Kyle Larson picked up right where he left off from the previous season and saved his best for last after the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, claimed the pole position for the 64th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Wednesday, February 16.
The qualifying format that determined the front row of this year’s Daytona 500 was based on two single-car qualifying sessions, each comprised of a single-lap qualifying session for each competitor, where the top-10 fastest qualifiers from a total of 42, transferred from the first to the second round and contended for the pole position.
Larson, who was the second-to-last competitor to roll his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 on the track to post a qualifying lap through the first and second sessions, secured the pole position with a pole-winning time at 49.680 seconds at 181.159 mph. With his accomplishment, Larson, who notched his 11th Cup Series career pole, became the 44th different competitor to win the pole for the Great American Race and the first pole winner in the new Next Gen stock cars as he seeks his first 500 victory this weekend. The 500 pole award also was the 15th for Hendrick Motorsports and the 31st overall, 10th in a row, for the Chevrolet nameplate.
“Yeah, it’s really neat,” Larson said on FS1. “You are really proud of your team to get a pole here because this is the littlest it has to do with us drivers; qualifying at superspeedways. Just a huge thank you to the engine shop at Hendrick Motorsports. Everybody who’s had a part in touching these vehicles; whether it be on the computer, engineering, or just hands-on. It’s really neat. Just awesome the speed in our HendrickCars.com Chevy. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a really good weekend…I think it just be even more special if we could win the Duels tomorrow and go on Sunday and win the [Daytona] 500.”
Joining Larson on the front row will be teammate Alex Bowman, who made history by claiming his record-setting fifth consecutive front-row starting spot for the 500 as Hendrick Motorsports’ competitors swept the front row for the 500 for the seventh time in 13 seasons. Bowman, the reigning two-time Daytona 500 pole winner, posted the second-fastest qualifying time of 49.711 seconds at 181.046 mph in his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.
“It’s unbelievable,” Bowman said. “I’ve come down here not locked in, qualified poorly, had to race our way in. It just says so much about Hendrick Motorsports and all these guys. Congrats to [Larson] on getting the pole. It’s cool to be like to have the record, but I feel like [crew chief] Greg Ives and my race team should be the ones that should get the credit for that record because the driver doesn’t really have much to do with it, but glad I didn’t mess it up for them and really happy for Ally and Chevrolet. Cool to be a part of it. We’ve found out every way to lose a 500, so hopefully, we can figure out how to win in on Sunday.”
William Byron, the 2019 Daytona 500 pole winner, posted the third-fastest qualifying time of 49.711 seconds at 180.850 mph in his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 followed by Aric Almirola, the fastest non-HMS competitor who commenced his swan song season as a full-time NASCAR competitor by posting the fourth-fastest qualifying time of 49.854 seconds at 180.529 mph in his No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang. Chase Elliott settled in fifth place with the fifth-fastest qualifying time of 49.913 seconds at 180.314 mph, thus placing all four Hendrick Motorsports competitors in the top five.
Rounding out the top 10 in qualifying time and speed were Martin Truex Jr., Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin, Daniel Suarez and rookie Harrison Burton.
Daniel Hemric, the reigning Xfinity Series champion who was the first competitor to roll off the grid and was one of 32 competitors that did not transfer to the second qualifying round, posted the 11th-fastest qualifying time of 50.160 seconds at 179.429 mph ahead of Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Chase Briscoe and Austin Dillon.
Meanwhile, Noah Gragson and Jacques Villeneuve were also left victorious after both raced their way into the Daytona 500 after emerging as the fastest two qualifiers competing for non-chartered teams.
Gragson, a five-time Xfinity Series race winner who failed to qualify for the 2021 Daytona 500 after being collected in a late multi-car wreck during the second Daytona Duel event, posted the 33rd-fastest qualifying time of 50.689 seconds at 177.553 mph, which was enough for him and his No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team to emerge as the fastest of the non-chartered competitors and teams on the leaderboard. With his accomplishment, Gragson will make his debut in NASCAR’s premier series and in the Great American Race this upcoming weekend.
“It’s pretty special,” Gragson said. “We have one employee [at Beard Motorsports] with [crew chief] Darren Shaw. We have a lot of help from [Richard Childress Racing] and a great power unit under the hood with ECR. The Beard family, Mrs. Beard and the rest of the family, they allowed me to come drive this race car. [Brendan Gaughan] called me about a year and a half ago, he asked me to come drive this car, and we came up short last year. To be able to make my first Cup start on Sunday, it’s really special. We were the fastest out of all the open cars, so that’s pretty good. [I’m] Gonna be busy this year with JR Motorsports and now the Beard Motorsports’ car this weekend, so super excited, super thankful, and just very proud.”
Villeneuve, who made his return to the Cup Series for the newly formed Team Hezeberg, posted the 36th-fastest qualifying time of 51.010 seconds at 176.436 mph as he guaranteed himself a starting spot for the 500 based on his speed. With his accomplishment, the 50-year-old Quebec veteran will be making his first Cup career start since competing at Sonoma Raceway in June 2013 and his first career start in the Daytona 500.
Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“Obviously, it’s not a win,” Villeneuve said. “It’s not like winning the Indy 500 or the [Formula One] championship. But at this point in my career, the last time I tried to qualify here was 14 years ago, just to make the show is incredible. Because we’re a small team, we didn’t link up with a big team to get the car ready, and it’s highly unexpected to be able to make it on time. So it ranks right after these big wins.”
The remaining four open competitors that includes Kaz Grala, Greg Biffle, J.J. Yeley and Timmy Hill will compete for the final two open spots for the Daytona 500 through the Bluegreen Vacations Duels on Thursday night.
Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule are a pair of Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona International Speedway that will determine the rest of the starting lineup for this year’s 64th running of the Daytona 500 scheduled for February 20 at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX. The first Bluegreen Vacations Duel will occur on Thursday, February 17, at 7 p.m. ET on FS1 while the second Bluegreen Vacations Duel will occur approximately two hours later at 9 p.m. ET on FS1.
NASCAR kicks off the start of the 2022 season at Daytona International Speedway this week culminating in the 64th annual Daytona 500 on Sunday afternoon. While we got a glimpse of the Next Gen car in the Busch Clash at the L.A. Coliseum, the true test begins this weekend as the regular season begins.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will compete Friday night in the ‘NextEra Energy 250’ and the Xfinity Series will be on track Saturday evening for the ‘Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. 300.’
Qualifying for the Daytona 500 is set for Wednesday night and will have a new look this year. There will be two rounds of qualifying with the top 10 fastest cars moving to the second round. The fastest two cars in Round 2 will lock in their starting positions on the front row.
The remaining starting positions will be determined in the Bluegreen Vacation Duels on Thursday evening. The lineup for the Duels will be set by the single-car qualifying results from Wednesday.
The cars that finished first, third, fifth, etc. in the single-car qualifying will make up the field for Duel 1. The cars that finished in even-numbered positions will compete in Duel 2. There will be the same number of Open teams in each Duel race.
The Bluegreen Vacation Duels will set the starting lineup for the Daytona 500. The drivers from Duel 1 will line up on the inside row in order of their finish and the drivers from Duel 2 will line up on the outside row in order of their finish.
The fastest open team in each Duel will qualify into the Daytona 500. The two open teams with the fastest times in single-car qualifying that did not qualify through the duels will make up the final two spots in the field.
This year the top-10 finishers in each Duel will receive points that will count toward the regular-season championship. The winner receives 10 points, the runner-up nine points, etc., with the 10th-place finisher earning one point.
If it rains and the Duel races cannot be run, the starting grid for the Daytona 500 will be set based on the best qualifying speeds along with the four fastest Open cars, If only the second Duel race is canceled due to rain, the highest-finishing open team from the first duel plus the three remaining fastest open teams from qualifying will advance to the Daytona 500.
All times are Eastern.
Tuesday, Feb. 15: 5:05 p.m.: Cup Series First Practice – FS1/MRN 6:35 p.m.: Cup Series Second Practice – FS1/MRN
Wednesday, Feb. 16: 8:05 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying – Single Vehicle, One Lap, Two Rounds – FS1, MRN
Thursday, February 17 4 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series practice 5 p.m.: Truck Series practice – FS1 7 p.m.: Bluegreen Vacations Duel 1 – 60 Laps, 150 Miles – FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio 8:45 p.m.(approx.): Bluegreen Vacations Duel 2 – 60 Laps, 150 Miles – FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Friday, February 18 1:30 p.m.: ARCA Qualifying (Groups) 3:00 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying (Single Vehicle, One Lap, Two Rounds) FS1 4:35 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice – FS1 6 p.m.: Cup Series Third Practice – FS1/MRN 7:30 PM Truck Series NextEra Energy 250 (Stages 20/40/100 Laps=250 Miles) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Saturday, February 19 10:30 a.m.: Cup Series Final Practice – FS2/MRN (coverage moves to FS1 at 11 a.m.) 11:35 a.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying (Single Vehicle, One Lap, Two Rounds) – FS1 1:30 p.m.: ARCA Lucas Oil 200 driven by General Tire (80 Laps, 200 Miles) FS1/MRN 5 p.m.: Xfinity Series Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. 300 (Stages 30/60/120 Laps=300 Miles) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Sunday, February 20 2:30 p.m.: Cup Series Daytona 500 (Stages 65/130/200 Laps=500 Miles) FOX/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Joey Logano etched his name as the winner of the 2022 Busch Light Clash in NASCAR’s inaugural exhibition event at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Sunday, February 6, after leading the final 35 laps and fending off a late challenge from Kyle Busch. The victory marked Logano’s second career Clash victory after winning his first at Daytona International Speedway in February 2017 as he also emerged victorious in NASCAR’s first event with the Gen 7 stock cars.
The lineup for the exhibition feature was determined through the use of four 25-lap heat races, caution laps not included, and nine competitors from a total of 36 competing in each. The top-four finishers from each heat (16 total) earned a one-way ticket to the Clash. Afterwards, the 20 competitors who did not advance to the Clash via the heat races participated in two 50-lap Last Chance Qualifying races with the top-three finishers in each Last Chance Qualifying event advancing to the Clash.
In the first Heat event, Kyle Busch, the reigning Clash champion who posted the fastest qualifying lap at 65.478 mph on Saturday and started on the pole, transferred after leading all 25 laps and finishing first ahead of runner-up Daniel Suarez. They were joined by third-place finisher Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and fourth-place finisher Ryan Blaney in the main event while Denny Hamlin, Ross Chastain, rookie Todd Gilliland, Aric Almirola and BJ McLeod were sent to the Last Chance Qualifiers. The first Heat victory gave Kyle Busch the top starting spot for the main event
In the second Heat event, Tyler Reddick, who started on the pole, ran away from the field to lead all 25 laps, finish first and transfer followed by Chase Briscoe, Austin Dillon and Cole Custer. Bubba Wallace, Alex Bowman, Martin Truex Jr., rookie Harrison Burton and Brad Keselowski were sent to the Last Chance Qualifiers. The second Heat victory gave Reddick a front row starting spot alongside Kyle Busch for the main event.
In the third Heat event, Justin Haley, who commenced his first full-time campaign in the NASCAR Cup Series competitor for Kaulig Racing on the pole, fended off the field to lead all 25 laps and transfer to the main event after finishing first. Joining him were William Byron, Christopher Bell and Chase Elliott while AJ Allmendinger, Kevin Harvick, Chris Buescher, Cody Ware and Corey LaJoie were sent to the Last Chance Qualifiers. The third Heat victory placed Haley on the second row for the Clash.
In the fourth and final Heat event, Joey Logano, who started on pole, survived through two restarts to lead all 25 laps and transfer by finishing first ahead of Kyle Larson, the reigning Cup Series champion. Michael McDowell, the reigning Daytona 500 champion, finished third and also transferred along with Erik Jones, a former Clash winner. Austin Cindric, who spun on Lap 9 after getting hit by Landon Cassill and was trying to carve his way back to the front, settled in fifth and was sent to the Last Chance Qualifiers along with Ryan Preece, Kurt Busch, Cassill and Ty Dillon, who brought out an early caution after his car slowed due to a broken transmission. The fourth Heat victory placed Logano alongside Haley in the second row.
Prior to the event, Larson was the lone competitor who was guaranteed a spot to the 2022 Busch Light Clash based on point provisional and being the reigning Cup champion. With Larson earning a top-four result in his heat event, however, Martin Truex Jr. was awarded a spot for the Clash based on points provisional due to finishing in the runner-up result in the 2021 Cup standings behind Larson. He opted to not participate in the Last Chance Qualifiers and use the points provisional to start at the rear of the field for the main event.
In the first Last Chance Qualifying event, Denny Hamlin raced his way into the main event after leading all 50 laps and finishing first ahead of Kevin Harvick and AJ Allmendinger, both of whom also transferred. Cody Ware, Chris Buescher, Ross Chastain, Corey LaJoie, rookie Todd Gilliland and BJ McLeod failed to qualify for the main event. Another competitor who headed home early was Aric Almirola, who commenced his final full-time season in NASCAR competition on a low note after getting bumped by Gilliland on Lap 4, which sent Almirola’s No. 10 Farmer John Ford Mustang sliding and making hard contact against the Turn 3 outside wall. The Floridian was very quick to express a warning finger towards the Front Row Motorsports rookie competitor following the incident.
In the second and final Last Chance Qualifying event, Ryan Preece, Bubba Wallace and Harrison Burton survived a series of on-track carnages and restarts to claim the final transfer spots into the main event. Ty Dillon, who was originally penalized for jumping the restart with less than 20 laps remaining but fought his way back to the front, was first across the finish line in the final Last Chance Qualifying event, but was penalized a second time for jumping the final restart with three laps remaining and disqualified from the main event. As a result, Preece was promoted to first place ahead of Wallace and Burton, who rallied from spinning while leading with three laps remaining. Dillon joined Brad Keselowski, rookie Austin Cindric, Landon Cassill, Kurt Busch and Alex Bowman, all of whom were involved in at least one on-track incident, as the next wave of competitors that were sent home and out of the main event.
When the main event commenced under green, Kyle Busch and Reddick dueled for the lead for a full lap as Reddick led the first lap by a nose. Busch was able to lead the following two laps before Reddick muscled his way into the lead by the fourth lap.
Through the first 10 laps of the event, Reddick’s No. 8 Guaranteed Rate Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was leading ahead of Kyle Busch’s No. 18 M&M’s Toyota TRD Camry while Haley, Logano and Suarez were in the top five.
Ten laps later and with the leaders catching lapped traffic amid the close-quarter racing, Reddick continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over Kyle Busch while Haley, Logano and Suarez remained in the top five. Larson was in sixth ahead of teammate Byron, Briscoe, Austin Dillon and Cole Custer while Erik Jones, McDowell, Christopher Bell, Blaney and Elliott were in the top 15. By then, Bubba Wallace, Stenhouse and Hamlin were lapped by the leaders.
By Lap 35, Reddick stabilized his advantage to less than four-tenths of a second over Kyle Busch as Haley and Logano remained in third and fourth. Meanwhile, Larson overtook Suarez to move into the top five.
Through the first 50 laps of the event, Reddick remained as the leader by more than a second over Kyle Busch while Logano was up in third place in his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang. Haley was in fourth while Larson and Briscoe battled for fifth. Byron, Suarez, Austin Dillon and Erik Jones were in the top 10 ahead of Blaney, Elliott, Custer, Bell and Kevin Harvick. By then, names like McDowell, Martin Truex Jr., teammate Hamlin, Preece, Stenhouse and Wallace were mired at least a lap behind the leaders.
Three laps later, the first caution of the main event flew when Stenhouse spun in Turn 4. At the same time, Hamlin, who was off the pace prior to the caution, pulled his No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry into the infield as his pit crew popped the hood opened to diagnose a power steering belt issue. The issue was enough to terminate Hamlin’s run in the Coliseum.
Prior to the restart, Reddick, who was leading, and Briscoe, who was in fourth, retired after both encountered mechanical issues related to the driveshaft. These late turn of events moved Kyle Busch and Logano to the front of the grid.
When the race restarted, Busch was able to clear Logano to retain the lead as Larson challenged Logano for the runner-up spot. Not long after, Logano retained second and Haley move his No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into third place while Larson slipped to fourth ahead of teammate Byron.
By Lap 60, Kyle Busch continued to lead by nearly half a second over Logano while Haley, Larson and Byron stabilized themselves in the top five ahead of Erik Jones, Elliott, Blaney, Bell and Austin Dillon. Meanwhile, Suarez was in 11th ahead of Allmendinger, Custer, Harvick, Harrison Burton and McDowell.
Five laps later, the caution returned when Elliott spun his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Turn 2.
Shortly after and when the race restarted under green, Kyle Busch and Logano dueled for the lead for a second time before Busch managed to clear Logano and retain the top spot. Behind, Byron challenged Haley for third ahead of Larson and Blaney.
When the race reached the halfway mark and a break period on Lap 75, Kyle Busch fended off a last lap bump from Logano, which sent Busch’s car out of the racing groove, to retain the lead by a narrow margin. By then, Haley was in third ahead of Byron, Larson, Blaney, Austin Dillon, Erik Jones, Bell and Allmendinger.
When the second half of the Clash started under green, Kyle Busch retained the lead as Byron settled in second ahead of Logano and the field. Meanwhile, Ryan Preece pulled his No. 15 Jacob Companies Ford Mustang to the infield due to a brake failure.
A few laps later, a brief three-wide battle for second ensued between Larson, Logano and Byron before Larson prevailed ahead of both. Behind, Haley settled in fifth ahead of Austin Dillon, Blaney, Jones, Bell and Allmendinger.
With 60 laps remaining, Kyle Busch stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Logano while Larson, Haley and Byron remained in the top five. By then, 17 of 23 competitors were scored on the lead lap with Truex settling in 17th.
Fifteen laps later, Kyle Busch remained as the leader by less than seven-tenths of a second over Logano. Behind, Larson remained in third ahead of teammate Byron and Haley while Austin Dillon, Blaney, Erik Jones, Bell and Chase Elliott were in the top 10.
Another 15 laps later, the caution flew when Blaney fell off the pace and retired after an earlier bump and contact with Erik Jones sent Blaney into the outside wall. The incident prompted Blaney to toss his HANS device to Jones’ No. 43 FOCUSFactor Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 on the track to express his displeasure as his race came to an end. Prior to the caution, Kyle Busch was being pressured by Logano for the lead, where he got bumped by Logano’s Ford through the braking turns, as he was catching lapped traffic.
When the race restarted, Kyle Busch and Logano continued to duel for the lead. Just then, the caution returned when Larson, who was battling Haley for third, veered and body slammed into the side of Haley and sent the Winamac, Indiana, native head-on into the inside concrete barriers on the frontstretch. The incident spoiled Haley’s strong weekend and a potential opportunity to win as he retired in the infield.
Following another restart, Logano muscled his way into the lead and Larson moved his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into second ahead of Kyle Busch.
With less than 30 laps remaining, Logano was leading by a little over half a second over Larson and Kyle Busch while Austin Dillon and Byron battled for fourth.
Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Logano continued to lead by less than nine-tenths of a second over Kyle Busch, who earlier used his car to overtake Larson for second as he set his sights on Logano for the lead.
Five laps later and as Kyle Busch continued to close in on Logano for the lead, Austin Dillon moved up to third followed by Byron and Erik Jones while Larson slipped back to sixth ahead of Christopher Bell.
With 10 laps remaining, the battle for the lead intensified as Logano had Kyle Busch covering his rear view mirrors with Busch drawing himself closer to Logano’s rear bumper.
Down to the final five laps, the gap between Logano and Kyle Busch was down to less than half a second as Logano remained in the lead.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Logano stabilized himself with a respective advantage over Kyle Busch. With no challengers able to close in behind him, Logano was able to methodically navigate his way around the Coliseum smoothly for a final time and cross the finish line in first place to win by nearly nine-tenths of a second over Kyle Busch as Truex and McDowell wrecked in front of the leaders.
With Logano becoming the first NASCAR competitor to win at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the Clash victory was also the fifth for Team Penske and the 10th for the Ford nameplate.
“I can’t believe it!” Logano, who revealed that his wife was expecting their third baby on FOX, exclaimed. “We’re here. The L.A. Coliseum. We got the victory with the old Shell/Pennzoil Mustang. This is an amazing event. Congratulations, NASCAR. Such a huge step in our industry to be able to do this, put on an amazing race for everybody. I’m out of breath. I was so excited about this. This is a big win. [Crew chief] Paul [Wolfe], [race engineer] Shaggy [Pope] and the engineers do a great job. The guys working on the car did an amazing job of finding speed when we were slow. We were 28th or so on the board yesterday and made some good changes, worked with our teammate Ryan Blaney a lot. I owe a lot to him, too. To see some of the gains they made and ultimately get the win. This is special. To get the first Next Gen win, the first win out here on the Coliseum, it’s a special one. We’re gonna have some fun and celebrate it.”
Kyle Busch, the reigning Clash winner who led a race-high 64 laps compared to Logano’s 35, settled in second place followed by Austin Dillon, Erik Jones and Larson.
“I was being perfect doing everything I needed to do—keep the tires underneath me,” Busch said. “When I got close, I was like, ‘OK, I’ve got to try more and pounce at an opportunity,’ and just overheated the tires and smoked them in three laps and that was it. Disappointing, obviously. To come out here, win the pole, lead laps, run up front, the finish goes green and it’s not chaotic, and we can’t win. That sucks.”
“From where we were last night, it took a lot of crazy faith, a little prayer last night, talked to myself,” Dillon added. “We got it together today, though. The True Velocity Chevrolet was really fast, in practice. I just struggled a little bit [through] qualifying. I knew we’d get in the race, we’re gonna be fine. The long run speed was there. I’m disappointed I couldn’t get to those next two cars that were really wanting to get there, but all in all, a great race from where we were last night. Everybody back home at [Richard Childress Racing did] a good job. It was a good showing from us.”
Byron, Custer, Bell, Allmendinger and Harvick completed the top 10 on the track.
There were five lead changes for three different leaders. The race featured five cautions for no laps.
Results.
1. Joey Logano, 35 laps led
2. Kyle Busch, 64 laps led
3. Austin Dillon
4. Erik Jones
5. Kyle Larson
6. William Byron
7. Cole Custer
8. Christopher Bell
9. AJ Allmendinger
10. Kevin Harvick
11. Chase Elliott
12. Harrison Burton
13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
14. Daniel Suarez
15. Martin Truex Jr., one lap down
16. Michael McDowell, one lap down
17. Ryan Blaney, three laps down
18. Bubba Wallace, four laps down
19. Justin Haley – OUT, Accident
20. Ryan Preece – OUT, Oil Pressure
21. Tyler Reddick – OUT, Drivetrain, 51 laps led
22. Chase Briscoe – OUT, Drivetrain
23. Denny Hamlin – OUT, Power
The NASCAR Cup Series competitors will be taking a one-week break before returning to action at Daytona International Speedway in preparation for the 64th running of the Daytona 500 scheduled for February 20 at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX. Practices will occur on February 15 from 5:05-5:55 and 6:35-7:25 p.m. ET with a third practice session to occur on February 18 from 6 p.m. to 6:50 p.m. ET. The pole position qualifying session for the 500 is scheduled to occur on February 16 at 8:05 p.m. ET while the Bluegreen Vacations Duels, which will determine the remainder of the lineup for the 500, will occur on February 17 at 7 p.m. ET and 9 p.m. ET, both to air on FS1.
NASCAR’S Busch Light Clash exhibition race will have a new look in 2022. Since 1979 this event has been held at Daytona International Speedway as a prelude to the regular season. This year, for the first time, the 150-lap event will be held on a 0.25-mile asphalt oval that has been constructed inside the renowned Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
There will not be any regular pit stops during the Busch Light Clash but there will be a break at the halfway point of the race on Lap 75. At this time, teams will have a six-minute window to make adjustments. Caution laps during the race will not count.
Kyle Busch, the returning Busch Light Clash winner, also won in 2012. Dale Earnhardt holds the all-time record with six victories.
The FORMAT
Only 23 drivers will advance to the main event on Sunday with 36 drivers currently vying for one of those spots. Qualifying will be held Saturday and the order will be set by the final 2021 Cup Series owner points, from lowest in owner points to highest.
Every car entered in the Clash will participate in one of the four heat races Sunday afternoon. There will be 10 drivers in each heat race and the top-four finishers in each heat race (16 drivers) will automatically advance to the main event.
The fastest driver from Saturday’s qualifying session will start on the pole in the first heat race and the second-fastest will start on the pole for the second heat race with this formula continuing through each heat race, as shown below.
Heat Race 1 Lineup
Fastest in qualifying
2. Fifth fastest
3. Ninth fastest
4. 13th fastest
Heat Race 2 Lineup
Second fastest in qualifying
2. Sixth fastest
3. 10th fastest
4. 14th fastest
After the heat races, there will be a final opportunity to qualify for entry into the Clash with two Last Chance Qualifiers comprised of 50 laps each. The top three finishers in each LCQ race (6 drivers) will advance to the Busch Light Clash.
The last position (23rd) will go to the driver who finished the highest in the 2021 points standings but did not earn a spot in the heat races or the Last Chance Qualifiers.
The Schedule
Saturday, Feb. 5
12:30 – 2:30 p.m.: – Cup Series practice – The teams will be divided into three groups and each group will have three 8-minute practice sessions – FS2/MRN
8:30 – 9:30 p.m.: – Cup Series qualifying – single-car, three laps – FS1/MRN
Sunday, Feb. 6
3 p.m. ET: – Busch Light Clash qualifying heat races (Four heat races – 25 laps each – FOX/MRN
4:10 p.m. ET (time approximate): Two last-chance qualifiers – 50 laps each – FOX/MRN
6 p.m. ET: – Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum, 150 laps – FOX/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
After spending the previous season on the sidelines, Kyle Larson made the most of his second opportunity with the powerhouse organization of Hendrick Motorsports and emerged as the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion after winning the season finale race at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday afternoon.
The Elk Grove, California, native qualified on the pole position Saturday and led seven times during the race for a total of 107 laps, including the final 28. He beat Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott to win his first Cup title in his first full-time season at Hendrick Motorsports along with claiming his season-high 10th race victory in the desert state.
Qualifying occurred on Saturday, November 6, to determine the starting lineup and Kyle Larson, a nine-time race winner vying for his first Cup title, won the pole position with a pole-winning lap at 137.847 mph. Joining him on the front row was Chase Elliott, Larson’s teammate and the reigning series champion who qualified with an initial fast speed at 136.939 mph.
With Larson and Elliott starting on the front row, Denny Hamlin, vying for his first Cup title, lined up in sixth place to contend for his first Cup title while teammate Martin Truex Jr., going for his second title, rolled off the starting grid in 12th place.
Larson, Hamlin and Truex entered the finale without their regular car chiefs after their respective cars failed the pre-race technical inspection process twice, but they all retained their starting spots for the main event. On the other hand, Josh Bilicki and Timmy Hill started the finale at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their cars.
When the green flag waved and the finale commenced, Larson briefly broke ahead through the frontstretch, but Elliott fought back entering the backstretch. As both Hendrick Motorsports teammates dueled coming back to the start/finish line, Larson led the first lap. Elliott, however, had other plans as he rocketed to the lead entering Turns 1 and 2 during the following lap.
By the fifth lap, Elliott’s No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE was ahead by half a second over teammate Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.
Two laps later, the first caution of the finale flew when Bubba Wallace got hit by Corey LaJoie, spun and backed into the Turn 3 outside wall with extensive rear-end damage. After exiting his damaged No. 23 DoorDash Toyota Camry, Wallace expressed his displease to LaJoie before making the mandatory trip to the infield care center.
Under caution, Larson elected to pit for four fresh tires and fuel while the rest of the field led by Elliott remained on the track.
When the finale restarted under green on Lap 11, Elliott retained the lead ahead of the field, which fanned out through the frontstretch. Behind, Ryan Blaney was in second followed by Denny Hamlin, William Byron and Kevin Harvick while Kurt Busch challenged Christopher Bell for sixth. Truex, meanwhile, was situated in the top 10.
Four laps later, the caution returned when LaJoie made contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. entering Turn 3, which sent both competitors spinning towards the outside wall as LaJoie sustained heavy rear-end damage.
Under caution, a majority of the field led by Elliott pitted while the rest led by Blaney remained on the track.
The finale restarted under green on Lap 20 as Blaney and teammate Brad Keselowski occupied the front row. At the start, Blaney retained the lead while Larson, who moved back into the top 10, made a bold move through the dogleg to move up to fourth ahead of Michael McDowell.
With the field continuing to fan out and jostle for positions, Larson settled in fourth behind Blaney, Ross Chastain and Keselowski while Elliott moved up to sixth. Truex was in eighth in between Chris Buescher and Kevin Harvick while Hamlin was in the top 15.
By Lap 25, Blaney was the race leader and Larson was the championship leader in second place just ahead of teammate Elliott, Chastain and Keselowski. Meanwhile, Truex was in sixth while Hamlin was mired back in 12th.
Through the first 30 laps of the finale, Blaney was leading by more than a second over Larson and Elliott, both of whom continued to challenge hard against one another for the championship lead early. Harvick was in fourth, trailing the lead by two seconds, while Truex remained in fifth. Keselowski, Byron, Joey Logano, Kurt Busch and Hamlin were in the top 10.
Five laps later, Harvick, who is pursuing his first victory of the season, moved up to second place on the track, thus dropping Larson and Elliott to third and fourth while Truex continued to run in fifth.
Another five laps later, Harvick, who cut Blaney’s advantage to a tenth of a second, started to challenge Blaney for the top spot around every turns and straightaway in his No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang. Behind, Elliott moved up to third while Truex challenged and passed Larson for fourth.
Through the first 50 laps of the event, a three-wide battle for the lead ensued between Harvick, Blaney and Truex through the frontstretch, with the latter gaining ground and catching the top-two leaders. Behind, teammates Elliott and Larson were in fourth and fifth while Hamlin moved up to sixth, thus placing all four Cup championship contenders in the top six.
Following their intensive battle at the front, Truex emerged with the lead on Lap 51 over Harvick, who led Lap 49, and Blaney, who led Laps 17-48 and 50.
By Lap 60, Truex extended his advantage to more than a second over Harvick. Behind, Elliott retained third place ahead of teammate Larson while Hamlin moved up to fifth place ahead of Blaney.
Ten laps later, Truex continued to extend his advantage to more than three seconds over Harvick while Elliott, Hamlin and Larson were situated in third, fourth and fifth. Behind, Blaney was trying to fend off Cole Custer and William Byron for sixth while Kurt Busch and Matt DiBenedetto were in the top 10.
When the first stage concluded on Lap 75, Truex, who won at Phoenix in March, received the early upper hand in his quest for his second Cup title by motoring his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry to his sixth stage victory of the season. Harvick settled in second followed by Elliott, Hamlin, Larson, Byron, Custer, Blaney, Kurt Busch and DiBenedetto.
Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Elliott emerged with the top spot following a stellar work from his pit crew. Truex exited in second followed by Harvick, Hamlin, Larson and Kurt Busch.
The second stage started on Lap 83. At the start and with the field fanning out through the dogleg, Elliott retained the lead by a narrow margin over Truex. The following lap, Larson made a bold three-wide move in between Hamlin and Harvick to move up to third.
By Lap 85, the final four championship contenders were running first through fourth and separated by less than a second as Elliott was leading ahead of Truex, Larson and Hamlin.
Five laps later, the four title contenders were separated by more than a second as Elliott stabilized himself in the lead by nearly six-tenths of a second over Truex. Third-place Larson trailed by more than a second while fourth-place Hamlin trailed by one-and-a-half seconds as Harvick started to close in on Hamlin.
Through the first 100 laps of the finale, Elliott continued to lead by more than a second over Truex, two seconds over teammate Larson and more than three seconds over Harvick, who overtook Hamlin a few laps earlier. Byron, Blaney, DiBenedetto, Kyle Busch and Aric Almiorla were in the top 10 while Kurt Busch, rookie Chase Briscoe, Tyler Reddick, Cole Custer and Christopher Bell were in the top 15. Meanwhile, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Alex Bowman were mired in the top 20 while Daniel Suarez and Ryan Newman were in 21st and 22nd.
Twenty laps later, Truex and Elliott battled for the top spot, with the former succeeding during the following lap. Harvick was in third, trailing by more than two seconds, while Larson and Hamlin remained in the top five.
On Lap 129, the caution flew when Quin Houff lost a right-front tire and smacked the outside wall hard right-side in Turn 3. The incident was enough to end Houff’s run in the garage and in the final NASCAR event for Starcom Racing.
Under caution, the leaders returned to pit road and Elliott exited with the lead followed by Harvick, Larson, Truex and Byron while Hamlin fell back to ninth.
When the finale restarted under green on Lap 135, Elliott retained the lead on the outside lane while teammate Larson challenged and overtook Harvick for second place through the first two turns. Behind, Byron closed in on Harvick for third as Truex joined the party.
Five laps later, the caution returned when Stenhouse hammered the outside wall in Turn 3 after blowing a left-front tire.
Another five laps later, the race restarted under green. At the start and with the field fanning out through the dogleg and entering the first two turns, Elliott just managed to clear Harvick through the backstretch as Larson made another strong move to the outside of Harvick to take second. The following lap, Truex overtook Harvick for third as Harvick was being pressured by Blaney for more.
Through the first 150 laps of the event, Elliott was leading by a second over teammate Larson while Truex was in third and slowly catching Larson for more. Harvick, Blaney, DiBenedetto and Byron were running fourth through seventh while Hamlin was mired in eighth in front of Keselowski and Aric Almirola.
By Lap 155, the caution flew when rookie Chase Briscoe, who cut down a left-rear tire, got bumped by Kyle Busch, spun and wrecked into the Turn 3 outside wall.
Under caution, nearly all of the lead lap cars pitted as Larson exited his pit stall with the lead followed by Elliott, Truex, Harvick and Hamlin. Back on the track, however, Tyler Reddick, Kurt Busch, Alex Bowman and Daniel Suarez remained on the track.
With 30 laps remaining in the second stage, Larson, who restarted in the second row, used the dogleg to thunder past Kurt Busch and Reddick to reassume the lead as the field fanned out through the frontstretch. Behind, Elliott also muscled his way to second behind teammate Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet as Truex and Hamlin also charged their way to the front.
A few laps later, the final four title contenders were back running first through fourth as Larson continued to lead by a narrow margin over teammate Elliott.
By Lap 175, title rivals Larson, Elliott, Hamlin and Truex remained in first through fourth, separated by two seconds, as Larson continued to lead ahead of teammate Elliott while Hamlin started to make his charge to the front after struggling early. Blaney settled in fifth ahead of Harvick, Logano, Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Byron.
When the second stage concluded on Lap 190, Larson took his stance in his quest to achieve his first Cup title by capturing his season-high 18th stage victory of the season. Teammate Elliott settled in second followed by Hamlin and Truex while Blaney ended up in fifth, trailing by more than three seconds. Harvick, Keselowski, Logano, Kyle Busch and Byron were scored in the top 10.
Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Larson exited his pit stall with the lead ahead of teammate Elliott, Hamlin, Truex and Kyle Busch.
With 115 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Larson peeked ahead and cleared teammate Elliott through the frontstretch and the first two turns. While Hamlin tucked in third behind the two Hendrick competitors, Truex battled Harvick for fourth place as Blaney and Kyle Busch kept both Cup champions within their sights.
Down to the final 100 laps of the finale, Larson stabilized himself with the lead by four-tenths of a second over teammate Elliott. Hamlin was in third, trailing by more than two seconds, while Truex was mired back in fourth, three seconds behind. Harvick and Blaney were in fifth and sixth as both closed in on Truex for more while Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Logano and Almirola were in the top 10.
Under the final 80 laps, the battle for the championship between two Hendrick Motorsports teammates ignited as Elliott, who tracked and methodically caught Larson, overtook Larson with 76 laps remaining. Though Elliott emerged with the lead, he had teammate Larson within close sights of his rearview mirror.
Near the final 70 laps of the event, Keselowski surrendered his spot in the top 10 to short pit under green.
Back on the track, Elliott was leading by more than half a second over teammate Larson as Hamlin, who was in third, started to close in on the two leaders in the fight for the championship. Truex, meanwhile, was in fourth and trailing by more than two seconds.
With 66 laps remaining, Hamlin was up into second place after overtaking Larson, all while Elliott continued to lead by nearly a second.
Just then and while a few more competitors including Truex pitted under green, the caution flew when rookie Anthony Alfredo went dead straight and pounded the outside wall in Turn 2. The caution served as a huge moment for Truex, who completed his service and remained on the lead lap.
Under caution, the lead lap competitors led by Elliott pitted and Hamlin exited in first followed by Elliott, Logano, Larson and Almirola. Back on the track, however, Truex, who pitted prior to the caution, cycled to the lead followed by Blaney.
With 58 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Truex and Hamlin dueled through the frontstretch until Truex cleared Hamlin entering the backstretch. Behind Blaney was in third followed by Elliott, Logano and Larson as the field jostled for positions.
Five laps later, the final four title contenders were back running first through fourth as Joe Gibbs Racing’s Truex and Hamlin led Hendrick Motorsports’ Elliott and Larson. In the midst of this, Elliott challenged Hamlin for the runner-up spot.
Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Truex was leading by nearly a second over Hamlin and Elliott, both of whom continued to battle for second place, while Larson trailed by more than a second. Blaney was in fifth followed by Logano, Harvick, Almirola, Ross Chastain and Christopher Bell.
Ten laps later, Truex stabilized himself with the lead by nine-tenths of a second over teammate Hamlin while third-place Elliott, who was losing ground to Hamlin, was nearly two seconds behind, and fourth-place Larson, who was gaining no ground on the leaders, was behind by more than three seconds.
Just then, the caution flew with 30 laps remaining due to debris reported in Turn 3 and coming off of David Starr’s car, with the driver reporting a broken rotor off of his car.
Under caution, the leaders pitted for four fresh tires and fuel. At the end of the services, Larson’s crew under the leadership of sophomore crew chief Cliff Daniels got the job done as he exited with the top spot followed by Hamlin, Truex and Elliott.
Down to the final 24 laps of the finale, the field restarted under green. At the start, Larson rocketed away with the lead as Truex also muscled his way into second place on the outside lane. Behind, Hamlin and Elliott battled for third.
With 20 laps remaining, Larson was leading by more than two-tenths of a second over Truex while Hamlin and Elliott persevered in his battle with Hamlin for third place.
Five laps later, Larson remained as the leader by four-tenths of a second over Truex as the battle for the win and the championship continued to ignite between both. Meanwhile, third-place Elliott trailed by more than a second while Hamlin was mired in fourth and more than a second behind.
Down to the final 10 laps of the finale, Larson slightly increased his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Truex while Elliott and Hamlin continued to battle for third ahead of Blaney.
With five laps remaining, Larson continued to lead by more than eight-tenths of a second over Truex. Behind, Hamlin moved his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry to third while Elliott was mired back in fourth and losing ground, trailing by less than three seconds, as Blaney started to challenge Elliott for more.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson was still leading by three-tenths of a second over Truex, who nearly got into the left-rear quarter panel of Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet entering the backstretch earlier, lost ground and was trying to narrow the deficit. While Truex got as close as he could, Larson kept himself at the front and was able to hold off the Joe Gibbs Racing driver through the final turn as he came back to the frontstretch and took the checkered flag to win both the race and the championship.
With the victory, Larson became the 35th different competitor to achieve a Cup Series championship and the fifth to do so while driving for Hendrick Motorsports as HMS, which won 17 of 36 races in this year’s schedule, achieved its 14th Cup title. Larson also joined Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch as the only Cup regular season champions to go on to win the overall season championship.
By claiming his season-high 10th victory of the 2021 Cup season and notching his 16th Cup career victory, Larson became the first championship-winning competitor to achieve double-digit victories in a championship-winning season, the last of which was made by Jimmie Johnson in 2007 when he beat teammate Jeff Gordon. Larson also racked up a career-high 20 top-five results, 26 top-10 results, nearly 2,600 laps led and a personal-best average-finishing result of 9.1.
This marked the eighth consecutive season where a competitor won the race in order to win the Cup championship in the current elimination-style Playoff format.
The championship also completed Larson’s redemptive road back to the top level in NASCAR after being released by Chip Ganassi Racing and indefinitely suspended from the sport for using a racial slur during a live iRacing event a year ago. Spending the majority of 2020 racing in sprint cars and the dirt, Larson was able to complete NASCAR’s Road to Recovery program and be reinstated prior to the 2021 season. By then, he was given an opportunity to reinstate his career when Hendrick Motorsports acquired him in October 2020, 13 months prior to Larson’s title.
Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“I cannot believe it,” Larson, who celebrated on the frontstretch and praised his pit crew, said on NBC. “I didn’t even think I’d be racing a Cup car a year-and-a-half ago. To win a championship is crazy. I’ve got to say first off thank you so much to Rick Hendrick, Hendrickcars.com, Jeff Gordon, NASCAR, every single one of my supporters in the stands watching at home, my family. I’ve got so many of my friends and family here. My parents, my sister, my wife and kids. [Son] Owen had been giving me crap a month-and-a-half ago about how I can’t win a Cup race when he’s there, so that added a lot of pressure. There were so many points in this race where I did not think we were going to win. Without my pit crew on that last stop, we would not be standing right here. They are the true winners of this race. They are true champions. I’m just blessed to be a part of this group. Every single man or person, man and woman at Hendrick Motorsports, this win is for all of us and every one of you. This is unbelievable. I’m speechless.”
“This event was crazy,” Larson added. “This format is wild. I’m glad we were able to get it done. And yes, a big shout-out to my parents for getting me involved in racing, my dad for everything he did, building my go-karts when I was young to get me playing around, my mom for videotaping every lap I ever raced and giving me something I could look at and study and get better. Gosh, so cool. I cannot believe it.”
Larson’s championship was one that received high praises from Rick Hendrick and Jeff Gordon, both of whom played instrumental roles in signing Larson for the 2021 season.
“I’ll tell you, we’ve always known he’s a wheelman, and he works so hard off the track,” Hendrick said on the championship stage. “Man, I just — he deserves this, and what a year, man. I never thought I was taking a risk [by signing Larson]. I mean, I know how good he is. I’m just fortunate we were able to get him, and man, what a wheelman he is. Ten races won, 11 with the All-Star Race. It’s unbelievable.”
“Unbelievable,” Gordon added. “By the whole team and Kyle Larson is a great talent. You give him a great race car and great race teams, and he does amazing things. We’ve seen it before, we’ve seen it in other forms of racing. He and this pit crew and this team, they did it all year long. They got to this point. What a battle. I just want to say Phoenix Raceway, NASCAR and all these fans that came out here today, this is what a championship weekend is supposed to feel like, and that was a championship battle. Great competitors and a great champion here.”
In addition, crew chief Cliff Daniels, who debuted atop the pit box midway into the 2019 season with Jimmie Johnson, achieved his first championship as a crew chief while the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team achieved its first title since the 1996 season with Terry Labonte.
“It’s an amazing moment,” Daniels said. “It’s been such a blessing just to be a part of this team, to be a part of Hendrick Motorsports. The thing that I think about the most is so many guys on our team have been there for so many years with Chad [Knaus] and with Jimmie [Johnson], and we learned from the best. We learned from those guys. Obviously, the last two, three years, just as a company, we were down a little bit. It was easy to get down as a team. It was easy for me to get down. It was easy for the guys to get down. For them to dig so hard all year long, to dig so hard today, because we were not the best car at times today. And then, for our pit crew to have a money stop on the money stop, I couldn’t be more thankful. I could not be more proud of those guys…They were ready.”
Truex, who initially had the race and the championship within his grasp until the late caution, concluded the season in second place on the track and in the standings for the third time in the previous four seasons. The runner-up result was one that left Truex disappointed in a season where he achieved four victories, 13 top-five results, 20 top-10 results and an overall average-finishing result of 12.0.
Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“The clean air seemed to be a good bit of an advantage,” Truex said. “Whoever got out front was good for 20, 30, 40 laps, and then the long run cars would start coming around. I don’t know. Ultimately we needed to beat [Larson] off pit road. It’s unfortunate, but we win and lose as a team. And really proud of our efforts this year. That’s three times we’ve been second and that sucks. Second hurts I’m not going to lie, especially with the car we had and the job the guys did. That’s racing, as they say, and sometimes you’re just not on the right end of things. We were on the right end to things to get the lead there and weren’t able to hold on to it. If we could have had the lead, I think it would have been over, but that’s kind of how [Larson] did it, too. So, they had a hell of a season and congrats to them. Gosh, second sucks. I hate it.”
Teammate Hamlin, who was starting to catch Larson and Truex in the closing laps, settled in third place on the track and in the standings as his bid to win his first Cup title in his 16th full-time season highlighted with two postseason victories, 19 top-five results, 25 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 8.4 fell short.
Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“Yeah, certainly, I really liked where we were at with about 25 [laps] to go,” Hamlin said. “We were just exceptional in the long run, which wasn’t too surprising, but started running [Truex] back down there and got within a couple car lengths and obviously that debris caution changed a lot. Special congrats to Larson and his team. Those guys, any time you can win 10 races in a year, you’re absolutely a deserving champion. They did a great job on the last pit stop and got him out there, and it was just set sail after that. Proud of my team. Really great effort adjusting on the car all day, getting it so much better, and thank our partners. Just a really good year. A really, really good year and things just didn’t pan out. We needed that thing to go green those last 25 laps, and it didn’t.”
Meanwhile, Elliott, who was overtaken by Blaney on the track, ended up in fifth place in the final leaderboard and in the final standings as he came up short in defending his series title. Despite the result, Elliott kept his head high in a season where he notched two victories, 15 top-five results, 21 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 11.4.
Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“I felt like our NAPA Chevy was really good and I thought our team did a really good job preparing this week,” Elliott said. “I was really proud of our group. I thought we brought a really good car and did a lot of things that we were wanting it to do today. Just didn’t work out and the sequence of the way all that went certainly was unfortunate for us, but look, proud of our team, a lot to build on and also, congrats to Kyle and Cliff. What an amazing season. Very, very deserving champions and glad to see Kyle have success. When you’re a good driver and a good person and you surround yourself with good people, success is warranted. It’s good to see that. But we’ll be back stronger next year and try to give them a run.”
Aric Almirola, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Christopher Bell and Brad Keselowski completed the top 10 on the track.
Austin Dillon, who finished 15th in the finale, emerged as the highest non-Playoff contender in the final standings in 17th place.
Despite finishing in 35th place following his accident, Chase Briscoe captured the 2021 Cup Rookie-of-the-Year title over Anthony Alfredo. With his accomplishment, Briscoe, who earned three top-10 results in his first full-time Cup season, became the third competitor to capture the rookie title across NASCAR’s top three national touring series (Cup, Xfinity and Truck).
Brad Keselowski finished 10th in his 435th and final run in the No. 2 Team Penske Ford Mustang while Todd Gordon, crew chief for Ryan Blaney, called his 526th and final race as a crew chief between the Xfinity and Cup Series before retiring.
Ross Chastain and Kurt Busch finished 14th and 16th in Chip Ganassi Racing’s final race and season in NASCAR as the team’s assets will be transferred over to Trackhouse Racing, which will be expanding to two cars and welcome Chastain as a teammate alongside Daniel Suarez, for the 2022 season.
Ryan Newman finished 23rd in his 725th career start in the Cup circuit as he has yet to announce his plans for the 2022 season.
Matt DiBenedetto finished 12th in his 72nd and final run with the Wood Brothers Racing team, Ryan Preece finished 20th in his 108th and final run with JTG-Daugherty Racing and Justin Haley finished 26th in his 34th and final run with Spire Motorsports.
Meanwhile, 23XI Racing settled in 21st place in the final standings and as the highest of the new teams over Trackhouse Racing (25th) and Live Fast Motorsports (32nd). The team will be expanding to two cars next season with Bubba Wallace and Kurt Busch set to drive for the team in 2022.
The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season was the ninth and final season for the current Generation 6 stock cars, thus paving the way for the new NextGen stock cars that will debut in NASCAR competition in February 2022. It was also the final season where the five lug nut pattern was implemented on the tires for the cars as the series will have a single, center-locked lug nut for the wheels next season.
There were 18 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 51 laps.
Results:
1. Kyle Larson, 107 laps led, Stage 2 winner
2. Martin Truex Jr.,72 laps led, Stage 1 winner
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Ryan Blaney, 33 laps led
5. Chase Elliott, 94 laps led
6. Aric Almirola
7. Kyle Busch
8. Kevin Harvick, one lap led
9. Christopher Bell
10. Brad Keselowski
11. Joey Logano
12. Matt DiBenedetto
13. Cole Custer
14. Ross Chastain
15. Austin Dillon
16. Kurt Busch, one lap led
17. William Byron
18. Alex Bowman
19. Tyler Reddick, four laps led
20. Ryan Preece
21. Daniel Suarez
22. Erik Jones
23. Ryan Newman
24. Michael McDowell
25. Chris Buescher, one lap down
26. Justin Haley, two laps down
27. BJ McLeod, three laps down
28. Cody Ware, six laps down
29. Joey Gase, nine laps down
30. Josh Bilicki, nine laps down
31. Garrett Smithley, 11 laps down
32. Corey LaJoie, 31 laps down
33. David Starr – OUT, Brakes
34. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident
35. Chase Briscoe – OUT, Accident
36. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident
37. Quin Houff – OUT, Accident
38. Timmy Hill – OUT, Handling
39. Bubba Wallace – OUT, Accident
Final standings.
1. Kyle Larson
2. Martin Truex Jr.
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Chase Elliott
5. Kevin Harvick
6. Brad Keselowski
7. Ryan Blaney
8. Joey Logano
9. Kyle Busch
10. William Byron
11. Kurt Busch
12. Christopher Bell
13. Tyler Reddick
14. Alex Bowman
15. Aric Almirola
16. Michael McDowell
Bold indicates championship finale contenders.
With the 2021 season concluded, the NASCAR Cup Series competitors enter their off-season period before commencing the 2022 season with the inaugural Clash event at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which will occur on February 6 at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.
In a racing career highlighted with numerous heartbreaks and “what-ifs” moments, Daniel Hemric defied the odds and silenced his doubters by capturing two firsts following the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, November 6: first win and first championship.
Following an overtime finish for the ages, Hemric, a 30-year-old native from Kannapolis, North Carolina, dueled and rubbed fenders against the reigning series champion Austin Cindric on the final lap and final corner to come out on top by a fender and achieve both his first elusive NASCAR Xfinity Series race win and the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship.
The championship occurred in Hemric’s 208th NASCAR national touring series start (120th in the Xfinity Series) and following 10 runner-up results in the Xfinity circuit while competing for three different teams, including this season with Joe Gibbs Racing.
Qualifying occurred on Saturday, November 6, to determine the starting lineup and Austin Cindric, the reigning series champion, started on pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 131.902 mph. John Hunter Nemechek, piloting the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Supra, qualified alongside Cindric on the front row.
With Cindric starting as the highest of four Xfinity competitors vying for this year’s title, Daniel Hemric started fourth, Noah Gragson qualified sixth and AJ Allmendinger lined up in 12th.
Prior to the event, Harrison Burton dropped to the rear of the field due to multiple inspection failures. JJ Yeley also started at the rear of the field in a backup car after spinning in practice along with David Starr, who dropped back due to unapproved adjustments to his car.
When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Cindric and Nemechek dueled for the lead through the dogleg, the frontstretch and for a full lap before Nemechek was able to power through and lead the first lap.
As the field fanned out and jostled early for positions, Cindric was in second behind Nemechek followed by Hemric, Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones and Gragson. Allmendinger, meanwhile, was in the top 12.
Through the first 10 laps of the finale, Nemechek was leading by nearly four-tenths of a second over Cindric, who was the highest-running title contender on the track. Hemric settled in third followed by Allgaier, Gragson, Haley, Brandon Jones, Riley Herbst, Allmendinger and Michael Annett. Jeb Burton was in 11th, Sam Mayer was in 13th ahead of Myatt Snider and Ryan Sieg, Brandon Brown was in 16th and Harrison Burton was battling for a top-20 spot.
Ten laps later, Cindric made a strong move beneath Nemechek through the frontstretch and the dogleg to take the lead for the first time, though Nemechek kept Cindric’s No. 22 CarShop Ford Mustang within his sights. Hemric remained in third place on the track ahead of Allgaier, Gragson settled in fifth and Allmendinger was mired in 10th behind Annett.
Another 10 laps later, Cindric, who navigated his way through lapped traffic, continued to lead by more than seven-tenths of a second over Nemechek’s No. 54 Mobil 1 Toyota Supra. Hemric stabilized himself in third place, but his No. 18 Poppy Bank Toyota Supra trailed the two leaders by nearly two seconds as he also had Allgaier closing in for position. Gragson continued to run in fifth while Allmendinger was up in ninth.
When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Cindric received the early upper hand in his bid to defend his series title as he captured his season-high 13th stage victory of the season. Behind, Hemric edged teammate Nemechek to settle in second followed by Allgaier, Gragson, Brandon Jones, Allmendinger, Annett, Herbst and Haley.
Under the stage break, the leaders pitted for adjustments and Hemric emerged with the lead following a stellar work from his pit crew that enabled him to exit pit road with the top spot. Cindric exited in second followed by Jones, Gragson, Allgaier, Nemechek and Allmendinger.
The second stage started on Lap 52 as Hemric and Gragson occupied the front row followed by Jones, Cindric, Allmendinger and Allgaier. At the start, Hemric rocketed away with the lead as the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the frontstretch and the dogleg.
The following lap, Cindric muscled his way back to second as Allgaier challenged teammate Gragson for third along with Nemechek.
Nearing the Lap 60 mark, the caution flew due to an on-track incident and long spin for Jeffrey Earnhardt on the backstretch as the incident also involved Joe Graf Jr. and Kyle Weatherman. At the time of caution, Hemric was leading by nearly three-tenths of a second over Cindric. In addition, Allgaier and Nemechek, both of whom were battling for third place, had made on-track contact twice towards the frontstretch in front of Gragson while Allmendinger was in sixth ahead of teammate Justin Haley.
On Lap 65, the race restarted under green as Hemric and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, Hemric and Allgaier dueled for the lead as the field again fanned out through the frontstretch. Through the backstretch, however, Hemric was able to clear Allgaier to retain the top spot until Nemechek, who gained a strong run entering the frontstretch, muscled his way back to the top spot the following lap.
With Nemechek leading teammate Hemric, Allgaier retained third ahead of Cindric while Allmendinger and Gragson battled for fifth.
Through the first 75 laps of the event, Nemechek was leading by nearly a second over teammate Hemric and Cindric. Teammates Allgaier and Gragson were in the top five followed by Allmendinger, Haley, Jeb Burton, Annett and Harrison Burton, who methodically worked his way from the rear of the field.
Five laps later, Nemechek extended his advantage to more than a second while Hemric and Cindric challenged one another for the runner-up spot and for the championship lead.
With four laps remaining in the second stage, Hemric, who managed to cut his deficit to Nemechek amid lapped traffic, overtook teammate Nemechek entering the frontstretch to reassume the lead.
When the second stage concluded on Lap 90, Hemric echoed his challenge for his first NASCAR national touring series title against his fellow competitors by capturing his 10th stage victory of the season. Cindric managed to overtake Nemechek to move into second followed by Allgaier, Gragson, Allmendinger, Haley, Harrison Burton, Annett and Herbst.
Under the stage break, the leaders returned to pit road and Hemric retained the lead following another strong service from his crew followed by Cindric, Nemechek, Allgaier, Allmendinger and Harrison Burton while Gragson, who dodged an uncontrolled tire pit road penalty, dropped to 10th.
With 103 laps remaining, the final stage started under green. At the start, the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the frontstretch and through the first turn. Amid the start, Hemric retained the lead ahead of Cindric, Nemechek, Allmendinger, Harrison Burton and Allgaier.
The following lap, the caution returned due to a hard accident involving Joe Graf Jr. in Turn 1 after making contact with Sage Karam.
Under the final 93 laps of the finale, the field restarted under green. At the start and with the field again fanning out through the frontstretch, Hemric dueled and managed to fend off Nemechek to retain the lead ahead of a steaming pack of cars.
During the following lap, however, the caution returned when Sage Karam made contact with Matt Mills, which sent Mills into the Turn 1 outside wall and with right-side damage.
Under caution, Gragson pitted his No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro for a chassis adjustment while the rest led by Hemric remained on the track.
With 87 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Hemric retained the lead by a narrow margin over Cindric and Nemechek as Harrison Burton made his way up to fourth ahead of Allgaier.
Two laps later, Cindric made a bold move beneath Hemric entering the frontstretch and nearly slid in front of Hemric’s No. 18 Toyota to take the lead. Behind, Harrison Burton challenged Nemechek and Allgaier for third while Allmendinger was battling teammate Haley and Annett for sixth.
With approximately 75 laps remaining, the caution returned due to possible fluid on the track when the No. 99 Chevrolet Camaro driven by Stefan Parsons erupted in flames past the start/finish line as he parked his car on the dogleg in the frontstretch. At the time of the caution, Cindric was leading by a reasonable margin over Hemric, Nemechek, Allgaier and Harrison Burton.
Under caution, the leaders returned to pit road and Cindric retained the lead following a strong service from his pit crew ahead of Nemechek, Allgaier, Allmendinger and Hemric.
With 66 laps remaining, the race restarted under green as Cindric and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, Allgaier pulled ahead on the inside lane in front of Cindric and the field.
Not long after, the caution returned when Jade Buford spun in Turn 2. Then, Allgaier, the leader, was penalized for dropping below the apron and the yellow line prior to crossing the start/finish line during the previous restart. Allgaier’s penalty moved Cindric back to the lead ahead of Hemric. In the midst of the restart, Gragson, who restarted 13th, was up to seventh.
Down to the final 60 laps of the finale, the field restarted under green as Cindric and Nemechek occupied the front row. At the start, Cindric retained the lead while Hemric moved up to second after Allmendinger made contact with Nemechek entering the first turn. Behind, Gragson challenged Harrison Burton and Allmendinger for fourth as Jeb Burton joined the party.
Ten laps later, Cindric continued to lead by more than a second over Nemechek and Hemric, both of whom were battling for the runner-up spot before the former prevailed. Gragson was in fifth behind Harrison Burton while Allmendinger was in sixth.
With 40 laps remaining, Cindric stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Nemechek while third-place Hemric kept the two leaders within his sights as close as possible. Behind, Gragson was up in fourth ahead of Harrison Burton while Allmendinger was mired back in sixth, trailing the lead by more than five seconds.
Under the final 30 laps of the finale, Cindric increased his advantage to nearly two seconds over Nemechek. Hemric trailed by more than two seconds while Gragson and Allmendinger remained in fourth and sixth.
Down to the final 24 laps of the finale, Hemric’s charge for the championship began as he overtook teammate Nemechek for second place. By then, Cindric continued to lead amid lapped traffic, but was only approximately two seconds ahead.
Then with 19 laps remaining, the caution flew when Allmendinger, who was in sixth and trying to pit under green amid vibration issues, spun his No. 16 Hyperice Chevrolet Camaro below the Turn 2 apron and near the pit road entrance. The caution all but erased Cindric’s advantage over Hemric, Nemechek and the field.
Under caution, the leaders pitted and Cindric retained the lead following another stellar service from his pit crew. Hemric exited in second followed by Gragson, Harrison Burton, Nemechek and Haley.
Down to the final 13 laps of the finale, the field restarted under green. At the start and with the field fanning out through the dogleg, Cindric dueled against Hemric while Gragson challenged behind. Through the first two turns and the backstretch, Cindric, who had Gragson trailing behind him, managed to fend off Hemric on the outside lane to retain the lead back to the frontstretch and past the start/finish line. Just then, the caution flew when Jeb Burton, who was in a three-wide battle, spun following contact with Sheldon Creed in Turn 3, which drew the caution as Burton continued without sustaining any serious damage.
With eight laps remaining, the field restarted under green. At the start and with the field again fanning out through the dogleg, Hemric dueled against Cindric trough the first two turns followed by Gragson, but Cindric managed to clear Hemric through the backstretch.
The following lap, Gragson, who tried to narrow the gap between himself and his two title rivals, slid up and hit the Turn 1 outside wall. Though he continued to run under power, he was losing spots on the track and losing ground towards his championship bid. Meanwhile, Hemric started to launch an attack beneath Cindric for the lead through Turns 3 and 4.
Just then, the caution returned when Buford and Josh Williams wrecked in Turn 3. The wreck was enough to send the finale into overtime.
In overtime, Cindric and Hemric again dueled for the lead through the first two turns ahead of the field. Remaining side-by-side through the backstretch, Hemric wiggled slightly underneath Cindric entering Turn 3 and barely clipped Cindric, but both continued running straight approach the frontstretch.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Cindric was still leading by a narrow margin over Hemric as Harrison Burton tried to spoil the battle.
Entering the first turn, Cindric had Hemric cleared for the top spot. Hemric then tried to draw himself alongside Cindric entering the backstretch, but Cindric fought back on the outside lane and Hemric chose to settle behind Cindric through the straightaway. Then on the final corner, Hemric sent his No. 18 Toyota as hard as he could to the inside lane and managed to move Cindric up the track entering Turn 4. As both competitors dueled and rubbed fenders coming to the finish line, Hemric managed to pull ahead and beat Cindric by 0.030 seconds to win the race and the championship.
With his accomplishment, Hemric became the 31st different competitor to achieve an Xfinity Series championship, the third to do so while driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, the third to do so while driving a Toyota and the 170th different competitor to win an Xfinity race. In addition to becoming the sixth first-time Xfinity winner of 2021, Hemric became the first competitor to record a first career race win and series championship in the same event. The win and the championship occurred in Hemric’s final ride with Joe Gibbs Racing as he will be moving to Kaulig Racing and attempt to defend his series title in 2022.
The Xfinity championship was also the first for veteran crew chief Dave Rogers, who kept Hemric poised and composed to attack late for the win and the title.
Ironically, Hemric and his No. 18 JGR Toyota team rallied from an early scare to the weekend, where his primary hauler that was transporting his car broke down while commuting to Phoenix and had to be transported on an alternate hauler. The hauler was able to arrive with the car as Hemric was able to hit the track for the series’ lone Xfinity practice session on Friday, November 5.
Upon claiming his championship flag and performing a long victorious burnout, Hemric capped off his long-awaited first win in NASCAR by performing a victorious backflip in front of his crew and the Phoenix fans.
Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“[I] Lost my breath! Unbelievable!” Hemric said on NBCSN. “These guys right here, they’ve been asking me all year, ‘How bad do you want it?’ I gave [the win] away here [at Phoenix] in the spring. [I] Felt like we had to give one up last week to get here. We were not going to be denied. Thank you, Dave Rogers, Bill and Cindy Gallaher, everyone at Poppy Bank, Lou Gallaher, Jr., I’m talking to you. Man, they took a chance on me. 2015, some form or fashion. They stuck with me through times. They probably shouldn’t have, to be honest with you. How about those race fans? That backflip good enough for you? I’ve been waiting a long damn time to do that. Thank you Joe Gibbs, everyone at [Toyota Racing Development], Toyota…Everyone here that makes this program what it is. I know I’ve given up a lot. People doubted me. I’ll do it all over again for a night like this. I’m blacked out. Just knew I had to be the first one to the [finish] line…This is what it’s all about. Winning at the second-highest level in all of motorsports. What an honor. Unbelievable! I’ll do it all over again. I’ll take all the heartbreaks again to live this right here. That’s the greatest feeling in the world.”
While on the championship stage and hoisting the trophy, Hemric took a moment to evoke a powerful message about perseverance and emerging victorious amid the struggles in life.
“[This championship] ain’t for all those kids about racing trying to get to a level,” Hemric said. “It’s about people in life. It’s about coming from nothing and making yourself all that you work for. That’s what it’s all about. This is the American dream. I’m living a history of it, living proof of it. Un-be-lievable.”
Cindric, who was trying to become the eighth different competitor to achieve back-to-back Xfinity titles, settled in second place in a season highlighted with five victories and his last in the series as a full-time competitor, where he will be moving up to the NASCAR Cup Series to pilot the No. 2 Ford Mustang for Team Penske in 2022. Despite the result, Cindric, who managed to wrap up the sixth Xfinity Series owner’s title for team owner Roger Penske, kept his head high over the late battle for the driver’s title.
“If everyone in the stands enjoyed it, it’s good racing,” Cindric said. “I’m very appreciative of the opportunity to race on such a big stage, the opportunity to race for Roger Penske, to represent Ford Performance, our companies and all of our sponsors that have helped us this season. It would’ve been awesome to finish this out. I felt like we had a dominant race car. I felt like we did everything right. Come up a little short. Sometimes, it’s like that way. Unfortunately, at the end of both seasonal championships [regular and season] this year, I’m getting moved out of the way and doored, but that’s hard racing. That’s why everyone enjoys watching this series. It’s because there’s a lot on the line. Thankful for the opportunity and pissed to be second for like the third week in a row.”‘
Gragson, meanwhile, never recovered following his late contact into the wall and slipped back to 12th place in the final running order, which left him in a career-best third-place result in the final standings and in a season where he captured three victories. During his post-race interview, Gragson gave props to his crew chief Dave Elenz, who will be moving up to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2022, while the driver will be remaining as a full-time competitor for JR Motorsports for the upcoming season.
“Just disappointed,” Gragson said. “I’m not really sure what happened there on that second-to-last restart. I got just sideways off into [Turn] 1, like there’s oil down or something. I’m kind of mind-blown on what happened. [I] Hit the wall there running third. We rebounded really well, I thought, from pit road, mistake early on in the race. Everybody just dug deep, kept working hard. A lot of big adjustments. We didn’t have the car nearly where we wanted it to be all weekend, practice, qualifying. Those guys, they beat us tonight. Just not enough this weekend. We didn’t bring out best car. Just thankful, really thankful. We’ll go on next year.”
Like Gragson, Allmendinger, who struggled with pace throughout the finale, could not recover from his late spin and ended the season in 14th place on the track and with a career-best fourth-place result in the final standings. Despite the late misfortune during the finale, Allmendinger praised his team, Kaulig Racing, for the season-long performance that included five victories and the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season championship. Like Hemric and Gragson, Allmendinger will be remaining in the Xfinity circuit with Kaulig in 2022.
“I just probably need to be a little better here [at Phoenix] as well to kind of lead us in a better direction,” Allmendinger said. “That’s part of growth here at Kaulig Racing. Of course, you’d like to have at least contended for [the championship]. Then I thought at worst, we’re gonna finish fifth or sixth. Then, the wheel was coming off on the right rear. I apologized to Austin [Cindric] because I think he had the race probably won. I don’t want to be a part of the storyline like that. I’d like to have been a better storyline, but part of the growth. Definitely not what we wanted today, tonight. We’ll come back strong. Thanks to all the men and women at Kaulig Racing, [owner] Matt Kaulig, [team president] Chris Rice for making this such a dream season. We kept making the Hyperice Chevy just a little bit better, but never really had the speed we needed to go run with [Cindric] or [Hemric]…We’ll come do this again next year.”
Harrison Burton, who made his final start with Joe Gibbs Racing before moving up to the Cup circuit to drive for the Wood Brothers Racing team, finished third on the track followed by Riley Herbst and Justin Haley. John Hunter Nemechek, Brandon Jones, Brett Moffitt, Justin Allgaier and Sheldon Creed completed the top 10 in the final running order.
Michael Annett finished 11th in his 436th and final NASCAR national touring series start before retiring from full-time competition.
Despite not competing in the Xfinity finale, Ty Gibbs earned the 2021 Xfinity Series Rookie-of-the-Year title in a season where he won his first four career races in 18 starts.
The 2021 Xfinity finale was the final race aired on NBCSN as USA Network will covering the majority of NASCAR Xfinity and Cup events during the second half of the 2022 season.
There were 16 lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured 10 cautions for 61 laps.
Results.
1. Daniel Hemric, 48 laps led, Stage 2 winner
2. Austin Cindric, 113 laps, Stage 1 winner
3. Harrison Burton
4. Riley Herbst
5. Justin Haley
6. John Hunter Nemechek, 39 laps led
7. Brandon Jones
8. Brett Moffitt
9. Justin Allgaier
10. Sheldon Creed
11. Michael Annett, one lap led
12. Noah Gragson, three laps led
13. Sam Mayer
14. AJ Allmendinger
15. Dylan Lupton
16. Blaine Perkins
17. Ryan Sieg
18. Jeremy Clements
19. Myatt Snider
20. Brandon Brown
21. David Starr
22. JJ Yeley
23. Jeb Burton
24. Tommy Joe Martins
25. Sage Karaam
26. Kyle Weatherman
27. Kyle Sieg
28. Ryan Vargas
29. Matt Mills
30. Alex Labbe, two laps down
31. Bayley Currey, four laps down
32. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident
33. Jade Buford – OUT, Accident
34. Stefan Parsons – OUT, Engine
35. Joe Graf Jr. – OUT, Accident
36. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Accident
Bold indicates championship finale contenders.
Final standings.
1. Daniel Hemric
2. Austin Cindric
3. Noah Gragson
4. AJ Allmendinger
5. Justin Allgaier
6. Justin Haley
7. Brandon Jones
8. Harrison Burton
9. Myatt Snider
10. Jeb Burton
11. Riley Herbst
12. Jeremy Clements
The NASCAR Xfinity Series’ teams and competitors enters its off-season period before returning to action at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, February 19, to commence the 2022 season. The event is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.
Phoenix Raceway was the site of the Championship 4 race for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for the second straight year. John Hunter Nemechek, Zane Smith, Matt Crafton, and Ben Rhodes each had a shot at the title. Three of them were looking for their first Truck Series title.
Out of those four, Ben Rhodes was able to capture the Truck Series championship for the first time in his career in only 141 starts. The Kentucky native made the winning move by passing Zane Smith with eight laps to go and never looked back to claim the 2021 Truck Series championship.
“I wouldn’t even be here today if it wasn’t for Duke and Rhonda (Thorson, ThorSport team owners),” Rhodes said. “They gave me my opportunity in this sport. They were my very first full-time national team that I raced for and I’ve been with them ever since. They’re so amazing and I can’t even begin to thank them enough. This has just been a ride of a lifetime. I hope it’s not over. I want to keep going now. This is amazing.”
While there was a Championship 4 race out on the track, there was also a race winner to be decided as well. Chandler Smith qualified on the pole with qualifying back for the first time this year. Stages of 45/45/60 laps made up the 150 lap event.
One of the Championship 4 contenders, Nemechek, got in the wall early on Lap 1. As a result of the contact with the wall, his left-front tire went down and he lost two laps in the process after bringing the truck to pit road. The first yellow flew shortly thereafter on Lap 11 for the No. 45 of Lawless Alan who crashed on the frontstretch. The caution allowed Nemechek to gain one of his laps back.
Despite Smith starting on the pole, the Georgia native lost the lead to the No. 2 of Sheldon Creed but was able to grab the lead back with 10 laps left in the stage and collect the first stage win. Rhodes finished fifth, Crafton seventh, Zane Smith ninth and Nemechek was 30th, 1 lap down.
During Stage 2, there were no cautions and it was a relatively calm stage. There was one newsworthy item though as Sheldon Creed clinched the most laps led of the season on Lap 80 and won the $50,000 bonus from Marcus Lemonis of Camping World. Even though Creed dominated the stage, the California native was passed again for the stage win, this time on the last lap of the stage when Smith made the move on the start/finish line. Rhodes was third, Zane Smith sixth, Crafton eighth and Nemechek finished 27th, still one lap down.
The final stage began with 51 laps to go but didn’t stay green for long. The fourth and final yellow flag flew on Lap 102 for the No. 12 of Tate Fogleman who stalled on the track. The caution allowed Nemechek to regain his lap and get back in contention for the title.
Following the restart with 45 to go, Zane Smith passed Rhodes for third and became the highest-ranked Championship 4 driver. As for Nemechek, the North Carolina native continued his rally up toward the front and got as high as ninth with 10 laps to go. Nemechek’s run stalled out to seventh and Zane Smith looked comfortable in fourth. Unfortunately for Smith, he was passed by Rhodes with eight to go and fell to runner-up in the Championship 4. Rhodes, however, ended the season with the championship title after opening the season up with two victories at Daytona.
Chandler Smith passed Creed for the lead and the eventual race win with 17 laps to go for his second win of the 2021 season. The Georgia native also won the Rookie of the Year title as well.
Photo by David Myers for SpeedwayMedia.com
“Overall, we unloaded today and got out on the track really good,” Chandler Smith said about the win. “Our Safelite Toyota Tundra topped off P2 right off the bat and was really comfortable, but was here in 2019, kind of thought the same thing and had a little experience under my belt and good news to base off of.”
“We didn’t get a mock run in and I told my crew chief Danny Stockman how many numbers freer we needed to be from the end of practice to qualifying. We were solid in qualifying and that gave us a good adjustment to where we needed to be tonight.”
Zane Smith finished fifth and fell short once again for the second consecutive year.
“It’s been a wild of a year,” Zane Smith said. “I don’t know which one hurt more, last year or this one. We fired off good, honestly too good, and just got way too tight. We tried everything from inside the truck and all the tools I had and didn’t really help. Couldn’t hold them off.”
There were four cautions for 25 laps and 12 lead changes among three different leaders. Smith led six times for 39 laps en route to victory.
Championship 4 Results:
(3rd) Ben Rhodes, 2021 Truck Series Champion (5th) Zane Smith (7th) John Hunter Nemechek (12th) Matt Crafton
Stage 2: C. Smith, Creed, Rhodes, Friesen, Gilliland, Z. Smith, Hocevar, Crafton, Enfinger, Eckes
Official Race Results of the Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix Raceway:
Chandler Smith, won both stages, led 39 laps
Stewart Friesen, led five laps
Ben Rhodes
Sheldon Creed, led 106 laps
Zane Smith
Christian Eckes
John Hunter Nemechek
Todd Gilliland
Carson Hocevar
Austin Hill
Johnny Sauter
Matt Crafton
Grant Enfinger
Tyler Ankrum
Derek Kraus
Chase Purdy
Hailie Deegan
Drew Dollar
Ryan Truex
Jack Wood
Dean Thompson, 1 lap down
Will Rodgers, 1 lap down
Jordan Anderson, 1 lap down
Willie Allen, 1 lap down
Ty Dillon, 1 lap down
Austin Wayne Self, 3 laps down
Chris Hacker, 3 laps down
Danny Bohn, 3 laps down
Taylor Gray, 4 laps down
Cory Roper, 4 laps down
Spencer Boyd, 4 laps down
Kris Wright, 7 laps down
Tyler Hill, OUT, Alternator
Tate Fogleman, OUT, Electrical
Tanner Gray, OUT, Rear Gear
Lawless Alan, OUT, Crash
Up Next: With the 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season now complete, teams will start prepping for the 2022 season that begins February 18, 2022, at Daytona International Speedway. It will air live on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio at 7:30 p.m.
This weekend NASCAR travels to Phoenix Raceway where all three series will crown their 2021 champion.
Hendrick Motorsports drivers Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott will face off against Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. for the NASCAR Cup Series title Sunday afternoon.
Elliott is the defending race winner and current champion. Truex won the championship in 2017 while Hamlin and Larson will be vying for their first title.
Noah Gragson, Austin Cindric, Daniel Hemric and AJ Allmendinger will race for the 2021 Xfinity Series championship Saturday night. The Truck Series Championship 4 of Zane Smith, Ben Rhodes, Matt Crafton and John H. Nemechek will compete Friday night for the Camping World Truck Series title.
The ARCA Menards Series West will also compete this weekend on Saturday, Nov. 6 in the Arizona Lottery 100. Practice will be at noon with no TV while the race is set for 3 p.m. on TrackPass and MRN.
There will be live post-race availability after each race on NASCAR Press Pass.
All times are Eastern.
Friday, Nov. 5
11:05 a.m: Truck Series practice – No TV 12 Noon: Press Pass with NASCAR President Steve Phelps – Watch Live 4:05 p.m.: Cup Series practice – NBCSN 5 p.m.: Press Pass with Cup Series Championship 4 crew chiefs – Watch Live 5:05 p.m.: Truck Series qualifying – FS1 6:05 p.m.: Xfinity Series practice – TrackPass 8 p.m. ET: Truck Series Lucas Oil 150 race Distance: 150 miles (150 laps) Stage 1 ends on Lap 45, Stage 2 ends on Lap 90, Final Stage ends on Lap 150 FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Saturday, Nov. 6
5:35 p.m.: Xfinity Series qualifying – TrackPass/NBC Sports stream 7 p.m.: Cup Series qualifying – CNBC/MRN 8 p.m.: Press Pass post Cup qualifying – Watch Live 8:30 p.m. ET: NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship race Distance: 200 miles (200 laps) Stage 1 ends on Lap 45, Stage 2 ends on Lap 90, Final Stage ends on Lap 200 NBCSN/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio/TSN3
Sunday, Nov. 7
3 p.m.: NASCAR Cup Series Championship race Distance: 312 miles (312 Laps) Stage 1 ends on Lap 75, Stage 2 ends on Lap 190, Final Stage ends on Lap 312 NBC/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
The ARCA Menards Series West will also compete this weekend on Saturday, Nov. 6 in the Arizona Lottery 100. Practice will be at noon with no TV while the race is set for 3 p.m. with coverage on TrackPass and MRN.
Phoenix Raceway:
Season Race #: 36 of 36 (11-07-21) Track Size: 1-mile Banking/Turn 1 & 2: 9 degrees Banking/Turn 3 & 4: 11 degrees Banking/Frontstretch: 3 degrees Banking/Backstretch: 9 degrees Race Length: 312 laps / 500 Kilometers Stage 1 Length: 75 laps Stage 2 Length: 115 laps Final Stage Length: 122 laps
Phoenix Raceway Qualifying Data:
Track Qualifying Record: Jimmie Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (143.158 mph, 25.147 secs.) on November 13, 2015. 2020 Championship Race Pole Winner: Metric Qualifying, Chase Elliott started from the pole position.
Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman lead the NASCAR Cup Series in starts at Phoenix Raceway with 37 starts each.
Chase Elliott leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series in average starting position at Phoenix Raceway with a 4.727 in 11 starts.
The youngest series Phoenix pole winner: Kyle Busch (April 22, 2006 – 20 years, 11 months, 20 days).
Five different manufacturers have won a pole in the NASCAR Cup Series at Phoenix Raceway, led by Chevrolet with 18 and followed by Ford (15), Toyota (7), Dodge (4) and Pontiac (4).
Phoenix Raceway Race Data:
Track Race Record: Tony Stewart, Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac (118.132 mph, 02:38:28) on November 7, 1999. 2020 Championship Race Winner: Chase Elliott, Chevrolet (112.096 mph, 02:47:00) on 11-08-20.
Kevin Harvick leads the NASCAR Cup Series in wins at Phoenix Raceway with nine victories (2006 sweep, 2012 Playoff race, 2013 Playoff race, 2014 sweep, 2015 Spring race, 2016 Spring race, 2018 Spring race).
Six of the 50 NASCAR Cup Series races (12%) at Phoenix Raceway have been won from the pole or first starting position.
Eight of the 50 (18%) NASCAR Cup Series races at Phoenix Raceway have been won from the front row.
The third starting position is the most proficient starting position in the field producing more winners (seven) than any other starting position.
Ryan Newman won the 2017 Phoenix Raceway race from the 22nd starting position, the furthest back an active NASCAR Cup Series race winner has started.
The youngest NASCAR Cup Series Phoenix winner: Kyle Busch (November 13, 2005 – 20 years, 6 months, 11 days).
Brad Keselowski leads the series among active drivers with the most NASCAR Cup Series starts at Phoenix Raceway without visiting Victory Lane with 24 starts.
Hendrick Motorsports leads the NASCAR Cup Series in wins at Phoenix Raceway with 11 victories among seven drivers.
In total four different manufacturers have won at Phoenix Raceway in the NASCAR Cup Series, led by Chevrolet with 24 victories and followed by Ford (17), Toyota (7) and Pontiac (2).
From OddsChecker:Kyle Larson favored to win 2021 Season Finale 500
Larson is given +190 odds to win the race making him a strong favorite. However, Chase Elliott, +350, Denny Hamlin, +400, and Martin Truex Jr., +450, are all given good odds to win the race as well. Nobody else has better than +1400 odds to win the race.
The conclusion of the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, October 31, saw several competitors left with wrecked race cars and some expressing ill feelings towards others. Among those included several Playoff contenders fighting to remain in contention for the Championship 4 finale and the race winner, who had nothing to lose.
In the midst of the carnage and late chaos, Alex Bowman rallied from a late dust-up with Denny Hamlin to hold off Kyle Busch and claim his first triumph at Martinsville. The Tucson, Arizona, native served as the spoiler on a day where the Championship 4 field was set for next weekend’s finale at Phoenix Raceway.
The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Kyle Larson, winner of the last three Cup scheduled events in the Playoffs, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Chase Elliott, Larson’s teammate and the reigning Cup Series champion.
Prior to the event, Denny Hamlin, one of the remaining eight Playoff contenders who was scheduled to start in third place, dropped to the rear of the field after his No. 11 FedEx Toyota failed pre-race inspection twice.
When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Larson, who started on the outside lane, jumped ahead with an early advantage and cleared teammate Elliott for the top spot through the first two turns. As he led the first lap, Truex also moved up to second, dropping Elliott to third in front of Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch.
Through the first 10 laps of the event, Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE was out in front by eight-tenths of a second over Truex’s No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry while Elliott, Keselowski and Logano were in the top five. Kyle Busch was in sixth followed by Logano, Kurt Busch, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell and Kevin Harvick. By then, Hamlin was in 29th behind Ryan Newman.
Ten laps later, Larson, who started to encounter lapped traffic, extended his advantage to more than a second over Truex, who had Elliott pressuring him for the runner-up spot. Playoff contenders Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Logano and Blaney were all still in the top 10 while Hamlin was preparing to move into the top 25.
Another 10 laps later, Larson continued to lead by more than a second over Truex and Elliott. With seven of the eight remaining Playoff contenders running first through seventh, Hamlin was mired in 25th behind Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Matt DiBenedetto.
By Lap 40, Larson was in heavy traffic despite leading by more than a second. Meanwhile, teammate Elliott overtook Truex for second place while Hamlin was still mired outside the top 20 in 23rd behind Cole Custer and within Larson’s sights of being lapped.
Through the first 50 laps of the event, Larson had his advantage decreased to less than half a second amid lapped traffic and with teammate Elliott catching him. While Truex, Keselowski and Kyle Busch were in the top five, Hamlin was in 21st behind Erik Jones. Logano was in sixth and teammate Blaney was in ninth.
Six laps later, Elliott muscled his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to the lead after overtaking teammate Larson through Turns 3 and 4.
When the competition caution flew on Lap 60, Elliott retained the lead ahead of teammate Larson and Truex while Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Logano, William Byron, Alex Bowman, Blaney and Austin Dillon were in the top 10. By then, Hamlin, who remained on the lead lap, was in 20th behind Erik Jones. In addition, only 22 of 38 competitors were on the lead lap.
Under the competition caution, the leaders pitted and Larson reassumed the lead after exiting his pit stall in first place ahead of teammate Elliott, Truex, Keselowski, Logano and Kyle Busch. Following the pit stops, Hamlin was penalized for speeding on pit road and sent to the rear of the field once again.
Seven laps later, the race restarted under green. At the start, Larson received another strong start on the outside lane to retain the lead through the first two turns and coming back to the start/finish line. Behind, Elliott battled Keselowski for second while Truex battled Byron for fourth. Soon after, Elliott cleared the field to retain second while Truex went to work on Keselowski for third. The following lap, Truex cleared Keselowski to retain third while Logano challenged Byron for fifth.
Just past the Lap 70 mark, the caution returned when Daniel Suarez made contact with Ryan Newman, sending Newman spinning in Turn 4 as he collected Michael McDowell while Hamlin carved his way through the incident.
On Lap 76, the race restarted under green. At the start, Larson again rocketed ahead with a strong start on the outside lane before moving back to the inside lane. Behind, Elliott retained second while Truex challenged Keselowski for third.
A few laps later, Keselowski dropped to fifth as Truex and William Byron moved up the leaderboard. While Kyle Busch and Blaney were in eighth and ninth, Hamlin was in 21st behind Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
On Lap 85, Elliott returned to the lead after overtaking teammate Larson for the top spot.
By Lap 90, Elliott was leading by eight-tenths of a second over teammate Larson while Truex, Byron and Keselowski remained in the top five. Kyle Busch, Logano and Blaney were in sixth, seventh and eighth while Hamlin was in 20th behind Erik Jones.
A few laps later, Blaney made contact with Austin Dillon entering the frontstretch and while battling in the top 10, which resulted with the left-rear fender of Blaney’s No. 12 Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang sustaining cosmetic damage near the fuel cell.
Through the first 100 laps of the event, Elliott was leading by nearly six-tenths of a second over teammate Larson while Truex, Byron and Keselowski were in the top five. Kyle Busch and Logano were in sixth and seventh while Blaney, who was struggling with he left-rear damage, was back in 11th behind Austin Dillon, Alex Bowman and Christopher Bell. Meanwhile, Hamlin was in 16th behind Kevin Harvick, Bubba Wallace and Stenhouse.
Twenty laps later, Elliott, who was surrounded in lapped traffic, continued to lead by half a second over teammate Larson while Truex, Byron, Keselowski and Kyle Busch were in the top six. Logano was in eighth, Blaney was in 12th and Hamlin was in 14th behind Harvick.
When the first stage concluded on Lap 130, Elliott claimed his fifth stage victory of the season. Teammate Larson settled in second followed by Truex, Byron, Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Bowman, Logano and Aric Almirola. Blaney was in 12th behind Bell and Hamlin remained in 14th behind Harvick.
Under the stage break, the leaders returned to pit road and upon exiting the pits, Larson reassumed the lead followed by teammate Elliott, Truex, Kyle Busch, Keselowski and Byron. However, early disaster struck for Larson, who was busted for speeding on pit road and sent to the rear of the field.
The second stage started on Lap 140 as Elliott and Truex occupied the front row. At the start, Elliott retained the lead over Truex through the first two turns as Kyle Busch battled Keselowski for third.
A few laps later, Keselowski, who was mired on the outside lane, settled in sixth in between Bell and teammate Logano as Elliott led a long single-file line around the circuit.
By Lap 150, Elliott continued to lead by nearly four-tenths of a second over Truex while Kyle Busch, Byron and Bell were in the top five. Keselowski settled in sixth ahead of Bowman, Logano, Harvick and Almirola. Behind, Hamlin was in 11th in front of Bubba Wallace, Blaney was in 18th in between Tyler Reddick and rookie Chase Briscoe, and Larson was in 21st behind Austin Dillon.
Ten laps later, Elliott stabilized his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Truex while Byron was up in third. By then, Hamlin cracked the top 10 in 10th while Logano was back in 12th. In addition, Larson was back up in the top 20 while Blaney was still mired in 18th.
Another 15 laps later, Elliott continued to lead by more than a second over Truex while Byron, Bowman and Kyle Busch were in the top five. Keselowski was in seventh, Hamlin was up in ninth, Logano was back in 13th, Larson was in 15th and Blaney was back in 19th.
Nearing the Lap 200 mark, the caution flew due to an incident involving Austin Dillon in Turn 2, where Dillon lost a right-front tire and smacked the outside wall. At the time of caution, Blaney, who was 19th, was just able to remain ahead of the race leader Elliott and on the lead lap.
Under caution, the leaders pitted and Truex emerged with the lead after exiting the pits in first followed by Elliott, Byron, Bowman and Kyle Busch. Following the event, Tyler Reddick was penalized for speeding on pit road.
When the race restarted on Lap 202, Truex briefly retained the lead through the first two turns until Elliott fought back entering Turn 3 on the outside lane. After remaining dead even through the frontstretch, past the start/finish line and entering the first turn, Elliott muscled his No. 9 Chevrolet back to the lead through the backstretch on Lap 205.
With Elliott leading, Truex retained second ahead of Byron while Kyle Busch was in fourth ahead of Bowman, Bell and Keselowski. Hamlin and Larson were in eighth and ninth while Logano was falling back in 17th ahead of teammate Blaney.
By Lap 225, Elliott was leading by more than a second over teammate Byron while Truex, Bowman and Kyle Busch were in the top five. Bell, Hamlin, Keselowski, Almirola and Larson were in the top 10 while Team Penske’s Blaney and Logano were mired back in 17th and 18th.
Fifteen laps later, three Hendrick Motorsports competitors (Elliott, Bowman and Byron) were leading three Joe Gibbs Racing competitors (Truex, Bell and Hamlin). Keselowski and Larson were in ninth and 11th, Kyle Busch was in eighth behind Aric Almiorla, Blaney was in 14th behind Chris Buescher and Logano was still mired in 18th behind Bubba Wallace and Erik Jones.
At the halfway mark on Lap 250, Elliott continued to lead by more than a second over teammate Bowman while third-place Byron trailed by more less than two seconds. Truex retained fourth while Hamlin cracked the top five in fifth ahead of teammate Bell. Almirola, Kyle Busch, Keselowski and Kurt Busch were in the top 10 while Larson, Blaney and Logano were in 11th, 14th and 18th.
When the second stage concluded on Lap 260, Elliott, who was mired in lapped traffic, captured his sixth stage victory of the season. Teammates Bowman and Byron settled in second and third followed by Truex and Hamlin while Bell, Almirola, Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch rounded out the top 10. Larson ended up 11th, Blaney was in 13th and Logano was mired in 18th. By then, half of the 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.
By virtue of capturing both stage victories of the event and accumulating maximum stage points, Elliott became the second competitor to clinch a spot in the Championship 4 round alongside teammate Larson as he will receive an opportunity to defend his series championship.
Following both stages, teammates Hamlin and Truex were scored inside the top-four cutline to transfer to the Championship 4 finale while Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Blaney and Logano were scored outside the cutline.
Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Elliott, Bowman, Hamlin, Almirola, Byron and Truex. Following the pit stops, Kyle Busch was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road.
With 231 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Elliott managed to clear teammate Bowman on the outside lane to retain the lead. Behind, Bowman retained second while Hamlin battled Almirola for third. Behind, Truex battled Larson for sixth as Hamlin took over third ahead of Almirola and Byron.
Ten laps later, Elliott was leading by more than a second over Hamlin, who overtook Bowman for the runner-up spot. Byron and Almirola were in the top five followed by Truex, Bell, Larson, Kurt Busch and Keselowski. Blaney was in 11th behind teammate Keselowski, Logano was in 17th and Kyle Busch was mired back in 20th behind Reddick. By then, Justin Haley pitted under green after experiencing a major left-rear tire rub.
Another 10 laps later, Elliott continued to lead while teammates Bowman and Byron moved up to second and third, dropping Hamlin to fourth.
Down to the final 200 laps of the event, Elliott was leading by nearly two seconds over teammate Bowman while third-place Byron trailed by more than three seconds. Hamlin remained in fourth ahead of Almirola followed by Truex and Larson while Bell, Blaney and Kurt Busch were in the top 10. Keselowski was in 11th, teammate Logano was in 15th and Kyle Busch was in 19th.
Ten laps later, the caution returned when Michael McDowell made contact with Corey LaJoie entering Turn 3, which resulted with LaJoie getting into Josh Bilicki and sending Bilicki sideways and into the outside wall.
Under caution, the leaders returned to pit road and Elliott, Hamlin, Bowman, Byron, Truex and Almirola. Following the pit stops, Wallace was penalized for speeding on pit road.
With 181 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Elliott rocketed away with the lead on the inside lane while Hamlin spun the tires on the topside lane as he was hit in the rear by Byron’s No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.
While Elliott retained the lead, Bowman also remained in second while Hamlin battled Truex for third. Shortly after, the caution flew due to an incident in Turn 3 involving Bilicki and Quin Houff, who made contact into the outside wall after being bumped by Bilicki. Following the incident, Houff retaliated by turning Bilicki in the backstretch. As a result, Houff was held five seconds in his pit stall as a penalty.
With 171 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Elliott retained the lead following a strong start on the outside lane over teammate Bowman while Hamlin stabilized himself in third ahead of teammate Truex and Byron. Behind, Almirola was in sixth while Larson battled with Bell for seventh.
Under the final 170 laps of the event, more issues came for Blaney, who was inside the top 15 but experiencing a left-rear tire rub near his damaged spot.
With 161 laps remaining, the caution returned when Newman, Cole Custer and Ross Chastain made contact entering Turn 2, which resulted with Newman getting sideways, clipping Chastain and making contact into the outside wall while Chastain went up the track in Turn 3 with a flat right-front tire and damage to the right side of his No. 42 Clover Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. As Chastain was trying to continue, Newman bumped into the side of Chastain’s car to express his displeasure for the contact.
Under caution, the leaders led by Elliott pitted while Joey Logano remained on the track.
With 155 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Logano, faced in a “must-win” situation to retain his title hopes, retained the lead through the backstretch ahead of Elliott. Behind, Bowman was in third while teammate Larson challenged Truex for fourth.
Six laps remaining, Elliott, racing on four fresh tires, reassumed the lead. Not long after, teammates Bowman and Larson methodically overtook Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang for second and third as Truex then issued a challenge on Logano.
With 142 laps remaining, the caution flew when Cole Custer spun in Turn 4. During the caution period, Truex radioed concerns about his car pushing water despite continuing in fourth.
Four laps later, the race restarted under green. At the start, Elliott aced the launch with a strong start on the outside lane, where he was pursued by Bowman, Truex and Larson. Behind, Byron moved into fifth while Hamlin challenged Logano for sixth.
With 122 laps remaining, the caution returned when Daniel Suarez spun in Turn 2.
Under caution, the leaders pitted and Elliott exited as the leader followed by Truex, Hamlin, Byron, Logano and Kyle Busch. Following the pit stops, Larson was nabbed with his second pit road speeding penalty of the day. In addition, Matt DiBenedetto was being held a lap for pitting outside his pit box.
Back on the track, Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick remained on the track along with Custer while Elliott, the first competitor on four fresh tires, were in fourth.
With 116 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Austin Dillon briefly retained the lead for a full lap under green before Truex, who was ready to go on the restart and drew himself alongside Dillon, made his way into the lead the following lap. Behind, Hamlin made his way into the runner-up spot over Dillon while Elliott was mired in sixth behind Reddick and Logano.
With 111 laps remaining, Hamlin, following his eventful drive to the front all race long, emerged with the lead.
A few laps later, Elliott made contact with Logano in Turn 1, where he nearly turned Logano before he took over the fourth spot. Meanwhile, Hamlin continued to lead ahead of teammate Truex and Austin Dillon.
Down to the final 100 laps of the event and with the field scrambling around the track, Hamlin was leading by half a second over teammate Truex while Elliott, Austin Dillon and Bowman were in the top five. Logano was in sixth while Kyle Busch, Keselowski and Byron battled for positions. Blaney was in 16th while Larson was in 21st.
Ten laps later, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to half a second over teammate Truex while third-place Elliott continued to trail by more than a second. Logano, Keselowski and Kyle Busch remained in the top 10 while Blaney and Larson remained inside the top 20.
Another 15 laps later, Hamlin continued to lead by more than a second over teammate Truex. Bowman was up in third ahead of teammate Elliott while Keselowski, currently situated on the outside of the top-four cutline, was in fifth. Austin Dillon continued to ride strong in sixth while Logano, Byron, Almirola and Bell were in the top 10. Kyle Busch, who continued to deal with handling issues to his No. 18 M&M’s Halloween Toyota Camry, was in 11th ahead of brother Kurt while Blaney and Larson were in 15th and 16th.
With 64 laps remaining, the caution flew when Austin Dillon blew a right-front tire and made contact with the Turn 2 outside wall for a second time.
Under caution, the leaders returned to pit road and Hamlin exited with the lead followed by Bowman, Elliott, Truex and Keselowski.
With less than 60 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Hamlin retained the lead ahead of Bowman. While Elliott was in third, Truex was in fourth ahead of Byron and Keselowski.
Shortly after, Bowman issued a challenge on Hamlin for the lead. Despite Bowman’s efforts in overtaking Hamlin for the lead, Hamlin retained the lead. Behind, Keselowski, now within striking distance of making the top-four cutline to the finale, was mired in fourth and aggressively racing against Elliott for more. Meanwhile, Truex slipped to sixth in front of teammate Kyle Busch as he started to experience a left-front tire rub to his car.
With 46 laps remaining, the caution flew when Keselowski ran into the side of Elliott as Elliott spun in Turn 3, though he continued and pitted to have the damage repaired on his car. The incident occurred as both Cup champions were repeatedly battling for third place, with Keselowski wasting no time making his way to the front.
Six laps later, the race restarted under green. At the start, Hamlin retained the top spot ahead of Bowman and Keselowski. Not long after, the caution returned when Stenhouse spun in Turn 4 beneath Larson while Wallace sustained heavy damage to the front nose of his No. 23 DoorDash Toyota Camry after running into the rear of Elliott’s car.
Down to the final 34 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Hamlin rocketed away with another strong start while Keselowski battled Bowman for the runner-up spot.
Soon after, Truex, who was running behind Keselowski and Bowman with both making contact and resulting with Bowman getting a left-front tire rub, began to challenge both for second place. He attempted to make a three-wide move on both, but backed out and lost time and a handful of spots outside of the top five.
Then, Almirola made contact with Truex while battling him for sixth in Turn 1, which sent Truex wide. As Truex was trying to come back down to his rhythm, Kurt Busch made contact into him as Truex smacked the outside wall and lost more spots on the track. Soon after, the caution returned when Ryan Preece spun in Turn 2. By then, Truex was scored outside of the top-four cutline along with Keselowski while Kyle Busch found himself inside the cutline by a single point.
With 23 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Hamlin received another strong start on the inside lane to retain the lead while Bowman overtook Keselowski for second. The following lap, Bowman made his way into the lead. Hamlin, however, fought back in Turn 1 and bumped into Bowman to reassume the lead.
Behind Hamlin, Kyle Busch challenged Bowman for second along with Keselowski and Byron. Truex, meanwhile, was in 10th.
With 15 laps remaining, Hamlin continued to lead by a narrow margin over Bowman while Kyle Busch was trying to fend off Keselowski and Byron for third. Truex was in eighth, Logano was in 10th and Blaney was in 12th.
A few laps later, Bowman issued another side-by-side challenge for the lead against Hamlin, but he was unable to seal the deal as Hamlin retained the lead.
Down to the final 10 laps, Hamlin continued to lead by a narrow margin over Bowman. Kyle Busch and Keselowski were in third and fourth while Truex was in eighth while challenging Kurt Busch for a position. Once Truex overtook Kurt Busch for seventh, he moved back into the cutline by a single point over Kyle Busch with Keselowski trailing by six.
Then, the caution returned three laps later when Bowman, following his late intense, repetitive battle with Hamlin, made contact into Hamlin, sending Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota spinning into the Turn 3 outside wall, though Hamlin continued with little left-rear damage. The incident now placed Hamlin, who pitted for repairs, within the bubble zone of remaining inside the top-four cutline.
With the race sent into overtime, Bowman and Kyle Busch occupied the front row ahead of Keselowski and Truex. At the start, Bowman was able to retain the lead ahead of Kyle Busch, Keselowski and the field.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Bowman was still ahead by two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Kyle Busch, who had to win to keep his title hopes alive. While Busch tried to establish a final lap effort, he could not close in to the rear bumper of Bowman’s No. 48 Chevrolet as Bowman continued to lead through Turn 3. Finally, through Turn 4 and while Busch had to maintain second ahead of Keselowski, Bowman was able to come back around and claim the checkered flag following an eventful turn of events.
The victory at Martinsville was Bowman’s fourth of the season and the sixth of his Cup career despite having his title hopes evaporated following the Round of 12. Bowman’s win was enough for Chevrolet to achieve its 40th Cup manufacturer’s title and first since 2015.
While trying to celebrate on the frontstretch, however, Bowman could not escape controversy as Hamlin, who ended the race in 24th place, pulled his car alongside Bowman’s. While Bowman attempted to pull away and tried to celebrate by looping the car around, Hamlin immediately pulled his car in front of Bowman’s and smoked his tires while pushing against Bowman’s and giving him two obscene gestures before he drove away under orders from his crew. Once Hamlin was gone, Bowman saluted the fans, who greeted him with a chorus of cheers, and claimed the checkered flag.
“I just got loose in,” Bowman said on NBC. “I got in too deep, knocked [Hamlin] out of the way and literally, let him have the lead back. For anybody who wants to think that I was trying to crash him, that obviously wasn’t the case, considering I literally gave up the lead at Martinsville to give it back to him. He’s been on the other side of that. He’s crashed guys here for wins. I hate doing it. Obviously, I don’t want to crash somebody. I just got in, got loose underneath him and spun him out. Regardless, we get a freakin’ Grandfather Clock. It’s pretty special. I’ve struggled here for a long time. I was trying to get the flag, do a backwards victory lap. Obviously, like I said, [I] hate we wrecked [Hamlin], but man, how about that for Chevrolet and Ally and everybody on this No. 48 team. The No. 48 car’s won here a bunch. It’s cool to do it again…Part of short track racing.”
Despite the incident, Hamlin’s 24th-place result was enough for him to earn a spot in the Championship 4 finale, where he will contend for his first NASCAR Cup Series championship. Hamlin, however, did not mince his words or ill feelings to Bowman following the incident and missing an opportunity of winning at his home track.
“[Bowman]’s just a hack,” Hamlin, who received a chorus of boos from the crowd, said. “He’s just an absolute hack. He gets his [expletive] kicked by his teammates every week. He’s [expletive] terrible, just terrible. He sees one opportunity and he takes it. Obviously, he’s got the fastest car every week and he runs 10th. He didn’t want to race us there. We had a good clean race. I moved up as high as I could on the racetrack to give him all the room I could and he still can’t drive. We got in [the Playoffs]. We did what we had to do, but I just wanted to race there at the end. He’s just terrible.”
Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images.
Behind Bowman, Kyle Busch claimed second over Keselowski just before Keselowski, who made contact with Busch prior to the finish line, turned Busch in Turn 1 after the checkered flag. Truex held on for fourth place over Byron and was able to claim the fourth and final transfer spot to the Championship 4 finale by three points, where he will contend for his second Cup title. Busch and Keselowski, however, were eliminated from the Playoffs.
“The Auto-Owners Toyota Camry was good, first of all,” Truex said. “We had a solid day. We weren’t the winning car, but we were a third- or fourth-place car all day long and that’s where we ran. Everything’s going smooth and then, [Keselowski] and [Kyle Busch] came up there at the front kind of out of nowhere. I got some damage running side-by-side with [Keselowski], fell back and then, [Almirola] stuffed me three wide or whatever out of the groove down there in Turn 1 and 2 and then, the marbles and then, [Kurt Busch] come by and clip my left front, drove me into the fence off of [Turn] 2. I was like, ‘Oh damn, we’re in big trouble here.’ Then, [the crew] say we’re out. Just dig deep, fight back and do all we could do after that. [I] Got a little break after that last restart. A bunch of guys went to the bottom [lane] and I’d seen the hole up there and I was like, ‘I gotta go for it.’ That worked out for us. Just thanks to everybody that helps us all year long to get to this point, everybody at the shop…Hopefully, we can go to Phoenix next week and make [my partners] proud. We’re excited. That’s what we do this for. All these guys work so hard all week and all year long to have this opportunity. It’s a dream come true for me. I love racing with these guys. I love having this opportunity. We’ve had it before. We won one [championship] and lost a few really, really close. We’ll see what we can do. We had a great race at Phoenix in the spring and learned a lot about that racetrack. Hopefully, we can duplicate it.”
Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images.
“We just missed last week [at Kansas Speedway],” Kyle Busch said. “That’s where we lost all the ground. Couldn’t come in here with 15 more points and we would’ve been fine on the cut, but it just wasn’t it and wasn’t meant to be. Obviously, it was Truex’s day. We had a Hail Mary opportunity there at the end and just didn’t materialize. All in all, just proud of the effort, for sure. We swung everything and anything at this thing today, and just couldn’t really make it come alive. Great effort. That was there, for sure. We just got to get better, with everybody included, the whole team, in order to be able to go race with the best and race for a championship, and we’re not gonna do that this year. Anytime you go into a season with Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing, this No. 18 M&M’s team, myself, you expect to be in contention and eligible [for the championship]. Anything other than that is a failure. I guess you get an F.”
“Well, at the start of the race, we were OK, and then, we got really tight in the middle of the race, finally got it freed up and the car started rolling,” Keselowski, who missed the cutline by eight points, said. “At the end, it was just super free. I was so loose. I got underneath [Elliott], got loose and spun him out, just all I could do to hold on to the car. We got it better and put ourselves in position. Just wasn’t quite strong enough there at the end. Disappointing. All in all, we gave it a great run here. Wished I could have last week at Kansas back, that’s for sure. I felt like I left the eight points that we were short there with some mistakes I made. All in all, proud of our team, proud of the effort that everybody put in. Disappointed for Team Penske to not get through to the final round, but we gave it our best. Frustrating day…Super proud of everything we’ve done together.”
Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. have made the Championship 4 round and will contend for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series championship. Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano have been eliminated from title contention.
“We’re moving on,” Elliott, who finished 16th, said. “That’s all that matters. I had a really fast NAPA Chevy early. I made a couple of mistakes and think led us down the wrong path for those last couple runs, unfortunately. The pace was certainly in the car. Great day for Hendrick Motorsports. Got two cars going into Phoenix and Alex getting the win. Wished we could’ve won it. I hate to be so fast all day and it not work out, but obviously, next week is what matters. That’s where our heads are at. Excited to get out there and have another shot at it…Really proud of this group to make it for a second consecutive year and being amongst those four cars is a big deal. Very excited to have a shot. I think we can run with the best of them and we’re looking forward to the opportunity.”
“Just a really bad job executing on my part,” Larson, who finished 14th, said. “Just way too aggressive on pit road, but me being locked in to the next round, I could be a little more aggressive. Just too aggressive too many times. My car was pretty decent the first half and I started getting tight in the middle. We adjusted on it. Then, I sped [on pit road] again and I was just stuck in traffic. [I] Knew I wasn’t gonna have a shot to win, so I was just trying not to piss anybody off. Came away with 14th. We’ll go on to Phoenix and try to get a championship.”
“From the get-go, we were struggling to get [the car] turning to two-thirds,” Logano, who finished 10th, said. “We raised the track bar and that made it loose everywhere except where I wanted it to turn. Put that back, tried something else and got at least closer, but all we’re doing is compromising at that point. We weren’t good enough. We didn’t get in, wasn’t close enough, didn’t fire off as fast enough. Now, we’ll got to Phoenix and try to finish as high as we can with the Shell/Pennzoil Mustang and this team. We fought hard this season. We just weren’t fast enough. We’ll fire away next week.”
“Overall, we just kind of missed it,” Blaney, who finished 11th, added. “We weren’t really great from the get-go. Worked hard on it all day. Had one run, I thought, we’d kind of got where we needed to be, drove up to eighth or seventh. I was like, ‘Alright, we got something now we can really work on.’ We made a change. The next run, we were back to where we were…Just wasn’t really the right combination today. Stinks, but appreciate everybody on the No. 12 group for working on it all night. It was wild out there, that’s for sure. Stinks we’re not gonna race for a championship at Phoenix, but I appreciate all the hard work this year…Still got one more race. Hopefully, we can go have a good run and maybe, get [crew chief] Todd [Gordon] one more win before he hangs it up.”
Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch, Erik Jones, Chris Buescher and Logano completed the top 10 on the track at Martinsville.
There were 15 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured 15 cautions for 91 laps.
With the Championship 4 field set, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season is set to conclude next weekend at Phoenix Raceway. The finale is scheduled to occur on Sunday, November 7, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC, where a champion will be crowned.
Given two late opportunities to keep his championship hopes alive and vowing to win entering the weekend, Noah Gragson capitalized on both opportunities through two overtime attempts after beating Austin Cindric in a photo finish to win the Dead On Tools 250 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, October 30, and punch his ticket to the Championship 4 finale.
With the victory, Gragson, who was placed in a “must-win” situation following his wreck last weekend at Kansas Speedway, will be one of four competitors who will contend for the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship at Phoenix Raceway scheduled for next Saturday.
The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Xfinity event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Xfinity race. With that, Austin Cindric, the reigning Xfinity Series champion, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Ty Gibbs, the 2021 ARCA Menards Series champion and winner of last weekend’s Xfinity event at Kansas Speedway.
Prior to the event, Stephen Leicht and Joe Graf Jr. started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments along with Mike Harmon, who fell back due to a driver change.
When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Cindric managed to pull ahead and clear Gibbs entering the backstretch to come back around and lead the first lap. Behind, AJ Allmendinger, sporting an orange Halloween scheme on his No. 16 Hyperice Chevrolet Camaro, was in third ahead of teammate Justin Haley, racing in a purple Halloween scheme on his No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet Camaro, and Justin Allgaier, featuring Hellmann’s on his No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro, while Daniel Hemric muscled his way into the top six.
Through the first five laps of the event, the battle for the lead intensified between Cindric and Gibbs, who attempted to take over the top spot over Cindric on the inside lane. Despite Gibbs’ effort, Cindric prevailed once again and cleared Gibbs’ No. 54 Smile Coin Toyota Supra to retain the lead.
By Lap 10, the front-runners settled in a long single-file line as Cindric continued to lead ahead of Gibbs, Allmendinger, Haley, Hemric, Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Harrison Burton, Noah Gragson and rookie Sam Mayer. Behind, Ryan Sieg was in 11th ahead of Jeb Burton, Michael Annett, Brandon Brown, Riley Herbst and Myatt Snider.
Five laps later, the first caution flew when Preston Pardus wheel-hopped and spun in Turn 4. At the time of caution, Allmendinger overtook Gibbs for the runner-up spot while Cindric was ahead by nearly a second. In addition, Hemric and Allgaier moved into the top five while Haley dropped to sixth. During the caution period, the competition caution that was planned on Lap 25 was pushed back to Lap 30.
Another five laps later, the race restarted under green. At the start, Cindric rocketed away in his No. 22 CARQUEST Ford Mustang with the lead followed by Allmendinger. Soon after, Hemric challenged teammate Gibbs for third followed by Allgaier while Haley and Mayer battled for sixth. After battling Gibbs for a full lap on the outside lane, Hemric’s No. 18 Poppy Bank Toyota Supra prevailed entering the backstretch.
By Lap 25, Cindric was ahead by two-tenths of a second over Allmendinger while third-place Hemric trailed by less than a second. Meanwhile, Gibbs and Allgaier battled for fourth.
When the competition caution flew on Lap 30, Cindric was still leading ahead of Allmendinger and Hemric. By then, seven of the eight remaining Playoff contenders were running in the top 10 as Haley was in 10th behind Gragson while Brandon Jones, the eighth postseason contender, was mired in 15th.
Under the competition caution, some like Stephen Leicht, JJ Yeley, David Starr, Colin Garrett, Natalie Decker, Bayley Currey and Spencer Boyd pitted while the rest led by Cindric remained on the track.
Five laps later, the race restarted under green. At the start, Cindric and Allmendinger engaged in a side-by-side battle for three corners until Cindric prevailed on the inside lane. Behind, Hemric challenged Allmendinger for a full lap behind clearing him on Lap 37 in Turn 1. Meanwhile, Haley, who was in 10th, was being shuffled back towards the top 20 in 19th.
Through the first 40 laps of the event, Cindric was ahead by approximately seven-tenths of a second over Hemric while Allmendinger, Allgaier and Gibbs were in the top five. Mayer was in sixth ahead of Sieg, Gragson, Josh Berry and Harrison Burton. Brandon Jones was in 15th behind Jeb Burton while Haley was mired in 20th behind Snider.
On Lap 48, the caution flew when Mayer cut a right-front tire, shredded the right-front fender of his No. 8 John 5 Sinner Chevrolet Camaro and ignited sparks after making contact with Gibbs the previous lap.
Under caution, some like Gibbs, Harrison Burton, Brandon Jones, Gragson and Haley pitted while the rest led by Cindric remained on the track.
With seven laps remaining in the first stage, the race restarted under green. At the start, Cindric retained the lead following another strong start. In addition, Hemric muscled his way back to second followed by Allgaier, Allmendinger, Berry and Sieg as the field scrambled for positions towards the front.
When the first stage concluded on Lap 60, Cindric claimed his 12th stage victory of the season. Hemric settled in second followed by Allgaier, Allmendinger, Berry, Sieg and Gragson, who charged his way towards the front on fresh tires. Annett, Yeley and Moffitt completed the top-10 stage positions while Harrison Burton, Haley and Brandon Jones finished outside of the top 15 and with no early stage points in their quest to remain in the championship battle.
Under the stage break, the leaders led by Cindric pitted while the rest led by Gragson and Gibbs, both of whom pitted prior to the conclusion of the first stage, remained on the track.
When the second stage concluded on Lap 68, Gragson pulled his No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro ahead of Gibbs through the backstretch to retain the lead as Jeb Burton was in third. Behind, cousin Harrison Burton was in fifth behind Jeremy Clements as Haley moved up to sixth.
By Lap 75, Gragson was out in front by three-tenths of a second over Gibbs while Jeb Burton, Clements and Harrison Burton were in the top five. Meanwhile, Haley retained sixth ahead of Snider, Brandon Jones was in 10th behind Riley Herbst, Hemric was in 13th, Cindric and Allmendinger were in 15th and 16th and Allgaier was in 18th.
Fifteen laps later, Gragson, who was mired in lapped traffic, continued to lead by a narrow margin over Gibbs as Harrison Burton started to close in for the lead. Behind, Haley started to challenged Clements for fifth while Hemric and Cindric were back in the top 10 in ninth and 10th.
Through the first 100 laps of the event, Gragson was leading by three-tenths of a second over Harrison Burton, who moved into the runner-up spot a few laps earlier when Gibbs went up the track in Turn 3. With Gibbs back in third, Jeb Burton and Clements remained in the top five ahead of Haley, Snider, Herbst, Hemric and Cindric. Allmendinger, meanwhile, was in 11th while Brandon Jones and Allgaier were in the top 15.
By Lap 110, Gragson and Harrison Burton, both of whom were placed in a “must-win” situation to advance to the championship finale, were running nose to tail amid lapped traffic as Burton challenged Gragson for the top spot.
When the second stage concluded on Lap 120, Gragson, who was mired behind more lapped traffic and nearly lost the top spot entering Turn 4 as Harrison Burton shoved his No. 20 Dex Imaging Toyota Supra beneath Gragson, edged Harrison Burton to claim his fourth stage victory of the season. Gibbs settled in third followed by Jeb Burton, Cindric, Hemric, Allmendinger, Herbst, Clements and Snider.
By virtue of their top-10 results in the second stage and the overall stage points accumulated, Austin Cindric and AJ Allmendinger secured their spots to the Championship 4 finale at Phoenix Raceway, with Cindric receiving an opportunity to defend his title and Allmendinger receiving his first opportunity to win his first NASCAR national touring series title.
Meanwhile, Haley, Gragson, Brandon Jones and Harrison Burton were scored outside of the top-four cutline to the finale while Hemric and Allgaier were currently scored inside the cutline.
Under the stage break, the leaders pitted as Gragson retained the lead ahead of Harrison Burton, Gibbs and the field. Meanwhile, Haley came to pit road with the left-rear brake caliber and tire of his car on fire. Following several trips to pit road, where several douses from a fire extinguisher and multiple water bottles were made to his car, Haley, ultimately, took his car to the garage to have the right rear inspected. The issue, however, was enough to end his title hopes.
With 120 laps remaining, the final stage started. At the start, Gragson and Harrison Burton engaged in a heated battle for the lead for two laps until Gragson cleared Burton entering the frontstretch.
Not long after, Harrison Burton reignited his challenge for the lead beneath Gragson. Gragson, however, retained the lead as the field settled in a long single-file line.
Nearing the final 100 laps of the event, the caution flew when Bayley Currey cut a right-front tire entering Turn 2. The incident occurred just in front of the leaders. At the time of caution, Gragson was ahead of a hard-challenging Harrison Burton while Gibbs, Jeb Burton and Cindric were in the top five. Herbst was in sixth while Allmendinger, Brandon Jones, Allgiaer and Hemric were in the top 10.
Under caution, some like Brandon Jones pitted while the rest led by Gragson remained on the track.
With 95 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Gragson cleared Gibbs entering the backstretch to retain the lead as Harrison Burton challenged his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate for the runner-up spot.
Five laps later, Gragson extended his advantage to more than half a second over Gibbs, who prevailed in a long side-by-side battle against Harrison Burton. Behind, Cindric was up in fourth in front of Jeb Burton while Hemric and Allmendinger dueled for sixth.
Down to the final 75 laps of the event, Gragson remained as the leader by eight-tenths of a second over Gibbs, who had teammate Harrison Burton and Cindric pressuring him for the runner-up spot. Hemric was up in fifth followed by Allmendinger, Allgaier, Annett, Berry and Jeb Burton. By then, Hemric was holding sole possession of the fourth and final transfer spot to the finale ahead of Allgaier.
Shortly after, the caution returned when Ryan Ellis spun in Turn 2.
Under caution, the leaders pitted and Gibbs emerged with the lead after exiting pit road first followed by teammate Harrison Burton, Gragson, Hemric and Brandon Jones. Following the pit stops, however, Spencer Boyd emerged as the leader after he opted to remain on the track.
With 66 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Gragson made a bold three-wide move to the inside lane and beneath Boyd and Harrison Burton while Gibbs took over the lead. Through the first two turns, Harrison Burton was forced wide while trying to overtake Boyd and he lost his momentum through the backstretch as he fell back into the top 10.
With the field jostling for positions and Harrison Burton mired in the pack, Gibbs was leading ahead of Gragson, Cindric, Hemric and Allgaier.
A few laps later, the caution flew when Snider spun in Turn 2 after being bumped by Sieg. Under the caution laps, Harrison Burton pulled his car alongside Boyd’s to express his displeasure for losing his momentum.
Down to the final 58 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Gibbs and Gragson dueled for the lead through the backstretch. Just then, the caution returned for a multi-car wreck in Turn 2 when Jeb Burton, who was trying to force his way through Boyd entering the backstretch, came back down and ignited calamity with Annett making hard contact into the outside wall while Herbst, Boyd and Moffitt were also involved. The incident was enough to red-flag the event for nearly 11 minutes with fluid leaking out of Annett’s destroyed car.
When the red flag lifted and the race restarted under green with 50 laps remaining, Gibbs and Gragson dueled for the lead until Gibbs cleared the field entering the backstretch. Then in Turn 3, Gragson ran into the rear of Gibbs, which sent Gibbs sideways in front of the field. While most of the field scrambled to avoid Gibbs, Harrison Burton, unfortunately, made contact into his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, damaging the front nose of his Dex Imaging Toyota Supra. In the midst of the incident, Gragson returned to the lead ahead of Cindric, Allgaier, Hemric and Allmendinger.
Under caution, both Harrison Burton and Gibbs pitted, with Gibbs losing a lap in the process while Burton proceeded with a patched nose.
With 43 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Gragson retained the lead while Cindric spun the tires. Cindric’s misfortune allowed Allgaier to moved into second followed by Hemric. Not long after, Brandon Jones made the slightest of contact with Cindric in Turn 3, but Jones and Cindric remained in fourth and fifth while Allmendinger, who tried to move inside the top five, remained in sixth.
Eight laps later, Gragson was leading by nearly six-tenths of a second over Hemric while Allgaier, Brandon Jones and Cindric were in the top five.
Another three laps later, the caution returned due to debris reported in the backstretch and coming off of Harrison Burton’s No. 20 Toyota.
Prior to the restart, a jack coming off of Harrison Burton’s car came to rest on the backstretch, which resulted with Burton being penalized for removing equipment out of his pit box.
Down to the final 26 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Gragson received another strong start to retain the lead and slowly pull away through the backstretch. Meanwhile, teammate Allgaier was overtaken by Hemric as Cindric joined the battle.
Six laps later, Gragson was ahead by two-tenths of a second over Hemric, who started to close in on Gragson for the lead. Cindric trailed the two leaders by more than a second followed by Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Allmendinger, Mayer, Berry, Herbst and Clements.
Two laps later, Hemric, who gained a run through the backstretch, emerged with the lead. Hemric’s move dropped Gragson, who is in a “must-win” situation, below the top-four cutline while Allgaier moved back into the cutline.
Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Hemric was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Gragson while Cindric, Allgaier, Mayer and Allmendinger were in the top six.
Four laps later, the caution returned when Haley, who was 23 laps behind the leaders, spun in Turn 4, which evaporated Hemric’s stable advantage over Gragson and Cindric. Following his spin, Haley called it a night as he parked his car in the garage and retired, which officially ended his hopes of advancing to the championship finale.
With the race sent into overtime, Hemric and Gragson occupied the front row ahead of Cindric, Allgaier, Mayer and Allmendinger. At the start, Gragson challenged Hemric for the lead on the outside lane. Through the backstretch, Gragson used the outside lane to his advantage as he fought back and cleared Hemric for the top spot entering the frontstretch. Behind, Josh Berry spun and the caution flew just before Gragson could start the final lap of the event, which sent the event into another overtime attempt.
With the race restarting in another overtime attempt, Gragson and Cindric occupied the front row while Hemric elected to restart behind Gragson on the inside lane. At the start, Gragson cleared Cindric entering the backstretch and continued to lead for a full lap.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Gragson was still leading by a mere margin over Cindric while Hemric was being challenged by Mayer and others for third. Through the backstretch, Gragson continued to keep Cindric at bay. Then, Cindric made his move beneath Gragson in an attempt to snatch the win entering Turns 3 and 4. Despite Cindric’s late effort, Gragson fought back on the outside lane and edged Cindric’s No. 22 Ford by 0.064 seconds to win and punch his ticket to the finale.
In addition to locking himself and his No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet team into the finale to battle for the championsip, Gragson captured his fifth NASCAR Xfinity Series career victory, third of 2021 and first at Martinsville in the series. He also clinched the manufacturer’s title for Chevrolet.
The margin of victory between Gragson and Cindric (0.064 seconds) marked the closest finish ever at Martinsville.
“Man, I wanna cry right now,” Gragson said on NBCSN. “It’s been a rough season. We got a couple of wins there at Darlington and Richmond [in September]. I know it wasn’t looking good after last weekend. I was pretty fired up. I told my guys that we got an opportunity and we’re still in it. I’m so thankful. It’s just such an awesome opportunity. This team’s unbelievable. Overall, just an awesome day. I was telling all the guys in the pre-race deal, I said that snow plow’s engaged. We’re gonna be digging, get out of the way. Man, I’m emotional right now. Dude, this is Martinsville, baby! We’re going to the final four, baby! Yeah!”
Cindric, who will attempt to defend his series title next weekend, settled in second place followed by Hemric, who captured the fourth and final spot to the Championship 4 finale. This marks the third season where Hemric will contend for a NASCAR national touring series title while he continues to pursue his first race victory.
“Yeah, there was a lot that went into it,” Cindric said. “I felt like I had a shot as the third-place car. [I] Kept it in third gear, got the momentum, got cleared for second place. I put front bias into it, drove it in as hard as I could into [Turn] 3, but I wasn’t gonna use up Noah. I intend on racing for a championship a certain way. I said it after Bristol. [Gragson] earned that win. Just needed a couple inches, maybe needed above the track a little bit more. Overall, really proud of this season. I’ve been saying it since last season and this year, I feel the same way. I’m not talking about going back to back [in championships]. It’s about making it into the Championship 4. I feel like that’s the hardest thing you can do in a national series is to make it there. What you do with a bonus, you get to go have a great day and try to make the most of the opportunity.”
“I can tell you, I’m just pretty disappointed,” Hemric said. “I had to make a decision there. First caution comes out when you’re checked out, I felt like, first off, what a great Poppy Bank Toyota Supra. Just checked out, biding time, counting the laps down. The caution came out, I knew it wouldn’t be that easy and that’s fine. [Cindric] got into me into [Turns] 1 and 2. He’s also trying to win the race, same as I am, and he got me in a bad angle, let [Gragson] take the lead, the caution comes out again. I wanted to choose the top, race [Gragson]. It’s kind of risk versus reward, right? You start the season off with one goal and that’s to try to do what we officially have a shot to do next week and that’s run for a championship. That is the ultimate goal, but I don’t know. A win would’ve been nice. At least I’d be on the front row and have a shot. Right decision, I don’t know. Right, though, for next week? Of course.”
Mayer rallied from his early on-track issues to finish in fourth place for his first career top-five result in the Xfinity circuit followed by teammate Justin Allgaier, who was the first Xfinity Playoff competitor to miss the top-four cutline to the finale. This marks the second time in four seasons where Allgaier will not advance to the Championship 4 finale.
“It just wasn’t enough,” Allgaier said. “We played the safe strategy. We talked about it before the race and felt like that was the smart strategy. Just gave up too many points. Daniel [Hemric] was, obviously, a lot better that we were tonight and put himself in good position to get the points. Hats off to [Gragson]. At least we got one [JR Motorsports] car going to the Playoffs. It’s super disappointing. Everybody at JR Motorsports works so hard on this No. 7 team. A lot of averages says we’ve been in it the last so many years. At some point, you’re gonna have to have a bad year – by bad, fifth going into the final round – but still just disappointing.”
Brandon Jones, who came into Martinsville in a “must-win” situation, ended his night in sixth place as he also failed to transfer past the Round of 8 for a second consecutive season. He will remain at Joe Gibbs Racing in the Xfinity circuit for the 2022 season.
“I just don’t think that we quite had the balance we did here in the spring,” Jones said. “Similar conditions, so I was expecting to be fairly fast here today. Then there at the end, just kind of fell back away from it. We got to go dissect this a little bit, figure out where we can continue to be better. We can still go to Phoenix and win that race. I truly believe we can do that. That’s still on my mind. It’s still my goal to go win one of these races before the start of next year, to get some momentum built back up here. We kept fighting. Hate that we missed [the Championship 4 round] again. We’ll keep going, man. We’re gonna keep trying to figure out how to do this.”
Allmendinger, who will contend for his first NASCAR national touring series championship, finished seventh followed by Alex Labbe, Clements and Herbst.
“It’s been an amazing year here at Kaulig Racing,” Allmendinger said. “To win five times, win a Cup race. At the end of the day, you just want a chance at Phoenix. We know it’s gonna come down to four really strong cars. We’ve got some work to do. We definitely, I think, lost a little bit of speed over the last couple of months, taking out the Roval. We’ll go to work hard this week. We’ve been planning for this, all the men and women at Kaulig Racing. We’ve been getting our Phoenix car ready for the last five weeks, planning that we’re gonna be there…We did what we had to do. Got a seventh-place finish there. At the end of the day, we’re going for a championship.”
AJ Allmendinger, Austin Cindric, Noah Gragson and Daniel Hemric have made the Championship 4 round and will contend for the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship. Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Harrison Burton and Justin Haley have been eliminated from title contention.
“That sucks, right?” Burton said. “Obviously, we put ourselves in this position and we needed to perform better throughout the year, to not be in this position. The last two weeks, I felt like [I] could’ve won the race. I don’t know. It’s a tough system to win. That’s what makes it fun for the fans, makes it fun for us. We just need to perform better. It’s that simple. We had a winning car today. Just so many things have to go right in racing to win and it makes it challenging to do it at the drop of a dime. We just had a couple things go wrong. Just a bummer deal that we didn’t get to show our speed at the end. Wish we could’ve won this thing. I felt like we were capable of it. I had times better than [Gragson] and really everybody. Just needed to show it.”
“We weren’t very good anyway,” Haley said. “It was inevitable. The brakes just went to the floor. I was either gonna wreck or spin out. That’ll happen. We’ll move on. I’m glad that AJ’s in the final four for Phoenix and go get [team owner] Matt Kaulig that championship trophy.”
To go along with the driver’s championship battle, the following teams will contend for the 2021 Xfinity Series owner’s title: Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 54 Toyota Supra piloted by John Hunter Nemechek, JR Motorsports’ No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro piloted by Gragson, Kaulig Racing’s No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro piloted by Allmendinger and Team Penske’s No. 22 Ford Mustang piloted by Cindric.
There were 13 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured 13 cautions for 75 laps.
Results.
1. Noah Gragson, 153 laps led, Stage 2 winner
2. Austin Cindric, 64 laps led, Stage 1 winner
3. Daniel Hemric, 18 laps led
4. Sam Mayer
5. Justin Allgaier
6. Brandon Jones
7. AJ Allmendinger
8. Alex Labbe
9. Jeremy Clements
10. Riley Herbst
11. Josh Williams
12. Landon Cassill
13. Myatt Snider
14. Colin Garrett
15. Joe Graf Jr.
16. JJ Yeley
17. Jade Buford
18. Preston Pardus
19. Brett Moffitt
20. Harrison Burton, two laps led
21. Stephen Leicht
22. Jeffrey Earnhardt
23. Ryan Ellis
24. David Starr
25. Natalie Decker
26. Akinori Ogata
27. Ty Gibbs, 16 laps led
28. Josh Berry, one lap down
29. Matt Mills, two laps down
30. Spencer Boyd, three laps down
31. Ryan Sieg, four laps down
32. Ryan Vargas, eight laps down
33. Justin Haley – OUT, Brakes
34. Kyle Weatherman, 36 laps down
35. Bayley Currey, 45 laps down
36. Brandon Brown – OUT, Accident
37. Jeb Burton – OUT, Accident
38. Michael Annett – OUT, Accident
39. Mike Harmon – OUT, Overheating
40. Tommy Joe Martins – OUT, Rear gear
Bold indicates Playoff contenders.
Playoff standings.
1. Noah Gragson – Advanced
2. Austin Cindric – Advanced
3. Daniel Hemric – Advanced
4. AJ Allmendinger – Advanced
5. Justin Allgaier – Eliminated
6. Justin Haley – Eliminated
7. Brandon Jones – Eliminated
8. Harrison Burton – Eliminated
With the championship field set, the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series is set to conclude at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, November 6, at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, where a champion will be crowned.
