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  • 2020 Cup Playoff outlook after Daytona RC

    2020 Cup Playoff outlook after Daytona RC

    Three races and two venues are all that remain in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series regular-season schedule with the Playoffs less than two weeks away from being set and commencing. With the deficit for the final spots to the Playoffs stabilizing and not decreasing, time is running low for many current and future stars to earn themselves and their team a ticket to the 2020 postseason battle for the series championship.

    With a win in the inaugural running of the Go Bowling 235 at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course, Chase Elliott joins a handful of competitors that have won multiple Cup races this season, a list that includes regular-season leader Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano. All five, along with Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon and rookie Cole Custer, remain guaranteed spots in the Playoffs by virtue of winning one or more regular-season races. Though Austin Dillon did not compete at the Daytona Road Course event due to suffering COVID-19 symptoms, he is expected to be granted a waiver to qualify for the postseason.

    Currently, six spots continue to remain vacant for the 2020 Cup Playoffs with three spots set to be occupied by competitors that have not win this season thus far.

    The first competitor who continues to emerge as the highest winless competitor in points is Aric Almirola. Despite starting in sixth place, the Floridian struggled with maintaining and gaining track position throughout the race. A 24th-place result marked his lowest result since finishing in 33rd place at Martinsville Speedway in June. The good news for Almirola and his No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team is the fact that he is 130 points above the top-16 cutline to qualify for this year’s Playoffs.

    “We started to gain momentum there at the end and thought we could have put the Go Bowling Ford Mustang inside the top 10,” Almirola said. “Unfortunately, that caution came out and we pitted. I was caught behind some cars on the restart with nowhere to go. That’s road course racing. Not the day we wanted, but we kept the car on the track and in one piece. We’ll regroup and go to Dover where we know we can bring speed.”

    For the Busch brothers, it was a tale of mixed results. For Kurt Busch, he started in eighth place and was battling for a spot in the top 10 throughout the race before he settled in 14th place when the checkered flag flew. Kyle, on the other hand, had a roller coaster run that ended up with misfortunes. It all started in the opening laps when he locked up his front tires while running inside the top five and made an unscheduled pit stop for fresh tires, a move that sent him to the rear of the field. He rallied his way back into the top 10 during the second stage, but spun in Turn 6 after locking up his front tires. While he appeared poised for a strong result despite his early struggles, his race went away under 20 laps remaining when he took his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to the garage due to brake rotor failure. Though he returned to the track, he was involved in a single-car incident with five laps remaining and was unable to complete the race. Through the first 23 races of this season, both Busch brothers remain winless, with Kurt above the cutline by 121 points and Kyle by 100 points.

    “I really enjoyed the day today, the track was a fun challenge for us,” Kurt Busch said. “[Crew chief] Matt McCall did a nice job making adjustments on the Monster Energy Camaro, but we burned up the tires on the last longer run and just had to play a little defense in the end. It was a really fun track and I had some fun out there today, I just didn’t have enough in the end.”

    Compared to Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer had a strong performance at Daytona. Starting 12th, Bowyer earned top-five results in both stages and collected a number of stage points towards the Playoffs. Though Bowyer could not keep pace with eventual winner Chase Elliott, he remained inside the top five in the final laps and was poised for more before he crossed the finish line in sixth place. Bowyer’s sixth-place result was his highest since finishing seventh and eighth during the Pocono Raceway doubleheader races in June and it snapped his recent seven-race stretch of finishing no higher than 11th. With his sixth top-10 result of the season, the Kansas veteran is 66 points above the top-16 cutline.

    “We did what we needed to do today,” Bowyer said. “We had a great Mobil 1 Ford. I thought it was going to be even better there at the end, but we must have gotten hot. [William Byron] got me on the restart and then another car got by me. If I didn’t have anything to lose there I might have been able to get a few more back. But that was a good points day. I hope we are on a roll and we continue this at Dover.”

    Right behind Bowyer in points continues to be Matt DiBenedetto, who started in ninth place and brought the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang in 15th place when the race concluded. With his 15th top-15 result of the season, DiBenedetto is 44 points above the cutline and three races away from making his first postseason appearance as a championship contender.

    With an eighth-place result at the Daytona Road Course event, William Byron continues to hold sole possession of the 16th and final transfer spot to the Playoffs by 25 points. Starting 13th, the Charlotte native contended inside the top 10 as he earned top-10 results in both stages and collected valuable stage points towards the Playoffs. Restarting in 34th with 26 laps remaining, Byron and his No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE charged his way back towards the front. Following a late pit stop under green and a late caution due to a single-car incident, he was scored in sixth place. During the final three laps, he lost two positions before he crossed the line in eighth place for his seventh top-10 career finish in the Cup Series and to remain in contention for a spot to the 2020 Playoffs.

    “It was a good result for us today,” Byron said. “We chose to go for the stage points and had to pass our way through the field a few times because of that strategy. I think we did a nice job of that and getting a lot of those available points. Once we got towards the front top five we kind of stalled out though. Overall, I’m pretty happy with today and getting a good result. We just need to have a couple good weeks with solid races when we go on to Dover for two races and back to Daytona. I’m looking forward to Dover next week for sure though.”

    The competitor who trails the top-16 cutline by 25 points is seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson, who rallied from his share of on-track struggles throughout the summer to post his highest-finishing result since finishing in third place at Bristol Motor Speedway in May. With three regular-season races remaining, Johnson has three opportunities remaining in keeping his hopes for a record-setting eighth championship alive.

    The next two closest competitors behind Byron and Johnson in points are Erik Jones and rookie Tyler Reddick. Starting in 20th, Jones was able to notch a sixth-place result in the first stage. The remainder of the race, however, did not go as planned for the Michigan native as he settled in 16th in the second stage before finishing 11th in the overall race. For Reddick, who started 18th, he finished outside the top 30 in both stages and he could work his way only up to 18th when the race concluded. As a result, Jones trails the cutline by 35 points while Reddick trails by 57 points.

    The remaining competitors who trail the top-16 cutline by 146 points or more are rookie Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace, Chris Buescher, Michael McDowell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Newman, rookie John Hunter Nemechek, Ty Dillon, Matt Kenseth, Corey LaJoie, Ryan Preece, Daniel Suarez, rookie Brennan Poole and rookie Quin Houff.

    The battle for the final spots to the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will continue next weekend at Dover International Speedway for a series doubleheader weekend. The first Dover race will commence on Saturday, August 22, at 4 p.m. ET on NBCSN while the second will occur the following day on Sunday, August 23, at 4 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Johnson and Buescher record strong top-five results at Daytona RC

    Johnson and Buescher record strong top-five results at Daytona RC

    While Chase Elliott achieved a historic win in the inaugural Daytona International Speedway Road Course event on Sunday, August 16, teammate Jimmie Johnson and Chris Buescher achieved much-needed runs inside the top five and in their quest to contend for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series championship battle.

    For Johnson, who sported a new white and purple primary scheme to his No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, his race started in 11th place. Following the opening lap, the seven-time Cup champion made his way into the top 10. Throughout the first stage spanning 15 laps, he continued to methodically work his way towards the front and was scored in third place when the stage concluded, thus collecting a handful of stage points.

    Due to a series of pit strategies made among multiple competitors, Johnson restarted in 20th place for the stage of the second stage and after he made a pit stop for four fresh tires and fuel under the first stage’s break. Throughout the second stage that also spanned 15 laps, he raced and battled within the top 15 to top 20. Despite sustaining a hole to the front nose of his car due to contact on the restart to start the second stage, Johnson was able to settle in 14th place when the second stage concluded.

    Restarting in sixth place for the final stage, Johnson was running in fourth place and battling for more when the race was delayed due to weather with less than 30 laps remaining. Nearly half an hour later and when the race restarted, he continued to flex his muscles as he worked his way as high as second place, trailing teammate Chase Elliott, before he fell back to fifth.

    With five laps remaining, Johnson was poised for a top-three result behind Elliott and Denny Hamlin when the caution due to a single-car incident flew with five laps remaining. During a final three-lap dash to the finish, Johnson continued to battle for a spot in the top five before he crossed the finish line in fourth place, three spots behind race winner/teammate Elliott.

    Johnson’s third-place result in the inaugural Daytona Road Course event marked his best result and first top-five result since finishing third at Bristol Motor Speedway in May. It also marked his 12th career top-five result at Daytona in his penultimate run at the world center of racing. Despite his top-five run, Johnson trails teammate William Byron by 25 points for the 16th and final spot to the 2020 Playoffs with three regular-season races remaining.

    “Good job to everyone on my No. 48 Ally Chevy team,” Johnson said. “I just lacked that rear grip at the end there. That was a really fun and a solid day, that’s what we needed and now we go to my favorite track – Dover. So proud of Chase, what a road racer he is.”

    For Buescher, who carried a special message on his No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Mustang in celebration of a 10-year partnership between RFR and sponsor Fastenal, his race started back in 21st place. Following the first 10 laps, however, he was back in 24th place. When the first stage concluded on Lap 15, he was scored in 30th due to making a pit stop under green two laps earlier. Restarting in 14th place for the start of the second stage, Buescher spent most of the run inside the top 20 before he made a pit stop under green. When the second stage concluded, he was in 23rd.

    Lining up in 13th place for the final stage, Buescher was in ninth place when the race was delayed for nearly half an hour due to weather. When the race resumed with 26 laps remaining, he continued to race inside the top 10 before he pitted under 20 laps remaining. When he returned on the track, he was back in the top 15 and was charging to get back into the top 10. By the time he moved up to ninth place, the caution flew with five laps remaining due to a single-car incident.

    During a three-lap dash to the finish, Buescher wasted no time charging his way into the top 10 and for more as he made his first appearance inside the top five. When the checkered flag flew, he was able to cross the finish line in fifth place and as the highest-finishing Ford competitor.

    The fifth-place result was Buescher’s sixth of his Cup career and his best since finishing in third place in the Daytona 500 in February. With his result, however, he is 174 points below the top-16 cutline and will likely need a race win to qualify for the 2020 Cup Playoffs with three regular-season races remaining.

    “That was just a fun day for our Fastenal Ford Mustang team,” Buescher said. “We needed that after a couple of hard weeks. Some decent runs and some bad luck and that was fun. I was able to mix it up and steadily work our way forward. We kept learning as we went and there at the end we got beat up. All four corners of this Mustang are beat up but we got the finish out of it. That was a good one. A good day.”

    Johnson and Buescher, along with their fellow Cup competitors, will return next weekend for a pair of NASCAR Cup Series races at Dover International Speedway. The first Cup Dover event will occur on Saturday, August 22, at 4 p.m. ET on NBCSN while the second Dover race will occur on Sunday. August 23, at 4. p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Grala notches top-10 result in Cup debut at Daytona RC

    Grala notches top-10 result in Cup debut at Daytona RC

    Perhaps, there was no competitor who left the inaugural Go Bowling 235 at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course beaming more than Kaz Grala. The 21-year-old native from Boston, Massachusetts, received a lifetime opportunity on Sunday, August 16, to pilot the iconic No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Richard Childress Racing as an interim competitor for Austin Dillon, who was absent after testing positive for COVID-19 symptoms a day earlier. Following a consistent run at Daytona, where he started at the rear of the field and was running towards the front in the closing laps, Grala ended his race with a seventh-place result and in his first run in a NASCAR Cup Series car.

    The No. 3 American Ethanol/RCR Chevrolet was due to start in 10th place with Dillon behind the wheel. With Dillon absent after being diagnosed with COVID-19 symptoms, however, Grala started the race at the rear of the field due to a driver change. For the first 15 laps and throughout the first stage, he remained within the top 30 before he settled in 32nd place. Throughout the second stage, Grala continued to carve his way towards the front, but he settled in 24th following a late pit stop under green.

    Following a rain delay in the early portions of the final stage and a pit stop prior to the restart, the final 26 laps was where Grala started to flex his muscles as he worked his way into the top 15. During a cycle of pit stops under green with approximately 15 laps remaining, Grala found himself as the leader of the race. Ultimately, he led his first three career laps in the Cup circuit before he made his final pit stop under green for fuel to complete the race to its scheduled distance. Following his stop, he continued to battle inside the top 15. Following a late caution and a three-lap dash to the finish, he was able to muscle his way into the top 10 and cross the finish line under the checkered flag in seventh place ahead of names like William Byron, Joey Logano, Michael McDowell, Erik Jones, Alex Bowman, Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch.

    With his first run in the Cup circuit concluding with a first top-10 career result, Grala became the 19th competitor to record a top-10 result in the Cup Series while driving for Richard Childress Racing and the fifth competitor to pilot the iconic No. 3 car in NASCAR’s premier series. Ironically, the Daytona Road Course event marked the 1,000th NASCAR Cup race for the No. 3 car under the Richard Childress Racing banner.

    “I can’t believe it,” Grala said on NBC. “It’s surreal to get the call from Richard [Childress] to drive the 3 [car] alone. I was really hoping for a top-30 finish. Man, seventh-place, that’s unbelievable. I couldn’t ask for anything more. My wishes are with Austin [Dillon]. I hope he’s back in the car next weekend [at Dover International Speedway], but it was an honor to get to drive this car and to finish P7, it’s just beyond my wildest dreams.”

    “[Today] was tough,” Grala added. “We got up to like 25th and we were racing our butt off like we were racing for the win in any other series. Everybody’s just unbelievable. Our strategy was good. [Crew chief] Justin Alexander called a great race and put ourselves up front where we needed to be. We executed.”

    The result came in his 62nd start across NASCAR’s three major national division series (Truck, Xfinity & Cup Series). He has made two starts this season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and in RCR’s No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro, where he finished 13th at Kansas in July and a career-best fourth place last weekend at Road America. His lone NASCAR victory dates back to February 2017, where he won the season opener at Daytona International Speedway while driving for GMS Racing. Since joining RCR last season as a part-time competitor, Grala continues to strive for his goal in returning as a full-time competitor for any organization within NASCAR’s top division series.

    Ironically, this did not mark the only occasion where Grala drove a racing car sporting the number 3.

    “I drove the 3 car in Bandoleros, Legends Cars, Late Models growing up,” Grala noted. “I never thought I’d make my first Cup start in the 3 car and I certainly never thought I’d get a top 10 [result].”

    Announcements regarding Richard Childress Racing’s No. 3 Chevrolet team and Austin Dillon’s conditions for next weekend at Dover International Speedway for a series doubleheader weekend will be announced sometime this upcoming week.

  • Michael Self takes historic Daytona Road Course victory

    Michael Self takes historic Daytona Road Course victory

    For the first time ever in ARCA Menards Series history, the series visited the Daytona International Speedway Road Course this weekend. The event was created due to the Watkins Glen International race being canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions.

    While the road course upped the intensity, a familiar face was in victory lane again. Venturini Motorsports’ Michael Self swept the Daytona races, as he won the season opener back in February. The win wasn’t easy for the Salt Lake City, Utah native as he had to pass and fend off an aggressive Ty Gibbs late in the going. Self maneuvered his No. 25 Sinclair Lubricants Toyota past Gibbs with six laps to go coming out of Turn 6. From there, Self opened up a big gap, and won the General Tire 100 by almost seven seconds.

    “No, this is so special to me,” Self said excitedly about the win. “Anytime you win at Daytona, it’s really cool and special. Obviously, to do this twice, winning on the big track earlier this year, and to come to this (road course), this is a little extra special for me. Road racing has just a special place in my heart. That’s where I come from. I spent a lot of time when I’m not in racing, coaching a lot of guys in the Trans Am Series with the Mike Cope Racing team.”

    “To go out and justify that, and do what we did tonight makes me feel so good. I don’t get to road race all that often. So, this is extremely special for me.”

    Before the event would get underway ARCA Menards Series officials brought the drivers down pit road in order for them to change from dry to wet tires. Self’s teammate Chandler Smith, was on the pole via a random draw based on owner points.

    Speaking of Venturini Motorsports, Self’s day started out rocky well before the race began. He was never able to log any laps in his No. 25 machine in practice due to a faulty spark plug wire. Despite the issue, Self was still able to start alongside his teammate in the second position.

    Once the green flag dropped, it was all Ty Gibbs and the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing machine. Self would lead for a brief period of time before Gibbs took the lead in Turns 9 and 10. On that same lap, Chandler Smith lost control of his No. 20 JBL Toyota in Turn 3 and lost several positions. That same turn would cause more incidents in the early laps, with Thad Moffitt in the No. 46, and Nick Igdalsky in the No. 12 spinning around and going off the circuit. But the race would stay green and no cautions flew for these minor incidents.

    As the race got closer and closer to the halfway break scheduled for Lap 14, Michael Self closed the gap before the yellow and red flag was displayed. Self was able to grab the lead from Gibbs just one lap before the segment break. When the field came to a stop for adjustments on Lap 14, Self, Gibbs, Sam Mayer, Will Rodgers, Parker Chase, Taylor Gray, Hailie Deegan, Max McLaughlin, Chandler Smith, and Ayrton Ori were the top 10.

    One of the more interesting stories coming into tonight’s historic race was Sam Mayer. Mayer’s wrist was injured during a TransAm T2 crash at Road America the week before. resulting in a hairline fracture. He had a backup driver just in case the pain started flaring up throughout the 28 lap race. That backup driver was none other than former NASCAR driver, now turned IMSA driver, Colin Braun. Braun would sub in for Mayer after 15 laps and completed the race for the GMS Racing team. He was able to pilot the No. 21 Chevrolet to a third-place finish.

    After the restart came back out with 12 to go, Gibbs took the top spot from Self again in Turns 7 and 8. But, as the race wound down, so did his car and Self caught back up to Gibbs and made the pass. All Gibbs could do was watch as he came home in the second position after being dominant early. There were some hairy moments though for the leaders with three laps to go. Ayrton Ori had a flat left front tire and took the damaged No. 74 machine back to pit road.

    However, no yellow flags flew in those remaining laps and Venturini Motorsports captured their fifth win of the 2020 ARCA Menards Series season.

    There were four leaders among two lead changes and one caution for two laps.

    Official Results following the General Tire 100 at Daytona Road Course

    1. Michael Self, led nine laps
    2. Ty Gibbs, led 19 laps
    3. Sam Mayer-Colin Braun
    4. Taylor Gray
    5. Will Rodgers
    6. Hailie Deegan
    7. Max McLaughlin
    8. Bret Holmes
    9. Chandler Smith
    10. Parker Chase
    11. Thad Moffitt
    12. Drew Dollar, 1 lap down
    13. Will Kimmel, 1 lap down
    14. Nick Igdalsky, 1 lap down
    15. Mike Basham, 2 laps down
    16. Russ Lane, 2 laps down
    17. Ayrton Ori, 2 laps down
    18. Con Nicolopoulos, OUT, Overheating
    19. Brad Smith, OUT, Transmission
    20. Tim Monroe, OUT, Electrical
    21. Bryan Dauzat, OUT, Did Not Start

    Up Next: The ARCA Menards Series takes a week off before returning Saturday, Aug. 29 at World Wide Technology Raceway.

  • Stoffel Vandoorne Earns Mecerdes-Benz EQ First Formula E Victory

    Stoffel Vandoorne Earns Mecerdes-Benz EQ First Formula E Victory

    A series of first continued at the Berlin E-Prix Thursday for the final round of season six in the Formula E electric series. Stoffel Vandoorne capitalized on pole position and gave Mercedes-Benz EQ their first overall career victory after leading lights out, and having a clean race in the German’s hometown, but had to hold off a hard-charging Buemi in the end.

    “We had the perfect race, no threats from behind, Seb (Buemi) was always close but we had him under control,”. We couldn’t have dreamt of a better way to finish the season than with a 1-2 for Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team. Being second in the championship it’s definitely a bonus. Over the past week we had showed we had a good race pace but to execute that from the front whilst leading the race it’s quite different. I’m super happy we managed to pull that off. The whole team has done a fantastic job, I have been struggling in qualifying in the past couple of races but today everything was picture perfect!”

    Vandoorne’s perfect day started with qualifying when the German set a lap time of 1:15.717, which was also Mercedes-Benz’s first-ever pole position as well in the series.

    Once the lights went out for Round 11 in Berlin, there was some intense action near the podium spot. Four drivers would battle for third, with those being Wednesday’s podium finish Rene Rast, then Nyck de Vries, Robin Frijns, and Edoardo Mortara. Through the first 10 mins of the race, Mercedes de Vries and Vandoorne made up the top two spots with everyone else chasing them down.

    As Vandoorne and de Vries were trying to lock out the top spots, they had to fend off a charging Sebastien Buemi who had a great car throughout the event. Buemi actually at one point in the race, passed Vandoorne for a short period of time. The Switzerland native, however, gave up the lead after using ATTACK Mode, which put Vandoorne back in the first place.

    Meanwhile, the DS Techeetah of Jean-Eric Vergne, and BMW i Andretti’s Alexander Sims had a battle for position in the back of the pack. At some point during the battle, the two caused a collision with another car, and FIA officials wound up giving Vergne a warning for the incident.

    With time winding down in the season finale, there were some intense moments, especially one that could have brought out the safety car. Wednesday’s winner Oliver Rowland, had a wheel cover come off his Nissan e.dams entry, which was left out on the track. The moment definitely increased intensity for drivers, not knowing whether or not the race pace would be slowed. However, series officials let the race remain green. For Rowland, his day was cut short, and out of the event early.

    Back up front, the battle for podiums heated up again with Buemi moving all the way to second, and able to get by de Vries with around 10 minutes remaining. During that same moment, drivers Lucas di Grassi and Robin Frijns almost wrecked each other in of the turns. In fact, di Grassi’s car actually touched Frijns machine, which caused Frijns to receive a left-front tire puncture while battling for sixth place. Though, Frijns puncture would only get worse and caused him to lockup in the hairpin with Maximilian Günther.

    On lap 33, just a few laps before the checkered flag flew, de Vries got back around Buemi for second. Once the time expired and all drivers crossed the line, it was de Vries who finished second in the running order, thus helping Mercedes-Benz EQ to grab their first-ever 1-2 finish.

    “Phew! What a relief,”! de Vries said. “All the pressure just melted away once I’d crossed the finish line. On previous occasions, I’ve often got close to finishing on the podium, but unfortunately, it just never happened for me, so it feels really good to have finally succeeded to conclude this long and grueling marathon. We did well with energy management, and I was able to keep closing on Stoffel towards the end of the race. Our strategy paid off in this instance. Overtaking is harder on this track layout than on the first two that we raced on, which is why we thought we could see a chance of finishing second, and luckily, our plan worked out. I wasn’t completely free of error this week, so it feels really great to hit back with such an amazing race today. The season was a little bit of a roller-coaster for me, so it’s nice to end it with my first podium, our first one-two win, and P3 in the team championship. I think we really deserved this result and I’m very pleased for the whole team. We couldn’t have wished for a better end to our season before this final round kicked off.”

    Team Principle, Ian James is ecstatic for the teams first victory.

    “What a phenomenal result at the end of a very unique event,” James said. “Huge congratulations to Stoffel for his first win. What’s more, than we can finally celebrate the first-ever fully-electric race win for Mercedes-Benz Motorsports. Also huge congratulations as well for Nyck for securing P2. These combined efforts pushed us to P3 in the Team Championship and Stoffel even clinched P2 in the Driver Championship. After all the hard work and trials and tribulations of the last days, a fantastic result. Finishing P1 and P2 today is something that the team have worked hard for and they absolutely deserve it.”
     
    “We now look forward to getting Season 7 underway. There’s a lot of hard work ahead of us before then but we’ve also learned a huge amount through the ups and downs we had during Season 6. I’d like to add my congratulations once again to DS Techeetah for the Team Championship and of course to Antonio Felix da Costa for the Driver Championship.”

    Even though Mercedes-Benz EQ enjoyed season-ending success, Antonio Felix da Costa remained the champion, as he locked the driver’s championship a few races early.

    DS TECHEETAH Celebrates Season six Championship, Courtesy of Formula E

    Official Results following the season six finale

    1. Stoffel Vandoorne
    2. Nyck de Vries
    3. Sebastien Buemi
    4. Rene Rast
    5. Sam Bird
    6. Lucas di Grassi
    7. Jean-Eric Vergne
    8. Alex Lynn
    9. Antonio Felix da Costa
    10. Edoardo Mortara
    11. Mitch Evans
    12. Maximilian Günther
    13. Alexander Sims
    14. Andre Lotterer
    15. Neel Jani
    16. Felipe Massa
    17. Tom Blomqvist
    18. Jerome D’Ambrosio
    19. Sergio Sette Camara
    20. Daniel Abt
    21. Oliver Turvey
    22. Nico Mueller

    Did Not Finish

    1. Robin Frijns
    2. Oliver Rowland

    Final Drivers Championship

    1. Antonio Felix da Costa, 158 points
    2. Stoffel Vandoorne, 87 points
    3. Jean-Eric Vergne, 86 points
    4. Sebastien Buemi, 84 points
    5. Oliver Rowland, 83 points
    6. Lucas di Grassi, 77 points
    7. Mitch Evans, 71 points
    8. Andre Lotterer, 71 points
    9. Maximilian Guenther, 69 points
    10. Sam Bird, 63 points
    11. Nyck de Vries, 60 points
    12. Robin Frijns, 58 points
    13. Alexander Sims, 49 points
    14. Rene Rast, 29 points
    15. Jerome D’Ambrosio, 19 points
    16. Pascal Wehrlein, 14 points
    17. James Calado, 10 points
    18. Neel Jani, 8 points
    19. Daniel Abt, 8 points
    20. Felipe Massa, 3 points
    21. Brendon Hartley, 2 points
    22. Nico Mueller, 0 points
    23. Ma Qing Hua, 0 points
    24. Tom Blomqvist, 0 points
    25. Sergio Sette Camara, 0 points

    Up Next: The FIA ABB Formula E Series now heads into their off-season after a successful nine days of racing in Berlin and prepare for season seven, which is tentatively scheduled for January 16, 2021 at Santiago.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Keselowski to make 400th Cup start at Daytona RC

    Keselowski to make 400th Cup start at Daytona RC

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Harvick to start on pole position for inaugural Daytona Road Course event

    Harvick to start on pole position for inaugural Daytona Road Course event

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Darlington to feature limited fans for Southern 500

    Darlington to feature limited fans for Southern 500

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Bell to drive for Joe Gibbs Racing in the 2021 Cup season

    Bell to drive for Joe Gibbs Racing in the 2021 Cup season

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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