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  • Hamlin wins a wild, controversial race at Talladega; advances to Playoff’s Round of 8

    Hamlin wins a wild, controversial race at Talladega; advances to Playoff’s Round of 8

    In a controversial finish for the ages, Denny Hamlin concluded a conservative afternoon of running towards the rear of the field to emerge victorious on the final lap in the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, October 4.

    Entering the final turn, Hamlin was in fifth place. He then made a controversial move on the apron and below the double yellow line zone to avoid contact between teammate Erik Jones and Chris Buescher before he outraced Matt DiBenedetto and William Byron across the tri-oval to emerge out in front at the finish line and grab the win. The victory at Talladega all but advanced Hamlin into the Round of 8 in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

    The starting lineup was based on four statistical categories: current owner standings, the driver’s result from a previous Cup race, the team owner’s result from a previous Cup race and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Denny Hamlin started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Kurt Busch, winner of last weekend’s Playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    Prior to the race, Cody Ware started at the rear of the field due to a driver change along with Brennan Poole and Timmy Hill, both due to failing pre-race technical inspection twice.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Hamlin received a push from teammate Martin Truex Jr. to jump to an early lead through the backstretch. Just as the field was entering Turn 3, the first caution of the race flew when Christopher Bell spun in the middle of the turn after cutting a left-rear tire and was hit on the left side by Tyler Reddick, who sustained front-nose damage to the front of his No. 8 Caterpillar Next Gen Dozers Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. In addition, Bubba Wallace made contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. while avoiding the wreck while Ty Dillon received little damage from the wreck. Following the wreck, all but Bell continued.

    The race restarted under green on Lap 4 with Hamlin and Kurt Busch on the front row. At the start, Hamlin jumped ahead with the lead and moved in front of teammates Truex and Kyle Busch on the outside lane while also blocking both lanes with Kurt Busch leading the inside lane.

    By the sixth lap, the three Joe Gibbs Racing Playoff contenders led by Hamlin and followed by Truex and Kyle Busch were leading the field followed by Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski. Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano, Aric Almirola and Alex Bowman were running in the top 10 with Chase Elliott running in 11th place.

    The caution returned a few laps later when contact from John Hunter Nemechek sent Stenhouse sliding in Turn 4 before he backed his No. 47 Hungry Jack Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE hard into the inside wall with significant rear-end damage. The wreck was enough to end Stenhouse’s day in the garage.

    Following two early cautions of the race, the race restarted under green on Lap 13 with teammates Hamlin and Truex on the front row. At the start, Hamlin moved his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry in front of teammate Truex’s No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry on the inside lane to retain the lead while Harvick made a move beneath Kyle Busch’s No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry to move into third place, thus moving Busch in the middle lane. With the field entering the backstretch, a third lane started forming with Brad Keselowski peaking to the outside lane followed by Bowyer. Shortly after, the caution flew due to Corey LaJoie stalling his car just past the start/finish line. 

    The race restarted on Lap 15 with teammates Hamlin and Truex on the front row. At the start, Hamlin retained the lead and was able to block all runs from the top lane led by Harvick and the bottom lane with Truex trailing behind while continuing to lead the race when the field cycled back to the start/finish line. 

    On Lap 17, Joey Logano, racing in his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang, emerged with the lead following a run on the outside lane of Hamlin and receiving a push from Harvick. The following lap, the field expanded to three lanes with Hamlin leading the middle lane and Truex leading the inside lane while Logano continued to lead the race on the outside lane. 

    Not long after, Hamlin was able to move in front of Logano’s front nose on the outside lane in Turn 3 to reassume the lead. With that, Hamlin emerged out in front of Logano and Harvick while Keselowski and Bowyer were in the top five. 

    By Lap 22, names like Cole Custer, Ryan Preece, Bubba Wallace, Chris Buescher, Daniel Suarez and Matt DiBenedetto were running in the top 10 while Hamlin continued to lead Logano, Harvick and Bowyer. In addition, the field settled into racing on two lanes with a majority racing on the outside lane led by Hamlin and some racing on the inside lane led by DiBenedetto.

    The following lap, the inside lane led by DiBenedetto gained a run for the lead through the tri-oval and entering Turn 4, but Hamlin moved in front of DiBenedetto to block the run. Through the following lap, Hamlin was able to block both lanes with a number of competitors charging with runs and retain the lead when the competition caution flew on Lap 25. By then, six of the remaining 12 Playoff contenders led by Hamlin were running in the top 10 while Truex and Austin Dillon were in 11th and 12th. Elliott was in 14th while Kurt Busch, Alex Bowman and Keselowski were in 21st, 22nd and 23rd.

    Under the competition caution, the leaders pitted and Aric Almirola, racing in his No. 10 Smithfield Power Bites Ford Mustang, emerged with the lead after only taking fuel to his car. Logano, Bowyer, DiBenedetto, Hamlin and Blaney, all of whom also went with fuel only on their stops, followed suit. During the pit stops, Bowyer nearly made contact with Matt Kenseth while exiting his pit stall while Kenseth was trying to enter his. In addition, Kyle Busch overshot his pit stall and dropped all the way back to 15th place. Also, Chase Elliott was sent to the rear of the field due to speeding on pit road.

    The race restarted under green on Lap 30 and Almirola jumped ahead with the lead while receiving a push from DiBenedetto. The following lap, four Fords were running first through fourth with Almirola leading followed by Ryan Blaney, DiBenedetto and Joey Logano. 

    Entering the backstretch, Hamlin dropped below the double yellow line and surrendered his track position towards the front to fall to the rear of the field and avoid the early pack racing. The following lap, Harvick dropped his No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Mustang below the double yellow line and surrendered his track position towards the front to fall to the rear of the field and avoid the early pack racing.

    At the front, two lanes formed with Blaney and his No. 12 Menards/Pennzoil Ford Mustang leading the outside lane and going for the lead while Almirola continued to lead from the inside lane. By then, Erik Jones moved up to third place behind Blaney while Truex, Logano, Bowyer and Kyle Busch were running inside the top 10. In addition, Jimmie Johnson started to make his move towards the top 10 while Elliott was in 12th place following his pit road speeding penalty. 

    On Lap 35, Jones emerged with the lead while Blaney fought back on the inside lane followed by Almirola. The following lap, Blaney returned to the lead with Almirola running behind him on the inside lane. Jones, meanwhile, continued to run on the outside lane and in front of teammates Truex and Kyle Busch while Suarez joined the party.

    By Lap 40, Jones was back out front while three lanes started to form behind him. Teammates Truex and Kyle Busch were in second and third followed by Blaney and Almirola while Suarez led the middle lane in sixth place while receiving a push from Keselowski.

    Two laps later, the field settled into racing by two lanes with Blaney leading a bevy of cars on the outside lane and Jones leading a bevy of cars on the inside lane. Shortly after, Blaney moved in front of teammates Keselowski and Logano to retain the lead and clear of the pack while Chris Buescher joined the party.

    By Lap 50, Logano emerged with the lead as the field returned to racing between two lanes in a pack. Jones was in second followed by Blaney, Kyle Busch and Keselowski while Elliott was in sixth place. Shortly after, Jones led a lap before Elliott aggressively made his move to the front of the pack. With Elliott leading, Bubba Wallace moved into second place followed by Kyle Busch, Cole Custer and Kurt Busch while Logano fell back to sixth place. Austin Dillon moved into eighth place while Blaney and Jones fell back to ninth and 10th. 

    Meanwhile, Hamlin and Harvick were in 26th and 27th while Truex was in 17th, Bowman was in 15th and Keselowski was in 13th. Austin Dillon and Almirola were in 10th and 11th as the laps in the first stage were dwindling. 

    After leading three laps, Kurt Busch made his move for the lead before Almirola peaked below Busch’s No. 1 Gearwrench Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE and reassumed the lead. 

    With the laps in the first stage winding down, the pack running at the front started to fan out into three lanes with a multitude of Playoff competitors making moves towards the front. With three laps remaining in the first stage, however, the caution flew when contact from Bowman, who was being pushed by Logano, and Almirola turned Almirola sideways across the outside wall in the backstretch with both competitors pinned against one another and the outside wall. Behind, Kyle Busch was turned and his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota briefly came off the ground before he spun and made contact with Blaney. He was able to limp back to pit road and receive repairs to remain on the lead lap along with Bowman.

    Returning to pit road, Almirola expressed his displeasure to Bowman on pit road before he retired from the race. The wreck and retirement from the race placed Almirola in a “must-win” scenario for next weekend’s Playoff elimination race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval. 

    “I’m okay,” Almirola said at the infield care center on NBC. “I honestly haven’t seen the replay, so it’s hard to say, but I got hit from behind and turned in the outside fence. It’s such a shame. We had such a fast Smithfield Power Bites Ford Mustang. I’m just disappointed. We were doing everything we needed to do. We were closing in to the end of stage one and it looked like we were gonna score a lot of points there, which is exactly what we needed to do. It looks like [Bowman] got to my outside and my car started to turn to the right, so it’s unfortunate. I don’t know if he got in the back of me and hooked me or how that played out, but my car just made a hard right into the fence. It’s unfortunate.”

    With the first stage concluding under caution on Lap 60, Chris Buescher emerged out in front as he claimed his first career stage victory. Logano settled in second place followed by Austin Dillon, Keselowski and Jones while Elliott, Reddick, Truex Kurt Busch and Custer settled in the top 10. Moments after, Austin Dillon, who sustained damage from the late multi-car wreck, limped to pit road with a flat left-rear tire.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Elliott emerged out in front following a stellar four-tire pit stop from the No. 9 NAPA crew. Keselowski exited in second place followed by Buescher, Jones and Truex. Following the pit stops, a handful of competitors, including Harvick, were penalized due to an uncontrolled tire violation.

    The second stage started under green on Lap 65 and with Elliott and Keselowski on the front row. At the start, Keselowski was able to emerge out in front for the first time and lead Lap 66 with Jones and Custer tucked behind Keselowski’s No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang. 

    A few laps later, the caution flew due to debris in Turn 2 that came off of the damaged No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry of Kyle Busch, who blew a left-front tire and was running at the rear of the field along with Logano, Harvick and Hamlin. Following repairs, Busch was able to remain on the lead lap.

    Under caution, a handful of competitors, including Elliott, Truex, William Byron, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Suarez, Ty Dillon, Kurt Busch, Wallace, Nemechek, Austin Dillon, Ryan Newman, Harvick and Hamlin pitted while the rest led by Buescher and Keselowski remained on the track. Following the pit stops, however, Hamlin was nabbed with a pit road speeding penalty.

    When the race restarted on Lap 73, Buescher jumped ahead and moved in front of Keselowski to retain the lead. Returning to the tri-oval and the start/finish line, the field at the front expanded to two lanes with Jones leading the outside lane while Buescher continued to lead on the inside lane. 

    Shortly after, Jones received a push from Michael McDowell to move back into the lead with Hendrick Motorsports’ teammates Elliott, Byron and Jimmie Johnson lined up on the outside lane. By then, Keselowski was the only Playoff contender running in the top 10. Austin Dillon, Kurt Busch and Bowyer were in 16th, 17th and 18th while Bowman, Logano, Hamlin, Truex, Harvick were running in 26th through 30th. Kyle Busch was back in 32nd place behind veteran Brendan Gaughan.

    By Lap 80, Buescher continued to lead on the inside lane with the pack fanning out to two lanes. Keselowski was in second place followed by Reddick, Custer and Ryan Preece while Nemechek, DiBenedetto, Kenseth, Jones and Elliott. In addition, the first-place car of Buescher and the 19th-place car of Austin Dillon were separated by less than two seconds. 

    Two laps later, Jones returned to the lead by a nose over DiBenedetto while Elliott made his move into third place. Buescher fell back to fifth place in front of Keselowski and next to Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.

    By Lap 85, Jones continued to lead Elliott on the inside lane and a pack of cars fanning out to two lanes while William Byron was the first car running on the outside lane in fifth place. 

    A lap later, a bevy of Chevrolet competitors led by Elliott made a pit stop under green. The next lap, the caution flew due to Blaney making contact with the Turn 3 outside wall after cutting a tire. By then, DiBenedetto was out in front followed by Buescher, Keselowski, Logano and Bowyer, all of whom had yet to make a pit stop. Also, Kyle Busch was spared from falling a lap behind the leaders. 

    Under caution, a majority of lead lap competitors pitted and Harvick exited in first place after pitting for only fuel. Reddick exited in second place followed by Kenseth, Nemechek, Suarez and Truex.

    The race restarted on Lap 92 with teammates Elliott and Byron occupying the front row. At the start, Elliott moved in front of Byron to retain the lead. By then, Elliott was at the front of a six-car Chevrolet group on the inside lane while Chevrolet competitor Ryan Preece was the first competitor racing on the outside lane followed by Ty Dillon and Reddick.

    By Lap 95 and with the race passing its halfway mark, Elliott continued to lead followed by teammate Byron, Kurt Busch, teammate Johnson and Bubba Wallace while Kenseth, Suarez, Ty Dillon, Reddick and Bowyer were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Logano was in 13th, Austin Dillon was in 15th and Keselowski and Truex were in 19th and 20th. Bowman, Hamlin and Harvick were in 29th, 30th and 31st while Kyle Busch was in 26th.

    Five laps later, on Lap 100, Elliott continued to lead followed by teammate Byron, Kurt Busch, teammate Johnson and Wallace. Kenseth, Suarez, Bowyer and Austin Dillon settled in sixth through ninth while Jones made a move beneath Ty Dillon to move into 10th place. Prior to this, Custer got loose following contact from Logano while racing in the middle of the pack, but he was able to prevent his car from spinning in the middle of the pack, though he lost his momentum and the draft towards the front.

    Another five laps later, on Lap 105, Elliott retained the lead followed by teammate Byron, Kurt Busch, Wallace and Kenseth while Johnson moved up the outside lane while being pushed by Logano in a two-lane pack racing for the lead. By then, Elliott, Kurt Busch, Logano and Austin Dillon were the only Playoff contenders running in the top 10 while Bowyer, who was running near the front a few laps earlier, fell back to 17th place.

    Another two laps later, Johnson, racing with a piece of tape on the front nose of his No. 48 Chevrolet, led a lap before he was shuffled back. The following lap and with the field fanning out to three-wide racing, a multi-car wreck erupted on the frontstretch that started when contact from Bowyer turned Johnson sideways as he clipped Kurt Busch, who made head-on contact into the outside wall and went airborne on top of Custer’s No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang before he came to rest on all four wheels without being turned over, but with significant damage to the No. 1 Gearwrench Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. The wreck collected a total of 13 competitors, including Bowyer, Keselowski, Preece, Austin Dillon, Suarez, Joey Gase, Brennan Poole, Kyle Busch and Brendan Gaughan, who concluded his final NASCAR career start with a wrecked car. The wreck eliminated Bowyer for the remainder of the race as he also faces a “must-win” situation next weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval to retain his title hopes. Following the wreck, Johnson voiced his frustrations at Bowyer over the contact.

    “You’ve got to go,” Bowyer said in the infield care center on NBC. “You’ve got to push [Johnson]…As soon as I got to him, I push him in the front and the whole rear of the car went down and I was like, ‘Oh my God,’ and before I know it he was tank swapping all over the place. I don’t know if that was how they had their cars built or whatever, but as soon as you got close to him he was all over the place. Obviously didn’t mean to wreck him, but you’re going hard and three-wide and people are behind you pushing. I was hoping he would save it, but he didn’t and we all wrecked.”

    “Yeah, it was a wild ride,” Kurt Busch said. “That’s the nature of this sport. You’re on top one week with a win and everything’s fantastic. And then this week here at Talladega, we were hoping for a nice, smooth run and to gain some points. I was just doing my job as a Chevy helper running top-five and next thing you know, I’m going for one of the wildest rides I’ve ever been in.”

    Following the wreck, the race was red-flagged for 10 minutes and 27 seconds. When the red flag lifted and the competitors resumed under cautious pace, some that included Hamlin, Harvick, Truex, Bowman and Blaney pitted while the rest led by Elliott and Byron remained on the track. By then, Kyle Busch, Johnson, Austin Dillon and Keselowski continued following the multi-car wreck on the frontstretch.

    With seven laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted under green as Elliott retained the lead over teammate Byron and Logano. Shortly after, Logano received a draft from DiBenedetto to return to the lead the following lap. 

    With five laps remaining in the second stage, Logano and his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang was still leading followed by DiBenedetto, Buescher and Truex while Elliott and Reddick battled dead even in two lanes for fifth place. 

    Two laps later, Truex gained a run on the outside lane to lead a lap over Logano. Entering the backstretch, DiBenedetto got forced below the double yellow line zone following contact with Logano, but he was able to blend back on the track inside the top 10 without being assessed a penalty. Shortly after, Reddick led a lap before Truex moved back into the lead followed by Elliott. 

    At the start of the final lap of the second stage, Truex emerged with the lead followed by Keselowski, Buescher and Elliott while Logano dropped back after being told that he was being assessed a penalty for forcing DiBenedetto below the double yellow line zone. Entering the tri-oval, Truex and Keselowski managed to pull away from the pack and then, Truex was able to roll to the second stage win on Lap 120 and claim his fifth stage victory of the season. Keselowski settled in second place followed by Buescher, Elliott and Nemechek while Byron, Blaney, Preece, Ty Dillon and Wallace settled in the top 10. 

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Truex retained the lead after exiting pit road in first place. Keselowski exited in second place followed by Jones, Reddick, Quin Houff, Bowman and Elliott. By then, Austin Dillon took his No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to the garage for repairs. Once he returned, he was two laps behind the leaders.

    With 63 laps remaining, the final stage commenced under green with Truex and Keselowski occupying the front row. At the start, Truex jumped ahead until Keselowski gained a huge run on the backstretch to move back into the lead. With Keselowski in the lead, Truex settled behind him in second place and in front of teammate Jones while Reddick started to form a line on the outside lane and a run towards the front followed by Bowman, Kenseth and Wallace.

    Three laps later, with 60 laps remaining, Keselowski was still ahead of Reddick as the pack towards the front fanned out to three-wide racing. On the backstretch, Wallace started to challenge Keselowski for the lead while Elliott bailed out of the lead pack.

    With 55 laps remaining and most of the competitors at the front settling into single-file racing, Wallace continued to lead followed by Bowman, who was continuing to run strong despite a patched-up front nose and following 11 pit stops. Kenseth was in third place followed by Buescher, Preece, Keselowski, Nemechek, Reddick, Jones and Blaney. By then, Blaney formed a pack running on the outside lane before Keselowski and Buescher moved in front of him to gain a draft and run for the lead over Wallace.

    Another five laps later, with 50 laps remaining, Logano was back at the front followed by Byron and Ty Dillon while Keselowski was dead even with Jones for fourth place. By then, Wallace was back in 10th, Bowman was in 13th and Truex was in 20th while Blaney and Harvick moved up to seventh and eighth. In addition, Kyle Busch was in 22nd, Hamlin was in 25th and Austin Dillon was in 27th, two laps behind. Johnson was in 28th, 10 laps behind the leaders.

    Down to the final 45 laps of the race and the entire pack running in a single-file line on the outside lane, Logano continued to lead followed by Byron, Ty Dillon, Jones and Preece while Harvick, Keselowski, Wallace, Kenseth and Blaney were scored in the top 10. By then, Logano, Harvick and Keselowski were the only Playoff contenders running inside the top 10. Teammates Elliott and Bowman were in 12th and 13th, Truex was in 18th and Kyle Busch was in 21st. Hamlin was still in 25th while Austin Dillon was still mired in 27th. 

    With 40 laps remaining, the caution flew due to debris coming off of Jimmie Johnson’s damaged No. 48 Chevrolet. Under caution, the leaders pitted and Logano retained the lead over Harvick, Jones, Byron and Kenseth upon exiting pit road. Prior to the restart, some like Elliott, Hamlin, DiBenedetto, Newman, Reddick, Bowman, Kyle Busch and Wallace pitted again for fuel.

    The race restarted under green with 36 laps remaining. At the start, Logano cleared and moved in front of Harvick to retain the lead while Byron was the first competitor racing on the outside lane followed by Preece and Keselowski. Behind, Hamlin bailed out of the heavy pack racing for the lead once again. 

    At the front, Byron assumed the lead followed by Preece while Logano and Keselowski were back in third and fourth. The following lap, with 35 laps remaining, Logano moved back into the lead followed by Preece and Keselowski. Behind, Brennan Poole moved into fourth place followed by Buescher and DiBenedetto. Shortly after, Poole was shuffled out of the lead pack along with Byron while Logano, who was racing on fumes and who was uncertain about having enough fuel to make it to the finish, led a bevy of competitors racing in a single-file lane on the outside lane.

    With 30 laps remaining, Logano continued to lead followed by Preece, Keselowski, Buescher and DiBenedetto while Elliott started to gain a run as the first car to lead the inside lane. By then, Cody Ware made an appearance in the top 10 while Wallace was in 12th in front of Newman, Blaney and Nemechek. Five laps later, with 25 laps remaining, the field fanned out into two-wide racing as Logano and Wallace battled for the lead. 

    Down to the final 20 laps of the race, Elliott emerged back out in front while Logano started to fight back for the lead on the outside lane. Byron was in third place followed by Keselowski and Harvick while Preece, Wallace, Kenseth, Ty Dillon and Buescher were scored in the top 10 ahead of Truex.

    With 15 laps remaining, Logano was leading followed by teammate Keselowski, Preece, Wallace and Buescher. Meanwhile, Truex, Elliott and Bowman were in the top 10 while Kyle Busch was in 15th. Harvick was in 17th while Hamlin was in 23rd.

    With 10 laps remaining, Logano received a push from Keselowski to retain the lead over Wallace with Preece and Buescher in the top five. Logano continued to lead the outside pack while Wallace was the first car on the inside lane in front of Elliott and Byron. A lap later, Keselowski got shuffled out as Wallace made another bid for the lead over Logano.

    Down to the final seven laps of the race, Wallace, racing in his No. 43 World Wide Technology Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, continued to lead on the outside lane in front of Logano while DiBenedetto made a bid on the inside lane, thus shoving Elliott out of the draft. A lap later, a bump from Preece sent Wallace scraping the backstretch outside wall as he fell out of contention for the lead with damage on the right side of the No. 43 Chevrolet. 

    Shortly after and just as Wallace was coming to pit road for service, the caution flew due to a spin involving James Davison in Turn 4. Under caution, some like Truex, Hamlin and Jones pitted while the rest led by Logano, DiBenedetto and Keselowski remained on the track.

    The race was sent into overtime and with Logano and DiBenedetto on the front row. At the start, Logano retrained the lead over teammate Keselowski and DiBenedetto. Entering Turns 3 and 4, however, Elliott gained a huge run and made a bold crossover move beneath Logano to retain the lead despite Logano making contact and barely forcing Elliott below the double yellow line. In addition, Byron made a move on the outside lane while Logano was shuffled back in the middle lane. 

    Just as Elliott and Byron were approaching the start/finish line to start the final lap, the caution flew for a multi-car wreck on the tri-oval that started when Reddick turned Kyle Busch into Logano as the carnage involved Harvick, Truex, Bowman and Newman. The wreck ended the long afternoon for Kyle Busch, who emerged uninjured out of his battered No. 18 M&M’s Toyota and made the trip to the infield care center.

    “The car was just real slow due to all of the damage, obviously, so I’m just holding up the line,” Kyle Busch said on NBC. “I was trying to draft off the guys in front of me and I’m pushing too much backwards on the guys that are trying to push me forwards and it creates a wreck. Oh, well. The M&M’s Camry guys did a great job and just wish there was more for it.”

    The race was red flagged for nearly 11 minutes following the second multi-car wreck that collected a number of Playoff contenders. When the red flag lifted and the field resumed under cautious pace, some like Byron, Keselowski, Newman, Blaney, Jones, Bowman, Truex and Harvick pitted while the rest led by Elliott and DiBenedetto remained on the track. Following his involvement in the wreck, Logano was penalized a second time for forcing Elliott below the double yellow line zone. He, however, was unable to re-fire from the red flag period and was pushed by a wrecker back to the garage, where his race concluded.

    With the race restarting under green on a second overtime attempt, Elliott, who reported fuel concerns, jumped out with the lead, but was placed in a three-wide situation on the backstretch in between Preece and DiBenedetto. Entering Turns 3 and 4, Wallace gained a run on the outside lane, but he turned across the front nose of Preece’s No. 37 Kroger Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. The contact sent Wallace into the outside wall with heavy front nose damage, where Blaney was also collected along with Kenseth, Bowman and Austin Dillon, who had just worked his way back on the lead lap, as the caution flew and sent the race into a third overtime attempt. The wreck was enough to end Wallace’s run following a strong late charge towards the front and after leading a career-high 10 laps. 

    Under caution, Elliott pitted along with Nemechek, Timmy Hill, Keselowski, Preece and Austin Dillon while the rest led by DiBenedetto and Denny Hamlin remained on the track. By then, Buescher, Ty Dillon and Byron were in the top five followed by Newman, Cody Ware, Quin Houff, Erik Jones and Reddick.

    In the third overtime attempt, DiBenedetto, in pursuit of his first Cup career win, peaked ahead over Hamlin and cleared the field entering the backstretch and with Buescher pushing him. DiBenedetto retained the lead for a full cycle around the track with Buescher and Byron behind. 

    When he started the final lap, however, DiBenedetto was being pressured by Byron, Buescher and Jones for the lead. In Turns 1 and 2 and through the backstretch, Jones pushed DiBenedetto out with the lead as Buescher and Byron were gaining a run on the front two for the lead. 

    With Cody Ware wrecking behind, Buescher and Jones made contact entering Turns 3 and 4 on the outside lane. Their contact allowed Byron to gain a run at DiBenedetto for the lead on the inside lane. Then, DiBenedetto drove all the way down to the bottom and made contact with Byron, forcing Byron below the double yellow line. 

    Out of the blue, Hamlin, who was in fifth entering the turns and drove on the apron and below the double yellow line zone to avoid the contact ensuing between Jones and Buescher, stormed to the front and challenged for the lead in a three-wide battle with Byron and DiBenedetto as Keselowski spun behind following contact with Reddick. Through the tri-oval and coming back to the finish line, Hamlin was able to emerge out in front of DiBenedetto to win in a photo finish while Byron was shuffled back to a top-five result. 

    Though the finish went under review following the race’s conclusion, NASCAR declared Hamlin as the official winner and his move beneath the double yellow line legal since he was trying to avoid contact and a potential wreck ensuing in front of him.

    With his unprecedented seventh victory of the season, second at Talladega and the 44th of his NASCAR Cup Series career, which moved him into a tie with childhood hero and Hall of Famer Bill Elliott for 18th place on the all-time Cup wins list, Hamlin locked himself into the Round of 8 in the Playoffs as he continues his pursuit for his first Cup championship. Following his celebratory burnout and salute to the fans, Hamlin dedicated the win to J.J. Damato, an executive and VP/Marketing Services at Joe Gibbs Racing who died a day ago at age 48.

    “Just a lot of attrition,” Hamlin said on NBC. “We just played the strategy and the numbers game to run in the back until we were locked in. Just things worked out. We finally got one back. This one was unexpected to say the least, but proud of this whole FedEx team, Toyota and everyone at JGR for bringing great race cars…Really excited about this win. This was unexpected for sure. They were crashing in front of us. Obviously, I got forced down there just like [DiBenedetto] and others did. There were a bunch of us that all crashed down there…Just an amazing day.”

    DiBenedetto, who initially settled in second place for the third time this season, was left with tears of disappointment in coming up short in delivering his first victory and the historic 100th win for the Wood Brothers Racing team as he has yet to announce his racing plans for next season.

    “It’s just a crazy finish,” DiBenedetto said on NBC. “I haven’t been able to really process it. I just really want to get this thing in Victory Lane. This Tuscany Faucets team. I feel like this is the same story a lot of times, just heartbreak. My wife and I have had a stressful week again just with the uncertainty — always fighting for my life — but I’m so appreciative of this team. The Wood Brothers, I want this 100th win for the Woods so bad. Our alliance with Team Penske, Ford — I appreciate them putting me in this car. It’s so much fun to drive and have a shot to win. Denny did a great job. Deja vu. Holy cow. Denny deserves all the support in the world. He’s an incredible racer. He was my biggest threat. I tried to block all I could. My spotter, Doug, did a great job. This is tough…My windshield was filthy from all the speedy dry. I was having trouble seeing to block. I was blocking everyone’s lane. I mean, that was pure desperation, but that’s how I drive every race. Every time I step foot in a race car. I’m appreciative for the challenges I’ve faced. That’s what it teaches you when you have those shots…Wild finish. That’s Talladega. I’m glad the fans got a great show. I just hope to win races. I know we can do it.”

    Following the race, however, DiBenedetto was penalized for forcing Byron below the double yellow line that involved contact. With that, DiBenedetto was credited with a 21st-place result.

    Chase Elliott was also penalized for going below the double yellow line through the tri-oval and was originally scored back to 22nd place. Following the race, however, NASCAR rescinded the penalty on Elliott after it was discovered that Elliott was forced beneath the yellow line by Buescher. With that, Buescher was penalized all the way back to 22nd place while Elliott retained fifth place on the track.

    Following DiBenedetto’s penalty, Erik Jones was scored in second place followed by Ty Dillon, who notched a career-best result. Byron settled in fourth place in front of teammate Elliott. Newman, Reddick, Nemechek, Poole and Preece rounded out the top 10 on the track.

    Austin Dillon limped home in 12th place, two spots ahead of Bowman, while Keselowski fell all the way back in 18th place. Harvick settled in 20th place while Truex ended his run in 23rd place. Jimmie Johnson finished in 29th place in his 38th and final run at Talladega.

    There were 58 lead changes for 18 different leaders. The race featured a record 13 cautions for 54 laps.

    Results.

    1. Denny Hamlin, 26 laps led

    2. Erik Jones, 13 laps led

    3. Ty Dillon

    4. William Byron, one lap led

    5. Chase Elliott, 41 laps led

    6. Ryan Newman

    7. Tyler Reddick, two laps led

    8. John Hunter Nemechek

    9. Brennan Poole

    10. Ryan Preece

    11. Justin Haley

    12. Austin Dillon

    13. Quin Houff

    14. Alex Bowman

    15. Timmy Hill, one lap led

    16. Matt Kenseth

    17. Joey Gase

    18. Brad Keselowski, six laps led

    19. Cody Ware, one lap led

    20. Kevin Harvick, two laps led

    21. Matt DiBenedetto, 10 laps led

    22. Chris Buescher, 15 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    23. Martin Truex Jr., two laps down, six laps led, Stage 2 winner

    24. Bubba Wallace – OUT, Accident, 10 laps led

    25. Ryan Blaney – OUT, Accident, 10 laps led

    26. Joey Logano – OUT, Accident, 45 laps led

    27. Kyle Busch – OUT, Accident

    28. Corey LaJoie, 12 laps down

    29. Jimmie Johnson – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    30. James Davison, 82 laps down

    31. Cole Custer – OUT, Accident

    32. Kurt Busch – OUT, Accident

    33. Clint Bowyer – OUT, Accident

    34. Daniel Suarez – OUT, Accident

    35. Brendan Gaughan – OUT, Accident

    36. Michael McDowell – OUT, one lap led

    37. Aric Almirola – OUT, Accident, nine laps led

    38. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident

    39. Christopher Bell – OUT, Accident

    Playoff standings.

    1. Denny Hamlin – Advanced

    2. Kurt Busch – Advanced

    3. Kevin Harvick +68

    4. Chase Elliott +44

    5. Brad Keselowski +41

    6. Martin Truex Jr. +32

    7. Alex Bowman +22

    8. Joey Logano +21

    9. Kyle Busch -21

    10. Austin Dillon -21

    11. Clint Bowyer -38

    12. Aric Almirola -48

    With the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs reaching its halfway point, the series will travel to the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course for the Bank of America ROVAL 400 and the final Playoff event in the Round of 12. The race will occur on Sunday, October 11, at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Haley sweeps Talladega; clinches Round of 8 spot

    Haley sweeps Talladega; clinches Round of 8 spot

    Emerging as a serious dark horse candidate for this year’s NASCAR Xfinity Series championship battle, Justin Haley won the Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway after rallying from a late pit road penalty, taking the lead with two laps remaining and retaining his advantage following a multi-car wreck on the final lap. The victory was Haley’s third of his Xfinity career and of the season as he punched his ticket into the Round of 8 in the Playoffs.

    The starting lineup was based on four stats: the current owner points standings, driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Xfinity race and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Xfinity race. With that, Chase Briscoe, coming off his dominating win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Noah Gragson. 

    Prior to the race, Austin Hill’s No. 61 AISIN Group Toyota Supra failed pre-race inspection twice, resulting with his team losing pit road selection for next weekend’s series race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval. In addition, drivers like Brandon Jones and Joe Graf Jr. were not in their respective cars as the command to fire engines was given, resulting with both competitors having to hustle to their cars as the engines from the rest of the field were being ignited.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Briscoe jumped ahead with an early lead on the inside lane and was able to move in front of Noah Gragson on the outside lane in Turn 2 to retain the lead. He returned to the inside lane entering the tri-oval, but Gragson gained a run on the outside lane to emerge ahead and lead the first lap.

    The following lap, Justin Allgaier left teammate Gragson out to dry on the outside lane to lead the second lap by a nose over Briscoe as the field expanded to two lanes while battling for positions. 

    By the third lap, Briscoe emerged with the lead to lead a lap for himself for the first time. Behind, Austin Cindric settled behind Briscoe’s No. 98 Ford Performance Racing School Ford Mustang followed by Anthony Alfredo and Justin Haley while Allgaier was the first competitor running on the inside lane followed by teammate Michael Annett.

    Following the first five laps of the race, Briscoe continued to lead followed by Cindric, Alfredo, Allgaier as the field continued to run in two lanes while remaining in the draft and close to one another in a pack.

    Five laps later, on Lap 10, Briscoe and Allgaier battled dead even for the lead and in a double lane battle within the pack. By then, Haley moved up to third place behind Cindric while Alfredo dropped back to 20th place.

    With the field reaching its halfway mark of the first stage, Briscoe continued to run ahead of the pack followed by Cindric, Haley, Brandon Jones, Allgaier, Riley Herbst, Annett, Brandon Brown, Harrison Burton and Ryan Sieg while Ross Chastain and Noah Gragson were running inside the top 16 on the track. 

    With five laps remaining in the first stage and the early double-wide pack racing breaking apart, Briscoe led a single-file line with seven cars on the inside lane while Annett was the first car running on the outside lane in eighth place. By then, A.J. Allmendinger, who started at the rear of the field, cracked the top 15 while Alfredo and Daniel Hemric were running in the top 10 and as the highest-running non-title contenders on the track.

    When the final lap of the first stage started, the field started to expand to two lanes as a multitude of Playoff contenders battled for spots in the top 10 for stage points. When the first stage concluded on Lap 25, Briscoe emerged out in front as he collected his eighth stage victory of the season. Cindric settled in second place followed by Brandon Jones, Haley and Alfredo while Herbst, Sieg, Harrison Burton, Hemric and Allgaier settled in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Brandon Brown, Gragson, Chastain and Annett failed to secure stage points.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Briscoe emerged with the lead following a two-tire pit stop, with Jones, Burton, Cindric and Herbst following behind after two-tire stops.

    The second stage started on Lap 29 with Briscoe and Jones on the front row. At the start, Briscoe moved in front of Jones on the bottom lane to retain the lead. 

    The following lap, Jones led a lap for the first time by a nose over Briscoe on the inside lane and with teammates Harrison Burton and Herbst tucked behind Jones’ No. 19 Menards/Swiffer Toyota Supra. Leading the outside lane was Briscoe followed by Cindric, Sieg, Alfredo, Chastain and Haley.

    Not long after, the outside lane led by Briscoe prevailed with a number of cars opting to run on the outside lane while the inside lane led by Jones fell back due to a lack of cars. Cindric continued to settle in second place behind Briscoe while Alfredo and Sieg made aggressive moves while attempting to move to the front. 

    By Lap 35, drivers like Haley, Hemric, Allgaier, Gragson and Chastain moved up behind Briscoe and Cindric with nearly the entire field opting to run in a single-file line on the outside lane.  

    Five laps later, on Lap 40, Briscoe continued to lead followed by Ford teammate Cindric and Haley while JR Motorsports’ teammates Hemric, Allgaier and Gragson settled in fourth through sixth. Chastain was in seventh place followed by Joe Gibbs Racing’s Harrison Burton and Herbst. Brown and Sieg were in 11th and 12th while Annett was back in 21st place behind Jeffrey Earnhardt. Allmendinger was in 16th place in front of Alfredo and Josh Williams while Myatt Snider, Brett Moffitt and Austin Hill were in the top 15.

    On Lap 42, the caution flew when Austin Hill, in an attempt to side draft Herbst, made contact, turned and sent Herbst for a spin in Turn 4 before he made hard contact into the inside wall at the driver’s door near the pit road entrance before he drove through the tri-oval grass and limped back to his pit stall.

    Under caution, few like Gragson, Annett and Allmendinger pitted while the rest led by Briscoe and Cindric remained on track.

    Prior to the restart with four laps remaining, the leaders stacked up the field and Chastain, who ran into the rear bumper of Hemric in the top 10, was hit by Harrison Burton, who was getting pushed by Sieg and Moffit, as he spun and touched the outside wall before he came back down and was hit by Colby Howard on the right side of his No. 10 Dyna-Gro Seed Chevrolet Camaro. Following the incident, the race was red-flagged for nine minutes due to fluid on the track.

    When the red flag lifted, Chastain limped to pit road as his pit crew went to work to repair the damage and to ensure the car will reach minimum speed under NASCAR’s Damaged Policy guidelines. He was able to return back on the track and in front of the field with the field coming to the restart.

    On a one-lap dash to conclude the second stage, Briscoe retained the lead over Cindric and Haley. When the second stage concluded on Lap 50, Briscoe was able to fend off Cindric and the field to collect his ninth stage victory of the season. Cindric settled in second followed by Hemric, Haley and Allgaier while Harrison Burton, Brandon Jones, Sieg, Brandon Brown and Gragson settled in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Gragson emerged with the lead following a fuel-only pit stop. Briscoe followed behind in second place and on two fresh tires followed by Annett, Cindric, Hemric and Jones. Chastain and Harrison Burton pitted to have their respective cars repaired with both on the lead lap. Prior to this, Herbst took his No. 18 Monster Energy Toyota Supra to the garage and retired from the race following his late incident in the second stage. 

    “It just sucks,” Herbst said at the infield care center on NBCSN. “This is the fastest race car I have ever had on a superspeedway. I was really excited for that. I want to thank everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing for that. It just sucks when a Truck Series guy comes in here to have fun. I’m really good friends with Austin [Hill], so I just hate to see that. If I went into the Truck Series and wrecked his Playoff hopes, he would be upset with me. I’m a little upset. We are not out of it yet. It’s going to be tough at the Roval, but we will see what we will have with the Monster Energy Supra.”

    Following the pit stops, Allgaier was sent to the rear of the field due to having too many crew members over the pit wall. In addition, he also pitted again to address possible fluid concerns to his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro, an issue first noted following the red flag period in the second stage, where he re-fired his car and a billow of smoke was puffing out of the tailpipes of his Camaro.

    With 58 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Allmendinger, Timmy Hill and Moffitt emerged out in front followed by Gragson and Briscoe. Entering the backstretch, the field expanded to three lanes, but Allmendinger retained the lead followed by Gragson, Annett, Hemric and Haley. Briscoe, meanwhile, was in seventh place while Cindric continued to run behind Briscoe.

    At the halfway mark between Laps 56 and 57, Allmendinger continued to lead a bevy of cars running on the outside lane while Briscoe and Cindric fell back inside the top 20 and in front of Allgaier while stuck on the inside lane.

    With 50 laps remaining, Allmendinger continued to lead followed by JRM’s Gragson, Annett and Hemric while Haley, Allmendinger’s teammate at Kaulig Racing, was in fifth place. Sieg was in sixth place followed by Austin Hill, Alfredo, Snider and Jesse Little. Meanwhile, Brandon Jones and Brandon Brown were in 12th and 13th while Briscoe, Chastain, Cindric and Allgaier were in 20th through 23rd behind Ryan Vargas. Harrison Burton was in 25th place behind Jeffrey Earnhardt.

    With 40 laps remaining, Allmendinger and his No. 16 Ellsworth Advisors Chevrolet Camaro continued to lead the way over a multitude of competitors racing on the outside lane. Gragson was in second place followed by teammates Annett and Hemric while Haley, Sieg, Austin Hill, Alfredo, Snider and Little were scored in the top 10. Jones and Brown were still in 12th and 13th, Chastain was in 17th and Allgaier was in 19th. Cindric and Briscoe were back in 20th and 22nd while Harrison Burton was in 26th.

    Two laps later and while a majority of competitors led by Allmendinger moved to the inside lane and were slowing down in an attempt to make a pit stop under green, Austin Hill got hit from behind from Alfredo while backing off the pace and spun before he made head-on contact into the inside wall. Behind, Cindric slipped sideways as he also made contact into the inside wall and damaged the front nose of his No. 22 CARQUEST Auto Parts Ford Mustang beyond repair. The caution immediately flew as Jeffrey Earnhardt was also involved in the carnage. Though the wreck knocked Cindric out of contention for the remainder of the race, the stage points he earned by finishing in second place in both stages kept him above the top-eight cutline in the Playoff standings and with a decent cushion of transferring to the second round of the Playoffs.

    “I just got smoked from behind,” Cindric said at the infield care center on NBCSN. “I had no chance of making it to pit road. It is really unfortunate. Obviously we hit the wall a ton. I really wanted to have a great run for our CARQUEST Ford Mustang and their first race on the car for us. It is really cool to have them back in the sport. We ran up front all day. Unfortunately, circumstances kept me and [Briscoe] from being up front with the way the slower cars stayed out…We were hoping to get ourselves locked into the next round today but we will have to go fight for it next week.”

    At the time of caution, a handful of competitors led by Allmendinger entered pit road at the time the pit road entrance was closed. While some like Allmendinger and Gragson drove through pit road without service, Annett, Ryan Vargas and Haley received service and all three were penalized for pitting too soon.

    Under caution and with the leaders pitting, Brown exited in first place followed by Allgaier, Jones, Chastain and Briscoe, all of whom opted for a fuel-only stop.

    With 30 laps remaining, the race restarted under green with Brandon Brown and Allgaier on the front row. At the start, Brown retained the lead on the inside lane followed by Jones and Chastain while Allgaier and Briscoe battled in the top five. 

    The following lane, Briscoe gained a huge run on the outside lane and drew himself alongside Brown for the lead followed by Allmendinger. Shortly after, the field started to expand into three lanes with Alex Labbe leading a small pack of cars on the outside lane and Jones leading Allgaier, Chastain and a number of competitors on the middle lane while Briscoe moved into the lead over Brown.

    With 26 laps remaining and with Briscoe back in the lead ahead of Allmendinger, Josh Williams moved inside the top five while Brown was shuffled out of the inside lane and back in the middle lane, thus falling out of the top 10. 

    Three laps later, with 23 laps remaining, the outside lane led by Briscoe prevailed with a bevy of competitors opting to run on the outside lane. By then, Briscoe was leading Allmendinger, Jones, Chastain and Labbe while teammates Gragson and Hemric were in sixth and seventh while running on the inside lane. 

    Not long after, the caution flew due to debris on the frontstretch. Under caution, the mechanical issues for Allgaier returned with smoke starting to puff out of the tailpipes of his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro.

    With 18 laps remaining, the race restarted under green and with Briscoe and Allmendinger on the front row. At the start, the inside lane prevailed as Briscoe retained the lead followed by Labbe, Gragson and Hemric while Allmendinger got shuffled back.

    A lap later, Allgaier, who was still dealing with mechanical issues, took his car to the garage and retired for the remainder of the race. At the front, teammates Gragson and Hemric along with Chastain moved up to second, third and fourth while Briscoe continued to lead. In addition, Harrison Burton moved up to fifth place followed by Snider, Moffitt, Alfredo, Sieg, Brown and Jones.

    With 15 laps remaining and a majority of competitors settling on the outside lane in a single-file line, Briscoe, the lone Ford competitor towards the front, continued to lead followed by Chevrolet teammates Gragson, Hemric and Chastain while Burton, the highest-running Toyota competitor, was in fifth place ahead of Alfredo.

    With 10 laps remaining, Briscoe was still scored as the leader followed by teammates Gragson and Hemric with Chastain and Harrison Burton in the top five. By then, Brandon Jones and Brandon Brown were in eighth and ninth followed by Haley, who rallied from his late pit road penalty, while Annett was back in 16th place and the first car on the inside lane.

    With eight laps remaining, Haley started to make moves to the front as he moved into sixth place, two spots behind teammate Chastain, and after making bold moves on the inside lane before settling back in the draft on the outside lane. A few laps later, teammate Allmendinger made his move on the inside lane and started to move into the top five. By then, Briscoe continued to lead over Gragson, Hemric, Chastain and Burton with five laps remaining and with the field starting to jumble up for runs to the front and for the finish.

    With three laps remaining, Haley started to form a line on the inside lane in an attempt for the lead while Briscoe continued to lead the race on the outside lane. Entering Turn 4, Gragson got Briscoe sideways following a bump, but Briscoe was able to prevent the car from spinning out in front of the pack as he continued to battle Gragson on the inside lane for the lead. 

    With two laps remaining, Briscoe moved up the track to block Gragson, which allowed Haley to gain a run on the inside lane and challenge for the lead. In Turn 3, Haley moved into the lead followed by Annett and Sieg while Briscoe and Gragson made contact again, resulting in Briscoe scraping the outside wall and falling out of contention for the win.  

    At the start of the final lap, Haley was still in the lead followed by Annett and Sieg while Gragson continued to battle on the outside lane in fourth place next to Jones. Through the backstretch, a multi-car wreck ensued that involved Harrison Burton, Allmendinger, Snider, Little, Moffitt and Brown. The wreck ended the race under caution as Haley emerged out in front and was able to grab the win. 

    With his win, Haley joined Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. as the only competitors to achieve three consecutive Xfinity Series superspeedway wins. In addition, Haley became the first Xfinity competitor to win two series races at Talladega in one season as he recorded the fourth victory of the season and the sixth overall for Kaulig Racing. Ironically, five of Kaulig Racing’s six career wins in NASCAR have occurred on superspeedway venues.

    “Three in a row is pretty hard to do on luck,” Haley said on NBCSN. “We had that penalty there. We struggled to get back, just bunny hopping. Thankfully, Kevin Hamlin, my spotter, was able to guide me through the bunny hops, being able to go from the bottom. We were so far back with 10 [laps] to go. This LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, these ECR Engines, [Richard Childress Racing], Matt Kaulig, we love you! We got this thing in the Round of 8, that’s the most important. Just super thankful to everyone. This is a blessing.”

    Annett initially settled in second place for his best result of the season since winning the 2019 Xfinity Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway. Following the race, however, Annett was disqualified due to his No. 1 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet Camaro being deemed too low in the left front. As a result, he was credited with a 37th-place result (last place in the field) and dropped from ninth to 12th in the Xfinity Playoff standings, also leaving him with a 38-point deficit entering next Saturday’s race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.

    With that, Sieg was promoted into second place while Gragson, Brandon Jones and Hemric rounded out the top five on the track.

    “A win would’ve been a lot better, but we’re still on the positive side [in the standings],” Sieg said on NBCSN. “You never know what can happen at the road courses. We’ll do a little bit of a different strategy or you never know what can happen [at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval]. We’re excited to go to the Roval plus 23 [points]…Points day, it was great.”

    “This is probably a really impressive day for a superspeedway because I’ve never really been a part of running great all the stages and then, getting that finish that we needed there at the end as well,” Jones said on NBCSN. “These guys did a really good job from the last superspeedway that we went to to try to get our Menards Supra as fast as Xfinity Internet. I think we showed up with something that contended almost for the win there. Really excited, I think the Roval’s gonna be pretty good for us. We had such a good run at Daytona earlier at the road course that I think is gonna be really strong next week. Looking forward to it.”

    Chastain rallied from his share of challenges throughout the race by finishing in sixth place while Josh Williams, Garrett Smithley, Brandon Brown and Alex Labbe rounded out the top 10.

    “It’s just about the fight, the fight of this No. 10 team,” Chastain said on NBCSN. “It’s no different than some farmer putting Dyna-Gro Seed to the ground and hoping for that rain. It’s the same thing with us…My Chip Ganassi Racing pit crew did an awesome job. Those guys are some unsung heroes today. [The car]’s toed in, the crush panels are knocked out of it. It was a hard hit… Our Dyna-Gro Seed guys, they did what a farmer does and we kept fighting. We came out of here and gave ourselves a shot at the Roval.”

    “That was really cool to be able to get out and get our Larry’s Hard Lemonade No. 68 upfront,” Brown said on NBCSN. “I was like, ‘Man, we got the Xfinity Internet speed in this thing.’ We were gonna go all the way to the front, but it’s Talladega. It was a lot of highs and lows. Getting shuffled all the way to the rear and it feels like your race is over, but then you get a line that moves you to the front. It was a lot of fun all day to do that and battle back and forth with these guys…I think we came out and we showed how strong we can be.”

    Briscoe, who won both stages, led a race-high 73 laps and was in position to win until the final two laps, fell all the way back to 19th place.

    “Obviously, there at the end, you’re doing everything you can to protect the runs,” Briscoe said on NBCSN. “[Gragson]’s trying to make moves, just part of racing here. It was exciting at least on my end. I was about wrecked two or three times trying to block. I knew that he had talked to Dale [Earnhardt Jr.] about how to run this place and obviously, I talked to Dale how to run this place. It was weird because I knew what [Gragson] was trying to do every time. So, I just kept trying to protect it and just, it’s part of racing here. But overall, a really good day for our Ford Performance Racing Ford to win two stages. That’s huge going into the next round. So, 20th, obviously, doesn’t tell the whole picture, but it’s part of racing here. We’re going on to the Roval next week and have some fun.”

    “There’s so much going on. I don’t remember what happened,” Gragson said on NBCSN. “It’s pretty wild out there, racing for the win in the Xfinity Series. This is all I’ve ever dreamed of as a kid is to come to these races and have an opportunity to race for the win…It was definitely wild. [Briscoe] was throwing big blocks. That’s what you gotta do in the lead. I thought he did a pretty damn good job up there, but definitely unfortunate letting [Haley] get through for the win. I don’t love sitting here watching people do burnouts. Hopefully, we can go get a burnout at the Roval and take home a checkered flag.”

    There were 13 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 25 laps.

    Results.

    1. Justin Haley, two laps led

    2. Ryan Sieg

    3. Noah Gragson, two laps led

    4. Brandon Jones, one lap led

    5. Daniel Hemric

    6. Ross Chastain

    7. Josh Williams

    8. Garrett Smithley

    9. Brandon Brown, four laps led

    10. Alex Labbe

    11. Chad Finchum

    12. Anthony Alfredo

    13. Caesar Bacarella

    14. Timmy Hill

    15. Tommy Joe Martins

    16. Joe Nemechek

    17. Mike Harmon

    18. Josh Bilicki

    19. Chase Briscoe, 73 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    20. Jeremy Clements

    21. Matt Mills

    22. Vinnie Miller

    23. Harrison Burton

    24. A.J. Allmendinger – OUT, Accident, 24 laps led

    25. Jesse Little – OUT, Accident, five laps led

    26. Myatt Snider – OUT, Accident

    27. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Accident

    28. Kody Vanderwal, three laps down

    29. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Engine, one lap led

    30. Ryan Vargas – OUT, Suspension

    31. Joe Graf Jr. – OUT, Engine

    32. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Accident

    33. Austin Hill – OUT, Accident

    34. Austin Cindric – OUT, Accident

    35. Riley Herbst – OUT, DVP

    36. Colby Howard – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    37. Michael Annett – DISQUALIFIED

    Playoff standings.

    1. Chase Briscoe – Advanced

    2. Justin Haley – Advanced

    3. Austin Cindric +50

    4. Noah Gragson +47

    5. Brandon Jones +34

    6. Ryan Sieg +27

    7. Justin Allgaier +19

    8. Ross Chastain +7

    9. Harrison Burton -7

    10. Brandon Brown -19

    11. Riley Herbst -36

    12. Michael Annett -38

    Next on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval on Saturday, October 10, where the Round of 12 in the Xfinity Playoffs will conclude and the first round of eliminations will occur. The race will air at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Raphael Lessard scores first career Truck Series victory at Talladega

    Raphael Lessard scores first career Truck Series victory at Talladega

    Albeit a last-lap crash that ended the Chevrolet Silverado 250 under caution, Raphael Lessard and Kyle Busch Motorsports utilized strategy to ride around the back of the filed before coming through to the front to collect his first Truck Series checkered flag in only his 24th start.

    “Oh my gosh, that was awesome,” Lessard said. “First of all, I just want to thank everyone at home, my team, Kyle Busch Motorsports. I can’t believe it. It’s just my second superspeedway race. To get my first Truck series win here is amazing. I don’t know who was behind me but he gave me a heck of a push. I can’t thank him enough. He pushed me as hard as I could and I was just along for the ride.

    “The caution came out at the right time. I’m so happy. I got to do a burnout after the win. I’m hoping I can do some more.” 

    Prior to the final race in the Round of 10 for the NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series Playoffs race, two crew chiefs were ejected for a violation regarding vent holes in pre-race inspection. Those crew chiefs were the No. 52 of Trip Bruce for Stewart Friesen and the No. 9 of Doug George for Codie Rohrbaugh. Bruce was replaced by former Cup Series crew chief Jonathan Leonard, as Mark Huff, the General Manager for CR7 Motorsports, replaced George in the role.

    Meanwhile, Kaz Grala subbed in for Natalie Decker in the No. 44 Niece Motorsports entry after Decker was not cleared to participate, due to medical reasons. Stages 20, 20 and 54 made up the 94-lap event.

    Stage 1: Lap 1 – Lap 20

    Through the first 10 laps or so of the first stage, the race was relatively calm. Unfortunately for playoff contender Grant Enfinger, the Alabaman suffered a left-rear tire rub on Lap 8, which forced him to pit as the tire eventually went flat. Though, the first caution flew on Lap 14, when several trucks were involved in a big crash in Turns 3 and 4. Those collected in the accident were Tate Fogleman, Joe Nemechek, Korbin Forrister, Zane Smith, Austin Wayne Self, Chase Purdy, Danny Bohn, Dawson Cram, Clay Greenfield, and Stewart Friesen.

    Playoff driver Zane Smith would be out of the race early and had to wait and watch for the duration of the race to see if he would advance to the Round of 8.

    The restart came with two to go but no more incidents were seen in the stage, which saw Las Vegas race winner Austin Hill take the stage victory. Gilliland, Eckes, Rhodes, Creed, Chandler Smith, Dean, Ankrum, Moffitt, and Tanner Gray completed the Top 10.

    During the stage break, Eckes was penalized for being too fast on pit road and Creed clinched a playoff spot in the next round with help of his points cushion.

    Stage 2: Lap 25 – Lap 40

    The majority of the second stage was green until Lap 38, just two laps before the stage ended. Gus Dean in the No. 56 had his race end early when the No. 15 of Tanner Gray came down on Dean too soon off Turn 4 which caused Dean to go sliding and hitting the inside wall.

    The stage ultimately ended under caution and Derek Kraus in the No. 19 Toyota grabbed the stage win. Sauter, Chandler Smith, Hill, Moffitt, Rhodes, Gilliland, Creed, Ankrum, and Crafton rounded out the Top 10 stage finishers for Stage 2.

    By virtue of his finishing position through the first two stages, Moffitt clinched a playoff spot in the Round of 8.

    Before the final stage restart, the Kyle Busch Motorsports trucks of Smith, Eckes, and Lessard came back down pit road to ride in the back for a little while.

    Stage 3: Lap 44 – Lap 94

    Another accident was seen on Lap 47 when the No. 15 of Gray crashed on the backstretch. Playoff driver Todd Gilliland blew up as well, which ended his championship hopes, and was out of the Playoffs. Fox Sports 1’s replay showed that Gray had some small help from the No. 16 of Austin Hill. Meanwhile, the No. 98 of Enfinger was finally back on the lead lap by receiving the free pass, after spending most of the race two laps down.

    During the caution flag, Lessard was penalized for being too fast on pit road.

    As the 250-mile race neared its end, race teams started to make their final pit stops with 30 laps to go with Austin Hill being the first to pit. Unfortunately for Hill, the Georgia native was too fast on pit road and had to serve a penalty.

    While most of the lead lap trucks had pitted, two drivers, Jennifer Jo Cobb and Bryan Dauzat, were playing pit strategy by staying out and hoping for a late caution flag. However, as normally happens in racing, plans don’t always go according to plan. The lead pack caught up to Jo Cobb with 12 laps to go and Sheldon Creed was back up front.

    Creed’s lead was short-lived, however, as the Californian had a right-rear tire go flat, leaving debris on the racetrack and causing a yellow flag with eight laps to go.

    The final restart came with two to go, with Stewart Friesen and Tyler Ankrum restarting on the front row. Eventual race winner, Lessard, restarted in the third position.

    Once the drivers entered the backstretch on the final lap, the trucks started to wiggle back and forth due to the bump drafting, including Lessard’s. But the drafting became too much for some as a crash broke out behind the race leaders and the race ended under yellow due to the crash.

    There was some confusion as to who the winner was based on the timing of the yellow, and whether it was Trevor Bayne or Lessard out front. After a few moments, NASCAR determined that Raphael Lessard was the winner of the Chevrolet Silverado 250 at Talladega Superspeedway.

    There were five cautions for 24 laps and 14 lead changes among 10 different leaders.

    Unfortunately for drivers Christian Eckes and Todd Gilliland, both drivers were eliminated from the Playoffs.

    Round of 8 Playoff Standings

    1. Austin Hill, +12
    2. Sheldon Creed, +12
    3. Zane Smith, +6
    4. Grant Enfinger, +4
    5. Brett Moffitt, -3
    6. Ben Rhodes, -3
    7. Matt Crafton, -10
    8. Tyler Ankrum, -16

    Official Results following the Chevrolet Silverado 250 at Talladega Superspeedway.

    1. Raphael Lessard
    2. Trevor Bayne, led one lap
    3. Chandler Smith, led one lap
    4. Ben Rhodes (Playoff driver)
    5. Codie Rohrbaugh
    6. Jordan Anderson
    7. Brett Moffitt (Playoff driver), led 13 laps
    8. Matt Crafton (Playoff driver)
    9. Kaz Grala
    10. Derek Kraus, won Stage 2, led 19 laps
    11. Johnny Sauter, led 11 laps
    12. Sheldon Creed (Playoff driver), led 10 laps
    13. Grant Enfinger (Playoff driver)
    14. Clay Greenfield
    15. Bayley Currey
    16. Tyler Ankrum (Playoff driver)
    17. Stewart Friesen, led six laps
    18. Christian Eckes, led six laps, Eliminated from Playoff contention, OUT, Accident
    19. Austin Hill (Playoff driver), led 11 laps, OUT, Accident
    20. Austin Wayne Self, 1 lap down
    21. Bryan Dauzat, 1 lap down
    22. Norm Benning, 1 lap down
    23. Josh Reaume, 1 lap down
    24. Jennifer Jo Cobb, led 16 laps, 2 laps down
    25. Jason White, 2 laps down
    26. Robby Lyons, 2 laps down
    27. Ray Ciccarelli, 6 laps down
    28. Todd Gilliland, OUT, Engine, Eliminated from Playoff Contention
    29. Tanner Gray, OUT, Accident
    30. Gus Dean, OUT, Accident
    31. Tate Fogleman, OUT, Accident
    32. Chase Purdy, OUT, Accident
    33. Zane Smith (Playoff driver), OUT, Accident
    34. Danny Bohn, OUT, Accident
    35. Dawson Cram, OUT, Accident
    36. Korbin Forrister, OUT, Accident
    37. Joe Nemechek, OUT, Accident
    38. Spencer Boyd, OUT, Accident

    Up Next: The NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series will take a week off before returning to Kansas Speedway for the third time this season to mark the beginning of the Round of 8 Playoffs.

  • Kurt Busch achieves first triumph at Las Vegas; clinches Round of 8 spot

    Kurt Busch achieves first triumph at Las Vegas; clinches Round of 8 spot

    For Kurt Busch, there is no greater feeling than winning at home. Taking the lead with over 30 laps remaining, the former Cup Series & Daytona 500 champion outlasted the field through two late restarts and persevered in a two-lap shootout to win the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, September 27, and achieve his first victory at his home track in his 22nd attempt. The win marked Busch’s 32nd of his NASCAR Cup Series career as it also snapped his 46-race winless drought dating back to July 2019 at Kentucky Speedway.

    The starting lineup was based on four statistical categories: current owner standings, the driver’s result from a previous Cup race, the team owner’s result from a previous Cup race and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Kevin Harvick started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Kyle Busch.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Chase Elliott, who started in third place, jumped on the gas and overtook Harvick and Kyle Busch entering Turn 2 to lead the first lap. Behind, Joey Logano also moved up to second place while Austin Dillon battled Harvick and Kyle Busch for third place. 

    By the fifth lap, Elliott was ahead by less than two-tenths of a second over Logano while Kyle Busch settled in third place. Harvick continued to run in fourth place followed by Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr. while Austin Dillon joined the party. Behind, teammates Aric Almirola and Clint Bowyer along with Alex Bowman and Ryan Blaney battled for spots inside the top 10. By then, the remaining 12 Playoff contenders were scored inside the top 15.

    Following the first 10 laps of the race, Elliott continued to lead by more than a second over Logano followed by Kyle Busch, Harvick and Kurt Busch. Meanwhile, Bowman, Blaney and Truex battled for sixth place while Austin Dillon and Bowyer were running inside the top 10. Almirola fell back to 12th in front of Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson and Matt DiBenedetto.

    With the early portions of the race continuing to progress, Elliott continued to stabilize and extend his advantage to more than three seconds over Kyle Busch, who overtook Logano earlier for the runner-up spot. During the early green flag run, Harvick overtook Logano for  third place while Blaney moved into the top five ahead of Hamlin, Austin Dillon, Bowman, Truex and Kurt Busch. 

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 25, Elliott was still scored ahead of the field and by more than three seconds over Kyle Busch with Harvick, Logano and Blaney in the top five. By then, Hamlin, Austin Dillon, Bowman, Truex and Bower were running in the top 10 while Keselowski, Almirola and Kurt Busch were in 13th, 14th and 17th.

    Under caution, the leaders pitted and Kyle Busch emerged with the lead after exiting pit road in first place. Harvick exited in second place followed by Hamlin, Logano and Elliott. Following the pit stops, Christopher Bell and William Byron were sent to the rear of the field due to speeding on pit road.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 30, teammates Kyle Busch and Hamlin restarted on the front row followed by Hamlin, Logano, Elliott and Truex. At the start, Truex attempted to make a move beneath Logano, but Logano blocked him and was nearly turned in the process. At the front, Hamlin emerged with the lead followed by Kyle Busch, Logano, Harvick, Elliott and Truex.

    The following lap, Elliott attempted to pull beneath Logano for position, but Logano pulled an aggressive block on Elliott and the two made contact. Both, nonetheless, continued to run towards the front despite the on-track altercation.

    Shortly after, Logano moved into second place after passing Kyle Busch while Harvick, Truex and Elliott closing in behind. In addition, Bowyer and Bowman started to join the battle towards the front while Hamlin continued to lead by less than three-tenths of a second over Logano.

    By Lap 40 and with the competitors towards the front continuing to battle, Hamlin continued to lead by half a second over Logano while Kyle Busch trailed by less than a second. Elliott and Truex were in the top five followed by Harvick, Bowman, Austin Dillon and Bowyer. Kurt Busch and Almirola were in 15th and 19th while Keselowski was mired back in 22nd. By then, Ryan Blaney was the highest-running non-title contender in 10th place while DiBenedetto, Erik Jones, Johnson and Bubba Wallace were running inside the top 15. Earlier, Tyler Reddick made an unscheduled pit stop due to a loose right-rear wheel.

    Ten laps later, on Lap 50, Hamlin started to extend his advantage to nearly a second over Logano followed by Kyle Busch, Elliott and Harvick, who overtook Truex for position and was followed by Bowman. Meanwhile, Keselowski was still mired back in 21st while Byron moved up to 19th. By then, eight of the 12 Playoff contenders were running in the top 10. Bowyer was in 11th, Kurt Busch was in 14th and Almirola was in 16th. 

    Another ten laps later, on Lap 60, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Logano followed by Kyle Busch, Elliott and Harvick while Bowman, Austin Dillon, Blaney, Truex and Matt DiBenedetto were scored in the top 10. Bowyer was in 11th place ahead of Jimmie Johnson and Erik Jones while Almirola and Kurt Busch were in 14th and 15th. Keselowski was back in 20th place behind Cole Custer, William Byron, Bubba Wallace and Michael McDowell.

    With 70 laps complete, Hamlin extended his advantage to three seconds over Logano. By then, eight of 12 Playoff competitors led by Hamlin were running inside the top 10. Bowyer was in 11th place, teammate Almirola and Kurt Busch were in 14th and 15th and Keselowski gained a spot to 19th place. Meanwhile, Blaney and DiBenedetto were the two highest-running non-title contenders in eighth and 10th.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 80, Hamlin retained the lead by two seconds over Logano as he claimed his ninth stage win of the season. Logano settled in second place followed by Kyle Busch, Elliott and Harvick while Austin Dillon, Blaney, Bowman, Truex and Bowyer were scored in the top 10. By then, Keselowski dropped back to 21st place.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Kyle Busch reassumed the lead following a stellar stop from his pit crew. Logano exited in second place followed by Hamlin, Elliott, Austin Dillon and Bowyer.

    The second stage started on Lap 86 with Kyle Busch and Logano on the front row. At the start, Busch and Logano battled dead even for the lead as the field behind battled in a three-wide situation. Back at the line Logano led Lap 87, but in Turn 2, Hamlin made a bold three-wide move on teammate Kyle Busch and Logano to reassume the lead. 

    By the time the field returned to Turn 4, Logano started to slide out of the top 10 after he sustained a left-rear tire run on his No. 22 Pennzoil Ford Mustang as a result from contact with Kyle Busch. Two laps later, he pitted under green and he lost a lap to the leaders.

    At the front, on Lap 90, Hamlin was ahead while Elliott started to close in on Hamlin for the lead. On Lap 91, Elliott passed Hamlin on the inside line through Turns 2 and 3 to return to the lead. Bowman was in third place followed by Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon while Truex, Harvick, Bowyer, Johnson and DiBenedetto were scored in the top 10.

    On Lap 100, Elliott stabilized his advantage to more than half a second over Hamlin while Bowman, Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon continued to run inside the top five. Truex, Harvick and Bowyer were in the top 10 while Kurt Busch was in 12th place ahead of Keselowski and Almirola. Logano was mired back in 30th place.

    Ten laps later, on Lap 110, Elliott continued to lead by less than a second over Hamlin followed by Bowman, Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon. While Truex and Harvick continued to run in sixth and seventh, Keselowski made his way up to 13th place behind Kurt Busch and Bowyer. Almirola was in 14th while Logano was still mired in 30th place. Johnson was in eighth place followed by Blaney and DiBenedetto while Byron made his way back up to 15th place ahead of Jones, Cole Custer, Bell, John Hunter Nemechek and McDowell. Matt Kenseth was in 21st ahead of Chris Buescher while Ryan Newman was in 25th behind Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    With approximately 150 laps remaining in the overall race, green flag pit stops started to occur as Truex pitted followed by Harvick, Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Austin Dillon, Elliott and Bowman. During the cycle of green flag pit stops, Kyle Busch had a slow stop due to a broken pit gun to change the tires. In addition, Johnson was assessed a speeding penalty on pit road while Kurt Busch slid slightly over his pit box.

    Nearly six laps later and with most of the lead lap competitors pitting under green, Byron was scored as the leader followed by Buescher, Newman and Corey LaJoie, all of whom needed to pit. Elliott and Hamlin were back in fifth and sixth.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 134, Byron continued to lead over Buescher, Newman, LaJoie, Elliott and Hamlin. 

    By Lap 140, teammates Buescher and Newman were running first and second on the track followed by Elliott, Hamlin, LaJoie and Truex. A few laps earlier, Byron pitted under green after leading 12 laps.

    Five laps later, on Lap 145, Elliott reassumed the lead after Buescher pitted. Hamlin returned to second place followed by Bowman, Truex and Austin Dillon while Blaney was in sixth place. Prior to this, Newman also pitted under green. 

    With five laps remaining in the second stage and the leaders encountering lapped traffic, Elliott was scored as the leader by half a second over Hamlin followed by Bowman, Truex and Austin Dillon. Blaney, Harvick, DiBenedetto, Kyle Busch and Bowyer were in the top 10 followed by Byron, Almirola, Keselowski, Custer and Bell. Kurt Busch was in 17th while Logano was mired back in 27th.

    With the laps in the second stage dwindling, Hamlin started to close in and challenge Elliott for the stage win. Though Hamlin continued to pounce behind him, Elliott was able to navigate his way through lapped traffic and win the second stage on Lap 160 for his eighth stage victory of the season. Hamlin emerged in second place followed by Bowman, Truex and Blaney while Austin Dillon, Harvick, Bowyer, DiBenedetto and Byron were scored in the top 10. Kyle Busch, Almirola and Keselowski were in 11th, 12th and 13th while Kurt Busch was in 17th and Logano was in 27th. Prior to the stage’s conclusion, Reddick scrubbed the Turn 1 outside wall after sustaining a flat right-front tire and he limped back to pit road with right-side damage on his No. 8 Caterpillar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Hamlin emerged with the lead after exiting pit road in first place followed by Bowman, Elliott, Truex, Blaney and Austin Dillon. Harvick fell back to 10th place behind Bowyer, DiBenedetto and Byron.

    The final stage commenced with 102 laps remaining and with the sun starting to set. At the start, Bowman shoved Hamlin clear of Elliott and into the lead through Turns 1 and 2. Then, Bowman overtook Hamlin to assume the lead for the first time with 100 laps remaining. 

    With Bowman leading and Hamlin pursuing him, Elliott and Truex battled for third place while Blaney was in fifth place ahead of Bowyer, Austin Dillon, DiBenedetto, Byron and Custer.

    Nearly five laps later, Hamlin reassumed the lead after overtaking Bowman. He then started to extend his advantage to nearly half a second while Elliott battled and overtook teammate Bowman for the runner-up spot. Truex and Blaney were in the top five followed by Bowyer, DiBenedetto, Austin Dillon, Byron and Harvick. Meanwhile, Keselowski moved up to 11th place while the Busch brothers were in 13th and 14th. Almirola was in 15th while Logano was mired back in 26th, a lap down.

    With 80 laps remaining, Hamlin maintained a three-tenths of a second lead over Elliott while Bowman, Truex and Blaney were scored in the top five. Bowyer was in sixth place followed by DiBenedetto, Austin Dillon, Keselowski and Byron. Harvick and Kurt Busch were in 11th and 12th while Kyle Busch and Almirola were in 14th and 15th. Logano was still mired in 26th place behind Jimmie Johnson. Meanwhile, Nemechek, Custer and Bell were in 13th, 16th and 18th while Kenseth and Newman were in 20th and 23rd.

    Two laps later, the caution flew due to debris spotted in Turn 2. Under caution, the leaders pitted and Hamlin retained the lead after exiting pit road in first place followed by Truex, Bowman, Elliott and Blaney. Following the pit stops, Austin Dillon was sent to the rear of the field due to a safety violation.

    The race restarted under green with 71 laps remaining and with teammates Hamlin and Truex on the front row ahead of teammates Bowman and Elliott. At the start, Hamlin retained the lead in Turn 2 while DiBenedetto made a bold four-wide move on Bowman, Truex, Elliott and Blaney to move into second place. 

    While DiBenedetto went to work on Hamlin for the lead, Bowman retained third place followed by Truex, Blaney and Bowyer while Elliott fell back to seventh place ahead of teammate Byron. Not long after, Bowman moved into second place after passing DiBenedetto while Truex and Blaney joined the party. Behind, teammates Elliott and Byron battled for sixth place while Keselowski moved into ninth place over Bowyer, Harvick and Kyle Busch.

    With 60 laps remaining and the track falling into night conditions under the track’s lights, Hamlin continued to lead by half a second over Bowman while DiBenedetto continued to hold strong in third place ahead of Truex, Blaney, Elliott and Byron. Keselowski moved up to eighth place followed by Erik Jones, Bowyer, Harvick and Kyle Busch. Almirola and Kurt Busch were in 14th and 15th while Austin Dillon, following his late pit road penalty, moved back up to 20th place. Logano, however, was mired in 28th place and was still a lap down.

    Ten laps later, with 50 laps remaining, Hamlin extended his advantage to over Bowman. DiBenedetto retained third place while Elliott started to challenge Truex for fourth place and with Blaney lurking behind. Erik Jones moved up to seventh place in front of Byron, Keselowski, Harvick, Bowyer, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch and Almirola.

    By then, Austin Dillon, who was trying to work his way back to the front following his pit road penalty, pitted under green due to power steering and overheating issues, and to have broken belts replaced. Though he continued following the repairs, the late mechanical issues were enough to evaporate Dillon’s recent strings of strong results and to start the Round of 12 in the Playoffs.

    Down to the final 40 laps of the race, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to less than a second over Bowman while Truex, one of the fastest cars on the track, moved into third place. DiBenedetto settled in fourth place while Blaney and Elliott battled for fifth place. Jones, Keselowski, Byron and Harvick were scored in the top 10 ahead of Bowyer, the Busch brothers, Almirola and Christopher Bell. Johnson was in 17th place behind Custer while Logano and Austin Dillon were in 27th and 33rd. Meanwhile, Kenseth and Newman were in 22nd and 23rd, Bubba Wallace was in 28th behind Logano and Buescher was in 18th ahead of Nemechek, McDowell and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    Under the final 40 laps, green flag pit stops occurred as Kyle Busch pitted along with Harvick, Bowman, Blaney, Truex, Byron, Hamlin, Elliott, Bowyer and Keselowski.

    Shortly after, the caution flew with 32 laps remaining due to debris coming off of Johnson’s No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE with Johnson sustaining a flat right-rear tire. By then, some that included DiBenedetto had yet to pit while Bowman passed Hamlin to emerge as the first car a lap down. Under caution, some that included Kurt Busch, Buescher, Nemechek, Bell, Kenseth and McDowell pitted. Ultimately, DiBenedetto cycled back as the leader of the race followed by Kurt Busch while Bowman was back in 10th place. Others that included Hamlin, Truex, Blaney, Elliott, Keselowski, Jones, Kyle Busch, Byron and Harvick would take the wave around to cycle back on the lead lap.

    Following a cleanup session and when the field cycled through, the race restarted under green with 25 laps remaining and with DiBenedetto and Kurt Busch on the front row. At the start, the field expanded to three- and four-wide racing through the turns while Kurt Busch and DiBenedetto battled dead even for the lead. 

    With 23 laps remaining, Kurt Busch emerged with the lead over DiBenedetto while Bell, Nemechek and Newman moved into the top five over Kenseth and Buescher. Blaney carved his way to eighth place followed by Johnson and McDowell. Meanwhile, Playoff contenders Bowman, Hamlin, Elliott, Harvick, Truex and Keselowski were mired back in 11th through 16th. 

    Three laps later, with 20 laps remaining, Kurt Busch continued to lead by a narrow margin over DiBenedetto. Bell continued to settle in third place followed by Nemechek and Newman. Behind, Blaney and Bowman overtook Kenseth for sixth and seventh as both continued to march to the front with fast cars.

    A few laps later, the caution flew when Nemechek spun below the apron in Turn 3 before he came up across the track, where he was avoided by the field, though Jones and Stenhouse made contact with one another and against the Turn 3 outside wall to avoid hitting Nemechek.

    Under caution, some that included Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Truex, Harvick, Keselowski, Jones, Almirola and Byron pitted while the rest led by Kurt Busch and DiBenedetto remained on the track. In addition, Logano, the first car pinned a lap behind, received the free pass to return on the lead lap.

    With 13 laps remaining, the race restarted under green with Kurt Busch jumping in front of DiBenedetto and retaining the lead. Behind, Blaney was the first competitor to peak out in a three-wide battle for positions while Bowman started to battle Newman, Bell and others for third place. 

    Down to the final 10 laps of the race, Bowman and Blaney, both of whom were the fastest cars on the track, started to gain ground on Kurt Busch and DiBenedetto for the lead while Hamlin also started to move back into the top five.

    With eight laps remaining, Kurt Busch was still ahead by less than two-tenths of a second over DiBenedetto and Bowman was in third while Hamlin started to battle Blaney for fourth place and the field behind continued to dice for positions. During this time, Bell fell off the pace after making contact with the wall on the backstretch.

    Shortly after, the caution returned when Byron spun across the frontstretch after bumping into Bell as LaJoie also sustained damage, which evaporated a slim lead for Kurt Busch and created an opportunity for Bowman, Hamlin and Blaney to pounce again.

    The racing under green resumed with two laps remaining and with Kurt Busch and DiBenedetto on the front row followed by Bowman, Blaney, Hamlin and Newman. At the start, Kurt Busch jumped ahead with a strong start. In Turn 2 and with the field fanning out, Hamlin passed Bowman and DiBenedetto to move into second place through Turns 3 and 4 as Kurt Busch started the final lap of the race.

    On the final lap, Hamlin was stuck in a battle with DiBenedetto for second place. By then, Bowman, Truex and Blaney battled for fourth through sixth on the track while Kyle Busch made his way up to seventh place. Though DiBenedetto cleared Hamlin for second place in Turn 2, Kurt Busch was starting to stabilize his narrow advantage entering Turn 3. In Turn 4, Kurt Busch was able to pull ahead and win by a tenth of a second over DiBenedetto. 

    With the win, Busch punched his ticket into the Round of 8 in the Playoffs as he became the 12th winner of this year’s Cup season while recording the first victory of the season for Chip Ganassi Racing. In addition to achieving its sixth victory of the season, Chevrolet achieved its 1,500th win across NASCAR’s three major division series (Cup, Xfinity and Truck).

    “This is what kids dream of when they grow up racing,” Busch said in Victory Lane on NBCSN. “You dream of winning at your hometown track and for two decades, it’s kicked my butt. Tonight, with this Monster Energy Chevy, I’m in awe. I knew the race would come to us we needed it to get to nightfall. One of those quirky [crew chief] Matt McCall pit sequences finally unfolded. We got lucky. You got to be lucky and you have to be lucky in any race, but we did it tonight with teamwork and pulling through and just not giving up. This is Vegas.”

    “[Hamlin] had ton of speed,” Busch added. “I was wide open and you just have to manipulate the draft. I pulled out some old drag racing skills on the restarts. I knew that that was our strong suit, I knew that that was the Ford’s weak suit. We just put ourselves in position and we held them off. [Team owner] Chip Ganassi was up in the suites somewhere and I could feel him breathing over my neck, ‘I wanna win,’ and we did it.”

    DiBenedetto tied his career-best Cup result by finishing in second place as he came up one position shy of recording the 100th win for the Wood Brothers Racing team while Playoff contenders Hamlin, Truex and Bowman rounded out the top five.

    “Two seconds at Vegas,” DiBenedetto said. “It’s tough to come that close, just wanted it so bad for this team. I love driving for the Wood Brothers. I want that number 100 [win] for them so bad and for Menards, the whole family and everything they do for us and the team, and having Duracell on the car this week, we’re keeping her charged up good. Our car was the best it had been at the end, just couldn’t get control on those restarts. [Kurt Busch] did a great job. We had completely different ratios for the restarts and once he gained control of the race, he played the right games on the restarts, knew what we had on our weakness there. Man, it’s tough to come that close. I just want it so bad, but I’m proud of the team. They did a great job. My pit crew did a great job tonight and really earned that one for us.”

    “We had a dominant car today and I’m proud of the whole FedEx team for giving me such a great car,” Hamlin said. “By far the best car I’ve had in Las Vegas in a long time. It was really, really good. Happy with it and this new tire here. We’ll run that a few more times this year. Really encouraged by the way we ran, but very disappointed that we didn’t get a win. It’s just been the way that the playoffs have gone. Whoever stays out the longest puts themselves in a great spot to win. I feel good about it. I certainly had a great day. It’s something I’m happy about, it’s about how we ran and how fast we were. We restarted 13th there with just a few laps and then the top got shuffled and we were able to make some ground on the bottom. If either one of the cautions don’t happen, we’re still in great shape, but it took them like seven laps to get a piece of debris off and then we had debris right in the fuel window.”

    “I guess it is good to be disappointed in a fifth-place finish,” Bowman said. “We did not need that caution to come out in the middle of the pit cycle like that. I thought it was going to be ok for us, but we just couldn’t get through traffic as well as we needed to. Our program is continuing to improve and I just feel like this is another Vegas race that go away from us. At least it was a good points day, which is what we need.”

    Kyle Busch, who won at his home track in the Cup circuit in 2009, settled in sixth place while Blaney, Erik Jones, Buescher and Harvick rounded out the top 10. 

    “We weren’t great early on and didn’t quite have the long run speed,” Kyle Busch said. “We worked on it and I thought we were making some gains on it and then we got that damage and got way back in traffic. Then there towards the end, was just able to get lucky on a couple of the last restarts in order to pick off a few spots with the M&M’s Camry and get ourselves in a better position for the finish. It was a pretty dismal day I guess. I looked like it was going to be about 12th or 14th if we didn’t have some good moves on that last restart there to get us a sixth-place finish.”

    Keselowski finished in 13th followed by teammate Logano while Almirola and Elliott finished 17th and 22nd. Austin Dillon ended his night in 32nd place. Jimmie Johnson finished in 11th place in his 22nd and final run at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    There were 20 lead changes for 11 different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 36 laps.

    Results.

    1. Kurt Busch, 29 laps led

    2. Matt DiBenedetto, eight laps led

    3. Denny Hamlin, 121 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    4. Martin Truex Jr.

    5. Alex Bowman, five laps led

    6. Kyle Busch, six laps led

    7. Ryan Blaney, one lap led

    8. Erik Jones

    9. Chris Buescher, 10 laps led

    10. Kevin Harvick

    11. Jimmie Johnson

    12. Clint Bowyer

    13. Brad Keselowski, two laps led

    14. Joey Logano, one lap led

    15. Ryan Newman

    16. Cole Custer

    17. Aric Almirola

    18. Matt Kenseth

    19. Ryan Preece

    20. John Hunter Nemechek

    21. Michael McDowell

    22. Chase Elliott, 73 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    24. Christopher Bell

    25. William Byron, 12 laps led

    26. Ty Dillon, one lap down

    27. Corey LaJoie, one lap down

    28. Bubba Wallace, two laps down

    29. Daniel Suarez, three laps down

    30. Brennan Poole, three laps down

    31. Gray Gaulding, six laps down

    32. Austin Dillon, seven laps down

    33. J.J. Yeley, seven laps down

    34. Quin Houff, nine laps down

    35. Joey Gase, 12 laps down

    36. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Suspension

    37. Timmy Hill – OUT, Rear end

    38. Tyler Reddick – OUT, Accident

    39. Chad Finchum – OUT, Engine

    Bold indicates Playoff contender

    Playoff standings.

    1. Kurt Busch – Advanced

    2. Kevin Harvick +61

    3. Denny Hamlin +58

    4. Brad Keselowski +16

    5. Martin Truex Jr. +15

    6. Joey Logano +11

    7. Chase Elliott +10

    8. Alex Bowman +9

    9. Kyle Busch -9

    10. Clint Bowyer -20

    11. Aric Almirola -27

    12. Austin Dillon -32

    The Round of 12 in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will continue next Sunday, October 4, at Talladega Superspeedway for the YellaWood 500. The race will occur at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Briscoe extends dominance by winning Xfinity Playoff opener at Las Vegas

    Briscoe extends dominance by winning Xfinity Playoff opener at Las Vegas

    Prior to the start of this year’s NASCAR Xfinity Series season, Chase Briscoe’s goal was to achieve eight wins in order to consider himself a potential Cup Series competitor for the 2021 season. Following a dominating run and a late restart in the Alsco 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 26, Briscoe fulfilled his goal after claiming his eighth victory of the season over Noah Gragson.

    The win marked Briscoe’s 10th of his Xfinity career in his 77th series start as this marked the second time this season where he achieved back-to-back victories after winning last weekend’s regular-season finale at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    The starting lineup was based on four statistical categories: current owner’s standings, the driver’s result from a previous Xfinity race, the team owner’s result from a previous Xfinity race, and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Xfinity race. With that, Chase Briscoe started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Austin Cindric, the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series regular-season champion.

    Dexter Bean, Jesse Little, and Austin Hill failed pre-race technical inspection twice and all lost pit selection for the next race in the schedule, though they retained their starting spots for the race at Vegas.

    When the green flag waved and the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs commenced, Briscoe squeaked ahead with the lead and was able to lead the first lap ahead of Cindric. Behind, Ross Chastain moved up to third place followed by Noah Gragson and Anthony Alfredo while Justin Allgaier, who started in third place in his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro, fell back to sixth place in front of Justin Haley.

    By the fifth lap, Briscoe was leading by more than seven-tenths of a second over Cindric while Chastain and Gragson battled for third place. Behind, Ryan Sieg and Harrison Burton were in eighth and ninth while Riley Herbst, Daniel Hemric, Brandon Jones, and Brandon Brown were running inside the top 15.

    It did not take long until the first caution of the race flew on Lap 8 when Kyle Weatherman made contact with the wall on the frontstretch and spun, where his No. 47 Chevrolet Camaro came to a rest near the Turn 1 inside wall and in front of the pace car while blocking it from entering the track to pace the field under caution.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 13, Chastain made a move on the outside of Briscoe and made a three-wide move on Briscoe and Cindric before challenging Cindric for the lead. Cindric, however, was able to retain the lead in his No. 22 Menards/NIBCO Ford Mustang when the field cycled back to the start/finish line.

    With Cindric leading, Chastain retained second place ahead of Briscoe and Gragson while Alfredo, racing in his No. 21 Sim Seats Chevrolet Camaro, moved up to the fifth place. Behind, Haley was in sixth place followed by Sieg while Allgaier and Herbst battled for an eighth-place ahead of Burton.

    By Lap 17 and with Cindric extending his advantage to more than a second over Chastain, Gragson and Alfredo overtook Briscoe for third and fourth place while Sieg moved up to the sixth place.

    A few laps later, the caution flew when Austin Hill, winner of Friday night’s Truck Series Playoff race at Vegas, spun entering Turn 2. The caution for Hill’s spin was ruled as the competition caution planned on Lap 20. Under caution, some like Playoff contender Brandon Brown and Timmy Hill pitted while the rest led by Cindric remained on track.

    The race restarted under green on Lap 23 with Cindric and Chastain on the front row followed by Sieg, Gragson, Haley, Briscoe, Allgaier, and Alfredo. At the front, Cindric retained the lead through Turn 1 until Chastain made a move on the outside lane in Turn 2 to take the lead.

    Behind Chastain, Sieg received a boost from Gragson to move into second place while Cindric was stuck in a battle with Briscoe, Haley, and Gragson for third place. Behind, Alfredo fell back to seventh place in front of Herbst, Brandon Jones, Burton, Michael Annett, Allgaier, and Daniel Hemric.

    On Lap 27, Sieg, racing in his No. 39 CMRroofing.com Chevrolet Camaro started to close in on Chastain for the lead as he was a tenth of a second behind. Entering turn 4, Sieg made a move beneath Chastain and had the lead until reaching Turn 2 when Chastain regained his momentum on the outside lane and retained the lead. While both battled for the lead, Briscoe moved up to third place followed by Gragson while Alfredo moved up to fifth place. Cindric fell back to seventh place in between Haley and Herbst while Hemric, racing in his No. 8 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet Camaro, moved up to the ninth place.

    By Lap 35, Chastain was still leading by nearly six-tenths of a second over Sieg while Briscoe trailed by less than a second. Behind, Hemric and Playoff contender Brandon Jones continued to battle hard for the eighth place along with Herbst.

    With the laps in the first lap continuing to dwindle, the battle for the lead continued to intensify between Chastain and Sieg as Briscoe joined the party. On Lap 39, Briscoe raced on the outside lane in Turn 3 to overtake Sieg for second place and he made a crossover move beneath Chastain entering Turn 4 while on the gas to take the lead.

    Though Briscoe had the lead, Chastain continued to pounce for the lead back. Not long after, however, Chastain got into the outside wall entering Turn 4 and sustained minimal damage to his No. 10 Chevy Accessories Camaro. Chastain’s contact with the wall allowed Briscoe to extend his advantage.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Briscoe emerged ahead and was able to claim his sixth stage win of the season. Chastain, whose brake bias knob fell off, settled in second place despite the late contact with the wall followed by Sieg and Gragson. Alfredo was scored in fifth place followed by Haley, Cindric, Hemric, Brandon Jones and Herbst.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Briscoe retained the lead after exiting pit road in first place followed by Sieg and Chastain.

    The second stage started on Lap 51 with Briscoe and Sieg on the front row followed by Cindric, Chastain, Brandon Jones, and Alfredo. At the start, Briscoe and Sieg battled dead even through Turns 1 and 2 before Briscoe cleared the field and retained the lead. Behind, Chastain and Jones battled for third place while Cindric, who was in fifth place, slipped entering Turn 1 and lost positions to Alfredo and Gragson.

    By Lap 55, Briscoe was still leading by more than three-tenths of a second over Sieg while Alfredo moved up to third place. Meanwhile, Chastain was stuck in a battle with Gragson, Jones, and Cindric for fourth place as Haley started lurking behind his fellow Playoff contenders for the lead.

    Five laps later, on Lap 60, Briscoe, racing in his No. 98 FIELDS Ford Mustang, maintained his advantage by nearly a second over Sieg while third-place Gragson trailed by four seconds. Alfredo continued to trail Gragson for third place while Cindric was in fifth place. Behind, Chastain fell back to seventh place following a battle with Brandon Jones and with teammate Haley behind. Allgaier was back in 12th place in between Harrison Burton and Brett Moffitt.

    By Lap 70, Briscoe was still leading by more than a second over Sieg with Gragson behind by less than two seconds. Alfredo was in fourth place followed by Cindric, Brandon Jones, and Haley. Teammate Chastain was in eighth place ahead of Hemric, Herbst, Allgaier, and Burton. Annett and Brandon Brown were the two lowest-running Playoff contenders in 14th and 15th while Jeremy Clements and Myatt Snider were in 16th and 17th.

    Five laps later, on Lap 75, Briscoe maintained his advantage to less than a second over Gragson, who overtook Sieg for second place, while Cindric overtook Alfredo for fourth place. Chastain, on the other hand, fell back to ninth place in between Hemric and Allgaier.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the second stage and with the leaders starting to encounter lapped traffic, Gragson, racing in his No. 9 Bass Pro Shops/True Timber Camo Chevrolet Camaro, started to close in on Briscoe for the lead as he was approximately three-tenths of a second behind.

    With less than five laps remaining in the second stage, Gragson lost his momentum after encountering lapped traffic, which allowed Briscoe to stabilize his advantage to half a second. Though Gragson fought back, Briscoe was able to hold on by a narrow margin and claim his seventh stage victory of the season after winning the second stage on Lap 90. Cindric settled in third place followed by Sieg, who radioed air conditioning issues to his car. Alfredo was scored in fifth place followed by Brandon Jones, Haley, Hemric, Allgaier and Herbst. By then, Chastain, Burton, Annett and Brown settled in the top 15.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Briscoe retained the lead after exiting pit road in first place followed by Gragson, Cindric, Jones, Alfredo, and Sieg.

    The final stage started with 104 laps remaining and with Briscoe and Gragson on the front row followed by Cindric and Jones. At the start, Briscoe and Gragson battled for the lead before Briscoe retained his advantage entering Turns 3 and 4. Behind Briscoe and Gragson, Cindric retained third place followed by Alfredo and Jones while Allgaier moved up to sixth place ahead of Sieg.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 100, Briscoe extended his advantage to less than eight-tenths of a second over Gragson.

    With approximately 95 laps remaining, Alfredo got loose entering Turn 1 following contact with Hemric while racing in ninth place, but he managed to keep his car straightened and continue to run in front of Hemric on the track.

    Five laps later, with 90 laps remaining, Briscoe was still leading by two seconds over Gragson followed by Cindric, Allgaier, and Brandon Jones. Haley, Sieg, and Chastain were running in sixth through eighth while Alfredo and Hemric rounded out the top 10. Burton was in 11th place followed by Moffitt, Herbst, Annett, Clements, and Brown.

    With under 70 laps remaining and the track settling into night racing conditions, Briscoe’s No. 98 Ford continued to lead by more than three seconds over Gragson and more than five seconds over Cindric. Meanwhile, Allgaier trailed by more than 10 seconds in fourth place followed by Jones, Sieg, Haley, Hemric, Chastain and Harrison Burton.

    Ten laps later, with 60 laps remaining, Briscoe continued to extend his advantage to less than five seconds over Gragson. Meanwhile, Sieg overtook Jones for fifth place with Allgaier and Cindric next on his front windshield. Behind, Chastain fell back to 10th place behind teammate Haley, Hemric, and Burton.

    With approximately 55 laps remaining, pit stops under green started to occur as Burton pitted followed by Hemric, Jones, Herbst, Gragson, Cindric, Allgaier, Chastain, Haley, Briscoe, Alfredo and Sieg. By then, Brandon Brown had made an early pit stop.

    When the field cycled through the pit stops under green and with less than 50 laps remaining, Annett, who has yet to pit in his No. 1 Pilot/Flying J Chevrolet Camaro, emerged with the lead followed by Briscoe, Cindric, Gragson, Allgaier and Jones. Sieg fell back to ninth place after he overshot his pit box.

    With 45 laps remaining, the caution flew due to a loose tire from Joe Graf Jr.’s pit box that came to a rest on the infield grass. Under caution, Annett pitted along with Harrison Burton, Sieg, Alfredo, Chastain, Clements, and Herbst while Briscoe reassumed the lead. By then, 15 cars were scored on the lead lap, including all 12 Playoff contenders.

    The race restarted under green with 40 laps remaining and with Briscoe and Cindric on the front row. At the start, Briscoe and Cindric battled dead even for the lead before Briscoe retained the lead while cycling back to the start/finish line. Behind, JR Motorsports’ competitors Gragson, Allgaier, and Hemric battled inside the top five followed by Burton, Jones, and Annett. Sieg was in ninth place while Herbst was in 10th.

    With 35 laps remaining and with Briscoe ahead by more than a second over Cindric, the battling for positions behind continued to ensue as Alfredo moved up to eighth place followed by Herbst, Sieg, Jones, Haley, and Chastain. Gragson settled in third place followed by teammates Hemric and Allgaier while Burton and Annett were scored in sixth and seventh.

    Five laps later, with 30 laps remaining, Briscoe stabilized his advantage to more than two seconds over Cindric while Gragson trailed by more than three seconds in third place. Behind fourth-place Hemric, Harrison Burton, who struggled in the middle portions of the race, muscled his way into fifth place while Annett overtook teammate Allgaier for sixth place. Alfredo, Sieg, and Herbst were running inside the top 10 followed by Jones, Haley, and Chastain. Brandon Brown was the lowest-running Playoff contenders in 15th.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the race, Briscoe, who radioed vibrating concerns to his car but continued to lead, extended his advantage to more than six seconds over Cindric, who had Gragson closing in on him for the position. Burton was up into fourth place followed by teammates Annett, Hemric, and Allgaier while Alfredo, Sieg, and Herbst continued to run inside the top 10.

    With 13 laps remaining, the caution flew due to the stalled car of Alex Labbe, who was unable to limp back to pit road. The caution all but evaporated Briscoe’s lead of more than six seconds over Cindric and Gragson. Under caution, the leaders pitted and Briscoe retained the lead followed by Gragson, Annett, Burton, and Cindric. During the pit stops, Alfredo dropped out of the top 10 following a slow pit stop due to lug nuts falling off of his tires. Following the pit stops, Brown was sent to the rear of the field due to a choose cone violation.

    With nine laps remaining, the race restarted under green with Briscoe and Gragson on the front row. At the start, Briscoe and Gragson battled dead even before Briscoe was able to muscle through and retain the lead. Behind, Chastain was bumped by Cindric and got loose entering Turn 4 while battling for a top-10 spot. Though he was able to save the car, he fell all the way back to 15th place and was out of contention for a strong result.

    Down to the final five laps of the race, Briscoe extended his advantage to less than a second over Gragson while Hemric moved up to third place. Teammates Annett and Allgaier were in the top five followed by Burton, Sieg, Cindric, Jones, and Alfredo. A few laps later, Allgaier and Sieg overtook Annett for spots in the top five. By then, no one had anything for Briscoe, who maintained his advantage to more than a second over Gragson.

    On the final lap, Briscoe continued to lead by more than a second. With no challengers closing in behind him, Briscoe was able to come back around to the finish line and claim his eighth checkered flag of the season.

    With his Vegas victory, Briscoe secured himself a spot to the Round of 8 in the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs. He also became the first competitor to sweep both Xfinity races at Vegas in a season and he recorded the 13th victory of the season for Ford.

    “First off, incredible car by everybody at Stewart-Haas [Racing],” Briscoe said on NBCSN. “That made my job way too easy, honestly. It was a super fast FIELDS Ford Mustang. Happy to get them in Victory Lane. This is their only [sponsored] race they do all year. The restart, I knew that if I could just take the lead on the restart, I’d be ok, but I was spinning the tires so bad all night for whatever reason…We’ve had a lot of wins this year, but this was by far our most dominant car. I’m so glad that I can sleep a little bit easier this week going into Talladega and the [Charlotte] Roval, and just enjoy’em.”

    Though he earned his spot in the Round of 8 in the Playoffs, Briscoe sets his focus on achieving more victories for the remainder of the postseason and placing himself in position to achieve his first NASCAR championship at Phoenix Raceway in November while he continues to await his racing plans for next season.

    “I knew this team is fully capable of achieving that [winning] and even more,” Briscoe added. “I just can’t say thank you enough to Gene Haas, Tony Stewart, everybody that lets me drive these race cars. It’s been an unbelievable season. We still got a lot, six more wins we can try to get and obviously, a championship. So that’s what we’re gonna try to do. Just so happy to start the Playoffs like this.”

    Gragson battled back from a bloody nose early in the race to finish in second place followed by teammates Hemric and Allgaier while Sieg battled back for a strong top-five result.

    “It was a good day overall for our Bass Pro Shops True Timber team,” Gragson said on NBCSN. “I felt like we were really good, the best I’ve ever been here. [I] Just didn’t have enough for [Briscoe]. We’ll keep on working, but these guys did a heck of a job. A really good improvement from where we’ve been these past couple of weeks. Damn, I wanted to win this one so bad at my home town, but we’ll try again at Talladega…the car looks good, we were pretty fast, but came up short.”

    “That’s what this 8 team set out to do was, hopefully, try to give ourselves an opportunity to race for an owners’ championship,” Hemric said on PRN Radio. “Jeb Burton did a great job the last two weeks leading into the Playoffs to get us in this position. Tonight was a good night of putting some coins in the bucket as we continue towards the second race in the Playoffs. Really proud of everyone on this South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet. We had a rough go back in the spring, but we had a couple of good restarts there at the end and got us a top five. We’re gonna take it and move on.”

    “Really proud of all the guys on this BRANDT Professional Agriculture Camaro,” Allgaier said on NBCSN. “We battled a lot of adversity early. Just felt like we were behind the eight ball. We were able to make good adjustments on the car and get ourselves in better track position at the end there by the Choose Rule and gutted out a finish. These points are so important. Every position counts. As bad as we started the night off, I was getting a little flustered under the collar. These guys rallied behind me and gave me the car we needed at the end. We were able to pull off a solid top-five and still be OK in the points. We lost a few tonight but still have a good cushion. We got two crazy races these next few [weeks].”

    “It’s huge for the CMR team and the guys did an awesome job all night,” Sieg said on NBCSN. “Just the driver did one little mess up, but we’re getting back to what we were running. I was trying to get something to drink. My helmet hose fell off end of stage one, so I was trying to get something to drink under that green flag and just kind of missed my stopping points on pit road. Just screwed me up a little bit, but we got it back. Just super, super excited to be plus nine in the Playoffs, headed to Talladega and we got the [Charlotte] Roval, which something can always happen. Just can’t be prouder of this team and all that they’ve done…Just can’t wait to get to the next two [races]. It’s been a fun first [Playoff] race, already.”

    Cindric finished in sixth place while Annett, Alfredo, Harrison Burton, and Haley finished in the top 10.

    “Frustrating [night],” Cindric said on NBCSN. “I definitely think we deserved to not finish as well as we should’ve. We put ourselves in position, but a lot of good lessons learned tonight. We made our car better throughout the night, we kept up with the track well. For the first time in a long time, everyone’s running the bottom [lane] and I’m running the top on both ends. We got a good points bank, but can’t take that for granted. [We] Gotta keep getting better. When [Briscoe] can walk away like that, you gotta make sure you step your game up.”

    “We just weren’t good enough tonight,” Burton said on PRN Radio. “We really struggled all day today and into the night, we got a little bit better, but not much. That’s tough because these next few races are gonna be wild so for us, this was a big race. We didn’t do our job during the regular season to build up a cushion as big as we needed to with Playoff points. It’s biting us now, so now, it’s gonna be hard the next two weeks, gonna be fighting for every point and that’s what makes the Playoffs so fun, I guess, is to watch that battle for every point. We’re gonna have to be in it, for sure.”

    “The car was a bit on the tight side, but it wasn’t so far off,” Haley said on PRN Radio. “Obviously, the Nos. 10 and 11 was struggling on speed, both pretty terrible there. I’m not sure where we missed it, but it definitely wasn’t there. Thankfully, we got two race tracks ahead of us that are good. Still on the positive side of things, I believe. Still got a top 10 out of it, somehow. We, actually, were looking good there for sixth or seventh and then, got behind on track position, just too tight on that last restart. Proud of these LeafFilter Gutter Protection boys on this Kaulig Chevrolet, but just needed a little bit more, especially for the second round.”

    Playoff contenders Brandon Jones, Herbst, Brandon Brown, and Chastain finished 11th, 12th, 15th, and 16th.

    There were eight lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 28 laps.

    Results.

    1. Chase Briscoe, 164 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner
    2. Noah Gragson
    3. Daniel Hemric
    4. Justin Allgaier
    5. Ryan Sieg, three laps led
    6. Austin Cindric, 10 laps led
    7. Michael Annett, eight laps led
    8. Anthony Alfredo
    9. Harrison Burton
    10. Justin Haley
    11. Brandon Jones
    12. Riley Herbst
    13. Jeremy Clements
    14. Brett Moffitt
    15. Brandon Brown
    16. Ross Chastain, 15 laps led
    17. Austin Hill, one lap down
    18. Josh Williams, one lap down
    19. Myatt Snider, one lap down
    20. Stefan Parsons, one lap down
    21. Colby Howard, two laps down
    22. Tommy Joe Martins, two laps down
    23. Jesse Little, two laps down
    24. Gray Gaulding, three laps down
    25. Bayley Currey, three laps down
    26. B.J. McLeod, three laps down
    27. Joe Graf Jr., four laps down
    28. Timmy Hill, four laps down
    29. Dexter Bean, five laps down
    30. Matt Mills, six laps down
    31. Kody Vanderwal, nine laps down
    32. Alex Labbe – OUT, Electrical
    33. Jeffrey Earnhardt, 34 laps down
    34. Vinnie Miller – OUT, Too slow
    35. Chad Finchum – OUT, Suspension
    36. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Accident

    Playoff standings.
    1. Chase Briscoe – Advanced
    2. Austin Cindric +53
    3. Noah Gragson +36
    4. Justin Allgaier +28
    5. Justin Haley +14
    6. Brandon Jones +13
    7. Ryan Sieg +9
    8. Harrison Burton +2
    9. Ross Chastain -2
    10. Michael Annett -10
    11. Riley Herbst -14
    12. Brandon Brown -20

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series will return at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, Oct. 3, for the second Round of 12 race in this year’s Xfinity Playoffs. The race will occur at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Harvick scores ninth Cup victory of 2020 at Bristol

    Harvick scores ninth Cup victory of 2020 at Bristol

    Having won two weeks ago at Darlington Raceway and securing his spot to the second round of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, Kevin Harvick came into the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 19, with an objective to win again and extend his momentum to a dominating season. Under the lights at Thunder Valley and with the grandstands packed with a limited number of fans, Harvick accomplished his mission after outlasting a vicious battle from Kyle Busch over the final 40 laps and grabbing another thrilling victory of this season. The victory marked Harvick’s career-high ninth of the season and the 58th of his Cup career, which kept him in ninth place in the all-time Cup wins list.

    The starting lineup was based on four statistical categories: current owner standings, the driver’s result from a previous Cup race, the team owner’s result from a previous Cup race and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Team Penske’s two-car lineup occupied the front row with Brad Keselowski on pole position and teammate Joey Logano starting next to him.

    Prior to the race, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Erik Jones started at the rear of the field due to their respective cars failing pre-race inspection twice. J.J. Yeley also dropped to the rear of the field due to a driver change along with Bubba Wallace and Corey LaJoie, both due to unapproved adjustments.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Keselowski jumped ahead with the lead as he led the opening lap while Kevin Harvick moved up to second place over Logano. Behind, Chase Elliott moved up to fourth place followed by Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman and Austin Dillon.

    Five laps into the race, Keselowski stabilized a nearly two-tenths of a second lead over Harvick. Behind, teammates Aric Almirola and Clint Bowyer battled for eighth place in front of teammate Cole Custer, all of whom were also vying for transfer spots to the Round of 12 in the Playoffs. Settling behind Custer were Ryan Blaney and Matt DiBenedetto, both of whom started the evening below the top-12 cutline.

    With the first 10 laps of the race complete and the early racing around the circuit settling in, Keselowski continued to stabilize his advantage to nearly three-tenths of a second over Harvick followed by Logano, Elliott and Truex. Behind, teammates Kyle Busch, Hamlin and Jones made their way into the top 30 after starting at the rear of the field.

    On Lap 18, Harvick made his way into the lead after passing Keselowski. Two laps later, Harvick started to extend his advantage to nearly a second over Keselowski followed by teammate Logano, Elliott and Truex while Austin Dillon was closing in for a top-five spot. Way behind the leaders, Kyle Busch was using the high lane to march his way to the front. By then, he was scored inside the top 25. 

    The first caution of the race flew near the Lap 30 mark when contact from Jimmie Johnson entering Turn 2 sent Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spinning and making head-on contact into the inside wall just before he slid across the banking in Turn 3. The damage to Stenhouse’s No. 47 Kroger Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, which was engulfed in flames and spilling oil through Turns 3 and 4, was enough to end his night with a wrecked race car. The caution for Stenhouse’s incident served as the competition caution originally planned on Lap 30. By then, Harvick was ahead by nearly two seconds over Keselowski.

    Under competition caution, the leaders pitted and DiBenedetto, driving the Wood Brothers Racing’s No. 21 Menards/Dutch Boy Ford Mustang, emerged with the lead following a two-tire stop. Tyler Reddick exited in second place after he also elected for a two-tire stop followed by Keselowski (the first on four tires), Logano, Harvick and Elliott. During the pit stops, Kyle Busch was pinned behind Daniel Suarez in his pit box and was shuffled all the way back to 25th place. In addition, Ryan Newman was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road. 

    When the race restarted on Lap 40, DiBenedetto retained the lead followed by Keselowski and Logano. On Lap 43, Keselowski reassumed the lead from DiBenedetto. Behind, Reddick slipped back to ninth place behind Logano, Elliott, Bowman, Almirola, Blaney and Truex.

    By Lap 50, Keselowski extended his advantage to more than a second over DiBenedetto while Logano also trailed by more than a second. Meanwhile, Harvick was in 10th place followed by teammate Cole Custer, Christopher Bell, Austin Dillon, Bowyer and William Byron. Hamlin was in 16th followed by Kurt Busch while Kyle Busch was back in 22nd behind Erik Jones.

    Ten laps later, on Lap 60, Keselowski was still ahead by nearly two seconds over DiBenedetto while Logano was locked into a battle with Elliott for third place. In addition, Blaney and his No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang cracked the the top five while Almirola and Truex stared to catch Alex Bowman for sixth place. By then, Harvick was in ninth, Byron was in 13th, Hamlin was in 15th and Kyle Busch moved back into the top 20. With that, all 16 Playoff contenders were running inside the top 20.

    Another 10 laps later, on Lap 70, and with the leaders starting to approach lapped traffic, Keselowski and his No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang were ahead of second-place DiBenedetto by more than two seconds with Logano and Elliott trailing by approximately three seconds. By then, Kyle Busch and his No. 18 Skittles Toyota Camry continued to muscle towards the front in 14th place behind Austin Dillon’s No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.

    With the laps winding down in the first stage, Keselowski was still leading by more than two seconds over DiBenedetto, who was still holding strong with two fresh tires, while Elliott made his way into third place over Logano. Blaney continued to run in fifth place while Harvick muscled his way into sixth place in front of Bowman and Truex. In addition, Kyle Busch made his way up to ninth place followed by Almirola, Reddick and Byron. Kurt Busch, Austin Dillon, Hamlin and Clint Bowyer were running in the top 20 while Cole Custer was the lowest-running Playoff competitor in 24th place. 

    By Lap 93, Elliott made his way into second place after passing DiBenedetto. In addition, Harvick passed Blaney and started to track DiBenedetto and Logano for more. Additionally, Kyle Busch started to challenge Blaney for sixth place.

    When the field reached the Lap 100 mark, Keselowski was still ahead by more than a second over Elliott. Behind, Kyle Busch made a bold move on the inside lane in Turn 3 to move into fourth place ahead of DiBenedetto and Harvick. Soon after, Busch moved into third place after passing Logano. By then, Harvick was still stuck behind DiBenedetto as Bowman started to join the party. 

    With the battling around the track continuing to intensify, the battle for the lead started to ignite as Elliott cut the deficit to a tenth of a second over Keselowski. On Lap 107, Elliott and his No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE emerged with the lead over Keselowski. 

    By Lap 110, Elliott extended his advantage to nearly a second over Keselowski while Blaney fell all the way back to 14th place. Kyle Busch was still in third place followed by Logano, Harvick and Bowman while DiBenedetto had fallen back into eighth place ahead of Kurt Busch and Byron.

    With five laps remaining in the first stage, on Lap 120, Elliott was still leading by less than a second over Kyle Busch, who continued to close for the lead while encountering heavy lapped traffic, while Harvick passed Keselowski to move into third place. 

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 125, Elliott was able to claim his seventh stage win of the season. Kyle Busch settled in second place followed by Harvick, Bowman and Bell. Kurt Busch, Keselowski, Byron, Logano and Bubba Wallace were scored in the top 10. With his top-10 result in the first stage, Logano clinched his spot for the Round of 12 in the Playoffs. By the time the first stage concluded, Hamlin, DiBenedetto, Truex, Almirola, Bowyer and Austin Dillon were in 11th, 12th, 15th, 18th, 19th and 20th. In addition, Blaney fell all the way back to 23rd place ahead of Custer.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Kyle Busch emerged with the lead followed by Elliott, Harvick, Bowman and Kurt Busch. Prior to the restart and under the Choose Rule effect, Bowman moved up to the front row beneath Kyle Busch while Elliott and Logano lined up in the second row. Byron and Harvick lined up in the third row followed by Kurt Busch, Hamlin, Keselowski and Wallace, 

    The second stage started on Lap 136 with Kyle Busch launching ahead with the lead while Bowman was able to move in front of teammate Elliott and retain second place. Elliott, Harvick, Logano and Kurt Busch retained third through sixth in a single-file line followed by Keselowski, Byron, Hamlin and Bell. Behind, Truex and DiBenedetto were in 14th and 15th while running in front of teammates Bowyer and Almirola. Custer and Austin Dillon were mired back in 21st and 22nd while Blaney was back in 26th. 

    By Lap 150, Kyle Busch was ahead by less than a second over Elliott. Harvick and Logano moved up to third and fourth while Bowman settled back in fifth place ahead of Kurt Busch and Keselowski. By then, Bowyer, Custer, DiBenedetto and Blaney were scored outside the top-12 cutline in the Playoff standings.

    Ten laps later, on Lap 160, Elliott cut Kyle Busch’s advantage to nearly six-tenths of a second while Harvick was trailing the two leaders by more than a second. Logano continued to run in fourth place followed by Kurt Busch, Bowman, Hamlin, Keselowski and Byron. Truex was back in 14th in front of Erik Jones, DiBenedetto, Bowyer and Almirola. Austin Dillon was mired back in 21st followed by Blaney and Custer while names like Ryan Newman, Daniel Suarez and Corey LaJoie were pinned a lap behind the leaders.

    By Lap 175, Kurt Busch was scored in fifth place ahead of Hamlin while Bowman slipped back to seventh place. At the front, Kyle Busch was still leading by four-tenths of a second over Elliott with Harvick closing in on his rear bumper for the spot. Meanwhile, DiBenedetto and Blaney were mired back in 19th and 20th while Austin Dillon and Custer were in 21st and 23rd. 

    Nearing the Lap 190 mark, DiBenedetto made a pit stop under green due to a loose right-rear wheel. By the time he returned to the track, he was three laps behind the leaders as his title hopes for this season was slowly diminishing. At the front, Kyle Busch continued to lead despite encountering lapped traffic while Elliott and Harvick continued to battle for second place. 

    When the raced reached its 200-lap mark, Elliott and Harvick closed in to the rear bumper of Kyle Busch’s No. 18 Toyota for the lead while Custer, who was in 23rd place, was fighting to remain on the lead lap. Behind, Logano and Hamlin were still in the top five followed by Kurt Busch, Bowman, Bell, Keselowski and Byron. Almirola was in 13th while Bowyer was in 16th place, two spots ahead of Blaney. Truex and Austin Dillon were mired back in the top 20. 

    Nearing the Lap 220 mark, Truex made a pit stop under green due to a tire issue as a result of tapping the Turn 2 outside wall a few laps earlier, where he went straight into the wall. During Truex’s incident, teammate Hamlin, who had nowhere else to go, ran into the back of Truex’s No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota. Despite the damage to the front nose of his No. 11 FedEx Toyota, Hamlin continued to run in sixth place and the race remained under green.

    By Lap 220, Kyle Busch was still leading by more than a second over Harvick and Elliott while Logano and Kurt Busch were in the top five. Ten laps later, on Lap 230, Harvick and Elliott were less than a second behind Kyle Busch while Logano and Kurt Busch continued to run inside the top five. Hamlin continued to run in sixth place despite the damage while Keselowski, who fell back inside the top 20, was lapped by Kyle Busch. 

    With less than 20 laps remaining in the second stage, the caution flew when smoke started billowing out of the No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE driven by William Byron as a result of Byron running into the back of Christopher Bell, who checked up for the lapped car of Joey Gase, and damaging the front nose of his Chevrolet on the track. The smoke was enough to send Byron to the garage as his hopes of moving to the second round of the 2020 Playoffs came to an end.

    Under caution, the leaders pitted and Kyle Busch retained the lead following his pit stop ahead of Harvick and Logano. 

    With eight laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted and Kyle Busch received a strong start to retain the lead. Harvick was in second place followed by Logano, Elliott and Kurt Busch. By then, teammates Almirola and Bowyer moved inside the top 10 along with Austin Dillon while Blaney was outside the top 10.  

    The second stage concluded under caution when Ryan Newman spun in Turn 2. At the front of the field when the stage concluded, the leader Kyle Busch was able to claim his second stage victory of the season. Harvick was scored in second place followed by Elliott, Logano and Kurt Busch. Bowman, Almirola, Bowyer, Erik Jones and Austin Dillon settled in the top 10 ahead of Blaney and Keselowski. With his result in the second stage, Elliott clinched his spot for the second round of the Playoffs.

    In terms of points, Bowyer moved back inside the top-12 cutline while Custer, DiBenedetto, Blaney and Byron were scored outside of the cutline and in position of being eliminated from title contention.

    Under the stage break, some like Keselowski, Bell, Matt Kenseth, Michael McDowell, Truex and Hamlin pitted while the rest led by Kyle Busch, Harvick and Elliott remained on the track. Prior to the restart and under the Choose Rule effect, Logano moved up to restart in second place beneath Kyle Busch while Harvick and Kurt Busch restarted in the second row.

    With 240 laps remaining, the final stage commenced and Kyle Busch retained the lead following a strong start on the outside lane. Harvick moved up to second place in front of Logano while Elliott and Kurt Busch were in the top five. Behind, Blaney’s car started to come back alive as he moved up to eighth place behind Bowyer following his early struggles. In addition, Austin Dillon fought his way back to 10th place. 

    With 220 laps remaining, Harvick started to battle Kyle Busch for the lead. A lap later, Harvick emerged with the lead for the first time since Lap 34 following a pass on the outside lane. By then, Elliott was in third place ahead of Logano followed by Kurt Busch, Bowman, Blaney, Bowyer, Jones and Almirola. Austin Dillon was back in 11th place, Keselowski was in 13th and Custer was all the way back in 23rd. DiBenedetto was mired back in 24th while Truex was back in 28th. 

    Down to the final 200 laps of the race, the battle for the lead between Harvick and Kyle Busch continued to ignite while Keselowski was lapped by the leaders as he was battling power steering issues to his No. 2 Ford. In addition, Bowman made an unscheduled pit stop due to a vibration report on the No. 88 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Elliott continued to run in third place while Logano and Kurt Busch settled in the top five. Blaney, who was still scored outside of the top-12 cutline in the Playoff standings, continued to march forward in sixth place while Bowyer, grasping with sole possession of the 12th and final transfer spot in the Playoffs, was in seventh place.

    With less than 190 laps remaining, Blaney made his way into the top five in fifth place followed by Bowyer. At the front, Harvick continued to lead by approximately half a second over Kyle Busch while Elliott and Logano continued to run in third and fourth. A few laps later, Keselowski, who was black-flagged and pitted to address the issues to his No. 2 Ford, made the turn to the garage.

    Fifteen laps later, with 175 laps remaining in the race, Harvick stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Kyle Busch while Elliott, Logano and Blaney continued to run in the top five. By then, non-title contenders like Erik Jones, Reddick and Jimmie Johnson were running inside the top 10. In addition, Kurt Busch, who was running in 12th place, made an unscheduled pit stop under green due to a loose wheel on his No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.

    Down to the final 150 laps of the race, Harvick extended his advantage to less than two seconds over Kyle Busch while Elliott trailed by less than six seconds. Meanwhile, Bowyer moved up into fourth place followed by Reddick, Logano, Johnson, Jones, Almirola and Austin Dillon. By then, Blaney, who fell back to 13th place, was lapped by Harvick as only 12 competitors were scored on the lead lap. Soon after, Blaney made a pit stop under green due to a right front issue.

    With approximately 130 laps remaining, 10 competitors were scored on the lead lap. Not long after, Logano made a pit stop under green as Harvick continued to lead. 

    With 120 laps remaining, Harvick was still leading by less than four seconds over Kyle Busch. Behind, Elliott remained in third place, trailing the two leaders by six seconds, while Bowyer was in fourth place in front of Reddick and Johnson. Almirola was in eighth, Austin Dillon was in ninth and DiBenedetto was in 11th, a lap behind.

    Down to the final 100 laps of the race, Harvick continued to navigate his way through the lapped traffic and maintain a nearly six-second lead over Kyle Busch. By then, eight competitors were scored on the lead lap while Austin Dillon was lapped in ninth place. In addition, pit stops under green started to occur as Hamlin pitted. 

    With 93 laps remaining, the caution flew when James Davison spun and made contact into the Turn 1 wall following on-track contact with Austin Dillon. The contact into Davison was a result of Dillon reacting to Harvick, who was slowing down, pulling his car below the apron and was initially prepared to pit before opting out due to the wreck, thus escaping with no damage. The wreck also nearly collected Custer, Truex and Johnson as Davison’s No. 53 car was coming back down from the banking. By then, six cars were scored on the lead lap.

    Under caution, the leaders pitted and Harvick retained the lead followed by Kyle Busch, Bowyer, Reddick and Almirola. Prior to the restart and under the Choose Rule effect, Bowyer moved into second place and beneath teammate Harvick on the front row while teammates Jones and Kyle Busch lined up in the second row. 

    With 82 laps remaining, the race restarted and the outside lane continued to prevail as Harvick retained the lead followed by Kyle Busch and Bowyer. Jones settled in fourth followed by Reddick and Almirola with only six competitors scored on the lead lap. DiBenedetto was the first competitor a lap behind in seventh place followed by Chris Buescher, Ryan Preece and Michael McDowell.

    At the front, the battle for the lead between Harvick and Kyle Busch started to ignite with 70 laps remaining. With both separated by three-tenths of a second, Busch would gain a run running on the outside lane entering the turns, but Harvick would have enough momentum entering the straightaways to maintain his advantage while running on the inside lane.

    Ten laps later, with 60 laps remaining, Kyle Busch gained another run towards the rear bumper of Harvick’s No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang in his pursuit for the lead. Despite his late charge, Harvick managed to stabilize his advantage by less than half a second over Busch’s No. 18 Toyota. Behind, Erik Jones trailed by nearly three seconds while Bowyer was in fifth place in between Reddick and Almirola.

    With less than 45 laps remaining, Harvick approached a handful of lapped traffic that included Austin Dillon and Blaney. With Harvick stalled behind the lapped cars of Blaney and Gray Gaulding, Kyle Busch made a move beneath Harvick and reassumed the lead with 41 laps remaining, though Harvick kept Busch within his sights.

    With approximately 30 laps remaining, Harvick reassumed the lead following a tight, vicious battle with Kyle Busch, who was being held up by Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang. By the time both cleared Logano, Harvick was back ahead by four-tenths of a second over Kyle Busch while Jones trailed by two seconds. 

    With approximately 20 laps remaining, Harvick and Kyle Busch continued to run in first and second, separated by two-tenths of a second. Meanwhile, Bell made contact into the wall after cutting a tire, but the race remained under green. 

    Down to the final 15 laps of the race, Harvick was still ahead by two-tenths of a second over Kyle Busch while Jones was behind by approximately a second and trying to close in on the two leaders. Five laps later, with 10 laps remaining, Kyle Busch continued to close by being a tenth of a second behind Harvick and with Jones trailing in third place by a second.

    With five laps remaining, only three-tenths of a second separated Harvick and Kyle Busch with Erik Jones behind by eight-tenths of a second. Though Kyle Busch continued to remain within sight of Harvick, he could not close the gap to his rear bumper. 

    On the final lap, Harvick was still ahead with a narrow margin over Kyle Busch. Entering Turn 3, Busch gained a run and tried to run into the back bumper of Harvick’s No. 4 Ford to loosen him up for the lead and the win. He could not, however, draw himself to the rear bumper of Harvick entering the turn as Harvick had enough momentum to win and claim the checkered flag by three-tenths of a second over Busch.

    With his victory, Harvick became the first competitor to claim two victories in this year’s Cup Playoffs, he claimed his third win at Bristol Motor Speedway and he notched his 35th win while driving for Stewart-Haas Racing in NASCAR’s premier series. In addition, Stewart-Haas Racing claimed its 65th Cup career win while Ford claimed its 17th victory of 2020.

    “Yeah! Bristol, baby!” Harvick exclaimed on the frontstretch on NBCSN. “Man, I just wanna say thank you to all the fans. Thank you, guys! I was so jacked up when we started this race because of you guys and Bristol Motor Speedway. Just proud of everybody on our Busch Light Ford…To beat Kyle Busch at Bristol, I kind of got myself in a little bit of a ringer there. I hit a lapped car and got a hole in the right-front nose, but just kept fighting. We don’t have anything else to lose. We were here to try to win a race. I know how much [crew chief] Rodney [Childers] really enjoys coming here. Hell, how could you not enjoy coming here with all this enthusiasm. Everybody’s tired of being at home! I’m glad we’re all here having a hell of a time. Thank you!”

    Kyle Busch settled in a disappointing second-place result for the fourth time this season and for his 12th top-five result of this season despite rallying from the rear of the field as his winless streak to the 2020 Cup season extended to 29 races. Though Busch was displeased with the lapped traffic, particularly at Logano, for interfering with his chances of beating Harvick, the lone silver lining for Busch and his No. 18 team was transferring to the Round of 12 in the Playoffs with an opportunity to defend last year’s title.

    “[I] Just didn’t have enough there at the end,” Busch said on pit road on NBCSN. “The guys did a great job and gave me a really good piece tonight to contend and at least be up there and be close. Unfortunately, just didn’t have enough. Lapped cars were definitely a problem, but it’s part of racing. You got to try to get around them where you can. There’s just no room for me to do what I needed to do on a couple of those opportunities to get pass them. [Harvick], obviously, had the better car, the faster car, than us tonight. [Crew chief] Adam [Stevens] made some good adjustments on that last run in order to keep us in the ball game and keep us close…I don’t know. Just come up short. What do you say?”

    Erik Jones finished in third place for his seventh top-five result of this season and as the highest-finishing non-title contender followed by Reddick. Teammates Almirola and Bowyer finished fifth and sixth as both Stewart-Haas Racing competitors transferred to the Round of 12 in the Playoffs. Elliott ended his night in seventh place, a lap behind, while Buescher, Preece and McDowell finished in the top 10. Jimmie Johnson finished 17th in his 38th and final run at Bristol.

    Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon, Aric Almirola, Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer and Kurt Busch transferred into the Round of 12 in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Cole Custer, Matt DiBenedetto, Ryan Blaney and William Byron were eliminated from title contention.

    There were 14 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 50 laps.

    Results.

    1. Kevin Harvick, 226 laps led, 

    2. Kyle Busch, 159 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. Erik Jones

    4. Tyler Reddick

    5. Aric Almirola, one lap led

    6. Clint Bowyer

    7. Chase Elliott, one lap down, 23 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    8. Chris Buescher, one lap down

    9. Ryan Preece, one lap down

    10. Michael McDowell, two laps down

    11. Joey Logano, two laps down

    12. Austin Dillon, two laps down

    13. Ryan Blaney, two laps down

    14. Matt Kenseth, two laps down

    15. Kurt Busch, two laps down

    16. Alex Bowman, two laps down

    17. Jimmie Johnson, two laps down

    18. Ty Dillon, three laps down

    19. Matt DiBenedetto, three laps down, seven laps led

    20. John Hunter Nemechek, three laps down

    21. Denny Hamlin, three laps down, one lap led

    22. Bubba Wallace, three laps down

    23. Cole Custer, three laps down

    24. Martin Truex Jr., four laps down

    25. Ryan Newman, four laps down

    26. Daniel Suarez, five laps down

    27. Gray Gaulding, 12 laps down

    28. Christopher Bell, 13 laps down, one lap led

    29. Quin Houff, 17 laps down

    30. J.J. Yeley, 21 laps down

    31. Joey Gase, 37 laps down

    32. Garrett Smithley, 64 laps down

    33. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Steering

    34. Brad Keselowski, 88 laps down, 82 laps led

    35. James Davison – OUT, Accident

    36. Reed Sorenson – OUT, Electrical

    37. Timmy Hill – OUT, Steering

    38. William Byron – OUT, Accident

    39. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Fuel pump

    40. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident

    Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings.

    1. Kevin Harvick – Advanced

    2. Denny Hamlin – Advanced

    3. Brad Keselowski – Advanced

    4. Joey Logano – Advanced

    5. Chase Elliott – Advanced

    6. Martin Truex Jr. – Advanced

    7. Alex Bowman – Advanced

    8. Austin Dillon – Advanced

    9. Aric Almirola – Advanced

    10. Kyle Busch – Advanced

    11. Clint Bowyer – Advanced

    12. Kurt Busch – Advanced

    13. Cole Custer – Eliminated

    14. Matt DiBenedetto – Eliminated

    15. Ryan Blaney – Eliminated

    16. William Byron – Eliminated

    The Round of 12 in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will commence at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the South Point 400. The race will occur on Sunday, September 27, at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Chase Briscoe takes the victory at Bristol Motor Speedway

    Chase Briscoe takes the victory at Bristol Motor Speedway

    Bristol has been called many things but the most fitting is the Last Great Colosseum. With its high banks, it favors no driver. But one driver tonight, Chase Briscoe in his No. 98 Ford Performance Racing School Ford Mustang, had what it took to win, earning him his seventh win of 2020.

    “I am so thankful that we are back with the race fans. You guys are the best. It’s not the same without you guys. We can’t wait to get you back all the time, but man, what a race.” When asked about the bump and run Briscoe added, “I was so mad after last week. I told all the guys there ain’t no way we are getting beat today. I was so mad after how we ran last week and I get on the internet all the time and see guys count us out after one bad race and I know what this team is capable of and I’m just so happy to get the Ford Performance Racing School back in Victory Lane.”

    Also having a good run was Ross Chastain who brought his No. 10 RSS Chevy home in second place.

    Coming home in third place was Austin Cindric in his No. 22 Penske Racing Ford.

    Harrison Burton and Justin Allgaier would round out the top five. Anthony Alfredo, Noah Gragson, Brandon Jones, Jeb Burton, and Riley Herbst finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

    Seven drivers started the race tonight already having clinched a playoff spot. Briscoe led the way with six wins and Cindric tallied up five. Allgaier and Jones each had three, while Gragson, Justin Haley, and Burton had two each.

    Chastain, Michael Annett, Herbst, Ryan Sieg, and Brandon Brown made it into the playoffs by points.

    Stage one had a competition caution and another minor caution that brought out the red flag briefly for cleanup. Justin Allgaier had the car to beat and would win stage one.

    Stage two was very similar to stage one, only having one caution which again brought out the red flag for cleanup. Allgaier would go on to win this stage as well.

    In the final stage, Allgaier lost the handling of the car leaving the door open for other drivers to pass. This stage was mainly between Cindric and Chastain for the lead. Cindric lost his power steering as he was leading and couldn’t protect the bottom of the track leaving the door open for Briscoe who would then go on to take the win.

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads next to Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sept. 26 to begin their Playoffs.

    Xfinity Series Playoff Driver Points Prior to Las Vegas

    RankDriverPoints
    1Chase Briscoe2050
    2Austin Cindric2050
    3Justin Allgaier2033
    4Noah Gragson2025
    5Brandon Jones2020
    6Justin Haley2018
    7Harrison Burton2014
    8Ross Chastain2010
    9Ryan Sieg2002
    10Michael Annett2002
    11Riley Herbst2001
    12Brandon Brown2000
  • Sam Mayer scores first career Truck Series victory at Bristol

    Sam Mayer scores first career Truck Series victory at Bristol

    In just seven Truck Series starts, 17-year-old Sam Mayer played spoiler for the playoff Truck Series drivers as he became the second-youngest winner in series history after passing GMS Racing teammate Brett Moffitt with less than 30 to go to achieve his first Truck Series victory.

    “What? Oh my gosh, Bristol dude. I love this place,” Mayer said after the race. “This is win No. 3 for me here and man, I don’t know what to say. I can’t thank the guys back at the shop enough.

    “They work their tails off. We fired off so good. We only made like one trackbar adjustment all day, that’s it. That feels so good.”

    Despite heavy rain showers earlier in the day due to the remnants of Hurricane Sally, NASCAR officials were able to get the half-mile track dried just in time for the 200-lap event which marked the first of seven playoff races for the Truck Series. Stages of 55-55-90 laps made up the three stages. And only one driver, Jennifer Jo Cobb, had to drop to the rear due to unapproved adjustments.

    Stage 1: Lap 1 – Lap 55

    The action was quick from the start and as early as Lap 5 when playoff driver Austin Hill found trouble after contact with the No. 52 of Stewart Friesen. The contact gave Hill right-rear bumper damage which hurt the handling of the No. 16 Toyota. Eventually, the yellow would fly on Lap 8 when the debris flew off the No. 16.

    Throughout the rest of the stage, there were no cautions but a few notable incidents among other playoff drivers. It was reported after the Lap 13 restart that Grant Enfinger faced potential issues as he reported the engine kept shutting off and on. Fast forward to Lap 34, when Friesen had handling problems with his No. 52 truck. Although the issue was never diagnosed throughout the race, the Halmar Friesen Racing team reported the truck could have had an ignition problem.

    From there, Brett Moffitt took the stage victory with Tyler Ankrum, Sheldon Creed, Zane Smith, Enfinger, Matt Crafton, Mayer, Derek Kraus, Johnny Sauter, and Christian Eckes completing the Top 10.

    Stage 2: Lap 67 – Lap 110

    Just one caution slowed the second stage after the No. 30 of Danny Bohn spun off Turn 4 when contact was made with the No. 20 of Spencer Boyd. However, during the caution, playoff driver Creed came to pit road to take fresh tires and adjustments for the No. 2 Chevy but was penalized for being too fast on pit road.

    The rest of the stage remained green, only this time Ankrum took the top spot for the Stage 2 victory. Sauter, Moffitt, Zane Smith, Mayer, Kraus, Crafton, Carson Hocevar, Parker Kligerman, and Eckes rounded out the Top 10 finishers.

    During the stage break caution, Sauter and Friesen were penalized for being too fast entering pit road and were sent to the rear prior to the Stage 3 restart. Meanwhile, Stage 2 winner Ankrum, missed his pit box the first time coming to pit road as he and the No. 26 team had a miscommunication and Ankrum was forced to come down pit road a second time to finally make his pit stop.

    Stage 3: Lap 119 – Lap 200

    Like Stage 2, the final stage was surprisingly clean with just a few minor incidents. On Lap 150, Creed and Kraus make notable contact on the backstretch. Despite the contact, both drivers were able to keep racing and no yellow was flown. Unfortunately, the night would only get worse for playoff contender Austin Hill who was involved in an incident seven laps later on Lap 157 when the No. 22 of Austin Wayne Self came up the track and got turned by Hill going into Turn(s) 3 and 4. After the contact, Hill came to pit road to fix the damage but received a penalty for too many men over the pit wall and he also owed NASCAR two laps due to being under the damage vehicle policy from an earlier incident.

    The last restart of the night came with 33 to go with Moffitt leading the way. However, it was his GMS Racing teammate, Mayer, who shined under the lights after taking the lead with 29 to go on the backstretch. From there, Mayer had a rocket ship with his No. 24 Chevy and went on to claim his first Truck Series victory with Moffitt following in the second position.

    Mayer led just one time for 30 laps.

    There were five cautions for 41 laps and four lead changes among three different leaders.

    Updated Playoff Grid following Round 1 at Bristol Motor Speedway

    1. Brett Moffitt, +36
    2. Sheldon Creed, +28
    3. Zane Smith, +25
    4. Grant Enfinger, +24
    5. Tyler Ankrum, +19
    6. Matt Crafton, +13
    7. Ben Rhodes, +6
    8. Austin Hill, +2
    9. Christian Eckes, -2
    10. Todd Gilliland, -8

    Official Results following the UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    1. Sam Mayer, led 30 laps
    2. Brett Moffitt, led 117 laps, won Stage 1
    3. Tanner Gray
    4. Parker Kligerman
    5. Chandler Smith
    6. Grant Enfinger
    7. Tyler Ankrum, led 53 laps, won Stage 2
    8. Ross Chastain
    9. Johnny Sauter
    10. Matt Crafton
    11. Sheldon Creed
    12. Christian Eckes
    13. Ben Rhodes
    14. Todd Gilliland
    15. Derek Kraus
    16. Zane Smith, 1 lap down
    17. Carson Hocevar, 1 lap down
    18. Raphael Lessard, 1 lap down
    19. Camden Murphy, 1 lap down
    20. Timmy Hill, 3 laps down
    21. Tate Fogleman, 3 laps down
    22. Clay Greenfield, 3 laps down
    23. Jordan Anderson, 3 laps down
    24. Danny Bohn, 4 laps down
    25. Austin Hill, 5 laps down
    26. Josh Bilicki, 8 laps down
    27. Spencer Boyd, 8 laps down
    28. Jennifer Jo Cobb, 10 laps down
    29. Natalie Decker, 14 laps down
    30. Cody Erickson, 17 laps down
    31. Codie Rohrbaugh, OUT, Brakes
    32. Stewart Friesen, 33 laps down
    33. Austin Wayne Self, OUT, Crash
    34. Norm Benning, OUT, Suspension
    35. Josh Reaume, OUT, Suspension
    36. Trevor Bayne, Originally finished fifth, but was disqualified for failing post-race tech.

    Up Next: The NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series will continue its 2020 Playoff run next Friday, Sept. 25 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, live at 9 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 and MRN Radio.

  • Weekend schedule for Bristol

    Weekend schedule for Bristol

    This week NASCAR heads to Bristol Motor Speedway. The Cup Series will compete Saturday night as they close out the first round of their playoffs to narrow the field from 16 drivers to 12.

    Thursday evening will feature the opening round of the playoffs for the NASCAR Gander & RV Outdoors Truck Series. Friday night the Xfinity Series takes to the track for the last race of the regular season.

    There will also be a doubleheader for the ARCA Menards Series at Bristol. They will race Thursday night following the Truck Series and again on Saturday afternoon prior to the Cup Series event.

    All times are Eastern.

    Thursday, Sept. 17

    7:30 p.m.: Truck Series UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics (Stages 55/110/200 Laps = 106.6 Miles) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
    Pole: Grant Enfinger

    9:30 p.m.: ARCA Bush’s Beans 200 (200 Laps, 106.6 Miles) FS1/MRN

    Friday, Sept. 18

    7 p.m.: Xfinity Series Food City 300 (Stages 85/170/300 Laps = 159.9 Miles) NBCSN/PRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
    Pole: Justin Allgaier

    Saturday, Sept. 19

    3 p.m.: ARCA Toyota 200 presented by Crosley Brands (Winchester) Trackpass

    7:30 p.m.: Cup Series Bass Pro Shops Night Race (Stages 125/250/500 Laps = 266.5 Miles) NBCSN/PRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
    Pole: Brad Keselowski

    Cup Series Bubble Watch
    (Via NASCAR.com)
    RankDriverPoints to cutoff
     9Kyle Busch18
    10Aric Almirola 7
    11Kurt Busch 7
    12Clint Bowyer 3
    ——-Cut-Off Line———————
    13William Byron -3
    14Cole Custer -8
    15Matt DiBenedetto-25
    16Ryan Blaney-27
  • Keselowski wins at Richmond; transfers to second round of the Playoffs

    Keselowski wins at Richmond; transfers to second round of the Playoffs

    Brad Keselowski made an emphatic championship statement at Richmond Raceway under the lights on Saturday, September 12, after he muscled his way to a dominating win in the Federated Auto Parts 400. All told, Keselowski led a race-high 192 of the event’s 400-scheduled laps, including the final 48, and withstood late challenges from Martin Truex Jr. teammate Joey Logano and Austin Dillon. With his fourth victory of the season and the 34th of his NASCAR Cup Series career, Keselowski has punched his ticket to the Round of 12 in the Playoffs.  

    The starting lineup was based on four statistical categories: current owner standings, the driver’s result from a previous Cup race, the team owner’s result from a previous Cup race, and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Kevin Harvick, coming off his win at  Darlington Raceway last weekend, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Joey Logano.  

    Kyle Busch started at the rear of the field due to his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry failing pre-race inspection twice. The issues prior to the race made for a difficult start for Busch, who had  Xfinity Series crew chief Jacob Canter atop the No. 18 pit box while crew chief Adam Stevens was serving a one-race suspension due to two loose lug nuts that were discovered to be loose on  Busch’s car last weekend at Darlington. Future teammate Christopher Bell also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments.  

    When the green flag waved and the second Playoff race of this season started, Harvick jumped to an early advantage followed by Logano and Austin Dillon while teammates Alex Bowman and  William Byron battled for fourth place. Behind, Denny Hamlin moved up to sixth place while  Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski battled for seventh place.  

    By the fifth lap, teammates Clint Bowyer and Cole Custer moved up to eighth and ninth while  Kurt Busch dropped back to 10th place in front of Aric Almirola. Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr., and Chase Elliott trailed behind outside the top 10. Shortly after, Hamlin made his way into the top five after passing Byron’s No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for a position  as Byron was challenged by Keselowski for more.  

    Following the first 10 laps, Harvick and his No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza/Fields Ford Mustang were ahead by nearly half a second over Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang with  Austin Dillon’s No. 3 DOW Norkool Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE trailing by seven-tenths of a  second. Five laps later, Austin Dillon muscled his way into second place with Logano dropping back to third place and Hamlin continuing to march his way to the front in fourth place.  

    By Lap 20, Harvick was still ahead, but he had a hard-charging Austin Dillon closing into his rear bumper. A lap later, Austin Dillon muscled his No. 3 car to the lead over Harvick with  Logano trailing the two leaders by half a second. Behind, Hamlin and his No. 11 FedEx Cares Toyota Camry was in fourth place in front of Keselowski while Bowman, Byron, Bowyer, Custer, and Almirola were in the top 10. By then, 14  of the 16 Playoff contenders occupied the top-14 positions on the track. Matt DiBenedetto was back in 17th behind Erik Jones while Kyle Busch was scored in 22nd behind Ryan Newman.  Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson was the highest-running non-title contender in 15th place.  

    Five laps later and with the leaders approaching lapped traffic, Keselowski made his way into fourth place after passing Hamlin as he started to close within the rear bumper of Harvick, who lost second place to Logano. By then, Austin Dillon extended his advantage to more than a  second.  

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 30, Austin Dillon maintained the lead by more than a  second over Logano. Behind, Harvick held off Keselowski and Hamlin to maintain a third place on the track. By then, Kyle Busch was in 21st ahead of Bell.  

    Under the competition caution, the leaders pitted and Austin Dillon maintained the lead following a stellar pit stop over Logano and Harvick. Following the pit stops, Blaney made another pit stop to address a loose left-front tire on his No. 12 Menards/Libman Ford Mustang.  

    Thirty-seven laps down, the race restarted under green and Austin Dillon maintained the lead while Hamlin made his way into second place. A lap later, Hamlin made a move beneath Dillon to take the lead while Logano went to work on Austin Dillon for second place, which he succeeded. With Hamlin, Logano, and Austin Dillon running in the top three, Harvick was in fourth followed by Keselowski, Bowman, and Byron. Behind, Bowyer was in eighth while Chase Elliott and  Custer battled for ninth in front of Kurt Busch and Truex.  

    On Lap 43, Bubba Wallace made contact into Johnson as Johnson sustained damage to the right rear end of his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE after touching the wall. Following the incident, Johnson stepped on the gas and attempted to close back to Wallace’s rear bumper, but  he wiggled entering Turn 1. Despite the on-track dispute between the two, the race remained under green as Johnson fell back to 23rd and continued to run on the track despite the damage while Wallace was in 18th.  

    At the front, Hamlin was leading by more than a second over Logano with Austin Dillon trailing by less than two seconds. By Lap 50, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to nearly a second over  Logano. Behind, Harvick remained in fourth place, trailing by less than three seconds, while  Keselowski was in fifth. By then, 13 of the 16 Playoff contenders were running in the top-13  spots. In addition, Kyle Busch and Almirola were in 15th and 16th while Blaney was all the way back in 25th.  

    Ten laps later, on Lap 60, Hamlin continued to stabilize his advantage by less than a second over  Austin Dillon, who overtook Logano for the runner-up spot. By then, Keselowski advanced into fourth place over Harvick while Bowman, Byron, Bowyer, Elliott, and Custer battled in the top  10. Truex, Kurt Busch, and DiBenedetto were running in 11th through 13th while Kyle Busch and  Almirola were in 16th and 17th. Johnson was back in 28th in between Ryan Preece and John  Hunter Nemechek while Wallace was in 19th in between Newman and Erik Jones.  

    By Lap 68, Kyle Busch and his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota cracked the top 15 after he passed  DiBenedetto with Matt Kenseth next on his target. At the front, Austin Dillon cut Hamlin’s advantage to half a second while Keselowski started to battle teammate Logano for third place.  In addition, Truex moved up to ninth behind Bowyer and Elliott while Byron dropped back to 14th.  

    With the laps in the first stage continuing to dwindle, Austin Dillon continued to trail Hamlin by half a second, though Dillon was faster than Hamlin and had Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota within his sights. Behind, Truex and his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry moved up to seventh place while Elliott, Bowyer, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Custer were behind and battling for position.  

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 80, Hamlin was able to hold off Austin Dillon to win his eighth stage of the season. Dillon settled in second place followed by Logano, Keselowski, and  Harvick while Bowman, Truex, Elliott, Stenhouse, and Bowyer were scored in the top 10.  

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Hamlin maintained the lead over Logano, Harvick, and Austin Dillon. Following the pit stops, however, Hamlin and Austin Dillon were sent to the rear of the field due to speeding on pit road.  

    The second stage started under green on Lap 89 with Logano and Harvick on the front row in front of Keselowski and Bowman. At the start, Logano maintained the lead in his No. 22 Shell/ Pennzoil Ford Mustang while teammate Keselowski made his way into second place and started to challenge his Penske teammate for the lead. Bowman then utilized the outside lane to gain spots over Harvick and Truex in third place while Kyle Busch was scored in seventh place behind Custer.  

    By Lap 95, Logano and Keselowski continued to battle for the lead with Logano ahead by three-tenths of a second over Keselowski’s No. 2 Western Star/Alliance Parts Ford Mustang. Behind,  Truex overtook Bowman for third place while Harvick, Custer, Elliott, and Bowyer were running in fifth through eighth. Kyle Busch was in ninth ahead of Almirola while Austin Dillon and  Hamlin were mired back in 23rd and 25th.  

    Five laps later and when the race reached the 100-lap mark, Logano stabilized his advantage to four-tenths of a second over teammate Keselowski. Meanwhile, Byron was back in 14th in between DiBenedetto and Tyler Reddick, Blaney was in 19th and Kurt Busch was in 11th. Austin  Dillon moved up to 21st while Hamlin was mired back in 25th. In addition, Johnson was back in 31st place and trapped a lap behind the leaders. 

    On Lap 110, Keselowski cut the deficit down to a tenth of a second behind Logano. Three laps later, Keselowski gained a run beneath Logano for the lead, but Logano was able to fend off his teammate and retain the top spot on the track. Both Penske teammates were ahead by more than a second over Truex with Harvick in fourth and Elliott in fifth. Bowman was in sixth ahead of  Kyle Busch, Custer, and Almirola while Kenseth was in 10th place ahead of Stenhouse, Bowyer, and Kurt Busch. By then, Austin Dillon made his way back to 14th and was pursuing for more over Bowyer and Kurt Busch.  

    Meanwhile. Byron slipped back to 16th behind DiBenedetto, Blaney was in 18th and Hamlin made his way back in 20th place behind Bell. Newman was in 21st ahead of teammate Chris Buescher, Erik Jones, Ty Dillon, and Bubba Wallace.  

    On Lap 121, Keselowski emerged with the lead for the first time after outlasting a long battle with teammate Logano while Truex started to close into both Penske teammates. Nine laps later,  on Lap 130, Keselowski extended his advantage to nearly a second over teammate Logano with  Truex trailing by more than a second. Harvick was in fourth place, trailing by four seconds,  while Elliott made his way into the top five over teammate Bowman. Kyle Busch stabilized seventh place over Almirola, Custer, and Stenhouse while Austin Dillon moved up to 11th place.  

    With 12 of the 16 Playoff contenders running inside the top 15, Byron was the lowest-running contenders on the track in 22nd place with Hamlin, Blaney, and DiBenedetto running in 17th  through 19th. Stenhouse was the highest-running non-title contender in ninth while Kenseth was in 13th, Bell was in 15th and Reddick was in 16th. Johnson was mired back 31st place.  

    On Lap 138, DiBenedetto made a pit stop. Shortly after, pit stops under green commenced with  John Hunter Nemechek, Harvick, Wallace, and Johnson pitting. Ten laps later, on Lap 148,  Keselowski was still at the front of the field by a second over Logano, though the leaders had yet to pit.  

    As the laps progressed, more lead lap cars that included Austin Dillon, Custer and Bowyer pitted.  By the time Keselowski and Logano completed their pit stops under green, Harvick emerged with the lead on Lap 163. Austin Dillon was back in second place, trailing by 12 seconds,  followed by Almirola, Custer and DiBenedetto while Kyle Busch was in seventh. Following his stop, Stenhouse has assessed a drive-through penalty down pit road for speeding during his service under green.  

    On Lap 170, Harvick maintained a seven-second advantage over Austin Dillon with Almirola,  Custer, and Kyle Busch trailing in the top five. Logano and Keselowski were in sixth and seventh while Elliott was in eighth ahead of Truex. Bowyer was in 11th ahead of Bowman and Kurt  Busch, Blaney was in 15th ahead of DiBenedetto, Hamlin was in 19th and Byron was mired back in 29th. Stenhouse was mired back in 27th following his pit road speeding penalty while Kenseth was the highest-running non-title contender in 10th place. In addition, Wallace was in 14th. 

    On Lap 182, Austin Dillon emerged with the lead after passing Harvick. By then, Keselowski moved up to the third place and in front of Almirola while Logano was in fifth ahead of Kyle Busch,  Truex, and Elliott. Four laps later, Harvick made a pit stop under green. Following his stop,  however, Harvick has assessed a pass-through penalty on pit road for a commitment line violation.  

    Another four laps later, on Lap 190, Austin Dillon stabilized his advantage to less than three seconds over Keselowski with Logano trailing by more than three seconds. In addition, Kyle  Busch moved up to fourth place while Almirola, Truex, Elliott, Custer, Kurt Busch, and Kenseth were scored in the top 10. Bowman and Bowyer were in 11th and 12th while Hamlin was in  14th, two spots ahead of Blaney.  

    By then, Johnson was still mired back 31st while names like Erik Jones, Preece, Wallace, Corey  LaJoie, Newman, Stenhouse, Byron, Ty Dillon, Buescher, Daniel Suarez, Harvick, DiBenedetto,  Michael McDowell, and Nemechek were all trapped a lap or more behind the leaders.  

    At the halfway mark, Lap 200, Austin Dillon was still ahead by less than two seconds over  Keselowski with Logano, Truex and Kyle Busch scored in the top five. Almirola stabilized sixth place over Elliott, Kurt Busch, and Custer while Kenseth was in 10th place ahead of Bowman and  Bowyer. Shortly after, Blaney, running in 16th, was lapped by Austin Dillon.  

    By Lap 210, Keselowski cut Austin Dillon’s advantage down to half a second while Logano trailed by nearly five seconds. Truex continued to run in fourth place and was also closing in on Logano for more while Kyle Busch was in fifth place ahead of Elliott.  

    On Lap 218, Keselowski reassumed the lead from Austin Dillon with Truex trailing by more than four seconds after taking over third place from Logano earlier. Five laps later, Elliott passed Kyle  Busch for fifth place with Almirola and Kurt Busch behind. Meanwhile, Harvick was mired back in 16th place and scored as the first car a lap behind.  

    With the laps in the second stage dwindling down, Keselowski stabilized his advantage to a  second over Austin Dillon, but Harvick, racing on fresh tires, closed in on Keselowski and was able to un-lap himself as Preece was mired as the first car a lap behind. By then, Custer was back in 15th in between teammates Bowyer and Harvick, who continued to regain the lost spots from his commitment line violation penalty, while Bowman was in 11th behind Kenseth.  

    By the time the second stage concluded on Lap 235, Keselowski was able to hold off Austin  Dillon to claim his seventh stage victory of the season. Austin Dillon settled in second place followed by Truex, Logano, and Elliott while Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Almirola, Kenseth, and Harvick were scored in the top 10. By then, Hamlin and Bowyer were able to remain on the lead lap while Custer was pinned a lap behind the leaders in 16th place.  

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Keselowski retained the lead after exiting pit road in first place over Truex, Logano, Austin Dillon, and Elliott. 

    The final stage commenced with 157 laps remaining and with Keselowski pulling away with the lead over teammate Logano, Truex, Elliott, Austin Dillon, and Kyle Busch. Eight laps later, with 150 laps remaining, Keselowski extended his advantage to a second over teammate Logano with Truex, Elliott, and Kyle Busch in the top five.  

    Behind, teammates Almirola and Harvick moved up to sixth and seventh while Austin Dillon fell back to eighth place and in front of Kurt Busch and Bowman. Hamlin was in 11th and Bowyer was in 12th as 12 of the 16 Playoff contenders occupied the top-12 positions on the track. Custer was back in 16th place in front of DiBenedetto and Byron while Blaney was back in 21st.  Reddick was the highest-running non-title contender in 13th and ahead of Kenseth and Bell.  

    With 140 laps remaining, Keselowski continued to stabilize his advantage by nearly a second over teammate Logano while Truex, Elliott, and Kyle Busch trailed in the top five. Harvick made his way up to sixth place in front of Austin Dillon while Almirola, Kurt Busch, and Bowman were scored in the top 10 over Hamlin and Bowyer.  

    Twenty laps later, with 120 laps remaining, Keselowski’s advantage grew to less than two seconds over teammate Logano with Truex trailing by three seconds. Elliott and Kyle Busch continued to run in fourth and fifth while Austin Dillon overtook Harvick for sixth place.  Almirola continued to run in eighth place while Kurt Busch and Bowman were scored in the top  10.  

    With approximately 110 laps remaining, pit stops under green started as Hamlin pitted along with Truex, Almirola, Bowyer, Logano, Harvick, Keselowski, and Austin Dillon. Soon after, Elliott, Kyle Busch, and Bowman also pitted, giving the lead to Kurt Busch.  

    Down to the final 100 laps of the race, Kurt Busch was scored as the race leader, though he and his No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE needed to pit. Teammate Kenseth was in second place, trailing Kurt Busch by less than four seconds and also running on a similar strategy to Busch, followed by Logano, Keselowski, Truex, Austin Dillon, Harvick, Elliott, Kyle Busch and Almirola.  

    With 92 laps remaining, Logano and Keselowski moved back into first and second and Truex moved into third while Kurt Busch dropped back to fourth. Nine laps later, Keselowski muscled his way back into the lead while Austin Dillon continued to march towards the front in fourth place, trailing race leader Keselowski by four seconds and third-place Truex by more than two seconds.  

    Down to the final 70 laps of the race, Keselowski was ahead by more than two seconds over teammate Logano with Truex starting to reel in Logano for second place and Austin Dillon joining the party. Shortly after, Truex overtook Logano for second place and Austin Dillon followed pursuit in third. 

    With 64 laps remaining, Austin Dillon missed the entrance to pit road after having issues in slowing his No. 3 Chevrolet down to not speed nor miss the commitment line. Thus, he had to cycle back around another lap to complete his final four-tire pit stop under green. Not long after,  more competitors made their way to pit road under green, including Logano, Hamlin, Blaney,  Keselowski, Elliott, Bowyer, Almirola, Bowman, and Truex.  

    Back on the track, Kyle Busch assumed the lead, though he had yet to pit, and was followed by  Harvick, Kurt Busch, and Kenseth while Austin Dillon was in fifth. Not long after, Kyle Busch and Harvick, who smoked his tires exiting Turn 2, pitted while Kurt Busch moved back into the lead.  

    With 48 laps remaining, Austin Dillon bolted his way back to the lead over Kurt Busch followed by Keselowski. A lap later, Keselowski reassumed the lead. Truex was back in third place,  trailing by less than two seconds, followed by Logano and Kurt Busch while Elliott was in sixth.  

    With 40 laps remaining, Keselowski extended his advantage to nearly three seconds over Austin  Dillon with Truex, Logano and Elliott trailing by three seconds or more. Not long after, Truex and Logano advanced to second and third while Austin Dillon fell back to fourth place in front of  Elliott.  

    As the laps continued to progress down to its final stages, Keselowski stabilized his advantage to more than two seconds over Truex with Logano and Austin Dillon trailing by four seconds.  

    With less than 20 laps remaining, Keselowski continued to stabilize his advantage to more than two seconds over Truex.  

    Down to the final 10 laps of the race and with Keselowski still leading by more than two seconds over Truex, Logano and Austin Dillon were locked into a competitive battle for third place with Dillon prevailing for a few laps before Logano regained the spot. Meanwhile, Elliott started to track both competitors for position.  

    With the battling for late positions occurring behind him, Keselowski was able to maintain a  healthy advantage over Truex and the field as he was able to start the final lap of the race while making his way through lapped traffic. With a dominating car and a dominating run throughout the evening, Keselowski was able to come back around and take the checkered flag to win and race his way into the second round of the Playoffs.  

    With Keselowski winning at Richmond for the second time in his career, Team Penske claimed its seventh victory of the season and Ford recorded its 16th Cup victory of this season. In  addition, Keselowski claimed his fourth victory of the season with veteran crew chief Jeremy  Bullins. Ironically, the car Keselowski won with on Saturday night at Richmond is the same car he won with at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in early August.  

    “It was a great race for us and the No. 2 team,” Keselowski said on NBCSN. “I think this is my car from Loudon and I wanted to do a really cool burnout with it, but I want this car for Phoenix [the finale in November]. It’s two-for-two and man, I’m real pumped. I don’t want to look too far ahead. We got to get there [the finale]. Next round’s gonna be difficult but still, I’m really pumped up about this performance and the way we ran at short tracks…Man, this thing was awesome!”  

    “It’s a chess game and I got blinders on,” Keselowski added on the mixed strategy that occurred throughout the race. “I don’t know what everybody’s doing and who’s on what strategy. But, Jeremy Bullins and the whole No. 2 team, excellent performance [I] Can’t thank them enough.  It’s a really special day.”  

    Though Keselowski was ecstatic with the win, he emphasized his overall goal to continue to his momentum to make the Championship Round at Phoenix Raceway in November and be in contention for his second Cup championship.  

    “We gotta get there. The last few years, I haven’t made it all the way. We gotta get all the way there. If we can get to Phoenix, we’re gonna be really good.”  

    Truex Jr. settled in second place followed by Logano, Austin Dillon, and Elliott. Kyle Busch rallied from starting at the rear of the field to finish in sixth place followed by Harvick, Almirola, Bowman, and Bowyer.  

    This marked the fourth time since the inception of the Cup Playoffs in 2004 where the top-10  finishers were occupied by Playoff contenders, a feat that was also made at Dover International Speedway in September 2013, Richmond in September 2018, and at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in September 2019.  

    Hamlin finished in 12th place, a lap down, and clinched his spot to the Round of 12 in the  Playoffs based on points. Kurt Busch and Custer finished 13th and 14th while DiBenedetto ended his night in 17th place. Blaney and Byron ended their long runs in 19th and 21st. Jimmie  Johnson finished 31st in his 37th and final start at Richmond while Reddick was the highest finishing non-title contender in 11th.  

    There were 19 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured three cautions for 21  laps.  

    Results.  

    1. Brad Keselowski, 192 laps led, Stage 2 winner  

    2. Martin Truex Jr. 

    3. Joey Logano, 45 laps led  

    4. Austin Dillon, 55 laps led 

    5. Chase Elliott, two laps led  

    6. Kyle Busch, four laps led  

    7. Kevin Harvick, 41 laps led  

    8. Aric Almirola 

    9. Alex Bowman 

    10. Clint Bowyer 

    11. Tyler Reddick  

    12. Denny Hamlin, one lap down, 45 laps led, Stage 1 winner 

    13. Kurt Busch, one lap down, 15 laps down  

    14. Cole Custer, one lap down  

    15. Christopher Bell, one lap down  

    16. Matt Kenseth, one lap down  

    17. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap down  

    18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., two laps down  

    19. Ryan Blaney, two laps down  

    20. Ryan Preece, two laps down  

    21. William Byron, two laps down  

    22. Erik Jones, two laps down  

    23. Ryan Newman, three laps down  

    24. Chris Buescher, three laps down  

    25. Michael McDowell, three laps down  

    26. Bubba Wallace, three laps down  

    27. Corey LaJoie, four laps down  

    28. Ty Dillon, four laps down 

    29. Daniel Suarez, four laps down 

    30. John Hunter Nemechek, four laps down 

    31. Jimmie Johnson, five laps down 

    32. Quin Houff, 10 laps down  

    33. Brennan Poole, 10 laps down, one lap led 

    34. J.J. Yeley, 12 laps down  

    35. Joey Gase, 13 laps down  

    36. Reed Sorenson, 13 laps down  

    37. James Davison, 15 laps down  

    38. Timmy Hill – OUT, Rear hub  

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders 

    Playoff standings.  

    1. Kevin Harvick – ADVANCED  

    2. Brad Keselowski – ADVANCED 

    3. Denny Hamlin – ADVANCED  

    4. Joey Logano +51  

    5. Martin Truex Jr. +38  

    6. Austin Dillon +36  

    7. Chase Elliott +28  

    8. Alex Bowman +27  

    9. Kyle Busch +18  

    10. Aric Almirola +7  

    11. Kurt Busch +7  

    12. Clint Bowyer +3 

    13. William Byron -3  

    14. Cole Custer -8  

    15. Matt DiBenedetto -25  

    16. Ryan Blaney -27  

    The next NASCAR Cup Series event of 2020 will occur at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Bass  Pro Shops Night Race and the final Round of 16 event in the Playoffs. The race will occur on  Saturday, September 19, at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.