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  • Truex dominates Sonoma for second Cup victory of 2023 season

    Truex dominates Sonoma for second Cup victory of 2023 season

    More than a month after snapping his one-year winless streak at the Monster Mile, Martin Truex Jr. doubled down on a sunny afternoon in Northern California and capped off a dominant run with a victory in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday, June 11.

    The 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion from Mayetta, New Jersey, led four times for a race-high 51 of 110-scheduled laps, including the final 13 after overtaking Chase Elliott while on four fresh tires for the lead compared to Elliott’s worn tires during a 15-lap dash to the finish. Once he acquired the lead, Truex then fended off a late charge from ex-teammate Kyle Busch to claim his second checkered flag of the 2023 Cup season and fourth overall at Sonoma.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Denny Hamlin notched his second Cup Series pole of the 2023 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 92.178 mph in 77.719 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Tyler Reddick, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 92.068 mph in 77.812 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Hamlin jumped ahead with an early advantage entering the first two turns. As the field navigated its way through Turns 3 and 4 before proceeding through the Chute corner, Hamlin maintained the lead ahead of teammate Christopher Bell while Reddick slipped to third. In addition, teammate/rookie Ty Gibbs challenged teammate Martin Truex Jr. for fourth while Michael McDowell and AJ Allmendinger were dueling for sixth. With the field navigating its way through the 12-turn circuit, Hamlin proceeded to lead the first lap ahead of Toyota teammates Bell, Reddick, Truex and Ty Gibbs.

    During the second lap, Hamlin was leading by eight-tenths of a second over teammate Bell while Toyota teammates Reddick, Truex and Ty Gibbs remained in the top five. Behind, Allmendinger was in sixth followed by McDowell, Chris Buescher, Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch while Austin Dillon, Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Bubba Wallace, Aric Almirola, Joey Logano, Corey LaJoie, Ross Chastain and Ryan Preece occupied the top 20.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Hamlin’s No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota TRD Camry continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over teammate Bell’s No. 20 Rheem Toyota TRD Camry while Reddick’s No. 45 Unleashed the Beast Toyota TRD Camry trailed in third place by more than a second. Truex and Ty Gibbs remained in the top five while Allmendinger, McDowell, Buescher, Elliott and Kyle Busch retained their spots in the top 10. Meanwhile, William Byron trailed in 21st place ahead of Chase Briscoe, Justin Haley, Kevin Harvick, Erik Jones and Brad Keselowski while Daniel Suarez, who over-revved his engine at the start of the race and lost a bevy of spots from starting 10th, was mired in 28th. In addition, Ryan Blaney was mired back in 32nd in front of teammate Austin Cindric, Harrison Burton, Andy Lally and Grant Enfinger.

    At the Lap 10 mark, Hamlin, who was leading by more than a second two laps earlier, had his lead shrink to four-tenths of a second over teammate Bell, who was slowly catching teammate Hamlin for the lead while teammate Truex moved his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota TRD Camry into third. Reddick and Ty Gibbs continued to trail in the top five followed by Allmendinger, McDowell, Buescher, Elliott and Kyle Busch. Behind, Larson was in 12th after starting 16th, Logano was mired in 15th ahead of Aric Almirola and Ross Chastain, Byron worked his way up to 20th, Bubba Wallace slipped back to 21st and Harvick was mired in 23rd behind teammate Chase Briscoe.

    Two laps later, Truex overtook teammate Bell for the runner-up spot in Turn 7 as Hamlin retained the lead by nearly two seconds. Soon after, Allmendinger overtook Ty Gibbs for fifth while Reddick retained fourth. By the time the event reached its Lap 15 mark, the top-eight nine competitors were separated by more than nine seconds as McDowell, Buescher and Elliott tried to close in on the top-six competitors led by race leader Hamlin.

    A lap later, Keselowski pitted his No. 6 King’s Hawaiian Ford Mustang under green. Blaney would then pit his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang under green during the proceeding lap while Hamlin continued to lead by more than three seconds over teammate Truex and more than four over teammate Bell. Blaney, however, would be penalized for speeding while exiting pit road.

    By Lap 20, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to more than three seconds over teammate Truex as Bell remained in third. Behind, Allmendinger overtook Reddick for fourth place in Turn 11 as McDowell followed suit. With Reddick back in sixth, Ty Gibbs trailed in seventh in his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota TRD Camry followed by Buescher, Elliott and Larson. Meanwhile, Zane Smith, Suarez, and Harrison Burton, among others, made pit stops under green.

    A lap later, Kyle Busch pitted his No. 8 McLaren Custom Grills Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 from 11th place. A host of names that included Larson, Elliott, Logano, Austin Dillon, Chastain, Byron, Harvick, Briscoe and Cindric would pit during the following lap as Hamlin remained on the racetrack with the lead.

    At the conclusion of the first stage on Lap 25, Hamlin captured his third stage victory of the 2023 season. Teammate Truex followed suit by more than two seconds in the runner-up spot while Bell, Allmendinger, McDowell, Reddick, Buescher, Ty Gibbs, Bowman and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were scored in the top 10. By then, a trio of Ford competitors that included Harrison Burton, Blaney and Cindric were mired towards the rear of the field as Almirola pitted under green. Ty Dillon, Erik Jones, Haley and a host of other names also pitted under green with Almirola.

    A lap later and as the event proceeded under green to start the second stage, Hamlin steered his No. 11 Toyota to pit road to pit under green followed by teammate Truex, McDowell, Allmendinger, Bell, Reddick, Buescher, Ty Gibbs, Bowman, Corey LaJoie and others. By the time the leaders completed their pit stops, Hamlin retained the lead by more than two seconds over teammate Truex while Elliott and Larson, both of whom pitted earlier than Hamlin, cycled their way into third and fourth. Bell, meanwhile, slipped back to fifth while Kyle Busch, Allmendinger, McDowell, Reddick and Buescher were running in the top 10.

    Thirty laps into the event, Hamlin retained the lead by eight-tenths of a second over teammate Truex while Elliott trailed in third place in his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 by more than six seconds. Bell was in fourth as he also trailed by more than six seconds while Larson settled in fifth. Meanwhile, Reddick and Ty Gibbs were strapped in eighth and 11th, respectively, while Byron navigated his way up to 15th.

    Then on Lap 32, Truex drew himself alongside teammate Hamlin in Turn 12 in a bid for the lead. After dueling for the lead through the first two turns, Truex made the pass stick through Turns 3 and 4 as he emerged as the second different leader of the afternoon.

    At the Lap 40 mark, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Truex was leading by a full second over teammate Hamlin while teammate Bell trailed by less than eight seconds in third place. Hendrick Motorsports’ Elliott and Larson trailed in the top five while Allmendinger, McDowell, Buescher, Reddick and Ty Gibbs were in the top 10 ahead of Kyle Busch, Bowman, Logano, Austin Dillon, Byron, Chastain, Stenhouse, Harvick, Almirola and Ryan Preece.

    Nearly five laps later, a second wave of green flag pit stops slowly commenced as Kyle Busch pitted along with names that included Suarez, Logano, Austin Dillon and Byron while Truex retained the lead by more than a second over teammate Hamlin. By then, Keselowski, Harrison Burton and Cindric pitted under green a few laps earlier as Harvick pitted under green on Lap 46.

    Nearing the Lap 50 mark, Truex continued to lead by more than a second over teammate Hamlin while third-place Bell, another teammate, trailed by more than 13 seconds. Behind, McDowell was in fourth ahead of Elliott and Allmendinger while Larson was scored in seventh ahead of Buescher, Reddick and Ty Gibbs. Just then, the first caution of the event flew on Lap 49 when a right-front wheel rolled out of Zane Smith’s No. 38 pit box just as his pit service was complete, with the wheel rolling into the center of pit road. The caution period occurred just as Ross Chastain had pitted in his No. 1 Kubota Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

    During the event’s first caution period, nine competitors that included Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Byron, Austin Dillon, Stenhouse, Chastain, Brad Keselowski, Harvick and Suarez remained on the track while the rest led by the race leader Truex pitted. Following the pit stops, Truex exited pit road first followed by teammate Bell, McDowell, Hamlin, Buescher and Elliott.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 52, where Kyle Busch and Logano occupied the front row, Busch launched ahead with the lead on the inside lane and entering Turns 1 and 2. He then cleared the field through Turn 2 while Logano and Byron battled for second. Behind, Chastain and Stenhouse battled for fourth while Austin Dillon was in sixth ahead of Harvick, Keselowski and Truex. With the field scrambling, fanning out and jostling for positions through the Chute corner before entering a series of right- and left-hand turns through Turns 7 to 10 before entering a steep right-hand, braking turn in Turn 11, Busch remained as the leader ahead of Logano while Chastain muscled his way into third ahead of Byron and Stenhouse.

    At the conclusion of the second stage on Lap 55, which marked the halfway point of the event, Kyle Busch claimed his second stage victory of the 2023 season. Logano followed suit in second while Chastain, Byron, Stenhouse, Austin Dillon, Truex, McDowell, Bell and Harvick were scored in the top 10.

    With the event proceeding under green with 54 laps remaining, Kyle Busch stretched his advantage to a second-and-a-half over Logano followed by Chastain, Byron and Stenhouse while Truex, McDowell, Bell, Austin Dillon and Buescher were scored in the top 10. Behind, Harvick was in 11th ahead of Allmendinger, Keselowski, Hamlin and Elliott while Suarez, Larson, Bowman, Ty Gibbs and Preece were running in the top 20. Meanwhile, Wallace was in mired in 21st ahead of teammate Reddick, LaJoie, Almirola and Briscoe while Josh Bilicki, Erik Jones, Blaney, Haley and Todd Gilliland were strapped in the top 30. Ty Dillon, Cindric, Harrison Burton, Enfinger, Andy Lally and Zane Smith rounded out the 36-car field, with all running on the circuit.

    With 50 laps remaining, Busch stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Logano while third-place Chastain also trailed by more than a second as he tried to catch Logano for the runner-up spot. Meanwhile, Truex carved his way up to fourth over Byron. McDowell would then overtake Byron for fifth during the following lap as Bell, Stenhouse, Buescher and Harvick were battling within the top 10. Soon after, Chastain overtook Logano for second entering the first two turns, but he went wide in Turn 2, which allowed Logano to reclaim the spot as Truex joined the battle. Truex would overtake Chastain during the proceeding lap before overtaking Logano for the runner-up spot with 47 laps remaining. All in the process, Kyle Busch increased his advantage to more than two seconds.

    Then with 46 laps remaining, Austin Dillon ran into late trouble after receiving a bump from Ty Gibbs that sent him spinning in Turn 11 while battling for 17th. Despite stalling his car while off the racing course, he managed to continue without drawing a caution.

    During the proceeding lap, Kyle Busch, who nearly got loose in Turn 10, was leading by a second over a hard-charging Truex while Logano trailed in third place by more than three seconds. Behind, McDowell carved his way up to fourth while Chastain settled in fifth. After cutting Busch’s advantage during the following three laps, Truex executed his move beneath Busch in Turn 7 as he reassumed the lead with 42 laps remaining. Truex would proceed to stretch the advantage to more than a second over Busch as McDowell started to intimidate Logano for third.

    With 38 laps remaining, names that included Bell, Bowman, Ty Dillon and Harrison Burton pitted under green. Byron would pit during the following lap along with Hamlin, Larson and Cindric. Another lap later, the pit strategy games ensued as more drivers including Logano, Chastain, Stenhouse, Preece, Almirola, Briscoe and Corey LaJoie pitted.

    Then with 36 laps remaining, the leader Truex pitted along with Kyle Busch and Allmendinger while McDowell inherited the lead after remaining on the track. Buescher moved up to second after he also remained on the track while Elliott, Harvick and Ty Gibbs moved up into the top five.

    With 35 laps remaining, McDowell surrendered the lead to pit under green followed by Buescher as Elliott, who last pitted on Lap 51, assumed the lead. By then, Keselowski and Justin Haley also pitted. Once McDowell and Buescher exited pit road together and in close-quarters racing, McDowell managed to cycle past Erik Jones, Chastain and Byron on the track while Buescher was trapped behind Chastain and Erik Jones.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Truex, who last pitted on Lap 75, reassumed the lead as both Elliott and Harvick pitted under green. By then, Reddick cycled back into second as he trailed Truex by nine-tenths of a second while Suarez, Kyle Busch and Logano were in the top five. Behind, Bell was in sixth ahead of McDowell, Wallace, Chastain and Buescher. During the following lap, Reddick, along with his teammate Wallace, and Suarez pitted under green as Busch, Logano, Bell and McDowell were scored in the top five.

    With 25 laps remaining, Truex extended his advantage to more than four seconds over Kyle Busch while third-place McDowell trailed by more than six seconds. Logano and Buescher were mired in the top five while Bell, Chastain, Byron, Hamlin and Larson were scored in the top 10 ahead of Stenhouse, Allmendinger, Bowman, Preece, Elliott and Harvick.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Truex continued to lead by more than four seconds over Kyle Busch as McDowell retained third place despite trailing by nearly seven seconds. Meanwhile, Buescher overtook Logano for fourth place two laps earlier while Chastain was up in sixth ahead of Bell, Larson, Byron and Hamlin.

    A lap later, the caution flew when Hamlin, who was running in 10th, scrubbed the inside wall entering the frontstretch. The incident caused him to get loose and spin in the middle of the frontstretch as he smacked the frontstretch’s wall and damaged his pole-winning Toyota TRD Camry along with his toe link and right-rear suspension. The damage to Hamlin’s car was enough to terminate his strong run in the garage.

    During the caution period, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Truex pitted while Elliott, Reddick and Blaney remained on the track as Elliott cycled into the lead. Following the pit stops, Truex exited first followed by Kyle Busch, Buescher, Logano, Chastain and Larson. In the midst of the pit stops, McDowell exited pit road 11th after enduring a slow pit service from his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports pit crew.

    With the race restarting under green with 15 laps remaining, Elliott took off with the lead entering the first two turns. With Elliott maintaining the lead through Turns 3 and 4 before entering the Chute corner, Truex quickly charged his way into second as Kyle Busch challenged Reddick for third. Logano would then challenge Reddick for fourth after overtaking teammate Blaney through Turns 7 and 8. As the field jostled for late positions throughout the 12-turn circuit, Elliott maintained the lead by four-tenths of a second over Truex while Kyle Busch trailed in third place by more than a second.

    Then during the following lap, Truex rocketed past Elliott’s No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the lead entering Turn 7. With Truex back out in front, Kyle Busch then closed up on Elliott’s rear bumper through Turns 8 to 10. Busch then moved up to second after overtaking Elliott, who was losing ground on worn tires, through Turn 11 as he set his sights on Truex for the lead. Way behind the leaders, Reddick fell off the pace after cutting a left-front tire after through Turn 11, but he proceeded to cut the Turn 11 corner and limp his No. 45 Toyota TRD Camry to pit road without drawing a caution, though NASCAR assessed Reddick a pass-through penalty for cutting the course. The race remained under green flag conditions during the following lap despite Almirola spinning but continuing in Turn 7.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Truex was leading by nine-tenths of a second over Kyle Busch while third-place Elliott trailed by more than three seconds. By then, Erik Jones, who spun in Turn 3A and briefly stalled his No. 43 Allegiant Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 between Turns 3 and 4, proceeded without drawing a caution.

    Truex would continue to lead by more than a second-and-a-half over Busch with five laps remaining and as Logano, Buescher and Elliott occupied the top five. By then, Blaney, who was running in the top 10 two laps earlier, had plummeted to 31st after getting hit by McDowell and spinning in Turn 7, as his roller-coaster day went from bad to worse after he spun again in Turn 2 when he got hit by Chase Briscoe.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Truex remained as the leader by more than three seconds over Kyle Busch. After smoothly navigating his way through the 12-turn circuit for a final time and with Busch unable to close the gap, Truex was able to the frontstretch victorious as he streaked across the finish line in first place and with his second checkered flag of the 2023 season.

    With the victory, Truex, who endured a dismal run at Sonoma along with his Toyota teammates a year ago, became the fourth Cup Series competitor to win multiple races this season as he notched his 33rd career victory in NASCAR’s premier series. He also notched his first Cup victory since winning at Dover Motor Speedway this past April and his fourth at Sonoma, with his last at the circuit occurring in 2019. In addition, Truex recorded his 14th victory driving for Joe Gibbs Racing and the 175th Cup career win for the Toyota nameplate.

    Ironically, this marked the fifth 1-2 finish in a Cup Series race overall for Truex and Kyle Busch where Truex ended up victorious.

    “[It took] A lot of hard work by everybody,” Truex said on FOX. “Everybody at Toyota, [Toyota Racing Development], everybody at [Joe Gibbs Racing] in the off-season to redesign. We got to do some work with NASCAR to pre-design some stuff. Everybody did and they did a good job there. Just hats off to my team. To be so bad here last year and to come back and do that with the same car, basically, is really unbelievable. Just proud of [my team]. We’re having a great year. I feel really good about our team. We couldn’t do it without all our partners, all of our fans. Man, it just feels so incredible to have a day like that and a run like that, and a team like I have. They’re doing everything right right now and it’s a lot of fun to drive these cars.”

    Kyle Busch, winner of last weekend’s Cup Series event at World Wide Technology Raceway, settled in second place for the second time this season and his fourth top-two result at Sonoma while Logano came home in third place for his fifth top-five result of the season.

    “Yeah, not too bad,” Busch said. “[I] Wished we had a little bit more. I tried there really hard at the end to, at least, try to keep Martin honest and felt like I could beat him a little bit on a lap and then, I would mess up and he’d beat me by a little bit more on the next lap. We were just trading a little bit there, but then, he was able to pull away there late. Great job by all the guys on this McLaren Grills Camaro. Proud of the effort. We gave it everything that we had. We made a lot of changes. We got a lucky break there with the yellow [flag on Lap 49], with only three laps on tires, so we were able to cycle to the front. Once we got up there, we could maintain pace with some of the good cars and have a good top-three speed race car and just flip-flop the race a little bit. Good fortunes for us. Nice to come out of here with a [runner-up result] after a win last week.”

    “Overall, the team did an amazing job,” Logano added. “Great execution. We got the car a lot better last night and to where I could, at least, hang in the top five. I wasn’t good enough to win at all means, but to get the AutoTrader Mustang up towards the front, get some momentum, we got lucky a few times today. We got pretty lucky today to get through it and get some points and get some momentum back going.”

    Meanwhile, Buescher, who finished second to Daniel Suarez at Sonoma a year ago, posted another strong result in Northern California by finishing fourth while Elliott capitalized in his return to racing following his one-week suspension along with his late strategic call to remain on the track on old tires to bid for a win by finishing fifth. Elliott, however, is currently situated in 31st place in the driver’s standings and trails the top-16 cutline to make the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs by 148 points.

    “[It was] Nice to get a top five,” Elliott said. “[I] Just felt like our only play was to stay out. I was really hoping that more people would [stay out] with us, where you had three or four rows and probably, still wouldn’t have been enough, but I do think it would’ve been nicer to have a couple more rows of a buffer before the [competitors on] tires got to us. Good fight. Certainly have one of our better runs there the last couple, so always good to finish strong. To kind of fight through there and get a top-five is a good thing. Looking forward to trying to build on that and hopefully, contend for a win here before long. Definitely closer today.”

    AJ Allmendinger settled in sixth while McDowell, Larson, Bell and Chastain finished in the top 10.

    Notably, Kevin Harvick finished 11th in his 23rd and final run at Sonoma, William Byron settled in 14th, rookie Ty Gibbs posted a 16th-place result in his first run at Sonoma, Suarez ended up 22nd and Blaney fell back to 31st following his two late-race spins. In addition, Grant Enfinger, who filled in for rookie Noah Gragson as Gragson continues to recover from concussion-like symptoms, finished 26th in his Cup Series debut while Andy Lally ended up 35th.

    There were 10 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured two cautions for six laps. In total, 31 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    With 10 Cup regular-season events remaining on the schedule, Martin Truex Jr. leads the regular-season standings by 13 points over William Byron, 24 over both Ryan Blaney and Ross Chastain, 25 over Kevin Harvick and 29 over Kyle Busch.

    William Byron, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. are currently guaranteed spots for the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs based on winning at least once throughout the regular-season stretch. Ross Chastain, Kevin Harvick, Chris Buescher, Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace and Alex Bowman occupy the remaining vacant spots in the Playoffs based on points, with Bowman occupying the 16th and final vacant spot by three points over Daniel Suarez, 11 over rookie Ty Gibbs, 14 over Michael McDowell, 33 over AJ Allmendinger, 39 over Austin Cindric and 40 over Corey LaJoie.

    Results.

    1. Martin Truex Jr., 51 laps led

    2. Kyle Busch, 17 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. Joey Logano

    4. Chris Buescher

    5. Chase Elliott, seven laps led

    6. AJ Allmendinger

    7. Michael McDowell, one lap led

    8. Kyle Larson

    9. Christopher Bell

    10. Ross Chastain, one lap led

    11. Kevin Harvick

    12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    13. Ryan Preece

    14. William Byron

    15. Alex Bowman

    16. Brad Keselowski

    17. Bubba Wallace

    18. Ty Gibbs

    19. Austin Dillon

    20. Corey LaJoie

    21. Justin Haley

    22. Daniel Suarez

    23. Ty Dillon

    24. Todd Gilliland

    25. Austin Cindric

    26. Grant Enfinger

    27. Harrison Burton

    28. Aric Almirola

    29. Chase Briscoe

    30. Josh Bilicki

    31. Ryan Blaney

    32. Erik Jones, one lap down

    33. Tyler Reddick, one lap down

    34. Zane Smith, one lap down

    35. Andy Lally, one lap down

    36. Denny Hamlin – OUT, Accident, 33 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    The NASCAR Cup Series teams and competitors enter a one-week break period before returning to action at Nashville Superspeedway on June 25. The event’s air coverage is scheduled to occur at 7 p.m. ET on NBC, which will launch NBC’s and USA Network’s coverage for the remainder of this year’s Cup season.

  • Almirola wins inaugural Xfinity Series event at Sonoma

    Almirola wins inaugural Xfinity Series event at Sonoma

    In a race dominated by Kyle Larson, a late opportunity presented itself for Aric Almirola and it resulted in the Floridian veteran fending off road ringers AJ Allmendinger and Larson to win the inaugural DoorDash 250 at Sonoma Raceway on Saturday, June 10.

    The 39-year-old Almirola from Tampa, Florida, led twice for 17 of 79 scheduled laps in a weekend where he was one of eight competitors pulling double-duty roles between the Xfinity and Cup Series divisions in Wine Country. Initially appearing to settle for a top-five result, a late caution period with 19 laps remaining followed by a restart with 15 laps remaining enabled Almirola to carve his way into the lead amid a scramble between Daniel Suarez and Alex Labbe.

    In the proceeding laps, however, Almirola found himself being pressured by hometown hero Kyle Larson through every corner and turn. A mistake, however, by Larson, where he clipped a tire barrel in Turn 11 and briefly lost control of his steering with eight laps remaining, allowed Almirola to place a reasonable gap between himself and Larson as Allmendinger joined the battle. With Allmendinger and Larson battling for second, Almirola was able to drive away and retain the lead through the final seven laps as he claimed his first Xfinity checkered flag in six years.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Kyle Larson notched his sixth career Xfinity Series pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 91.393 mph in 78.387 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Justin Allgaier, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 90.562 mph in 79.106 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Anthony Alfredo was the only competitor to drop to the rear of the field in a backup car after wrecking his primary car during Friday’s practice session.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Larson rocketed away with the lead entering the first two turns. Larson would continue to lead through Turns 3 and 4 while Allgaier was trying to fend off Aric Almirola for second. As the field fanned out and jostled early for positions, Larson would cruise to lead the first lap while Almirola was up in second after overtaking Allgaier entering Turn 8.

    During the second lap, Larson stabilized his advantage to a second-and-a-half over Almirola followed by Allgaier, Sheldon Creed and AJ Allmendinger while Ty Gibbs was in sixth after nearly turning Sam Mayer in Turn 7, with Mayer settling suit in seventh. Daniel Hemric was in eighth followed by John Hunter Nemechek and rookie Sammy Smith while Parker Kligerman, Alex Labbe, Austin Hill, Ross Chastain and Brett Moffitt were running in the top 15. Behind, rookie Parker Retzlaff, Daniel Suarez, rookie Chandler Smith, Josh Berry and Kyle Weatherman occupied the top 20.

    As the race proceeded through the third lap, Larson extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Almirola while Allmendinger moved up to third. Allgaier, meanwhile, was being challenged by Creed for fourth while Ty Gibbs retained sixth. Larson would continue to lead by more than two seconds over Almirola as the event reached its Lap 5 mark.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Larson continued to lead by more than two seconds over Allmendinger while third-place Almirola trailed by more than five seconds. Allgaier and Ty Gibbs were in the top five followed by Hemric while Mayer moved up to seventh after overtaking Creed, who locked up his tires in Turn 7. Kligerman and Nemechek filled out the top 10 on the track while Sammy Smith, Austin Hill, Chastain, Brett Moffitt and Retzlaff were mired in the top 15.

    Three laps later, on-track troubles occurred for a pair of RSS Racing competitors as Ryan Sieg spun in Turn 7. At the same time, teammate Joe Graf Jr. spun prior to entering the chute corner between Turns 4 and 7. In spite of both incidents, the race remained under green flag conditions as Larson continued to lead by more than two seconds over Allmendinger.

    Then on Lap 18, Chastain bumped and sent Nemechek’s No. 20 Yahoo Toyota Supra for a spin in Turn 11 while both were battling with Austin Hill in the top 15. With Nemechek falling back to 18th and the race remaining under green, Larson stabilized his advantage to more than two seconds over Allmendinger.

    At the conclusion of the first stage on Lap 20, Larson captured the stage victory after leading all the laps within the stage. Allmendinger trailed by more than two seconds while Almirola, Allgaier, Ty Gibbs, Hemric, Mayer, Kligerman, Creed and Sammy Smith were scored in the top 10. By then, Riley Herbst and Retzlaff had pitted under green a lap ago.

    Not long after, the first caution of the event flew when Josh Berry stalled his No. 8 Tire Pros Chevrolet Camaro in between Turns 7 and 8. Prior to the caution being displayed for Berry’s issue, Nemechek, Hill and Sage Karam pitted.

    During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Larson pitted while the rest that included Hill, Nemechek, Karam and Herbst remained on the track. Following the pit stops and amid the field cycling past Berry’s car that was slowly limping onto pit road, Larson exited first followed by Allmendinger, Allgaier, Ty Gibbs, Mayer and Kligerman. Amid the pit stops, Berry returned to the track in spite of being scored two laps down following early mechanical issues to his car while Retzlaff’s car was being pushed behind the pit wall.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 25, where Hill and Nemechek occupied the front row, Hill and Nemechek dueled for the lead through the first two turns. As the field bumped and jostled for positions through the first two turns before entering Turns 3 and 4, Hill managed to pull ahead with the lead followed by Nemechek and Herbst while Larson carved his way up to fourth in front of Karam and Allmendinger. With the field continuing to fan out and jostle for positions through a series of right- and left-hand turns through Turns 7 to 10 before entering a sharp right-hand turn in Turn 11, Hill retained the lead by four-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Larson while Nemechek, Allmendinger and Herbst were scored in the top five. By then, Ty Gibbs was in sixth while Allgaier, Karam, Kligerman and Creed were scored in the top 10.

    A lap later, Larson overtook Hill’s No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet Camaro entering Turn 7 to reassume the lead while Allmendinger pressured Nemechek for third. Allmendinger would then succeed and overtake Nemechek entering Turn 11 as Ty Gibbs muscled his way into the top five after overtaking Herbst’s No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang in Turn 11.

    By Lap 30, Larson was leading by more than two seconds over Allmendinger while Hill fell back to third, though he trailed by more than two seconds. Ty Gibbs moved his No. 19 He Gets Us Toyota Supra into fourth after bumping and overtaking teammate Nemechek in Turn 11 while Allgaier was in sixth ahead of Herbst, Kligerman, Karam and Almirola.

    At the halfway mark between Laps 39 and 40, Larson retained the lead by more than six seconds over Allmendinger and more than seven seconds over third-place Ty Gibbs while Hill and Allgaier were scored in the top five. Almirola, Nemechek, Herbst, Kligerman and Mayer trailed in the top 10 while Sammy Smith, Chandler Smith, Creed, Hemric, Custer, Brett Moffitt, Daniel Suarez, Chastain, Alex Labbe and Josh Bilicki were mired back in the top 20. By then, 35 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    At the conclusion of the second stage on Lap 45, Larson remained dominant as he claimed his second consecutive stage victory of the day with an advantage of more than nine seconds. Allmendinger and Ty Gibbs followed suit in second and third while Allgaier, Hill, Almirola, Nemechek, Herbst, Kligerman and Mayer were scored in the top 10. By then, Cole Custer pitted his No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang a lap earlier.

    With the event proceeding under the final stage with 34 laps remaining, Allmendinger, who was engaged in a tight battle with Gibbs to retain second during the closing laps of the second stage, pitted a lap later followed by Allgaier, Mayer, Hemric and others. Larson then surrendered the lead to pit under green with 33 laps remaining followed by runner-up Gibbs, Hill, Nemechek and more competitors as Almirola cycled into the lead.

    With 30 laps remaining, Almirola pitted from the lead along with Sammy Smith as Larson cycled back into the lead. By then, he was more than 10 seconds ahead of Allmendinger, who was strapped in third behind Suarez, who trailed Larson by more than four seconds despite needing a pit stop. Meanwhile, Ty Gibbs was back in fifth as he trailed by more than 14 seconds.

    Two laps later, Suarez surrendered second place to pit under green as Allmendinger cycled back into second, though he trailed Larson by more than 10 seconds. In the process, Ty Gibbs moved up to third as he trailed the lead by more than 14 seconds while Allgaier and Hill were running in the top five. Following his pit stop after leading a handful of laps prior to the final 30-lap mark, Almirola was in sixth.

    With less than 25 laps remaining, Larson stretched his advantage to more than 11 seconds over Allmendinger and more than 15 seconds over third-place Ty Gibbs while Allgaier and Hill retained their spots in the top five. Almirola also retained sixth while Nemechek, Mayer, Herbst and Kligerman were running in the top 10. Behind, Cole Custer was back in 11th while Chandler Smith, Sammy Smith, Creed and Brett Moffitt were running in the top 15.

    Five laps later, Larson continued to extend his advantage as he now led by more than 13 seconds over Allmendinger while third-place Ty Gibbs trailed by more than 16 seconds. Meanwhile, Almirola carved his way up to fourth followed by Allgaier while Hill was back in sixth ahead of Nemechek, Kligerman, Herbst and Mayer.

    A lap later, the caution flew when Jeffrey Earnhardt got loose, spun and wrecked his No. 45 ForeverLawn Chevrolet Camaro against the tire barriers in Turn 10. The incident all but erased Larson’s advantage of more than 13 seconds over Allmendinger. During the caution period, Alex Labbe and Suarez remained on the track while the rest of the lead lap field led by Larson pitted. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategy, Larson, who opted for no fresh tires during his pit stop, exited first followed by Allmendinger, who opted for two fresh tires. Almirola followed suit in third along with Allgaier, Hill and Nemechek while Ty Gibbs exited seventh after losing four spots on pit road.

    Down to the final 15 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Labbe and Suarez dueled for the lead entering the first two turns. Suarez then slipped up the track in Turn 2, which allowed Almirola, driving the No. 28 Michael Roberts Construction Ford Mustang, to move into the lead amid the scramble. Through Turns 3 and 4, Suarez got loose again as Allmendinger and Larson quickly moved up to second and third. Behind, a series of bumps and jostles ensued within the middle of the pack from the Chute corner towards the entrances of Turns 7, 8 and 9 while Almirola continued to lead ahead of a fierce battle for second place between Allmendinger and Larson.

    A lap later, Larson overtook Allmendinger for second as he began his charge on Almirola for the lead. Amid a series of late jostles and fierce battles around the circuit, trouble struck for Brandon Jones as he spun within the middle of the pack in Turn 8, but the race remained under green flag conditions. In the midst of the battles, Daniel Suarez was black-flagged for a restart violation.

    With 10 laps remaining, Almirola continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Larson while third-place Allmendinger trailed by more than a second. Behind, Ty Gibbs cycled his way back into fourth while Allgaier was in fifth ahead of Hill, Kligerman, Custer, Mayer and Sammy Smith.

    Then with eight laps remaining, Larson, who kept putting pressure on Almirola for the lead, made the slightest of contact against a tire barrel in Turn 11, which caused him to slip wide and lose his momentum briefly as he tried to steer his No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro straight. This allowed Allmendinger to move his No. 10 Gabriel Glas Chevrolet Camaro into second while Larson fell back to third as Almirola was now leading by more than two seconds.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Almirola continued to lead by more than two seconds over Allmendinger and Larson, with Larson still trying to navigate his way around Allmendinger for second. With Ty Gibbs retaining fourth and trailing by more than five seconds, Allgaier was engaged in a fierce battle with Kligerman for fifth.

    A lap later, Larson gained a run on Allmendinger and overtook him for second in Turn 7. Allmendinger, however, was able to execute a crossover move on Larson to reassume the spot while Almirola was still leading by nearly three seconds.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Almirola remained as the leader by less than three seconds over Allmendinger with Larson still stuck in third. With both Allmendinger and Larson unable to close the deficit throughout the 12-turn circuit, Almirola was able to smoothly cycle his way back to the finish line and claim the checkered flag for an upset victory in Northern California.

    By becoming the inaugural Xfinity Series winner at Sonoma, Almirola notched his fourth career victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in his 104th series start, his first on a road course venue and his first since winning at Talladega Superspeedway in May 2017. He also recorded the first NASCAR career win for RSS Racing.

    SONOMA, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 10: Aric Almirola, driver of the #28 Michael Roberts Construction Ford, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series DoorDash 250 at Sonoma Raceway on June 10, 2023 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images).

    “This [win] is so special,” Almirola said on FS1. “It’s hard to explain. I know it’s an Xfinity win. It’s not a Cup win, but after [Circuit of the Americas], I was like, ‘Man, I really don’t think I should run any more road course races in the Xfinity car.’ I lose self-confidence going into Sunday, but I knew that this racetrack; this is one that I can run good at. I’ve run good here my whole career. I don’t know what it is about this place, but I love racing here. Just so thankful to everybody on this race team. It’s been a really tough year on the Cup side and to come out here, get a win and get to celebrate,…[my kids]’re gonna get to go to Victory Lane. That is so special. So excited to share this Victory Lane here. Man, this is awesome. I can’t wait to get to Victory Lane.”

    Allmendinger, who led two laps, came home in second place as he trailed Almirola by more than a second followed by Larson, who led a race-high 53 laps compared to Almirola’s 17 but was unable to claim another victory at his home track.

    “I just got too greedy,” Larson said. “If you can get your rights [tires] below the rumbles, into the paint, it’s a lot of grip. I got it good a couple of times and then, I was just tucked up behind [Almirola] and clipped the tire [barrel]. It knocked the wheel out of my hand and after that, the toe [link] was off. I was really tight in the lefts and really loose on the rights, so we couldn’t make runs at it. I hate it for [crew chief] Kevin Meendering and everybody. They deserve a win so badly with his No. 17 car. Just bummed and mad at myself.”

    Ty Gibbs finished in fourth place as the top-four finishing spots were occupied by Cup Series regulars. Parker Kligerman was the highest-finishing Xfinity Series regular in fifth place while Custer, Allgaier, Austin Hill, rookie Sammy Smith and Sam Mayer finished in the top 10.

    Notably, John Hunter Nemechek ended up 16th, Ross Chastain finished 18th in his 100th Xfinity career start and Suarez ended up 27th following his late penalty.

    There were 10 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured two cautions for eight laps. In total, 31 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    With 12 Xfinity regular-season events remaining on the schedule, John Hunter Nemechek leads the regular-season standings by four points over Austin Hill, 25 over Justin Allgaier and 59 over Cole Custer.

    Results.

    1. Aric Almirola, 17 laps led

    2. AJ Allmendinger, two laps led

    3. Kyle Larson, 53 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    4. Ty Gibbs

    5. Parker Kligerman

    6. Cole Custer

    7. Justin Allgaier

    8. Austin Hill, four laps led

    9. Sammy Smith

    10. Sam Mayer

    11. Sheldon Creed

    12. Brett Moffitt

    13. Daniel Hemric

    14. Chandler Smith

    15. Riley Herbst

    16. John Hunter Nemechek

    17. Jeremy Clements

    18. Ross Chastain

    19. Josh Bilicki

    20. Kaz Grala

    21. Brandon Jones

    22. Kyle Weatherman

    23. Ty Dillon

    24. Dylan Lupton

    25. Alex Labbe, two laps led

    26. Jeb Burton

    27. Daniel Suarez

    28. Ryan Sieg

    29. Brad Perez

    30. Blaine Perkins

    31. Joe Graf Jr.

    32. Connor Mosack, one lap down

    33. Josh Berry, three laps down

    34. Sage Karam – OUT, Transmission

    35. Josh Williams – OUT, Suspension

    36. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Accident

    37. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Suspension

    38. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Transmission

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series teams and competitors enter a one-week break period before returning to action at Nashville Superspeedway on June 24. The event’s air coverage is scheduled to occur at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network, which will launch USA’s and NBC’s coverage for the remainder of this year’s Xfinity season.

  • Larson wins pole position for inaugural Xfinity event at Sonoma

    Larson wins pole position for inaugural Xfinity event at Sonoma

    Kyle Larson commenced his double-duty weekend at Sonoma Raceway on the right foot by winning the pole position for the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ inaugural DoorDash 250 at Sonoma on Saturday, June 10.

    The 2021 Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, posted a pole-winning lap at 91.393 mph in 78.387 seconds in the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. It was enough for him to best 40 competitors vying for 38 starting spots on the grid as he will lead the field to the start of the series’ first-ever event at the 12-turn, windy circuit in Northern California.

    The pole award was Larson’s first of this season as he will be making his second Xfinity start of the 2023 campaign, but first in the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro entry. It also marked his first pole since Road America in July 2022 and the sixth of his Xfinity career. The last time Larson competed in the Xfinity Series was this past May at Darlington Raceway, where he piloted the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro to a thrilling last-lap victory over John Hunter Nemechek.

    “[The qualifying lap] was really good,” Larson said on FS1. “I feel like I got through most areas really well. I felt like, maybe, I over-slowed [Turn] 3 some, maybe over-slowed entry of [Turn] 4, but other than that, I felt really good. [The pit crew has] done an amazing job on this car. Every time they bring the No. 17 [Chevrolet] out, it’s fast. I knew we were gonna have a quick car. It’s up to the driver at this point to just put it all together. It’s been fun, though, so far this weekend. Hopefully, we can give [owner Rick Hendrick] another good run today.”

    Larson will share the front row with veteran Justin Allgaier, who posted the second-fastest qualifying lap at 90.562 mph in 79.106 seconds. With Allgaier having made two previous Cup starts at Sonoma in 2014 and 2015, Saturday afternoon’s Xfinity event will mark Allgaier’s first career start in an Xfinity car.

    Sheldon Creed, a native of Alpine, California, will line up in third place after posting a fast-qualifying lap at 90.429 mph in 79.222 seconds. He will be followed by Aric Almirola and AJ Allmendinger, both of whom join pole-sitter Larson as double-duty competitors between this weekend’s Xfinity-Cup doubleheader feature.

    Sam Mayer will start in sixth place while Ty Gibbs, Daniel Hemric, John Hunter Nemechek and rookie Sammy Smith, all of whom contended for pole position in the final qualifying round, will start in the top 10. Alex Labbe and Parker Kligerman will start 11th and 12th, respectively.

    Notably, Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez and Ty Dillon, all of whom join Larson, Almirola, Allmendinger and Ty Gibbs as Cup Series competitors performing double-duty roles for this weekend’s Xfinity-Cup feature, will start 15th, 17th and 32nd, respectively. In addition, Cole Custer, a native of Ladera Ranch, California, and winner of last weekend’s Xfinity event at Portland International Raceway will start 26th.

    With 41 competitors vying for 38 spots, Brennan Poole, Leland Honeyman and Mason Filippi were the three competitors who failed to qualify.

    Qualifying position, speed, time

    1. Kyle Larson, 91.393 mph, 78.387 seconds

    2. Justin Allgaier, 90.562 mph, 79.106 seconds

    3. Sheldon Creed, 90.429 mph, 79.222 seconds

    4. Aric Almirola, 90.375 mph, 79.270 seconds

    5. AJ Allmendinger, 90.274 mph, 79.358 seconds

    6. Sam Mayer, 90.210 mph, 79.415 seconds

    7. Ty Gibbs, 90.172 mph, 79.448 seconds

    8. Daniel Hemric, 90.017 mph, 79.585 seconds

    9. John Hunter Nemechek, 89.918 mph, 79.673 seconds

    10. Sammy Smith, 89.780 mph, 79.795 seconds

    11. Alex Labbe, 89.886 mph, 79.701 seconds

    12. Parker Kligerman, 89.872 mph, 79.713 seconds

    13. Austin Hill, 89.868 mph, 79.717 seconds

    14. Brett Moffitt, 89.868 mph, 79.717 seconds

    15. Ross Chastain, 89.550 mph, 80.000 seconds

    16. Parker Retzlaff, 89.549 mph, 80.001 seconds

    17. Daniel Suarez, 89.512 mph, 80.034 seconds

    18. Kyle Weatherman, 89444 mph, 80.095 seconds

    19. Josh Berry, 89.377 mph, 80.155 seconds

    20. Chandler Smith, 89.310 mph, 80.215 seconds

    21. Sage Karam, 89.232 mph, 80.285 seconds

    22. Josh Williams, 89.214 mph, 80.301 seconds

    23. Riley Herbst, 89.130 mph, 80.377 seconds

    24. Jeremy Clements, 88.942 mph, 80.547 seconds

    25. Josh Bilicki, 88.898 mph, 80.587 seconds

    26. Cole Custer, 88.850 mph, 80.630 seconds

    27. Kaz Grala, 88.658 mph, 80.805 seconds

    28. Brandon Jones, 88.650 mph, 80.812 seconds

    29. Connor Mosack, 88.644 mph, 80.818 seconds

    30. Jeb Burton, 88.591 mph, 80.866 seconds

    31. Brad Perez, 88.510 mph, 80.940 seconds

    32. Ty Dillon, 88.444 mph, 81.000 seconds

    33. Dylan Lupton, 88.390 mph, 81.050 seconds

    34. Ryan Sieg, owner points

    35. Jeffrey Earnhardt, owner points

    36. Blaine Perkins,  owner points

    37. Anthony Alfredo, owner points

    38. Joe Graf Jr., owner points

    With the starting lineup set, the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ inaugural running of the 2023 DoorDash 250 at Sonoma Raceway is set to occur on Saturday, June 10, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Weekend schedule for Sonoma

    Weekend schedule for Sonoma

    The NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series travel to Sonoma Raceway this weekend while the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series is off until Friday, June 23 at Nashville Superspeedway. The ARCA Menards Series West will kick off the racing action with the General Tire 200 Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. on FloRacing.com with a paid subscription.

    Daniel Suárez is the defending Cup Series race winner while Martin Truex Jr. has the most Cup Series wins of any active driver (2013, 2018, 2019).

    This will be the first time the Xfinity Series will compete at the 1.99-mile Sonoma road course

    PressPass will be available throughout the weekend.

    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, June 9

    4:05 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice – FS1
    6:30 p.m.: ARCA General Tire 200 – FloRacing

    Saturday, June 10

    3 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying – FS1
    5 p.m.: Cup Series Practice – FS2
    6 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying – FS2

    8 p.m.: Xfinity Series DoorDash 250
    Distance: 156.95 miles (79 Laps)
    Stage 1 ends Lap 20, Stage 2 on Lap 45, Final Stage ends on Lap 79
    FS1/PRN/SiriusXM
    The Purse: $1,545,934

    Sunday, June 11

    3:30 p.m.: Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350
    Distance: 218.9 miles (110 laps)
    Stage 1 ends Lap 25, Stage 2 on Lap 55, Final Stage ends on Lap 110
    FOX/PRN/SiriusXM
    The Purse: $8,054,721

  • Three Big Stories: Gateway (2023)

    Three Big Stories: Gateway (2023)

    MADISON, Ill. — Well that was a race.

    Kyle Busch slowly turns into a fan favorite. Richard Childress Racing’s a force to reckon with, again, and blown brake rotors.

    So without further adieu, let’s dive into the three big stories of the NASCAR Cup Series’ second race at World Wide Technology Raceway.

    1. Kyle Busch turning into a fan favorite?

    MADISON, Ill. – JUNE 4: Kyle Busch, driver of the #8 3CHI Chevrolet, celebrates victory in the NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway on June 4, 2023, in Madison, Illinois. Photo: Simon Scoggins/SpeedwayMedia.com

    Busch climbed over the metal stairs to walk to the media center, as throngs of fans huddled around him. While security cleared the way, he signed diecasts and posed for pictures.

    Even his son, Brexton, signed autographs.

    Which begs the question: Is Kyle Busch turning into a fan favorite?

    Yes, he always had a hardcore fanbase, “Rowdy Nation,” but the reaction he receives from fans at driver introductions is no longer universal jeering. Now there’s still a noticeable amount of boos, but Sunday, I heard a lot more cheers mixed in.

    Could you imagine this kind of response a decade ago? After all, this same driver needed police escorts into and out of tracks, after wrecking Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Richmond Raceway in 2008, and dealt with months upon months of death threats.

    Busch wore the metaphorical black hat with pride for years, while he gestured to those who booed him to cry about it.

    That guy might now be a fan favorite.

    2. RCR is a force, again

    MADISON, Ill. – JUNE 4: Richard Childress sprays champagne over the #8 3CHI Chevrolet team, after Kyle Busch won the NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway on June 4, 2023, in Madison, Illinois. Photo: Simon Scoggins/SpeedwayMedia.com

    Richard Childress came into the deadline room with a bottle of “Victory Cuvée.” It’s his third victory of the season. All of which came with Busch.

    “Well, he’s helped us all around,” he said. “Number one, he’s winning races, showing we can win races.”

    For almost a decade, Childress lacked wins.

    From 2014 to 2021, RCR won a grand total of four Cup Series races. Never had a multi-win driver in that time. That changed with Tyler Reddick in 2022, until he left for greener pastures, like Kevin Harvick in 2014.

    Hell, at this point, last season, Reddick was zero in the win column. After 15 races, he’s won three.

    “You know, we won a lot with Harvick, won a lot with Earnhardt,” he said. “Our plan is to win a lot with Kyle, and not only be a contender for that championship. If we make the Final Four, we’ll have a shot at winning it for sure.”

    From a shadow of its former glory to a championship contender, and with Busch at the head.

    The irony of which is that this win fell on the 12th anniversary of Childress punching Busch after a Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway. According to Childress, that’s water under the bridge.

    “We talked about it,” he said. “That was one of the first things we talked about. That’s history. We’ve both grown a lot. I know I’ve grown up. I’ve grown older, but I’ve grown up, too. There’s an old song out there, I’m still growing up but I’m getting older.”

    3. Blown brake rotors

    Four.

    That’s how many cars blew brake rotors, Sunday, at Gateway.

    So what’s the reason?

    Well according to Busch’s crew chief, Randall Burnett, a combination of a lack of track data and the choice of rotors.

    “I think people probably came back — I think teams last year came here a little more conservative last year not knowing, and I think we all took data from that and went home and looked,” he said. “We get options on heavy-duty rotors or light-duty rotors, so we can choose that, and we can obviously choose how much cooling we run to them.”

    Last season at Gateway, we had a number of cut tires leading to wrecks. Sunday, you can’t blame Goodyear. Rather, it’s a confluence of factors.

    “It’s kind of a tough place because the straightaways are so long and you’re off the brakes for such a long time, and then you apply them really hard at the end of the straightaway, so the cycles of getting really cool down the straightaways and then really spiking up the heat, it takes a toll on the rotors,” Burnett said.

    Is the answer more practice so we don’t see scary wrecks like we saw with Noah Gragson?

    I don’t know.

    That’s for NASCAR and various factions to decide.

    “I’m sure everybody will take a look at that and try to understand what happened with those cars,” he said.

  • Dominant trucks hand Enfinger Gateway victory in late wreck

    Dominant trucks hand Enfinger Gateway victory in late wreck

    MADISON, Ill. — It was Zane Smith’s race to lose.

    He stayed out to take the lead in the final 30 laps of the Toyota 200 at World Wide Technology Raceway. Even with four new tires, Grant Enfinger wasn’t eating into his lead. Smith’s car was just too strong on medium to long runs.

    But then Lawless Alan threw a monkey wrench into the runaway operation with a spin with 10 laps to go.

    Now it’s anyone’s race.

    With six to go, Ty Majeski powers off Turn 2 and pulls inside of Smith.

    Even down the backstretch.

    Even entering Turn 3.

    Disaster.

    “Low air pressures and we had the splitter bent, got into Turn 3 obviously trying to get ahead of the No. 38, hit the splitter, had to check up, and went up the racetrack,” Majeski said. “Obviously when you go up the racetrack, his side took the air from mine, and I went around and wrecked us both.”

    As a result, Enfinger passed underneath the wreck to retake the lead and drove onto victory.

    “I don’t know if we were just on the limit right there on the end, but I think Ty just did what I did last year to Zane,” Enfinger said.

    Smith spoke to Majeski after the race, both to see if someone got into him and just what his plan was.

    “I saw an interview earlier where at this track he has more experience here than any others,” he said. “He still races like it’s his first time here. We see time and time again that the guy on the bottom has to be a little conservative, and that’s why the leaders always choose the top.”

    Ultimately, it doesn’t hurt either Smith or Majeski, points-wise. Majeski leaves Gateway second, one point behind Corey Heim (who missed Saturday’s race with an illness). Meanwhile, Smith remains fourth, with two wins to book his ticket to the playoffs.

    It doesn’t ease the heartbreaking loss for Smith, however.

    “I mean, I kind of did it to myself staying in this series,” he said. “It is pretty unbelievable how scary some of these guys are. We’ve just had, now, four bad weeks – some self-inflicted, but our day obviously snowballed once we get around some of these guys. It’s just frustrating.”

  • Custer grabs dramatic Xfinity victory in overtime at Portland

    Custer grabs dramatic Xfinity victory in overtime at Portland

    From starting at the rear of the field to muscling his way to the front, Cole Custer found himself at the right spot at the right time to steal the spotlight and drive to an overwhelming victory in the second annual running of the Pacific Office Automation 147 at Portland International Raceway on Saturday, June 3.

    The 25-year-old Custer from Ladera Ranch, California, led two times for five of 77 over-scheduled laps as he methodically carved his way to the front despite starting at the rear of the field for unapproved adjustments to his car. Then after spending the majority of the event running towards the front, where he claimed the second stage victory in a photo finish, Custer seized an opportunity during an overtime shootout when Parker Kligerman collided against the leaders Justin Allgaier and Sheldon Creed entering the first turn. This caused Kligerman to lose his momentum as both Allgaier and Creed took the chicane before blending back onto the circuit while Custer muscled into the lead. Once he had the lead, the Californian spent the final two laps fending off a late charge from Allgaier to claim his first Xfinity victory of the 2023 season.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Sheldon Creed notched his first career pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 95.694 mph in 74.111 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Cole Custer, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 95.398 mph in 74.341 seconds.

    Prior to the event, however, Custer joined Blaine Perkins, Sam Mayer, Garrett Smithley, Brandon Jones, Joe Graf Jr., Parker Kligerman, Jeremy Clements, Patrick Emerling, Anthony Alfredo and Josh Williams as a host of competitors who started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. Stefan Parsons also dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change made to his car.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Creed and John Hunter Nemechek, who moved up to the front row, dueled for the lead entering the first two sets of sharp turns. Then as Creed fended off an early challenge from Nemechek, where Nemechek bumped Creed through the first two turns, rookie Chandler Smith spun in the middle of the turn after getting hit by Connor Mosack while running in the top 10. This caused the rest of the field to scatter and fan out across the chicane and the turns while Creed maintained the lead. After navigating his way through the 12-turn circuit, Creed proceeded to lead the first lap ahead of Nemechek as Jordan Taylor, Josh Berry, Justin Allgaier and Austin Hill followed suit.

    During the second lap, rookie Sammy Smith pitted to address a shifter issue to his No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota Supra that was stuck in second gear. Amid Smith’s issues, Creed retained the top spot with a steady advantage over Nemechek while Jordan Taylor retained third.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Creed was leading by half a second over Nemechek followed by Taylor, Berry and Allgaier while Austin Hill, Daniel Hemric, Myatt Snider, Kaz Grala and Jeb Burton in the top 10. By then, Connor Mosack was in 11th ahead of Riley Herbst, Alex Labbe, Brett Moffitt and Dylan Lupton while Cole Custer, Anthony Alfredo, Leland Honeyman, rookie Parker Retzlaff and Ryan Sieg occupied the top 20. Two laps earlier, Parker Chase, who was running towards the rear of the field, had plummeted below the leaderboard after spinning in Turn 1.

    Just past the Lap 10 mark, Creed continued to lead by more than eight-tenths over Nemechek while Allgaier, Taylor and Berry were in the top five. By then, Custer had cracked the top 15 after starting at the rear of the field. A lap later, Ryan Sieg and Leland Honeyman spun in Turn 4 after making contact and going off the course.

    On Lap 16 and while Creed retained the lead by more than a second over Nemechek, Brennan Poole ran into early issues after he went off the course in Turn 11. He would then take his JD Motorsports entry to the garage without drawing a caution.

    Nearing the Lap 20 mark, however, the first caution of the event flew when Stefan Parsons came to a stop in Turn 3 Then prior to a restart with five laps remaining in the first stage, Hemric, who was in the top 10, pulled his No. 11 Cirkul Chevrolet Camaro that was on fire off the course as his event came to an early end.

    With the restart occurring with two laps remaining in the first stage, Creed and Nemechek dueled for the lead entering the first turn as Myatt Snider, who restarted in the top 10, fanned out in an attempt to gain spots. In spite of the bumps that were ongoing amid the front runners, the field navigated smoothly through the first two tight turns as Creed retained the lead over Nemechek and Berry while Allgaier, Hill and Taylor were in the top six.

    Prior to the final lap, Nemechek made his move beneath Creed entering the frontstretch as he assumed the lead entering the first two turns. Creed quickly responded back through Turns 4 and 5 before Nemechek fended off Creed’s run and maintained the top spot. Then after fending off Creed’s attacks through Turns 5 to 7, Nemechek appeared to pull away through Turns 8 to 10. In Turn 11, however, Nemechek went wide, which allowed Creed to draw beneath him and lightly rub fenders with Nemechek before he reassumed the lead. With the lead back in his grasp, Creed managed to pull away and conclude the first stage scheduled on Lap 25 with his second stage victory of the season. Nemechek ended up second followed by Allgaier, Hill and Berry while Taylor, Custer, Snider, Parker Kligerman and Herbst were scored in the top 10. With the rest of the field making its way to the start/finish line, Joe Graf Jr. spun off the course in Turn 11.

    During the first stage break, all competitors pitted for non-competitive pit stops, with each given three minutes to make any changes. Amid the pit stops, Brad Perez replaced Leland Honeyman as Honeyman had been under the weather.

    The second stage started on Lap 27 as Creed and Nemechek occupied the front row. At the start, Creed launched ahead with the top spot over Allgaier and Nemechek while Custer, who restarted seventh, fanned out to three lanes as he managed to move up to fourth entering the first turn. As the field navigated its way through the first two sharp turns, trouble struck for Berry as Hill hit and sent Berry’s No. 8 Tire Pros Chevrolet Camaro for a spin. With Berry spinning his car off the course, the event remained under green flag conditions as Creed retained the lead while the field behind scrambled and jostled for positions.

    Then on Lap 33, Allgaier gained a run and battled dead even with Nemechek, who briefly lost his momentum while challenging Creed for the lead, through Turns 7 and 8 before gaining second place. In the process, Creed managed to maintain the top spot by nearly half a second. During the following lap, the battle for the lead became a six-car battle as Custer, Kligerman and Jordan Taylor closed in for the battle of the lead.

    By Lap 40, Creed continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over Allgaier followed by Nemechek, Custer and Kligerman while Taylor, Myatt Snider, Hill, Herbst and Sam Mayer were in the top 10. Behind, Alex Labbe was scored in 11th over Jeb Burton, Chandler Smith, Connor Mosack and Brett Moffitt while Anthony Alfredo, Retzlaff, Kaz Grala, Brandon Jones and Josh Williams were running in the top 20.

    Two laps later, trouble struck for Preston Pardus, who spun in Turn 10 and briefly stalled his car before he limped it back to pit road. With the event remaining under green, Creed maintained the lead as Allgaier, Nemechek and Custer engaged in a fierce battle for second place. Kligerman would close in to join the battle as the top-five competitors were separated by less than two seconds.

    Another four laps later, Chandler Smith, who served an early pass-through penalty for missing the chicane, spun in Turn 11 while running within the top 15, but he continued despite plummeting to 20th. Not long after, Snider spun his No. 19 Tree Top Toyota Supra in between Turns 8 and 9 while running in the top 10, but he also continued as he dropped to 12th. In the process, the battle for the lead ignited between the top six as Creed remained out in front ahead of Allgaier, Nemechek, Custer, Kligerman and Taylor.

    Prior to the final lap of the second stage, Nemechek made his move beneath Allgaier through Turns 10 and 11 as he overtook him for second. Custer would then follow suit and move up to third entering Turn 1 as Allgaier slipped to fourth while Creed retained the lead. Then after trailing Creed for nearly the entire final lap, Nemechek put the front bumper to Creed’s rear bumper and sent Creed’s No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro spinning off the course in Turn 11. This allowed Custer to draw even beneath Nemechek entering the frontstretch as he and Nemechek dueled for the stage victory. At the start/finish line, Custer managed to peek ahead and edge Nemechek in a photo finish to capture the second stage victory on Lap 50, which also marked Custer’s third stage victory of the season. Nemechek ended up in second followed by Allgaier, Kligerman and Taylor while Creed was able to salvage sixth. Mayer, Herbst, Hill and Jeb Burton were scored in the top 10.

    During the second stage break, all competitors led by Custer pitted for non-competitive pit stops as they all retained their respective spots from the second stage’s conclusion.

    With 23 laps remaining, the final stage started as Custer and Nemechek occupied the front row. At the start, Custer had appeared to pull ahead from the field until he went wide and missed the first turn as he was forced to take the chicane. With Custer off the track and pulling a stop-and-go move to avoid a penalty, Allgaier assumed the lead followed by Nemechek, Kligerman and Creed through the first three turns and entering a series of right and left-hand turns in Turns 4 and 5. As the field behind jostled, Allgaier managed to maintain the top spot by a steady margin over Nemechek while Creed battled Kligerman for third.

    A few laps later, Sam Mayer carved his way to the front as he battled and overtook Kligerman for fourth while Allgaier remained as the leader over Nemechek and Creed.

    With 20 laps remaining, Allgaier was leading by six-tenths of a second over Nemechek followed by Creed, Mayer and Kligerman while Taylor, Hill, Custer, Snider and Herbst were in the top 10. Behind, Mosack was in 11th ahead of Brett Moffitt, JEb Burton, Labbe and Alfredo while Jones, Berry, Retzlaff, Chandler Smith and Dylan Lupton were mired in the top 20.

    Then approaching the final 19 laps of the event, Creed delivered payback to Nemechek as he tapped and sent Nemechek’s No. 20 Red Bird Farms Toyota Supra for a spin in Turn 11 while the rest of the field scattered to avoid hitting Nemechek. With the race remaining under green and as Nemechek continued, Kligerman overtook Creed for second as Hill, Taylor, Custer and Mayer joined the battle for second. In the process, Allgaier retained the lead by nearly three seconds.

    Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Allgaier maintained the lead by more than two seconds over Creed and more than three seconds over third-place Kligerman while Hill and Custer were scored in the top five. Meanwhile, more trouble struck for Nemechek as he got slammed by teammate Sammy Smith, who overshot the first turn and had to take the chicane. Shortly after continuing, Nemechek ran into the side of Smith to express his displeasure as both sustained tire rub and damage to their cars. Both Joe Gibbs Racing teammates would pit simultaneously for repairs.

    With 10 laps remaining, Allgaier continued to lead by more than four seconds over Kligerman while Creed, Hill, Custer and Mayer occupied the top six on the track. Behind, Taylor was in seventh followed by Snider, Mosack and Labbe. By then, Nemechek, who returned to the track, was lapped by the leaders.

    Two laps later, the caution flew when Herbst, who was running a lap down in the top 30 amid overheating issues, pulled his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang off the course in Turn 9 as the car went up in smoke and flames. The caution erased Allgaier’s advantage of more than four seconds over Kligerman.

    Down to the final five laps, the race restarted under green. At the start, Allgaier and Kligerman dueled for the lead entering the first turn. Then entering the first sharp turn, Allgaier managed to pull ahead while Creed quickly followed suit in second. Meanwhile, Kligerman locked up the tires and slipped to battle with Custer for third while Mayer and Snider pursued. Through Turns 4 to 7, Allgaier maintained the lead over Creed while Custer and Kligerman battled for third.

    As the field returned to the frontstretch to hit the final four-lap mark, Alfredo and Retzlaff spun in Turn 11, but the race remained under green as the field scrambled and jostled for spots. Shortly after, Jeb Burton spun in Turn 4 after getting hit by Chandler Smith whom he had a run-in with through the frontstretch. Then with three laps remaining, the caution returned for debris on the backstretch. The caution period was enough to send the event into overtime.

    At the start of the first overtime attempt, Allgaier peeked ahead of Creed while receiving a push from Kligerman before Kligerman tried to make his move beneath Allgaier entering Turn 1. Through the turn, however, Kligerman locked up the front tires and could not steer his No. 48 Big Machine Racing entry to make the turn as he collided against Allgaier and Creed, sending both into the chicane while Kligerman was trying to regain his momentum on the track. Amid the chaos, Custer came out on top in his No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang with the lead while Allgaier and Creed managed to blend back onto the track in second and third with Mayer joining the battle. With the field behind jostling for late positions through Turns 4 to 7, Custer ran away from the field as Allgaier, Mayer and Creed continued to battle for second. Through Turns 8 and 9, Allgaier claimed second while Mayer dueled Creed for third.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Custer remained as the leader ahead of a hard-charging Allgaier. By then, Mayer had shoved Creed off the course in Turn 11 as Creed fell back to seventh behind Hill, Snider and Berry while Mayer moved up to third. Back at the front, Allgaier narrowed the deficit to six-tenths of a second as Custer retained the lead through the first three turns and entering Turn 4. Then after fending off Allgaier’s No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro through Turn 9, Allgaier gained more momentum into Turn 10 and got to Custer’s rear bumper approaching the final set of turns. He then tried to bump and overtake Custer entering the frontstretch, but it was not enough as Custer managed to fend off Allgaier by 0.142 seconds to grab his first checkered flag of the 2023 season in dramatic fashion.

    With the victory, Custer claimed his 11th career win in the Xfinity Series, his first since winning at Auto Club Speedway in February 2022 and his first on a road course venue. He also recorded the first Xfinity victory for Stewart-Haas Racing since Chase Briscoe won at Kansas Speedway in October 2020, the first NASCAR victory for crew chief Jonathan Toney and he became the seventh Xfinity regular to win and be guaranteed a spot for the 2023 Xfinity Series Playoffs.

    Ironically, Custer’s Portland victory occurred as the Californian achieved his seventh consecutive top-seven finish in recent weeks. This occurred after Custer finished no higher than ninth during the first six-scheduled events on this year’s schedule.

    “[I was telling myself] Just try and not make mistakes [on the restarts],” Custer said on FS1. “I saw [Kligerman] drive in there so deep. I did the same thing like two restarts ago. Man, I’m just so happy. I’ve never won a road course race before. I’ve been so close so many times and it’s just awesome to win this. I can’t thank Haas Automation, everybody at Stewart-Haas [Racing] in the Xfinity program and the Cup program. This is just a great day. It’s awesome to get this trophy and get that out of the way. I’m pumped for the rest of the year. We got fast cars and we’re starting to put it all together.”

    Allgaier, coming off last week’s victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway, finished second after leading 23 laps while Mayer, Berry and Hill finished in the top five. Myatt Snider came home in sixth place in his second start of the season while Creed, who led a race-high 47 laps ended up seventh. Connor Mosack, Chandler Smith and Nemechek completed the top 10 on the track.

    There were five lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 10 laps. In total, 27 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    With the 2023 Xfinity Series regular-season stretch reaching its halfway mark, John Hunter Nemechek leads the regular-season standings by 14 points over Austin Hill, 44 over Justin Allgaier, 65 over Cole Custer and 91 over Josh Berry.

    Results.

    1. Cole Custer, five laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Justin Allgaier, 23 laps led

    3. Sam Mayer

    4. Josh Berry

    5. Austin Hill

    6. Myatt Snider

    7. Sheldon Creed, 47 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    8. Connor Mosack

    9. Chandler Smith

    10. John Hunter Nemechek, two laps led

    11. Alex Labbe

    12. Brett Moffitt

    13. Brandon Jones

    14. Parker Kligerman

    15. Blaine Perkins

    16. Josh Williams

    17. Parker Retzlaff

    18. Ryan Sieg

    19. Jeffrey Earnhardt

    20. Patrick Emerling

    21. Anthony Alfredo

    22. Jeremy Clements

    23. Joe Graf Jr.

    24. Garrett Smithley

    25. Jeb Burton

    26. Kaz Grala

    27. Jordan Taylor

    28. Leland Honeyman – OUT, Accident

    29. Dylan Lupton, one lap down

    30. Sammy Smith, two laps down

    31. Preston Pardus, five laps down

    32. Riley Herbst – OUT, Engine

    33. Daniel Hemric, 30 laps down

    34. Kyle Sieg – OUT, Rear gear

    35. Parker Chase – OUT, Tie rod

    36. Mason Maggio – OUT, Transmission

    37. Stefan Parsons – OUT, Overheating

    38. Brennan Poole – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ inaugural event at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, June 10, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • The White Zone: Waivers in NASCAR are a joke

    The White Zone: Waivers in NASCAR are a joke

    MADISON, Ill. — NASCAR, how does this make sense?

    If you slept under a rock, this week, NASCAR parked Chase Elliott, after he intentionally wrecked Denny Hamlin, Monday, at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It was nakedly blatant and the SMT data of the wreck reinforced that.

    NASCAR handled it, correctly. After it suspended Bubba Wallace, last season, for doing the same thing to Kyle Larson at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, it couldn’t not give Elliott the same penalty, without inciting a mutiny in the garage.

    But then NASCAR shot itself in the foot by giving him a waiver.

    So let me get this straight: Elliott’s actions in the Coca-Cola 600 (correctly) warranted a one race suspension, but he’s still playoff-eligible?

    How?!

    The only real penalty, effectively, is he gets one less race to make the playoffs.

    And he’s not the first.

    Johnny Sauter got a waiver, after NASCAR parked him for wrecking Austin Hill under caution at Iowa Speedway in 2019. And while not a wreck, NASCAR suspended Josh Williams for parking his car on track at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March.

    Both received waivers.

    OK, I get that there’s more to a race team than the driver. The pit crew, the crew chief and spotter didn’t put Hamlin in the wall. Furthermore, it’s probably not good for sponsorship, if you penalize the whole team for the actions of one individual.

    And if NASCAR approved all waiver requests, I’d respect that point more.

    With that said, however, the league’s denied waiver requests.

    In fact, at press time, the league’s denied just three request for a playoff waiver.

    Spencer Gallagher’s denial makes sense, but Kaz Grala and Grant Enfinger’s don’t. They were circumstances beyond their control.

    Yet according to the heads in Daytona, substance abuse and missing a race for lack of sponsorship are stronger grounds for a waiver denial than intentionally wrecking another driver.

    So I ask again, NASCAR, how does this make sense?

    For as much flak as NASCAR (rightfully) gets for inconsistent officiating, granting playoff waivers to drivers suspended for intentionally wrecking others is one precedent NASCAR should break.

    And if this isn’t grounds for a waiver denial, then waivers are a joke.

    But at the end of the day, as the late Ed Coombs told me, “It’s their show to **** up.”

    That’s my view, for what it’s worth.

  • Weekend schedule for Gateway and Portland

    Weekend schedule for Gateway and Portland

    This weekend the NASCAR Cup and the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series teams head to World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway as the Xfinity Series and ARCA Menards Series West travel to Portland International Raceway for a full weekend of racing.

    The battle for the Cup Series Playoffs is heating up as 10 different drivers have already secured a spot in the postseason. The list of winners includes Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Martin Truex Jr.

    This will be the second time the Xfinity Series will compete at the Portland road course. AJ Allmendinger won the inaugural event but is not entered in this year’s race. Of the current eligible drivers, Austin Hill leads the series with three wins while John Hunter Nemechek (the points leader) has been to victory lane twice. The remaining eligible drivers, with one win each, are Chandler Smith, Sammy Smith, Jeb Burton and Justin Allgaier.

    Six Truck Series drivers have won this season and are locked into the Playoffs – Zane Smith (Daytona, COTA), Christian Eckes (Atlanta, Darlington), Carson Hocevar (Texas), Corey Heim (Martinsville), Grant Enfinger (Kansas), and Ben Rhodes (Charlotte).

    NASCAR PressPass will be available throughout the weekend.

    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, June 2
    5 p.m.: ARCA Practice (Portland) No TV
    6:10 p.m.: ARCA Qualifying (Portland) No TV
    8 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series West Portland 112 – FloRacing/MRN

    6 p.m.: Truck Series Practice (Gateway) FS1
    6:30 p.m. Truck Series Qualifying (Gateway) FS1

    Saturday, June 3
    10 a.m.: Cup Series Practice (Gateway) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    10:45 a.m.: Cup Series Qualifying (Gateway) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM

    11:30 a.m.: Xfinity Series Practice (Portland-No TV)
    12 Noon: Xfinity Series Qualifying (Portland) FS1

    1:30 p.m.: Truck Series Toyota 200 (Gateway)
    Distance: 200 miles (160 Laps)
    Stages end on Lap 35, Lap 70, Lap 160
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    The Purse: $738,514

    4:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Pacific Office Automation 147 (Portland)
    Distance: 147.75 miles (75 Laps)
    Stages end on Lap 25, Lap 50, Lap 75
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    The Purse: $1,376,231

    Sunday, June 4
    3:30 p.m.: Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 (Gateway)
    Distance: 300 miles (240 laps)
    Stages end on Lap 45, Lap 140, Lap 240)
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    The Purse: $7,425,976

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Charlotte

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Charlotte

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. William Byron: Byron started from the pole at Charlotte and was strong throughout, but was one-upped by Ryan Blaney for the win and settled for the runner-up spot.

    “Congratulations to Blaney,” Byron said. “He deserved this win, not only because he broke a long winless streak, but also because he clearly had the best car, as you can see by the fact that he led 163 laps. Ryan towered over the competition, just like Fox’s Jamie Little towers over any driver she interviews.”

    2. Ryan Blaney: Blaney outdueled pole sitter William Byron late and pulled away to win the Coca-Cola 600, snapping a 59-race winless streak.

    “What’s the best thing about ending a winless streak?” Blaney said. “Starting another one.”

    3. Kyle Busch: Busch finished sixth at Charlotte, posting his seventh top 10 of the season.

    “I spun on Lap 176 and dropped way down the order,” Busch said. “But I made my way back to the front. If you saw the aftermath of my spin, you could say I ‘reversed’ my fortunes.”

    4. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex came home third in the Coca-Cola 600.

    “It was great to see Jimmie Johnson race in the 600 for his team, Legacy Motor Club,” Truex said. “Unfortunately, Jimmie finished dead last. This is a prime example of Jimmie destroying his legacy.”

    5. Tyler Reddick: Reddick led 28 laps and finished fifth in the Coca-Cola 600.

    “My 23XI Toyota sported the Air Jordan logo,” Reddick said, “and Carolina blue. We could have made it completely a Michael Jordan look had we added a golf club and an image of MJ paying his bookie.”

    6. Kevin Harvick: Harvick started second at Charlotte and fell back to last early, but took the lead early in Stage 3. But Harvick went high into Tyler Reddick on Lap 358 and spun, sending him back in the field. He finished 11th.

    “My car featured the Hunt Brothers Pizza cam,” Harvick said. “Usually, when you hear ‘Hunt Brothers Pizza’ and ‘camera’ mentioned in the same sentence, it’s often a doctor discussing your colonoscopy.”

    7. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin crashed out of the Coca-Cola 600 on Lap 186 when it appeared Elliott retaliated for contact moments earlier that caused Elliott to brush the wall. Hamlin finished 35th.

    “As I said after the incident,” Hamlin said, “Chase threw a ‘tantrum’ and wrecked me intentionally. He should be suspended. I’m sure he’ll profess his innocence, but, much like after his idiotic snowboarding accident, he won’t have a leg to stand on.”

    8. Ross Chastain: Chastain finished 22nd at Charlotte.

    “There was a shoving match,” Chastain said, “an incident with Denny Hamlin, and many other spins. None of that is unusual. What’s unusual was I wasn’t involved in any of it.”

    9. Kyle Larson: Larson struggled early but came on strong midway through Stage 3 with a charge to the front. But Larson’s No. 5 Chevy got loose on a restart with 25 laps to go and suffered extensive damage. Larson’s day was done and he finished 30th.

    “I’m planning on doing the Indianapolis 500-Coke 600 double next year,” Larson said. “I think I can do that in less time than it took to complete Stage 4 in Charlotte on Monday.”

    10. Christopher Bell: Bell got loose and spun into the infield on Lap 236 but luckily suffered little damage. He wasn’t so lucky on a restart with 25 laps to go when he was collected in a pileup triggered by Kyle Larson’s spin. Bell finished 24th.

    “The Coca-Cola 600 is a grueling, time-consuming, and energy-sapping race,” Bell said. “And that’s just for the fans.”