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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. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished seventh at Talladega in a rain-delayed and rain-shortened race won by Bubba Wallace, who drives for 23XI Racing, co-owned by Hamlin and Michael Jordan.

    “What a win by Bubba,” Hamlin said. “At some point, Bubba, Michael, and I will enjoy a victory cigar together. And to all those who have a problem with Bubba winning, I’ll see you in hell, and you can see me inhale.”

    2. Kyle Larson: Larson suffered damage late in Stage 1 when contact between William Byron and Ross Chastain sent Chastain’s No. 77 hard into Larson’s left side. Larson limped home with a 37th-place finish.

    “We spent a lot of time trying to get the car to maintain minimum speed,” Larson said. “How do I know I’m above that minimum speed threshold? I’m going faster than Quin Houff.”

    3. Joey Logano: Logano came home third in the YellaWood 500.

    “Racing at Talladega is all about getting a good run,” Logano said. “My Penske teammate Brad Keselowski knows that better than anyone because as far as his career with Penske goes, Brad had a good run.”

    4. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished 12th in the YellaWood 500 at Talladega.

    “Talladega is hectic enough when the weather is good,” Truex said. “When the threat of rain is added to the equation, it creates another level of chaos, and it confuses some fans because they see the word ‘equation’ and think they’ll have to do some type of math.”

    5. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished 15th at Talladega and is sixth in the playoff standings, 15 points above the cut line.

    “Saturday’s Xfinity race was shortened because of darkness,” Blaney said, “and apparently, should have been sponsored by ‘Natural Light’ beer.”

    6. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished 18th at Talladega.

    “I’m pretty sure Kevin Harvick is still angry with me,” Elliott said. “He apparently ‘has it in’ for me. The Round of 8 in the playoffs? It may ‘have it out‘ for Harvick.”

    7. Kyle Busch: Busch came home 27th at Talladega and is only nine points above the playoff cut line.

    “After the race was already delayed by a day,” Busch said, “it was certainly anti-climactic for it to end early because of rain. And I know anti-climactic, because I know all things ‘anti,’ because I may be the anti-Christ, according to a lot of fans.”

    8. Kevin Harvick: Harvick posted a solid eighth-place finish at Talladega, but is ninth in the playoff standings, nine points below the cut line.

    “I’m sitting on the playoff bubble,” Harvick said. “Surprisingly, despite its airiness, it really chaps my ass.”

    9. William Byron: Byron crashed on Lap 116 after contact with Ryan Preece in a multi-car accident and finished a disastrous 36th. He’s is 44 points below the cut line.

    “I’m heading to Charlotte with one goal in mind,” Byron said, “and that’s winning. That may sound overconfident, but hey, it’s ‘Go big or go home,’ and as a driver for Hendrick, Charlotte is conveniently home.”

    10. Alex Bowman: Bowman crashed out at Talladega on Lap 97 after Chase Elliott bumped Ricky Stenhouse Jr., sending Stenhouse hard into the side of Bowman. Bowman finished 38th and is last in the playoff standings.

    “I don’t know what happened,” Bowman said. “I’m not one to point fingers, or name names, or make accusations, but I am one to do all three of those at once. So, my finger is aimed at Chase Elliott, who I’m accusing of causing me to wreck. My ‘side’ of the story is the left side of my car was ruined, and I’m starting to ‘side’ with Kevin Harvick.”

  • Bubba Wallace makes history, earns first Cup career victory at Talladega

    Bubba Wallace makes history, earns first Cup career victory at Talladega

    History was made under a wet, cloudy afternoon at Talladega, Alabama, after Bubba Wallace won the rain-shortened YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Monday, October 4, and claimed his first elusive NASCAR Cup Series career win.

    Wallace, who dodged a late-race multi-car wreck, stormed to the lead with drafting help from Brad Keselowski with seven laps remaining in the second stage and continued to lead when another multi-car wreck occurred behind him two laps later that drew a caution. Soon after, rain, which dominated the weekend and forced the event to be postponed from its scheduled start on Sunday, October 3, began to pour across the superspeedway venue, which forced NASCAR to red-flag the event and park the field to pit road.

    Nearly an hour after the event was red-flagged and with lightning strikes being reported along with continuous rain, NASCAR made the race official and Wallace was handed his first career win at his home track in NASCAR’s premier series and in his 143rd series start, thus becoming the second African-American competitor to win in the Cup level.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Denny Hamlin, winner of last weekend’s Playoff event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and last year’s fall event at Talladega, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with teammate Kyle Busch.

    Prior to the event, Quin Houff and Joey Gase started at the rear of the field due to failing pre-race inspection twice. James Davison also started at the rear of the field for replacing David Starr for the event.

    Following a one-and-a-half-hour delay due to morning precipitation on the track on Sunday, October 3, the competitors fired up their engines and hit the track in an attempt to commence the event on a cloudy afternoon. Not long after, however, precipitation hit the track again, which forced the pace car to lead the field back on to pit road and under another weather delay. 

    Then, NASCAR made the call to postpone the event from Sunday to Monday due to the continuous rain and no weather relief in sight.

    When the competitors returned a day later, the race was able to start under green on a clear, cloudy afternoon. At the start, Kyle Busch jumped ahead with the lead on the inside lane followed by Chase Elliott while Hamlin slipped to third on the outside lane.

    As Kyle Larson, Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski started to gain a run exiting the backstretch and entering the frontstretch, Kyle Busch was able to lead the first lap as the field began to fan out to multiple lanes and in a tight pack.

    Just past the start/finish line, Logano stormed to the lead on the outside lane with drafting help from teammate Keselowski and Hamlin. Despite receiving a strong push to jump ahead through the backstretch, Logano nearly lost the top spot to Kyle Busch entering the frontstretch, but he was able to lead the following lap by a nose.

    Through the first five laps of the event, Kyle Busch, who moved back to the lead on the third lap, was leading ahead of Elliott, Larson Kevin Harvick and Alex Bowman. Tyler Reddick was in sixth ahead of Logano, rookie Chase Briscoe, Matt DiBenedetto and Bubba Wallace. By then, Hamlin pulled his car out of the pack as part of a strategic move and settled his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry in 29th place.

    By Lap 10, Harvick, who took over the lead on the sixth lap, was leading ahead of Ford teammates Logano, DiBenedetto, Ryan Blaney, Keselowski and Aric Almirola. Austin Dillon was in seventh ahead of William Byron, Cole Custer and Kyle Busch. 

    Soon after, the field, which had broken apart and was divided into certain sections of competitors, was back competing in a tight pack within the draft and beginning to fan out to multiple lanes. Then, the field fanned out three lanes deep as Truex, who received drafting help from Wallace, challenged Harvick and DiBenedetto for the lead, which he succeeded on Lap 15 before being overtaken by Larson two laps later.

    By Lap 20, Custer, who received drafting help from teammate Harvick, emerged with the lead ahead of Larson, who led the previous three laps, while Logano and Wallace were in the top five ahead of a steaming pack of cars. By then, 38 of the 40 starters were separated by less than six seconds. 

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 25, Custer was still leading in his No. 41 Autodesk Ford Mustang ahead of Harvick, Logano, Blaney, Elliott, Keselowski and the field that settled through double lanes. By then, names like DiBenedetto, Ryan Newman, Austin Dillon, Daniel Suarez, Aric Almirola, Briscoe, Reddick, Hamlin and Christopher Bell were running outside the top 20 while Truex, Alex Bowman, Byron, Larson and Kyle Busch were back inside the top 20. 

    Under the competition caution, the majority of the field pitted while 12 competitors led by rookie Anthony Alfredo remained on the track. During the pit stops, Hamlin slid through his pit box and had to back up for fresh tires while Elliott nearly made contact with Cody Ware while exiting his pit stall.

    A lap later, the 12 competitors led by Alfredo who remained on the track pitted, giving the lead to Harvick.

    When the race restarted on Lap 29, Harvick briefly jumped ahead with the top spot on the inside lane before Truex received a big push from Kurt Busch and Keselowski to take the lead through the backstretch. 

    Then, Kurt Busch moved his No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to pass Truex on the inside lane and lead the following lap. Truex, though, fought back on the outside lane as the field was engaged in a competitive, tight pack within the draft. 

    By Lap 35, Harvick, who reassumed the lead a lap earlier, was ahead of Team Penske’s Blaney and Logano. Austin Dillon was up in fourth ahead of Keselowski, Chris Buescher, Hamlin, Custer and the field. Meanwhile, Kurt Busch was in ninth, Truex was in 11th, Kyle Busch was in 14th, Byron was in 20th, teammates Larson and Bowman were in 22nd and 23rd, and Elliott was in 29th.

    Approaching the Lap 38 mark, the field fanned out to three lanes at the front as Hamlin challenged Keselowski and Harvick for the top spot. In the middle of the pack, a four-wide action nearly occurred that included Logano.

    Through the first 40 laps of the event, Keselowski was leading ahead of Buescher, Hamlin, Logano, Austin Dillon, Harvick and the field. By then, Michael McDowell, who suffered damage under the competition caution and lost in touch with the field and the draft prior to the restart, was lapped by the leaders.

    Three laps later, the top-26 competitors were separated by a second as Keselowski challenged and overtook Hamlin, who led the previous two laps, for the top spot. By then, Keselowski had drafting help from Ford teammate Chris Buescher and Logano while Hamlin was trying to keep Bowman in the draft. Meanwhile, Austin Dillon was trying to form a third line on the inside lane, but he was overtaken by the other two lanes that had a multitude of cars within the draft. 

    By Lap 50 and through the closing laps of the first stage, the majority of the field were running in a long single-file line on the outside lane led by Keselowski. In addition, names like Chris Buescher, Bubba Wallace, Justin Haley were in the top 10 while names like Ross Chastain, Corey LaJoie, Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick were in the top 15. Justin Allgaier, an Xfinity Series veteran, was in 16th ahead of Elliott.

    Four laps later, Buescher, who bumped and moved Keselowski out of the way through the backstretch, led a lap for himself ahead of Logano and Harvick. Keselowski, meanwhile, was back in fourth alongside teammate Blaney.  

    On Lap 56, the caution flew when Justin Allgaier, running within the top 10, got bumped and turned off the front nose of Byron entering the frontstretch, where he collided against Larson’s No. 5 Cincinnati Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE against the outside wall before sliding across the track and near the pit road exit. Briscoe and Ryan Preece were also involved in the accident.

    The early incident concluded the first stage scheduled on Lap 60 under caution as Buescher claimed his second stage victory of the season and the first since Homestead-Miami Speedway in February. Logano, the highest-running Playoff contender, settled in second ahead of Keselowski, Harvick, Reddick, Blaney, Elliott, Ross Chastain, Kurt Busch and Alex Bowman. By then, names like Byron, Kyle Busch and Truex were in the top-17 while Hamlin was in 23rd. Meanwhile, Larson, who was having issues re-firing his car during the repairs, lost a lap to the leaders.

    Through the first stage, 12 different competitors had led at least a lap, comprising of 17 different lead changes.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire field pitted while names like Ricky Stenhouse Jr., DiBenedetto and Daniel Suarez remained on the track. Once the competitors who did not pit earlier pitted, Logano was leading ahead of Hamlin, Keselowski, Buescher and Blaney. Meanwhile, Harvick pitted a second time after reporting a flat left-rear tire, which sent him to the rear of the field.

    The second stage started on Lap 64. At the start, Logano received a push from teammate Keselowski to maintain the top spot on the inside lane through the first turn while Hamlin challenged Blaney on the outside lane.

    The following lap, Kyle Busch intentionally drew his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry out of the pack to settle behind the pack as Reddick challenged Logano for the lead. Reddick, however, was overpowered by Team Penske’s three Playoff competitors led by Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang. 

    Shortly after, the caution flew when Larson, who continued with the damage on his No. 5 car, lost the right-front tire, smacked the Turn 2 outside wall and shredded debris across the racing surface, making his day go from bad to worse.

    Under caution, some led by Reddick and Hamlin pitted, mainly for fuel, while the rest led by Logano and Keselowski remained on the track. By then, Larson, who was four laps behind, was able to continue after meeting the minimum speed allotted while damaged.

    On Lap 70, the entire field pitted for enough fuel to complete the second stage with weather threats looming near the track and the teams aiming to reach the halfway point to make the race official. During the pit stops, Hamlin nearly clipped Blaney while trying to enter his pit stall, which cost him time and positions. 

    Following the pit stops, Cody Ware was the leader ahead of Logano, Keselowski, Buescher, Blaney and Harvick while Bell, Kyle Busch, Reddick and Joey Gase were in the top 10. 

    Soon after, reports of rain near Turn 1 were reported as the pace car continued to lead the field at a cautious pace. Then on Lap 73, the pace car led the field to pit road and the race was red-flagged for a weather delay and for the jet dryers to dry the racing surface in Turns 1 and 2.

    More than 18 laps later, the competitors returned to their cars and re-ignited the engines after the racing surfaces through the first two turns were dried, though weather threats and a flash flood watch remained within sight of the superspeedway venue. 

    When the field returned to the track, the competitors returned to pit road for another round of topping off with fuel to get to the conclusion of the second stage. Meanwhile, Justin Haley and LaJoie remained on the track ahead of Team Penske’s three competitors along with Buescher, Reddick, Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch and Harvick.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 77, Haley, piloting the No. 16 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Kaulig Racing, received drafting help from Logano on the inside lane while LaJoie had drafting help from Blaney on the outside lane through the first two turns.

    Through the backstretch and entering the frontstretch, a third lane formulated on the outside lane as Buescher jumped ahead of LaJoie to move towards the front. Meanwhile, Haley continued to lead ahead of Logano and Keselowski. 

    By Lap 80, Bell moved his No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry to the lead as he received drafting help from Harvick and Hamlin while Buescher, who briefly led, nearly wrecked entering the second turn. Meanwhile, Bell was in front of a long single-file line running on the outside lane. In addition, names like Ryan Preece, Stenhouse, Cody Ware, Michael McDowell and Erik Jones were in the top 10.

    Four laps later, Hamlin, who moved to the inside lane entering the frontstretch, received a push from former teammate Erik Jones to take the lead over teammate Bell. With Hamlin out in front, Jones and Custer were in second and third while Bell fought back on the outside lane with drafting help from Harvick. 

    Through 90 laps and with the intensity of the pack racing crescendoing, Harvick, who took over the lead a lap earlier, was leading ahead of Alex Bowman and Bell, who led the previous six of nine laps. Hamlin and Stenhouse were in the top five followed by Elliott, Erik Jones, Keselowski, Custer and Alfredo. By then, the top-36 competitors were separated by three seconds. Meanwhile, Larson was mired back in 39th, four laps behind. In addition, Briscoe was lapped by the field.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 94, which would make the race official, Bell, who reassumed the lead two laps earlier, was out in front with drafting help from teammate Hamlin. Bowman then challenged on the outside lane followed by Harvick, Stenhouse, Erik Jones, Elliott, Custer, Keselowski, Buescher and the field mired in a tight three-wide pack.

    Three laps later, the caution flew when Alex Bowman, who led the previous lap and was challenging Bell for the lead, was bumped by Stenhouse exiting the backstretch and made head-on contact into the outside wall before he was hit hard by Ross Chastain, which demolished his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. While most of the field dodged the incident, names like Reddick, Kyle Busch, Truex, DiBenedetto, Quin Houff, BJ McLeod and Preece were involved. The wreck, however, placed Bowman in a “must-win” scenario for next weekend’s Playoff event at the Charlotte Roval to keep his title hopes alive.

    With 17 laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted under green as Stenhouse and Bell filled in the front row. At the start, Stenhouse had drafting help from Chase Elliott on the outside lane while Bell had teammate Hamlin and Harvick pushing him on the inside lane through the first two turns.

    When the field returned to the frontstretch, Stenhouse maintained the lead followed by Elliott and Keselowski while Bell slipped back to fourth after losing the draft with Hamlin and Harvick. A lap later, though, Bell fought back on the inside lane, but Stenhouse continued to maintain the lead with continuous help from Elliott.

    By Lap 108, Kurt Busch, who initially was pushing Bubba Wallace a lap earlier, stormed to the lead ahead of a three-wide cluster of cars with the skies darkening. 

    Down to the final 10 laps of the second stage, Kurt Busch was leading ahead of Harvick, Bell, Stenhouse and Hamlin while Wallace, Jones, Elliott, Austin Dillon and Keselowski were in the top 10. 

    Not long after, Harvick was drafted out of the lead pack as Kurt Busch and Stenhouse engaged in a heated duel for the lead. 

    On Lap 112, Bubba Wallace and Kurt Busch, Wallace’s future teammate at 23XI Racing, dueled for the lead as Wallace received a push from Keselowski on the outside lane to lead the following lap. Wallace then moved his No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota Camry in front of Busch and Bell while Keselowski remained on the outside lane in front of teammate Logano.

    With five laps remaining in the second stage, the caution flew when Preece, who was running towards the front, got bumped and turned by Buescher, spun and smacked the backstretch outside wall before he clipped DiBenedetto and Byron, who had flames bursting out of his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Like teammate Bowman, the wreck placed Byron in a “must-win” scenario for the Roval to maintain his title hopes.

    At the time of caution, Wallace retained the lead ahead of Keselowski and Logano while Kurt Busch and Bell were in the top five. Just then, the skies darkened and the track was overshadowed with scattered rain and clouds, which forced the pace car to lead the field to pit road and to a stop on Lap 117, three laps shy of the second stage.

    While Wallace and the field awaited the decision, the jet dryers returned to the track to dry the racing surface. Soon after, reports of continuous precipitation along with lightning were made as nearly the entire grandstands were emptied and the competitors and teams took shelter near their respective pit box.

    Then, 17 minutes after the lightning report was made, NASCAR declared the race official and Wallace, who awaited the decision in his pit box, was named the winner, having led the final five laps prior to the call and with the race 71 laps shy of its scheduled distance.

    With the victory, Bubba Wallace became the 198th different competitor to win in the NASCAR Cup Series, the third first-time Cup winner of 2021, the 12th first-time winner at Talladega and the second African-American competitor to achieve a win in the NASCAR Cup Series. The first African-American competitor to win in NASCAR occurred in December 1963 made by the late NASCAR Hall of Famer Wendell Scott.

    “Part of me was just sitting there waiting,” Wallace, who was anxiously awaiting NASCAR’s decision to declare the race official, said on NBCSN. “It’s not over with. Just sit there, bide our time. If we go racing again, that’s fine. We’ll put ourselves in position. But we had so many cool fans behind us in the pit box, just cheering for it to rain, so it kind of amped up the intensity a little bit.

    “Just so proud of everybody at 23XI [Racing],” Wallace added. “New team. Coming in and getting a win late in the season. [It] Reminds me of 2013. Waited so long to get that first Truck win. I know a lot of history was made today, I believe, which is really cool, but it’s about my guys, it’s about our team, it’s about what we’ve done. Appreciate Michael Jordan, appreciate Denny [Hamlin] for believing in me, giving me the opportunity. Like we talk, it’s pretty fitting that it comes here at Talladega.”

    When asked about being the second African-American competitor to achieve a win in the NASCAR Cup Series, the emotions began to pour out of Wallace’s face and voice while recognizing the significance.

    “I never think about those things,” Wallace said. “When you say it like that, it brings a lot of emotions, lot of joy to my family, fans, friends. It’s pretty damn cool. Just proud to be a winner in the Cup Series.”

    Finally, Wallace evoked an inspiring message to future inspirers following his long journey and hurdles to become a NASCAR Cup Series winner.

    “This is for all those kids out there that want to have an opportunity, whatever they want to achieve and be the best at what they want to do,” Wallace said. “You’re gonna go through a lot of [expletive], but you always got to stay true to your path and not let the nonsense get to you. Stay strong, stay humble, stay hungry. There’s been plenty of times where I wanted to give up. You surround yourself with the right people and it’s moments like this that you appreciate.”

    In addition to Wallace achieving his first win as a driver, the victory was also a first for veteran crew chief Robert “Bootie” Barker, who replaced Mike Wheeler as Wallace’s crew chief in mid-September. It was also the first for 23XI Racing, a newly formed NASCAR team that debuted this season and is co-owned by NASCAR veteran NBA legend Michael Jordan and NASCAR veteran Denny Hamlin.

    “It’s just way more emotional [as an owner] because I know how difficult it is,” Hamlin, who finished seventh on the track, said. “These guys just worked so hard over the last 10 months to put this team together. We just spent a lot of hours getting this all put together. It’s great to see the results from all the work from these team guys. It means so much. It’s a learning process. We knew it was gonna be a learning process, but I’m so happy for the team…This is just the building step. We’re still in the beginning stages of our team. We’re still growing. We got some great things on the horizon, but this is just a great moral booster for everyone.”

    Wallace’s first Cup victory at Talladega capped off a historic NASCAR triple-header weekend at Talladega filled with first-time winners as Tate Fogleman claimed his first Truck Series career win in a wild finish while Brandon Brown achieved his first Xfinity career win, both occurring on Saturday, October 2.

    Wallace’s victory also meant that none of the remaining 11 Playoff contenders, aside from Hamlin, earned a one-way ticket to the Round of 8 by winning, leaving them to battle for the remaining seven vacant spots to the penultimate round in the Playoffs next weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (Roval).

    Brad Keselowski was the highest-finishing Playoff contender on the track in second place while teammate Logano settled in third. Kurt Busch finished fourth while Christopher Bell completed the top five. Chris Buescher, Hamlin, Harvick, Erik Jones and Alfredo finished in the top 10.

    Truex, Blaney and Elliott finished 12th, 15th and 18th while Kyle Busch ended up 27th, Following their misfortunes, teammates Byron, Larson and Bowman finished 36th, 37th and 38th.

    There were 35 lead changes for 19 different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 27 laps. Only nine of the 40 starters did not finish on the lead lap.

    Results:

    1. Bubba Wallace, five laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Brad Keselowski, 13 laps led

    3. Joey Logano, nine laps led

    4. Kurt Busch, nine laps led

    5. Christopher Bell, 12 laps led

    6. Chris Buescher, seven laps led, Stage 1 winner

    7. Denny Hamlin, six laps led

    8. Kevin Harvick, 16 laps led

    9. Erik Jones

    10. Anthony Alfredo, one lap led

    11. Austin Dillon

    12. Martin Truex Jr., two laps led

    13. Cole Custer, seven laps led

    14. Chase Briscoe

    15. Ryan Blaney

    16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 10 laps led

    17. Michael McDowell

    18. Chase Elliott

    19. Quin Houff

    20. Justin Haley, four laps led

    21. Ryan Newman

    22. Corey LaJoie

    23. Daniel Suarez

    24. Landon Cassill

    25. Joey Gase

    26. Aric Almirola

    27. Kyle Busch, four laps led

    28. Cody Ware, four laps led

    29. Garrett Smithley

    30. BJ McLeod

    31. Josh Bilicki

    32. Ryan Preece – OUT, Accident

    33. Ross Chastain, one lap down

    34. James Davison, one lap down

    35. Matt DiBenedetto – OUT, Accident, two laps led

    36. William Byron – OUT, Accident

    37. Kyle Larson, four laps down, three laps led

    38. Alex Bowman – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    39. Tyler Reddick – OUT, Accident, two laps led

    40. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident

    Bold indicates Playoff contenders.

    Playoff standings.

    1. Denny Hamlin – Advanced

    2. Kyle Larson, +22

    3. Joey Logano, +21

    4. Brad Keselowski, +20

    5. Martin Truex Jr., +20

    6. Ryan Blaney, +15

    7. Chase Elliott, +9

    8. Kyle Busch, +9

    9. Kevin Harvick, -9

    10. Christopher Bell, -28

    11. William Byron, -44

    12. Alex Bowman, -52

    The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will continue at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course for the Bank of America Roval 400 on Sunday, October 10, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, which will mark the series’ seventh and final road course event of this season. It is also where the second round of eliminations in the Playoffs will occur. 

  • NASCAR postpones Cup Playoff event at Talladega following weather delay

    NASCAR postpones Cup Playoff event at Talladega following weather delay

    Following early precipitation that proceeded into the afternoon in Talladega, Alabama, NASCAR announced that the Cup Series Playoff event at Talladega Superspeedway scheduled for Sunday, October 3, has been postponed to Monday, October 4, at 1 p.m. ET (noon CT) on NBCSN.

    Rain hit the superspeedway venue early Sunday morning and continued throughout the afternoon with the track-drying personnel and jet dryers attempting to dry the racing surface. Following a one-and-a-half-hour delay due to the inclement weather, the crew members rolled their respective cars on to pit road. Once the competitors ignited the engines, they made their way onto the track for pace laps.

    Not long after, however, another round of heavy precipitation hit the venue, which forced the pace car to lead the field back to pit road as the decision to postpone the race a day later was made since the venue has no lights installed around the superspeedway turns or straightaways and would not run as a night race.

    This marks the third consecutive season where a Cup event at Talladega will be postponed and have the finish of the event determined a day later due to inclement weather. In October 2019, the fall Talladega Playoff event was postponed a day later following the first stage due to inclement weather. The same thing occurred in June 2020 when lightning reports led to a series of storms sweeping the venue and prevented the race from starting.

    The event, named the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway and spanning 188 laps, will serve as the sixth event of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs and the second Round of 12 event.

    When the green flag waves on Monday, Denny Hamlin, winner of last weekend’s Playoff event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, will lead the field to the start alongside teammate Kyle Busch. Hamlin is the only Playoff competitor guaranteed a spot in the Playoff’s Round of 8.

    The YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway will return and commence on Monday, October 4, at 1 p.m. ET on NBCSN, NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

  • Weekend schedule for Talladega

    Weekend schedule for Talladega

    NASCAR travels to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend as the Playoffs continue for all three national series. There will be no practice or qualifying and the lineups will be set by NASCAR’s metric format.

    Saturday will feature a doubleheader with the Camping World Truck Series race at 1 p.m. followed by the Xfinity Series Sparks 300 at 4:30 p.m.

    Sunday’s Cup Series YellaWood 500 will begin with Dale Earnhardt Jr., a six-time winner at the track, taking a ceremonial lap before the start of the race in Ron Bouchard’s No. 47 Buick. The lap will pay tribute to Bouchard’s 1981 upset win when he passed Darrell Waltrip and Terry Labonte on the final lap and won by a margin of only two feet to claim the checkered flag in the 11th start of his rookie season.

    All times are Eastern

    Saturday, October 2

    1 p.m.: Truck Series Chevrolet Silverado 250
    Stages 20/40/94 Laps/250.04 Miles
    Pole: Ben Rhodes
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    4:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Sparks 300
    Stages 25/50/113) Laps/300.58 Miles
    Pole: Justin Allgaier
    NBCSN/TSN/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    Sunday, October 3

    2 p.m.: Cup Series YellaWood 500
    Stages 60/120/188 Laps/500 Miles
    Pole: Denny Hamlin
    NBC/TSN/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    The NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega has been rescheduled to Monday at 1 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    Talladega Superspeedway Data

    Season Race #: 31 of 36 (10-03-21)
    Track Size: 2.66-miles
    Banking/Turn 1 & 2: 33 degrees
    Banking/Turn 3 & 4: 33 degrees
    Banking/Frontstretch: 16.5 degrees
    Banking/Backstretch: 2 degrees
    Frontstretch Length:  4,300 feet
    Backstretch Length:  4,000 feet
    Race Length: 188 laps / 500 miles
    Stage 1 & 2 Length: 60 laps (each)
    Final Stage Length: 68 laps

    Talladega Superspeedway Qualifying Data

    -Track qualifying record: Bill Elliott, Melling Racing Ford (212.809 mph, 44.998 secs.) on April 30, 1987.
    -2020 Playoff pole winner: Metric Qualifying – Denny Hamlin (Toyota) started in the first position.
    -2019 Playoff pole winner: Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (192.707 mph, 49.692 secs.) on October 12, 2019.

    • Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch lead all active Cup drivers in starts at Talladega with 41 each.
    • Chase Elliott leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series in average starting position at Talladega with a 6.000 in 11 starts.
    • Six of the 44 NASCAR Cup Series pole winners at Talladega Superspeedway are active this weekend.  Chase Elliott (2), Kevin Harvick (2), Austin Dillon (1), Kurt Busch (1), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (1), and Martin Truex Jr. (1).
    • Kevin Harvick (2005, 2018) and Chase Elliott (2016, 2019) lead all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in poles at Talladega with two each.
    • The youngest series Talladega pole winner: Chase Elliott (May 1, 2016 – 20 years, 5 months, 3 days).
    • Hendrick Motorsports leads the series in poles at Talladega Superspeedway with 13 among eight different drivers.
    • Eight different manufacturers have won at least one pole in the NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega Superspeedway; led by Chevrolet with 37 and followed by Ford (29), Dodge (12), Mercury (five), Oldsmobile (five), Pontiac (three), Toyota (three) and Buick (two).

    Talladega Superspeedway Race Data

    -Track race record: Mark Martin, Roush Fenway Racing Ford (188.354 mph, 02:39:18) on May 10, 1997.
    -2020 Playoff race winner: Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (129.774 mph, 04:05:58) on October 4, 2020.
    -2019 Playoff race winner: Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford (136.644 mph, 03:39:35) on October 14, 2019.

    • Nine of the 49 NASCAR Cup Series race winners at Talladega Superspeedway are active this weekend.  Brad Keselowski (6), Joey Logano (3), Denny Hamlin (2), Ryan Blaney (2), Chase Elliott (1), Aric Almirola (1), Ricky Stenhouse Jr (1), Kevin Harvick (1), and Kyle Busch (1).
    • Brad Keselowski leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in wins at Talladega Superspeedway with six victories (2009, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2021).
    • 15 of the 104 NASCAR Cup Series races (14.4%) at Talladega Superspeedway have been won from the pole or first starting position.
    • The outside front row (second starting position) is the most proficient starting position in the field, producing more winners (20) than any other starting position at Talladega Superspeedway in the NASCAR Cup Series.
    • The deepest in the field that an active race winner has started at Talladega is 34th, by Denny Hamlin in the 2014 spring race.

    From OddsChecker: Denny Hamlin a slight favorite to win YellaWood 500’

    Hamlin is given +900 odds to win the YellaWood 500. That’s an implied 10% chance to win the race. He’s quickly followed by Joey Logano who’s given +1000 odds, or a 9.1% chance. Chase Elliot and Ryan Blaney aren’t far behind either as both are given +1100 odds, or an 8.3% chance.

    YELLAWOOD 500 WINNER ODDS 

    Driver Odds Implied chance 
    Denny Hamlin +900 10% 
    Joey Logano +1000 9.1% 
    Chase Elliot +1100 8.3% 
    Ryan Blaney +1100 8.3% 
    Kevin Harvick +1600 5.9% 
    William Byron +1600 5.9% 
    Kyle Larson +1800 5.3% 
    Alec Almirola +2000 4.8% 
    Alex Bowman +2200 4.3% 
    Martin Truex Jr. +2800 3.4% 

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Las Vegas

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Las Vegas

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Kyle Larson: Larson started on the pole, took Stage 1, and finished 10th at Las Vegas.

    “I feel confident that I can win the Cup championship,” Larson said. “It’s all about keeping focus. And I want a Cup title to be the thing by which people remember me. A championship would be the first step in erasing the E-Racing.”

    2. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin won Stage 2 and held off Chase Elliott down the stretch to win at Las Vegas and secure his spot in the Round Of 8.

    “I’ve really been on a roll lately,” Hamlin said. “I’m not sure what happened, or when it happened, but if all of my former girlfriends could please bash me on Twitter before having their accounts disabled, I can keep this hot streak going.”

    3. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished fourth in the South Point 400.

    “It was important to get a solid finish at Las Vegas,” Truex said, “especially with Talladega and Charlotte’s ROVAL next on the schedule. Trust me, I’d rather gamble in Las Vegas than Talladega or Charlotte.”

    4. Chase Elliott: Elliott’s late charge in pursuit of Denny Hamlin fell short, and he settled with the runner-up spot at Las Vegas.

    “Kevin Harvick really didn’t factor into this race,” Elliott said, “but that doesn’t mean I’m not concerned about him. I’ve gotta have eyes in the back of my head where Harvick is concerned. Not necessarily because I fear and expect retaliation, but mainly because he’s usually running behind me.”

    5. Kyle Busch: Busch, in his 600th Cup series start, finished third in the South Point 400.

    “I’m a Las Vegas native,” Busch said, “so I actually have fans cheering for me. That’s why I love my parents.”

    6. Ryan Blaney: Blaney ran strong at Las Vegas on his way to a fifth-place finish in the South Point 400.

    “The Las Vegas race started at 7 p.m. Eastern time,” Blaney said. “That meant viewers on the East Coast had to stay up until about 10:30 to catch the ending, assuming the race hadn’t already put them to sleep.”

    7. Kevin Harvick: Harvick came home ninth in the South Point 400 at Las Vegas.

    “Nobody ever said ‘What happens at Bristol stays at Bristol,’” Harvick said. “So, I haven’t forgotten about Chase Elliott. I’ve got my eyes on him, all four of them, in fact.”

    8. Joey Logano: Logano finished 11th at Las Vegas.

    “Las Vegas is known as ‘Sin City,’” Logano said. “The infield at Daytona is known as ‘Seven Deadly Sins City.’”

    9. William Byron: Byron started third and finished 18th at Las Vegas.

    “We’re headed to Talladega and the pressure is on a lot of drivers,” Byron said. “You can imagine the worry that’s caused when you mention ‘Talladega’ and ‘crunch time’ in the same sentence.”

    10. Alex Bowman: Bowman finished 22nd at Las Vegas and now sits 11th in the standings, 13 below the cut line.

    “I’ve got work to do at Talladega,” Bowman said. “And the potential of being victimized by the ‘Big One’ has me worried. I don’t know what worries me more, being in a wreck, or being a nervous wreck.”

  • Team Penske reveals 2022 Cup Series crew chief lineup

    Team Penske reveals 2022 Cup Series crew chief lineup

    Team Penske took to social media to reveal its crew chief lineup for the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, featuring a new member to the roster.

    Jonathan Hassler, a former race engineer, will be serving as a full-time crew chief for Ryan Blaney and the No. 12 Ford Mustang team next season. Hassler currently serves as crew chief for the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang team driven by Matt DiBenedetto. In 15 races this season, Hassler, who replaced veteran Greg Erwin in June, has guided DiBenedetto and the Wood Brothers’ No. 21 team to one top-five result and five top-10 results.

    Hassler is set to replace Todd Gordon, the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series championship-winning crew chief who is set to retire following the 2021 season. Currently, Gordon has won three races with Blaney and the No. 12 team.

    Veteran Jeremy Bullins will be remaining as crew chief for Team Penske’s No. 2 Ford Mustang team set to be piloted by Austin Cindric, who will enter the 2022 season as a full-time Cup Series rookie candidate following four full-time seasons in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Cindric, the 2020 Xfinity champion who is currently in pursuit to defend his series title, is set to replace Brad Keselowski, the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion who is set to join Roush Fenway Racing as a driver and part-owner.

    Paul Wolfe, the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series championship-winning crew chief, will also retain his role as crew chief for Team Penske’s No. 22 Ford Mustang team and driver Joey Logano. Wolfe and Logano are currently in their second full-time season together, where they amassed four victories, 20 top-five results, 35 top-10 results and a third-place result in the 2020 Cup Series final standings.

    All three of Penske’s Cup operations are competing in the Round of 12 in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs that is set to continue at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, October 3, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

    The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season is scheduled to commence at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for The Clash on February 6 followed by the 64th annual running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 20.

  • Zipadelli to serve as Harvick’s crew chief at Talladega

    Zipadelli to serve as Harvick’s crew chief at Talladega

    Greg Zipadelli is slated to serve as an interim crew chief for Kevin Harvick and the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team for the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series Playoff event at Talladega Superspeedway.

    Zipadelli, a two-time Cup championship-winning crew chief with 34 career victories, serves as competition director for Stewart-Haas Racing. He will be filling in for Rodney Childers, who will not be participating this weekend at Talladega after Harvick’s car was found with two lug nuts not secured following last weekend’s Playoff event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In addition to serving his one-race suspension, Childers is anticipated to be fined $20,000 from NASCAR.

    With Zipadelli serving as Harvick’s crew chief, veteran Tony Gibson will be serving as competition director for all SHR operations this weekend.

    Talladega will mark Zipadelli’s first time serving as an interim crew chief this season. The previous season, he served as an interim crew chief for six NASCAR national touring series events (four with Chase Briscoe in the Xfinity Series and two with Clint Bowyer in the Cup Series). During the six-race schedule, Zipadelli guided Briscoe and the No. 98 SHR Ford Mustang team to three victories (Homestead-Miami Speedway and Pocono Raceway in June along with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in July).

    Currently, Harvick, who finished ninth in the previous Cup event at Las Vegas, is ranked in 10th place in the Cup Playoff standings and is seven points below the top-eight cutline. While he has yet to record his first victory of this season, he has achieved eight top-five results and 20 top-10 results as he is nearing 750 Cup career starts.

    The upcoming Cup Playoff event at Talladega is scheduled to occur on Sunday, October 3, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Hamlin dominates for Playoff win at Vegas, advances to Round of 8

    Hamlin dominates for Playoff win at Vegas, advances to Round of 8

    Denny Hamlin took another step closer in achieving his first NASCAR Cup Series championship after the veteran Joe Gibbs Racing competitor held off Chase Elliott to win the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, September 26.

    The victory was enough for Hamlin and his No. 11 JGR Toyota team to earn a spot in the Playoff’s Round of 8.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Kyle Larson, winner of last weekend’s Playoff event at Bristol Motor Speedway, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Ryan Blaney.

    Prior to the event, Playoff contenders William Byron and Martin Truex Jr. started at the rear of the field after their respective machines failed pre-race inspection twice. Aric Almirola and JJ Yeley also dropped to the rear of the field for meeting the same fate as Byron and Truex. For Yeley’s case, however, his car failed pre-race inspection three times, resulting with his crew chief, Ty Brazeal, being ejected from the event and the driver penalized with a drive-through penalty at the start of the race.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Larson peaked ahead on the outside lane, but Blaney fought back on the inside lane through the first two turns. Through Turn 3, Blaney received a push from Kevin Harvick to clear Larson and lead the first lap in his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang. In Turn 3, Harvick got loose and shuffled back to sixth while mired in a tight, three-wide battle. During this process, Denny Hamlin moved up to third followed by Brad Keselowski, Alex Bowman and Kyle Busch as Joey Logano and Matt DiBenedetto joined the battle.

    The following lap, Hamlin muscled his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry into the runner-up spot over Larson as Kyle Busch, DiBenedetto and Joey Logano battled for fourth through the backstretch and returning to the frontstretch.

    Through the first five laps of the event, Blaney was leading by two-tenths of a second over Hamlin while Kyle Busch, Larson and Logano were in the top five. Alex Bowman, meanwhile, muscled his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE into sixth followed by DiBenedetto, Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott and Harvick. By then, Byron was in 21st behind Kurt Busch and Bubba Wallace while Truex was in 24th behind Ryan Newman.

    Three laps later, Hamlin emerged as the new leader over Blaney as Larson and Kyle Busch, both of whom battled for third, closed in on Blaney for more. Behind, Logano moved into the top five ahead of DiBenedetto, Harvick and Bowman.

    By Lap 20, Hamlin continued to lead by nearly six-tenths of a second over Blaney. Kyle Busch was in third ahead of Larson while DiBenedetto was in fifth. Harvick, Logano, Erik Jones, William Byron and Keselowski were in the top 10 followed by Chase Elliott, Bowman, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell and Austin Dillon. Kurt Busch, who was making his 750th career start, was in 16th ahead of rookie Chase Briscoe while Truex was in 19th ahead of Ryan Newman, Bubba Wallace, Michael McDowell and Ross Chastain.

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 25, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to approximately six-tenths of a second over Blaney and more than a second over teammate Kyle Busch, who was making his 600th Cup career start. By then, Byron was up in ninth behind Erik Jones while Truex was mired in 18th behind Briscoe. In addition, teammates Elliott and Bowman were in 11th and 13th.

    Under the competition caution, the leaders pitted and Kyle Busch emerged with the lead following his pit stops followed by teammate Hamlin, Blaney, Larson, Harvick and DiBenedetto. During the pit stops, Kurt Busch and Christopher Bell pitted again to have their respective machines repaired after both made contact with one another. In addition, Logano pitted again to have the lug nuts on his No. 22 Pennzoil Ford Mustang tightened.

    When the race restarted on Lap 30, teammates Kyle Busch and Hamlin were locked in a heated, side-by-side battle in front of the field running in two lanes for a full lap. The following lap, Hamlin managed to squeak ahead of Kyle Busch as Larson and Blaney joined the battle. Behind, DiBenedetto battled Harvick for fifth. Another lap later, Kyle Busch retained second followed by Blaney as DiBenedetto shoved Larson through the frontstretch while battling Harvick.

    By Lap 35, Byron battled teammate Elliott for seventh while DiBenedetto and Harvick battled for fifth. In addition, Blaney and Larson continued to battle for third while Kyle Busch kept teammate Hamlin within his sights for the lead.

    Five laps later, the top-three competitors were separated by half a second as Hamlin continued to lead ahead of Kyle Busch and Larson. Meanwhile, the fourth-place competitor of Blaney was trailing by nearly a second while Harvick was in fifth. Byron was up in sixth while DiBenedetto fell back to seventh. Elliott, Tyler Reddick and Keselowski were in the top 10 followed by Bowman and Truex. 

    On Lap 44, Hamlin and Larson split the lapped car in Turn 3 while battling for the lead. Another lap later, Larson, who won at Vegas in March, made his way into the lead. Shortly after, Kyle Busch moved his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry into the runner-up spot. 

    Through the first 50 laps of the event, Larson was out in front by eight-tenths of a second over Kyle Busch while Hamlin was in third, trailing by more than a second. Blaney and Harvick were in the top five followed by Byron, Elliott, Reddick, DiBenedetto and Keselowski. Truex and Bowman were in 11th and 12th, Logano was back in 20th behind Michael McDowell and Christopher Bell was mired back in 25th behind Aric Almirola and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    By Lap 60, Larson extended his advantage to more than a second over Kyle Busch. While Hamlin and Blaney remained in the top five, Byron made his first appearance in the top five after overtaking Harvick earlier. In addition, Elliott overtook his new rival, Harvick, in sixth while Truex was in 10th. Logano and Bell, meanwhile, were mired back in 19th and 23rd.

    Fifteen laps later, Larson continued to lead by nearly two seconds over Kyle Busch while Hamlin, Blaney and Byron remained in the top five. Elliott, Reddick, Harvick, DiBenedetto and Truex stabilized themselves in the top 10 ahead of Keselowski, Bowman, Erik Jones, Briscoe, Austin Dillon, Logano, Kurt Busch, Ross Chastain, Bubba Wallace and McDowell.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 80, Larson captured his 15th stage victory of the season. Kyle Busch settled in second followed by Hamlin, Blaney, Byron, Elliott, Reddick, Harvick, DiBenedetto and Truex.

    Under the stage break, the leaders returned to pit road and Hamlin emerged with the lead ahead of Larson, Elliott, Blaney, Byron and Reddick while Kyle Busch dropped back to seventh following a slow pit stop. During the pit stops, Aric Almirola was penalized for equipment interference. In addition, Bell, who pitted a lap earlier to have some damage repaired on his car, lost a lap to the leaders after he failed to beat the pace car off of pit road.

    The second stage started on Lap 87. At the start, Hamlin received a push from Blaney on the inside lane to retain the lead while Larson remained in the hunt. In the midst of the battle at the front, the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the backstretch. Then during the following lap, Larson made a bold move on the outside lane to reassume the lead as Elliott motored his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE into third. In addition, Byron challenged Blaney for fourth while Reddick was in sixth ahead of Harvick and Kyle Busch. 

    On Lap 90 and with the field competing in close quarters towards the front, Byron bolted his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE into the lead following a bold three-wide pass on Larson and Hamlin through the frontstretch and entering Turn 1. Larson then retained second followed by Blaney while Hamlin fell back to fourth in front of Elliott and Reddick. 

    Shortly after, the caution flew due to a heavy accident involving Joey Gase, where he lost a left-rear tire in Turn 1 and pounded the outside wall as he nearly flipped before coming to a rest below the Turn 2 apron and with significant rear-end damage. Despite climbing out under his own power, Gase was later transported to a local hospital for further evaluation. 

    Under caution, some led by Hamlin pitted while the rest led by teammates Byron and Larson remained on the track.

    When the race restarted on Lap 98, Larson and Byron battled dead even for the top spot through the backstretch until Larson made his way to the front in Turn 3. Behind, teammates, Elliott and Byron battled for second while Bowman was up in fourth ahead of Blaney. Meanwhile, the field fanned out to multiple lanes as Kyle Busch was in ninth behind teammate Hamlin, Logano was in 11th ahead of Truex and Harvick got shuffled back to 16th. 

    At the Lap 100 mark, Larson continued to lead but was being pressured by teammate Elliott as teammate Byron and Blaney remained in pursuit. Two laps later, Elliott led a lap for himself by a nose, but Larson fought back on the outside lane and in a fierce, side-by-side battle. Meanwhile, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Hamlin and Kyle Busch were in sixth and seventh on fresh tires.

    Soon after, the battle for the lead became a three-car battle as Byron joined the fight for the top spot along with teammates Larson and Elliott. By then, all four Hendrick Motorsports competitors were running first through fourth as Larson retained the lead. Not long after, Byron overtook teammate Elliott for second.

    By Lap 110, Larson was leading by two-tenths of a second over teammate Byron while teammate Elliott settled in third, trailing by seven-tenths of a second. Behind, Blaney moved up to fourth followed by Hamlin and Kyle Busch while Bowman slipped back to seventh. DiBenedetto, Reddick and Kurt Busch were in the top 10 ahead of Logano, Harvick, Truex, Keselowski and Chris Buescher.

    Ten laps later, Larson extended his advantage to more than a second over teammate Byron as Kyle Busch was up in third place. Teammate Hamlin was in fourth after overtaking Elliott while Blaney fell back to sixth ahead of Bowman, Reddick, DiBenedetto and Kurt Busch.

    Another 10 laps later, Larson stabilized his advantage to more than two seconds over teammate Byron, who was told that he does not have enough fuel to complete the remainder of the second stage under green. Kyle Busch was in third followed by teammate Hamlin and Elliott while Blaney, Reddick, Bowman, DiBenedetto and Kurt Busch remained in the top 10.

    Soon after, Elliott pitted under green along with teammate Byron, who ended up going with a two-tire pit stop after his crew members had issues changing the right-front tire on the No. 24 machine. 

    Back on the track and by Lap 140, Larson continued to lead by two seconds over Hamlin and by more than three seconds over Kyle Busch. While Elliott and Byron battled for 23rd, Blaney and Reddick were in the top five. 

    Through the first 150 laps of the event, Larson was leading by nearly a second over Hamlin and more than two seconds over Kyle Busch. By then, Erik Jones, who was told that he was five laps short in completing the second stage under green, had pitted.

    Three laps later, Larson surrendered the lead to pit his No. 5 Tarlton and Son Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE under green. Also pitting were Blaney, Bowman and DiBenedetto while Hamlin took over the lead. 

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 160, Hamlin notched his 10th stage victory of the season. Kyle Busch settled in second followed by Reddick, Truex, Logano, Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Harvick, Austin Dillon and Bubba Wallace. By then, Elliott was able to race his way back on the lead lap on fresh tires in 17th while names like Byron, Larson, Blaney, DiBenedetto, Bell and Bowman were behind a lap. Byron, though, received the free pass as he was scored the first competitor a lap down.

    Under the stage break, the leaders returned to pit road for service and Hamlin retained the lead followed by teammate Truex, Reddick, teammate Kyle Busch, Harvick and Logano.

    With 101 laps remaining and the track falling into dark, night conditions, the final stage commenced. At the start, teammates Truex and Hamlin battled dead even through the backstretch until Truex cleared Hamlin entering Turn 3.

    The following lap, however, Hamlin muscled his way back into the lead. Behind, a three-wide battle for third place occurred between Reddick, Kyle Busch and Harvick as Reddick prevailed entering the backstretch. Another lap later, Reddick moved up to second after passing Truex. Behind, Harvick battled Truex for third while Logano moved up to fifth ahead of Kyle Busch and Elliott. 

    With 90 laps remaining, Hamlin was leading by nearly three-tenths of a second over Reddick while Truex, Elliott and Kyle Busch were in the top five. Kurt Busch was in sixth ahead of Keselowski and Harvick while Logano and Briscoe were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Byron was in 12th in between Austin Dillon and Wallace while Larson was in 15th behind Blaney. 

    Down to the final 75 laps of the event, Hamlin continued to lead by nearly four-tenths of a second over Reddick while Truex, Elliott and Kyle Busch remained in the top five. By then, Byron was up in seventh, Harvick was in ninth, Logano was in 11th and Larson was mired back in 15th behind Daniel Suarez and Bubba Wallace.

    Fifteen laps later, Hamlin extended his advantage to more than a second over Reddick. Truex and Elliott remained in the top five while Byron was back in the top five, moving into fifth ahead of the Busch brothers. 

    Not long after, green flag pit stops ignited as Kyle Busch pitted followed by Truex, Bowman, Almirola, Byron, Elliott, Blaney, Harvick, Harvick, Larson, Hamlin and others. During the pit stops, Bowman pitted for a second time due to a punctured wheel. 

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event and with the majority of the pit stops complete, Reddick, who has yet to pit, was leading followed by Keselowski, Austin Dillon and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. By then, Kurt Busch pitted.

    Once Reddick pitted his No. 8 Caterpillar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, Keselowski led for four laps before pitting and giving the lead to Austin Dillon.

    With 43 laps remaining, Byron, who was in fifth, fell off the pace and was forced to pit under green due to a flat right-rear tire. 

    Three laps later, Austin Dillon, who has yet to pit, continued to lead followed by Hamlin, who trailed by more than 13 seconds. Elliott was in third while Truex and Kyle Busch were in the top five. Reddick was back in sixth ahead of Blaney, Harvick, Bell and Kurt Busch.

    Another two laps later, Austin Dillon pitted and Hamlin returned to the lead, thus completing the cycle of green flag pit stops. 

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Hamlin was leading by less than a second over Elliott while Truex, Kyle Busch and Reddick remained in the top five. Meanwhile, Harvick was in seventh behind Blaney, Logano was in 10th behind teammate Keselowski and Kurt Busch and Larson was in 11th. Behind, there were three Playoff contenders mired a lap behind: Byron in 21st, Bowman in 23rd and Bell, who was two laps down, in 25th.

    With 20 laps remaining, Hamlin continued to lead by nearly two seconds over Elliott while third-place Kyle Busch trailed by nearly nine seconds. Truex remained in fourth while Reddick was under pressure by Blaney for fifth. By then, Larson cracked the top 10.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Elliott.

    With five laps remaining, Elliott cut the deficit down to Hamlin to nine-tenths of a second, but Hamlin, despite navigating his way through lapped traffic, remained in the lead. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hamlin was leading by three-tenths of a second over Elliott, who closed the gap and was closing hard for the win. Despite being pressured by Elliott for a final lap, Hamlin was able to smoothly navigate his way around the circuit and claim the checkered flag along with the victory by four-tenths of a second over Elliott.

    With his second victory of the season and first at Vegas, Hamlin also achieved his 46th NASCAR Cup Series career win, which moved him into a tie with the late NASCAR Hall of Famer Buck Baker for 17th place on the all-time wins list. In addition, Hamlin is the lone competitor to be guaranteed a spot in the Round of 8 in the 2021 Cup Playoffs.

    “Just so happy for our FedEx Office team,” Hamlin said on NBCSN. “Joe Gibbs Racing just gives us great race cars. That’s what I’m so proud of is to drive for those guys. Can’t thank them enough for everything they do. Vegas, it feels so good to win in Vegas. Last couple times, I’ve been so close and just didn’t have the right breaks, but [the crew] dialed the car in great. Great to hold those guys off. I’m so happy to not have to worry about the next two weeks, but I’m a professional, so I’m gonna work just as hard each and every week to win.”

    Elliott, who led a single lap, finished in second place for the sixth time this season while Kyle Busch ended up in third place in his 600th Cup career start at his home track. Both Cup champions are above the top-eight cutline.

    “Yeah, we were really close,” Elliott said. “Just not quite close enough. Denny did a good job controlling the gap to me. He was having a hard time with [DiBenedetto]. I think he was doing a good job of giving himself enough room to be able to work the lanes and control the gap back to me. Super close. Really proud of our NAPA team. I feel like we’ve been performing at a really nice level the last three or four weeks. We just haven’t had great results to show for it. Proud of the effort tonight. I’m look forward to the next two [races]. It’s gonna be wild, so looking forward to it.”

    “We got all we could,” Busch added. “I felt like during the daytime, we were a little bit better than [Hamlin]. We could race with him. I was looking forward to the lights coming on and us picking up speed and being able to rip the wall a little bit faster. When we got hit into the fence there off of [Turn] 2, the first time, it knocked speed out of our car. We helped it a little bit, coming to pit road, putting the last set of tires on it and I got it into the fence again, was trying to get by a lapped car. Not enough room over there, I guess, but overall, great job by [crew chief] Ben [Beshore] and my guys on this M&M’s Camry. They gave me a good piece. We moved forward all day long, so that was good. Good showing.”

    Truex finished fourth while Blaney fended off Reddick to finish fifth on the track. Both Truex and Blaney are also above the top-eight cutline following Vegas.

    “We just never could quite get the balance right,” Truex said. “Really struggled off of Turn 4 all day long, no matter what we did. Not sure exactly why. It’s not really something we’ve had here in the past, but definitely something going on there. We couldn’t fix it. We tried a lot. We made a lot of adjustments. [Crew chief] James [Small] and the guys did a really good job executing. We got all we could out of it. The Bass Pro Toyota was just a little bit off tonight. Wish we could’ve been better, but all in all, to grind out a fourth with that car was a good effort…Nothing bad happened to us. Everybody did a good job. Cross our fingers and cross our toes, do some praying this week and go to Talladega. See what happens.”

    Reddick was the highest non-Playoff contender in sixth while Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Harvick and Larson finished in the top 10. Logano settled in 11th while Byron, Bowman and Bell finished 18th, 22nd and 24th, respectively.

    “We just kind of grind all day,” Keselowski said. “No point were we the fastest car, but we executed really, really well. The pit crew did an awesome job. We’re not beating ourselves, whether it’s the things falling off the car or making big mistakes to get in trouble. I’m proud of that. This is a really dangerous team with the execution we have right now. If we can just find a little bit of speed, we can win races and win a championship. We don’t have that today, but we’re still soldering through, scoring a lot of points and putting ourselves in a good position.”

    “The balance never really changed on our Subway Ford Mustang,” Harvick said. “Just kept plugging away at it and way better than we were last time. Made up some points and go to the next one. [Talladega]’ll be the same as this week. Just go try to score stage points, try to put yourself in the best position possible and go from there. I’ve done it all year. It’s an old story, right?”

    “We didn’t make the right decision in the second stage,” Larson said. “We stayed out, got caught where we didn’t have enough fuel and had to pit, went a lap down because of it. Had to do the wave around, was on older tires…just hard battling through there. Just a battle. Had to keep my head on straight there, but we were able to dig through it and come away with a top 10. It surely should’ve been a lot better, but we were to still salvage an OK day. Get a stage win, get another Playoff point. That was good…It is what it is. We’ll go on to Talladega now and try to miss some chaos.”

    “Nothing really went as planned,” Logano said. “We were definitely better in the daytime when the track was hot. It was probably our best run. Unfortunately, that was when we had a loose wheel and had to pit before the green flag after the [competition] caution. That kind of took away some stage points there. Got some stage points in the second round and there in the end, lot the handle a little bit as the track went cool. Lost some speed on top of that and had another vibration. Pretty much, nothing went good at the end of the race. Maybe, we should be happy with an 11th after all of that and we’re fighting through it, but definitely want to be a little bit more comfortable with the Pennzoil Mustang going into Talladega. All in all, we got what we could out of it for today. Left some still on the table, though. That’s probably the most frustrating part.”

    “I thought we were really fast,” Byron said. “We came from the back to the front, took the lead and then obviously, had that caution. I chose the wrong lane there and had to run second there for awhile to Kyle. And then we had the strategy deal with not being able to make it on fuel and had to recover from that. We had to take two tires and that hurt us. We were able to drive all the way back to the front from the back again, so that was twice today. And then we had the flat tire. We had an awesome car. The No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet was amazing. I think it was right there with [Hamlin]. [I] Never got to really race him straight up. We’ll just have to keep bringing that speed.”

    There were 21 lead changes for 10 different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 21 laps. Only 12 of 38 competitors finished on the lead lap

    Results.

    1. Denny Hamlin, 137 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Chase Elliott, one lap led

    3. Kyle Busch, two laps led

    4. Martin Truex Jr., one lap led

    5. Ryan Blaney, eight laps led

    6. Tyler Reddick, five laps led

    7. Brad Keselowski, four laps led

    8. Kurt Busch

    9. Kevin Harvick

    10. Kyle Larson, 95 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    11. Joey Logano

    12. Matt DiBenedetto

    13. Austin Dillon, one lap down, seven laps led

    14. Chase Briscoe, one lap down

    15. Daniel Suarez, one lap down

    16. Bubba Wallace, one lap down

    17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap down

    18. William Byron, one lap down, seven laps led

    19. Aric Almirola, one lap down

    20. Ryan Newman, one lap down

    21. Michael McDowell, one lap down

    22. Alex Bowman, two laps down

    23. Ross Chastain, two laps down

    24. Christopher Bell, two laps down

    25. Chris Buescher, two laps down

    26. Erik Jones, two laps down

    27. Anthony Alfredo, two laps down

    28. Ryan Preece, two laps down

    29. Cole Custer, two laps down

    30. Corey LaJoie, three laps down

    31. Cody Ware, seven laps down

    32. Justin Haley, seven laps down

    33. BJ McLeod, 10 laps down

    34. Quin Houff, 12 laps down

    35. Garrett Smithley, 13 laps down

    36. Josh Bilicki, 15 laps down

    37. Joey Gase – OUT, Accident

    38. JJ Yeley – OUT

    Bold indicates Playoff contenders.

    Playoff standings.

    1. Denny Hamlin – Advanced

    2. Kyle Larson, +57

    3. Kyle Busch, +35

    4. Martin Truex Jr., +31

    5. Ryan Blaney, +24

    6. Chase Elliott, +22

    7. Joey Logano, +6

    8. Brad Keselowski, +4

    9. William Byron, -4

    10. Kevin Harvick, -7

    11. Alex Bowman, -13

    12. Christopher Bell, -25

    Next on the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs schedule is Talladega Superspeedway for the second Round of 12 event. The race is scheduled to occur on Sunday, October 3, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC. 

  • Weekend schedule for Las Vegas

    Weekend schedule for Las Vegas

    NASCAR travels to Las Vegas Motor Speedway as the Playoffs continue after an exciting weekend at Bristol where four drivers in the Cup Series were eliminated from championship contention.

    It will be the first race in the Cup Series Round of 12.

    The Xfinity Series will begin its Playoffs at Las Vegas as 12 drivers compete for the title. The post-season title contenders include AJ Allmendinger, the Xfinity Series Regular Season Champion, Austin Cindric, Justin Allgaier, Justin Haley, Jeb Burton, Daniel Hemric, Harrison Burton, Myatt Snider, Jeremy Clements, Riley Herbst, Noah Gragson and Brandon Jones.

    Friday night, the Camping World Truck Series will begin its Round of 8. John Hunter Nemechek leads the way with 3050 points followed by Sheldon Creed, Ben Rhodes, Zane Smith, Chandler Smith, Matt Crafton, Carson Hocevar and Stewart Friesen.

    There will be no qualifying or practice this weekend and starting lineups will be determined by the metrics formula established by NASCAR.

    Thursday, Sept. 23

    11 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series West Star Nursery 150
    TV: Trackpass

    Friday, Sept. 24

    9 p.m.: Truck Series Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 presented by Westgate Resorts
    Distance: 201 miles (134 Laps)
    Stage 1 ends on Lap 30, Stage 2 ends on Lap 60, Final Stage ends on Lap 134
    Pole: John Hunter Nemechek
    TV: FS1 – Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR

    Saturday, Sept. 25

    7:30 p.m.: Xfinity Alsco Uniforms 302
    Distance: 302 miles (201 Laps)
    Stage 1 ends on Lap 45, Stage 2 ends on Lap 90, Final Stage ends on Lap 201
    Pole: Austin Cindric
    TV: NBCSN – Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR

    Sunday, Sept. 26

    7 p.m.: Cup Series South Point 400
    Distance: 400.5 miles (267 Laps)
    Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 80),
    Stage 2 ends on Lap 160, Final Stage ends on Lap 267
    Pole: Kyle Larson
    TV: NBCSN – Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR

    Las Vegas Motor Speedway Data

    Season Race #: 30 of 36 (09-26-21)
    Track Size: 1.5-miles
    Banking/Turns 1 & 2: 20 degrees
    Banking/Turns 3 & 4: 20 degrees
    Banking/Frontstretch: 9 degrees
    Banking/Backstretch: 9 degrees
    Frontstretch Length:  2,275 feet
    Backstretch Length:  1,572 feet
    Race Length: 267 laps (400.5 miles)
    Stage 1 & 2 Length: 80 laps (each)
    Final Stage Length: 107 laps

    Las Vegas Motor Speedway Qualifying Data

    Track Qualifying Record: Kurt Busch, Chevrolet (196.328 mph. 27.505 secs.) on March 4, 2016.
    2020 Playoff Race Pole Winner: Metric Qualifying, Kevin Harvick started from the first position.

    • Kevin Harvick leads the NASCAR Cup Series in starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with 24 starts.
    • Daniel Hemric leads the series in average starting position at Las Vegas a 5.5 in two starts.
    • Chase Elliott leads all active drivers in the series in average starting position at Las Vegas an 8.778 in nine starts.
    • Kyle Busch (2008, 2009) and Kurt Busch (2010, 2016) lead all active drivers in poles at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with two each.
    • Kyle Busch is the only driver to win consecutive Cup Series poles at Las Vegas from 2008-2009.
    • Five different manufacturers have won a pole at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Cup Series led by Ford (11), and followed by Chevrolet (four), Dodge (four), Toyota (three) and Pontiac (one).

    Las Vegas Motor Speedway Race Data

    Track Race Record: Brad Keselowski, Ford (154.633 mph, 2:35:24) on March 9, 2014.
    2020 Playoff Race Winner: Kurt Busch, Chevrolet (131.420 mph, 03:03:32) on September 27, 2020.

    • Brad Keselowski leads all active drivers in NASCAR Cup Series wins at Las Vegas with three (2014, 2016, 2018).
    • The youngest LVMS winner: Kyle Busch (March 01, 2009 – 23 years, 9 months, 27 days).
    • Kyle Busch became the first and only driver to win from the pole at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Cup Series on March 1, 2009.
    • Five of the 27 Las Vegas races (18.52%) have been won from the front row.
    • The second starting position is the most proficient starting position in the field producing more winners (four) than any other starting position at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (14.81%).
    • Roush Fenway Racing leads the NASCAR Cup Series in wins at Las Vegas with seven victories: Mark Martin (1998), Jeff Burton (1999, 2000), Matt Kenseth (2003, 2004), Carl Edwards (2008, 2011).
    • Four manufacturers have visited Victory Lane in the NASCAR Cup Series at Las Vegas, led by Ford (13 wins), Chevrolet (nine), Toyota (four) and Dodge (one).

    From OddsChecker: Kyle Larson favorite to win South Point 400

    Larson is given +350 odds, or an implied 22.2% chance to win the race. He’s followed by Kyle Busch, who is given +650 odds or an implied 13.3% chance. Denny Hamlin is given +700 odds, Chase Elliot +800, and Martin Truex Jr. +900. Those are the 5 favorites. Even among them, it’s clear that oddsmakers are separating Larson from the pack.

    SOUTH POINT 400 WINNER ODDS 

    Driver Odds Implied chance 
    Kyle Larson +350 22.2% 
    Kyle Busch +650 13.3% 
    Denny Hamlin +700 12.5% 
    Chase Elliot +800 11.1% 
    Martin Truex Jr. +900 10% 
    Kevin Harvick +1000 9.1% 
    Joey Logano +1100 8.3% 
    William Byron +1200 7.7% 
    Ryan Blaney +1400 6.7% 
    Brad Keselowski +1500 6.3% 
  • Kyle Busch primed for 600th Cup career start at Las Vegas

    Kyle Busch primed for 600th Cup career start at Las Vegas

    In his 17th full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series, Kyle Busch is set to reach a significant milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s Playoff event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which serves as his home track, the driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry will achieve career start No. 600 in NASCAR’s premier series. In doing so, Busch will also become the 31st different competitor to achieve 600 career starts in the Cup Series.

    A native of Las Vegas, Nevada, Busch made his inaugural presence in the Cup circuit at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March 2004. By then, he was a full-time Xfinity Series competitor for Hendrick Motorsports, competing for both the Rookie-of-the-Year title and the drivers’ championship. Driving the No. 84 Chevrolet for HMS, Busch started 18th and finished 41st in his Cup debut following an early retirement. He competed in five additional races for HMS throughout the 2004 season (Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, Auto Club Speedway in September, Kansas Speedway, Charlotte and at Atlanta Motor Speedway in October).

    In 2005, Busch earned a full-time ride with HMS for the 2005 Cup season, replacing two-time champion Terry Labonte. Driving the No. 5 Chevrolet, it took the first 25 races of the season for Busch to achieve his first Cup triumph at Auto Club Speedway in September. With his victory, Busch became the youngest winner in Cup history at age 20, four months and two days. He went on to record a second career win at Phoenix Raceway in November following a late battle with Greg Biffle. Despite missing the Playoffs and finishing 20th in the final standings, Busch captured the 2005 Cup Rookie-of-the-Year title and in a season where he also earned a pole, nine top-five results and 13 top-10 results.

    The following season, Busch achieved his lone victory of the season at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July. He went on to make the Playoffs for the first time in his career and achieve a pole, 10 top-five results and 18 top-10 results before finishing in 10th place in the final standings. The year after, Busch claimed his fourth Cup victory at Bristol Motor Speedway in March following a two-lap battle against veteran Jeff Burton. Busch’s Bristol victory was also the first event where NASCAR fielded the Car of Tomorrow stock car. Busch went on to earn 11 top-five results, 20 top-10 results, an average-finishing result of 14.1 and a spot in the Playoffs before finishing in fifth place in the final standings. By then, Busch surpassed 100 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series.

    In June 2007, Hendrick Motorsports announced that Busch will be replaced by Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the 2008 season. Two months later, Busch announced that he will be joining Joe Gibbs Racing to pilot the No. 18 Toyota Camry for the upcoming Cup season.

    In his first race with Joe Gibbs Racing and paired with crew chief Steve Addington, Busch kickstarted the 2008 season on a high note by finishing in fourth place in the Daytona 500 after leading a race-high 86 of 200 laps. Three races later, Busch achieved his first victory of the season and his first with JGR at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March after leading a race-high 173 of 325 laps. By winning at Atlanta, Busch also recorded the first NASCAR Cup career victory for the Toyota nameplate. 

    Following his Atlanta victory, Busch went on to win at Talladega Superspeedway in April, Darlington Raceway in May, Dover International Speedway and Sonoma Raceway in June, Daytona International Speedway and Chicagoland Speedway in July and at Watkins Glen International in August, which tallied his Cup win column to 12. By then, he had also achieved 15 top-five results and was leading the regular-season standings. Despite qualifying for the Playoffs and emerging as a title threat, Busch finished outside of the top 20 through the first three Playoff events, which were enough to diminish his championship hopes early. When the season concluded, Busch, who earned four additional top-10 runs through the final 10 races, capped off his first Cup season with JGR in 10th place in the final standings and with a total of eight victories, two poles, 17 top-five results, 21 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 12.5.

    In 2009, Busch achieved four victories (Las Vegas and Bristol Motor Speedway in March, Richmond Raceway in May and Bristol in August) along with a pole, nine top-five results and 13 top-10 results. He, however, failed the make the Playoffs by eight points following a difficult summer stretch and went on to finish 13th in the final standings. By then, he was paired with crew chief Dave Rogers. He rallied the following season by winning three times throughout the 36-race schedule (Richmond and Dover International Speedway in May and Bristol in August), collecting two poles, 10 top-five results and 18 top-10 results and making the Playoffs before finishing eighth in the final standings. By then, Busch surpassed 200 Cup career starts and had won 19 career races.

    For the majority of the 2011 Cup season, Busch and the No. 18 JGR Toyota team were strong on the track, with the combo winning four races (Bristol in March, Richmond in April, Kentucky Speedway in July and at Michigan International Speedway in August). During the midway section of the Playoffs, however, Busch’s title hopes came to an end as he went on to finish in 12th place in the final standings. The Playoffs was also where Busch was suspended for the Cup event at Texas Motor Speedway in November following a Truck Series incident with four-time series champion Ron Hornaday Jr., where Busch intentionally wrecked Hornaday under caution following an earlier incident and NASCAR suspended Busch from competing the remaining national touring series events during the Texas weekend. 

    Despite a disappointing conclusion to a strong 2011 season, Busch kickstarted the 2012 Cup season on a wild, high note by rallying from two near spins to edge reigning three-time Cup champion Tony Stewart in a photo finish to win the Shootout at Daytona in February. Busch went on to achieve his first points victory of the season at Richmond in April, which marked his fourth consecutive spring Richmond victory. Despite the victory, Busch’s 26-race regular-season stretch was mired with inconsistent results throughout the summer and he missed the Playoffs by three points. While he was not a title contender, Busch earned seven top-five results during the 10-race Playoff stretch before concluding the season in 13th place in the final standings.

    Five races into the 2013 Cup season, Busch snapped a 31-race winless drought by winning at Auto Club Speedway after overtaking teammate Denny Hamlin and former teammate Joey Logano on the final lap. Two races later and in his 300th Cup career start, Busch prevailed over Martin Truex Jr. to win at Texas in April. He went on to win at Watkins Glen in August and at Atlanta in September, which were more than enough for him to return to the Playoffs. While an accident at Kansas Speedway in October ended his title hopes, Busch went on to conclude the season in fourth place in the final standings, which marked his best points result since finishing fifth in 2007. Overall, Busch achieved four victories, three poles, 16 top-five results and 22 top-10 results in 2013. By then, his Cup career wins tallied to 28.

    In 2014, Busch recorded his lone victory of the season at Auto Club Speedway in March, which was enough for him to make the Playoffs for the seventh time in his 10-year Cup career. He went on to achieve three pols, nine top-five results and 15 top-10 results before capping off the season in 10th place in the final standings.

    The 2015 Cup season started off on a harrowing note for Busch, who was set to embark in his 11th Cup season and first with new crew chief Adam Stevens. While competing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ season-opening event at Daytona in February, Busch was involved in a late multi-car wreck, an accident that saw him make a hard head-on contact into a concrete barrier installed with no SAFER barriers. The accident left Busch with a massive compound fracture to his right leg, a minor fracture to his left foot and a sprained left finger. With Busch sitting out for the first 11 events of the season, names like Matt Crafton, David Ragan and Erik Jones participated as interim competitors for Busch in the Cup circuit.

    By the All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, Busch was medically cleared to return to racing. He had also received a medical waiver that would make him eligible for the Playoffs under the Playoff’s qualification rules. After finishing sixth in the All-Star event and 11th during the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, which marked Busch’s first Cup points event of the season, Busch rallied from finishing outside of the top 30 on the track during two of the following three races to achieve his first victory of 2015 and his 30th Cup career victory at Sonoma Raceway in June. The win checked off Busch’s first goal in his quest to make the 2015 Cup Playoffs.

    Following his victory at Sonoma and a 17th-place result at Daytona in July, Busch went on a three-race winning streak, where he won at Kentucky, New Hampshire and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway circuit in July. He also earned four additional top-10 results, which were enough for him to move into the top 30 in the regular-season standings and qualify for the Playoffs for the eighth time in his career.

    After finishing in the top five in five of the first nine Playoff events, Busch earned a championship spot in the Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November. During the finale, Busch led 41 of 267 laps and held off reigning champion Kevin Harvick to claim his fifth victory of the season and his first NASCAR Cup Series championship. In claiming his first Cup title, Busch became the 31st different competitor to win a championship in NASCAR’s premier series and the first since Richard Petty in 1971 to do so without competing the entire schedule. Busch also captured the fourth Cup career title for Joe Gibbs Racing and the first for Toyota, with the driver earning a pole, 12 top-five results and 16 top-10 results.

    Entering the 2016 season as the reigning Cup champion, Busch claimed four victories throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch (Martinsville Speedway and Texas in April, Kansas Speedway in May and at Indianapolis in July). He went on to make the Playoffs for the ninth time in his Cup career and earn enough consistent results to make the Championship Round at Homestead in November for a second consecutive season. During the finale, however, Busch pitted late for fresh tires and settled in sixth place on the track and in third place in the final standings. While he did not repeat as a Cup champion, Busch achieved four victories, two poles, 17 top-five results, 25 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 11.5. In addition, Busch surpassed 400 Cup career starts.

    Determined to reclaim his title, Busch went winless through the first 11 races of the 2017 Cup schedule before capturing his first victory in the non-points All-Star Race at Charlotte in May. Two months later, Busch achieved his first Cup points victory of the season at Pocono. He went on to win at Bristol in August before winning back-to-back Playoff races at New Hampshire and Dover between September and October while as a Playoff contender. Following his fifth victory of the season at Martinsville in October, Busch qualified for the Championship Round at Homestead in November for a third consecutive season. During the finale, however, Busch ended up as the runner-up finisher on the track and in the final standings behind Truex. In a season where he won five races, Busch also captured a career-high eight poles along with 14 top-five results, 22 top-10 results and a second consecutive average-finishing result of 11.5. He also surpassed 40 Cup career victories.

    The 2018 Cup season was one of Busch’s finest seasons to date, with the driver earning a total of eight victories throughout the 36-race schedule (Texas, Bristol and Richmond in April, Charlotte in May, Chicagoland in June, Pocono in July, Richmond in September and at Phoenix in November). By then, Busch surpassed 50 Cup career victories and had achieved a victory in every active track in the Cup Series. Along with a career-best eight victories, he also achieved four poles, a career-high 22 top-five results, a career-high 28 top-10 results and a career-best average-finishing result of 8.3. Despite making the Playoffs for the 11th time in his Cup career and earning a spot in the Championship Round at Homestead for a four consecutive season, Busch went on to finish in fourth place during the finale and in third place in the final standings.

    The momentum from the previous season carried forth for Busch entering the 2019 Cup season, with the driver winning twice through the first five scheduled events (Phoenix and Auto Club in March) and earning a career-best runner-up result in the season-opening Daytona 500. By then, he surpassed 500 Cup career starts. Busch went on to win at Bristol in April and at Pocono in June before capturing the regular-season championship and make his 12th appearance in the Playoffs. After finishing in the top 10 in five of the first nine Playoff spots, Busch managed to qualify for the Championship Round at Homestead in November for a fifth consecutive season. Having a strong car throughout the finale, Busch went on to win the race for his fifth victory of the season and for his second Cup Series championship, his first while completing the entire 36-race schedule. With his second Cup career title, Busch became the 16th different competitor to repeat as a champion in NASCAR’s premier series as he also claimed the fifth Cup title for Joe Gibbs Racing and the third drivers’ title for Toyota. He also capped off the 2019 season with a pole, 17 top-five results, 27 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 8.9.

    The 2020 Cup season was a roller coaster season for Busch, who went winless throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch. Despite making the Playoffs for the 13th time in his career, his hopes for a third title evaporated following the second round. Nonetheless, Busch extended his winning streak in the Cup circuit to 16 consecutive years after Busch outlasted teammate Truex in a late fuel mileage battle to win at Texas in October. Overall, Busch earned a victory, 14 top-five results and 20 top-10 results throughout the 36-race schedule before finishing in eighth place in the final standings.

    Paired with rookie crew chief Ben Beshore for this season, Busch commenced the season on another wild note by winning his second career Clash event on Daytona’s road-course venue following a last-lap pass on Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney, both of whom wrecked on the final corner. Despite crashing out on the final lap in the Daytona 500, Busch extended his Cup winning streak to 17 consecutive seasons after the two-time champion won at Kansas in May. Eight races later, he rallied from clutch issues to win the second of a Pocono Raceway doubleheader weekend after overtaking teammate Denny Hamlin and barely having enough fuel to finish. The two victories earned throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, along with 11 top-five results and 16 top-10 results, were enough for Busch to make the Playoffs for the 14th time in his career. Despite recent finishes of 35th, ninth and 21st in the Round of 16, Busch is through to the Round of 12 in the 2021 Cup Playoffs and seeded in fifth place with 3,022 points.

    Through 599 previous Cup starts, Busch has amassed two championships, 59 wins, 32 poles, 225 top-five results, 333 top-10 results and an average result of 13.6.

    Busch is set to make his 600th Cup career start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, September 26, at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN.