100 mark, Larson continued to lead but was being pressured by teammate Elliott as teammate Byron and Blaney remained in pursuit. Two laps later, Elliott led a lap for himself by a nose, but Larson fought back on the outside lane and in a fierce, side-by-side battle. Meanwhile, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Hamlin and Kyle Busch were in sixth and seventh on fresh tires.

    Soon after, the battle for the lead became a three-car battle as Byron joined the fight for the top spot along with teammates Larson and Elliott. By then, all four Hendrick Motorsports competitors were running first through fourth as Larson retained the lead. Not long after, Byron overtook teammate Elliott for second.

    By Lap 110, Larson was leading by two-tenths of a second over teammate Byron while teammate Elliott settled in third, trailing by seven-tenths of a second. Behind, Blaney moved up to fourth followed by Hamlin and Kyle Busch while Bowman slipped back to seventh. DiBenedetto, Reddick and Kurt Busch were in the top 10 ahead of Logano, Harvick, Truex, Keselowski and Chris Buescher.

    Ten laps later, Larson extended his advantage to more than a second over teammate Byron as Kyle Busch was up in third place. Teammate Hamlin was in fourth after overtaking Elliott while Blaney fell back to sixth ahead of Bowman, Reddick, DiBenedetto and Kurt Busch.

    Another 10 laps later, Larson stabilized his advantage to more than two seconds over teammate Byron, who was told that he does not have enough fuel to complete the remainder of the second stage under green. Kyle Busch was in third followed by teammate Hamlin and Elliott while Blaney, Reddick, Bowman, DiBenedetto and Kurt Busch remained in the top 10.

    Soon after, Elliott pitted under green along with teammate Byron, who ended up going with a two-tire pit stop after his crew members had issues changing the right-front tire on the No. 24 machine. 

    Back on the track and by Lap 140, Larson continued to lead by two seconds over Hamlin and by more than three seconds over Kyle Busch. While Elliott and Byron battled for 23rd, Blaney and Reddick were in the top five. 

    Through the first 150 laps of the event, Larson was leading by nearly a second over Hamlin and more than two seconds over Kyle Busch. By then, Erik Jones, who was told that he was five laps short in completing the second stage under green, had pitted.

    Three laps later, Larson surrendered the lead to pit his No. 5 Tarlton and Son Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE under green. Also pitting were Blaney, Bowman and DiBenedetto while Hamlin took over the lead. 

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 160, Hamlin notched his 10th stage victory of the season. Kyle Busch settled in second followed by Reddick, Truex, Logano, Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Harvick, Austin Dillon and Bubba Wallace. By then, Elliott was able to race his way back on the lead lap on fresh tires in 17th while names like Byron, Larson, Blaney, DiBenedetto, Bell and Bowman were behind a lap. Byron, though, received the free pass as he was scored the first competitor a lap down.

    Under the stage break, the leaders returned to pit road for service and Hamlin retained the lead followed by teammate Truex, Reddick, teammate Kyle Busch, Harvick and Logano.

    With 101 laps remaining and the track falling into dark, night conditions, the final stage commenced. At the start, teammates Truex and Hamlin battled dead even through the backstretch until Truex cleared Hamlin entering Turn 3.

    The following lap, however, Hamlin muscled his way back into the lead. Behind, a three-wide battle for third place occurred between Reddick, Kyle Busch and Harvick as Reddick prevailed entering the backstretch. Another lap later, Reddick moved up to second after passing Truex. Behind, Harvick battled Truex for third while Logano moved up to fifth ahead of Kyle Busch and Elliott. 

    With 90 laps remaining, Hamlin was leading by nearly three-tenths of a second over Reddick while Truex, Elliott and Kyle Busch were in the top five. Kurt Busch was in sixth ahead of Keselowski and Harvick while Logano and Briscoe were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Byron was in 12th in between Austin Dillon and Wallace while Larson was in 15th behind Blaney. 

    Down to the final 75 laps of the event, Hamlin continued to lead by nearly four-tenths of a second over Reddick while Truex, Elliott and Kyle Busch remained in the top five. By then, Byron was up in seventh, Harvick was in ninth, Logano was in 11th and Larson was mired back in 15th behind Daniel Suarez and Bubba Wallace.

    Fifteen laps later, Hamlin extended his advantage to more than a second over Reddick. Truex and Elliott remained in the top five while Byron was back in the top five, moving into fifth ahead of the Busch brothers. 

    Not long after, green flag pit stops ignited as Kyle Busch pitted followed by Truex, Bowman, Almirola, Byron, Elliott, Blaney, Harvick, Harvick, Larson, Hamlin and others. During the pit stops, Bowman pitted for a second time due to a punctured wheel. 

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event and with the majority of the pit stops complete, Reddick, who has yet to pit, was leading followed by Keselowski, Austin Dillon and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. By then, Kurt Busch pitted.

    Once Reddick pitted his No. 8 Caterpillar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, Keselowski led for four laps before pitting and giving the lead to Austin Dillon.

    With 43 laps remaining, Byron, who was in fifth, fell off the pace and was forced to pit under green due to a flat right-rear tire. 

    Three laps later, Austin Dillon, who has yet to pit, continued to lead followed by Hamlin, who trailed by more than 13 seconds. Elliott was in third while Truex and Kyle Busch were in the top five. Reddick was back in sixth ahead of Blaney, Harvick, Bell and Kurt Busch.

    Another two laps later, Austin Dillon pitted and Hamlin returned to the lead, thus completing the cycle of green flag pit stops. 

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Hamlin was leading by less than a second over Elliott while Truex, Kyle Busch and Reddick remained in the top five. Meanwhile, Harvick was in seventh behind Blaney, Logano was in 10th behind teammate Keselowski and Kurt Busch and Larson was in 11th. Behind, there were three Playoff contenders mired a lap behind: Byron in 21st, Bowman in 23rd and Bell, who was two laps down, in 25th.

    With 20 laps remaining, Hamlin continued to lead by nearly two seconds over Elliott while third-place Kyle Busch trailed by nearly nine seconds. Truex remained in fourth while Reddick was under pressure by Blaney for fifth. By then, Larson cracked the top 10.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Elliott.

    With five laps remaining, Elliott cut the deficit down to Hamlin to nine-tenths of a second, but Hamlin, despite navigating his way through lapped traffic, remained in the lead. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hamlin was leading by three-tenths of a second over Elliott, who closed the gap and was closing hard for the win. Despite being pressured by Elliott for a final lap, Hamlin was able to smoothly navigate his way around the circuit and claim the checkered flag along with the victory by four-tenths of a second over Elliott.

    With his second victory of the season and first at Vegas, Hamlin also achieved his 46th NASCAR Cup Series career win, which moved him into a tie with the late NASCAR Hall of Famer Buck Baker for 17th place on the all-time wins list. In addition, Hamlin is the lone competitor to be guaranteed a spot in the Round of 8 in the 2021 Cup Playoffs.

    “Just so happy for our FedEx Office team,” Hamlin said on NBCSN. “Joe Gibbs Racing just gives us great race cars. That’s what I’m so proud of is to drive for those guys. Can’t thank them enough for everything they do. Vegas, it feels so good to win in Vegas. Last couple times, I’ve been so close and just didn’t have the right breaks, but [the crew] dialed the car in great. Great to hold those guys off. I’m so happy to not have to worry about the next two weeks, but I’m a professional, so I’m gonna work just as hard each and every week to win.”

    Elliott, who led a single lap, finished in second place for the sixth time this season while Kyle Busch ended up in third place in his 600th Cup career start at his home track. Both Cup champions are above the top-eight cutline.

    “Yeah, we were really close,” Elliott said. “Just not quite close enough. Denny did a good job controlling the gap to me. He was having a hard time with [DiBenedetto]. I think he was doing a good job of giving himself enough room to be able to work the lanes and control the gap back to me. Super close. Really proud of our NAPA team. I feel like we’ve been performing at a really nice level the last three or four weeks. We just haven’t had great results to show for it. Proud of the effort tonight. I’m look forward to the next two [races]. It’s gonna be wild, so looking forward to it.”

    “We got all we could,” Busch added. “I felt like during the daytime, we were a little bit better than [Hamlin]. We could race with him. I was looking forward to the lights coming on and us picking up speed and being able to rip the wall a little bit faster. When we got hit into the fence there off of [Turn] 2, the first time, it knocked speed out of our car. We helped it a little bit, coming to pit road, putting the last set of tires on it and I got it into the fence again, was trying to get by a lapped car. Not enough room over there, I guess, but overall, great job by [crew chief] Ben [Beshore] and my guys on this M&M’s Camry. They gave me a good piece. We moved forward all day long, so that was good. Good showing.”

    Truex finished fourth while Blaney fended off Reddick to finish fifth on the track. Both Truex and Blaney are also above the top-eight cutline following Vegas.

    “We just never could quite get the balance right,” Truex said. “Really struggled off of Turn 4 all day long, no matter what we did. Not sure exactly why. It’s not really something we’ve had here in the past, but definitely something going on there. We couldn’t fix it. We tried a lot. We made a lot of adjustments. [Crew chief] James [Small] and the guys did a really good job executing. We got all we could out of it. The Bass Pro Toyota was just a little bit off tonight. Wish we could’ve been better, but all in all, to grind out a fourth with that car was a good effort…Nothing bad happened to us. Everybody did a good job. Cross our fingers and cross our toes, do some praying this week and go to Talladega. See what happens.”

    Reddick was the highest non-Playoff contender in sixth while Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Harvick and Larson finished in the top 10. Logano settled in 11th while Byron, Bowman and Bell finished 18th, 22nd and 24th, respectively.

    “We just kind of grind all day,” Keselowski said. “No point were we the fastest car, but we executed really, really well. The pit crew did an awesome job. We’re not beating ourselves, whether it’s the things falling off the car or making big mistakes to get in trouble. I’m proud of that. This is a really dangerous team with the execution we have right now. If we can just find a little bit of speed, we can win races and win a championship. We don’t have that today, but we’re still soldering through, scoring a lot of points and putting ourselves in a good position.”

    “The balance never really changed on our Subway Ford Mustang,” Harvick said. “Just kept plugging away at it and way better than we were last time. Made up some points and go to the next one. [Talladega]’ll be the same as this week. Just go try to score stage points, try to put yourself in the best position possible and go from there. I’ve done it all year. It’s an old story, right?”

    “We didn’t make the right decision in the second stage,” Larson said. “We stayed out, got caught where we didn’t have enough fuel and had to pit, went a lap down because of it. Had to do the wave around, was on older tires…just hard battling through there. Just a battle. Had to keep my head on straight there, but we were able to dig through it and come away with a top 10. It surely should’ve been a lot better, but we were to still salvage an OK day. Get a stage win, get another Playoff point. That was good…It is what it is. We’ll go on to Talladega now and try to miss some chaos.”

    “Nothing really went as planned,” Logano said. “We were definitely better in the daytime when the track was hot. It was probably our best run. Unfortunately, that was when we had a loose wheel and had to pit before the green flag after the [competition] caution. That kind of took away some stage points there. Got some stage points in the second round and there in the end, lot the handle a little bit as the track went cool. Lost some speed on top of that and had another vibration. Pretty much, nothing went good at the end of the race. Maybe, we should be happy with an 11th after all of that and we’re fighting through it, but definitely want to be a little bit more comfortable with the Pennzoil Mustang going into Talladega. All in all, we got what we could out of it for today. Left some still on the table, though. That’s probably the most frustrating part.”

    “I thought we were really fast,” Byron said. “We came from the back to the front, took the lead and then obviously, had that caution. I chose the wrong lane there and had to run second there for awhile to Kyle. And then we had the strategy deal with not being able to make it on fuel and had to recover from that. We had to take two tires and that hurt us. We were able to drive all the way back to the front from the back again, so that was twice today. And then we had the flat tire. We had an awesome car. The No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet was amazing. I think it was right there with [Hamlin]. [I] Never got to really race him straight up. We’ll just have to keep bringing that speed.”

    There were 21 lead changes for 10 different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 21 laps. Only 12 of 38 competitors finished on the lead lap

    Results.

    1. Denny Hamlin, 137 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Chase Elliott, one lap led

    3. Kyle Busch, two laps led

    4. Martin Truex Jr., one lap led

    5. Ryan Blaney, eight laps led

    6. Tyler Reddick, five laps led

    7. Brad Keselowski, four laps led

    8. Kurt Busch

    9. Kevin Harvick

    10. Kyle Larson, 95 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    11. Joey Logano

    12. Matt DiBenedetto

    13. Austin Dillon, one lap down, seven laps led

    14. Chase Briscoe, one lap down

    15. Daniel Suarez, one lap down

    16. Bubba Wallace, one lap down

    17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap down

    18. William Byron, one lap down, seven laps led

    19. Aric Almirola, one lap down

    20. Ryan Newman, one lap down

    21. Michael McDowell, one lap down

    22. Alex Bowman, two laps down

    23. Ross Chastain, two laps down

    24. Christopher Bell, two laps down

    25. Chris Buescher, two laps down

    26. Erik Jones, two laps down

    27. Anthony Alfredo, two laps down

    28. Ryan Preece, two laps down

    29. Cole Custer, two laps down

    30. Corey LaJoie, three laps down

    31. Cody Ware, seven laps down

    32. Justin Haley, seven laps down

    33. BJ McLeod, 10 laps down

    34. Quin Houff, 12 laps down

    35. Garrett Smithley, 13 laps down

    36. Josh Bilicki, 15 laps down

    37. Joey Gase – OUT, Accident

    38. JJ Yeley – OUT

    Bold indicates Playoff contenders.

    Playoff standings.

    1. Denny Hamlin – Advanced

    2. Kyle Larson, +57

    3. Kyle Busch, +35

    4. Martin Truex Jr., +31

    5. Ryan Blaney, +24

    6. Chase Elliott, +22

    7. Joey Logano, +6

    8. Brad Keselowski, +4

    9. William Byron, -4

    10. Kevin Harvick, -7

    11. Alex Bowman, -13

    12. Christopher Bell, -25

    Next on the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs schedule is Talladega Superspeedway for the second Round of 12 event. The race is scheduled to occur on Sunday, October 3, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC. 

  • VeeKay to remain at Ed Carpenter Racing for 2022 IndyCar season

    VeeKay to remain at Ed Carpenter Racing for 2022 IndyCar season

    With the 2021 NTT IndyCar Series season set to conclude, Ed Carpenter Racing confirmed that Rinus VeeKay will be remaining with the organization and as a full-time driver of the No. 21 Dallara-Chevrolet for the 2022 IndyCar season.

    The 21-year-old native from Hoofddorp, Netherlands, is campaigning in his second full-time season in the IndyCar Series. He notched his first career win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in May 2021 after leading 33 of 85 laps and beating pole-sitter Romain Grosjean. Since his first IndyCar win, he achieved another podium result after finishing second in the first of a Detroit Grand Prix doubleheader feature in June and four additional top-10 results, including an eighth-place result in the 105th annual running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May. Despite being absent for the Road America event in June due to sustaining injuries from a cycling accident, he is currently ranked in 11th place in the standings, trailing the top-10 mark by a single point.

    The 2022 IndyCar Series season will mark VeeKay’s third full-time stint in the series, with the season set to commence at the Streets of St. Petersburg in Florida on February 27.

    “I am very excited to have another season with Ed Carpenter Racing,” VeeKay said. “We made so much progress this year. I had my first win in INDYCAR and made many great memories. Next year, we can be better than we’ve ever been. We want to be championship contenders, to go for even better results, more frequent wins and podium finishes. The atmosphere at ECR is perfect for that. It feels like a group of friends who are eager to work hard for strong results. I am excited to continue that in 2022 and not having anything change.”

    “I want to thank Ed Carpenter for giving me the opportunity to drive for another season,” VeeKay added. “Ed was the one that gave me the chance to be able to prove myself in INDYCAR, and I am very grateful to him. Thank you to Tony George, Stuart Reed and the entire team, every single person who makes this possible. I am the one driving, but there is a whole team behind me working day a night to give me a good, reliable car. I also really appreciate the support of ECR’s partners, including SONAX and Direct Supply, for allowing us to work hard, improve and take a big step forward this offseason.”

    Starting his racing career in karting in 2009, VeeKay is a former competitor of the MRF Challenge Formula 2000, the USF2000 and a former champion of the Pro Mazda Championship. He also achieved the 2019 F3 Asian Winter Series title and was the runner-up in the 2019 Indy Lights championship battle, where he won six races while competing with Juncos Racing.

    In 2020, VeeKay made his IndyCar debut when he replaced Spencer Pigot as driver of the No. 21 Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing, beginning at Texas Motor Speedway in June. Throughout the 14-race scheduled in 2020, VeeKay earned three top-five results, including his maiden podium result in the first of an Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course doubleheader feature in October after finishing third. After finishing 14th in the final standings, VeeKay was named the 2020 IndyCar Rookie of the Year.

    “I am very happy that Rinus will be back behind the wheel for ECR in 2022,” Ed Carpenter, team owner, said. “Rinus has continued to show that he has the talent and work ethic to be a champion and that’s the goal of our team. We look forward to more success next season.”

    The remainder of Ed Carpenter Racing’s driver lineup for the 2022 IndyCar Series season will be determined at a later date.

  • Hamilton scores 100th Grand Prix win in Russia Grand Prix

    Hamilton scores 100th Grand Prix win in Russia Grand Prix

    History was made under a stormy afternoon in Sochi, Russia, after Sir Lewis Hamilton took advantage of Lando Norris’ late race misfortune to lead the final three laps and win the Russian Grand Prix at Sochi Autodrome on Sunday, September 26, for his 100th career win in Formula One.

    Hamilton, who started the weekend by wrecking twice during qualifying session and knocked one of his Mercedes crew members on pit road during the second practice session before lining up in fourth place on the grid, remained competitive throughout the event and methodically worked his way towards the front while Norris dominated in his McLaren.

    While the event started on dry conditions, rain fell on the circuit in the second half of the event and would produce slick conditions on the circuit for the remainder of the event. As Hamilton, who was battling Norris late, pitted for intermediate tyres in the closing laps, Norris elected to remain on the circuit on slick tyres. Then on Lap 51 of 53, Norris slipped and Hamilton capitalized to take the lead. From there, Hamilton was able to power his Mercedes home to the win.

    With his fifth Grand Prix victory of 2021, fifth in Russia and first since winning at Silverstone Circuit in July, Hamilton became the first competitor to reach F1’s winning centurion at 100. In addition, Hamilton extended Mercedes’ winning streak in Russia to eight consecutive seasons.

    Overall, Hamilton, who came into Russia trailing Max Verstappen by five points, leads the drivers’ championship standings by two points as Verstappen settled in second place following a slow start to the weekend.

    “It’s incredible,” Hamilton said. “Firstly, I just have to say a big, big thank you to my team. Without them, even today, fantastic on the pit stops, amazing with strategy and just continuing to not give up in this incredibly tight battle. I was really, really grateful for them just continuing to push. It’s taken a long time just to get that one win [100]. Our competitors are super fast as you can see, but nonetheless, I’m really grateful. I was pushing so hard. I had a difficult day yesterday, so I was like, ‘I’ve got to redeem myself somehow.’ Flat out. It’s a great, great feeling. I’m glad that I brought it home.”

    Norris, who achieved his maiden pole position on Saturday and who led a race-high 30 of 53 laps, settled in seventh after slipping on the wet circuit, pitting twice in the final laps and having a maiden F1 victory slip out of his reach in the final laps.

    “I could have won the race and I didn’t,” Norris, who was emotional but earned the Driver of the Day honors, said. “It’s the way it is, it’s the way it went. I made the decisions I made. They were, obviously, wrong at the end of the day. Tough one, but on the positive side, I guess I got a couple points and [teammate] Daniel [Ricciardo] did a good job as well for the team. It was a decent day.”

    Meanwhile, Verstappen rallied from a rough start of the weekend, where he was penalized three places on the grid for igniting a collision between himself and Hamilton in Italy in mid-September and penalized again after Red Bull Racing exceeded their power units use per season by installing a fourth Honda engine unit to Verstappen’s car ahead of this weekend’s event in Russia. Dropped to the rear of the field, Verstappen methodically worked his way to the front following a midway tyre change from hards to mediums and he ended up in second place for his 11th top-two result of 2021.

    “Super happy to be second,” Verstappen said. “If you would’ve told me this morning that I would come second today, I wouldn’t believe you. Luckily, the call to go from the slicks to inters was the perfect one at the right lap. That gave me the positions and keep the car on the track. Super pleased with this. It could’ve been a lot worse in terms of how many points I would lose. To come away with second here was, for us, very important.”

    Behind, Carlos Sainz Jr., who started on the front row, led 12 laps in his Ferrari before settling in third place and achieving his third podium result of this season.

    “It’s mainly [a] happy [podium result],” Sainz said. “I think as a team, as Ferrari, we need to keep analyzing and keeping seeing what we can do better with tyres, with fuel, top speed, to make sure that the next time a Ferrari’s leading a Grand Prix, we’re not overtaken so easy as it happened today. In general, it was a very strong race.”

    Daniel Ricciardo, winner of the previous Grand Prix event in Italy, finished fourth followed by Valtteri Bottas, who rallied from starting at the rear of the field after his Mercedes team elected to install a new power unit in his car.

    Fernando Alonso finished sixth ahead of Norris while Kimi Räikkönen returned from a two-race absence to settle in eighth. Sergio “Checo” Perez finished ninth and George Russell, who started in the top three, claimed the 10th and final points-paying result on the track.

    Aston Martin teammates Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel finished 11th and 12th followed by Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon and Charles Leclerc. Antonio Giovinazzi finished 16th while rookies Yuki Tsunoda and Nikita Mazepin ended up 17th and 18th.

    Nicholas Latifi retired in 19th while Mick Schumacher suffered his first retirement of the season due to a hydraulics leak, thus finishing 20th.

    Results.

    1. Lewis Hamilton, 25 points, three laps led

    2. Max Verstappen, 18 points

    3. Carlos Sainz Jr., 15 points, 12 laps led

    4. Daniel Ricciardo, 12 points

    5. Valtteri Bottas, 10 points

    6. Fernando Alonso, eight points

    7. Lando Norris, seven points, 30 laps led

    8. Kimi Räikkönen, four points

    9. Sergio Perez, two points

    10. George Russell, one point

    11. Lance Stroll, +1

    12. Sebastian Vettel, +1

    13. Pierre Gasly, +1

    14. Esteban Ocon, +1

    15. Charles Leclerc, +1

    16. Antonio Giovinazzi, +1 lap

    17. Yuki Tsunoda, +1

    18. Nikita Mazepin, +2 laps

    19. Nicholas Latifi – Retired

    20. Mick Schumacher – Retired

    Following the 15th Grand Prix event of 2021, Lewis Hamilton leads the drivers’ standings by two points over Max Verstappen. On the other hand, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team continues to lead the constructors’ standings by 33 points over Red Bull Racing and 163 over McLaren.

    Next on the 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship schedule is Istanbul Park for the Turkish Grand Prix on Sunday, October 10.

  • Berry wins Xfinity Playoff opener at Las Vegas

    Berry wins Xfinity Playoff opener at Las Vegas

    On a night where the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs commenced, a non-title contender stole the show as Josh Berry outran teammate Justin Allgaier to win the Alsco Uniforms 302 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 25.

    The victory was Berry’s second of his Xfinity Series career and in his 20th start of this season. The victory also occurred as Berry filled in the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro as a relief competitor for veteran Michael Annett.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Xfinity event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Xfinity race. With that, Austin Cindric and AJ Allmendinger, both of whom wrecked and battled for the win last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, started on the front row. 

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Cindric had Justin Haley pushing him on the outside lane while Allmendinger had Justin Allgaier pushing him on the inside lane through Turn 1. Through Turns 1 and 2, Cindric and Allmendinger battled dead even for the top spot until Cindric was able to clear Allmendinger in Turn 3 and lead the first lap.

    Entering the second lap, Cindric was leading by two-tenths of a second over Allmendinger as the field fanned out to two lanes while battling for positions.

    Through the first five laps of the event, Cindric continued to lead by four-tenths of a second over Allmendinger while Justin Haley, Justin Allgaier and rookie Ty Gibbs were in the top five. Harrison Burton was in sixth followed by Daniel Hemric, Brandon Jones, Noah Gragson and Myatt Snider.

    Five laps later, Cindric stabilized his advantage to over Allmendinger. Behind, Allgaier overtook Haley for third while Gibbs, Harrison Burton, Hemric, Gragson, Brandon Jones and Riley Herbst were scored in the top 10.

    Another 10 laps later, Cindric stretched his advantage to nearly a second over Allmendinger. Teammates Gibbs and Hemric were up in third and fourth while Allgaier fell back to fifth.

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 25, Cindric remained as the leader of the field. Under the competition caution, some led by Allgaier, who had concerns of oil leaking from his car, pitted while the rest led by Cindric remained on the track.

    When the race restarted on Lap 30, Cindric and Allmendinger battled for the lead as the field fanned out to multiple lanes approaching the first turn. Just then, the caution returned for a multi-car wreck in Turn 1 that involved Joe Graaf Jr., Ty Dillon, Alex Labbe, Dylan Lupton, BJ McLeod, JJ Yeley, Brandon Brown, Bayley Currey and rookie Sam Mayer. Also involved were Playoff contenders Jeb Burton, Jeremy Clements and Riley Herbst, all of whom were eliminated from the race. At the time of caution, Allmendinger had managed to take the lead.

    Following an extensive cleanup period, the race restarted under green on Lap 40 as Allmendinger and Cindric started on the front row. At the start, Allmendinger received a strong start on the outside lane to retain the lead while Cindric moved up to second. Through the backstretch, Hemric challenged teammate Gibbs for third while Harrison Burton and Gragson battled for fifth. Behind, Brett Moffitt moved up to seventh ahead of Ryan Sieg and Brandon Jones.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Allmendinger earned his 10th stage victory of the season. Hemric made his way up to second followed by Cindric, Gibbs, Gragson, Harrison Burton, Sieg, Brandon Jones, Josh Berry and Moffitt. Meanwhile, Snider, Haley and Allgaier were in 11th, 12th and 14th.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Hemric emerged with the lead after beating Allmendinger off of pit road by a narrow margin. Back on the track, however, Ty Dillon and Brandon Brown moved up to first and second after both elected to remain on the track. During the pit stops, Gragson was sent to the rear for driving through multiple pit boxes while trying to enter his along with Sieg, who was penalized for an equipment interference

    The second stage started on Lap 51. At the start, Ty Dillon jumped ahead with the lead followed by Hemric as the field fanned out to multiple lanes again through the first turn. Through the backstretch, Brandon Jones muscled his way to third place followed by teammate Harrison Burton and Allgaier, all of whom overtook Brown on fresh tires.

    Three laps later, the caution flew when Sieg spun in Turn 2 as he collected Jade Buford. Under caution, Brandon Jones surrendered third place to pit due to a vibration on the right rear of his No. 19 Menards Toyota Supra. 

    On Lap 59, the race restarted under green. At the start, Ty Dillon retained the lead followed by Allgaier and Harrison Burton while Hemric fell back to fifth in front of Cindric, Gibbs and Berry.

    On Lap 65, the battle for the lead intensified was Allgaier closed in on Ty Dillon’s No. 31 South Point Chevrolet Camaro for the top spot. Behind, Harrison Burton was in third followed by Cindric, Gibbs and Hemric. Meanwhile, Gragson worked his way up to ninth ahead of Allmendinger, Haley, Brandon Jones and Myatt Snider.

    A lap later, Allgaier motored his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro to the lead. 

    By Lap 75, Allgaier continued to lead by more than a second over Ty Dillon while Cindric, Gibbs and Hemric were in the top five. Gragson was in sixth followed by Moffitt, Berry, Harrison Burton and Allmendinger while Haley, Brandon Jones and Snider were in 11th, 12th and 13th.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 90, Allgaier claimed his third stage victory of the season. Behind, Ty Dillon fended off Cindric to settle in second followed by Gragson, Hemric, Berry, Gibbs, Moffitt, Allmendinger and Haley.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Allgaier retained the lead followed by Cindric, Hemric, Gragson and Gibbs. Following the pit stops, Gragson was penalized again, this time for speeding on pit road. 

    With 105 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Allgaier retained the lead ahead of Hemric, Cindric and the field as the track fell into night conditions. The following lap, Cindric and Allmendinger overtook Hemric’s No. 18 Poppy Bank Toyota Supra for spots in the top three

    Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Allgaier was leading by half a second over Cindric while Allmendinger was in third. Hemric and Gibbs were in the top five followed by Berry, Haley, Snider, Moffitt and Brandon Jones.

    Ten laps later, Allgaier continued to lead by more than a second over Cindric and by more than two seconds over Allmendinger. Behind, Gibbs and Berry moved up to fourth and fifth while Hemric settled in sixth ahead of Gragson. 

    Another 10 laps later, the caution flew when a bump from Moffitt sent Haley and his No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet Camaro spinning in Turn 3. Under caution, the leaders returned to pit road and Allgaier retained the lead followed by Cindric, Gibbs, Allmendinger and Gragson.

    With 76 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Allgaier retained the lead on the outside lane despite being challenged by Gibbs and Cindric. Behind, Cindric bolted his way to second while Gibbs retained third ahead of Allmendinger and Gragson. 

    Six laps later, Allgaier stabilized his advantage to two-tenths of a second over Cindric. Meanwhile, Berry, Gibbs and Allmendinger battled for fifth ahead of Gragson. 

    Another three laps later, Cindric powered his No. 22 Odyssey Battery Ford Mustang to the lead over Allgaier. By then, Allmendinger worked his way up to third. 

    With 63 laps remaining, Allgaier reassumed the lead. Not long after, a battle for the runner-up spot between Cindric and Josh Berry occurred as Berry prevailed. During this battle, Gragson closed in on the top-three leaders followed by Allmendinger and Gibbs.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Allgaier was leading by nearly a second over teammate Berry while Cindric, Gragson and Gibbs were in the top five.  Allmendinger was in sixth followed by Hemric, Brandon Jones, Haley and Ty Dillon. Meanwhile, Harrison Burton was in 12th while Myatt Snider was back in 15th.

    Nine laps later, Berry, who filled in as an interim competitor in JR Motorsports’ No. 1 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet Camaro for veteran Michael Annett, made his way into the lead over teammate Allgaier.

    With less than 30 laps remaining, Brandon Jones pitted under green. Soon after, Allgaier pitted along with Hemric, Gibbs, Ty Dillon, Moffitt, Gragson, Allmendinger. Berry, the leader, also pitted during this sequence. During the green flag pit stops, Gibbs was penalized for speeding his No. 54 Interstate Batteries Toyota Supra on pit road.

    Under the final 20 laps, Haley, who had yet to pit, was leading followed by Snider, Allgaier, Berry and Gragson. Once Haley pitted, Allgaier, who overtook teammate Berry on the track, made his way back to the lead. Another two laps later, however, Berry reassumed the lead. 

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Berry was leading by more than three seconds over teammate Allgaier while teammate Gragson was in third, trailing by nearly nine seconds in his No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro. Cindric was up in fourth followed by Hemric and Brandon Jones while Allmendinger, Ty Dillon, Haley and Harrison Burton were in the top 10.

    With five laps remaining, Berry stabilized his advantage to four seconds over teammate Allgaier while teammate Gragson trailed by nine seconds in third place.

    When the white flag waved and the final laps started, Berry continued to lead by more than four seconds over teammate Allgaier. Following a smooth navigation around the circuit for a final time, Berry came back around and claimed the checkered flag for his first series win since Martinsville Speedway in April.

    In addition to securing his second Xfinity Series career victory, Berry became the first non-Playoff contender to win the Playoff opening race since Tyler Reddick made the last accomplishment at Kentucky Speedway in September 2017. Berry also recorded the 57th Xfinity career victory for JR Motorsports and the first win for JRM’s No. 1 team since Daytona International Speedway in February 2019.

    “Oh my gosh,” Berry, who led 38 laps, said on NBCSN. “This [car] was fast. It just took me a while to figure it out. I knew the race would go down to the bottom at the end, I felt like. I just wanted to really work hard, make sure my car ran good on the bottom [lane] and I just had to stay disciplined and keep working on it. [The No. 1 crew] made the right adjustments. I knew it was fast. Just finally got a long run, put everything together and I was able to do it.”

    “Me and Justin [Allgaier] have raced together a lot this year,” Berry added. “Most of them, he’s got the better of me. Today, we were able to get one. This is cool. This moves the No. 1 car to the next round in the owner’s points. That was really important for this group. They’ve worked so hard, they’ve been through so much and they deserve this. I wanna say hey to Michael [Annett] at home and thank him and his group for trusting me in driving this race car…One, two three finish [for JR Motorsports], that’s pretty cool.”

    With teammates Allgaier and Gragson finished second and third, JR Motorsports achieved its first 1-2-3 finish in NASCAR history.

    Allgaier was the highest-finishing Xfinity drivers’ title contender in second place on the track while teammate Gragson rallied from his pair of pit road penalties to settle in third place at his home track. With the results, Allgaier is ranked in third place in the Playoff standings, 38 points above the top-eight cutline, while Gragson is in fourth place in the standings, 37 points above the cutline.

    “It’s super tough,” Allgaier, who led a race-high 90 laps, said. “First of off, hats off to Josh and the No. 1 team. They, obviously, had a lot of adversity this year, so for them to come home with a victory was really cool. Just proud of our guys, everybody on this No. 7 team. I was disappointed in the middle of the race there. We felt like we were really good and then as the sun went down, we just needed a little bit more right-rear grip. That’s where I feel like [Berry] had us beat. We’ll rebound, we’ll go next week to Talladega. [We] Should’ve gotten some decent points tonight and hopefully, have a good week next week.”

    “I’m really frustrated, but I think the Bass Pro Shops No. 9 team and everybody at JR Motorsports should be really frustrated with me,” Gragson said. “Just ’cause it’s two weeks in a row and I need to get better. [The crew] brought an unbelievable race car to the track. I’m happy, happy for Josh, happy for Justin, happy everybody at JR Motorsports. Wish we could’ve beaten the guy…We’ll go on to Talladega, hopefully don’t get in a wreck, knock on wood and can transfer to the next stage.”

    Austin Cindric, the pole-sitter who led 33 laps, finished fourth and he leads the Xfinity Playoffs by four points over AJ Allmendinger, the 2021 Xfinity Series regular season champion, while Hemric, who was announced as a Kaulig Racing competitor for the 2022 Xfinity Series season, finished fifth and is in fifth place in the Playoff standings, 34 points above the cutline.

    Brandon Jones, AJ Allmendinger, Ty Dillon, Justin Haley and Harrison Burton finished in the top 10 on the track.

    There were 13 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 32 laps.

    Results.

    1. Josh Berry, 38 laps led

    2. Justin Allgaier, 90 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. Noah Gragson, one lap led

    4. Austin Cindric, 33 laps led

    5. Daniel Hemric

    6. Brandon Jones

    7. AJ Allmendinger, 20 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    8. Ty Dillon, 17 laps led

    9. Justin Haley, two laps led

    10. Harrison Burton

    11. Ty Gibbs, one lap down

    12. Brett Moffitt, one lap down

    13. Bayley Currey, one lap down 

    14. Tommy Joe Martins, one lap down

    15. Myatt Snider, one lap down

    16. Landon Cassill, one lap down

    17. Ryan Sieg, two laps down

    18. Kyle Weatherman, two laps down

    19. Ryan Vargas, two laps down

    20. Blaine Perkins, three laps down

    21. David Starr, four laps down

    22. Brandon Brown, four laps down

    23. Mason Massey, four laps down

    24. Josh Williams, five laps down

    25. Spencer Boyd, five laps down

    26. Jade Buford, six laps down

    27. Matt Jaskol, six laps down

    28. Matt Mills, seven laps down

    29. Jeffrey Earnhardt, seven laps down

    30. BJ McLeod, eight laps down

    31. Carson Ware – OUT, Electrical

    32. CJ McLaughlin – OUT, Overheating

    33. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident

    34. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

    35. Dylan Lupton – OUT, Accident

    36. Jeb Burton – OUT, AAccident

    37. JJ Yeley – OUT, Accident

    38. Alex Labbe – OUT, Accident

    39. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Accident

    40. Joe Graf Jr. – OUT, Accident

    Bold indicates Playoff contenders.

    Playoff standings.

    1. Austin Cindric, +66

    2. AJ Allmendinger, +59

    3. Justin Allgaier, +38

    4. Noah Gragson, +37

    5. Daniel Hemric, +34

    6. Justin Haley, +17

    7. Harrison Burton, +13

    8. Brandon Jones, +10

    9. Myatt Snider, -10

    10. Jeb Burton, -27

    11. Riley Herbst, -32

    12. Jeremy Clements, -36

    With the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs underway, the series will next travel to Talladega Superspeedway for the second Round of 12 event of the season. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, October 2, at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Grosjean joins Andretti Autosport for 2022 IndyCar season

    Grosjean joins Andretti Autosport for 2022 IndyCar season

    Andretti Autosport announced that Romain Grosjean will be joining the organization to pilot the No. 28 Dallara-Honda sponsored by DHL on a full-time basis for the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season.

    Grosjean, a 35-year-old Swiss-born French competitor, is currently campaigning on a part-time IndyCar basis for Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing. The 2021 season also marks his first season competing in the series.

    Before transitioning to IndyCar, Grosjean spent nine full-time seasons in Formula One, where he achieved 10 podium results in 179 career starts and competed between two organizations (Lotus and Haas). Grosjean is also a former champion across multiple motorsports’ regions, including the GP2 Series in 2011, the Auto GP in 2010, the Formula 3 Euro Series in 2007 and the French Formula Renault in 2005. He has also achieved two GP2 Asia Series titles (2008 and 2011).

    The 2022 season will mark Grosjean’s first full-time effort in the IndyCar Series, which will include the 106th annual running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 29. In addition, DHL, a partner of Andretti Autosport since 2011, will be remaining with the organization to support Grosjean’s effort as a key primary sponsor in the series. The upcoming IndyCar season is scheduled to commence at the Streets of St. Petersburg in Florida on February 27.

    “We are thrilled to welcome Romain to the Andretti Autosport family,” Michael Andretti, CEO and chairman of Andretti Autosport, said. “He already had an impressive resume before coming to INDYCAR and watching what he’s been able to do in his rookie season here has been exciting, to say the least. His vast motorsport experience will be beneficial to the team alongside our already strong 2022 driver lineup. We also couldn’t be more excited to continue our strong partnership with DHL. The DHL sponsorship is one of the longest and most successful in the paddock, and we look forward to continued success on and off the track.”

    “We couldn’t be happier to continue our successful partnership with Andretti Autosport, which has provided us with one of our most powerful avenues for connecting people to our global brand,” Mike Parra, CEO of DHL Express Americas, added. “The legendary Andretti organization is run by a winning team whose members we have long considered part of our DHL family, and now we are excited to also welcome their newest driver, Romain Grosjean, to our family. We are thrilled to have such a highly regarded international competitor taking the wheel to represent DHL, and we look forward to a fruitful partnership with Romain and the entire Andretti team, both on and off the track.”

    In his first season in IndyCar competition, Grosjean has achieved three podium results, including two runner-up results at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course (May and August) and a third-place result at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, the series’ recent event. He also achieved his maiden pole position at the Indy Road Course in May. Having competed in 12 of 15 scheduled events thus far, Grosjean is scheduled to compete in this weekend’s IndyCar season finale in Long Beach, California.

    “I’m delighted to be joining Andretti Autosport and driving the No. 28 DHL Honda for next season,” Grosjean said. “It’s a big honor to be joining such a great team as Andretti; anyone in the motorsport world knows the name Andretti. I’m super happy and proud to be racing with the team. I’m also very proud to be representing with DHL. I’ve known the DHL color on racing cars for a very long time. I couldn’t be more proud to represent such a great company in INDYCAR. I’m hoping that we are going to be very successful together, which is our aim on every side. I would like also to thank Dale Coyne Racing for giving me the opportunity to join INDYCAR. I’ve enjoyed the racing so much and it’s given me the change today to be racing with one of the most competitive and best teams in the world.”

    Grosjean’s entrance to Andretti Autosport means that he will be replacing Ryan Hunter-Reay, a veteran and former champion of the Indianapolis 500 and the IndyCar Series. Grosjean will also be a teammate to Colton Herta and Alexander Rossi, both of whom will remain at Andretti for 2022.