The haulers rolled into Phoenix, Friday. Banners hang from the building facades and street signs. On the heels of the Texas Rangers winning their first World Series in Phoenix days earlier, four drivers face off for NASCAR’s biggest crown, the Bill France Cup.
With the curtain call on the horizon, I reflect on the good and the bad of the 75th season of NASCAR.
The good
The 1.5 mile package
HOMESTEAD, Fla. – OCTOBER 22: Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, leads the field to the green flag to start the NASCAR Cup Series 4EVER 400 Presented by Mobil 1 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Oct. 22, 2023, in Homestead, Florida. Photo: Sean Gardner/Getty Images
Last season, the NextGen Car gave the long maligned mile and a half tracks a boost in racing quality not seen in the NASCAR Cup Series since the days of the twisted sister car. Naturally, everyone expected this to continue in 2023.
The first trip to Las Vegas in March, however, almost shattered that thought.
Of the 13 lead changes, only two happened on track. The rest happened during pit cycles.
Did we witness the start of a massive step backwards on the intermediate tracks?
Thankfully, the rest of the season proved Las Vegas was an outlier, and NASCAR maintained the level of quality we saw in 2022.
Though it’s not perfect. Adding more horsepower and taking off more downforce would go a long way to taking the racing from an eight or nine to an 11.
Of course, I’m no engineer. So all I can do is trust that the engineering minds at NASCAR figure out how to make this work.
The schedule
CHICAGO – JULY 2: Justin Haley, driver of the #31 Benesch Law Chevrolet, Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 Hooters Chevrolet, and Shane Van Gisbergen, driver of the #91 Enhance Health Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 220 at the Chicago Street Course on July 2, 2023, in Chicago. Photo: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
When I started covering NASCAR in 2016, schedule movement stagnated. Thanks to a terrible agreement NASCAR made with the tracks to guarantee their races for a period of five years, the schedule was usually a carbon copy of the previous season’s schedule. Hell, the 2019 schedule was a 100% copy/paste of 2018.
That made the 2020 schedule an Earth-shattering revelation (and that was before COVID threw a wrench into the operation).
Fast-forward to the present.
The variety and diversity of the schedule rocks!
NASCAR went from two road course races on the Cup Series schedule to six (but drops to five in 2024).
Yes, the road course package sucks and I’ll address that in a later section, but for most of my 29 years on this planet, NASCAR went to Sonoma Raceway, Watkins Glen International and that was it.
Now, the Cup Series visits Circuit of the Americas, the infield at Charlotte Motor Speedway and an honest to god street course race on top of the South Shore Line.
Not in my wildest dreams could I have imagined the NASCAR Cup Series race on a street course like IndyCar and Formula 1 do.
Nor did I see NASCAR return to North Wilkesboro. A pioneer track the league and its partners all but left for dead when I was a month from turning two.
Is it perfect, no. Not even close. Furthermore, I fear NASCAR might fall back into the complacency that left the schedule stuck in molasses in the coming years.
For now, however, the schedule realignments of the 2020s beats the copy/paste routine of the late 2010s.
The bad
The road course and short track package
AUSTIN, Texas – MARCH 26: Tyler Reddick, driver of the #45 Monster Energy Toyota, drives during the NASCAR Cup Series EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas on March 26, 2023, in Austin, Texas. Photo: Sean Gardner/Getty Images
Circuit of the Americas showcased some of NASCAR at its best.
To borrow a line from former NASCAR Chairman and CEO, Brian France, this was “quintessential NASCAR.” Only instead of a poorly handled fustercluck over three races, it was two generational talents using every inch of real estate and an aero package on the razor’s edge of control to fight it out for the victory.
That was the peak.
Most weeks, NASCAR road course races (as well as short track races) resembled Formula 1 at its, well, most par for the course. Follow the leader and hope pit strategy cycles you ahead. After two years, is it time to increase horsepower, like everyone in the garage says over and over again?
NASCAR’s chief operating officer, Steve O’Donnell, said Friday that it’s one of many options on the table.
“For us, we’re going to look at shifting specifically around that at our next test and see what we can do,” he said. “There will be variations. Also some aero things we do with the underbody. There’s some things we found in Richmond from an aero standpoint that could work as well.”
He also mentioned factoring costs to OEMs to make more horsepower work.
“It’s not as simple as just upping the horsepower,” he said. “You better be ready for all your OE(M)s to be onboard. It better make sense for any potential new OEM and technology. It’s not just a short-term answer.”
Again, I type words onto digital paper for a living. So I don’t know if shifting is the problem.
What I’m certain of is that unless this is fixed soon, then that doesn’t bode well for the long-term heath of North Wilkesboro. The goodwill of its return won’t last forever, if the racing sucks.
The TV product
I’ll give NASCAR president Steve Phelps this. He acknowledged that the ratings aren’t great. Though he said it was “a mixed bag” with the Cup Series.
“NBC came back in a powerful way,” he said. “Those metrics are up. If you consider back in March we were down 15%, now we’re down mid single digits, we’re happy with where that is.”
That’s more than we got from France, who dodged or denied reality on that front.
Yet, neither pointed a finger at the elephant in the room.
The broadcast partners, especially FOX.
The problems with FOX and NBC deserves it own column, and the FOX foibles aren’t fresh in my mind at the back-end of the season.
With that said, however, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the biggest ratings drop happened during the FOX portion (and Chase Elliott’s injury only explains it so much).
Put a bow on it
Overall, NASCAR’s 75th season was good, but could’ve been better.
The intermediate track package continues strong and the schedule has excellent variety. Hopefully, NASCAR finds the fix to the ailing short track and road course packages.
Though I’m not holding my breath on NASCAR calling out the broadcast partners.
NASCAR’s on a good trajectory, even though it’s a grind.
For now, let’s sit back and watch Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, William Byron and Kyle Larson race for the big prize, Sunday, at Phoenix Raceway.
With the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season set to conclude this weekend at Phoenix Raceway, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is set to achieve a milestone start of his own. By competing in this weekend’s Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway, the driver of the No. 47 JTG-Daugherty Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will reach career start No. 400 in NASCAR’s premier series.
A native of Olive Branch, Mississippi, Stenhouse made his inaugural presence in the Cup Series at Charlotte Motor Speedway during the Coca-Cola 600 in May 2011. By then, he was campaigning on a full-time basis for Roush Fenway Racing in the Xfinity Series and served as an interim competitor for his Xfinity teammate Trevor Bayne in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Fusion. Starting in ninth place, Stenhouse recorded an 11th-place finish in his Cup Series debut.
The following season and after winning his first Xfinity Series championship, Stenhouse, who remained in the Xfinity circuit to defend his title, made four starts throughout the 2012 Cup Series season and in the No. 6 Ford Fusion for Roush Fenway Racing. His first start occurred during the 54th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, where he rallied from being involved in a late multi-car wreck to finish 20th. He proceeded to finish a season-best 12th at Dover before finishing 35th and 39th, respectively, during his next two starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway and at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
After winning his second consecutive Xfinity Series championship in 2012, Stenhouse was promoted to the Cup Series to pilot Roush Fenway Racing’s No. 17 Ford Fusion on a full-time basis, where he replaced the 2003 Cup champion Matt Kenseth as Kenseth moved to Joe Gibbs Racing. Stenhouse’s rookie Cup campaign commenced with a 12th-place finish in the 55th running of the Daytona 500.
He proceeded to record his first Cup pole position at Atlanta Motor Speedway in September, six top-15 results and 18 top-20 results throughout the first 25 scheduled events. Despite not making the 2013 Cup Series Playoffs, the Mississippi native notched his first top-10 career result in the Cup circuit by finishing in 10th place during the regular-season finale at Richmond Raceway. He then finished eighth during the Playoff opener at Chicagoland Speedway the following weekend before achieving his first top-five finish in the form of a third-place run at Talladega Superspeedway in October five races later. Managing two top-20 finishes during the final three-scheduled events, Stenhouse capped off his rookie Cup Series season in 19th place in the final standings and claimed the Rookie-of-the-Year title over Danica Patrick. Overall, Stenhouse achieved a pole, one top-five result, three top-10 results, 35 laps led and an average finishing result of 18.9.
The following season, Stenhouse commenced the 2014 Cup season by finishing seventh during the 56th running of the Daytona 500. Three races later, he notched a career-best runner-up result behind teammate Carl Edwards at Bristol Motor Speedway in March. He would then endure a difficult regular-season period that included only three additional top-10 results during his next 22 starts as he did not make the 2014 Playoffs. During the Playoffs, Stenhouse’s low point occurred when he did not qualify at Talladega. Managing a total of five top-20 results during his final nine starts of the season, with his best result being 15th at Martinsville Speedway, Stenhouse concluded his sophomore Cup season in 27th place in the final standings and with an average-finishing result of 22.4.
The following two Cup seasons, Stenhouse accumulated a total of five top-five results, nine top-10 results, 37 top-20 results and nine laps led, with his best result being a runner-up finish behind Kevin Harvick at Bristol in August 2016. Despite not making the Playoffs during both seasons, he achieved a 25th-place result in the 2015 final standings with an average-finishing result of 24.3 and a 21st-place result following the 2016 season with an average-finishing result of 19.6. By then, he also surpassed 100 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series.
The 2017 Cup Series season was a breakout year for Stenhouse, who rallied from ending up 31st during the 59th running of the Daytona 500 amid a late multi-car wreck to finish fourth three races later at Phoenix Raceway amid a late pit strategy to remain on the track on old tires. After recording top-10 results in three of his next five starts, including a fourth-place run at Richmond Raceway, Stenhouse notched his second Cup career pole position at Talladega in May. He then proceeded to lead the first 13 laps and avoid a late multi-car pileup to overtake Kyle Busch on the final lap during an overtime restart and score his first career win in the Cup Series.
By then, he achieved the first Cup victory for Roush Fenway Racing since teammate Carl Edwards won at Sonoma Raceway in June 2014 and the first for Roush’s No. 17 entry since Matt Kenseth won at Kansas Speedway in October 2012. Seven races later, Stenhouse scored his second Cup career victory at Daytona in July after overtaking David Ragan during an overtime restart. Despite recording seven top-20 results during his next nine starts, the pair of superspeedway victories cemented Stenhouse and the No. 17 team into the 2017 Cup Series Playoffs, which was the first for the Mississippi native. Stenhouse then managed to transfer from the Playoff’s Round of 16 to 12 despite notching three consecutive top-25 results during the first Playoff round. With respective finishes of 13th, 26th and 29th throughout the Round of 12, Stenhouse was eliminated from title contention. Nonetheless, he capped off the 2017 season with four consecutive top-15 results before settling in a career-best 13th place in the final standings. By then, Stenhouse had tied his highest mark of top-five results accumulated in a Cup season to four while also recording career-high stats in top 10s (nine) and laps led (56) with a career-best average-finishing result of 17.1.
The following two seasons, Stenhouse went winless, but accumulated a total of four top-five results, eight top-10 results, 43 top-20 results and 242 laps led, with his best result being a third-place run at Talladega in October 2018. Despite leading 133 and 109 laps during the 2018 and 2019 seasons, respectively, he did not make the Playoffs during both seasons as he ended up in 18th place in the 2018 final standings with an average-finishing result of 19.4 and 23rd in the 2019 final standings with an average-finishing result of 20.5. By then, Stenhouse also surpassed 200 Cup career starts.
In mid-September 2019, Roush Fenway Racing announced plans to replace Stenhouse with Chris Buescher for the 2020 Cup season. A month later, though, Stenhouse joined forces with JTG-Daugherty Racing to drive the No. 47 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE on a full-time basis for the upcoming Cup season. In his first start with JTG-Daugherty Racing, he notched his third Cup career pole for the 62nd running of the Daytona 500 after posting a pole-winning lap at 194.582 mph in 46.253 seconds. Despite leading 24 laps, Stenhouse was penalized late for advancing his position below the double yellow line boundary zone and was involved in a late incident during a green-flag pit stop cycle, which resulted in him finishing 20th.
He rallied the following weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway by finishing third amid a late pit strategy for a two-lap shootout before finishing fourth at Charlotte in May and second at Talladega in June after being edged by Ryan Blaney by 0.007 seconds. Ultimately, Stenhouse recorded 13 top-20 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, which were not enough for him to make the 2020 Playoffs. With only six top-20 results recorded during the final 10 events on the schedule, including a 12th-place run at Texas Motor Speedway in October, Stenhouse concluded his first season with JTG-Daugherty Racing in 24th place in the final standings and with an average-finishing result of 22.6.
The following two seasons, Stenhouse achieved two top-five results, seven top-10 results, 36 top-20 results and 112 laps led, including a pair of runner-up finishes at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course in March 2021 and at Dover Motor Speedway in May 2022. After missing the Playoffs during both seasons, Stenhouse ended up 22nd in the 2021 final standings with an average-finishing result of 19.7, where he notched top-18 results during the first nine-scheduled events, before dropping to 26th place in the 2022 final standings with average-finishing result of 22.8. By then, he also surpassed 300 Cup career starts.
This season, Stenhouse’s fourth campaign with JTG-Daugherty Racing commenced on a high note with the driver leading the final 10 laps and fending off the field during two overtime attempts and amid two multi-car wrecks to win the 65th running of the Daytona 500 in February. The 500 victory made Stenhouse the 42nd different competitor to win the Great American Race in Daytona Beach, Florida.
He also recorded his third Cup Series career victory, his first since winning at Daytona in July 2017 and the second overall for JTG-Daugherty Racing since the time last he won at Watkins Glen International with AJ Allmendinger in August 2014. Managing a total of seven top-10 results and 18 top-20 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, Stenhouse secured a spot into the Cup Series Playoffs for the second time in his career. Following respective finishes of 16th, 23rd and 10th during the Round of 16, however, Stenhouse was one of four competitors to be eliminated from title contention.
He has since finished no higher than ninth place during his next six Cup starts and he is currently ranked in 16th place in this year’s driver’s standings entering the season-finale event at Phoenix.
Through 399 previous Cup starts, Stenhouse has achieved three victories, three poles, 22 top-five results, 54 top-10 results, 561 laps led and an average-finishing result of 20.5.
Stenhouse is scheduled to make his 400th Cup Series career start in the 2023 series finale at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, November 5, with the event’s coverage to occur at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.
This weekend NASCAR travels to Phoenix Raceway as the season comes to a close and the 2023 champions will be crowned for each series.
Friday night the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series championship will be decided as Grant Enfinger, Corey Heim, Carson Hocevar and Ben Rhodes vie for the title. Saturday evening Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer, Sam Mayer and John H. Nemechek will race to win the Xfinity Series trophy.
Sunday afternoon the Cup Series will take center stage as Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, William Byron and Kyle Larson compete for the coveted 2023 Cup Series championship.
All times are Eastern.
Thursday, November 2
8 p.m.: Truck Series Practice – No TV 9 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series West Practice – No TV 10:10 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series West Qualifying – No TV
Friday, November 3
2:30 p.m.: ARCA Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 100 – FloRacing 6:05 p.m.: CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Qualifying – FS1 Post Truck Series Qualifying: NASCAR Press Pass 7:05 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice – NBC Sports App 8:05 p.m.: Cup Series Practice – USA/MRN/SiriusXM/MBC Sports App
10 p.m.: Truck Series Craftsman 150 Distance: 150 miles (150 laps) Stage 1 ends on lap 45, Stage 2 ends on lap 90, Final Stage ends on lap 150 FS1/MRN/SiriusXM Purse: $794,766 Post Truck Series Race: NASCAR Press Pass
Saturday, November 4
3:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying – USA/NBC Sports App Post Xfinity Series Qualifying: NASCAR Press Pass
4:35 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying – USA/MRN/SiriusXM/NBC Sports App Post Cup Series Qualifying: NASCAR Press Pass
7 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Distance: 200 miles (200 laps) Stage 1 ends on lap 45, Stage 2 ends on lap 90, Final Stage ends on lap 200 USA/MRN/SiriusXM/NBC Sports App Purse: $1,707,366 Post Xfinity Series race: NASCAR Press Pass
Sunday, November 5
3 p.m.: NASCAR Cup Series Championship Distance: 312 miles (312 laps) Stage 1 ends on Lap 60, Stage 2 ends on Lap 185, Final Stage ends on Lap 312 NBC/Peacock/MRN/SiriusXM/NBC Sports App Purse: $11,143,232 Post Cup Series race: NASCAR Press Pass
1. Ryan Blaney: Blaney passed Aric Almirola for the lead with 22 laps to go and pulled away to win the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville, winning his way into the Championship 4.
“Luckily,” Blaney said, “I wasn’t DQ’ed. Actually, I was ‘Q’ed,’ because I ‘qualified’ for the Championship 4.”
2. Kyle Larson: Larson finished sixth at Martinsville.
“It all comes down to Phoenix,” Larson said. “And the pressure is on. I think if any of the Championship 4 drivers say they’re not nervous, they’re lying. But let’s face it, there are some things you want in your stomach, and butterflies are one of them. There are things you don’t want in your stomach, like a Martinsville hot dog.”
3. William Byron: Byron finished 13 in the Xfinity 500 and edged out hard-luck Denny Hamlin for the final playoff spot.
“My fate really came down to the wire,” Byron said. “Preferably, I would have liked to have a win under my belt heading into Martinsville. That would have allowed me to ‘Sit back, relax, and enjoy the view.’ I think that might actually be the motto of Liberty University.”
4. Christopher Bell: Bell finished seventh at Martinsville, and will join William Byron, Kyle Larson, and Ryan Blaney in the Championship 4.
“I was ‘locked in’ before Martinsville,” Bell said. “Now, all but four drivers are ‘locked out’ of the Cup championship. I’m dialed in for Phoenix. And I can promise you, I won’t ‘phone it in’ at Phoenix.”
5. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin won Stage 1 at Martinsville and finished third, but it wasn’t enough to advance to the championship round, as Hamlin finished eight points behind William Byron for the final playoff spot.
“I really wanted another grandfather clock trophy,” Hamlin said. “I have quite a collection, but unfortunately, they all have a habit of striking midnight this time of year.”
6. Tyler Reddick: Reddick came home 26th, two laps down, in the Xfinity 500.
“My car was primarily sponsored by Monster Beast Unleashed Mean Green Seltzer,” Reddick said. “I’ve tried it, and let me tell you, it’s a mouthful.”
7. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex started on the pole at Martinsville, finished 12th and failed to qualify for the championship round.
“I was the regular season champion,” Truex said. “And when I look back on this twenty years from now, I’m sure I’ll agree that it was, in fact, just a regular season.”
8. Bubba Wallace: Wallace finished 11th at Martinsville.
“I guess waiting for Denny Hamlin to win a Cup championship on the track,” Wallace said, “is akin to waiting for the Great Pumpkin in the pumpkin patch.”
9. Ross Chastain: Chastain came home 14th at Martinsville.
“Based on what I did at Martinsville in last year’s playoffs,” Chastain said, “I should be declared the winner here in perpetuity.”
10. Chris Buescher: Buescher, needing a win to advance, finished eighth at Martinsville.
“I made a last-ditch effort to make the Championship 4,” Buescher said. “And apparently, I ended up in the ditch.”
For the first time in his career, Ryan Blaney earned a spot into the Championship 4 round after capping off a dominant performance by winning the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, October 29.
The third-generation racer from High Point, North Carolina, led four times for 145 of 500 scheduled laps in an event where he started 11th and methodically worked his way to the front in the early stages. After finishing in the runner-up spot behind Playoff rival Denny Hamlin during the first stage’s conclusion, Blaney made his presence at the front known as he led for the first time on Lap 194. After swapping and bumping with Hamlin for the lead on several occasions, Blaney took care of business by winning the second stage period and claiming more valuable stage points.
Then after pitting during a late caution period with less than 178 laps remaining, Blaney, who restarted outside the top 10 with 168 laps remaining, spent the remainder of the event carving his way back to the front. After reassuming the lead from Aric Almirola with 22 laps remaining, Blaney was able to navigate his way through lapped traffic and beat Almirola by nearly nine-tenths of a second to grab his third checkered flag of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season and clinch a Championship 4 berth, where he will be one of four competitors who will contend for this year’s championship in next weekend’s season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, October 28, Playoff contender Martin Truex Jr. notched his third Cup pole position of the 2023 season and the 23rd of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 94.153 mph in 20.112 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate and rookie Ty Gibbs, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 94.115 mph in 20.120 seconds.
When the green flag waved and the race started, Truex launched his No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota TRD Camry ahead from the outside lane as he jumped to an early lead through Turns 1 and 2 while teammate and Playoff rival Denny Hamlin battled Ty Gibbs for the runner-up spot. Amid the early battles ensuing behind, Truex proceeded to lead the first lap as Hamlin and Gibbs continued to battle for the runner-up spot in front of Chase Briscoe and Bubba Wallace.
By the third lap, Hamlin managed to move his No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry in front of Ty Gibbs’ No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota TRD Camry and assume the runner-up spot to his sole possession. Behind, Playoff contender Kyle Larson cracked the top five as he moved into fifth place followed by Kevin Harvick while Truex stretched his advantage to more than a second by the fifth lap mark.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Truex was leading by a second over teammate Hamlin followed by teammate Ty Gibbs, Briscoe and Larson while Harvick, Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney and Ryan Preece were running in the top 10. Behind, Playoff contender William Byron was in 13th while Playoff contenders Tyler Reddick and Chris Buescher were mired in 18th and 19th, respectively.
Fifteen laps later, Truex stabilized his advantage to nearly a second over teammate Hamlin while teammate Ty Gibbs retained third in front of Briscoe and Harvick. Behind, Playoff contenders Bell, Larson and Blaney trailed in sixth through eighth while Preece and Wallace occupied the remaining top-10 spots. Behind, Chase Elliott was in 11th ahead of Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Byron and Aric Almirola while Ross Chastain, Todd Gilliland, Reddick, Buescher and Austin Cindric were scored in the top 20 in front of Michael McDowell, Harrison Burton, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Alex Bowman and Austin Dillon.
Another 15 laps later, Truex, mired within lapped traffic, was leading by half a second over teammate Hamlin while third-place and teammate Ty Gibbs trailed by more than a second. With Briscoe and Harvick continuing to run in the top five, Playoff contenders Bell, Larson and Blaney remained in sixth through eighth while Byron was mired back in 14th. In addition, Reddick and Buescher continued to run 18th and 19th, respectively.
At the Lap 50 mark, Hamlin, who overtook Truex for the race lead two laps earlier, was leading by two-tenths of a second over teammate Truex. Behind, Ty Gibbs retained third place ahead of Briscoe and Harvick while Bell, Blaney, Larson, Preece and Wallace continued to run in the top 10. By then, Byron, Reddick and Buescher retained 14th, 18th and 19th, respectively, while Elliott, Keselowski and Logano were running 11th through 13th. In addition, the following names that included Almirola, Chastain, Gilliland and Cindric continued to run within the top 20.
Twenty-five laps later, Hamlin continued to lead by half a second over teammate Truex and by eight-tenths of a second over teammate Ty Gibbs while Briscoe and Harvick remained in the top five. With Playoff contenders Bell, Blaney and Larson continued to run sixth through eighth, Playoff contenders Byron, Reddick and Buescher retained 14th, 18th and 19th, respectively while Preece and Wallace continued to run in the top 10 on the track.
At the Lap 100 mark, Hamlin extended his advantage to more than a second over teammate Truex as teammate Ty Gibbs, Briscoe and Harvick remained in the top five. Behind, Playoff contenders Blaney, Bell and Larson along with Preece and Wallace continued to run in the top 10 as Byron was in 15th behind Elliott, Keselowski, Logano and Almirola. In addition, Reddick was in 17th and Buescher was in 19th in front of Cindric.
Three laps later, the first caution of the event flew when Harrison Burton, who was bumped and overtaken by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for 22nd place in Turn 3, was getting bumped by Alex Bowman in Turn 1, which ignited a brief stack-up as Burton then turned back into Bowman and got Bowman loose before he got bumped by Austin Dillon as Dillon turned Burton into Bowman’s No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, with the latter two spinning and Bowman getting hit by Corey LaJoie as the field scattered to avoid the carnage in the backstretch. The incident occurred just in front of Hamlin, who was in the process of lapping the competitors.
During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Hamlin peeled off the track and onto pit road for service for the first time. Following the pit stops, Hamlin retained the lead after exiting pit road first ahead of teammate, Truex, Briscoe, Blaney, Bell, Keselowski and Harvick.
When the race restarted on Lap 111, Hamlin retained the lead following a strong start on the outside lane while Blaney challenged and overtook Truex for the runner-up spot. As the field jostled for spots amid two stacked lanes, Hamlin continued to lead over Blaney and Truex while Briscoe, Keselowski, Bell and Ty Gibbs battled for fourth place in front of Preece, Logano, Larson, Harvick, Elliott and Byron, with the event surpassing the Lap 115 mark.
By the Lap 120 mark, the battle for the lead slowly brewed between Hamlin and Blaney, with the latter keeping the former close within his front windshield and by nearly half a second as third-place Truex trailed by more than a second. Behind, Briscoe and Keselowski continued to run in the top five in front of Bell, Ty Gibbs, Preece, Logano and Harvick.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 130, Hamlin, who came into the event 17 points below the top-four cutline to make this year’s Championship 4 field, captured his eighth Cup stage victory of the 2023 season. Blaney settled in second followed by Truex, Briscoe and Keselowski while Bell, Ty Gibbs, Preece, Logano and Harvick were scored in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Larson, Byron, Buescher and Reddick were mired in 11th, 12th, 17th and 19th, respectively, and without the first wave of stage points.
Under the stage break, some led by Keselowski and including Playoff contenders Larson, Byron, Buescher and Reddick pitted while the rest led by Hamlin remained on the track.
The second stage period started on Lap 140 as Hamlin and Blaney occupied the front row. At the start, Hamlin gained another strong start, this time on the inside lane, as he retained the lead while Blaney fended off Truex to retain the runner-up spot. Behind, Briscoe and Ty Gibbs battled for fourth place in front of Bell, Logano and Preece while Elliott and Harvick trailed in the top 10. Further back in the pack, Larson was in 15th, Byron was mired in 18th behind Buescher and Reddick was down in 21st.
Just past the Lap 150 mark, Hamlin was leading by eight-tenths of a second over Blaney while third-place Truex trailed by nearly two seconds. Behind, Bell was in sixth while Buescher, Larson and Reddick were mired within the top 20. Meanwhile, Byron had dropped to 21st. Byron would remain in 21st place behind McDowell and Reddick, who nearly spun a few laps earlier while dealing with water pressure issues to his No. 45 The Beast Unleashed Toyota TRD Camry, would drop to 24th place by the Lap 160 mark as Hamlin retained the lead by eight-tenths of a second over Blaney and nearly two seconds over Truex. By then, Bell retained sixth place, Buescher was in 15th place amid a battle with Wallace and Larson was down in 18th place behind Daniel Suarez.
By Lap 175, Hamlin retained the lead by two-tenths of a second over Blaney while Truex was trailing by more than a second in third place. Behind, Ty Gibbs and Briscoe were in the top five ahead of Bell, Preece, Logano, Harvick and Keselowski while Buescher and Larson were scored in 15th and 18th, respectively. Meanwhile, Byron remained in 21st place while Reddick, who was rubbing fenders and bumpers with Erik Jones earlier, was down in 25th place.
At the Lap 200 mark, Blaney, who overtook Hamlin for the lead six laps earlier, was leading in his No. 12 Discount Tire Ford Mustang by a second over Hamlin followed by Truex, Ty Gibbs and Briscoe while Bell, Preece, Logano, Harvick and Keselowski were scored in the top 10. Behind, Elliott, Almirola, Gilliand, Cindric and Buescher were running in the top 15 while Suarez, Wallace, Larson, Chastain and McDowell were running in the top 20 ahead of Austin Dillon, Byron, Erik Jones, LaJoie and Reddick.
Fourteen laps later, the caution flew after Ryan Newman spun after he was hit by Playoff contender Bell in Turn 4. The caution flew moments after Blaney rubbed and lapped Playoff contender Reddick, with Reddick receiving the free pass to cycle back on the lead lap. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Blaney pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Hamlin cycled back into the lead after exiting pit road first ahead of teammate Truex, Blaney, Briscoe, Todd Gilliland, Logano, Ty Gibbs and Harvick. Amid the pit stops, however, Truex was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road. Austin Dillon was also sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road.
When the race restarted under green on Lap 225, Hamlin fended off Blaney to retain the lead by a narrow margin and both would make slight contact during the following lap as Blaney tried to take the lead from the inside lane. Blaney would lead the Lap 227 mark before Hamlin pulled a crossover move and fought back on the inside lane, with both refusing to give an inch. As Hamlin and Blaney continued to rub fenders and fight for the lead, Briscoe trailed in third while Logano and Keselowski were mired in the top five ahead of Gilliland, Ty Gibbs, Preece, Harvick and Bell. Then just past the Lap 230 mark, Blaney would muscle ahead of Hamlin to regain the lead and have both lanes to his control.
Just past the Lap 240 mark, Blaney was leading by eight-tenths of a second over Hamlin while Briscoe, Logano and Keselowski remained in the top five. Behind, Bell was in 10th, Buescher was in 14th and Larson was scored in 17th. Meanwhile, Truex was mired in 22nd behind Playoff rivals Byron and Reddick as Blaney retained the lead by six-tenths of a second over Hamlin at the halfway mark on Lap 250.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 260, Blaney, who came into the event 10 points above the top-four cutline, captured his sixth Cup stage victory of the 2023 season. Hamlin settled in second followed by Briscoe, Logano and Keselowski while Ty Gibbs, Preece, Gilliland, Harvick and Bell were scored in the top 10. Meanwhile, Playoff contenders Buescher, Larson, Byron, Reddick and Truex were mired in 14th, 17th, 20th, 21st and 22nd, respectively.
During the stage break, some led by Briscoe and including Playoff contenders Truex, Byron, Bell, Buescher and Reddick pitted while the rest led by Blaney and Hamlin remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Truex’s car fell off the jack, which cost him time.
With 230 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Blaney and Hamlin occupied the front row. At the start, Blaney retained the lead over Hamlin through the first two turns and the backstretch before he almost got turned by Hamlin exiting the backstretch. Amid the contact, Blaney and Hamlin continued to bump and jostle for the lead in front of Logano and Ty Gibbs, with Blaney managing to retain the lead. Then two laps later, the caution returned after Logano bumped and sent third-place Gibbs spinning in Turn 3 before Gibbs was hit hard by Suarez and Keselowski, with a stack-up that collected McDowell, Gilliland, Chastain, Cindric, LaJoie, Truex and Erik Jones.
As the race restarted under green with 216 laps remaining, Blaney and Hamlin dueled for the lead for a full lap and they continued to battle dead even for another lap until Blaney cleared Hamlin for the lead with 214 laps remaining. As Blaney retained the lead over Hamlin, Wallace moved into third place followed by Logano and Cindric while Reddick was in sixth ahead of Larson, Preece, Almirola and Bell as Harvick tried to overtake Bell for 10th place. By then, Buescher was in 12th while Byron and Truex battled for 16th.
With 200 laps remaining, Playoff contender Blaney was leading by more than a second over Hamlin while Wallace, Logano and Cindric were running in the top five. Behind, Playoff contender Reddick was in sixth ahead of Playoff rivals Bell and Larson along with non-Playoff contenders Almirola and Preece while the remaining Playoff contenders that included Buescher, Byron and Truex were mired in 12th, 16th and 17th.
Two laps later, the caution flew after Ty Gibbs spun for a second time, this time in Turn 2 after getting hit by Carson Hocevar. During the caution period, some led by Larson pitted while the rest led by Blaney and Hamlin remained on the track.
With the race restarting with 190 laps remaining, Blaney fended off Hamlin and Wallace to retain the lead. Wallace and Hamlin would battle for the runner-up spot as Blaney retained the lead ahead of the field. The caution, however, returned with 178 laps remaining after McDowell spun amid contact with Erik Jones in Turn 2. During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Blaney and Hamlin pitted amid mixed strategies while the rest led by Chase Elliott remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, the Dillon brothers along with Bowman and Newman were penalized for speeding on pit road.
During the proceeding restart with 168 laps remaining and following a brief delay due to the primary pace car being towed due to a mechanical issue, the race restarted under green. At the start, Elliott and Corey LaJoie dueled for the lead for a full lap and they continued to battle dead even for the lead while Erik Jones and Almirola made contact while battling for third place in front of Larson and Buescher. As the field slowly fanned out and bumped while jostling for late spots, Hamlin was trying to carve his way back into the top 10 along with Blaney and Bell while Elliott was leading by half a second over LaJoie.
With 150 laps remaining, Elliott was leading by two seconds over LaJoie as Almirola, Erik Jones, Larson and Buescher were running in the top six in front of Briscoe, Hamlin, Blaney and Gilliland. Behind, Bell was in 11th while Playoff rivals Byron, Reddick and Truex were running 20th through 22nd, respectively.
Twenty-five laps later, Elliott continued to lead by more than a second over LaJoie while Almirola, Erik Jones and Larson continued to run in the top five. With Larson currently being scored as the highest-running Playoff contender, Playoff rivals Buescher, Hamlin, Blaney and Bell followed suit in sixth, seventh, eighth and 10th while Byron, Reddick and Truex were back in 19th, 21st and 22nd, respectively.
Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Elliott retained the lead by more than a second over Almirola while third-place LaJoie trailed by more than three seconds. Behind, Erik Jones and Larson were in the top five followed by Buescher, Hamlin, Blaney, Briscoe and Bell while Gilliland, Logano, Stenhouse, Cindric, Preece, Chastain, McDowell, Wallace, Byron, Harrison Burton, Reddick and Truex trailed in the top 22.
Ten laps later, the battle for the lead ignited between Elliott and Almirola as the latter challenged the former for the top spot. Another lap later, Almirola, who pitted during the previous caution period and announced his departure from Stewart-Haas Racing at this season’s conclusion a day ago, moved his No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang into the lead after clearing Elliott’s No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through the frontstretch. With LaJoie retaining third in front of Erik Jones, Larson and Buescher, Blaney battled Hamlin for seventh place while Bell trailed in 10th. In addition, Byron was still mired back in 18th in front of Truex while Reddick was down in 22nd.
With less than 70 laps remaining, Almirola retained the lead by more than a second over Elliott followed by LaJoie and Erik Jones while Blaney moved up to fifth place in front of Larson, Hamlin, Buescher, Briscoe and Bell. Behind, Byron and Truex were mired in 18th and 19th while Reddick was in 22nd as Almirola proceeded to extend his advantage by more than three seconds over Elliott with 60 laps remaining. By then, Blaney moved up to third place while Hamlin was mired in seventh behind Larson.
With 50 laps remaining, Almirola continued to extend his advantage as he was leading by more than four seconds over Elliott while third-place Blaney trailed by more than six seconds. Behind, LaJoie and Hamlin were in the top five while Briscoe, Logano, Erik Jones, Larson and Bell trailed in the top 10 followed by Buescher. Behind, Truex and Byron swapped spots in 18th and 19th while Reddick was still mired in 22nd.
Fifteen laps later, Almirola stabilized his advantage to two-and-a-half seconds over Blaney while third-place Elliott trailed by more than five seconds. Another 10 laps later, however, Blaney, who was carving his way back to the front, was only trailing the leader Almirola by three-tenths of a second. Blaney would proceed to reassume the lead from Almirola another three laps later as Hamlin was up to third place and trailing the lead by more than five seconds.
Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Blaney was leading by more than a second over Almirola while Hamlin, Logano and Briscoe were scored in the top five as Elliott pitted under green. By then, 13th-place Byron was lapped by Blaney while Truex was scored the final competitor a lap down in 12th place.
With five laps remaining, Blaney stabilized his advantage by nearly a second over Almirola while third-place Hamlin trailed by more than four seconds followed by Logano and Briscoe. By then, Byron, who was still back in 13th in his No. 24 PODS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, still occupied the fourth and final vacant spot over Hamlin while Truex was still mired in 12th as Larson, Bell and Buescher were running sixth through eighth. Meanwhile, Reddick, who pitted under green, was down in 26th as his Playoff hopes were slowly coming to an end.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Blaney remained as the leader by a second over Almirola and more than four seconds over Hamlin. Despite being mired within lapped traffic and amid late concerns of not having enough fuel to finish, Blaney was able to coast his No. 12 Ford around the Martinsville circuit smoothly for a final time and cycle back to the frontstretch victorious as he claimed the checkered flag and punched his ticket into the Championship 4 round.
With the victory, Blaney scored his 10th career victory in the NASCAR Cup Series, his third of the season, his first since winning at Talladega Superspeedway in early October and his first at Martinsville. Above all, Blaney, who raced his way into the Championship 4 round for the first time in his career and will represent Team Penske in this year’s title fight, will officially race for his first Cup Series championship next weekend at Phoenix Raceway.
Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“It’s awesome,” Blaney said on NBC. “I grew up in High Point [North Carolina], so not too far from here. [It is] Closer to High Point, honestly, to Martinsville than Charlotte. It’s really cool. I’ve been wanting to win here for a long time. [I have] Just been super close for many years and awesome to close one out. We probably put together a really solid, strong Playoffs, especially in the Round of 8. We had a good run the whole Round of 8. Just overall, really proud of the whole effort. This is awesome. Can’t wait to get to Phoenix next week.”
Amid Blaney’s celebration and automatic transfer into the Championship 4 round, William Byron, who came home in 13th place, was left relieved on pit road as he claimed the fourth and final transfer spot into the Championship 4 by eight points over Hamlin, who ended up in third place and led a race-high 156 laps but missed the Championship 4 cutline for a second consecutive season. As a result, Byron and Blaney will both be newcomers in the Championship 4 as they will square off against one another along with Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson for the 2023 Cup Series championship.
Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“Obviously, we were not very good,” Byron said. “It’s our worst race of the year, but these guys deserve it so much. They worked so hard. With 50 [laps] to go, I felt really, really bad and I just had to drive the hell out of it. The guys stuck with me. They just kept motivating me through little bits and pieces and just kind of keeping my mind straight. I’m just really thankful for them. It was a slugfest. Just appreciate everyone racing me good there at the end. Man, we just had to hang on. I just had to dig a little bit deeper. The result just means more than anything. These guys work so hard and we’ve worked so hard all season. I’m just really proud of them.”
“Ultimately, the mechanical failure last week, with the power steering, that’s our fate,” Hamlin said. “Really proud of this whole FedEx Toyota team for showing up today when we really needed to and having probably a mid-50-point day. [The team] did great. They did absolutely great. [Blaney] was the best car today, so congrats to them and all the final four [competitors] that made it. They’re all deserving. It’s gonna be a great show next week, but hate we’re not in [the Championship 4], for sure, with our FedEx Camry, but I was happy with the performance we had today and really, all around. Just in the Round of 8, you just can’t have one bad week and unfortunately, mechanical failure takes us from running really well to in the 30s and that’s it.”
In addition to Hamlin, teammate Martin Truex Jr., Tyler Reddick and Chris Buescher were eliminated from the Playoffs as their hopes of advancing into the Championship 4 for this season evaporated.
“If we couldn’t find a way to flip track position pit stop-wise, we were never gonna get there,” Truex said. “Our car was good, but the field’s so tight and so close. Your car just drives so much worse in traffic. I felt like we did really good to get back where we did. You just burn the tires off so much worse back there, that hot dirty track and dirty air. You’re in more rubber. It’s just a dogfight, so we gave it a hell of an effort. I feel like we had a really strong car. I don’t think we could’ve beat [Blaney]. He was really, really strong, but we were definitely close. Something to work on for next time, but just really disappointed. I thought I was well under speed leaving that box. Clearly, we were speeding. Obviously, we got something to look at there and it’s devastating, but that’s racing.”
“I’m really proud of everybody at [Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing],” Buescher said. “It’s been a heck of a season. We knew what we had to do today and we knew it was gonna be hard. We moved up, we got close there. Had some good strategy calls, some good stops from pit road. Had some good fire-off speed and really put ourselves in position where we were close. Just couldn’t quite pass like we needed to. Regardless, that was a good fight from everybody. Proud of that effort. Proud of everybody for the entire season we’ve had.”
“We just didn’t have the handling we were expecting to have today,” Reddick said. “The car was really solid in practice, so we thought some of that would translate into the race. Obviously, our qualifying effort wasn’t ideal, but all day long, the Beast Unleashed Toyota Camry TRD, just really struggled with a number of things. We tried a number of different things to try and help one of the issues and go to the other. I felt like the more we tried, the worse it kind of got, which was really frustrating. It’s a tough day for us, but as a whole, everyone at 23XI’s [Racing] really come to the table. I love this team and what it’s about. It’s been a good first year. To be here a year early and just missing the Championship 4, I think that’s a really, really good start to my tenure at 23XI.”
On the track, Almirola notched a strong runner-up result in his penultimate event as a Cup Series competitor for Stewart-Haas Racing while Briscoe and Logano finished fourth and fifth behind Hamlin.
“I just needed my rear tires to hang on a little bit longer,” Almirola, who led 66 laps, said. “So frustrated. I had my family here, the people that helped me get my start in racing. I wanted so bad to celebrate with them in Victory Lane. Just proud of my race team. I wanted to celebrate with them too. They deserve it. I wanted to go out with a bang and just came up one spot short. Sad and frustrated, but still proud of the effort. This has been quite the journey and I’m just very thankful.”
Larson, Bell, Buescher, Cindric and Todd Gilliland finished in the top 10 ahead of Wallace, Truex and Byron while Reddick ended up 26th, two laps down.
*Notably, Chevrolet secured its third consecutive Cup Series’ manufacturers title and the 42nd overall, which completed a clean sweep for the manufacturer after previously securing its 11th Craftsman Truck Series manufacturers title and its 25th Bill France Performance Cup in the Xfinity Series.
There were 12 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 61 laps. In addition, 12 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.
Results.
1. Ryan Blaney, 145 laps led, Stage 2 winner
2. Aric Almirola, 66 laps led
3. Denny Hamlin, 156 laps led, Stage 1 winner
4. Chase Briscoe
5. Joey Logano
6. Kyle Larson
7. Christopher Bell
8. Chris Buescher
9. Austin Cindric
10. Todd Gilliland
11. Bubba Wallace
12. Martin Truex Jr., 47 laps led
13. William Byron, one lap down
14. Ross Chastain, one lap down
15. Harrison Burton, one lap down
16. Kevin Harvick, one lap down
17. Chase Elliott, one lap down, 83 laps led
18. Ty Gibbs, one lap down
19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap down
20. Ryan Preece, one lap down
21. Erik Jones, one lap down
22. Corey LaJoie, one lap down, three laps down
23. Austin Dillon, one lap down
24. Ty Dillon, one lap down
25. Michael McDowell, one lap down
26. Tyler Reddick, two laps down
27. Kyle Busch, two laps down
28. AJ Allmendinger, two laps down
29. Ryan Newman, three laps down
30. Justin Haley, three laps down
31. Carson Hocevar, four laps down
32. Alex Bowman, four laps down
33. Brad Keselowski, 194 laps down
34. Daniel Suarez – OUT, Dvp
35. JJ Yeley – OUT, Accident
36. BJ McLeod – OUT, Overheating
*Bold indicates Playoff contenders
Playoff standings
1. Ryan Blaney – Advanced
2. Christopher Bell – Advanced
3. Kyle Larson – Advanced
4. William Byron – Advanced
5. Denny Hamlin – Eliminated
6. Martin Truex Jr. – Eliminated
7. Tyler Reddick – Eliminated
8. Chris Buescher – Eliminated
The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season is set to conclude next Sunday, November 5, at Phoenix Raceway, where a champion will be crowned. The event’s broadcast is slated to occur at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.
This weekend the NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series travel to Martinsville Speedway to set the field for the Championship 4 Playoffs. Cup Series winners Kyle Larson (Las Vegas Motor Speedway) and Christopher Bell (Homestead-Miami Speedway) have secured their spot in the Playoffs.
Xfinity Series winners Riley Herbst (Las Vegas Motor Speedway) and Sam Mayer (Homestead-Miami Speedway) are also locked into the Championship 4 Playoffs.
The NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series is off as Corey Heim, Brett Moffitt, Carson Hocevar and Grant Enfinger prepare for the finale at Phoenix Raceway on November 3.
On Thursday, October 26, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will kick off the weekend with the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 race at 8 p.m. on FloRacing.com.
NASCAR PressPass will be available post-qualifying and post-race for the Cup Series and the Xfinity Series.
All times are Eastern.
Friday, October 27
5 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice – USA/NBC Sports App 5:35 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying – USA/NBC Sports App
Saturday, October 28
12:35 p.m.: Cup Series Practice – USA/MRN/SiriusXM/NBC Sports App 1:20 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying – USA/MRN/SiriusXM/NBC Sports App
3:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Dead On Tools 250 Distance: 131.5 miles (250 Laps) Stage 1 ends on Lap 60, Stage 2 ends on Lap 120, Final Stage ends on Lap 250 USA/MRN/SiriusXM/NBC Sports App Purse: $1,380,935
Sunday, October 29
2 p.m.: Cup Series Xfinity 50- NBC/MRN/SiriusXM/NBC Sports App Distance: 263 miles (500 Laps) Stage 1 ends on Lap 130, Stage 2 ends on Lap 260), Final Stage ends on Lap 500 NBC/MRN/SiriusXM/NBC Sports App Purse: $8,587,800
1. William Byron: Byron finished fourth at Homestead.
“Liberty University has been with me as a sponsor through a lot this season,” Byron said. “As Jerry Falwell, Jr. well knows, that includes the ups and downs, the ins and outs, and everything pool boy in between.”
2. Christopher Bell: Bell led 26 laps and held off Ryan Blaney down the stretch to win the 4Ever 400 at Homestead and secure his spot in the Championship 4.
“I’ve never been more excited for a ‘berth’ in my life,” Bell said. “And that will also be the case after I have children.”
3. Kyle Larson: Larson overshot the pit entrance with 55 laps left and slammed into the sand barrels protecting the pit wall. He finished 34th.
“I don’t think sand has been a factor in a NASCAR race,” Larson said, “since Daytona in 1958.”
4. Ryan Blaney: Blaney won Stage 2 and finished second at Homestead.
“My disqualification at Las Vegas was rescinded by NASCAR,” Blaney said. “Apparently, NASCAR discovered an issue with the tool used to measure damper lengths, though, there’s no issue with the tool used to measure the effectiveness of a bribe.”
5. Tyler Reddick: Reddick led one lap and finished third at Homestead.
“My car featured the McDonald’s/Hamburglar paint scheme,” Reddick said. “And my car was good enough to win. Talk about ‘fast food.’”
6. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin slammed the wall in the final stage due to a steering issue and sustained damage that was too severe to allow him to continue. He finished 30th.
“Sports Clips served as my primary sponsor at Homestead,” Hamlin said. “I think they should be with me at Martinsville because I have my work ‘cut’ out for me.”
7. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex started on the pole at Homestead and finished a disappointing 30th after engine trouble late in the race.
“I’m devastated,” Truex said. “In light of what my engine did at Homestead, I’m reconsidering my own retirement.”
8. Chris Buescher: Buescher finished 21st at Homestead.
“Ryan Newman drove the No. 51 car for Rick Ware Racing,” Buescher said. “Even at 45 years of age, Newman still intimidates. Back in the day, he instilled fear in everyone on the track, especially his teammate.”
9. Kyle Busch: Busch finished 18th at Homestead.
“I can’t win the championship,” Busch said, “but I can still try to pad my wins total. I’ve won in every form of racing I’ve tried, and that includes speeding away from the Mexican police.”
10. Ross Chastain: Chastain finished 31st in the 4Ever 400.
“I can’t wait to get to Martinsville,” Chastain said. “Last year, that’s the track where I left my mark. I think fans there can relate because after eating a Martinsville hot dog, you’ll also ‘leave your mark.’”
A week after coming within striking distance of securing a Championship 4 berth before being edged by Kyle Larson at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Christopher Bell earned a redemptive NASCAR Cup Series victory in the 4EVER 400 Presented by Mobil 1 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, October 22, to officially race his way into this year’s Championship 4 round.
The 28-year-old Bell from Norman, Oklahoma, led two times for 26 of 267-scheduled laps in an event where he started 13th and flirted between running towards the top 10 to running outside the top 10 throughout the event’s first two stage periods. Then after leading for the first time with 37 laps remaining, Bell withstood three late caution periods that knocked out Larson along with teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin to assume the lead for the second and final time with 15 laps remaining amid an intense battle between Playoff rivals William Byron and Ryan Blaney. From there, Bell muscled away with the top spot and claimed the checkered flag by more than a second over Blaney to notch his second NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2023 season and become the second Playoff competitor alongside Kyle Larson to secure one of four vacant spots into this year’s Championship 4 round.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, October 21, Playoff contender Martin Truex Jr. secured his second Cup Series pole position of the season and the 22nd of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 167.411 mph in 32.256 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Bubba Wallace, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 167.115 mph in 32.313 seconds.
Prior to the event, Joey Logano dropped to the rear of the field in a backup car after he wrecked his primary car during Saturday’s practice session.
When the green flag waved and the race started, Truex and Wallace dueled for the lead through the first two turns as the field behind fanned out. Entering the backstretch, Wallace gained the momentum and pulled his No. 23 McDonald’s Grimace Toyota TRD Camry ahead of the pack, but Truex fought back on the inside lane through Turns 3 and 4 as he managed to lead the first lap by a hair over Wallace. Truex and Wallace would continue to duel dead even for the lead through the next two laps until Wallace used the outside lane to his advantage as he led the next two laps before clearing Truex to have both lanes to his control.
Through the first five scheduled laps, Wallace was leading by a tenth of a second over Truex. Wallace would retain the lead by three-tenths of a second over Truex by the Lap 10 mark as Brad Keselowski, William Byron and Tyler Reddick were in the top five. Then during the following lap, Truex moved his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota TRD Camry back into the lead over Wallace as Keselowski and Byron battled for third place in front of Kyle Larson.
At the Lap 20 mark, Byron emerged as the new leader over Truex followed by Keselowski, Larson and Tyler Reddick while Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace, Denny Hamlin, Austin Dillon and Christopher Bell were running in the top 10. Behind, Kyle Busch trailed in 11th place ahead of Ross Chastain, Corey LaJoie, Daniel Suarez and Michael McDowell while AJ Allmendinger, Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, rookie Ty Gibbs and Austin Cindric occupied the top 20 in front of Kevin Harvick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Erik Jones, Aric Almirola, Ryan Preece and Playoff contender Chris Buescher. In addition, Logano was mired in 27th in between Buescher, Harrison Burton and Chase Briscoe while John Hunter Nemechek was in 34th behind Todd Gilliland.
Ten laps later, Byron continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over Keselowski followed by Larson, Truex and Reddick while Blaney, Hamlin, Wallace, Austin Dillon and Bell were running in the top 10 on the track. Meanwhile, Playoff contender Buescher was mired back in 28th.
Shortly after, the first wave of green flag pit stops commenced as Kyle Busch and Ryan Preece pitted their respective entries. Austin Dillon would pit by Lap 31 along with Chase Elliott, McDowell, Bowman and others before a bevy of names led by Keselowski, Larson, Truex, Blaney and Chastain pitted by Lap 32. By Lap 33, Byron surrendered the lead to pit his No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 under green before Reddick, who led a lap for himself, pitted his No. 45 McDonald’s Hamburglar Toyota TRD Camry during the proceeding lap along with teammate Wallace as Hamlin cycled into the lead.
By Lap 40 and with most of the field having made a pit stop under green, Hamlin, who led the previous seven laps, surrendered the lead to pit his No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota TRD Camry along with Logano as Keselowski cycled into the lead ahead of Larson, Byron, Blaney and Truex.
Ten laps later, Keselowski retained the lead by a second over Larson followed by Byron, Blaney and Truex while Reddick, Austin Dillon, Bell, Hamlin and Chastain were running in the top 10. With seven of eight Playoff contenders running in the top 10, minus Keselowski, Austin Dillon and Chastain, Buescher was the lone Playoff contender not running in the top 10 as he was mired in 26th behind Harrison Burton.
Another four laps later, Larson muscled his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead over Keselowski while racing on the inside lane. Larson would proceed to lead at the Lap 60 mark by two seconds over Keselowski’s No. 6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang while Byron, Blaney, Truex, Reddick, Austin Dillon, bell, Hamlin and Chastain were scored in the top 10. By then, Buescher was mired back in 27th while AJ Allmendinger, Wallace, Ty Gibbs, LaJoie and Kyle Busch occupied the top 15 in front of Kevin Harvick.
By Lap 70, Larson stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Keselowski as Blaney, Byron and Truex battled in the top five ahead of Reddick, Hamlin, Austin Dillon, Bell and Ty Gibbs. Meanwhile, Buescher lost one spot in the process as he was down in 28th.
Then on Lap 76, the first caution period of the event flew after Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who was running 18th, made contact with the backstretch’s outside wall before he spun below the track and damaged the right-rear toe link of his No. 47 Boost by Kroger/Vitaminwater Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. The caution for Stenhouse’s incident was enough for the first stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 80 to conclude under caution as Larson, who secured his spot into this year’s Championship 4 round by winning last weekend’s Playoff event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, captured his eighth Cup stage victory of the 2023 season. Keselowski settled in second while Blaney, Byron, Truex, Hamlin, Reddick, Austin Dillon, Bell and Ty Gibbs were scored in the top 10. By then, Buescher was the lone Playoff contender to not score the first round of stage points as he was mired in 27th.
Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Larson pitted. Following the pit stops, Larson retained the lead after exiting pit road first ahead of Keselowski, Byron, Truex, Blaney, Austin Dillon and Reddick.
The second stage period started on Lap 85 as Larson and Keselowski occupied the front row. At the start, Larson muscled ahead on the outside lane as he retained the lead over Keselowski, Byron, Ty Gibbs and Truex while Blaney and Reddick battled for sixth place alongside Chastain. As the field behind jostled for spots, Larson proceeded to lead just past the Lap 90 mark over teammate Byron by two-tenths of a second as Keselowski, Truex and Blaney trailed in the top five. Behind, Chastain, Ty Gibbs, Reddick, Austin Dillon and Hamlin were in the top 10 while Bell and Buescher were mired in 14th and 26th, respectively.
At the Lap 100 mark, Larson was leading by eight-tenths of a second over Keselowski while third-place Byron trailed by more than a second in third place. Behind, Blaney and Truex were scored in the top five ahead of Chastain, Reddick, Austin Dillon, Ty Gibbs and Hamlin while Allmendinger, LaJoie, Wallace, Logano and Bell occupied the top 15 ahead of Aric Almirola, Cindric, Erik Jones, Harvick and Chase Briscoe. Meanwhile, Suarez, Ryan Preece, Elliott, Kyle Busch and McDowell were running in the top 25 while Buescher was mired in 26th.
Thirteen laps later, a second wave of green flag pit stops commenced as Ty Gibbs pitted under green along with Briscoe and Preece. Larson would then surrender the lead to pit under green by Lap 114 along with teammate Byron, Blaney, Logano, Almirola, Bell, Buescher and Ty Dillon as Keselowski assumed the lead. Keselowski would then pit from the lead on Lap 115 followed by Truex, Reddick, Austin Dillon, Chastain, LaJoie, Erik Jones and Jusitn Haley as Hamlin moved into the lead. Hamlin would lead through Lap 125 before he pitted under green as Larson cycled back into the lead followed by Keselowski, Blaney, Byron and Truex. By then, more names that included LaJoie, Allmendinger, Erik Jones, Suarez and Wallace had pitted under green.
At the halfway mark between Laps 133 and 134, Larson was leading by more than four seconds over Keselowski followed by Blaney, Byron and Truex while Reddick, Ty Gibbs, Austin Dillon, Chastain and Allmendinger were scored in the top 10. Behind, Logano was up to 11th ahead of LaJoie, Briscoe, Hamlin and Almirola while Bell, Erik Jones, Wallace, Preece and Harvick were scored in the top 20 ahead of Suarez, Elliott, Cindric, Kyle Busch, McDowell and Buescher.
By Lap 150, Larson stabilized his advantage to more than two seconds over Blaney while Byron, Keselowski and Truex were running in the top five ahead of Reddick, Ty Gibbs, Austin Dillon, Hamlin and Chastain. Meanwhile, Bell was mired back in 18th behind Wallace while Buescher continued to run in 26th behind McDowell.
Then on Lap 162, Blaney tracked and overtook Larson for the lead. Byron would then overtake teammate Larson for the runner-up spot during the following lap as Blaney checked out with the lead by a second in his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 165, Blaney, who came into Homestead 17 points below the top-four cutline, captured his fifth Cup stage victory of the 2023 season. Byron settled in second followed by teammate Larson, Hamlin and Keselowski while Truex, Reddick, Ty Gibbs, Austin Dillon and Logano were scored in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Bell and Buescher were scored in 22nd and 26th, respectively.
During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Blaney pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Blaney retained the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Byron, Keselowski, Hamlin, Larson, Logano, Austin Dillon and Reddick.
With 95 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Blaney and Byron occupied the front row. At the start, Blaney retained a brief advantage over Byron through the first two turns and the backstretch before Byron drew himself into a side-by-side challenge against Blaney for the top spot while running on the inside lane. Byron would then muscle ahead during the following lap before he engaged in another side-by-side duel against Blaney for the lead. Amid the duel, Blaney would use the inside lane to muscle ahead, slide up and clear Byron through the frontstretch with 92 laps remaining. In the process, Hamlin was in third place and trailing by eight-tenths of a second while Keselowski and Larson were in the top five.
With 85 laps remaining, Blaney was leading by half a second over Hamlin while Byron, Larson and Chastain trailed in the top five. Behind, Truex, who endured a slow pit stop during the second stage break, and Keselowski made contact as Keselowski then hit the outside wall exiting the backstretch, but the race proceeded under green. Amid the late on-track battles, Blaney retained the lead by seven-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Hamlin while Larson, Byron and Chastain remained in the top five with 75 laps remaining. With Austin Dillon, Truex, Keselowski, Reddick and Bell running in the top 10, Buescher was mired back in 27th while racing a lap down.
Then with 57 laps remaining, another wave of green flag pit stops commenced as Keselowski pitted followed by Truex, Ty Gibbs, Suarez, Ryan Newman and Chastain. Then amid the green flag pit stops, the caution flew with 55 laps remaining after Larson, who was trying to enter pit road behind the leader Blaney under green, locked up his front tires while trying to ease off of the throttle and hit the sand barrels towards the pit road entrance before he nursed his damaged No. 5 Chevrolet into his pit stall. The incident was enough for NASCAR to place the event in a red flag period as the track crews proceeded to clean up sand from the destroyed barrels towards pit road entrance.
Following the red flag period that lasted more than 12 minutes, the field led by Hamlin returned under a cautious pace. During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Hamlin pitted while Blaney, who benefitted during Larson’s incident by pitting his No. 12 Ford Mustang and remaining on the lead lap, remained on the track as he inherited the lead. Following the pit stops, Hamlin exited pit road first followed by Byron, Harvick, Allmendinger, Bell, Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch. Amid the caution period, the following names that included Chastain, Truex, Briscoe, Ty Gibbs and Elliott took the wave around back to the lead lap while Keselowski received the free pass.
With the race restarting under green with 46 laps remaining, Blaney and Hamlin dueled for the lead through the frontstretch and entering the first two turns until Hamlin motored ahead on the inside lane to assume the lead from Blaney as Bell joined the battle. Shortly after, the caution quickly returned after Keselowski, who was running in the middle of the pack and was sandwiched in between Chastain and John Hunter Nemechek entering the backstretch, sent both Nemechek and Chastain sideways and into one another, where they collected JJ Yeley in the process as Yeley spun and pounded the inside wall head on while Nemechek also spun towards the inside wall and Chastain spun sideways in the middle of the track. During the caution period, some that included Wallace, Keselowski, Truex, Briscoe, Ty Gibbs, Preece and Elliott pitted while the rest led by Hamlin remained on the track.
During the following restart with 38 laps remaining, Hamlin and Blaney dueled for the lead in front of Bell and Byron through the frontstretch and entering the first two turns. With Blaney and Hamlin continuing to duel dead even for the lead through the backstretch, Bell made a bold three-wide move on both through Turns 3 and 4 to assume the lead during the following lap. With Bell checking out with the lead, another three-wide battle ensued for the runner-up spot between Hamlin, Blaney and Byron before Byron used the outside lane to clear both through Turns 3 and 4 and retain the runner-up spot. As Blaney and Hamlin continued to battle dead even for third place, another three-wide battle ensued behind between Harvick, Austin Dillon and Logano for fifth place while Bell was leading by nearly eight-tenths of a second over Byron with 35 laps remaining.
Then three laps later, the caution flew after Playoff contender Hamlin, who was locked in a tight battle with Blaney for third place, went up the track in Turn 1 and pounded the outside wall hard as a result of a broken steering before he limped his damaged No. 11 Toyota TRD Camry to pit road and eventually retired from the event. In the process, concerns started to occur for teammate and Playoff contender Truex after light smoke was seen billowing out of the No. 19 Toyota TRD Camry, an issue that would result with Truex’s car being pushed to the garage.
During the caution period, the field led by Bell pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Byron assumed the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Blaney, Bell, Harvick, Logano, Wallace and Reddick.
The following restart with 25 laps remaining witnessed Byron and Blaney duel dead even for the lead through the first two turns and through the backstretch while Bell trailed closely behind. Byron and Blaney continued to battle dead even for the lead through the frontstretch as Bell, Logano and Wallace battled for fifth place. Then with 24 laps remaining, Byron managed to clear Blaney entering the backstretch and assume both lanes to his control while Bell challenged Blaney for the runner-up spot through the frontstretch.
Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Byron was leading by three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Bell as third-place Blaney trailed by seven-tenths of a second. Behind, Wallace overtook Logano for fourth place and Reddick was in sixth as Ty Gibbs, Allmendinger, Almirola and Austin Cindric were in the top 10.
Then five laps later, Bell made his move beneath Byron as he assumed the lead by a hair through the frontstretch. Bell and Byron would duel for the top spot through the first two turns until Bell slid up the track and cleared Byron through the backstretch. As Bell assumed the lead, Blaney, who was trailing the two leaders by nearly two seconds, retained third place ahead of 23XI Racing’s Reddick and Wallace.
With 10 laps remaining, Bell continued to lead by seven-tenths of a second over Byron as Blaney, Reddick and Wallace retained their respective spots in the top five ahead of Allmendinger, Ty Gibbs, Logano, Almirola and Harvick. Bell would proceed to retain the lead by more than a second over the new runner-up competitor, Blaney, as Byron fell back to third in front of Reddick, Allmendinger and Wallace with five laps remaining.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Bell remained as the leader by more than a second over Blaney. With Blaney unable to narrow the deficit amid his late-race charge, Bell was able to cycle his No. 20 Rheem Toyota TRD Camry around Homestead smoothly for a final time before he returned to the frontstretch and claimed both the checkered flag and a berth into this year’s Championship 4 round.
With the victory, Bell notched his second NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2023 season, his first since winning the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course in April, his first at Homestead and the sixth of his career. The victory was also the eighth of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing and the 10th of the year for the Toyota nameplate.
Above all, Bell, who punched his ticket into this year’s Championship 4 round for a second consecutive season, will contend for his first Cup Series championship two weeks from now at Phoenix Raceway.
Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“I’ve got the best team behind me,” Bell said on NBC. “Honestly, I don’t know, man. That race was a whirlwind. I was ready to throw the towel in there in the second stage and I got really frustrated on the radio. [Crew chief] Adam [Stevens] kept after it. Adam, Tyler, William, the guys back at the shop are working over the adjustments. They gave me what I needed. Whenever we got some clean air, this thing was really good. I cannot say how proud I am to be here with our partners. I’ve been with Toyota since day one. Thank you everyone that supported me. This is better than a dream come true.”
Behind Bell, Blaney muscled his way into a strong runner-up finish ahead of Playoff rivals Reddick and Byron while Allmendinger, the highest non-Playoff contender, settled in fifth place. With the results, Blaney and Byron are currently scored above the top-four cutline to make this year’s Championship 4 round entering the Round of 8 finale next weekend at Martinsville Speedway while Reddick stands as the first competitor currently scored out of the cutline by 10 points. Hamlin, Truex and Buescher are also scored below the cutline following the second Round of 8 event.
“We were good on the long runs all day and that’s what we needed,” Blaney said. “I just couldn’t go for 10 laps or so and those guys got better. I just couldn’t maintain the lead or second, and by the time we kind of got going and people’s stuff were falling off, just too late. Overall, proud of the Menards, Duracell Ford Mustang team. Really, really strong piece. Just got a little bit there at the end, but proud of the effort.”
“The balance was really tricky on our McDonald’s Toyota Camry TRD,” Reddick said. “I just think the biggest thing is we didn’t fire off too good on a couple of restarts. Thankfully, the pit crew did a good job overcoming the difficulties today. Like we weren’t the best on pit road, but the last pit top, we maintained and gave us a shot at that restart. It was still a terrible restart for us, maybe lost two of three spots still, but just found the top [lane] and others weren’t up there and was able to get to third. I was so much faster than [Blaney]. It’s just as soon as he moved up, I was just stuck. It’s just the nature of these cars.”
“We were just really tight all day,” Byron said. “We did a really good job executing our race and kind of managing our long runs and being able to run the fence. We just built way too tight in the center and it’s as much wheel as I could put in the car and as much as I could to slow it down to go left. The guys did a great job of adjusting on the car all day. We had a really good execution day. We came out there with the lead thanks to my pit crew. We just need to bring a winning car next two weeks to get where we want to be, but we’re close.”
Wallace ended up sixth while Ty Gibbs, Logano, Almirola and Austin Dillon finished in the top 10 with Kevin Harvick finishing 11th in his final race at Homestead. In addition, Playoff competitor Chris Buescher capped off his long afternoon in 21st place while Truex and Hamlin ended up 29th and 30th after both were unable to finish the event.
There were 25 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 35 laps. In addition, 23 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.
The Round of 8 in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is set to conclude next weekend at Martinsville Speedway, which will determine the Championship 4 field. The event is scheduled to commence next Sunday, October 29, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.
NASCAR travels to Homestead-Miami Speedway this week as the Playoffs continue. It will be the second race in the Round of 8 for the NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series. With the win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last weekend, Kyle Larson claimed his spot in the Championship 4 round and will compete for the 2023 championship at Phoenix Raceway on November 5, leaving three spots up for grabs.
Xfinity Series driver Riley Herbst is also locked into the Championship 4 after winning last week at Las Vegas. It will be the final race in the Round of 8 for the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series with winners Corey Heim (Bristol) and Brett Moffitt (Talladega) already locked into the Playoffs.
All times are Eastern.
NASCAR PressPass will be available throughout the weekend.
Friday, October 20
4:05 p.m.: Truck Series Practice (All Entries) No TV 4:35 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying (Single Vehicle/1Lap/All Entries) No TV
6:05 p.n.: Xfinity Series Practice (All Entries) USA/NBC Sports App 6:35 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying (Impound) Single Vehicle/1 Lap/All Entries – USA/NBC Sports App
Saturday, October 21
9:05 a.m.: Cup Series Practice (Group A & B) NBC Sports App/MRN/SiriusXM 9:50 a.m.: Cup Series Qualifying (Impound) Group A & B – Single Vehicle/1 Lap/2 Rounds NBC Sports App/MRN/SiriusXM
Noon: Truck Series Baptist Health Cancer Care 200 Stages 30/60/134 Laps = 201 Miles FS1/MRN/SiriusXM Purse: $689,963
3 p.m.: Xfinity Series Contender Boats 300 Stages 45/90/200 Laps = 300 Miles USA/MRN/ SiriusXM/NBC Sports App Purse: $1,433,590
Sunday, October 22
2:30 p.m. Cup Series 4EVER 400 Presented by Mobil 1Race Stages 80/165/267 Laps = 400.5 Miles NBC/MRN/SiriusXM/NBC Sports App Purse: $7,634,143
1. Kyle Larson: Larson won Stage 1 and held off Christopher Bell down the stretch to win the South Point 400 at Las Vegas.
“I am so thrilled,” Larson said, “that I want to shout my excitement over the airwaves. But I’ve been strongly advised against doing anything out over the airwaves.”
2. William Byron: Byron finished sixth at Las Vegas and is 11 points above the playoff cut line.
“This championship may come down to two Hendrick Motorsports drivers,” Byron said. “And neither is named ‘Chase Elliott.’ I know saying that won’t win me any ‘most popular’ contests, but I’ll vote for that.”
3. Christopher Bell: Bell finished second at Las Vegas, as he was unable to get by Kyle Larson in the closing laps.
“I was so close,” Bell said. “But Larson made all the right moves to keep me at bay. But I have to forget it and move forward. Like Larson, I’m going to ‘block’ this out of my mind.”
4. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished ninth in the South Point 400.
“It’s ‘crunch time,’” Hamlin said. “In most cases, ‘crunch time’ means Ross Chastain is somewhere in your vicinity. Not in this case.”
5. Tyler Reddick: Reddick finished seventh at Las Vegas, one of four Toyotas in the top 10.
“When you’re driving a car co-owned by Michael Jordan,” Reddick said, “it feels like the greatest basketball player is in the car with you. In Las Vegas, it feels like the greatest basketball player is in the car with you, and there’s a lot of money riding not with you, but on you.”
6. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished eight at Las Vegas.
“I feel like I regained my mojo,” Truex said. “When you can do that without the aid of some gas station bathroom snake oil tincture, then you have truly regained it.”
7. Chris Buescher: Buescher finished 10th in the South Point 400.
“Thanks to Ryan Blaney’s disqualification,” Buescher said, “I’m not bringing up the ‘South Point’ of the championship standings.”
8. Kyle Busch: Busch finished third in the South Point 400.
“My car featured the Morgan & Morgan Law Firm as primary sponsor,” Busch said. “They are a personal injury law firm, but if you need them to pull some strings to keep you out of a Mexican prison, then they can do that too. But only if your name is Kyle Busch.”
9. Ross Chastain: Chastain finished fifth at Las Vegas.
“Too little,” Chastain said, “too late. I’m out of the championship hunt, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have another ‘Martinsville Moment’ and keep Denny Hamlin out of the championship round. To me, that’s like winning the Cup championship.”
10. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished sixth at Las Vegas, but was later disqualified after failing post-race inspection.
“This really puts a dent in my championship hopes,” Blaney said. “Actually, it puts a dent, four flat tires, and an engine failure in my championship hopes.”
