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Author: Andrew Kim

  • Larson achieves second All-Star Race win at Texas

    Larson achieves second All-Star Race win at Texas

    The 2021 comeback season for Kyle Larson continued under the lights in the Lone Star state after the Elk Grove, California, native prevailed over a late battle against Brad Keselowski and Chase Elliott to win the NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, June 13, and claim his second All-Star career victory.

    The starting lineup was determined via random draw, with Kyle Larson, winner of last weekend’s Cup event at Sonoma Raceway, starting on pole position and Kyle Busch joining him on the front row. 

    Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick and Aric Almirola transferred to the All-Star Race following their respective segment victories in the All-Star Open along with Matt DiBenedetto, winner of this year’s All-Star Fan Vote.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced for Round 1, the field battled dead even through the first two turns and entering the backstretch led by the two Kyles. At the start/finish line, Kyle Busch’s No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry led the first lap over Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.

    Then in Turn 1, the caution waved when Christopher Bell got sideways in Turn 1, though he was able to straighten the car on the apron and not sustain any damage to his No. 20 CRAFTSMAN Toyota Camry. Bell was the only competitor who pitted under caution, with caution laps not counting in the race.

    When the race restarted on a 14-lap dash through the first round, the two Kyles battled dead even for the lead again for one full lap before Busch prevailed the following lap. With Kyle Busch leading, Cole Custer challenged Larson for the runner-up spot ahead of Chase Elliott and William Byron with the field battling intensely for spots.

    Through the first five laps of the event, Kyle Busch was leading by three-tenths of a second over Larson, with Byron, Custer and Elliott in the top five. Joey Logano and Austin Dillon were in sixth and seventh followed by Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick. 

    Two laps later, Larson overtook Kyle Busch to assume the lead for the first time. At the same time, Byron challenged Busch for the runner-up spot, though the former retained the spot.

    Not long after, Kyle Busch attempted to challenge Larson back for the lead on the inside lane, but Larson retained the top spot on the outside lane entering the backstretch. Soon after, Byron also took over the runner-up spot while Elliott and Custer battled for fourth.

    By Lap 12, the battle for the runner-up spot heated up as Elliott joined teammate Byron and Kyle Busch in an attempt to overtake both. With Larson still leading, Byron was able to clear himself to remain in second while Kyle Busch continued to battle Elliott for third place. 

    Back at the front, Larson was able to fend off teammate Byron and Kyle Busch to claim Round 1 on Lap 15. Byron, Kyle Busch, Elliott and Custer settled in the top five followed by Austin Dillon, Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Ross Chastain and Logano.

    Under the first break, the leaders pitted for early adjustments. Prior to the second round, the top-12 competitors were inverted in positions, a decision made via random draw. The move made Ryan Blaney and Kevin Harvick start on the front row.

    When Round 2 started on Lap 16, Blaney received a push from Chastain to retain the lead entering the first turn. Soon after, Chastain attempted to make a move on the outside lane for the lead, but his plan backfired as Keselowski took over the runner-up spot while Chastain was left in a battle with Chase Elliott. Behind, Harvick drifted back to eighth.

    The following lap, Chastain got Blaney sideways entering Turn 1, but Blaney maintained the lead and straightened his No. 12 Menards/Wrangler Ford Mustang, though he was left in a battle with teammate Keselowski for the lead.

    At the front, teammates Blaney and Keselowski battled dead even for the lead, with Keselowski fighting on the inside lane and Blaney on the outside. Chastain, meanwhile, was in third followed by Elliott and the Busch brothers.

    By Lap 20, Blaney was leading by a narrow margin over teammate Keselowski while Chastain, Kurt Busch, Elliott, Byron, Kyle Busch, Logano, Martin Truex Jr. and Custer were in the top 10. 

    Five laps later, Penske’s Blaney and Keselowski were running first and second followed by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Chastain and Kurt Busch, with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch in fifth and Hendrick Motorsports’ Elliott running in sixth. 

    When Round 2 concluded on Lap 30, Blaney survived an intense, competitive battle for the lead as he was the leader followed by teammate Keselowski, Chastain, Kurt Busch, Byron, Elliott, Kyle Busch, Custer, Denny Hamlin and Logano.

    Under the second break, the leaders returned to pit road for more adjustments. 

    Prior to the third event, the entire field was inverted, giving DiBenedetto and Almirola the front row. 

    When Round 3 started on Lap 31, DiBenedetto cleared Almirola to lead the field as Michael McDowell challenged Almirola for the runner-up spot. Behind, Ryan Newman challenged Harvick for fourth as Alex Bowman joined the party. 

    A few laps later, McDowell made a bid for the lead through the backstretch, but DiBenedetto received a push from Almirola’s No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang through Turn 4 to remain in the lead entering the backstretch.

    By Lap 35, DiBenedetto was leading by a narrow margin over McDowell followed by Bowman, Almirola and Larson. Newman was in sixth followed by Christopher Bell, Austin Dillon, Hamlin and Harvick.

    Two laps later, Bowman moved his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE into the lead.

    By Lap 40, Bowman was leading by half a second over DiBenedetto, with Almirola, McDowell and Newman in the top five,

    With the field behind battling for position, Bowman was able to retain the top spot and claim Round 3 on Lap 45. DiBenedetto was in second place followed by Almirola, McDowell, Newman, Larson, Hamlin, Bell, Byron and Harvick.

    Under the round break, the leaders returned to pit road for adjustments as the race transitioned to evening conditions.

    Prior to the fourth round, the top-nine competitors via random draw were inverted, placing Byron’s No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE into the lead.

    When Round 4 started on Lap 46, Byron and Bell battled side-by-side for the lead for one full lap before the former prevailed. Soon after, Larson made his way into the runner-up spot over Bell while DiBenedetto, Bowman and Hamlin battled for fourth. Elliott was mired back in ninth while Kyle Busch was in 17th.

    By Lap 50 and at the halfway mark, Byron was leading by two-tenths of a second over teammate Larson, with Bell trailing by six-tenths of a second. DiBenedetto and Hamlin battled for fourth while Bowman, Elliott, Blaney, Newman and McDowell were in the top 10.

    With the laps in the fourth round dwindling, Larson started to catch teammate Byron for the lead as he decreased the deficit to a tenth of a second.

    Despite being challenged by his teammate for the lead, Byron was able to hold on to the lead and win Round 4 on Lap 60 by a tenth of a second over Larson. Hamlin, Bell, Elliott, Blaney, Bowman, DiBenedetto, Almirola and Newman were scored in the top 10.

    Under the round break, the leaders pitted for another round of adjustments.

    The lineup for the fifth round was determined via the cumulative results from the first four rounds, giving Byron the lead and teammate Larson the runner-up spot.

    When Round 5 started on Lap 61, the entire field battled dead even led by teammates Byron and Larson.

    The following lap, names like Hamlin, Bell, DiBenedetto, Reddick, Truex, Harvick and McDowell made a mandatory pit stop under green. Soon after, Kyle Busch pitted along with Newman and Austin Dillon. Then, Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon were assessed a penalty for speeding on pit road.

    Back on track, Byron was leading followed by teammates Larson, Elliott and Bowman, with Kurt Busch and Keselowski in fifth and sixth. Soon after, Blaney pitted along with Custer.

    By Lap 70, all four Hendrick Motorsports competitors were running first through fourth, with Byron still out in front. By then, Custer and Kurt Busch made their mandatory pit stop under green.

    Through Lap 75, Byron continued to lead, though he was one of eight competitors that had yet to pit.

    Not long after, Byron pitted along with Larson, Elliott, Bowman and Chastain. Through the next three laps, Keselowski, Logano and Almirola were the final round of competitors to make a mandatory pit stop.

    Just then, the caution flew when Chastain, who had just pitted, spun in Turn 1 following contact from Newman. At the time of caution, Keselowski, who was the last competitor to pit, was able to cycle ahead with the lead over Elliott, Byron and Larson. 

    Under caution, few names like Chastain, Kyle Busch and DiBenedetto pitted. By then, Kyle Busch received the free pass and returned to the lead lap while Austin Dillon was still trapped a lap behind.

    When the race restarted on Lap 80, Keselowski and Elliott battled dead even for the lead, with Elliott leading the next lap by a nose. With the battle for the lead heating up in the closing laps, Elliott was able to take the rocket ahead with the lead on the outside lane through the following lap followed by teammates Byron and Larson as Keselowski slipped back to fourth.

    By Lap 85, Elliott was still leading by more than a tenth of a second over teammate Byron. Keselowski moved back into third place followed by Larson and Blaney while Logano was in sixth.

    When Round 5 concluded on Lap 90, Elliott was able to fend off teammate Byron to remain in the lead. Larson and Blaney settled in third and fourth followed by Keselowski, Logano, Hamlin, Bowman, Kurt Busch and Almirola.

    Under the final round break, Austin Dillon received the free pass and returned on the lead lap, making all 21 competitors scored on the lead lap entering the final round. Few names like Harvick, McDowell, Newman, Reddick, DiBenedetto and Austin Dillon pitted while under caution.

    Following the mandatory green flag pit stops from all competitors during the fifth round, it was announced that Chase Elliott’s pit crew led by crew chief Alan Gustafson earned $100,000 for being the fastest pit crew of the evening.

    The lineup for the final round was determined via the results from the fifth round, keeping Elliott and Byron on the front row.

    When the Final Round started on Lap 90 and for a 10-lap shootout to the finish, Elliott peaked ahead in Turn 1 before Blaney made a bold three-wide move while going for the lead over Larson and Byron, with Byron falling back. Through the backstretch, Blaney and Elliott engaged in a heated battle, with Elliott receiving a push from Larson to squeak ahead.

    The following lap, teammates Elliott and Larson battled dead even for the lead across the line and for nearly a full circuit before Keselowski bolted his way to the lead beneath Elliott and Larson through Turns 3 and 4. Though Keselowski led the following lap, Larson fought back on the outside lane and reassumed the top spot with seven laps remaining.

    With five laps remaining, Larson was leading by nearly a tenth of a second over Keselowski, with Elliott trailing by two-tenths of a second and Logano and Blaney running in the top five. Despite being pressured by Keselowski and Elliott, Larson continued to hold strong with the lead.

    Down to the final three laps of the event, Larson continued to lead by a tenth of a second over Keselowski, with Elliott trailing by three-tenths of a second and slowly falling back. 

    When the final lap started, Larson was ahead by nearly three-tenths of a second over Keselowski, who continued to trail Larson closely, but not have enough to complete his run to the lead. Through the backstretch and Turn 3, Larson stabilized his narrow margin over Keselowski to come back around the finish line and take the checkered flag on Lap 100, thus winning the All-Star Race and a million dollars.

    With the victory, Larson became the eighth competitor to claim multiple All-Star victories as he won his first All-Star event since 2019. In addition, he recorded the 10th All-Star victory for Hendrick Motorsports and the first for crew chief Cliff Daniels.

    FORT WORTH, TEXAS – JUNE 13: Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, and crew chief Cliff Daniels celebrate in victory lane after winning the NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway on June 13, 2021 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images).

    “Honestly, I can’t believe it,” Larson said on FS1. “That second run there, we were really bad and I was like, ‘Man, we’re in trouble.’ I went backwards that round, so I was like we got an uphill battle and did not imagine myself winning this race today. Cliff and everybody works so hard on this thing, made some good adjustments during those first, second and third rounds, and got us in position. That last restart worked exactly how I needed it to do…I can’t believe it.”

    Keselowski finished in second place in his 13th appearance in the All-Star event, which marked his third runner-up event in the event.

    “It feels like to run second to the Hendrick cars right now is kind of an accomplishment,” Keselowski said. “They’re just stupid fast. I had [Larson] off of Turn 4, but they just have so much speed. He just motored right on back by me like damn. It feels like a first in class day for the Discount Tire Ford. [Crew chief] Jeremy Bullins and the team did a great job of executing and getting us in position. We just didn’t have enough speed to make the most of it, but good execution day and I’m proud of that.”

    Elliott, winner of last year’s All-Star event at Bristol Motor Speedway, settled in third place. Logano and teammate Blaney finished in the top five. Bowman, teammate Byron, Almirola, Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch completed the top 10 on the track.

    There were 10 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured seven cautions. All 21 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Kyle Larson, 17 laps led

    2. Brad Keselowski, five laps led

    3. Chase Elliott, 12 laps led

    4. Joey Logano

    5. Ryan Blaney, 15 laps led

    6. Alex Bowman, nine laps led

    7. William Byron, 30 laps led

    8. Aric Almirola

    9. Kyle Busch, six laps led

    10. Kurt Busch

    11. Christopher Bell

    12. Michael McDowell

    13. Martin Truex Jr.

    14. Cole Custer

    15. Kevin Harvick

    16. Tyler Reddick

    17. Matt DiBenedetto, six laps led

    18. Ross Chastain

    19. Austin Dillon

    20. Ryan Newman

    21. Denny Hamlin 

    Next on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ inaugural event at Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday, June 20, with the event to occur at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN as FOX’s coverage of this year’s NASCAR season concludes.

  • Chastain, Reddick, Almirola and DiBenedetto transfer to All-Star Race following eventful All-Star Open

    Chastain, Reddick, Almirola and DiBenedetto transfer to All-Star Race following eventful All-Star Open

    Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick and Aric Almirola claimed starting spots for the 2021 NASCAR All-Star Race after each won a segment during the NASCAR All-Star Open at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, June 13. For the final transfer spot, Matt DiBenedetto earned a one-way ticket into the main event after being named the Fan Vote winner.

    The starting lineup was determined via driver points, making Tyler Reddick starting on pole position while Chris Buescher joined him on the front row.

    Prior to the race, Ross Chastain dropped to the rear of the field due to a violation discovered on his car pinpointing to his aero ducts. As a result, crew chief Phil Surgen was suspended from the weekend and Chip Ganassi Racing was fined $25,000. Austin Cindric (two pre-race inspection failures) and David Starr (unapproved adjustments) also started at the rear of the field. 

    When the green flag waved and the race started for the first segment, Buescher jumped ahead and battled Reddick for the lead entering the first turn before Reddick received a push from Matt DiBenedetto on the inside lane to take the lead.

    With the field jostling for position behind, Reddick led the first lap. Meanwhile, Buescher and rookie Chase Briscoe made their way into second and third over DiBenedetto as Bubba Wallace and Erik Jones joined the battle.

    Then, NASCAR declared that Buescher has been assessed a penalty for jumping ahead of the leader, Reddick, prior to the start of the event. In addition, Cindric was penalized for changing lanes at the start of the race.

    On the fourth lap, the caution flew when Wallace, who was running in fourth place ahead of Erik Jones and Matt DiBenedetto, got loose and spun in Turn 1 before coming to a rest below the apron. Despite the spin, Wallace continued with no damage to his No. 23 DoorDash Toyota Camry. 

    Under caution, Wallace pitted along with Daniel Suarez, Quin Houff, Garrett Smithley, Austin Cindric and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Following the pit stops, Stenhouse was assessed an over-the-wall too soon penalty. 

    When the race restarted on the eighth lap, Reddick retained the lead over Briscoe, Jones and the field through the first two turns. Not long after, the caution returned when Buescher spun in Turn 3 following a bump from Stenhouse. 

    Under caution, Buescher pitted along with Stenhouse and Josh Bilicki.

    When the race restarted on Lap 13, Reddick retained the lead followed by Jones, Briscoe and the field. 

    Two corners later, trouble ensued again when Jones, who battled hard against Briscoe, slipped up and spun sideways, where he was hit by Daniel Suarez before spinning back up to the wall with heavy damage as Suarez also made contact with the outside wall. The wreck was enough to knock Suarez and Jones out of contention to make the All-Star Race.

    Under caution, Briscoe pitted, but was busted for speeding on pit road.

    On Lap 18, the race restarted as Reddick and Ross Chastain started on the front row. At the start, Reddick and Chastain battled for the lead entering the backstretch while DiBenedetto and Corey LaJoie made a three-wide move on Almirola to move up towards the front.

    Coming to the final lap of the first segment, Chastain made his move on the outside lane of Reddick through Turns 3 and 4 and he was able to grab the lead past the start/finish line. Through Turn 1, Chastain was able to clear Reddick and pull away. 

    Following his surge on the final lap, Chastain, who rallied from starting at the rear of the field following pre-race inspection issues, rocketed away to win the first segment on Lap 20 and race his way into the All-Star Race for the first time in his career, joining teammate Kurt Busch in the main event.

    “It’s really cool,” Chastain said on FS1. “It’s been a good weekend on-track, but off-track, it’s obviously been really tough. Just fired me up more. This McDonald’s Chevy was obviously really good, coming from the back like that and race with guys like Reddick and those guys. I thought I was getting turned on the backstretch there when he drove into the left rear, but it’s a dream come true. Man, I’m living my dream as a farmer. Now, I get to go NASCAR racing in the All-Star Race with my heroes. It’s amazing.”

    Under the segment break, LaJoie pitted along with Justin Haley, Cody Ware, Houff, James Davison, Timmy Hill and David Starr.

    At the start of the second segment, Reddick received a push from Cindric on the outside lane to retain the lead ahead of DiBenedetto and Cindric. Meanwhile, Buescher and Almirola battled for fourth place followed by Wallace and Stenhouse. 

    By Lap 25, Reddick was the leader followed by Cindric, DiBenedetto, Almirola and Buescher. Wallace was in sixth followed by Briscoe, Stenhouse, rookie Anthony Alfredo and LaJoie. 

    A few laps later, DiBenedetto and Almirola overtook Cindric for second and third. Meanwhile, Reddick continued to lead by nearly a second. 

    By Lap 30, Reddick was leading by four-tenths of a second over DiBenedetto, with Almirola trailing by nearly a second. Behind, Cindric and Buescher battled for fourth place while Wallace retained sixth place.

    With five laps remaining in the second segment, Reddick was still leading despite encountering lapped traffic, but he had Almirola closing in for the lead.

    Down to the final two laps of the segment, Almirola drew his car behind Reddick’s rear bumper, but he could not navigate his way around Reddick to take the lead,

    On the final lap of the second segment, Reddick was leading by under two-tenths of a second over Almirola, who continued to keep Reddick in pressure. Despite Almirola’s late surge, Reddick was able to beat Almirola by nearly three-tenths of a second to win the second segment on Lap 40 as Reddick transferred to his first All-Star Race, joining teammate Austin Dillon.

    “Thankfully, we executed in the second segment,” Reddick said. “We got this thing in the race. That was the hottest 40-lap race I’ve ever done. That was hot.”

    Under the segment break, Stenhouse pitted along with Briscoe, Haley, B.J. McLeod and Garrett Smithley. 

    With 10 laps remaining, the final segment commenced under green. At the start, the field battled through two lanes as Almirola and DiBenedetto battled dead even for the lead. Following a close side-by-side battle with DiBenedetto for a full lap, Almirola pulled ahead with the lead.

    With five laps remaining, Almirola was leading by nearly half a second over DiBenedetto and Buescher. Cindric and Briscoe were in the top five followed by Wallace, Haley, Alfredo, Stenhouse and LaJoie.

    As Almirola continued to lead, DiBenedetto and Buescher battled for the runner-up spot as both were behind by seven-tenths of a second. 

    Having a clear lead to his advantage, Almirola, who has endured a difficult 2021 season, was able to navigate his way around the circuit for a final time and come back around to take the checkered flag and win the NASCAR All-Star Open as he punched his ticket into the All-Star Race for the fourth time in his career, joining teammates Kevin Harvick and Cole Custer. 

    “It just helps make you happy about something,” Almirola said. “It’s been a really tough year and the guys just continued to work their guts out and bring the best cars we can. And here at Texas today, we got a really fast car. We took the long way in, but I’m still glad we’re racing for a million bucks tonight. Just proud to give [my sponsors] something to smile about, really.”

    Despite finishing in the runner-up spot, Matt DiBenedetto claimed the 21st and final starting spot to the All-Star Race after being named the Fan Vote winner, a move that allowed him to transfer into the All-Star event for a second consecutive season.

    “That’s a relief,” DiBenedetto said. “We struggled a little bit with the car there, but man, thank you so much. That’s really cool. It means a lot to get all the votes from the fans. I can’t tell them how much I appreciate that and an opportunity to be an All-Star.”

    Buescher finished in third place followed by Briscoe and Cindric. Wallace rallied to finish sixth followed by Haley, Alfredo, Stenhouse and LaJoie. All eight competitors were among the remaining 18 competitors competing in the Open whom failed to make the All-Star Race.

    There were three lead changes for three different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 13 laps.

    Results.

    1. Aric Almirola – Won third segment, 10 laps led

    2. Matt DiBenedetto – Fan Vote winner

    3. Chris Buescher

    4. Chase Briscoe

    5. Austin Cindric

    6. Bubba Wallace

    7. Justin Haley

    8. Anthony Alfredo

    9. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    10. Corey LaJoie

    11. Cody Ware

    12. B.J. McLeod

    13. Josh Bilicki

    14. Garrett Smithley

    15. Quin Houff, one lap down

    16. James Davison, one lap down

    17. Timmy Hill, one lap down

    18. David Starr, one lap down

    19. Tyler Reddick – Won second segment, 38 laps led

    20. Ross Chastain – Won first segment, two laps led

    21. Erik Jones – OUT, Accident

    22. Daniel Suarez – OUT, Accident

    The 2021 NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway will follow suit on Sunday, June 13, at 8 p.m. on FS1.

  • Brown to make 100th Xfinity Series start at Texas

    Brown to make 100th Xfinity Series start at Texas

    A significant milestone start is in the making for Brandon Brown, driver of the No. 68 Brandonbilt Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. By competing in this weekend’s event at Texas Motor Speedway, Brown will reach 100 career starts in the Xfinity circuit.

    A native of Woodbridge, Virginia, Brown made his Xfinity Series debut at Richmond Raceway in September 2016. By then, he had made select NASCAR Truck Series races in the previous two seasons and he was a student at Coastal Carolina University. Driving the No. 86 Chevrolet for Brandonbilt Motorsports, his family-owned team, Brown started 26th and finished 29th in his series debut. He went on to compete at Kansas Speedway in October, where he finished 25th, and the season-finale Homestead-Miami Speedway in November, where he finished 23rd.

    Brown returned for 10 Xfinity races in 2017, with his first event occurring at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March and his last occurring at Dover International Speedway in September. His best results were 17th at Dover in June and 20th at Darlington Raceway in September.

    In 2018, Brown competed in seven of the 33-race schedule, where he earned two 18th-place results (Darlington in September and Texas in November) and a 19th-place result (Richmond Raceway in April).

    The following season, Brown competed in all 33 Xfinity scheduled races between Brandonbilt Motorsports and RSS Racing. His best result was sixth at Daytona International Speedway in July. He also went on to earn a total of 10 top-15 results before settling in 15th place in the final standings.

    Brown returned as a full-time Xfinity competitor for Brandonbilt Motorsports in 2020, where he kicked off the season with a seventh-place result at Daytona in February. He earned four top-10 results and 17 top-15 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, which were enough for him to make the Xfinity Playoffs for the first time in his career.

    During the Round of 12 in the Xfinity Playoffs, Brown earned results of 15th, ninth and 26th, but his title hopes came to an early end after he was eliminated from the Playoffs. Two races later, Brown rebounded by earning his first top-five career result in the series after finishing fifth at Texas in October. He went on to conclude the season in 11th place in the final standings and with a career-high six top-10 results along with a career-best average result of 16.0.

    Through the first 13 races of this season, Brown has finished in the top five twice and in the top 10 seven times. During this span, he earned a career-best third-place result at Phoenix Raceway in March following a late restart and dash to the finish. He is currently ranked in 13th place in the Xfinity Series regular-season standings.

    Through 99 previous Xfinity Series starts, Brown has claimed three top-five results, 14 top-10 results and an average result of 19.0.

    Brown is primed to make his 100th Xfinity Series career start at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday, June 12, which will occur at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Larson scores a dominant win at Sonoma

    Larson scores a dominant win at Sonoma

    On a bright, sunny Sunday afternoon in Sonoma, California, the hometown hero shined brightly at Sonoma Raceway after Kyle Larson held off teammate Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr. and the field through several late race restarts to win the Toyota/Save Mart 350 for his second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season and first on a road course.

    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 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with teammate Chase Elliott.

    Prior to the event, rookie Anthony Alfredo started at the rear of the field due to a pre-race inspection violation, a move that resulted with his crew chief Seth Barbour being ejected for the event and Derrick Finley serving as Alfredo’s interim crew chief. Scott Heckert also started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Larson took off with the lead through the first two turns and entering Turn 3A ahead of teammates Elliott and William Byron while the field scattered behind while competing for positions.

    Through the 12-turn circuit, Larson led the first lap followed by teammates Elliott and Byron while Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch were in the top five. By then, Larson was out front by more than a second.

    The following lap, Larson extended his advantage to more than two seconds while Byron, Hamlin and Kyle Busch remained in the top 10. 

    By the third lap, Christopher Bell coasted to pit road after reporting fuel pump issues to his No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry, an issue that cost him a lap from the leaders despite having the ECU in his car restored.

    Through the first five laps of the event, Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE was leading by more than four seconds over Elliott’s No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, with Byron’s No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE trailing in third place by nearly five seconds. Teammates Hamlin and Kyle Busch continued to run in the top five followed by Austin Dillon, Alex Bowman, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick and Tyler Reddick. Meanwhile, Martin Truex Jr., who started 19th, was in 11th followed by Joey Logano, Chris Buescher, Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace.

    Two laps later, Hamlin overtook Byron for third place while Bowman overtook Austin Dillon for sixth place. By then, Larson continued to lead by more than four seconds while Truex was scored in the top 10.

    Near the Lap 10 competition caution, names like Kyle Busch, Bowman, Ross Chastain, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Michael McDowell, Erik Jones, Ryan Newman, Chris Buescher, Bubba Wallace and rookie Chase Briscoe pitted for tires under green.

    Just as the field was approaching the start/finish line for the 10th lap, Larson pitted approaching Turn 11 along with teammate Elliott, Truex, Joey Logano, Kurt Busch and others. Following the sequence of events, Hamlin assumed the lead followed by Brad Keselowski as the competition caution flew on Lap 10.

    Under caution, Hamlin pitted along with Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Blaney, Cole Custer, Logano and others, giving the front row back to Hendrick Motorsports’ Larson and Elliott. 

    When the race restarted on Lap 13, Larson retained the lead over teammate Elliott through the first three turns and entering the fourth turn while behind, Kyle Busch challenged Byron for third place through Turns 5 and 6, as Truex was running in the top five.

    By Lap 15, Larson was leading by more than a second over teammate Elliott while Kyle Busch was in third place, trailing by less than four seconds. Byron remained in fourth place, though he had Truex challenging him for the spot. 

    Not long after, however, Byron dropped from fourth to eighth after being overtaken by Truex, Bowman, Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick, starting from Turn 4 through Turn 8. Behind, Hamlin received nose damage to the front of his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry while running in the mid-pack.

    In the closing laps of the first stage, names like Ross Chastain, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Newman pitted under green. During the stops, Wallace was penalized due to speeding on pit road. Soon after, Michael McDowell pitted along with Byron, Buescher and Daniel Suarez.

    Back on the course, Larson continued to lead by more than three seconds over teammate Elliott. With a comfortable advantage and gap over his teammate, Larson was able to navigate his way through the 12-turn road course one final time to win the first stage on Lap 20, thus claiming his 10th stage victory of this season. Elliott followed behind in second place followed by Kyle Busch, teammate Truex, Bowman, Austin Dillon, Reddick, Kurt Busch, Matt DiBenedetto and Erik Jones. 

    Under the stage break, a majority of names like Larson, Elliott, Kyle Busch, Truex, Bowman and others pitted while the rest led by new leader Kurt Busch remained on the track. In total, 14 competitors remained on the track with Larson back in 15th.

    The second stage started on Lap 24 with Kurt Busch and Matt DiBenedetto on the front row. At the start, Busch cleared DiBenedetto and retained the lead through the first two turns, with Keselowski, Blaney and Hamlin in the top five. Meanwhile, Christopher Bell rallied from his early issues to run in sixth place ahead of Cole Custer and Byron. 

    When the field returned to the start/finish line to complete Lap 25, Kurt Busch continued to lead followed by DiBenedetto, Keselowski, Blaney and Hamlin while Bell, Byron, Custer, Buescher and Chastain were in the top 10. Elliott, meanwhile, was in 11th followed by Larson while Truex was in 14th and Kyle Busch was in 16th.

    As the laps progressed, teammates Elliott and Larson continued to battle intensely over one another as they were stuck behind Bell, with the latter prevailing over both through Turn 6A. Meanwhile, Reddick made an unscheduled pit stop following contact with Bowman.

    On Lap 28, Byron emerged as the new leader after he overtook Kurt Busch in Turn 11. With Busch back in second, DiBenedetto was in fourth in between Team Penske’s Keselowski and Blaney.

    By Lap 30, Byron was out in front by more than three seconds over teammate Kyle Larson, who managed to carve his way near the front, while Kurt Busch was back in third. Behind, Keselowski was in fourth followed by Truex, Elliott, Kyle Busch, Blaney, Hamlin and Chris Buescher while DiBenedetto was back in 11th

    A lap later, the caution flew when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made hard right-side contact against the wall entering Turn 1 and went off course in the dirt as a result of a flat right-front tire.

    Under caution, some of the competitors in the field led by Byron pitted while the rest led by Larson remained on the track.

    With six laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted under green as Larson and Truex started on the front row. At the start, Larson retained the lead through the first two turns over Truex and the field fanning out to two lanes.

    In the closing laps of the second stage, Larson continued to lead followed by Truex, Logano, Bowman and Chastain. Meanwhile, Corey LaJoie and Erik Jones, both of whom made on-track contact that resulted with Jones nearly going off the course, were in sixth and 23rd. 

    Soon after, Chase Briscoe, Wallace, Suarez, Jones and Reddick pitted. In addition, Truex pitted along with Chastain. During the pit stops, Wallace made a full cycle around the track with a left tire before returning to pit road for a second stop, though he lost a lap to the leaders.

    Back on the course, Larson continued to lead with a healthy margin over Joey Logano. Continuing to flex his muscles, Larson was able to come back around and claim the second stage on Lap 40, thus claim his 11th stage victory of the season. Logano trailed behind by more than six seconds followed by Bowman, Kurt Busch and Elliott. Teammate Byron, Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Hamlin and Bell were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, some like Larson, Logano, Bowman, Preece, Aric Almirola pitted while the rest led by Kurt Busch, Elliott, Byron, Kyle Busch and Keselowski remained on the track.

    With 46 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Kurt Busch took off with the lead through the first two turns followed by Elliott, Byron, Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Bell and a steaming pack of cars.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 45, Elliott moved into the lead for the first time after overtaking Kurt Busch through Turns 11 and 12. Truex, who restarted 15th, was in 13th in between Buescher and Chastain while Larson, who restarted 21st, was in 16th in between Alfredo and Suarez.

    With 40 laps remaining, Elliott continued to lead by nearly four seconds over Kyle Busch, who moved his No. 18 Sport Clips Toyota Camry in front of brother Kurt’s No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Truex and Larson worked their way up to fourth and fifth while Keselowski, Byron, Chastain, Bell and Blaney were in the top 10.

    During the next few laps, Truex and Larson navigated their way around Kurt Busch to move into third and fourth. Afterwards, Larson overtook Truex’s No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry for third place as he had Kyle Busch next on his sights. Meanwhile, Elliott continued to lead by more than four seconds.

    Nearing the final 35 laps of the event, the Busch brothers along with Blaney, Byron and others pitted under green. By then, Elliott was leading by three seconds over teammate Larson.

    Back on the track, the battle for the lead intensified between teammates Elliott and Larson, with the former fending off the latter through every turns and corner while Truex trailed by two seconds.

    With 33 laps remaining, Larson prevailed over his intense battle with Elliott after overtaking him in Turn 7 to reassume the lead, with Truex narrowing the gap to more than a second. Meanwhile, Jones was in fourth followed by Logano, Bowman, Reddick, Briscoe, Hamlin and Almirola.

     A few laps later, Truex overtook Elliott for the runner-up spot. By then, names like Hamlin, Chastain pitted under green.

    With 29 laps remaining, Elliott surrendered his track position to pit under green along with Erik Jones while Larson continued to run on the circuit with a two-second advantage over Truex. Not long after, Truex pitted. By then, Bowman, who went off the course through Turns 5 and 6, also pitted along with Aric Almirola and Briscoe.

    Soon after, Larson pitted and surrendered the lead to Logano. By the time Larson exited pit road, Truex was able to cycle in front of Larson on fresh tires. 

    Not long after, Larson was able to navigate his way around Truex through Turn 7 and move within striking distance of reassuming the lead with the finish in sight. By then, Logano pitted under green. 

    With 21 laps remaining, Larson returned to the lead after he overtook Kyle Busch. Truex, meanwhile, was still in third while Elliott was battling Keselowski for fifth. Soon after, Truex moved into the runner-up spot over Kyle Busch as he was trailing Larson by more than two seconds. 

    Then, the caution flew due to Quin Houff coming to a stop in Turn 6. By then, Keselowski pitted, though he was later penalized due to equipment coming over his pit stall too soon.

    Under caution, a majority of the leaders returned to pit road and Larson exited pit road in front of Truex, Elliott and others. Back on course, Logano remained on course along with Reddick, LaJoie and Alfredo, where they were followed by Larson, Truex and Elliott. 

    With 16 laps remaining, the race restarted. At the start, Logano maintained the lead through the first two turns and heading into Turn 3A while Larson quickly moved up to fourth place followed by teammate Elliott. 

    Through Turn 7 and the Esses, Larson moved up into third place followed by Elliott while Truex was stuck in seventh. 

    By the time the field returned to the start/finish line under the final 15 laps, Larson was up into second place behind Logano while Elliott and Truex were in fourth and sixth. Then, approaching Turn 8, Larson, racing on fresh tires, reassumed the lead over Logano.

    Then, the caution returned when Chastain and LaJoie made contact in Turn 11, sending both cars spinning and in front of incoming traffic. In the ensuing chaos, Kevin Harvick, Byron, Bell, Bowman and Erik Jones sustained damage.

    Under caution, nearly the entire field remained on the track while Harvick pitted to have the damage on his car addressed. 

    With 11 laps remaining, the race restarted with Larson and Logano comprising the front row. At the start, Larson and Logano battled dead even through the first two turns before Larson cleared Logano’s No. 22 AutoTrader Ford Mustang entering Turn 3A. 

    Through the Esses and Turns 10, 11 and 12 with 10 laps remaining, Larson continued to lead while teammate Elliott overtook Logano for the runner-up spot. Truex moved up into fourth place followed by Kyle Busch and Chastain.

    With eight laps remaining, Larson was leading by nearly three seconds over teammate Elliott with Truex, Logano and Kyle Busch running in the top five. 

    Three laps later, the caution flew when Ryan Preece spun in the Esses. While Preece was trying to recover, he was hit and turned by an oncoming Cody Ware in a heavy dust cloud, with Ware coming to a rest near the tire barriers as both competitors sustained damage to their respective machines.

    Under caution, nearly the entire field led by Larson, Elliott and Truex remained on the track while few like Keselowski and Reddick pitted.

    With three laps remaining, the race restarted with teammates Larson and Elliott comprising the front row. At the start, Larson managed to clear teammate Elliott to remain as the leader through the first two turns and heading into the third turn. Elliott retained the runner-up spot followed by Truex and the field.

    The caution, however, returned quickly when Alfredo, who was primed for a top-10 result, and Bell spun following contact with Bowman in Turn 4. The incident was enough to send the race into overtime.

    In overtime, Larson and Elliott engaged in a side-by-side battle for the lead through the first turn before the former emerged on top in Turn 2. Through the first four turns and the following three turns, Larson continued to lead despite being pressured by Elliott as Truex settled himself in third place. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson was leading by nearly six-tenths of a second over teammate Elliott with Truex trailing by one-and-a-half seconds. 

    Elliott gained ground briefly on Larson entering Turn 8 before Larson was able to retain his steady advantage through the Esses and Turn 10. After calmly navigating his way through Turns 11 and 12, Larson was able to come back around and take the checkered flag to win by six-tenths of a second over Elliott.

    In addition to claiming his second consecutive victory of this season and first on a road course, Larson recorded his ninth NASCAR Cup Series career victory, third of the season and the 270th win for Hendrick Motorsports. He also became the 20th different competitor to win a Cup race at Sonoma Raceway and the first competitor to sweep the day at Sonoma after he claimed the first two stages en route to his dominating victory.

    “It was not easy,” Larson said on FS1. “Any road course isn’t easy. Just trying to keep it on track is tough, especially when you got two of the best behind you on that last restart. I felt like I did a good job the one [restart] before and stretch it out a little bit and then, [I] didn’t want to give it another try at it, but [Elliott] kept the pressure on. Martin was strong, too, but what a car. This is unbelievable. I thought I would be okay today, but I just didn’t know how I would race. Our car was really good there and I can’t say enough about it. Northern California, this will always be home to me, even if I live out on the East Coast now…Look forward to just keeping this streak going.”

    Elliott, who led 13 laps, claimed the runner-up spot for a second consecutive week, fourth overall this season, while Truex, winner of the previous two Sonoma races, rallied from a three-race stretch of finishing outside the top 15 to finish in third place.

    “I wish I knew [where Larson was better],” Elliott said. “I would’ve tried to give him a little better run, but congrats to Kyle, [crew chief] and Cliff [Daniels], everybody on the No. 5 team. They’ve been doing an amazing job. Really proud of our NAPA group, though. I felt like we were a lot better there at the end than we were at the beginning, and definitely, the best I’ve ever been here, I feel like, at Sonoma, in particular. Pleased with that. I wished we could’ve gotten another spot, but we’ll try again.”

    “[We were beaten] Just a little bit everywhere, I felt like,” Truex added. “Right handers, I couldn’t quite lean on the left rear like I needed to and didn’t quite have the drive off. More so than that, I didn’t have the short-run speed. I think the really long runs was our only chance there. All those cautions at the end, they killed any chance we had. Proud of the guys on the Bass Pro Toyota. Just not quite good enough. The Hendrick cars are really strong right now, they’re really fast, making a lot of grip, making our job tough, but like I said, we needed long runs at the end, not all those cautions.”

    Logano finished fourth while Kyle Busch, a two-time winner at Sonoma, completed the top five on the track. 

    Kurt Busch, a former winner at Sonoma, claimed his first top-10 result since Homestead-Miami Speedway in February by finishing sixth while teammate Chastain, Hamlin, Bowman and Blaney finished in the top 10.

    Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez, Austin Dillon, Bubba Wallace and Brad Keselowski finished in the top 15 while Chase Briscoe was the highest-finishing rookie competitor in 17th. Harvick came home in 21st, Bell fell back to 24th and Ben Rhodes finished 30th in his Cup debut. Michael McDowell and Ryan Newman finished 28th and 33rd after both were turned and spun in Turn 11 on the final lap.

    There were 13 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 18 laps. In total, 33 of the 37 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Hamlin continues to lead the regular-season standings by 47 points over Larson with Elliott trailing by 73 points.

    Results.

    1. Kyle Larson, 57 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    2. Chase Elliott, 13 laps led

    3. Martin Truex Jr.

    4. Joey Logano, five laps led

    5. Kyle Busch, two laps led

    6. Kurt Busch, eight laps led

    7. Ross Chastain

    8. Denny Hamlin, two laps led

    9. Alex Bowman

    10. Ryan Blaney

    11. Erik Jones

    12. Daniel Suarez

    13. Austin Dillon

    14. Bubba Wallace

    15. Brad Keselowski

    16. Chris Buescher

    17. Chase Briscoe

    18. Corey LaJoie

    19. Tyler Reddick

    20. Cole Custer

    21. Ryan Preece

    22. Kevin Harvick

    23. Matt DiBenedetto

    24. Christopher Bell

    25. James Davison

    26. Scott Heckert

    27. Aric Almirola

    28. Michael McDowell

    29. Josh Bilicki

    30. Ben Rhodes

    31. Anthony Alfredo

    32. Garrett Smithley

    33. Ryan Newman

    34. Cody Ware – OUT, Accident

    35. William Byron – OUT, Accident, five laps led

    36. Quin Houff – OUT, Rear gear

    37. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Engine

    Next on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ annual All-Star Open and Race events at Texas Motor Speedway, both scheduled to occur on Sunday, June 13. The NASCAR All-Star Open will air at 6 p.m. ET on FS1 while the All-Star Race will commence at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Perez capitalizes late to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

    Perez capitalizes late to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

    In a late chain of events that featured title contenders Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton left in a draw for the championship lead following late on-track issues, Sergio “Checo” Perez came out on top and claimed his first victory of the season in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at Baku City Circuit, the sixth event of the 2021 Formula One season.

    The 31-year-old veteran from Guadalajara, Mexico, was initially poised for a podium result when his teammate and leader Max Verstappen wrecked with five laps remaining due to a left-rear tyre puncture, an incident that left Verstappen upset following his Monaco Grand Prix victory. With the race red-flagged to have the debris cleared from the wreckage, the race restarted in a two-lap shootout that featured all of the cars restarting in double lanes. Hamilton, meanwhile, was poised to challenge Perez for the victory until he locked up his front tires and overshot the first corner, which took him out of race-winning contention and an opportunity to reclaim the points lead. That all but gave Perez the clean air needed to drive to victory.

    The Azerbaijan victory marked Perez’s second Formula One career victory in his 197th career start, his first as a Red Bull Racing driver and his first since claiming his maiden F1 victory in the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix last December. It also marked Perez’s third time standing on the podium at the Baku City Circuit after finishing in third place in 2016 and 2018.

    “I think we all love Baku, right?” Perez said. “It worked well. We had good pace, good start, good first lap. We did everything perfect apart from that restart. Simply, I didn’t have any grip. I had an issue with my tyres and I couldn’t warm them up, so I think that was part of it, of the issue that I had a very poor start. We gave it all. I thought, ‘I cannot miss this race two laps from the end.’ Overall, I’m just very pleased. I certainly did a very good step in understanding the [Red Bull] car, in feeling comfortable. I think there is still a lot to come from us, so we’re just working really hard. I’m giving it my best. The season is still very long, so anything can happen.”

    Despite finishing 18th with a DNF following his late accident, Verstappen, who earned a single point by setting the fastest lap at 206.839 kph, retained the lead in the drivers’ championship standings after Hamilton fell all the way back to 15th place.

    “Yeah, it’s, of course, frustrating and disappointing,” Verstappen said. “So close to the finish, to retire with a tyre blowout. It’s a big shame. Sometime, you can hate this sport for a few hours and then, I’ll be fine again. Up until that point, it was a great day. The car was on fire. I was just matching whatever I needed to do behind me. It would’ve been an easy win, but of course, I know no guarantees are in this sport. Shame because we missed out on an opportunity to make the gap [between myself and Hamilton] bigger.”

    “Basically, when Checo pulled over to the left and I moved to the left, I, unknowingly, hit a switch and it basically switched off the rear brakes and only the fronts were working, so it just went straight,” Hamilton said. “It’s really painful, but I’m really sorry to the team for this day. All I can do is rebuild and know that I gave it absolutely everything today.”

    Trailing Perez to the line by more than a second was Sebastian Vettel, who claimed his first podium result of the season, his first since the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix last November and his first with the Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team.

    “I feel good,” Vettel said. “We started 11th, but I think we were very strong today. The team did a great job. We prepared well for the race, knew what to do and execute…good pace throughout. Looking forward to the next races.”

    Pierre Gasly, meanwhile, fended off a late challenge from pole-sitter Charles Leclerc during the two-lap shootout to round out the podium in third place, thus claiming his first podium result since winning his maiden Grand Prix event in Monza, Italy, last September and the first podium result of the season for the AlphaTauri team.

    “It’s been an incredible weekend for us,” Gasly said. “The car’s been very, very strong and [qualifying] was great yesterday. The race was going really well at the start. From mid-race to onwards, we had engine problems, so we started to lose performance, especially down the straights. I knew it would be tight with Charles with our lethal issue. It was quite close racing, hard racing, but exactly how we like it. I really wanted that podium and I’m really, really happy for the guys.”

    Leclerc rallied from his dismal week at Monaco, where he did not make the starting grid nor competed, by finishing fourth while Lando Norris crossed the line in fifth place.

    Fernando Alonso settled in sixth place followed by rookie Yuki Tsunoda, who notched a career-best result. Carlos Sainz, Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Räikkönen completed the top-10 points finishing results.

    Antonio Giovinazzi finished 11th followed by Valtteri Bottas, Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin, all of whom finished in front of Hamilton. Nicholas Latifi finished 16th while teammate George Russell retired in 17th.

    Lance Stroll ended his race in 19th place and with a DNF following a harrowing accident caused by a left-rear tyre puncture on the high-speed straightaway that sent the Canadian into the wall and with a wrecked Aston Martin F1 car.

    Esteban Ocon finished in 20th place and as the first retiree of the event after an early engine turbo issue took him out of contention.

    Results:

    1. Sergio Perez, eight laps led, 25 points

    2. Sebastian Vettel, four laps led, 18 points

    3. Pierre Gasly, 15 points

    4. Charles Leclerc, one lap led, 12 points

    5. Lando Norris, 10 points

    6. Fernando Alonso, eight points

    7. Yuki Tsunoda, six points

    8. Carlos Sainz, four points

    9. Daniel Ricciardo, two points

    10. Kimi Räikkönen, one point

    11. Antonio Givinazzi

    12. Valtteri Bottas

    13. Mick Schumacher

    14. Nikita Mazepin

    15. Lewis Hamilton, nine laps led

    16. Nicholas Latifi

    17. George Russell, retired

    18. Max Verstappen, retired, 29 las led, one point

    19. Lance Stroll, retired

    20. Esteban Ocon, retired

    Verstappen continues to lead the drivers’ standings by four points over Hamilton with Perez trailing by 36 points. Red Bull Racing Honda also continues to lead the constructors’ standings by 26 points over Mercedes.

    Next on the 2021 Formula One schedule is Circuit Paul Ricard for the French Grand Prix, which will occur on Sunday, June 20.

  • Allmendinger rallies from late penalty to win at Mid-Ohio

    Allmendinger rallies from late penalty to win at Mid-Ohio

    From a late penalty to victory, AJ Allmendinger became the first repeat winner at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course after the Los Gatos, California, native fended off teammate Justin Haley, Ty Gibbs and the field in overtime to win the B&L Transport 170 at Mid-Ohio on Saturday, June 5, as he also claimed his second victory of this year’s NASCAR Xfinity Series season.

    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, the regular-season points leader, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Ty Gibbs, winner of Friday’s ARCA Menards Series event at Mid-Ohio and last weekend’s event at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    Prior to the event, Kris Wright and Ryan Ellis dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Cindric and Gibbs battled for the lead through the first two turns.

    It did not take long, however, for the first caution of the event to fly when Noah Gragson drove off the track and through the grass, where he destroyed the front nose from his car that was also leaking fluid and smoke. Behind, Cody Ware spun in Turn 2. While Ware continued, Gragson parked his battered car between Turns 2 and 3 as his race came to an early end.

    Following the incident, the race restarted on the fifth lap. At the start, Cindric maintained the lead followed by Gibbs, Harrison Burton, Jeb Burton, Justin Allgaier and the field.

    Three laps later, the caution returned when Tommy Joe Martins due to fluid on the course when the engine from Tommy Joe Martins’ machine expired.

    Another four laps later, the race restarted, with Cindric and Gibbs retaining the front row. At the start, Gibbs made his move beneath Cindric’s No. 22 PPG Ford Mustang to take the lead. Cindric, though, was quick to reassume the advantage in Turn 4, where he continued to fend off Gibbs and lead when the field returned to the start/finish line.

    On Lap 15, AJ Allmendinger muscled his No. 16 Ramco Specialties Chevrolet Camaro into the lead over Cindric. 

    Three laps later and with Allmendinger still leading, Harrison Burton damaged the front nose and splitter from his No. 20 Dex Imaging Toyota Supra after going off-course in Turn 1. Despite the incident, the race continued to run under green.

    In the final laps of the first stage, names like Ty Gibbs, Daniel Hemric, Andy Lally and Myatt Snider pitted for fuel. Back on the track, Allmendinger continued to lead by more than three seconds over Cindric. 

    In Turn 9, Miguel Paludo spun in the gravel trap, but the race continued to run under green. With a healthy advantage over the field, Allmendinger was able to navigate his way back to the start/finish line and win the first stage on Lap 25. Cindric was scored in second place followed by Haley, Jeb Burton, Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Riley Herbst, Alex Labbe, Michael Annett and Jeremy Clements.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Allmendinger pitted while Gibbs, Snider, Hemric, Ryan Sieg and Lally remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 30 with Gibbs and Hemric on the front row. At the start, Gibbs maintained the lead over Hemric, Snider and the field. Cindric, meanwhile, was back in seventh while Allmendinger was in fifth behind Andy Lally. By then, Justin Allgaier took his car to the garage due to a mechanical issue.

    Just past the Lap 40 mark and with Gibbs still leading, the caution flew due to Jeremy Clements stalling his car in the Acura Bridge.

    Four laps later, the race restarted. At the start, Allmendinger, who restarted alongside Gibbs, made his move to take the lead in Turn 2. By Turn 5, teammate Justin Haley moved into the runner-up spot while Gibbs was shuffled back in third in front of Brandon Jones, Hemric and Jeb Burton.

    On Lap 46, trouble ignited for Daniel Hemric, who limped back to pit road after he blew a left-rear tire, which damaged the left-rear side of Hemric’s No. 18 Poppy Bank Toyota Supra. He was able to limp back to pit road and keep the race running under green.

    Not long after, Allmendinger pitted along with Gibbs, Lally, Brett Moffitt, Josh Williams and Miguel Paludo. During the pit stops, however, Allmendinger was penalized for failing to meet minimum pit stop time and was required to start at the rear of the field for the final stage.

    Back on the track, Haley assumed the lead in his No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet Camaro. With the clean air, Haley was able to claim the second stage victory on Lap 50 by nearly two seconds over Brandon Jones. Jones settled in second followed by Jeb Burton, Herbst, Cindric, Labbe, Snider, Brandon Brown, Annett and Ryan Ellis.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted for tires with some opting to pit again for fuel. During the stops, Andy Lally was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation.

    With 20 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Ryan Sieg and Cindric started on the front row. At the start, Cindric muscled to the lead on the outside lane in Turn 1 while the field behind scrambled for positions.

    Down to the final eight laps of the event, Cindric was leading by nearly 11 seconds over Gibbs while Allmendinger, following his penalty, was in third place, trailing by 13 seconds. Moffitt was in fourth followed by Michael Annett and Haley.

    Then, the caution flew when Jeb Burton spun in Turn 4 and was stuck in the gravel trap. Under caution, the leaders remained on the track.

    With five laps remaining, the race restarted. At the start, Allmendinger quickly made his move beneath Gibbs and Cindric entering Turn 1. With all three competitors making contact against one another in a three-wide battle, Allmendinger returned to the lead past the first turn. As Brett Moffitt moved into the runner-up spot, contact from Gibbs Annett and Haley resulted with Cindric getting hit and spinning in the grass, which ended Cindric’s hopes of winning.

    Despite the incident, the race continued to run under green as Allmendinger retained the lead. Not long after, however, the caution flew due to a multi-car incident in Turn 6 that involved Kris Wright, Alex Labbe and Kyle Weatherman with everyone else scattering around the circuit to avoid the incident.

    Under caution, Moffitt, who was running in the runner-up spot, lost power as a result of a fuel pump issue and stalled on the track, effectively ending his hopes of battling for the win.

    With the race sent into overtime, Allmendinger received a strong start through the first turn to maintain the lead over teammate Haley and Gibbs while everyone else scattered and scrambled for positions through the first two turns.

    When the final lap started, Allmendinger maintained a decent advantage over Haley and Gibbs. With the leaders clearly out in front, chaos ensued behind, starting with Riley Herbst getting into Miguel Paludo in Turn 1 as Paludo spun. Shortly after, Andy Lally bumped into Herbst and sent Herbst’s No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang spinning in Turn 2.

    Back to the front, Allmendinger continued to lead Haley and Gibbs through Turns 4 and 5. Having the lead in his sole possession, Allmendinger was able to navigate his way through the 13-turn circuit for a final time to claim the checkered flag and win.

    With his second victory of the season, Allmendinger became the first multi-winner of the Xfinity Series event at Mid-Ohio since its inception in 2013. He also claimed his seventh Xfinity career victory, his fifth on a road course and the 10th career win for Kaulig Racing.

    “I mean, I’m not gonna lie, I was a little upset,” Allmendinger said on FS1 when mentioning about the penalty. “But we win and lose as a team so I was gonna fight until the checkered flag flew. I knew we had the best car…This Ramco Specialties Chevrolet had some massive rear grip. I lost the restart, [Gibbs] opened up a gap and I know these guys will do it to me, so I barreled in there when I saw a gap and I was gonna come out on the other side clean. That’s all I got there.”

    Haley settled in second place for his first top-five result of the season while Ty Gibbs came home in third place and notched his sixth top-five result in seven Xfinity starts this season.

    “First of all, congrats to AJ,” Haley said. “That’s amazing. This is LeafFilter’s home, this is [team owner] Matt Kaulig’s home. To finish one-two here is really special. Obviously, you want the LeafFilter car to go to Victory Lane, but I thought we were a little better than AJ there at the end, but I had so much damage. I was just on the splitter so hard…Really, really special day here.”

    Brandon Jones finished in fourth place followed by Andy Lally. Brandon Brown finished in sixth place followed by Annett, Josh Berry, Ryan Sieg and Josh Williams.

    Hemric settled in 12th while Cindric ended his race in 14th after leading a race-high 30 laps. Riley Herbst and Paludo finished 21st and 27th following their spins on the final lap.

    There were seven lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 23 laps.

    Cindric continues to lead the regular-season standings by 96 points over Allmendinger.

    Results.

    1. AJ Allmendinger, 23 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    2. Justin Haley, seven laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. Ty Gibbs, 16 laps led

    4. Brandon Jones

    5. Andy Lally

    6. Brandon Brown

    7. Michael Annett

    8. Josh Berry

    9. Ryan Sieg, two laps led

    10. Josh Williams

    11. Alex Labbe

    12. Daniel Hemric

    13. Jade Buford

    14. Austin Cindric, 30 laps led

    15. Cody Ware

    16. Jeb Burton

    17. Gray Gaulding

    18. Ryan Vargas

    19. Matt Jaskol

    20. Landon Cassill

    21. Riley Herbst

    22. Colby Howard

    23. Matt Mills

    24. Jesse Little

    25. Preston Pardus

    26. Kyle Weatherman

    27. Miguel Paludo

    28. Ryan Ellis

    29. Myatt Snider

    30. Joe Graf Jr., one lap down

    31. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Fuel pump

    32. Kris Wright – OUT, Accident

    33. Jeremy Clements, 10 laps down

    34. Jeffrey Earnhardt, 10 laps down

    35. Justin Allgaier, 11 laps down

    36. David Starr, 12 laps down

    37. Bayley Currey – OUT, Electrical

    38. Harrison Burton – OUT, Accident

    39. Tommy Joe Martins – OUT, Engine 

    40. Noah Gragson – OUT, Accident 

    Next on the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is a trip to the Lone Star state for a 250-mile event at Texas Motor Speedway, which will occur on Saturday, June 12, at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Hemric to achieve 100th Xfinity Series start at Mid-Ohio

    Hemric to achieve 100th Xfinity Series start at Mid-Ohio

    In his return to full-time NASCAR competition, Daniel Hemric is within reach of a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s Xfinity Series event at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Supra will reach 100 career starts in the Xfinity circuit.

    A native of Kannapolis, North Carolina, Hemric made his inaugural presence in the Xfinity Series in 2017. By then, he was coming off his second full-time season in the Truck Series, where he earned 11 top-five results, 17 top-10 results and a spot in the Playoffs, where he finished in sixth place in the final standings as a Brad Keselowski Racing competitor.

    Two months prior to the 2016 Truck season’s conclusion, Hemric was named a full-time Xfinity competitor for Richard Childress Racing and in the No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro. 

    Hemric opened his rookie Xfinity season on a low note by finishing 31st after being involved in an early multi-car wreck. He rallied the following week at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where he achieved his first top-10 result in the Xfinity circuit after finishing ninth. Five races later, Hemric earned his first top-five result at Bristol Motor Speedway in April after finishing fifth, where he also led eight laps, won the second stage and claimed the Dash 4 Cash bonus in the race. His momentum continued the following week at Richmond Raceway, where he started on pole position for the first time in his career, led 26 laps and finished in third place.

    Throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, Hemric achieved a season-best second-place result at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in August, a total of five top-five results and 12 top-10 results before clinching his spot in the 2017 Xfinity Playoffs.

    During the Playoffs, Hemric advanced from the Round of 12 to the Round of 8 following three consecutive top-10 results. He commenced the Round of 8 with an 18th-place result at Kansas Speedway followed by a 14th-place result at Texas Motor Speedway. Scored on the outside of the top-four cutline to the Championship Round entering the final Round of 8 event at Phoenix Raceway in November, Hemric prevailed over a late two-tire pit strategy and a battle with Cole Custer in the final laps to finish in fifth place, two spots ahead of Custer, and secure the fourth and final spot to the Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he entered the finale as the only non-JR Motorsports competitor to battle for the title. 

    During the finale at Homestead, Hemric started the race strong and as the leading title contender. Everything changed during the second stage when he brought his No. 21 Chevrolet to pit road under green after reporting battery issues. While his crew repaired the issue, Hemric returned to the track multiple laps behind and out of title contention as he concluded his rookie season in fourth place in the final standings. Despite missing out on winning the title and the Rookie-of-the-Year title over William Byron, Hemric achieved a pole, seven top-five results, 16 top-10 results and a 13.2 average-finishing result throughout the 2017 season.

    Following an impressive rookie season, Hemric retained his seat with RCR for the 2018 Xfinity season. He started on pole position for the season-opening event at Daytona, but finished 26th after being involved in a multi-car incident at the halfway mark. While he did not record a single victory throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, Hemric and the No. 21 team were strongly consistent as they earned two runner-up results, 12 top-five results, 16 top-10 results and a spot for the 2018 Xfinity Playoffs.

    Throughout the Playoffs, including the Rounds of 12 and 8, Hemric finished in the top 10 in all but one event, including an additional two runner-up results, as he returned to the Championship Round at Homestead in November with another opportunity to win his first Xfinity title. During the finale, however, Hemric finished fourth in the main event and settled in third place in the final standings. Despite enduring another winless season, Hemric earned a career-high four poles, 16 top-five results, 23 top-10 results, 440 laps led and a 9.0 average result.

    After two impressive, consistent seasons in the Xfinity circuit, Hemric moved up to the Cup Series with RCR in 2019. Despite achieving the 2019 Cup Rookie-of-the-Year title, Hemric was released from RCR following the 2019 season. He ended up joining JR Motorsports as a part-time Xfinity Series competitor for the 2020 season. Driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro, Hemric made his first start of a part-time schedule at Las Vegas in February, where he finished 35th after being involved in an early incident that result in a suspension failure. He returned for an additional 20 races throughout the 33-race schedule. During his stint, Hemric earned two season-best runner-up results (Charlotte Motor Speedway in May and Kansas Speedway in October), a total of seven top-five results, 12 top-10 results and an average result of 16.2.

    Following the 2020 season, Hemric was named a full-time Xfinity competitor for Joe Gibbs Racing and in the No. 18 Toyota Supra for the 2021 season. He commenced the season in ninth place at Daytona before earning three consecutive top-three results during the following three weeks, including a runner-up result at Las Vegas in March.

    Through the first 12 Xfinity events of this season, Hemric has achieved five top-five results, eight top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 11.3. He is currently ranked in fourth place in the Xfinity Series standings.

    Through 99 previous Xfinity starts, Hemric has achieved five poles, 35 top-five results and 59 top-10 results, while continuing to pursue his first victory within NASCAR’s top three national touring series.

    Hemric is slated to make his 100th Xfinity career start at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Saturday, June 5, at 1 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Larson achieves historic victory for Hendrick Motorsports in the Coca-Cola 600

    Larson achieves historic victory for Hendrick Motorsports in the Coca-Cola 600

    History was made under the lights at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 30, as Kyle Larson raced his way to a dominating victory in the Coca-Cola 600 and made Hendrick Motorsports the winningest team in the NASCAR Cup Series. The Elk Grove, California, native led a race-high 327 of 400 laps from pole position, including the final 49 laps, to muscle away from his teammates and the competition before recording the biggest victory for himself and for HMS on Memorial Day weekend.

    Qualifying occurred on Saturday, May 29, and Kyle Larson captured the pole position with a pole-winning speed at 180.282 mph. Joining him on the front row was Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in his No. 47 JTG-Daugherty Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.

    Prior to the event, Kurt Busch and B.J. McLeod dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments.  

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Larson was able to squeak ahead with the top spot as he led the first lap while teammate Chase Elliott battled Stenhouse for the runner-up spot. Behind, a series of side-by-side battles occurred as William Byron battled Kevin Harvick for fourth place while Austin Dillon overtook Alex Bowman for sixth place. 

    Through the first 47 laps of the event, it was Larson and his No. 5 MetroTech Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE that was leading the field and dominating.

    Shortly after, the first round of green flag pit stops occurred as Martin Truex Jr. and Ross Chastain pitted. They were soon followed by Bowman, Christopher Bell, Joey Logano, Austin Dillon, Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Chris Buescher, Larson, Elliott and others. During the pit stops, Chastain remained on pit road and his crew pulled the hood up on his No. 42 AdventHealth Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to address a broken oil pump belt. 

    With most of the pit stops completed, Brad Keselowski, who was trying to stretch the fuel in his car to the fullest, led six laps before Matt DiBenedetto and rookie Anthony Alfredo led the following three laps. Afterwards, Larson returned to the lead.

    With five laps remaining under the first stage, Daniel Suarez made a pit stop under green due to a flat right-front tire. 

    Back on the track, Larson was able to set sail at the front and cruise to the first stage victory on Lap 100, thus claiming his seventh stage victory of the season. Teammates Elliott and Byron crossed the start/finish line in second and third followed by Harvick and Austin Dillon. Kyle Busch, teammate Truex, Reddick, Stenhouse and Bowman were scored in the top 10. 

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Larson retained the lead following a stellar service from his pit crew.

    The second stage started on Lap 107 with teammates Larson and Elliott on the front row. At the start, Larson pulled ahead on the bottom lane to maintain the lead ahead of Elliott and Harvick through the first two turns.

    By Lap 110, Larson was ahead by half a second over Elliott while Harvick and Byron engaged in a fierce battle for third place. A few laps later, Harvick prevailed over his battle with Byron as Kyle Busch went to work on Byron for fourth place.

    On Lap 132, Elliott, coming off his victory at the Circuit of the Americas, was able to move his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE into the lead for the first time of the event.

    On Lap 140, Kurt Busch took his No. 1 Gear Wrench Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to the garage after reporting a broken belt issue to his machine, a similar issue that eliminated teammate Chastain from competition.

    Not long after, another round of green flag pit stops occurred as Brad Keselowski pitted followed by Stenhouse, Byron, Kyle Busch, Bowman, Truex, Bubba Wallace, rookie Chase Briscoe, Larson, Elliott, Harvick and others. While entering and exiting pit road, Larson and Elliott battled dead even to be on top of one another before the former prevailed.

    By Lap 153, Larson returned to the lead after Bell pitted. 

    Twenty laps later, the caution returned when Kurt Busch, who had returned to the track while multiple laps behind, retired due to an engine failure when smoke billowed out of his car. Busch’s retirement was his third of the season and his seventh finish outside the top 20 through the first 15 events of this season.

    Under caution, the leaders returned to pit road and Bowman emerged with the lead following a two-tire pit stop. Hamlin and Logano, both of whom also took two tires, exited in second and third followed by Larson, the first competitor with four fresh tires. 

    With 23 laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted. At the start, Bowman was able to retain the lead, but Hamlin moved his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry to the top spot three laps later. Behind, however, Elliott was quick to move into the runner-up spot followed by teammates Bowman and Larson.

    After leading the next three laps, Hamlin lost the lead to Elliott. Five laps later, however, Larson reassumed the lead. From there, he was able to cruise to the second stage victory on Lap 200 and claim his eighth stage victory of the season. Teammates Elliott and Byron settled in second and third followed by Kyle Busch, Reddick, Harvick, Bowman, Buescher, Hamlin and Austin Dillon.

    Under the stage break, the entire field drove down to pit road and paused for a moment of silence in remembrance of the fallen during Memorial Day weekend. When the competition resumed, the leaders pitted and Larson was able to retain the lead ahead of his Hendrick Motorsports’ teammates.

    The third stage started on Lap 207 as Larson received another strong start to retain the lead ahead of his teammates and the field.

    By Lap 210, Larson held a narrow advantage over Byron followed by Elliott, Harvick, Kyle Busch, Bowman, Hamlin, Logano, Reddick and Wallace.

    On Lap 231, Byron emerged with the lead, where he went on to lead 17 laps. By Lap 253, though, Larson returned to the lead.

    With five laps remaining in the third stage, the caution flew when Ryan Newman lost a right-front tire and pounded the outside wall in Turn 3. The incident was enough to end the third stage under caution, with Larson claiming his third stage victory of the 600-mile event and the ninth of this season. Teammate Byron followed in the runner-up spot and ahead of Kyle Busch, Elliott, Bowman, Reddick, Hamlin, Austin Dillon, Wallace and Harvick.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Larson retained the lead after exiting in first place followed by Kyle Busch. Following the pit stops, Wallace was assessed an equipment interference penalty while Blaney was caught speeding on pit road.

    With 94 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as the two Kyles led the field to the green flag. At the start, Kyle Busch challenged Larson for one lap, even leading a lap, before Larson cleared Busch for the lead entering the backstretch during the following lap. In the process, Elliott retook the runner-up spot and Busch got loose while battling Byron for third place.

    Down to the final 90 laps of the event, Larson was ahead by half a second over teammates Elliott and Byron, both of whom were battling to keep up with their dominating teammate.

    With less than 55 laps remaining and with green flag pit stops ensuing, Reddick led for three laps before Blaney took over the top spot for the following two laps.

    Under the final 50 laps, Larson moved back into the lead after Blaney pitted.

    Twenty laps later, Larson, who was lapping traffic in front of him, was out in front by a reasonable margin over teammates Elliott and Byron, with Kyle Busch in fourth and Bowman in fifth. 

    Under the final 10 laps, Larson continued to lead by a big margin over teammate Elliott. With seven laps remaining, Larson’s advantage to Elliott was more than 10 seconds. 

    With five laps remaining, Larson remained as the leader by more than 10 seconds over Elliott. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch battled and overtook Byron for third place.

    When Larson started the final lap of the event, he stabilized his advantage to more than 10 seconds over Elliott. With no challenges lurking behind, Larson was able to come back around and claim the checkered flag for the win.

    In his seventh full-time season and career start No. 238, Larson captured his eighth NASCAR Cup Series career victory, his second win of the season, his first victory at Charlotte and his first crown jewel event in NASCAR with his first Coke 600 title. He also joined teammate Bowman and Truex as the only competitors to win multiple races through the first 15 races of this year’s Cup season. 

    “It feels good,” Larson said on FOX. “It was not easy. I felt like I had to fight off William [Byron] and Chase [Elliott] a lot. It kind of worked out there that last run. [Erik Jones] had to pit and pulled out in front of me. I just towed with him for a while and stretched my lead out. We had a good car there that last run. Awesome, it feels great to be the guy that helped Mr. [Hendrick] break that record finally. This is awesome…Just very lucky that Mr. H was able to put a deal for me. It’s just awesome. I’m living dream, for sure.”

    With Larson’s victory, Hendrick Motorsports achieved its 12th Coke 600 title and surpassed Petty Enterprises with the most victories in the Cup Series with career win No. 269, an achievement that left team owner Rick Hendrick beaming on pit road.

    “Number one, Richard Petty is the king of NASCAR and he’s done so much for this sport,” Rick Hendrick said. “Man, this is so awesome. All I could think about was the first win, all the drivers. I wanna thank every driver that’s ever driven, ever won a race and the one’s that didn’t win. It’s unbelievable. I can’t really get it in my brain right now ‘cause I just thought something’s gonna happen. But man, what a good job [the drivers] did tonight. I’m just looking forward to the rest of the year when I’m glad [win No.] 269 is over. I’m glad it’s over.”

    Elliott, who was making his 200th Cup career start and led 22 laps, settled in second place for the third time this season followed by Kyle Busch.

    “Yeah, I was happy for the boss [Rick Hendrick], happy for Kyle [Larson] and [crew chief] Cliff [Daniels], and everybody on the No. 5 team,” Elliott said. “They’ve been kicking ass since February. They deserve to win and rightfully so. They did a great job tonight, ran a great race, made no mistakes and the best car won. Proud of [Hendrick Motorsports]. Man, I feel like everybody’s, like I’ve been saying, been pulling in the same direction and it’s really showing. Just proud of our company and excited as the No. 9 team’s, specifically, for more opportunities ahead and try to get better, and see if we can get dialed in.”

    “We had nothing for the Hendrick cars,” Busch said. “Overall, just a really good night for us. This M&M’s Camry was fast. [Crew chief] Ben [Beshore] and the boys did a really, really good job. I appreciate for what all we had, it was enough to be able to go out there, run strong and try to break’em [Hendrick drivers] up. I didn’t want them to finish one-two-three-four again, so at least I could get in the middle of them there, but overall, a good job…We had a solid night tonight. Hopefully, good for the points and hopefully, we can keep this momentum rolling.”

    Teammates Byron and Bowman finished in the top five as all four Hendrick Motorsports’ competitors finished in the top five. Austin Dillon, Hamlin, Buescher, Reddick and Harvick completed the top 10.

    Keselowski finished 11th followed by Stenhouse, Blaney, Wallace and Suarez. Logano fell back to 17th ahead of Matt DiBenedetto and Briscoe was the highest-finishing rookie competitor in 23rd. Martin Truex Jr., a two-time Coke 600 winner, ended his night in 29th following a late tire issue.

    There were 23 lead changes for 13 different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 26 laps. 

    Denny Hamlin continues to lead the regular-season standings by 76 points over Kyle Larson and William Byron, with Chase Elliott trailing by 92 points.

    Results.

    1. Kyle Larson, 327 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 & 3 winner

    2. Chase Elliott, 22 laps led

    3. Kyle Busch, one lap led

    4. William Byron, 19 laps led

    5. Alex Bowman, five laps led

    6. Austin Dillon, one lap led

    7. Denny Hamlin, three laps led

    8. Chris Buescher

    9. Tyler Reddick, six laps led

    10. Kevin Harvick

    11. Brad Keselowski, six laps led

    12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 

    13. Ryan Blaney, two laps led

    14. Bubba Wallace

    15. Daniel Suarez, two laps down

    16. Erik Jones, two laps down

    17. Joey Logano, two laps down

    18. Matt DiBenedetto, two laps down, two laps led

    19. Corey LaJoie, two laps down

    20. Michael McDowell, two laps down

    21. Cole Custer, three laps down

    22. Aric Almirola, three laps down

    23. Chase Briscoe, three laps down

    24. Christopher Bell, three laps down, three laps led

    25. Anthony Alfredo, three laps down, three laps led

    26. Ryan Preece, three laps down

    27. Ryan Newman, four łaps down

    28. Justin Haley, five laps down

    29. Martin Truex Jr., nine laps down

    30. Cody Ware, 11 laps down

    31. B.J. McLeod, 11 laps down

    32. Quin Houff, 11 laps down

    33. James Davison, 12 laps down

    34. Garrett Smithley, 13 laps down

    35. Josh Bilicki, 18 laps down

    36. David Starr, 31 laps down

    37. Ross Chastain, 41 laps down

    38. Kurt Busch – OUT, Engine

    Next on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ return to the West Coast and at Sonoma Raceway following a one-year absence. The race will occur on Sunday, June 6, at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Elliott to make 200th Cup start at Charlotte

    Elliott to make 200th Cup start at Charlotte

    Competing in his sixth full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series, Chase Elliott is within reach of a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the reigning series champion and driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE will achieve career start No. 200 in NASCAR’s premier series.

    A native of Dawsonville, Georgia, Elliott made his inaugural presence in the Cup Series in 2015. By then, he was the reigning Xfinity Series champion driving for JR Motorsports and was named the successor of Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 24 Chevrolet for the 2016 Cup season, replacing four-time champion Jeff Gordon with Gordon set to retire from full-time racing following the 2015 season.

    Elliott made his Cup debut at Martinsville Speedway in March 2015, driving the No. 25 Chevrolet SS for Hendrick Motorsports. During the event, however, he was involved in an early on-track incident that damaged his car and broke the power steering. Following repairs in the garage, Elliott returned and finished 38th in his series debut. He went on to compete in four additional Cup races, which included Richmond Raceway in April, Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July at Darlington Raceway in September. His best results during his five-race Cup span were 16th at Richmond and a pair of 18th-place results at Charlotte and Indy. Elliott went on to finish in the runner-up position in the 2015 Xfinity Series standings while Gordon and the No. 24 team won at Martinsville in November and competed for the 2015 Cup title at Homestead-Miami Speedway before finishing in third place in the final standings.

    Assuming the No. 24 Chevrolet in 2016, Elliott kicked off his rookie Cup season on a high note by winning the pole position for the Daytona 500, thus becoming the youngest pole winner of the 500 at age 20, two months and 17 days, while recording the 10th 500 pole award for Hendrick Motorsports. During the main event, however, Elliott was involved in an early incident and finished 37th. He rebounded with his first top-10 career result in the Cup Series after finishing eighth at Atlanta Motor Speedway. 

    By September in his rookie season, Elliott claimed an additional pole at Talladega Superspeedway in April, two runner-up results in both Michigan International Speedway events, seven top-five results and 13 top-10 results, which were enough for him to make the 2016 Cup Playoffs. Finishing third, 13th and third in the Round of 16, Elliott advanced into the Round of 12. His title hopes, however, came to an end following the Round of 12 and following results of 33rd, 31st and 12th. Nonetheless, he capped off the season in 10th place in the final standings and with the Rookie-of-the-Year title. Overall, Elliott earned two poles, 10 top-five results, 17 top-10 results and an average result of 14.6 in his first full-time Cup season.

    Elliott commenced his sophomore Cup season, 2017, with his second consecutive Daytona 500 pole award. He went on to win the non-point Can-Am Duel at Daytona four days later. During the 500, Elliott led a total of 39 laps and was leading a pack of cars in the final laps until his No. 24 NAPA Chevrolet SS started sputtering on low fuel under the final three laps. Instead of a possible trip to Victory Lane for his first 500 triumph, he ended up in 14th place.

    By the time the 2017 regular-season stretch concluded in September, Elliott and the No. 24 team earned six top-five results and 14 top-10 results, which were enough for him to make the Playoffs. In the Round of 16, Elliott finished second, 11th and second as he advanced into the Round of 12. With results of second, 16th and fourth during the second round, he made his way into the Round of 8.

    At Martinsville in October, Elliott made his way into the lead in the closing laps and was on his way to win his first Cup race and claim a spot to the Championship Round at Homestead due in three races when a bump from Denny Hamlin sent Elliott into the Turn 3 outside wall, where he wrecked and fell all the way back in 27th place when the checkered flag flew. The incident was one that led to both competitors confronting one another on pit road following the race and mixed reaction from the crowd. With his titles hopes in jeopardy, Elliott finished eighth during the following race at Texas Motor Speedway. During the next race at Phoenix, he took over the lead late and was on his way to redeem himself until he was overtaken in the closing laps by Matt Kenseth. With Kenseth winning, Elliott finished in second place for the fifth time in 2017 (seventh since 2016) and was not able to earn a spot in the Championship Round. The driver went on to settle in fifth place in the final standings and with 12 top-five results, 21 top-10 results and an average result of 12.0.

    For the 2018 Cup season, Hendrick Motorsports switched Elliott’s number to 9, his father Bill’s iconic number, while newcomer William Byron was given the No. 24.

    Through the first 21 races of the season, Elliott earned a runner-up result at Richmond in April, five top-five results, 10 top-10 results and was in 12th place in the regular-season standings. In the following race at Watkins Glen International in August, Elliott led a race-high 52 of 90 laps and held off a late challenge from Martin Truex Jr. to claim his first elusive Cup career victory in his 99th series start and return the Elliott name back in Victory Lane in NASCAR’s premier series. As an added bonus, Elliott recorded the 250th Cup career victory for Hendrick Motorsports. He went on to earn three consecutive top-10 results before the Playoffs commenced in September. By then, he surpassed 100 Cup career starts.

    Despite crashing out in the Playoff opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he rebounded by finishing fourth at Richmond and sixth in the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course event to transfer from the Round of 16 to the Round of 12. He kicked off the second round in the Playoffs on a high note by claiming his second Cup career victory at Dover. As a result, he secured his spot for the Round of 8 in the Playoffs. Two races later, he claimed his third career win at Kansas Speedway. Following results of seventh, sixth and 23rd in the Round of 8, though, Elliott was eliminated from title contention. He went on to conclude the season in sixth place in the final standings and with 11 top-five results and 21 top-10 results.

    The 2019 Cup season started off on a low note for Elliott, who finished 17th after being involved in a late multi-car wreck. Through the first nine events of the season, he achieved a pole, a runner-up result at Martinsville in March and two top-10 results. During the following event at Talladega in April, Elliott led a race-high 45 laps and held off teammate Alex Bowman and the field on the final lap and in the midst of multiple wrecks behind to claim his first Cup victory of the season and the fifth of his career. He went on to win at Watkins Glen in August before the Playoffs commenced. 

    In October, Elliott claimed his third victory of the season at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course as he transferred from the Round of 16 to the Round of 12. He rallied from a 38th-place result at Dover the following week to finish eighth and second during the next two races (Talladega and Kansas), which were enough for him to claim the eighth and final transfer spot to the Round of 8. Elliott’s title hopes, however, came to an end following three consecutive results outside of the top 30 during the Round of 8. When the final checkered flag of the season flew, Elliott concluded the season with a total of three victories, four poles, 11 top-five results, 15 top-10 results and a 10th-place result in the final standings.

    Through the first seven races of the 2020 season, Elliott recorded three top-five results and was ranked in fourth place in the regular-season standings. He rebounded the following race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May by claiming his first victory of the season. He went on to win the All-Star Race at Bristol in July and the inaugural Cup event at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course layout in August.

    Despite finishing 20th in the Playoff opener at Darlington Raceway following a late incident, Elliott finished in the top 10 in the following two races and claim his spot in the Round of 12. He earned a spot in the Round of 8 following another victory at the Charlotte Roval. After winning at Martinsville in November, Elliott and his No. 9 team earned a spot in the Championship Round at Phoenix. Despite starting at the rear of the field in the championship finale, Elliott led a race-high 153 of 312 laps and fend off Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin to win the race and capture his first NASCAR Cup Series title in his fifth season in Cup competition, thus becoming the 34th competitor to win a Cup title and recording the 13th title for Hendrick Motorsports. In addition to his first Cup championship, Elliott capped off the season with a career-high five victories, 15 top-five results, 22 top-10 results, over 1,200 laps led and an 11.7 average-finishing result.

    Elliott is coming off his first victory of the 2021 season in the inaugural Circuit of the Americas event in Austin, Texas. Through the first 14 events of this season, he has also notched six top-five results and eight top-10 results. He is currently ranked in fifth place in the regular-season standings.

    Through 199 previous Cup starts, Elliott has achieved one championship, 12 career victories, nine poles, 65 top-five results, 104 top-10 results and an average result of 13.3.

    Elliott is slated to make his 200th Cup career start at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, May 30, with the event scheduled to occur at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Elliott wins rain-shortened, inaugural Cup event at COTA

    Elliott wins rain-shortened, inaugural Cup event at COTA

    The inaugural EchoPark Texas Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, featured wet, slick conditions, wild racing and major milestone victories for Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet after Chase Elliott emerged victorious for the first time this season on Sunday, May 23. The reigning Cup Series champion took the lead on Lap 50 and retained the top spot by Lap 54 while on low fuel when NASCAR made the race official due to late, inclement weather that ended the race 14 laps from its scheduled distance.

    Qualifying occurred on Sunday, May 23, prior to the main event. Tyler Reddick started on pole position with a pole-winning qualifying lap at 92.363 mph and was joined on the front row with Kyle Larson. Aric Almirola, rookie Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, Erik Jones, Cody Ware, James Davison, rookie Anthony Alfredo, Daniel Suarez and Denny Hamlin started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments.

    Prior to the race, the competitors made a pit stop to change for slick tires with reports of precipitation nearing the circuit. During the pit stops, teammates Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski was forced to start at the rear of the field due to having tape pulled from their cars, which was not permitted at the time.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Cindric made a move on Reddick in the first turn to take the lead while the field fanned out and jostled for positions early in the race through the first two turns and the esses. For one full lap, the competitors made their way through the 20-turn circuit in a calm, consistent pace as Cindric led the first lap.

    Under the first lap, names like Byron, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman and Kevin Harvick pitted early for wet tires. 

    At the front, Cindric was leading followed by A.J. Allmendinger, Kyle Busch, teammate Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Larson. Reddick, meanwhile, was back in sixth place followed by Christopher Bell, Michael McDowell, Bubba Wallace and Kurt Busch.

    By the second lap, Allmendinger pitted for fresh tires along with Reddick. A lap later, names like Kyle Busch, Larson, Bell, Matt DiBenedetto and James Davison made their pit stops for tires.

    Through the first five laps of the event, Cindric, who continued to run on slick tires, was in a commanding lead over Truex. Shortly after, he made a pit stop as Truex, who started the race on rain tires, took over the lead followed by Michael McDowell, Bubba Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and teammate Ryan Preece. Cindric, following his pit stop, fell back to ninth place behind Logano.

    Three laps later, the first caution of the event flew when Daniel Suarez, who went off course in Turn 13 but managed to continue, stalled on the course due to a mechanical issue and needed a wrecker to have his car pushed to the garage.

    Under caution, some like leader Truex pitted while the rest led by McDowell remained on the track.

    The race restarted on Lap 9 with McDowell and Wallace on the front row. At the start and with the field fanning out, McDowell retained the lead. From Turn 3 through Turn 10, the field continued to navigate through the rain as McDowell led Logano and Cindric. Behind, Denny Hamlin spun in Turn 9, but he continued. 

    By Lap 10, McDowell was still leading followed by Logano, Cindric, William Byron and Kurt Busch. Stenhouse was back in sixth followed by Chase Briscoe, DiBenedetto, Wallace and Chris Buescher. In Turn 12, Logano made his move beneath McDowell and as McDowell’s car wobbled, the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang driven by Logano muscled to the lead.

    With the laps in the first stage dwindling, Garrett Smithley went off course and drove his car through the gravel before returning on the track and continuing. Not long after, Corey LaJoie spun off course entering Turn 12. Then, DiBenedetto ran into the right-rear quarter panel of Byron’s No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, damaging both competitors as Byron pitted.

    Back at the front, Logano continued to lead. Through the turns and the slick conditions, Logano was able to come back around and claim the first stage on Lap 15, which marked his third stage victory of the season. McDowell crossed the start/finish line in second place followed by Kurt Busch, Larson and Cindric. Buescher and Briscoe were scored in sixth and seventh. Ross Chastain, who slid off course in Turn 11, crossed the line in eighth followed by Kyle Busch and DiBenedetto, who continued despite the damage on his car. 

    Under the stage break, some like Cindric pitted while the rest led by Logano remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 18 with Logano and McDowell retaining the front row. At the start, Logano retained the lead followed by Kurt Busch as the field fanned out again. In Turn 4, Ryan Newman spun after getting loose underneath Ross Chastain, but he prevented the car from sustaining any damage.

    Through the twists and turns from Turn 3 through 10 and the long straightaway in Turns 11 and 12, Logano continued to lead followed by the Busch brothers, McDowell and Chastain. 

    Behind, Ryan Blaney, who got hit by Christopher Bell, spun and went off course as a result of a cut right-rear tire. In the ensuing chaos, the caution flew when Kevin Harvick, who lifted off the throttle through the long straightaway, got hit from behind by Wallace’s car, which sent Harvick into the guardrails and with heavy damage. Stenhouse also received damage following the contact. The damage knocked Bell and Wallace out of contention along with Harvick, who car was leaking fluid, while Blaney and Stenhouse continued. 

    Under caution, some like Larson, Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski, Truex, Newman and Byron pitted while the rest led by Logano remained on the track.

    When the race resumed on Lap 24, Chastain moved a bold three-wide move on Logano and Kyle Busch entering Turn 1 to take the lead followed by Ryan Preece. Through Turns 9 and 10, Preece overtook Chastain for the lead and he retained the top spot entering Turn 11. Kyle Busch was in third followed by Cindric, Chase Elliott and Logano.

    Then, the caution returned when Truex ran into the rear of McDowell, which sent Truex’s hood up and blocked his view. With Truex off the pace, Cole Custer rammed into the rear of Truex’s No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry at full speed, which nearly sent Truex’s car upside down before coming back to rest on all four wheels while Custer made contact with the SAFER Barriers before coming to a stop on fire. Truex and Custer were able to exit their respective machines following the wreck. Following the incident, the race was red-flagged for nearly 21 minutes. At the time of the incident, Chastain was leading Preece, Kyle Busch, Cindric and Elliott.

    When the red flag was lifted following a lengthy cleanup, the field made their way to pit road under caution and the teams were allowed to service their respective cars with the driver’s vision. Later on, Chastain led a handful of competitors down pit road while the rest led by Preece remained on the track. Prior to the start, NASCAR announced that all restarts for the remainder of the event will be single-filed.

    Following a delay, the race restarted under green on Lap 28. At the start, Kyle Busch took the lead followed by Cindric while Preece fell back to third. Behind, Austin Dillon, who was in sixth, was assessed a drive-through penalty for cutting through the esses. 

    Back at the front, Cindric returned to the lead by the time the field returned in Turn 11 before Kyle Busch took it back in Turn 12. When the field returned to the straightaway heading towards the start/finish line, Kyle Busch retained the lead followed by Cindric, Preece, Elliott and Reddick. 

    With the laps in the second stage dwindling, the battle for the lead continued to heat up between Kyle Busch and Cindric, though Busch refused to relinquish the top spot. With Busch prevailing, Chase Elliott started to challenge Cindric for the runner-up spot. By then, names like Newman, Erik Jones and Quin Houff encountered on-track issues of their own.

    With a clear track in front of him, Kyle Busch, winner of Saturday’s inaugural Xfinity Series event at the Circuit of the Americas, was able to come back around and win the second stage on Lap 32, which marked his second stage victory of the season. Elliott was scored in second place followed by Reddick, Cindric, Corey LaJoie, Larson, Preece, A.J. Allmendinger, Briscoe and Alex Bowman.

    Under the stage break, some led by LaJoie pitted while the rest led by Kyle Busch remained on the track.

    With 33 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Kyle Busch retained the lead followed by Cindric, Reddick, Briscoe and Elliott. With the field navigating its way through the esses and through Turns 9, 10 and 11, Busch remained in the lead while the field fanned out. Behind, Brad Keselowski spun in Turn 11 following contact with Newman.

    Under the final 30 laps of the event, Kyle Busch was leading by less than six seconds over Larson. Elliott was in third place followed by Logano, Reddick and Allmendinger. Cindric and Chastain battled for seventh followed by McDowell and Kurt Busch. Behind, Stenhouse spun following contact from Quin Houff. In addition, Davison and LaJoie went off track separately. Soon after, Reddick spun in Turn 20.

    With 27 laps remaining, the leader Kyle Busch pitted along with Elliott. Busch’s move handed the lead to Larson followed by Logano and Chastain. Two laps later, Chastain overtook Logano for the runner-up spot. Not long after, Kurt Busch, Chastain’s teammate, moved into third place. At the front, Larson continued to lead by three-and-a-half seconds.

    Behind, more pit stops ensued as Allmendinger pitted along with Reddick, DiBenedetto, McDowell and others, By then, rain started to make its way back on the circuit.

    With 24 laps remaining, Chastain moved into the lead as Larson pitted under green. Kurt Busch joined Larson on pit road for service along with Logano, Briscoe and Ty Dillon. The following lap, Preece and Buescher pitted. Another lap later, Chastain, who last pitted on Lap 27, pitted along with Byron.

    Back on the track, Alex Bowman, winner of last weekend’s event at Dover, took the lead as Kyle Busch moved back into second place. Elliott was in third place followed by Hamlin and Larson.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event and with light precipitation falling on the circuit, Bowman continued to lead while Elliott remained in front of Kyle Busch, Larson and Hamlin for the second-place spot. Logano was in sixth followed by rookie Anthony Alfredo, Chastain, Austin Dillon and Kurt Busch. Allmendinger was in 12th in front of Briscoe, Reddick and Cindric were in 16th and 17th and Byron was in 19th.

    Two laps later, Elliott took the lead entering Turn 20 while Bowman pitted for fresh tires along with Hamlin. Larson, who trailed teammate Elliott by six seconds, moved into second place followed by Kyle Busch, Logano and Chastain. Shortly after, radio chatters about the fuel window between Elliott, Larson and Busch started to occur, with Elliott and Busch reportedly not having enough for the finish while Larson had enough to complete the race to its distance.

    With 16 laps remaining, Kyle Busch brought his No. 18 M&M’s Mix Toyota Camry into pit road for fresh tires and enough fuel for the scheduled distance.

    Back to the front, the No. 9 LLumar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE piloted by Elliott continued to lead by more than 12 seconds over the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE piloted by Larson. Behind, Kurt Busch overshot Turn 12, nearly clipping his brother Kyle and Austin Dillon, where he drove his car through the gravel and grass, spun the car to the right direction and continued without getting stuck in the wet mud.

    With 15 laps remaining, the caution flew due to visibility and the current track conditions with the circuit wet and light precipitation making its way on the track. Not long after, the field was brought down to pit road and the race was red-flagged.

    As rain continued to fall, NASCAR made the race official 14 laps shy of its scheduled distance and Elliott, the leader at the time, was declared the winner. The victory in the inaugural Circuit of the Americas event marked Elliott’s 12th NASCAR Cup Series career win and his six road course career victory as he became the 11th different driver to record a victory this season. In addition, Elliott recorded the 268th Cup win for Hendrick Motorsports, moving the team to a tie with Petty Enterprises for the most all-time Cup victories, and the 800th Cup victory for Chevrolet.

    “Man, I couldn’t be more excited,” Elliott said on FS1. “I’ve never won a rain race before, so that’s kinda cool. Just super proud of our team for just continuing to fight. We kinda starting the day, we weren’t very good and just kept pushing myself, kept making some good changes throughout the day and got to where I thought we were on pace with those guys at the end. So, really proud of that. It’s not the greatest thing ever to have a rain race win if it’s your first one, but I think it’s okay if it’s down the road, so I’m pretty excited about that. Looking forward to next week and trying to keep it rolling.”

    Larson settled in the runner-up spot for the fourth time this season while Logano finished in third place. Chastain notched his first top-five result in the Cup Series by finishing fourth while Allmendinger concluded his run with a strong fifth-place result, thus recording the first top-five result in the Cup Series for Kaulig Racing.

    Rookie Chase Briscoe recorded his first top-10 career result by finishing sixth while McDowell, Bowman, Reddick and Kyle Busch finished in the top 10.

    Byron settled in 11th, Hamlin finished 14th, teammates Blaney and Keselowski finished 17th and 19th, Ty Dillon finished 21st, Cindric came home in 25th and Kurt Busch fell all the way back in 27th.

    There were 11 lead changes for 10 different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 12 laps. 

    Hamlin continues to lead the regular-season standings by 98 points over Byron, 110 over Larson, 111 over Logano and 116 over Elliott.

    Results.

    1. Chase Elliott, five laps led

    2. Kyle Larson, four laps led

    3. Joey Logano, 14 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    4. Ross Chastain, four laps led

    5. A.J. Allmendinger

    6. Chase Briscoe

    7. Michael McDowell, three laps led

    8. Alex Bowman, three laps led

    9. Tyler Reddick

    10. Kyle Busch, 12 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    11. William Byron

    12. Austin Dillon

    13. Chris Buescher

    14. Denny Hamlin

    15. Ryan Preece, two laps led

    16. Erik Jones

    17. Ryan Blaney

    18. Anthony Alfredo

    19. Brad Keselowski

    20. Corey LaJoie

    21. Ty Dillon

    22. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    23. Matt DiBenedetto

    24. Ryan Newman

    25. Austin Cindric, four laps led

    26. Aric Almirola

    27. Kurt Busch

    28. Garrett Smithley

    29. James Davison

    30. Josh Bilicki

    31. Kyle Tilley

    32. Cody Ware, one lap down

    33. Daniel Suarez, eight laps down

    34. Quin Houff – OUT, Dvp

    35. Martin Truex Jr. – OUT, Accident, three laps led

    36. Cole Custer, – OUT, Accident

    37. Kevin Harvick – OUT, Accident 

    38. Christopher Bell – OUT, Accident

    39. Bubba Wallace – OUT, Accident

    40. Justin Haley – OUT, Steering

    Next on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, during Memorial Day weekend. The event is slated to occur on Sunday, May 30, at 6 p.m. ET on FOX.