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Tag: Brad Keselowski

  • Multi-car pileup in closing laps of Daytona 500

    Multi-car pileup in closing laps of Daytona 500

    With the laps winding down in the Daytona 500, the pushing, shoving and tight-quarter action that defines restrictor plate racing led to the inevitable big one.

    “Speedway racing again,” Joey Logano said. “It’s a lot of fun until this happens.”

    As the field zoomed down the backstretch at Daytona International Speedway, Brad Keselowski moved from the outside line to the bottom to overtake race leader Ross Chastain. Meanwhile, Alex Bowman and William Byron, who spent the previous laps on the bottom line, got shuffled up to the middle line and worked their way up to the front. The last bump wasn’t squared up and Byron’s car wiggled, hooked Keselowski and triggered a 23-car pileup at the entrance of Turn 3.

    It capped off a miserable Speedweeks for the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion who wrecked his primary car, Thursday, in the Bluegreen Vacations Duels.

    “You’re kind of always watching when you’re in there and especially if you’re on top you can kind of watch and see how well their pushes are and it just looked like the 48 kind of got the 24 out of shape and just happened to get the 6 in the right-rear and unfortunately we were in the top lane,” Blaney said.

    After the initial hit, he grabbed his wrist.

    “I had my initial wreck and then my wheel grabbed something,” he said. “I usually let go of the wheel, but I didn’t think I needed to and it just tweaked it a little bit. It’s all good.”

    He and Logano led a combined 57 of 200 laps and were in position to deliver Team Penske its second Daytona 500 victory. On the back of a ninth-month stretch of marquee victories for Roger Penske.

    “It’s part of it,” Logano said. “You’re pushing and shoving there at the end. We had the cars that could take it and were doing really well. I had Blaney behind me. I thought, ‘Man, if I could pick one, that’s the one I want. I’m in a great position here’ and just had to find the right opportunity to slip the 1 again because the 6 wasn’t working with us, so I felt if I could keep the 12 with me I’m gonna be in a decent spot, but it just didn’t work out.

    For Keselowski, the winningest active plate racer in the Cup Series (seven), he remains winless in his 15th attempt to win NASCAR’s crown jewel.

    “It’s just one of those deals,” he said. “We were mixed up in the middle of the soup most of the race. We executed really well in the final stage and put ourselves in position, but that’s just the way Daytona goes.”

    Byron and Bowman, whose drafting triggered the wreck, finished first and second.

    “Yeah, I feel really bad about that because I feel like that was — things were getting really intense with the pushes, and I felt like it was getting to the point where I couldn’t handle all the pushes, and you just try to get through those moments,” he said.

  • William Byron capitalizes late to claim first Daytona 500 victory

    William Byron capitalizes late to claim first Daytona 500 victory

    In a star-studded and electrifying season-opening event where the Ford and Toyota competitors were deemed as the heavyweight favorites, Chevrolet competitor William Byron and Hendrick Motorsports delivered the final ultimatum that sent them to Victory Lane in the rain-postponed, 66th annual running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Monday, February 19.

    The 26-year-old Byron from Charlotte, North Carolina, led the final four of 200-scheduled laps in an event where he started 18th and was consistent amongst a bevy of competitors running in tight two and three-stacked lanes from start to finish. After dodging a multi-car wreck with eight laps remaining that eliminated a bevy of former Cup Series champions and stars, Byron cycled to the front and made his presence at the front known for the first time during the final restart. With four laps remaining, he fended off late challenges from Ross Chastain and Austin Cindric.

    Then as both Chastain and Cindric wrecked before the start of the final lap, Byron managed to start the final lap and emerge in front of teammate Alex Bowman at the moment of caution to emerge as the winner of the Great American Race for the first time in his career and in his seventh full-time campaign piloting the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports.

    The starting lineup for the main event was determined through a single-car qualifying session comprising two rounds that occurred on Wednesday, February 14, followed by a pair of Bluegreen Vacations Duels on Thursday, February 15. At the conclusion of both sessions, Joey Logano started in the pole position after posting a lap at 171.947 mph in 49.465 seconds and was joined on the front row by Michael McDowell, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 181.686 mph in 49.536 seconds. Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell occupied the second row after both won their respective Duel events.

    Before the event, the following drivers including Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, William Byron, Noah Gragson and Daniel Hemric dropped to the rear of the field in backup cars after each wrecked their primary cars during the Duel events. Kaz Grala also dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change made to his Front Row Motorsports entry.

    When the green flag waved and the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season commenced, Logano gained an early advantage to lead the field entering the first two turns from the outside lane followed by Christopher Bell until McDowell fought back on the inside lane as both fought for the top spot through the backstretch and in front of two packed lanes. With the field still stacked up amid two tight-packed lanes through the frontstretch, Logano led the first lap by a hair over McDowell as both continued to battle side-by-side for the lead during the proceeding laps.

    Then on the fifth lap and as the field started to fan out to three lanes as both Logano and McDowell continued to fight for the lead, the event’s first caution flew. Brad Keselowski, who was running within the top 10, got John Hunter Nemechek loose and sent him veering left into Harrison Burton. Burton, who collected rookie Carson Hocevar, was sent spinning across the frontstretch grass before his No. 21 Motorcraft Ford Mustang Dark Horse came back across the track and was T-boned by Kaz Grala, who sent Ryan Preece spinning across the frontstretch. Preece, however, avoided making heavy contact with the inside wall, before Burton was hit by Austin Dillon’s No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 while Jimmie Johnson collided with Hocevar.

    During the first caution period, nearly the entire field led by Logano and McDowell pitted while the rest of the field, including Christopher Bell, David Ragan, Daniel Hemric, Ryan Blaney and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., remained on the track. During the pit stops, where a majority of the field opted for only fuel for their respective entries, William Byron received a vehicle interference penalty when he pulled up into the wrong box and nearly collided with teammate Alex Bowman. In addition, Nemechek would be penalized for an equipment violation.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 11, Bell and Blaney dueled for the lead amid two tight-packed lanes through the first two turns as Bell had Logano drafting him on the outside lane while Blaney had Daniel Hemric drafting him on the inside lane. Both Bell and Blaney would continue to compete for the lead in front of two tight-packed lanes during the proceeding laps. By then, AJ Allmendinger served a drive-through penalty through pit road for not lining up properly during the restart.

    Through the first 20 scheduled laps, Bell and Blaney continued to battle for the lead in front of two tight-packed lanes while Hemric, Logano, McDowell, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Austin Cindric, Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick were scored in the top 10 followed by Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman, Erik Jones, Riley Herbst, rookie Josh Berry, Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, rookie Zane Smith, Daniel Suarez and Justin Haley. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch was back in 21st along with Kyle Larson, Ty Gibbs, Todd Gilliland and Martin Truex Jr. while Bubba Wallace, Nemechek, Corey LaJoie, William Byron and Noah Gragson were running within the top 30 ahead of Ragan, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Preece, Anthony Alfredo and Allmendinger, with Jimmie Johnson scored two laps down in 36th place.

    Five laps later, Bell and Blaney remained dead even for the lead in front of the pack as Hemric and Logano followed suit in the second row while McDowell and Elliott were running in the third row ahead of Keselowski, Cindric, Hamlin and Reddick. The field led by both Bell and Blaney would continue to run stacked amid two tight-packed lanes by the Lap 30 mark.

    Just past the Lap 35 mark and with a majority of the field migrating to the inside lane while trying to conserve fuel, Blaney had sole possession of the lead followed by Bell, Hemric, Logano and Elliott while Keselowski and Cindric fought for sixth place with Cindric leading a handful of competitors on the outside lane. A lap later, Logano mounted a charge on the outside lane through the frontstretch but was blocked by teammate Blaney entering the first turn. By then, Blaney had his Team Penske teammates Logano and Cindric along with a majority of the competitors following suit on the outside lane while Bell served as the lead competitor on the inside lane, followed by Hemric, Elliott and Keselowski.

    On Lap 40, Logano mounted another charge on the outside lane followed by teammate Cindric and overtook him for the lead entering Turns 1 and 2 while teammate Blaney moved to the inside lane in front of Bell. Another lap later, however, the Team Penske competitors along with Bell, Hemric and Keselowski pitted under green, mainly for fuel, while McDowell assumed the lead. Chris Buescher would then pit his No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang Dark Horse by Lap 42 as McDowell was trying to fend off Berry, Hamlin, Elliott and Kyle Busch for the lead. Though he initially prevailed, McDowell was left battling Elliott side-by-side for the lead.

    After Berry led a lap on Lap 45, Elliott assumed the lead in his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 during the following lap. He would be followed by Kyle Busch, Bubba Wallace, Martin Truex Jr. and Noah Gragson while Byron, Larson, Hamlin, Bowman and Zane Smith were scored in the top 10 as the field dispersed, with the Team Penske competitors separated as Blaney was losing the draft from teammates Logano and Cindric due to taking extra time in his pit stall for fuel.

    Just past the Lap 50 mark, top names that included Bell, Hemric, Blaney and McDowell, all of whom previously pitted, were lapped by the front-runners as Elliott retained the lead followed by Kyle Busch, Wallace, Truex and Gragson while Byron, Larson, Hamlin, Bowman and Zane Smith remained in the top 10 amid a long single-file line towards the outside lane.

    Four laps later, Zane Smith and Stenhouse pitted under green. Another lap later, a bevy of competitors, mainly Chevrolet competitors, led by Elliott pitted as Wallace cycled into the lead, though Wallace would lead another wave of competitors, mainly Toyota competitors, into pit road for service during the following lap as Gragson cycled into the lead followed by a bevy of Ford competitors. The leader, Gragson, along with teammate Berry, Justin Haley and Todd Gilliland then pitted prior to the Lap 60 mark as Ragan assumed the lead followed by Preece while Kyle Busch, who was leading a bevy of competitors who pitted, was in third and trying to gain ground amid the draft.

    With three laps remaining in the first stage period, Ragan and Preece, both of whom were trying to stretch their fuel tanks to the distance of the stage’s conclusion, were overtaken by a wave of competitors led by Kyle Busch, who assumed the lead followed by Byron, Elliott, Suarez and Larson while Bowman, Chastain, Wallace, Truex and Hamlin were mired in the front pack.

    At the start of the first stage period’s final lap, Elliott moved to the outside lane as he assumed the lead from Busch followed by teammates Larson, Bowman and Chastain. Then entering the frontstretch, Larson tried to make his move to Elliott’s outside approaching the start/finish line, but Chastain gave Elliott a bump, which propelled Elliott forward as he claimed the first stage victory on Lap 65. Teammate Larson settled in second followed by Chastain while Byron, Bowman, Busch, Hamlin, Wallace, Truex and Suarez were scored in the top 10. By then, Blaney, Bell and Hemric had managed to cycle their way back onto the lead lap while Allmendinger fended off McDowell to emerge as the first competitor scored a lap down, which enabled him to cycle back onto the lead lap during the caution period.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Elliott pitted while select names that included Keselowski, Riley Herbst and Hemric remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, both Nemechek and Reddick stalled their respective entries. In addition, Kyle Busch was penalized for a safety violation. Herbst and Hemric would pit during the proceeding lap while Keselowski remained on the track, though he pitted to top off of fuel prior to the lead as Larson and Berry cycled into the lead.

    The second stage period started on Lap 70 as Larson and Berry occupied the front row. At the start, Larson and Berry dueled for the lead through the first two turns as Berry muscled his No. 4 SunnyD Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the lead before Larson fought back on the outside lane. With both remaining dead even for the lead, Larson led the next scheduled lap as Hamlin and Gilliland followed suit in the second lane.

    With the field fanning out to three lanes through the backstretch by Lap 71, both Larson and Berry remained dead even for the lead until Logano mounted a charge from the third outside lane as he rocketed his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the lead followed by Chase Briscoe and Haley before Briscoe, who migrated to the inside lane, challenged Logano for the lead as Logano transitioned from the inside and outside lane. With Larson stuck in the middle lane, Logano had drafting help from Haley on the outside lane while Briscoe was trying to regain momentum from the inside lane. As teammates Briscoe and Berry lost momentum and were slowly drifting to the rear of the field, Logano retained the lead followed by Haley, Buescher, Kyle Busch, Preece and Blaney while Larson, who moved in front of Briscoe, was trying to mount forward on the inside lane by the Lap 75 mark.

    By Lap 80, Logano was leading followed by Haley, Buscher, Busch and Preece while Blaney, Gilliland, Hemric, Wallace and Zane Smith were in the top 10 followed by Truex, Larson, Alfredo, Reddick, Bell, Elliott, Cindric, LaJoie, Keselowski and Stenhouse. Meanwhile, Byron was mired back in 25th while teammates Berry and Briscoe fell back to 23rd and 27th, respectively, as Chastain was in 29th in between Gragson and Ty Gibbs. In addition, Hamlin was back in 34th place.

    Ten laps later, Logano continued to lead followed by Haley, Wallace and Buescher while Todd Gilliland, who was challenging Logano for the lead a few laps earlier, was trying to mount back towards the front on the inside lane as Gilliland, who received drafting help from Wallace earlier, was being drafted by Truex while Reddick tried to join the fray.

    A few laps later and as the field lapped McDowell, who was battling gear issues, through the frontstretch, Gilliland steered his No. 38 gener8tor Ford Mustang Dark Horse to the inside lane and battled dead even with Logano through the first two turns before managing to move in front of Logano’s Ford through the backstretch. This allowed Truex to mount a charge on the inside lane as Gilliland retained the lead both on the outside lane and in the overall event ahead of Logano while Truex, Reddick, Haley and Cindric were battling with close quarters for the top spot.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 100, Gilliland continued to lead followed by Logano, Truex, Haley and Reddick while Wallace, Cindric, Buescher, Keselowski and Busch were scored in the top 10 amid two tight-packed lanes. By then, 34 of 40 competitors were scored on the lead lap and separated by two seconds. Gilliland would continue to lead the next eight laps until he was overtaken by Bubba Wallace through the frontstretch. Wallace, however, would be overtaken by Kyle Busch exiting the backstretch and through Turns 3 and 4 while Preece mounted a charge to the outside lane as he challenged Busch for the lead while Wallace followed suit.

    Then on Lap 111, a second cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as Preece led Logano, Gilliland, Wallace and a bevy of competitors to pit road. Amid the pit stops, Berry was turned by Nemechek as he was trying to enter his pit stall while Preece, who locked up his front tires while trying to enter pit road, was penalized for speeding on pit road. Meanwhile, Busch assumed the lead followed by Larson, Alfredo and the rest of the pack.

    Busch would then lead another wave of competitors, mainly Chevrolet competitors, to pit road for service on Lap 114 under green while Larson, who assumed a brief lead, led Blaney, Elliott, Corey LaJoie, Cindric, Byron, Bowman and Chastain to pit road. At the completion of the green flag pit stops, Larson managed to merge back onto the track as the leader followed by teammate Elliott, Blaney and LaJoie while Busch was trying to carve his way back to the front followed by a bevy of competitors. Larson would maintain the lead until Cindric made his way to the front and the lead, followed by teammate Blaney nearing the Lap 120 mark while Busch was in fourth ahead of Elliott, Byron and LaJoie.

    Just past the Lap 120 mark, a tight battle for the lead ignited between Cindric and Busch, with Busch receiving drafting help from Byron on the outside lane while Cindric had teammate Blaney drafting him in front of two tight-packed lanes as the top-23 competitors were separated by more than a second.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 130, Blaney, who had been drafting teammate Cindric over the course of the previous 10 laps amid his battle with Busch, made a bold move beneath teammate Cindric to assume the lead through Turns 3 and 4, which enabled him to muscle his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead of the pack and claim the stage victory. Teammate Cindric followed suit in second along with Suarez while Busch, Reddick, Byron, Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., AJ Allmendinger and Buescher were scored into the top 10. Amid the battle towards the front, Ty Gibbs managed to fend off Preece and Berry to emerge as the first competitor a lap down as he cycled back onto the lead lap.

    During the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Blaney pitted while Keselowski remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Suarez was penalized for equipment interference while Busch had issues for a loose wheel to his entry, but he managed to cycle back to his pit stall to have the wheel issue addressed as he remained on the lead lap. In addition, Keselowkski, Nemechek and Ragan would pit, which cycled Cindric back to the lead.

    With 64 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Cindric and Wallace occupied the front row. At the start, Cindric and Wallace dueled for the lead as Cindric had teammate Blaney drafting him on the outside lane while Wallace had teammate Reddick drafting him on the inside lane. Both Cindric and Wallace would continue to battle dead even for the lead during the proceeding laps. Then as the field fanned out to three tight-packed lanes, Allmendinger, who rallied from being mired a lap down earlier, muscled his No. 16 Celsius Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead over Wallace followed by Buescher and Truex while Wallace and Cindric slipped out of the top five. A tight battle for the lead then ignited between Allmendinger and Reddick with 60 laps remaining while the field continued to battle amid three tight-packed lanes.

    Five laps later, Allmendinger retained the lead from the inside lane followed by teammate Hemric while LaJoie was trying to mount a charge from the outside lane followed by Bell and Truex as Hamlin was leading the middle lane ahead of Kyle Busch. Not long after, Allmendinger would get shuffled out of the lead as LaJoie and Kyle Busch battled dead even for the lead while Hamlin, Bowman, Larson and Bell followed suit with 50 laps remaining. Two laps later, Hamlin muscled his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE into the lead over LaJoie as Busch tried to fight back on the inside lane.

    With 40 laps remaining, Hamlin was leading ahead of LaJoie, Busch, Bell, Logano and the rest of the field. As the field fanned out to three tight-packed lanes while the intensity of the event started to ignite, Logano, who assumed the lead not long after, was leading followed by Ragan, Hamlin, Busch, and Keselowski while Bell, Briscoe, Reddick, Gragson and Chastain were scored in the top 10 amid two tight-packed lanes with 30 laps remaining. Logano would continue to lead ahead of Ragan, Hamlin, Keselowski, Busch and the rest of the field with 25 laps remaining.

    Then with 23 laps remaining, another wave of green flag pit stops commenced as Riley Herbst led Hemric, LaJoie and a handful of competitors to pit road. Another wave of competitors, mainly Toyota competitors, led by Bell pitted during the next lap while Hamlin and Busch pitted together with 20 laps remaining. A wave of Ford competitors led by the race leader Logano would pit with 19 laps remaining while a wave of Chevrolet competitors led by Chastain pitted during the following lap. After the pit stops, Ross Chastain would cycle into the lead followed by Stenhouse and teammate Suarez while Logano was trying to weave his way back to the front amid the drafting momentum from his Ford teammates.

    Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Chastain was leading ahead of Logano, Stenhouse and a bevy of competitors running tight amid two tight-packed lanes. Shortly after, Suarez would muscle his No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead while Stenhouse was getting shuffled out of the lead draft. Meanwhile, Chastain remained in contention up on the outside lane followed by Logano while Byron tried to mount a charge on the inside lane.

    A few laps later, the field fanned out to three tight-packed lanes as Chastain made his move to the outside lane followed by Logano, leaving Suarez pinned on the middle lane and Byron on the inside lane, as he reassumed the lead. Not long after, Byron mounted a charge on the inside lane along with Suarez as all three continued to battle dead even in front of the stacked field with 10 laps remaining.

    Then with nine laps remaining, the caution flew after Bowman bumped and got teammate Byron loose, which resulted with Byron veering left and clipping Keselowski’s No. 6 Castrol Ford Mustang Dark Horse into Logano and into the path of both Blaney and Truex exiting the backstretch, which triggered a multi-car wreck that collected Suarez, Stenhouse, Reddick, Hamlin, Ty Gibbs, Preece, Gragson, Hemric, Alfredo, Larson, Briscoe, Buescher and Erik Jones. Amid the wreckage, Chastain barely escaped with the lead followed by Bowman, Byron, Cindric and Elliott as the event was placed in a red flag period for more than 15 minutes.

    Once the red flag lifted and the field proceeded under a cautious pace, some led by Briscoe pitted while the rest led by Chastain remained on the track.

    Down to the final four laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Chastain and Byron occupied the front row. At the start, Chastain and Byron dueled for the lead through the first two turns as Chastain had Bowman drafting him on the outside lane while Byron had Cindric drafting him on the inside lane. Through the backstretch, Chastain and Byron continued to battle dead even for the lead as the field returned to the frontstretch with three laps remaining.

    With two laps remaining, Byron received a strong push from Cindric to muscle his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 ahead of Chastain from the inside lane through the frontstretch. Byron would then maintain the lead over Cindric, Chastain and LaJoie through the backstretch and approaching the start/finish line to start the final lap of the event.

    Then as the field approached the tri-oval to start the final lap of the event, Cindric, who blocked LaJoie while battling Byron for the lead, veered back to the right and clipped Chastain’s No. 1 Busch Light Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, which sent both spinning through the frontstretch’s grass as Cindric came back across the track and was T-boned by Ragan as Zane Smith was also involved while Chastain slid across the infield and just missed the inside wall.

    With the leaders having crossed the start/finish line to start the final lap of the event prior to the caution being displayed that ended the event, Byron emerged out in front of teammate Bowman and the field when the caution flew and was declared the winner of the event.

    With the victory, Byron, whose previous best Daytona 500 result was 21st, became the 43rd competitor to win the Great American Race as this season marks the fourth consecutive time where the Daytona 500 featured a first-time winner of the event. In addition, Byron, who achieved his 11th NASCAR Cup Series career victory and second at Daytona International Speedway, delivered the ninth Daytona 500 victory for Hendrick Motorsports and the team’s first since 2014, which occurred with Dale Earnhardt Jr., while also piloting the No. 24 car to a 500 victory for the first time since Jeff Gordon made the last accomplishment in 2005. The 500 victory was also the first for crew chief Ryan “Rudy” Fugle and the 26th overall for the Chevrolet nameplate.

    Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “[Daytona 500 champion title] sounds really damn good,” Byron said on FOX. “I’ve so many emotions. Obviously, I hate what happened at the backstretch. I just got pushed and got sideways, but just so proud of this whole AXALTA team, 40th anniversary to the day on Monday [when HMS first competed]. Just extremely blessed and thankful for all the opportunities. We just wanna keep [the early momentum] going. We have a lot to prove this year. This is a good start, obviously. Daytona 500! It’s freakin’ awesome! Let’s go!”

    “[We had] Just really good strategy [that got us to the front],” Byron added. “We laid back and tried to save fuel for most of the race. We would get up there at the end of the stages and make some moves. Just thankful for great power under the hood, all of our partners, everybody that allows us to do this. I’m just a kid from racing on computers and winning the Daytona 500. I can’t believe it. [Me and my dad] have been through so much. We sat up in the grandstands together and watched the races. It’s so freakin’ cool.”

    In addition to Byron, the 2024 Daytona 500 victory was meaningful for Jeff Gordon, vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, and owner Rick Hendrick, whose team, Hendrick Motorsports, is celebrating its 40th anniversary of competition in the NASCAR Cup Series.

    “I’m telling you, you couldn’t write the script any better,” Hendrick said in Victory Lane. “When we think about coming down here the first time, we didn’t think we should be here, felt so out of place. We win this on our 40th [anniversary] to the day. It’s just… and tied a record now, so that’s awesome.”

    “It’s so cool,” Gordon added. “What this is gonna do for this team, for AXALTA and all of our partners, and William Byron. He was already a superstar. He just went to another level being a superstar. I wasn’t driving the car, but I felt like I was making every lap with him out there. It’s just crazy to watch these guys do what they do and do it so well. To watch it from this side of it, it makes me so happy, so proud. We’re gonna celebrate. This is an amazing win. Huge win. Daytona 500!”

    Teammate Bowman settled in second place while Bell, Corey LaJoie and Bubba Wallace finished in the top five. For Bowman, the runner-up result was his best in his eighth attempt of winning the Great American Race.

    “I was pretty sure Willliam [Byron] had it, but you’re gonna let him debate it, right?” Bowman said. “I think a couple hundred more feet and obviously, we had the run. Just so proud of everybody at Hendrick Motorsports. To get a Hendrick Motorsports 1-2 [finish], have the No. 24 car in Victory Lane. Obviously, I wish it was our Ally No. 48 [car], but it was a great day for us. Proud of everybody. We did everything we could right. [I] Wish it was one spot better, but still, proud of the whole team.”

    Allmendinger, John Hunter Nemechek, Erik Jones, Noah Gragson and Chase Briscoe completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    Notably, Kyle Larson ended up 11th followed by Kyle Busch, rookie Zane Smith, Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr. while Hamlin ended up 19th. Chastain, who was in the position of achieving his first Daytona 500 victory prior to the final lap accident, ended up 21st while Cindric ended up 22nd.

    There were 41 lead changes for 20 different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 20 laps. Overall, 20 of 40 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the first event of the 2024 Cup Series season, William Byron leads the regular-season standings by four points over teammate Alex Bowman, 10 over Christopher Bell, 12 over Chase Elliott, 15 over Bubba Wallace and 17 over John Hunter Nemechek, Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch.

    Results.

    1. William Byron, four laps led

    2. Alex Bowman

    3. Christopher Bell, 22 laps led

    4. Corey LaJoie, one lap led

    5. Bubba Wallace, three laps led

    6. AJ Allmendinger, nine laps led

    7. John Hunter Nemechek

    8. Erik Jones

    9. Noah Gragson, five laps led

    10. Chase Briscoe

    11. Kyle Larson, seven laps led

    12. Kyle Busch, 12 laps led

    13. Zane Smith

    14. Chase Elliott, 13 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    15. Martin Truex Jr.

    16. Daniel Hemric

    17. Ty Gibbs

    18. Chris Buescher

    19. Denny Hamlin, 10 laps led

    20. David Ragan, two laps led

    21. Ross Chastain, one lap down, 14 laps led

    22. Austin Cindric, one lap down, 13 laps led

    23. Ryan Preece, one lap down

    24. Riley Herbst, one lap down

    25. Josh Berry, one lap down

    26. Justin Haley, one lap down

    27. Anthony Alfredo, two laps down

    28. Jimmie Johnson, four laps down

    29. Tyler Reddick – OUT, Accident

    30. Ryan Blaney – OUT, 12 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    31. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident

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

    33. Brad Keselowski – OUT, Accident, three laps led

    34. Daniel Suarez – OUT, Accident, two laps led

    35. Todd Gilliland – OUT, Accident, 16 laps led

    36. Michael McDowell, 24 laps down, six laps led

    37. Austin Dillon, 54 laps down

    38. Kaz Grala – OUT, Accident

    39. Harrison Burton – OUT, Accident

    40. Carson Hocevar – OUT, Accident

    With the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season officially underway, the next event on the schedule is the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, February 25, and air at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Larson clinches Championship 4 berth with dramatic Cup victory at Las Vegas

    Larson clinches Championship 4 berth with dramatic Cup victory at Las Vegas

    A year after having his championship hopes evaporated just past the midway section of the Playoffs, Kyle Larson stapled his name back into the Championship 4 round after capping off a dominant performance by fending off a late charge from Christopher Bell to win the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, October 15.

    The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, led seven times for a race-high 133 of 267 scheduled laps in an event where he started on the front row and quickly made his presence at the front known, beginning on the third lap. After sweeping both stage periods while dodging a near-catastrophic moment by getting loose and nearly hitting the outside wall just past the halfway mark, Larson withstood two late caution periods to muscle away from Brad Keselowski and the field during the final restart with 45 laps remaining.

    Despite having Playoff rival and pole-sitter Christopher Bell gain ground on him in the closing laps, Larson managed to block and fend off Bell twice on the final lap entering the frontstretch to capture his fourth Cup Series victory of the 2023 season and punch his ticket to this year’s Championship 4 round at Phoenix Raceway as he will officially contend for the 2023 Cup championship.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, October 14, Playoff contender Christopher Bell notched his sixth Cup pole position of the 2023 season and the 10th of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 186.335 mph in 28.980 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Kyle Larson, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 186.271 mph in 28.990 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Chase Elliott and Daniel Suarez dropped to the rear of the field in backup cars after both wrecked their primary cars separately during Saturday’s practice session.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Bell muscled ahead from the outside lane as he retained the lead through the first two turns ahead of Larson. With the field jostling for early spots amid two lanes through the backstretch, Bell proceeded to lead the first lap in his No. 20 Rheem Toyota TRD Camry while William Byron and Martin Truex Jr. challenged Larson for the runner-up spot.

    Two laps later, Larson, who managed to fend off the early charges from teammate Byron and Truex, made his move beneath Bell in Turn 1 as he assumed the lead in his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, with Bell dropping to second place in front of Byron, Truex and Chris Buescher. Larson would proceed to lead by nearly four-tenths of a second over Bell through the first five laps while Truex and Byron continued to battle for third place in front of Buescher and Tyler Reddick.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Larson continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Bell followed by Truex, Buescher and Byron while Reddick, Kyle Busch, Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain and Ryan Blaney were in the top 10. Behind, Alex Bowman occupied 11th place in front of Aric Almirola, Denny Hamlin, rookie Ty Gibbs and Kevin Harvick while Joey Logano, Michael McDowell, Austin Dillon, Carson Hocevar and Erik Jones were running in the top 20.

    Fifteen laps later, Larson retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over Bell while Truex, Buescher and Byron continued to run in the top five. With Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, Reddick, Bowman and Hamlin in the top 10, Ross Chastain was in 11th ahead of Almirola, Harvick, Wallace and Logano while Ty Gibbs, McDowell, Hocevar, Erik Jones and Brad Keselowski battled within the top 20. Meanwhile, AJ Allmendinger, winner of last weekend’s Cup event at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, was in 21st ahead of Ty Dillon, Justin Haley, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Austin Cindric while Daniel Suarez was in 27th behind Austin Dillon. In addition, Chase Elliott was mired in 30th in between Harrison Burton and Ryan Preece while Chase Briscoe was in 32nd.

    Within the Lap 30 mark, the first wave of green flag pit stops commenced as Austin Dillon pitted his No. 3 BetMGM Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Shortly after, Kyle Larson surrendered the lead to pit along with Kyle Busch, Ty Gibbs, McDowell, Erik Jones, Hocevar, Haley, Allmendinger, Suarez, Cindric, Harrison Burton, Buescher, Blaney, Byron, Hamlin, Chastain, Reddick, Almirola, Harvick, Logano and Wallace. Amid the pit stops, Chastain was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    In the process of the green flag pit stops Bell reassumed the lead as he was leading by Lap 35 ahead of teammate Truex, Bowman, Stenhouse and Todd Gilliland while Elliott pitted. Third-place Bowman would pit on Lap 38 before Bell and Truex followed suit to pit their respective Joe Gibbs Racing entries. Once they pitted, Larson cycled back into the lead by Lap 40.

    At the Lap 50 mark, Larson, who was navigating his way through lapped traffic, was leading by nearly two seconds over Bell followed by Truex, Blaney and Byron while Bowman, Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Buescher and Almirola were scored in the top 10. With seven of the remaining eight Playoff contenders running in the top 10 minus Bowman, Kyle Busch and Almirola, Reddick was the lone Playoff contender running outside of the top 10 as he was in 11th while Harvick, Logano, Keselowski and Ty Gibbs were running in the top 15.

    Fourteen laps later, the event’s first caution flew when Erik Jones blew a right-rear tire in Turn 1 as he limped his No. 43 Allegiant Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 back to pit road with the tire carcass coming out just past the backstretch. By then, Larson was still leading by more than two seconds over Bell while Truex, Blaney and Byron were running in the top five. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Larson returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Bell, who opted for two fresh tires, exited pit road first ahead of Larson, Reddick, Keselowski, Truex and Blaney.

    With nine laps remaining in the first stage period, the race restarted under green. At the start, Bell and Larson dueled for the lead through the first two turns and they continued to duel dead even back through the frontstretch as the field behind fanned out while jostling for positions. During the following lap, Larson managed to rocket ahead of Bell to reassume the lead. Behind, Keselowski was in third ahead of Reddick while Kyle Busch, Truex and Blaney went three-wide while battling for fifth in front of Byron, Hamlin and Harvick. Amid the battles, Larson was leading by four-tenths of a second over Bell while third-place Keselowski trailed by nearly a second.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 80, Larson notched his sixth Cup stage victory of the 2023 season. Bell settled in second followed by Keselowski, Reddick and Truex while Blaney, Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Harvick and Byron were scored in the top 10. By then, Playoff contender Buescher was mired in 16th while all but two of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Larson returned to pit road for service while the rest led by Truex and including JJ Yeley and Brennan Poole remained on the track. Yeley and Poole would pit shortly after while Truex continued to remain on the track.

    The second stage period started on Lap 86 as teammates Truex and Hamlin occupied the front row. At the start, Hamlin and Truex dueled for the lead as the field fanned out through the first two turns. Through the first two turns, Truex rocketed his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota TRD Camry away from Hamlin, who was getting attacked by Keselowski as Bell and Ty Gibbs followed suit through the frontstretch. With Hamlin and Keselowski continuing to duel for the runner-up spot during the proceeding laps behind Truex, Bell retained fourth ahead of Ty Gibbs and Buescher while Larson made a three-wide move to overtake the latter two. By then, all eight Playoff contenders were running in the top 10 on the track while Keselowski and Ty Gibbs were the top two non-Playoff contenders racing in the top-10 mark. Amid the on-track battles towards the front, AJ Allmendinger was penalized for a restart violation.

    Then on Lap 91, Hamlin made his move beneath teammate Truex through the frontstretch as he assumed the lead in his No. 11 Mavis Tries & Brakes Toyota TRD Camry. Another two laps later, Keselowski assumed the runner-up spot followed by a hard-charging Larson while Truex was locked in a heated battle with Buescher for fourth place. Buescher would prevail by Lap 94 as Truex was in the process of losing another spot to teammate Bell. By then, Hamlin was leading by half a second over Keselowski.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Hamlin was leading by three-tenths of a second over Keselowski followed by a hard-charging Larson, who trailed by half a second, while Buescher, Bell, Blaney, Byron, Ty Gibbs, Kyle Busch and Reddick were running in the top 10. Meanwhile, Truex had dropped to 13th behind Logano and Bowman while Harvick and Chastain were in the top 15 followed by Wallace, Suarez, Almirola, Preece and Hocevar.

    During the proceeding laps, a three-way battle for the lead ignited as Hamlin had both Keselowski and Larson closing in on him for the top spot through the turns and the straightaways. Despite being pressured by two former Cup Series champions, Hamlin maintained the top spot by and past the Lap 105 mark while Bell and Buescher were scored in the top five. Meanwhile, Truex was still mired in 13th ahead of Chastain and Harvick.

    Then on Lap 111, the caution flew when Hocevar, coming off his announcement of graduating to the NASCAR Cup Series to drive for Spire Motorsports in 2024, blew a right-front tire and scraped the outside wall entering Turn 1 before he slid the No. 42 Sunseeker Resorts Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 sideways and rammed into the wall again as Austin Cindric dodged him. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Hamlin peeled off the track to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Keselowski assumed the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Larson, Bell, Hamlin, Byron, Blaney and Buescher.

    During the ensuing restart on Lap 117, Keselowski rocketed away from Larson from the inside lane through the frontstretch before Larson fought back and battled dead even against Keselowski from the outside lane through the first two turns and the backstretch. During the following lap, Keselowski managed to slide up and clear Larson as he retained the lead in his No. 6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang while Bell trailed in third followed by Byron and Hamlin.

    Just past the Lap 125 mark, Keselowski was leading by two-tenths of a second over Larson followed by Byron, Bell and Hamlin while Buescher, Blaney, Chastain, Kyle Busch and Bowman were racing in the top 10. By then, Truex was mired in 13th behind Reddick and Wallace as Harvick and Logano rounded out the top 15.

    At the halfway mark between Laps 133 and 134, Keselowski retained the lead by six-tenths of a second over Larson while Byron, Bell, Hamlin, Buescher, Blaney, Chastain, Kyle Busch and Bowman were scored in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Truex and Reddick were back in 11th and 12th ahead of Wallace, Harvick and Logano while Almirola, Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Austin Cindric and Ty Gibbs were in the top 20 followed by Suarez, McDowell, Haley, Corey LaJoie and Erik Jones. In addition, Elliott was mired in 29th place while racing a lap down.

    Just past the Lap 140 mark, Larson, who was running in the runner-up spot, got loose entering the backstretch as he slid his car sideways and made light contact with the outside wall, but he managed to continue at full pace and remain on the track, though he lost spots from Bell, Byron and Hamlin. The caution, however, flew on Lap 145 when teammate Bowman got loose and wrecked his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 off of Turn 4 before coming to a stop towards the low groove in Turn 1. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Keselowski pitted for service. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Keselowski exited first amid a two-tire pit stop while Byron, Kyle Busch, Logano, Harvick, Larson, Bell and Hamlin followed suit.

    With the race restarting under green on Lap 149, Keselowski and Byron dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch in front of Kyle Busch and Logano. With Larson making a three-wide move on both Kyle Busch and Logano while trying to make his way back to the front, Keselowski and Byron continued to duel dead even for the lead until Keselowski muscled ahead on the inside lane and through Turns 3 and 4, which occurred just prior to Lap 152.

    A few laps later, Larson set his sights on Keselowski for the lead as Byron fell back to third while Chastain and Bell moved up into the top five. By Lap 155, Larson transitioned from the outside to the inside lane as he overtook Keselowski and reassumed the lead. Behind, Chastain overtook Byron for third while Hamlin occupied sixth in front of Logano, Harvick, Kyle Busch and Blaney. Chastain would proceed to overtake Keselowski for the runner-up spot another few laps later as he also started to gain ground on Larson for the lead.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 165, Larson captured his seventh Cup stage victory of the 2023 season and second of the day after pulling away with an advantage of more than a second. Chastain settled in second in front of Bell, Hamlin and Keselowski while Byron, Kyle Busch, Blaney, Reddick and Wallace were scored in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Buescher and Truex were mired back in 15th and 20th, respectively, while 31 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Larson returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Bell returned to the top of the leaderboard after barely exiting pit road first ahead of Chastain and Larson while Keselowski, Hamlin, McDowell and Byron followed suit.

    With 96 laps remaining, the final stage period started as Bell and Chastain occupied the front row. At the start, Bell muscled ahead and retained the lead from the inside lane while Chastain and Keselowski battled for the runner-up spot in front of Larson, Keselowski and Byron. With Kyle Busch joining the battle, Bell maintained the lead ahead of a hard-charging Chastain while Keselowski maintained third in front of Larson and a side-by-side battle between Byron and Hamlin.

    With 90 laps remaining, Bell retained the lead by half a second over Chastain as Keselowski and Larson gained ground on Chastain for the runner-up spot. Byron maintained fifth ahead of Hamlin while Kyle Busch, Blaney, Reddick and Logano were in the top 10. By then, Truex was down in 18th while Buescher was in 20th.

    Fifteen laps later, Bell continued to lead by nearly half a second over Chastain followed by a side-by-side battle between Keselowski and Larson for third place while Hamlin occupied fifth ahead of Byron, Blaney, Kyle Busch, Reddick and Logano. By then, Truex and Buescher were still mired in 17th and 19th, respectively.

    Another 15 laps later, Bell retained the lead by more than a second over Keselowski while Larson and Blaney were running third and fourth, respectively. Meanwhile, Chastain, who got loose and missed the racing groove entering the backstretch a few laps earlier, dropped to sixth as he was in between Hamlin and Byron while Kyle Busch, Logano and Ty Gibbs were in the top 10. By then, Reddick dropped to 11th, Truex was in 14th and Buescher was in 16th.

    Another two laps later, the caution flew after Chase Briscoe ran up towards the outside wall in Turn 1 while battling AJ Allmendinger and barely clipped Stenhouse before he got sideways and spun his No. 14 Code 3 Associates Ford Mustang below the track in Turn 2. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Bell pitted for service.  Following the pit stops, Larson managed to edge both Keselowski and Bell off of pit road first as Chastain, Hamlin, Byron and Buescher followed suit.

    With the race restarting with 52 laps remaining, Larson launched ahead of Keselowski from the inside lane as the field fanned out to three and four lanes through the backstretch. With the field stilling fanning out through the frontstretch, Larson retained the lead ahead of Keselowski and Bell while Chastain was in fourth ahead of Logano, Byron and Hamlin. The caution, however, quickly returned with 50 laps remaining after Ty Gibbs slid up and scraped the outside wall entering the backstretch, where he limped his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota TRD Camry back to pit road, but lost his right front wheel in the process.

    During the restart with 45 laps remaining, Keselowski and Larson briefly dueled for the lead before Larson rocketed ahead from the inside lane. As the field fanned out through the backstretch, Larson maintained the lead ahead of Keselowski and Bell while Byron charged in fourth ahead of Chastain and Reddick.

    With 35 laps remaining, Larson extended his advantage to more than a second over Keselowski followed by Bell, Byron and Chastain while Kyle Busch, Reddick, Blaney, Logano and Hamlin were scored in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Buescher and Truex were scored in 12th and 14th, respectively.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Larson continued to lead by more than a second over Bell while Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Byron remained in the top five. By then, Truex and Buescher moved up to 11th and 12th while Chastain, Blaney, Reddick, Hamlin and Logano were scored in the top 10.

    With 10 laps remaining, Larson, who navigated his way through lapped traffic, retained the lead by more than a second over Bell as Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Chastain were in the top five. Larson would maintain the lead by six-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Bell with five laps remaining while Keselowski trailed by nearly four seconds. As the laps dwindled, Larson’s advantage over Bell dwindled to four-tenths of a second as Bell used the outside lane to gain more ground on Larson for the lead.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson remained as the leader by four-tenths of a second over Bell. Through Turns 1 and 2, Bell used the outside lane to cut the deficit down to within two- and three-tenths of a second. After remaining behind Larson through the backstretch, Bell used the outside lane entering Turns 3 and 4 to get to Larson’s rear bumper as Larson went up the track to block him. Bell then tried to make a move to Larson’s outside through the frontstretch, but Larson again blocked Bell as he managed to keep Bell behind him and claim the checkered flag for the win by 0.082 seconds.

    With the victory, Larson, who was eliminated from title contention following the Round of 12 one year ago, notched his fourth NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2023 season, his 17th driving the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, his second at Las Vegas, his first since winning the Playoff opener at Darlington Raceway in September and the 23rd of his NASCAR premier series career. The victory was also the 10th of the season for Hendrick Motorsports and the 850th Cup Series career win for the Chevrolet nameplate.

    Above all, Larson became the first Playoff contender to secure a spot for this year’s Championship 4 round at Phoenix Raceway which will occur three weeks time in early November as he will contend for his second Cup Series championship.

    “I could see [Bell] coming in my mirror, for sure,” Larson said on NBC. “I was hoping those [lapped competitors] were gonna give me the bottom [lane]. [Todd Gilliland] peeled off to the bottom and I knew I couldn’t follow him. I just didn’t wanna go all the way to the top and leave the middle [lane] open, but thankfully, Christopher [Bell] has always raced us extremely clean. It could’ve got crazier than it did coming to the start/finish line. Thank you to him for racing with respect. What a job done by my team, too. Just a great race car. I almost gave it away there in [Turns] 1 and 2, getting sideways, getting in the wall. [I] Had to fight back from there with our balance. They got it much closer there with the lead. I was happy to pull away as much as we did, was hoping that was gonna be enough to maintain, which it was, but I thought they weren’t gonna be able to get as close as they did there at the end. Nerve-racking. This is really cool to get to go race for another championship here in a few weeks. Glad we don’t have to stress for these next two races.”

    While Larson celebrated the victory and an early ticket to the championship finale with his family on the frontstretch, Bell was left disappointed on pit road after missing an early opportunity to secure a championship finale spot. With his runner-up result, Bell is currently ranked in fifth place in the Playoff standings and is two points below the top-four cutline approaching the upcoming two Round of 8 events.

    “Man, I don’t know what else I could’ve done,” Bell said. “I don’t know. I feel like that was my moment, that was my moment to make the final four and didn’t quite capture it. Coming to the checkered there, I knew that he was gonna be blocking, so I’m like I’m gonna try and go high and he went high, but I don’t even know if I had a run to get by him there coming to the line. Just wasn’t enough, but a great day. A great day, for sure, to get those stage points and get a second-place finish out of it. I think I saw we’re minus two [from the cutline], so we’re not out of it by any means. It would’ve been nice to lock in.”

    Amid the late battle for the victory, hometown hero Kyle Busch came home in third place followed by Keselowski and Chastain while Playoff contenders Blaney, Byron, Reddick, Truex and Hamlin finished in the top 10. Meanwhile, Buescher was the lone Playoff contender to finish outside the top 10 as he ended up in 11th place.

    Following the post-race inspection process, however, Blaney was disqualified from his sixth-place finish due to the left-front shock from his No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang not meeting the overall specified length outlined in Section 14.11.3.5 from NASCAR’s Rule Book. As a result, he was relegated to last place in the 36-car field and stripped of his eight stage points he earned throughout the event, where he is now 56 points below the top-four cutline.

    *On Monday, NASCAR rescinded the penalty and disqualification levied to Blaney and the No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang team due to an issue with the damper template used for inspection during the race weekend debrief and following a detailed investigation. As a result, Blaney was rewarded his sixth-place result and stage points accumulated during the event as he is now only 17 points below the cutline.

    There were 20 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 36 laps. In addition, 26 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Kyle Larson, 133 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    2. Christopher Bell, 61 laps led

    3. Kyle Busch

    4. Brad Keselowski, 38 laps led

    5. Ross Chastain

    6. Ryan Blaney

    7. William Byron, one lap led

    8. Tyler Reddick

    9. Martin Truex Jr., nine laps led

    10. Denny Hamlin, 23 laps led

    11. Chris Buescher

    12. Joey Logano

    13. Bubba Wallace

    14. Aric Almirola

    15. Daniel Suarez

    16. Kevin Harvick

    17. Michael McDowell

    18. Austin Dillon

    19. Corey LaJoie

    20. Harrison Burton

    21. AJ Allmendinger

    22. Justin Haley

    23. Austin Cindric

    24. Ty Dillon

    25. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    26. Ryan Preece

    27. Todd Gilliland, one lap down

    28. Erik Jones, one lap down

    29. JJ Yeley, one lap down, two laps led

    30. Brennan Poole, one lap down

    31. BJ McLeod, one lap down

    32. Chase Elliott, one lap down

    33. Chase Briscoe, four laps down

    34. Ty Gibbs, eight laps down

    35. Alex Bowman – OUT, Accident

    36. Carson Hocevar – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. Kyle Larson – Advanced

    2. William Byron +9

    3. Martin Truex Jr. +2

    4. Denny Hamlin +2

    5. Christopher Bell -2

    6. Tyler Reddick -16

    7. Ryan Blaney -17

    8. Chris Buescher -23

    The second Round of 8 event in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is set to occur next Sunday, October 22, at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. The event’s broadcast is slated to occur at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Talladega

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Talladega

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. William Byron: Byron finished third in the YellaWood 500.

    “Someone clarify to me exactly what ‘YellaWood’ is,” Byron said. “Because somebody told me it was what a jaundiced Jerry Falwell, Jr. gets when he watches his wife and the pool boy.”

    2. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin overcame an early pit lane speeding penalty and slowly worked his way back to the lead lap, closing the day with a fourth at Talladega.

    “You can’t win the Cup championship at Talladega,” Hamlin said, “but you sure can lose it. You can also lose it at Homestead and Phoenix.”

    3. Ryan Blaney: Blaney won Stage 1 at Talladega and held off Kevin Harvick in a wild finish to win the YellaWood 500 and lock in his spot in the Round Of 8.

    “At Talladega,” Blaney said, “it’s all about patience. And you have to have 499 miles of it, followed by one lap of pure reckless abandon.”

    4. Christopher Bell: Bell suffered damage at the end of Stage 1 in an incident triggered when Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s car sputtered after a fuel issue. Bell survived and salvaged a 15th-place finish.

    “Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was driving a car sponsored by Sara Lee Bread and Country Crock Butter,” Bell said. “Let that be a reminder that sponsorship money is this sport’s bread and butter.”

    5. Kyle Larson: Larson finished 16th at Talladega and is now seventh in the playoff points standings, 15 points above the bubble.

    “As a playoff driver,” Larson said, “there’s always talk of the bubble. And you want to be above it, not below it. Sometimes, you can be in a bubble, like that time my public relations firm put me in one.”

    6. Chris Buescher: Buescher miraculously avoided a huge wreck and eventually came home 20th in the YellaWood 500 at Talladega.

    “A superspeedway is daunting in its own right,” Buescher said. “But when you add the Playoffs to the mix, it becomes downright terrifying. It’s like a 500-mile game of ‘chicken.’ And everybody’s chicken.”

    7. Tyler Reddick: Reddick finished 17th at Talladega.

    “Leave it to the Truck series to overshadow the Cup series,” Reddick said. “Matt Crafton sucker-punched Nick Sanchez after the Truck race on Saturday. Therein lies the problem with fighting in the Cup series; we’ve got 30 plus drivers who aren’t cowardly enough to sucker-punch a rival, and the same number not man enough to punch a rival face-to-face.”

    8. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished 19th and is sixth in the points standings, 17 above the cut line.

    “I didn’t have a great result,” Truex said, “but it worked out because some other playoff drivers had troubles. Now, you never want to wish misfortune on a fellow competitor, unless it’s the Playoffs. In that case, wish away.”

    9. Ross Chastain: Chastain was knocked out of the race at Talladega when he tried to squeeze through a melee at the end of Stage 1. Chastain made contact with Kyle Busch, which sent him into the outside wall and broke his suspension. Chastain finished last in 38th.

    “‘That wasn’t my fault,’” Chastain said, “is something you don’t hear me say very often, if ever.”

    10. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski triggered a multi-car crash on Lap 162 when he gave too much of a push to Carson Hocevar. Hocevar spun into traffic, collecting Ty Gibbs and Austin Dillon. Dillon clipped Keselowski, and Keselowski’s No. 6 Ford briefly went airborne. Keselowski finished 33rd.

    “Anytime you go airborne at Talladega,” Keselowski said, “that automatically means a visit to the infield care center, followed by a visit to the ‘underwear change’ center.”

  • Blaney edges Harvick in thrilling finish to win at Talladega, clinch Playoff’s Round of 8 berth

    Blaney edges Harvick in thrilling finish to win at Talladega, clinch Playoff’s Round of 8 berth

    In career start No. 301 in NASCAR’s premier series, Ryan Blaney punched his ticket into the Playoff’s Round of 8 after edging Kevin Harvick in a photo finish to win the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, October 1.

    The 29-year-old Blaney from High Point, North Carolina, led four times for eight of 188-scheduled laps in an event where he started 10th and competed towards the front amidst the draft, aggressive shuffling and tight-packed competition while needing to rebound after retiring late during last weekend’s Round of 12 opener at Texas Motor Speedway. After winning the first stage, Blaney, who restarted on the front row during the final restart with 13 laps remaining, seized an opportunity for the win as he was drafted by Riley Herbst to duel against Kevin Harvick with two laps remaining.

    Then after emerging out in front at the start of the final lap, Blaney, who lost the lead to Harvick, made a crossover move from Harvick’s blocking attempt to draw even with him through the backstretch and approaching the tri-oval. With nearly the entire field wrecking through the tri-oval, Blaney then received a push from William Byron to edge Harvick at the finish line by 0.012 seconds to notch his second NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2023 season, his third at Talladega and race his way into the Round of 8.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, September 30, Aric Almirola notched his second Cup pole position of the season and the sixth of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 181.656 mph in 52.715 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Joey Logano, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 181.642 mph in 52.719 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Carson Hocevar dropped to the rear of the field due to an unapproved adjustment made to his No. 42 Legacy Motor Club entry.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Almirola gained a slight advantage on the inside lane through the first two turns until the outside lane led by Logano caught back up through the backstretch. With the field stacked up amid two tight-packed lanes, Almirola and Logano continued to duel dead even for the lead through Turns 3 and 4 and the tri-oval until Logano managed to lead the first lap in his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang by a hair.

    Through the second to fifth lap, the field continued to run stacked amid two tight-packed lanes as Logano and Almirola continued to battle dead even for the lead, with Almirola having teammate Chase Briscoe draft him on the inside lane while Logano, who remained on the outside lane and continued to lead the proceeding laps, had drafting help from Playoff contender Kyle Larson. By then, Riley Herbst, who was competing in the No. 36 Beast Unleashed White Haze Ford Mustang for Front Row Motorsports, was battling within the top five while Playoff contenders William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney along with Alex Bowman were in the top 10.

    By the sixth lap, the field fanned out to three packed lanes as Herbst jumped to the outside lane and formed a third drafting lane as he had drafting help from Hamlin, with Logano leading the middle lane and Almirola still leading the inside lane. The expansion of the lanes allowed Almirola to lead the sixth lap before Logano reassumed the top spot by the seventh lap.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps and amid the three-wide racing, Logano was leading ahead of Byron, Blaney, Larson and Austin Dillon while Almirola, Martin Truex Jr., Briscoe, Todd Gilliland and Brad Keselowski were in the top 10. By then, Herbst, Austin Cindric, Michael McDowell, Hamlin and Kevin Harvick were in the top 15 while Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace, Alex Bowman, Christopher Bell and Chris Buescher occupied the top 20. Meanwhile, Ross Chastain was back in 25th and Kyle Busch was mired in 32nd while all 38 starters were separated by more than a second.

    Five laps later, Logano and Byron dueled for the lead as the field continued to fan out to three lanes, with Blaney, Austin Dillon, Truex and Larson jostling in the top six. A few laps later, Truex drafted his way to the front and led Lap 17 as he, Logano and Byron were the front-runners of the three-wide drafting competition.

    As the field surpassed the Lap 20 mark, the front-runners continued to run three wide amid a stacked field with Logano, Byron and Truex leading the three lanes. By then, Playoff contenders Blaney, Reddick, Larson, Wallace, Hamlin and Keselowski were running within the top 20 along with Truex and Byron while Bell, Kyle Busch, Buescher and Chastain were running towards the rear of the field. In addition, all 38 starters were separated by less than two seconds.

    Three laps later, Ryan Preece, who was sporting the Wonder Bread Ricky Bobby scheme on his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang, muscled his way into the lead after receiving a draft from Logano to move ahead of Truex followed by Austin Dillon, Byron and Blaney. By then, Truex slipped out of the top 10 while Hamlin, who lost the draft and dropped towards the rear of the field earlier, was trying to muscle his way back to the top 10 as he was working with his 23XI Racing drivers, Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace, within the draft on the outside lane. Truex would then blend in within the draft and work with his Toyota teammates.

    A lap after the Lap 30 mark, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who started 35th, used the outside lane amid the draft to move his No. 47 Sara Lee Artesano Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead ahead of Preece. By then, the field settled back to competing amongst two tight-packed lanes as Erik Jones and Cindric moved up towards the front in front of Logano while the Dillon brothers joined the battle. By then, Byron was the highest-running Playoff contender in eighth place while his remaining 11 title rivals were mired within the top 26.

    Then on Lap 39 and as Ty Dillon assumed the lead, the first cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as a bevy of Ford competitors, including Blaney, Cindric, Logano, Harvick, Almirola, Keselowski, Briscoe, Harrison Burton and Buescher pitted. The following lap, another wave of competitors, mainly Chevrolet competitors led by Justin Haley and Byron, peeled off the track to pit. During the following lap, select names led by Ty Dillon pitted while Bell assumed the lead. By Lap 42, the final group of competitors, mainly Toyota competitors led by Bell, pitted under green. Once the first cycle of green flag pit stops concluded, Stenhouse reassumed the lead before Austin Cindric assumed the top spot by Lap 43. By then, the final wave of competitors who pitted drifted back towards the rear of the field. Amid the pit stops, Erik Jones was penalized for having men over his pit box too soon.

    At the Lap 50 mark, Stenhouse was still leading by a hair over Cindric as he had Kyle Busch drafting him while Cindric, Blaney and Byron were also battling towards the front and within the draft. By then, Playoff contender Larson was in seventh while Keselowski, Buescher and Chastain were in the top 15. Meanwhile, the remaining Playoff contenders included Wallace, Truex, Bell, Reddick and Hamlin were mired back within the top 31.

    Then on the final lap of the first stage period, Lap 59, the event’s first caution flew when Stenhouse, who was trying to muscle his way to the front with drafting help from Kyle Busch, fell off the pace after running out of fuel through the backstretch. With Busch stuck behind Stenhouse, Ross Chastain then came surging towards them in his attempt to win the stage, but he ended up making contact with Busch as he veered sideways in Turn 3 before getting hit by Bell’s No. 20 DeWalt Toyota TRD Camry and shooting back across the outside wall. The incident was enough to conclude the first stage period under caution as Playoff contender Ryan Blaney, who came into Talladega 11 points below the top-eight cutline, notched his fourth Cup stage victory of the 2023 season. Byron followed suit in second while Larson, Elliott, Bowman, Cindric, Haley, Harvick, Logano and Preece were scored in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Kyle Busch, Bell, Wallace, Reddick, Keselowski, Buescher, Truex, Hamlin and Chastain did not score the first wave of stage points. Amidst the incident, the damage to the No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was enough to terminate Playoff contender Chastain’s event early in the garage while Bell, Allmendinger and Chandler Smith pitted for repairs.

    Under the stage break, the entire lead lap field led by Blaney pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Harrison Burton exited pit road first followed by Blaney, Elliott, Larson, Byron, Bowman and Logano. Amid the pit stops, a bevy of names including AJ Allmendinger, Keselowski, Wallace, Buescher, Truex, Stenhouse, the Dillon brothers, Hamlin, Daniel Suarez and Chandler Smith pitted again to top off on fuel.

    The second stage period started on Lap 65 as Blaney and Elliott occupied the front row. At the start, Blaney and Elliott dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. With the field stacked up in two tight-packed lanes, Blaney and Elliott continued to duel for the lead as Elliott had teammate Larson drafting him on the outside lane while Blaney had Byron drafting him on the inside lane.

    Ten laps later, Bowman, who led Lap 73 by a hair, was leading by a hair over Cindric followed by Elliott, Harvick and Almirola while Larson, Blaney, Preece, Corey LaJoie and Byron were battling within the top 10 and amid two tight-packed lanes. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch was in 11th, Reddick was in 18th and Truex was back in 21st while Bell and Keselowski were within the top 25 on the track. Meanwhile, Wallace was in 29th ahead of Buescher and Hamlin, both of whom were in 31st and 32nd.

    Another 10 laps later and amid the jostling of positions within the field that fanned out to three stacked lanes, Erik Jones, who led for the first time two laps earlier, was leading ahead of McDowell, Stenhouse, Gilliland and Cindric while Bowman, Herbst, Harvick, Elliott and Reddick were in the top 10. Another lap later, McDowell received a draft from teammate Gilliland to move his No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang into the lead. McDowell and Herbst, who navigated his way back to the front, would then swap the lead through Lap 90 as all three Front Row Motorsports competitors, including Gilliland, were running first through third. By then, 23XI Racing’s Reddick and Wallace were trying to navigate their way into the top five.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 94, Herbst was scored the leader followed by Reddick, McDowell, Wallace and Gilliland while Cindric, Erik Jones, Harvick, Stenhouse and Almirola were battling in the top 10 amid two long stacked lanes. By then, Playoff contenders Larson, Hamlin, Bell, Blaney, Truex, Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Buescher and Byron were mired within the top 33 as 33 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap and separated by two seconds.

    Six laps later, Wallace drafted teammate Reddick into the lead as they made their way past Herbst and the Front Row Motorsports group while the field behind fanned out to three packed lanes. McDowell would fight back on the inside lane during the proceeding lap as Preece navigated his way back into the top five. Not long after, Hamlin assumed the lead on Lap 102 as Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski followed suit. By then, McDowell challenged Hamlin for the top spot on the inside lane while Wallace and Reddick fell back to sixth and seventh.

    Then on Lap 105, the second wave of green flag pit stops commenced as a bevy of competitors led by Hamlin and Wallace, who locked up the front tires, pitted. Amid the pit stops, Hamlin was penalized for speeding on pit road. During the following lap, another wave of competitors, mainly Ford competitors, pitted before the final wave of competitors led by Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon pitted. Cindric would also be penalized for speeding on pit road while Keselowski cycled his way into the lead by Lap 108. With Keselowski leading through to the Lap 110 mark, Logano followed suit in second before he assumed the top spot during the following lap. Behind, Almirola made his way into second over Keselowski while Blaney, Austin Dillon, Harvick, Kyle Busch, Buescher, LaJoie and Preece were scored in the top 10.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 120, Keselowski, who navigated his way into the lead over Byron during the previous lap and came into the event eight points above the top-eight cutline, fended off the field to claim his sixth Cup stage victory of 2023. Byron settled in second followed by Logano, Austin Dillon and Elliott while Suarez, Larson, Briscoe, Ty Dillon and Reddick were scored in the top 10. Amid the battles for stage points within the lead lap group, Carson Hocevar managed to claim the free pass spot after crossing the start/finish line ahead of Hamlin to be the first competitor that was scored a lap down.

    During the stage break, the field led by Keselowski returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Logano exited first while Keselowski, Larson, Suarez, Byron, Elliott, Austin Dillon and Blaney followed suit. Amid the pit stops, Ty Gibbs was penalized for removing his gas can out of his pit box, which then dropped in the middle of pit road, ignited and erupted into a huge fire. With Gibbs serving his penalty, a number of competitors that included Austin Dillon, Erik Jones, Harvick, Almirola, Briscoe, Buescher, Wallace, McDowell, Preece, Gilliland, Herbst, Allmendinger and LaJoie returned to pit road to top off on fuel.

    With 63 laps remaining, the final stage started as Logano and Larson occupied the front row. At the start, Logano and Larson dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. Amid two tight-packed lanes, Logano muscled ahead on the outside lane followed by Keselowski while Larson remained on the inside lane as he had Daniel Suarez and Byron drafting him. Logano would retain the lead with 60 laps remaining while Playoff contenders Larson, Keselowski, Byron, Kyle Busch, Reddick, Blaney and Truex were running in the top 10. Meanwhile, Buescher and Wallace were in 17th and 19th while Bell and Hamlin were mired back in 29th and 33rd.

    With 50 laps remaining and as the field slowly fanning out to three packed lanes, Logano was leading ahead of Keselowski and Elliott while Kyle Busch and Larson were mired in the top five. By then, Reddick, Suarez, Truex, Byron and Blaney were in the top 10 while Wallace was in 11th. By then, Hamlin, who was still scored a lap down, was blending in within the lead lap pack and leading the outside lane with drafting help from Wallace while Logano continued to lead ahead of Keselowski, Elliott and Kyle Busch.

    A few laps later, Buescher, who moved up to the outside lane, received a huge push from Hamlin amid a stacked three-wide battle to move toward the front while Logano retained the lead. With Hamlin moving down in front of Logano through the middle lane, Buescher would launch his bid for the lead against Logano while Keselowski, Almirola, Wallace and Larson moved up and battled toward the front. Amid the continuous shuffling and drafts within the three stacked lanes, Wallace would then make his way into the runner-up spot with 40 laps remaining behind the leader Logano before Byron assumed the lead during the proceeding lap followed by Blaney. This would drop Logano and Wallace to third and fifth while Bowman moved up to fourth as Keselowski occupied sixth.

    Then with 34 laps remaining, Wallace made his way into the lead as he overtook Byron through the tri-oval before fending off Buescher. Wallace would spend the next two laps leading in his No. 23 Leidos Toyota TRD Camry until Byron reassumed the top spot in his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 with 31 laps remaining. Byron’s move occurred as the field fanned out to nearly four lanes as Almirola, Blaney and Bowman followed suit. Soon after, Wallace, who was being drafted by Hamlin, slipped out of the top 10 as Byron, Blaney, Bowman, Larson and Stenhouse occupied the top five amid three stacked lanes.

    With 27 laps remaining, the caution flew for a multi-car wreck on the frontstretch after Hocevar, who was leading the outside lane amid a three-wide battle, got sideways off the front nose of Keselowski as Hocevar spun and clipped Ty Gibbs, who collected Austin Dillon in the process, as Dillon clipped Keselowski and sent the No. 6 Solomon Plumbing Ford Mustang for a spin, with Keselowski’s car briefly coming off the ground, towards the inside wall before Dillon made hard impact against the outside wall head-on along with Gibbs as Harrison Burton, Briscoe and Allmendinger also wrecked. At the moment of caution, Harvick had assumed the lead while Almirola, Herbst, Byron, Wallace, Blaney, Bowman, Larson, Suarez and Stenhouse were scored in the top 10. The incident would be enough to place the event in a red flag period for nearly 10 minutes as the on-track safety crew proceeded to repair the track’s damage across the walls and the carnage.

    Once the red flag lifted and the field proceeded under a cautious pace, the lead lap field led by Harvick pitted for service. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, but mainly for fuel, Logano exited first followed by LaJoie, Almirola, Harvick, Bowman, Blaney and Larson. Meanwhile, Hamlin received the free pass and cycled back on the lead lap.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, where Almirola and Bowman occupied the front row, the race restarted under green. At the start, Almirola and Bowman dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch as the field stacked up within two tight-packed lanes. Both Almirola and Bowman continued to duel for the lead through the tri-oval as Almirola had teammate Harvick drafting him on the outside lane while Bowman had drafting help from Blaney.

    Three laps later and as the field started to fan out to three lanes, the caution returned due to debris reported on the backstretch. By then, Bowman was the leader followed by Blaney, Almirola, Herbst and Harvick while Elliott, Larson, Logano, Byron and LaJoie were in the top 10.

    During the following restart with 13 laps remaining, Bowman muscled ahead of Blaney to retain the lead as the inside lane gained the advantage through the first two turns and the backstretch. With the outside lane trying to regain the advantage through the tri-oval, Bowman retained the lead as Harvick ignited his charge to the lead. Harvick would then be drafted into the lead with 11 laps remaining followed by Blaney as Elliott, Herbst and Larson were battling within the top six. As the field fanned out to three lanes with the competitors jostling and shuffling within the pack and the draft, Harvick retained the lead with 10 laps remaining before the Hendrick Motorsports competitors led by Bowman and followed by Elliott assumed the top spot during the following lap.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Elliott was leading ahead of teammates Larson, Byron and Suarez while the outside lane led by Harvick tried to gain the run towards the front. In the midst of the battles towards the front, the field fanned out to three lanes as the competitors started to shuffle and draft their way to the front. Shortly after, Bowman was shuffled out of the lead draft as he started to lose ground of the front-runners while Harvick assumed the lead.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Blaney and Harvick, both of whom spent the previous three laps locked dead even for the lead amongst two packed lanes, were in front of the field as Blaney led the previous lap by a hair. Through the frontstretch, Harvick would receive a push from Byron to muscle ahead as he then moved his No. 4 Busch Light Camo Ford Mustang up the track to block Blaney. Blaney, however, made a crossover move to dive his No. 12 Menards/Pennzoil Ford Mustang beneath Harvick through the backstretch before he gained a slight advantage entering the tri-oval. Harvick then had Herbst drafting him as he started to gain ground on Blaney with the three-wide stacked field approaching the finish line. Then with nearly everyone behind the front-runners wrecking as Herbst got turned across Elliott and Larson, Blaney, who remained ahead of Byron, managed to edge Harvick, who had no drafting help, by 0.012 seconds to claim the victory.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    With the victory, Blaney achieved his ninth NASCAR Cup Series career victory, his third at Talladega Superspeedway, his third in the Cup Series Playoffs, his second of the season and his first since winning the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. The third-generation racer also recorded the third victory of the season for Team Penske and the seventh for the Ford nameplate.

    The victory automatically guarantees Blaney and the No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang team a spot into the Round of 8 along with William Byron as Blaney, who transferred into the Round of 8 for the fifth time in his career, continues his pursuit for his first Cup Series championship.

    “Yeah, I don’t really know [how we won],” Blaney, who celebrated on the frontstretch with the fans, said on NBC. “Yeah, pretty wild [the] last restart, but let alone, last couple laps, kind of lose the momentum, getting it back. Just getting cleared to the bottom to get to the front row and drag-race it out with Kevin [Harvick]. Really proud of the whole No. 12 group. It’s so cool to win three times here at Talladega. That’s super cool. I have to give a big thanks to Riley Herbst. He did a really good job there the last couple restarts. He doesn’t have a lot of Cup starts, but he did a great job at pushing me, so thanks to him. This is so cool. I’ve won it by more than I have the last couple years, but that one might’ve been about four feet. The others [Talladega wins] were about two, but you just don’t know. You just got to drag-race to the line, hope you get help. William [Byron] gave me a pretty good shove on the bottom [lane]. He’s kind of forced to. I wasn’t sure [that I won] till [spotter] Josh [Williams] said something. Josh did a fantastic job on the roof like always. This is such a special place to win at, so I cannot wait to go to Victory Lane.”

    While Blaney celebrated with his team in Victory Lane, Harvick was left disappointed, but still smiling, over his runner-up result in his 46th and final career start at Talladega and on a day where he led 11 laps and notched his seventh top-five result of the season. Despite having his Playoff hopes evaporated following the Round of 16, Harvick continues his pursuit for his first victory of the season as he is down to his final five Cup career starts before retiring from full-time competition.

    “I just tried to block the lanes and then, I was kind of late blocking [Blaney] there,” Harvick said. “He got to the outside of us, but it actually worked out OK because [Byron] was a great pusher and then, it got shuffled again and I had Riley [Herbst] behind me. I thought I was in a really good spot headed down the back straightaway with everything that was happening because I knew if I could get off the tri-oval with Riley right on my bumper, I was still gonna be OK and then, he got spun in the middle of the tri-oval. Great day. Great way to end at Talladega. Always want to win. It is what it is. Last superspeedway race and went out with everything rolling, so that’s a good thing.”

    Following the event, however, Harvick was disqualified from his runner-up result due to the windshield fasteners from his car not being properly secured. As a result, Byron, who led 12 laps and is already guaranteed a spot in the Playoff’s Round of 8 after winning last weekend’s event at Texas Motor Speedway, was promoted into the runner-up spot followed by Denny Hamlin, who rallied from being mired a lap down to finish third in his No. 11 Mavis Tires & Brakes Toyota TRD Camry. Corey LaJoie avoided the carnage to finish fourth in his No. 7 Gainbridge Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and notch his second top-five result of the season while Cindric ended up fifth.

    Haley, Elliott, Ryan Preece, Riley Herbst and Daniel Suarez finished in the top 10 on the track. Notably, Playoff contenders Bell, Larson, Reddick, Truex, Buescher, Wallace and Kyle Busch ended up 14th, 15th, 16th, 18th, 19th, 23rd and 25th, respectively.

    There were 70 lead changes for 24 different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 17 laps. In addition, 29 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Ryan Blaney, eight laps led, Stage 1 winner

    2. William Byron, 12 laps led

    3. Denny Hamlin, three laps led

    4. Corey LaJoie

    5. Austin Cindric, 15 laps led

    6. Justin Haley, one lap led

    7. Chase Elliott, eight laps led

    8. Ryan Preece, eight laps led

    9. Riley Herbst, 10 laps led

    10. Daniel Suarez

    11. Chandler Smith

    12. Todd Gilliland

    13. Chase Briscoe

    14. Christopher Bell, two laps led

    15. Kyle Larson, one lap led

    16. Tyler Reddick, two laps led

    17. Aric Almirola, seven laps led

    18. Martin Truex Jr.

    19. Chris Buescher, three laps led

    20. AJ Allmendinger

    21. Michael McDowell, five laps led

    22. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 14 laps led

    23. Bubba Wallace, three laps led

    24. Joey Logano, 48 laps led

    25. Kyle Busch, two laps led

    26. Erik Jones, four laps led

    27. Ty Dillon, two laps led

    28. Alex Bowman, 13 laps led

    29. BJ McLeod, one lap down

    30. Brennan Poole, two laps down

    31. Harrison Burton – OUT, Suspension

    32. Brad Keselowski – OUT, Accident, five laps led, Stage 2 winner

    33. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    34. Ty Gibbs – OUT, Accident

    35. Carson Hocevar – OUT, Accident

    36. JJ Yeley – OUT, Fuel pump

    37. Ross Chastain – OUT, Accident

    38. Kevin Harvick – Disqualified, 11 laps led

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. William Byron – Advanced

    2. Ryan Blaney – Advanced

    3. Denny Hamlin +50

    4. Christopher Bell +22

    5. Chris Buescher +19

    6. Martin Truex Jr. +17

    7. Kyle Larson +15

    8. Brad Keselowski +2

    9. Tyler Reddick -2

    10. Bubba Wallace -9

    11. Ross Chastain -10

    12. Kyle Busch -26

    The Round of 12 in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is set to conclude next weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in Concord, North Carolina, where the second of three eliminations will occur and the Round of 8 field will be determined. The event is scheduled to commence next Sunday, October 8, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Byron clinches Round of 8 spot with late Cup victory at Texas, records 300th Cup victory for Hendrick Motorsports

    Byron clinches Round of 8 spot with late Cup victory at Texas, records 300th Cup victory for Hendrick Motorsports

    The number 300 was the big number of the day for Hendrick Motorsports as William Byron capitalized on a six-lap shootout to deliver a milestone victory for HMS by winning the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, September 24.

    The 25-year-old Byron from Charlotte, North Carolina, led the final six of 267-scheduled laps in an event where he started 18th and ground his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet through the sizzling temperatures and on-track action while being mired within and outside of the top 10 during the first two stage periods.

    Then after methodically carving his way into the top 10 in the closing stretches, Byron benefitted on a late strategic pit call to remain on the track during a caution period with less than 25 laps remaining to move up into third place. Amid three late-race restarts and chaos that eliminated his teammate Kyle Larson from contention, Byron executed the final restart with six laps remaining in his favor as he overtook pole-sitter Bubba Wallace and Chase Briscoe before muscling away from Ross Chastain to grab his unprecedented sixth checkered flag of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season, secure his spot into the Playoff’s Round of 8 and deliver the record-setting 300th win in NASCAR’s premier series for Hendrick Motorsports.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, September 23, Playoff contender Bubba Wallace notched his first Cup pole position of the season and the second of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 188.337 mph in 28.672 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Chris Buescher, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 188.081 mph in 28.711 seconds.

    Prior to the event, BJ McLeod started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his entry.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Bubba Wallace and Chris Buescher dueled for the lead through the frontstretch, the first two turns and through the backstretch as the field behind fanned out. Then in Turn 3, Wallace used the inside lane to his advantage as he rocketed ahead of Buescher and cleared him entering the frontstretch as he led the first lap. With Wallace leading Buescher and Brad Keselowski, Playoff contender Ross Chastain was in fourth while rookie Ty Gibbs and AJ Allmendinger battled for fifth place in front of Kyle Busch.

    Through the second to fifth lap and as the field continued to jostle early for positions, Wallace retained the lead within three-tenths of a second over Buescher as Keselowski, Chastain and Ty Gibbs followed suit in the top five. By then, Allmendinger settled in sixth ahead of Kyle Busch while Daniel Suarez, Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson were running in the top 10.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Wallace maintained the lead by two-tenths of a second over Buescher followed by Keselowski, Chastain and Ty Gibbs while Allmendinger, Kyle Busch, Suarez, Bell and Larson were in the top 10. Behind, Denny Hamlin was in 11th ahead of Austin Dillon, Erik Jones, Alex Bowman and Tyler Reddick while Michael McDowell, William Byron, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano and Carson Hocevar occupied the top 20. Meanwhile, Kevin Harvick was in 22nd behind teammate Aric Almirola, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. followed suit in 23rd, Ryan Blaney was back in 25th, Chase Elliott was in 29th behind Briscoe and Austin Cindric was mired in 35th.

    Ten laps later, Wallace extended his advantage to more than a second over Buescher while third-place Keselowski also trailed by more than a second as Chastain and Ty Gibbs remained in the top five. As Wallace continued to lead by the Lap 25 mark, he along with Buescher, Chastain, Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Larson and Hamlin were the Playoff contenders currently scored in the top 10 on the track while Bell, Reddick, Truex and Byron were mired within the top 20. Meanwhile, Blaney was still mired in 25th place.

    At the Lap 35 mark, Wallace stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Buescher followed by Chastain while Kyle Busch moved up to fourth. By then, Ty Gibbs and Allmendinger were in the top six while Keselowski fell back to seventh in front of Suarez, Larson and Erik Jones.

    Another lap later, the first cycle of green flag pit stops ignited as Playoff contender Bell pitted his No. 20 Interstate Batteries Toyota TRD Camry. A bevy of names that included Buescher, Chastain, Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Larson, Reddick, Hocevar, BJ McLeod, Logano, Hocevar, Stenhouse and Ryan Preece would pit during the ensuing laps before Wallace surrendered the lead to pit by Lap 39. More names that included Ty Gibbs, Hamlin, Suarez, Erik Jones, Truex, McDowell, Byron and Harvick would pit along with Wallace. By Lap 40, more names that included Allmendinger, Austin Dillon, Alex Bowman and Aric Almirola would pit.

    Then on Lap 41, the first caution of the event flew when Austin Dillon, who had just pitted, snapped sideways in Turn 3 after the entire right-rear wheel came off of Dillon’s No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and wrecked against the outside wall before he slid down the track and came to a rest. During the caution period, the remaining competitors who had yet to pit, including Ty Dillon, Blaney, Elliott, Chase Briscoe, Corey LaJoie, Harrison Burton and Cindric, pitted while the rest of the field remained on the track, which handed the lead back to Wallace.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 48, where Wallace and Chastain occupied the front row, Wallace and Chastain dueled for the lead as the field stacked up to two tight lanes entering Turn 1. The caution, however, quickly returned when Bowman, who was running 14th, got sideways amid a three-wide battle between Hocevar and McDowell as he then made contact against Almirola’s No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang before both spun entering Turn 2 and proceeded without making any on-track contact.

    During the proceeding restart on Lap 53, Kyle Busch attempted to make a three-wide move on Wallace and Chastain for the lead entering Turn 1, but he stepped out of the gas for the turn as Wallace managed to retain the lead from Chastain. In the process, Larson moved up to third followed by Buescher while Kyle Busch fell back to fifth ahead of Hamlin, Truex, Reddick and Keselowski. The caution, however, quickly returned again when Todd Gilliland spun and wrecked through the backstretch after losing a right-rear wheel.

    As the event restarted under green on Lap 58, Wallace and Chastain again dueled for the lead, with Chastain briefly leading entering the backstretch until Wallace managed to fight back and reassume the top spot to lead the following lap. Then during the following lap and as the field continued to jostle for positions, Kyle Busch, who was running third, fell back to sixth after reporting a potential flat right-front tire to his No. 8 3CHI Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Busch, though, remained on the track despite his issues during the proceeding laps as he was back in seventh while Wallace maintained the lead by half a second over Chastain with Buescher, Larson and Hamlin running in the top five.

    By Lap 70, Wallace continued to lead by half a second over Chastain followed by Buescher, Larson and Hamlin while Reddick, Kyle Busch, Byron, Keselowski and Erik Jones were in the top 10, thus placing nine of 12 Playoff contenders in the top 10 on the track minus Jones. Meanwhile, Truex and Bell were back in 11th and 12th while Blaney was mired back in 24th behind LaJoie.

    Then three laps later, the caution returned as Kyle Busch, who was in eighth, slipped sideways entering Turn 1 and spun backwards before he pounded the outside wall in Turn 2 and emerged with significant rear-end and left-side damage to his No. 8 entry. Following his incident, Busch reversed his damaged car from the apron in Turn 1 all the way back to his pit stall, where he would eventually retire from further competition as he overran the Damaged Vehicle Policy clock and took an early hit towards his quest of winning his third Cup title.

    During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Wallace pitted while the rest led by Buescher remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Ty Gibbs ran into the side of teammate Hamlin’s No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry while trying to exit pit road, which forced Gibbs to make another pit stop for repairs and eventually retire while Hamlin remained on the track.

    With the event restarting for a one-lap dash to the conclusion of the first stage period, Buescher and Reddick dueled for the lead until Reddick managed to muscle his No. 45 Jordan Brand Toyota TRD Camry ahead with the lead from the outside lane through the backstretch. Reddick then started to pull away from the field while the field behind jostled for positions. When the first stage period concluded on Lap 80, Reddick, who remained on the track, executed his early pit strategy to perfection as he captured his fifth Cup stage victory of the 2023 season. Buescher settled in second followed by Bell, Byron and McDowell while Elliott, Blaney, Briscoe, Hamlin and Wallace were scored in the top 10. Immediately after the first stage’s conclusion, trouble ignited as Erik Jones ran into the rear of Keselowski, who then collided with Truex as Truex spun.

    Under the stage break, Bell and Byron pitted while the rest of the field led by Reddick remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 86 as Reddick and Buescher, both of whom remained on the track amid their pit strategy, occupied the front row. At the start, Reddick received a push from McDowell to retain the lead from the outside lane. With Reddick leading, McDowell challenged Buescher for the runner-up spot while Elliott and Briscoe were in the top five. Shortly after, Blaney battled Briscoe for fifth place ahead of Hamlin while Wallace followed suit in front of Larson and Chastain. Amid the battles within the top 10, Reddick extended his advantage to more than a second over McDowell by the Lap 90 mark.

    Through the Lap 100 mark, Reddick continued to extend his advantage as he was leading by more than two seconds over McDowell while Buescher, Elliott and Hamlin were in the top five. Behind, Larson was in sixth ahead of Blaney, Chastain, Briscoe and Wallace while Erik Jones, Ryan Preece, Keselowski, Daniel Suarez and Allmendinger occupied the top 15 in front of Hocevar, Harvick, Bowman, Justin Haley and Ty Dillon. Meanwhile, Playoff contenders Truex, Byron and Bell were in 22nd, 25th and 27th, respectively.

    Ten laps later, Reddick was leading by more than three seconds over his owner Hamlin, who continued to run strong with a wounded No. 11 Toyota, followed by Larson while McDowell dropped to fourth in front of Buescher. Shortly after, the caution flew when LaJoie spun and wrecked in Turn 2 as he then ripped the right-rear quarter panel off of his damaged No. 7 Gainbridge Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 after blowing his right-rear tire while limping it back to pit road.

    During the caution period, the entire lead lap field led by Reddick pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Wallace returned to the lead after exiting pit road first and opting for a two-tire pit stop followed by Blaney, Keselowski and Suarez while Hamlin was the first competitor to exit pit road with four fresh tires in fifth place. Amid the pit stops, Zane Smith was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 118, Wallace and Blaney dueled for the lead until Wallace used the inside lane to clear Blaney and muscle ahead from the field that was fanning out to three lanes prior to entering the backstretch. With Wallace back in the lead, Blaney maintained the runner-up spot in front of Hamlin and Keselowski while Suarez, Hamlin and Larson battled for fourth place in front of Elliott and Hocevar. Soon after, Truex and Buescher muscled their way toward the front and within the top 10 while Hocevar slid out of the top 10. Amid the battles ensuing within the top-10 mark, Wallace stretched his advantage to more than a second over Blaney by Lap 125 as Erik Jones cracked the top 10 while running ninth ahead of Truex.

    At the halfway mark in between Laps 133 and 134, Wallace extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Blaney followed by Keselowski, Larson and Suarez while Hamlin, Elliott, Buescher, Erik Jones, Buescher and Chastain occupied the top 10 ahead of Truex, Hocevar, Allmendinger, Bowman, Preece, McDowell, Harvick, Bell, Byron and Briscoe. By then, Reddick was back in 22nd while 31 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Then on Lap 142, Larson, racing on four fresh tires, overtook Wallace from the outside lane in Turn 2 and assumed the lead in his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. By then, Hamlin was in third while Blaney fell back to fourth ahead of Erik Jones. Blaney would be overtaken by Jones by Lap 143 as Keselowski, Elliott, Buescher, Suarez and Chastain were scored in the top 10.

    By Lap 155, Larson stretched his advantage to more than five seconds over Hamlin and Jones, both of whom overtook Wallace for second and third six laps earlier, while Wallace fell back to fourth ahead of Blaney, Elliott, Buescher, Keselowski, Chastain and Suarez. By then, Truex was in 11th ahead of McDowell and Hocevar while Allmendinger, who was battling Truex for 11th place, slipped to 14th after getting loose.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 165, Larson captured his fifth Cup stage victory of the 2023 season. Erik Jones muscled to a strong runner-up result ahead of Hamlin, Blaney, Buescher, Elliott, Keselowski and Chastain while Wallace dropped to ninth ahead of Suarez. By then, Playoff contenders Truex, Byron, Bell and Reddick were in 12th, 15th, 20th and 21st, respectively.

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Larson pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Larson retained the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Jones, Hamlin, Blaney, Buescher, Keselowski and Wallace.

    With 96 laps remaining, the final stage started as Larson and Jones occupied the front row. At the start, Larson and Jones dueled for the lead through the frontstretch, the first two turns and the backstretch until Larson managed to clear Jones’ No. 43 Legacy Motor Club entry through Turns 3 and 4 and retain the lead. With Larson, Jones settled in second followed by Hamlin while Blaney, Wallace and Keselowski occupied the top six in front of a side-by-side battle between Elliott and Buescher. With a series of late on-track battles ensuing, Larson stretched his advantage to more than a second over Jones with 90 laps remaining.

    With 75 laps remaining, Larson continued to lead by more than three seconds over Erik Jones followed by Hamlin, Blaney and Keselowski while Wallace, Buescher, McDowell, Byron and Elliott were running in the top 10, thus placing seven of 12 Playoff contenders in the top 10 on the track minus Jones, McDowell and Elliott. Meanwhile, Playoff contenders Reddick, Truex and Bell were in 17th, 18th and 21st while Chastain, who stalled his car due to a throttle position sensor issue and went up the track a few laps earlier, was mired back in 29th after running within the top 10 earlier.

    Fifteen laps later, Larson stabilized his lead to more than five seconds over Erik Jones while Hamlin, Blaney and Keselowski remained in the top five. Behind, Buescher was in sixth ahead of Wallace and Byron while McDowell and Elliott were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Reddick, Truex and Bell were back in 16th, 19th and 20th while Chastain was mired in 27th.

    A lap later, the caution flew when Suarez spun while trying to enter pit road for service under green as his No. 99 Kubota Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 stalled towards the frontstretch grass before he proceeded. By then, Reddick made a pit stop under green but lost a lap in the process as he would use the wave around to cycle back on the lead lap and restart towards the tail end of the field. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Larson pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Larson edged Jones off of pit road to retain the lead while Keselowski, Hamlin, Blaney, Wallace and Buescher followed suit. Amid the pit stops, Blaney was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road.

    With the race restarting with 53 laps remaining, Larson and Jones dueled for the lead through the frontstretch until Larson muscled ahead from the inside lane to clear Jones and lead from the first two turns through the backstretch. As Larson maintained the lead back to the frontstretch, Hamlin settled in third ahead of Keselowski while Wallace and Buescher battled for fifth in front of Byron and Briscoe. With Wallace stuck in between Keselowski and Buescher in fifth, Larson stretched his advantage to more than a second over Jones with 50 laps remaining.

    With 35 laps remaining, Larson continued to extend his advantage as he was leading by more than four seconds over Erik Jones while Hamlin, Keselowski and Wallace were in the top five. Behind, Byron was in sixth ahead of Buescher while Briscoe, Harvick, Elliott, Chastain, Bowman, Preece, Bell and Reddick were running in the top 15. Meanwhile, Truex was in 17th and Blaney, following his late pit road speeding penalty, was mired in 23rd in between Allmendinger and McDowell.

    Then with 25 laps remaining, the caution flew when JJ Yeley spun and wrecked entering the backstretch. During the caution period, some, led by Jones and including Hamlin, Buescher and Keselowski pitted while the rest led by Larson and including Wallace, Byron, Briscoe, Harvick, Elliott, Chastain, Bowman, Preece, Bell, Reddick, Harrison Burton, Stenhouse, McDowell and Cindric remained on the track.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Larson and Wallace dueled for the lead through the frontstretch, the first two turns and the backstretch as the field behind jostled for positions. Through Turns 3 and 4, Wallace and Larson remained dead even for the lead as Wallace barely led the following lap over Larson. Then entering Turn 1 and amid the tight side-by-side battle for the lead, Wallace took the air off of Larson’s car, which got Larson sideways as he spun backwards, pounded the outside wall and emerged with significant rear-end damage. With Larson limping his damaged No. 5 Chevrolet back to pit road, Wallace retained the lead ahead of Byron while Briscoe, Elliott and Preece were scored in the top five. Amid his pit crew’s attempt to repair the car, Larson overran the Damaged Vehicle Policy clock and was officially ruled out of the race.

    “[Wallace] did a good job to stay with me on the restart through [Turns] 3 and 4,” Larson said in the infield care center. “I was trying to have my shape into [Turn] 1. With these cars, you don’t really get sucked around like that, so I wasn’t really expecting it. [I] Thought that I would be fine. We just went in there side-by-side and I lost it really quickly and crashed. Pretty bummed.”

    Down to the final 13 laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Wallace and Byron occupied the front row. At the start, Wallace rocketed his No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota TRD Camry ahead with the lead from the outside lane while the field behind scrambled, fanned out and jostled for positions. Through the backstretch, Briscoe made his way into the runner-up spot while Elliott and Byron battled for third place. Then just as Wallace was making his way back to the frontstretch with a steady lead, the caution returned amid a multi-car wreck that started when both Reddick and Jones slid up and hit the outside wall, with Jones getting hit by Blaney as Zane Smith, Cindric, Allmendinger, Hocevar and Truex wrecked across the frontstretch.

    During the following restart with six laps remaining, Wallace and Briscoe dueled for the lead entering Turns 1 and 2 before Briscoe nearly got loose underneath Wallace entering the backstretch. With both Wallace and Briscoe remaining dead even for the lead through the backstretch, Byron darted his No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 beneath both and overtook Briscoe before nearly making contact with Wallace as Wallace tried to block entering Turn 3. Byron, though, used the inside lane to his advantage as he muscled past Wallace entering the frontstretch and assumed the lead.

    During the following lap and with Byron leading, Chastain navigated his No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 past Wallace for the runner-up spot as Wallace went up the track and had to fend off Elliott for third place. In the process, Bell made his way up to fourth as he tried to challenge Wallace for third while Briscoe, Harvick, Hamlin and Elliott battled for fourth. Amid the battles, Byron stretched his advantage to more than a second over Chastain while Wallace and Bell tried to close back in for the spot. By then, Hamlin, racing on four fresh tires, was making his way into fifth place followed by Harvick, Keselowski and Briscoe.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Byron remained as the leader by more than a second over Chastain. With Chastain and Wallace unable to close the gap, Byron was able to rocket his way around the circuit for a final time and return to the frontstretch victorious by claiming the checkered flag for the sixth time in the 2023 Cup season.

    With the victory, Byron notched his 10th career win in NASCAR’s premier series, his first at Texas Motor Speedway in the Cup circuit and his first since winning at Watkins Glen International in August. He also became the first Cup Playoff competitor to punch his ticket into the Round of 8 as he continues his quest to contend for his first Cup Series championship.

    Above all, Byron bestowed Hendrick Motorsports, which is in its 40th season in competition and stands as the winningest team in NASCAR history, its 300th Cup Series victory. The 300th Cup victory for HMS occurred more than 11 years after Jimmie Johnson recorded the team’s 200th Cup victory at Darlington Raceway and more than five years after Chase Elliott crowned the team’s 250th victory at Watkins Glen International.

    “Man, that’s badass,” Byron said on USA Network. “I finally got a good restart at the end. Number 300 for Hendrick Motorsports. Kyle [Larson] really deserved this one. Those guys were really fast all day. Hate it for them at the end, but man, it was awesome to get our car to the front. It loved clean air. We just fought through traffic all day. Our Liberty University Chevy was just tight back in traffic but had good pace. It was a grind-it-out day. Our team was there at the end. I’m really proud of this one as hot as it was and as tough as it was. We’ll take it and go on to the next round.”

    “I don’t know if I could even put it into words [on delivering win No. 300 for Hendrick Motorsports],” Byron added. “I was such a Hendrick Motorsports fan growing up as a kid, watching Jimmie Johnson and became really fond of Jeff Gordon as I got to know him. Just thankful for all the people, men and women back at Hendrick Motorsports and Mr. Hendrick for his investment into me and telling me at 17 years old that he was gonna take me to Cup racing. This is awesome. We’re definitely gonna enjoy this one.”

    While Byron celebrated the milestone victory on the frontstretch and in Victory Lane, Bubba Wallace, who ended up in third place behind Ross Chastain, was left disappointed on pit road after falling six laps short of winning and grabbing an early ticket into the Round of 8 amid his strong performance from start to finish. Nonetheless, the third-place result, which marks Wallace’s fifth top-five result of the season and his highest-recorded finish of this season thus far, currently places him and his No. 23 23XI Racing team in ninth place in the Playoff standings and two points below the top-eight cutline.

    “Third time, I fooled myself, starting on top [lane],” Wallace said. “These guys gave me the right information. [Briscoe]’s tight and he sent it off in there, wasn’t gonna stick, but it’s what he’s got to do. We’re racing for a win. Just hate it. I should’ve just kept my line into [Turn] 3 and forced William [Byron] to get tight, but you’re so vulnerable in these cars. Just upset with myself. [I] Really needed a win there. It’s a good showing. I know what I did and I choked. We grinded, come out with a good solid points day, so appreciate everybody’s support and effort. We’ll go on to Talladega.”

    Teammates Bell and Hamlin finished in the top five behind Byron, Chastain and Wallace, thus placing five Playoff contenders in the top-five finishing order on the track. Harvick, who was eliminated from the Playoffs last weekend, came home in sixth place while Keselowski, Suarez, Stenhouse and Briscoe completed the top 10 on the track.

    Notably, Buescher ended up 14th, Truex settled in 17th, Reddick finished 25th while being the last competitor on the lead lap and Blaney retired in 28th place amid the late multi-car wreck.

    There were 22 lead changes for 13 different leaders. The race featured 11 cautions for 55 laps. In addition, 25 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. William Byron, six laps led

    2. Ross Chastain, one lap led

    3. Bubba Wallace, 111 laps led

    4. Christopher Bell

    5. Denny Hamlin

    6. Kevin Harvick

    7. Brad Keselowski

    8. Daniel Suarez

    9. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    10. Chase Briscoe

    11. Chase Elliott, one lap led

    12. Alex Bowman, one lap led

    13. Justin Haley

    14. Chris Buescher, two laps led

    15. Michael McDowell

    16. Carson Hocevar

    17. Martin Truex Jr.

    18. Aric Almirola

    19. Ty Dillon, three laps led

    20. Harrison Burton

    21. Joey Logano

    22. BJ McLeod

    23. Ryan Preece

    24. Zane Smith

    25. Tyler Reddick, 36 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    26. Corey LaJoie, five laps down

    27. Austin Cindric – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    28. Ryan Blaney – OUT, Accident

    29. AJ Allmendinger – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    30. Erik Jones – OUT, Accident, Accident, three laps led

    31. Kyle Larson – OUT, Accident, 99 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    32. JJ Yeley – OUT, Accident, two laps led

    33. Ty Gibbs – OUT, Accident

    34. Kyle Busch – OUT, Dvp

    35. Todd Gilliland – OUT, Accident

    36. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. William Byron – Advanced

    2. Denny Hamlin +37

    3. Chris Buescher +22

    4. Christopher Bell +20

    5. Martin Truex Jr. +19

    6. Ross Chastain +12

    7. Brad Keselowski +8

    8. Kyle Larson +2

    9. Bubba Wallace -2

    10. Tyler Reddick -3

    11. Ryan Blaney -11

    12. Kyle Busch -17

    The second Round of 12 event in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is set to occur next Sunday, October 1, at Talladega Superspeedway. The event’s broadcast is slated to occur at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Reddick advances to Playoff’s Round of 12 in thrilling overtime Cup victory at Kansas

    Reddick advances to Playoff’s Round of 12 in thrilling overtime Cup victory at Kansas

    A week after being left disappointed with a runner-up finish in the Playoff opener at Darlington Raceway, Tyler Reddick capitalized on a late caution period and an overtime shootout to emerge out in top and race his way into the second round of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs by winning the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, September 10.

    The two-time Xfinity Series champion from Corning, California, led the final two of 268 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started fifth, scored stage points during both stage break periods and ran a consistent event while keeping pace with the leaders. Initially set to finish in the runner-up spot behind team owner and Playoff contender Denny Hamlin, an opportunity presented itself for Reddick and the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota team when the caution flew with seven laps remaining after Playoff contender Chris Buescher blew a right-rear tire.

    Amid mixed strategy among the leaders, Reddick, who opted for a four-tire pit stop, exited pit road sixth and lineup alongside Hamlin on the third row for an overtime shootout. During overtime, Reddick managed to quickly carve his way up to third before he pulled a bold three-wide pass on both Erik Jones and Joey Logano through the frontstretch to assume the lead as he also started the final lap of the event. With the clean air and the fresh tires, Reddick was able to fend off Jones and a hard-charging Hamlin to claim his second checkered flag of the 2023 Cup season and become the second Playoff contender alongside Kyle Larson to transfer from the Round of 16 to 12 by winning.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, September 9, Playoff contender Christopher Bell claimed his fourth Cup pole position of the 2023 season and second in recent weeks after posting a pole-winning lap at 180.276 mph in 29.954 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Kyle Larson, winner of last weekend’s Playoff opener at Darlington Raceway who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 179.826 mph in 30.029 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Kyle Busch dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as a result of damaging his car against the Turn 3 outside wall after blowing a tire during Saturday’s practice session. Rookie Ty Gibbs also dropped to the rear of the field in a backup car after he wrecked his primary car during practice.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Bell took off with the top spot on the inside lane as he rocketed away from the field that was fanning out through the first two turns and through the backstretch. With the field continuing to jostle for early positions, Bell proceeded to lead the first lap in his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota TRD Camry. Behind, Kyle Larson fended off Martin Truex Jr. to retain the runner-up spot entering the second lap as Truex was being attacked by Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick, William Byron and Michael McDowell for more.

    Then on the third lap, Truex, who was continuing to backslide and had fallen out of the top 10 on the track, got loose while running 11th and pounded the outside wall in Turn 3 after losing a tire. The incident and the damage to his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota TRD Camry were enough to terminate Truex’s run three laps into the event.

    “Just really unfortunate, very unlucky,” Truex said at the infield care center on USA Network. “[The car] took off really tight. [I] Knew something was up and blew a right rear [tire]. Not really sure what happened. Obviously, it blew in the worst place possible. I hate it for my guys. We had an awesome race car. We were gonna have a really good day. Just not real sure what we need to do to get some luck right now.”

    During the first caution period, select names that included Ryan Preece, Harrison Burton, Ty Dillon, Kyle Busch and JJ Yeley pitted while the rest led by Bell remained on the track.

    When the race restarted under green on the ninth lap, Bell and Larson dueled for the lead through the frontstretch until Larson managed to rocket ahead from the outside lane and snatch the lead from Bell. With the field behind jostling for positions, Larson started to pull away from Bell with the lead while Chastain and Elliott battled for third in front of Byron, Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick.

    By the 12th lap, Wallace muscled his No. 23 Columbia Sportswear Toyota TRD Camry up to fourth followed by Byron and Reddick while Elliott, who nearly scrubbed the outside wall entering the frontstretch a few laps earlier, was being pressured by Austin Dillon, Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski for seventh place. In the midst of the battles, Larson retained the lead in his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through the Lap 15 mark.

    Through the first 20 scheduled laps, Larson was leading by more than a second over Bell followed by Wallace, Chastain and Byron while Reddick, Elliott, Blaney, Denny Hamlin and Austin Dillon were in the top 10. Behind, Erik Jones was in 11th ahead of Keselowski, Chris Buescher, Joey Logano and Michael McDowell while AJ Allmendinger, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Alex Bowman, Kevin Harvick and Justin Haley occupied the top 20 in front of Austin Cindric, Kyle Busch, Chase Briscoe, Daniel Suarez and Carson Hocevar.

    Five laps later, Larson continued to lead by more than a second over Wallace, who overtook Bell for the runner-up spot two laps earlier, while Byron was up to fourth after he overtook Chastain’s No. 1 Kubota Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the spot three laps earlier. Behind, Reddick occupied sixth place in front of Elliott, Hamlin and Blaney, thus placing eight Playoff competitors in the top 10 on the track, while Elliott and Erik Jones were the two highest-running non-Playoff competitors in seventh and 10th.

    Another 10 laps later, Larson extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Wallace while Bell, Byron and Chastain remained in the top five in front of Reddick, Hamlin, Elliott, Erik Jones and Blaney.

    Then on Lap 36, the first wave of green flag pit stops slowly commenced as Playoff contender Joey Logano pitted his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang followed by Corey LaJoie, Keselowski, McDowell, Daniel Suarez, Hamlin, Elliott, Austin Dillon, Chris Buescher, Erik Jones, Allmendinger, Alex Bowman, Harvick, Chase Briscoe, Ty Gibbs, Hocevar, Bell, Byron, Chastain, Blaney, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Justin Haley and Austin Cindric. By Lap 39, Larson surrendered the lead to pit along with Wallace, Kyle Busch and Sheldon Creed as Aric Almirola, who has yet to pit, cycled into the lead followed by teammate Ryan Preece and Harrison Burton.

    By Lap 42, Larson cycled back into the lead after Almirola and Preece pitted. Wallace also returned to the runner-up spot by Lap 43 as Harrison Burton pitted. Then by Lap 45, Byron, Bell and Reddick cycled into the top five with nearly the entire field having made a pit stop under green.

    At the Lap 50 mark, Larson was leading by more than a second over Wallace followed by Byron, Bell and Reddick while Chastain, Hamlin, Elliott, Erik Jones and Ty Dillon were scored in the top 10, thus placing eight of 12 Playoff contenders in the top 10 on the track. Behind, Austin Dillon was in 11th ahead of Playoff contenders Blaney, Buescher and Keselowski while JJ Yeley was in 15th ahead of Allmendinger, Kyle Busch, Logano, Bowman and Harvick. By then, Stenhouse and McDowell were mired back in 21st and 23rd.

    Ten laps later, Larson stabilized his advantage to one-and-a-half seconds over Wallace while Byron, Reddick and Bell followed suit in the top five. By then, Erik Jones was up to seventh after he overtook Chastain while Blaney returned to the top 10 as he was running 10th behind Elliott. In addition, teammates Buescher and Keselowski were still mired in the top 15 and Kyle Busch cracked the top 15 while Logano, Harvick, Stenhouse and McDowell were mired within the top 20.

    Then on Lap 62, the second caution flag flew when Byron, who was running fourth in front of Bell, got loose and spun his No. 24 Raptor Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 below the backstretch, though he managed to proceed without damaging his car. The incident occurred a lap after Austin Dillon, who was battling Buescher in 11th, got loose while and smacked the outside wall, damaging the right side of his No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

    During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Larson returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Wallace emerged as the new leader after he managed to beat Larson off of pit road first while Bell, Reddick, Hamlin, Chastin and Elliott followed suit. In the midst of the pit stops Haley was penalized for speeding on pit road. In addition, Suarez was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation. Prior to the restart, Playoff contender Buescher would pit for a second time due to a left-front wheel being loose on his No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang.

    With 11 laps remaining in the first stage period, the race restarted under green. At the start, Wallace and Larson dueled for the lead through the frontstretch until Larson managed to muscle ahead and reassume the lead from the inside lane. With Larson back in the lead, Bell battled Wallace for the runner-up spot in front of Chastain and Reddick as the field fanned out to three lanes. Wallace would manage to reassume the runner-up spot from Bell during the proceeding lap as he tried to track Larson for the lead.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 80, Larson captured his fourth Cup stage victory of the 2023 season. Wallace followed suit in the runner-up spot along with third-place Bell while Chastain, Blaney, Reddick, Hamlin, Keselowski, Elliott and Kevin Harvick, all of whom were in the Playoffs, were scored in the top 10. By then, 32 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap while Kyle Busch, Byron, McDowell, Logano, Buescher and Stenhouse were the remaining Playoff competitors on the track who did not accumulate the first wave of stage points.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Larson returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Larson retained the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Wallace, Chastain, Elliott, Reddick, Hamlin, Keselowski and Bell, who lost five spots on pit road.

    The second stage started on Lap 87 as Larson and Wallace occupied the front row. At the start, Larson received a strong push from teammate Chase Elliott on the inside lane to retain the lead and muscle away from the field as Elliott battled Wallace for the runner-up spot. With the field behind jostling for positions, Larson retained the lead in front of teammate Elliott and Wallace while Chastain tried to join the battle in fourth place. With Reddick running fifth, Hamlin and Keselowski battled for sixth place in front of Bell, Harvick, McDowell and Logano as Larson proceeded to lead the Lap 90 mark.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Larson was leading by more than a second over Wallace followed by Elliott, Reddick and Chastain while Hamlin, Keselowski, Bell, Harvick and Logano were running in the top 10. Behind, Blaney was mired back in 11th ahead of Kyle Busch, Allmendinger, Buescher and Erik Jones while Alex Bowman, Byron, McDowell, Suarez and Cindric occupied the top 20 in front of Aric Almirola, Justin Haley, Hocevar, Ty Gibbs, Briscoe, Stenhouse, LaJoie, Ryan Preece, Harrison Burton and Cole Custer.

    Seven laps later, the caution flew when Wallace, who was running second, lost a right-rear tire and scrubbed the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2 as he limped his damaged No. 23 Toyota to pit road with a flat right-rear tire and a broken right-rear toe link. While Wallace’s pit crew managed to repair the car to keep Wallace in contention, he lost three laps in the process and would continue to lose more laps as he pitted for more repairs.

    During the caution period, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Larson pitted for service while JJ Yeley and Ty Dillon remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Larson exited first followed by teammate Elliott, Keselowski, Reddick, Chastain, Hamlin, Harvick and Bell. Amid the pit stops, Ty Gibbs was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road. Once Yeley and Ty Dillon pitted shortly after, Larson cycled back into the lead.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 113, teammates Elliott and Larson dueled for the lead as the field fanned out to three and four lanes through the frontstretch. As Larson and Elliott continued to duel for the lead for nearly a lap, Reddick pulled a bold three-wide move on both Hendrick Motorsports competitors through the frontstretch and entering Turn 1 to assume the lead. Then just as Elliott claimed the lead from Reddick through the backstretch, the caution quickly returned when Cindric, who had cracked the top 20, received a bump from Michael McDowell and spun his No. 2 Menards Ford Mustang towards the apron through Turns 1 and 2.

    During the proceeding restart on Lap 119, Elliott rocketed away from the field on the inside lane as he retained the lead ahead of teammate Larson and Reddick while the field again fanned out entering the backstretch. With Elliott leading the proceeding lap, Keselowski was up to fourth followed by Harvick, who would lose the top-five spot to Chastain by Lap 121 as Blaney battled Harvick for sixth. By then, Hamlin, Bell and Logano were mired back in the top 10 while Byron was in 16th and trying to fight his way back towards the front.

    Just past the Lap 125 mark, Elliott was leading by two-tenths of a second over teammate Larson followed by Keselowski and Reddick, both of whom were trying to close in on the two Hendric leaders, while Harvick was in fifth. By then, Briscoe was off the pace after he lost power, starting in Turn 3, in his No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang as he was nearly hit by an oncoming Corey LaJoie. With Briscoe continuing to fall off the pace through the backstretch and below the apron, the caution flew on Lap 127. During the caution period, some led by Keselowski pitted while the rest led by Larson remained on the track.

    With the race restarting under green on Lap 132, Larson and Elliott dueled for the lead through the frontstretch as the field fanned out amid the competitors who pitted versus those who did not. With Elliott rocketing away with the lead, Blaney carved his way up to second followed by Buescher while Larson, who got loose while battling Chastain entering the backstretch since the restart, was overtaken by Harvick, Bell and Keselowski for spots, thus dropping him to seventh in front of Kyle Busch. Larson would continue to lose spots and fall out of the top 10 on the track while on old tires as the event reached its halfway mark. By then, Elliott, who was running on old tires, retained the lead in front of Blaney as Harvick battled and overtook Buescher for third place.

    Two laps later, Harvick, racing on fresh tires, moved his No. 4 SunnyD Ford Mustang into the runner-up spot as he overtook Blaney before setting his sights on Elliott for the lead. With Harvick, Keselowski and Blaney trailing Elliott from second to fourth within a second by Lap 140, Larson had fallen back to 16th while Chastain plummeted to 27th behind McDowell.

    At the Lap 150 mark, Elliott retained the lead by nine-tenths of a second over Keselowski, who overtook Harvick for the runner-up spot while also on fresh tires, while Hamlin and Blaney trailed in the top five. By then, Reddick was back in sixth ahead of Erik Jones, Logano, Buescher and Bell while Kyle Busch, Ty Gibbs, Suarez, Almirola, Hocevar and Byron trailed in the top 16. In addition, Larson was back in 20th behind teammate Bowman while Chastain was mired in 25th behind McDowell. In addition, Stenhouse was in 30th while Wallace, who was six laps behind the leaders, was in 34th.

    Ten laps later, Elliott continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Keselowski, who was continuing to gain ground in his No. 6 BuildSumbarines.com Ford Mustang through every turn and straightaway. Meanwhile, Hamlin cycled his No. 11 Yahoo! Toyota TRD Camry into third place over Harvick and Reddick while Erik Jones was in sixth ahead of Team Penske’s Blaney and Logano.

    Then with three laps remaining in the second stage period, Keselowski muscled his way into the lead over Elliott as Hamlin started to gain ground and join the battle for the lead. Despite nearly getting held up by the lapped competitor of Austin Dillon during the following lap, Keselowski retained the lead over Elliott as Hamlin kept both close within his sights.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 165, Keselowski, who came into the event 18 points above the cutline, claimed his fifth Cup stage victory of the 2023 season. Hamlin, who overtook Elliott for the runner-up spot during the proceeding lap, settled in second followed by Elliott while Harvick, Reddick, Erik Jones, Blaney, Logano, Buescher and Bell were scored in the top 10. By then, 30 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap. With eight of 16 Playoff competitors scoring stage points, the following names that included Kyle Busch, Byron, Larson, McDowell, Chastain, Stenhouse and Wallace were the remaining Playoff contenders running on the track who did not achieve the second round of stage points.

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Keselowski pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Keselowski retained the lead after exiting pit road first while Hamlin, Harvick, Erik Jones, Reddick, Blaney, Buescher and Elliott, who lost five spots during his pit stop, followed suit. Amid the pit stops, Chastain was penalized due to his pit crew jumping over the pit wall too soon.

    With 96 laps remaining, the final stage started as Keselowski and Hamlin occupied the front row. At the start, Keselowski and Hamlin dueled for the lead through the first two turns and through the backstretch while Harvick and Erik Jones trailed behind along with a hard-charging Reddick. With Hamlin leading the proceeding lap by a hair, Keselowski managed to reassume the lead from Hamlin and clear the field from the inside lane during the next lap while Reddick and Erik Jones battled for third in front of Harvick and Blaney.

    The caution would return with 94 laps remaining when Hocevar slid up the track and made contact with Harrison Burton toward the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2 before Burton hit the wall again in Turn 3. During the caution period, some of the drivers, including Larson, McDowell and Byron pitted while the rest led by Keselowski remained on the track.

    With the race restarting with 88 laps remaining, Keselowski managed to muscle away from the inside lane to retain the lead ahead of Hamlin while Erik Jones followed suit in third. Jones and Hamlin then battled for the runner-up spot for nearly a lap in front of Harvick, Reddick, Elliott and Blaney while Keselowski rocketed away with the lead by three-tenths of a second.

    Then with 81 laps remaining, the battle for the lead ignited as Hamlin made his move beneath Keselowski through the frontstretch. Hamlin then managed to clear Keselowski and slide up the track to inherit the lead. Behind, Reddick, Hamlin’s driver at 23XI Racing, overtook Keselowski for the runner-up spot as he ignited his charge on Hamlin for the lead.

    With 70 laps remaining, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to two-tenths of a second over Reddick while Keselowski, Erik Jones and Elliott were in the top five. Behind, Harvick, Blaney, Bell and Buescher followed suit from sixth to ninth while Larson, racing on fresh tires, cracked the top 10 as he was in 10th ahead of Kyle Busch, Ty Gibbs, Logano, Suarez, Bowman and Byron.

    Ten laps later, Hamlin continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over Reddick while Keselowski, Erik Jones and Elliott were in the top five. By then, Larson, who barely scrubbed the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2, was in ninth behind Bell while Kyle Busch and Buescher battled for 10th place. With Harvick, Blaney and Bell running sixth through eighth, Logano was in 13th behind Ty Gibbs, Byron was mired in 16th, Chastain was in 18th, Stenhouse was back in 22nd and McDowell was in 25th behind Briscoe.

    Another six laps later, another cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as Blaney and Erik Jones pitted their respective entries. Keselowski would pit during the proceeding lap along with Harvick, Kyle Busch, Chastain, Ryan Preece, LaJoie, Hocevar, Reddick, Elliott, Larson, Ty Gibbs, Buescher, Almirola, Briscoe, Stenhouse and Yeley. Hamlin would then surrender the lead to pit with 52 laps remaining along with Bowman and Justin Haley as Bell cycled into the lead. Bell would then pit under green with 45 laps remaining along with Byron as Daniel Suarez, who has yet to pit, cycled into the lead ahead of McDowell, Todd Gilliland and Hamlin.

    Then with 36 laps remaining, Hamlin cycled back into the lead after Suarez pitted his No. 99 Freeway.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. By then, Reddick trailed in the runner-up spot by more than a second while Keselowski, Erik Jones and Elliott were scored in the top five ahead of McDowell, Blaney, Larson, Harvick and Kyle Busch.

    Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to one-and-a-half seconds over Reddick while Keselowski, Erik Jones and Elliott remained in the top five. Larson, Kyle Busch, Blaney, Harvick and Ty Gibbs followed suit in the top 10 as Hamlin retained the lead with 20 and 15 laps remaining.

    With 10 laps remaining, Hamlin extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Reddick while third-place Elliott trailed by more than nine seconds in his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

    Then with seven laps remaining, the caution flew when Buescher, who was running 12th, blew a right-rear tire through the frontstretch as he fell off the pace while the tire disintegrated on his No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang. During the caution period, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Hamlin pitted for service while Suarez remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Erik Jones exited first after opting for two fresh tires for his No. 43 Allegiant Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 along with Kyle Busch and Logano while Hamlin exited pit road fourth and the first on four fresh tires ahead of Larson, Reddick, Elliott and Keselowski. Amid the pit stops, teammates Larson and Elliott made contact while both were exiting pit road, which prompted Elliott to bump Larson to express his displeasure over the contact.

    With the event restarting in overtime, where Suarez and Erik Jones occupied the front row in front of Kyle Busch and Logano, Logano wasted no time diving his car beneath Suarez and both along with Erik Jones fanned out to three lanes through the frontstretch and entering Turn 1. Logano and Jones then made their way to the front followed by Reddick, Larson, Elliott and Hamlin while Suarez was falling back. Through the backstretch and Turns 3 and 4, Logano and Jones continued to duel for the lead as Reddick closed in on fresh tires.

    Then entering the frontstretch, Reddick dropped the hammer and crossed his No. 45 MoneyLion Toyota TRD Camry from the top to the bottom lane beneath Logano and Erik Jones. With the momentum and the fresh tires, Reddick overtook both through the frontstretch and gained the lead as the white flag waved and the final lap occurred. With Reddick leading, Hamlin then gained a run on both Logano and Jones as he tried to use the outside lane to close in on Reddick. Entering the backstretch, however, Hamlin was blocked by Jones, which allowed Reddick to continue to lead by a decent margin. Hamlin then tried to use the outside lane again to step on the gas and mount a final corner charge for the win. Despite overtaking Jones while scrubbing the wall, Hamin’s momentum was not enough as Reddick was able to cycle back to the frontstretch and claim the checkered flag by three-tenths of a second to win.

    With the victory, Reddick scored his fifth career win in NASCAR’s premier series, his second of the season, his first at Kansas and his first since winning at Circuit of the Americas in March. By becoming the second race winner in the Round of 16, Reddick advanced into the Playoff’s Round of 12 for the first time in his career as he continues his quest to win the first Cup Series title for himself, crew chief Billy Scott and the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota team.

    Ironically, Reddick’s victory marked the third time 23XI Racing’s No. 45 entry won at Kansas after the No. 45 car swept both Cup Kansas events a year ago with Kurt Busch and Bubba Wallace. Overall, Reddick also recorded the fifth career victory for 23XI Racing.

    “Just an outstanding job by this whole 23XI team,” Reddick said on USA Network. “We had really good pace, but just couldn’t get ahead of Denny [Hamlin] there. Chaos ensued, people stayed out, some took two tires and the bottom lane opened up. Pretty crazy. Four fresh tires, sent it in there and slide up. We’ve had really fast cars with this MoneyLion scheme and it’s really great to get it back to Victory Lane. We came here in the spring. I broke the streak and I didn’t get the No. 45 [car] back in Victory Lane, so I came back here motivated to get it where it belongs.”

    Hamlin, who led 63 laps and was initially in the position of sweeping both Kansas Cup events, ended up in the runner-up spot. Amid his disappointment, Hamlin scaled back to the overtime restart, where he restarted alongside Reddick on the third row and opted to lay back to potentially have Larson draft him instead of keeping pace with the front-runners, a decision that may have cost him time to drive back to the front and win.

    “[Larson] was just laying back so much, I was trying to back up to him,” Hamlin said. “I should’ve just focused forward. [I] Gave [Reddick] an opportunity to get up there in front of us. Just sleeping on the restart, looking in the rearview [mirror] instead of looking in the front. Hats off to the Yahoo! Camry TRD team. Another really, really fast car. Just didn’t need that caution at the end.”

    Erik Jones, who was initially in the position of winning for Legacy Motor Club, ended up in third place while Larson and Logano finished in the top five. Elliott, Kyle Busch, Bell, Keselowski and Alex Bowman completed the top 10 on the track.

    Notably, Harvick, Blaney, Chastain, Byron, Stenhouse, McDowell, Buescher and Wallace were the remaining Playoff contenders on the track to finish outside the top 10.

    There were 19 lead changes for 10 different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 45 laps. In addition, 24 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Tyler Reddick, two laps led

    2. Denny Hamlin, 63 laps led

    3. Erik Jones

    4. Kyle Larson, 99 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    5. Joey Logano

    6. Chase Elliott, 47 laps led

    7. Kyle Busch

    8. Christopher Bell, 15 laps led

    9. Brad Keselowski, 23 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    10. Alex Bowman

    11. Kevin Harvick

    12. Ryan Blaney

    13. Ross Chastain

    14. Ty Gibbs

    15. William Byron

    16. Daniel Suarez, 12 laps led

    17. Aric Almirola, three laps led

    18. Ryan Preece

    19. Chase Briscoe

    20. Carson Hocevar

    21. Justin Haley

    22. Corey LaJoie

    23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    24. Cole Custer

    25. Todd Gilliland, one lap down

    26. Michael McDowell, one lap down

    27. Chris Buescher, one lap down

    28. Ty Dillon, one lap down

    29. Sheldon Creed, two laps down

    30. AJ Allmendinger, two laps down

    31. Austin Cindric, two laps down

    32. Bubba Wallace, four laps down, three laps led

    33. Austin Dillon, nine laps down

    34. JJ Yeley – OUT, Dvp, one lap led

    35. Harrison Burton – OUT, Dvp

    36. Martin Truex Jr. – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. Kyle Larson – Advanced

    2. Tyler Reddick – Advanced

    3. Denny Hamlin +49

    4. William Byron +41

    5. Brad Keselowski +33

    6. Ryan Blaney +25

    7. Kyle Busch +24

    8. Ross Chastain +18

    9. Chris Buescher +13

    10. Christopher Bell +13

    11. Joey Logano +12

    12. Kevin Harvick +7

    13. Martin Truex Jr. -7

    14. Bubba Wallace -19

    15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -22

    16. Michael McDowell -40

    The Round of 16 in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is set to conclude next weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race, where the first of three eliminations will occur. The event is scheduled to commence on Saturday, September 16, at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Buescher wins Cup regular-season finale at Daytona in overtime; Wallace clinches final Playoff berth

    Buescher wins Cup regular-season finale at Daytona in overtime; Wallace clinches final Playoff berth

    With nearly half the field vying for the 16th and final spot to make the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, the Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing duo of Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski captured the final spotlight amid an overtime shootout as Keselowski drafted teammate Buescher to an overtime victory in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, August 26.

    The 2015 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Buescher from Prosper, Texas, led the final two of 163 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started 11th and kept his car intact throughout the event that was mired with competitive racing, 22 lead changes and 17 different competitors taking turns to lead at least a lap amid the draft, even including a 12-car pileup on Lap 94 that wiped out a handful of Playoff hopefuls. Then after surging his way towards the front prior to a harrowing rollover accident involving Ryan Preece with five laps remaining that sent the event into overtime, Buescher received the draft needed from teammate Keselowski to overtake Kevin Harvick and fend off the field through the final two laps to claim his unprecedented third NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2023 season.

    By virtue of Buescher, who was already locked into the Playoffs based on winning twice prior to Daytona, winning the regular-season finale at Daytona, Bubba Wallace benefited by rounding out the 2023 Cup Series Playoff field after finishing in 12th place while several top names, among which included Chase Elliott, Daniel Suarez, rookie Ty Gibbs, Alex Bowman and Aric Almirola, did not make the Playoffs.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, August 25, Chase Briscoe notched his first Cup pole position of the season and the second of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 181.822 mph in 49.499 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Aric Almirola, who clocked in the second-best qualifying lap at 181.693 mph in 49.534 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Ryan Preece was the only competitor who dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his entry.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Briscoe, who started on the outside lane, quickly jumped ahead before he transitioned his No. 14 Magical Vacation Planner Ford Mustang to the inside lane in front of teammate Almirola’s No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang exiting the frontstretch and through the first two turns. As the stacked field navigated through the backstretch, Briscoe muscled ahead with drafting help from teammate Almirola, but Bubba Wallace quickly gained ground from the outside lane as he dueled with Almirola for the runner-up spot. As the field returned to the frontstretch, Briscoe led the first lap as Wallace challenged Briscoe for the lead with drafting help from Riley Herbst, who was piloting the No. 36 Monster Energy Zero Sugar Ford Mustang for Front Row Motorsports.

    Through the second lap, Briscoe and Wallace continued to duel for the lead in front of two stacked lanes of competitors, with Briscoe gaining a slight advantage with drafting help from teammate Almirola while Wallace had Herbst still drafting his No. 23 Luke Combs/Columbia Toyota TRD Camry. Through the backstretch and Turns 3 and 4, the inside lane led by Briscoe prevailed as Briscoe started to surge ahead followed by Almirola and Harrison Burton. Then through the frontstretch, rookie Ty Gibbs became the first competitor to lead the outside lane as he moved his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota TRD Camry in front of Wallace as Briscoe proceeded to lead the third lap.

    Through the first five scheduled laps and as the field started to fan out and jostle early for positions amid the draft, Briscoe was leading ahead of teammate Almirola, Burton, Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher while Martin Truex Jr., Christopher Bell, AJ Allmendinger, Ty Gibbs and Bubba Wallace were in the top 10. By then, all 39 starters were separated within three seconds.

    At the Lap 10 mark, Briscoe retained the lead by 0.075 seconds over teammate Almirola while Burton, Larson and Buescher followed suit in the top five. By then, Truex was serving as the lead competitor on the outside lane as he dueled with Allmendinger for sixth place before Denny Hamlin moved up the outside lane and in front of teammate Truex in his bid for the front. Amid the field still engaged in two tight-packed lanes, Briscoe continued to lead the race.

    Five laps later, Briscoe was still leading ahead of teammate Almirola, Burton, Larson and Buescher while Allmendinger, Austin Dillon, Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Truex were in the top 10. By then, Bell, Chase Elliott, Erik Jones, Ty Gibbs, Ryan Blaney, Wallace, Herbst, Tyler Reddick, Kevin Harvick and Ross Chastain were battling within the top 20. Meanwhile, Joey Logano was in 21st ahead of Michael McDowell, Preece, Austin Cindric, Alex Bowman and Daniel Suarez, William Byron was back in 29th and Brad Keselowski drifted back to 38th behind Ricky Stenhouse Jr. as part of a conservative play.

    At the Lap 25 mark and with the field continuing to run within two tight-packed lanes, Hamlin, who used the outside lane to move his No. 11 FedEx Cares Toyota TRD Camry into the lead from Briscoe two laps earlier, was leading ahead of teammate Truex while his other two Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Bell and Ty Gibbs followed suit along with his 23XI Racing competitor Wallace. By then, Briscoe fell back to sixth while Herbst, Harvick, Almirola and Logano were scored in the top 10. In addition, Harrison Burton was back in 11th followed by Cindric, Larson, Suarez and Allmendinger while Elliott, who was dealing with radio issues, was in 16th ahead of Austin Dillon, Buescher, Kyle Busch and McDowell.

    Just past the Lap 30 mark, Hamlin retained the lead ahead of his three Joe Gibbs Racing teammates while Herbst started to ignite a charge as the lead competitor on the outside lane as he also dueled with Wallace for fifth while receiving drafting help from Ford teammates Harvick, Logano and Cindric. Herbst would then boost his way up to the runner-up spot by Lap 32 before Hamlin moved up the track through the backstretch to block Herbst. This allowed Truex to muscle a challenge on the inside lane during the proceeding lap as the Toyota competitors became separated within two tight-packed lanes.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 35, Truex, who received a big push from teammate Bell to muscle past teammate Hamlin through the backstretch as the field fanned out, captured his sixth Cup stage victory of the 2023 season. Teammate Bell settled in second followed by Harvick, Ty Gibbs, Logano, Wallace and Cindric while Hamlin fell back to eighth in front of Briscoe and Suarez. By then, all but one of 39 starters were scored on the lead lap as the event featured two lead changes for three different leaders.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Truex pitted for their first service of the night. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Austin Hill exited first after opting for no fresh tires, though he missed his pit stall, followed by Logano, the first competitor with four fresh tires, as Truex, Bell, Wallace, Harvick, Suarez, Hamlin and Briscoe followed suit. Amid the pit stops, Justin Haley was penalized for equipment interference. In addition, Kyle Busch was penalized for a crew member jumping over the pit wall too soon. Once Hill pitted again, Logano cycled into the race lead.

    The second stage started on Lap 40 as Logano and Truex occupied the front row. At the start, Truex and Logano dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Logano muscled ahead in his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang entering the backstretch with drafting help from Harvick and Suarez. Truex would continue to lead the outside lane in front of teammate Bell while Logano retained the lead for the following lap on the inside lane.

    By Lap 45 and as the field started to fan out to three tight-packed lanes, Logano was pushed ahead of the stacked field followed by Harvick and Suarez while Truex tried to regain ground from the outside lane with continuous help from teammate Bell as Wallace tried to follow suit. Soon after, Elliott surged towards the front in his No. 9 LLumar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as part of a third drafting lane running toward the outside wall. Elliott would then be drafted into a duel against Logano for the lead through the first two turns as he had Allmendinger, Kyle Busch and Stenhouse assisting him. Then as Elliott had appeared to break ahead of the pack, Allmendinger made his move to the front and led Lap 47 as he dueled against Elliott for the lead. Allmendinger would then break away from the pack along with Kyle Busch while Elliott dueled against Stenhouse for third place.

    At the Lap 50 mark, Elliott led a lap for himself followed by Logano as Allmendinger, who led the previous three laps, was back in third. By then, Kyle Busch and Harvick were in the top five followed by Haley, Ty Gibbs, Stenhouse, Chastain and Almirola while Truex, Austin Hill, Bell, Buescher and Chandler Smith occupied the top 15. By then, all 39 starters were running on the lead lap and separated by two-and-a-half seconds.

    Two laps later, a three-wide battle for the lead ensued as Logano was stuck in the middle lane, Elliott charged on the inside lane and Allmendinger muscled ahead on the outside lane with drafting help from Kyle Busch. As the field was also stacked in three tight-packed lanes, Allmendinger retained the lead from the outside lane while Ty Gibbs tried to launch a charge on the inside lane. By then, Elliott lost his momentum after nearly wrecking with Stenhouse through the frontstretch prior to Lap 54 while Logano also drifted back within the top 10 as he continued to run in the middle lane.

    Then on Lap 55, Ross Chastain made his presence known at the front as he led the middle lane and surged his No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to a narrow lead before dueling against Ty Gibbs and Allmendinger. By then, Chastain had drafting help from Logano while Hamlin drifted back to 37th after bailing on the three-wide pack towards the front.

    Just past the Lap 60 mark and with the field settling in two tight-packed lanes, Chastain, who took the lead from Allmendinger a few laps prior, was leading by a narrow margin over Logano while Truex, Bell, Preece, Allmendinger, Kyle Busch, Ty Gibbs, Haley and Harvick were battling in the top 10. With the field still settling in two packed lanes, Chastain would continue to lead by the Lap 65 mark.

    By Lap 70 and with most of the field migrating to the outside lane, Chastain was leading ahead of Logano, Preece, Elliott and Harvick while Larson, Blaney, Bell, Stenhouse and Truex were running in the top 10. By then, Almirola was in 11th ahead of Ty Gibbs, Buescher, Burton and Keselowski while Josh Berry, Cindric, Bowman, Reddick and Byron were battling up in the top 20. Behind, Briscoe was back in 21st, Austin Dillon was in 26th ahead of Suarez, Erik Jones and Kyle Busch, Allmendinger was shuffled back in 31st, Wallace settled in 34th and Hamlin continued to run in 37th.

    Five laps later, Ryan Blaney made his move beneath Chastain exiting the backstretch as he surged to the lead in his No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang with drafting help from teammate Logano and Harvick. Chastain would settle in fourth place and duel with Harvick for third while Stenhouse, Preece, Almirola, Elliott, Buescher and Larson battled within the top 10. Keselowski, who ran towards the rear of the field earlier in the event, would also carve his way to run just outside the top 10. Not long after and as the intensity of the two tight-packed racing increased, Stenhouse would surge his No. 47 Boost by Kroger Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to the front and lead the halfway mark on Lap 80 as Blaney and Chastain, both of whom Stenhouse was battling with, followed suit.

    A lap later, green flag pit stops ensued as Stenhouse led Chastain, Bell, Berry, Ty Gibbs, Truex, Reddick, Erik Jones, Wallace, Hamlin and BJ McLeod to pit road for service, mainly for fuel. Another wave of competitors led by Blaney, Logano, Harvick, Brennan Poole, JJ Yeley, Austin Hill, Allmendinger, Haley and Chandler Smith pitted during the proceeding lap as Almirola cycled into the lead. Amid the pit stops, Hamlin was penalized for a crew member jumping over the pit wall too soon as he was forced to return to pit road and serve a pass-through penalty. Herbst would also be penalized for meeting the same fate as Hamlin while Poole was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    By Lap 84, a big group of competitors led by Almirola pitted under green as Harrison Burton cycled into the lead followed by Keselowski and Michael McDowell. Burton and McDowell would pit two laps later before they were able to blend back on the track and retain the top-two spots ahead of the charging pack. With the pack quickly catching up to Burton and McDowell through the backstretch, Keselowski then tried to make a move to Burton’s outside for the lead, but the field fanned out to nearly four lanes through the frontstretch as Kyle Busch ignited his charge to the lead. Suarez followed suit along with Alex Bowman and Austin Dillon as Kyle Busch aggressively carved his No. 8 Cheddar’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead by Lap 87.

    With five laps remaining in the second stage, Kyle Busch was leading ahead of Suarez, Bowman, Austin Dillon and Keselowski while Burton was getting shuffled out of the top five amid two tight-packed lanes. As the laps dwindled, the field fanned out to three lanes as Busch continued to lead.

    Then on the final lap of the second stage, Lap 94, trouble ensued when Ty Gibbs, who was trying to surge to the front, slipped sideways off the front nose of teammate Bell and clipped the leader Blaney as both were sent hard against the outside wall, collecting Bell, Reddick, Stenhouse and Bowman in the process as Allmendinger, Hamlin, Herbst, Cindric, Austin Dillon, Harvick, Larson, Poole, Buescher and Burton were also involved. The wreck, which proved costly to Gibbs as his hopes of making the Playoffs came to an end, was enough to place the event in a red flag period for nine-and-a-half minutes. By then, Keselowski escaped the carnage to capture the stage victory, which was his fourth of the 2023 Cup season, while Kyle Busch, Suarez, Bowman, Byron, Reddick, Elliott, Austin Dillon, Chastain and Logano were scored in the top 10. In addition, Truex, who dodged the incident, was crowned the 2023 Cup Series Regular Season champion.

    Under the stage break and once the red flag period was lifted, a majority of the lead lap field led by Keselowski pitted for service while Stewart-Haas Racing’s Briscoe and Almirola remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Kyle Busch exited first while Elliott, Suarez, Chastain, Keselowski, Byron and Logano followed suit.

    With 56 laps remaining, the final stage started as Briscoe and Kyle Busch occupied the front row. At the start, Briscoe emerged with the lead and surged ahead with drafting help from teammate Almirola while Busch dueled with Erik Jones for third place. As Busch regained ground through the backstretch, he then challenged Briscoe for the lead as he had Bowman and Suarez pushing him. Despite Briscoe managing to lead the proceeding laps, he kept being engaged in a side-by-side duel against Busch for the lead as Almirola, Erik Jones and Bowman were in the top five. Meanwhile, Wallace, who was on the brakes to avoid the multi-car wreck at the end of the second stage, was up to seventh as he tried to crack the top five along with Keselowski and Suarez.

    With 50 laps remaining, Briscoe continued to lead as he had both lanes under his control followed by teammate Almirola, Erik Jones, Keselowski, Wallace and Logano while Kyle Busch tried to charge back to the front on the outside lane. Wallace would then move up in front of Busch and lead the outside lane during the following lap as he dueled against Logano for fifth while Josh Berry joined the battle.

    Five laps later and with the field slowly starting to fan out to three lanes, Briscoe retained the lead ahead of a long single file line on the inside lane as teammate Almirola, Erik Jones, Keselowski and Logano were in the top five. By then, Wallace fell back to 13th as Berry, Chandler Smith, McDowell, Bell and Corey LaJoie charged in the top 10 in front of Kyle Busch while Elliott and Suarez were mired back in the top 20.

    Another five laps later and with most of the field migrating to the outside lane, Briscoe was leading ahead of teammates Almirola and Preece while Buescher and Harvick were in the top five. By then, Keselowski, Elliott, Ty Dillon, Chandler Smith and Truex were in the top 10 while Wallace, who briefly moved back into the top five, fell back to 14th after being shuffled out of the draft before he blended back into the draft towards the outside wall. With nearly the entire field continuing to run in a long single-file line toward the outside wall, Briscoe also continued to lead ahead of teammates Almirola and Preece with 35 laps remaining.

    With 30 laps remaining, Briscoe retained the top spot by 0.083 seconds over teammate Almirola followed by Preece, Buescher and Harvick while Keselowski, Elliott, Ty Dillon, Chandler Smith and Truex continued to run in the top 10. With Erik Jones, Kyle Busch and Logano mired in 11th, 12th and 13th, respectively, Wallace retained 14th in front of McDowell while Bell, Austin Hill, LaJoie, Byron and Bowman were running in the top 20.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Briscoe continued to lead a long line of competitors towards the outside wall, with teammates Almirola and Preece along with Buescher and Harvick following suit. By then, the top-six spots continued to be occupied by Ford competitors as Keselowski was in sixth, Elliott served as the lead Chevrolet competitor in seventh and Wallace was the leading Toyota competitor as he returned to the top 10.

    A lap later, Preece attempted to make a charge to the front on the inside lane, but he got shuffled out of the draft and drifted back as Chandler Smith served as the lead competitor on the inside lane while Briscoe retained the lead on the outside lane.

    With 16 laps remaining, a wave of competitors led by Chandler Smith, including Wallace, pitted under green, mainly for fuel, as Briscoe continued to lead the rest of the field. Briscoe would then lead another wave of competitors to pit road for service under green with 14 laps remaining. Once the wave of competitors led by Briscoe completed their service, Harvick, who pitted during the first wave, cycled as the leader ahead of Elliott, Almirola, Buescher, Keselowski, Bowman and Briscoe while the wave of competitors who pitted earlier led by Kyle Busch, who was running 12th in front of Wallace, was slowly gaining ground.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Harvick was leading ahead of Elliott, Almirola, Buescher and Keselowski while Bowman, Briscoe, Byron, Logano and Ty Dillon trailed behind. Meanwhile, Wallace was in 13th behind McDowell and Kyle Busch while Erik Jones and Truex occupied the top 15.

    Two laps later, Almirola launched a charge on the outside lane, but Harvick moved up the track to block his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate. Harvick would then surge ahead with the top spot followed by Almirola and Buescher as Elliott tried to fight back on the inside lane as he had teammate Larson drafting him. Elliott then tried to launch another charge on the inside lane with seven laps remaining, but Harvick surged ahead on the outside lane as he, Almirola and Buescher briefly broke away from the pack. Teammates Buescher and Keselowski then overtook Almirola through the backstretch to move up to second and third as they settled behind Harvick with five laps remaining.

    Shortly after, the caution flew when Preece, who was running in the middle of the pack through the backstretch, got hit by Erik Jones as he veered sideways and collected teammate Briscoe in the process. Amid the collision, Preece’s No. 41 RaceChoice.com Ford Mustang then went airborne and barrel-rolled multiple times in the air and towards the backstretch’s infield before the battered car came to a violent rest on all four wheels. Despite the wild ride that ended his hopes of making this year’s Playoffs, Preece emerged uninjured as he was placed on a stretcher and medically escorted to the infield care center before being transported to a local hospital for further evaluation. Preece’s wild wreck was also enough to send the event into overtime.

    Following an extensive caution period, the race restarted in overtime as Harvick and Buescher occupied the front row in front of Elliott and Keselowski. At the start, Buescher and Harvick dueled for the lead entering Turns 1 and 2 until Buescher gained the upper hand as his teammate and co-owner Keselowski drafted his No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford Mustang into the lead entering the backstretch. Buescher then maintained the lead followed by Keselowski’s No. 6 King’s Hawaiian Ford Mustang as Almirola tried to move up to third place while battling alongside teammate Harvick and in front of Logano.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Buescher, who transitioned from the inside to the outside lane to retain the momentum and keep Keselowski behind him, remained as the leader as Harvick launched a charge with drafting help from Elliott. The two Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing competitors would slightly surge ahead entering the backstretch and remain on the outside lane with more momentum that included pushes from Almirola and Logano keeping them ahead of Harvick and Elliott. With Buescher and Keselowski starting to pull away from the pack through Turns 3 and 4, Harvick got shuffled out of the draft as Almirola and Elliott fanned out in their final hopes of making the Playoffs. Despite gaining momentum with drafting help, their runs were not enough to catch the Roush competitors as Buescher surged ahead and beat Keselowski to the finish line to capture his third checkered flag of the 2023 Cup season by 0.098 seconds over Keselowski.

    With the victory, Buescher became the fourth different competitor to achieve at least three victories throughout the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season as he also notched the fifth career win of his premier series resume and first at Daytona. With a total of 2,021 points, Buescher, who has made the Playoffs for the second time in his career and first since 2016, will line up in fourth place in this year’s Playoff grid and will embark on a 10-week Playoff stretch to battle for this year’s championship, beginning next weekend at Darlington Raceway.

    “[I owe Brad Keselowski] A little more than [the push],” Buescher said on NBC. “That was amazing. So proud to get Fifth Third Bank into Victory Lane here at Daytona. I knew we were coming here with fast [Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing] Ford Mustangs and got there at the end and showed when it counted. That’s as much Brad’s win as ours right there. That was the right help. Aggressive, sticking with us, too, all the way to the line. I was waiting for him to do something there coming to the finish. I figured we’d be side-by-side, but looked like he got stalled out a little behind. Just so thankful to Brad for all those pushes there at the right time. [This season]’s hard to explain. It’s awesome, though. To be sitting here again [as a winner] so quickly. What a heck of a start into the Playoffs right now. It’s been a long time coming, a lot of work. So amazing for us.”

    While Buescher celebrated on the frontstretch, Bubba Wallace celebrated with his pit crew, family, friends, teammate Tyler Reddick and team owners Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin on pit road after securing the 16th and final spot to make the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs by finishing 12th on the track and being 47 points ahead of Daniel Suarez, who ended up 20th. As a result, Wallace, who is in his third season driving for 23XI Racing and was able to lock both 23XI Racing cars in the Playoffs alongside teammate Tyler Reddick, has qualified for the Cup Playoffs for the first time in his career and in a season highlighted with four top-five results, six top-10 results, 14 top-15 results and five 12th-place finishes, a career-high 159 laps led and an average-finishing result of 16.8 throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch. He will line up in 16th place in the Playoff standings with 2,000 points as he will contend for his first series title.

    “That was the most stressed, but also the most locked in that I’ve ever been, knowing that this place is mostly out of your control,” Wallace said. “I just try to focus on doing the things that I could do. Missing that wreck [at the end of Stage 2] was massive. [I] Appreciate [spotter] Freddie [Kraft]. He’s one of the best up on the roof that gets us through a lot and that’s what helps our resume here at the speedway stuff. Proud to be locked into the Playoffs. This is special for our team. 23XI [Racing], third year in, getting both cars in the Playoffs. We’ve gone through a lot of trials and tribulations, but just so proud of the effort that we put in. No matter how much we set ourselves back, we know that we have a kickass group and we can bounce back from anything.”

    Meanwhile, Elliott was left disappointed after surging his way to finish fourth on the track, but could not gain the momentum needed to make the Playoffs as this season will mark the first time where he will not contend as a Playoff competitor. Amid a difficult regular-season stretch where he was absent for a total of seven events, six due to an injury from a snowboarding accident earlier this season, Elliott remained optimistic as he set his sights on gaining momentum for the 2024 season.

    “I really liked where we were before the caution [with five laps remaining],” Elliott said. “Honestly after the [overtime] restart there, we had the bottom lane that we wanted. I knew [Keselowski] was gonna go with [Buescher]. I thought [Harvick] was gonna take the bottom [lane] and he did, and we really had all the help that we could ask for behind…It’s a bummer, for sure. [I] Hate the season’s worked out like it has, but the good news is the car got in the owner’s points. That’s a big deal. Credit to [crew chief] Alan [Gustafson] and everybody for continuing to work and scratch and claw while I was out to keep our team alive and to give ourselves a chance, so that’s a big deal. Probably much bigger than a lot of people realize to our team. Looking forward to these next 10 [races] and try to make a little noise on that side of things and just try to get ready and prepare for next year. I appreciate everybody’s support. The season hasn’t been what I would want by any means, but certainly gonna be some lessons taken from it and I think we’ll be better for it on the other end.”

    Almirola came home in third place behind Buescher and Keselowski as he too missed the 2023 Playoffs while Elliott and Logano finished in the top five on the track. Bowman, who also missed the Playoffs, settled in sixth while Kyle Busch, Byron, Harvick and Corey LaJoie finished in the top 10.

    William Byron, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Chris Buescher, Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain, Brad Keselowski, Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Michael McDowell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kevin Harvick and Bubba Wallace have made the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

    Daniel Suarez, rookie Ty Gibbs, Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott, AJ Allmendinger, Austin Cindric, Aric Almirola, Justin Haley, Corey LaJoie, Ryan Preece, Todd Gilliland, Erik Jones, Austin Dillon, Harrison Burton, Chase Briscoe and Ty Dillon are the remaining full-time competitors who did not make the Playoffs.

    There were 22 lead changes for 17 different leaders. The race featured three cautions for 18 laps. In addition, 25 of 39 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Chris Buescher, two laps led

    2. Brad Keselowski, six laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. Aric Almirola, three laps led

    4. Chase Elliott, two laps led

    5. Joey Logano, nine laps led

    6. Alex Bowman

    7. Kyle Busch, five laps led

    8. William Byron, one lap led

    9. Kevin Harvick, 14 laps led

    10. Corey LaJoie

    11. Ty Dillon

    12. Bubba Wallace

    13. Michael McDowell

    14. Austin Hill

    15. Chandler Smith

    16. Christopher Bell

    17. Ross Chastain, 19 laps led

    18. Erik Jones

    19. JJ Yeley

    20. Daniel Suarez, one lap led

    21. Justin Haley

    22. Josh Berry

    23. BJ McLeod

    24. Martin Truex Jr., four laps led, Stage 1 winner

    25. Tyler Reddick

    26. Denny Hamlin, one lap down, 12 laps led

    27. Kyle Larson, two laps down

    28. Harrison Burton, three laps down, five laps led

    29. AJ Allmendinger, three laps down, eight laps led

    30. Chase Briscoe – OUT, Accident, 67 laps led

    31. Ryan Preece – OUT, Accident

    32. Todd Gilliland – OUT, Overheating

    33. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident

    34. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    35. Ty Gibbs – OUT, Accident

    36. Ryan Blaney – OUT, Accident, four laps led

    37. Austin Cindric – OUT, Accident

    38. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident

    39. Brennan Poole – OUT, Accident

    The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is set to commence next Sunday, September 3, during Labor Day weekend at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina for the Cook Out Southern 500. The event’s broadcast is scheduled to occur at 6 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Byron executes on pit strategy to claim dominant Cup victory at Watkins Glen

    Byron executes on pit strategy to claim dominant Cup victory at Watkins Glen

    After finishing no higher than 14th during his previous five scheduled starts, William Byron responded with an emphatic and potential championship-performance statement after scoring a dominant victory in the Go Bowling at The Glen on Sunday, August 20.

    The 25-year-old Byron from Charlotte, North Carolina, led three times for a race-high 66 of 90-scheduled laps in an event where he started on the front row alongside pole-sitter Denny Hamlin and spent the first stage period running in the top five. Then during the first wave of green flag pit stops that ensued entering the second stage period, a strategic call by crew chief Ryan “Rudy” Fugle and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team to have Byron pit a lap after the front-runners enabled Byron to cycle ahead of them.

    He proceeded to lead starting on Lap 24 and claimed the second stage victory. Then following another well-executed call to pit with 35 laps remaining just as teammate Chase Elliott drew a caution for running out of fuel on the course, Byron cycled back to the lead with 33 laps remaining and retained the top spot during a 30-lap shootout to the finish, setting sail to his unprecedented fifth checkered flag of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, August 19, Denny Hamlin notched his fourth Cup pole of the 2023 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 125.298 mph in 70.392 seconds. Joining him on the front row was William Byron, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 124.961 mph in 70.582 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Aric Almirola, Cole Custer, Justin Haley, Brad Keselowski and Corey LaJoie dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Hamlin rocketed ahead with an early advantage while the field fanned out entering the first turn. As the field continued to duke for early positions through the Esses and the first four turns, Hamlin retained the lead ahead of a hard-charging McDowell. Through the Inner Loop Bus Stop Corner before entering the Carousel, the Outer Loop and the final set of turns, Hamlin managed to fend off McDowell and a pack of competitors jostling for spots to lead the first lap.

    Through the second lap, McDowell attempted to make a move beneath Hamlin for the lead entering Turn 1. In spite of Hamlin briefly going off the track through Turn 1, Hamlin managed to retain the lead through the Esses ahead of McDowell while William Byron trailed behind in third in front of rookie Ty Gibbs and AJ Allmendinger. Hamlin would also manage to navigate his way smoothly through the Carousel and the Esses with the top spot, but McDowell continued to close as he awaited his opportunity to take the lead.

    Two laps later, McDowell, winner of last weekend’s Cup event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, made his move beneath Hamlin’s No. 11 Mavis Tires & Brakes Toyota TRD Camry and drew himself into a brief duel with Hamlin before he muscled his No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang ahead with the top spot entering Turn 2. Byron then followed suit and assumed the runner-up spot through Turns 2 to 4 in his No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 while Hamlin settled in third in front of teammate Ty Gibbs. With Hamlin settling in between Byron and Gibbs, McDowell proceeded to lead, starting on the fourth lap.

    During the fourth lap, early trouble struck for Daniel Suarez, who was running 10th before he got loose while hitting the curbs exiting the Bus Stop Corner and spun as he barely hit the inside wall, but he was able to proceed without drawing a caution. Meanwhile, McDowell retained the lead through the fifth lap mark over a hard-charging Byron.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, McDowell was leading by four-tenths of a second over Byron followed by Hamlin, Ty Gibbs and Allmendinger while Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace and Kyle Busch were in the top 10. Behind, Joey Logano was in 11th ahead of Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott, Austin Cindric and Chris Buescher while Alex Bowman, Martin Truex Jr., Ross Chastain, Chase Briscoe and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. occupied the top 20. Meanwhile, Ryan Blaney was mired in 21st ahead of Mike Rockenfeller, Ryan Preece, Corey LaJoie and Daniel Suarez while Todd Gilliland, Ty Dillon, Andy Lally, Erik Jones and Kevin Harvick were back in the top 30. Amid the running order, Brad Keselowski was in 33rd in between Justin Haley and Aric Almirola while Harrison Burton was mired in 36th, a lap down in last place, after an earlier chain reaction resulted with Lally bumping and spinning Burton’s No. 21 DEX Imaging Ford Mustang in the Carousel Corner without drawing a caution.

    Five laps later, McDowell continued to lead by half a second over Byron while third-place Hamlin trailed by more than a second. In the process, Ty Gibbs and Allmendinger remained in the top five ahead of Larson while Bell, Wallace and Kyle Busch overtook Reddick to move up to seventh through ninth, respectively. In addition, Elliott retained 13th ahead of Buescher and teammate Bowman, Truex was mired back in 23rd and Harvick was in 28th in front of Keselowski.

    Another two laps later, green flag pit stops ensued as Truex pitted his No. 19 Siemens Toyota TRD Camry along with Blaney and Elliott. Logano, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Aric Almirola, Cindric and Bowman would also pit during the ensuing laps as McDowell continued to lead.

    At the conclusion of the first stage period on Lap 20, McDowell, who first assumed the lead on the fourth lap, captured his second Cup stage victory of the 2023 season. Byron settled in second followed by Hamlin, Ty Gibbs and Allmendinger while Larson, Bell, Wallace, Kyle Busch and Reddick were scored in the top 10. By then, more names that included Austin Dillon, Reddick, Preece and Corey LaJoie pitted under green.

    With the event proceeding under green just past the Lap 20 mark to start the second stage, McDowell led Hamlin, Ty Gibbs, Larson, Bell, Wallace, Kyle Busch and a host of competitors during the following lap to pit road for service under green while Byron assumed the lead followed by Allmendinger. Amid the pit stops, McDowell, who managed to exit pit road ahead of Hamlin, was assessed a penalty for driving through too many pit boxes prior to entering his pit box for service. Byron would then pit under green on Lap 22 as Allmendinger assumed the lead. Once Allmendinger pitted by Lap 23 after leading two laps, Byron, who earlier managed to blend back on the track from pit road ahead of Hamlin, assumed the lead followed by Hamlin, Ty Gibbs, Allmendinger, Larson and Keselowski, who has yet to pit. As Byron proceeded to lead just past the Lap 25 mark, McDowell was mired back in 17th behind Truex. In addition, Bell, Elliott, Wallace and Kyle Busch were scored in the top 10.

    At the Lap 30 mark, Byron maintained the lead by seven-tenths of a second over Hamlin followed by Ty Gibbs, Allmendinger and Larson while Bell, Elliott, Kyle Busch, Wallace and Reddick were running in the top 10. By then, Keselowski pitted his No. 6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang under green while Austin Dillon, Logano, Briscoe, McDowell and Truex were scored in the top 15. With Keselowski losing spots as he blended back onto the racetrack amid his pit stop, Harvick was in 28th behind teammate Almirola, Suarez was in 26th and Bowman was mired in 17th in between Blaney and Buescher.

    By Lap 35, Byron extended his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Hamlin while Ty Gibbs, Larson and Allmendinger remained in the top five. In addition, Bell, Elliott, Kyle Busch, Wallace and Reddick retained their respective spots in the top 10 while McDowell was mired in 12th in between Austin Dillon and Logano.

    At the conclusion of the second stage on Lap 40, Byron captured his eighth Cup stage victory of the 2023 season. Hamlin settled in second while Ty Gibbs, Larson, Allmendinger, Bell, Elliott, Kyle Busch, Wallace and Austin Dillon were scored in the top 10.

    With the event commencing under a continuous green flag period with 50 laps remaining, Byron was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Hamlin. Byron would proceed to extend his advantage to more than a second over Hamlin as the event reached its halfway mark with 45 laps remaining. Behind, Ty Gibbs, Larson and Allmendinger remained in the top five while Bell, Kyle Busch, Elliott, Wallace and Ausitn Dillon continued to run in the top 10 with McDowell moving up to 11th ahead of Reddick, Logano, Truex and Blaney.

    With 40 laps remaining, Byron continued to extend his advantage as he was leading by more than three seconds over Hamlin while Larson overtook Ty Gibbs to move into third place. With Allmendinger retaining fifth ahead of Bell and Kyle Busch, McDowell returned to the top 10 as he moved up to ninth in between Elliott and Wallace while Truex was scored in 12th in between Austin Dillon and Blaney.

    Three laps later, another cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as Ty Gibbs pitted his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota TRD Camry while running in the top five. McDowell would also pit along with Blaney, Suarez, Larson, Logano, Reddick, Preece, Stenhouse, Almirola, Cindric and Buescher as Byron continued to lead by more than five seconds over Hamlin.

    Then two laps later, the caution flew when Elliott ran out of fuel through the Esses as his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 coasted entering the Inner Loop before coming to a full stop off the course near the Bus Stop Corner. By then, Byron, Hamlin, Allmendinger and Bell had pitted prior to the caution being displayed. In addition, Larson, who had just pitted prior to the caution, was penalized for speeding while exiting pit road and was sent to the rear of the field for the ensuing restart.

    During the caution period, some led by Kyle Busch, including those who had not yet made a pit stop, pitted while the rest led by Byron remained on the track. By then, Elliott, who was assisted by a wrecker to return to pit road, lost a lap to the leaders as he was mired in 34th.

    When the race restarted under green with 30 laps remaining, where Byron and Hamlin occupied the front row, Byron and Hamlin dueled for the lead through the frontstretch and entering Turn 1 as the field fanned out. Entering the Esses, Byron managed to clear Hamlin to retain the lead ahead of Bell and Allmendinger while Truex was up to fifth in front of teammate Ty Gibbs. In addition, Blaney was up to seventh ahead of Buescher while McDowell was in ninth ahead of Logano. As the field navigated its way through the Bus Stop Corner, the Carousel and the final sets of turns while jostling for late positions, Byron managed to place a reasonable gap between himself and Hamlin as he retained the lead for the following lap.

    Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Byron was leading by six-tenths of a second over Hamlin followed by Bell while Allmendinger and Ty Gibbs, both of whom are needing a victory to make the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs, were running fourth and fifth. Behind, Truex, the regular-season leader, was sixth while Buescher, McDowell, Reddick and Blaney were running in the top 10 ahead of Logano, Todd Gilliland, Stenhouse, Wallace and Keselowski. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch was back in 17th, Harvick was back in 23rd in front of Larson and Bowman was mired in 26th behind Suarez.

    Five laps later, Byron extended his advantage to one-and-a-half seconds over Hamlin while Bell, Allmendinger and Ty Gibbs remained in the top five on the track. Behind, Truex, Buescher, McDowell, Reddick and Blaney also remained in the top 10. By then, Wallace retained 14th ahead of Keselowski and Cindric, Kyle Busch was still mired in 17th, Larson was back in 21st behind Austin Dillon, Harvick was down in 24th ahead of Suarez and Bowman was in 26th. In addition, Elliott was mired in 33rd and not scored on the lead lap along with Harrison Burton, Chase Briscoe and Ty Dillon.

    With 15 laps remaining, Byron stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Hamlin while Bell, Allmendinger and Ty Gibbs remained in the top five. By then, the event remained under green flag conditions despite Almirola spinning entering the frontstretch. Not long after, McDowell, who was running eighth, pitted under green after the power in his No. 34 Ford shut off, which resulted with him coasting through the circuit before limping his car to his pit stall as his pit crew went underneath the hood of McDowell’s car to diagnose the issue. The issue would eventually be terminal for McDowell as he capped off his roller coaster event in 36th place, dead last.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Byron extended his advantage to two seconds over Hamlin while Bell, Allmendinger and Ty Gibs continued to run in the top 10. With McDowell out of contention, Truex was in sixth followed by Buescher, Reddick, Blaney and Logano while Gilliland, Stenhouse, Wallace, Keselowski and Kyle Busch were in the top 15.

    With five laps remaining, Byron stabilized his advantage to nearly three seconds over Hamlin as Bell, Allmendinger and Ty Gibbs remained in the top five.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Byron remained as the leader by more than three seconds over Hamlin. With Hamlin unable to gain ground, Byron was able to cycle his No. 24 Chevrolet smoothly around Watkins Glen’s series of turns for a final time before re-emerging through the frontstretch in clean air and to capture his fifth checkered flag of the 2023 Cup season.

    With the victory and the regained momentum, Byron notched his ninth career win in NASCAR’s premier series, his career-high fifth of the season and his first on a road course venue. The victory at Watkins Glen was the 102nd overall for Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 24 entry, with HMS notching its 298th Cup career win overall, as Byron claimed his first victory since winning the rain-shortened event at Atlanta Motor Speedway in early July.

    “[The win] feels really good,” Byron said on USA Network. “Just a huge credit to the race team behind me. I wanna thank [road ringer] Max Papis. This first road course win. We’ve worked years and years for this. Thanks to all the guys on the team. It’s a great win. I don’t know what it means in all that. I don’t read into that, but I think it shows that when we’re at our best, we can perform like this. We seem to go through that summer slump in July and August. For some reason, we just can’t quite put the races together. I think it’s the racetracks itself. [I] Just came this weekend with a good mindset. [I] Focused it on trying to get ready for the postseason. We’ve had fast cars. We just haven’t executed races, but today, it was flawless. Road courses have been tough, so it’s fun to get a win. Really good strategy by [the crew].”

    Hamlin, the pole-sitter who led the first three laps, settled in the runner-up spot for the third time this season after trailing Byron to the finish line by more than two seconds while teammate Bell finished third.

    “I’m happy with my day,” Hamlin said. “It takes me a while to get going and with [Michael] McDowell there at the beginning, he’s ready and he’s on kill, and I’m kind of working my way into it. I just hate that I lost the lead because I just looked at [Byron]’s back bumper the rest of the day. It was a fun race.”

    Allmendinger and Ty Gibbs finished fourth and fifth, respectively, as both enter next weekend’s regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway 72 and 32 points, respectively, below the top-16 cutline in their final hopes of making the Playoffs. Truex, the regular-season leader in the standings, came home in sixth place and leaves Watkins Glen with a 39-point lead in the standings while Buescher, Reddick, Blaney and Logano finished in the top 10.

    Notably, Wallace finished 12th and he leaves Watkins Glen grasping onto the 16th and final vacant spot to the Playoffs by 32 points. Kyle Busch finished 14th followed by Keselowski, Cindric ended up 16th, Mike Rockenfeller ended up 19th in his second Cup start behind Ross Chastain, Harvick settled in 21st in front of Suarez and Bowman and Elliott capped off his run in 32nd, a lap down. In addition, Larson and Austin Dillon ended up 26th and 31st, respectively, after Larson collided into Dillon entering the final turn and sent both spinning.

    There were six lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured a single caution period for four laps. In addition, 31 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    With one regular-season event remaining of this year’s Cup Series schedule, Martin Truex Jr. continues to lead the regular-season standings by 39 points over teammate Denny Hamlin and 76 over William Byron.

    William Byron, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Chris Buescher, Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Christopher Bell, Michael McDowell and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. are currently guaranteed spots for the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs based on winning at least once throughout the regular-season stretch. With Byron winning at The Glen, Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski have clinched spots for the Playoffs based on points while Bubba Wallace occupies the 16th and final vacant spot to the Playoffs by 32 points over rookie Ty Gibbs. Daniel Suarez trails the top-16 cutline by 43 points, AJ Allmendinger trails by 72, Alex Bowman trails by 96, Chase Elliott trails by 101, Austin Cindric trails by 114, Justin Haley trails by 162, Ryan Preece trails by 167 and Aric Almirola trails by 177.

    Results.

    1. William Byron, 66 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Denny Hamlin, three laps led

    3. Christopher Bell

    4. AJ Allmendinger, two laps led

    5. Ty Gibbs

    6. Martin Truex Jr.

    7. Chris Buescher

    8. Tyler Reddick

    9. Ryan Blaney

    10. Joey Logano

    11. Todd Gilliland

    12. Bubba Wallace

    13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    14. Kyle Busch, two laps led

    15. Brad Keselowski

    16. Austin Cindric

    17. Ryan Preece

    18. Ross Chastain

    19. Mike Rockenfeller

    20. Corey LaJoie

    21. Kevin Harvick

    22. Daniel Suarez

    23. Alex Bowman

    24. Justin Haley

    25. Andy Lally

    26. Kyle Larson

    27. Josh Bilicki

    28. Cole Custer

    29. Erik Jones

    30. Aric Almirola

    31. Austin Dillon

    32. Chase Elliott, one lap down

    33. Harrison Burton, one lap down

    34. Ty Dillon, one lap down

    35. Chase Briscoe, seven laps down

    36. Michael McDowell – OUT, Electrical, 17 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway for the Coke Zero Sugar 400, which will determine the 16-driver field of this year’s Cup Series Playoffs. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, August 26, at 7 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Keselowski, Harvick clinch 2023 Cup Series Playoff spots with top-21 runs at Watkins Glen

    Keselowski, Harvick clinch 2023 Cup Series Playoff spots with top-21 runs at Watkins Glen

    While William Byron celebrated an emphatic victory following a dominant performance in the Go Bowling at The Glen on Sunday, August 20, Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski were left feeling victorious after both former NASCAR Cup Series champions officially secured spots for the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs based on points.

    The event at Watkins Glen started off on a rough note for Keselowski, the 2012 Cup Series champion who was one of five competitors to start at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments. Following the first of 90-scheduled laps, the Michigan native was mired in the next-to-last position in 35th place and had only managed to carve his way up to 33rd place just past the Lap 10 mark.

    Then during the first cycle of green flag pit stops in between the conclusion of the first stage period and the start of the second stage period, Keselowski and crew chief Matt McCall rolled the dice by remaining on the track while most of the field pitted. This allowed Keselowski to move up as high as seventh place in the leaderboard before he pitted his No. 6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang under green on Lap 30. He would then be mired back within the top 30 through the second stage period and pit during the event’s only caution period with nearly 30 laps remaining despite climbing up to 13th.

    Restarting 18th during the final restart with 30 laps remaining, Keselowski would take the checkered flag in 15th place, which marked his 12th top-15 result of the season. With Byron, who came into the event as a four-time race winner of this season, winning at The Glen, Keselowski, who did not score any stage points at The Glen, but ended up 107 points ahead of Bubba Wallace, who holds the 16th and final vacant spot to the Playoffs, in the regular-season standings, was able to clinch his spot for the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs.

    Keselowski’s accomplishment means that the 2023 season will mark his 11th season making the Cup Series Playoffs, his first since 2021 and his first as a driver/co-owner of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing. He missed the 2022 Playoffs during his first season as a driver/co-owner after notching only a single top-five finish, six top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 19.2 throughout the 36-race schedule. This season, he has achieved five top-five results, 10 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 14.3 through 25 scheduled events.

    In addition, Keselowski is still pursuing his first victory as a driver/co-owner in the Cup Series, with his latest victory occurring at Talladega Superspeedway in April 2021 while driving for Team Penske.

    “We had a pretty strong month or so,” Keselowski said on USA Network. “We had a really good car today with our BuiltSubs Ford Mustang. Just ran solid. Basically, started last and got to 15th. If we could’ve caught a break on the yellows and all that, I think we could’ve ran top 10 today. My teammate Chris Buescher and both [Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing cars], we’re finding speed here before the Playoffs start. Overall, a really good day for us. What’s great for us going into Daytona is we can go in there and just have fun. It’s great to have that off of our shoulders. We’re gonna race really hard, but with nothing to lose. That makes us really dangerous.”

    Like Keselowski, Sunday’s event at The Glen started off on a rough note for Kevin Harvick, who rolled off the starting grid in 33rd place and without his championship-winning crew chief Rodney Childers, who returned to North Carolina due to a personal matter. With Stewart-Haas Racing engineer Stephen Doran calling the shots atop the No. 4 Ford Mustang pit box, Harvick, the 2014 Cup Series champion, spent the early stages of the event mired outside the top 30. He would crack his way into the top 15 at the conclusion of the first stage period and during the first cycle of green flag pit stops before he pitted just past the Lap 22 mark.

    Mired back towards the top-30 mark upon his pit service, Harvick was scored 24th at the halfway mark and just past the second stage’s conclusion with the 2014 Cup Series champion not scoring any stage points. Running in 14th place during the event’s only caution period with 35 laps remaining after Chase Elliott ran out of fuel on the course, Harvick joined a handful of competitors to pit under caution and restarted in the middle of the pack with 30 laps remaining.

    When the checkered flag flew, Harvick nursed his No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang in 21st place, which marked his second consecutive finish outside the top 20. By being 103 points above Bubba Wallace, who holds the 16th and final vacant spot in the Playoffs, in the regular-season standings, Harvick was also able to accomplish a similar feat to Keselowski’s by clinching his spot for the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs based on points.

    With his accomplishment, Harvick, who is currently embarking in his 23rd and final full-time season in NASCAR’s premier series, will make his 17th career appearance as a Cup Series Playoff contender as he battles for his final opportunity to win his second Cup title and first since 2014. This season, he has achieved six top-five results, 11 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 14.0 through 25 scheduled events.

    Having achieved 60 career victories in the Cup Series, Harvick is still pursuing his first of the season and first since winning at Richmond Raceway last August.

    Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “We’ll go down to [Daytona International Speedway] and push as hard as we can, and be ready for Darlington [Raceway],” Harvick said. “We’ve been terrible on the road courses the last two weeks. The last month before that, we did good. We had cars that were capable to run in the top five, so as long as it’s an oval [track], we’ll be fine.”

    With secured berths to the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs set for both, Keselowski and Harvick shift their attention to the regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway for the Coke Zero Sugar 400, which will officially determine the full 16-driver field of this year’s Cup Series Playoffs. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, August 26, at 7 p.m. ET on NBC.