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Tag: Brad Keselowski

  • Keselowski prevails in overtime for sixth victory at Talladega

    Keselowski prevails in overtime for sixth victory at Talladega

    Brad Keselowski rallied from being involved in an accident following the first stage involving his teammate Joey Logano to add his name as a NASCAR Cup Series winner in 2021 after overtaking Matt DiBenedetto on the final lap before holding off Michael McDowell and William Byron to win the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, April 25.

    Keselowski’s first victory of the season, which occurred in his 423rd career start, came with a bonus as he became the third competitor in the Cup Series history to win at Talladega six times.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. Denny Hamlin, the regular-season points leader, was scheduled to start on pole position, but he dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments. With that, Joey Logano and Alex Bowman, winner of last weekend’s Cup event at Richmond Raceway, started on the front row.

    Along with Hamlin, teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Christopher Bell along with Bubba Wallace, B.J. McLeod and Harrison Burton, making his Cup Series debut with Gaunt Brothers Racing, dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments. Cody Ware also started at the rear of the field due to his car failing pre-race inspection twice.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Logano moved from the bottom lane to the outside lane and in front of William Byron to retain the lead. Byron, however, drew himself alongside Logano as he led the first lap by a narrow margin as the field fanned out to two lanes in a pack.

    While Logano and Byron battled for the lead in front of a bevy of cars in a pack, Kyle Larson pitted after reporting temperature and engine issues to his No. 5 Chevrolet. Despite trying to continue while multiple laps down, the engine issues on Larson’s car was enough to terminate his run early.

    By the fifth lap and with the lead group running in a single-file line, Logano was leading followed by teammate Brad Keselowski, Aric Almirola, Kevin Harvick and rookie Chase Briscoe. Cole Custer and Chris Buescher were in sixth and seventh followed by Ryan Preece, Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain.

    By the 10th lap, Logano remained out in front of a three-wide pack battling for positions at the front.

    Two laps later, Wallace moved his No. 23 Door Dash Toyota Camry to the lead followed by Kevin Harvick. Another three laps later, though, Harvick moved to the outside lane and received a push from Brad Keselowski to lead a lap for himself. 

    Entering Turn 1, Harvick moved in front of Wallace for the lead followed by Keselowski while Wallace remained as the first car leading the inside lane. By then, names like Ross Chastain, Michael McDowell, Tyler Reddick and teammate Austin Dillon were in the top 10 along with Kyle Busch, Logano, Kurt Busch and Christopher Bell.

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 25, Kyle Busch, who took over the top spot on Lap 22, was the leader followed by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, Logano, Chase Elliott and others.

    Under the competition caution, most of the leaders pitted and Hamlin exited in first followed by teammate Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, Bell, Byron and Kurt Busch. During the pit stops, Harrison Burton was assessed a pit road penalty for removing the gas can out of his pit stall. Truex was also penalized for speeding on pit road along with Ryan Preece due to a crew member jumping over the wall too soon.

    Back on the track, a handful of competitors that include rookie Chase Briscoe, Corey LaJoie, Erik Jones, Aric Almirola, Ryan Newman, rookie Anthony Alfredo, Justin Haley, B.J. McLeod, Timmy Hill and J.J. Yeley remained on the track. They all, though, pitted prior to the restart.

    When the race restarted on Lap 30, Hamlin retained the lead over teammate Kyle Busch while the field quickly fanned out to three lanes.

    By Lap 35 and with the field still fanned out to three lanes, Hamlin remained in the lead on the outside lane followed by Keselowski while Kyle Busch mounted a challenge in the inside lane with drafting help from Byron. Wallace, meanwhile, was in the middle lane in front of Elliott, but shuffled out of the lead draft after challenging for the top spot earlier.

    The caution returned on Lap 39 due to Joey Gase spinning in Turn 4. Under caution, some like Harvick, Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Tyler Reddick, Matt DiBenedetto, Kurt Busch, Aric Almirola and Daniel Suarez pitted while the rest led by Hamlin remained on the track.

    When the field restarted on Lap 43, the No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry piloted by Hamlin retained the lead followed by Blaney and the pack.

    By Lap 50, Blaney was leading followed by teammate Logano, Cole Custer, Matt DiBenedetto and Harvick while Hamlin, Chris Buescher, Byron, Preece and Bubba Wallace were in the top 10. A lap later, though, DiBenedetto stormed to the lead. Another two laps later, Preece moved his No. 37 Chevrolet to the lead. 

    With the laps in the first stage dwindling, a majority of competitors within the lead pack started to establish their run for the top spot held by DiBenedetto. Entering the backstretch and on the final lap of the first stage, however, contact from Stenhouse turned Hamlin into third-place Logano, which sent Logano’s No. 22 AutoTrader Ford Mustang sideways and airborne after being hit by Stenhouse as Logano flipped over and spun in a circle on his roof before flipping back on all four wheels and coming to rest below the apron near Turn 3. Logano emerged uninjured following his accident, though his race concluded after leading 10 laps. In the midst of Logano’s wild ride, teammate Keselowski, Wallace and Stenhouse sustained damage.

    The caution for the wreck concluded the first stage of the race, with DiBenedetto scored as the leader and calming his maiden stage victory in the Cup Series followed by Blaney, Elliott, Hamlin and Byron. Buescher, Bowman, McDowell, Harvick and Bell were running in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, a majority of the leaders pitted while some like Ryan Newman, Suarez, Kaz Grala, Quin Houff, Yeley, Justin Haley, McLeod and Timmy Hill remained on the track. They all, though, pitted prior to the restart.

    The second stage started on Lap 66 with Chase Elliott and Hamlin on the front row. When the field returned to the tri-oval and the start/finish line, Hamlin was back in the lead.

    By Lap 75 and with the field fanning out to three lanes in a tight pack for the lead, Hamlin was scored as the leader followed by DiBenedetto, Byron, Preece and Chastain while Harvick, Truex, Kurt Busch, Elliott and Bell were in the top 10.

    Nearly 10 laps later, a majority of Chevrolet competitors pitted under green. During the process, Suarez and Chastain were penalized for speeding on pit road.

    By Lap 90, Hamlin was still out in front followed by DiBenedetto, Truex, Bell and Custer while Blaney, Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Harvick and Buescher were in the top 10. With the field spread out around the superspeedway, names like Elliott, Chastain and Suarez were pinned a lap behind the leaders.

    A few laps later, a majority of the Ford competitors pitted under green. Not long after, the Toyota competitors pitted. Following the stops, Harvick and Buescher were nabbed with pit road speeding penalties. Hamlin, who overshot his pit stall during his stop, was also penalized for speeding on pit road. While serving his penalty, things went from bad to worse for Hamlin, who was busted with another pit road speeding penalty.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 94, Preece emerged as the leader followed by Chevrolet competitors Byron, Kurt Busch, Bowman, Austin Dillon and Erik Jones.

    By Lap 100, Preece continued to lead followed by Byron, Kurt Busch, DiBenedetto and Keselowski while Custer, McDowell, Kyle Busch, Wallace and Bell were in the top 10. Hamlin, following his pair of pit road speeding penalties, was mired back in 36th place and scored a lap behind the leaders. 

    Four laps later, the caution returned due to fluid on the track that came from Kurt Busch’s No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE with smoke steaming out from Busch’s car. While nursing his car back to pit road, a fire broke out underneath Busch’s car and the 2004 Cup champion took his car to the garage to address an oil cooler issue.

    Under caution, some like Bowman, Truex, Blaney, Reddick, Harvick, Buescher and Elliott pitted while the rest led by Byron remained on the track. During the pit stops, Harvick was penalized due to a crew member jumping over the wall too soon.

    When the race restarted on Lap 109, Byron and DiBenedetto battled dead even for the lead, though Byron retained the top spot.

    Prior to Lap 112, DiBenedetto and Kyle Busch made contact while battling for the lead exiting Turn 3, where DiBenedetto was trying to block Kyle Busch. Though both competitors dipped below the apron and lost the lead, both prevented their cars from spinning. At the front, Bubba Wallace returned to the lead.

    With five laps remaining in the second stage, Wallace continued to lead followed by Keselowski, McDowell, Byron and Blaney as the field continued to battle in two lanes.

    With two laps remaining in the stage, however, a multi-car wreck erupted entering the tri-oval when a bump from teammate Truex sent Hamlin, who was a lap down, bouncing off the outside wall and a chain reaction ensued behind with Truex, Bowman, Elliott and Byron wrecking on the frontstretch. 

    The wreck was enough to end the second stage under caution as Bubba Wallace claimed his first stage victory in the Cup circuit. Keselowski charged his way to second place followed by McDowell, Kyle Busch, Preece, Blaney, Buescher, Stenhouse Bell and Harrison Burton.

    Under the stage break, the majority of the leaders returned to pit road except for Newman, Grala, Yeley, McLeod and Custer. The first competitor to exit pit road in first was Blaney followed by Almirola, Wallace, McDowell, Kyle Busch and Keselowski. Shortly after, Newman, Grala, Yeley, McLeod and Custer pitted.

    Prior to the restart, a majority of competitors returned to pit road to top off on fuel for the final stage.

    With 62 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Blaney received a push from his friend Wallace to retain the top spot over Almirola and McDowell. With Wallace remaining on the inside lane, he was shuffled out of the battle for the lead due to a lack of competitors running on his lane. Meanwhile, Blaney retained the top spot on the outside line and with a bevy of cars behind him.

    Shortly after, Blaney reported debris on his front grille despite leading the race. With Almirola moving his No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang to the lead on Lap 131, Blaney was able to tuck behind Almirola’s car and remove the debris from his car.

    With 50 laps remaining, Almirola continued to lead followed by Blaney, McDowell, Keselowski, Chris Buescher, DiBenedetto, Austin Dillon, Preece, Briscoe and Erik Jones, all of whom were among several competitors running in a single-file lane on the outside lane led by Blaney. Bubba Wallace was in 12th behind Ross Chastain, Kyle Busch was in 14th in front of teammate Bell, Harvick was in 21st followed by Newman and Truex, Elliott was in 25th and Byron was in 27th in front of Harrison Burton. Hamlin was in 34th, two laps behind, while Kurt Busch was in 36th, six laps behind.

    Down to the final 40 laps of the event, Ross Chastain muscled his No. 42 Caregility Chevrolet into the lead with drafting help from teammate Kurt Busch, who was multiple laps behind. Kyle Busch moved into second place followed by teammate Bell while Almirola was shuffled back in fourth place despite leading the outside lane ahead of Blaney and McDowell.

    With 35 laps remaining, the top-30 competitors were separated by less than two seconds. At the front, Chastain continued to lead followed by Kyle Busch and teammate Bell while Harvick mounted a challenge for the top spot on the outside lane.

    Not long after, a wave of competitors led by Chastain reduced their speed on the bottom lane to pit under green. During the process, Stenhouse spun following a bump from Quin Houff and made light contact with the inside wall near the pit road entrance. Despite the incident, the race remained under green. Following the pit stops, Newman was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    Back on the track and with 30 laps remaining, the top-10 positions were filled by Ford competitors led by Harvick. A lap later, another wave of competitors led by Harvick pitted under green. During this process, Newman was penalized a second time for speeding on pit road again.

    With the field cycling through following the pit stops, Christopher Bell emerged as the leader followed by Chastain, Kyle Busch, Tyler Reddick and Erik Jones. Harvick was shuffled back to sixth place followed by teammate Almirola, McDowell, Keselowski and Briscoe. With 26 laps remaining, though, Chastain reassumed the lead while Bell was shuffled back into fifth place.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, the top-18 competitors were separated by a second, with Chastain still leading followed by Kyle Busch and Erik Jones, who moved up to the outside lane in front of McDowell as he challenged for second place and more. 

    With 18 laps remaining, Erik Jones muscled his No. 43 U.S. Air Force Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE into the lead followed by DiBenedetto, Bubba Wallace, Chastain and Keselowski while Kyle Busch was in sixth.

    A lap later, the caution flew due to a single-car incident in Turn 2 involving Quin Houff, an incident that occurred in front of the leaders as the leaders took evasive action to avoid the incident.

    Under caution, some like Jones, DiBenedetto, Custer, Truex, Wallace, Kyle Busch, Reddick, Blaney and Kaz Grala remained on the track while others pitted for fuel to make it to the finish. By then, 27 of the 40-car field were scored on the lead lap.

    With 12 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Jones retained the lead on the inside lane followed by Chastain and Wallace, but DiBenedetto fought back on the outside lane with drafting help from Truex. When the field returned to the start/finish line, DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang for the iconic Wood Brothers Racing team emerged with the lead.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, DiBenedetto was leading followed by Truex, Kyle Busch, Blaney, Keselowski, Harvick and Jones. Shortly after, Penske drivers Blaney and Keselowski lined up behind DiBenedetto.

    Behind, Truex, who was running towards the front in the final laps, fell out of the lead pack and pitted due to a flat tire.

    With five laps remaining, DiBenedetto continued to lead followed by Blaney, Keselowski, Harvick and McDowell. Meanwhile, Byron started to mount a challenge on the inside lane with drafting help from Jones, Kyle Busch and Chastain.

    Two laps later and with the field starting to fan out with competitors establishing their run to the front, the caution returned due to a tire carcass spotted on the frontstretch, which came off of Truex’s car after he lost another tire.

    Under caution, some like Kyle Busch and Wallace pitted while the rest led by DiBenedetto remained on the track.

    With the race sent into overtime, the race restarted with DiBenedetto and Blaney on the front row. At the start, DiBenedetto retained the lead through Turns 1 and 2. Through the backstretch, however, Harvick drafted Blaney to the front, but DiBenedetto retained the lead through Turn 3 and the tri-oval as he started the final lap of the race.

    With the field bunched up and fanned out to two lanes entering Turns 1 and 2, Keselowski drew his No. 2 MoneyLion Ford Mustang alongside DiBenedetto and received a push from McDowell and Harvick to take the lead while DiBenedetto had no drafting help on the outside lane.

    Through Turn 3, Keselowski continued to lead followed by McDowell and Harvick while DiBenedetto was split in a three-wide battle with Erik Jones and Byron as the field fanned out to three lanes.

    Entering the tri-oval, Jones spun following contact with Kaz Grala and made contact with the outside wall as the field scattered to avoid him. With Chastain also spinning coming to the start/finish line, McDowell made a move to the outside of Keselowski, but it was not enough as Keselowski managed to fend off McDowell and a hard-charging Byron to cross the finish line with the lead and the victory, having led only the final lap of the race.

    With his first victory of the 2021 season and the 35th of his Cup career, Keselowski tied Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon for the second-most victories at Talladega (six). In addition, he became the third Team Penske competitor and the ninth different competitor to record a win through the first 10 Cup races of this season.

    “Man, what an awesome day today to bring the MoneyLion Ford Mustang into Victory Lane,” Keselowski said. “The whole race I had a couple opportunities to take the lead, but I just kept thinking, ‘Man, keep your car in one piece.’ We’ve been so close here and it just didn’t seem to want to come together here the last few years and I’ve been on kind of a four-year drought here, but it’s nice to get number six. I would have never dreamed I’d tie Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. here. That’s something. Those guys are really legends. I’m just really proud of my team. We had an accident there early and they recovered and got it fixed up to where I could keep running…That’s pretty cool.”

    Behind Keselowski, William Byron edged Michael McDowell by 0.001 seconds to claim the runner-up spot. The third-place finish marked McDowell’s second consecutive top-five result on a superspeedway venue, which also comes after he won this year’s Daytona 500.

    “I felt like it was pretty close,” McDowell said. “I am just so thankful to everybody at this Front Row Motorsports team. We have fast superspeedway cars. This Ford Mustang was fast. It has been a great season for us. I really felt like I was in a good spot again working with Brad and drug back off of him coming off of Turn 4. I thought I would have the run, but just didn’t suck him down enough. It was a great run and I am glad there is another Ford Mustang in Victory Lane. I am thankful to all our partners. It has been a great year. To get a top-five and to be running in the top-10 and have a win says a lot for this team and [team owner] Bob Jenkins for giving me the opportunity.”

    Harvick finished fourth followed by Matt DiBenedetto, who led 28 laps and was in position to claim his first Cup career victory. While he did not leave Talladega as a winner, DiBenedetto was still smiling as he recorded his first top-five result of the season.

    “It’s tough, but it’s just all so circumstantial,” DiBenedetto said. “We talked about it a lot before the race and it’s tough. Our day will come. I’m just lucky to drive this thing and have the support from everybody. The fans, they are so awesome. Driving for the Wood Brothers is really a dream come true. Gosh, it’s hard to come so close to so many of these things. The Fords are so fast. They believe in me, the whole Ford camp. They do an excellent job. The Mustangs are great…Our day will come. We’ll get there. I just appreciate the support from everybody.

    Kaz Grala recorded an impressive sixth-place result in his third Cup career start while Reddick, teammate Austin Dillon, Blaney and Custer finished in the top 10.

    Rookies Chase Briscoe and Anthony Alfredo finished 11th and 12th, Chastain finished 16th after pounding the inside wall head-on while sliding across the finish line, Wallace finished 19th behind JGR’s Bell and Kyle Busch and Harrison Burton finished 20th in his Cup debut. Erik Jones settled in 27th following his wreck on the final lap.

    There were 35 lead changes for 17 different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 34 laps. 

    Despite his issues at Talladega, Denny Hamlin continues to lead the regular-season standings by 87 points over teammate Truex, 93 over Logano, 95 over Byron and 100 over Blaney.

    Results.

    1. Brad Keselowski, one lap led

    2. William Byron, 12 laps led

    3. Michael McDowell

    4. Kevin Harvick, 12 laps led

    5. Matt DiBenedetto, 28 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    6. Kaz Grala

    7. Tyler Reddick

    8. Austin Dillon

    9. Ryan Blaney, 11 laps led

    10. Cole Custer

    11. Chase Briscoe, one lap led

    12. Anthony Alfredo

    13. Ryan Newman, two laps led

    14. Ryan Preece, nine laps led

    15. Aric Almirola, 16 laps led

    16. Ross Chastain, 12 laps led

    17. Christopher Bell, two laps led

    18. Kyle Busch, six laps led

    19. Bubba Wallace, 16 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    20. Harrison Burton

    21. Chris Buescher

    22. Corey LaJoie

    23. Daniel Suarez

    24. Chase Elliott, three laps led

    25. B.J. McLeod

    26. J.J. Yeley

    27. Erik Jones – OUT, Accident, seven laps led

    28. Cody Ware, one lap down

    29. Timmy Hill, one lap down

    30. Justin Haley, one lap down

    31. Martin Truex Jr., two laps down 

    32. Denny Hamlin, three laps down, 43 laps led

    33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., five laps down

    34. Joey Gase, five laps down

    35. Kurt Busch, six laps down

    36. Josh Bilicki, 11 laps down

    37. Quin Houff – OUT, Accident

    38. Alex Bowman – OUT, Dvp

    39. Joey Logano – OUT, Accident, 10 laps led

    40. Kyle Larson – OUT, Engine

    Next on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is a trip to the midwest at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, May 2, with the event to occur at 3 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Bowman grabs a thrilling late victory at Richmond

    Bowman grabs a thrilling late victory at Richmond

    Alex Bowman saved his best performance for the last after overtaking Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano on a restart with 12 laps remaining to win the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway on Sunday, April 18, for his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2021 season. In addition, Bowman won after rallying from a pit road penalty prior to the final stage.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Martin Truex Jr., winner of last week’s Cup event at Martinsville Speedway, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Denny Hamlin, Truex’s teammate and the regular-season points leader.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Truex jumped ahead with an early advantage. He was followed by Chase Elliott and Joey Logano while Hamlin, the first car on the outside lane, dropped back to fourth. 

    Entering Turn 1, Logano slipped up wide and Hamlin was able to move up to third place entering Turn 3. At the front, though, Truex led the first lap over Elliott.

    By Lap 10, Truex was out in front by more than six-tenths of a second over teammate Hamlin, with Logano, Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney in the top five. Kevin Harvick was in sixth followed by Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, William Byron and Austin Dillon.

    By Lap 25, Truex stabilized his early advantage by nearly eight-tenths of a second over Hamlin while Blaney, teammate Logano and Elliott remained in the top five. Harvick continued to run in sixth followed by Larson, Bell, Austin Dillon and Byron. 

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 30, Truex was leading by nearly a second over teammate Hamlin. By then, names like Tyler Reddick, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Bubba Wallace and Matt DiBenedetto were in the top 15. In addition, Alex Bowman was in 17th, Aric Almirola was in 19th ahead of teammate Cole Custer, Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman were in 21st and 22nd, rookie Chase Briscoe was in 24th behind Michael McDowell, Daniel Suarez was in 28th behind Austin Cindric and Erik Jones was in 29th. 

    Under the competition caution, the leaders pitted and Hamlin emerged with the lead following his four-tire service followed by teammate Truex, Blaney, Logano and Elliott. Larson, who came into pit road running in the top 10, dropped all the way back to 18th after receiving a packer on his car during his service.

    When the race restarted on Lap 37, Hamlin, this time around, prevailed on the outside lane to retain the lead while Logano moved up to second place over Truex. Behind, Byron moved his No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE into fourth place followed by Blaney while Elliott and Bell battled for sixth. 

    By Lap 50, Hamlin was leading by more than a second over Logano while Truex, Byron and Blaney stabilized themselves in the top five. Bell was in sixth followed by Elliott, Keselowski, Austin Dillon and Harvick.

    Through the first 65 laps of the event, Hamlin’s No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry continued to lead by more than a second over Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang. Truex’s No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry was in third followed by Byron and Blaney. Bell, racing in his No. 20 SiriusXM Toyota Camry, was in sixth followed by Austin Dillon, Keselowski, Harvick and Alex Bowman. Elliott, meanwhile, had fallen back to 11th in front of Kyle Busch while Larson was mired back in 21st place and in between Ryan Newman and Austin Cindric.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 80, Hamlin was scored the leader as he achieved his fourth stage victory of the season. Truex prevailed in a late battle over Logano to settle in second followed by Byron and Blaney. Bell, Bowman, Austin Dillon, Keselowski and Harvick were scored in the top 10. By then, 29 of the 38 competitors were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, the leaders returned to pit road and Hamlin, Truex, Logano, Byron and Blaney.

    The second stage started on Lap 90 with teammates Hamlin and Truex on the front row. At the start, Hamlin retained the lead following a strong start while Truex retained second place ahead of Logano and Blaney. Meanwhile, Bowman started to challenge teammate Byron for a spot in the top five.

    By Lap 100, Hamlin continued to lead by a narrow margin over teammate Truex, who started to pressure his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate for the top spot. 

    Four laps later and following an intense battle with his teammate, Truex returned to the lead following a pass through Turns 2 and 3. By then, Logano continued to run in third place followed by Bowman while Harvick cracked the top five.

    By Lap 110, Truex started to stretch his advantage as he was less than a second ahead of teammate Hamlin. Logano and Bowman battled for third place followed by Harvick, Byron, Blaney, Keselowski, Bell and Kyle Busch. Meanwhile, Kurt Busch was in 13th behind teammate Ross Chastain, Austin Dillon and Elliott were in 15th and 16th, Larson was in 18th in front of Reddick and Bubba Wallace was in 20th ahead of Briscoe, Cindric and Newman.

    Through the first 125 laps of the event, Truex continued to lead by less than half a second over teammate Hamlin. Logano stabilized himself in third place followed by Bowman’s No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE and Harvick’s No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang.

    By Lap 135, green flag pit stops started as Harvick pitted along with Kyle Busch, Chris Buescher, leader Truex, Hamlin, Bell, Briscoe, Cole Custer, Logano, Byron, Kurt Busch, Chastain, Wallace, Larson and others.

    In the midst of the pit stops, the caution flew on Lap 140 when a tap from Cindric sent Newman spinning in Turn 3.

    Under caution, some like Austin Dillon, teammate Reddick, Brad Keselowski, DiBenedetto, Corey LaJoie, Daniel Suarez and others that had not yet pitted under green pitted.

    With the field cycling back under caution and some taking the wave around, Harvick emerged with the lead, where he was set to restart alongside Truex. By then, 20 competitors were scored on the lead lap while names like Larson, Wallace, Briscoe, Erik Jones, Cindric, Buescher, Custer, McDowell, Newman and others were pinned a lap behind.

    When the race restarted on Lap 147, Truex rocketed away from Harvick to reassume the lead. Hamlin muscled his way into second place, thus dropping Harvick to third and with Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski and Logano trailing behind.

    By Lap 160, Truex was out in front by a second over teammate Hamlin while Harvick, Logano and Keselowski continued to run in the top five. Reddick was in sixth followed by Bowman, DiBenedetto, Austin Dillon and Suarez. LaJoie was in 11th followed by Bell, Kyle Busch, Byron and Kurt Busch.

    Through the first 175 laps of the event, Truex’s advantage over teammate Hamlin decreased to nearly half a second, though the former remained out in front.

    Nearly 10 laps later, a second round of pit stops under green commenced as the leaders Truex and Hamlin pitted. Soon, Austin Dillon made the turn to pit road along with Bowman, Harvick, Kyle Busch, Corey LaJoie, Elliott, Suarez, Larson, Logano, Buescher, Briscoe and others.

    By Lap 193, Keselowski, who has yet to pit, was leading followed by Kurt Busch and Blaney while Hamlin, the first competitor with fresh tires, was in fourth ahead of teammate Truex. Logano was in sixth while everyone else behind, starting with seventh-place Bowman, were a lap behind.

    On Lap 207, Hamlin utilized the fresh tires to his advantage as he overtook Keselowski for the lead. Shortly after, Truex moved into second place followed by Logano as Keselowski slipped back to fourth. Prior to this, Kurt Busch and Blaney pitted.

    By Lap 225, Hamlin, who was encountering lapped traffic, including Elliott, was ahead by less than half a second over teammate Truex followed by Logano, Bowman and Harvick. 

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 235, Hamlin was able to navigate his way through the lapped traffic to claim his fifth stage victory of the season. Teammate Truex finished second followed by Logano, Bowman, Harvick, DiBenedetto, Kyle Busch, Byron, Bell and Almirola. By then, Elliott, who was in 12th, was able to remain as the first competitor scored a lap behind, thus giving him the free pass ticket for the caution. The result left names like Reddick, Kurt Busch, Suarez, Keselowski and others pinned a lap behind.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Hamlin retained the lead following another stellar service from his crew. Teammate Truex, Logano, Harvick, Kyle Busch and Byron. During the pit stops, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was panelized for equipment interference. In addition, Bowman was sent to the rear of the field due to an uncontrolled tire violation.

    With 153 laps remaining, the final stage started as JGR’s Hamlin and Truex led the field on the front row. At the start, Hamlin retained the lead followed by Logano and Truex while teammate Kyle Busch started to challenge his way to the front while running in fourth. 

    Under the final 150 laps, Logano issued a challenge on Hamlin for the race lead. Though he was able to draw himself even with Hamlin’s car, he was unable to pull ahead nor clear Hamlin as Hamlin retained the top spot. 

    Shortly after, the battle for the lead between Hamlin and Logano became a three-man battle for the lead as Truex joined the party. 

    With 135 laps remaining, Hamlin remained as the leader by less than half a second over Logano and a second over Truex. Kyle Busch, the third JGR competitor, remained in fourth place while trailing the leaders by more than two seconds while Harvick was back in fifth place, trailing by three seconds. Matt DiBenedetto, meanwhile, was in sixth followed by Bell, Byron, Almirola and Austin Dillon.

    With 110 laps remaining, Hamlin stabilized his advantage as he was leading by more than a second over Logano and more than two seconds over Truex.

    Not long after, another round of pit stops under green commenced as Suarez pitted along with Austin Dillon, Bowman, Reddick, the Busch brothers, Almirola, DiBenedetto and others. Leader Hamlin also pitted followed by Truex.

    During the pit stops, disaster struck for Truex, who was caught speeding on pit road during his service and was forced to serve a drive-through penalty on pit road.

    Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Hamlin was leading by nearly two seconds over Logano. Kyle Busch was in third followed by Harvick and Bell. Byron, teammate Bowman, Almirola, Austin Dillon and DiBenedetto were in the top 10. Truex, following his pit stop penalty, was in 12th place, the final car scored on the lead lap.

    With 75 laps remaining, Hamlin stabilized himself as the leader by nearly half a second over Logano. Kyle Busch, racing in his No. 18 M&M’s Red Nose Day Toyota Camry, continued to run in third place followed by teammate Bell and Harvick. Truex, meanwhile, was in 10th place while Chase Elliott was back as the final car on the lead lap in 12th place. 

    Under the final 70 laps of the event, the battle for the lead started to heat up as Hamlin had Logano closing in on him for the lead as both encountered lapped traffic.

    Five laps later, Logano emerged with the lead over Hamlin. By then, Elliott was lapped along with Austin Dillon. 

    Under the final 60 laps of the event, pit stops under green occurred as names like Byron, Bowman, Elliott, Jones, Logano, Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Harvick, Keselowski, Truex and others pitted. Earlier, Byron tried to enter pit road but he was forced to circle around the track another lap after failing to slow his car prior to the pit road entrance. 

    Following the pit stops, Kyle Busch was penalized for a commitment line violation and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty through pit road. 

    With 50 laps remaining, Logano was leading by more than a second over Hamlin followed by Bell, Bowman and Byron. Harvick, Almirola, Truex and DiBenedetto were running sixth through ninth. Kyle Busch, following his late pit road penalty, was back in 10th place and trapped a lap behind.

    Under the final 35 laps of the event, Logano, who was navigating his way through lapped traffic, was still ahead by nearly eight-tenths of a second over Hamlin. Bell was in third place and trailing the two leaders by nearly 13 seconds. Bowman was in fourth and Harvick was in fifth.

    With the laps winding down, the battle for the lead started to heat up as Hamlin closed back in on Logano’s rear bumper for the lead. He then started to challenge Logano on the inside lane, with Logano fighting back on the outside lane. Way behind the leaders, Bowman started to catch Bell for third place.

    Then with 20 lap remaining and the battle for the lead between Logano and Hamlin heating up, the caution flew when a cut right-rear tire sent Harvick sliding into the Turn 1 outside wall, where he slapped the wall and sustained significant rear end damage. 

    Under caution, the leaders pitted and Hamlin reassumed the lead following another stellar service from his pit crew. Logano exited pit road in second place followed by Bowman, Bell and Almirola.

    With 12 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Hamlin took off with the lead with a strong start while Bowman challenged Logano for the runner-up spot.

    The following lap, Bowman took over the runner-up spot over Logano, but he was not done as he immediately challenged Hamlin for the race lead on the inside lane.

    Following a battle beneath Hamlin’s Toyota, Bowman emerged with the lead with 10 laps remaining following a power move in Turn 1.

    With five laps remaining, Bowman was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Hamlin. Logano was back in third while Almirola and Bell were in the top five. Behind, Truex worked his way up to sixth place followed by Byron, Kyle Busch, DiBenedetto and Austin Dillon.

    With the leaders starting to catch a bevy of lapped traffic, Bowman continued to lead while Hamlin was trying to close back in on Bowman’s No. 48 Chevrolet for the lead. Despite cutting the deficit down to nearly four-tenths of a second, it was too little, too late for Hamlin and Logano as Bowman came back around to Turn 4 in the midst of the traffic and claim the checkered flag by 0.381 seconds for the win.

    While Bowman achieved his third NASCAR Cup Series career win and first of the 2021 season, the Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 48 car returned to Victory Lane since June 2017 at Dover International Speedway made by Jimmie Johnson. In addition, Hendrick Motorsports achieved its first victory at Richmond Raceway since September 2008 and its 266th Cup career victory as Bowman became the eighth different winner through the first nine events of the 2021 Cup season.

    During his interview, Bowman, who won for the first time since March 2020 at Auto Club Speedway, dedicated his Richmond win to William “Rowdy” Harrell, a Hendrick Motorsports’ pit crew member who died along with his wife Blakley in a car accident in the Florida Keys last November.

    “[Crew chief] Greg Ives and all the guys, they have to deal with me at short tracks and I drive these places really wrong,” Bowman said on FOX. “We kind of instead of trying to make me figure it out, we went to work on getting the race car where I needed it to be. Greg has done such an amazing job at making that happen…This one is for Rowdy and his family. Miss him and Blakley every day. Just means the world to be able to win for Ally. It’s definitely emotional, obviously, with how hard the off-season was on us. Appreciative for the opportunity and we have more races to win this year.”

    “To be honest with you, we were terrible on short runs,” Bowman added. “We restarted third and I’m like man, if we get out of here with a solid top-five, we’ll be good. We’ve overcome a lot today. I don’t know if Greg pumped the pressures way up or what he did, but that’s more grip than I’ve ever had in a race car at Richmond and it worked out really well. Getting to race a guy like Denny at a place that this is really cool. I feel like we raced each other really clean, so I’m appreciative of that. It means a lot.”

    Hamlin, who led a race-high 207 laps, settled in second place for his eighth top-five result through the first nine races of the season, though he did not claim his first victory of the season, while Logano, who led 49 laps and was originally in position of claiming his second victory of the season, finished third.

    “We just didn’t take off quite as good there at the end,” Hamlin said. “I tried to warm it up and do everything that I could, just [Bowman] had a little more on those last few laps and I couldn’t hold the bottom. Once he got the position, we were just shut down there. Great job by this FedEx Ground team…We will keep digging. We are dominating, just have to finish it.”

    Bell finished in fourth place for his second top-five result of the season while Truex settled in fifth place following his pit road penalty.

    Almirola, Byron, Kyle Busch, DiBenedetto and Austin Dillon finished in the top 10 as only 14 of the 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Elliott finished 12th, Keselowski settled in 14th, Suarez finished 16th, Larson crossed the line in 18th, Harvick dropped back to 24th behind teammates Briscoe and Custer, Bubba Wallace finished 26th and Newman fell back to 30th.

    There were 20 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 39 laps. 

    With his runner-up result, Hamlin continues to lead the regular-season standings by 81 points over teammate Truex, 82 over Logano, 124 over Byron, 130 over Blaney and 135 over Larson.

    Results.

    1. Alex Bowman, 10 laps led

    2. Denny Hamlin, 207 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    3. Joey Logano, 49 laps led

    4. Christopher Bell

    5. Martin Truex Jr., 107 laps led

    6. Aric Almirola

    7. William Byron

    8. Kyle Busch, one lap led

    9. Matt DiBenedetto

    10. Austin Dillon, one lap led

    11. Ryan Blaney

    12. Chase Elliott

    13. Kurt Busch

    14. Brad Keselowski, 25 laps led

    15. Ross Chastain, one lap down

    16. Daniel Suarez, one lap down

    17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap down

    18. Kyle Larson, two laps down

    19. Erik Jones, two laps down

    20. Tyler Reddick, two laps down

    21. Corey LaJoie, two laps down

    22. Chase Briscoe, two laps down

    23. Cole Custer, two laps down

    24. Kevin Harvick, three laps down

    25. Chris Buescher, three laps down

    26. Bubba Wallace, three laps down

    27. Michael McDowell, four laps down

    28. Austin Cindric, four laps down

    29. Ryan Preece, four laps down

    30. Ryan Newman, five laps down

    31. Anthony Alfredo, five laps down

    32. B.J. McLeod, seven laps down

    33. James Davison, 10 laps down

    34. Quin Houff, 10 laps down

    35. Garrett Smithley, 11 laps down

    36. Cody Ware, 15 laps down

    37. Josh Bilicki, 16 laps down

    38. Justin Haley – OUT, Engine

    Next on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is Talladega Superspeedway, the first of two annual visits to the superspeedway venue for the series this season, with the first event to occur on Sunday, April 25, at 2 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Martinsville

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Martinsville

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin led 276 of 500 laps and finished third in the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville.

    “Me and my Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Christopher Bell led 305 of the 500 laps,” Hamlin said. “Kyle Busch was involved in cautions in the other 195 laps.”

    2. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex passed Denny Hamlin with 15 laps to go and went on to win at Martinsville, becoming the season’s first repeat winner.

    “The grandfather clock struck ‘2’ at Martinsville,” Truex said. “It struck ‘midnight’ for anyone who had one too many of Martinsville’s $2 hot dogs.”

    3. Joey Logano: Logano finished sixth at Martinsville.

    “A limited number of fans were able to attend the race on Sunday,” Logano said. “I felt right at home though, because I only have a ‘limited number of fans.’”

    4. Kyle Larson: Larson finished fifth at Martinsville.

    “‘Blu-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500’ is quite a name for a race,” Larson said. “Honestly, I think it’s too much. I say we go back to calling it the Virginia 500, because, let’s face it, some things are better left unsaid.”

    5. William Byron: Byron finished fourth at Martinsville.

    “Joe Graf Jr. and Gray Gaulding fought after the Xfinity race,” Byron said. “Those guys were actually teammates last year. That’s hard to believe. I’d have an easier time believing they are current teammates at Rick Ware Racing.”

    6. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished ninth at Martinsville, posting his sixth top 10 of the season.

    “I tangled with Bubba Wallace early in the race,” Harvick said. “We all know that the great Michael Jordan is a co-owner of his team. That being said, I’d just like to say to Bubba, ‘If you’re feeling froggy, ‘Jump, man.’”

    7. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished third in the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief at Martinsville.

    “Sunday’s race aired on Fox Sports 1,” Elliott said. “Which means it was probably seen by more people live than on television.”

    8. Ryan Blaney: Blaney took the first two stages at Martinsville and finished 11th at Martinsville.

    “We had a late pit penalty that really hurt our chances at the win,” Blaney said. “The air hose got hung up in the car as I was leaving the pits. That’s not good. Heck, just ask Charles Barkley. He’ll tell you that there’s nothing worse than hose stuck in your car.”

    9. Christopher Bell: Bell took seventh at Martinsville, recording his fourth top 10 of the season.

    “My Joe Gibbs Racing teammates had quite a battle there at the end,” Bell said. “Ultimately, Martin Truex Jr. outlasted Denny Hamlin. And streaking of ‘outlasting,’ it seems like every week, Corey LaJoie, Quin Houff, Josh Bilicki, and the like are in a battle to see who can ‘out last’ the other.”

    10. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski’s hopes at Martinsville faded after he was caught up in a big pileup on lap 387. He finished 33rd.

    “It’s not often you get the ‘Big One’ in Martinsville,” Keselowski said. “There were 12 cars involved in that accident. A 12-car accident is unheard of at Martinsville, at least on the race track, but not in the parking lots in the pre-COVID era.”

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Bristol Dirt

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Bristol Dirt

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished third at Bristol in the first NASCAR race on dirt since 1970.

    “I have six top-five finishes in seven races so far this season,” Hamlin said. “So, I guess I’m already in championship form, which always seems to be the case with me, until it’s time to decide the championship.”

    2. Joey Logano: Logano dominated the final stage at Bristol and pulled away to win the Food City Dirt Race.

    “The No. 22 Penske Ford was great at the end,” Logano said. “We left all the contenders in the dust. As a matter of fact, as you would expect on a dirt oval track, everybody was ‘left’ in the dust.”

    3. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished 11th at Bristol.

    “That’s two straight wins for Penske Racing,” Keselowski said. “One on asphalt and one on dirt. Me? I’d just settle for ‘one.’”

    4. Kyle Larson: Larson was caught up in Christopher Bell’s early spin, and the ensuing repairs cost him two laps. Larson eventually finished 29th, five laps down.

    “Bell did me dirt-y,” Larson said, “so he’s gonna have to pay for this. Isn’t he supposed to be a dirt-track expert? Consider me not impressed. I guess his reputation on dirt just became a reputation of dirt.”

    5. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished eighth at Bristol, posting his fourth top 10 of the year.

    “It was a wild weekend in Bristol,” Blaney said. “It’s like Mother Nature and Joe Dirt got together, shacked up in a double-wide, and birthed BMS’s dirt track.”

    6. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 15th at Bristol.

    “Tony Stewart is frustrated that NASCAR gave the dirt track race to Bristol and not his Eldora Speedway,” Harvick said. “After all Tony’s done for this sport, it’s pretty awful for NASCAR to treat him like dirt over dirt. As a result, Tony’s showing his ass in addition to other body parts, like the cold shoulder, and the middle finger.”

    7. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex won Stage 1 at Bristol but faded late and finished 19th.

    “That was my first Trucks series win,” Truex said. “And it’s one I’m going to remember a long time from now, especially if I can’t get the taste of Tennessee red clay out of my mouth.”

    8. William Byron: Byron finished sixth at Bristol, scoring the best finish for Hendrick Motorsports.

    “I don’t mind racing on dirt,” Byron said. “Heck, if it’s dry, it’s practically like racing on a paved surface. And the few fans there seemed to love it too. Even though there were only 30,000 of them in attendance, the place was ‘packed.’”

    9. Chase Elliott: Elliott took 10th in Bristol’s rain-delayed dirt race.

    “NASCAR announced during the race that next year’s spring race at Bristol would also be on dirt,” Elliott said. “That’s also known as NASCAR ‘soiling themselves.’”

    10. Christopher Bell: Bell spun on Lap 51, collecting Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain in his wake. Bell’s day was done, and he finished 34th.

    “The accident was certainly my fault,” Bell said. “And both Kyle and Ross have said as much. Kyle especially. He’s been very outspoken in his criticism of me. But I’m no pushover. All I have to say to Kyle is, ‘Watch what you say.’”

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Atlanta

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Atlanta

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished fourth at Atlanta, posting his fifth top-five of the season.

    “I accidentally sent Kurt Busch into the wall on a restart,” Hamlin said. “Hopefully, Kurt will understand that just as I had no intentions of wrecking him, I have no intentions of apologizing.”

    2. Kyle Larson: Larson swept the first two stages at Atlanta, but couldn’t hold off Ryan Blaney, who passed Larson with eight laps to go. Larson held on for second and is second in the points standings.

    “I did everything but win,” Larson said. “It hurts. Luckily, I have a crew chief in Cliff Daniels who will let me complain all I want. And he also knows that when I’m done, the last three words I want to hear are, ‘I hear you.’”

    3. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished ninth at Atlanta, joining Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch in the top 10.

    “We’re off to Bristol for the next race,” Truex said. “I don’t think anyone really knows how it will turn out. It could be a circus, or it could be the greatest show on ‘earth.’”

    4. Joey Logano: Logano finished 15th at Atlanta.

    “Xfinity drivers Noah Gragson and Daniel Hemric traded punches after their race on Saturday,” Logano said. “I’m not sure if either really connected, but if Tim Richmond was alive today, he would surely give them credit for ‘swinging.’”

    5. Brad Keselowski: Contact with Martin Truex Jr. damaged the front of Keselowski’s No. 2 Penske Mustang and Keselowski limped home with a 28th-place finish.

    “I’m in the middle of contract renewal negotiations with Penske Racing,” Keselowski said. “Roger Penske has assured me he wants me to stick around, so much like my performance at Atlanta, ‘I’m not going anywhere.’”

    6. Ryan Blaney: Blaney passed Kyle Larson with eight laps to go and pulled away to win the Folds Of Honor Qwik Trip 500 by over two seconds.

    “I gave the checkered flag to a young fan in the stands,” Blaney said. “That’s something he’ll treasure for the rest of his life, or, at the very least, as long as the funds from its sale on eBay will last.”

    7. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 10th at Atlanta despite having to make a green flag pit stop due to a flat tire.

    “Tony Stewart is engaged to NHRA drag racer Leah Pruett,” Harvick said. “When she walks down the aisle, it will be ¼-mile long. If you would have mentioned ‘tying the knot’ to Tony 10 years ago, he would have adamantly refused to undergo lap-band surgery.”

    8. Chase Elliott: Elliott’s engine blew 220 laps into the Folds Of Honor Qwik Trip 500. He finished 38th.

    “When NASCAR’s most popular drivers blow an engine,” Elliott said, “it’s a big deal. When he does it in his home state of Georgia, it sends shock waves throughout the sport. And the sound it makes is ‘GA boom!’”

    9. Christopher Bell: Bell finished 21st at Atlanta, only his second result outside of the top 10 this season.

    “My Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch won the Trucks Series race on Friday night,” Bell said. “That was his 60th Trucks win. That means that 60 times, Kyle won a race against inferior competition that he was supposed to.”

    10. William Byron: Byron came home eighth at Atlanta as Hendrick Motorsports placed three cars in the top 10.

    “NASCAR used COVID-19 sniffing dogs to test team members at Atlanta,” Byron said. “It may very well be the first time anyone at a NASCAR race has passed the ‘smell test.’”

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Phoenix

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Phoenix

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished third at Phoenix and maintained his lead in the points standings.

    “It was a good day for the No. 11 Toyota,” Hamlin said. “So I’m happy. I would have been happier if Bubba Wallace Jr. had held on to a top 10. We think Bubba’s gonna be great. How can he not with me and Michael Jordan mentoring him on the things we know best? It’s perfect—I talk to Bubba about racing and Michael talks to him about championships.”

    2. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski started on the pole and finished fourth at Phoenix, posting his third top-five of the year.

    “Unfortunately,” Keselowski said, “we had two missing/loose lugnuts in post-race inspection. I’m not saying we’re looking for an advantage, but if you’re gonna ‘cut corners,’ the Phoenix track layout is the place to do it.”

    3. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex pulled away late and won the Instacart 500 at Phoenix, ending a 29-race winless streak.

    “It’s good to be back in Victory Lane,” Truex said. “I’d forgotten what it looked like there, and asking Kyle Busch to describe it was a waste of time.”

    4. Joey Logano: Logano led a race-high 143 laps at Phoenix and finished second.

    “It was about one year ago that the COVID-19 outbreak shut down our sport,” Logano said. “It’s times like those that make you take stock and be thankful you’re alive. It was the same feeling I got after being confronted by an angry Ryan Newman.”

    5. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished sixth at Phoenix.

    “Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer had a memorable feud at Phoenix back in 2012,” Harvick said. “I think they probably would have thrown hands had an army of crew members not stepped in between them. So, much like Sunday’s race at Phoenix, nothing happened then either.”

    6. Kyle Larson: Larson started at the rear after failing inspection but worked his way back to the front for a seventh-place finish.

    “I failed two inspections,” Larson said. “As you know, NASCAR inspections are pretty routine, monotonous, and boring. That being said, both of mine were more exciting than the race itself.”

    7. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished fifth at Phoenix, recording his second top-five result of the year.

    “I started from the rear due to unapproved adjustments,” Elliott said. “For those of you not familiar with it, ‘starting from the rear’ is another term for ‘qualifying is virtually meaningless in NASCAR.’”

    8. Christopher Bell: Bell finished ninth at Phoenix.

    “Actor Jason Biggs served as Grand Marshal for the race,” Bell said. “His ‘start your engines’ command was awesome. And boy, did he put ‘everything into it,’ much like he did to that pie in the movie ‘American Pie.’”

    9. William Byron: Byron came home eighth in the Instacart 500 as Hendrick Motorsports placed three cars in the top 10.

    “Trucks series driver Stewart Friesen and his wife Jessica will be racing in the same race at Bristol on March 26th,” Byron said. “In a perfect world, the two will make contact and wreck each other, allowing a witty race reporter to ask one of them, ‘How did you two meet?’”

    10. Kyle Busch: Busch finished 25th at Phoenix, his day sidetracked by a number of problems.

    “Let’s see,” Busch said. “To start with, I had a penalty for an uncontrolled tire. Then, I got spun into the wall by Ross Chastain. And there was more. It was a run of bad luck matched only by my run of expletives I uttered on my radio.”

  • Truex snaps winless drought, records first Cup victory of 2021 at Phoenix

    Truex snaps winless drought, records first Cup victory of 2021 at Phoenix

    The 29-race winless drought for Martin Truex Jr. and Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 Toyota team came to an end under the afternoon sun in the desert state of Phoenix, Arizona, after the 40-year-old veteran from Mayetta, New Jersey, rallied from an early scrape in the wall to prevail on a restart with 25 laps remaining and over Joey Logano to win the Instacart 500 at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, March 14. 

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Brad Keselowski started on pole position. Kyle Larson, winner of last weekend’s event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, was due to start on the front row with Keselowski, but ended up dropping to the rear of the field due to his car failing pre-race inspection twice. As a result, Christopher Bell moved up to the front row.

    Along with Larson, teammate William Byron and Cody Ware dropped to the rear of the field due to their respective machines also failing pre-race inspection twice. Chase Elliott and Quin Houff also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments along with Garrett Smithley, his case due to a driver change.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Keselowski was able to jump ahead with a strong lead, even as he went low through the dogleg and entering Turn 1, followed by Denny Hamlin, who overtook teammate Christopher Bell for the runner-up spot. 

    Following the first lap, Keselowski was the leader followed by four Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota competitors led by Hamlin. The following lap, however, Hamlin was able to move his No. 11 Offerpad Toyota Camry into the lead.

    By the fifth lap, Hamlin was ahead by more than half a second over Keselowski, who was soon overtaken by Bell for the runner-up spot. Truex remained in fourth place ahead of teammate Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney. 

    Five laps later and through the first 10 laps of the event, Hamlin stabilized his lead by half a second over teammate Bell while Keselowski, Truex and Blaney were in the top five. Kyle Busch fell back to sixth followed by brother Kurt Busch, Joey Logano, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Matt DiBenedetto.

    The following lap, Truex’s No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry made contact with the outside wall exiting Turn 1 and entering the backstretch, which allowed Blaney to overtake him for fourth place. 

    By Lap 20, Hamlin extended his advantage to more than a second over Bell’s No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry while Team Penske’s Keselowski, Blaney and Logano were in the top five. Truex remained in sixth place while the Busch brothers battled for seventh place. Stenhouse was in ninth followed by DiBenedetto while Kevin Harvick was in 11th. 

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 30, Hamlin remained in the lead followed by Keselowski, teammate Blaney, Bell and Logano. Kurt Busch and Stenhouse were in sixth and seventh while Truex fell back to eighth. Harvick was in ninth while Kyle Busch dropped back to 10th in front of DiBenedetto. By then, Kyle Larson was in 14th behind Austin Dillon and teammates William Byron and Chase Elliott were in 20th  and 21st behind teammate Alex Bowman and Bubba Wallace, who was making his 250th NASCAR national touring series career start.

    Under caution, the leaders pitted and Keselowski exited pit road with the lead over Bell, Blaney, Harvick, Hamlin and Truex. Following the pit stops, Larson was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road. 

    The race restarted on Lap 36 with Keselowski and Bell on the front row. At the start, Keselowski retained the lead followed by teammate Blaney. Bell dropped back to third followed by teammate Hamlin and Logano.

    On Lap 44, Blaney emerged with the lead after overtaking teammate Keselowski through the backstretch and coming back to the start/finish line. By then, Bell was still in third followed by Logano, Hamlin and Harvick.

    Shortly after, the caution returned when Bowman, who checked up behind Ross Chastain and made contact with him, was hit by Austin Dillon and spun as his No. 48 Ally/Best Friends Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE made light contact with the outside wall in Turn 1. The accordion effect nearly collected Chris Buescher, Bubba Wallace, Corey LaJoie and rookie Chase Briscoe. 

    Under caution, some like Kyle Busch, Byron, DiBenedetto, Chastain, Austin Dillon, Bubba Wallace, Michael McDowell, Elliott, Larson, Bowman, Ryan Newman, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Preece, Justin Haley and rookie Anthony Alfredo pitted while the rest led by Blaney remained on the track. During the pit stops, Austin Dillon was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    The race restarted on Lap 50 with teammates Blaney and Keselowski on the front row. At the start, Blaney utilized the dogleg to remain in the lead. Teammate Keselowski, racing in his No. 2 Wurth Ford Mustang, remained in second while teammate Logano battled Bell for third in front of Hamlin. 

    By Lap 60, the three Penske competitors were out in front led by Blaney. Behind, Hamlin was in fourth while Chase Elliott, racing on fresh tires in his No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, moved up to fifth ahead of Kyle Busch’s No. 18 Stanley Toyota Camry. Bell fell back to seventh in front of Harvick while Byron, another competitor on fresh tires, was in ninth ahead of DiBenedetto, Kurt Busch, Truex, Larson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Tyler Reddick. 

    Ten laps later and through the first 70 laps of the event, Blaney’s No. 12 Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford Mustang continued to lead by nearly three-tenths of a second over teammate Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang. Keselowski, meanwhile, was pressured by Hamlin for third place as Elliott joined the battle. Kyle Busch, Harvick, Byron, teammate Larson and DiBenedetto were in the top 10 while Bell fell back to 11th.

    With the laps in the first stage closing, the battle for the lead heated up as Blaney came under fire from teammates Logano and Keselowski with Hamlin and Elliott scrambling in the battle. Despite nearly losing the lead to teammate Logano, Blaney was able to hold on ahead of a five-car battle and claim the first stage victory on Lap 75. In claiming his first stage victory of this season, Blaney also became the seventh different competitor to record a stage victory through the first five Cup events of the 2021 season. Logano settled in second followed by teammate Keselowski, Hamlin and Elliott. Kyle Busch settled in sixth followed by Harvick, Byron, teammate Larson and DiBenedetto. 

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Logano emerged with the lead after exiting pit road with the top spot followed by teammate Blaney Hamlin, Elliott, Keselowski and Larson.

    The second stage started on Lap 83 with teammates Logano and Blaney on the front row. At the start and with the field fanning out through the dogleg, Logano retained the lead followed by Blaney while Elliott muscled his way into third place entering the backstretch. Keselowski and Hamlin battled for fourth followed by Larson and Harvick. Behind, Byron and DiBenedetto battled for eighth as Kyle Busch joined the battle. 

    Six laps later, the caution returned for an on-track accident involving Cody Ware and rookie Anthony Alfredo, who wrecked into the Turn 2 outside wall following contact from Ware and sustained heavy damage to his No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang.

    Under caution, some like Kurt Busch, Erik Jones, Briscoe, Chris Buescher, Cole Custer, McDowell, Preece, Haley and James Davison pitted while the rest led by Logano remained on the track.

    Following an extensive caution as a result of Alfredo’s incident, the race resumed under green on Lap 98 with teammates Logano and Blaney remaining on the front row. At the start and with the field fanning out through the dogleg again, Logano retained the lead followed by teammates Blaney and Keselowski while Hamlin was in fourth ahead of Elliott, Kyle Busch and Byron.

    Two laps later and through the Lap 100 mark, Logano was scored the leader followed by teammate Blaney and Keselowski. Elliott overtook Hamlin for fourth and went to work on Keselowski for more. Teammates Hamlin and Kyle Busch were in fifth and sixth while Larson moved up to seventh ahead of teammate Byron. Bell and Harvick were in the top 10. 

    By Lap 110, Logano continued to lead by more than half a second over teammate Blaney while Elliott settled in third. Keselowski was in fourth while Larson, racing in his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, prevailed over a battle with Hamlin to move into the top five.

    By Lap 120, Logano extended his advantage to less than two seconds over teammate Blaney. Elliott retained third place while teammate Larson moved into fourth place. Keselowski was back in fifth ahead of Hamlin, Harvick, Kyle Busch, teammate Truex and Byron. 

    Not long after, Larson continued to flex his muscles after overtaking teammate Elliott for third place. By then, he was less than four seconds behind race leader Logano. In addition, Keselowski started to close in on Elliott for position along with Hamlin.

    By Lap 130, Logano was leading by more than three seconds over Larson, who earlier overtook Blaney for the runner-up spot. Keselowski moved up to fourth followed by Hamlin while Elliott fell back to sixth. Truex started to close in on Elliott for the sixth spot while Harvick, Byron and Aric Almirola were in the top 10. Bell and teammate Kyle Busch were in 11th and 12th followed by DiBenedetto, Briscoe, Bowman and Wallace. Kurt Busch was mired in 17th followed by Tyler Reddick, Erik Jones and Stenhouse.

    Nearing the Lap 140 mark, pit stops under green started to occur as Keselowski pitted followed by Harvick, Elliott, Logano, teammate Blaney, Kurt Busch, Bowman, Stenhouse, Truex, Byron, Almirola, Erik Jones, Buescher, Cole Custer, Hamlin, teammate Bell, teammate Kyle Busch, Larson and Briscoe. Following the pit stops, Larson was busted with a second pit road speeding penalty. Kyle Busch was also penalized due to an uncontrolled tire violation.

    By Lap 150 and with most of the leaders completing pit stops under green, Corey LaJoie, who has yet to pit, was scored the leader. Logano was in second followed by teammate Blaney, Truex, Keselowski and Hamlin. 

    At the halfway mark on Lap 156, Logano reassumed the lead from LaJoie. Blaney, Truex and Keselowski were in the top five followed by Hamlin, Harvick, Byron, teammate Elliott and Bell. By then, Larson was back in 22nd, still on the lead lap and in front of Daniel Suarez and Bubba Wallace, while Kyle Busch was in 30th, the sixth car scored a lap behind the leaders.   

    Through the first 175 laps of the event, Logano stabilized his advantage to more than three seconds over Truex. Teammates Blaney and Keselowski were in third and fourth followed by Hamlin. Harvick was in sixth while Byron, teammate Elliott, Almirola and Bell were in the top 10. By then, Larson was back in 17th and still on the lead lap while Kyle Busch was in 28th, the sixth car scored a lap down. Meanwhile, LaJoie, still on the track on old tires but with enough fuel to complete the second stage, was scored in the top 15.

    With the laps in the second stage closing, Logano continued to lead by approximately two seconds over Truex while Hamlin and Blaney battled for third place. Keselowski stabilized himself in fifth place followed by Harvick, Byron, teammate Elliott, Almirola and Bell. 

    While Truex was able to decrease his deficit to Logano to, Logano was able to retain the lead and navigate his way through lapped traffic to claim the Stage 2 victory on Lap 190. In claiming his first stage victory of the season, Logano also became the eighth different competitor to record a stage victory through the first five events of the 2021 Cup season. Hamlin was scored in third place behind teammate Truex while Keselowski managed to overtake teammate Blaney for fourth place. Harvick, Byron, Almirola, Elliott and Bell were scored in the top 10. By then, Larson moved back up to 13th ahead of Kurt Busch while Kyle Busch was in 27th, two laps behind.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Logano retained the lead after exiting pit road in first followed by Hamlin, Truex, Blaney, Keselowski and Harvick. Following the pit stops under caution, Almirola, Elliott and Ross Chastain were penalized for speeding on pit road.

    With 113 laps remaining, the final stage commenced with Logano and Hamlin on the front row. At the start, Logano nearly got turned after being bumped by Truex, but he retained the lead through the dogleg and entering Turn 1. Behind, Hamlin and Keselowski battled for the runner-up spot through the backstretch while Blaney retained fourth ahead of Harvick, Byron and Truex. Behind, Larson moved up to eighth followed by Erik Jones and Stenhouse. 

    With 110 laps remaining, Logano was ahead by nearly six-tenths of a second over Hamlin followed by teammates Blaney and Keselowski with Truex moving back into fifth over Byron. By then, Larson moved up to seventh over Bell, Harvick and Stenhouse. Meanwhile, Wallace was in 11th ahead of Jones and Kurt Busch.

    Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Logano was leading by approximately a second over Hamlin. Blaney, Truex and Keselowski stabilized themselves in the top five followed by Byron, racing in his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Larson was in seventh followed by Harvick, Bell and Stenhouse. Behind, Wallace, Jones, Briscoe, Kurt Busch and Bowman were running in the top 15. Almirola and Elliott, following their late pit road penalties, were in 18th and 20th while Kyle Busch was mired back in 24th, a lap behind.

    With 88 laps remaining, Truex gained a huge run entering the backstretch to emerge as the new leader over Logano. As Hamlin remained in third followed by Keselowski, Larson fought his way back into the top five after passing Blaney. 

    Eight laps later and with 80 laps remaining, Truex was leading by more than a second over Logano. Hamlin, Keselowski and Larson remained in the top five followed by Blaney, Harvick, Bell, Byron and Bubba Wallace, who overtook Stenhouse for position.

    Down to the final 70 laps of the event, Truex extended his advantage to more than three seconds over Logano, who also had Hamlin starting to close in on him for the runner-up spot. Keselowski was still in fourth, trailing by less than five seconds, while Larson remained in fifth, trailing by more than five seconds. Blaney and Bell battled for sixth followed by Harvick, Wallace and Byron.

    Under the final 65 laps of the event, Byron made a pit stop under green. By then, Truex stretched his advantage to more than five seconds over teammate Hamlin, thus dropping Logano to third. Keselowski, Larson and Bell were in fourth, fifth and sixth while Wallace continued to his impressive run to the front as he was scored in seventh. 

    Shortly after, Logano and Larson pitted under green. Blaney soon pitted along with Keselowski, Elliott, Bell, Almirola, Wallace, Reddick, Ryan Newman, leader Truex and others.

    With 55 laps remaining and the leaders completing service under green, Truex was back out in front by nearly two seconds over Larson. Hamlin was in third followed by teammates Logano and Keselowski. Bell and Harvick were in sixth and seventh followed by Blaney, Byron and Wallace. 

    Behind, Kyle Busch, racing on old tires, made contact with the outside wall while scored in 14th. Despite the incident, the race remained under green as Busch pitted for fresh tires and dropped out of the lead lap category. 

    With 50 laps remaining, the caution flew when Reddick made contact with the outside wall in Turn 2 after cutting a right-front tire.

    Under caution, nearly all of the leaders returned to pit road and Logano muscled his way back into the lead following a stellar service from his No. 22 pit crew. Truex exited in second place followed by Truex, Keselowski, Larson and Hamlin. On track, though, Wallace did not pit for fresh tires and emerged as the leader. Following the pit stops, Briscoe was busted with a pit road speeding penalty.

    With 44 laps remaining, the race restarted under green with Wallace and Logano on the front row. At the start, Wallace and Logano made contact as the field fanned out to three lanes through the dogleg. Through Turn 1, Keselowski managed to prevail in a three-wide battle to take the lead followed by teammate Logano. Wallace remained in third followed by Truex while Larson, Hamlin and Byron battled for fifth. 

    With 40 laps remaining, teammates Keselowski and Logano battled for the lead while Truex trailed by more than a second. Truex, Larson and Hamlin were in the top five while Wallace was trying to hang on in sixth while battling Hamlin and Harvick.

    Two laps later, Logano used the infield dogleg on the frontstretch to reassume the lead over teammate Keselowski. 

    With 31 laps remaining, Logano extended his advantage to over a second over teammate Keselowski and Truex. Just as Truex was able to take over the runner-up spot, the caution returned the following lap when teammate Kyle Busch, the first competitor scored a lap down, spun across the start/finish line after receiving a tap from Ross Chastain. At the time of caution, Wallace had fallen back to 16th on old tires. 

    Under caution, the leaders returned to pit road and Logano retained the lead following another stellar pit stop followed by Truex, teammate Hamlin, Keselowski, Larson and Harvick.

    With 25 laps remaining, the race restarted under green with Logano and Truex on the front row. At the start, Logano went super low through the dogleg, Truex remained on the outside lane and the field fanned out to multiple lanes.

    Back to the start/finish line, Truex reassumed the lead over Logano followed by Hamlin, who was locked in a battle with Keselowski and Larson. Teammate Elliott was back up in sixth followed by Almirola, Byron, Harvick and Bell. 

    With 20 laps remaining, Truex was leading by nearly half a second over Logano while Hamlin and Keselowski were in third and fourth. Teammates Larson and Elliott battled for fifth in front of their other teammate William Byron. Harvick was in eighth followed by teammate Almirola and Bell. Blaney was in 11th in front of Bowman, Kurt Busch was in 14th and Wallace was in 17th in between Cole Custer and Austin Dillon.

    Five laps later, Truex extended his advantage to a second over Logano with Hamlin trailing behind. Keselowski was locked in a battle with Larson for fourth while Elliott settled in sixth. Harvick, meanwhile, overtook Byron for seventh while Bell and Blaney were in the top 10. Earlier, Custer made a pit stop under green after making contact with the wall with help from Wallace.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Truex remained in the lead by more than a second over Logano. Hamlin settled in third, nearly two seconds behind, followed by Keselowski. Elliott, meanwhile, managed to move into the top five while Larson was locked in a battle with Harvick for sixth place. 

    With five laps remaining, Truex continued to lead by more than a second over Logano with Hamlin trailing by two seconds. By then, Harvick prevailed over Larson for sixth place while Keselowski and Elliott remained in the top five. 

    Utilizing the final laps to his favor in cruise control and with a respectable lead of over a second over Logano, Truex was able to take the white flag, navigate his No. 19 Toyota Camry through the circuit smoothly for a final time and come back around to claim his first checkered flag of the season and become the fifth different winner through the first five Cup races of the 2021 season. 

    The victory was Truex’s 28th of his Cup career, moving him to a tie with Carl Edwards and Rex White for 28th place on the all-time Cup wins list, and first at Phoenix as he also claimed his first Cup victory since June 2020 at Martinsville Speedway. In addition, crew chief James Small claimed his second career victory while Joe Gibbs Racing claimed Cup career win No. 187.

    “Just an awesome job by everybody, James [Small], [car chief] Blake [Harris] and all the pit crew guys fixing it,” Truex said on FOX. “Really solid. I thought at the beginning of the race, we were gonna run 15th or so. Man, I can’t really believe it, I’m speechless. This feels pretty amazing. Phoenix has been a tough one for us and to come here and win this, I wish it was November, but hopefully we can come back here in November and have a shot at being in the Final Four. Man, just so thankful and so proud of everybody at JGR and everybody who makes this possible.”

    Logano settled in second place for the second time this early in the season while Hamlin finished third and claimed his fourth top-five result through the first five events of this season.

    “All of the above, just a little bit everywhere is where it seemed [Truex] beat us,” Logano said on MRN. “Once they got [Truex] tuned in, he was the fastest car on the racetrack. We did a good job maximizing our day with our Shell/Pennzoil Mustang. We were a second-place car and finished second, won a stage and second in the other stage, so a lot of points. I hate finishing second, though. It really stinks, but, overall, this has been a good racetrack for us. The last few times we’ve been here is first, third and second, so we’re all over it, just needed that last run not to have a caution. I think we were in a pretty good spot to maybe run that thing out, but, overall, that was where we had it.”

    “Yeah, I think we are happy with [the finish],” Hamlin said. “Obviously, we want to win with our Offerpad Toyota but certainly the short tracks is something we want to put a lot of emphasis on this year. We just didn’t have the results on the short tracks that we wanted last year, but getting the first short track win here for JGR – 1, 3 is a good sign that we worked on the right things and we are headed in the right direction.”

    Keselowski finished fourth for his third top-five result in four races while Elliott rounded out the top five at Phoenix, which marked his best result since finishing in second place in this year’s Daytona 500. Harvick, Larson, teammate Byron, Bell and Blaney completed the top 10 on the track.

    Almirola rallied from his slow start to the season by finishing 11th followed by Stenhouse, Bowman, DiBenedetto and Kurt Busch. Wallace posted a 16th-place result in front of Austin Dillon, Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez finished 20th and 21st, rookie Chase Briscoe finished 22nd in front of Michael McDowell and Kyle Busch ended his long afternoon in 25th.

    There were 22 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 45 laps. 

    Denny Hamlin continues to lead the regular-season standings 39 points over Brad Keselowski, 44 over Logano, 56 over Truex, 57 over Larson and Elliott and 60 over Harvick. 

    Results.

    1. Martin Truex Jr., 64 laps led

    2. Joey Logano, 143 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. Denny Hamlin, 33 laps led

    4. Brad Keselowski, 19 laps led

    5. Chase Elliott

    6. Kevin Harvick

    7. Kyle Larson, one lap led

    8. William Byron

    9. Christopher Bell

    10. Ryan Blaney, 35 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    11. Aric Almirola

    12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap led

    13. Alex Bowman

    14. Matt DiBenedetto

    15. Kurt Busch

    16. Bubba Wallace, four laps led

    17. Austin Dillon

    18. Chris Buescher

    19. Ross Chastain

    20. Erik Jones

    21. Daniel Suarez

    22. Chase Briscoe

    23. Michael McDowell

    24. Justin Haley

    25. Kyle Busch, one lap down

    26. Ryan Preece, one lap down

    27. Corey LaJoie, one lap down, 12 laps led

    28. Ryan Newman, one lap down

    29. Tyler Reddick, two laps down

    30. B.J. McLeod, three laps down

    31. Cole Custer, four laps down

    32. Quin Houff, seven laps down

    33. James Davison, nine laps down

    34. Garrett Smithley, 12 laps down

    35. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Power steering

    36. Cody Ware – OUT, Accident

    37. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident

    38. Timmy Hill – OUT, Engine

    The NASCAR Cup Series will return to the south to compete at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the first of two visits to the track for the series this season, on Sunday, March 21. The event is slated to occur at 3 p.m. on FOX.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Las Vegas

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Las Vegas

    Note: The quotes in the article are fictional.

    1. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin claimed fourth at Las Vegas and remained atop the points standings.

    “Joe Gibbs Racing put all four cars in the top 10,” Hamlin said. “And Kyle Busch had the best finish of us all. We’re all telling Kyle he ‘finished first’ just to make him feel better.

    “I think we’re all looking forward to racing on the dirt at Bristol in a few weeks. I guess you could say it’s ‘grounds’ for excitement.”

    2. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski won Stage 1 and finished second at Las Vegas.

    “I knew we had a car good enough to finish in the top five,” Keselowski said. “If you were a gambler, I’d have told you to bet the house on a top five. If you were a NASCAR fan, I’d have told you to bet the trailer.”

    3. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished sixth in the Pennzoil 400.

    “Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer have great chemistry in the announcer’s booth,” Larson said. “Their years of experience plus their witty banter is on-air magic. You could call it ‘mic joy.’”

    4. Kevin Harvick: Harvick started on the pole at Las Vegas but struggled from the start, suffering a tire rub and a flat tire early that eventually resulted in extensive handling problems. He finished 20th.

    “We had a fast car,” Karvick said. “The only problem was, it went downhill fast.

    “Hopefully, our trouble in Vegas will stay here, and won’t follow us to Phoenix. As the saying goes, ‘What Happens In Vegas Stays In Vegas.’ Hopefully, that’s true. The following is also true: if there was a Vegas show reboot of a 1970s sitcom about three working-class African-Americans in Watts that had an unlimited run on the Strip, it would be called, ‘What’s Happening (In Vegas) Stays In Vegas.’”

    5. Kyle Larson: Larson led a race-high 103 laps and pulled away on the final green-flag run to win the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas.

    “Frankly,” Larson said, “I’m ‘shocked,’ mostly because I overcame lengthy ‘suspension’ problems to get the win.

    “Honestly, I don’t know what to say, which means I’ve done something right.”

    6. Chase Elliott: Elliott spun with 99 laps remaining at Las Vegas, but recovered to salvage a 13th-place finish.

    “I’m so happy for Kyle Larson,” Elliott said. “He’s in the playoffs, which is the first step in becoming a NASCAR champion. Kyle will probably be the favorite when we return to LVMS. We’ll be back in Nevada in September, which Kyle calls being ‘reinstated.’”

    7. William Byron: Byron came home eighth at Las Vegas as Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson took the win.

    “Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr served as the race’s Grand marshal,” Byron said. “Many Las Vegas citizens were saying if that was his last job as a ‘starter,’ things are looking up for the Raiders.”

    8. Joey Logano: Logano finished ninth at Las Vegas.

    “Hiring Kyle Larson was a brilliant move for Hendrick Motorsports,” Logano said. “Larson is a team player, unlike that other Kyle that used to drive the No. 5 for Hendrick. With Kyle Busch, the team was all about ‘me, me, me.’ That kind of selfishness is called ‘I Racing,’ and Kyle Larson wants no part of that.”

    9. Kyle Busch: Busch finished third in the Pennzoil 400 at his hometown of Las Vegas.

    “Did I spin intentionally in the Trucks Series race on Friday?” Busch said. “That’s a question I’m unable to answer under oath, or with my hand on a bible, or honestly. Suffice it to say I’d answer with the sincerity of a Teresa Earnhardt wedding vow.”

    10. (tie) Christopher Bell: Bell finished seventh at Las Vegas as Joe Gibbs Racing placed all four cars in the top 10, led by Kyle Busch’s third.

    “That race just flew by,” Bell said. “That’s often not the case. Most times, I find myself saying, ‘I didn’t think that race would ever end.’ That’s in contrast to viewers at home watching Fox’s pre-race coverage, who find themselves saying, ‘I didn’t think that race would ever start.’”

    10. (tie) Ryan Preece: Preece finished 15th at Las Vegas.

    “Four races,” Preece said, “four different winners. And only one of those four winners made the playoff field last year. I think a precedent has been established: ‘anybody can win.’ And that’s the only reason I can find that would keep Quin Hoff, B.J. McLeod, Garrett Smithley, Cody Ware, Joey Gase, Josh Bilicki, and Timmy Hill motivated to continue embarrassing themselves week after week.”

  • Sweet redemption for Larson at Las Vegas

    Sweet redemption for Larson at Las Vegas

    From sitting out of the competition due to suspension last season to racing his way to an early trip to Victory Lane this season, Kyle Larson muscled his way to a dominating victory in the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 7. The 28-year-old native from Elk Grove, California, led six times for a race-high 103 of 267 laps as he pulled away from Brad Keselowski in the late stages to record his first victory in his return to full-time NASCAR competition behind the wheel of Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 5 Chevrolet.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Kevin Harvick started on pole position and was joined on the front row with William Byron, winner of last weekend’s Cup event at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Harvick received a push from Kyle Larson to jump ahead with the lead. Through Turn 1, Larson was also able to move into second place as Michael McDowell went to work on Byron for third place. 

    With the field fanning out early to three lanes through the backstretch and through Turns 3 and 4, Byron was able to fight back and lead the first lap over teammate Larson and Harvick. With the field towards the front still fanning out to three lanes. Harvick was overtaken by a few more positions as Larson and Truex battled behind Byron for the runner-up spot.

    Following the first five laps of the event, Byron continued to lead by nearly two-tenths of a second over teammate and a hard-charging Chase Elliott. Larson was in third followed by Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. Harvick, meanwhile, fell back to eighth.

    Five laps later and through the first 10 laps of the event, Byron’s No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE retained a narrow advantage over teammate Elliott’s No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE while Truex and Larson battled dead even for third. Behind, Brad Keselowski challenged Hamlin for fifth while Christopher Bell, Kurt Busch, Alex Bowman and McDowell were in the top 10. Harvick, meanwhile, was back in 11th and in front of Austin Dillon, Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch.

    Another three laps later, Larson managed to overtake teammate Elliott for the runner-up spot. Behind, Keselowski overtook Truex for fourth place. Meanwhile, Byron remained in the lead. 

    After trailing and intimidating his teammate in the early laps for the lead, Elliott managed to muscle his way into the lead on Lap 20 over Byron. A few laps later, teammate Larson moved into the runner-up spot.

    Elliott was able to extend his advantage to nearly a second over teammate Larson when the competition caution flew on Lap 25. Byron, Truex and Keselowski were in the top five followed by Hamlin, Bowman, Kurt Busch, Ryan Blaney and Harvick. By then, Christopher Bell was in 11th, Logano was in 13th, Kyle Busch was in 16th in between Austin Dillon and Erik Jones, Tyler Reddick was in 19th, Bubba Wallace was in 21st, Aric Almirola was in 23rd in front of teammates Cole Custer and rookie Chase Briscoe, Daniel Suarez was in 26th and Ryan Newman was in 29th.

    Under caution, the leaders made the turn to pit road for early adjustments. Following the pit stops, Larson exited with the lead followed by Hamlin, Truex, Keselowski, Bowman Byron and Elliott. Behind, Wallace was assessed a pit road speeding penalty and sent to the rear of the field.

    The race restarted on Lap 30 with Larson and Hamlin on the front row. At the start, Hamlin received a push from Keselowski on the inside lane to move into the lead. Keselowski also moved into the runner-up spot while Larson fell back to third in front of teammate Elliott and Truex. 

    By Lap 33, Hamlin was out in front by two-tenths of a second over a side-by-side battle featuring Keselowski’s No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang and Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Elliott was right behind in fourth place followed by teammate Bowman, Truex, Blaney, Byron, Kurt Busch and Matt DiBenedetto. 

    Two laps later, Truex, Blaney and Bowman battled through three lanes for the fifth spot with Byron lurking behind. 

    Back at the front, Larson and Keselowski continued to battle for the runner-up spot with Elliott remaining in pursuit. At the front, Hamlin’s No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry remained in the lead. 

    By Lap 40, Hamlin was still leading by approximately a tenth of a second over Larson. Teammate Elliott was in third followed by Keselowski, who slipped and nearly clipped Elliott the previous lap in Turn 1. Behind, Blaney cracked the top five over Truex, Byron, Bowman, Kurt Busch and DiBenedetto. 

    Shortly after, Hendrick Motorsports’ teammates Larson and Elliott battled for the runner-up spot behind Hamlin while Blaney started to close in on Penske teammate Keselowski for fourth place. 

    In the midst of the battle towards the front, Bubba Wallace returned to pit road with the hood of his No. 23 Columbia Sportswear Toyota Camry up after he reported a power steering line issue.

    On Lap 44, Larson reassumed the lead over Hamlin. Behind, Keselowski caught back up to Elliott as he went to work on him for third place. Keselowski was eventually able to overtake Elliott for position and went to work on Hamlin for the runner-up spot. Blaney, meanwhile, remained in pursuit of the top-four leaders. 

    Not long after, the caution flew due to debris reported in Turn 2. The caution served as a huge break for Kevin Harvick, who had a left-front tire going down as a result of making contact with Erik Jones. Under caution, the majority of the leaders returned to pit road and Hamlin was able to exit off pit road first followed by Elliott, Keselowski, Bowman and Blaney.

    Back on the track, Larson remained in the race lead after electing to remain on the track on old tires. Joey Logano, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Tyler Reddick and teammate Austin Dillon also remained on the track.

    The race restarted on Lap 51 with Larson and Logano on the front row. At the start, Larson retained the lead while Elliott made a bold four-wide move behind to move back to the front. Through the backstretch, the field fanned out to three and four lanes.

    The following lap, Larson and Logano battled dead even for the lead as the field, featuring competitors on fresh tires compared to worn tires, continued to fan out to three and four lanes for position towards the front.

    By Lap 54, two forms of three-wide battles ensued at the front with Keselowski challenging teammate Logano and Larson for the lead. A lap later, Logano was able to clear the field with the lead. Behind, Elliott muscled his way back into third before taking back second place from Keselowski. Blaney and Larson battled for fourth while Bell and Byron battled behind for sixth. Truex and Hamlin, meanwhile, were back in 10th and 12th.  

    By Lap 60, Logano, racing in his No. 22 Pennzoil Ford Mustang on worn tires, continued to hold strong with the lead by a narrow margin over Elliott while Keselowski remained ahead of Larson for third place. Blaney was in fifth followed by Byron, Bell, Bowman, Kurt Busch and Hamlin. Truex was in 12th behind DiBenedetto.

    Two laps later, Elliott, racing on fresh tires, returned to the lead following a lengthly battle with Logano. In the ensuing laps, Penske teammates Keselowski and Blaney overtook their other teammate Logano for third and fourth. Behind, Larson fell back to ninth while Bell, Byron Bowman and Hamlin moved up. 

    Through the first 70 laps of the event, Elliott maintained a narrow advantage over Keselowski. Teammate Blaney was in third while Bell overtook Logano for fourth place. Bowman and Hamlin closed in on Logano for fifth while Byron, DiBenedetto and Larson were in the top 10. Truex was in 12th behind Kurt Busch.

    Two laps later, Keselowski made his way to the top of the field following a pass on Elliott for position. While Bell, teammate Hamlin and Bowman battled for fourth, Logano slipped back to eighth on worn tires, two spots ahead of Larson. 

    Back at the front, Keselowski and Elliott continued to battle intensely for the lead, with the latter prevailing not long after by two-tenths of a second. Blaney trailed by more than a second in third place while Hamlin and Bowman overtook Bell for fourth and fifth. 

    While Keselowski and Elliott continued to battle against one another on the track for the lead, Logano and Larson were back in ninth and 12th while Truex and Kurt Busch were in ninth and 11th. Kyle Busch was in 14th while Harvick, who started on pole, was mired in 18th.

    Following a lengthly battle with Elliott, Keselowski was able to reassume the lead on Lap 79 and hold on to claim the first stage victory on Lap 80, which also marked his first stage victory of the season. Elliott settled in second followed by Blaney, Hamlin and Bowman while Bell, Byron, DiBenedetto, Logano and Truex were scored in the top 10. 

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Hamlin returned to the lead following a strong pit stop from his crew. Keselowski exited in second place followed by Bowman, DiBenedetto, Blaney and Logano. During the pit stops, Elliott spent extra time on pit road to have damage on the right side of his No. 9 Chevrolet from an earlier pit stop caused by the jack repaired. In addition, Reddick was assessed a pit road speeding penalty.

    The second stage started on Lap 87 with Hamlin and Keselowski on the front row. At the start, Hamlin and Keselowski battled dead even through Turn 1 and the backstretch while Byron made a bold move on the outside lane to crack the top five. 

    The following lap, Keselowski was able to reassume the lead followed by teammate Blaney. Bowman, racing in his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, went to work on Hamlin for third while DiBenedetto and Byron battled for fifth. 

    By Lap 90, Keselowski was leading by approximately a tenth of a second over teammate Blaney. Hamlin retained third place by a narrow margin over Bowman and DiBenedetto while Larson closed in on teammate Byron for position. 

    Through the first 100 laps of the race, Keselowski continued to lead by approximately two-tenths of a second over teammate Blaney. Teammates Larson and Byron battled for third while Hamlin was in fifth. Bowman, DiBenedetto, Truex, Bell and Logano were in the top 10 followed by the Busch brothers. Elliott, meanwhile, worked his way up to 14th after restarting in 30th place at the start of the second stage.

    Five laps later, Larson muscled his way back into the runner-up spot and teammate Byron also moved up, thus dropping Blaney to fourth place. Meanwhile, Keselowski continued to lead the field. Another two laps later, however, Larson retook the lead by a narrow margin over Keselowski. 

    By Lap 115, Larson was the leader by nearly half a second over teammate Byron with Keselowski trailing by more than a second in third place. Blaney and Hamlin were in the top five followed by Bowman, DiBenedetto, Bell, teammate Truex and Logano. The Busch brothers were in 12th and 13th, Elliott was still mired in 14th and Harvick haas in 17th in front of Chris Buescher.

    By Lap 120, Larson continued to lead by approximately half a second over teammate Byron. Blaney was in third, but was now trailing by three seconds. Hamlin and Keselowski remained in the top five followed by Bowman, DiBenedetto, Truex, teammate Bell and Logano. Elliott, meanwhile, was back in 15th behind the Busch brothers and Ryan Preece.

    Shortly after, pit stops under green occurred as Bowman was the first of the leaders to pit followed by a multitude of competitors, including leader Larson.

    By Lap 130, Tyler Reddick, who had yet to pit, was leading followed by Michael McDowell, rookie/teammate Anthony Alfredo, Corey LaJoie, Daniel Suarez and Cole Custer while Larson was in seventh.

    At the halfway mark on Laps 133 and 134, Reddick continued to lead followed by Front Row Motorsports’ teammates McDowell and Alfredo. LaJoie and Suarez were in the top five while Larson was in sixth. Hamlin, Keselowski, teammate Blaney and Byron were in the top 10.

    By Lap 140 and with 20 laps remaining in the second stage, teammates McDowell and Alfredo were leading the field followed by LaJoie, Larson and Suarez. By then, Reddick pitted for service.

    On Lap 146, McDowell surrendered the lead to pit. A lap later, Larson reassumed the lead. Shortly after, rookie Alfredo pitted along with Corey LaJoie. By then, Larson’s advantage stretched to nearly six seconds over Keselowski. Hamlin was in third followed by Blaney and Byron. Bell along with teammates Truex and Kyle Busch followed by Elliott were in the top 10. DiBenedetto, meanwhile, was in 12th behind Ricky Stenhouse Jr. while Kurt Busch, Logano and Harvick were in the top 15.

    With the laps in the second stage dwindling, Larson continued to lead by a steady and healthy margin over Keselowski. Having no challengers close in on him for the top spot, Larson was able to hold steady and claim the second stage victory by more than three seconds over Keselowski on Lap 160. In claiming his first stage victory of this season, Larson became the sixth competitor to record a stage victory through the first four Cup races of the 2021 season. Hamlin settled in third followed by Byron and Blaney while Bowman, Bell, Truex, Kyle Busch and Elliott were scored in the top 10. By then, 21 of the 38-car field were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Larson retained the lead following service from his pit crew. Hamlin exited in second place followed by Bowman, Truex, Bell and Kyle Busch. Byron, meanwhile, fell back to 10th behind Keselowski, Blaney and Elliott.

    With 100 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Larson moved his No. 5 Chevrolet in front of Hamlin on the inside lane. He then blocked Hamlin entering Turn 1 on the outside lane as Truex issued a challenge on the inside lane. 

    Through the backstretch and coming back to Turn 4, Larson retained the lead over Hamlin and Truex as the field fanned out while battling for spots. Behind, Kyle Busch started to make his way into the top five.

    The following lap, the caution returned when Elliott got loose entering the backstretch, made contact with Kurt Busch and spun in a full 360 degrees before continuing. While the rest of the field managed to dodge him, Elliott sustained left-front fender damage as he pitted to have the damage assessed. Kurt Busch also pitted to have damage on his No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE addressed along with a flat right-rear tire. Meanwhile, Hamlin had taken the lead over Larson at the time of caution

    With 93 laps remaining, the race restarted under green with leader Hamlin and Larson on the front row. At the start, Larson squeaked ahead, but Hamlin received a push from teammate Truex on the backstretch to take back the lead. 

    Six laps later, the caution returned when Aric Almirola made hard contact against with the outside wall in Turn 1. The damage to the right side of Almirola’s No. 10 Smithfield Power Bites Ford Mustang was enough to end his race in the garage. At the time of caution, Hamlin was leading by nearly a tenth of a second over teammate Truex while Larson, Blaney and Keselowski were in the top five. Byron, teammate Bowman, Logano, Bell and Kyle Busch were in the top 10.  

    Under caution, some led by Hamlin, Truex and Blaney remained on the track while others led by Keselowski and Larson pitted.

    The race restarted with 83 laps remaining as teammates Hamlin and Truex occupied the front row. At the start, the two Joe Gibbs Racing teammates battled dead even for a full circuit before Truex peaked ahead in his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry as the field behind fanned out to three and four lanes. 

    With 80 laps remaining, Truex was out in front by more than a tenth of a second over teammate Hamlin followed by Blaney, Byron and Bell. Keselowski, the first competitor on fresh tires, was in sixth while Larson, who restarted 17th on fresh tires, was up in eighth behind DiBenedetto. 

    A lap later, Hamlin came under pressure from Keselowski for the runner-up spot as teammates Byron and Larson overtook Blaney for positions in the top five. 

    Down to the final 75 laps of the event, Hamlin fought back and reassumed the lead by a narrow advantage over teammate Truex while Larson and Keselowski quickly went to work on Truex for the runner-up spot. Soon after, an intense six-car battle for the lead ensued between Hamlin, teammate Truex, Larson, Keselowski, Byron and Blaney as Hamlin continued to duke against Truex for the lead. 

    With 70 laps remaining, Hamlin was still leading by nearly three-tenths of a second over Larson. Truex and Keselowski battled intensely for third place followed by Byron and Blaney. Bell was in seventh followed by DiBenedetto and Erik Jones. Kyle Busch was mired back in 10th. Meanwhile, Logano was in 13th while Elliott was in 16th behind Austin Dillon.

    Ten laps later and under 60 laps remaining, Larson reassumed the lead over Hamlin. He then stretched his advantage to more than a second over Hamlin with Keselowski remaining in third. Truex was in fourth followed by Blaney while Byron, Bell, Kyle Busch, DiBenedetto and Jones were in the top 10. 

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Larson was leading by more than a second over Keselowski with Hamlin trailing by more than two seconds. Blaney was in fourth, trailing by more than three seconds while Truex was in fifth.

    Nearly four laps later, pit stops under green started as a handful of leaders pitted followed by others.

    With 37 laps remaining and with nearly the entire field having made a pit stop, Daniel Suarez, who has yet to pit, was scored as the leader. Larson, the first competitor on fresh tires and fuel, was behind by less than nine seconds with Keselowski remaining in pursuit. 

    Eight laps later, Larson returned to the lead. By then, he was leading by a second and a half over Keselowski’s No. 2 Ford.

    With 20 laps remaining and the leaders making their way through lapped traffic, Larson extended his lead to two and a half seconds over Keselowski. Hamlin was tucked in third place followed by teammates Kyle Busch and Truex. Blaney was back in sixth followed by Bell, Byron, teammate Bowman and Logano. Meanwhile, DiBenedetto was in 11th ahead of Jones, Stenhouse, Austin Dillon and Elliott. Kurt Busch was in 20th behind McDowell while Harvick was in 22nd, the final car on the lead lap, behind Ryan Newman.

    A few laps later, Bowman, who was running in the top 10, made the turn to pit road due to a flat tire. During the process of trying to enter pit road, he nearly collided with rookie Alfredo. Shortly after, it went from bad to worse for Bowman, who was assessed a pass-through penalty down pit road due to a commitment line violation while trying to enter pit road to pit.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Larson continued to lead by more than two and a half seconds over Keselowski. Behind, Kyle Busch zipped his No. 18 Ethel M Chocolates Toyota Camry into third place while teammate Hamlin were in fourth. Blaney was in fifth followed by Truex, teammate Bell, Byron, Logano and Jones. 

    A few laps later, Larson extended his lead to more than three seconds over Keselowski with Kyle Busch trailing by more than six seconds, Hamlin by more than eight seconds, Blaney by more than nine seconds and Truex by more than 11 seconds.

    With five laps remaining, Larson remained in the lead by three seconds over Keselowski. By then, 15 competitors were recorded on the lead lap as the leaders continued to encounter heavy traffic.

    Spending the final laps methodically working his way through lapped traffic, Larson was able to maintain his healthy advantage of more than three seconds and complete the final laps on a successful note as he claimed the checkered flag to win at Vegas.

    The victory marked Larson’s seventh of his Cup career and first since October 2019 at Dover International Speedway as he became the fourth different competitor to win within the first four events of the 2021 season. Above all, the Vegas win also validated Larson’s return to the top level in NASCAR after being suspended nearly a year ago due to using a racial slur during a live iRacing event, a move that cost him his full-time ride with Chip Ganassi Racing. Late into the 2020 season, an opportunity for Larson to return to NASCAR arrived when Hendrick Motorsports signed Larson for the 2021 season.

    Larson’s victory also marked the first Cup victory for crew chief Cliff Daniels and the first for HMS’ No. 5 car since July 2017 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In addition, Larson became the 20th different competitor to win while driving for Hendrick Motorsports as HMS claimed Cup career win No. 265.

    “It was such an awesome race car,” Larson said on FOX. “[Crew chief] Cliff [Daniels] and everybody did a great job preparing this piece. It was so much fun to drive. I could go wherever I wanted to. I knew I had a really good car once we’d get single-filed out. Just drafting early in the run was tough. Thank you so much, Mr. [Hendrick], Jeff Gordon, everybody at Hendrick Motorsports for the amazing opportunity I’ve been gifted…This is definitely special.”

    “I know that this is Rick’s most special paint scheme for obvious reasons,” Larson added. “It’s just an honor for me to be able to drive it, our first time out with this [blue, white and red] color scheme. Like I said, just blessed…That was some fun racing on the restarts, so I hoped everybody enjoyed it. I know I did.”

    Keselowski settled in second place for his second top-five result of this season. Kyle Busch came home in third place as he claimed his first top-five finish of this season while teammate Hamlin and Blaney finished in the top five.

    “Yeah, good for [Larson],” Keselowski said on PRN. “He ran a great race. He was really fast. The kid’s got so much talent. I still wanted to beat him, though, but we had a great Discount Tire Ford Mustang. If he wasn’t here, we would have just stunk the show up, but he was and he ran good.”

    “We fought hard obviously,” Busch said. “We were a little behind the eight ball at the start of the green flag and just were super, super tight all day long. [Crew chief] Ben [Beshore] and the guys made awesome adjustments to and I was trying to give the best feedback I can to give them good information that they can base that off of and make the good adjustments. We improved each time. I don’t know where we missed it so far from the simulator, but that’s two weeks in a row where we’re not apples to apples. Just can’t say enough about Ethel M Chocolates, thank you guys…Ready to keep working on it and keep improving. We were just a little off on pace, overall pace, overall lap time from the fast guys.”

    “We’re close,” Hamlin added. “We just have to fine tune it. We’re gathering up information right now to figure out how we can make our FedEx Camry better in the fall. This is a good start. We got it in the short rounds but not enough long run speed…Overall, good start. We will see, gather all the data and I will figure out this week what we have to do.”

    “I thought it was a pretty solid day all day,” Blaney added. “We had to start pretty far in the back from our bad finish last week and was able to make it up to ninth before the [competition] caution and got third in the first stage and then like fifth in the second and ended up fifth. I thought we could have run second or third. [Larson] was really the fastest one all day long. It didn’t matter where he was he just drove through the field but overall, a really good effort by our group. We really needed that after having three pretty bad races to start off the year. It’s nice to kind of finally get a good run and just a no problem day, just having a solid car and working on it throughout the day. I’m really proud of [crew chief] Todd [Gordon] and the whole No. 12 bunch and nice to get a good finish. Now we can get rolling here.”

    Truex, teammate Bell, Byron, Logano and Erik Jones came home in the top 10 on the track. 

    Elliott settled in 13th behind Austin Dillon, DiBenedetto ended up in 16th, Kurt Busch finished 19th, Harvick came home in 20th and Bowman settled in 27th following his late pit road miscue. Chase Briscoe was the highest-finishing rookie in 21st. Suarez finished 26th while Bubba Wallace finished 28th.

    There were 27 lead changes for 12 different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 30 laps. 

    Hamlin continues to lead the regular-season standings by 38 points over Keselowski, 40 over Larson, 48 over Elliott, 49 over Bell and Logano and 51 over Harvick.

    Results.

    1. Kyle Larson, 103 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Brad Keselowski, 27 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    3. Kyle Busch

    4. Denny Hamlin, 47 laps led

    5. Ryan Blaney, one lap led

    6. Martin Truex Jr., six laps led

    7. Christopher Bell

    8. William Byron, 25 laps led

    9. Joey Logano, seven laps led

    10. Erik Jones

    11. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 

    12. Austin Dillon

    13. Chase Elliott, 22 laps led

    14. Chris Buescher

    15. Ryan Preece, one lap down

    16. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap down

    17. Michael McDowell, one lap down, eight laps led

    18. Ryan Newman, one lap down

    19. Kurt Busch, one lap down

    20. Kevin Harvick, one lap down

    21. Chase Briscoe, one lap down

    22. Tyler Reddick, one lap down, seven laps led

    23. Ross Chastain, one lap down

    24. Anthony Alfredo, one lap down, one lap led

    25. Cole Custer, one lap down

    26. Daniel Suarez, two laps down, 12 laps led

    27. Alex Bowman, two laps down

    28. Bubba Wallace, five laps down

    29. Justin Haley, five laps down

    30. B.J. McLeod, seven laps down

    31. Garrett Smithley, eight laps down

    32. Cody Ware, eight laps down

    33. Quin Houff, 11 laps down

    34. Joey Gase, 12 laps down

    35. Josh Bilicki, 15 laps down

    36. Timmy Hill, 21 laps down

    37. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Rear end

    38. Aric Almirola – OUT, Accident

    The NASCAR Cup Series will remain in the West Coast for the next event on the schedule at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona, next weekend. The race will occur on Sunday, March 14, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Byron scores resounding victory at Homestead

    Byron scores resounding victory at Homestead

    After struggling for the first two races of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, William Byron rebounded by racing his way to a resounding victory in the late stages of the Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, February 28. The win marked the second of his Cup career in his 111th career start.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Denny Hamlin, the reigning winner at Homestead, was due to start on pole position. He, however, dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments. With that, Joey Logano started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Christopher Bell, winner of last weekend’s event at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course.

    Along with Hamlin, Alex Bowman and Corey LaJoie started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments. James Davison joined the trio due to multiple pre-race inspection failures.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Logano jumped ahead with an early advantage while the field behind fanned out to two and three lanes entering Turn 2 while battling for spots. Logano was able to lead the first lap as Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch moved up while Bell fell back inside the top 10. 

    By the fifth lap, Logano retained an early advantage by seven-tenths of a second over Harvick with Keselowski behind by nearly a second while closing in on Harvick. Kurt Busch and Bell were in the top five followed by Michael McDowell, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson, teammate Chase Elliott and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    Two laps later, Keselowski overtook Harvick for the runner-up spot. Another lap by, Kurt Busch passed Harvick for the third spot. In addition, Larson moved up to sixth while Truex fell back to eight. 

    By Lap 10, Logano continued to lead, though his advantage shrieked to less than half a second over teammate Keselowski. 

    Two laps later, Keselowski muscled his way into the lead over teammate Logano. Behind, Larson continued to rim-ride his way to the front after passing Harvick for fourth place. Shortly after, Stenhouse overtook Harvick to move into the top five. Meanwhile, Truex and Elliott were back in ninth and 10th.

    By Lap 20, Keselowski stretched his advantage to more than two seconds over teammate Logano as Kurt Busch and Larson remained in pursuit. Stenhouse was in fifth followed by Harvick, Truex, Chris Buescher, Bell and Elliott.

    When the field reached Lap 25, a planned competition caution flew. By then, Keselowski extended his advantage to more than four seconds over teammate Logano. Kurt Busch fended off Larson and Stenhouse to remain in third place. Behind, Truex moved into sixth place followed by Harvick, Buescher, Bell and Ryan Blaney.

    By then, Elliott and Kyle Busch were in the top 15 while Tyler Reddick was in 17th, one spot ahead of Matt DiBenedetto. Alex Bowman was in 20th ahead of Bubba Wallace and Cole Custer while Denny Hamlin was back in 24th behind Aric Almirola.

    Under the competition caution, the leaders pitted and Keselowski retained the lead following a four-tire pit stop. Kurt Busch was able to exit pit road into second place followed by Logano, Harvick and Truex.

    When the race restarted on Lap 30, Keselowski and Kurt Busch challenged one another in a side-by-side battle for the lead for nearly one full lap. Entering Turn 4, however, Keselowski gained a run on the outside lane and retained the lead while teammate Logano attempted to pull a three-wide move on Harvick and Keselowski. Logano and Harvick were able to move into second and third while Kurt Busch slipped back to fourth. Shortly after, Buescher moved up to fourth over Kurt Busch as the field continued to battle for spots.

    By Lap 35, Keselowski was ahead by nearly half a second over teammate Logano. Behind, Harvick was in third followed by Stenhouse, Buescher, William Byron, Kurt Busch, Larson, Bell and Ryan Newman.  

    Five laps later, the two Penske drivers led by Keselowski were separated by seven-tenths of a second. Buescher moved up to third place followed by Byron and Stenhouse, who overtook Harvick for position. Larson moved back up to seventh while Kurt Busch fell back to eighth. Newman and Bell remained in the top 10 followed by Kyle Busch, Bowman, Austin Dillon, Blaney, Truex and Elliott.

    By Lap 42, Buescher made a move beneath Logano to move into the runner-up spot while Byron started to close in on Logano for third place.

    By Lap 50, Keselowski continued to lead by a narrow margin over Buescher. Byron remained in third place followed by Logano and Kurt Busch. Larson moved up to sixth followed by Stenhouse, Bowman and Newman. Harvick, meanwhile, slipped back to 10th followed by Bell, teammate Truex, Newman, Austin Dillon, Elliott and Kyle Busch. Further behind, Hamlin was in 20th and battling with power issues. 

    Three laps later, Buescher became the third different leader of the day after passing Keselowski. 

    By Lap 60, Buescher extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Byron while Keselowski fell back to third. Kurt Busch was in fourth followed by Logano while teammates Larson and Bowman were in sixth and seventh. Stenhouse fell back to eighth followed by Newman and Truex. Harvick, meanwhile, was back in 11th. 

    Four laps later, the caution flew due to fluid on the backstretch coming from the No. 15 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE driven by James Davison, who had smoke and flames erupting beneath the car as Davison made the turn to the garage.

    Under caution, the leaders pitted and Buescher retained the lead following a stellar four-tire stop over names like Keselowski, Logano, Truex, Bowman and Kurt Busch. During the pit stops, Byron dropped from second to seventh

    The race restarted on Lap 72 with Buescher and Keselowski on the front row. At the start, Keselowski and Buescher battled for the lead followed by Bowman, who muscled his way inside the top three over Logano, as the field fanned out to three lanes through the backstretch. 

    The following lap, Keselowski was back in the lead followed by Buescher, Bowman, Truex and Logano.

    With the laps in the first stage closing, Buescher closed back in on Keselowski in a battle for the lead. After pressuring Keselowski for the top spot, Buescher moved back into the top spot with two laps remaining in the first stage.

    Following his late charge and strong start in the early portions of the race, Buescher was able to easily cruise his No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang to the first stage victory on Lap 80. Keselowski trailed back by nearly a second followed by Truex, Byron and teammate Bowman. Larson settled in sixth followed by Logano, Elliott, Kurt Busch and Austin Dillon.

    Under the stage break, the leaders returned to pit road and Buescher exited pit road in first place following another stellar pit stop. Keselowski exited pit road in second place followed by Bowman, teammate Elliott and Logano

    The second stage started on Lap 87 with Buescher and Keselowski on the front row. At the start, Buescher and Keselowski battled for the lead while Logano was mired in a tight battle with all four Hendrick Motorsports competitors. 

    Shortly after, Elliott mounted his way towards the front after overtaking his teammates, Logano and Keselowski for positions. By Lap 88, Elliott muscled his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to the lead after passing Buescher in Turn 1. 

    With Elliott in the lead, teammate Larson and Buescher, both of whom overtook Keselowski, battled for second place. Byron and Bowman, teammates at Hendrick Motorsports, were in fifth and sixth. Truex was in seventh while Logano dropped back to eighth. Hamlin, who struggled at the start, was up in ninth followed by Austin Dillon, Kurt Busch and Cole Custer.

    On Lap 93, Buescher reassumed the lead over Elliott, who led four laps. Two laps later, Buescher stretched his advantage to nearly half a second over Elliott as teammate Larson settled in third. Teammates Byron and Bowman were in fourth and seventh while Keselowski, Truex and Logano were in fifth, sixth and eighth.

    Five laps later, teammates Larson, Elliott and Byron were locked in a heated battle for the runner-up spot, with Larson and Byron prevailing and moving up.

    By Lap 100, Buescher was leading by more than a second over Larson, who had teammate Byron closing in for more. Behind, teammate Elliott was locked in a battle with Truex for fourth place. Keselowski was in sixth followed by Bowman, Kurt Busch, Logano and Hamlin.

    Ten laps later, Buescher stabilized his advantage to more than one-and-a-half seconds. Behind, Truex overtook Larson and Byron for the runner-up spot while Kurt Busch worked his way back into sixth place. Elliott fell back to sixth followed by teammate Bowman, Keselowski, Hamlin and Austin Dillon.

    Another five laps later, Byron overtook teammate Larson for third place. By then, Buescher was still in the lead by more than a second over Truex.

    Shortly after, the first round of pit stops under green commenced as Newman pitted followed by Ross Chastain, Matt DiBenedetto, Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick. Hamlin, Elliott, Keselowski, Logano, Aric Almirola, Bell, Byron, Bowman, Custer, Michael McDowell, Truex, Kurt Busch, Larson, Erik Jones, Ryan Preece, Corey LaJoie and race leader Buescher pitted in the ensuing laps.

    When the majority of pit stops under green were completed, Truex emerged with the lead on Lap 125 moments after Daniel Suarez and Bubba Wallace pitted under green.

    By Lap 135, Truex was leading by nearly two seconds over Buescher while Byron was in third, trailing by more than four seconds. Kurt Busch and Austin Dillon were in the top five. Bowman was in sixth followed by Newman, Hamlin, Larson and teammate Elliott while Keselowski was in 11th. Earlier, Elliott, who made a three-wide move on teammate Larson and Keselowski for position through Turns 3 and 4, slipped up and got loose, though he was able to avoid wrecking in front of Keselowski.

    Behind the leaders, Logano was in 13th, Harvick was in 14th and Kyle Busch was in 18th.

    With the first 150 laps of the race complete, Truex remained in the lead by nearly two seconds over Buescher. Byron continued to run in third place followed by Kurt Busch and Austin Dillon. Bowman remained in sixth place followed by Hamlin, Larson, Newman and Almirola. Behind were Harvick, Keselowski and Elliott while teammates Logano and Blaney rounded out the top 15. 

    Three laps later, the caution returned when smoke billowed out of Corey LaJoie’s No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE due to his engine letting go down the backstretch.

    Under caution, the leaders pitted and Truex retained the lead after exiting pit road in first place followed by teammate Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Byron and Buescher.

    The race restarted with a one-lap dash to conclude the second stage as Joe Gibbs Racing’s Truex and Hamlin were on the front row. At the start, teammates Truex and Hamlin battled dead even through Turns 1 and 2. 

    Entering Turn 3, Hamlin squeaked ahead and tried to slide in front of teammate Truex for the lead. Byron, meanwhile, had other plans and made the inside lane work to his advantage as he powered through both JGR competitors and came out on top to claim the second stage victory on Lap 160. Hamlin settled in second followed by teammate Kurt Busch, Truex and Larson. Buescher, Harvick, Blaney, Bowman and Keselowski were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, some led by Truex pitted while the rest led by Byron remained on the track.

    With 100 laps remaining, the final stage commenced with Byron and Hamlin on the front row. At the start, Byron retained the lead followed by Hamlin as the field fanned out to three, four and five lanes through Turns 1 and 2. 

    When the field returned to the start/finish line, Byron continued to lead by a narrow margin over Hamlin while Larson overtook Kurt Busch for third place. Truex and Harvick were in fifth and sixth while Custer, Keselowski, Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick were in the top 10.

    With 90 laps remaining, Byron continued to lead by nearly a second over teammate Larson, who was locked in a heated battle with Hamlin for the runner-up spot. Truex was close behind in fourth while Kurt Busch was in the top five. Custer moved up to sixth place followed by Harvick, Keselowski, Austin Dillon and Reddick. Bowman was in 11th followed by Kyle Busch, McDowell, Ross Chastain and Newman. Bell and DiBenedetto were in 16th and 17th followed by Bubba Wallace, Blaney and Buescher. Elliott was all the way back in 23rd while Logano was in 25th in front of rookie Chase Briscoe. 

    Twenty laps later, Byron remained in the lead by more than a second over Truex. Larson, Hamlin and Kurt Busch were in the top five followed by Harvick, who overtook teammate Custer for position. McDowell worked his way up to eighth followed by Reddick and Keselowski.

    Under the final 70 laps of the race, the caution returned for an on-track incident involving Aric Almirola and Blaney, where Almirola tried to slide up in front of Blaney entering Turn 3 and the two made contact that resulted with both competitors making contact against the outside wall and sustaining damage to their respective machines.

    Under caution, the leaders pitted and Larson, whose pit crew struggled throughout the event, emerged with the lead following a stellar pit stop. Truex exited in second place followed by Kurt Busch, Hamlin and Harvick while Byron dropped back to sixth place. Following the pit stops, however, Hamlin was busted with a pit road speeding penalty.

    The races restarted with 60 laps remaining. At the start, Truex squeaked ahead while Larson fought back on the inside lane. While Truex and Larson battled for the lead, Byron made a bold three-wide move to overtake Keselowski and Harvick for third place. Byron then went to work on teammate Larson for the runner-up spot, which he prevailed. 

    Not long after, Byron reassumed the lead with 58 laps remaining after passing Truex with Larson lurking behind. Custer, meanwhile, worked his way into fifth place as he went to work in challenging Keselowski for fourth place. 

    With 55 laps remaining, a three-way battle for fifth place heated up between Kurt Busch, Harvick and Keselowski. Meanwhile, Byron was leading by nearly half a second over Truex with Larson behind by less than a second and Custer trailing by two seconds.

    Five laps later, Byron remained in the lead by over teammate Larson, who prevailed over a late battle with Truex. 

    Under the final 50 laps of the race and with the lights coming on as the race fell into night conditions, Kurt Busch, who was battling Custer for fourth place, radioed vibration issues to his No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.

    With 40 laps remaining, Byron stabilized his advantage to more than two seconds over teammate Larson. Truex remained in third place followed by Kurt Busch and Custer.

    Shortly after, Kurt Busch surrendered his top-five spot on the track to pit under green for tires and following his vibration issues. 

    With 30 laps remaining, Byron’s advantage over teammate Larson remained unchanged as Byron led by more than two seconds. Truex remained in third place, trailing by more than three seconds, while teammates Harvick and Custer trailed by more than eight seconds. By then, Logano made a pit stop under green. Shortly after, teammate Keselowski also pitted under green for four fresh tires.

    With 20 laps remaining, Byron stretched his advantage in his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to four seconds over Larson’s No. 5 Nations Guard Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE with Truex’s No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry trailing by nearly five seconds.

    With 10 laps remaining, Byron remained in the lead by less than five seconds over teammate Larson. Truex was in third place and more than five seconds behind Byron, though he was closing in on Larson for the runner-up spot. Reddick was in fourth followed by Harvick. Teammate Custer remained in sixth followed by McDowell, Newman, Bowman and Kyle Busch.

    Under five laps remaining, Byron continued to lead while a three-car battle for the runner-up spot ensued between Larson, Truex and Reddick. Utilizing the outside lane to his advantage while running close to the outside wall, Reddick moved into third place. Entering Turn 4, however, he got loose underneath Larson, though he prevented the car from spinning out.

    With Byron long gone with the lead, the battle for the runner-up spot continued to heat up as Reddick overtook Truex for third place and went to work on Larson for more, which he prevailed not long after.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Byron was out in front by nearly four seconds over Reddick and Larson. With no challengers coming close, Byron was able to cruise around the circuit for a final time and come back around to claim the checkered flag in first place and with a victory margin of nearly three seconds.

    With his second Cup career victory and first since winning at Daytona International Speedway in August 2020, Byron, who led a race-high 102 laps, became the third different winner of the 2021 season. While he snapped a two-race streak featuring first-time Cup winners, he extended the race-winning streak of Hendrick Motorsports to 36 consecutive seasons.

    The victory was the first of the season for Hendrick Motorsports and the 95th career victory for the No. 24 car. The victory was also the first in the Cup Series for crew chief Ryan “Rudy” Fugle, who worked and won seven Truck Series races with Byron in 2016. 

    “That guy [Fugle] has been huge for my career,” Byron said on FOX. “He’s the reason I’m here. I’m glad we could get him [a win]. He’s just awesome and this whole team did a phenomenal job. Everybody, pit crew, over the wall. Extremely blessed…I can’t even believe it. It was just a really smooth day and we worked hard in the winter on this track. I can’t believe it.”

    “You had to go with the wall at certain times; (Turns) 3 and 4 were really fast up there,” Byron added. “I definitely didn’t do it as good as the Xfinity cars do it, but I used it when I had to, and this car was just awesome. It’s really a lot of hard work. I think we went to the [simulator] four or five times this off-season and it just pays off, man. It’s awesome.”

    Behind, Reddick tied his career-best result after finishing in second place as he fell short in becoming the third first-time winner within the first three Cup races of the 2021 season. Compared to Saturday’s Xfinity Series event at Homestead, where his car failed post-race inspection and the driver was disqualified from his runner-up result to winner Myatt Snider, Reddick’s car passed the Cup post-race inspection process and he was able to remain in second place officially. Despite the result, he was less than pleased in falling short of the win.

    “Second place, it’s a good night considering how the first two weekends have went,” Reddick said. “I needed to get this Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevy to Victory Lane because if I would’ve, it would’ve gotten a lot of people in America free chicken tenders on Monday night. Once I really saw how fast we were in clean air, at the end there and I saw how fast we were catching everybody, it’s beyond frustrating. Just two or three different decision on a restart would’ve put me miles ahead and I would’ve been within reach. Second’s great, but I saw how much faster I was than those guys there at the end. Naturally, it’s frustrating.” 

    Truex, meanwhile, was able to squeak ahead of Larson to take third place while Harvick rounded out the top five.

    “I felt like that last run, for whatever reason, it didn’t do what it’d done all day,” Truex said. “[Byron] and [Larson] got by us on that restart, I’m like, ‘Alright, I’m just gonna take care of it here and hope that this is gonna be a really long run.’ That’s where we were strong all day. It just never happened. My balance got off there the last 40 laps or so and the car wouldn’t do what it did earlier. So close. The guys did a great job. It was a solid good effort for our Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry. Just proud of everybody for working hard. It’s definitely something we can build on.”

    “That got pretty intense there at the end, “Larson said on MRN. “[I was] Just trying to take care of my tires and was just struggling on the long runs. Loose for the majority of the race and there that last run, [I] actually got tight. But I felt like being tight was better for my long run just because I could be just a little more confident leading with the right front than the right rear. A top-five finish, I would’ve like to finish second, but those guys were better than me at the end and just couldn’t hold them off. I hate that I gave up those spots but all in all, a good day for the Nations Guard team.”

    McDowell, Newman, Kurt Busch, Bowman and Kyle Busch completed the top 10 on the track. Hamlin settled in 11th, Elliott was in 14th, Keselowski ended up 16th and Logano finished all the way back in 25th.

    There were 20 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 36 laps. 

    Hamlin continues to lead the regular-season standings by 20 points over Harvick, 31 over Logano, 33 over McDowell, 34 over Elliott and 35 over Kurt Busch.

    Results.

    1. William Byron, 102 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Tyler Reddick

    3. Martin Truex Jr., 37 laps led

    4. Kyle Larson, five laps led

    5. Kevin Harvick

    6. Michael McDowell

    7. Ryan Newman

    8. Kurt Busch

    9. Alex Bowman

    10. Kyle Busch

    11. Denny Hamlin

    12. Austin Dillon

    13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    14. Chase Elliott, four laps led

    15. Daniel Suarez, one lap led

    16. Brad Keselowski, 47 laps led

    17. Ross Chastain

    18. Chase Briscoe

    19. Chris Buescher, 57 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    20. Christopher Bell

    21. Ryan Preece

    22. Bubba Wallace, two laps led

    23. Cole Custer

    24. Anthony Alfredo

    25. Joey Logano, 12 laps led

    26. Justin Haley, one lap down

    27. Erik Jones, one lap down

    28. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap down

    29. Ryan Blaney, one lap down

    30. Aric Almirola, three laps down

    31. Garrett Smithley, four laps down

    32. Cody Ware, six laps down

    33. Josh Bilicki, eight laps down

    34. B.J. McLeod, nine laps down

    35. Quin Houff, nine laps down

    36. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Engine

    37. James Davison – OUT, Engine

    38. Timmy Hill – OUT, Electrical

    Next on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the first of a two-race West Coast swing for the series. The Vegas event in Nevada will occur on Sunday, March 7, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.