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Category: RC NASCAR Cup

Race Central NASCAR Cup Series news and information

  • Weekend schedule for Dover – Cup Series race postponed to Monday at Noon

    Weekend schedule for Dover – Cup Series race postponed to Monday at Noon

    This weekend the NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series travel to Dover Motor Speedway. Friday evening will showcase the ARCA Menards Series East and the Xfinity Series will take center stage Saturday afternoon.

    The Cup Series will close the weekend with the Würth 400 race on the one-mile concrete paved oval track known as the ‘Monster Mile. Eight active drivers have previously won at Dover with Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. topping the list with three wins each.

    Chase Elliott has been to victory lane twice (2022, 2018) and is the defending race winner while Alex Bowman, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson and Brad Keselowski have each claimed the checkered flag once.

    The Xfinity Series race at Dover is the final round of the Dash 4 Cash competition. Cole Custer, Jeb Burton, Sheldon Creed and Parker Kligerman will be eligible to claim the $100,000 bonus.

    The Craftsman Truck Series will have the week off and will return to competition Saturday, May 6 at Kansas Speedway.

    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, April 28

    1 p.m.: ARCA Practice (All Entries) No TV – Canceled
    2:10 p.m.: ARCA Qualifying (Impound/Timed/All Entries) No TV – Canceled
    5:35 p.m.: ARCA General Tire 125 (125 Laps) FloRacing.com – Postponed to Saturday at 4:30 p.m. after Xfinity Series A-GAME 200 (Time approximate)
    3:05 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice – FS1 – Canceled
    3:35 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying (Impound/Single Vehicle/2 Laps/All Entries) FS1 – Canceled

    Saturday, April 29

    10:35 a.m.: Cup Series Practice – FS2/PRN (FS1 at 11 a.m.)
    11:20 a.m.: Cup Series Qualifying – FS1/PRN/SiriusXM – Canceled
    Post Cup Series Qualifying on Press Pass

    1:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series A-GAME 200
    Stages – 45/90/200 Laps = 200 Miles
    FS1/PRN/SiriusXM
    The Purse: $1,361,382
    Post Xfinity Series race on Press Pass

    4:30 p.m.:ARCA General Tire 125 (125 Laps) FloRacing.com

    Sunday, April 30

    1 p.m.: Cup Series Würth 400 – Postponed to Monday, May 1 at Noon
    Stages – 120/250/400 Laps = 400 Miles
    FS1/PRN/SiriusXM
    The Purse: $7,629,649
    Post Cup Series race on Press Pass

  • Cup race postponed to Monday

    Cup race postponed to Monday

    If you have a personal day, use it.

    NASCAR postponed the Wurth 400 at Dover Motor Speedway to Monday, due to unyielding rain. The Cup Series’ annual trek to the Monster Mile will start at noon, ET. FOX Sports 1 will carry the TV broadcast and PRN/SiriusXM will carry the radio broadcast.

    After rain washed out practice and qualifying, Saturday, NASCAR used its competitive metric to set the field. As a result of his win at Talladega Superspeedway, Kyle Busch will lead the field to green.

    This is the second year in a row rain pushed a Cup Series race at Dover to Monday.

  • Kyle Busch avoids final lap carnage for wild Cup victory at Talladega

    Kyle Busch avoids final lap carnage for wild Cup victory at Talladega

    In a similar scenario to the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course a year ago, Kyle Busch found himself situated at the right place to strike at the right time as he dodged a final lap carnage involving race leaders Bubba Wallace and Ryan Blaney to net a big victory in the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, April 23, amid two overtime attempts.

    The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion from Las Vegas, Nevada, led three of 196 over-scheduled laps as he placed himself in contention to win while starting on the front row during the second of two overtime attempts. Despite being overtaken by Wallace and a hard-charging Blaney on the frontstretch and as the final lap started, the seas parted ways for Busch as Wallace, who went from the bottom to the top lane to block Blaney, got bumped and turned sideways in front of Blaney on the outside lane.

    The result triggered a multi-car pileup between Turns 1 and 2 as Busch dodged the carnage to reassume the lead before the caution flag waved to officially conclude the event on the final lap. Amid fuel concerns, Busch had enough fuel to coast his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 across the finish line first and claim his second checkered flag of the 2023 season and his first at Talladega in 15 years.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Denny Hamlin started in pole position for the first time in 2023 after posting a pole-winning lap at 180.751 mph in 52.979 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Aric Almirola, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 180.642 mph in 53.011 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Austin Cindric, AJ Allmendinger and Todd Gilliland dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Hamlin and Almirola dueled for the lead amid two tight-packed lanes entering the first turn until Almirola received a strong push from teammate Chase Briscoe to launch ahead and assume control of both lanes through the backstretch. With the field fanning out to two tight-packed lanes, Almirola proceeded to lead the first lap ahead of Briscoe, Christopher Bell, Joey Logano, Hamlin and Chris Buescher.

    Then prior to the second lap and as Logano challenged Almirola for the lead, the first caution flew when Michael McDowell, who was running within the top 20, spun in the middle of the pack through Turns 3 and 4 after losing a right-rear tire. Amid the spin, the field scattered to avoid hitting McDowell as he pitted his No. 34 Love’s Travel Stop Ford Mustang for repairs.

    During the first caution period, a host of names that included Ross Chastain, Erik Jones, Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott, Justin Haley, Ty Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Riley Herbst, Corey LaJoie, JJ Yeley, Ryan Preece, Austin Cindric, Todd Gilliland, Zane Smith, BJ McLeod and Austin Hill pitted while the rest led by Almirola remained on the track.

    When the event restarted on the sixth lap, Almirola maintained the lead on the outside lane followed by Logano while Briscoe challenged Buescher for third. As the field returned to the frontstretch, Briscoe drew himself into a side-by-side battle with teammate Almirola for the lead as the former led a lap for himself. Then on the eighth lap, Bubba Wallace was drafted into the lead on the outside lane as he had rookie Ty Gibbs and Ryan Blaney drafting him. As Wallace fought for the lead on the outside lead, Briscoe also fought back on the inside lane with drafting help from teammate Almirola and Logano.

    At the Lap 10 mark, Wallace was leading ahead of Gibbs, Briscoe, Blaney and Almirola as the field battled amid two tight-packed lanes. Despite being pressured by Briscoe on the inside lane, Wallace maintained the lead on the outside lane through the Lap 20 mark.

    By Lap 25, Wallace continued to lead as Blaney moved up to second. Martin Truex Jr. also moved up to third followed by Gibbs and Daniel Suarez while Briscoe fell back to sixth ahead of Kyle Busch, Almirola, Harrison Burton and Ross Chastain. By then, all but one of 38 starters were separated within two seconds amid a tight pack and two lanes.

    Then as the first wave of green flag pit stops commenced approaching Lap 35 with Wallace leading his Toyota teammates to pit road, early trouble struck for teammate Tyler Reddick, who made a late dart to the left and locked up his front tires while trying to slow his car prior to entering pit road. After getting loose, Reddick then spun and hit the inside wall as he was dodged by Wallace and all four Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota competitors. Despite the incident, the race proceeded under green as Reddick navigated his No. 45 MoneyLion Toyota TRD Camry back to pit road for repairs.

    On Lap 39, another wave of competitors, mainly Chevrolet competitors, led by Chastain, who passed Kyle Busch for the lead on Lap 36, pitted as Preece cycled to the lead. Then as another wave of competitors, mainly Ford competitors, led by Preece pitted by Lap 41, trouble struck for Briscoe, who spun after locking up his tires and trying to slow his No. 14 Mahindra Tractors YOG Ford Mustang while trying to enter pit road.

    While the rest of his Ford competitors proceeded to pit, Briscoe’s event then went from bad to worse when he flattened his tires and was left stranded on pit road while the rest of his fellow competitors pitted. As a result of his mishap, the caution returned on Lap 42. By then, Erik Jones was leading ahead of Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ty Dillon, Haley, Corey LaJoie and AJ Allmendinger. During the caution period, some led by Erik Jones, who had yet to pit, pitted while the rest led by Elliott remained on the track.

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 47, teammates Elliott and Bowman dueled for the lead in front of the pack. They continued to duel for the lead through the backstretch and entering Turns 3 and 4 until Bowman peeked ahead in his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and led the following lap. While Bowman had drafting help from teammate Kyle Larson, Elliott had drafting help from Chastain as both Hendrick Motorsports teammates continued to swap back and forth for the lead.

    Nearing the Lap 55 mark, the battle for the lead continued to intensify as Elliott reassumed the top spot with drafting help from Chastain on the inside lane while Bowman fought back on the outside lane with drafting help from teammate Larson. As the field remained dead even in a tight pack, Almirola tried to start a third lane towards the outside lane entering the frontstretch. Kyle Busch would then move up in front of Almirola along with Blaney and Zane Smith towards the outside lane as Elliott retained the lead.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 60, Elliott, who swapped the lead with teammate Bowman since the previous restart amid the draft, claimed his first Cup stage victory of the 2023 season. Bowman, Chastain, Byron, Larson, Cindric, Gragson, Logano, Preece and Suarez were scored in the top 10. By then, the event featured 15 lead changes for 10 different leaders while 36 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the second stage, the field led by Elliott returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Hamlin exited first after only opting for fuel. Harvick, who pitted for two fresh tires, exited second followed by Haley, Chastain on four tires, Truex and Cindric. Amid the pit stops, Todd Gilliland was penalized for having his crew members jump over the pit wall too soon. Buescher was also penalized for running over equipment along with Herbst, who was nabbed for pitting outside his pit box. JJ Yeley was also assessed a penalty for vehicle interference.

    Prior to the start of the second stage, the following names that included Buescher, Kyle Busch, Zane Smith, Erik Jones, Keselowski, Stenhouse, Austin Hill and Herbst pitted to top off on fuel.

    The second stage started on Lap 67 as Hamlin and Justin Haley occupied the front row. At the start, Hamlin pulled ahead on the outside lane in his No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry through the first two turns as Haley tried to fight back on the inside lane with drafting help from Chastain. Hamlin, however, had drafting help from Harvick as he maintained the lead in front of the field battling in tight formation through two lanes.

    Four laps later, Harvick, who drew himself in a side-by-side battle with Hamlin for the lead, led a lap for himself as he tried to receive drafting assistance from Truex while Hamlin moved in front of Haley on the inside lane. With Harvick in the lead, Logano then drew himself behind Harvick’s No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang in the draft while Truex drew himself in a side-by-side battle with Harvick for the lead.

    At the Lap 75 mark, Harvick was leading ahead of Logano, Preece, Truex and Hamlin while Larson, Haley, Wallace, Chastain and Ty Dillon were scored in the top 10. By then, the top-36 competitors were separated by two seconds, with the first 21 separated by under a second.

    Two laps later, Logano was drafted into the lead as he led a lap for himself. Another lap later, however, Truex made his move to the front after receiving a draft from teammate Hamlin and Harvick on the outside lane while Logano remained on the inside lane.

    Through the first 90 scheduled laps, Truex, who had been swapping the lead with Logano since Lap 77, was out in front ahead of Logano while Hamlin, Haley and Harvick were in the top five. By then, Chastain was in sixth followed by Preece, Cindric, Wallace and Bell while Ty Dillon, Larson, Austin Dillon, Byron and LaJoie were scored in the top 15 ahead of Elliott, Almirola, Harrison Burton, Bowman and Blaney. In addition, 36 of 38 starters scored on the lead lap were separated within two seconds.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 94, Truex continued to lead ahead of teammate Hamlin while Harvick, Logano, Preece, Haley, Wallace, Chastain, Ty Dillon and Cindric were battling within the top 10. By then, the top-26 competitors were separated by less than a second while a total of 36 lead lap competitors were separated by over a second and a half.

    Three laps later, the field fanned out to three tight-packed lanes as Wallace mounted a charge on the outside lane with drafting help from Erik Jones. Another lap later, Wallace was drafted into the lead as he moved in front of Truex and Hamlin while Harvick and Logano occupied the top five. By Lap 100, Harvick moved back into the lead as he battled Truex to maintain the spot while Preece and Ty Dillon moved up into the top five.

    Three laps later, the second wave of green flag pit stops commenced as a host of competitors, mainly Chevrolet competitors, led by Chastain pitted. Another lap later, a mix of Toyota and Chevrolet competitors led by Truex and Hamlin pitted under green for service. Another wave of competitors, mainly Ford competitors, led by Harvick would then pit under green by Lap 105, mainly for fuel. Amid the pit stops, Logano was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    Nearing the Lap 106 mark, the top-four competitors led by Keselowski and followed by teammate Buescher, Yeley and Riley Herbst pitted. Once the second cycle of green flag pit stops concluded, Truex cycled his No. 19 Bas Pro Shops Toyota TRD Camry into the lead followed by Austin Dillon and Byron while Kyle Busch, Bowman and Elliott were scored in the top six. By Lap 110, however, Wallace navigated his way back into the lead over Elliott, who led the previous lap.

    Then on Lap 115, the field split Logano in the middle as Logano, who was left out of the draft prior to the field catching him, was mired a lap down following his pit road penalty. As Logano received drafting help from teammate Cindric to battle Briscoe for the free pass spot, Elliott, who spent the previous several laps battling Wallace for the lead, was out in front. By then, Almirola moved up to second followed by Harvick, Burton and Preece while Wallace was left battling Truex for sixth.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 120, Almirola executed a move on Elliott with drafting help from teammate Harvick on the outside lane to claim his first Cup stage victory since 2020. Elliott settled in second followed by Harvick, Wallace and Burton while Truex, Preece, Hamlin, Stenhouse and Gragson were scored in the top 10. By then, the event featured 33 lead changes for 16 different leaders. In addition, Logano was the beneficiary of the free pass and cycled back to the lead lap after managing to remain ahead of Briscoe and BJ McLeod, both of whom were a lap down, on the track.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Almirola returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Almirola exited first to retain the lead followed by Hamlin, Wallace, Elliott, Burton and Harvick.

    With 62 laps remaining, the final stage started as Almirola and Wallace occupied the front row. At the start, Wallace peeked ahead with the lead on the inside lane with drafting help from Burton as he then darted up the track to block Almirola. This enabled Burton to be drafted into the lead on the inside lane followed by Gragson as Wallace battled Truex for third. Burton would then maintain the lead in front of Gragson, Wallace, Truex, Blaney and Almirola as the event reached its final 60-lap mark.

    With 50 laps remaining, Blaney was leading NY a hair over Burton and followed by Wallace, Gragson and Almirola while Hamlin, Truex, Reddick, Elliott and Harvick were running in the top 10. By then, the top-22 competitors were separated by under a second while 35 lead lap competitors were separated by less than two seconds amid the tight two-lane packed racing.

    Then with 47 laps remaining, the caution flew when Burton, who was being drafted by Gragson while battling for the lead, spun off the front nose of Gragson as he spun his No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang below the Turn 3 apron, though he managed to sustain no significant damage. As the field checked up to avoid Burton’s spin, however, Logano got into the rear of Zane Smith, who then collected Austin Dillon as Dillon spun his No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 below the apron and the grass while Smith made more contact with Austin Hill.

    During the caution period, the field led by Blaney pitted, mainly for fuel, and Blaney retained the lead after exiting first followed by Almirola, Wallace, Hamlin, Truex and Gragson. Prior to the restart, names that included Keselowski, Buescher, Erik Jones, Logano and Hill pitted to top off with enough fuel for the finish.

    With the event restarting with 41 laps remaining, Blaney and Wallace dueled for the lead before Wallace received a draft from his owner Hamlin to move into the lead on the outside lane. With Blaney remaining on the inside lane and in front of Almirola, Wallace maintained his momentum and lead on the outside lane in front of Hamlin and Truex as the field fanned out to three tight-packed lanes.

    With 38 laps remaining, the outside lane led by Wallace briefly stacked up, which enabled Preece to try to ignite a drafting charge on the outside lane as Blaney was pushed clear to the lead followed by Almirola, Gragson and Harvick. As the field continued to fan out through three tight-packed lanes, Gibbs charged his way into third in front of Gragson, Wallace, Hamlin and Harvick as Blaney retained the lead. Gibbs then started to challenge Blaney for the lead with 35 laps remaining while running in the middle lane while Preece launched another bid for the front on the outside lane.

    A lap later, the battle for the lead fanned out to three tight-packed lanes amid the draft as Blaney, Gibbs and Preece, all of whom were the front-runners of each of the three lanes, dueled for the lead. As Gibbs managed to peek ahead to lead a lap for himself, Blaney and Preece fought back from their respective lanes, with Blaney receiving a strong push from Almirola on the inside lane to move ahead. With Preece slowly falling back on the outside lane, Gibbs received drafting help from Wallace and his Toyota teammates to keep Blaney within his sights under the final 30-lap mark.

    Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Blaney was leading ahead of Almirola, Gragson, Gibbs and Harvick while Wallace, Chastain, Hamlin, Truex and Larson were scored in the top 10. By then, the top 20 competitors were separated by less than a second, with the top 33 separated by one-and-a-half seconds amid the tight-packed draft racing fanning out to three lanes.

    Five laps later and with the field still fanned out to three lanes, Blaney and Gibbs continued to duel for the lead ahead of Almirola, Wallace and Gragson while Stenhouse tried to form a third drafting lane to the front. Another two laps later, the inside lane gained momentum as Blaney started to pull ahead followed by Almirola, Gragson, Harvick, Chastain, Larson, Kyle Busch and Allmendinger while Gibbs, Wallace and Hamlin were losing touch with the leaders while running on the outside lane. With 15 laps remaining, however, the outside lane led by Gibbs and followed by Wallace, Hamlin and Truex regained their momentum as Gibbs started to challenge Blaney for the lead.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event and with fuel becoming questionable for the front-runners, the top-33 competitors were separated within a second and in tight formation amid the draft as both Blaney and Gibbs continued to fight for the lead followed by Wallace, Hamlin, Almirola, Gragson, Truex, Harvick, Haley and Chastain.

    With seven laps remaining, the top-four competitors that included Blaney, Almirola, Gragson and Harvick broke away from the tight pack while Gibbs was trying to maintain momentum as the lead competitor on the outside lane. Then as the intensity toward the front continued, the caution flew with five laps remaining when Logano, who darted to the outside lane to ignite a charge to the front while running in the middle of the pack, got bumped and loose by LaJoie as he briefly bounced off of Suarez before making contact with the backstretch’s outside wall and spinning below the track. Stenhouse and Herbst also sustained damage along with Byron, who made contact with Burton as Burton spun and slapped the inside wall, as the event was sent into overtime.

    During the caution period, select names that included Byron, Bell, Stenhouse and Ty Dillon pitted for fuel while the rest led by Blaney remained on the track.

    At the start of the first overtime attempt, where Blaney and Gragson occupied the front row, Gragson received a push from Chastain to peek ahead of Blaney entering the first turn. Then through Turns 1 and 2, Chastain tried to make a move between Blaney and Gragson for the lead. Amid the tight racing, Chastain and Gragson ended up making contact as Gragson’s No. 42 Wendy’s Beef is in the Bag Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 ended up shooting back across the track and hitting the outside wall. In the ensuing process, Larson got turned by Harvick as he spun below the apron. Larson then came back across the track and despite being dodged by most of the oncoming field, he was T-boned by Preece’s No. 41 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang as both of their events came to an end.

    Under the caution period, Harvick, Hamlin, Chastain and Haley pitted for fuel while the rest led by Blaney remained on the track.

    During the start of the second overtime attempt, where Blaney and Kyle Busch occupied the front row, the momentum occurred on the outside lane as Busch was drafted into the lead followed by Wallace and Keselowski while Blaney was left to battle Truex for fourth. By then, Gibbs pulled his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota TRD Camry below the track after running out of fuel. Through the backstretch, the inside lane led by Busch continued to gain more momentum while Truex was mired back in sixth despite remaining on the outside lane.

    Then through the frontstretch, Wallace made his move on Busch and assumed the lead on the outside lane in his No. 23 Columbia Toyota TRD Camry with drafting help from Blaney’s No. 12 Wurth Ford Mustang as he started the final lap of the event. Through Turn 1, however, Blaney tried to make a move beneath Wallace for the lead but was blocked. He then moved up the track along with Wallace and the two made contact, which resulted in Wallace getting loose and spinning sideways as he came down the track and clipped Keselowski before spinning within the middle of the pack and towards oncoming competitors. Among those involved on the final lap included Keselowski, Truex, Allmendinger, Cindric, Gilliland and Byron while the rest of the field scattered to avoid the carnage.

    With the caution waving and the race deemed official, Kyle Busch was back in front ahead of Blaney. Amid concerns of not having enough fuel to finish, Busch was able to have enough to remain ahead of Blaney and navigate his No. 8 McLaren Custom Grills Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through the frontstretch before claiming the checkered flag and the official victory.

    With the victory, Busch, who won earlier at Auto Club Speedway in late February, notched his second NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2023 season, which makes him the third multi-time winner of this season. He also notched his 62nd career win in NASCAR’s premier series, which makes the 2023 season Busch’s 13th of 19 full-time seasons with multiple Cup victories. The Talladega victory was also Busch’s second of his Cup career, with his first dating back to April 2008, and the 13th overall for Richard Childress Racing. Ironically, Busch’s Talladega victory marked his first restrictor-plate victory since winning at Daytona International Speedway in July 2008.

    “Sometimes, you got to be lucky,” Busch said on FOX. “Some of these races come down to that. You gotta take’em when they come your way. The seas kind of parted there when [Wallace and Blaney] went up the racetrack. They were trying to push draft. These cars are just not stable enough to do that. Seeing [Wallace] just turn a little bit sideways, I was like get out of the way, just miss it and try to see if I was ahead of [Blaney] by the time [the race] was called. Just a great day for another new sponsor at [Richard Childress Racing] with McLaren Custom Grills. We have a great time being able to come out here and race and be a part of Team Chevy and get this Camaro in Victory Lane.”

    “We were sweating it being close [on fuel],” Busch added. “I thought back to California, Fontana, earlier this year where we have a win. I’m like we gotta gamble. We’re up here, you gotta take the track position when you have it and go give it what you can on the restarts and see what happens. Low and behold, it worked out. Knock on wood for this one.”  

    Following an extensive review of the finishing order amid the final lap chaos, Blaney settled in second place after leading a race-high 47 laps. Buescher made his way to third followed by Briscoe, who rallied from losing a lap to the leaders, while Keselowski ended up fifth.

    “You get big runs and you take’em when you can,” Blaney said. “I’m glad everyone’s OK, but on my mind, you kind of triple move like that, triple block and you can’t block three times. Just the runs are so big and as the leader, with Bubba, he’s trying to block, which is the right thing to do, but I think he kind of moved three times. You don’t really get a lot of those. I gotta go somewhere, so I hate that good cars got torn up. I hate for us being so close for the win. I’m not blaming anybody. It’s just hard racing at the end of this thing. Unfortunate [that] cars got tore up and we just missed out on another win.”

    Erik Jones, Byron, Bell, Suarez and Todd Gilliland finished in the top 10. Notably, Elliott finished 12th in front of Bowman, Ty Dillon and Stenhouse while Hamlin ended up 17th behind Reddick. Almirola fell back to 22nd behind teammate Harvick, who made his 800th Cup career start, while Truex ended up 27th. Meanwhile, Wallace, who led 35 laps, was left in 28th place while Ty Gibbs ended up 31st after not having enough fuel to finish.

    There were 57 lead changes for 21 different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 34 laps. In addition, 27 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 10th event of the 2023 Cup Series season, Christopher Bell leads the regular-season standings by 12 points over Ross Chastain, 20 over Kevin Harvick, 36 over Kyle Larson, 41 over Kyle Busch and 45 over Tyler Reddick.

    Results.

    1. Kyle Busch, three laps led

    2. Ryan Blaney, 47 laps led

    3. Chris Buescher

    4. Chase Briscoe, one lap led

    5. Brad Keselowski, two laps led

    6. Erik Jones, three laps led

    7. William Byron, one lap led

    8. Christopher Bell

    9. Daniel Suarez, five laps led

    10. Todd Gilliland

    11. JJ Yeley

    12. Chase Elliott, 18 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    13. Alex Bowman, eight laps led

    14. Ty Dillon

    15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    16. Tyler Reddick

    17. Denny Hamlin, seven laps led

    18. BJ McLeod

    19. Justin Haley

    20. Riley Herbst

    21. Kevin Harvick, 11 laps led

    22. Aric Almirola, 11 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    23. Ross Chastain

    24. Austin Hill

    25. Corey LaJoie

    26. Austin Cindric

    27. Martin Truex Jr., 19 laps led

    28. Bubba Wallace – OUT, Accident, 35 laps led

    29. AJ Allmendinger – OUT, Accident

    30. Joey Logano, one lap down, three laps led

    31. Ty Gibbs – OUT, Fuel, four laps led

    32. Noah Gragson – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    33. Kyle Larson – OUT, Accident

    34. Ryan Preece – OUT, Accident, two laps led

    35. Michael McDowell, 13 laps down

    36. Harrison Burton – OUT, Accident, 11 laps led

    37. Zane Smith – OUT, Accident

    38. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ lone visit of this season to Dover Motor Speedway in Dover, Delaware. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, April 30, at 2 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Weekend schedule for Talladega

    Weekend schedule for Talladega

    The NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series travel to Talladega Superspeedway this week for one of NASCAR’s most anticipated events. The 2.66-mile track has produced six different winners in the last six races. And, since we’ve already seen seven different winners in the first nine races of the 2023 season, Talladega promises to deliver another exciting result.

    The Xfinity Series has also seen a high level of completion at Talladega with 28 different winners in 34 races. This weekend’s race will feature the third installment of the Dash 4 Cash program with John Hunter Nemechek, Sammy Smith, Cole Custer and Josh Berry vying for the $100,000 bonus.

    The ARCA Menards Series will be first up with the General Tire 200 Saturday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. while the NASCAR Camping World Truck is off for the next couple of weeks and will return to competition on May 6 at Kansas Speedway.

    All times are Eastern

    Friday, April 21

    4 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series Practice (Impound) (Groups) No TV
    5:35 p.m.: Xfinity Qualifying (Impound) Single Vehicle/1 Lap/2 Rounds) FS1
    Post Xfinity Qualifying on Press Pass

    Saturday, April 22

    10:30 a.m.: Cup Series Qualifying (Impound) Single Vehicle/1 Lap/2 Rounds
    12:30 p.m.: ARCA General Tire 200
    Stages 25/50/113 Laps (300.58 Miles)
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    4 p.m.: Xfinity Ag-Pro 300
    Stages 25/50/113 Laps (300.58 Miles)
    Post Xfinity race on Press Pass
    The Purse: $1,438,641

    Sunday, April 23

    3 p.m.: Cup Series GEICO 500
    Stages 60/120/188 Laps (500.08 Miles)
    FOX/MRN/SiriusXM
    The Purse: $7,857,314
    Post Cup Series race on Press Pass

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Martinsville

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Martinsville

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Kyle Larson: Larson charged early at Martinsville, and was into the top 10 by lap 20 after starting 19th. Larson surged again in the latter part of the race, holding off Joey Logano while leading.

    “I was just in a hurry to get to Ryan Preece,” Larson said, “to see if he was for real after winning the pole and to get some payback for his treatment of me at Bristol. But as soon as I got near the front, he started dropping like a fly, proving that instead of running with the big dogs, he runs from them.”

    2. Joey Logano: Logano started at the back of the field

    “I have mostly fond memories of Martinsville,” Logano said, “and one not-so-fond memory. That’s thanks to Matt Kenseth. But I’ve mostly gotten over that situation, through therapy and positive imagery, in which I picture Matt Kenseth as himself, and I picture myself as Carl Edwards bullying him.”

    3. Christopher Bell: Bell started 22nd and finished 16th in the NOCO 400.

    “Every driver dreams of raising the grandfather clock trophy at Martinsville,” Bell said. “Now, Kyle Larson has his, and he’s won two of the last three races. He looks like the favorite to win the championship. Larson may have the clock, but everybody knows what time it is.”

    4. William Byron: Byron finished 23rd in the NOCO 400 at Martinsville.

    “Chase Elliott returned after missing the last six weeks recovering from a broken leg suffered while snowboarding,” Byron said. “Now, every time Chase vows to do something, he’ll hear the same three words from everyone at Hendrick: no, not ‘Break a leg.’ I’m talking about ‘Don’t go snowboarding.’”

    5. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished third in the NOCO 400 at Martinsville.

    “That’s my first top-five of the season,” Truex said. “Except for Christopher Bell, it’s been a pretty slow start for everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing. With Kyle Busch gone, I’d say Christopher is JGR’s top driver. The rest of us, we’re the B-team. In short, with Kyle gone, Christopher’s taken over the job of ‘A’-hole.”

    6. Ross Chastain: Chastain led 31 laps and finished 13th at Martinville, and is second in the points standings, 13 behind Christopher Bell.

    “I feel pretty good about finishing 13th,” Chastain said, “especially since I started the race 34th. So, much like Denny Hamlin’s championship-less career, I feel like I won the battle, even though I didn’t win the war.”

    7. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished seventh at Martinsville.

    “It’s amazing that Chase Elliott was able to return so quickly after breaking his leg,” Blaney said. “Kudos to the doctors who performed the surgery. Heck, there’s no telling what kind of hardware Chase has in his leg. It’s the same thing NASCAR inspectors say about Hendrick cars.”

    8. Kevin Harvick: Harvick won Stage 2 at Martinsville but faded late and came home 20th.

    “We were in contention,” Harvick said, “but we blew that when I had to return to the pits to tighten a lug nut. Seeing your chances evaporate like that is tough to swallow and hard to digest, much like a famous Martinsville hot dog.”

    9. Kyle Busch: Busch finished a disappointing 21st at Martinsville.

    “To make things even more frustrating,” Busch said, “I had to deal with Corey LaJoie. Corey’s earned a reputation as a real douchebag in this sport. So, he’s like a less-talented, less-successful version of me.”

    10. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin led 36 laps and finished 4th at Martinsville, posting his first top-five result of the season.

    “I’m pleased,” Hamlin said, “but the real story here for me is Bubba Wallace bumping me during the race. Did he forget that I’m his team owner? Ironically, it was a totally ‘boss’ move by Bubba.”

  • Larson capitalizes late for first Cup triumph at Martinsville

    Larson capitalizes late for first Cup triumph at Martinsville

    Kyle Larson struck gold following a late strategic call to pit for two fresh tires and place himself in race-winning contention, where he then navigated his way to the front during a late-race restart and proceeded to win the NOCO 400 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, April 16.

    The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, led the final 30 of 400 scheduled laps in an event that was dominated by all four Stewart-Haas Racing competitors. During a caution period with less than 60 laps remaining amid JJ Yeley’s wreck, Larson pitted with a host of lead lap competitors and opted for two fresh tires to restart towards the front. During the final restart with 46 laps remaining, Larson tracked and overtook Joey Logano, who was running on worn tires, with 30 laps remaining and never looked back as he proceeded to claim his first victory at the Paperclip-shaped short track and his second of the 2023 Cup campaign.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Ryan Preece notched his first Cup career pole after posting a pole-winning lap at 84.780 mph in 19.979 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Daniel Suarez, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 94.298 mph in 20.081 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Joey Logano dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his car.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced amid an early start due to weather concerns, Preece and Suarez dueled for the lead amid a side-by-side battle through the first two turns until Preece managed to peek ahead and clear Suarez through Turns 3 and 4 as he proceeded to lead the first lap. With Preece out in front of Suarez, Aric Almirola trailed in third followed by Martin Truex Jr. and Chase Briscoe while the rest of the field behind jostled for early positions through two tight-packed lanes.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Preece was leading by a second over Suarez followed by Almirola, Truex and Tyler Reddick while Briscoe, Kevin Harvick, Bubba Wallace, Denny Hamlin and William Byron were in the top 10. Behind, Todd Gilliland was in 11th followed by Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, Chris Buescher and AJ Allmendinger while rookie Ty Gibbs, Austin Dillon, Brad Keselowski, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Christopher Bell occupied the top 20. By then, Chase Elliott, who returned to competition after recovering from his leg injury from a snowboarding accident in Colorado in early March, was back in 22nd in his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 behind teammate Alex Bowman. In addition, Ryan Blaney was in 24th, Erik Jones was back in 28th behind teammate Noah Gragson and Ross Chastain was mired back in 31st while battling Harrison Burton.

    Fifteen laps later, Preece maintained his advantage to more than a second over Suarez’s No. 99 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 while third-place Almirola also trailed by more than a second. Truex and Reddick continued to run in the top five while Larson cracked the top 10 in 10th behind Hamlin as Byron dropped to 11th. Meanwhile, Elliott was mired back in 23rd, Logano was in 32nd and Austin Cindric was all the way back in 34th.

    Another 10 laps later, Preece continued to lead by nearly a second over Suarez, who was slowly starting to close in on Suarez while Almirola trailed by a second in third place. The remainder of the top 10 spots that included Briscoe, Harvick, Wallace, Hamlin and Larson remained unchanged as the leaders started to approach lapped traffic.

    At the Lap 50 mark, Preece, who continued to navigate his way through lapped traffic, retained the lead ahead of Suarez and Almirola as Suarez continued to close in for the lead. Behind, Reddick was in fourth and trailing by nearly four seconds while Briscoe was in fifth ahead of a battle between Truex and Harvick. Wallace, Hamlin and Larson occupied the remaining spots in the top 10 while Byron trailed in 11th. By then, Cindric was lapped by the field.

    By Lap 65, Preece maintained the lead by a second over both Suarez and Almirola while Reddick and Briscoe remained in the top five. Meanwhile, Logano, who was still mired in 32nd, was lapped by the field while Elliott was in 23rd behind Bell and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. In addition, teammates Byron and Bowman along with Truex battled for 10th while Blaney was up in 14th in front of Kyle Busch.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 80, Preece steered his No. 41 Haas Ford Mustang to his first Cup career stage victory after leading every lap thus far. Teammate Almirola navigated his way into second followed by Reddick, Suarez and Briscoe while Harvick, Wallace, Hamlin, Larson and Byron were scored in the top 10. By then, 31 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Preece pitted. Following the pit stops, Preece, who received a stellar pit stop from his pit crew, edged Suarez and Almirola off of pit road first to retain the lead while Redick, Harvick and Hamlin exited fourth through sixth, respectively. Following the pit stops, Zane Smith, who was filling in for the suspended Cody Ware, was penalized for speeding on pit road. Kyle Busch and Buescher were also penalized for equipment interference.

    The second stage started on Lap 91 as Preece and Suarez occupied the front row. At the start, Preece battled and pulled ahead of Suarez through the backstretch and entering Turns 3 and 4 to maintain the lead while the field behind battled through two tight-packed lanes for positions. Soon after, teammate Almirola made his way up to second while Harvick and Hamlin were in the top five ahead of 23XI Racing’s Wallace and Reddick.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Preece was leading just ahead of teammate Almirola, Suarez, Harvick and Hamlin while Wallace, Reddick, Larson, Bowman and Truex were in the top 10. Behind, Briscoe was in 11th ahead of Brad Keselowski, Byron, Todd Gilliland and Blaney while Austin Dillon, Bell, Ty Gibbs, AJ Allmendinger and Stenhouse rounded out the top 20.

    Ten laps later, Preece maintained the lead by seven-tenths of a second over teammate Almirola, who continued to close in on his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate for the lead despite reporting early concerns of a loose lug nut and wheel to his No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang.

    Just past the Lap 125 mark, Preece stabilized his advantage to four-tenths of a second over teammate Almirola while third-place Suarez trailed by more than a second. Meanwhile, fourth-place Harvick trailed by more than two seconds while Bowman cracked the top five in fifth. Hamlin, Wallace, Reddick, Larson and Briscoe were scored in the top 10 while Truex was mired back in 11th ahead of Keselowski, Byron, Gilliland and Blaney. Meanwhile, Bell was in 18th, Chastain was back in 25th, Elliott was mired in 28th and Logano was stuck back in 29th in front of Kyle Busch.

    On Lap 132, the event’s second caution of the event flew when Harrison Burton spun through Turns 1 and 2 amid contact with Erik Jones while Elliott was able to carve his way through without sustaining damage. During the pit stops, nearly the entire field led by Preece returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Preece barely edged Suarez and Almirola in a three-wide photo finish off of pit road first to maintain the lead while Todd Gilliland, Harvick and Bowman followed through from fourth to sixth, respectively. Following the pit stops, however, Preece was penalized and sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road. Wallace and Truex were also sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road. Back on the track, however, Chastain, who nearly lost a lap to the leaders during the first stage, remained on the track as he inherited the lead.  

    During the following restart on Lap 142, teammates Chastain and Suarez led the field to the start as Chastain rocketed with the lead on the inside lane. Behind, Almirola and Suarez battled for second in front of Gilliland while Harvick and Larson engaged in a fierce battle for fifth. Not long after, Suarez and Almirola engaged in a fierce battle for second, where Suarez bumped Almirola and both battled dead even through the backstretch and the frontstretch. This allowed Gilliland, who opted for two fresh tires during the previous caution period, to join the battle while Chastain pulled away by more than a second.

    By Lap 160 and amid a series of on-track battles, Chastain was leading by a second over Gilliland while Stewart-Haas Racing’s Harvick and Briscoe moved up to third and fourth in front of Hamlin. Behind, Reddick was in sixth ahead of Suarez, Almirola, Keselowski and Larson while Bowman, Ty Gibbs, Bell, Stenhouse and Allmendinger were in the top 15. Byron, Blaney, Justin Haley, Gragson and Corey LaJoie occupied the top 20 while Preece was mired back in 26th, two spots behind Elliott.

    Seven laps later, Harvick carved his No. 4 Realtree/Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang into the lead after overtaking Chastain. Teammate Briscoe would follow suit another lap later in second followed by a hard-charging Hamlin in his No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota TRD Camry. With Gilliland dropping to seventh behind Keselowski, Reddick would then navigate his No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota TRD Camry into fourth over Chastain just past the Lap 170 mark while Suarez and Almirola, both of whom ran upfront in the early stages, were back in eighth and ninth.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 180, Harvick, who was making his penultimate Cup start at Martinsville, captured his first stage victory of the 2023 Cup season and his first since 2020. Teammate Briscoe followed suit in second followed by Hamlin, Reddick and Keselowski while Chastain, Gilliland, Suarez, Almirola and Larson were scored in the top 10. By then, 31 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap while names that included Byron, Blaney, Preece, Kyle Busch, Elliott, Logano, Wallace and Truex were mired back in 16th, 17th, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th, 28th and 31st. In addition, the sun overshadowed the track.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Harvick pitted. Following the pit stops, Briscoe exited with the lead followed by teammate Harvick, Keselowski, Hamlin, Almirola and Larson.

    With 208 laps remaining, the final stage started as Briscoe and Keselowski occupied the front row followed by Harvick and Almirola. At the start, Briscoe maintained the lead as he jumped away from the field followed by teammate Harvick while Keselowski and Hamlin battled for third in front of Almirola, Larson and Suarez. By then, the field engaged in two tight-packed racing through the corners and straightaways while the cloud cover returned above the Paperclip-shaped track.

    At the race’s halfway mark with 200 laps remaining, Briscoe was leading by three-tenths of a second over teammate Harvick followed by Hamlin, Keselowski and Almirola while Larson, Reddick, Gilliland, Suarez and Chastain were scored in the top 10. Meanwhile, Bell was in 11th in front of Bowman, Blaney, LaJoie and Gibbs while Allmendinger, Stenhouse, Byron, Haley and Elliott were in the top 20. By then, Preece was in 21st ahead of Kyle Busch, Wallace, Logano and Erik Jones while McDowell, Buescher, Austin Dillon, Truex and Gragson rounded out the top 30.

    With 175 laps remaining, Briscoe continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over teammate Harvick while also approaching lapped traffic while third-place Hamlin trailed by four-tenths of a second. As Almirola and Keselowski trailed in the top five, Larson was in sixth ahead of Reddick, Gilliland, Suarez and Chastain.

    With less than 150 laps remaining, Briscoe maintained the lead by two-tenths of a second over Hamlin while Harvick fell back to third in front of teammate Almirola and Keselowski. Then with 143 laps remaining, Hamlin made his move beneath Briscoe’s No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang and captured the lead while Harvick kept the two leaders within his sights. Harvick would then move into second place after overtaking teammate Briscoe with 137 laps remaining while teammate Almirola followed suit during the following lap, thus placing three of four Stewart-Haas Racing competitors in the top four.

    With 120 laps remaining, Hamlin was leading by two seconds over Harvick followed by Harvick’s teammates Almirola and Briscoe while Keselowski occupied fifth in front of Larson, Reddick, Gilliland, Suarez and Bell. By then, Preece, the fourth Stewart-Haas Racing competitor, was mired in 21st, the final competitor on the lead lap, behind Elliott while names that included Wallace, Logano, Austin Dillon, Michael McDowell, Truex, Erik Jones, Kyle Busch, Gragson, LaJoie, Harrison Burton and Cindric were lapped by the field.

    Seven laps later, Blaney pitted his No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang under green as Hamlin lapped Preece while trying to lap Elliott. By then, Wallace was trying to keep pace with his owner Hamlin to cycle back on the lead lap as Bowman, Reddick, Kyle Busch and Bell pitted. This commenced a cycle of green flag pit stops as Harvick pitted along with Haley, Almirola, Briscoe and others. Not long after, the leader Hamlin pitted under green followed by Larson, Byron, Gilliland and Elliott. Amid the pit stops, AJ Allmendinger was penalized for speeding on pit road. Erik Jones would also be penalized for improper fueling.

    Back on the track and with 107 laps remaining, Keselowski was leading followed by Suarez, Wallace, Logano, Austin Dillon and McDowell and Truex, all of whom had yet to make a pit stop. Meanwhile, Harvick, the first competitor who pitted, was up in eighth as he cycled ahead of Hamlin, Almirola and Briscoe. Suarez would then assume the lead with 100 laps remaining followed by Wallace as Keselowski pitted.

    With 98 laps remaining, however, the caution flew after the right-rear wheel from Anthony Alfredo’s No. 78 BJ McLeod Motorsports entry came off on the frontstretch as the wheel came to rest against the outside wall while Alfredo limped his car back to pit road. During the caution period, a host of lead lap competitors led by Suarez pitted while the rest led by Briscoe, Reddick and Larson remained on the track.

    Down to the final 88 laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Briscoe and Larson occupied the front row. At the start, Briscoe fended off Larson to retain the lead as the field stacked up and battled amid two lanes. With Larson maintaining second ahead of Harvick, Reddick and Suarez were in the top five while Logano and Wallace battled for sixth in front of Almirola, Hamlin and Truex.

    With 75 laps remaining, Briscoe was leading by a second over Larson and Reddick in third place, while Harvick and Suarez were in fourth and fifth. By then, 24 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap as the field continued to bump and jostle for late positions.

    Then with 58 laps remaining, the caution returned when JJ Yeley went dead straight into the Turn 3 outside wall while locking up the brakes. By then, Briscoe was leading ahead of Larson, Reddick, Harvick and Suarez. During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Briscoe pitted while the rest that included Logano, Almirola and Hamlin remained on the track. Following the pit stops, late disaster struck for Harvick, who returned to pit road with a flat right-front tire as a result of a wheel nut coming loose.

    With 46 laps remaining, the race restarted under green as Logano and Almirola occupied the front row. At the start, Logano, who rallied from being mired a lap down during the first stage, gained the advantage on the inside lane as he took off from Almirola and assumed the lead while Hamlin battled and overtook Almirola for second place during the following lap. Larson and Briscoe would then challenge Almirola for third while Logano checked out with the lead by half a second.

    With 35 laps remaining, Logano was leading by two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Larson and over a second over third-place Hamlin while Briscoe and Almirola were in the top five. Behind, Stenhouse was up in sixth ahead of Blaney, Truex, Wallace and Suarez while Austin Dillon, Bowman, Chastain, Reddick and Buescher. Meanwhile, Preece was in 17th, Byron was back in 20th after reporting a potential vibration to his car and Harvick was mired back in 24th behind Kyle Busch.

    Then with 30 laps remaining, Larson, who tracked Logano on two fresh tires since the start of the latest restart, overtook and fended off Logano to assume the lead in his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 while third-place Hamlin kept the two leaders within his sights. By then, teammates Briscoe and Almirola remained in the top five while Truex challenged Stenhouse for sixth.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Larson was leading by more than two seconds over Logano and more than three seconds over Hamlin. Larson then extended his advantage to more than three seconds with 10 laps remaining and with five laps remaining. By then, Logano retained second over a hard-charging Truex while Hamlin, Briscoe and Almirola fell back to fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively. Meanwhile, Elliott cracked the top 10 in 10th place after overtaking Austin Dillon as he had Wallace within his sights.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson remained as the leader by nearly four seconds over Logano. With a clear view in front of him and no challengers lurking behind, Larson was able to cycle his way around the Paperclip-shaped short track for a final time as he returned to the frontstretch and claimed his first checkered flag at the track.

    With his first victory at Martinsville, Larson notched his 21st NASCAR Cup Series career victory and his second of the season after winning two weeks ago at Richmond Raceway. As a result, he joined teammate William Byron as the only other multi-race Cup winner of this season and delivered the all-time leading 28th Martinsville victory for Hendrick Motorsports. Larson’s victory occurred as crew chief Cliff Daniels returned atop the No. 5 pit box following a four-week suspension amid the hood louver penalties that affected all of Hendrick Motorsports’ entries from Phoenix Raceway in March.

    “Huge congratulations to this whole No. 5 team and Hendrick Motorsports,” Larson, who had two top-three finishes at Martinsville prior to his victory, said on FS1. “I feel like [crew chief] Cliff [Daniels] and everybody did a great job all day on pit road. Making the right calls, having great pit stops and then, it all kind of worked out for me there at the end. We had a great car. That was the best my car had been in being able to get out front and manage. I never ever would have thought that I would won here at Martinsville. This place has been so tough on me. [The track] Just does not suit my driving style at all. I like to charge the center. I like to roll momentum. That’s just not what this place is like, but thanks to Cliff Daniels and everybody for making me feel like I know what I’m doing sometimes around here. Just can’t believe it.”

    Logano fended off Truex to finish second while Hamlin and Briscoe finished in the top five.

    “It’s a solid recovery for what the start of the race looked like,” Logano said. “We went down a lap twice, two times. At one point in the race, I would have been just happy to finish on the lead lap. [Crew chief] Paul [Wolfe] did a good job of getting some good changes to the Verizon Mustang to where I got competitive. We just needed track position. [I] Was able to stay out, get a lucky caution there during a green flag cycle. Stayed out again when everyone pitted. It put ourselves on the front row and a shot to win the race. I tried holding off Larson as long as I could, but overall, there’s days when you’re mad about second. Today’s not one of those days when you’re pretty stoked that you finished a little better than I thought we were going to.”

    “We had kind of a crazy day with our Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry TRD,” Truex said. “Really just got a little bit lucky there, getting back to the lead lap midrace and just kept working on our car. We were just loose all day long and then finally at the end, we got it a whole lot better. It was fun at the end, passing a lot of cars and getting up there. Still needed to be a little bit better, but overall, proud of everybody sticking with it and just grinding one out today.”

    Almirola navigated his way to a sixth-place result followed by Blaney, Stenhouse and Wallace while Chase Elliott earned a 10th-place result in his return to competition following a six-race absence.

    “[Today] was pretty good,” Elliott said. “It was about what I expected, so it was a good thing. It was warm and I’ve been sitting on the couch for six weeks, so I think that probably hurt me more than anything. Our NAPA Chevy, we struggled really bad, honestly, for every run but the last. We finally got it going there at the end and I was able to make some passes and do things that I didn’t really think I was capable of doing early. I was pleasantly surprised by that and got us a top 10 out of our first day back, so that was definitely nothing to be too bummed out about.”

    Notably, Preece ended up 15th after leading a race-high 136 laps, Suarez finished 17th, Harvick settled in 20th and Byron fell back to 23rd behind Reddick.

    There were 10 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 50 laps. In addition, 24 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the ninth event of the 2023 Cup Series season, Christopher Bell leads the regular-season standings by five points over Ross Chastain, 15 over Kevin Harvick, 17 over Kyle Larson, 36 over Martin Truex Jr. and 37 over Tyler Reddick.

    Results.

    1. Kyle Larson, 30 laps led

    2. Joey Logano, 25 laps led

    3. Martin Truex Jr.

    4. Denny Hamlin, 36 laps led

    5. Chase Briscoe, 109 laps led

    6. Aric Almirola

    7. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    8. Ryan Blaney

    9. Bubba Wallace

    10. Chase Elliott

    11. Alex Bowman

    12. Austin Dillon

    13. Ross Chastain, 31 laps led

    14. Chris Buescher

    15. Ryan Preece, 135 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    16. Christopher Bell

    17. Daniel Suarez, seven laps led

    18. Ty Gibbs

    19. Michael McDowell

    20. Kevin Harvick, 20 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    21. Kyle Busch

    22. Tyler Reddick

    23. William Byron

    24. Brad Keselowski, seven laps led

    25. Todd Gilliland, one lap down

    26. Corey LaJoie, one lap down

    27. AJ Allmendinger, one lap down

    28. Justin Haley, two laps down

    29. Harrison Burton, two laps down

    30. Noah Gragson, two laps down

    31. Erik Jones, two laps down

    32. Ty Dillon, three laps down

    33. Austin Cindric, three laps down

    34. Zane Smith, five laps down

    35. Anthony Alfredo, 10 laps down

    36. JJ Yeley – OUT

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ first of two visits to Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama, for the GEICO 500. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, April 23, at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Ryan Preece sprints to first career Cup Series pole at Martinsville

    Ryan Preece sprints to first career Cup Series pole at Martinsville

    Ryan Preece won his first NASCAR Cup Series Busch Pole Award in 124 starts Saturday afternoon at Martinsville Speedway with an impressive lap of 19.979 seconds at 94.780 mph in his Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Ford.

    He was the only driver to post a speed under 20 seconds during the qualifying session.

    “I was fighting loose that first lap,” Preece said, “It’s a pole. Not a race. So I guess from a company standpoint, it makes us all very optimistic for tomorrow, and [we] can just be smart and we can have good days. It certainly shows that our short track program is really good, and I know our superspeedway program has been extremely good too, and we’ll keep working on that.”

    Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suárez was second fastest with a lap of 94.298 mph and will join Preece on the front row to lead the field to green Sunday afternoon.  

    Stewart-Haas Racing brought the speed with all four drivers starting in the top 10. Aric Almirola and Chase Briscoe will start third and fourth while Kevin Harvick starts in seventh.

    Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. qualified fifth to round out the top five.

    It was a disappointing day for Hendrick Motorsports. While William Byron qualified in eighth, Kyle Larson will start 19th and Alex Bowman will begin the race in 23rd.

    Chase Elliott, in his return to competition after missing six weeks due to a snowboarding incident, will also have work to do, after qualifying 24th.

    “I actually feel pretty good,” he said. “I had a dismal qualifying lap, but I can’t blame my leg on that one. I had a pretty good first lap and then I really messed up the exit of [turn] two there ]on the second lap. Judging off of practice, starting in the back is going to be a lot of fun, so looking forward to that in the No. 9 NAPA Chevy. We’ll try to go forward there tomorrow.”

    “Yeah, I felt fine in the car,” he continued. “Like I said, the entire practice run, I felt fine. Once you kind of get out there on the track and you start focusing on the little things that you need to be doing to hit your marks, I feel like some of that goes away, so that’s a good thing. Again, my qualifying lap wasn’t because of that, it was just a poor effort.” 

    The Cup Series NOCO 400 is scheduled for Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. ET and will be televised on FS1 with radio coverage provided by MSN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    Starting Lineup:

  • Weekend schedule for Martinsville Speedway

    Weekend schedule for Martinsville Speedway

    This weekend NASCAR heads to Martinsville Speedway for some short-track racing.

    Chase Elliott will also make his much-anticipated return to Cup Series competition after missing the previous six races due to a broken left leg sustained in a snowboarding accident on March 3.

    “We’re looking forward to having Chase back in his race car to pick up where he left off,” Rick Hendrick said in a statement issued by Hendrick Motorsports Wednesday afternoon.

    “Since the injury, he’s worked extremely hard and focused all his time and energy on returning to the No. 9 team. Throughout the last six weeks, he’s stayed fully engaged with everything we’re doing, and we know he’s chomping at the bit to get on the racetrack and compete for wins.”

    Martinsville Speedway has hosted 148 Cup Series races since the first event in 1949. There have been 57 different race winners and this weekend 10 of those drivers will be competing on Sunday.

    Denny Hamlin tops the list with five victories, followed by Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch with two wins each. Christopher Bell, William Byron, Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick have each visited Victory Lane once at the 0.526-mile track.

    The Xfinity Series has hosted 39 races at Martinsville with 25 different race winners. Saturday’s race will host the second segment of the Dash 4 Cash competition. Justin Allgaier won the first segment at Richmond and will compete against Josh Berry, John Hunter Nemechek and Chandler Smith for the $100.000 bonus.

    Friday night the Camping World Truck Series hits the track for the 45th race held at Martinsville. Four of the drivers entered have won previously at ‘The Paperclip” and include Kyle Busch (2016, 2019), Matt Crafton (2014, 2015), Grant Enfinger (2020) and Zane Smith (2021).

    Friday, April 14

    3 p.m.: Truck Series Practice – Group 1 & 2 – FS1
    3:35 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying (Impound) Single Vehicle/2 Laps/All Entries) FS1
    5 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice – Group 1 & 1 – FS1
    5:35 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying (Impound) Single Vehicle/2 Laps/All Entries) FS1
    7:30 p.m.: Truck Series Long John Silver’s 200
    Stages 50/100/200 Laps = 105.2 Miles
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    The Purse: $693,842
    Post Truck Series Race: Press Pass

    Saturday, April 15

    4:35 p.m.: Cup Series Practice – Group A & B
    FS2/MRN/SiriusXM
    5:20 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying (Impound) Group A & B – Single Vehicle/2 Laps/2 Rounds) FS2/MRN/SiriusXM
    7:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Call811.com Before You Dig. 250
    Stages 60/120/250 Laps = 131.5 Miles
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    The Purse: $1,403,623
    Post Xfinity Series Race: Press Pass

    Sunday, April 16

    3 p.m.: Cup Series NOCO 400
    Stages 80/180/400 Laps = 210.4 Miles
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    The Purse: $7,324,203
    Post Cup Series Race: Press Pass

  • Bell strikes late with first Cup victory of 2023 at Bristol Dirt Course

    Bell strikes late with first Cup victory of 2023 at Bristol Dirt Course

    In a war of attrition match involving NASCAR’s elite around the Last Great Colosseum on dirt, Christopher Bell benefitted from a late strategic call to remain on the track. He then controlled the final stage to his advantage and motored his way to win the third annual running of the Food City Dirt Race at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course on Easter Sunday, April 9.

    The 28-year-old Bell from Norman, Oklahoma, led the final 100 of 250-scheduled laps. Once he gained control of the lead for the start of the final stage spanning 100 laps, the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota TRD Camry survived a flurry of on-track chaos, caution periods and challenges from former dirt veterans turned NASCAR premier series stars to claim the first checkered flag of the 2023 Cup Series season for himself and for the JGR organization.

    The starting lineup for the main event was determined through four 15-lap qualifying events that occurred on Saturday, April 8, where the 37 competitors that entered the main event accumulated points for their finishing results and passes by improving from their original starting spots during their respective heat events.

    With that, Kyle Larson, who won the third qualifying event after starting sixth and accumulating 15 points, claimed his second pole position of the 2023 Cup Series season. Joining him on the front row was Austin Dillon, who won the first qualifying event after starting fifth and earning 14 points.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Larson took off with the lead on the outside lane and pulled away as the field slipped and slid their way through the first two turns on the dirt. With the field returning to the frontstretch, Larson led the first lap ahead of Austin Dillon, who was being challenged early by Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick. As Larson continued to lead through the Lap 5 mark, he also extended his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Austin Dillon while Ryan Preece moved up into the top five. By then, JJ Yeley, who qualified an impressive third place in his No. 15 Rick Ware Racing entry, had fallen back to eighth in front of Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano while Kyle Busch and Austin Cindric moved up to sixth and seventh.

    On the 10th lap, the first caution of the event flew when Bubba Wallace, who was running near the top 10, got loose entering Turn 2 and collected Logano, who spun Wallace right at the same time he got turned by William Byron and hit the sand barrels near the backstretch’s pit road entrance. Todd Gilliland then made contact with the outside wall after making contact with Byron, who was trying to straighten his No. 24 Raptor Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Larson managed to fend off Austin Dillon for the lead while Bell, Reddick and Preece remained in the top five. During the event’s first caution period, names like Gilliland, BJ McLeod, Brad Keselowski and Logano pitted while the rest led by Larson remained on the track.

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 20, Larson fended off Bell and Austin Dillon to retain the lead while having the outside lane to his advantage as the field jostled and slid on the dirt between two lanes for positions. As Larson retained the lead over Austin Dillon and Bell, Reddick retained fourth while Kyle Busch started to challenge Preece for fifth.

    At the Lap 35 mark, Larson was leading by more than eight-tenths of a second over Austin Dillon and more than three seconds over third-place Bell while Kyle Busch and Reddick were in the top five. Preece, Blaney, Cindric, Chase Briscoe and Byron were in the top 10 while Michael McDowell, Alex Bowman, Bubba Wallace, JJ Yeley, Aric Almirola, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., rookie Ty Gibbs, Erik Jones, Justin Haley and Matt Crafton occupied the top 20.

    Two laps later, the second caution of the event flew when Matt Crafton, who was filling in the No. 51 Rick Ware Racing entry for Cody Ware, spun between Turns 3 and 4 and barely made contact with the outside wall. In the process, Logano made slight contact with Crafton while jamming on the brakes to avoid colliding with Crafton.

    With the field restarting under green on Lap 45, Larson pulled away in his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 with the lead on the outside lane followed by Austin Dillon while Kyle Busch moved his No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 up to third in front of Bell. In addition, Blaney muscled his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang into the top five while Reddick fell back to sixth.

    Through the first 50 scheduled laps, Larson was leading by more than eight-tenths of a second over Austin Dillon while Dillon’s teammate Kyle Busch trailed in third by more than a second. As Bell and Blaney occupied the top five, Preece overtook Reddick for sixth while Briscoe, Byron and Cindric were in the top 10.

    Seven laps later, the third caution of the event flew when Brad Keselowski spun by himself in Turn 4 and continued without sustaining any damage to his No. 6 King’s Hawaiian Ford Mustang. By then, Erik Jones and Corey LaJoie had made on-track contact and pitted while falling out of the lead lap category.

    During the proceeding restart on Lap 64, Larson fended off Austin Dillon to retain the lead while Kyle Busch launched a challenge on teammate Dillon for second, which Dillon blocked Busch before the latter succeeded during the following lap. Meanwhile, Preece moved up to fourth followed by Blaney while Bell was back in sixth. As the field continued to jostle for positions, Larson retained a steady advantage over Richard Childress Racing’s Busch and Dillon, both of whom duked for second, as the event surpassed the Lap 70 mark.

    Then on the final lap of the first stage, the caution flew for a multi-car wreck in Turn 4 that involved Denny Hamlin and Josh Berry. The incident in Turn 4 was enough for the first stage scheduled on Lap 75 to conclude under caution as Larson captured his second stage victory of the 2023 Cup season. Teammates Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch were scored in second and third followed by Preece, Blaney, Bell, Briscoe, Reddick, Justin Haley and Byron. By then, 35 of 37 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Larson pitted under a six-minute, non-competitive break period while names that included Reddick, Wallace, Martin Truex Jr. and Ty Dillon remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 76 as Reddick and Truex occupied the front row. At the start, Reddick maintained the lead through the first two turns while teammate Wallace muscled his way into second over Truex. Behind, Larson, the first competitor on four fresh tires, was back in fifth behind Ty Dillon while Preece joined the battle.

    Four laps later and with the field jostling for positions while slipping and sliding in the dirt, the caution returned when Jonathan Davenport, a three-time Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champion who was making his NASCAR debut with Kaulig Racing, got loose and spun entering Turn 4 as the field scattered to avoid him. By then, Reddick retained the lead in front of teammate Wallace, Truex, Ty Dillon and Larson, who made contact with Preece and sent Preece into the wall a few laps earlier. The on-track contact prompted Preece to pull his No. 41 United Rentals Ford Mustang alongside Larson’s to express his displeasure.

    With the event restarting under green on Lap 86, Reddick retained the lead as the field fanned out to three lanes through the turns and the straightaways. A lap later, however, the caution quickly returned when McDowell got loose and did a full 360 spin entering the backstretch, but he managed to drive away without being hit by the oncoming field.

    During the proceeding restart on Lap 94, Reddick rocketed with the lead on the outside lane while teammate Wallace fended off Truex and Ty Dillon to move to second as the field fanned out. A few laps later, trouble ensued for Daniel Suarez as he spun on the backstretch while Logano had smoke billowing out of his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang. Then shortly after, McDowell went for another 360 spin entering Turn 4, though he continued without sustaining any damage, while AJ Allmendinger made contact with the Turn 1 barriers. Amid all the issues, the event remained under green flag conditions as Reddick continued to lead. By then, Logano, who was aiming for a doubleheader sweep after winning Saturday’s Craftsman Truck Series event on the Bristol Dirt, pitted and fell out of the lead lap category. He would eventually nurse his damaged car to the garage and retire in last place.

    Through the first 100 scheduled laps, Reddick was leading by six-tenths of a second over teammate Wallace followed by Truex, Ty Dillon and Kyle Busch while Preece, Blaney, Austin Dillon, Briscoe and Larson were scored in the top 10. Three laps later, however, the caution returned when Preece, who was running in the top 10, got loose and spun on the backstretch due to a broken right-rear toe link.

    As the event restarted on Lap 111, Reddick received another strong start on the outside lane to retain the lead followed by teammate Wallace, who restarted behind Reddick on the outside lane during the last several restarts to remain within striking distance of the lead. With both 23XI Racing competitors running towards the front, Kyle Busch was in third followed by Truex and Ty Dillon while Larson was back in sixth in front of Blaney and Austin Dillon. A few laps later, Ty Dillon made contact towards the Turn 2 outside wall and slipped out of the top 10, but the event remained under green flag conditions. Then towards the Lap 120 mark, Wallace lost a bevy of spots after making contact with the wall.

    Then at the halfway mark on Lap 125, the caution flew when Keselowski spun for a second time of the night, this time in Turn 2. By then, Reddick had maintained the lead over Busch, Austin Dillon, Larson, Bell and Truex while Wallace had plummeted back to 16th. In addition, Larson, who was running towards the front, made contact with the wall while battling Dillon for third before running into Bell to defend his spot.

    The following restart on Lap 131 saw Reddick retain the lead over Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon amid a stacked-up field while Larson tried to use the outside lane to slip and carve his way back to the front. Soon after, Erik Jones spun entering Turn 2, but the event remained under green as a tight battle for the lead between Reddick, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon and Larson ensued.

    Then on Lap 135, Busch pulled a slide job beneath Reddick entering Turn 4 to assume the lead. As Busch maintained the lead by a narrow margin over Reddick, Austin Dillon fended off Larson to remain in third while Bell was in fifth in front of Briscoe and Truex. Reddick, however, would seize an opportunity and overtake both Dillon and Busch in Turn 4 to reassume the lead on Lap 141 as Dillon and Busch engaged in a fierce battle for second with Larson closing in.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 150, Reddick captured his second stage victory of the 2023 Cup season. Dillon settled in second in front of Larson while Bell managed to overtake Kyle Busch to claim fourth while Briscoe, Truex, Blaney, Haley and Aric Almirola were scored in the top 10. By then, 32 of 37 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, names that included Bell, Briscoe, Almirola, Byron, McDowell, Gilliland, Hamlin, Josh Berry and Ross Chastain remained on the track while the rest led by Reddick pitted during a six-minute break period.

    With 100 laps remaining, the final stage started as Joe Gibbs Racing’s Bell and Ty Gibbs occupied the front row. At the start, Bell retained the lead and checked out away from the field while Briscoe launched his way into second followed by Almirola, Gilliland and Berry as the field behind fanned out and jostled for late positions. Four laps later, however, the caution returned when Larson, who was trying to carve his way back to the front while on old tires after electing not to pit during the second stage’s break period, spun in Turn 4 as he plummeted below the leaderboard.

    During the following restart with 89 laps remaining, Bell retained the lead in front of Briscoe, Almirola, Gilliland and Berry amid a packed field. As Hamlin spun with 82 laps remaining through Turn 2, he continued without drawing a caution as his teammate, Bell, maintained a steady advantage over Briscoe while Almirola, Gilliland and Berry remained in the top five. By then, Kyle Busch was trying to carve his way back to the front as he navigated his way up to seventh behind teammate Austin Dillon as Byron joined the battle. Amid all the battles, however, Bell continued to lead as the laps began to dwindle.

    Then with 76 laps remaining, the caution flew when Larson, who got bumped and squeezed against the frontstretch’s wall with help from Preece, veered back left into Preece before spinning up against the track and wrecking against the Turn 1 outside wall. The damage to his No. 5 Chevrolet was enough to conclude Larson’s event in the garage while Preece continued. The incident, however, was not viewed kindly from Larson’s perspective and it hinted at retaliation from Preece, who made contact with the wall earlier with help from Larson.

    “Yeah, I’m guessing [Preece] was paying me back for whatever I did earlier,” Larson, who emerged from the infield care center uninjured, said. “He ran me straight into the fence, and my car was broke and we crashed. It sucks, but I should just be mad at myself for spinning out earlier and putting myself back there. Just sucks.”

    In the ensuing restart with 69 laps remaining, Bell retained the lead over Briscoe and Gilliland amid a flurry of jostles for positions within the field. A lap later, Austin Dillon worked his way back up to third as he went after Briscoe for second while Kyle Busch challenged Almirola for fifth. By then, Berry and McDowell, who endured two 360 spins, were running in the top 10 as Reddick tried to work his way back into the top 10.

    With nearly 60 laps remaining, Chastain spun in Turn 2, but the event remained under green as Bell continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over Briscoe while Austin Dillon trailed by seven-tenths of a second in third.

    With 50 laps remaining, Bell was leading by six-tenths of a second over Briscoe followed by Austin Dillon, Gilliland and Reddick while Kyle Busch, Berry, Stenhouse, Blaney and McDowell were in the top 10. By then, the event’s 12th caution period flew when rookie Noah Gragson spun in Turn 1 due to a broken toe link.

    With the field restarting with 43 laps remaining, Bell retained the lead on the outside lane while Briscoe, who restarted on the front row and the inside lane, maintained second over Austin Dillon as Reddick and Gilliland battled in the top five. As Austin Dillon and Reddick battled for third, the battle at the front began to slowly brew between Bell and Briscoe, with the former holding the top spot.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, the battle for the lead continued to intensify as Briscoe tried to navigate his way around Bell for the lead through the turns and the straightaways while third-place Reddick tried to close in on the two leaders. Despite having an opportunity to assume the lead through the backstretch, Bell managed to rocket away from Briscoe, who briefly stumbled through the frontstretch, as Reddick launched his challenge on Briscoe for second. He would succeed with 28 laps remaining as Briscoe fell back to third. Soon after, Briscoe made contact with the wall as Dillon and Blaney overtook him for top-five spots.

    With 20 laps remaining, Bell was leading by four-tenths of a second over Reddick while Blaney emerged in third place as he trailed the leaders by more than two seconds. Dillon, who scrubbed the wall, dropped to fourth in front of Briscoe while Gilliland, Stenhouse, Bowman, Truex and Haley were in the top 10.

    Nearly five laps later, the event’s 13th caution flew when Kyle Busch, who was being told to pick up his pace, spun entering Turn 4 while nearly collecting ex-teammate Hamlin as he quickly nursed his No. 8 Chevrolet onto pit road with suspension damage. By then, LaJoie had spun in Turn 4 without drawing a caution.

    Down to the final eight laps of the event, the race restarted as Bell rocketed away from Reddick and Blaney to retain the lead through the first two turns. Then through Turns 1 and 2, Briscoe made contact with Blaney and sent him spinning in the midst of oncoming competitors, but the event remained under green as Blaney continued without getting hit. By then, however, Bell had pulled away with the lead and Reddick was in second followed by Stenhouse, Austin Dillon, Briscoe and Gilliand.

    With five laps remaining, Bell continued to lead by more than half a second over Reddick while third-place Stenhouse trailed by more than a second.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Bell remained as the leader by three-tenths of a second over Reddick, who tried to close in on Bell for the lead and the win. Behind the leaders, a multi-car wreck erupted when Suarez got loose off the front nose of Buescher and collected Berry, where both spun across the backstretch as Preece and Chastain collided into Berry with significant damage. Amid the carnage, the event concluded under caution on the final lap. This enabled Bell to cycle his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota TRD Camry back to the frontstretch under a cautious pace and claim the checkered flag over Reddick.

    With the victory, Bell, a dirt racing specialist with three consecutive Chili Bowl Nationals sprint car victories and a former Truck Series winner at Eldora Speedway, became the seventh different winner through the first eight events on the 2023 Cup Series schedule. He recorded his fifth career win in NASCAR’s premier series, his first at Bristol, the first of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing and the second for the Toyota nameplate.

    “Man, let me tell you, those were some of the longest laps of my entire life,” Bell said on FOX. “This place is so much fun, whether it’s dirt or concrete. Whenever the cushion got up there on the top [lane], it was very tough because you couldn’t drive it super hard. Otherwise, you get sucked in. If you got your right front into it, you push a little bit. If you got your right rear into it, you’d slide. It was a lot of fun. Man, I’m just so grateful to be here, driving this No. 20 [car] for DeWalt, Joe Gibbs Racing. That was a lot of fun. Man, I just can’t get over how long those laps feel. It’s a 20-second lap and you’re moving the wheel 18 times a corner. It feels like a long time to get around there.”

    Reddick settled in second place on the Bristol Dirt Course for a second consecutive season while Austin Dillon, Stenhouse and Briscoe completed the top five.

    “It was a lot of fun, honestly,” Reddick said. “Really intense. Towards the end there, [I] definitely feel like I found a little bit more. I thought I had the edge, but I wasn’t quite there in the last couple laps. Definitely found it. Just hate it for everybody on this SiriusXM Toyota Camry TRD. Just needed to be a little bit closer than I was. I think with two [laps] to go, it would have been really bold to try to make that move work. Obviously, on the white flag coming into [Turns] 3 and 4, I was going to see. We’ll never know if it [would have] worked. Still a good rebound for us.”

    “I had a blast out there,” Dillon added. “I don’t care what anybody says about the dirt, the concrete. That was cool. That was one of the coolest races I’ve ever been in. [Speedway Motorsports] did a great job of making a track where you can just slide around, top to bottom, and it constantly was changing. It was a blast out there, really was. Just wished we could’ve brought home the win. We’ll keep working. Hopefully, we can carry this momentum. We got a lot of points tonight.”

    Haley emerged with a strong sixth-place result while Truex, Gilliland, Kevin Harvick and rookie Ty Gibbs completed the top 10 on the track.

    There were four lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured 14 cautions for 73 laps. In addition, 27 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the eighth event of the 2023 Cup Series season, Christopher Bell leads the regular-season standings by 13 points over Ross Chastain, 26 over Kevin Harvick, 39 over Kyle Larson, 46 over Tyler Reddick, 47 over Kyle Busch and 49 over Martin Truex Jr.

    Results.

    1. Christopher Bell, 100 laps led

    2. Tyler Reddick, 69 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. Austin Dillon

    4. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    5. Chase Briscoe

    6. Justin Haley

    7. Martin Truex Jr.

    8. Todd Gilliland

    9. Kevin Harvick

    10. Ty Gibbs

    11. Michael McDowell

    12. Bubba Wallace

    13. William Byron

    14. Erik Jones

    15. Harrison Burton

    16. AJ Allmendinger

    17. Brad Keselowski

    18. Chris Buescher

    19. Austin Cindric

    20. JJ Yeley

    21. Ty Dillon

    22. Denny Hamlin

    23. Ryan Blaney

    24. Ryan Preece

    25. Daniel Suarez

    26. BJ McLeod

    27. Josh Berry

    28. Ross Chastain, one lap down

    29. Alex Bowman, two laps down

    30. Corey LaJoie, three laps down

    31. Aric Almirola, 10 laps down

    32. Kyle Busch – OUT, Suspension, six laps led

    33. Noah Gragson, 45 laps down

    34. Matt Crafton – OUT, Engine

    35. Kyle Larson – OUT, Accident, 75 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    36. Jonathan Davenport – OUT, Accident

    37. Joey Logano – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ first of two scheduled visits this season to Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia. The event is scheduled for next Sunday, April 16, at 3 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Josh Berry finishes second at Richmond to score his best Cup Series career finish

    Josh Berry finishes second at Richmond to score his best Cup Series career finish

    Josh Berry claimed his best Cup Series career result with a second-place finish Sunday at Richmond Raceway. It was his fourth start in the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet filling in for the injured Chase Elliott and his second top-10.

    Berry was involved early in the race in an incident with Ryan Blaney but rebounded to a runner-up finish.

    He acknowledged interim crew chief Tom Gray who is leading the team while Alan Gustafson is serving a four-race suspension after L-2 penalties levied by NASCAR for unapproved parts modifications at Phoenix Raceway. Gray made the pivotal call for Berry to stay out on the track during the final cycle of green flag pit stops.

    “Man, this is really cool,” Berry said. “I have to give all the credit to this NAPA team. Tom, Alan, remotely, of course, and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, they made some great calls. When we got some clean track, we weren’t running bad lap times.

    “I’m so glad they tried something different to get us there at the end. I felt like we were decent the whole time. Just getting in cleaner air (was key). We were free to race with Kyle. Man, what a huge day. You know, to come here and start in the back, no practice, qualifying, get spun out, work through the field like that, just second place, it’s pretty cool.”

    Gray agreed that it was a collaboration between the crew and the driver.

    “At the end of the race, it was a team effort, he said. “He had to help hold up his end of the bargain, and he did that. So yeah, that’s what made it work.”

    “Then, at the end there, we were banking on a caution, and even without a caution, I thought we were gonna still finish pretty well. Those other guys got smart when they saw us with the strategy, so we kind of had to do something different. It all worked out really well, so it was good, and kudos to him. Like I said, he’s a big part of that.”

    After the final caution and pit stop, Berry restarted second to the eventual race leader, Kyle Larson, who led the final 13 laps to claim his first Cup Series win of the season.

    Jeff Gordon, four-time NASCAR champion and vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, spoke about the growth he has seen in Berry while subbing for Elliott.

    “When you look at his lap times, he is a guy that he gets in there, he feels the car out, he doesn’t take too many risks or chances until he knows what he has. Then you just start to see the lap times come and build and the runs start to come together.

    “And every time I’m scanning, I kept hearing by the end of the run, Hey, those lap times are really good. Hey, those lap times are similar to the leaders’. So he clearly knows how to manage tires and manage a race well. It seems like the longer the race, the better he does. We’re really happy with the job that he has done.

    “Certainly everybody has known his talent watching him in other forms of racing, late models, and the Xfinity Series. You have to put him in other cars with other teams and other people to really see how far he could take it.”

    And, from what Gordon has observed, Berry has not only met but exceeded their expectations, saying, “I think he’s got a future in the Cup Series.”