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  • Hamlin wins second consecutive Daytona 500

    Hamlin wins second consecutive Daytona 500

    It took two overtimes and a 24-hour delay, but Denny Hamlin won the Daytona 500 for the second consecutive time of his career. This is the first time a driver has won back to back 500s since Sterling Marlin in 1994-1995. Hamlin narrowly edged Ryan Blaney to the line to notch his 38th career Cup Series win.

    “I just feel like I’m a student of the game,” Hamlin said. “I never stop learning and trying to figure out where I need to put myself at the right time.

    “It doesn’t always work [but] we’ve defied the odds here in the DAYTONA 500. I just trust my instincts and so far they’ve been good for me. I can’t do it without the car. That’s [enabling me] to make those race-winning moves.”

    The Daytona 500 was originally scheduled to run on Sunday but only 20 laps were completed before rain showers came through the area and postponed the race for the second time in the event’s history. Pole sitter Ricky Stenhouse Jr. led all 20 laps before the race was moved to Monday.

    Then came Daytona 500 x2 a little after 4 p.m. ET.

    Stage 1: Lap 1- Lap 65

    The race was restarted on Lap 25 after a few drivers made their pit stops. Brad Keselowski took the lead for a couple of laps before Aric Almirola took the lead and then eventually Chase Elliott. The field was in fuel conservation mode for most of Stage 1 before an accident on Lap 60 that involved William Byron and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on the backstretch derailed that plan. Byron’s car was totaled in the aftermath and finished in 40th place.

    There was a three-lap dash at the end of Stage 1 which saw Georgia native Elliott pick up the stage win. Alex Bowman, Aric Almirola, Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Blaney, Stenhouse, Matt DiBenedetto, Chris Buescher and Ty Dillon were the top-10 finishers.

    Stage 2: Lap 71- Lap 130

    After staying in the back for all of Stage 1, the Toyota’s of Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Christopher Bell and Martin Truex Jr. were at the front for the start of the second stage. A 19-lap run to start the second stage was stopped after a wreck on Lap 90 that involved Quin Houff and Reed Sorenson. Kevin Harvick also had some damage to his right-rear and was forced to pit under yellow. Several other leaders also pitted.

    Then, there was a long green-flag run of 36 laps to the end of Stage 2. Hamlin was the victor for the second stage after leading the last 42 laps of that stage. Kyle Busch, Stenhouse, Truex, Ross Chastain, Johnson, Elliott, Blaney, Logano, and Buescher completed the top-10 finishers for Stage 2.

    After Stage 2 was done pit stops came and there were some mishaps during the stops. Elliott took a gas can with him outside the box, which fell off of the car and onto pit road. Truex then hit the gas can on pit road. Following the incident, Elliott was penalized for removing equipment from the pit box. Harvick was also penalized for pitting too soon.

    Stage 3: Lap 135- Lap 209

    As we saw in Stage 2, another long green-flag run of 49-laps broke out. During this run, Stenhouse was penalized with 39 to go as he dove below the yellow line while passing someone. He had to serve a stop and go penalty which eventually took him out of contention for the win after having such a strong run early.

    Then as in most cases, once the laps wind down, intensity increases and we saw that on Lap 183 where a multi-car wreck happened on the backstretch. A bump draft from Logano to Almirola sent Keselowski’s car spinning into the wall collecting several others. Drivers involved included Johnson, Bubba Wallace, Truex, Blaney, Austin Dillon, Justin Haley, Bowman, Chastain, David Ragan, John Hunter Nemechek, Tyler Reddick, Buescher, DiBenedetto, Brendan Gaughan, Logano, and Ty Dillon. Due to the incident, a red flag of 12 minutes and five seconds was seen.

    Not much later after a restart with 10 to go, the No. 27 of Sorenson and the No. 66 of Timmy Hill collided with each other bringing out the seventh caution of the night.

    Another big wreck occurred with two laps to go. Chastain went to make a move on the inside but came up the track and made contact with Ryan Preece in Turn 1. Logano, Elliott, Reddick, Ty Dillon, Almirola, Bell and McDowell were collected in this one.

    Since the wreck happened with two to go, this sent us to NASCAR Overtime where it would be a green-white-checker finish, meaning, once the field takes the last lap, the next flag ends it. But, Bowyer went spinning shortly after the restart because of slight contact with Haley and McDowell.

    Then came another overtime and the final restart on Lap 208 with a two-lap dash to the finish. Hamlin had a strong run on the outside coming to the checkered flag. Blaney was also in contention to win but Hamlin narrowly edged out Blaney to win his second Daytona 500.

    “I’m the odd man out there,” Hamlin said to MRN Radio about winning his second Daytona 500. “I don’t belong with any of those guys names, those are legends of our sport obviously, Hall of Famers. I’m just the student of the game and those guys are the teachers.”

    Hamlin led three times for 79 laps, won Stage 2 and picked up six playoff points following this win.

    There were nine cautions for 39 laps and 23 lead changes among 13 drivers.

    The end of the race, however, was overshadowed by a wreck on the last lap. Ryan Newman’s car took several hard hits and was engulfed in flames. He was taken to the Halifax Medical Center where he was later reported to be in serious condition but with injuries that were not life-threatening.

    1. Denny Hamlin, won Stage 2, led 79 laps
    2. Ryan Blaney, led four laps
    3. Chris Buescher
    4. David Ragan
    5. Kevin Harvick
    6. Clint Bowyer
    7. Brendan Gaughan
    8. Corey LaJoie
    9. Ryan Newman, led 15 laps
    10. Kyle Larson
    11. John Hunter Nemechek
    12. Austin Dillon
    13. Justin Haley
    14. Michael McDowell
    15. Bubba Wallace
    16. Brennan Poole
    17. Chase Elliott, won Stage 1, led 23 laps
    18. Erik Jones, one lap down
    19. Matt DiBenedetto, two laps down
    20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr, three laps down
    21. Christopher Bell, OUT, Crash
    22. Aric Almirola, four laps down
    23. Joey Gase, six laps down
    24. Alex Bowman, six laps down
    25. Ross Chastain, OUT, Crash
    26. Joey Logano, OUT, Crash
    27. Timmy Hill, OUT, Crash
    28. Tyler Reddick, OUT, Crash
    29. Ryan Preece, OUT, Crash
    30. Ty Dillon, OUT, Crash
    31. Reed Sorenson, OUT, Crash
    32. Martin Truex Jr, OUT, Crash
    33. Kurt Busch, OUT, Crash
    34. Kyle Busch, OUT, Engine
    35. Jimmie Johnson, OUT, Crash
    36. Brad Keselowski, OUT, Crash
    37. Cole Custer, OUT, Rear end
    38. B.J. McLeod, OUT, Crash
    39. Quin Houff, OUT, Crash
    40. William Byron, OUT, Crash

    Up Next: The NASCAR Cup Series heads out west to Las Vegas for the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, live on FOX at 3:30 p.m. ET.

  • Jones wins wreck-filled Busch Clash, only six cars finish

    Jones wins wreck-filled Busch Clash, only six cars finish

    In a testing exhibition race, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Erik Jones captured the checkered flag in the 42nd annual non-points paying race at Daytona International Speedway. This is his first time winning the Busch Clash and his second time winning at Daytona. This marks Joe Gibbs Racing’s ninth victory in the race, which allows them to lead in all-time victories by teams over Richard Childress Racing.

    Ryan Newman led the 18-car field to the green flag a little after 3 p.m. on a sunny Florida day. The first half of the 187-mile trek proved to be uneventful as several Fords led the pack while a majority of the Chevrolets in the pack fell to the back. But as the cross flags were put up, strategy talks began to unfold, which provided some on-track action and mix-up.

    On Lap 46, Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin and Erik Jones, along with Ryan Blaney, took a splash and go, except for Jones, who took four tires after a brief mishap missing his pit box. Other Stewart-Haas Racing and Team Penske drivers shortly followed suit at Lap 47, leaving the Chevrolet camp and Joey Logano.

    With less than 20 to go, the Chevrolet drivers including Logano were faced with the decision of pit or be hunted down by a second pack who had been triumphed by the Chevrolet competitors who had yet to pit. Keselowski brought the pack to the bottom line, which mixed in with the first pack at Lap 63.

    Kyle Busch, Logano and Keselowski were involved in a wreck after Logano tried to come low on Busch. Both Busch and Keselowski were scored out of the race. Keselowski showed obvious frustration as he slammed the door to his ambulance in which he rode to the infield for further mandatory evaluation. Logano was able to return to the track with repairs. Jimmie Johnson also received minor damage from the incident.

    Following the conclusion of the caution, Denny Hamlin led the field back to the green flag with four laps to go, though more than six cars piled up as they crossed the start/finish line beginning with pole winner Ryan Newman clashing into Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney and William Byron. Truex and Byron retired from the race before the restart.

    Hamlin and Almirola led the field back to the green and Hamlin cut a tire in the entrance of turn three, collecting many cars, bringing out the red flag. Another caution flew as cars wrecked attempting to make a white flag run, taking out Chase Elliott.

    Jones was damaged in two incidents. Out of 18 drivers, six finished.

  • Kyle Busch takes home second championship after winning season finale at Homestead

    Kyle Busch takes home second championship after winning season finale at Homestead

    In the past few years of the Championship 4 event, the drivers competing for the championship have needed to win the race. The Ford Ecoboost 400 certainly came down to that once again Sunday night in Southern Florida at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    Kyle Busch brought home his second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship and the fifth title for Joe Gibbs Racing after taking the lead from Kevin Harvick with 45 to go. Busch held on to the lead and without a late-race caution, wound up winning his fifth race of the 2019 season.

    “We have a great race team, a great owner and the best sponsors in sports,” Busch said. “I just can’t say enough and thank everyone enough for this opportunity. I may be the one that’s able to hoist the trophy or to have a championship, but it wouldn’t be possible without Adam Stevens (crew chief) and Joe Gibbs, J.D. Gibbs, Coy Gibbs and the whole family. M&M’s of course and Interstate Batteries and Norm Miller. And, Toyota – this TRD engine was awesome tonight. It’s been awesome all year. We had one issue, but man it’s so much fun to work with these guys and this group. Everybody that puts it all together for me. There’s always your doubters. There’s always your haters, but you know what, this one is for Rowdy nation because you guys are the best. Thank you so much.“

    With practices being canceled due to weather on Friday, NASCAR elected to cancel qualifying and replace it with a practice session on Saturday afternoon. With that in mind, the starting grid was set by Owner Points, which saw Championship 4 driver Denny Hamlin inherit the pole. Kevin Harvick was second, Martin Truex Jr. started third and Kyle Busch fourth. Stages of 80/80/107 laps made up the 267-lap race at Homestead-Miami.

    Stage 1: Lap 1- Lap 80

    The Ford Ecoboost 400 got off to a clean start with no issues. In fact, the whole stage went without a caution, however, there were some hairy moments. Championship 4 driver Kyle Busch reported that he potentially ran over something on Lap 28, but he carried on the rest of the stage without a problem. The first round of green-flag pit stops took place on Lap 36 with Busch and Harvick being the first to pit of the Championship 4. Hamlin and Truex followed one lap later. After the stops, Truex cycled back out to the lead on Lap 40.

    By cycling out to the lead, Truex led for the final 40 laps in the first stage and took the stage win. Kyle Busch was third, Harvick fourth and Hamlin fifth among the championship contenders, though none of them were able to receive points. Truex’s car was so fast that he lapped cars all the way to 14th place before the completion of Stage 1.

    Stage 2: Lap 80- Lap 160

    When Stage 2 got underway, there was an intense battle between the top runners. Kyle Larson, Harvick and Busch were all challenging for the lead at once. However, it was Truex who once again got the best of them and led for 33 laps before the next round of pit stops, and this is where a mistake occurred for the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team.

    During the second round of green-flag pit stops, the team accidentally got the tires mixed around by putting the left tire on the right front and the right tire on the left front. This made Truex come back down pit road to fix the issue and lose a lap. In this case, Busch cycled out as the leader and it was his time to shine until a caution came in Truex’s favor on Lap 138. The No. 19 driver was in the free pass position and got his lap back courtesy of the yellow from a spin by John Hunter Nemechek.

    After the restart on Lap 142, the lead changed hands multiple times between Harvick and Busch, before Busch got the upper hand and earned his 12th stage win of the year. Harvick came in second, Truex fourth and Hamlin finished once again in the fifth position.

    Stage 3: Lap 166- Lap 267

    The final stage had a 101 lap run to the finish and featured some exciting moments. For instance, Denny Hamlin’s car came to life and was starting to make some noise for the first time of the night. In fact, the Championship 4 drivers were 1-2-3-4 with 91 to go. As the race wore long, so did the equipment and the tires, which meant the final round of green-flag pit stops.

    Hamlin was the first to pit with 58 to go hoping to get out in front of the rest of the Championship 4 drivers. However, troubles arose for the Virginia native, as too much tape was put on which caused the car to overheat with an extraordinary amount of water coming out of the car. This made Hamlin come to the pits again and ultimately ended up costing him a chance at the championship.

    A few other drivers had problems as well late in the race. Larson, after being so strong early, had his hood up on pit road. Eventually, the No. 42 pushed the car back behind the wall and ended his season with a disappointing 40th place finish. William Byron also had no oil pressure with 49 to go and his night was done early as well.

    With that all in mind, Harvick stayed out to assume the lead and hoped for a caution to help his case. He pitted with 44 to go as he could not stay out much longer without the rest of the field eating him up on fresher tires. He came back out 17th, one lap down.

    This meant Kyle Busch was the lucky one to assume the lead after pit stops. He took the lead with just 45 laps remaining and held on to win the second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship of his career and the fifth title for Joe Gibbs Racing. Joe Gibbs Racing also became the winningest team by having 19 wins in a season, surpassing Hendrick Motorsports with 18.

    Busch led five times for 120 laps en route to his fifth win of the season. The Las Vegas native talked about his dominant run to cap off a perfect season.

    “Everybody always says you never give up and we’re no different and we just do what we can do each and every week and sometimes we may not be the best and sometimes we may not have the right track position. Today we had a really good car and I could race around and move around. That’s what’s so special about Homestead-Miami Speedway is the ability to put on a show. Kind of like we did there racing those guys. It was exciting from my seat. It was a lot of fun to cap off such an amazing year.”

    There were three cautions for 15 laps and 14 lead changes among five different drivers.

    Official Results

    1. Kyle Busch, led 120 laps, won Stage 2, 2019 Cup Series Champion
    2. Martin Truex Jr., led 103 laps, won Stage 1
    3. Erik Jones
    4. Kevin Harvick, led 41 laps
    5. Joey Logano
    6. Clint Bowyer
    7. Ryan Newman
    8. Austin Dillon
    9. Alex Bowman
    10. Denny Hamlin, led two laps
    11. Ryan Blaney, one lap down
    12. Daniel Hemric, 2019 Cup Series Rookie of The Year, one lap down
    13. Jimmie Johnson, one lap down
    14. Daniel Suarez, one lap down
    15. Chase Elliott, one lap down
    16. Chris Buescher, one lap down
    17. Paul Menard, one lap down
    18. Brad Keselowski, two laps down
    19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr, two laps down
    20. Matt DiBenedetto, two laps down
    21. Kurt Busch, two laps down
    22. Aric Almirola, three laps down
    23. John Hunter Nemechek, three laps down
    24. Ty Dillon, three laps down
    25. Ryan Preece, four laps down
    26. Michael McDowell, four laps down
    27. David Ragan, four laps down
    28. Landon Cassill, five laps down
    29. Drew Herring, five laps down
    30. J.J. Yeley, five laps down
    31. Corey LaJoie, six laps down
    32. B.J. McLeod, 11 laps down
    33. Timmy Hill, 19 laps down
    34. Bubba Wallace, 24 laps down
    35. Ross Chastain, 25 laps down
    36. Josh Bilicki, OUT, Brakes
    37. Reed Sorenson, OUT, Brakes
    38. Joe Nemechek, OUT, Steering
    39. William Byron, OUT, Engine
    40. Kyle Larson, OUT, Engine

    Up Next: It is now the off-season for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. The next on-track action for the Cup Series drivers will be in 2020 with The Clash and Daytona 500 Qualifying on Sunday, Feb. 9. However, the playoff drivers will take a trip to Nashville, Tennessee for the Banquet Awards Ceremony on Thursday, Dec. 5, live on NBCSN.

  • Hamlin finds redemption to win at Phoenix in bid for Championship

    Hamlin finds redemption to win at Phoenix in bid for Championship

    AVONDALE, Ariz. — Denny Hamlin finds redemption from last week’s mistake to secure his spot into the Championship 4 by winning the Bluegreen Vacations 500 at ISM Raceway.

    “I can’t believe it,” Hamlin said post-race.

    Hamlin was below the cutoff race and lost 44 points in a single race. Today’s win negates that mistake as the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota will go for his first career NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series championship.

    “This race team worked so hard this whole year. They deserve to be there. I put them in a bad hole last week. I told them today in the meeting, I said, I’m going to give everything I’ve got to make up for the mistake I made last week. That’s all I got.”

    Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. will join Hamlin and go for their second championship. If one of them wins next weekend, they will become the second active driver in the field with multiple championships (Jimmie Johnson holds seven titles).

    “Guys did a great job, this M&M Camry was good,” Busch shared. “Thanks to everybody at JGR, Stanley, Toyota, TRD. It’s cool to have a chance to go race for a championship.”

    Truex was the first driver to lock in after winning at Martinsville.

    “I know we’re ready for Homestead,” stated a confident Truex. “To put three (JGR) cars in the Championship 4 is pretty incredible, so thanks to TRD and Toyota and all those guys. Bass Pro, Auto-Owners, everybody that helps us on the 19, and we’ll see what we can do next week.”

    Harvick will be the second seed with his 49th career victory last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.

    “The one thing about this particular year, it seems like you’ve had great weeks, you’ve had mediocre weeks so that momentum thing is kind of hit-or-miss as you go through it,” Harvick explained the various parts of his season as being a momentum factor. “Just really proud of everybody on our Mobil 1 Ford.”

    Joey Logano pit stop ISM Raceway 2019
    Joey Logano comes to pit road for full service, four tires and fuel. The adjustments the crew made would hurt the car instead of help, as the No. 22 team fell one lap down. Photo courtesy of Rachel Schuoler with Speedway Media.

    Stage 2 winner and Playoff contender Joey Logano was competing up front in the first half of the race. After the conclusion of Stage 2, Logano’s crew made an adjustment on the car that appeared to not agree with the track conditions. When the field returned to green flag racing, Logano dropped through the field and even fell a lap down. He could never recover, finished ninth, and was the first driver eliminated from the Playoffs after being above the cutoff line to start the day.

    “I went from a car that could lead and win a stage and run really well, and from what they told me, it was an air pressure adjustment made it go from a winning car to can’t stay on the lead lap, and one of the tightest things I’ve ever driven. I don’t really understand it. It doesn’t make any sense. You change tires and change a half pint of air, that sounds ridiculous. It is what it is. Just wasn’t our year to make it, I guess. But we’ll fight for fifth, I guess, in points for this year, and we’ll move on.”

    “It stinks. It hurts a little bit, but we’ll live,” Logano said. “Everything is going to be OK. Life is a lot worse in other ways for some. We’re still fortunate to be here and get to do what we love. It’s a bummer for sure. It doesn’t take anything away from that, but it’s just part of the game sometimes.”

    Three other drivers in must-win situations were also eliminated from the Playoffs: Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott. For Elliott, he battled for the lead throughout the first half of the race, but a blown tire in Turn 1 caused race-ending damage on his No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet.

    “Yeah, it’s just a continuation of our first two weeks, unfortunately, ” Elliott said. “I feel like we were in a good position to run solid. I’m not sure why we had a tire go down. I think that’s what happened, at least; it seemed like it. It’s unfortunate. Like I said, these last three weeks have been pretty rough. So, hopefully, Homestead goes better and we can get prepared good for next season and get a good notebook for next year.”

    “All in all, a great season for our team,” Larson shared after the race. “A little rocky at the start, but we kept our heads down and kept working hard and got our stuff a lot better and more consistent throughout this season. We’ll try to go to Homestead next week and get a win.”

    Busch, Blaney, Larson, Harvick and Truex finished in the top six respectively. Erik Jones was the highest non-Playoff driver who finished in seventh. Clint Bowyer, Logano and Brad Keselowski completed the top 10 positions. Elliott, the final Playoff driver, finished 39th after crashing out on Lap 166.

    The champion for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will be crowned next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

  • Kyle Busch earns first 2019 pole at ISM

    Kyle Busch earns first 2019 pole at ISM

    AVONDALE, Ariz. — Saturday’s qualifying session proved why the eight remaining Playoff drivers are fighting for the last remaining transfer positions for next weekend’s championship race. Kyle Busch earned his first Busch Pole Award of the season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at ISM Raceway.

    He set a pole-running pace on his first lap, then ran even faster on his second lap around the one-mile circuit at 140.116 mph (25.693 seconds). He edged fellow Playoff driver and defending Cup champion Joey Logano (139.752 mph) by .067 seconds, as only two points separate the two drivers that currently hold the last two transfer positions.

    “I think this is actually the first race all year we made a mock (qualifying) run in practice,” said Busch. “Maybe there’s something to that. The guys did a great job. We fight hard every week trying to figure out what we need to do to continue to improve and get better, and a lot of others guys have certainly done that over the year.”

    Denny Hamlin, the first driver below the cutoff line in the championship, qualified third ahead of Martin Truex Jr., the first driver to lock himself into the Championship 4 after winning at Martinsville Speedway. Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott will make up the third row of Sunday’s starting grid.

    Last week’s winner, Kevin Harvick, will start seventh. The first non-Playoff driver was Kurt Busch who will start alongside Harvick. Erik Jones and Ryan Blaney round out the top 10, as all Playoff drivers will start in the top 10.

    With points being tight and a big potential shuffle if a driver below the cutoff line wins, Busch understands the importance of getting the pole and starting strong with valuable track position.

    “Hopefully today bodes well for tomorrow,” he said. “Overall, proud to start out front in this very important race and very important with track position and such.”

    Sunday’s Bluegreen Vacations 500 will be the penultimate race of the 2019 season. Four drivers will be eliminated as the others will head to Miami to race for the Cup championship. Coverage for tomorrow’s race will begin at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

  • Martin Truex Jr. dominates to win at Martinsville and advance to Championship 4

    Martin Truex Jr. dominates to win at Martinsville and advance to Championship 4

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Martin Truex Jr. led a record-setting 464 laps dominating the First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway to score his seventh victory of the season. It was his 26th NASCAR Cup Series win, the first at the .526-mile track and his 12th top-10 finish in 28 starts at Martinsville.

    It also locks Truex into the Championship 4 for a shot at the series title at Homestead-Miami Speedway in three weeks.

    “I’m just really happy about it, obviously,” said Truex. “I’ve been trying to work on getting a Martinsville win for a long time. It’s a tough track. It’s one that, you know, everybody I think wants to win at, the history here, and it’s such a big part of NASCAR. 

    “Really proud of everybody on our team for what they did and the car they brought, the pit stops today were incredible and the guys did a great job. So just all around a great day. To lead that many laps here is pretty incredible.”

    While Truex stole the show in Victory Lane, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano provided the encore with an altercation after the race. The tension was a result of an incident on Lap 458 when the two made contact causing Logano to hit the outside wall. What started as a discussion quickly turned into a wrestling match.

    “Yeah, I just wanted to talk to him about it and was pretty frustrated,” Logano explained.

    “He just kind of came off the corner like there wasn’t another car on the outside of him and ruined our day, a shot at the win for sure. We probably weren’t going to beat the 19 but we had a top-five for sure coming our way, but we were just able to survive there.

    “I don’t really know what happened because once he started hitting me, he didn’t lift, he just kept finishing me off. We ran each other fine all day, so I don’t know. I don’t really know what happened.”

    The situation escalated when Logano shoved Hamlin and ended with both crews pulling the drivers apart. Not surprisingly, Hamlin’s take on the disagreement was quite different.

    “We were having a discussion,” he said. “Everything was civil, and then, like Joey does, he does a little push and then runs away. So that’s Joey. Scared. He said, ‘Do you want to go?’ I said, ‘Yes, I’m here.’ But then he runs away.”

    Hamlin also insinuated that the contact was incidental.

    “I got close off of Turn 4,” he said. “It looks like we got together and it looks like collateral damage. He blew a tire.”

    William Byron turned in a strong performance but had to settle for second place, his 13th top-10 finish this year.

    “This isn’t a place that I’ve loved coming to,” said Byron, “and it just clicked this weekend. The things we did with the car going into qualifying and then obviously our race. So, I’m super excited, but second is not super fun either. So, we’ll try to get one spot better next time.”

    Brad Keselowski finished third followed by Hamlin in fourth and Ryan Blaney in fifth.  Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, Logano, Kyle Larson and Ryan Newman rounded out the top-10 at Martinsville.

    Truex, Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Logano are currently the top four drivers in the points standings but Truex is the only driver locked into the Championship 4. Kevin Harvick (-14), Ryan Blaney (-15), Larson (-24) and Chase Elliott (-44) are all below the cut line with only two races remaining before the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 17.

    Tune in next Sunday as the Cup Series heads to Texas Motor Speedway.

    Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

  • Hamlin hangs on to win in overtime restart at Kansas

    Hamlin hangs on to win in overtime restart at Kansas

    Kansas City, KS – After two attempts in overtime, Denny Hamlin held on to win at Kansas Speedway for his fifth victory this season. It’s his second victory at Kansas and his first since 2012.

    Hamlin took the lead on Lap 227 and never looked back to score the victory in the conclusion of the Round of 12.

    “Everything is good,” Hamlin said about the win. “The cars are fast, we’re executing well. I feel like I’m giving the right information to the crew chief to let him make adjustments if he needs to make it faster. I thought practice was a telling sign for us. Every time we came into the pits to work on it, when it came out, it was better. We did a really good job of making our car better throughout the weekend. We didn’t qualify all that well, being 23rd or so. I knew we were going to have a car that was going to go to the front and that’s what we had.”

    Prior to the Hollywood Casino 400, Daniel Hemric qualified on the front row for his first career pole in his career. Kevin Harvick didn’t get to put a qualifying lap down due to failing inspection and as a result, the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing driver started last. Stages were 80/80/107 laps to make up the 267-lap race.

    Stage 1: Lap 1- Lap 80

    There were barely any incidents during the first stage. However, there were many lead changes. Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski, William Byron, Hamlin, Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano all swapped the lead between each other. The yellow flew late in Stage 1 on Lap 76 for debris in Turn 4 after contact was made between Roush Fenway Racing teammates Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Newman. Newman got the worse of the damage and wound up in last place.

    A late-stage restart came on Lap 78. Logano won the stage after Larson’s crew had trouble during the caution prior to the restart. Chase Elliott, Daniel Suarez, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, Hamlin, Erik Jones and Stenhouse were the top-10 finishers.

    During the stage break, Kyle Busch’s team had to fix the right side quarter panel of his car after damage from the restart. Alex Bowman was also on pit road to fix his damage.

    Stage 2: Lap 86- Lap 160

    Just a few laps after the start of Stage 2, Larson made contact with the No. 66 of Joey Gase which sent him spinning toward the inside grass. This brought the caution out on Lap 113. The leaders came down pit road to make a pit stop under the caution. During that round of pit stops, playoff drivers Kyle Busch and Larson were penalized. Larson was penalized for an uncontrolled tire and Busch for too many crew members over the wall.

    From there, Hamlin took the lead on Lap 124 and went on to win the second stage. Blaney, Truex, Byron, Elliott, Harvick, Logano, Paul Menard, Clint Bowyer and Busch completed the top-10 finishers for Stage 2.

    Stage 3: Lap 166- Lap 277

    There was a long green-flag during the final stage. Hamlin had the dominant car, taking the lead on Lap 126 and leading for 93 laps. After green-flag pit stops, a caution came on Lap 265, just two laps before the race ended.

    The No. 43 of Bubba Wallace’s tire hub broke off coming out of Turn 2 forcing the race to go into overtime. The No. 36 of Matt Tifft was also involved.

    After the caution, the field was bunched up to do it all over again and hope to complete the race in two laps. However, right before Hamlin took the white flag, an accident on the front stretch occurred. Keselowski and Suarez made contact with each other off Turn 4. Hemric, Logano and Austin Dillon were also involved.

    Despite the two overtime restarts, Hamlin held off a hard charging Chase Elliott for the win.

    “It just depends,” Hamlin said in regard to winning his first championship. “We believe a successful year is making it to Homestead. Anything can happen in one race. I don’t think you should necessarily deem your season off one race. I think this year as a whole, we consider this a successful season, even if something were to happen in the next round. We certainly wouldn’t be pleased about it but everyone tries to do the best of their job and let the chips fall where they may. We’re not going to let one race dictate whether this year is a success or not.”

    Hamlin finished eighth in Stage 1, won Stage 2 and led three times for 153 laps to earn six playoff points.

    The Hollywood Casino 400 was a cut off race and Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney all advanced to the Round of 8 that begins next weekend at Martinsville Speedway.

    Official Results

    1. Denny Hamlin, won Stage 2, led 153 laps
    2. Chase Elliott, led four laps
    3. Kyle Busch
    4. Kurt Busch
    5. William Byron, led one lap
    6. Martin Truex Jr., led 33 laps
    7. Erik Jones
    8. Clint Bowyer
    9. Kevin Harvick
    10. Jimmie Johnson
    11. Alex Bowman, led seven laps
    12. Ryan Preece
    13. Chris Buescher
    14. Kyle Larson, led 60 laps
    15. Matt DiBenedetto
    16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
    17. Joey Logano, won Stage 1, led four laps
    18. Paul Menard
    19. Brad Keselowski, led two laps
    20. Austin Dillon
    21. Ryan Blaney, led two laps
    22. Ty Dillon, one lap down
    23. Aric Almirola, three laps down
    24. Michael McDowell, three laps down
    25. Matt Tifft, four laps down
    26. David Ragan, four laps down
    27. Ross Chastain, five laps down
    28. Corey LaJoie, five laps down
    29. Parker Kligerman, six laps down
    30. J.J. Yeley, six laps down
    31. Daniel Hemric, OUT, Crash
    32. Daniel Suarez, OUT, Crash
    33. Reed Sorenson, nine laps down
    34. Garrett Smithley, 10 laps down
    35. Bubba Wallace, OUT, Crash
    36. Josh Bilicki, 15 laps down
    37. Landon Cassill, OUT, Vibration
    38. Joey Gase, OUT, Crash
    39. Timmy Hill, OUT, Too Slow
    40. Ryan Newman, OUT, Crash

    Up Next: The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers take to Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, Oct. 27 to begin the Round of 8.

  • Daniel Hemric speeds to first career pole at Kansas

    Daniel Hemric speeds to first career pole at Kansas

    KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Daniel Hemric captured the pole for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway with a time of 30.32 and 178.047 mph. This was Hemric’s first career Cup Series pole.

    Hemric is looking for a new ride next year and this pole is good timing for the rookie driver.

    “I’m not really going to say it boosts confidence,” Hemric says regarding the pole. “It’s cool to get a checkmark off this race team. Myself being a small part of it, it’s good to get that. Through all of this stuff, I haven’t felt like my confidence has not wavered on way or another, but in the makes of everything going on right now, to a personal side to a racing side trying to align all of that stuff and position yourself in the future, it doesn’t hurt to win the pole.”

    With Hemric qualifying on the pole, the starting grid will have some different faces at the top for the start of tomorrow’s race. David Ragan put down a lap of 30.36 in his No. 38 Ford Mustang to put himself in second which was his best qualifying effort of the season.

    “I hope we can be the fastest on Sunday too,” Ragan said. “We made adjustments on our Ford Mustang last night anticipating a little warmer race on Sunday. We looked at the weather and we looked at what we did here in the spring and so we really didn’t think much of qualifying. It is what it is on these impound races. I was surprised to see the speed that Michael (McDowell) had in his car. I was optimistic knowing our cars were pretty close. To be on the Front Row is awesome for the start of the race on Sunday. Hopefully, we can make some adjustments and be a top-10 or top-15 car on Sunday.”

    Ryan Blaney was third, Brad Keselowski fourth, Kyle Larson fifth, Michael McDowell sixth, Ryan Newman seventh, Daniel Saurez eighth, Austin Dillon ninth and Bubba Wallace rounded out the top-10 qualifying spots.

    Kevin Harvick was not able to put down a lap in today’s qualifying session. Harvick failed inspection three times before passing on the fourth time due to a tech issue. With the issue, the No. 4 Stewart Haas Racing driver will start last in tomorrow’s race.

    The No. 19 of Martin Truex Jr. also had tech problems prior to qualifying. Truex failed twice and lost his car chief for the weekend plus the loss of 15 minutes of practice time for next weekend at Martinsville. However, Truex gets to keep his spot (11th).

    Official Qualifying Results

    1. Daniel Hemric
    2. David Ragan
    3. Ryan Blaney
    4. Brad Keselowski
    5. Kyle Larson
    6. Michael McDowell
    7. Ryan Newman
    8. Daniel Suarez
    9. Austin Dillon
    10. Bubba Wallace
    11. Martin Truex Jr
    12. Jimmie Johnson
    13. Aric Almirola
    14. Chase Elliott
    15. Kurt Busch
    16. Alex Bowman
    17. Matt Tifft
    18. Kyle Busch
    19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
    20. Erik Jones
    21. Clint Bowyer
    22. Paul Menard
    23. Denny Hamlin
    24. Ty Dillon
    25. William Byron
    26. Chris Buescher
    27. Matt DiBenedetto
    28. Ryan Preece
    29. Joey Logano
    30. Landon Cassill
    31. Corey LaJoie
    32. Parker Kligerman
    33. Ross Chastain
    34. Reed Sorenson
    35. Garrett Smithley
    36. J.J. Yeley
    37. Josh Bilicki
    38. Timmy Hill
    39. Joey Gase
    40. Kevin Harvick

    The start of tomorrow’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway is slated for 2:30 p.m. ET live on NBC for the final race in the Round of 12.

  • Blaney edges Newman in photo finish for victory at Talladega

    Blaney edges Newman in photo finish for victory at Talladega

    The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series returned for day number two on Monday for the completion of the 1000bulbs.com 500 on Monday after the rain was rain-delayed on Sunday due to rain and it was well worth the wait.

    Ryan Blaney just barely beat Ryan Newman at the finish line for the third victory of his career, the first of the 2019 season.

    “We restarted in the lead there, had the 10 (Aric Almirola) behind me and had a few Fords lined up, which I felt comfortable with,” Blaney told MRN Radio. “Can’t thank Aric enough for pushing me in that race and stuck with me there at the end. Then, the 11 (Denny Hamlin) and 6 (Newman) got rolling there on top, and I knew I couldn’t have blocked them, they were hooked up and coming way too fast. If I would have blocked, they would have split me, that wouldn’t have been good.”

    “I was able to get the 6 off the 11 there and then the 3 (Austin Dillon), and just had a big run coming to the 6 and almost spun out. Kind of forced below the yellow there and we were able to beat, and bang to the line. Really proud of this whole group. Thanks to all the fans for sticking around for the last couple of days. Been a pretty wild day, but got it done.”

    The second race in the Round of 12 originally started on Sunday afternoon. Chase Elliott had qualified on the pole with his Hendrick Motorsport teammates behind him. The raced was moved up due to weather in the area. Stages were 55/55/78 to make up the 188 lap race.

    Stage 1 Lap 1- Lap 55

    Not much action during the first stage until the first round of green flag pit stops. Ryan Blaney wheel hopped coming to pit road and wound up spinning into the grass. The first caution flew on lap 36 for the No. 52 of Spencer Boyd, who came to a stop in Turn 1.

    After that caution, drivers raced hard, sometimes three wide at times. Most of them, particularly Chevy drivers were trying to work together to get to the front and make it a manufacture race.

    Before the stage ended, Erik Jones had a flat tire on lap 50, but the race kept green until the stage finished on lap 55. At lap 55, William Byron took the Stage 1 win. However, just two laps later, rains came into the area and forced a postponement to Monday afternoon.

    Stage 2 Lap 62- Lap 110

    Flash forward to Monday afternoon, the race resumed under sunny skies and it was calm before the storm. As the race was restarted, Brad Keselowski had troubles restarting his car. However, after the push truck came out, Keselowski’s car got back going.

    The action picked up when Stage 2 began with three wide racing once again. At times, there were single file racing, but for the most part, it was what you would expect when coming to Talladega.

    During Stage 2, Denny Hamlin had trouble with his hood flap that came off. Though, he was able to stay on track without getting black flagged.

    Green flag pit stops took place on lap 90, with the manufactures splitting the pit cycle. Chevy’s pitted on lap 90, then Toyota’s, then Ford. When pit stops were completed, Chase Elliott cycled out as the leader.

    A big moment came on lap 106, where a big crash broke out. Alex Bowman tried throwing a block on Joey Logano, but failed to do so. In result, a multi-car crash broke loose with many involved. Martin Truex Jr, Kyle Larson, Jimmie Johnson, Hamlin, Elliott, Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick and Ryan Preece were all involved in the wreck.

    With the accident taking place so close to the end of Stage 2, it left race officials no choice but to end the stage under yellow. This time around, it was Clint Bowyer who was the leader when the crash happened and saw him take Stage 2. Logano, Keselowski, Austin Dillon, Daniel Suarez, Blaney, Chris Buescher, Byron, Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch were the top-10 finishers.

    Stage 3 Lap 116- Lap 188

    There were many incidents in the third and final stage. On lap 121, Bubba Wallace came up in front of the No. 77 of Blake Jones and was turned into the wall. Jones then was caught by another vehicle, which caused him to spin out.

    The caution flew on lap 131 for Martin Truex Jr, who had a flat left front tire shred and left debris. This caused a restart on lap 137, but on lap 152, Clint Bowyer had a flat left rear go down and was stuck on the apron in Turns 3&4 to bring out the yellow.

    Another big accident broke loose on lap 163, as Byron was accidentally took a wrong bump draft from Kurt Busch going into Turn 3. This caused many drivers to be involved. Drivers like Erik Jones, Matt Crafton, Logano, Byron, Suarez, Preece and Austin Theriault were collected.

    After those incidents took place, the intensity picked up even more as the checkered flag drew near. A quick yellow was seen on lap 173 for Suarez who spun around in Turn 4. When the race was restarted, we saw seven laps of intense green flag racing before the final crash broke out on lap 183.

    The drivers were three wide on the backstretch, before a bump draft gone wrong triggered “The Big One” and it even saw a flip as well. When the accident occurred, race fans saw the No. 62 of Brendan Gaughan took a big flip after being hit on the side. Fortunately, Gaughan was okay and walked out, but the wreck took many drivers along for the ride.

    Kurt Busch, Keselowski, Harvick, Daniel Hemric, Stenhouse, Kyle Busch, Buescher, Ragan, Preece and DiBenedetto were taken out. Many of which, were done for the day as their cars was too heavily damage to return to the track.

    In this case, it set up an exciting two laps dash to the finish. Ryan Newman had a big run coming out of Turns 3&4 and caught Ryan Blaney. However, Blaney was somewhat forced below the yellow line which gave him the win over Newman. Nonetheless, it was a photo finish and Blaney locked himself into the Round of 8 by 0.007.

    “You make that mistake yesterday (pit road slide) and then you sleep on it overnight with the rain delay,” Blaney added to MRN Radio. “Obviously, you just forget about that stuff. You learn what you need to do better next time to not have that happen. Can’t dwell on it, just try to learn from it. Like I said, long weekend here, but appreciate everyone sticking around. Pretty exciting finish.”

    Blaney led three times for 35 laps en route to his fist victory of the season.

    There were nine cautions for 43 laps with 46 lead changes.

    Playoff Standings heading into the final race in the Round of 12 at Kansas.

    1. Kyle Larson, Advanced
    2. Ryan Blaney, Advanced
    3. Denny Hamlin, +56
    4. Martin Truex Jr, +48
    5. Kyle Busch, +41
    6. Kevin Harvick, +36
    7. Brad Keselowski, +20
    8. Joey Logano, +18
      Below the cut line
    9. Alex Bowman, -18
    10. Chase Elliott, -22
    11. Clint Bowyer, -24
    12. William Byron, -27

    Official Results

    1. Ryan Blaney, led 35 laps
    2. Ryan Newman, led three laps
    3. Denny Hamlin
    4. Aric Almirola, led three laps
    5. Michael McDowell
    6. Austin Dillon, led one lap
    7. Corey LaJoie
    8. Chase Elliott, led 19 laps
    9. Ricky Stenhouse Jr, led 32 laps
    10. Ty Dillon
    11. Joey Logano, led 16 laps
    12. Ross Chastain
    13. Matt Tifft
    14. Landon Cassill, led one lap
    15. Parker Kligerman
    16. Matt Crafton (However, Paul Menard will get the credit for the finish after starting the race).
    17. Kevin Harvick
    18. Ryan Preece
    19. Kyle Busch, led seven laps
    20. Chris Buescher, Did not finish, Crash
    21. Daniel Hemric, one lap down
    22. Reed Sorenson, one lap down
    23. Clint Bowyer, two laps down, led 13 laps
    24. Bubba Wallace, three laps down, led one lap
    25. Brad Keselowski, OUT, Crash, led 22 laps
    26. Martin Truex Jr, six laps down
    27. Brendan Gaughan, OUT, Crash
    28. Kurt Busch, OUT, Crash, led 16 laps
    29. David Ragan, OUT, Crash
    30. Matt DiBenedetto, OUT, Crash
    31. Blake Jones, nine laps down
    32. Daniel Suarez, OUT, Crash
    33. William Byron, OUT, Crash, led 13 laps
    34. Erik Jones, OUT, Crash, led one lap
    35. Austin Theriault, OUT, Crash, led one lap
    36. Joey Gase, OUT, Crash
    37. Alex Bowman, OUT, Crash
    38. Jimmie Johnson, OUT, led two laps
    39. Kyle Larson, OUT, Crash
    40. Spencer Boyd, OUT, Engine

    Up Next: The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads back to the Midwest on Sunday October 20th for the conclusion of the Round of 12 at Kansas Speedway.

  • Elliott leads the way, wins pole at Talladega as Hendrick sweeps top four spots

    Elliott leads the way, wins pole at Talladega as Hendrick sweeps top four spots

    Chase Elliott claimed the Busch Pole Award at Talladega Superspeedway Saturday evening while his teammates followed for a Hendrick Motorsports sweep of the top four starting positions.

    His qualifying lap of 192.707 mph earned Elliott his fourth pole of the season and his eighth career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series pole. It was his second pole at the 2.66-mile track. Elliott also won the spring race at the track and is hoping for a repeat.

    When asked about the odds of winning again, he was optimistic but is not taking anything for granted.

    “To me, I feel like our car has pace, which is a good thing,” Elliott replied.

    “Typically in these races, cars that have pace tend to kind of set the standard and are able to do some things that you wouldn’t be able to do if your car didn’t have pace. I would much rather have pace on my side than not.

    “Can you still win without those little extra things here and there? Yes. But I do think it is a good thing to have if you do. And luckily, I feel like our car does. Hopefully it drives well tomorrow. And, I’m sure as we start the race, we’ll see some gamesmanship being played amongst the manufacturers and I’m sure that’ll form-up very quickly.”

    Hendrick Motorsports teammates Alex Bowman (192.552 mph), William Byron (192.258 mph) and Jimmie Johnson (191.566 mph) will follow Elliott in the lineup after qualifying second, third and fourth.

    Byron is hoping the teammates can stay up front together.

    “I’ve got three teammates behind but then not a lot of Chevrolets back behind that for a little while,” he noted. “So, there are a bunch of other guys stacked in between us. So, we’ll see. I’m sure these games will be played pretty early. And hopefully we can stay up front and grab some stage points and hopefully get a win.”

    Ford drivers Aric Almirola, Brad Keselowski, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Clint Bowyer, Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano rounded out the top-10 qualifiers.

    Logano spoke about the significance of the car manufacturers working together.

    “We’ve got to stay open to doing what our competition is doing and trying to do what they do better than them. That’s what we’ve got to try to do, but it seems like now more than ever the teamwork aspect has really come into play more than it’s ever been,” Keselowski said. “I say teamwork, not just Penske – we’re talking about all the Fords or all the Chevys or Toyotas. Everyone really seems to be committed to each other and it’s really changed the game a lot.”

    Of the remaining playoff drivers, Kyle Larson will start 12th, Kevin Harvick 15th, Martin Truex Jr. 18th, Kyle Busch 26th and Denny Hamlin will start in 40th after an engine failure during qualifying.

    You can tune into Sunday’s 1000Bulbs.com 500 at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.