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Category: NASCAR Cup Series

NASCAR Cup Series

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Talladega

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Talladega

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished seventh at Talladega.

    “Ross Chastain is rolling right now,” Elliott said. “Is he a championship contender? I think his performance has other contenders worried. You could say that by ‘planting’ a watermelon on the pavement, he’s ‘planting’ a seed in our minds.

    “Now, it seems like it’s just a matter of time before Chastain is crowned champion, or, most likely, becomes the spokesperson for an alcoholic beverage with a flavor called ‘Spiked Watermelon.’”

    2. Ryan Blaney: Blaney led 23 laps and finished 11th at Talladega.

    “I’m disappointed,” Blaney said. “Sure, it was a solid finish, but I feel like I wasted a good car. And speaking of ‘solid waste,’ the sewage situation in the Talladega infield is a port-a-potty supplier’s nightmare. Luckily, the service of that supplier does not stink to high heaven.”

    3. Ross Chastain: Chastain came out on top in a chaotic final lap at Talladega to win the Geico 500. It was his second win of the year.

    “I’m making a name for TrackHouse Racing,” Chastain said. “That’s ‘Trackhouse Racing,’ not to be confused with ‘CrackHouse Racing,’ which Jeremy Mayfield made famous back in 2009.”

    4. Kyle Busch: Busch finished third at Talladega, posting his third top-five of the season.

    “With four consecutive top 10’s,” Busch said, “I feel like I’m peaking. Many people would say I’m ‘peaked,’ because I’m so darn pale.

    “I made some comments Saturday about my future with Joe Gibbs Racing. I’m losing M&M’s as a sponsor, and if JGR doesn’t find me a new sponsor, I might bolt. Really, it’s just a strategy for me to get what I want. I call this my contract extension ‘Whine And Sign’ method.”

    5. Joey Logano: Logano crashed out at Talladega on lap 90 when a bump in the draft from Bubba Wallace turned Logano’s No. 22 into the wall. Logano finished 32nd.

    “I can’t blame anyone for wrecking me,” Logano said. “In other words, Bubba wasn’t ‘out of line’ for wrecking me, even though he was ‘out of line.’ But at Talladega, that’s just the way the cookie, and my hopes for a win, crumbles.”

    6. Alex Bowman: Bowman finished ninth at Talladega as Hendrick Motorsports placed three cars in the top 10.

    “I’ll take that ninth,” Bowman said, “and happily head to Dover, where I’m the defending champion. I repeat, defending champion.”

    7. William Byron: Byron won Stage 2 at Talladega and led a race-high 38 laps, but a slow final pit stop cost him track position, and he was unable to return to the front. He finished 15th and is 3rd in the points standings.

    “If you were watching at home,” Byron said, “you saw quite an entertaining race. And, you probably saw commercials for something called ‘Fire Cornhole.’ I don’t know what ‘Fire Cornhole’ is, but it sounds very painful.”

    8. Kyle Larson: Larson led 32 laps at Talladega and was in position to win on the final lap. Race-leader Erik Jones moved to block Larson’s run for the lead, which opened the door for Ross Chastain to take the win. Larson finished 4th.

    “There’s probably some things I would have done differently on that final lap,” Larson said, “but ultimately, I have to trust the decisions I made at the time and be happy with them. I like to live by the motto ‘No regrets.’ Well, make that the motto ‘No regrets, with one exception.’”

    9. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished fifth in the Geico 500, joining Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch, who finished third, in the top 10.

    “I thought we did pretty well,” Truex said, “considering there were only six Toyotas in the entire field. As they say, ‘it’s hard to find a dance partner when you’re the red-headed stepchild, especially when three of those potential dance partners are my teammates, none of which I particularly care for.’”

    10. Aric Almirola: Almirola finished 13th at Talladega.

    “My No. 10 Ford was highlighted by the Smithfield/IHOP paint scheme,” Almirola said. “So, the sausage and pancakes arrived at their destination, but we weren’t quite able to bring home the bacon.”

  • Chastain executes final lap pass for second Cup career triumph at Talladega

    Chastain executes final lap pass for second Cup career triumph at Talladega

    From losing a lap to the leaders to rallying his way back to the front and having the seas parting way for him with the finish in sight, Ross Chastain overtook Erik Jones at the tri-oval on the final lap to win the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, April 24.

    The 29-year-old Chastain from Alva, Florida, was penalized for speeding on pit road during an exchange of green-flag pit stops nearing the Lap 40 mark, but he was able to cycle his way back on the lead lap following the first stage’s conclusion. From there, he muscled his way to the front and remained within sight of the lead pack. Then on the final lap and entering the tri-oval, Chastain was lined up in third place while awaiting his moment to strike. With the field fanning out and initial leader Erik Jones trying to prevent a run from Kyle Larson in the outside lane, Chastain had the inside lane to himself. He seized the opportunity to snatch the lead and emerged victorious for the second time in his NASCAR Cup Series career. 

    With on-track qualifying occurring on Saturday, Christopher Bell notched his second Cup Series pole position of the season and of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 180.928 mph in 52.927 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Martin Truex Jr., who posted a fast lap at 180.652 mph in 53.008 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Landon Cassill was forced to serve a pass-through penalty through pit road at the start due to his No. 77 Spire Motorsports entry failing pre-qualifying technical inspection three times. Noah Gragson, the winner of Saturday’s Xfinity event at Talladega, also dropped to the rear of the field due to an unapproved adjustment to his No. 62 Beard Motorsports entry.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Bell moved his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota TRD Camry in front of teammate Truex’s No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota TRD Camry as he maintained the lead through the first two turns while Daniel Suarez charged as the lead competitor on the outside lane. 

    When the field returned to the start/finish line, Bell led the first lap. Suarez, however, fought back on the outside lane in his No. 99 Tootsies Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 with drafting help from Kurt Busch, but Bell maintained his line on the inside lane. Suarez, though, was able to lead the second lap as he and Bell were locked dead even for the lead. By then, the entire field was stacked up through two long double lines.

    Through the first 10 laps of the event and with the field fanning out to multiple lanes, Suarez received a draft from William Byron to overtake Bell for the lead followed by Truex, Kurt Busch, Daniel Hemric, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Kyle Larson and Joey Logano. By then, Bell had led seven of the first 10 laps while Suarez led the remaining three. In addition, Cassill, who served his pass-through penalty at the start, was lapped by the field. 

    By Lap 20, eight competitors broke away from the pack fanning out to two packed lanes as Suarez continued to lead ahead of Byron, Bell, Truex, Hemric, Larson, Haley and Kurt Busch while Ty Dillon and Erik Jones were in the top 10.

    Five laps later, the top-10 competitors led by Suarez had broken away from the rest of the pack stacked through two lanes while 11th-place Kevin Harvick initiated a charge as the lead competitor on the outside lane. By then, all but one of the 39 starters were separated by less than three seconds.

    By Lap 30, Suarez continued to lead on the inside lane ahead of Byron, Bell and Truex while Chase Elliott, who was in fifth ahead of Hemric, mounted a charge on the outside lane with drafting help from Kevin Harvick and the field.

    On Lap 32, Reddick pitted as the crew lifted the hood up on the No. 8 Bet MGM Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 due to a mechanical issue.

    By Lap 34, the Ford competitors peeled off the track to pit under green. During the Ford pit stops, Keselowski was penalized for speeding on pit road. In addition, Cody Ware spun his No. 51 Nurtec ODT Ford Mustang while entering pit road, but he was able to proceed without drawing a caution. Soon after, the Toyota competitors along with Chevrolet competitor Alex Bowman pitted. During the Toyota pit stops, Hamlin slid his No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry through his pit box. By the end of Lap 36, the Chevrolet competitors pitted. During the Chevrolet pit stops, Ross Chastain was penalized for speeding while exiting pit road. 

    At the Lap 40 mark and with the pit stops complete, Larson cycled his way to the lead followed by teammates Byron and Elliott while Erik Jones and Hemric were in the top five. Harvick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Logano, Ty Dillon, rookie Harrison Burton, Bubba Wallace, Bell, Truex, Chris Buescher, Kurt Busch, Bowman, Ryan Blaney, Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch and Aric Almirola. By then, Suarez had fallen back to 23rd while Reddick retired in the garage.

    Through the first 50 scheduled laps, Larson continued to lead ahead of teammates Byron and Elliott while Wallace mounted a charge on the outside lane in fourth place. By then, Keselowski was lapped by the field.

    Soon after, Wallace drew himself into a side-by-side against Larson for the lead through the backstretch. Despite the field having to fan out while lapping Chastain and Michael McDowell, they gathered themselves through the tri-oval as Wallace received a push from Bell to briefly lead until Larson fought back on the inside lane. By Lap 53, Wallace led a lap for himself and had both lanes in control through the backstretch until Larson mounted another challenge on the inside lane with drafting help from teammate Byron.

    With four laps remaining in the first stage and while the field fanned out, the first caution flew when Hemric fell off the pace and was bumped sideways by Austin Dillon through Turns 3 and 4 as he radioed engine issues to his No. 16 Majestic Steel Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. While trying to straighten his car below the apron, Hemric then shot back across the track and made heavy contact against Chris Buescher and Chase Briscoe, whose No. 14 Mahindra Ford Mustang burst into flames. At the moment of caution, Chastain received the free pass to return on the lead lap due to being the first competitor that was scored a lap behind which left Keselowski still trapped a lap behind.

    The three-car wreck between Turns 3 and 4 was enough for the first stage scheduled on Lap 60 to conclude under caution as Bubba Wallace claimed his first stage victory of the season and third at Talladega. Larson settled in second followed by Bell, Byron, Truex, Elliott, Kurt Busch, Erik Jones, Bowman and Stenhouse.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Larson reassumed the lead following his pit service followed by Byron, Elliott, Erik Jones, Truex and Wallace. During the pit stops, Kyle Busch was penalized for dragging his gas can out of his pit box.

    The second stage started on Lap 64 as teammates Larson and Byron occupied the front row. At the start, Larson moved in front of teammates Byron and Elliott to maintain the lead on the inside lane while Erik Jones was the lead competitor on the outside lane as he received a push from Wallace to battle and overtake Larson for the lead when the field returned to the start/finish line.

    By Lap 67, Erik Jones was out in front while Wallace and Larson battled for second place. Soon after, Larson challenged for the lead on the inside lane while Jones maintained his ground on the outside lane. 

    At the Lap 75 mark, Erik Jones’ No. 43 Air Force Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was still leading by 0.013 seconds over Wallace’s No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota TRD Camry while Larson, Kurt Busch, Byron, Harvick, Elliott, Truex, Bowman and Logano were scored in the top 10.

    Six laps later, the caution returned when Greg Biffle fell off the pace with no power and was unable to limp his No. 44 Morehouse College Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 back to pit road as he stalled in Turn 4. At the moment of caution, Keselowski received the free pass to return to the lead lap due to being the first competitor scored a lap behind.

    Under caution, the field returned to pit road for service, mainly for fuel, and Byron emerged with the lead followed by Truex, Elliott, Larson, Blaney and Erik Jones.

    On Lap 85, the race proceeded under green as Byron maintained the lead ahead of the packed field. Shortly after, however, the caution returned when BJ McLeod spun in Turn 2 as the right-rear wheel of McLeod’s car came out.

    Another four laps later, the race restarted under green. The caution, however, followed suit for a multi-car wreck that sparked due to a stack-up at the front and resulted in Logano receiving a bump from Wallace that turned Logano into the outside wall in Turn 1. With Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang then slowly creeping towards the straightaway amid the ongoing field, he was hit by Ty Dillon as rookies Austin Cindric, Harrison Burton and Todd Gilliland along with Suarez, Kyle Busch, Cole Custer and Stenhouse were sent spinning and wrecking through Turn 1. 

    By Lap 97, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Byron and Truex dueled with Truex receiving a draft from former teammate Erik Jones while Byron had teammates Elliott and Larson lined up behind him along with Kurt Busch. 

    At the Lap 100 mark, Byron and Truex dueled for the top spot with Elliott, Erik Jones and Larson scored in the top five while Blaney, Kurt Busch, Wallace, Bowman and Harvick were in the top 10. By then, 24 of 39 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Six laps later, the caution flew when Cody Ware got turned by David Ragan past the start/finish line. Under caution, some like Erik Jones, Wallace, Blaney, Harvick, Cindric, Bell, Keselowski, Corey LaJoie and Gragson pitted while the rest led by Byron remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Wallace made an extra pit stop to address a potential loose wheel on his car.

    With 10 laps remaining in the second stage, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Byron maintained the lead as all four Hendrick Motorsports competitors were lined up from first through fourth on the inside lane while Truex was in fifth.

    As the field settled in a long single-file line with five laps remaining in the second stage, Byron continued to lead ahead of his Hendrick teammates while Truex, Chastain, Almirola, Erik Jones, Cindric and Harvick were in the top 10. By then, the Busch brothers along with Keselowski, Wallace, LaJoie, Blaney, Bell, Hamlin, Austin Dillon and Justin Haley were in the top 20.

    At the start of the final lap of the second stage, the field fanned out to multiple lanes as Kyle Busch mounted a charge on the outside lane. Byron, however, was able to maintain the lead ahead of the fanned field to claim his third stage victory of the season on Lap 120. Teammates Elliott and Larson followed pursuit along with Truex, Bowman, Kyle Busch, Almirola, Erik Jones, Chastain and Kurt Busch.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Erik Jones emerged with the lead following a two-tire stop followed by Kyle Busch, Harvick, Blaney, Keselowski and Wallace.

    With 63 laps remaining, the final stage started. At the start, Kyle Busch gained a brief advantage through the first two turns on the outside lane before Harvick gave Erik Jones a huge push for Jones to assume the lead through Turns 3 and 4. 

    During the following lap, Ryan Blaney gave Kyle Busch a big draft that enabled Busch to challenge Jones for the top spot before Busch prevailed when he returned to the start/finish line. Then through the backstretch, Busch moved in front of Jones to maintain the lead ahead of Jones on the inside lane until Blaney received drafting support from Wallace to mount his challenge for the lead. 

    With 58 laps remaining, Blaney and Wallace managed to pull themselves in front of Kyle Busch on the inside lane as Blaney maintained the lead, By then, a long single-file line was being formulated on the inside lane while Cindric lost the draft and was losing spots on the track. 

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event and with the field remaining in a long single-file line, Blaney was leading ahead of Wallace, Kyle Busch, Erik Jones, Harvick, Keselowski, Bell, Larson, Elliott and Byron while Chastain, McDowell, Denny Hamlin, Austin Dillon, Truex, David Ragan, LaJoie, Kurt Busch, Haley and Landon Cassill were in the top 20. By then, 25 of 39 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Ten laps later, Blaney maintained the lead ahead of Wallace, Kyle Busch, Erik Jones, Harvick and the long line of competitors on the inside line.

    Shortly after, a group of competitors led by Chastain moved to the outside lane and started to gain a run to the front with Chastain scored in ninth place. During the following lap, he moved up to seventh while Blaney continued to lead on the inside lane. 

    Then with 37 laps remaining, Wallace made a move to the outside of Blaney and he muscled his way into the lead followed by Kyle Busch and Erik Jones. Jones, however, made his move during the following lap beneath Wallace to take the lead while Kyle Busch, who had a momentum going on the outside lane, got shuffled out of line. In addition, Blaney moved into second followed by Harvick, Wallace, Keselowski and Chastain.

    With 33 laps remaining, Wallace received a draft from Chastain to reassume the lead over Erik Jones as he was placed on defense mode through both lanes.

    Three laps later, Wallace and Erik Jones were locked in a tight side-by-side battle for the lead as Wallace moved up the outside lane in front of Chastain and Hamlin while Jones had drafting support from Blaney and Harvick.

    Another lap later, a handful of competitors led by Blaney peeled off the track to pit under green. During the next lap, another wave of competitors led by Wallace pitted while another wave led by LaJoie pitted during the next lap. During the pit stops, Keselowski was busted with his second pit road speeding penalty. In addition, contact between Gragson and Kyle Busch sent Bell spinning towards the inside wall on the frontstretch. The race, however, proceeded under green as Bell was able to continue without sustaining any significant damage.

    Back on the track with less than 25 laps remaining, Hamlin cycled his way into the lead followed by Larson, Erik Jones, Byron and Chastain.

    With 20 laps remaining and the field settled in a long single-file line on the inside lane, Hamlin was leading ahead of Larson, Erik Jones, Byron and Chastain while Haley, Kurt Busch, Truex, LaJoie and Austin Dillon were in the top 10. Wallace was back in 11th ahead of Elliott, Blaney, Harvick, Almirola, Bowman, McDowell, Cindric, Kyle Busch and Cassill. 

    Three laps later, Larson moved into the lead while Hamlin, who briefly lost the draft, fell back to sixth place in an effort to save fuel. By then, Keselowski was lapped by the field.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event and with the field fanning out and stacked up to multiple lanes, Larson was leading by a hair over Chastain followed by Haley, Erik Jones, Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Byron, Truex, Elliott and Blaney. By then, Bell was lapped by the field.

    With seven laps remaining, Erik Jones gained a huge draft from Byron and Elliott on the outside lane to move into third place behind Larson and Chastain as he made his bid for the lead. As the field remained in a tight, deadlock through double lanes, Jones peaked ahead with drafting help from Byron while Larson had drafting support from Chastain on the inside lane. 

    With five laps remaining, Jones maintained the lead before Larson fought back on the inside lane as the intensity towards the pack intensified.

    Down to the final two laps, Jones remained as the leader ahead of Larson, Chastain, Kurt Busch and Byron, all of whom were briefly ahead of the pack in a single-file line. By then, Hamlin pitted under green after running out of fuel.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Jones continued to lead a long parade of competitors with some moving up to the outside lane through the backstretch. Then in Turns 3 and 4, Kurt Busch, who was in fourth place, bolted to the outside lane while waiting to gain a draft from Truex and Wallace. 

    Then through the tri-oval, Larson tried to make a move to the outside of Jones, but he made contact with Kurt Busch that sent Busch’s No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota TRD Camry hard against the tri-oval outside wall as he collected teammate, Wallace. In the process, Jones, who moved up the outside lane to block Larson, opened the inside lane for Ross Chastain to make his move along with Austin Dillon. Having open race track to himself at the right timing on the final straightaway, Chastain maintained the lead through all lanes to grab the win by 0.105 seconds over Dillon while LaJoie spun across the finish line. 

    With the victory, Chastain, who only led the final lap out of the event’s 188-scheduled laps, notched his second NASCAR Cup Series career win in his 125th series start and his first at Talladega Superspeedway. In addition, he achieved the second NASCAR victory for Trackhouse Racing nearly a month after the team and Chastain achieved their first win at Circuit of the Americas.

    “Holy cow,” Chastain, who celebrated with his trademark by smashing a watermelon on the frontstretch, said on FOX. “I’m always the one going to the top [lane] too early and making the mistake. There at the end, it was like eight [laps] to go, I was like I’m not going up there again. I did that a couple of times today. I was like, ‘I’ll just ride the bottom.’ I’m not gonna lose the race for us. I’ll just let them. To win with the Moose [Fraternity] on board, they’ve been with me for a few years now and supported me everywhere I went. I have no idea. [The leaders] just kept going up and they just kept moving out of the way.”

    “I’ve wrecked myself so many times, gotten into it with guys,” Chastain added. “[Team owner] Justin Marks and what he laid out for us was ambitious and I had no idea what to expect other than I knew I had my group from last year, I had AdventHealth, the Moose, now with Worldwide Express, Jockey coming on board. We’ve got partners. They’re believing in us. We started the year with a lot of races open. We’re almost full now [with sponsors]. It’s because of the vision of Justin Marks and Pitbull. Armando [Pitbull], we won, dude!”

    Austin Dillon came home in second place for his second runner-up result of the season while Kyle Busch, Larson and Truex finished in the top five. 

    Erik Jones, who led 25 laps and was within a straightaway of snapping a two-year winless drought, settled in sixth place for his third top-10 result of the season.

    “Last lap, it’s typical here,” Jones said. “I’ve been close here so many times in this race and the fall race. The U.S. Air Force Chevy had good speed. It just felt good to run up front, but come there that last lap, we were single file. I felt pretty good about it. They kind of doubled up behind us and that top lane was getting some momentum. Looking back, I wished I would’ve stayed on the bottom [lane], let [Chastain] push me. I didn’t realize they were coming with that much speed, but I tried to defend on [Larson]. We were too far ahead already right here. Obviously, defense on [Larson] kind of gives the door to [Chastain]. It is what it is. You’re just trying to win the race. You can only see how much so much is going on from the seat. You’re trying to make the best decision you can on the last 15-100 feet. Happy to run up front, lead laps. Just really would love to get the No. 43 [car] to Victory Lane. I thought today might be the day. All day long, we were fast and had speed and especially being up front there at the end on the last 10 [laps], I knew we had a shot. Just couldn’t quite close it out.”

    Elliott, McDowell, Bowman and Harvick rounded out the top 10 on the track. Notably, teammates Kurt Busch and Wallace finished 16th and 17th behind Byron and in front of bossman Denny Hamlin following their final lap wreck.

    There were 41 lead changes for 16 different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 28 laps.

    With his seventh-place result, Chase Elliott continues to lead the regular-season standings by 21 points over Ryan Blaney, 34 over William Byron, 56 over Kyle Busch, 59 over Alex Bowman and 60 over Joey Logano.

    Results.

    1. Ross Chastain, one lap led

    2. Austin Dillon

    3. Kyle Busch, three laps led

    4. Kyle Larson, 32 laps led

    5. Martin Truex Jr.

    6. Erik Jones, 25 laps led

    7. Chase Elliott

    8. Michael McDowell

    9. Alex Bowman

    10. Kevin Harvick

    11. Ryan Blaney, 23 laps led

    12. Justin Haley

    13. Aric Almirola

    14. Corey LaJoie, one lap led

    15. William Byron, 38 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    16. Kurt Busch, one lap led

    17. Bubba Wallace, 15 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    18. Denny Hamlin, nine laps led

    19. Landon Cassill

    20. Noah Gragson

    21. Austin Cindric

    22. Christopher Bell, one lap down, seven laps led

    23. Brad Keselowski, one lap down

    24. David Ragan, two laps down

    25. JJ Yeley, three laps down, one lap led

    26. BJ McLeod, 16 laps led, two laps led

    27. Todd Gilliland – OUT, Accident

    28. Cody Ware – OUT, Dvp

    29. Cole Custer – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    30. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident

    31. Daniel Suarez – OUT, Dvp, 28 laps led

    32. Joey Logano – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    33. Ty Dillon – OUT, Accident

    34. Harrison Burton – OUT, Accident

    35. Greg Biffle – OUT, Fuel pump

    36. Daniel Hemric – OUT, Accident

    37. Chase Briscoe – OUT, Accident

    38. Chris Buescher – OUT, Accident

    39. Tyler Reddick – OUT, Engine

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ lone annual visit of this season at Dover Motor Speedway in Dover, Delaware, for a 400-mile feature on Sunday, May 1. The event is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Weekend schedule for Talladega

    Weekend schedule for Talladega

    The NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series travel to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend. The ARCA Menards Series will also complete Saturday afternoon in the General Tire 250.

    The Camping World Truck Series will have some time off but will return to compete on May 6 at Darlington Raceway.

    Brad Keselowski leads all Cup Series active drivers with six wins at the 2.66-mile track and is the defending race winner.

    The Xfinity Series Dash 4 Cash program continues with AJ Allmendinger, Landon Cassill, Brandon Jones and Austin Hill eligible to contend for the $100,000 bonus.

    Friday, April 22

    4 p.m.: ARCA practice – Groups (Impound)
    No TV

    5:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying (Impound) (Single Vehicle/1 Lap/2 Rounds)
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM

    Saturday, April 23
    11 a.m.: Cup Series Qualifying (Impound) (Single Vehicle/1 Lap/2 Rounds)
    FS1/MRN/ SiriusXM

    1 p.m: ARCA General Tire 250 – 202.16 miles (76 Laps)
    FS1/MRN

    4 p.m.: Xfinity Ag-Pro 300
    Stages 25/50/113 Laps = 300.58 Miles
    FOX/MRN/SiriusXM
    The Purse: $1,475,583

    Sunday, April 24

    3 p.m.: Cup Series GEICO 500
    Stages 60/120/188 Laps = 500 Miles
    FOX/MRN/SiriusXM
    The Purse: $7,420,008

    Active Race Winners (10)WinsSeasons
    Brad Keselowski62021, 2017, 2016. 2014, 2012, 2009
    Joey Logano32018, 2016, 2015
    Ryan Blaney22020, 2019
    Denny Hamlin22020, 2014
    Bubba Wallace12021
    Chase Elliott12019
    Aric Almirola12018
    Ricky Stenhouse Jr12017
    Kevin Harvick12010
    Kyle Busch12008
  • Logitech G Partners with Three-Time Daytona 500 Champion Denny Hamlin

    Logitech G Partners with Three-Time Daytona 500 Champion Denny Hamlin

    Logitech G grows relationship with 23XI Racing as they continue to expand their presence in NASCAR

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. (April 19, 2022) – Logitech G, a brand of Logitech (SIX: LOGN) (NASDAQ: LOGI) and leading innovator of gaming technologies and gear, is expanding its NASCAR presence and relationship with 23XI Racing through a new partnership with Denny Hamlin, 23XI Racing co-owner and driver of the No. 11 Toyota Camry TRD for Joe Gibbs Racing.

    A partner with 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace since 2021, Logitech G also now becomes an official 23XI Racing team partner. Wallace’s driver suit throughout the season will feature the Logitech G logo, which will also adorn the sleeve of Hamlin’s driver suit, and the No. 23 Toyota Camry TRD will carry the logo at select races this season. Additionally, Logitech will be featured with a full paint scheme on 23XI Racing’s No. 23 Toyota for 10 races during the 2022 eNASCAR iRacing Series.

    “I love working with brands that are on the forefront of technology and innovation,” said Hamlin. “This is such a natural fit for me, as I’ve used their wheels and accessories for years in my own gaming rigs. Being a professional driver and a sim racer, I see the value in how important sim racing is to the growth of our sport. Logitech G is an integral part of that as it sits squarely at the intersection of technology and racing.”

    “Denny is a superstar of NASCAR and we’re very proud to be selected to be an official partner to Denny and 23XI Racing. Not only is he a veteran leader and a top contender in the NASCAR Cup Series, but his work to raise awareness and help those with cystic fibrosis and other chronic conditions is an inspiration to us all,” said Peter Kingsley, CMO at Logitech G. “We are excited to partner with Denny to help continue to engage with NASCAR fans and eracing fans alike.”

    Logitech has been a part of racing since the introduction of the first sim racing steering wheel, the Logitech G25, and continues to introduce race fans and gamers to the world of sim racing with products like the G923 racing wheel with TRUEFORCE technology, as well as the Logitech G Challenge, the largest sim racing competition for amateur drivers and motorsport enthusiasts.

    About Logitech G

    Logitech G, a brand of Logitech International, is the global leader in PC and console gaming gear. Logitech G provides gamers of all levels with industry-leading keyboards, mice, headsets, mousepads, and simulation products such as wheels and flight sticks – made possible through innovative design, advanced technologies and a deep passion for gaming. Founded in 1981, and headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, Logitech International is a Swiss public company listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (LOGN) and on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (LOGI). Find Logitech G at logitechG.com, the company blog or @LogitechG.

    Logitech and other Logitech marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Logitech Europe S.A and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. For more information about Logitech and its products, visit the company’s website at logitech.com.

    About Denny Hamlin

    Denny Hamlin drives the No. 11 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. During his 17-year career in NASCAR’s top division, the Chesterfield, Va. native has racked up a total of 47 NASCAR Cup Series victories, including three Daytona 500 wins—one of only six drivers in history to have won NASCAR’s premier race three or more times. A model of consistency, Hamlin has qualified for NASCAR’s postseason 15 times in 16 full-time seasons. In 2020, Hamlin co-founded 23XI Racing with long-time friend and business partner Michael Jordan. In addition to his racing endeavors, Hamlin started The Denny Hamlin Foundation which has raised more than $2 million for organizations that focus on cystic fibrosis research, treatment advances, and overall quality of life care. For more information, visit dennyhamlin.com.

    About 23XI Racing

    23XI Racing – pronounced twenty-three eleven – was founded by NBA legend Michael Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin in 2020. With rising NASCAR star Bubba Wallace selected to drive the No. 23 Toyota Camry TRD, the team made its NASCAR Cup Series debut in the 2021 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Wallace made history on October 4, 2021, when he captured his first career Cup Series win, becoming just the second African American to win in the Cup Series, and earning 23XI Racing its first-ever victory. 23XI Racing expanded to a two-car organization in 2022 with Cup Series Champion Kurt Busch driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry TRD.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Bristol Dirt

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Bristol Dirt

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Ryan Blaney: Blaney charged from 25th on the starting grid to post a fifth at Bristol, his fourth top-five finish of the year.

    “Ty Dillon’s car was sponsored by ‘Gain,’” Blaney said. “Erik Jones had ‘Tide’ on his car, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s car sported the ‘Irish Spring’ logo. I’m not sure what race teams charge for sponsorship at a dirt race, but you can bet those got ‘taken to the cleaners.’”

    2. Joey Logano: Despite not leading a single lap, Logano was a fixture up front all night at Bristol and finished third.

    “Drivers one and all love racing on the dirt at Bristol,” Logano said. “I think NASCAR should consider some other surfaces to race on, like linoleum, vinyl, tile, or carpet. Just call the event the ‘Floor It 500.’”

    3. Chase Elliott: Elliott started ninth and finished ninth at Bristol, and remains atop the points standings, three points up on Ryan Blaney.

    “I had an incident with Cody Ware in Stage 3,” Elliott said. “He retaliated and gave me a pretty hard bump. Somebody needs to tell that kid who I am because I am a ‘somebody.’ Somebody also needs to tell him who he is, because he’s a ‘nobody.’”

    4. Kyle Busch: Busch ran up front all night at Bristol and stole the win when Chase Briscoe and Tyler Reddick wrecked battling for the win.

    “I don’t have a background in dirt racing,” Busch said. “I grew up on the clean streets of Las Vegas, which are hard, smooth, and paid for with the life savings and crushed hopes of many a failed and addicted gambler.

    “You could say I ‘backed’ into the win at Bristol. You could also say Chase Briscoe ‘backed’ into Tyler Reddick, thus backing me into the win. Either way, I’m back in Victory Lane.”

    5. Chase Briscoe: Briscoe suffered an early flat tire at Bristol but recovered to put himself in position to win on the final lap. But his kamikaze move on race-leader Tyler Reddick backfired, as Briscoe spun himself and Reddick, which allowed Kyle Busch to steal the win.

    “I made it a point to apologize to Tyler,” Briscoe said. “I offered him a handshake, and he graciously accepted. If you ask some of the old school drivers, they’ll tell you that’s the closest us youngsters will come to ‘throwing hands.’”

    6. Alex Bowman: Bowman finished sixth at Bristol.

    “It’s really special racing on Easter,” Bowman said. “Probably more so for Kyle Busch. I’m sure Kyle and his team were resigned to finishing third. But then, all of a sudden, he was in first. And all his stunned followers could say was, ‘Look! He is risen!’

    “And let me apologize for even remotely comparing Jesus to Kyle Busch. As Brad Keselowski might say, ‘You just put the ‘a$$’ in ‘blasphemy.’”

    7. Tyler Reddick: While seemingly headed for his first win, Reddick was wrecked by Chase Briscoe, who spun Reddick while attempting a daring, potential race-winning pass in the final corner. Reddick recovered to finish second, while Briscoe dropped to 22nd as Kyle Busch won.

    “My No. 8 Chevy was great,” Reddick said. “I’d like to thank everyone associated with Richard Childress Racing and 3CHI. RCR brings the speed, and 3CHI brings the weed.

    “I could have tried to be a tough guy and take a swing at Briscoe for wrecking me. But I tried to be the ‘bigger man,’ which is hard because it ain’t easy being the ‘bigger man’ when you’re 5′ 5″ and Briscoe is 6′ 1″ and looks like he’s hiding Tony Stewart under his driver’s suit.”

    8. Kyle Larson: Larson won Stage 1 and came home fourth in the Bristol Dirt Race.

    “I’m totally at home racing on dirt,” Larson said. “In fact, I love it, even though the end result is often a mouthful of dirt. And, it gives me an opportunity to literally ‘wash my mouth out with soap,’ something I’ve done before figuratively.”

    9. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex experienced engine issues at Bristol and struggled to a disappointing 21st.

    “Luck just wasn’t on our side,” Truex said. “It was, however, on the side of my JGR teammate Kyle Busch. Seeing the discrepancy in luck between a good guy like me and a punk like Kyle brings tears of pain to me, and tears of joy to him. That’s why Kyle is considered by many to be a ‘lucky SOB.’

    “That being said, I’d rather be unlucky than be Kyle Busch.”

    10. William Byron: Byron finished 18th in the dirt at Bristol while his three Hendrick Motorsports teammates all placed in the top 10.

    “Racing on dirt is the closest we come to ‘drifting,’” Byron said. “It may not be ‘The Fast And The Furious,’ but I’ll put my driving up against any street racer any day, and I’ll put my acting up against Vin Diesel’s every day.”

  • Kyle Busch claims 60th Cup career win in wild finish at Bristol Dirt Course

    Kyle Busch claims 60th Cup career win in wild finish at Bristol Dirt Course

    In an unexpected turn of events, Kyle Busch benefitted from a final lap incident involving leaders Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe to storm to his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season in the second annual, rain-delayed Food City Dirt Race at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course on Sunday, April 17.

    The two-time Cup champion from Las Vegas, Nevada, came into Sunday night’s feature on Bristol’s dirt course with five results in the top 10 through the first eight scheduled events. When the final lap of the main event occurred, Busch appeared to have a solid third-place result sealed. Then as Reddick and Briscoe tangled while battling for the win on the final lap, Busch managed to erase his deficit and cycle to the lead ahead of Reddick to capture another win at Thunder Valley and achieve career win No. 60 in NASCAR’s premier series.

    The starting lineup was determined through four 15-lap heat events on Saturday, where the competitors accumulate points for their finishing results and for passes that improved their original starting spots. 

    Despite finishing in the runner-up spot behind Tyler Reddick during the first heat event, Cole Custer earned his first Cup career pole position for the main event after accumulating 16 points, nine for finishing in second place and seven for improving from his ninth-place starting spot. Joining him on the front row was Christopher Bell, who won the second heat event and racked up 14 points, 10 for winning the heat event and four for improving from his fifth-place starting spot.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Custer shot out with a brief early advantage until teammate Chase Briscoe, who qualified in fourth place, challenged and assumed the top spot when the field returned to the start/finish line. As Briscoe led the first lap, Christopher Bell moved his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota TRD Camry into the runner-up spot while Custer fell back to third. Behind, Tyler Reddick and Justin Haley battled for fourth place in front of a hard-charging Kyle Larson in his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Briscoe retained a narrow advantage ahead of Bell while Custer, Reddick and Larson were in the top five. Ty Dillon, who won the fourth and final heat event, was up in sixth place followed by Haley, Alex Bowman, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch.

    By Lap 12, Custer pitted due to an overheating issue while teammate Kevin Harvick was lapped by the field. Just as Aric Almirola was making a pit stop to have the front grille of his No. 10 Cummins/Rush Truck Center Ford Mustang clean during the following lap, the first caution of the event flew due to mud on the track.

    Under the first caution, the entire field made a mandatory pit stop to have their grilles and windshields clean from the mud and the dirt, with Briscoe retaining the lead ahead of Bell, Reddick, Larson and Haley. By then, teammates Harvick and Custer were pinned a lap behind the leaders despite taking the wave around.

    When the race restarted on Lap 25, Briscoe rocketed away from Bell to retain the lead as Larson also muscled his way into the runner-up spot. At the same time, Ty Dillon battled against Bell for third place while Kyle Busch moved into the top five ahead of Reddick and Austin Dillon.

    By Lap 35, Briscoe was leading by more than half a second over Larson followed by Ty Dillon, Bell, Kyle Busch, Reddick, Austin Dillon, Kurt Busch, Bowman and Haley.

    Just then, trouble struck for the leader Briscoe on Lap 49, who got up on the high banking in Turn 3 and fell off the pace entering Turn 4 while Larson stormed to the lead. Two turns later, Briscoe spun in Turn 2 after cutting a right-rear tire on his No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang.

    On Lap 55, the race restarted under green as Larson retained the lead. Behind, Ty Dillon and Bell battled for second while Austin Dillon and Bowman were up in the top five ahead of Kyle Busch’s No. 18 M&M’s Toyota TRD Camry.

    With reports of light rain lingering close to the track under the final 10 laps of the first stage, Larson extended his advantage to eight-tenths of a second ahead of Ty Dillon while Bell, Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch while Bowman, who nearly spun, slipped back to sixth ahead of Joey Logano, Reddick, Blaney and Chris Buescher.

    When the first stage concluded under caution on Lap 75 due to Justin Allgaier wrecking in Turn 3, Larson captured his first stage victory of the season. Ty Dillon settled in second followed by Bell, Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch, Bowman, Logano, Reddick, Blaney and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    Under the stage break, some like Daniel Suarez, Ross Chastain and Briscoe remained on the track while the rest of the field led by Larson peeled off the track to pit road for service. By then, Harvick received the free pass to cycle back on the lead lap while Custer was still pinned a lap behind.

    The second stage started on Lap 75 as teammates Suarez and Chastain occupied the front row. At the start, Suarez rocketed with the lead ahead of Larson, who overtook Chastain for the runner-up spot while Briscoe and Bell battled in the top five. Behind, Kyle Busch was in sixth ahead of Ty and Austin Dillon.

    On Lap 91, the caution flew when Alex Bowman got loose and spun his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 off the front nose of Chris Buescher in Turn 4. Under the caution period, Hamlin took his No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry to the garage due to a blown engine as he suffered his fourth DNF of the season.

    Six laps later, the race proceeded under green as Suarez retained the lead ahead of Larson and the field. Not long after, however, the caution returned for a multi-car pileup on the backstretch that involved Corey LaJoie, Noah Gragson, Bowman and Harvick, who retired his No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang in the garage.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 105, teammates Suarez and Chastain dueled for the lead with the former retaining the top spot while Kyle Busch tried to split both Trackhouse Racing teammates. 

    By Lap 110, Trackhouse teammates Suarez and Chastain battled for the lead while Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Bell dueled for third place. Briscoe, meanwhile, was in fifth ahead of the field. 

    Three laps later, the caution returned when Brad Keselowski made contact against Austin Dillon’s No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through Turns 1 and 2, which got Keselowski sideways as he spun while barely clipping former teammate Ryan Blaney.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 119, Suarez retained the lead while Bell muscled his way into the runner-up spot as he started to put pressure on Suarez for the lead.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 125, Suarez was leading ahead of Bell, Larson, Briscoe and Kyle Busch while Chastain, Chase Elliott, Logano, Ty Dillon and Blaney were in the top 10. Then during the following lap, the caution flew due to debris reported on the backstretch.

    By Lap 131, the race restarted under green as Suarez retained the lead while Briscoe issued a challenge for the lead. The caution, however, flew due to an incident on the backstretch that involved LaJoie, Harrison Burton and Bubba Wallace,

    On Lap 139, the race restarted under green. At the start, Suarez was locked in a three-wide battle with Bell and Briscoe before Briscoe assumed the top spot. In the process, Bell moved up to second while Suarez fell back to third place ahead of Chase Elliott.

    By Lap 145, Briscoe was leading by more than four-tenths of a second over Bell while Suarez, Elliott and Logano were in the top five.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 150, Briscoe captured his first stage victory of the season. Bell settled in second followed by Suarez, Elliott, Kyle Busch, Larson, Logano, Michael McDowell, Blaney and Reddick.

    Under the stage break, names like Kyle Busch, Logano, Blaney, Reddick, Austin Dillon, Keselowski, Haley, William Byron, Bubba Wallace, Buescher, rookie Harrison Burton, Bowman, JJ Yeley, Aric Almirola, rookie Austin Cindric and Cody Ware remained on the track while the rest led by Briscoe pitted.

    Following the pit stop procedures, the race was red-flagged due to precipitation. At the moment of the event’s hiatus, Briscoe was scored the leader. When the red flag was lifted following an extensive delay and the race proceeded under caution, Kyle Busch cycled to the lead. As the competitors made their way back on the track, Ross Chastain, who noted that his engine expired during the red flag period, retired.

    With 100 laps remaining, the final stage commenced under green. At the start, Kyle Busch was leading until Tyler Reddick made his way to the front. 

    Eleven laps later, the caution flew due to a multi-car stack-up and wreck in Turn 3 that involved Cody Ware, Elliott, Suarez, Martin Truex Jr. and Stenhouse.

    With 83 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green as Reddick retained the lead ahead of Logano, Blaney, Austin Dillon and the field. It took only one lap, however, for the caution to return when Erik Jones made contact with Stenhouse entering Turn 2 before spinning his No. 43 Tide Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 across the outside wall.

    Down to the final 75 laps, the race proceeded under green as Reddick retained the lead ahead of Logano, Austin Dillon and the field. The caution, however, returned three laps later when rookie Todd Gilliland got loose and spun in Turn 2.

    Another five laps later, the race restarted under green and it was Reddick who fended off the pack and retained the lead. 

    With 43 laps remaining, the caution returned when Stenhouse spun for the second time in the event. It then took only three laps for the event to restart under green.

    Then with 39 laps remaining, trouble ignited for Austin Dillon when he fell off the pace in Turn 4 and caused the field to scramble to avoid hitting him. In the midst of the scramble, JJ Yeley barely made contact with Dillon while Kurt Busch, who veered dead right to avoid hitting Dillon, ended up turning himself into the outside wall as he also collected Almirola.

    During the caution period, the race was red-flagged for a second time due to another round of precipitation. 

    When the red flag lifted and the race restarted with 24 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Reddick retained the lead ahead of Kyle Busch, Logano, Briscoe, Blaney, Bell and the field.

    Under the final 20 laps, Briscoe and Kyle Busch engaged in a fierce battle for the runner-up spot while Reddick continued to lead. 

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Reddick, who continued to lead, had Briscoe starting to erase his deficit as he was half a second behind.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Reddick was ahead by less than two-tenths of a second over Briscoe, who was right behind the rear bumper of Reddick’s No. 8 3Chi Chevrolet. Through Turns 1 and 2, Reddick retained the lead. Then in Turn 3, Briscoe made a final lap dive beneath Reddick’s car in a bid for the lead, but slipped sideways in the dirt and clipped Reddick in the process as both spun from the top to the bottom lane in Turn 3. 

    Following a full 360 spin, Reddick tried to limp to the finish line with the lead while Briscoe came to a rest backward below the apron. Just as Reddick had victory within his grasp, Kyle Busch, who was trailing the two leaders by less than four seconds at the start of the final lap, managed to edge Reddick at the finish line to win by 0.330 seconds. 

    With his first victory of the season and by becoming the eighth different winner through the first nine events of the 2022 season, Kyle Busch notched his 60th NASCAR Cup Series career win in his 615th series start, which kept him in ninth place on the all-time Cup wins list. In addition, Busch tied seven-time NASCAR champion Richard Petty’s record of achieving at least one Cup victory in 18 consecutive seasons. He also achieved his ninth Cup victory at Bristol Motor Speedway, but first on dirt. 

    Photo by Christian Gardner for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “We got one,” Busch, who only the final lap of 250, said on FOX. “It doesn’t matter how you get them. It’s all about getting them. Man, I feel like Dale Earnhardt Sr. right now. This is awesome. I didn’t even do anything. Just a testament to our team, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota, M&M’s…[The car] being fast. Fast enough to stay in contention. Fast enough to see those guys. I don’t know why we just couldn’t fire off after the rain. Every time it rained, both times, it just would not fire. It took it about 20 laps to get going. Overall, just real pumped to be back. Real pumped to get a win. This one means a lot. I could win on any surface here at Bristol. Bring it on, baby!”

    Reddick, who led a race-high 99 laps and was a few feet away from achieving his first Cup career win, settled in a disappointing second place for the fourth time in his career while Briscoe, who led 59 laps and rallied from his early spin to contend for his second Cup triumph, tumbled down the leaderboard to 22nd. Following the event, both competitors managed to share their perspectives on the incident and shake hands in the process.

    “I don’t think I did everything right, to be honest with you,” Reddick said. “Briscoe was able to run me back down there. Just looking at it, I should have done a little bit better job of just…I don’t know. I shouldn’t have let him get that close. He ran me back down. Worked really hard to do that. I mean, you’re racing on dirt; going for the move on the final corner. It’s everything that as a driver you hope to battle for in his situation. Made it really exciting for the fans. It does suck, but we were able to finish second still. I’m being honest. I should have done a better job and pulled away so he wasn’t in range to try to make that move. That’s how I look at it.”

    Logano, the reigning Bristol Dirt Course winner, came home in third place as Larson and Blaney finished in the top five. Rounding out the top 10 were Bowman, Bell, Elliott, McDowell and Ty Dillon.

    There were six lead changes among five different drivers. The race featured 14 cautions for 82 laps. 

    With his eighth-place finish, Chase Elliott continues to lead the regular-season standings by three points over Ryan Blaney, 21 over Joey Logano, 29 over William Byron and 51 over both Alex Bowman and Kyle Busch.

    Results.

    1. Kyle Busch, one lap led

    2. Tyler Reddick, 99 laps led

    3. Joey Logano

    4. Kyle Larson, 27 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    5. Ryan Blaney

    6. Alex Bowman 

    7. Christopher Bell

    8. Chase Elliott 

    9. Michael McDowell

    10. Ty Dillon

    11. Brad Keselowski

    12. Daniel Suarez, 64 laps led

    13. Cole Custer

    14. Justin Haley

    15. Chris Buescher

    16. Austin Cindric

    17. Todd Gilliland

    18. William Byron

    19. Corey LaJoie 

    20. Harrison Burton 

    21. Martin Truex Jr.

    22. Chase Briscoe, 59 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    23. Aric Almirola

    24. Erik Jones

    25. Josh Williams

    26. Cody Ware

    27. Noah Gragson, two laps down

    28. Bubba Wallace, five laps down

    29. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 10 laps down

    30. JJ Yeley – OUT, Accident

    31. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident

    32. Kurt Busch – OUT, Accident

    33. Ross Chastain – OUT, Engine

    34. Kevin Harvick – OUT, Accident

    35. Denny Hamlin – OUT, Engine

    36. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is Talladega Superspeedway, the first of two visits to the 2.66-mile superspeedway venue in Lincoln, Alabama, for the series, which is scheduled to occur on Sunday, April 24. The coverage for the event is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Weekend schedule for Bristol Dirt

    Weekend schedule for Bristol Dirt

    The NASCAR Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series travel to Bristol Motor Speedway this week for some dirt track racing under the lights while the Xfinity Series is off.

    Last year’s inaugural dirt race at Bristol was the first time in over 50 years that the Cup Series had competed on dirt. This weekend we will see the first race on dirt with the Next Gen car.

    Several Cup Series drivers will also compete in the Truck Series event including Joey Logano and Harrison Burton for Team DGR, Chase Elliott (Spire Motorsports) and Austin Dillon (Young’s Motorsports).

    Friday, April 15

    2 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying race assignment via random drawing (Virtual)
    3 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying race assignment via random drawing (Virtual)
    3:05 p.m.: Truck Series First Practice/All entries – FS1
    4:05 p.m.: Cup Series First Practice/All entries – FS1
    5:35 p.m.: Truck Series Final Practice/All entries – FS1
    6:35 p.m.: Cup Series Final Practice/All entries – FS1

    Saturday, April 16

    4:30 p.m.: Truck Series/Four 15-lap qualifying races – FS2
    6 p.m.: Cup Series/Four 15-lap qualifying races – FS2
    8 p.m.: Truck Series Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt
    Stages 40/90/150 Laps = 75 Miles
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $599,224
    Post-Race: Press Pass Live

    Sunday, April 17

    7 p.m.: Cup Series Food City Dirt Race
    Stages 75/150/250 Laps = 125 Miles)
    FOX/PRN/SiriusXM
    The Purse: $7,374,089
    Post-Race: Press Pass Live

    Bristol Dirt Track Qualifying Procedure (per NASCAR)

    Qualifying Race Starting Lineup – Random draw will determine the qualifying race designation and starting position for the qualifying race. The draw will be in order of current owner points.

    Qualifying Races – Four qualifying races held at 15 laps each with only green flag laps counted – no overtime rule. Free pass and wave around procedures will be in effect.

    Points Earned During Qualifying Races – Drivers will accumulate points in the qualifying races based on finishing position and passing points. The points total of a driver’s passing points and race finishing position points determines the starting position for the feature event.

    Passing Points = The difference between the assigned starting position and finishing position.
    Go forward and accumulate passing points
    Go backward or finish where you started = zero passing points
    Qualifying Race Finishing Position Points = Points received for the driver’s finishing position.
    Finish first and get 10 points, second place gets 9 points, and so on.

    Tiebreaker: Decided by owner points

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Martinsville

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Martinsville

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. William Byron: Byron held off Joey Logano in overtime at Martinsville to win the Blu-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400, Byron’s second straight win.

    “I also won the Truck race on Thursday,” Byron said “which means I left Martinsville with two grandfather clocks. It’s the greatest example of ‘two-timing’ in NASCAR since Jeff Gordon’s marriage.”

    2. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished fourth at Martinsville, posting his third top-five of the year.

    “I’m still looking for my first win,” Blaney said. “I’m sure it will come in due time. Obviously, it’s all about confidence, and I’m extremely confident, even though I’m winless. Who’s better than Ryan Blaney? ‘No won.’”

    3. Chase Elliott: Elliott started on the pole and led the first 185 laps, winning the first two stages before fading late to finish 10th.

    “It was like Christmas in April at Martinsville,” Elliott said. “Why do I say that? Because there was wintry weather and a boring ‘parade.’”

    4. Joey Logano: Logano was running second at the overtime restart at Martinsville, but couldn’t get around William Byron, who controlled the final two laps for the win. Logano’s runner-up finish left him fourth in the points standings, 27 behind Chase Elliott.

    “I got close enough to bump Byron once,” Logano said. “If I had it to do over, I would have bumped him harder. I’m pretty disappointed that I didn’t knock Byron out of the way. Just think, all this time, Matt Kenseth thought I had learned my lesson.”

    5. Ross Chastain: Chastain came home fifth at Martinsville, and is fifth in the points standings, 42 out of first.

    “The start of the race was delayed for an hour due to rain and sleet,” Chastain said. “What else is cold and wet and lasts an hour at Martinsville? A 12-pack.”

    6. Chase Briscoe: Briscoe came home ninth at Martinsville.

    “Dale Earnhardt Jr. raced in Friday’s Xfinity race,” Briscoe said, “and shared a few beers with some fellow drivers after the race. That story is wholesomely known as Dale Earnhardt’s alcohol ‘content,’ and has nothing to do with how much he drank.”

    7. Alex Bowman: Bowman finished 12th at Martinsville.

    “I can’t wait for the Bristol Dirt Race on Sunday,” Bowman said. “And, it also takes place on Easter Sunday. It’s a race fan’s dream: Bristol, on dirt, on Easter. It’s practically the Holy Trinity.’”

    8. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex struggled at Martinsville, finishing 22nd.

    “It wasn’t the greatest day for Joe Gibbs Racing,” Truex said. “But it wasn’t a lost weekend for Joe Gibbs. On Friday, he got to witness his grandson Ty, who was wearing his helmet, punch Sam Mayer, who wasn’t wearing his helmet.

    9. Aric Almirola: Almirola finished eighth at Martinsville, posting his first top 10 since Las Vegas on March 6.

    “Darrell Waltrip will serve as the guest analyst for Fox at the upcoming Bristol Dirt Race,” Almirola said. “So, the tiny broadcast booth he’ll share with Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer at the Coliseum will temporarily be known as the ‘Tide Pod.’”

    10. Kyle Busch: Busch finished seventh at Martinville, as the remaining three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers struggled, all finishing 20th or worse.

    “How about that post-Xfinity race brawl between Ty Gibbs and Sam Mayer?” Busch said. “I’ve been on both sides of that situation. I can relate to Ty’s feelings because I’ve been mad enough to take a swing at a fellow driver. I can relate to Sam’s predicament because I also have a punchable face.”

  • Byron becomes first repeat Cup winner of 2022 with dominant Martinsville victory

    Byron becomes first repeat Cup winner of 2022 with dominant Martinsville victory

    Having a fast and strong race car when it mattered from start to finish, including through a late overtime shootout, William Byron became the first repeat winner in the early stages of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series after scoring a dominant victory in the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, April 9.

    The 24-year-old Byron from Charlotte, North Carolina, led three times for 212 of 403 laps as he fended off a late challenge from Joey Logano through an overtime attempt to grab his second Cup victory of the season and his second grandfather clock trophy two days after winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at Martinsville, which marked his first NASCAR national touring series victory at the Paperclip-shaped short track in Ridgeway, Virginia.

    With on-track qualifying occurring on Friday, Chase Elliott claimed his first pole position of the season after recording a pole-winning lap at 96.151 mph in 19.694 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Aric Almirola, who posted a fast qualifying lap at 95.641 mph in 19.799 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the race started amid a delay due to rain, Elliott launched his No. 9 Llumar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to the front and clear of the field entering the first turn. He then went on to lead the first lap ahead of Aric Almirola, Cole Custer and the field. During the opening lap, AJ Allmendinger served a drive-through penalty through pit road due to his No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 failing pre-qualifying inspection three times on Friday.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Elliott was leading by more than a second over Custer followed by William Byron, Christopher Bell and Almirola while Chris Buescher, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson were in the top 10.

    Fifteen laps later, Elliott continued to lead by less than two seconds over Custer’s No. 41 Haas Ford Mustang while third-place Byron trailed by two seconds in his No. 24 Raptor Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. By then and with Elliott still leading, Hendrick Motorsports became the first Cup team to lead 10,000 laps at a single track.

    By the Lap 50 mark, Elliott, who was approaching lapped traffic, remained the leader by more than two seconds over teammate Byron followed by Custer, Bell and Almirola while Buescher, Harvick, Keselowski, Larson and Joey Logano were in the top 10. Rookie Austin Cindric trailed in 11th followed by Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, Kurt Busch, Bubba Wallace, Chase Briscoe, rookie Todd Gilliland, Austin Dillon and Justin Haley. Tyler Reddick was mired in 21st ahead of Ross Chastain, Martin Truex Jr., Michael McDowell, Erik Jones, Denny Hamlin, Daniel Suárez, rookie Harrison Burton, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Corey LaJoie.

    Twenty laps later, the battle for the lead intensified as Byron caught and pressured teammate Elliott for the lead, though the former could not find a way to navigate his way around his teammate. By then, Hamlin, who was in 25th place behind Michael McDowell and Erik Jones, was trying to remain on the lead lap.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 80, Elliott, who was able to navigate his way through lapped traffic while also putting McDowell, Hamlin, Daniel Suárez and Erik Jones a lap down, captured his first stage victory of the season. Teammate Byron settled in second followed by Custer, Bell, Almirola, Harvick, Blaney, Logano, Cindric and Kurt Busch.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Elliott retained the lead after exiting pit road with the lead followed by teammate Byron, Bell, Almirola, Custer and Logano. Following the pit stops, Bubba Wallace was penalized for having a crew member jump over the pit wall too soon. In addition, Justin Haley and Brad Keselowski were penalized for having equipment over the wall too soon.

    The second stage started on Lap 91 as teammates Elliott and Byron occupied the front row. At the start, Elliott took off with the lead while Byron and Custer battled for the runner-up spot. Behind, Bell and Logano dueled for fourth place in front of Almirola while Blaney moved up to seventh in front of teammate Cindric, Bowman, Harvick, Austin Dillon and Kurt Busch.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Elliott was leading by more than a second over teammate Byron while Custer, Bell and Logano settled in the top five. Meanwhile, Hamlin and Erik Jones were battling for the 24th-place spot while both were scored two laps behind the leaders.

    Twenty-five laps later, Elliott continued to lead by nearly seven-tenths of a second over teammate Byron followed by Custer, Bell, Logano, Almirola, Blaney, Cindric, Harvick and Austin Dillon. By then, Larson was in 11th ahead of Kurt Busch, Bowman, Briscoe, Kyle Busch, Truex, Chastain, Buescher, Reddick and Gilliland. Bubba Wallace was mired in 23rd behind Keselowski while Hamlin was pinned in 25th place, the second competitor a lap behind Erik Jones.

    Through the first 150 scheduled laps, Elliott remained as the leader despite having his advantage decreased to four-tenths of a second over teammate Byron. By then, 22 of 36 competitors were scored on the lead lap while names like McDowell, Erik Jones, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Denny Hamlin, Harrison Burton, Daniel Suárez, AJ Allmendinger, Ty Dillon, Corey LaJoie and Justin Haley were lapped.

    By Lap 165, Elliott stabilized his advantage to nearly half a second over teammate Byron. Behind, Team Penske’s Logano and Blaney moved into third and fourth while Custer was being pressured by Bell and Almirola for more.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 180, Elliott, who was navigating his way through lapped traffic, claimed his second consecutive stage victory of the event and of the season. Teammate Byron settled in second followed by Logano, Blaney, Custer, Austin Dillon, Almirola, Cindric, Bell and Harvick.

    Under the stage break, the leaders returned to pit road and Byron managed to emerge out in front of teammate Elliott for the first time after exiting with the top spot followed by Blaney, Logan, Austin Dillon and Almirola. During the pit stops, Custer was penalized for hitting a loose tire while exiting his pit stall. In addition, Stenhouse was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    With 208 laps remaining, the final stage started. At the start, Byron retained the lead ahead of Elliott and Logano while Blaney followed in pursuit. Behind, Austin Dillon was in fifth followed by Bell, Almirola, Kurt Busch, Cindric and Larson. Way behind the field, a brief stack-up occurred that started with Larson and involved Harvick, Kyle Busch, Bowman, Chastain and Briscoe, with the latter two making contact with Bowman, Busch and Harvick. 

    With less than 200 laps remaining and the race surpassing its halfway mark, Byron was out in front by seven-tenths of a second over teammate Elliott followed by Logano, Blaney and Austin Dillon while Bell, Almirola, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch and Cindric were in the top 10.

    Fifty laps later, Byron continued to lead by less than three-tenths of a second over teammate Elliott, who started to reel in on his Hendrick Motorsports teammate for the top spot, while Logano, Blaney and Austin Dillon stabilized themselves in the top five. By then, 22 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Another 25 laps later, Byron extended his advantage to more than a second over teammate Elliott while the third- and fourth-place competitors of Logano and Blaney trailed by less than two seconds. Austin Dillon, meanwhile, was still in fifth place while trailing by more than three seconds.

    A few laps later, Logano made contact with Elliott as Logano moved into the runner-up spot followed by Blaney and Austin Dillon while Elliott, who was trapped on the outside lane, fell back to fifth place. By then, Allmendinger, who was two laps behind, pitted.

    Nearing the final 110 laps of the event, green flag pit stops ensued as Kyle Busch pitted his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota TRD Camry. Shortly after, teammate Martin Truex Jr. pitted his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota TRD Camry, but he eventually returned to pit for a second time due to a flat right-front tire. Bowman also pitted along with Keselowski, Reddick, Bell, Elliott, Kurt Busch, Bubba Wallace, Almirola, Harvick, Larson, Logano, Austin Dillon, Cindric, Byron and others. Following the pit stops, Bell was penalized for having a crew member over the pit wall too soon along with Larson, who sped on pit road.

    With 91 laps remaining, Byron cycled back to the lead after Blaney pitted. Logano cycled back into the runner-up spot followed by Austin Dillon and Elliott while Blaney settled in fifth. 

    A few laps later, the caution flew when Hamlin stalled his No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota TRD Camry through the frontstretch after running out of fuel.

    Under caution, some like Elliott, Kyle Busch, Harvick, Erik Jones, Buescher, Bowman and Wallace pitted while the rest led by Byron remained on the track.

    With 80 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green as Byron and Austin Dillon occupied the front row. At the start, Byron fended off Dillon to retain the lead while Dillon managed to fend off Logano for the runner-up spot. Behind, a flurry of battles ignited within the pack as Blaney and Kurt Busch battled for fourth place in front of Almirola, who ran into the rear of Blaney’s No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang, while Chastain, Kyle Busch, Briscoe and Cindric duked for seventh place.

    Fifteen laps later, Byron stabilized his advantage to nearly seven-tenths of a second over Austin Dillon followed by Logano, Kurt Busch and Blaney while Almirola, Chastain, Kyle Busch, Briscoe and Reddick were in the top 10. By then, Elliott was in 11th followed by Cindric, Erik Jones, Wallace, Bowman, Buescher and Harvick, who got bumped by Elliott earlier and trapped on the outside lane as he lost a bevy of spots.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Byron continued to lead by more than a second over Austin Dillon followed by Logano, Kurt Busch, Blaney, Chastain, Almirola, Kyle Busch, Briscoe and Reddick.

    Twenty laps later, Byron stabilized his advantage to a little above one-and-a-half seconds over Austin Dillon while Logano, Kurt Busch and Blaney remained in the top five. 

    With 20 laps remaining, Byron remained as the leader by less than two seconds over Austin Dillon while third-place Logano trailed by more than two seconds. 

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Byron was leading by more than two seconds over Austin Dillon followed by Logano, Kurt Busch and Blaney while Chastain, Almirola, Briscoe, Kyle Busch and Elliott were in the top 10. Cindric was in 11th ahead of Erik Jones, Wallace, Bowman, Harvick, Reddick, Keselowski and Buescher, all of whom were on the lead lap.

    Just then, the caution flew with six laps remaining when Todd Gilliland locked up his front tires and hit the wall between Turns 3 and 4. The caution all but erased Byron’s advantage of more than two seconds over Austin Dillon as the field stacked up under a cautious pace. It also sent the event into overtime.

    Under caution, some led by Kyle Busch pitted while the rest led by Byron remained on the track.

    During the first overtime attempt, Byron and Logano occupied the front row followed by Austin Dillon, Blaney, Kurt Busch and Chastain. At the start, Byron dueled with Logano through the first turn until Byron managed to clear Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang to retain the lead through the backstretch and entering Turns 3 and 4.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Byron continued to lead by a narrow margin over Logano while Austin Dillon followed in pursuit. Through the final circuit, Logano drew himself close to the rear bumper of Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet, but he could not execute a bump-and-run move through Turns 3 and 4 as Byron managed to pull away and fend off Logano to claim his second victory of the weekend and add another grandfather clock to his trophy case. 

    In addition to claiming his second victory of the season and second of the weekend at Martinsville, Byron claimed his fourth career win in NASCAR’s premier series in his 152nd career start. The victory was also the 27th at Martinsville for Hendrick Motorsports as HMS’ No. 24 car returned to Victory Lane at the Paperclip-shaped short track since Jeff Gordon won in November 2015.

    “Man, it feels awesome,” Byron said on FS1. “I knew when that last caution came out, I thought everybody behind us would pit. Luckily, we stayed out. We were aggressive. We felt like we could re-fire on the tires and be OK. You got one of the most aggressive guys behind you and Logano. I chattered the tires in [Turns] 3 and 4 and left the bottom [lane] open, but [I] was able to block my exit and get a good drive off.” 

    This one’s for my mom,” Byron added. “This same weekend last year, she had a mini-stroke and was diagnosed with brain cancer. It means a lot to have her here. It’s been a crazy year, but she’s doing great. Thanks, everybody for the support. Kind of felt like she was riding there with me. It’s cool to have her here and I’m definitely gonna enjoy this one.”

    Logano, who was within striking distance of claiming his first victory of the season, settled in second place followed by Austin Dillon, who has not won in the Cup Series since winning at Texas Motor Speedway in July 2020.

    “It was a good race down to the end,” Logano said. “[It was] Really hard to pass…That final restart there, I had a front row. That’s what you can ask for. Got cleared to second, and Willy [Byron] kind of messed up off of [Turn] 4 and let me get to him, and he did a really good job of brake-checking…He did what he was supposed to do, and kind of got me all stuffed up behind him, and I couldn’t accelerate off the corner and be as close as I needed to be down into [Turn] 3 to execute the ol’ bump-and-run. [I] Couldn’t get quite to him, but his corner entry was really strong, too, which I think allowed him to get in there pretty strong. Overall, the Shell/Pennzoil Mustang had a solid run. Just hate being that close to winning and not making it happen. But big points today, and it just stings. Second just sucks sometimes, that’s all.”

    “Well, I’m a little bummed,” Dillon added. “I’d like to pride myself in when we get in those situations is being clutch. That was anything but that on that last restart. I spun the tires pretty good through the gears. Once I got back in line there, I had some grip and I feel like we had good forward drive all night long. I just felt like if we got through the gears, we’re gonna have a shot at them, but our Get Bioethanol Chevy was really fast. We’ve been working our tails off. I’m not gonna say we haven’t because we’ve been in the simulator. We’ve been working really hard to make these cars as good as possible. We wanna get [Richard Childress Racing] a win and that’s what we’re here racing for. Thank the good Lord for bringing us a good run. That was a lot of fun.”

    Blaney and Chastain finished in the top five while Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Almirola, Briscoe and Elliott completed the top 10 on the track. 

    There were five lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 36 laps.

    With his 10th-place result, Chase Elliott leads the regular-season standings by three points over Ryan Blaney, 12 over teammate William Byron, 27 over Joey Logano, 42 over Ross Chastain and 51 over both Alex Bowman and Martin Truex Jr.

    Results.

    1. William Byron, 212 laps led

    2. Joey Logano

    3. Austin Dillon, one lap led

    4. Ryan Blaney, five laps led 

    5. Ross Chastain

    6. Kurt Busch

    7. Kyle Busch

    8. Aric Almirola

    9. Chase Briscoe

    10. Chase Elliott, 185 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    11. Austin Cindric

    12. Alex Bowman

    13. Erik Jones

    14. Kevin Harvick

    15. Chris Buescher

    16. Bubba Wallace

    17. Brad Keselowski

    18. Tyler Reddick

    19. Kyle Larson

    20. Christopher Bell, one lap down

    21. Cole Custer, one lap down

    22. Martin Truex Jr., two laps down

    23. Ty Dillon, two laps down

    24. AJ Allmendinger, two laps down

    25. Michael McDowell, three laps down

    26. Harrison Burton, three laps down

    27. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., three laps down

    28. Denny Hamlin, three laps down

    29. Daniel Suarez, four laps down

    30. Todd Gilliland, four laps down

    31. Justin Haley, five laps down

    32. Corey LaJoie, six laps down

    33. Cody Ware, nine laps down

    34. JJ Yeley, 11 laps down

    35. Josh Bilicki, 12 laps down

    36. BJ McLeod – OUT, Handling

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ second annual Food City Dirt Race at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course in Bristol, Tennessee, on April 17, which marks Easter Sunday. The event is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Weekend schedule for Martinsville Speedway

    Weekend schedule for Martinsville Speedway

    NASCAR heads to Martinsville Speedway this weekend as all three national series prepare to compete on the 0.526-mile track. The 2022 Cup Series season has produced seven different winners in seven races. Will the trend continue?

    Martinsville is the only currently active track that has been on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule since the inaugural race season in 1949. There have been 146 races with 55 different race winners. Denny Hamlin leads the nine active drivers who have previously been to victory lane at Martinsville with five wins.

    Martinsville will be the second race in the Xfinity Series Dash 4 Cash program with participants AJ Allmendinger, Ty Gibbs, Riley Herbst and Sam Mayer vying for the $100,000 prize.

    The Camping World Truck Series has seen a streak of eight different winners at Martinsville, dating back to April 2017.

    There will also be five drivers who are making their Truck Series debut this week. They include Dillon Steuer/Young’s Motorsports, Chase Janes and Blake Lothian/Reaume Brother Racing, Jake Garcia/McAnally-Hilgemann Racing and Justin S. Carroll with his family-owned team, Terry Carroll Motorsports.

    All times are Eastern.

    Thursday, April 7

    3 p.m.: Truck Series Practice, Groups 1 & 2 – FS1
    3:30 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying (Impound) Single Vehicle/2 Laps/All Entries – FS1
    5:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice, Groups 1 & 2 – FS1
    6 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying (Impound) Single Vehicle/2 LAPS/All Entries – FS1
    8 p.m.: Truck Series Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 200 race
    Stages 50/100/200 Laps = 105.2 Miles
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
    The Purse: $693,842

    Friday, April 8

    4:30 p.m.: Cup Series Practice Groups A & B – FS1/MRN
    5:05 PM Cup Series Qualifying (Impound) Groups A & B/Single Vehicle, 2 Laps, 2 Rounds – FS1/MRN
    7:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Call 811 Before You Dig 250 Powered by Call811.com
    Stages 60/120/250 Laps = 131.5 Miles
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
    The Purse: $1,501,956

    Saturday, April 9

    7:30 p.m.: Cup Series Blu-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 race
    Stages 80/180/400 Laps = 210.4 Miles
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
    The Purse: $6,917,073