Category: NASCAR Cup Series

NASCAR Cup Series

  • All-Star Race weekend schedule and format

    All-Star Race weekend schedule and format

    NASCAR returns to the historic North Wilkesboro Speedway for the first time since 1996 to host the All-Star Race where 24 drivers will compete on the 0.625-mile track. The speedway joins an elite group as the fifth different track to host the exhibition race.

    Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney is the defending race winner in what will be the 39th running of the All-Star Race.

    There are 21 drivers who have already earned their spot in the All-Star Race by winning a race in 2022 or 2023 along with past winners of the All-Star Race and past Cup Series champions who currently competing full-time in the series. 

    Those drivers include Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, Kyle Busch, William Byron, Austin Cindric, Ross Chastain, Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Erik Jones, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Daniel Suarez, Martin Truex Jr. and Bubba Wallace.

    Sunday’s Open will precede the All-Star Race and determine the rest of the field. The top two finishers and the fan vote winner will advance to the All-Star Race for a total of 24 drivers.

    There are 16 competitors who will compete in the Open including AJ Allmendinger, Aric Almirola, Josh Berry, Josh Bilicki, Harrison Burton, Ty Dillon, Ty Gibbs, Todd Gilliland, Noah Gragson, Justin Haley, Corey LaJoie, Michael McDowell, Ryan Newman, Ryan Preece, Chandler Smith and J.J. Yeley.

    The starting lineups for the two heat races on Saturday and the All-Star Open on Sunday will be determined by the Pit Crew Challenge on Friday – the faster the pit stop, the higher starting position for the team. The fastest pit crew team will also receive a $100,000 bonus

    Saturday’s heat races will feature the 21 drivers already locked into the All-Star Race and will set their starting positions. There will be two 60-lap heat races with Heat 1 setting the inside row and Heat 2 setting the outside row.

    Saturday afternoon preceding the All-Star heat races, the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series will take to the track to compete in the Tyson 250.

    NASCAR Press Pass will be available throughout the weekend.

    Friday, May 19
    3:05 p.m.: Truck Series Practice – FS1
    4 p.m.: Cup Series Practice – FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    5:45 p.m.: Qualifying (All-Star Pit Crew Challenge)

    Saturday, May 20
    10:30 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying – FS1
    1:30 p.m.: Truck Series Tyson 250
    156.25 miles (250 Laps)
    Stages end on Lap 70, Lap 140, Final Stage ends on Lap 250
    Fox/MRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $696,922

    7:20 p.m.: All-Star Heat Race 1 – FS1
    8:15 p.m.: All-Star Heat Race 2 – FS1

    Sunday, May 21
    5:10 p.m.: Driver Intros for All-Star Open
    5:30 p.m.: All-Star Open – 62.5 miles/100 Laps
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $664,600

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Darlington

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Darlington

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. William Byron: Byron avoided the late Ross Chastain-Kyle Larson melee and went on to win the Goodyear 400.

    “It was a super special win,” Byron said. “It was the 100th win for car No. 24, and my car sported the throwback Jeff Gordon paint scheme. If my life could match that of Jeff Gordon, I would be a happy man, except for the part in which I’m married to a gold digger.”

    2. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished fourth in the Goodyear 400 at Darlington.

    “You probably noticed my No. 4 Ford was sporting ‘Sunny D’ as a sponsor,” Harvick said. “And speaking of ‘Sunny D,’ if you mix one-half part Sunny D and one-half part Busch beer, you are one sick individual.”

    3. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished ninth at Darlington.

    “Luckily,” Blaney said, “I didn’t have any issues with Ross Chastain. Not every driver can say that. Not surprisingly, Chastain has a target on his back. Unfortunately, he sees a target on everyone else’s back.”

    4. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished 12th at Darlington.

    “Kyle Larson may be the unluckiest driver in NASCAR,” Hamlin said. “In consecutive weeks, he’s been wrecked by me and Ross Chastain. I know Kyle said he’s not much of a fighter, but at some point, he’s got to take a stand, and start his own podcast.”

    5. Ross Chastain: A battle for the lead on Lap 288 resulted in Chastain pushing Kyle Larson into the wall, sending both cars spinning. The damage knocked Chastain out of the race for a 29th-place finish, while Larson continued with a damaged car and crossed the line 20th.

    “I was fully committed to going into Turn 1 and coming out of it with the lead,” Larson said. “And I failed. I know I have a reputation as a driver who’s wrecked every other driver at least once. But I’m not going to beat myself up over it. But someone else might.”

    6. Kyle Larson: Larson wrecked while battling Ross Chastain for the lead on Lap 288. Chastain went high into Turn 1 and pressed Larson’s No. 5 Chevy into the fence. Larson was able to continue but finished 20th.

    “That’s three times this season Chastain’s wrecked us,” Larson said. “One thing me and all the other drivers can agree on is that Chastain drives car No. 1. And, we can all agree on which finger to use to represent that No. 1.”

    7. Christopher Bell: Bell finished 14th at Darlington.

    “The paint scheme on my No. 20 Toyota honored Matt Kenseth’s No. 17 car,” Bell said. “Matt’s former teammate Carl Edwards was in the Fox broadcast booth, which is a reminder that Matt for once known as the ‘Intimidated.’”

    8. Kyle Busch: Busch finished seventh at Darlington, posting his sixth top 10 of the year.

    “I got caught with a dangerous weapon in my luggage once,” Busch said. “In a simple analogy, Ross Chastain is my gun, and his No. 1 car is my luggage.”

    9. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex started on the pole and dominated early, winning Stage 1 and leading a race-high 145 laps. But a wreck triggered by Ross Chastain sent Truex’s No. 19 spinning into the apron, and the resulting damage made it impossible to challenge for the lead. Truex finished 31st.

    “Ross has made quite a name for himself,” Truex said. “He’s also made quite a verb for himself because being ‘Chastained’ is becoming quite a useful term. In fact, you could say it’s a verb that is quite overused.”

    10. Joey Logano: Logano finished 18th at Darlington.

    “I had an incident with Martin Truex, Jr.,” Logano said. “I can’t blame Martin for the accident. His car was damaged from his earlier wreck caused by Ross Chastain, and the impact to Truex’s handling caused him to squeeze me into the wall. So Chastain pretty much wrecked me. I think everyone can agree Chastain is guilty. And I think I can agree that he’s guilty by association.”

  • William Bryon Tames Darlington, wins third race of the season

    William Bryon Tames Darlington, wins third race of the season

    William Byron was in the right place at the right time at Darlington Raceway and took advantage of the opportunity to score his third NASCAR Cup Series win of the season in overtime at the track “Too Tough to Tame.”

    As the final laps wound down, Ross Chastain and Kyle Larson wrecked each other while racing for the win, bringing out the final caution flag and setting up an overtime finish in the Goodyear 400.  

    “Larson’s crew chief, Cliff Daniels, was furious and expressed his anger on the team radio.

    How does that make any sense, running us into the fence? That’s three races he’s taken us out of—the 1 car—three races he’s taken us out of.”

    Chastain, who finished 29th, took the blame for the incident but indicated it was not intentional.

    “Full commit into Turn 1,” he said. “I got really tight and drove up and turned myself. I wanted to squeeze him. I wanted to push him up. We’d been racing back and forth all day. But I definitely didn’t want to turn myself.”

    Bryon, now in the lead, led the field back to green and held off Kevin Harvick to capture his seventh career Cup Series victory and the 100th NASCAR win for the No. 24 car.

    But it was also a bittersweet moment for Byron.

    “Yeah, it’s pretty amazing,” he said. “My granddad passed away on Thursday, and just, man, I wish my family could be here. Just things have a way of working out, honestly. It just worked out that way today. We didn’t have the best third stage. We just kept battling, and things just kind of come back around. Definitely didn’t expect this.”

    Kevin Harvick finished second followed by Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, and Bubba Wallace, rounding out the top five.

    “We had a good car all day,” Harvick said. “We just never could get up towards the front in our Sunny Delight Ford Mustang. Struggled in traffic today, but we were really good at the second half of the run and just struggled at the beginning of the run.

    “But we had good track position, then had a bad pit stop under green, and then wound up having everything work out there at the end, didn’t have anything for William. The front is torn up pretty good. But they did a great job and just kind of kept ourselves in the game, and you never know what’s going to happen.”

    Martin Truex Jr. was dominant for much of the race, winning Stage 1 and leading 145 laps, but developed handling issues after contact with Chastain and finished in 31st.

    “When we got into Chastain there at the end of the second stage going for the win in that, it knocked the toe out, so we were tight from there on out,” Truex said. “Just an unfortunate deal. There was plenty of room there, but he just came off the wall and hit me.

    “Like I said, knocked the toe out in the right front. Pretty crappy from there, and then on that restart (Lap 281), I guess I just got real tight, and I don’t even know who I squeezed into the wall, but I apologize to them. Probably my fault, just got real tight and couldn’t stay down the track.”

    Ross Chastain currently leads the Cup Series points standings. Christopher Bell is second (– 27), Harvick is third (– 29), Denny Hamlin is fourth (– 36) and William Bryon is fifth – 42.

  • Truex snares pole for Darlington Throwback Cup Series main event

    Truex snares pole for Darlington Throwback Cup Series main event

    Martin Truex Jr. topped qualifying Saturday morning with a lap of 169.409 mph at Darlington Raceway in his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota and will lead the Cup Series field to green for Sunday’s Goodyear 400.  It’s his first Busch Light Pole Award at Darlington, his first this season and the 21st of his career.

    Truex described the pole-winning run as a team effort.

    “It’s, I think, just a matter of everything coming together with your team,” he said. “Our cars are fast, we’re executing and we’re making good decisions. Things are coming together lately and it feels like momentum but it’s really just things coming together. It takes a lot to be running good in this series at this level consistently.”

    Bubba Wallace will join Truex on the front row in his 23XI Racing Toyota after posting a 169.339 mph lap while Chevrolet drivers Ricky Stenhouse Jr., William Byron and Ross Chastain completed the top five fastest drivers in qualifying followed by Daniel Suárez, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick and Brad Keselowski. Keselowski was the lone Ford in the top 10.

    Starting Lineup:

  • Weekend schedule for Darlington

    Weekend schedule for Darlington

    It’s time for Throwback Weekend at Darlington Raceway as all three NASCAR national series compete to tame the Lady in Black. On Sunday afternoon the Cup Series Goodyear 400 takes center stage. Kurt Busch and Ricky Craven will serve as the Grand Marshalls as the FOX television team continues the Throwback theme with Richard and Kyle Petty joining the broadcast booth for Stage 1. Carl Edwards will step in during Stage 2 as Bill Elliott takes us to the checkered flag at the conclusion of Stage 3.

    Denny Hamlin leads all active Cup Series drivers with four wins at the 1.366-mile oval followed by Kevin Harvick with three. Joey Logano is the defending race winner.

    The CRAFTSMAN Truck Series headlines the action Friday night with the Buckle Up South Carolina 200 followed by the Xfinity Series Shriners Children’s 200 on Saturday afternoon.

    There have been 10 previous CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races at Darlington and Matt Crafton has been there for all of them with seven top-10 finishes. Four Cup Series drivers will also attempt to qualify and compete for the Truck Series race – William Byron, Ross Chastain, Corey LaJoie and Bubba Wallace.

    Three Xfinity Series drivers entered in Saturday’s race have been to victory lane at Darlington, led by Justin Allgaier with two wins (2021 and 2022), Brandon Jones (2020) and Cole Custer (2019).

    You can check out all of the Darlington Throwback Schemes as they are unveiled throughout the week.

    All times are Eastern and Press Pass is available after each race.

    Friday, May 12
    3:05 p.m.: Truck Series Practice – FS1
    3:35 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying – FS1
    Impound (Single Vehicle/1 Lap/All Entries) FS1
    5:05 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice – All entries – FS1
    5:35 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying
    Impound (Single Vehicle/1 Lap/All Entries) FS1

    7:30 p.m.: Truck Series Buckle Up South Carolina 200
    Stages: 45/90/147 Laps = 200.8 Miles
    The Purse: $690,259
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM

    Saturday, May 13
    10:35 a.m.: Cup Series Practice – Groups A & B
    FS2 (moves to FS1 at 11 a.m.)
    11:20 a.m.: Cup Series Qualifying
    Impound (Groups A & B/Single Vehicle/1 Lap/2 Rounds)
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    1:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Shriners Children’s 200
    Stages: 45/90/147 Laps = 200.8 Miles
    The Purse: $1,399,187
    FOX/MRN/SiriusXM

    Sunday, May 14
    3 p.m.: Cup Series Goodyear 400
    Stages: 90/185/293 Laps = 400.2 Miles
    The Purse: $7,722,261
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM

  • Chris Gabehart to call 150th Cup event as crew chief at Darlington

    Chris Gabehart to call 150th Cup event as crew chief at Darlington

    A significant milestone start is in the making for Chris Gabehart, crew chief for Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota TRD Camry team in the NASCAR Cup Series. By participating in this weekend’s Cup throwback event at Darlington Raceway for the Goodyear 400, Gabehart will call his 150th event as crew chief in NASCAR’s premier series.

    A native of Lafayette, Indiana, and a graduate of Purdue University with a degree in mechanical engineering, Gabehart’s career path to NASCAR began when he competed in go-karts at age 10 in the World Karting Association. He eventually moved up to late models and the ARCA Series before retiring in 2007 due to sponsorship and financial issues. Not long after, he became an engineer for Kyle Busch Motorsports’ late model and Truck Series program before teaming up with Joe Gibbs Racing as an engineer in both the Xfinity and Cup circuits. From 2016 to 2018, Gabehart became a crew chief for JGR in the Xfinity circuit, where he accumulated a total of nine victories with names that included Erik Jones, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Preece.

    In 2017, Gabehart made his inaugural presence as a Cup Series crew chief for Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 JGR Toyota Camry team at Richmond Raceway in September. Gabehart’s role as a crew chief was an interim role for a one-race basis after Mike Wheeler, Hamlin’s full-time crew chief, was serving a two-race suspension due to illegal suspensions that were found on Hamlin’s race-winning car during the previous weekend at Darlington Raceway. With Gabehart atop the pit box of the No. 11 team at Richmond, Hamlin ended up in fifth place despite being involved in a last lap incident involving Martin Truex Jr.

    In 2019, Gabehart was named a full-time crew chief for Hamlin and the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry team for the full Cup Series season. The new duo commenced the season on a high note by winning the 61st running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in February. The victory, which was the second 500 win for Hamlin and snapped his 47-race winless drought, served as a memorable one for the driver, crew chief and the JGR organization with the team mourning the loss of the team’s president and son of owner Joe Gibbs, J.D. Gibbs. Six races later, Gabehart and Hamlin achieved their second victory of the season at Texas Motor Speedway in March. They went on to win at Pocono Raceway in July and Bristol Motor Speedway in August before the 2019 Cup Playoffs commenced. With victories at Kansas Speedway in October and Phoenix Raceway in November, Gabehart and Hamlin managed to transfer all the way from the Round of 16 to the Championship 4 round at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November and compete for the series title. During the finale, however, Hamlin made a late unscheduled pit stop to fix an overheating issue to his car and ended up in 10th place on the track and in fourth place in the final championship standings. Overall, Gabehart achieved six victories, three poles, a career-best 19 top-five results, 24 top-10 results, 922 laps led and an average-finishing result of 9.5 in his first full-time Cup season with Hamlin.

    Remaining as Hamlin’s crew chief for the 2020 Cup season, the duo commenced the season on a high note by winning the 62nd running of the Daytona 500, where Hamlin dodged a harrowing final lap wreck involving Ryan Newman to edge Ryan Blaney in a photo finish to repeat as a champion in the Great American Race. Their second victory of the season occurred five races later after Hamlin won a rain-shortened event at Darlington Raceway in May. Two races later at Charlotte Motor Speedway, however, Gabehart was suspended for the following four races due to ballast that fell out of Hamlin’s car prior to the start of the Coca-Cola 600. When Gabehart returned atop the pit box at Homestead in June, Hamlin ended up winning the event after leading a race-high 137 of 267 laps. The duo went on to win at Pocono in June, Kansas in July and Dover in August before making their second consecutive trip to the Playoffs. After finishing in the top 10 three times through nine Playoff events, including claiming a wild victory at Talladega Superspeedway in October, Gabehart and Hamlin managed to accumulate enough points and strong results to transfer all the way from the Round of 16 to the Championship 4 finale for a second consecutive time. During the finale, however, Hamlin ended up as the fourth highest-finishing competitor of the final four finalists both on the track and in the final standings for a second consecutive season. Despite being absent for four events, Gabehart managed to accumulate seven victories, 16 top-five results and 19 top-10 results with Hamlin and the No. 11 JGR team.

    At the start of the 2021 Cup season, Gabehart and Hamlin fell short in their bid to win a third consecutive Daytona 500 as Hamlin settled in fifth place in the final running order. Despite going winless in the regular-season stretch, the No. 11 team accumulated 13 top-five results and 17 top-10 results in 26 races, which were enough for them to make the 2021 Cup Playoffs. At the start of the Playoffs, they achieved their first elusive win of the season at Darlington Raceway in September and a one-way ticket from the Round of 16 to 12 after Hamlin fended off a last lap challenge from Kyle Larson. Three races later, Gabehart and Hamlin clinched a spot for the Round of 8 after winning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in September. Despite finishing no higher than fifth during the Round of 8, they transferred to the Championship 4 finale. Given a third consecutive opportunity to contend for the title, Gabehart and Hamlin fell short in their third bid after finishing in third place both during the finale at Phoenix and in the final standings. With two victories achieved throughout the 2021 Cup season, Gabehart accumulated a total of 19 top-five results, a career-high 25 top-10 results, a career-high 1,502 laps led and an average-finishing result of 8.4 in his third season as a Cup crew chief with Hamlin. By then, Gabehart surpassed 100 Cup events called as a crew chief.

    This past season, Gabehart and Hamlin rallied from finishing no higher than 13th during the first six scheduled events by achieving their first victory of the season at Richmond in April. Then in early May, Gabehart was issued a second four-race suspension from NASCAR for a loose wheel that came off of Hamlin’s car at Dover in late April. While JGR attempted to appeal the penalty, the penalty was denied by mid-May and Gabehart was suspended for four events that included the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in May, the inaugural Cup event at World Wild Technology Raceway, Sonoma Raceway and Nashville Superspeedway in June. Amid Gabehart’s absence, Hamlin won the Coke 600 with engineer and interim crew chief Sam McAulay before finishing no higher than sixth during his following three starts. Upon returning at Road America in July, Gabehart and Hamlin finished in the top 10 three times during the final nine regular-season events on the schedule before the 2022 Cup Playoffs commenced. Despite finishing no lower than 13th throughout the Playoffs, the duo missed the cutline to the Championship 4 finale by a mere margin after Hamlin was overtaken by a bold move by title rival Ross Chastain on the final lap at Martinsville in November. With an eighth-place result in the finale, Gabehart and Hamlin concluded the season in fifth place in the final standings.

    Through 149 previous Cup events, Gabehart has achieved 17 victories, five poles, 67 top-five results, 88 top-10 results and 4,064 laps led, all while working with Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team. The duo is coming off their first victory of the season at Kansas Speedway. To go along with a pole, three top-five results and five top-10 results through the first 12-scheduled events, they are tied with teammate Truex and the No. 19 JGR team for third place in the driver’s standings.

    Gabehart is scheduled to call his 150th Cup Series event as a crew chief at Darlington Raceway for the Goodyear 400 on Sunday, May 14. The event’s broadcast time is scheduled to commence at 3 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Kansas

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Kansas

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. William Byron: Byron started on the pole at Kansas and recovered from an early speeding penalty, and a later brush with the wall, to finish third.

    “It’s not about how you start,” Byron said, “it’s how you finish. Unless you finish by writing a $100,000 check to NASCAR for a failed inspection.”

    2. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin outdueled Kyle Larson in a wild finish at Kansas to win the AdventHealth 400. After a back-and-forth battle over the final laps, Hamlin got position on Larson and clipped Larson’s rear, spinning the Hendrick driver, but he held on to finish second.

    “You can hear all about it on my new podcast,” Hamlin said. “It’s called ‘Actions Detrimental To Kyle Larson.’”

    3. Kyle Larson: Larson finished second at Kansas after a spirited battle with Denny Hamlin over the closing laps. Hamlin clipped the rear of Larson’s car, and Larson hit the wall, while Hamlin took the win.

    “Right in the middle of my interview after the race,” Larson said, “the Ross Chastain-Noah Gragson fight broke out. So it interrupted some harsh words I had in store for Denny Hamlin. So, that fight did me a favor: it prevented me from saying something I would greatly regret later.”

    4. Christopher Bell: Bell finished last at Kansas after contact with Ross Chastain on Lap 157 sent him into the wall and out of the race.

    “I guess Chastain is on a mission,” Bell said. “That mission is to touch everyone, with either his car or his fist.”

    5. Ross Chastain: Chastain finished fifth at Kansas and then clashed with Noah Gragson after the race.

    “If Noah Gragson has a problem with my driving,” Chastain said, “then he’s no different than 34 other drivers.”

    6. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished eighth at Kansas.

    “What else is new?” Truex said. “Ross Chastain ‘made contact’ with someone. Ross must have been pretty angry with Gragson because Ross was ‘right cross’ with him.”

    7. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished 16th at Kansas.

    “We’re gonna be talking about this Ross Chastain-Noah Gragson incident for a while,” Blaney said. “What’s most amazing is that, given Chastain’s various and multiple clashes with other drivers, I’m surprised he punched someone before they punched him.”

    8. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 11th at Kansas and is fifth in the point standings.

    “I was just named to ‘NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers’ list,” Harvick said. “There are a lot of drivers on that list that I respect a great deal, 73 to be exact. And then there’s Kyle Busch.”

    9. Tyler Reddick: Reddick finished ninth in the AdventHealth 400.

    “NASCAR ratings are down,” Reddick said. “But after Ross Chastain’s punch of Noah Gragson, I expect the impact to be anything but a black eye for the sport.”

    10. Joey Logano: Logano rebounded from two consecutive 30th or worse finishes with a sixth at Kansas.

    “My former Penske teammate Brad Keselowski had to be happy to see that Ross Chastain-Noah Gragson clash. Why? Well, for at least a day, Brad wasn’t the owner of the ‘most punchable face’ title.”

  • Chastain and Gragson trade blows on pit road

    Chastain and Gragson trade blows on pit road

    What started as a heated discussion devolved into a punching match.

    As Denny Hamlin celebrated his victory, Sunday, in the Advent Health 400, Noah Gragson approached Ross Chastain to chew him out. He grabbed him and the talk continued, until Chastain connected with his left cheek.

    “There’s no talking to the guy,” Gragson told Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports, after the scuffle.

    It ceased just as quickly as it started, after multiple officials swarmed them both to break up the fight.

    “Sucks that they all get involved,” he said. “Just let us two work it out and finish it off.”

    This stems from an incident during the race, in which Chastain put Gragson into the wall off Turn 4. Based on Gragson’s comments, post-race, it happened somewhere between Lap 200 and 210.

    “Yeah, definitely crowded him up off of (Turn) 4, and he took a swipe at us in 3, and then he came down and grabbed a hold of me, and a very big man once told me we have a no-push policy here at Trackhouse,” Chastain said.

    Gragson adds his name to the growing list of drivers displeased with Chastain’s aggressive style of racing. Most famous of which is Hamlin, who spent several laps, last season, at Gateway to put on some fun-dumb racing with him. Then again at The Clash and climaxed a few weeks later at Phoenix.

    As for Gragson, it wasn’t the first time, either.

    “He did the same thing after Talladega on the plane and nothing happened,” Chastain told Jeff Gluck of The Athletic.

    Only this time, Gragson was tired of nobody confronting Chastain.

    “The guy just runs into everyone,” he said. “When you’ve got guys like Chase Elliott saying, ‘Go beat his ass,’ everyone is sick and tired of him and nobody has the balls to go up and get him.”

    What repercussions this leads to for Chastain, down the road, only time will tell. For now, however, he leaves Kansas with a 27-point lead over Christopher Bell.

  • Hamlin clips Larson for thrilling last lap Cup victory at Kansas

    Hamlin clips Larson for thrilling last lap Cup victory at Kansas

    Denny Hamlin executed a thrilling finish for the ages by stalking and making the slightest contact on Kyle Larson that sent Larson into the backstretch wall on the final lap to win the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, May 7.

    The 42-year-old Hamlin from Chesterfield, Virginia, led eight times for 34 of 267-scheduled laps in a Heartland event that generated competitive racing and various lead changes from start to finish. At the event’s conclusion, Hamlin, who spent the final 26 laps trailing and cutting Larson’s steady advantage while trying himself to overtake him, seized an opportunity at the start of the final lap when he got to Larson’s rear bumper and tried to overtake him through the first two turns. Then as Larson gained the momentum to pull ahead entering the backstretch, both competitors’ cars came together as Hamlin slipped up and resulted with Larson getting sideways and wrecking against the outside wall. This allowed Hamlin to sneak by with the lead as he cruised to his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2023 season by more than a second.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, William Byron notched his second Cup pole of the season and the 10th of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 179.206 mph in 30.133 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Kyle Larson, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 179.170 mph in 30.139 seconds.

    Prior to the event, the following names that included Josh Bilicki, Corey LaJoie and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Byron took off with the lead on the inside lane and assumed control of the field that fanned out through the first two turns and the backstretch. As the field continued to jostle for positions, Byron led the first lap while teammate Larson and Ross Chastain battled for second. Behind, Tyler Reddick was in fourth while Martin Truex Jr. retained fifth ahead of Joey Logano.

    During the third lap, however, Byron briefly fell off the pace and dipped his No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 below the apron after getting loose entering the backstretch, which allowed Larson and Chastain to rocket past him as they battled for the lead followed by a hard-charging Reddick. A tight three-car battle for the lead then ensued between Larson, Chastain and Reddick, with neither letting off the throttle nor giving an inch as they fanned out and slid up the track to stall the momentum.

    Then prior to the fifth lap, the three-car battle for the lead between Larson, Reddick and Chastain went south as Reddick, who was sliding up the track and attempting to file in behind Larson and in front of Chastain entering the frontstretch, made contact with Larson as he sent Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 spinning across the frontstretch. Larson, however, managed to keep his car spinning below the apron without getting hit from the oncoming field and proceed without sustaining any damage as the event’s first caution flew.

    During the first caution, names that included Larson, Brad Keselowski, Chase Briscoe, Josh Bilicki, Todd Gilliland, Harrison Burton, Ryan Preece, Justin Haley and JJ Yeley pitted while the rest led by the new leader Reddick remained on the track.

    When the race restarted on the ninth lap, Reddick retained the lead on the inside lane as the field fanned out through the first two turns and the backstretch. Behind, Chastain and Byron were in second and third while rookie Ty Gibbs used the outside lane to move his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota TRD Camry into the top five as he battled teammate Martin Truex Jr. for more. Denny Hamlin also launched his bid for a spot in the top five against Gibbs followed by Logano, Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace and Daniel Suarez.

    Through the first 15 scheduled laps, Reddick was leading by half a second over Chastain followed by Truex, Hamlin and Byron while Bell, Ty Gibbs, Wallace, Suarez and Logano were in the top 10. Michael McDowell was in 11th followed by Chris Buescher, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch while rookie Noah Gragson, Austin Cindric, AJ Allmendinger, Austin Dillon and Ty Dillon were running in the top 20. Meanwhile, Larson, who was trying to carve his way back to the front following his early spin, was mired outside the top 25 on the track.

    Thirteen laps later, Truex, winner of last week’s Cup event at Dover Motor Speedway, moved his No. 19 Reser’s Fine Foods Toyota TRD Camry into the lead after gaining momentum and seizing an opportunity for the top spot through the backstretch and Turns 3 and 4. Teammate Hamlin followed suit in second in his No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry as Reddick fell back to third.

    By Lap 37, Byron, who fell back to ninth, pitted under green, but was assessed a penalty for speeding on pit road, which dropped him to last place in the running order and out of the lead lap category. By then, Aric Almirola pitted as Austin Cindric, Suarez and Kyle Busch pitted their respective entries. The first cycle of green flag pit stops proceeded as Wallace and Chastain pitted along with Hamlin, Reddick, Harvick, Wallace and Logano.

    By Lap 40, Truex surrendered the lead to pit along with Josh Berry, AJ Allmendinger, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs and others. Truex’s pit stop, however, occurred a lap later than planned due to a miscommunication with his team. This allowed teammate Hamlin to overtake him for position on the backstretch with nearly the entire field having made a pit stop.

    Just past the Lap 45 mark, Corey LaJoie, who had yet to pit, was leading followed by Keselowski while Hamlin, the first competitor who pitted, cycled to third ahead of Truex and JJ Yeley. Then once LaJoie pitted on Lap 47, Hamlin cycled as the new leader by three-tenths of a second over teammate Truex. Truex, however, managed to narrow the deficit and reassume the lead from Hamlin on Lap 49 while Keselowski, who had yet to pit, retained third followed by Reddick and Ty Gibbs.

    On Lap 56, trouble ignited for Chase Briscoe, who exited his pit stall after completing a pit stop under green when the left-front wheel came off of Briscoe’s No. 14 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang and rolled down pit road. The tire, however, managed to roll behind the wall and Briscoe was able to reverse his car back to his pit stall without drawing a caution. He, however, was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation as Truex continued to lead ahead of teammate Hamlin, Reddick, Gibbs and Suarez.

    By Lap 65, Truex retained the lead ahead of teammate Hamlin and more than nine seconds over third-place Reddick while Gibbs and Suarez remained in the top five. Behind, Wallace was in sixth ahead of Bell while Blaney, Chastain and Kyle Busch were in the top 10. Two laps later, Keselowski, who was trying to stretch his fuel tank after pitting on the seventh lap, pitted under green after slipping out of the top-10 running order while Larson and Harvick battled for 11th.

    On Lap 71, the battle for the lead between teammates Truex and Hamlin reignited as Hamlin, who gained ground on Truex through the backstretch a lap prior, managed to carve his way past Truex amid lapped traffic to reassume the lead. By then, Byron’s rocky day went from bad to worse as he pitted under green after scrubbing the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 80, Hamlin captured his second stage victory of the 2023 season. Teammate Truex settled in second followed by teammate Ty Gibbs while Reddick, Suarez, Bell, Wallace, Blaney, Chastain and Larson were scored in the top 10. By then, 19 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Hamlin pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Hamlin retained the lead after exiting first followed by Truex, Gibbs, Suarez, Wallace and Blaney. During the pit stops, Reddick lost five spots on pit road due to a slow pit service involving the jack while Kyle Busch, who backed his car on pit road to tighten a lug nut, was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    The second stage started on Lap 88 as teammates Hamlin and Truex occupied the front row. At the start, teammates Hamlin and Truex dueled for the lead as the field fanned out and battled in close-quarters racing through the first two turns and the backstretch. In the midst of the battle for the lead, Suarez, who restarted third, was nearly turned in the backstretch as he fell within the top 10.

    As the field returned to the frontstretch, both Truex and Hamlin refused to give an inch nor let off the throttle as they continued to battle dead even for the lead while Chastain overtook Gibbs and Reddick for third. Behind, Elliott muscled his way to the front as he overtook Larson, Blaney and Wallace to move up to seventh.

    On Lap 94, Hamlin attempted to side-draft teammate Truex for the lead through the frontstretch, but Truex gained the momentum on the outside lane through the first two turns as he retained the lead. Their battles were among many occurring around the speedway as Chastain was starting to be pressured by Wallace for third while Blaney and Bell battled for seventh.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Hamlin, who pulled a slide job to reassume the lead from Truex, was leading by half a second over teammate Truex, with both continuing to pressure one another for the lead as third-place Wallace trailed by two seconds. Chastain and Gibbs were in the top five while Bell, Elliott, Larson, Josh Berry and Blaney were scored in the top 10. Behind, Suarez was back in 11th followed by Aric Almirola, Kevin Harvick, Reddick and Buescher while Kyle Busch was in 16th.

    Seven laps later, the caution flew when Austin Cindric, who was running 19th, blew a right-front tire and slapped the outside wall exiting the frontstretch and through the first two turns. Cindric’s incident was one that broke the wheel in half and fell off his No. 2 Freightliner Ford Mustang as he pitted. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Hamlin returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Wallace emerged as the new leader after exiting pit road first followed by Chastain, Truex, Gibbs, Larson and Hamlin. During the pit stops, Elliott backed his No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 back to his pit stall to have a left-side lug nut tightened as he lost a bevy of spots on pit road.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 113, Chastain jumped ahead with the lead on the inside lane, but Wallace quickly fought back on the outside lane with drafting help from Truex as he reassumed the top spot and held the lead amid a series of battles. With Wallace leading, Chastain and Truex battled for second as Hamlin was in fourth ahead of Larson, Gibbs and Almirola. Meanwhile, Reddick was back in eighth along with Kyle Busch, Josh Berry, Harvick and Bell while Blaney was back in 13th.

    On Lap 118, Truex used the inside lane to his advantage as he overtook Wallace for the lead entering the frontstretch. Behind, Larson rocketed his way up to third while Hamlin was in fourth ahead of Chastain. As Gibbs occupied sixth, Reddick and Kyle Busch battled for seventh while Elliott was back in 12th in between Almirola and Harvick.

    At the halfway mark between Laps 133 and 134, Truex was leading by more than a second over Larson and more than two seconds over third-place Hamlin while Wallace and Chastain were back in the top five. Reddick, Gibbs, Kyle Busch, Bell and Berry were in the top 10 while Elliott Harvick, Almirola, Buescher, Blaney, Suarez, Gragson, Austin Dillon, Allmendinger and Logano were running in the top 20. Notably, Keselowski was in 21st, Erik Jones was mired in 25th behind Harrison Burton and Byron was in 32nd.

    On Lap 138, the caution flew when Almirola, who was running 13th, snapped sideways and spun towards the bottom of the track in the backstretch as he slowly limped his No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang back to pit road with multiple flat tires. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Hamlin returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Larson managed to edge Truex and Hamlin off of pit road first as he assumed the lead followed by Chastain, Wallace and Kyle Busch. During the pit stops, Ty Gibbs reversed his car back to his pit stall to tighten a loose wheel on his entry. In addition, Keselowski was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    During the following restart on Lap 143, Larson and Truex dueled for the lead as the field fanned out through the backstretch and returning to the frontstretch. During the following lap, Larson managed to clear Truex, who had to lift off the throttle in Turn 4, to retain the lead as Hamlin followed pursuit in third. Behind, Wallace and Chastain battled for fourth as Kyle Busch and Elliott battled for sixth. As a series of on-track battles ensued, including one at the front where Wallace overtook Truex and Hamlin for second while Kyle Busch and Chastain bumped and rubbed fenders, resulting with the former voicing his displeasure to the latter, the caution returned on Lap 148 when Erik Jones spun his No. 43 Allegiant Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entering the backstretch. At the same time, Berry also spun after pinning Gibbs in between himself and Buescher, which resulted with Berry spinning his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 below the backstretch.

    During the caution period, names that included Keselowski, Austin Dillon, Harrison Burton, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Preece and Ty Dillon pitted while the rest led by Truex remained on the track.

    With 12 laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted under green. At the start, Larson and Wallace battled dead even for the lead for a lap, with neither managing to clear one another as Hamlin gained ground on both. During the following lap, both Larson and Wallace continued to duel with both Hamlin and Truex remaining within striking distance before Larson managed to pull a slide job and clear Wallace through Turns 1 and 2. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch moved up to fifth ahead of Blaney and Chastain.

    Then with eight laps remaining and just as Wallace reassumed the lead from Larson, the caution flew when Bell, who was running eighth, made contact against Chastain, spun his No. 20 SiriusXM Toyota TRD Camry off of the backstretch and pounded the outside wall as his strong run came to an end. During the caution period, some led by Logano remained on the track while the rest led by Wallace pitted.

    With three laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted under green. At the start, the field scrambled and fanned out through the first two turns between competitors on old tires versus new tires as Logano and McDowell battled for the lead. Then through the backstretch, the caution returned when Kyle Busch, who was trying to carve his way back to the front amid the mixed strategy, slid across the nose of Ryan Preece and spun his No. 8 Cheddar’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 below the track as he slapped the inside wall and slid backwards on flat tires as his roller coaster day came to an end. The incident was one that ended Busch’s. Busch’s incident was enough for NASCAR to conclude the second stage scheduled for Lap 165 under caution as Logano captured his second stage victory of the 2023 season. McDowell settled in second while Gragson, Erik Jones, AJ Allmendinger, Buescher, Austin Dillon, Ty Dillon, Larson and Hamlin were scored in the top 10. By then, 28 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, some led by Logano, including the ones that remained on the track during the previous caution period, pitted while the rest led by new leader Larson remained on the track.

    With 97 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as Larson and Hamlin occupied the front row. At the start, Larson retained the lead ahead of Hamlin following a push from teammate Elliott as a series of on-track battles ensued from the front to the back. With Larson leading, Wallace challenged his owner Hamlin for second with Elliott settling in fourth as Blaney, Truex and Reddick battled for fifth. Truex would then fall back to seventh as he was being pressured by teammate Ty Gibbs and Harvick for more.

    Then with 91 laps remaining and amid the continuous battles, the caution flew when Gibbs, who was battling teammate Truex and Harvick for seventh place, slid up the track entering the backstretch as he sent Truex up the track and towards the outside wall. While Truex proceeded, Gibbs then spun his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota TRD Camry below the track as he made little contact against the inside wall while flat-spotting his tires. He then damaged his right-front fender as his right-front tire shredded while he attempted to enter pit road, which resulted with him getting stuck towards the frontstretch grass and ending his race with a wrecked race car.

    During the following restart with 84 laps remaining, Larson and Hamlin battled for the lead amid the field fanning out as Larson managed to clear Hamlin and retain the lead. Behind, Blaney carved his way up to fourth while battling Reddick for the spot while Elliott overtook Hamlin for second. Behind, Truex was trying to carve his way back to the front as he was in seventh behind Wallace as Elliott started to challenge teammate Larson for the lead. After gaining a strong run through the backstretch, Elliott, who is needing a victory to make the 2023 Cup Playoffs after missing six of the first eight scheduled events, moved into the lead with 81 laps remaining as Hamlin tried to battle Larson for second.

    With 77 laps remaining, the caution returned when Harrison Burton spun his No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang off of Turn 2 while trying to avoid hitting Buescher. During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Elliott pitted while the rest that included Truex, Austin Dillon, Logano, Gragson and Todd Gilliland remained on the track.

    At the start of the following restart with 72 laps remaining, Truex and Austin Dillon dueled for the lead as Larson, the first competitor restarting on fresh tires, fanned out while charging his way back to the front. With Truex retaining the lead, teammates Larson and Elliott pressured Austin Dillon for second with Suarez in fifth as Hamlin was back in sixth ahead of Byron and Logano. With 69 laps remaining, however, Hamlin capitalized exiting the backstretch to overtake both Suarez and Elliott for fourth place while Larson, who managed to overtake Austin Dillon for second, started to pressure Truex for the lead.

    Then with 64 laps remaining, Larson side-drafted and overtook Truex through the frontstretch to reassume the lead on four fresh tires. He then started to pull away as Hamlin, Austin Dillon and Byron occupied the top five. Behind, Suarez was in sixth followed by Blaney while Wallace battled Reddick, Harvick and Elliott for eighth. The caution, however, returned with 62 laps remaining when Gragson, who was battling hard against Chastain for a top-15 spot and scrubbed the outside wall on the frontstretch a few laps earlier, got sideways by himself entering the backstretch as he spun his No. 42 Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 below the track.

    During the caution period, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Truex pitted while names that included Corey LaJoie, Preece and McDowell remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Larson exited first with the lead followed by teammate Byron, Hamlin, Suarez, Truex and Austin Dillon. Following the pit stops, however, Suarez was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation after a wheel rolled out of his pit box.

    With the race restarting with 56 laps remaining, the field fanned out and scrambled as Preece and LaJoie dueled for the lead in front of Byron, Larson and Hamlin. During the following lap and with the field still scrambling, Byron, who was two laps down early in the event, cycled into the lead followed by teammate Larson, Hamlin and Truex. Larson then engaged in a battle with his Hendrick Motorsports teammate for the lead with both refusing to give an inch while Hamlin tried to close in while running third.

    It would not take long, however, for the caution to return with 53 laps remaining when Erik Jones got loose after touching Almirola as he battled him for position and spun below the apron in Turns 3 and 4. At the same time, Berry spun off of the two turns, with both proceeding to pit their respective entries. The caution period enabled McDowell and Preece to pit while the rest of the field led by Byron remained on the track.

    During the proceeding event with 47 laps remaining, Larson gained the momentum on the outside lane to assume the lead from teammate Byron with Hamlin in third as Wallace charged his way back to fourth along with Chastain. Truex, meanwhile, fell back to seventh after having issues gaining speed on the inside lane as Wallace and Chastain battled for fourth.

    With 35 laps remaining, Larson was leading by six-tenths of a second over teammate Byron followed by Hamlin, Chastain and Wallace while Logano, Elliott, Truex, Reddick and Austin Dillon were in the top 10. Behind, Harvick was in 11th ahead of Blaney, Stenhouse, Allmendinger and LaJoie while Keselowski, Almirola, Suarez, Buescher and Justin Haley occupied the top 20.

    Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Larson extended his advantage to more than a second over Hamlin, who overtook Byron for second a lap earlier, as Chastain and Wallace remained in the top five. Larson’s advantage, however, decreased to six-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Hamlin with less than 20 laps remaining while third-place Byron trailed by more than two seconds.

    With 10 laps remaining, Larson, who scrubbed the wall four laps earlier while trying to navigate his way through lapped traffic, retained the lead by only three-tenths of a second over Hamlin, who continued to close in for the lead and now had Larson close to his front windshield.

    During the proceeding laps, Hamlin, who was experimenting different lanes to gain the ground needed on Larson, cut the deficit to as little as a tenth of a second as he tried to navigate his way around Larson for the lead amid more lapped traffic. Larson, however, maintained his ground as he was forced to block and fend off Hamlin for the lead. With nearly five laps remaining, Hamlin gained a run beneath Larson and nearly took over the lead on the frontstretch, but Larson managed to maintain the lead by a tenth of a second as he gained the momentum through the first two turns. Larson then managed to stabilize his advantage by only as high as half a second, leaving Hamlin more work to try and regain the ground.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson, who continued to block and fend off Hamlin’s charges through every turn and straightaway, remained as the leader by a tenth of a second over Hamlin. Through the first two turns, Hamlin tried once again to draw himself even with Larson for the lead, but Larson started to peek ahead entering the backstretch. It was there where the competitors’ cars touched as Hamlin slid up and barely clipped Larson left-rear quarter panel, which got Larson loose and into the outside wall on the backstretch. Despite hitting the wall, Larson managed to quickly straighten his car and proceed, but the damage was done as Hamlin escaped with the lead. After navigating his way through the final two corners without any pressure, Hamlin cycled back to the frontstretch and delivered with his first checkered flag of the 2023 season after winning by more than a second over Larson.

    With the victory, Hamlin, who won for the first time since winning the 2022 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, notched his 49th NASCAR Cup Series career victory, which tied him with NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart on the all-time wins list, and his fourth victory at Kansas Speedway. He also became the ninth different competitor to win through the first 12-scheduled events and the third to do so while driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, which achieved career victory No. 400 in NASCAR.

    The 2023 season marks Hamlin’s 17th season with at least one victory in NASCAR’s premier series. Hamlin also produced the first last-lap pass for the victory at Kansas Speedway.

    “Yeah, so proud of this whole FedEx team,” Hamlin, who was met with mixed reviews from the crowd, said on FS1. “I got position on [Larson] there. I was trying to side-draft him, but clipped his left rear. Glad he was able to at least finish and proud of my FedEx team, though. [That’s] 400 wins now for Joe Gibbs Racing. Just such a great accomplishment for them.”

    Larson, who rallied from his early spin, settled in second place for a second consecutive time in the spring Kansas event as he also notched his second runner-up result of the 2023 season.

    “I was really loose,” Larson said. “I was trying to do what I could to manage it. [I was] Just really loose on that end. [Hamlin] was a little bit better than me at the end there. Obviously, he was side-drafting really aggressively like he would, but he was like touching me, it felt like, and it just had me kind of out of control.”

    Byron capped off his miraculous comeback from two laps down to finish third followed by Bubba Wallace, who notched his second top-five result of the season. Points leader Chastain came home in fifth while Logano, Elliott, Truex, Reddick and Austin Dillon finished in the top 10 on the track.

    Meanwhile, tempers flared on pit road between 29th-place finisher Noah Gragson and fifth-place finisher Ross Chastain, both of whom made contact on the frontstretch that scales back to less than 70 laps remaining when Chastain forced Gragson up and into the outside wall and resulted with Gragson stalling Chastain’s momentum. After the race, both competitors met to discuss their incident on pit road and the conversation went south as Gragson grabbed Chastain’s chest. With the conversation intensifying, Chastain then swung a punch towards Gragson before both were separated by NASCAR officials.

    There were a record-setting 37 lead changes for 12 different leaders. The race featured 11 cautions for 57 laps. In total, 22 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 12th event of the 2023 Cup Series season, Ross Chastain continues to lead the regular-season standings by 31 points over Christopher Bell, 36 over Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin, 46 over Kevin Harvick and 50 over Tyler Reddick.

    Results.

    1. Denny Hamlin, 34 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    2. Kyle Larson, 85 laps led

    3. William Byron, 10 laps led

    4. Bubba Wallace, nine laps led

    5. Ross Chastain, three laps led

    6. Joey Logano, eight laps led, Stage 2 winner

    7. Chase Elliott, five laps led

    8. Martin Truex Jr., 79 laps led

    9. Tyler Reddick, 23 laps led

    10. Austin Dillon

    11. Kevin Harvick

    12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    13. Aric Almirola

    14. AJ Allmendinger

    15. Daniel Suarez

    16. Ryan Blaney

    17. Chris Buescher

    18. Justin Haley

    19. Brad Keselowski

    20. Corey LaJoie, seven laps led

    21. Erik Jones

    22. Ty Dillon

    23. JJ Yeley, one lap down

    24. Todd Gilliland, one lap down

    25. Josh Berry, one lap down

    26. Michael McDowell, one lap down

    27. Ryan Preece, one lap down

    28. Brennan Poole, three laps down

    29. Noah Gragson, five laps down

    30. Harrison Burton, six laps down

    31. Austin Cindric, seven laps down

    32. Chase Briscoe, seven laps down

    33. Josh Bilicki, seven laps down

    34. Ty Gibbs – OUT, Accident

    35. Kyle Busch – OUT, Accident

    36. Christopher Bell – OUT, Accident, three laps led

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ first of two scheduled visits this season to Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, for the Goodyear 400 and the sport’s throwback weekend. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, May 14, during Mother’s Day weekend at 3 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • William Byron wins Cup Series pole, Kyle Larson second, for all-Hendrick front row at Kansas

    William Byron wins Cup Series pole, Kyle Larson second, for all-Hendrick front row at Kansas

    William Byron topped qualifying at Kansas Speedway with a 179.206 mph lap in the No. 24 Chevrolet to claim his second pole of the season and his 10th career NASCAR Cup Series pole. The Hendrick Motorsports driver will be joined on the front row by teammate, Kyle Larson, who came up a little short with a 179.17 mph lap.

    “Yeah, it feels great,” Byron said. “It feels really good to get a pole. Kansas (Speedway) is where I got my first truck win and that was really exciting, and I’ve never won here again (laughs). Hopefully, tomorrow can be a little bit better.

    “We’ve been kind of inching up on it in the Cup Series at this race track. We had good runs here last year – leading the race in the spring and got a flat tire, and then finished I think sixth in the fall race. So we’ve been pretty good here, it’s just a matter of putting it all together and hopefully, tomorrow is the day.”

    Larson was disappointed that he could not find enough speed to claim the pole but said, “Cool to be there on the front row with William. Wish I could have went just a little bit better. I need to look at the data to see where I gave up a little bit of time to him. Overall, I felt good about my lap and happy to be on the front row.”

    He also indicated that there was still work to be done on the Hendrick cars before the race.

    “Stil feel like we got to work on our cars quite a bit for race trim. I thought the Toyotas were much better.”

    Chevrolet and Toyota each claimed four of the top 10 starting positions with Ford earning two.

    Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain was third fastest in his No. 1 Chevrolet with Toyota drivers Martin Truex Jr. and Tyler Reddick completing the top-five. Joey Logano (Ford), Ty Gibbs (Toyota), Denny Hamlin (Toyota), Daniel Suárez (Chevrolet) and Ryan Blaney (Ford) rounded out the top 10.

    The AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway is set for Sunday at 3 p.m. ET and will be televised on FS1 with radio coverage provided by MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    Starting Lineup: