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  • Larson to make 250th Cup career start at Darlington

    Larson to make 250th Cup career start at Darlington

    In his return to NASCAR competition and quest for his first Cup Series title, Kyle Larson is set to achieve a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s Playoff event at Darlington Raceway, the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE will reach 250 starts in NASCAR’s premier series.

    A native of Elk Grove, California, Larson made his inaugural presence in the Cup Series at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October 2013. By then, he was competing in the Xfinity Series as a full-time rookie contender with Turner Scott Motorsports. He was also set to join Chip Ganassi Racing as an incoming Cup rookie competitor in the No. 42 Chevrolet for the 2014 season. During his Cup debut at Charlotte in 2013, Larson drove the No. 51 Chevrolet SS for Turner Scott Motorsports, where he started 21st and finished 37th due to an engine failure. He returned for three of the final four Cup events with TMS, where he finished 42nd at Martinsville Speedway in October, 23rd at Texas Motor Speedway and 15th at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November, respectively.

    Taking over the No. 42 Chevrolet in 2014, Larson kickstarted his first full-time Cup season with a 38th-place result in the Daytona 500 after being involved in a late multi-car wreck. Three races later, he achieved his first top-10 career result in the Cup Series by finishing 10th at Bristol Motor Speedway in March. The following event at Auto Club Speedway, he achieved a career-best runner-up result following a two-lap shootout and a final lap battle with eventual winner Kyle Busch.

    Throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch in 2014, Larson achieved his first Cup career pole at Pocono Raceway in August. He also recorded five top-five results and 11 top-10 results. Despite missing the Playoffs, Larson remained competitive throughout the postseason, where he notched three top-three results and a total of six top-10 results before finishing in 17th place in the final standings. While he did not record a victory throughout the season, he achieved the Rookie-of-the-Year title.

    Compared to the 2014 season, the 2015 Cup season was a down season for Larson, who only achieved a season-best third-place result at Dover International Speedway in May, two top-five results, 10 top-10 results, an average-finishing result of 19.3 and a 19th-place result in the final standings. During the season, he was absent from competing at Martinsville in March after suffering a fainting spell a day prior to the main event.

    Starting the 2016 season with a seventh-place effort in the Daytona 500, Larson achieved his first elusive Cup victory at Michigan International Speedway in August following a late battle with Chase Elliott. The victory occurred in Larson’s 99th career start as it snapped Chip Ganassi Racing’s two-year winless drought and placed Larson in the Playoffs for the first time in his career. Despite being eliminated from title contention following the Playoff’s first round, he went on to conclude the season in ninth place in the final standings. Overall, Larson achieved 10 top-five results and 15 top-10 results along with his first Cup victory throughout the 36-race schedule. By then, Larson surpassed 100 Cup career starts.

    The 2017 Cup season was one of Larson’s competitive season, who started the season with a 12th-place effort in the Daytona 500 despite leading and running out of fuel on the final lap. After finishing in the runner-up spot during the next three consecutive races, he achieved his second Cup career triumph the following week at Auto Club Speedway in March. By then, he was the leader in the Cup standings for the first time in his career. 

    Throughout the 2017 Cup regular-season stretch, Larson went on to sweep both Michigan events and win the final regular-season event at Richmond Raceway in September before entering the Playoffs as a title favorite. His championship hopes, however, came to a bitter end during the second round when an en early engine failure at Kansas Speedway prevented him from advancing to the penultimate round in the Playoffs and continue his title quest. While he did not finish in three of the final four races of the season, Larson concluded his sophomore Cup season in eighth place in the final standings and with four victories, three poles, 15 top-five results, 20 top-10 results and over 1,300 laps led.

    The 2018 Cup season was a winless season for Larson, his first since 2015, despite making his third consecutive appearance in the Playoffs before he was eliminated from title contention following the second round. While he did not record a victory throughout the season, he and his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet team achieved three poles, 12 top-five results, 19 top-10 results, an average-finishing result of 12.6 and a ninth-place result in the final standings.

    Through the first 10 events of the 2019 Cup season, Larson only achieved two top-10 results and was mired back in 21st place in the regular-season standings. In May, though, Larson reignited his competitiveness by winning the non-points NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte in May. After achieving enough consistent results to make the Playoffs for a fourth consecutive season, he snapped his one-year winless drought by winning at Dover International Speedway in October, a victory that earned him a one-way ticket to the penultimate round in the Playoffs. While he did not transfer to the Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November, he concluded the season with a career-best sixth-place result in the final standings and with a win, a pole, eight top-five results and 17 top-10 results. By then, Larson surpassed 200 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series.

    For the 2020 season, Larson managed to finish in the top 10 in three of the first four events before the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic paused the racing season for two months. In April, however, Larson was suspended indefinitely from Chip Ganassi Racing and NASCAR following a live iRacing event, where the driver was caught utilizing a live racial slur. After Larson was released from CGR, former Cup champion Matt Kenseth took over the No. 42 Chevrolet.

    In October 2020, following a yearlong sensitivity training, Larson was reinstated by NASCAR, where he could return to all on-track NASCAR activities in January 2021. A week later, he was signed by Hendrick Motorsports to pilot the organization’s iconic No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for the 2021 Cup season. Starting this season with a 10th-place result in the Daytona 500, it took the first four races for Larson to accomplish his first victory with HMS and ignite his redemptive return to NASCAR after he won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March.

    After finishing in the runner-up spot in four of the following 10 races, Larson claimed a dominating win in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. With the victory, he made Hendrick Motorsports the winningest Cup team at 269, one better than Petty Enterprises. Larson then went on a hot streak in June by winning at Sonoma Raceway, the non-points All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway and the inaugural Cup event at Nashville Superspeedway. After winning for the fifth time of the season at Watkins Glen International in August, Larson managed to tie Denny Hamlin for the lead in the regular-season standings. Following results of third, third and 20th in the final three regular-season events of 2021, Larson captured the 2021 Cup regular-season championship. He is currently seeded in first place to in the 2021 Playoff standings with 2,052 points as he contends for his first Cup title. He has also achieved a career-high five victories, 14 top-five results and 18 top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch while driving for HMS.

    Through 249 previous Cup starts, Larson has achieved 11 victories, nine poles, 70 top-five results, 119 top-10 results, over 4,700 laps led and an average-finishing result of 14.5.

    Larson is primed to make his 250th Cup career start at Darlington Raceway for the Cook Out Southern 500 on Sunday, September 5, at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Kurt Busch shakes up the Playoff field with first victory of 2021 at Atlanta

    Kurt Busch shakes up the Playoff field with first victory of 2021 at Atlanta

    With his future racing status beyond this season currently uncertain, Kurt Busch made an epic statement after dominating and fending off brother Kyle Busch to win the Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 11, for his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season and to place himself in a guaranteed spot to make the Playoffs in Chip Ganassi Racing’s swan song season in NASCAR.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Chase Elliott, winner of last weekend’s Cup event at Road America, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Kyle Busch, winner of Saturday’s Xfinity Series event at Atlanta.

    Prior to the event, Martin Truex Jr. started at the rear of the field due to his car failing pre-race technical inspection twice.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Elliott launched ahead with an early advantage while Kyle Busch struggled to start on the outside lane and in front of a stacked field.

    With the first lap complete as the field behind jostled for early positioning, Elliott was out in front by two-tenths of a second over Kyle Busch with Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick in the top five.

    Following the first five laps of the event, Elliott was leading by nearly half a second over Kyle Busch. Teammates Hamlin and Bell continued to run in third and fourth followed by Reddick, Matt DiBenedetto, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski.

    Five laps later, Elliott stabilized his advantage to half a second over Kyle Busch. While Hamlin continued to run in third, Reddick made his move to fourth place over Bell.

    On Lap 14, Kyle Busch muscled his way into the lead over Elliott through the backstretch and following an intense battle for the top spot with Elliott over the previous few laps.

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 25, Kyle Busch was leading by more than two seconds over teammate Hamlin while Elliott slipped back to third. Reddick remained in fourth while Kurt Busch emerged in fifth over Larson, Bell, Logano, DiBenedetto and Alex Bowman. By then, Brad Keselowski was in 11th ahead of Austin Dillon, Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher and William Byron. Truex was in 18th in between Aric Almirola and Bubba Wallace, Kevin Harvick was in 20th ahead of rookie Chase Briscoe, Ryan Newman was in 22nd, Daniel Suarez was in 24th in between Ross Chastain and Erik Jones, Cole Custer was in 27th behind Corey LaJoie and Michael McDowell was in 29th.

    Under the competition caution, the leaders pitted and Hamlin exited pit road with the lead ahead of teammate Kyle Busch, Reddick, Larson, Logano and Keselowski. Elliott, meanwhile, dropped from third to 18th after he slid his No. 9 Adrenaline Shoc Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE through his pit box prior to pitting for fresh tires and fuel.

    When the race restarted on Lap 29, Hamlin retained the lead through the first two turns until teammate Kyle Busch gained a run on the outside of Turn 3 and challenged Hamlin for the top spot. While Busch led the following lap, both Joe Gibbs Racing teammates continued to battle early for the lead.

    Shortly after, the caution returned for a chain reaction spin and wreck in the backstretch involving Cody Ware, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Daniel Suarez.

    When the race restarted on Lap 35, Kyle Busch received a strong start to retain the lead followed by a two-car battle for the runner-up spot between Logano and Hamlin, with the latter prevailing ahead of Larson and Reddick. While teammates Kyle Busch and Hamlin battled for the lead, Kurt Busch muscled his way into third place over Reddick while Alex Bowman moved into the top five ahead of Logano, Keselowski and Larson.

    By Lap 40, Kyle Busch continued to lead by nearly half a second over teammate Hamlin, with Kurt Busch closing in on Hamlin for the runner-up spot. Reddick and Bowman were in the top five followed by Logano, Keselowski, Larson, DiBenedetto and Byron. Elliott, meanwhile, was mired in 20th behind Aric Almirola while Truex was in 11th.

    Ten laps later, the Busch brothers were running first and second as younger brother Kyle was leading by half a second over older brother Kurt. Hamlin remained in third while running just ahead of Bowman and Reddick. By then, Larson was in eighth behind Logano and Keselowski, Truex was in 10th behind Byron, Harvick was in 14th behind Blaney and Elliott was still mired in 20th behind Briscoe and Bubba Wallace.

    Another 10 laps later, Kyle Busch’s No. 18 Skittles Gummies Toyota Camry continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over brother Kurt’s No. 1 GEARWRENCH Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE while Bowman’s No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, which was more than four seconds behind the leader, emerged in third place ahead of Hamlin’s No. 11 Offerpad Toyota Camry and Reddick’s No. 8 Okuma Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.

    By Lap 70, Kyle Busch stabilized his lead to nearly a second over brother Kurt while Hamlin, Bowman and Reddick remained in the top five. Meanwhile, a four-car battle ensued for seventh place between Larson, Byron, Keselowski and Truex. By then, Harvick was in 11th, Blaney was in 14th behind Austin Dillon, Christopher Bell was in 16th behind Chris Buescher and Elliott was in 18th.

    Not long after, Ryan Newman pitted under green to have a right-front chorded tire addressed to his No. 6 Oscar Mayer Ford Mustang.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 80, Kyle Busch was out in front as he claimed his fourth stage victory of the season. Kurt Busch settled in second followed by Hamlin, Bowman, Reddick, Larson, Logano, Byron, Truex and Harvick. By then, names like Erik Jones, Michael McDowell, rookie Anthony Alfredo and Ryan Newman were lapped by the leaders.

    Under the stage break, the leaders returned to pit road and Kurt Busch exited pit road to assume the lead for the first time followed by Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Bowman and Reddick. During the pit stops, Elliott clipped Cole Custer’s tire carrier while entering his pit stall. Following the pit stops, Harvick and Truex returned to pit road to have their respective cars repaired after both sustained damage on pit road.

    The second stage started on Lap 86 with the Busch brothers leading the field. At the start, Kurt Busch took off with the lead following a strong start while Kyle Busch, Hamlin and Reddick battled for the runner-up spot as the field fanned out through the backstretch.

    By Lap 90, Kurt Busch continued to lead by nearly half a second over brother Kyle, who had Tyler Reddick pressuring him for the runner-up spot. Meanwhile, Hamlin and Bowman battled for fourth while Keselowski, Byron, Blaney, Larson and Wallace were in the top 10.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Kurt Busch was leading by nearly two seconds over Bowman, with Reddick, Kyle Busch and Hamlin in the top five. Behind, Larson was in sixth ahead of Keselowski while Elliott was in 16th behind Truex. Harvick, meanwhile, was in 20th behind Ross Chastain.

    A few laps later, Logano brought his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang to pit road after reporting a left-rear vibration.

    Nearing the Lap 120 mark and with rain threats looming near the track, names like Byron, DiBenedetto, Hamlin, Larson, Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Wallace, Blaney, Harvick, Bowman, Austin Dillon, Elliott and Briscoe pitted under green. A few laps later, Kurt Busch also pitted along with Reddick, Buescher, Corey LaJoie, Erik Jones, Alfredo, Bell and Truex. Cole Custer, who briefly led, also pitted along with Newman.

    Back on track, Almirola was leading by half a second over Preece, though both are still in need of a pit stop, while Kurt Busch was back in third and 10 seconds behind.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 130, Almirola was still leading by nearly half a second over Preece while Kurt Busch narrowed the gap to two-tenths of a second. Two laps later, Kurt Busch, racing on fresh tires, bolted his way back to the lead over Preece and Almirola. Another four laps later, brother Kyle Busch moved into the runner-up spot followed by Bowman, Reddick, Almirola and Larson while Ryan Preece pitted. Not long after, Almirola also pitted.

    By Lap 140, Kurt Busch was leading by more than four seconds over brother Kyle while Bowman, Reddick and Larson were in the top five. Hamlin, meanwhile, was in sixth followed by Blaney, Byron, Keselowski and Austin Dillon. Elliott was in 12th behind Wallace, Truex and Harvick were in 16th and 17th while in front of Logano and Almirola was all the way back in 25th.

    Ten laps later, Kurt Busch continued to lead by more than four seconds over brother Kyle. Behind, Larson overtook Reddick for fourth place while Bowman settled in third.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 160, Kurt Busch was still leading as he claimed his third stage victory of the season. Settling in second was Kyle Busch followed by Bowman, Larson, Hamlin, Reddick, Blaney, Keselowski, Austin Dillon and Truex.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Kurt Busch retained the lead following a stellar pit stop. Kyle Busch followed in second and in front of Bowman, Larson, Reddick and Hamlin. Following the pit stops, Hamlin was assessed a pit road speeding penalty.

    Soon after, NASCAR red-flagged the event for 19 minutes to have the track surface on the frontstretch repaired.

    When the red flag lifted following the surface repairs, the final stage started under green with 90 laps remaining. At the start, Kurt Busch retained the lead followed by Bowman while Kyle Busch was engaged in a three-wide battle with Larson and Keselowski for third place through the backstretch.

    Three laps later, Kyle Busch muscled his way into the runner-up spot over Bowman while Kurt Busch continued to lead. Behind, Keselowski made a bold three-wide move on Reddick and Truex to move into fifth place while teammates Bowman and Larson were in third and fourth.

    With 75 laps remaining, Kurt Busch remained as the leader by more than a second over brother Kyle. Teammates Bowman and Larson remained in third and fourth followed by Reddick, Blaney, Truex, Keselowski, Bell and Elliott.

    Down to the final 60 laps of the event, Kurt Busch continued to lead by less than a second over Kyle Busch while Bowman, Larson and Reddick remained in the top five. By then, Elliott was in eighth behind Truex and Blaney, Keselowski was back in 10th, Wallace was in 12th ahead of Harvick and Hamlin was in 18th in between Austin Dillon and Byron.

    Nearly 10 laps later, pit stops under green commenced as Elliott pitted along with Bell, Logano, Keselowski, DiBenedetto, Wallace, Harvick, Briscoe, Chastain, Blaney, Byron and others. Shortly after, Kyle Busch pitted.

    When the pit stops cycled not long after, Kyle Busch, who pitted a lap earlier than Kurt, emerged with the lead as Kurt started to chase down his brother for the lead and the win. By then, Larson was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    With 40 laps remaining, Kyle Busch, who was mired in lapped traffic, was leading by eight-tenths of a second over brother Kurt while third-place Alex Bowman trailed by more than three seconds. Trailing by more than six seconds in fourth was Truex while Reddick was in the top five ahead of Blaney, Elliott, Bell, Keselowski and DiBenedetto.

    Ten laps later, Kyle Busch’s advantage over brother Kurt decreased to six-tenths of a second, with the older brother slowly catching younger brother for the top spot.

    With 24 laps remaining, Kurt Busch drew himself alongside brother Kyle’s No. 18 Toyota, who was tucked behind the lapped No. 42 Clover Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE driven by Ross Chastain, through Turn 3 and the frontstretch. Following a side-by-side battle for another lap, Kurt returned to the top spot while Kyle kept his brother in sight.

    With 20 laps remaining, Kurt Busch was leading by half a second over brother Kyle while Truex, Bowman and Reddick remained in the top five. Running in the top 10 were Blaney, Elliott, Bell, DiBenedetto and Keselowski.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Kurt Busch, who earlier was leading by nearly a second over brother Kyle, was leading by just less than half a second over Kyle Busch, with both Busch brothers refusing to give in to one another. Meanwhile, third-place Truex trailed by more than four seconds.

    Three laps later, Kyle Busch gained a run to the inside lane of Turn 1 and tried to slide up in front of Kurt while trying to take back the lead, but Kurt remained in the gas and retained the lead through the backstretch.

    With five laps remaining and the leaders approaching lapped traffic, among which included Kyle Larson, Kurt Busch was ahead by nearly six-tenths of a second over Kyle Busch.

    Despite catching the lapped traffic, Kurt Busch started to pull away from his brother Kyle, who was losing ground for the win. Having his advantage grow to more than a second, Kurt was able to commence the final lap of the event and come back around to claim his first checkered flag of the season.

    With his victory, Kurt Busch, who led a race-high 144 of 260 laps, became the 12th different competitor to record a victory in this year’s regular-season stretch. He also achieved his fourth victory at Atlanta and his 33rd Cup Series career win. Above all, he recorded the 20th NASCAR victory for Chip Ganassi Racing, a team that will be departing the sport following this season after the team was purchased by Trackhouse Racing Team.

    “Hell yeah, we beat Kyle!” Kurt Busch exclaimed on NBCSN. “I taught that kid everything he knows. He should be grateful. What a battle. What a genuine, awesome, old-school racetrack, and I just asked the track today, last time here on your old asphalt, can I have an old guy win, and she answered. Thank you, Atlanta Motor Speedway!”

    During the victory celebrations in front of the grandstands, Kurt credited his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Ross Chastain, for helping him overtake his brother Kyle in the final laps.

    “Shake and bake!” Kurt Busch added. “He did his job as a teammate. Ross is gonna get a little flack for it, but that’s what it takes to be a good teammate at the right moment, so I couldn’t be more proud of Ross Chastain. I’ll pay you back, eventually, but right now, this is our No. 1 car in Victory Lane. For all of Ganassi,… I don’t know where I’m going, but I just love racing cars and I wanna race that Next Gen car. That’s why I’m trying to stick around.”

    Behind, Kyle Busch, who led 91 laps, settled in second place as this marks the fourth time where the Busch brothers have finished first and second in a Cup event, with Kurt winning over Kyle for a second time. Unlike Kurt, Kyle vocally expressed his criticism over Chastain’s move that allowed Kurt to win.

    “[I] Had everything I had there early and then, just smoked it behind [Chastain],” Kyle Busch said. “Shows you what kind of driver he is, and just tried to fight hard after that when I got passed. [I] Had one valiant effort off of [Turn] 2, but just didn’t have enough momentum to drag [Kurt Busch] down, make him go high in [Turns] 3 and 4. After that, the tires were smoked. Great effort, the guys gave me a great piece. We were fast. [Kurt Busch] was definitely better than us. It’s just that I thought I had him, and we did. Racing just didn’t play out for us.”

    Truex rallied from starting at the rear of the field to grab a strong third-place effort followed by Bowman and Blaney.

    Reddick, meanwhile, continued his strong, consistent quest to make the Playoffs by finishing sixth while Elliott, Bell, DiBenedetto and Keselowski completed the top 10 on the track.

    Harvick settled in 11th, Hamlin could only rebound as high as 13th following his late pit road speeding penalty, Wallace and Briscoe finished 14th and 15th in front of Chris Buescher, Larson ended up 18th in front of Logano, Byron and Chastain, Almirola settled in 23rd in front of Erik Jones and Newman came home in 28th.

    There were 10 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 21 laps.

    With this year’s NASCAR events at Atlanta Motor Speedway concluded, the oval circuit will be reprofiled and its racing surface will be repaved in preparation for the 2022 season.

    With five races remaining until the 2021 Cup Playoffs commences, Denny Hamlin continues to lead the regular-season standings by 10 points over Kyle Larson. Currently, 12 competitors (Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Kurt Busch, William Byron, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Christopher Bell and Michael McDowell) are guaranteed Playoff spots based on winning at least once throughout the regular season. Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick occupy the remaining four vacant spots to the Playoffs as winless competitors, with Reddick ahead by 96 points over Chris Buescher, 138 over Matt DiBenedetto, 145 over Ross Chastain, 148 over Bubba Wallace, 161 over Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 179 over Daniel Suarez and 196 over Chase Briscoe.

    Results.

    1. Kurt Busch, 144 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Kyle Busch, 91 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    3. Martin Truex Jr.

    4. Alex Bowman

    5. Ryan Blaney

    6. Tyler Reddick

    7. Chase Elliott, 13 laps led

    8. Christopher Bell

    9. Matt DiBenedetto

    10. Brad Keselowski

    11. Kevin Harvick

    12. Austin Dillon

    13. Denny Hamlin, two laps led

    14. Bubba Wallace

    15. Chase Briscoe

    16. Chris Buescher

    17. Cole Custer, one lap led

    18. Kyle Larson

    19. Joey Logano, one lap down

    20. William Byron, one lap down

    21. Ross Chastain, one lap down

    22. Corey LaJoie, two laps down

    23. Aric Almirola, two laps down, eight laps led

    24. Erik Jones, two laps down

    25. Ryan Preece, two laps down, one lap led

    26. Anthony Alfredo, three laps down

    27. Michael McDowell, four laps down

    28. Ryan Newman, four laps down

    29. Justin Haley, five laps down

    30. BJ McLeod, six laps down

    31. Garrett Smithley, seven laps down

    32. Bayley Currey, seven laps down

    33. Cody Ware, seven laps down

    34. Josh Bilicki, 12 laps down

    35. Quin Houff, 12 laps down

    36. Daniel Suarez, 17 laps down

    37. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Suspension

    Next on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the series’ annual visit to Loudon, New Hampshire. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, July 18, at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Chastain to achieve 100th Cup start at Atlanta

    Chastain to achieve 100th Cup start at Atlanta

    A significant milestone start is in the making for Ross Chastain, driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE in the NASCAR Cup Series. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Chastain will accomplish 100 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series. 

    A native of Alva, Florida, Chastain made his Cup Series debut at Dover International Speedway in June 2017. By then, he was a full-time Xfinity Series competitor for JD Motorsports. Driving the No. 15 Chevrolet for Premium Motorsports, Chastain finished 20th in his Cup debut. He returned for the Cup Playoff race at Dover in October, where he finished 38th while driving for Premium Motorsports.

    The following season, Chastain competed in 34 of the 36-race Cup schedule, making all of his starts with Premium Motorsports. Throughout the season, he earned two top-20 results, including a season-best 18th-place result at Texas Motor Speedway in April.

    In 2019, Chastain campaigned in all but one of the 36-race Cup schedule with Premium Motorsports. He also competed the entire Truck Series schedule with Niece Motorsports and on a part-time basis in the Xfinity Series between JD Motorsports and Kaulig Racing. During his Cup tenure, Chastain earned a 10th-place result in the season-opening Daytona 500 and a 12th-place result at Talladega Superspeedway in October. He also led a total of 11 laps and averaged a finishing result of 28.2.

    While competing as a full-time Xfinity Series competitor for Kaulig Racing in 2020, Chastain also made a total of eight Cup starts, starting with the season-opening Daytona 500 in February. Driving the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE in a partnership between Spire Motorsports and Chip Ganassi Racing, Chastain was in position to win the 500 until he was involved in a late multi-car wreck that relegated him to 25th in the final running order.

    Two days after the 2020 Daytona 500, Chastain was named a substitute competitor for Roush Fenway Racing’s No. 6 Ford Mustang driven by Ryan Newman, with Newman hospitalized after suffering non-life threatening injuries from a final lap accident during the 500. Making his first Cup start with RFR at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in February, Chastain finished 27th after being involved in a late spin. He went on to finish 17th and 23rd during the following two race weekends at Auto Club Speedway and Phoenix Raceway in March before the COVID-19 pandemic put a hiatus to all racing activities.

    When NASCAR resumed the 2020 season in May at Darlington Raceway, Newman was medically cleared to return to racing. Chastain, meanwhile, returned the following week at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600. Driving for Spire Motorsports, he finished 21st. He made three more Cup starts for the remainder of the season, all for Spire Motorsports, beginning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July, where he finished 17th. He also competed at Daytona in August, where he finished 16th, and at Darlington Raceway for the Southern 500 in September, where he finished 29th.

    Prior to the 2021 season, Chastain was selected by Chip Ganassi Racing to drive the team’s No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE on a full-time basis. The move fulfilled the fruition of Chastain competing with CGR following sponsor DC Solar’s fallout and FBI raid in December 2018, an event that cost Chastain an opportunity to compete with CGR for the 2019 Xfinity Series season due to sponsorship woes and resulted with CGR’s Xfinity team ceasing operations.

    Commencing this season with a seventh-place result in the Daytona 500, Chastain has achieved two top-five results, five top-10 results, 40 laps led and an average-finishing result of 18.1 through the first 20 Cup races of the schedule. This includes a career-best runner-up result achieved at Nashville Superspeedway in June along with a strong fourth-place finish at the Circuit of the Americas in May. He and Ganassi’s No. 42 Chevrolet team are currently ranked in 18th place in the regular-season standings.

    Through 99 previous Cup starts, Chastain has achieved two top-five results, six top-10 results, 53 laps led and an average-finishing result of 25.7.

    Chastain is primed to make his 100th Cup career start at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 11, with the race scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. on NBCSN.

  • Trackhouse Racing announces purchase of Chip Ganassi Racing’s NASCAR team

    Trackhouse Racing announces purchase of Chip Ganassi Racing’s NASCAR team

    Trackhouse Entertainment Group and Trackhouse Racing announced Wednesday afternoon the purchase of Chip Ganassi Racing’s NASCAR operation. The acquisition will be effective at the end of the 2021 season.

    Daniel Suárez, who has three top-10 finishes this season, will continue with the team next year in the NASCAR Cup Series and a second driver will be named at a later date.

    The announcement was made by Trackhouse team president Ty Norris and Trackhouse Entertainment Group founder, Justin Marks. Co-owner, Pitbull, formally known as Armando Perez, was not present for the announcement.

    “This process took several weeks and I want to thank Chip for being so open and candid with me every step of the journey,” Marks said. “Chip has built an iconic motorsports empire and the Ganassi brand is globally recognized as a winner in the auto racing industry. It is truly an honor that we can build from that foundation.”

    Although Chip Ganassi said that his team was not for sale, the offer was appealing for a number of reasons.

    “I think this is a great day for NASCAR as it seems like there are so many people that are wanting to get into the sport as owners – Michael Jordan, Pitbull, Denny and plenty of others. They are bringing new perspective, vision and insight which is great for the sport.

    “Justin simply came to me with a great offer and an even better vision. As everyone knows, I care deeply for my employees so selling to someone like Justin, who is part of the CGR family, made the reality of selling much easier. He knows our organization and the people. That gives me comfort.”

    Ganassi will continue to be involved in racing, stating, “Everyone needs to know that I am still completely dedicated to the motorsports industry and will continue to run my other teams in INDYCAR, IMSA and Extreme E with the same enthusiasm that I always have.”

    Marks confirmed that the new team will operate out of Ganassi’s current race shop in 2022.

  • Nemechek joins Sam Hunt Racing for part-time Xfinity campaign

    Nemechek joins Sam Hunt Racing for part-time Xfinity campaign

    Sam Hunt Racing announced that John Hunter Nemechek will be competing in select NASCAR Xfinity Series races for the organization this season, beginning at Dover International Speedway in May.

    The 23-year-old native from Mooresville, North Carolina, is currently competing on a full-time basis in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports. He is coming off a seventh-place result in the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway.

    Nemechek, the son of NASCAR veteran Joe Nemechek, will be making his first start in the Xfinity Series since 2019, where he competed as a full-time competitor for GMS Racing. Through 51 career starts in the Xfinity Series, he has recorded one victory, which occurred at Kansas Speedway in October 2018 while driving for Chip Ganassi Racing. He has also recorded a pole, 12 top-five results and 30 top-10 results. He made the Xfinity Playoffs in 2019 and went on to finish in seventh place in the final standings.

    “I’m so excited for the opportunity to be able to run some races for [team owner] Sam Hunt,” Nemechek said. “It’s awesome to see what he’s done in such a short time, being such a young team owner in the sport. I think my experience and this team can accomplish a lot and I’m excited to see what happens! I can’t thank Sam, Toyota, and all of our partners enough for this opportunity and helping us put this together.”

    Sam Hunt Racing, which started as DRIVE Technology and competed in several seasons in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, made its first appearance in the Xfinity Series in the 2019 season-finale event at Homestead-Miami Speedway, with Colin Garrett behind the wheel of the team’s No. 26 Toyota and Brian Keselowski serving as crew chief. Starting 15th, Garrett went on to finish 21st of the 38-car field.

    In 2020, SHR moved up to the Xfinity Series on a part-time basis, fielding the No. 26 Toyota Supra. Garrett returned and competed in five Xfinity races for the team, Brandon Gdovic competed in two and Mason Diaz campaigned in the final two races of the season. The team’s best results were 12th place with Gdovic at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course and 14th with Garrett at Homestead-Miami Speedway during the series’ doubleheader feature in Miami.

    This season, SHR is coming off its first top-10 career result in the Xfinity Series, which was an eighth-place result in the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway accomplished by Gdovic.

    Nemechek is set to join names like Gdovic, Kris Wright and Santino Ferrucci as competitors slated to drive for SHR throughout this year’s Xfinity Series season.

    “I’m excited to have John Hunter come back to his roots and drive for our young team in 2021,” Hunt added. “He’s always been a mutual friend of mine, always been extremely friendly, and has always shown that he can maximize his equipment and represent his sponsors. Working with so many rookies this year, his experience and feedback will be invaluable to our program’s growth. I know he can help us just as much as we can help him, and I think it’s cool to see a guy like him so excited about joining our small team with intentions to improve it as a whole. The entire shop is extremely excited about it and I know he’ll be able to help us improve our cars throughout the year.”

    With Nemechek’s return to the series three months away, Sam Hunt Racing is set to compete in the upcoming NASCAR Xfinity Series event at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course with Kris Wright. The event will occur on Saturday, February 20, at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • McMurray joins Spire Motorsports for Daytona 500 return

    McMurray joins Spire Motorsports for Daytona 500 return

    With the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season less than a month away from commencing, a familiar name will be returning to the starting grid for this year’s 63rd annual running of the Daytona 500. That name is Jamie McMurray after it was announced that the 44-year-old native from Joplin, Missouri, will be piloting the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE from Spire Motorsports sponsored by AdventHealth.

    McMurray, who serves as a NASCAR analyst on FOX, made his 583rd and recent NASCAR Cup Series start to date in the 2019 Daytona 500, where he finished 22nd. His final full-time season in the Cup circuit was in 2018 with Chip Ganassi Racing. Through 2019, McMurray has made 17 career starts in the 500. He is also a former Daytona 500 champion, having won NASCAR’s prestigious event in 2010 with CGR.

    With a charter, McMurray and his Spire Motorsports entry will be guaranteed a spot in the 2021 Daytona 500, which will mark McMurray’s 18th start in the event and his 584th start in the Cup Series.

    “It doesn’t get any better than the Daytona 500, and I am so excited to have the opportunity, thanks to AdventHealth, to run this race one more time,” McMurray said. “I have enjoyed my time out of the car as an analyst covering NASCAR, but nothing can replace the feeling of actually racing. And it’s great to be partnering with a company like AdventHealth for this race. We share a lot of the same goals about health and fitness, and I’m looking forward to using this opportunity to talk to race fans about the importance of staying healthy and feeling whole.”

    Along with his 2010 Daytona 500 victory, McMurray comes into the 2021 Daytona 500 with a bevy of success and experience towards NASCAR competition and superspeedway racing. He won at Daytona International Speedway in July 2007 while driving for Roush Fenway Racing and at Talladega Superspeedway twice (2009 and 2013). He is also a former winner of the Brickyard 400 and the All-Star Race, and he is the 2003 Cup Rookie of the Year.

    Through 583 previous starts in the Cup Series, McMurray has won seven Cup career races while also achieving 11 poles, 63 top-five results, 168 top-10 results and three Playoff appearances, with a best points result of 11th place in 2004.

    With McMurray’s entrance, Spire Motorsports has two cars set to compete in the 500, with Corey LaJoie signed on to drive the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.

    The 2021 Daytona 500 is set to occur on Sunday, February 14, at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Mike Shiplett to reach 150 Cup starts as crew chief at Bristol

    Mike Shiplett to reach 150 Cup starts as crew chief at Bristol

    A significant milestone is in the making for Mike Shiplett, crew chief for this year’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoff contender and Rookie-of-the-Year recipient Cole Custer. When the Cup Series competes in this weekend’s Playoff race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Shiplett will call his 150th race in NASCAR’s premier series as a crew chief.

    A native of Amherst, Ohio, Shiplett grew up working on street stock cars for local short track racing with his uncle before he raced his prepared street stock across Ohio at age 16, eventually moving up to late model stock cars. He went on to attain a degree in diesel technology at the University of Northwestern Ohio in 1992. Afterwards, he joined Liberty Racing as a mechanic in the American Speed Association in 1995, which made the eventual move to the NASCAR Truck Series.

    In 1998, Shiplett moved to North Carolina and worked as a car chief for the No. 75 Butch Mock Motorsports team that competed in the NASCAR Cup Series. Following the 2000 season, Shiplett joined forces with Ultra Motorsports in 2001 and continued to work as a car chief. Two years later, he joined Evernham Motorsports and another four years later, he worked as a crew chief for Evernham’s Xfinity Series program. Working with seven competitors in the 2007 NASCAAR Xfinity season, Shiplett won his first two NASCAR career races as a crew chief with Kasey Kahne.

    In 2008, when Evernham Motorsports became Gillett-Evernham Motorsports, Shiplett was named a full-time NASCAR Cup Series crew chief for the No. 10 Dodge team that started the season with Patrick Carpentier, the 1997 CART Rookie of the Year and Champ Car competitor from LaSalle, Quebec, Canada, behind the wheel. The 2008 season marked Shiplett’s first as a Cup crew chief. From 2008 to 2009, Shiplett worked with five different drivers (Patrick Carpentier, Terry Labonte, Mike Wallace, Reed Sorenson and A.J. Allmendinger) while remaining with the team that became Richard Petty Motorsports in 2009. In August 2008, Shiplett served as a crew chief for Carpentier for the NASCAR Truck Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he finished 25th. Following the 2009 season, Shiplett called 66 Cup career races.

    In 2010, Shiplett worked as a full-time Cup crew chief with Allmendinger and the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford team. Together, Allmendinger and Shiplett achieved a pole position at Phoenix Raceway in April, two top-five results and eight top-10 results as Allmendinger concluded the season in 19th place in the final standings. Following the 2010 season, Shiplett reached 100 Cup races as a crew chief.

    For the first 19 Cup races of the 2011 season, Shiplett remained as crew chief for Allmendinger and the No. 43 RPM Ford team as Allmendinger earned one top-five result, four top-10 results and was ranked in 16th place in the standings following the recent Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July. Afterwards, Shiplett was replaced by Greg Erwin for the remainder of the season and Allmendinger went on to conclude the season in a career-best 15th place in the final standings.

    In 2012, Shiplett scaled back to the Xfinity Series and worked at Turner Motorsports. He served as a crew chief for 23 Xfinity races while working with Kasey Kahne and Brad Sweet, both of whom split driving roles in the No. 38 Great Clips Chevrolet. He also served as a crew chief for Kahne in the Truck Series race at Rockingham Speedway in April, where Kahne went on to win.

    From 2013 to 2014, Shiplett rejoined Richard Petty Motorsports and was involved with the team’s research-and-development program. He also served as an Xfinity Series crew chief for Corey LaJoie in the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November when LaJoie made his series debut.

    In 2015, Shiplett rejoined the Xfinity Series and worked as a crew chief for HScott Motorsports with Chip Ganassi Racing and the No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro team driven between Kyle Larson, Justin Marks and Brennan Poole. Shiplett remained with the organization when the No. 42 car returned only under the Chip Ganassi Racing banner in 2016. From 2015 to 2018, Shiplett won a total of 15 Xfinity races between Larson, Marks, Tyler Reddick, Alex Bowman, Ross Chastain and John Hunter Nemechek.

    After Chip Ganassi Racing’s Xfinity program shut down due to sponsorship woes, Shiplett joined Stewart-Haas Racing to serve as crew chief for Cole Custer and the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang team. Together, Custer and Shiplett had great success all season long as they achieved seven victories, six poles, 17 top-five results, 24 top-10 results and an average result of 9.0. In the end, however, Custer and Shiplett finished in second place in the final standings behind the champions Tyler Reddick and crew chief Randall Burnett of Richard Childress Racing.

    Following a successful 2019 Xfinity Series season, Stewart-Haas Racing named Shiplett as a full-time crew chief of the No. 41 Haas Ford Mustang driven by Custer for the 2020 season as Custer entered this season as a Rookie-of-the-Year contender. Through the first 16 Cup races of this season, Custer and Shiplett achieved one top-five result, two top-10 results and were ranked in 25th place in the regular-season standings.

    The following race at Kentucky Speedway, however, Custer took advantage on a two-lap shootout and made a bold four-wide pass for the lead on the final lap and against names like Ryan Blaney, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. to achieve his first Cup career victory in his 20th series start. The win was also Shiplett’s first in the Cup level as the victory guaranteed Custer, Shiplett and the No. 41 team a spot in the 2020 Cup Playoffs. Custer and Shiplett went on to achieve three additional top-10 results throughout the regular-season stretch. By the time the 2020 Cup Playoff field was set following the regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway in August, Custer was named the 2020 Cup Rookie of the Year since he was the lone rookie candidate to make the 16-car Playoff field.

    Through the first two Cup Playoff races of this season, Custer and Shiplett achieved 12th- and 14th-place results at Darlington Raceway and at Richmond Raceway. Currently, Custer is eight points below the top-12 cutline and is one of four competitor who are on the brink of elimination from title contention entering this weekend’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    Catch Shiplett’s milestone start at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race on Saturday, September 19. The race will air at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Chastain to reach 350 starts across NASCAR at Darlington

    Chastain to reach 350 starts across NASCAR at Darlington

    A significant milestone is in the making for Ross Chastain, a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series competitor for Kaulig Racing and part-time competitor in the NASCAR Cup and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series. By the time Chastain completes this weekend’s Xfinity and Cup doubleheader events at Darlington Raceway, he will achieve 350 starts across NASCAR’s three major division series (Truck, Xfinity and Cup Series).

    A native of Alva, Florida, who grew up as a watermelon farmer for his family’s farm and started racing after watching his father hobby racing, Chastain started his career by winning in late models and Fastruck Series races. His first start within NASCAR’s three major division series occurred at Lucas Oil Raceway in July 2011, where he drove the No. 66 Chevrolet Silverado for Turn One Racing in the NASCAR Truck Series. Starting 15th, Chastain finished 10th in his series debut. He went on to compete in four additional Truck races with Turn One Racing.

    In 2012, Chastain was named a full-time competitor of the No. 08 Toyota Tundra for SS-Green Light Racing as he entered the Truck Series as a Rookie-of-the-Year contender. Throughout the 22-race season, Chastain achieved four top-10 results, a career-best third-place run at Bristol Motor Speedway in August and he concluded the season in 17th place in the final standings. He made one start in the No. 07 Chevrolet Silverado for SS-Green Light Racing at Phoenix, where he finished 33rd.

    The following season, Chastain competed in 14 Truck races with Brad Keselowski Racing and in the No. 19 Ford F-150 led by Chad Kendrick. His first start with the team was at Daytona International Speedway in February, where he finished 14th. He went on to finish 20th at Martinsville Speedway in April and ninth at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. He achieved his first top-five result of the season at Pocono Raceway in August. Two races later at Iowa Speedway, Chastain was dominant as he started on pole position and led a race-high 116 of 212 laps, only to be overtaken by James Buescher on a late restart and settle in a career-best second place. He went on to finish third at Talladega Superspeedway in October and second at Phoenix in November following a late battle with eventual winner Erik Jones. He finished in eighth place in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway and capped off his 14-race stint at BKR with four top-five results, seven top-10 results and his first two career poles.

    In 2014, Chastain competed in his first seven NASCAR Xfinity Series races along with three Truck Series races. He competed between Viva Motorsports, Hattori Racing Enterprises and TriStar Motorsports in the Xfinity circuit, with his best result being 10th place at Kentucky Speedway in September. He competed between RBR Enterprises and Win-Tron Racing in the Truck Series, with his best result being 11th place at Homestead in November.

    For the 2015 season, Chastain was named a full-time competitor for JD Motorsports in the Xfinity Series. Making 31 starts in JDM’s No. 4 Chevrolet Camaro and two in JDM’s No. 01 Chevrolet Camaro, Chastain achieved four top-10 results and a career-best result of ninth place at Daytona in February. He concluded the season in 15th place in the final standings.

    Between 2016 and 2017, Chastain continued to drive for JD Motorsports and the No. 4 Chevrolet on a full-time basis in the Xfinity Series. Following the 2016 season, he surpassed 100 starts across NASCAR’s three major division series. He finished 15th in the final standings in 2016 and 16th in 2017. Between June and July 2017, Chastain achieved back-to-back top-10 results, which included a career-best fourth-place result at Iowa Speedway. He also made a total of eight starts in the Truck Series with Bolen Motorsports, where his best result was seventh place at Martinsville Speedway in April. In addition, he made his first two NASCAR Cup Series career starts in both Dover International Speedway races while driving for Premium Motorsports. He finished 20th in his debut at the Monster Mile in June and 38th in his second start in October.

    The 2018 season was an eventful season for Chastain, who made 34 starts in the Cup Series, 33 starts in the Xfinity Series and seven starts in the Truck Series. In the Truck circuit, he made a total of seven starts between Beaver Motorsports, Premium Motorsports and Niece Motorsports. His best result was seventh place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in September. In the Cup circuit, he competed in 34 of 36 races with Premium Motorsports. His best results were an 18th-place result at Texas Motor Speedway in April and a 20th-place result at Las Vegas in September.

    For the first 23 Xfinity Series of the season, Chastain recorded one top-five result and six top-10 results, all while during his fourth season with JD Motorsports. Then, in September, Chastain made his first of three starts in the No. 42 DC Solar Chevrolet Camaro for Chip Ganassi Racing led by crew chief Mike Shiplett at Darlington Raceway. During the main event, Chastain started on pole position for the first time in his career, led a race-high 90 laps and won the first two stages. His strong run, however, was spoiled following a late on-track incident with Kevin Harvick as Chastain ended his race in 25th place. Competing the following race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for JD Motorsports, Chastain returned to the No. 42 team at Las Vegas in September seeking redemption. During the main event, Chastain dominated again as he won the first two stages and led a race-high 180 laps. This time, Chastain sealed the deal after beating Justin Allgaier to achieve his first career win across NASCAR’s three major division series. His first Xfinity career win, which occurred in his 132nd series start and also occurred in the regular-season finale at Vegas, was enough for the Floridian to secure a spot in the 2018 Xfinity Playoffs as he introduced his celebratory trademark by smashing a watermelon.

    During his first run in the Xfinity Playoffs, Chastain went on to finish in second place at Richmond in September, which also marked his final start with Chip Ganassi Racing. Returning to JD Motorsports, he finished 12th at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval and 13th at Dover. When the dust settled, Chastain was beaten by Matt Tifft for the final transfer spot to the Round of 8 by three points. He went on to conclude the season in a career-best 10th place in the final standings as he also achieved a career-high three top-five results, eight top-10 results and 272 laps led. Following the 2018 season, he surpassed 200 career starts across NASCAR.

    In November 2018, it was announced that Chastain would compete in the No. 42 DC Solar Chevrolet Camaro for Chip Ganassi Racing on a full-time basis for the 2019 Xfinity Series season. The announcement came a month after Chastain revealed plans to compete in the Cup Series for Premium Motorsports. However, the team ceased operations in January when DC Solar was raided by the FBI. Fortunately, Chastain was picked up by Niece Motorsports to compete in the Truck Series on a part-time basis led by crew chief Phil Gould and by JD Motorsports for 30 Xfinity races. In addition, he signed a three-race deal to pilot the No. 10 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing.

    Competing in all three series’ openers at Daytona International Speedway, Chastain finished third in the Truck Series with Niece Motorsports, 13th in the Xfinity Series with Kaulig Racing after winning the second stage and 10th in his first Daytona 500 start with Premium Motorsports. Through the beginning of June, Chastain competed in the first 12 Xfinity races and recorded a best result of seventh place at Las Vegas in March. He also competed in the first eight Truck races with Niece Motorsports, achieving top-10 results in all of his starts and collecting his first Truck career win at Kansas Speedway in May following a late pass on Stewart Friesen. To cap off his eventful start to this season, he competed in the first 14 Cup races with Premium Motorsports.

    On June 4, Chastain declared himself a full-time Truck Series competitor to contend for points and the series title with Niece Motorsports. In order to achieve his goal of making the Playoffs, he would have to win again throughout the regular-season stretch and be scored inside the top 20 in the standings. After finishing in 10th place at Texas Motor Speedway following his announcement, Chastain achieved his second victory of the season at Iowa Speedway following a dominating performance. Following the race, however, Chastain was disqualified due to his truck failing post-race technical inspection and NASCAR awarded the win to runner-up finisher Brett Moffitt. Chastain’s disqualification from winning was a first in NASCAR since Emanuel Zervakis was disqualified from winning at North Carolina’s Wilson Speedway in April 1960 due to an oversized fuel tank.

    Chastain rebounded the following race with vengeance after scoring a late win at Gateway’s World Wide Technology Raceway and collecting a $50,000 for winning a Triple Truck Challenge race. This time, Chastain’s win at Gateway was ruled official. After finishing seventh at Chicagoland Speedway and fourth at Kentucky Speedway the following two races, Chastain made himself Playoff eligible after moving into the top 20 in the standings. The following race, he achieved his third victory of his career/season at Pocono Raceway and he entered the postseason as a title favorite. During the Playoffs, Chastain achieved three top-five results and five top-10 results as he made the Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway. During the finale, however, he finished fourth at Homestead and fell short of his first NASCAR championship to Matt Crafton. Despite the final outcome, he logged in a successful season in the Truck circuit, where he recorded three wins, a pole, 10 top-five results, 19 top-10 results, an average result of 8.6 and 591 laps led before concluding the season in a career-best second place. In the end, he was named the 2019 Truck Most Popular Driver.

    Chastain’s on-track success in 2019 did not only come from the Truck Series. At Daytona in July, while piloting Kaulig Racing’s No. 16 Ellsworth Advisors Chevrolet Camaro, Chastain led a 1-2-3 finish for the team across the line as he achieved his first victory at Daytona, second of his Xfinity career and the first NASCAR win for Kaulig Racing. Despite teammate A.J. Allmendinger being disqualified from third place for failing post-race technical inspection, Chastain’s victory and teammate Justin Haley’s runner-up result were deemed official by NASCAR. He made a total of seven additional Xfinity starts since June, where he also finished in second place at Texas in November behind Christopher Bell while driving for Kaulig. Overall, he capped off the 2019 Xfinity season with a win, a pole, two top-five results and eight top-10 results between JD Motorsports and Kaulig Racing.

    On the Cup side, Chastain made 35 starts in the No. 15 Chevrolet for Premium Motorsports. His best results were a 10th-place result at the Daytona 500 in February and a 12th-place result at Talladega Superspeedway in October.

    In total, Chastain made 77 starts across NASCAR’s three major division series in 2019. Early into the season, he broke Kyle Busch’s record in competing in the most consecutive races across all three series to start a season. Following the 2019 season, he surpassed 300 career starts across NASCAR.

    Three months after winning at Daytona, Chastain was named a full-time competitor of the No. 10 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing led by crew chief Bruce Schlicker for the 2020 Xfinity Series season. Prior to the 2020 season, he also planned to compete in select Truck Series races with Niece Motorsports and in the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE sponsored by AdventHealth in the Cup Series for the Daytona 500 and the Coca-Cola 600. His No. 77 ride was under a partnership between Spire Motorsports and Chip Ganassi Racing.

    Chastain started the 2020 season by finishing in eighth place in the Truck opener at Daytona with Niece Motorsports. For the Xfinity opener, however, he initially failed to qualify for the event, along with teammate A.J. Allmendinger, due to mechanical issues. Nonetheless, he was able to compete when veteran Jeff Green relinquished his seat at RSS Racing. Chastain went on to finish 22nd in the Xfinity opener. For the Daytona 500, he made a late charge to the front until he was involved in a multi-car accident and settled in 25th place.

    Through September 2, Chastain has made eight starts in the Truck Series with Niece Motorsports and has recorded one top-five result and five top-10 results. He has also made seven Cup starts between Spire Motorsports and Roush Fenway Racing, where he served as an interim competitor for the injured Ryan Newman. His best results in the series include a 16th-place run at Daytona in August and a pair of 17th-place results at Auto Club Speedway in March and at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July.

    Through the first 22 Xfinity Series races of this season and as a full-time competitor, Chastain has recorded one stage win, two Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonuses, nine top-five results and 19 top-10 results. He is currently in third place in the Xfinity regular-season standings and is 420 points above the top-12 cutline to make the Playoffs and with four regular-season races remaining. Thus far, his average result is 8.8.

    While Chastain is set to compete in this weekend’s Xfinity and Cup races at Darlington, he will also be sporting a special white, red, blue and gold paint scheme to his No. 77 Spire Motorsports/Dirty Mo Media Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE on the Cup side while paying tribute to the late NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt and his 1976 Hy-Gain Chevy.

    Catch Chastain’s milestone start on Sunday, September 6, at Darlington Raceway for the Cook Out Southern 500, which will occur at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Phil Surgen named crew chief for Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 42 Cup team

    Phil Surgen named crew chief for Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 42 Cup team

    Chip Ganassi Racing released a statement, naming Phil Surgen as crew chief for the No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team driven by Matt Kenseth for the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series doubleheader races at Michigan International Speedway.

    Surgen, who works as a race engineer for CGR and has been part of the team since 2016, will also be atop the No. 42 pit box as crew chief for the 2003 Cup champion for the balance of this year’s Cup season, replacing veteran Chad Johnston, who has also been with the team since 2016 and won six races as the No. 42 crew chief from 2016 to 2019.

    Surgen served as an interim crew chief for the No. 42 team driven by former CGR driver Kyle Larson at Michigan in June 2016 when Johnston was suspended for one race and fined $20,000 following a post-race infraction the previous race at Pocono Raceway, where the No. 42 Chevrolet was discovered with a missing lug nut during the post-race inspection process. In Surgen’s one-race term as crew chief at Michigan, Larson finished in third place.

    The No. 42 team originally led by Johnston started this year with Larson behind the wheel. Through the first four races, the driver and the team notched three top-10 results, including a best result of fourth place at Phoenix Raceway in March. In April, during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, Larson was suspended by NASCAR and released from his ride with Chip Ganassi Racing for using a racial slur during a live iRacing event. When the season resumed in May at Darlington Raceway, Kenseth was named as driver of the No. 42 Chevrolet for the remainder of the 2020 season. Through 16 races, Kenseth has recorded two top-10 results, a best result of second place at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July, five top-15 results and two DNFs. He has also led a total of 12 laps and has recorded an average result of 20.63. The driver and the team sit in 28th place in the regular-season standings and are 210 points below the top-16 cutline to qualify for the 2020 Cup Playoffs with six regular-season races remaining until the postseason field is determined.

    The upcoming NASCAR Cup Series doubleheader races at Michigan International Speedway will occur on August 8-9. The race on August 8 will occur at 4 p.m. ET on NBCSN while the race on August 9 will occur at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Matt McCall set for 200th Cup race as crew chief at Kansas

    Matt McCall set for 200th Cup race as crew chief at Kansas

    When the green flag waves on Thursday, July 23, for the Super Start Batteries 400 at Kansas Speedway, Matt McCall will achieve a significant milestone of his racing career. McCall, who currently serves as crew chief for Kurt Busch and the No. 1 Monster Energy/Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team, will reach 200 starts as a Cup crew chief.

    A native of Denver, North Carolina, and a graduate from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a major in mechanical engineering, McCall started his racing career at age nine as a go-kart driver. He would go on to win the 2004 Super Sport track championship at Hickory Motor Speedway. He also achieved two UARA-Stars titles in 2005 and 2009. In October 2003, he made his NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series debut at Martinsville Speedway. Driving the No. 56 Denver Marine/Hot Wheels Chevrolet for Danny McCall, Matt McCall finished 21st, two laps behind, in his series debut.

    In 2006, McCall competed in five NASCAR Xfinity Series races and two ARCA Menards Series races. In February, driving the No. 55 CitiFinancial Ford for Yates Racing, McCall started and finished in the runner-up spot behind veteran Bobby Gerhart at Daytona International Speedway in his ARCA debut. His other ARCA start was at Kentucky Speedway in May, where he started fifth and finished third. McCall’s first Xfinity race was at Bristol Motor Speedway in March, where he qualified 21st and finished 24th in Yates Racing’s No. 90 CitiFinancial Ford. His other four Xfinity starts came at Nashville Superspeedway in April, Dover International Speedway in June, Nashville in June and at Martinsville Speedway in July, where his respective finishes were 42nd, 41st, 34th and 26th.

    After being released from Yates Racing, McCall joined Richard Childress Racing as a race engineer. In July 2013, McCall served as an interim crew chief for veteran Jeff Burton and the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet team in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In McCall’s first NASCAR race as a crew chief, Burton finished 43rd, last place, due to a mechanical issue. McCall also made one Truck start at Bristol Motor Speedway in August and in the No. 92 BTS Tire & Wheel Distributors Chevrolet for team owner Ricky Benton, where he started 27th and finished 22nd.

    Following the 2014 season, McCall departed RCR and joined Chip Ganassi Racing to serve as a Cup Series crew chief for Jamie McMurray and the No. 1 McDonald’s/Cessna Chevrolet team. In McCall’s first full season as crew chief, McMurray achieved four top-five results, 10 top-10 results and made his first Chase for the Cup before settling in 13th in the final standings and despite achieving no wins throughout the season. Between 2016 and 2017, McMurray and McCall did not win, but they achieved a combined five top-five results, 29 top-10 results and made the Chase in both seasons, finishing 13th in the 2016 standings and 12th in the 2017 standings. In 2018, McMurray and McCall did not win and they did not make the Playoffs as they only achieved two top-five results, eight top-10 results and a final points result of 20th.

    In 2019, McCall remained with Chip Ganassi Racing, but was paired with the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kurt Busch, who replaced McMurray as driver of the No. 1 Chevrolet with Monster Energy sponsoring him. For the first 17 Cup races of the season, McCall and Busch achieved four top-five results, two runner-up results, nine top-10 results. The following race at Daytona International Speedway, Busch and McCall were in position to win before they, along with others, decided to pit late in the race for tires and fuel. The strategy, however, did not fall into the favors for Busch when a lightning strike near Daytona paused and eventually, made the race official as Busch was scored back in 10th.

    The following race at Kentucky Speedway, McCall achieved his first NASCAR Cup Series win as a crew chief when Kurt Busch held off brother, Kyle, in a two-lap shootout to grab a thrilling win, a victory that guaranteed Busch and the No. 1 team a spot in the 2019 Cup Playoffs. Busch and McCall would record seven more top-10 results for the remainder of the season before settling in 13th in the final standings. The combo also achieved three stage wins throughout the 2019 season.

    Through the first 18 Cup races of this season, McCall and Busch have achieved a pole, a stage win, four top-five results and 11 top-10 results. They are ranked ninth in the regular-season standings and are 108 points above the top-16 cutline to the Playoffs.

    Catch McCall’s milestone start in the Super Start Batteries 400 at Kansas Speedway on July 23 at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.