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Author: Andrew Kim

Elliott wins inaugural Daytona Road Course event

In the inaugural running of the Go Bowling 235 at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course on a humid afternoon, Chase Elliott extended his dominance on road courses after holding off Denny Hamlin in a three-lap dash to grab a thrilling win at the world center of racing.

Throughout the race, Elliott dominated as he led a race-high 34 of the event’s 65-scheduled laps and won the first stage. Despite having a huge advantage erased in the closing laps due to a single-car incident, he withstood a challenge from his fellow competitors, including Hamlin, and navigated his way through the turns to cross the finish line in first place. The victory was Elliott’s second of the season, his fourth on a road course event and the eighth of his overall Cup career.

The starting lineup was determined using a new formula based on three statistical categories: current owner points position, the results from the previous race and the fastest lap from the previous race. As a result, Kevin Harvick started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Denny Hamlin.

Stanton Barrett, a racer who is also a Hollywood stuntman, and Kaz Grala, who filled in as a relief competitor for Austin Dillon in Richard Childress Racing’s No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE due to Dillon suffering COVID-19 symptoms, started at the rear of the field due to driver changes. Corey LaJoie also started at the rear of the field due to failing pre-race inspection twice along with Timmy Hill, who dropped to the back due to unapproved adjustments.

When the green flag waved and the race started, the entire field made it through the first three turns inside Daytona’s infield without any issues nor early drama. At the front, Hamlin took the lead and was followed by teammate Kyle Busch. Meanwhile, Harvick dropped back to third in front of Martin Truex Jr. and just as the field made its way through Turn 6, exiting the infield and towards the speedway banking in Turn 7. When the entire field returned back to the start/finish line following two chicanes and no early incidents occurring, Hamlin led the first lap with Kyle Busch trailing behind him.

The following lap, Kyle Busch made a move underneath teammate Hamlin at the chicane turn near the backstretch to take the lead and lead a lap for himself. Shortly after, Hamlin reassumed the lead and started to pull away from his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, who had locked up his front tires and front brakes. Behind. Truex moved up to third place followed by Harvick, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano and Matt DiBenedetto.

On the fourth lap, Kyle Busch made an unscheduled pit stop for four fresh tires after locking up and flat spotting his tires. By the time he returned on the track, he was back in 34th place.

At the front and with the first five laps of the race complete, Hamlin was ahead by three seconds over teammate Truex followed by Harvick, Elliott and Logano. DiBenedetto was in sixth place ahead of Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Clint Bowyer and rookie Christopher Bell. Behind, Aric Almirola was in 11th ahead of William Byron and Erik Jones while Ryan Blaney was in 14th ahead of teammate Brad Keselowski. Bubba Wallace was in 19th ahead of rookie Cole Custer, Ryan Newman was in 21st, Alex Bowman was in 23rd ahead of Chris Buescher and Kaz Grala was in 27th behind Daniel Suarez. Rookie Tyler Reddick was in 29th while veterean Brendan Gaughan was scored in 37th.

While the field continued to smoothly navigate the turns and corners of Daytona’s road course layout, Truex emerged with the lead after passing teammate Hamlin on the ninth lap. Following the second chicane through Turns 13 and 14, however, Hamlin made an unscheduled pit stop for four fresh tires and to address smoke, a tire rub and minimal damage near the left front fender, all a result of getting into the back of Truex after Truex took the lead from Hamlin. Earlier, J.J. Yeley spun at the chicane/bus stop area near Turns 9 and 10, but he proceeded without sustaining any damage and with the race proceeding under green.

With Hamlin dropping to the back, Truex was ahead by more than three seconds over Elliott while Logano, Harvick and Johnson were running inside the top five. Shortly after, Harvick made a planned pit stop for four tires under green.

As the laps in the first stage continued to dwindle, a multitude of competitors that included Kurt Busch, Bell, Blaney, Bowman, Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth pitted as part of a strategic plan.

With two laps remaining in the second stage, Truex made a pit stop just as the entrance to pit road closed. At the front, Elliott assumed the lead followed by Logano. For one final lap, Elliott was able to stabilize his large advantage to win the first stage on Lap 15 and for his sixth stage victory of the season. Logano settled in the runner-up spot followed by Johnson, Bowyer and DiBenedetto. Jones, Byron, Truex, Custer and Ryan Preece settled in the top 10. Behind, Bowman limped back to pit road in a cautious pace after he suffered a flat left rear tire to his No. 88 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.

Under the stage break, some that included Elliott, Johnson, Clint Bowyer, DiBenedetto, Jones, Custer, Suarez, Preece, Byron and Stenhouse pitted while the rest led by Logano, Hamlin and Harvick remained on track.

The second stage proceeded under green on Lap 17, and Logano maintained the advantage through the first two turns until Hamlin mounted a challenge in Turn 3. Through the Turn 4 dogleg area, Hamlin emerged with the lead followed by Harvick and Kurt Busch while Logano was locked into a battle for fourth place with Truex.

By the time the field returned to the start/finish line, Logano had fallen back to sixth place while Truex moved up to third place. Harvick and Blaney were behind Truex while Hamlin was leading by more than a second. Behind the leaders, Kyle Busch was in 11th place behind Michael McDowell, Bell and Ty Dillon.

On Lap 20, Hamlin was still leading over teammate Truex, who continued to intimidate his teammate for the lead. Harvick stabilized himself in third place followed by a bevy of competitors led by Kurt Busch, Blaney and Keselowski. By then, Elliott was in ninth while Kyle Busch was in eighth. Behind, Logano dropped back to 15th while racing on old tires. Shortly after, Logano made a pit stop under green for fresh tires, a move that cost him track position and time from the leaders.

On Lap 22, Truex and his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry reassumed the lead after passing teammate Hamlin through the chicane/bus stop the previous lap. By then, Kyle Busch and Elliott moved up to sixth and seventh behind Blaney.

Two laps later, Kyle Busch, who was in seventh place behind Blaney, locked up his front tires entering Turn 6 after entering the corner with rapid speed and spun his No. 18 Snickers Toyota Camry. He proceeded without any damage, but was back in 13th. By then, Truex was still ahead by more than two seconds over teammate Hamlin followed by Elliott, who was the fastest car on the circuit.

With the laps in the second stage dwindling, Johnson made a pit stop under green along with Suarez, McDowell, Bell, Almirola, DiBenedetto, Keselowski, Wallace, Ty Dillon, rookie John Hunter Nemechek, Jones, Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Buescher, Grala, Harvick and Elliott. Shortly after, Truex surrendered the lead to also pit with teammate Hamlin back atop the leaderboard. Following his stop, however, Truex was issued a speeding penalty and was directed to start at the rear of the field for the stage of the final stage.

Thanks to a huge advantage and with no late challenges mounted behind his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry, Hamlin cruised to the second stage win on Lap 30 and for his fifth stage victory of the season. Bowyer settled in second followed by Blaney, Byron and Stenhouse. Preece, Elliott, Harvick, Kurt Busch and LaJoie settled in the top 10. Truex crossed the start/finish line in seventh, but was penalized due to his pit road speeding penalty and was not awarded any stage points as a result.

Prior to the conclusion of the second stage, Bayley Currey relieved J.J. Yeley for the remainder of the race after the cooling system in Yeley’s car failed, resulting in Yeley collapsing from exhaustion and from the heat after exiting his car, and making a trip to the infield care center.

Under the stage break, some of the lead lap competitors led by Hamlin, Bowyer and Blaney pitted while others led by Elliott, Harvick and Kurt Busch remained on track and with the lead for the start of the final stage.

With dark clouds hovering above the skies and the track, the final stage commenced with 33 laps remaining and with Elliott and Harvick leading the field. At the start, Elliott rocketed with the lead followed by Kurt Busch and McDowell. Through Turns 2 and 3, Harvick, who dropped back to fourth, was bumped by Bell and spun through the grass and back across the racing surface in Turn 3. Fortunately, the entire field dodged him and Harvick continued without sustaining any serious damage.

Three laps later, Elliott was still leading by more than three seconds over Kurt Busch and nearly five seconds over McDowell. Johnson was in fourth place followed by Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Logano. Hamlin was in 11th, Byron was in 16th. Blaney was in 19th, Truex was in 21st and Harvick was all the way back in 37th.

Shortly after, the caution flew due to lightning reports. After running a few laps under caution, the field made its way to pit road and the competitors parked the cars with the race entering a 30-minute hiatus under red flag.

When the weather cleared following a delay of more than 31 minutes, the competitors returned to their cars and returned to the track under cautious pace. Under caution, a number of competitors that included Jones, Byron, Stenhouse, Preece, Truex, Newman, Grala, Reddick, Suarez, Bowman, Custer, Ty Dillon, LaJoie, Gaughan, Timmy Hill, rookie Brennan Poole and Garrett Smithley pitted while the rest led by Elliott and Kurt Busch remained on the track.

With 26 laps remaining, the race resumed under green and Elliott cleared the field with the lead through Turns 1 and 2. Behind, Kurt Busch settled in second followed by McDowell. Johnson, who locked up the brakes entering Turn 3, withstood a challenge from Kyle Busch and Keselowski to retain fourth place. He would eventually take over third place through the superspeedway bankings in Turns 7 and 8 while Kyle Busch moved up to fourth place.

A lap later, Elliott was ahead by more than two seconds over Kurt Busch with Johnson trailing behind. McDowell was still in fifth place, but was being pressured by Bowyer and Hamlin for more. Meanwhile, Keselowski was in eighth ahead of Bell and Logano, DiBenedetto was in 12th behind Jones, Grala was in 14th ahead of Wallace, Blaney was in 16th ahead of Almirola, Truex was in 20th, Byron was in 22nd and Harvick was in 27th behind Reddick.

With 22 laps remaining, Elliott extended his advantage to more than five seconds over Kyle Busch followed by Johnson and Kurt Busch. Way behind the leaders, Harvick, who was in 26th and trying to work his way back to the front, locked up his brakes behind Ty Dillon and spun in Turn 6, thus dropping him all the way back to the rear of the field by the time he re-fired his car and continued.

A lap later, Keselowski, who was running in ninth, missed the turn in the backstretch chicane and made a pit stop under green for four fresh tires. Shortly after, with 20 laps remaining, a number of competitors that included Logano, Kenseth, Harvick, Kurt Busch, McDowell, Jones, Keselowski, DiBenedetto made a pit stop under green. Bell also made a trip to pit road after spinning in Turn 6. Another few laps later, Johnson, Bowyer, Reddick and Wallace made a trip to pit road.

With 17 laps remaining, Elliott made a pit stop under green followed by Hamlin and Buescher. During the pit stops, Kyle Busch, who missed the chicane through Turns 13 and 14 before he pitted, took his car to the garage due to a brake rotor failure. The late mechanical issue cost Busch another opportunity of notching his first victory of the season.

At the front, with 16 laps remaining, Truex was leading followed by Grala, Bowman, Stenhouse and Custer. Blaney, who was in sixth, pitted, but was assessed a pit road speeding penalty. A lap later, Truex made a pit stop under green, though the service was slow due to damage on the left front fender. Truex’s move to pit road moved Grala, a newcomer in the Cup Series and a relief competitor for Austin Dillon, to the lead followed by Bowman. Behind, Elliott, who was running on four fresh tires and full fuel to make it to the end, was in fourth while Johnson and Hamlin were battling for sixth place on the track.

With 12 laps remaining, Grala and Bowman pitted and Elliott moved back into the lead followed by Hamlin and Johnson, both of whom were trailing by nearly 11 seconds. Bowyer was in fourth place followed by Truex, McDowell, Byron and Logano, all of whom were trailing by 12 seconds or more.

With the laps of the overall race continuing to dwindle and with less than 10 laps remaining, Elliott and his No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE continued to lead by more than 10 seconds over Hamlin with Johnson trailing by nearly 12 seconds. Just when it seemed that Elliott could cruise to the win, the caution flew with five laps remaining. Behind the leaders, Kyle Busch, who returned on the track after his brakes were repaired and was multiple laps behind, broke loose and spun in Turn 8, exiting the first turn banking, before he made contact with the outside wall. With both of Busch’s rear tires flat and with more damage on his No. 18 Toyota, the caution evaporated the big advantage Elliott had over Hamlin. Following his recent incident, Busch limped his car back to the garage and retired for the remainder of the race.

Under caution, some competitors that included Logano, McDowell, Bell, Almirola, Preece, Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Jones, Reddick and Keselowski pitted while the rest led by Elliott, Hamlin and Johnson remained on track.

With three laps remaining, the race restarted and Elliott cleared the field with the lead through the first turn. Hamlin settled in second followed by Johnson while Buescher made a late charge through the first three turns for a top-five spot over Truex, Byron and Bowyer. When the field made its way through the chicane/bus stop in Turns 9 and 10, LaJoie spun from behind, but he proceeded with no caution flying.

With two laps remaining and with more battling around the track ensuing, Elliott was still leading by half a second over Hamlin with Johnson and Truex trailing by two seconds. When Elliott started the final lap, he was still leading by nearly four-tenths of a second over Hamlin, who continued to pressure Elliott for the lead. Behind, Wallace, who was in position for a top-10 spot, spun in Turn 1, but the race proceeded under green.

Through the infield turns and entering the first chicane on the backstretch, Hamlin was still trailing Elliott by two car lengths and continued to close in to the rear bumper of Elliott’s No. 9 Chevrolet. Entering the final chicane in Turns 13 and 14, Hamlin drew himself right to the rear bumper of Elliott, but the run was not enough for him to navigate his way around Elliott as Elliot managed to beat Hamlin by two-tenths of a second to grab the win and his first checkered flag since Charlotte Motor Speedway in May.

Elliott’s victory was the third of the season for Hendrick Motorsports and the fourth for Chevrolet as he also became the fifth multi-time winner of this year’s Cup season. In addition, Hendrick Motorsports notched its 19th road-course victory (the most of all Cup teams). With the win, Elliott has won the last three Cup road course races and the last four of six road course races dating back to August 2018, and he became the first competitor to win three consecutive road course races since Tony Stewart made the last accomplishment in 2004 and 2005.

“What a NAPA Camaro,” Elliott said on the frontstretch in front of a select number of fans in attendance. “Our guys did a phenomenal job. [I] Had a phenomenal car. I don’t think I did anything very special today. I think [crew chief] Alan [Gustafson], [lead engineer] Tom [Gray] and all of our guys did a really good job of hitting it there at the start. [They] Made a couple of really small adjustments, I felt like there, that first stop and was able to leave it after that. Appreciate everybody that makes this happen and thanks to the fans. Good to see you guys back. Thanks to all of our partners. Big special thanks to [road racers] Jordan Taylor and Boris Said for reaching out and being willing to help this weekend. Some road-course ringers. So, I tried to lean on them. Luckily, everything worked out.”

Though Elliott was thrilled with his historic win at Daytona, he acknowledged that there was still work needed for him and his team to be more competitive and contend for more wins, points and positions on track with the 2020 Cup Playoffs approaching.

“We’ve been struggling these past few weeks,” Elliott added. “We really struggled at Michigan. [I] Didn’t know, for sure, if we were gonna be good here, but felt like if we were, we really needed to capitalize. Running eighth or seventh or whatever we did at Michigan, an extra five bonus points could be the difference in you making it to the next round once this deal starts. We’ll keep the pedal down and try to keep pushing. Looking forward to getting on down the road.”

Hamlin settled in the runner-up spot for his 13th top-five result of the season followed by teammate Truex, who claimed his eighth top-five finish of this season. Johnson finished fourth in his penultimate run at Daytona while Buescher made a late rally to achieve a fifth-place result.

“I kept [Elliott] honest there,” Hamlin said. “He had such good drive off [the corners] I couldn’t do anything with him. I just would have liked to have stayed closer to him to put a little pressure on entries. My entries were the strong point against him, but I was giving him four car lengths so he could kind of drive the entries the way he wanted to make sure he got a good exit. I wasn’t quite clean enough the last few laps, but I definitely gave myself a chance. Those last couple corners, I felt like I did as much as I could to get to him and tried to do it the right way.”

“It was a lot of fun out there today,” Truex added. “This track was a lot more fun than I anticipated it being. No question we had the speed to be a challenger there. Thought we had a chance to win, no doubt about it. Just got caught speeding on pit road. That stinks. Had to go to the rear and then got damage so we had to go to the rear again. We passed a lot of cars that last run. I know we had the speed at the end there, we were faster than anyone. Just ran out of time, but that’s how it goes. Proud of everybody on the team and still feeling really good about these road courses. I had a lot of fun and did what we needed to do to come back, so it’s always good.”

Bowyer, Grala, Byron, Logano and McDowell rounded out the top 10. Jones, Bowman, Keselowski, Kurt Busch and DiBenedetto ended their runs in the top 15. Harvick ended his run in 17th, Newman finished 19th in his first race at Daytona since his harrowing accident in the Daytona 500 in February and Wallace dropped all the way back to 25th behind Almirola.

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

Despite his 17th-place result, Harvick continues to lead the regular-season series standings by 118 points over Hamlin and 136 points over Keselowski.

Results.

1. Chase Elliott, 34 laps led, Stage 1 winner

2. Denny Hamlin, 16 laps led, Stage 2 winner

3. Martin Truex Jr., 10 laps led

4. Jimmie Johnson

5. Chris Buescher

6. Clint Bowyer

7. Kaz Grala, three laps led

8. William Byron

9. Joey Logano, one lap led

10. Michael McDowell

11. Erik Jones

12. Alex Bowman

13. Brad Keselowski

14. Kurt Busch

15. Matt DiBenedetto

16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

17. Kevin Harvick

18. Tyler Reddick

19. Ryan Newman

20. Ty Dillon

21. Christopher Bell

22. Cole Custer

23. Ryan Preece

24. Aric Almirola

25. Bubba Wallace

26. Matt Kenseth

27. Daniel Suarez

28. Brennan Poole

29. Timmy Hill

30. James Davison

31. Ryan Blaney

32. Corey LaJoie

33. Quin Houff, one lap down

34. J.J. Yeley, one lap down

35. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident

36. Garrett Smithley – OUT, Battery

37. Kyle Busch – OUT, Accident, one lap led

38. Stanton Barrett, 16 laps down

39. Brendan Gaughan – OUT, Transmission

Next weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series will run a pair of races on back-to-back dates at Dover International Speedway. The first Dover race will commence on Saturday, August 22, at 4 p.m. ET on NBCSN while the second will occur the following day on Sunday, August 23, at 4 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

August 16, 2020
Richard Childress Racing’s No. 3 to reach 1,000 starts at Daytona RC

A significant milestone is in the making for one of NASCAR’s and Richard Childress Racing’s iconic numbers this weekend at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course. When the NASCAR Cup Series makes its inaugural start at Daytona’s road course layout on August 16, the No. 3 RCR Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE driven by Austin Dillon will reach 1,000 starts under the Richard Childress Racing banner in NASCAR’s premier series.

Having made 112 previous starts in the NASCAR Cup Series, Richard Childress first sported the No. 3 aside his own-operated car for the 1976 season. Competing the entire 30-race schedule, Childress earned 11 top-10 results, including a best result of sixth place at Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway in March, before he concluded the season in 11th place int he final standings. From 1977 to 1980, the No. 3 car driven by Childress earned a total of 44 top-10 results with a best points result of ninth place in 1977.

For the first 20 races of the 1981 season, Childress notched only one top-five result, a fourth-place result in the season opener at California’s Riverside International Raceway, and was ranked in 13th place in the standings following a 26th-place finish at Talladega’s Alabama International Motor Speedway. For the remaining 11 Cup races of the season, Childress retired from racing and turned over the driving responsibility of his No. 3 car to Dale Earnhardt, the 1980 NASCAR Cup Series champion from Kannapolis, North Carolina, who had a fallout with the late entrepreneur Jim Stacy. Earnhardt’s best results during his 11-race stint with RCR were a pair of fourth-place finishes at North Wilkesboro Speedway in October and at Riverside in November.

From 1982 to 1983, the No. 3 car owned by Childress was driven by Norfolk County, Virginia’s Ricky Rudd while Earnhardt competed for Bud Moore Engineering. After going winless in 1982, Rudd won at Riverside in 1983 and recorded the first NASCAR Cup Series career victory for Richard Childress as an owner. Rudd went on to win once more at Martinsville Speedway in September before he concluded the season in ninth place in the final standings.

In 1984, Earnhardt and Rudd swapped rides, with Earnhardt back as the driver of the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. At Talladega in July, Earnhardt captured his first victory with RCR and he won another race at Atlanta in November before he concluded the season in fourth place in the final standings. After winning four races, recording 16 top-10 results and finishing eighth in the 1985 standings, Earnhardt drove RCR’s No. 3 car to five victories, 23 top-10 results and the 1986 Cup championship, which marked the second title for Earnhardt and the first for Childress.

From there, the dynamic duo of Earnhardt and Childress’ No. 3 car ignited. The following season, 1987, Earnhardt won 11 races and claimed a second Cup title. Earnhardt and Childress went on to win four more championships (1990, 1991, 1993 and 1994). By then, Earnhardt and the No. 3 RCR Chevrolet won 54 races. In addition, Childress’ No. 3 car surpassed 500 Cup career starts.

From 1995 to 1997, Earnhardt piloted the No. 3 car to seven victories, 32 top-five results and 40 top-10 results with a best points result of second place in 1995 behind Jeff Gordon. In 1998, Earnhardt captured his first elusive Daytona 500 win in February and in his 20th effort. Earnhardt’s victory was one that was applauded and respected by many, with many crew members congratulating Earnhardt on pit road. He proceeded in performing two victorious spins in the infield grass before he proceeded to Victory Lane to celebrate his triumph with his crew, friends and family.

Following the 2000 season, Richard Childress’ No. 3 car had won 69 races and had surpassed 700 Cup career starts with Earnhardt tallying his win column to 76 and coming off a runner-up result in the 2000 standings behind Bobby Labonte. Then came the 2001 Daytona 500 in February, where Earnhardt was battling for third place when he was involved in a wreck in Turn 3 and made head-on contact into the outside wall alongside veteran Ken Schrader before both competitors came sliding down the banking and into the infield. While Michael Waltrip, Earnhardt’s driver from Dale Earnhardt Inc., celebrated with the win, Earnhardt was transported to the Halifax Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at age 49 due to sustaining a fatal basilar skull fracture. Following the 2001 Daytona 500, Childress retired the No. 3 in the Cup Series, which was renumbered to 29 with Bakersfield, California’s Kevin Harvick competing for RCR from 2001 to 2013.

Thirteen years later, the No. 3 car under the Richard Childress Racing banner returned to the Cup circuit for the 2014 season with Austin Dillon, Childress’ eldest grandson and the reigning Xfinity Series champion, assigned to drive the car in his rookie Cup season. In Dillon’s first laps piloting RCR’s No. 3 Chevrolet SS, he secured the pole position for the Daytona 500 with a pole-winning lap at 196.019 mph. Dillon went on to record one top-five result and four top-10 results before he concluded the season in 20th place in the final standings. During the process, he was beaten by Kyle Larson for the 2014 Rookie-of-the-Year title.

From 2015 to 2016, Dillon drove RCR’s No. 3 Chevrolet to five top-five results, 18 top-10 results and two poles with a best points result of 14th in 2016. In the midst of Dillon’s sophomore and junior years of racing in the Cup Series was also how he walked away without any life-sustaining injuries from a harrowing accident on the final lap at Daytona in July, where he went airborne and flew upside down over a handful of cars before he smashed into the catch fence and was hit by a spinning Brad Keselowski while on his roof, thus destroying the No. 3 car and ripping the engine out of the car.

In 2017, Dillon recorded only one top-five result during the first 11 races of the season. The following race at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600, Dillon survived on fuel to claim a triumphant first Cup career victory at his home track and to record the first win for RCR’s No. 3 since October 2000 at Talladega made by the late Dale Earnhardt. The victory was also the second of the season for RCR following a three-year winless drought. Dillon went on to conclude the season in a career-best 11th place in the final standings. By then, RCR’s No. 3 car surpassed 900 Cup career starts.

In 2018, the No. 3 RCR Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 driven by Austin Dillon won the 60th running of the Daytona 500 following contact on the final lap with Aric Almirola. The victory was Dillon’s second of his Cup career and it came on the 20th anniversary when Dale Earnhardt won his first and only Daytona 500 in the No. 3 car in 1998. It also came on the 11th anniversary where Childress celebrated his second Daytona 500 triumph with Kevin Harvick. Dillon went on to record one more top-five result and seven more top-10 results before he concluded the season in 13th place in the final standings.

After going winless and settling in 21st place in 2019, Dillon started off with four top-10 results in the first 17 races of the 2020 Cup season. The following race, Dillon utilized late pit strategy to win at Texas Motor Speedway for his third Cup triumph and to record the 100th NASCAR Cup victory for the No. 3 overall. Through the first 22 races of this season, Dillon and RCR’s No. 3 Chevrolet are ranked 17th in the regular-season standings with one victory and six top-10 results. They are guaranteed a spot in this year’s Playoffs by virtue of the win at Texas.

In 999 previous starts, the No. 3 car under Childress’ banner has achieved six championships, 72 victories, 30 poles, 256 top-five results and 477 top-10 results between four competitors.

Catch Richard Childress Racing’s No. 3 car’s milestone start in the inaugural Go Bowling 235 at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course, which will air on August 16 at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

August 12, 2020
Keselowski to make 400th Cup start at Daytona RC

With the NASCAR Cup Series set to race for the first time at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course, Brad Keselowski is set to achieve a milestone start of his racing career. By taking the green flag at Daytona on Sunday, August 16, Keselowski will reach 400 career starts in the Cup Series and in his 11th full-time season in the series.

A native of Rochester Hills, Michigan, Keselowski was already a rising star in the 2008 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, racing for JR Motorsports, when he made his first two Cup career starts late in the season. Driving the No. 25 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet Impala for Hendrick Motorsports, Keselowski finished 19th in his Cup debut at Texas Motor Speedway on November 2 followed by the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 16, where he finished 23rd.

The following season, aside from competing on a full-time basis with JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series, Keselowski competed on a part-time basis in the Cup Series between the No. 25 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports and the No. 09 Miccosukee Resorts & Gaming Chevrolet for Phoenix Racing. At Talladega Superspeedway, in his fifth series start, Keselowski battled and made contact with Carl Edwards on the final lap through Turn 4 to grab the lead and notch his first Cup career victory in upset fashion while Edwards spun, was hit by Ryan Newman and went airborne before colliding against the catch fence while upside down and came to a halt shy of the finish line. The victory was also the first for James Finch, owner of Phoenix Racing, as Keselowski also secured a starting spot for the 2009 All-Star Race. Through August 2020, Keselowski is one of 11 competitors to record a first Cup career victory at Talladega.

Keselowski competed in a total of 12 Cup races throughout the 2009 season between Phoenix Racing and Hendrick Motorsports, and earned four top-10 results (his victory at Talladega included). For the final three Cup races of the 2009 season, Keselowski drove the No. 12 Dodge for team owner Roger Penske. His best result was a 25th-place result in the season finale at Homestead Miami Speedway in November.

For the 2010 season, Keselowski competed on a full-time basis for the Penske organization in both the Xfinity and Cup Series. He made his Daytona 500 debut in February, where he finished 36th after being involved in an early multi-car wreck. After finishing 21st and 26th the next two races, he was primed for a top-10 run the following race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It was during the closing laps, however, where Carl Edwards, who was irritated from being involved in an earlier incident caused by Keselowski, intentionally spun Keselowski in Turn 4 as Keselowski’s No. 12 Dodge went airborne, flipped over and made hard contact against the outside wall before rolling back on all four wheels and coming to rest against the top lane in Turn 1. Despite the incident, Keselowski emerged uninjured as NASCAR would park Edwards for the remainder of the race. Keselowski struggled throughout his first full-time Cup season, though he earned his first career pole at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September, recorded a seventh-place result in the All-Star Race in May and recorded back-to-back 10th-place results in October. When the 2010 Cup season concluded, he settled in 25th in the final standings. Keselowski, nonetheless, had a breakout season in the Xfinity Series, where he won six races, recorded 29 top-10 results and achieved the series championship, the first for himself and the first for Roger Penske

In 2011, Keselowski remained with the Penske organization, but transitioned to the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge led by his Xfinity championship crew chief Paul Wolfe. For the first 12 Cup races into the season, Keselowski recorded one top-five result (third at Darlington Raceway in May) and one pole (Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May) while he finished outside the top 20 five times. At Kansas Speedway in June, Keselowski gambled on fuel in the closing laps to beat Dale Earnhardt Jr., his mentor, and claim his second Cup triumph. The victory was Keselowski’s first since winning at Talladega in 2009, the first of the season for the Penske organization and the first Cup victory for Paul Wolfe.

In August, Keselowski was in a testing session at Road Atlanta when he was involved in a vicious accident, where he made head-on contact into a concrete wall at nearly 200 mph, and broke his left ankle. Despite the injuries that also included back pains, Keselowski continued to race in the Cup Series. Not long after the accident, Keselowski held off Kyle Busch to claim his second victory of the season at Pocono Raceway. After finishing second and third the next two races, Keselowski responded back by claiming his unprecedented third win of the season at Bristol Motor Speedway under the lights. With a sixth-place finish the following race at Atlanta, Keselowski locked himself into the 2011 Playoffs. Throughout the postseason, he earned four top-five results before he settled in an impressive fifth place in the final standings.

Keselowski started the 2012 season with his second consecutive DNF in the Daytona 500 after being involved in a late multi-car wreck. Three races later, Keselowski prevailed in a late battle with Matt Kenseth to win at Bristol Motor Speedway for his first victory of the season. Throughout the 26 regular-season stretch, Keselowski achieved wins at Talladega in May and at Kentucky Speedway in June as he secured a spot into the 2012 Playoffs. By then, he also surpassed 100 Cup career starts.

During the first Playoff race at Chicagoland Speedway in September, Keselowski prevailed in a late battle with Jimmie Johnson to win for the fourth time of the season as his quest for the Cup title over Johnson ignited. Two races later, Keselowski achieved his unprecedented fifth win of the season at Dover International Speedway following a late battle on fuel mileage. By then, Keselowski was leading the championship standings. Though Keselowski continued running and earning top-10 results throughout the Playoffs, Johnson reassumed the points lead following back-to-back victories at Martinsville Speedway and at Texas Motor Speedway in late October and early November. Then, during the following race at Phoenix, Keselowski was back atop the standings after dodging a handful of incidents in the final laps and taking advantage of Johnson wrecking out midway into the race to finish sixth. Entering the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Keselowski was leading the standings by 20 points over Johnson. When the checkered flag flew in the finale, Keselowski finished in 15th place, but he achieved his first Cup championship while Johnson was eliminated late in the race due to a rear gear issue. The Cup championship was the first for Keselowski in his third season in competition, the first for Roger Penske and the last for Dodge with the manufacturer withdrawing from the sport following the 2012 season.

Piloting a Ford Fusion, Keselowski started off the 2013 season with four consecutive top-five finishes. Despite earning 11 top-10 results throughout the 26 regular-season stretch, inconsistent results and failing to achieve a win throughout the regular season cost him an opportunity to defend his title as he failed to make the Playoffs. Nonetheless, he earned five top-five results for the remaining 10 races, which included his lone win of the season at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October, before he concluded the season in 14th place in the final standings.

Keselowski rallied back the following season with three consecutive top-three results to start the season, which included a victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway as he secured his spot into the 2014 Playoffs. He went on to earn victories at Kentucky, New Hampshire and at Richmond, and he recorded the 400th all-time win for Team Penske as he entered the Playoffs with the top seed based on his four regular-season wins. He started the Playoffs by winning at Chicagoland Speedway and advancing into the second round. In the first two races of the second round, Keselowski was involved in incidents on the track and was left in the danger zone of not advancing into the third round of the Playoffs. Though he made rivals for his aggressive driving, among which included Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart, he responded back by winning at Talladega and securing a spot into the third round of the Playoffs. Keselowski’s late misfortunes, however, continued, starting at Martinsville, where he was involved in a late multi-car accident late in the race, followed by Texas, where he made contact with Jeff Gordon on a late restart, an incident that cost Gordon a shot for the victory and led to a brawl on pit road following the race. Despite finishing fourth the following race at Phoenix, Keselowski was eliminated from title contention and he went on to conclude the season in fifth place in the final standings. Though he came up short in achieving his second Cup title, he earned a career-high six victories, a career-high five poles and 20 top-10 results.

Throughout the 2015 season, Keselowski achieved one victory (Auto Club Speedway in March), nine top-five results and a career-high 25 top-10 results before he concluded the season in seventh place in the final standings. By then, he surpassed 200 Cup career starts. From 2016 to 2017, Keselowski won a total of seven races, including his first victories at Daytona, Atlanta and Martinsville, and achieved 43 top-10 results with a best points result of fourth place in 2017 after making it all the way to the Championship Round. By then, he surpassed 300 Cup career starts.

In 2018, Keselowski won the non-point Clash at Daytona International Speedway in February, but went winless for the first 24 races of the season. The following race at Darlington Raceway, Keselowski won the Southern 500 and achieved his first crown-jewel event win in NASCAR. He backed it up the following race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Brickyard 400, while recording the first NASCAR Cup victory at Indianapolis for Roger Penske. For the 2018 Playoff opener at Las Vegas, Keselowski won and achieved the 500th win for Team Penske across motorsports. Despite winning three races in consecutive weeks, he concluded the season in eighth place in the final standings after being eliminated from title contention following the second round.

Last season, Keselowski recorded the first victory for the new Ford Mustang in the Cup Series at Atlanta, the second race of the season. He went on to win at Martinsville in March and at Kansas in May. Though he achieved 19 top-10 results, he was eliminated from title contention following the second round of the Playoffs and he concluded the season in eighth place in the final standings and for the second year in a row.

This season, through the first 22 races of the 2020 Cup season and his first full season with crew chief Jeremy Bullins, Keselowski has won three times (Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, Bristol in May and at New Hampshire in July) to tally his win column to 33. He has also achieved six stage wins, nine top-five results and 16 top-10 results. He is currently ranked in second place in the regular-season standings and trails points leader Kevin Harvick by 137 points. A day after winning at New Hampshire, Keselowski also announced that he will be remaining with Team Penske for the 2021 Cup season.

Catch Keselowski’s milestone start in the inaugural Cup Series race at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course on August 16 at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

August 12, 2020
Cindric to start on pole position for inaugural Xfinity Daytona Road Course event

In what has been a career year in his third full-time season of racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Austin Cindric will start on the pole for the inaugural UNOH 188 at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course on Saturday, August 15.

The Daytona Road Course race marks the first race where the starting lineup was based on a new competition formula utilizing three statistical categories: the finishing results from the previous race (weighing at 50 percent), the order of owner points positioning (35 percent) and the fastest race lap from the previous race (15 percent).

Based upon the stats/measurements and averaging them, Cindric, the recent series winner at Road America and this year’s regular-season points leader, will lead the field to the start of the Daytona Road Course event. This will mark the first time where Cindric and his No. 22 Team Penske Ford Mustang will start on pole position for an upcoming Xfinity race this season.

Since May through last weekend at Road America, a random draw determined the starting lineup for an upcoming NASCAR race due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which eliminated practice and qualifying sessions throughout race weekend. When the 2020 Xfinity Playoffs commence in September at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the competitors in the Playoffs will occupy the top starting positions, according to how many remain throughout the Playoffs as four competitors will be eliminated after each round featuring three postseason races.

Chase Briscoe will start alongside Cindric followed by Noah Gragson, Ross Chastain and Justin Haley. Andy Lally, who tied his career-best result of fifth place last weekend at Road America, will start in sixth place followed by Michael Annett, Ryan Sieg, rookie Harrison Burton and A.J. Allmendinger. Brandon Jones and Brandon Brown will start 11th and 12th.

Starting in positions 13-25 are Josh Williams, rookie Riley Herbst, Preston Pardus, Alex Labbe, Justin Allgaier, Josh Bilicki, Jeremy Clements, Stephen Leicht, Mike Wallace, Tommy Joe Martins, Daniel Hemric, rookie Jesse Little and rookie Joe Graf Jr.

Starting in positions 26-38 are Kyle Weatherman, rookie Myatt Snider, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Scott Heckert, newcomer Earl Bamber, rookie Kody Vanderwal, Jade Buford, B.J. McLeod, Bayley Currey, Chad Finchum, Matt Mills, Brandon Gdovic and Harold Crooms.

The inaugural UNOH 188 at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course will occur on August 15 at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

August 12, 2020
Harvick to start on pole position for inaugural Daytona Road Course event

In NASCAR’s first use of a competition-based formula to determine a lineup for a Cup Series race, Kevin Harvick will start on pole position for the inaugural Go Bowling 235 at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course on Sunday, August 16.

The new competition-based formula used to establish the lineup for an upcoming race was based upon three statistical measurements: the results from the previous race (weighing 50 percent), the ranks of team owner points (35 percent) and the fastest lap from the previous race (15 percent).

Following the measurements based upon the three stats/measurements and averaging them together, Harvick, the regular-season points leader who is coming off his back-to-back victories from the Michigan International Speedway doubleheader races, was awarded the Busch Pole Award for the Daytona Road Course. This will mark the second time where Harvick will start on pole position this season, with his last occurring at Kansas Speedway in July.

Since May through last weekend at Michigan, NASCAR used a random draw to determine a lineup for a race amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a move that eliminated practice and qualifying sessions on race weekends. Beginning in September, when the 2020 Cup Playoffs commence, the competitors competing in the Playoffs will occupy the top starting positions, according to how many remain throughout the Playoffs as four competitors will be eliminated following each round (three races in a round) of the Playoffs.

Denny Hamlin, who finished in the runner-up spot behind Harvick in the second Michigan race, will start on the front row alongside Harvick for the inaugural Daytona Road Course race. Teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch will line up in the second row in front of Ford teammates Joey Logano and Aric Almirola. Chase Elliott, Kurt Busch, Matt DiBenedetto and Austin Dillon will start in the top 10 followed by Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer.

Starting in positions 13-26 are William Byron, Ryan Newman, rookie Christopher Bell, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, rookie Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace, Erik Jones, Chris Buescher, Ryan Preece, Ty Dillon, Ryan Blaney, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and rookie Cole Custer.

Starting in positions 27-39 are Alex Bowman, rookie John Hunter Nemechek, Corey LaJoie, Michael McDowell, Daniel Suarez, J.J. Yeley, rookie Brennan Poole, Reed Sorenson, rookie Quin Houff, Garrett Smithley, Timmy Hill, James Davison and Brendan Gaughan.

The inaugural Go Bowling 235 at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course, which marks the 23rd race of this year’s NASCAR Cup Series schedule, will occur on August 16 at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

August 12, 2020
Darlington to feature limited fans for Southern 500

Darlington Raceway in South Carolina will host limited fans for the 71st annual running of the Southern 500 on Sunday, September 6, with the NASCAR Cup Series set to return for a third race at the track.

The announcement comes as NASCAR prepares to return to Darlington for two days of racing action throughout Labor Day weekend, which also marks the Official Throwback Weekend of NASCAR. The action will start on Saturday, September 5, for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 event followed by the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race and the Cup Series Southern 500 race on Sunday, September 6.

“The Southern 500 is a time-honored tradition in motorsports, so we look forward to creating new NASCAR Cup Series Playoff memories with fans returning to Darlington Raceway,” Kerry Tharp, Darlington Raceway President, said. “After successfully hosting the sport’s return to competition in May, the track Too Tough To Tame will be ready to welcome fans back for a safe race experience.”

The attendance of race fans for the Southern 500 will be limited in accordance with public health officials and local, state and federal authorities along with any other safety protocols and procedures. Fans who have purchased tickets ahead of time for the race will be reseated in new locations, while making them as comparable as possible with original seating, with new lower ticket pricing available. All guests who attend the race at the track will be screened prior to entering the facility, required to wear face coverings/masks and distance one another six feet apart.

This year’s Southern 500 marks the first race of the 2020 Cup Playoffs and the first of three events in the Round of 16. Darlington Raceway also marks the site of NASCAR’s return to on-track racing in May 17 amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that was followed by a second Cup race on May 20 and an Xfinity Series event on May 21.

The upcoming Cup race at Darlington does not mark the only occasion where limited fans were allowed to attend a race at the grandstands amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Tracks that include Homestead-Miami Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Road America opened their facilities for select fans to attend the race and experience the live on-track action from the grandstands. Daytona International Speedway is set to have fans in attendance for the upcoming races on August 14-16 and on August 28-29.

The NASCAR triple-header action at Darlington Raceway will commence on September 5 at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC for the Xfinity Series followed by the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series return to Darlington on September 6 at 2 p.m. ET on FS1. The action will cap off with the Southern 500 and the 2020 Playoff opener on September 6 at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN for the Cup Series.

August 10, 2020
Bell to drive for Joe Gibbs Racing in the 2021 Cup season

Christopher Bell has a place to call home for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season. That place is Joe Gibbs Racing after the organization named Bell as driver of the No. 20 Toyota Camry and as part of the team’s four-car stable alongside Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr.

Bell, a native from Norman, Oklahoma, is currently competing in his first full-time season in the Cup Series as a rookie candidate and in the No. 95 Toyota Camry for Leavine Family Racing. Bell’s move to JGR comes four days after Erik Jones, who is currently in his third season driving the No. 20 Toyota, announced that he will not be returning to the organization for next season. The move also came six days after Bob Leavine, owner of Leavine Family Racing, announced that he has sold his team and that the organization will be ceasing all operations following the 2020 Cup season.

The move to Joe Gibbs Racing is also a reunion for Bell, who first drove for the team as a part-time competitor in the 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series season before racing full time in 2018. From 2017 to 2019, Bell won 16 Xfinity races and made it all the way to the Championship Round in 2018 and 2019, with a best points result of third place in 2019. In addition, Bell will become the fifth competitor to pilot the iconic No. 20 car for Joe Gibbs Racing since its inception in 1999.

“I’m so appreciative of the opportunity I have this year with LFR and I want to finish this season strong for Bob [Leavine] and everyone there,” Bell said. “At the same time, I’m extremely excited to return to Joe Gibbs Racing starting in 2021. It’s an organization I’m very comfortable with and have had a lot of success with.”

“We are excited to bring Christopher into our Cup Series program starting in 2021,” Joe Gibbs, owner of Joe Gibbs Racing, added. “He obviously had tremendous success in the Xfinity Series with us and we look forward to his return to JGR.”

Additional announcements regarding Bell’s crew chief and sponsors for next season will be announced at a later date.

Through the first 22 races of this year’s Cup season, Bell has notched one top-five result and five top-10 results. He is ranked 19th in the regular-season standings and is 122 points below the top-16 cutline to make the 2020 Cup Playoffs with four regular-season races remaining.

The NASCAR Cup Series will return to action on Sunday, August 16, for the inaugural race at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course, which will air at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

August 10, 2020
2020 Cup Playoff outlook after Michigan doubleheader

The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series regular season is nearing its conclusion following an eventful weekend doubleheader at Michigan International Speedway and with the Playoffs weeks away from being set and commencing.

With a pair of victories on back-to-back dates at the Irish Hills added to his resume and long list of accomplishments, Kevin Harvick continues his quest for a second Cup championship. Including Harvick, 10 competitors have been guaranteed a spot in the Playoffs by virtue of winning throughout the previous 22 regular-season races, among which continues to include Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon and rookie Cole Custer.

With four regular-season races remaining until the 2020 postseason field is set, six of the 16-postseason field spots remain vacant with multiple top names either on the bubble or still on the outside.

Currently, Aric Almirola and the Busch brothers (Kyle and Kurt) continue to remain in decent shape of making the Playoffs by points. Almirola rallied from finishing 16th on Saturday, August 8, to collect a handful of stage points, lead a handful of laps and post a top-10 run on Sunday, August 9, at Michigan as he is 158 points above the top-16 cutline. Kyle Busch, on the other hand, posted two top-five results in both races along with a chunk load of stage points to place himself 140 points above the cutline and with an opportunity of defending his series title.

Kurt Busch concluded his runs at Michigan by scoring a pair of 10th-place results and gaining a chunk load of stage points towards the postseason. With the 2004 Cup champion tallying his top-10 results to 14 this season, he and his No. 1 Monster Energy/Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team are 137 points above the cutline as he also looks to win a race for the first time since last July at Kentucky Speedway.

“We covered a lot of ground with the Monster Energy Chevy,” Kurt Busch said on NBCSN. “Both days were a hard-fought battle, a little loose here, a little tight there, lane choice and then, pit stops. We did it as a team, but it was like yesterday, we had a seventh-place car. Today, we had a 13th-place car and finished 10th on both days. Thanks to Monster Energy and Chevy. We know what we need to get our cars more efficient. We need to be a little bit better down the straightaway and still have that handling. This seems like we’re up against this imagery bubble and with [teammate Matt] Kenseth getting better, that’ll help us…working with Hendrick [Motorsports] and trying to get the horsepower right, all of its a balance. Jim Campbell, Chevrolet, thanks to those guys. But, we just didn’t get it done here at Michigan.”

For Clint Bowyer, it was an up-and-down weekend that ended up with a decent result approaching the final four regular-season races of this season. After finishing 19th on Saturday, Bowyer started Sunday on fire after leading the first 40 laps and winning the first stage. Throughout the second stage, he did not lead but he remained inside the top 10 and finished fifth to gain more stage points. For the early stages of the final stage, however, Bowyer’s race went backwards when he made an unscheduled pit stop after suffering a tire rub. He was able to quickly work his way back on the lead lap and from there, he charged his way back to finish 14th. With his 11th top-15 finish of this season, the Kansas native and his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team are 60 points above the cutline.

Like Bowyer, Matt DiBenedetto had an eventful weekend at Michigan that started with a 15th-place result on Saturday and ended up with a strong top-10 result (seventh) on Sunday. With his seventh top-10 result of the season, the Californian and his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang team are 57 points above the cutline as DiBenedetto attempts to make his first postseason appearance as a title contender.

“The ole car had its tongue hanging out all day,” DiBenedetto said on NBCSN. “It still wasn’t pretty. I’m glad to have driven this car. It looked good. Thank you to all of our Ford auto technicians, Motorcraft, Quicklane, Menards, everyone that allows me to drive this thing. It’s a lot of fun. We’re really doing good and the cool thing is when we have a car [that you are] very dissatisfied with and we finished seventh, that shows the strength of our team. So, I’m still encouraged about that. The second half of the season have some really good race tracks for me personally that I like a lot of the 750 horsepower tracks, a lot of the low downforce stuff. That’s what I definitely prefer. It fits my wheelhouse. Looking forward, we have a lot of really good tracks and we just get better and better as a team every week. So, tracks like the [Daytona] road course next week, I’m really looking forward to. It’s gonna be a lot of fun. It’s a lot of great places for us coming up.”

For the 16th and final spot to the Playoffs, William Byron continues to retain the position by 26 points following a pair of top-15 results at Michigan. The first two competitors who continue to trail Byron and the cutline by 26 points are Erik Jones and seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson. Like Byron, Johnson capped off both Michigan races with top-15 finishes and in his final races at the Irish Hills. Jones, on the other hand, had an up-and-down weekend that started with an 11th-place result on Saturday before he finished a disappointing 27th place on Sunday. With two missed opportunities of locking himself into the postseason and winning at his home track, Jones and his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry team are still on the outside of the cutline and with Jones set to depart the organization following this season.

Rookie Tyler Reddick had a long weekend at Michigan as he recorded finishes of 18th and 24th between the two races, and he now trails the cutline by 36 points.

“We fought hard today at Michigan International Speedway, but our No. 8 Chevrolet Accessories Camaro ZL1 1LE was a challenge during the race,” Reddick said. “We fired off extremely tight, which made it hard to move around and run the bottom like I needed to be able to do. My crew chief, Randall Burnett, made some good adjustments during the race that helped loosen me up, but we just needed a little bit more today. We’ll definitely look back at this weekend as a team to see what we can learn from it and regroup for next weekend.”

The remaining competitors who trail the top-16 cutline by 122 or more points include rookie Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace, Michael McDowell, Chris Buescher, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., rookie John Hunter Nemechek, Ryan Newman, Ty Dillon, Matt Kenseth, Corey LaJoie, Ryan Preece, Daniel Suarez, rookie Brennan Poole and rookie Quin Houff.

The battle for the final spots towards the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will continue next weekend in the inaugural Daytona International Speedway road course event, which will occur on August 16 at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

August 10, 2020
Johnson and Byron rally for top-12 runs at Michigan

It was a long, sunny afternoon for Hendrick Motorsports’ drivers Jimmie Johnson and William Byron at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday, August 9, that resulted in both competitors struggling for the majority of the race despite starting towards the front. When the checkered flag flew, both HMS competitors salvaged top-12 results and remain in a battle against one another for a Playoff spot with the postseason nearing its starting phase.

For Byron, his race started off on a high note when he moved up to start on the front row due to multiple cars starting at the rear of the field. When the green flag waved, the Charlotte native battled hard with Clint Bowyer for the field on the opening lap before the latter prevailed. Even though he never made a bid for the lead, Byron kept his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE towards the front and running inside the top five. When the first stage concluded, he was scored in sixth place as he collected a handful of stage points towards the Playoffs. Jumping to second place for the start of the second stage, Byron dropped out of the top five and continued to downslide throughout the run. By the time the second stage concluded, he had fallen all the way back to 17th. Restarting 14th for the final stage under 65 laps remaining, he spent the majority of the run inside the top 15 before making a late charge for a top-10 spot. When the checkered flag flew, however, Byron crossed the line in 12th place. Despite the struggles throughout the race, Byron’s 15th top-10 result of this season kept him and his No. 24 team 26 points above the top-16 cutline, with Byron holding sole possession of the 16th and final transfer spot to the Playoffs with four regular-season races remaining.

“Hard fought day for us at Michigan today and this weekend overall really,” Byron said. “After this weekend, we came out of Michigan with a bit larger of a points gap than we started, which is good. Hopefully we can go on to the road course at Daytona and keep building that point buffer. I think we’re really good at road courses so hopefully, we can run well there despite it being an unknown. I’m looking forward to it though and the challenge it will bring. I will definitely be doing a lot of iRacing this week to get ready for it.”

Teammate Johnson also had a long run that ended up with a decent result. Starting in the second row, Johnson was competitive at the start of the race as he muscled his way into the runner-up spot. Following the first 15 laps, however, he had fallen back to seventh after he got loose in Turn 3 and lost a handful of spots. From there, Johnson and his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE continued to slide backwards as he dropped out of the top 10. He was unable to work his way back into the top 10 as he concluded the first stage on Lap 40 in 11th, missing an opportunity of collecting a stage point by one position. Despite starting in fourth place for the second stage, the seven-time champion continued to struggle with keeping pace with the leaders. When the second stage concluded on Lap 85, he was scored in 14th. Johnson struggled at the start of the final stage, falling back towards the top 20, but he rallied back into the top 15 as the run progressed. Even though he had a shot for a top-10 finish in the closing laps, it was not enough as Johnson finished in 11th place in his 38th and final run at Michigan. With his 12th top-15 result of this season, Johnson is tied with Erik Jones in being 26 points below the cutline as he attempts to make his final postseason appearance in his swan song season of full-time racing.

“We put up a good fight today,” Johnson said. “Track position was important, and we fought the balance most of the day. I’m looking forward to the [Daytona] road course and both Dover races.”

For the remaining half of Hendrick Motorsports’ four-car lineup, Chase Elliott was the lone Hendrick competitor to finish in the top 10 (ninth) while Alex Bowman ended his race in 36th following tire issues.

Byron and Johnson, along with their teammates and fellow competitors, will return for next weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series inaugural race on the Daytona International Speedway road course layout, which will occur on August 16 at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

August 10, 2020
Kyle Busch, Almirola remain in Playoff contention with top-six runs at Michigan

While Kevin Harvick capped off an eventful NASCAR Cup Series doubleheader weekend at Michigan International Speedway with back-to-back victories, Kyle Busch and Aric Almirola kept themselves in guaranteed spots for this year’s Playoffs after both notched top-10 results on Sunday, August 9, at the Irish Hills. To go along with their results from the first Michigan race on Saturday, August 8, and the stage points they collected during the two Michigan races, both left the Irish Hills satisfied with their runs as they continue to set their sights towards the postseason and an opportunity to win the 2020 Cup title.

A day after having a potential shot of winning evaporated following the slightest of contact with eventual winner Harvick, Kyle Busch started Sunday’s race in 16th place and with vengeance. When the green flag waved, Busch wasted no time working his way towards the front. Following the first five laps, he had worked his way into the top 10 as he was running in seventh. Late in the first stage, the Las Vegas native made his way into the top five as he was scored in third. Ultimately, he would retain third place when the first stage concluded as he collected a chunk load of stage points towards the Playoffs. Following a stellar pit stop under the stage break, Busch emerged with the lead for the start of the second stage. At the start of the second stage, Busch, who led four laps, was quickly overtaken by Harvick for the lead. Nonetheless, Busch remained towards the front as he grabbed another third-place result in the second stage along with more stage points.

Following a pit stop under the second stage break, Busch restarted in second place for the final stage. For the remainder of the race and under the final 65 laps, he kept his No. 18 M&M’s Fudge Brownie Toyota Camry within the top 10 and battled for a top-five spot alongside teammates Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. When the checkered flag flew, Busch settled in fourth place, one spot higher than his fifth-place result on Saturday. Even though his winless streak of this season extended for another week and to 22 races, Busch’s 10th top-five result of this season kept the reigning Cup champion 140 points above the top-16 cutline with four regular-season races remaining until the 2020 Cup Playoffs commences.

“At the end of the day, we slowed down a little bit on the long runs,” Kyle Busch said on NBCSN. “That’s just what we had. We got about all we could get out of the day. I felt like [Harvick] was the best car, [Brad Keselowski] was second best, [Hamlin] at the end showed up and was pretty fast, but [Truex] and myself were really even. That’s about all we had. Great day again for the M&M’s Fudge Brownie Camry. We come to Michigan not normally looking for top-five days, but this has been two good days. Hopefully, we can keep some momentum rolling and get ready to go next week [at Daytona], turn right and turn left. Yesterday and today, the car drove great. Best driving car I’ve had here at Michigan…We stayed consistent with many of the things that we were doing from yesterday just to have a good solid effort of it today and not screw anything up.”

Compared to Busch, Aric Almirola had an up-and-down weekend at Michigan that ended up on a positive note. A day after finishing 16th, Almirola, who was scheduled to start in fifth place, dropped to the rear of the field in a backup car. Throughout the first stage and the first 40 laps, he methodically carved his way through the field and was scored in 19th. Starting 16th in the second stage, he cracked the top 10 throughout the run under green. By the time the second stage concluded, he finished eighth and collected a handful of stage points.

Starting 11th in the final stage, Almirola flexed his muscles as he made his way into the top five. Under 50 laps remaining, however, Almirola and his No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang emerged with the lead under caution through miscommunication when he had meant to pit with the leaders. For the ensuing restart, he led nine laps before he was overtaken by Harvick. While the run progressed, Almirola remained well inside the top 10, but needed a caution to complete the race with a shot of winning. A caution for debris under 20 laps remaining saved Almirola from pitting under green and falling a lap behind. When he pitted, however, he fell back near the top 20 while most of the leaders elected to remain on track. For the remainder of the race, Almirola benefited from the four fresh tires and fuel to charge his way back to the top 10. He had a shot in overtaking Joey Logano for fifth place in the final laps, but he was unable to navigate his way around Logano as he crossed the finish line in sixth place. Almirola’s 13th top-10 result of this season has the Floridian 158 points above the cutline and in a stable position of making his fourth postseason appearance.

“We overcame a lot today,” Almirola said on NBCSN. “We had to start in the back with a backup car, drove literally from 32nd all the way up to sixth and then, had that miscue on pit road about what we were doing for pitting. Led some laps there, which was nice but I knew that we were in trouble ’cause everybody else could make it on fuel and we couldn’t. So, we pitted, got four tires on [the car] and drove from 22nd back up to sixth again in about 12 laps. Really proud of [crew chief Mike] Buga [Bugarewicz] and all the guys on this team. Yesterday was not a very good day. It was a learning experience and a character-building experience. We learned so much from that and [prepared a] completely different racecar and a different mentality for today, back to what we’ve been running the last couple of months and we’ve had a lot more success on this. Excited to go these next few weeks and get ready for the Playoffs. I don’t know what to expect for next weekend at the Daytona road course but nonetheless, we’ve got a great car, great team and we’re excited about the Playoffs when they come.”

Almirola and Busch, along with their fellow Cup competitors, will return on Sunday, August 16, for the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race at the Daytona International Speedway road course layout, which will occur at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

August 10, 2020