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Tag: Aric Almirola

  • 2020 Cup Playoff outlook after Kansas

    2020 Cup Playoff outlook after Kansas

    With seven races remaining until the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs commences, the battle for the final six vacant spots within the top-16 cutline has changed course yet again. Following Thursday night’s Super Start Batteries 400 at Kansas Speedway, some on the bubble had good nights and kept themselves in contention for the postseason while others struggled and are setting their focus towards next weekend in making up the points lost.

    Ten Cup competitors are still guaranteed a spot to this year’s postseason battle for the championship. This includes Denny Hamlin, who earned his fifth win of 2020 at Kansas as he continues to pursue his first Cup championship. Among others who are guaranteed a spot in the Playoffs include Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon and rookie Cole Custer.

    The first winless competitor who is inside the top-16 cutline continues to be Aric Almirola. For Almirola, who started third based on a random draw, it was another strong night for the Floridian and his No. 10 Smithfield/Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team as he finished in the top 10 in both stages, racked up a handful of stage points and survived the late calamity to finish sixth for his best result at Kansas, the same track where he suffered a compression fracture to his T5 Vertebra following his harrowing accident in 2017. While it was another week without a win, the sixth-place result marked Almirola’s 11th top-10 result of the season, eighth in a row, as he is 134 points above the cutline.

    “I’m pretty eager to get a W,” Almirola said. “Man, this race team’s being doing a great job. We’ve been running really good. A long time ago, I would’ve gave anything to just run top 10 every week and run like we’ve been running. When you start tasting victory and you run upfront, you race around those guys, you wanna seal the deal and go to Victory Lane, but tonight, we were just a little bit off. We didn’t have as good of a car compared to the field as we have the last several weeks. Proud of my guys. We just keep chipping away at it, we keep building up that points buffer to the cutoff, which is nice, but now, we’re ready to go get a W and get some bonus points for the Playoffs. So, I think we’re capable and we got a really good race team.”

    Next up are the Busch brothers. For Kyle, who started eighth, the majority of the race had him and his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry towards the front and battling for the lead. After winning the first stage and leading 52 laps, Busch appeared to have a top-five run and even, a late charge for the win established until he made contact with the wall nearing 40 laps remaining. The contact forced Busch to pit under green as he lost a lap to the leaders during his stop. Following two late cautions, however, Busch was able to race his way back onto the lead lap. For the remainder of the race, he worked his way from the top 20 to finish in 11th. Despite remaining winless through the first half of the 2020 season, the reigning Cup Series champion is 120 points above the top-16 cutline.

    “That wasn’t the finish this M&M’S Fudge Brownie Camry deserved today,” Kyle Busch said. “We were tight most of the race and I just got into the wall there. We are making progress and think we showed that tonight. We will go back, get ready and head to New Hampshire next week.”

    For Kurt Busch, who started ninth, Thursday’s race at Kansas was a race where the 2004 Cup champion struggled with adjustments around the track and keeping pace with the leaders, though he remained within sight of the top 10. After finishing in the top 15 the first two stages, Busch battled loose conditions, but was able to work his way into the top 10 in the final laps. He was able to gain one additional spot on track before the checkered flag flew to finish in ninth for his 12th top-10 result of this season. With the finish, Busch and his No. 1 Monster Energy/Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team are 119 points above the cutline.

    “The car was a little tough at times throughout the race,” Kurt Busch said. “We struggled on some of the restarts with tires on heat cycles, but thanks to my guys on this Monster Energy Chevy. We battled hard together and never gave up on working to make it better and try to find the sweetest spot to run. We just need to keep after it and turn these top 10’s into better results.”

    For Clint Bowyer, there is no place like home as the Emporia, Kansas, native arrived back at his home track with an opportunity of locking up a spot in the Playoffs for himself and his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team. The Cup race on Thursday at Kansas, however, was a difficult one for Bowyer, who started 19th, struggled with handling issues, finished outside the top 15 in both stages, sustained minimal damage from a late multi-car wreck and could only work his way up to 14th when the race concluded. The one positive Bowyer was able to walk away with following the race at Kansas was being 42 points above the cutline.

    “Man, we were so loose in the first two stages,” Bowyer said. “We worked hard on it and got it better in the final stage. I don’t know how the heck I didn’t wreck in that [Lap 177] big wreck. We got some damage then we dodged a couple more [wrecks] after that. It was a tough race, but nobody on our One Cure team gave up and our pit crew helped us out a bunch tonight. It’s good to be back in the top 12 in points. That will help our qualifying spot in New Hampshire. It’s always good to be back home in Kansas. I just wish we could have had the fans here tonight. We really missed them and ready to get them back to the track.”

    Unlike Bowyer, Matt DiBenedetto and his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang team were not so fortunate after a late accident cost the driver and the team a handful of points in remaining inside the top-16 cutline. The first half of the race saw DiBenedetto appearing in and out of the top 10 after starting 12th, though he remained poised and in contention for a decent finish. That all came to a crashing halt around 100 laps remaining when he got hit by two cars on the backstretch and made hard contact with the outside wall as he was involved in a multi-car wreck. The damage was beyond repairable for the No. 21 team as DiBenedetto sustained his first DNF of the season and his fourth result outside the top 20. The silver lining for DiBenedetto is the picture of being 35 points above the cutline.

    “I couldn’t tell what was going on,” DiBenedetto said. “I just tried to go low. I saw guys checked up off of [Turn] 2. I didn’t see it. I just got clipped in the right side. Nothing I could do different. I am not going to lie. I am pretty frickin irritated. We have had garbage luck the last couple of weeks.”

    With a 10th-place result on Thursday night at Kansas that included one of his best performances this season, William Byron drew himself back inside the cutline. Starting 15th and racing with interim crew chief/veteran Keith Rodden, the Charlotte native struggled on restarts and could not keep pace with the leaders throughout the first two stages. The final stage was where Byron and the No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team appeared poised for the win as he remained on track on old tires and low fuel in the closing laps, a move that worked to his advantage as he led 27 laps in total. Following a pair of late restarts, however, Byron lost track positions to competitors running on four fresh tires and he was able to hang on to finish 10th when the checkered flag flew. With his sixth top-10 result of this season, Byron holds sole possession of the 16th and final spot to the Playoffs by 10 points.

    “It was a solid finish for us – we needed that for sure for the playoffs,” Byron said. “We started the race way off. We were really loose – just really struggling. The guys, Keith and everybody made a lot of great adjustments throughout the race. It really got us in a position where we could attack. As soon as we got probably 10 laps on our tires, the car felt pretty good. We just stayed out there on no tires, really ran there with [Keselowski] and was able to pass him back for the lead. I thought we were looking really good. Unfortunately, the two tires didn’t really work out for us there at the end. I think we just had too many laps on the left side and struggled there.”

    The first Cup competitor who is a spot below the cutline is rookie Tyler Reddick. Coming off a career-best runner-up finish at Texas Motor Speedway, Reddick, who started 23rd, rocketed his way towards the front as he finished sixth in the first stage. He went on to finish 15th in the second stage while fighting grip and loose conditions to his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. While Reddick had a strong car throughout the race at Kansas, he struggled with balance in the final stage and just missed out for a top-10 result as he settled in 13th when the checkered flag flew. The top-15 finish, nonetheless, allowed Reddick to draw himself to be 10 points below the cutline.

    “We had a fast No. 8 I Am Second Chevrolet on the long runs tonight at Kansas Speedway,” Reddick said. “We just needed a little more on the short runs. It was a tale of two extremes almost, where we fired off extremely loose but about halfway through the race built way too tight. I was able to run the top during Stage 1 before anyone else really could, and that allowed us to climb well up into the top 10 to get some valuable stage points. As the night went on and our car got tighter, I wasn’t able to run up there as well and had to search around for speed to try to keep up with the changing track conditions. Luckily, we were able to avoid a handful of wrecks during Stage 3 and started to climb back up through the field once we were able to loosen our Chevrolet back up a little bit. In the end, we just needed a couple more longer runs to really be able to get back into the top 10 tonight.”

    Trailing behind him is Erik Jones, who needed another strong run in his hopes of making his third consecutive postseason appearance. Starting 21st, Jones was able to carve his way towards the front and notch a 10th-place result in the first stage to collect a valuable stage point. From there, Jones kept himself in contention towards the top 10 and following a series of late cautions and multi-car wrecks, Jones and his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry team were able to drive their way into the top five and finish fifth. The top-five result was Jones’ fifth of this season and first since finishing third at Pocono Raceway in June. The finish also allowed the Michigan native to cut his deficit from the top-16 cutline in half from 24 to 12.

    “This is what we needed; we needed a really good points day,” Jones said. “It kind of seems like we’ve been in this spot the last couple of years unfortunately. It feels good to climb out of it. The Reser’s Camry was really good. We started really deep and just could never quite get up to the front and get some clean air. I kind of made a mistake on that last restart, I was trying to push too hard to get to the outside and gave up some ground there on those guys and had to make that back up. Good effort. Pit crew did good and the team gave me a good car. We just have to keep doing that and keep wracking these points up and hopefully get a win.”

    The competitor who took the biggest hit in the points following Kansas was Jimmie Johnson. Starting 20th, Johnson was able to methodically work his way towards the top 10 and remain poised for a decent result following a dismal run the previous race at Texas Motor Speedway. Everything changed with approximately 100 laps remaining when Johnson was involved in a multi-car wreck on the backstretch and sustained significant damage to his No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. While Johnson’s crew tried to repair the No. 48 machine to keep the seven-time Cup champion in contention for the remainder of the race, he was unable to meet the minimum speed requirement to continue with the repairs and was forced to end his race in the garage and in 32nd place, his sixth result this season outside the top 20. Prior to Kansas, Johnson was two points above the top-16 cutline. After Kansas, he is 18 points below the cutline and in jeopardy of missing the Playoffs for the second year in a row and in his final full-time Cup season.

    Another competitor who had a disappointing run at Kansas was Bubba Wallace. Starting 17th, Wallace’s troubles started at the 100-lap mark, when he spun entering Turn 4. More than 70 laps later, Wallace’s race went from bad to worse when he could not avoid a spinning Matt Kenseth entering Turn 4 and broke a right-front suspension during the wrecking process. The damage was enough to terminate Wallace’s long night in the garage as he is 100 points below the cutline.

    Like Johnson and Wallace, Chris Buescher had a dismal run at Kansas. Starting 13th, Buescher’s troubles started under the competition caution when he was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation during his pit stop and was sent to the rear of the field for the ensuing restart. On Lap 143, he spun in Turn 2, but was able to recover. He was not, however, able to avoid a vicious multi-car wreck with less than 90 laps remaining that involved his teammate Ryan Newman and ex-teammate Ryan Preece. The damage to the front of Buescher’s No. 17 Fifth Third Bank/Roush Fenway Racing Ford Mustang was enough to end his race in the garage and in 33rd place for his ninth finish outside the top 20. The run at Kansas has Buescher 107 below the cutline.

    Other competitors who continue to trail the top-16 cutline by deficits of 111 points or more include Michael McDowell, rookie Christopher Bell, rookie John Hunter Nemechek, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Newman, Ty Dillon, Matt Kenseth, Corey LaJoie, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Preece, rookie Brennan Poole and rookie Quin Houff.

    The battle for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will continue next Sunday, August 2, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, which will air at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • 2020 Cup Playoff outlook after Texas

    2020 Cup Playoff outlook after Texas

    With eight races remaining until the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series regular season concludes, another name has been added to the Playoff picture. With a strategic move for fuel only to gain track position and through a series of late restarts, Austin Dillon earned his way into the Playoffs following an upset victory in Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

    Of all the accomplishments that Dillon established with his victory at Texas, the biggest one of all was guaranteeing himself and the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team a spot in the Playoffs for the fourth time in his career, where he will attempt to become the first NASCAR competitor to record a championship across the sport’s three major division series.

    Dillon’s win makes it 10 Cup Series competitors that are guaranteed a spot in the Playoffs by virtue of a victory, a list that include Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman and rookie Cole Custer. Dillon’s win also leaves six spots vacant with the 2020 Playoffs a month away from commencing.

    For the third time in the previous four weeks, including Sunday’s race at Texas, Aric Almirola and the No. 10 Smithfield/Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team had a potential shot in winning a race. Despite starting on pole by virtue of a random draw and leading 35 laps, an early pit road penalty for violating the blend-line rule cost Almirola track position and two laps from the leaders. He was able to race his way towards the front in the closing laps of the race before he settled in 10th for his 10th top-10 result of the season. The result has Almirola 109 points above the top-16 cutline and as the highest competitor in points with no recorded victories 18 races into the 2020 regular season.

    “One of these days we’ll get everything to go our way,” Almirola said. “That was my fault on the penalty, but we had such a fast car and got it back in position to compete for a win again before that caution came out. We’re still bringing fast Smithfield Ford Mustangs every weekend and we learned a lot for when we come back here and compete for a championship.”

    Behind, the Busch brothers had strong runs at the Lone Star state. Kurt and the No. 1 Monster Energy/Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team capped off a race with top-10 results in the two stages to finish eighth, a result that keeps Kurt 108 points above the cutline. Kyle, on the other hand, rallied from being involved in a midway multi-car accident that involved his teammate, Truex Jr., to battle for the lead late in the race before settling in fourth. To go along with top-10 results in both stages, Kyle is 95 points above the cutline in his quest to defend his series title. The Busch brothers also continue to pursue their first victory of this season.

    “We had one of our best points days so far this season with the Monster Energy Camaro,” Kurt Busch said. “We scored stage points in the first and second stages, followed by another top-10 result. I really battled a loose handling car all day, it was really difficult on the restarts and short-runs, so I really had to work my butt off there at the end with all the cautions.”

    “It was a good finish and proud of the effort for everyone on this Interstate Batteries team,” Kyle Busch said. “We came a long way today. We got a lot of damage on the frontend of the car that you can’t see with the eye. Going through the grass, it killed it. I thought early on in the first stage, second stage maybe that we had a second-place car and then as the day went, we just kept getting further and further behind. Still a lot of work to do. The car didn’t drive very good at all. Just was able to get something out of nothing there at the end. We’ll go to Kansas and see if we can get a win there.”

    Behind, Matt DiBenedetto had another strong result established following his third-place result at Kentucky Speedway. His run, however, was spoiled following a late incident, where he sustained damage to his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang after being hit by rookie Quin Houff. Over the final two restarts, DiBenedetto was able to race his way back onto the lead lap, but he was unable to charge his way into the top five as he settled in 17th. Nonetheless, the result kept DiBenedetto inside the top-16 cutline by 51 points as DiBenedetto attempts to qualify for his first Cup Playoffs.

    Next, Clint Bowyer rallied from starting 17th to work his way up to 11th when the checkered flag flew. The result keeps Bowyer and his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team inside the cutline by 36 points as Bowyer attempts to make his ninth Playoff appearance approaching next week’s Cup race at Kansas Speedway, his home track.

    “That was a hot, tough day, for sure,” Bowyer said. “We worked hard all race trying to get our Rush Truck Centers Ford to turn better and the guys did a great job fixing our damage from the wreck. I didn’t know if we were going to finish because our engine temperature was so hot. They got it cooled down and we made it to the end with a good finish.”

    For the second consecutive week, seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson had a potential run for a strong result spoiled by an on-track incident. Compared to last weekend at Kentucky, Sunday’s at Texas came early and it was one where Johnson was unable to rally back into race-winning contention. Despite making significant contact with the Turn 4 outside wall, Johnson was able to proceed multiple laps down and gain advantage of others’ misfortunes to finish in 26th. The result has Johnson and the No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE clinging onto the final transfer spot to the Playoffs by two points.

    The first competitor out of the Playoff picture and looking ahead is William Byron and the No. 24 AXALTA/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team. With his seventh finish outside the top 15, second DNF, of this season, Byron’s disappointing season in the Cup Series continued after being involved in two incidents in the final stage of the race and despite starting strong. With his 37th-place result, Byron trails the top-16 cutline by two points as he attempts to qualify for his second consecutive Playoffs.

    “Honestly, it’s going to be tough,” Byron said. “We just have to find speed first. We’re not really running good at all and we’ve got to figure that out…We’ve just got to figure it out and figure it out quick before the fall.”

    With his career-best runner-up finish behind teammate Austin Dillon, rookie Tyler Reddick gained significant ground towards the Playoffs as he is 14 points below the cutline and looks to join fellow competitor and Rookie-of-the-Year rival Cole Custer into the Playoffs.

    “We really couldn’t ask for much more than what we got today,” Reddick declared. “One spot better would have been great, but the recovery this No. 8 Cat Oil and Gas team made today was huge. We’re racing for the big picture of making the playoffs, so we have to race smart. Days like this will help us get there.”

    Compared to Kentucky, Erik Jones had a good result at Texas, where he collected a handful of stage points following the second stage and recorded a strong sixth-place result. The Michigan native, however, trails the cutline by 24 points as he also attempts to record his first Cup win since September 2019.

    “We needed a solid run and mistake free and that’s what we did,” Jones said. “I thought coming into this race if we could just go in and have no mistakes and have decent speed we could run top-five and we came real close to that. We have to keep doing that. Obviously, we need to get some points, especially with two winners the last two weeks that have been from outside the Playoff picture. That kind of changes things for us. We’ll keep rolling, but a decent day for us.”

    Next, Bubba Wallace rallied from difficult results at Kentucky Speedway and the All-Star Open at Bristol Motor Speedway to record a 14th-place run after running in the top 10 late in the race. Despite the decent run, his eighth top-15 run of this season, Wallace trails the cutline by 76 points as he attempts to make his first Playoff appearance.

    “A top-15 day for the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Cash App Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team at the Texas Motor Speedway – a long, hot day that’s for sure,” Wallace said. “Proud of the efforts from our team…I thought we had a chance there. If that last caution had not come out, we maybe could have held on for a top-10 finish. But all-in-all, a great effort. Good bounce back from our last two weeks and we’ll just keep pushing to get our cars better. We’ll see what we got [at Kansas Speedway].”

    Behind, Chris Buescher had a strong race in the making at his home track. After finishing ninth in the first stage and having a potential top-10 run established, his run was spoiled after being involved in a multi-car wreck at the start of the final stage. When the checkered flag flew, Buescher settled in 19th, a lap behind the leaders. The result has Buescher 86 points below the cutline as he attempts to make his second career Playoffs appearance, first since 2016.

    Other competitors that remain in contention of the 2020 Cup Playoff battle include rookie Christopher Bell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Michael McDowell, rookie John Hunter Nemechek, Ryan Newman, Ty Dillon, Matt Kenseth, Corey LaJoie and Ryan Preece.

    The battle for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs continues next week at Kansas Speedway, which will air on July 23 at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Almirola draws second pole of 2020 for Texas

    Almirola draws second pole of 2020 for Texas

    For the fifth time in 10 NASCAR Cup Series races of 2020, Aric Almirola’s name has been drawn to start on the front row for a Cup race. On this occasion, Almirola will start on pole position for the second time this season. That will be case when the driver of the No. 10 Smithfield/Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang will lead the field to the green flag on Sunday, July 19, at Texas Motor Speedway for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500, the 18th race of the 2020 Cup season as the series will also reach its halfway point of this year’s racing season.

    Almirola is already coming off an eventful week of racing, where he finished eighth at Kentucky Speedway after leading a race-high 128 laps on July 12 and won the first stage of the All-Star Open at Bristol Motor Speedway on July 15, a victory that allowed him to transfer to the All-Star Race, where he finished ninth out of a 20-car field. He is currently ranked eighth in the regular-season standings, trailing points leader/teammate Kevin Harvick by 171 points. Nonetheless, Almirola is 133 points above the top-16 cutline in his quest to qualify for this year’s 2020 Playoffs and is coming off six consecutive races of finishing in the top 10.

    Joining Almirola on the front row will be Ryan Blaney, who led a race-high 72 laps in the All-Star Race and was in position to win the event before he settled in sixth. Brothers Kurt and Kyle Busch will start on the second row in front of Kevin Harvick, who is set to make his 700th NASCAR Cup Series career start. Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin will start sixth and seventh followed by Chase Elliott, winner of this year’s All-Star Race. Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr. will round out the top-10 starting positions followed by Matt DiBenedetto and Alex Bowman.

    Starting in positions 13-26 are Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Bubba Wallace, Ryan Newman, Chris Buescher, Clint Bowyer, William Byron, rookie Cole Custer, Jimmie Johnson, Austin Dillon, Matt Kenseth, Erik Jones, rookie Tyler Reddick, Ryan Preece and rookie Quin Houff.

    Starting in positions 27-40 are Garrett Smithley, rookie John Hunter Nemechek, Gray Gaulding, Ty Dillon, J.J. Yeley, rookie Brennan Poole, rookie Christopher Bell, Michael McDowell, Joey Gase, Corey LaJoie, Daniel Suarez, Timmy Hill, B.J. McLeod and Reed Sorenson.

    Catch the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on July 19 at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Almirola, Byron, DiBenedetto, Bowyer advance to All-Star Race

    Almirola, Byron, DiBenedetto, Bowyer advance to All-Star Race

    Aric Almirola, William Byron and Matt DiBenedetto transferred to the All-Star Race after each won one of three stages in the All-Star Open at Bristol Motor Speedway. For the final transfer spot, it was Clint Bowyer who earned a one way ticket to the main event after being named the Fan Vote winner.

    The starting lineup was based on a random draw. Michael McDowell drew the pole position and was joined on the front row with Aric Almirola. Corey LaJoie started at the rear of the field due to failing pre-race inspection twice. 

    When the green flag waved, McDowell received a strong start on the outside lane to jump to an early lead. After the first lap, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. moved into second while Almirola settled in third. Behind, with the field jumbling up through the corners and entering the straightaways, rookies Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick made contact in Turn 3 and nearly spun, but both saved their cars from spinning. Following the contact, Reddick fell off the pace and out of the top 10. During the contact between the two rookies, the field raced four wide entering Turn 1 before Matt DiBenedetto scrubbed the outside wall.

    At the front, McDowell continued to lead, but was hotly pursued by Almirola, Stenhouse, Bubba Wallace and William Byron. On the 11th lap, Almirola made his move below McDowell and took the lead entering Turn 1, where he started to pull away. Shortly after, Stenhouse moved into the runner-up spot after passing McDowell. 

    When the first stage reached its halfway point, Wallace pulled a bump-and-run move beneath McDowell for position through Turns 1 and 2, but McDowell hooked Wallace’s right-rear quarter panel in Turn 2 and sent Wallace into the Turn 3 wall as he made hard contact into the Turn 3 outside wall, sustaining heavy damage to his No. 43 World Wide Technology/Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Behind, Byron made contact with McDowell as McDowell spun with left-rear damage, but was able to continue. The wreck, however, ended Wallace’s attempt to make his second consecutive All-Star Race appearance since he was unable to continue the race with his wrecked primary car, which also took him out of contention of potentially winning the Fan Vote.

    “Just disrespect when you get hooked into the wall,” Wallace said on FS1. “I don’t even need to see a replay…What a joke [McDowell] is.”

    With six laps remaining in the first segment, the race restarted and Almirola took off with the lead on the outside lane. Behind, Ryan Preece got loose in Turn 3 and Reddick made contact to the rear bumper of Preece, which damaged part of Reddick’s front nose. 

    At the front, Almirola continued to pull away with Byron in second and Ty Dillon in third ahead of Bowyer and Corey LaJoie. Despite Byron closing in towards the rear bumper of Almirola’s No. 10 Smithfield/Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang in the final laps, the Floridian was able to win the first stage spanning 35 laps and to transfer to the All-Star Race for the third time in his career.

    “Man, we’ve just had such a good run lately,” Almirola said on FS1. “We deserve to be in the All-Star Race. Our team has been doing an amazing job. We’ve been bringing really fast Ford Mustangs to the racetrack every weekend. So, proud to have Smithfield involved in the big show tonight. I was, actually, really nervous. When you come to a race like this, you just never know what could happen and you hate to have the All-Star Race and not be in it, especially with as good as we’ve been running lately. Proud of my guys, proud of the team…we’ll get ready for the big show tonight.”

    Under the stage break, some like Bowyer, Daniel Suarez, Preece, rookie Quin Houff, Ty Dillon, Reddick, rookie Brennan Poole and McDowell pitted.

    When the second stage started, Byron, who inherited the lead, jumped to an early lead, but was quickly pursued by Ty Dillon followed by LaJoie. The following lap, with the field jumbling up, Preece made contact with rookie John Hunter Nemechek as both spun through Turns 1 and 2, but both continued.

    With 28 laps remaining in the stage, the race restarted. On this occasion, Ty Dillon remained dead even with Byron through Turn 1, but slipped in Turn 2 as Byron was able to clear Dillon and retain the lead. Dillon fell back to fifth while Bell, Austin Dillon and Austin Dillon moved into the top 5. At the front, Byron stretched his advantage to nearly a second over Bell while Reddick moved back into the top five ahead of Clint Bowyer. Ty Dillon, meanwhile, had fallen all the way back to 12th following contact with Stenhouse and LaJoie as the pack behind the leaders were jumbling, again, for positions.

    As the laps progressed, Reddick fell out of the top 10 after making contact while McDowell was back up to sixth. At the front, Byron continued to lead, leading by nearly two seconds while approaching lapped traffic. With 13 laps remaining in the second stage, DiBenedetto made contact to the rear bumper of Bell to move into the runner-up spot and was quickly pursued by Austin Dillon and Bowyer while Bell fell back to fifth.

    With no drama occurring at the front nor the rear of the field, Byron was able to cruise his No. 24 AXALTA/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE across the start/finish line to win the second stage after leading all 35 laps in the stage and transfer to the All-Star Race for the second consecutive year. With Byron transferring to the All-Star Race, all four Hendrick Motorsports competitors will compete in the main event for a million dollars.

    “It’s always good to advance to the All-Star Race and have a shot to go for a million dollars,” Byron said on FS1. “The guys did a good job with this car, a little bit different AXALTA look for us this week, but it needs a little bit of love on the left-rear quarter panel, but hopefully, we can get that fixed up and just be ready to go. This is, actually, one of my favorite tracks, so it’s pretty awesome to see the fans here.”

    For the start of the final stage spanning 15 laps, DiBenedetto and Austin Dillon battled dead even through the first two turns before DiBenedetto pulled away with the lead. Behind, Bowyer moved into second and quickly drew himself to the rear bumper of DiBenedetto. 

    With 10 to go, DiBenedetto was ahead by half a second over Bowyer with Austin Dillon trailing by nearly a second. Buescher was in fourth followed by Nemechek and Ty Dillon. Five laps later, DiBenedetto stabilized his advantage by nearly a second over Bowyer with some battles for positions taking place behind the leaders. The advantage and the gap between himself and Bowyer was enough for DiBenedetto and the Wood Brothers Racing’s No. 21 Ford Mustang to cruise under the checkered flag to win the All-Star Open for his first non-point NASCAR Cup Series victory and to transfer to the All-Star Race for the first time in his career. 

    “I was hanging on for dear life,” DiBenedetto said on FS1. “We were so loose on entry. I was right on [the] ragged edge. Just thankful to the team for battling back. My gosh, we had big damage there at the start. Had to fix it. … So proud to be driving this thing.”

    Bowyer finished in the runner-up spot, but earned the final spot to the All-Star Race after being named the Fan Vote winner. With the vote, Bowyer will make his 11th All-Star Race appearance. With Bowyer transferring to the All-Star Race, all four Stewart-Haas Racing competitors will compete in the main event for a million dollars.

    “You hate to lean on [the fans], but man, [it] damn sure feels good to have fans back at the track!” Bowyer said on FS1. “It’s fun to be around this place. You want to talk about an All-Star event. This is the right track to do it. It’s only gonna get better as we go here. We got a little bit of work to do on our car. Hey, we’re in it. I watched my buddy, Kasey Kahne, win it one time off of the Fan Vote. Maybe, we can do the same thing.”

    Austin Dillon finished third followed by Buescher and Ty Dillon while Stenhouse, McDowell, Nemechek, LaJoie and Reddick rounded out the top 10, all of whom were 17 competitors who failed to qualify for the 2020 All-Star Race.

    There were three lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 18 laps.

    Results.

    1. Matt DiBenedetto – Stage 3 winner, 15 laps led

    2. Clint Bowyer – Fan Vote winner

    3. Austin Dillon

    4. Chris Buescher, one lap led

    5. Ty Dillon

    6. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    7. Michael McDowell, 10 laps led

    8. John Hunter Nemechek

    9. Corey LaJoie

    10. Tyler Reddick

    11. Christopher Bell

    12. Daniel Suarez

    13. Ryan Preece

    14. J.J. Yeley

    15. Brennan Poole

    16. Garrett Smithley

    17. Quin Houff, two laps down

    18. Joey Gase – OUT, Handling

    19. William Byron – Stage 2 winner, 35 laps led

    20. Aric Almirola – Stage 1 winner, 25 laps led

    21. Bubba Wallace – OUT, Accident

    The NASCAR All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway is next on July 15 at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • McDowell on pole position for NASCAR All-Star Open

    McDowell on pole position for NASCAR All-Star Open

    Michael McDowell will start on pole position for the NASCAR All-Star Open at Bristol Motor Speedway on Wednesday, July 15, by virtue of a random draw. The lineup was revealed during Monday night’s coverage of NASCAR Race Hub on FS1.

    McDowell, who is in his third season driving the No. 34 Ford Mustang for Front Row Motorsports, is ranked 24th in the Cup Series regular-season standings and he trails the top-16 cutline to the Playoffs by 90 points. He will attempt to make his first career start in NASCAR’s All-Star feature.

    Joining McDowell on the front row will be Aric Almirola, who is eighth in the regular-season standings and will attempt to make his third career start in the All-Star Race. Rookie Christopher Bell, who will make his All-Star Open debut, will start third alongside Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who will attempt to make his fourth All-Star start. Rookie Tyler Reddick will start fifth as he attempts to race his way into his first All-Star Race.

    Bubba Wallace, who edged Daniel Suarez in a thrilling finish for the Stage 2 win at Charlotte Motor Speedway to make his first All-Star Race start a year ago, will start sixth followed by William Byron, who edged Wallace for the win in Stage 1 to make his All-Star debut last season. Chris Buescher will start eighth while Clint Bowyer and Matt DiBenedetto round out the top-10 starting positions.

    Rounding out the 21-car field are Austin Dillon, Ryan Preece, J.J. Yeley, Garrett Smithley, rookie Brennan Poole, rookie Quin Houff, Joey Gase, Daniel Suarez, rookie John Hunter Nemechek, Ty Dillon and Corey LaJoie.

    The winners of each segment, (three in total – 35 laps in Segment 1, 35 in Segment 2 and 15 in Segment 3), will advance to the All-Star Race and will also be joined by the Fan Vote winner, all of whom will round out the 20-car field for the All-Star Race.

    Notably, Timmy Hill and MBM Motorsports will not compete in the All-Star Open following recent wrecks at Pocono Raceway and at Kentucky Speedway. They will return for the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway on July 19.

    The NASCAR All-Star Open will air on July 15 at 7 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • 2020 Cup Playoff outlook after Kentucky

    2020 Cup Playoff outlook after Kentucky

    With nine races remaining until the 2020 NASCAR Cup Playoffs commences, a new name has been added to the postseason field.

    After his thrilling, four-wide pass for the win on Sunday in the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway, rookie Cole Custer has gone from being an Xfinity Series title contender to a Cup Series rookie and now, a Cup Series winner in a span of nine months. Of all the records he accomplished with his victory at Kentucky, the biggest one of all is guaranteeing himself and his No. 41 Haas Automation/Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team a spot in the postseason with an opportunity to contend for a Cup Series championship. In addition, he is set to become the 37th competitor to make the Cup Series Playoffs since its inception in 2004 and the first rookie contender to make the Playoffs since Chase Elliott and Chris Buescher qualified in 2016.

    Custer’s win at the Bluegrass State also stirred a major shakeup to the Playoff field with the Californian leaping from 25th to a spot within the top-16 postseason field. Through the first 17 Cup races of the 2020 season, nine competitors, including Custer, are guaranteed spots in the Playoffs by virtue of a win. That leaves seven spots vacant and many big names on the bubble or looking on the outside of the cutline with the postseason more than a month away from starting.

    The first competitor on the bubble is Aric Almirola, Custer’s teammate. Almirola and his No. 10 Smithfield/Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team had a race-winning setup at Kentucky after leading a race-high 128 laps and winning the first stage. An eighth-place result was a result that was not in mind for the Floridian, who has not won a Cup race since Talladega Superspeedway in October 2018. The good news for Almirola is he holds a 133-point cushion above the top-16 cutline and he recorded five consecutive top-five results prior to Kentucky, which indicates that his No. 10 team is hitting their strides late into the regular season while preparing for a title run.

    Like Almirola, Kurt Busch had a strong run at Kentucky. Starting seventh, Busch was shuffled out of the top 10 at the start of the race, but he was able to work his way back towards the front as the run progressed. Restarting fifth with two laps remaining, the 2004 Cup champion also had an opportunity to repeat his magic from last year’s Kentucky race, where he won in a thrilling two-lap shootout against his brother, Kyle. This year, however, Busch could only work his way as high as fifth when the checkered flag flew. While he did not earn his first win of the 2020 season, he and his No. 1 Monster Energy/Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team are 104 points above the cutline.

    Unlike Kurt, Kyle Busch had a disappointing run at Kentucky. A two-time Cup winner at the Bluegrass State, he started on pole by virtue of a random draw. After leading the first nine laps, things fell apart for Busch’s No. 18 M&M’s Toyota team, where they struggled in keeping pace with the leaders as the driver also fought grip issues. With less than 100 laps remaining, Busch nearly wrecked in Turn 4, but he was able to straighten his car and continue at the expense of losing multiple spots on the track. A 21st-place result left the reigning two-time Cup Series champion winless for another week into the 2020 season, but he remains 89 points above the cutline.

    If there was someone who had a great run at Kentucky on Sunday, it was Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang team. Starting 10th, DiBenedetto ran within the top five and top 10 throughout the race. On the final restart, he was able to charge his way from eighth to third when the checkered flag flew. DiBenedetto’s third-place result was his best since finishing in the runner-up spot at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in February. The podium spot was enough for DiBenedetto to stabilize himself above the cutline by 85 points.

    For Clint Bowyer, the Kentucky race was a day where late restarts hindered Bowyer’s run for a top-10 result. Starting 15th, Bowyer was able to work his way up to ninth when the first stage concluded. He was also in position for a top-10 result in the second stage, but a caution during a round of pit stops under green cost Bowyer spots as he could work his way back as high as 13th. In the final laps, Bowyer was in position to notch a top-10 result, but he was shuffled back to 14th when he crossed the finish line under the checkered flag. Bowyer’s eighth top-15 result of the season kept him 64 points above the cutline.

    For William Byron, it was a salvageable day for the Charlotte native and the No. 24 AXALTA/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team. Starting 21st, Byron made his way within the top 10 in the opening laps, but struggled on the bottom lane the ensuing restart. He worked his way up to 15th when the first stage concluded. The second stage was where Byron struggled the most with loose conditions as he settled outside the top 20 when the stage concluded. Making his way up towards the top 15 in the final stage, an opportunity presented itself for Byron during a cycle of pit stops under green and he was leading with 38 laps remaining. The caution allowed Byron to pit for four fresh tires and line up in sixth for the following restart. The bottom lane, however, hindered Byron’s progress to move towards the front. Despite starting seventh with two laps remaining, he was shuffled back to 11th when the checkered flag flew. With his 11th top-15 result of his junior season in the Cup level, he is 47 points above the cutline.

    A week after COVID-19 symptoms prevented him from racing for the first time since his debut in the Cup Series, Jimmie Johnson came roaring into Kentucky with vengeance and with a grand opportunity to leap himself into the Playoffs in his swan song season in the series. For much of the race, it appeared that Johnson and his No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team were growing closer and closer towards the front, working their way from starting 20th and running within the top 10. In the closing laps, Johnson was able to muscle his way into the top five and was lined up in third on a restart with 19 laps remaining with an opportunity to snatch the lead and his first win in over two years. Then, it came to a crushing blow when contact from Brad Keselowski sent Johnson sideways and out of contention. While Johnson was able to continue, the damage was done as he could only work his way back as high as 21st when the checkered flag flew. Even after missing last weekend’s race at Indianapolis followed by his result outside the top 20 at Kentucky, Johnson holds sole possession of the 16th and final spot to the Playoffs by 24 points as he is, already, setting his sights towards the upcoming regular-season races.

    With a 13th-place result, Austin Dillon finds himself outside the top-16 cutline by 24 points. The same goes for his Richard Childress Racing teammate and rookie Tyler Reddick, who trails by 41 points and continues to pursue his first Cup career win. Erik Jones, who struggled all race long at Kentucky with handling issues, finished 22nd as he and his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry team trail by 42 points. Like Jones, Bubba Wallace struggled with keeping up to pace with the leaders, and his 27th-place result, two laps behind, marked his seventh result outside the top 20. Wallace and the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team, however, remain in pursuit of the top-16 cutline by 84 points.

    Other notables that trail the top-16 cutline include Chris Buescher, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Christopher Bell, Michael McDowell, rookie John Hunter Nemechek, Ryan Newman, Ty Dillon, Matt Kenseth, Corey LaJoie, Ryan Preece and Daniel Suarez.

    Next on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on July 15, which starts with the All-Star Open at 7 p.m. ET on FS1 before the All-Star Race commences at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1. The next Cup points race is scheduled at Texas Motor Speedway on July 19, which will air at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Custer storms to first Cup career win at Kentucky

    Custer storms to first Cup career win at Kentucky

    In a two-lap sprint to the finish that produced an epic four-car battle for the win, rookie Cole Custer overtook Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick and Ryan Blaney on the final lap to score his first NASCAR Cup Series career win in the 10th annual running of the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway.

    The starting lineup was based on a random draw. Kyle Busch drew the pole position and started on the front row alongside Joey Logano. Matt Kenseth and Martin Truex Jr. started at the rear of the field after their respective cars failed pre-race inspection twice.

    When the green flag waved and the 17th race of the 2020 Cup season started, Kyle Busch and Logano battled dead even through Turn 1 before Busch received a push from Aric Almirola in Turn 2 to retain the lead and lead the first lap. The following lap, Almirola and Keselowski each gained a spot while Logano fell back to fourth ahead of Alex Bowman. Behind, Kevin Harvick, who started third, had dropped to seventh.

    After spending the previous three laps trying to pass Kyle Busch for the lead, Almirola passed Busch on the inside lane in Turn 3 to assume command on the 10th lap. Five laps later, Almirola was leading by above half a second over Kyle Busch. Behind, Logano was in third approximately a second followed by Bowman, Keselowski, Matt DiBenedetto and Chase Elliott. Harvick was in eighth followed by Erik Jones and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 

    When the field reached the competition caution on Lap 25, Almirola had maintained his advantage by more than a second over Kyle Busch and more than two seconds over Logano. Harvick was in eighth while Austin Dillon, who started 19th, was in 13th ahead of William Byron. Jimmie Johnson was in 16th after starting 20th, rookie Tyler Reddick was in 18th ahead of Cole Custer, Denny Hamlin was in 21st after starting 12th and Bubba Wallace was in 26th ahead of rookie Christopher Bell. Martin Truex Jr. and Matt Kenseth, both of whom started at the rear of the field, were in 20th and 28th.

    Under the competition caution, the entire field pitted and Almirola retained the lead followed by Logano, Kyle Busch, Elliott, Bowman and Harvick. Following the pit stops, Ty Dillon was assessed a commitment line violation and was sent to the rear of the field for the restart.

    The green-flag racing resumed on Lap 30, and Logano, who received a push from Kyle Busch on the inside lane, challenged Almirola for the lead through the Turn 2 backstretch before Almirola cleared the field to retain the lead. Behind, Elliott moved into second and Harvick moved into fourth while Blaney and DiBenedetto battled for fifth. Kyle Busch had fallen back to 10th, Keselowski was back to 12th ahead of Truex and Johnson, and Hamlin drifted back to 24th ahead of Wallace. 

    By Lap 35, the majority of the field towards the front settled into racing in a single file line with Almirola still ahead by nearly a second over Elliott. Behind the leader Almirola, Blaney challenged and made a pass for fourth over Harvick while Truex made his first appearance in the top 10 after passing teammate Kyle Busch. Far behind the leaders, Hamlin continued to drop towards the rear of the field as he was scored in 26th after being overtaken by Wallace, Ty Dillon, Bell and Michael McDowell. His teammate, Erik Jones, was in 19th after running in the top 10 early in the race.

    Through the first 50 laps, Almirola stabilized his lead by more than seconds over Elliott and nearly four seconds over Logano. DiBenedetto moved up to fourth ahead of Harvick while Blaney fell back to sixth ahead of Bowman after his No. 12 Advance Auto Parts/Team Penske Ford Mustang popped out of gear. Truex was in 10th ahead of teammate Kyle Busch, Johnson and Austin Dillon while Keselowski was in 14th ahead of Byron. Custer was the highest-running rookie in 16th while Reddick and Bell were in 19th and 23rd. Kenseth and Ryan Newman were in 21st and 24th, Wallace was in 26th and Hamlin was in 28th.

    Nearly ten laps later, Almirola caught a bevy of competitors trying to remain ahead of Almirola and on the lead lap, starting with rookie John Hunter Nemechek. A handful of laps later, Almirola lapped Nemechek, Corey LaJoie and Wallace with McDowell, Newman and Hamlin ahead of him. Despite encountering the lapped traffic, Almirola maintained a steady lead over Elliott while DiBenedetto moved into third over Logano and Blaney, who continued to battle with shifter issues to his car.

    For the final laps, Almirola was able to cruise to the first stage win for his second stage victory of the season on Lap 80. By then, he lapped 25th-place Newman, but was unable to lap 24th-place Hamlin, who remained on the lead lap. In addition, Stenhouse sustained a flat tire as the stage concluded and he lost a lap in the process. Elliott was in second, four seconds behind, followed by Logano, DiBenedetto and Blaney while Harvick, Bowman, Kurt Busch, Bowyer and Truex were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Almirola exited first followed by Logano, DiBenedetto, Elliott and Blaney. Following the pit stops, Ty Dillon was penalized again, this time for speeding on pit road. In addition, Keselowski made another pit stop to have his lug nuts tightened.

    The second stage commenced on Lap 87, and both Almirola and Logano, again, battled dead even for the lead through Turns 1 and 2 before Almirola benefitted on the outside lane in Turn 3 to retain the lead. Logano settled in second, but was being pursued by DiBenedetto while teammates Elliott and Bowman were settled in the top five. Blaney was in sixth ahead of Truex and Bowyer. On Lap 92, Blaney moved into the top five after passing Bowman. Behind, Johnson moved into the top 10 in ninth after passing Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch. Harvick had fallen back in 14th behind teammate Custer while Hamlin was able to work his way up to 15th ahead of Reddick.

    When the raced reached its 100-lap mark, Almirola was still ahead by over a second over teammate Logano and two seconds over DiBenedetto. Blaney was in fourth ahead of Bowman while Truex overtook Elliott for sixth. Johnson was in ninth behind Bowyer, Kyle Busch was in 13th behind Reddick and teammate Hamlin was in 15th. Meanwhile, Harvick continued to lose positions as he was back in 19th ahead of Keselowski. Soon after, Harvick dropped out of the top 20, just behind Byron and Kenseth.

    Twenty laps later, Almirola and his No. 10 Smithfield Vote for Bacon/Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang stabilized a lead of more than two seconds over Logano and nearly four seconds over Blaney, who had overtaken DiBenedetto for position. Truex was in sixth in between Hendrick Motorsports’ teammates Bowman and Elliott while Johnson was in 10th behind Bowyer and Austin Dillon. Joe Gibbs Racing’s teammates Kyle Busch, Hamlin and Jones were in 13th, 15th and 17th, rookies Reddick and Custer were in 12th and 14th, and Byron and Harvick were back in 19th and 22nd. By then, 25 of the 38-car field were on the lead lap. 

    With the race reaching its halfway mark of the 267-lap feature, Blaney, who had overtaken teammate Logano for the runner-up spot earlier and had trimmed a chunk of Almirola’s lead, caught and challenged Almirola for the lead. On Lap 138, Blaney, who encountered shifter issues early in the race, benefited from the lapped car of Nemechek to overtake Almirola for the lead in Turn 3. A lap later, Blaney extended his lead to above a second over Almirola. Another five laps later, Logano moved into the runner-up spot while teammate Blaney was ahead by more than three seconds. At the same time, green-flag pit stops started to occur as Reddick pitted.

    With most of the leaders pitting under green, a handful of cars were on track led by Keselowski in the closing laps of the second stage. Just after Keselowski was making his green-flag stop, the caution flew on Lap 154 when Kenseth blew a left-rear tire and spun below the apron and back across the middle of Turns 3 and 4. Under caution, Kenseth pitted along with Harvick, Elliott and Byron. When the field cycled through, Keselowski emerged with the lead after beating Blaney to the start/finish line at the moment of caution from Kenseth’s spin.

    In a one-lap shootout to the conclusion of the second stage, Keselowski was able to edge teammate Blaney by 0.058 seconds to win the second stage and secure his fourth stage victory of the 2020 season. Custer settled in third followed by Logano and Truex while Bowman, Austin Dillon, Johnson, DiBenedetto and Jones settled in the top 10. During this time, Preece took his No. 37 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to the garage due to a transmission issue.

    Under the stage break, the majority of the leaders remained on track while some like Custer, Austin Dillon, Jones, Reddick, Harvick and Byron pitted. Also pitting was Kyle Busch, who was reporting shock issues to his No. 18 M&M’s Fudge Brownie/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry. 

    The final stage started with 100 laps remaining, and teammates Keselowski and Blaney battled against one another through Turn 1 before Keselowski cleared the field through the Turn 2 backstretch and retain the lead the following lap. Behind, Truex moved into second followed by Johnson as Blaney fell back to fourth. Meanwhile, Logano had fallen back to ninth. Three laps later, Kyle Busch, who was running in sixth, got super loose entering Turn 4, but was able to straighten his car and prevent it from spinning, though he fell back to 15th.

    Eight laps later, Truex started challenging Keselowski for the lead, trailing by approximately a tenth of a second, while Blaney overtook Johnson and moved back into fourth. With 86 laps remaining, Truex was able to overtake Keselowski for the lead. By then, his teammate, Kyle Busch, was in 24th, the last car on the lead lap while dealing with shock issues to his car. In addition, Almirola, who dominated throughout the race, was stuck in 10th.

    With 70 laps remaining, Truex was ahead by half a second over Keselowski while Blaney, who was still racing with one hand on the steering wheel while the other was holding the broken shifter, was behind by above a second. Johnson trailed by nearly three seconds while Kurt Busch was in fifth, trailing by more than four seconds. DiBenedetto, Elliott, Logano, Bowyer and Almirola were in the top 10. Ten laps later, Truex extended his advantage by more than two seconds over Keselowski followed by Blaney, Johnson and Kurt Busch.

    A lap later, the race’s second round of green-flag pit stops commenced as Johnson pitted. With 44 laps remaining, while most of the leaders have pitted, Keselowski returned to the lead along with a handful of cars. Behind the leaders, rookie Brennan Poole’s was smoking due to a left-rear tire hub, a lot through the turns, but he continued under green. A lap later, Keselowski pitted while Custer inherited the lead, but was among eight competitors who had yet to pit. 

    Then, with 38 laps remaining and just as Byron moved into the lead when Custer made his green-flag pit stop, the caution returned due to debris. At the same time, Austin Dillon, who was also about to pit but opted to remain on track under caution, spun and made minimal contact with the Turn 4 outside wall while returning to the track. Under caution, some drivers like Byron, Harvick, McDowell, Bell, Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon pitted. Johnson also pitted after making slight contact with the wall. When the field cycled through, Truex was back in the lead followed by Blaney, Kurt Busch, Keselowski and Byron. Harvick, McDowell, Bell, Austin Dillon and Johnson were in the top 10 with 23 cars on the lead lap.

    With the clouds hovering above the track and covering the bright sun, the race restarted with 30 laps remaining as Truex and Blaney battled against one another through Turns 1 and 2. In Turn 3, Truex cleared Blaney to retain the lead. Behind, Johnson, who made a three-wide move on the restart, was up to sixth as he would also return into the top five. At the front, Truex was ahead by two-tenths of a second over Blaney while Johnson was trailing by above a second. Behind, Harvick and Keselowski battled for fourth.

    While Blaney continued to pressure Truex for the lead, the caution returned with 24 laps remaining when Nemechek made contact with the outside wall entering Turn 2. Under caution, the majority of the leaders remained on track while some like Kyle Busch, Jones, Bowman, Almirola and Nemechek pitted. Nemechek would, ultimately, retire following his late incident.

    On the ensuing restart with 19 laps remaining, Johnson was pushing Blaney on the inside lane and attempted to move in front of Keselowski, who was peaking to Johnson’s left-hand quarter panel, when the two made contact on the frontstretch and Johnson spun his No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE below the infield grass, where he was able to straighten his car despite losing all of his track positions. At the time of caution, Blaney emerged with the lead ahead of Truex.

    When the race restarted with 13 laps remaining, Harvick made his move on the inside lane in Turn 1 and went three wide with Truex and Blaney to emerge with the lead. Behind, Keselowski went three wide with Truex and Blaney before Truex moved into the runner-up spot. With the field behind scrambling for positions, Harvick was ahead by less than four-tenths of a second over Truex with Blaney in third, Keselowski in fourth and Austin Dillon in fifth. With 10 laps remaining, Harvick was ahead by around two-tenths of a second over Truex, who continued to pressure Harvick for the lead. Two laps later, the caution returned when Kenseth spun in Turn 4.

    The race restarted with two laps remaining as Harvick and Truex battled against one another through Turns 1 and 2. Behind, Blaney settled in third while Custer, racing on the outside lane, received a push from DiBenedetto to move into fourth ahead of Keselowski and Kurt Busch. In Turn 2, Truex got Harvick loose and nearly turned on the straightaway as they swapped lanes entering Turn 3. Truex gained a big run on the outside lane to squeak ahead, but Harvick stalled Truex towards his quarter panel as Blaney went three wide for the lead. On the fronstretch, Custer made it a four-wide battle on the outside lane before he came out on top in Turn 1 at the start of the final lap. Past the start/finish line, Blaney ran over a bump on the apron and came back into the side of Harvick, who bumped Truex as Harvick developed a massive left-rear tire rub to his No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza/Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang. At the front, Custer was able to hold off Truex for one final lap and cross the finish line above two-tenths of a second to claim his first Cup triumph in his 20th series start. 

    With his thrilling victory, Custer became the 194th driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race, the 33rd competitor to win across NASCAR’s three major national division series, the seventh alumnus from the NASCAR Next initiative to win a Cup race, the sixth Cup competitor to win at Kentucky and the first full-time Cup rookie to win a race since Chris Buescher won a rain-shortened race at Pocono in August 2016. In addition to becoming the seventh driver to win a Cup race for Stewart-Haas Racing, he recorded the 60th Cup victory for SHR and the first series win for veteran crew chief Mike Shiplett. 

    With the victory, Custer, who came into Kentucky in 25th place in the regular-season standings and trailing the top-16 cutline by 87 points, became the ninth different competitor to be guaranteed a spot in this year’s Cup Playoffs. As another bonus, the Californian became the 16th competitor to secure a spot for this year’s All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on July 15.

    “Man, we were so good all day,” Custer said on FS1. “Our car was so good. Obviously, it wasn’t the easiest track to pass on. That was the best car I’ve ever driven in my life. Everybody at SHR brought an unbelievable car. [Team owner] Gene [Haas], I can’t stress enough how thankful I am of him taking a shot at me. It, definitely, was not the start of the year that we wanted. We were way off at some places, but this was, by far, an unbelievable car. We put it all together and I can’t thank everybody enough.”

    In the first 15 Cup races of his rookie season, Custer’s best finish was a ninth-place result at Phoenix in March and his average result was 21.7 with two DNFs. Last weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he recorded his first top-five result in the Cup level, which hinted a sign of improvement for Custer, Shiplett and the No. 41 Haas Automation Ford Mustang team in adapting towards NASCAR’s weekly approach of experiencing the driving and handling conditions of a track on race day without practicing nor qualifying.

    “It’s not easy,” Custer added. “You got to adapt as much as you can and I think we’ve gotten better and better at that. It’s just unbelievable. I didn’t think that we were, coming here, coming to win. Now, we’re gonna be in the All-Star Race. I don’t have to run the Open. Hopefully, I can make it to Bristol.”

    Truex emerged as the highest-running Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota competitor in the runner-up spot followed by DiBenedetto, who claimed his second top-five result of the season. Harvick, who rallied from his early share of struggles and was in position to claim his first Kentucky triumph, ended his race in fourth and Kurt Busch, last year’s Kentucky winner, finished fifth. 

    “It was fun,” Truex said on FS1. “[I] Can’t say enough about the guys on the Auto-Owners Camry, everybody back at [Joe Gibbs Racing] went to work this week and tried to get back to what we used to do here. Just hats off to the guys, [crew chief] James [Small], everybody that made this unbelievable racecar. At the end there, we were a bit unlucky, losing the lead to Blaney on that first restart by a couple thousandths and then, again to [Harvick] when the caution came out. We were side by side. That’s, kind of, the way these things go, sometimes. Really proud of the effort, super fast racecar and [I] feel like we’re back in the game now.” 

    “Our Ford Mustang was not very good today, but we got a good break with the caution [with 38 laps remaining],” Harvick said on PRN Radio. “[I] Had a couple of good restarts there and got the car better. Still just not where we needed to be, but the restarts worked out in our favor. We were able to get the lead and Martin just misjudged there on the backstretch and got me sideways. I got out of the gas and that just brought everybody into the picture. Then, we were four wide on the front straightaway and [Blaney] hit the drain and came up and hit the side of the car. Then, I couldn’t see. Yeah, it got wild, but hey, that’s what you’re supposed to do. Just really happy for Cole Custer and everybody on the Haas Automation Ford Mustang. That’s pretty cool to get your first win. As much as I would’ve loved to win, I’m glad that we kept it in the company.”

    “It was crazy,” DiBenedetto said on PRN Radio. “We had a really good car. We could’ve contended for the win. It was really fast. But, yeah, [I] lost track position when things shuffled around. We had to do the wave around and me and my spotter, I got to give him a lot of credit, Doug Campbell. I told him, ‘I think we should win some sort of restart award.’ We were 18th because the track position had cycled out with seven [laps] to go or whatever. [I] Had two monstrous restarts and then pushed Cole there to the win, which, kind of, felt cool, but good for him. Congrats, but this was a big race for us having the Menards, Quaker State Ford Mustang in the Quaker State 400. So, I wished we could’ve won it, but circumstances didn’t work out. We’ll take the strong finish and a really fast car.”

    Blaney, Bell, Almirola, Keselowski and Reddick rounded out the top 10 while Johnson finished 18th in his 10th and final start at Kentucky. 

    There were 13 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 42 laps.

    With his top-five result, Harvick continues to lead the Cup Series regular-season standings by 88 points over Keselowski, 95 over Blaney and 100 over Elliott.

    Results.

    1. Cole Custer, five laps led

    2. Martin Truex Jr., 57 laps led

    3. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap led

    4. Kevin Harvick, 11 laps led

    5. Kurt Busch

    6. Ryan Blaney, 18 laps led

    7. Christopher Bell

    8. Aric Almirola, 128 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    9. Brad Keselowski, 34 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    10. Tyler Reddick

    11. William Byron, four laps led

    12. Denny Hamlin

    13. Austin Dillon

    14. Clint Bowyer

    15. Joey Logano

    16. Ty Dillon

    17. Ryan Newman

    18. Jimmie Johnson

    19. Alex Bowman

    20. Chris Buescher

    21. Kyle Busch, nine laps led

    22. Erik Jones

    23. Chase Elliott

    24. Michael McDowell

    25. Matt Kenseth

    26. Daniel Suarez

    27. Bubba Wallace, two laps down

    28. Corey LaJoie, three laps down

    29. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., three laps down

    30. J.J. Yeley, seven laps down

    31. Brennan Poole, eight laps down

    32. Josh Bilicki, 10 laps down

    33. Garrett Smithley, 10 laps down

    34. Joey Gase, 10 laps down

    35. Quin Houff, 12 laps down

    36. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident

    37. Timmy Hill – OUT, Electrical

    38. Ryan Preece – OUT, Transmission

    Next on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the 36th annual running of the All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The NASCAR All-Star Open will occur first at 7 p.m. ET on FS1 followed by the All-Star Race at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1, both on July 15.

  • 2020 Cup Playoff outlook after Indianapolis

    2020 Cup Playoff outlook after Indianapolis

    With the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series regular season in its second half, there are 10 races remaining until the Cup Playoffs commence. Currently, six competitors are separated by 56 points for the 16th and final spot to the Playoffs while eight spots remain vacant for anyone in or out of the cutline to secure an early ticket to the postseason and with an opportunity to contend for the series championship.

    Following the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 at the Brickyard, the 16th race of the season, eight competitors are guaranteed a spot in the Playoffs based on a win. Kevin Harvick leads the way in the regular-season standings on the strength of four wins, including his recent one at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Chase Elliott and Brad Keselowski, both of whom trail Harvick by 85 and 88 points, are also guaranteed a spot by virtue of a victory. Others that are locked into the Playoffs with wins include Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr. and Alex Bowman.

    The first three competitors that occupy eight vacant spots to the Playoffs as winless competitors, following Indianapolis, are Aric Almirola, Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch. For Almirola, a race where he rallied from vibration concerns and an early unscheduled pit stop to finish third, his fifth consecutive top-five result was a result that stabilized his advantage from the top-16 cutline as he is 105 points inside the cutline and with an opportunity to make his third consecutive Playoffs.

    “We’re doing such a good job of being consistent,” Almirola said. “We’re bringing great race cars and we’re being really consistent running up front, so just really proud of this team and just want to keep it going. It’s fun to run up front like that.”

    For Kyle Busch, a sixth-place result marked a strong rebound from his 38th-place result last Sunday at Pocono Raceway due to a wreck. The result was his ninth top-10 result of the season as he is 10th in the regular-season standings and is 101 points above the top-16 cutline. The result, however, leaves him with a 16-race winless drought dating back to November 2019 at Homestead as he is still trying to pursue his first win of the 2020 season.

    “We just kept getting off on pit strategy with the Skittles America Mix Camry,” Kyle Busch said. “We had a valve stem come off the left rear [tire] on a stop and that put us in the back. Then we had vibrations at various points throughout the race with different sets of tires so we had to stay on top of that and make sure we changed those. Each time, that would put us on the back. I struggled to pass anybody most of the day, but somehow got spots on restarts. I was able to salvage a sixth-place finish and will head to Kentucky next week.”

    For his brother, Kurt, an early misfortune on pit road left the driver of the No. 1 Monster Energy/Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet team in 13th when the checkered flag flew. The result dropped Kurt Busch from 10th to 11th in the standings as he is 97 points above the cutline. He is also facing a 33-race winless drought dating back to July 2019 at Kentucky Speedway, which, ironically, marks the next destination for the Cup Series.

    Among those still inside the top-16 cutline are Matt DiBenedetto, Clint Bowyer and William Byron, who won the first stage but blew a left-front tire in the closing laps of the second stage. With a 27th-place result, which snapped his five-race stretch of finishing in the top 15, Byron and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team are 32 points above the cutline to the Playoffs.

    “Our Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE was super-fast today,” Byron said. “It just sucks because we have had a lot of these things happen this year. It’s not a fault of anyone, it just happens and it’s a bummer for sure. We’ve had fast cars and it feels like we always have bad luck when we do. That’s what hurts even more. We just need to bring that same speed to Kentucky and hopefully we won’t have any issues there. To be leading the race like that and have a tire issue is, I guess, a good way to go out. We’ll just see what we can do in Kentucky.”

    Despite missing his first Cup race in 663 races after testing positive of COVID-19, Jimmie Johnson still remains in the cutline by 36 points. His schedule for the remainder of his swan song season as a full-time competitor, however, remains undetermined as he awaits his upcoming COVID-19 tests and clearance from his physicians.

    Behind, Austin Dillon holds sole possession of the 16th and final transfer spot to the Playoffs by six points after finishing 18th despite running inside the top 10 the majority of the day at Indianapolis and gaining valuable stage points by finishing in the top five in the first two stages.

    “We had a really strong Dow Salutes Veterans Chevrolet today at the Brickyard and it was fun to be able to earn stage points in Stages 1 and 2 and lead laps,” Austin Dillon said. “Our Chevy was handling really well all day so we really only needed to make small adjustments throughout the race…Definitely not the finish we wanted or deserved today, but I’m proud of our effort. We had a lot of positives with earning stage points and leading laps.”

    The first competitor who trails the top-16 cutline is Erik Jones. Coming off an up-and-down weekend at the Pocono doubleheader, Jones ended his race in the garage after being involved in a harrowing accident in the second stage when he cut a right-front tire in Turn 3. His 33rd-place dropped him from 16th to 17th in the standings as he is behind by six points.

    “It’s a shame; it’s kind of the story of our season,” Jones said. “We’ve just had a rough year, and things are just not going our way. Hopefully, we can just turn it around, keep bringing fast cars and have things turn around for us.”

    With an eighth-place result and his fourth top-10 result of his rookie Cup season at Indy, rookie Tyler Reddick is 18th in the standings as he and his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet team trail the cutline by 16 points.

    “We had a great No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet when we could run in clean air and record some good lap times, but unfortunately we struggled in dirty air, like a lot of our competitors today,” Reddick said. “Any time we were battling someone side by side or from behind them, our car would just build way too tight and make it tough to gain or hold track position. We just had an up-and-down day, falling back early and then playing some strategy to stay out to start Stage 3 from the fifth spot…I was able to capitalize on the final restart with fresher tires and race up to eighth place, which is a great finish for our day. We had to grind it out today, but it turned out in our favor.”

    Behind Reddick, Bubba Wallace accomplished another respectable finish this season in his quest to make his first Playoffs. By finishing ninth and notching his third top-10 result of his junior year, Wallace gained two spots in the standings and is situated in 19th, 42 points behind the cutline, as he attempts to place a Richard Petty Motorsports entry in the Playoffs for the first time since 2014.

    “I guess it is good to be frustrated when you finish in the ninth place,” Wallace said. “All-in-all, it was a good day for this No. 43 World Wide Technology Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. It was fast. We just did not have the handling underneath us. It was good down the straightaways. It did not want to turn very well – specially behind traffic. One of the more frustrating days being behind cars and just trying to maneuver. So, coming out of there with a top-10 finish is good momentum going to the Kentucky Speedway – another good track for us. We will continue the good vibes and keep staying on [crew chief] Jerry [Baxter] to produce good finishes for us.”

    Trailing by 48 is Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who finished 36th after being involved in a bizarre wreck on pit road and ending his day early. Those who are in the top 30 in the points standings and still remain in contention for the Playoffs include Chris Buescher, rookie John Hunter Nemechek, Michael McDowell, rookie Christopher Bell, rookie Cole Custer, Ryan Newman, Ty Dillon, Matt Kenseth, Corey LaJoie and Ryan Preece.

    The road to the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs continues on Sunday, July 12, at Kentucky Speedway, which will air at 2:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Kenseth, Almirola, Custer notch solid top-five results at Indianapolis

    Kenseth, Almirola, Custer notch solid top-five results at Indianapolis

    When the checkered flag flew following an eventful Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 at the Brickyard, Kevin Harvick emerged victorious for his third title at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Behind Harvick featured a unique trio of top-five finishers as Matt Kenseth chased Harvick across the line while teammates Aric Almirola and rookie Cole Custer took the checkered flag in third and fifth.

    Coming into Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Kenseth’s best result in his previous 11 NASCAR Cup Series races for Chip Ganassi Racing was 10th at Darlington Raceway in May while he also recorded seven results outside the top 15. He was also coming off finishes of 11th and 12th last weekend in the Pocono doubleheader. Starting 21st on a random draw, the 2003 Cup champion worked his way up to 14th through the competition caution on Lap 13. Following a red flag period due to a huge wreck on pit road, Kenseth proceeded to run inside the top 15 for the majority of the first stage. Following a late caution and a four-tire stop for adjustments, Kenseth restarted in 16th with only a handful of laps remaining in the first stage, but was able to work his way back to 12th. At the start of the second stage, Kenseth worked his way into the top 10, where he remained throughout the second stage as he settled in sixth following the stage’s conclusion. The final stage was where Kenseth quietly flexed his muscles as he worked his way as high as third behind Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick in the closing laps. Following a late incident that eliminated Hamlin, Kenseth moved into second and was alongside Harvick with an opportunity to win in overtime. During the overtime attempt, however, Kenseth could not gain an early advantage over Harvick as he navigated his way around the famed racetrack for two final laps and finished in the runner-up position to Harvick. While he came short of grabbing a much-needed first win of the season, the second-place result marked Kenseth’s first top-five result since winning at Phoenix in November 2017 and the best result for Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 42 Chevrolet team since finishing fourth at Phoenix in March 2020. The runner-up finish was also Kenseth’s fourth in his 20th start at Indianapolis. The result moved Kenseth from 30th to 28th in the regular-season standings as he trails the top-16 cutline to the Playoffs by 138 points.

    “It was a great day for the 42 team today,” Kenseth said. “It’s always nice to be up front and be in contention late in the race. [Crew chief] Chad [Johnston] did a great job on the box with his calls today. We had a really good strategy and the best tires coming to the end of the race, lining up fourth behind the leader late in the race, but just couldn’t get it done to take the lead. I tried everything to get to the front, but just didn’t have quite enough to get around [Harvick]. If we had gotten to the lead though, I know we would have been hard to beat. All in all, though, a great race for us. It felt good to run up front and was a confidence booster for all of us. Looking forward to getting to Kentucky and carrying that momentum forward.”

    If there is a Cup competitor who has been on a roll in recent weeks, it is Almirola and the No. 10 Smithfield/Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team. Coming off four consecutive top-five finishes in the previous four weeks and starting fifth on a random draw, Almirola was running inside the top five in the early stages of the race when he made an unscheduled pit stop on Lap 30 after reporting a vibration to his car. He was able to work his way back on the lead lap as the green-flag run progressed and finished 16th in the first stage. During the second stage, Almirola made another pit stop after reporting vibration concerns to his car, but he was able to finish 11th in the second stage. Throughout the final stage, Almirola worked his way back towards the front and was able to return into the top five with approximately 20 laps remaining. With 15 laps remaining, he passed teammate and rookie Cole Custer to move into fourth while he watched his other teammate, Harvick, trying to find a way to overtake Denny Hamlin for the lead. Following a late incident involving Hamlin, Almirola restarted in third behind Kenseth in overtime and was able to navigate his way to finish third when the checkered flag flew. Almirola’s third-place result marked the first time in his Cup career where he has notched five consecutive top-five results in a season as he also achieved his first top-five career finish at Indianapolis. With his result, he is ninth in the regular-season standings and is 105 points above the top-16 cutline.

    “We had such a great Smithfield Ford Mustang, but we kept having to get off-sequence on our pit strategy because we kept having tires come apart,” Almirola said. “They’d start to come apart and they would vibrate and shake so bad that I could hardly see where I was going, so we kept having to pit for that and it kept messing us up on our strategy and getting us off-sequence, but fortunately there at the end the caution came out when we needed it to and things finally went our way and we knocked out another top five, so just really proud of all the guys on this team. We’re doing such a good job of being consistent. We’re bringing great race cars and we’re being really consistent running up front, so just really proud of this team and just want to keep it going. It’s fun to run up front like that.”

    Finally, Custer rallied from an 11-race stretch of finishing no higher than 12th to achieve his first top-five run in NASCAR’s premier series. Starting 30th on a random draw, Custer dodged a bizarre accident on pit road under the competition caution that stacked up multiple cars running at the rear of the field. He was able to work his way into the top 20 before settling in 14th following the first stage’s conclusion. In the second stage, Custer made his first appearance in the top 10 before he finished in 13th. Following a pit stop for adjustments, Custer was lined up in 16th for the start of the final stage. He then worked his way back into the top 10 and was in the top five with 31 laps remaining. Following a late caution for a single-car wreck, Custer pitted and was lined up in sixth for the following late restart. From there, he was able to work his way into the top five and was one of three Stewart-Haas Racing drivers running in the top five along with Harvick and Almirola. When the caution returned for another single-car wreck that sent the race into overtime, Custer was lined up in fourth and behind teammate Harvick. In overtime, Custer gave teammate Harvick the push needed to allow Harvick to maintain the lead and notch a victory at Indianapolis for the team. Behind, Custer lost two spots to Almirola and Brad Keselowski, but he was able to take the checkered flag in fifth. The fifth-place result marked Custer’s first top-five career finish in the Cup Series and his best result since finishing ninth at Phoenix in March 2020. In addition, Custer was the highest-finishing rookie of the race with Tyler Reddick finishing eighth, Bell in 12th, John Hunter Nemechek in 15th, Quin Houff in 23rd and Poole in 35th. With his result, Custer moved from 26th to 25th in the regular-season standings and is 87 points behind the top-16 cutline.

    “It is awesome to have all of SHR running well here at Indy,” Custer said. “It is Tony’s [Stewart] backyard, so it is a huge race for us. For us, our team, this package has been exactly the opposite of what I am used to driving. For it to all come together today means a lot. Thanks to all the guys at SHR for bringing great race cars. HaasTooling.com went national this week, so check them out. I am psyched. I am really happy we finally had it all come together. I think it is just that I am getting better with the cars and knowing what to expect when we go to the track and getting better at what to bring in the cars to the track. It is a work in progress and having no practice doesn’t help that. I think it is all starting to come to us.”

    The NASCAR Cup Series will return to race at Kentucky Speedway on July 12, which will air at 2:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Jones, Elliott, Almirola cap off Pocono doubleheader with top-five runs

    Jones, Elliott, Almirola cap off Pocono doubleheader with top-five runs

    While Denny Hamlin celebrated another win in the NASCAR Cup Series’ second race of the weekend at Pocono Raceway, drivers that included Erik Jones, Chase Elliott and Aric Almirola trailed the race winner from a distance, but with strong top-five runs entering the second half of this year’s Cup regular season.

    For Erik Jones, a third-place result on Sunday marked a huge turnaround from 24 hours earlier. In the closing laps of the second stage on Saturday, Jones’ race came to a crashing halt when he checked up entering Turn 4, was sent into a spin with rookie Tyler Reddick and made head-on contact with the inside wall that left Jones’ No. 20 Craftsman/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota destroyed and out of the race. On Sunday, racing in a backup car towards the rear of the field, the race started smoothly for the Michigan native as he was able to methodically carve his way through the field. Following the first stage, Jones finished 12 and in the second stage, he finished 13th. Throughout the final stage, which went green for the remainder of the race, Jones made his way into the top five in the closing laps. After making his final pit stop for fuel with 17 laps remaining, Jones was home free to make it to the end. With less than 10 laps remaining, Jones was back in the top five and he was able to gain two more spots to cross the line in third. The result marked Jones’ best finish along with his fourth top-five finish through 15 Cup races this season along with his fifth top-five result at the Tricky Triangle. The result was enough for Jones to move from 17th to 16th in the regular-season series standings as he is 14 points ahead of Austin Dillon for the final transfer spot to the 2020 Playoffs.

    “Yeah, today was a lot better than yesterday for sure,” Jones said. “It’s great to rebound like that. Unfortunately, I think we could have – definitely could have had two top-fives, and really, I think our primary car was quite a bit better than this car. I thought we could have probably contended both days a little more towards the win if we had our primary, but the Craftsman Camry was good. We made good changes overnight. We actually changed a lot of stuff and tried to kind of rebalance with what we had with this backup car. It’s nice to get a solid finish. I mean, we came off a good run at Talladega and went right back to a DNF and to come back here with a third. We just need to be consistent from here and keep it rolling.”

    Like Jones, a fourth-place result for Elliott was much needed coming off two consecutive disappointing weeks for the Georgia native and his No. 9 NAPA/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team. Mired with a 25th-place result on Saturday and starting at the rear of the field due to a transmission change, Elliott was in 13th at the conclusion of the first stage. He then worked his way into the top 10 throughout the second stage before finishing 11th after being edged by Hamlin for the final stage point. With less than 50 laps remaining in the final stage, Elliott was among a handful of competitors who made a green-flag pit stop for fuel that would last to the finish. For the remainder of the race, Elliott paced himself around the Tricky Triangle and benefited when more competitors, including Brad Keselowski, pitted to move up the leaderboard and cross the line in fourth. At the end of the race, Elliott was the highest-running Hendrick Motorsports’ car as William Byron and Alex Bowman finished in the top 10 while Jimmie Johnson finished 16th in his final run at Pocono. With Elliott’s fourth-place run, it was his seventh top-five result through 14 Cup races of the 2020 season and his third at the Tricky Triangle. Elliott and his No. 9 team are already guaranteed a spot in the 2020 Playoffs based on Elliott’s win at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May.

    “It was good to have a solid run for our NAPA team after yesterday being so poor,” Elliott said. “Obviously, we would’ve liked to of been a little better, but after starting in the back, I was pleased how I was able to move forward and gain a lot of that track position back. It was a good rebound. Looking forward to getting back on track at Indy.”

    Lastly, Almirola had a memorable weekend as he finished fifth and capped off the Pocono doubleheader with two consecutive top-five results. A day earlier, Almirola led the field to the start, led a race-high 61 laps and came home in third. On Sunday, Almirola started 18th and after pitting in the closing laps of the first stage, he was scored in 31st. By the start of the second stage, the Florida native was able to work his way into the top 10 and in the closing laps, his No. 10 Smithfield/Stewart-Haas Racing Ford was ahead of the pack. He took the lead just before a late caution for a single-car spin and on the following restart, Almirola was overtaken by Brad Keselowski and settled in second while earning valuable stage points in the second stage. With 25 laps remaining in the final stage, Almirola was in second, but was needing to pit for a final time to make it to the end on fuel. Four laps later, he pitted for fuel to make it to the end. With 10 laps remaining, he worked his way back to sixth and then, he gained one more position in the remaining laps to finish fifth. The fifth-place result was Almirola’s fourth consecutive top-five result and his second straight at Pocono after recording zero top-five results in his previous 15 starts at the Tricky Triangle. Following two stellar runs at Pocono, Almirola moved from 12th to ninth in the regular-season standings as he is 104 above the top-16 cutline.

    “Another top five,” Almirola said. “I’m so proud of [crew chief Mike Bugarewicz] and al the guys on this 10 team. That’s four top fives in a row. What a weekend we had here in Pocono, got a lot of stage points and finished third yesterday and fifth today. We’re riding a wave of momentum … We’ll go to Indy, a place that’s very similar to the tunnel turn at Pocono and felt like we were really good there this weekend. I’m excited about Indy and another top five.”

    The three drivers along with their fellow competitors will return for the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series’ race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400. The race will air on July 5 at 4 p.m. on NBC.