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  • Banner run for four Toyota competitors at Pocono

    Banner run for four Toyota competitors at Pocono

    It was a banner day for Kevin Harvick as he notched his first NASCAR Cup Series win at Pocono Raceway in his 39th attempt. It was also a banner run for the Toyota nameplate as four Toyota drivers earned top-10 results, three of which were top-five results, at the Tricky Triangle.

    The first was Denny Hamlin. Starting third based on a random draw, Hamlin fell back to fifth through the first 13 laps. Under the competition caution, he remained on track and was shuffled back to ninth on the following restart. Under three laps remaining in the first stage, the driver of the No. 11 FedEx/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota surrendered his track position to make a green-flag pit stop to set himself up for track position in the following stage. When the first stage concluded, Hamlin was in 36th. Under the stage break, Hamlin remained on track and gained a multitude of positions while his three JGR teammates pitted. Restarting 10th in the second stage, Hamlin slowly made his way towards the front as strategy became the theme throughout the stage and a multitude of competitors made green-flag pit stops. On Lap 60, Hamlin led his first lap of the day after passing teammate Martin Truex Jr., who peeled off to pit road. Hamlin would lead seven laps before pitting. With eight laps remaining in the second stage, Hamlin was in 10th when the caution flew. Through two late-stage restarts, Hamlin would settle in seventh in the second stage. Restarting seventh in the final stage with 48 laps remaining, Hamlin returned to the lead 11 laps later. Needing to pit to complete the race, Hamlin pitted five laps later for service. For the duration of the closing laps, Hamlin would carve his way back into second with Harvick ahead of him. Then, Hamlin started to report a bad vibration to his car. Despite the issue, Hamlin continued to narrow his deficit to Harvick with less than 10 laps remaining. With four laps remaining, Hamlin narrowed his deficit to less than half a second and was close to Harvick’s rear bumper. He was, however, unable to gain a draft to draw alongside Harvick and challenge for the win as he settled in second. With his runner-up result, Hamlin earned his eighth top-five result of this season and his 12th at Pocono to go along with his three regular-season victories this season and after leading 10 of the event’s 130-scheduled laps.

    “[The vibration]’s bad,” Hamlin said. “It was like someone loosened all the [lug] nuts on the car. It’s unfortunate. We got there and we came there from a long way back. Had a strong FedEx Camry. With about 15, 20 to go, the vibration just got really, really bad. Still, it would’ve been tough to pass. Even though we got there, it was gonna be tough to get around [Harvick]. Man, our car was extremely, extremely fast. [I’m] Optimistic for tomorrow’s race, for sure.”

    Next was rookie Christopher Bell, who shined the brightest of this year’s Rookie-of-the-Year Cup field at a track where he won at in the 2017 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series season with Kyle Busch Motorsports. Starting 36th, Bell gained 10 spots to move into 26th through the competition caution on Lap 13. Through the following two restarts, Bell kept his No. 95 Rheem/Leavine Family Racing Toyota intact. With three laps remaining in the first stage, Bell, like Hamlin, made a green-flag pit stop for early adjustments to his car for the next stage, thus finishing 35th at the conclusion of the first stage. Throughout the second stage, Bell worked his way into the top 10 and was running inside the top five when the caution flew for debris with 13 laps remaining in the stage. Through another caution and two late restarts, Bell concluded the stage in 11th, one spot shy of earning a stage point. At the start of the final stage, Bell remained in contention for a top-10 spot when he made a green-flag pit stop with 39 laps remaining to have enough fuel to make it to the end. From there, Bell was able to work his way up to fourth when the checkered flag flew. The fourth-place result marked Bell’s first top-five career finish in his 14th NASCAR Cup Series start and his fourth top-10 result of this season and in the last eight races. The top-five result was a satisfactory run for Bell, who had finished no higher than 21st in the first six races of the 2020 season.

    “Whenever I started working with [crew chief] Jason [Ratcliff] two years ago in the Xfinity Series, well even before that, I started following him and I knew he was really aggressive on strategy to get his driver up front,” Bell said. “[It] Seems like the majority of the race tracks that we’ve been to the last couple weeks have just been, put four tires on and go, but Pocono is definitely a place where you can mix up strategy, pit early, pit before the stages and so forth. Obviously, Jason did a great job and got us up front and we had the car speed to stay up there.”

    In addition, Kyle Busch rallied from his recent strings of frustration to leave the first Pocono event with a strong top-five run. Starting fourth, Busch was the highest-running Toyota driver in fourth through the first competition caution on Lap 13. Restarting in fourth, Busch outlasted through two additional restarts to finish fourth and gain valuable stage points towards the Playoffs. Under the stage break, Busch pitted with two of his JGR teammates and restarted 23rd for the following stage. In the early portions of the stage, Busch was running towards the top 15, but once a wave of competitors pitted on Lap 46, Busch was in third behind teammates Truex and Hamlin. Busch kept his No. 18 M&M’s Mini’s/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota towards the front when a late caution in the second stage came out due to debris. Opting to pit, Busch was in 11th when the racing resumed with eight laps remaining in the second stage. Through another late-stage restart, Busch finished 10th. He restarted in eighth in the final stage and made his final pit stop under green with 40 laps remaining. As the race dwindled to its final laps, Busch was able to work his way up to fifth, where he finished after taking the checkered flag. Despite remaining winless to the 2020 season, the top-five result was Busch’s first since finishing second at Atlanta Motor Speedway on June 7 and his eighth top-10 result of the season.

    “We had some speed and there were laps that I could run with [Hamlin], but he could just do it lap after lap after lap where I was pushing everything I had to keep up with him there,” Busch said. “I just couldn’t do it. I would make the tires mad and would start to fall back. We were just a little tight all day. We really fought tight early on, but we made some really good adjustments and got it a lot closer and got it a lot better. Our strategy there worked out to get us in the top-five – that was about all we could ask for out of today. We got some really good ideas for tomorrow hopefully that will help us out and hopefully get us some speed so we can keep up with those front guys.”

    Finally, Martin Truex Jr. rallied from a disappointing ending last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway to add another top-10 result to this season. Starting 11th, Truex was in 14th through the competition caution, 13 laps, when he opted to make his first pit stop of the day for four fresh tires, fuel and adjustments. The pit stop dropped him back to 21st, and through two restarts, Truex could finish as high as 13th following the first stage. Restarting in 10th for the start of the second stage, Truex emerged with the lead on Lap 45. He led the next 14 laps before surrendering the lead to teammate Hamlin while making a green-flag pit stop. In the closing laps of the second stage, Truex was running inside the top five. Through two late restarts, Truex settled in third in the second stage. Restarting in third in the final stage, Truex was battling within the top five when he made a green-flag pit stop, a stop to get him to the finish. In the final laps, while battling teammate Kyle Busch for a top-five spot, Truex reported a vibration to his No. 19 SiriusXM/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Despite the late concerns, Truex was able to cross the finish line in sixth for his seventh top-10 result of this season after leading 14 laps.

    “We started in a decent spot and lost some spots early,” Truex said. “I thought we had a pretty decent SiriusXM Toyota early on and kind of had to do a little different strategy there. Stage one didn’t look too good, but I felt like we were pretty close with the car. We made some adjustments and got some track position through stage two, so we were able to get some decent stage points there. We were in a decent spot again towards the end and got a really bad vibration, so I was a little concerned that we were going to have a tire issue or something. Luckily, it held on and it wasn’t a great finish by any means, but a solid finish for sure and something we can work on for tomorrow.”

    For the remaining Toyota competitors, Daniel Suarez and Timmy Hill finished 28th and 35th while Erik Jones ended his race in 38th following a late accident in the second stage, a wreck that left Jones trailing the top-16 in the regular-season series standings by six points and moving into a backup car for the second Cup Pocono race on Sunday, June 28.

    The NASCAR Cup Series will return for a second race at Pocono as part of the doubleheader feature on June 28 at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • NASCAR Statement – not an intentional, racist act against Bubba

    NASCAR Statement – not an intentional, racist act against Bubba

    “The FBI has completed its investigation at Talladega Superspeedway and determined that Bubba Wallace was not the target of a hate crime. The FBI report concludes, and photographic evidence confirms, that the garage door pull rope fashioned like a noose had been positioned there since as early as last fall. This was obviously well before the 43 team’s arrival and garage assignment. We appreciate the FBI’s quick and thorough investigation and are thankful to learn that this was not an intentional, racist act against Bubba. We remain steadfast in our commitment to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all who love racing.”

  • Talladega Cup summer race features unique top-10 notables

    Talladega Cup summer race features unique top-10 notables

    While Ryan Blaney celebrated his first triumph of this year’s NASCAR Cup Series season at Talladega Superspeedway, there were a number of competitors who left one of the world’s fastest superspeedway venues with strong results within the top 10.

    The first was Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Starting 20th, Stenhouse was competitive at the drop of the green flag as he carved his way towards the front. After finishing in 12th the first stage, Stenhouse started to flex his muscles as he and teammate Ryan Preece battled inside the top 10 throughout the second stage. On Lap 106, Stenhouse led his first lap of the day and led again six laps later. In a two-lap dash to the conclusion of the second stage, he returned to the lead and a lap later, he received a draft from Kyle Busch on the frontstretch to edge Ryan Blaney and win the stage, thus earning valuable stage points in his quest to make this year’s postseason. For the final stage, Stenhouse restarted 24th, but he made his way towards the front in the closing laps. Following a late caution and an overtime restart, Stenhouse was behind Blaney for the win entering the frontstretch. He made contact with Aric Almirola and battled dead even at the finish line with Blaney. When the dust settled, Stenhouse fell short of the win by 0.007 seconds and at a track where he scored his first Cup win in 2017. Nonetheless, the runner-up result was Stenhouse’s best in his first 13 races with JTG-Daugherty Racing and his third top-five result of the 2020 season. The result moved Stenhouse from 21st to 20th in the regular-season series standings, where he trails points leader Kevin Harvick by 227 points.

    “Yeah, I felt like I was a sitting duck there by myself,” Stenhouse said on MRN Radio. “Just trying to pick up different people to draft with all day. The Fords really stuck together, [Kyle Busch] and I pushed really good [at] each other and then, I don’t know what issue he had. So, I lost that guy, which I worked well with all day. All in all, our NOS Energy Drink car was really fast. Glad that a few fans got to stay here and watch a great race. I felt like we battled hard all day and put on a great show. It was fun.”

    Sliding across the finish line in third was Aric Almirola. A week after notching his first top-five result of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Almirola started 15th and settled at the rear of the field in the early laps of the race. Throughout the first stage, Almirola slowly moved his way towards the front, but settled in 20th following the first stage. Following the second stage, Almirola was in 25th. Prior to the overtime restart, Almirola was in seventh and a lap later, he was in eighth. Entering the frontstretch, he gained a huge run and had appeared to establish a race-winning move beneath Blaney before he made contact with Stenhouse inches from the finish line. Sliding backwards across the line, he was able to finish third and keep his car intact. With his second consecutive top-five result of the season, his best result in 13 Cup races this season and his sixth consecutive top-10 result at Talladega, Almirola moved from 13th to 12th in the standings, where he trails teammate Harvick by 153 points.

    “I thought we had a shot to get our Smithfield Ford Mustang in Victory Lane,” Almirola said on MRN. “We had a really good car and our strategy was to stay out of trouble all day and be there at the end. We were there at the end, it was close. We just couldn’t get it done. Proud of all of my guys on this team. We had a great week last week at Miami with a top five, and leave here at Talladega with another top five. So, we’ll keep building on that and looks like the ball’s going in the right direction for us.”

    Next was Erik Jones, who was inches from establishing a race-winning move on Blaney before he settled for a top-five finish. Starting 18th, Jones spent the majority of the race running at the back of the pack along with teammate Martin Truex Jr. while his other teammates, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, battled at the front. Following the first stage’s completion under caution, Jones was in 23rd and was also the second-highest Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with Truex behind him and Hamlin scored a lap down. Jones continued running towards the rear of the field throughout the second stage, where he finished 29th. With 42 laps remaining, Jones restarted second, but was forced off the track and below the double yellow lines (out of bounds) by Christopher Bell, which resulted in a penalty for Bell. He was running within the top 20 in the closing laps, but following a late caution and prior to an overtime restart, Jones moved up to 13th. On the final lap, he drafted Stenhouse towards the front and on the frontstretch, he was behind Blaney and was prepared to mount a last-lap pass for the win. After feigning a move on the outside, he moved to the inside, but was blocked by Blaney. He moved up the outside lane again with rookie John Hunter Nemechek behind him. Blaney moved up the track and made contact with Jones, which sent Jones into the wall. Despite sustaining significant damage to the front of his No. 20 Toyota Camry, Jones limped across the line in fifth following a three-race slump, where he finished no higher than 20th. With his third top-five result of the season and first at Talladega, Jones moved from 18th to 17th in the standings, where he trails Harvick by 185 points.

    Making his way to a sixth-place result was Chris Buescher. Starting 21st, Buescher finished 15th in the first stage and ninth in the second stage while spending the majority of the race inside the top 10 with a strong racecar. Following a series of late cautions and an overtime restart, Buescher was in third as he drafted Harvick to the front. He moved into second on the final lap, but did not receive any drafting help on the frontstretch as a handful of competitors overtook him for position. When the checkered flag waved, Buescher crossed the line in sixth for his third top-10 result of the season, his first at Talladega and his best result since finishing third in the Daytona 500 in February. With his result, Buescher, who also led four laps, remained in 19th in the standings and is 224 points behind Harvick.

    “Not a bad run for our Fastenal Ford Mustang and our team,” Buescher said in a post-race interview on social media. “Lots of excitement throughout the race at different areas and I obviously wanted to replay the end to do a little bit better. At the end of the day, it was a good run for us. We’ll go on to Pocono and go get a doubleheader.”

    Next was Alex Bowman. Coming into the weekend, Bowman had recorded two top-10 results in the previous eight races, one in the last seven. Starting eighth, Bowman remained towards the front in the early stages of the race. He led his first lap of the day on Lap 46 and again on Lap 50. He concluded the first stage in second under caution and emerged with the lead to start the second stage. By then, Bowman led a total of five laps before he was overtaken for the lead. When the second stage concluded, Bowman had fallen back to 16th. With three laps remaining, Bowman was in sixth when he dodged a late spin involving his teammate, Jimmie Johnson. With the race set into overtime, Bowman restarted within the top 15 and was able to battle his way to a seventh-place finish in two laps. With his fourth top-10 result of the season and third at Talladega, Bowman is eighth in the standings, trailing Harvick by 71 points. He is, nonetheless, guaranteed a spot in the postseason after winning earlier this season at Auto Club Speedway.

    Last but not least, John Hunter Nemechek rallied from an early incident to post a career-best run for him in the Cup Series and in his first tango at Talladega. Starting 22nd, Nemechek was inside the top 10 when the competition caution flew on Lap 25, but he settled in 16th following the first stage’s conclusion. While battling inside the top 10 at the race’s halfway point, Lap 94, Nemechek reported a possible cut tire to his No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford entering the frontstretch. He then got loose and spun near the pit road entrance, but he kept his car spinning in the tri-oval grass without damaging his car. Nemechek was able to rally from the spin to finish 14th in the second stage, two spots behind his teammate, Michael McDowell. Battling within the top 10 and 15 throughout the remainder of the race, Nemechek was in 13th when the caution flew with three laps remaining for a single-car incident and sent the race into overtime. Restarting 13th, Nemechek was just outside the top 10 to start the final lap. Then, with a multi-car wreck behind him, he made a charge into the top five in Turn 3. Entering the frontstretch, Nemechek tried to draft Jones to the win, but made contact with Jones and Jones slapped the wall but continued straight. At the finish line, Nemechek was able to cross the line in eighth for his second top-10 finish of his early Cup career and of the season, and to also emerge as the highest-running rookie of the race. With his best result in his 16th Cup Series start, Nemechek is 22nd in the standings, 252 points behind Harvick.

    “We had a really great run in our No. 38 Death Wish Coffee Ford Mustang today,” Nemechek said. “I really thought we had a shot at it at the end there, but I’m still proud of our entire team’s efforts. When we fired off, we were kind of tight, and then we had that tire go down in the second stage, but we managed to come back from it and battled into the top 10 by the end. I wish we would have won that thing, but a P8 finish at Talladega is still good for us and I want to thank everyone on the team for their support. I’m looking forward to giving Death Wish Coffee another chance at the checkered flag at Pocono.”

    The NASCAR Cup Series will return on June 27-28 for a special doubleheader weekend at Pocono Raceway. The first Pocono event will run on Saturday, June 27, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX and the second Pocono event will run on Sunday, June 28, at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Double win for Kaulig Racing at Talladega

    Double win for Kaulig Racing at Talladega

    Following a doubleheader weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kaulig Racing came into Talladega Superspeedway with three opportunities to win the race and two opportunities to win the $100,000 bonus from the Dash 4 Cash program. When the checkered flag flew, the team accomplished both achievements as Justin Haley scored his first NASCAR Xfinity Series career win at one of the world’s fastest superspeedway venues while Ross Chastain claimed the bonus with a runner-up finish.

    Based on a random draw, Haley drew the pole position while Chastain started ninth. Teammate AJ Allmendinger, fresh off his Dash 4 Cash win last weekend at Homestead, started at the rear of the field due to his No. 16 Ellsworth Advisors Chevrolet Camaro failing pre-race inspection three times.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Haley and Chastain battled and remained at the front of the pack while Allmendinger was settling outside the top 20 and behind the lead pack while preserving his car to the end as a pre-cautionary approach for any potential incident to occur early in the race. This was how the trio ran through the competition caution on the 10th lap and when the first stage concluded on Lap 25, which was won by Haley.  

    Throughout the second stage, it was only Chastain who remained towards the front and battled for the lead as Haley, who started towards the front, was shuffled out of the draft, placed in a three-wide battle with the pack and drifted outside the top 10. Allmendinger, who was penalized for having too many crew members over his pit stall under the first stage’s break, continued running within the top 30 and behind the pack. When the stage concluded, Chastain settled in fifth while Haley worked his way back to sixth after spending the final two laps of the stage going three wide on the outside lane to gain momentum and positions to the start/finish line. Allmendinger finished 25th.

    When the final stage started with less than 60 laps remaining, Chastain and Haley restarted third and fifth, but were shuffled back to eighth and 19th nearly 20 laps later as the racing towards the front started to intensify. Allmendinger continued to settle within the top 20 and behind the lead pack. With 37 laps remaining, all three Kaulig Racing competitors made a green-flag pit stop, but caught a break when the caution flew for a four-car wreck. Under caution, the trio remained on track to restart inside the top five. When the race restarted with 33 laps remaining, the trio occupied the podium positions with Chastain leading. A lap later, Haley was shuffled back to 12th.

    Following another caution for a multi-car wreck, a red-flag delay spanning nearly 11 minutes and a restart with 14 laps remaining, Allmendinger was shuffled out of the draft and all the way back to 14th. Chastain was able to retain the lead while Haley was in seventh. For the next six laps, Chastain was locked in a heated battle with Austin Cindric and Jeb Burton for the lead while Haley was able to work his way back into the top five. Then came an 11-car pileup in the frontstretch with seven laps remaining, a wreck that occurred just behind Haley and Chastain while Allmendinger was barely able to dodge the carnage in one piece.

    Following a second red-flag period spanning six and a half minutes, the racing resumed with three laps remaining, Haley, who restarted second, fired off past the restart zone and ignited a challenge with Burton for the lead with Chastain right behind his bumper and Allmendinger trying to work his way back to the front. A lap later, after Burton was able to pull away from the field, Haley came charging back on the outside lane and was alongside Burton when the final lap started. In Turn 2, Allmendinger gave Chastain’s No. 10 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet Camaro a push, who closed towards and pushed Haley’s No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet Camaro clear of Burton with the lead entering Turn 3. From there, Haley was gone and was able to beat the field by two-tenths of a second to claim his first elusive Xfinity win in his 47th series start.

    With the victory, Haley, who led 16 laps, became the 164th driver to win a NASCAR Xfinity Series race and the fifth regular-season series winner of the 2020 season, which has the Winamac, Indiana, native a guaranteed spot for the Xfinity Playoffs. He also became the third first-time winner of this season, (Noah Gragson and Harrison Burton), the fourth first-time series winner at Talladega and the 32nd driver to win across NASCAR’s top three national major division series. The win was also the second for crew chief Alexander Yontz. Following his victory burnouts and celebration with his teammates on the frontstretch, an emotional Haley took a moment to dedicate his first win to the late Nick Harrison, who was Haley’s crew chief last season until he died unexpectedly last July at age 37 following health issues.

    “Well, I got one taken away from me at Daytona [July 2018], which is my own fault,” Haley said. “To, kind of, get redemption, I now won in the Cup Series, the Xfinity Series, Truck Series, K&N, ARCA, you name it, I’ve won in it. That meant a lot to me. The Xfinity win was bugging me. I got’em a little out of place there jumping to my Cup win, but it’s so special for everyone. I can’t believe [Burton] gave me [Chastain, restarting on the outside lane]. You never want teammate lined up and that’s what he did. Just having Ross behind me and AJ [Allmendinger], you see the team love here at Kaulig Racing. A win for one guy’s a win for all of us. Just super special. This car was amazing. I’m loving these Kaulig Racing guys. They’ve been so incredible.” 

    The runner-up finish was Chastain’s best result along with his third top-five finish through the first 11 races of this season. Above all, Chastain, who also led a race-high 24 of the event’s 113-scheduled laps, won his first Dash 4 Cash program of his career and the second in a row of this season for Kaulig Racing. With his result, Chastain jumped from fifth to fourth in the standings and trails points leader Gragson by 47 points.

    “It was teamwork that got it done,” Chastain said. “I would say we were pretty even until the backstretch coming to the white flag. AJ Allmendinger in the 16 car gave me like a hundred horsepower boost down the back. I’ve never been hit so hard and not crashed as that. It started with the third car, took three of us, me, to the 10 car to [Haley] and he was able to clear [Burton]. It’s so gratifying to come these places. You come here and you can come here your whole career and never finish, never run good. AJ’s been coming here so long. He’s hit every corner of this place. It was that experience that paid off, and just having him as a teammate, it’s awesome. Justin and I have learned so much, and it’s all paying off.”

    With their one-two finish, Haley and Chastain will contend for the fourth and final Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus of this season next weekend at Pocono Raceway along with Austin Cindric and Alex Labbe.

    Allmendinger settled in seventh for his fourth top-10 result of this season and his sixth in the last two seasons while competing on a part-time basis for Kaulig Racing. He will return at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval-road course venue on July 4.

    Following 11 races into the 2020 season, Kaulig Racing operations have notched a combined nine top-five results, 20 top-10 results and have led a combined 203 laps, the most gained for the organization, team owner Matt Kaulig and team president Chris Rice after 11 races in the team’s fifth year of existence. They have also won four NASCAR career races with three different drivers, all of whom currently drive for the team. For LeafFilter Gutter Protection, Haley’s sponsor which has also been a primary sponsor with the team since its existence in 2016, this marked the company’s first time earning a trip to victory lane with a competitor in a stock car race.

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series will return at Pocono Raceway on June 28, where the race will air at 12:30 p.m. ET on FS1 and will be part of a quadruple-header weekend.

  • A career-defining run for Jeb Burton at Talladega

    A career-defining run for Jeb Burton at Talladega

    It was a near-perfect day for Jeb Burton, the son of the 2002 Daytona 500 champion, Ward, who rallied from the rear of the field to lead in the closing laps of Saturday’s Unhinged 300 at Talladega Superspeedway. While the Halifax, Virginia, native did not leave Talladega with his first NASCAR Xfinity Series career win, he crossed the line in third for his career-best finish in an afternoon where the cards fell in his favors in the final laps and he nearly capped off an upset story of his own.

    Based on a random draw, Burton was due to start in eighth, but was dropped to the rear of the field when his No. 8 LS Tractor Chevrolet Camaro failed pre-race inspection five times. 

    When the green flag waved, Burton methodically worked his way through the field and was in 21st when the competition caution flew on the 10th lap. He made an early pit stop for fuel under the caution, where he lined up in 25th when the race restarted five laps later. Ten laps later, when the first stage concluded, Burton had worked his way up to 15th as he continued to demonstrate patience early in the race while preserving his car to the end.

    Restarting 13th for the start of the second stage, Burton was able to crack the top 10 by Lap 35 and five laps later, he moved into the top five, running third. By Lap 45, he dropped back to 15th, but was running in a single-file line with his JR Motorsports’ teammates led by Justin Allgaier followed by Michael Annett and Noah Gragson. In the closing laps of the second stage, Burton was able to race his way back into the top 10 and conclude the stage in seventh, earning valuable owner points for JRM’s No. 8 Chevrolet team led by crew chief Taylor Moyer.

    Under the stage break, Burton pitted for fuel and restarted in sixth with 56 laps remaining for the start of the final stage. Three laps later, Burton and his JR Motorsports’ teammates occupied the top-four positions on track. With Jeb Burton settling in third, his cousin/rookie, Harrison, was running in fifth.

    Seventeen laps later, the caution flew following a four-car wreck on the fronstretch and Burton pitted under yellow for fuel to make it to the end. Restarting in fifth with 33 laps remaining, he moved into third a lap later behind Kaulig Racing’s Ross Chastain and AJ Allmendinger. He then raced on the outside lane and as the lead JR Motorsports’ competitor until the caution returned with 17 laps remaining for a six-car wreck in Turn 3 that involved his cousin, Harrison. The wreck halted the race for nearly 11 minutes.

    When the race restarted with 14 laps remaining, Burton dropped the hammer and made a bold move below Allmendinger to move into second as he went to work in challenging Chastain for the lead. Despite falling back to fifth, he worked his way back to the front two laps later after drafting Austin Cindric to the lead. With 11 laps remaining, Burton led his first lap of the day before Cindric reassumed the lead. Two laps later, Burton was back ahead of the field. Just after he took the lead, the caution returned with eight laps remaining for an 11-car pileup on the frontstretch, a wreck that involved Burton’s teammates Gragson and Allgaier while his other teammate, Annett, barely escaped.

    Following a second red-flag period spanning six and a half minutes, Burton restarted with the lead with three laps remaining. From there, he was pressured by Justin Haley for the lead and the first win. Despite having no teammates lined up behind him in the final shootout, Burton was able to maintain the lead on the inside lane and by a hair on the penultimate lap. He was, however, overtaken by Haley for the lead in Turn 2 when Haley received a push from teammates Chastain and Allmendinger. With Haley clearing the field and powering to the win, Burton would take the checkered flag in third behind Chastain after leading eight laps.

    While it was not a day where he walked away with his first Xfinity win at a track where the Burtons have never won at, the third-place result was Jeb’s best of his career along with his fourth top-five career finish in his 34th series start. It also marked his third top-five result in his ninth race with JR Motorsports, a part-time deal that started last season. His only other start this season came in the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway, where he led a race-high 26 of the 120-scheduled laps and won the first stage until he was eliminated in a late multi-car wreck and finished 23rd.

    “Looking back on it, I should’ve picked another lane,” Burton said. “I didn’t know Ross was behind [Haley]. I probably should’ve done something a little different there, split those teammates up. I probably should’ve jumped up high with [Haley], but I think they had such a head of steam. I thought [Cindric] was close enough to me and we would’ve had a run, but those [Kaulig Racing] teammates got hooked up and it was nothing. Nothing we can do. The guys did a good job. They brought a fast racecar. Daytona, we almost won and we almost won here. Just appreciate the effort. We’re gonna go to Indy in a couple of weeks, so I get to race again soon, and then, we’ll go to Kentucky and Texas. So, I got a couple coming up.”

    In addition to pursuing his first Xfinity win, a feat accomplished by his father, Ward; uncle, Jeff; and cousin, Harrison; Burton also continues to pursue his first NASCAR national division series win since winning his lone Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway in June 2013 and a possibility of returning as a full-time competitor in the sport.

    Burton will return on July 4 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval-road course venue for his next scheduled series start of the season while Daniel Hemric will compete in the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet next weekend at Pocono Raceway on June 28, which will air at 12:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Talladega Xfinity race features unique top-15 finishers

    Talladega Xfinity race features unique top-15 finishers

    While Kaulig Racing’s Justin Haley and Ross Chastain emerged victorious with the race win and the third Dash 4 Cash bonus on Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway, there were a multitude of competitors who avoided a series of late calamities and earned strong results at one of the world’s fastest superspeedway venues.

    The first was Brett Moffitt. A former champion of the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, Moffitt made his ninth start of the season in the No. 02 Chevrolet Camaro for Our Motorsports. Starting 20th, the Grimes, Iowa, native found himself in the right place at the right time in the closing laps, running within the top 10 and in the lead pack. Following a series of carnages, which he was avoid to dodge, Moffitt restarted 10th with three laps remaining and was able to gain five more spots to finish fifth. The result was Moffitt’s first top-five career result in the Xfinity Series and his third top-10 result in his 12th series start. The fifth-place result was also the best for Our Motorsports in the team’s 11th race in the series this season, having achieved a sixth-place result at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May.

    Behind Moffitt, Anthony Alfredo backed up his his first top-five finish in the series last weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway to notch another top-10 result in his first Xfinity performance at Talladega. Starting 10th, Alfredo finished second in the first stage and 12th in the second while leading his first career laps at Talladega (five). Spending the majority of the race inside the top 10, dodging the late carnages and rallying from a late pit road speeding penalty, Alfredo restarted fifth with three laps remaining and with a final opportunity to pull off his first win in an upset fashion. Ultimately, he was able to cross the line in sixth for his fourth top-10 result of the season. Through six races he has competed in thus far, he has finished no worse than 14th.

    Next was Gray Gaulding, who emerged with a top-10 result in his first Xfinity Series start of the season. A year after notching a career-best runner-up result at Talladega as a full-time competitor for SS-Green Light Racing, Gaulding started this season without a full-time ride. After competing in four Cup races this season with Rick Ware Racing, Gaulding made his first Xfinity start of the season at Talladega while returning to SS-Green Light Racing. Starting 21st, Gaulding was ninth with three laps remaining and was able to gain one more spot to finish eighth. The result was Gaulding’s fifth Xfinity top-10 career result in his 42nd series start and SS-Green Light Racing’s second top-10 result of this season after finishing eighth at Daytona International Speedway in February with Ray Black Jr.

    In addition, Alex Labbe, who started 27th, managed to escaped the late carnage to restart in sixth with three laps remaining and cross the finish line inside the top-10 (ninth). The top-10 result was Labbe’s fourth of his Xfinity career and second of this season after finishing 10th in the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway in February while also leading 19 laps. The result came with a little victory for the Saint-Albert, Quebec, native, who will receive his first opportunity to compete for the $100,000 bonus from the Dash 4 Cash program next weekend at Pocono Raceway alongside Haley, Chastain and Austin Cindric.

    Finishing just outside the top 10 were Brandon Brown and rookie Jesse Little. Brown, who was running inside the top 10 in the late stages of the race, finished 11th for his ninth top-15 finish of the season while Little, a newcomer to the series, earned his fourth top-15 result this season and emerged as the highest-running rookie candidate in the race. In addition, Jeffrey Earnhardt and Tommy Joe Martins managed to finish inside the top 15 while dodging a multi-car pileup on the frontstretch feet away from the finish line. Earnhardt, who finished 14th, claimed his second top-15 result of the season while Martins claimed his first top-15 finish since finishing 11th at Iowa Speedway in June 2017. 

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series will return at Pocono Raceway on June 28 as part of a quadruple-header weekend and on the same day as the second NASCAR Cup Series race of the weekend at the Tricky Triangle. The race will air at 12:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • NASCAR Announces NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2021, Landmark Award

    NASCAR Announces NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2021, Landmark Award

  • Homestead features unique top-15 notables

    Homestead features unique top-15 notables

    While Denny Hamlin earned a milestone win in his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday night’s Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the 12th race of the 2020 season, there were a multitude of competitors who earned strong results and left Miami satisfied with their performances.

    The first was Tyler Reddick. Coming into Miami, Reddick had earned two top-10 results in the last six Cup races and was situated in 18th in the regular-season standings. The key aspect Reddick and his team had was the speed to run toward the front and it was only a matter of time before he could utilize the speed to earn a strong result. When the race proceeded under the lights in Homestead, the California native shined against the veterans and fellow future stars as he ran within the top five all race long despite starting 24th, led his first three career laps in the series and finished within the top three in both stages while earning valuable stage points in his quest to make the playoffs.

    In the final laps, Reddick was within sight of the leaders before he drove his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE home in a solid fourth-place in his first Cup start at Homestead, a track where he won at the last two seasons in the Xfinity Series that clinched him the overall championships. With his fourth-place result, Reddick notched his first top-five finish in his 14th Cup Series career start along with his fourth top-10 result as he is two points shy of cracking the top 16 in the Cup standings. In addition, Reddick leads the Cup Rookie-of-the-Year standings by 70 points over John Hunter Nemechek, who finished 19th at Homestead. With Reddick’s top-five result, this marked the first time since 2007 where a rookie candidate finished inside the top 10 at Homestead.

    “I’m really proud of my Chevy Cares Chevrolet team and the effort we showed today,” Reddick said. “We had really good speed today and were able to run up front pretty much all night long. The men and women of RCR and ECR did a great job preparing us with a fast racecar to bring down to my favorite track on the circuit. We were able to use that speed to our advantage and race into the top 10 within the first 30 laps, and were able maintain that track position…We got a little too tight by the end of the night to really make the fence work like I wanted, but all in all, it was a solid effort tonight. I’ve won the past two times I’ve come here, granted in the Xfinity Series, but it was so fun to be ripping the fence with three of the best tonight in the NASCAR Cup Series. It was a hard-fought battle and one we can build momentum off of.”

    For this season, there were two rookies who finished in the top-10 results at Homestead as Christopher Bell also earned a decent result of eighth in Leavine Family Racing’s No. 95 Toyota Camry. For the Oklahoma native, the run at Miami and since NASCAR’s return in May produced a major turnaround from the start of his rookie Cup season. Following the first four races of the season, Bell’s average finish in the Cup Series was 29th to go along with two DNFs and a best result of 21st. The following six races, Bell improved his average result to 20th and he was able to claim his first two top-10 career results in the Cup Series. Starting 36th, Bell methodically carved his way through the field and found himself running inside the top 10 throughout the final stage. When the checkered flag flew, Bell finished eighth for his career-best finish in the Cup Series along with his third top-10 result in his 12th series start. The result allowed Bell to gain one position in the standings from 25th to 24th.

    “Our Rheem Camry was really, really loose to start the night and then [crew chief] Jason [Ratcliff] did a great job adjusting on it got it pretty close to where I was happy and then we were able to pick our way though there,” Bell said. “The races are so long – there are so many yellows – that I really wasn’t worried about our starting position. I knew that if we had a car that was good; we were going to get up front. I’m not going to say that we’re ready to make the next step, but at least we are being competitive the majority of weeks and we just have to keep it up.”

    Next was Aric Almirola. Prior to Homestead, the Florida native, in his third season driving for Stewart-Haas Racing, had an average-finishing result of 17.5 in the first 11 races and only three top-10 results. In addition, his highest-finishing result in the last four Cup races was a 20th-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway despite starting on the front row for three consecutive weeks by virtue of a random draw. At Homestead, Almirola started 21st, but by Lap 40, he proved that he had a strong car as he was in eighth. He finished fifth in the first stage and salvaged a 10th-place run in the second stage, which allowed him to gain valuable points towards making the playoffs. With the race progressing in a long green-flag stretch, Almirola kept his No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang near the front and was able to finish in fifth for his first top-five result in this year’s Cup season and his second at Miami. With his finish, Almirola moved from 14th to 13th in the series standings and sets his sights on next weekend’s race at Talladega Superspeedway, the site of Almirola’s last Cup victory dating back to October 2018.

    “Man, we finally had a nice clean day today,” Almirola said. “We really needed that as a team. We haven’t raced a full race yet without having something go wrong. This proves we have the speed we need to compete this season if we continue to run clean with no mistakes. Homestead is not an easy track to earn a top-five at either. To get our first of the season here shows we have a lot of potential.”

    Following a difficult midweek race at Martinsville Speedway, where a broken crush panel left him exposed to extreme heat behind the steering wheel and retiring in the closing laps while needing medical attention, Sunday’s run at Homestead felt like a win on a day that was already special for Austin Dillon. Prior to the main event, the Welcome, North Carolina, native and his wife, Whitney, celebrated the birth of the couple’s son, Ace. When the green flag dropped, Dillon, who started 16th, was able to navigate his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE inside the top 10, where he spent a majority of the race. Despite finishing eighth in the second stage and earning a handful of points towards his quest to make the playoffs, Dillon was running seventh towards the beginning of the final stage when he was penalized following a pit stop and sent to the rear for an uncontrolled tire violation. Despite the penalty, Dillon was able to carve his way through the field and finish in seventh for his fourth top-10 result of this season, his second in a row at Miami and to move from 17th to 16th in the series standings.

    “We took our No. 3 Dow / Behr Ultra Scuff Defense Chevy to a top-ten [result],” Dillon said. “That was a fun race for the Dow Coatings team. We were not good to start – we started from the back a couple of times. Made big adjustments – [crew chief] Justin [Alexander] made a good adjustment about halfway through the race to allow us to get some stage points. Things started turning for us and we got a good restart. And then a caution came out, pitted and we had a tire that got away. Unfortunate, but we kept our heads down and dug hard. We were able to come all the way back to P-7. Strong run for our team.”

    Four days after finishing in the top 10 at Martinsville Speedway, momentum continues to roll towards the favor of William Byron and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team as they capped off their first back-to-back top-10 results of the 2020 Cup Series season. Starting 22nd, Byron’s car came to life under the lights in Miami as he battled inside the top five most of the race along with teammates Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman. He finished eighth in the first stage and fifth in the second stage as he also collected valuable stage points in his quest to make the playoffs. When the checkered flag flew, Byron settled in ninth for his fourth top-10 result of the season and his first at Homestead. With the result, Byron gained one position in the standings from 16th to 15th.

    “We had a good and solid night and honestly it was nice to be able to run in the top five,” Byron said. “We continued to adjust on the car as the race went along there. Hopefully we can continue to string runs together like we had tonight and be able make the right adjustments at the right point in the race to be in contention in the end. We’re getting close to that first win we just need to continue working on a couple things to get faster. On to Talladega.”

    Last but not least, Bubba Wallace, who has been a key spokesperson in highlighting social injustice treatment/police brutality towards African Americans, raising prominence of the Black Lives Matter movement within the racing community and whose call to have the display of the Confederate flag banned from all NASCAR events approved and granted from NASCAR a few days later, backed up his strong performance at Martinsville Speedway with a decent performance and a late rally at Homestead. Starting 17th, Wallace spent the majority of the race inside the top 20, where he would finish in both stages. With the race progressing towards a long green-flag stretch, Wallace was able to move within the top 15 in the closing laps and settle in 13th for his fifth top-15 finish of the season, third in the last four Cup races, and his best result in Miami, which left the Alabama native situated in 20th in the standings.

    The NASCAR Cup Series will return on June 21 to race at Talladega Superspeedway for the second superspeedway event of the season. The race will air at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Four Takeaways From The Baptist Health 200 At Homestead Miami Speedway

    Four Takeaways From The Baptist Health 200 At Homestead Miami Speedway

    For the first time in nearly 19 years, the NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series visited Homestead Miami Speedway on a non-championship weekend. 

    It was unusual for sure, as we are normally used to talking about the four drivers who are running for a championship, the Championship 4. But this time it wasn’t just about the championship drivers, the event was treated like another normal race and without the championship pressure. 

    What was normal was Kyle Busch, who was back in the field and was back to his normal dominance that is usually the case whenever he enters a Truck Series event. The All-Time wins list leader found his way back to victory lane after a couple of dull races over the last two weeks. 

    Despite Busch getting the victory, there were some noticeable things we may have missed and that were quite unusual. 

    Here are this week’s Four Takeaways following Round No. 5 of the 2020 season. 

    1. Sheldon Creed Plows Into Pit Road Barriers- In what is to be remembered for a longtime and unfortunately for the wrong reason, Sheldon Creed plowed into the water/sand barriers prior to pit road entry. This isn’t the first time this kind of circumstance has happened, nor will it be the last. But, it sure created quite the buzz on Twitter. In fact, a popular account on social media going by the name of nascarcasm, provided us with an entertaining meme that was Days of Thunder esque.

      https://twitter.com/nascarcasm/status/1271986909296963586
    2. Raphael Lessard Continues To Impress– In the recent few weeks, Truck Series rookie, Raphael Lessard has seen moderate success. At Charlotte, the Canadian was able to lead his first laps as a rookie. Saturday night at Homestead, Lessard showed his talents again being consistent. He was able to place the No. 4 Toyota Tundra eighth in Stage 1 and 10th in Stage 2. Lessard even ran as high as fourth at one point during the race, but just barely missed out on a top 10 finish, where he placed 11th.
    3. Spencer Davis Enjoys Top 15 Outing- Spencer Davis has been quietly consistent over the last few weeks, which sometimes is a good thing. Ever since taking ownership of the No. 11 Toyota at Charlotte, the Georgia native has had its fair share of success. Davis finished 12th at Las Vegas and excluding the finishes of Charlotte and Atlanta, he has been able to place his Toyota in the top 15. If Davis can catch a few breaks later this season, we’ll be able to see this take place more often. A solid job by Davis and his team.
    4. Tough Night For Some GMS Trucks- While Tyler Ankrum and Chase Elliott were able to enjoy top five finishes, Brett Moffitt and Zane Smith did not enjoy the race as much as their teammates did. On lap 21, Moffitt and Smith were taken out of the race due to an accident in Turn 4. Both drivers had a hard hit, but were thankfully okay as they were released from the infield care center. However, both were regulated to a 36th and 37th place finish, respectively. Here’s hoping Pocono will be a better outing for them in a couple of weeks. 
  • Joe Gibbs Racing Xfinity entries earn top-10 results in second Homestead race

    Joe Gibbs Racing Xfinity entries earn top-10 results in second Homestead race

    Joe Gibbs Racing’s NASCAR Xfinity Series teams displayed strong performances in a span of two days for two races at Homestead-Miami Speedway. A day after Harrison Burton earned a thrilling win for himself and JGR in the first Xfinity event at Homestead, all JGR Toyota teams managed to finish in the top-10 in the second race down in Miami with Brandon Jones leading the way after earning a close runner-up finish.

    The starting lineup was based on the results from Saturday’s event at Homestead, where the top-15 finishers from Saturday were inverted for Sunday’s race and the remaining spots were placed in the finishing order from Saturday. Burton, who won at Miami on Saturday, started 15th while rookie Riley Herbst and Jones started sixth and eighth.

    When the green flag dropped, the JGR entries remained inside the top 15 while battling handling conditions to their respective Toyotas. When the competition caution flew on Lap 20, Jones was in third despite battling tightness to his No. 19 Toyota, Burton was in seventh despite struggling on exit and Herbst fell back to 13th despite rallying from early tight conditions. Under the competition caution, Herbst pitted for early adjustments while Jones and Burton remained on track with the leaders.

    When the race resumed, Burton and Jones marched towards the front, running inside the top five. Following a late caution and a four-lap shootout to the conclusion of the first stage, Jones would lead the way for the team by finishing third while Burton and Herbst finished seventh and 18th. The trio pitted under the stage break for adjustments and exited pit road inside the top 10 for the start of the second stage.

    On Lap 47, the start of the second stage, Jones made a three-wide move on Ross Chastain and Austin Cindric entering Turn 1 to take the lead. Four laps later, Jones was overtaken by Cindric for the lead and locked in a heated battle for the runner-up spot with Burton along with Noah Gragson and Daniel Hemric. As the laps progressed under green-flag conditions in the stage, Jones and Burton continued racing and battling inside the top five while Herbst was in 11th. When the second stage concluded, Jones and Burton finished third and sixth while Herbst settled in 11th. Under the stage break, the trio pitted with the field and exited inside the top 10.

    When the final stage started with 78 laps remaining, the trio started battling one another and their fellow competitors for more positions inside the top 10 as Herbst remained within sight of his teammates. With less than 60 laps remaining, Jones was in third while Burton and Herbst were in sixth and seventh. With 45 to go, Herbst made a green-flag pit stop followed by Burton and Jones the following laps. With less than 10 to go, the trio was running inside the top 10 when Burton made contact with the wall and was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop. By the time Burton and his No. 20 Dex Imaging Toyota Supra returned on track, he was a lap behind.

    With two laps remaining, the caution returned following a single-car wreck and Burton took the wave around by remaining on track. Jones and Herbst pitted under caution and exited inside the top five. In the first overtime attempt, however, Herbst was turned in Turn 2 after being bumped by AJ Allmendinger and was involved in a multi-car wreck. At the time of caution, Jones was able to pass Gragson for second while Burton was able to dodge the incident. Despite the damage, Herbst was able to continue and remain on the lead lap. In addition, Burton was the recipient of the free pass and returned on the lead lap.

    In the second overtime attempt, Jones gained another strong short-run boost from his No. 19 Menards Toyota Supra and made a charge for leader Chase Briscoe. He tried to gain a run on Briscoe, but was unable to navigate a run in time to pass Briscoe as he settled in the runner-up spot and right behind the rear bumper of Briscoe’s No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. Burton was able to finish eighth while Herbst nursed his wounded No. 18 Monster Energy Toyota Supra across the line in ninth.

    With his fourth top-five finish of this season, Jones jumped from eighth to sixth in the regular-season standings, trailing points leader Gragson by 90 points, and will be one of four competitors contending for the next Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus next weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.

    “It was close, but I don’t think I got into [Briscoe],” Jones said. “We were just going as hard as we could. I didn’t get as good of a run through [Turns] one and two as I thought I was going to, so I saw him dive to the bottom in three and I wanted to use the high line. I wanted to try to get the big arc because I knew he was going to push up and I thought I could go low. That was the thought process there. I did try to fake him on the frontstretch to try to get him to move around and mess up but just didn’t work there. This was by far probably the hottest we’ve been in a while anyways. I think it was great that we were able to run back-to-back races. It was great that we were able to take the same exact car to the second race as well.”

    Despite falling short in winning two NASCAR Xfinity races of the weekend at Homestead, Burton extended his remarkable streak of finishing in the top 10 in all 10 series scheduled races as he is still third in the standings, trailing Gragson by 45 points.

    “I felt like we had a better car than we did yesterday,” Burton said. “We were a little bit more competitive. [Gragson] was still really good. [Jones] was better today, [Herbst] was better today, so as a company I think we made some strides. Not a finish my team deserves, but that happens. You are getting all you can the last few laps – right against the fence – and sometimes you just overstep. Once I got to the wall, I couldn’t get off of it, and that’s what caused the right rear to blow…I still haven’t won a stage – won two races but haven’t won a stage. Got to find a way to get those Playoff points, they are really important come later in the year. That’s my main goal now – to fire off faster and try to be aggressive from the start and hopefully, get more dominate.”

    Herbst made a decent recovery from his late accident to earn his fifth top-10 finish of this season as he is still 11th in the standings, trailing Gragson by 179 points.

    “I beat [Hemric] initially on the start, so I dropped down and made it three-wide on the bottom and I was about to clear him,” Herbst said. “AJ Allmendinger came from behind and gave me a push to help clear him and then he pushed me too far in the left side and hooked me up and wrecked us. All in all, it was a decent day and we got better and better. It’s promising. At the end there, we were probably top-five speed and just lacking a little bit. It was cool to get better as the day went, for sure.”

    With the results, this marks the fourth time this season, second consecutive day, where all three Joe Gibbs Racing full-time entries finished in the top 10.

    All three full-time JGR Xfinity competitors along with their fellow competitors will return on June 20 for the next series race at Talladega Superspeedway, where the race will air at 5:30 p.m. ET on FS1.