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  • Harvick sweeps Michigan in one weekend

    Harvick sweeps Michigan in one weekend

    Like his run from a day earlier at Michigan International Speedway, Kevin Harvick had a fast car and had to fight off all comers to earn a victory. That was the case on Sunday, August 9, when Harvick held off a late challenge from Denny Hamlin in the final laps to win the Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan and to sweep both Cup races at the Irish Hills on the same weekend. The victory was Harvick’s sixth of this season, fifth at Michigan and the 55th of his Cup Series career. 

    The starting lineup was based on the results from Saturday’s Cup race at Michigan, where the top-20 finishers were inverted while the latter 20 competitors started as finished on Saturday. Chris Buescher, who finished 20th, was scheduled to start on pole position, but he started at the rear of the field in a backup car. As a result, William Byron and Clint Bowyer, both of whom finished 14th and 19th on Saturday, started on the front row and led the field to the start on Sunday.

    In addition to Buescher, the following competitors, including Austin Dillon, Ryan Newman, rookie Tyler Reddick, Aric Almirola, Michael McDowell, Ryan Preece, rookie John Hunter Nemechek and rookie Cole Custer, started at the rear of the field in backup cars. Rookie Brennan Poole also started at the rear of the field for an engine change, Daniel Suarez and Reed Sorenson both dropped to the rear of the field due to failing pre-race inspection twice and Josh Bilicki started at the rear of the field due to a driver change. 

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Byron and Bowyer battled dead even for the lead with Bowyer squeaking ahead to lead the first lap. Behind, Austin Dillon was assessed a pass-through penalty for unapproved adjustments made on the grid prior to the race.

    The following lap, Jimmie Johnson and Matt DiBenedetto overtook Byron for position with rookie Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace, Erik Jones and Kurt Busch trailing behind. By then, Bowyer was ahead with the lead by nearly half a second.

    By the fifth lap, Kyle Busch muscled his way up to seventh after overtaking brother Kurt and Wallace in Turn 2 a lap earlier. Behind, Ryan Blaney was in ninth, Chase Elliott was in 11th ahead of Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski. Denny Hamlin was in 17th, teammate Martin Truex Jr. was in 19th and Tyler Reddick was in 20th ahead of Alex Bowman. Rookie Cole Custer was in 25th ahead of Ryan Newman, Aric Almirola and Daniel Suarez.

    Five laps later and 10 laps into the race, Bowyer stabilized his early advantage by more than a second over Johnson followed by Bell, DiBenedetto, Byron and Jones. Two laps later, Bell, the fastest competitor on the track, moved into the runner-up spot after passing Johnson. Another lap later, Johnson lost momentum entering Turn 3 and fell back to sixth place while being overtaken by DiBenedetto, Byron and Jones. 

    By Lap 15, Harvick, winner of Saturday’s Cup Michigan race, cracked the top 10 after passing Wallace. Ahead of him, Kyle Busch was in eighth ahead of Blaney while Logano, Elliott, Keselowski and Hamlin were running in 12th through 15th.

    Five laps later and 20 laps into the race, Bowyer was still leading by more than two seconds over Bell, who continued to chop off Bowyer’s advantage. DiBenedetto was still in third place while Byron and Jones battled for fourth. The Busch brothers followed suit while Blaney and Harvick were in eighth and ninth. Johnson, meanwhile, had fallen back to 10th with Logano lingering behind him. By then, Wallace was in 15th ahead of Reddick, Truex was in 24th behind Almirola and Austin Dillon was back in 33rd place following his opening lap pass-through penalty.

    With the laps in the first stage dwindling, Bowyer and his No. 14 DEKALB Ford Mustang were still ahead and cruising by three seconds over Bell and his No. 95 Procore Toyota Camry. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch and his No. 18 M&M’s Fudge Brownie Toyota Camry continued to work towards the front as he moved into third place followed by Jones, Byron and DiBenedetto. Blaney was in seventh followed by Harvick, one of the fastest competitors on the track. Kurt Busch was in ninth while Logano was in 10th ahead of Johnson, Elliott, Hamlin and Keselowski. Reddick was in 17th behind Wallace while Truex was stuck back in 22nd.

    With no competition trailing behind him for the lead, Bowyer was able to navigate his way through lapped traffic and cruise to the first stage win on Lap 40 while claiming his third stage win of the season and crucial stage points towards making the Playoffs. Bell settled in second place followed by Kyle Busch, DiBenedetto and Jones. Byron, Blaney, Harvick, Kurt Busch and Logano settled in the top 10. 

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Kyle Busch emerged with the lead after exiting pit road first following a stellar stop by the No. 18 M&M’s crew. Harvick moved up to second place followed by teammate Bowyer, Byron and Jones. Following the first round of pit stops, Blaney, who was in the top 10, made another pit stop to fill up the fuel tank of his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang. 

    Prior to the restart and with the choose rule implemented, Byron moved up from fourth to second place and restarted beneath Kyle Busch on the front row, Johnson moved up from seventh to restart in third place alongside Harvick in the second row and Bowyer dropped back to sixth to restart on the outside lane in the third row alongside Logano.

    The second stage started on Lap 47 and Kyle Busch jumped to an early advantage with drafting help from Harvick. Not long after, Harvick made a three-wide move on Kyle Busch and Byron entering Turn 2 to take the lead and pull away. Busch settled in second followed by Bowyer, Byron and Jones. A lap later, Keselowski made his way into the top five after moving up to fourth. Behind, Bell was back in eighth following a slow stop under the first stage break. 

    By Lap 60 and with less than 100 laps remaining of the overall race, Harvick was leading by more than a second over Keselowski and Kyle Busch. Bowyer was in fourth followed by Bell, Jones, Logano, DiBenedetto, Elliott and Hamlin. Kurt Busch was in 11th followed by Almirola and Byron, Johnson and Bowman. Blaney was in 18th behind Reddick and ahead of Truex and Wallace. Matt Kenseth and Newman were in 16th and 23rd.

    Ten laps later, Harvick, who started to approach lapped traffic, was still ahead of the field by two seconds over Keselowski and more than three seconds over Kyle Busch. Bell was still in fourth place followed by Bowyer, Jones, Hamlin, Logano, Elliott and Almirola. Johnson and Byron were back in 14th and 15th behind Blaney while Truex was in 17th. 

    At the halfway mark on Lap 78, Harvick extended his advantage to more than three seconds over Keselowski with Kyle Busch trailing by more than four seconds, Bell by nearly six seconds and Bowyer by nearly seven seconds. Like his race-winning performance from Saturday and with the same car he drove to yesterday’s win, Harvick was able to drive away from the field and easily claim the second stage on Lap 85 for his fifth stage victory of the season. Keselowski settled in second place followed by Kyle Busch, Bell and Bowyer. Hamlin, Jones, Almirola, Logano and Blaney were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Harvick retained the lead after exiting pit road first ahead of Kyle Busch. Keselowski, Bowyer and Hamlin exited in the top five followed by Bell. Prior to the restart, Hamlin moved up to the front row to restart beneath Harvick, Kyle Busch fell back to fourth to restart on the outside lane alongside Blaney. Elliott and Keselowski restarted behind on the third row followed by DiBenedetto and Bowyer.

    Under 65 laps remaining, the final stage started under green. During the restart, Hamlin and Blaney boosted ahead with the lead and both competitors battled dead even before Blaney squeaked ahead with the top spot. Behind, Harvick and Hamlin battled for the runner-up spot followed by Elliott, Kyle Busch and Keselowski. Meanwhile, Bowman and Truex, both of whom struggled, were in 10th and 11th while Bowyer was in 12th ahead of Jones, Reddick and Bell. Byron was in 17th ahead of Kenseth while Johnson was in 20th behind Wallace.

    With around 60 laps remaining, Keselowski, who muscled his way up to the runner-up spot, made a move beneath Blaney in Turn 1 and challenged for the lead when he got loose and slipped up into Blaney as both Penske teammates wrecked across the Turn 2 outside wall. With the caution returning, the wreck eliminated Blaney and Keselowski from race-winning contention and the overall race.

    “I just lost it,” Keselowski said following his release from the infield care center on NBCSN. “It’s my fault. I feel really bad for my teammate, Ryan Blaney. He didn’t deserve that. I just came off of Turn 4 and [Harvick] was behind me. He gave me a push and I swear, I went into the corner like 20 mph faster than I had been all day. [I] Got pass [Hamlin] and went to get underneath [Blaney]. It just slipped, lost the back a little bit. I went to correct it and he was there, and I wiped him out and myself out.”

    “It’s unfortunate for the whole Penske organization,” Blaney added. “We had two fast cars, battling for the lead. It stinks that happened. He had a run like he said. He didn’t think he had a big of a run as he had and just got loose and unfortunately, got us both. That’s a shame to end our day like that with the Knauf/Menards Ford Mustang. We were so fast…Got the lead…It’s unfortunate, but it’s not going to carry over. Mistakes happen.”

    Under caution, Bowman made a pit stop after sustaining damage during the incident. Bowyer, who also sustained minimal damage to his car, remained on track inside the top 10. Prior to the restart, Kyle Busch moved up to restart beneath teammate Hamlin on the front row. Kurt Busch and Harvick restarted on the second row in front of Bell and Elliott.

    The race restarted under green with 55 laps remaining and Harvick made his way back to the lead over Hamlin. Elliott moved into third followed by Kyle Busch and Almirola. Kurt Busch charged his way up to sixth followed by DiBenedetto, Truex, Johnson and Bell. Meanwhile, Bowyer, who sustained a tire rub during the restart, made an unscheduled pit stop and was trapped a lap behind the leaders.

    Shortly after, the caution returned when Bell spun in Turn 2 after sustaining a flat tire. The caution was as a saving grace for Bowyer, who received the free pass and returned on the lead lap. 

    Under caution, nearly the entire field pitted and Hamlin exited pit road first after only taking fuel to his No. 11 FedEx Toyota, the first of many who elected to pit for only fuel. DiBenedetto exited in second after he also took only fuel to his car followed by Harvick, who opted for a two-tire stop. At the front, Almirola remained on track to inherit the lead, though he miscommunicated with his crew over code words and had meant to pit with the leaders.

    When the race restarted with 47 laps remaining, teammates Almirola and Harvick battled for the lead with Harvick leading the following lap before Almirola cleared his teammate for the lead the next lap. Behind, DiBenedetto moved up to third place followed by Truex, who made a three-wide move on Kurt Busch and Hamlin to move into the top five for the first time. Logano was in seventh followed by Jones, Kyle Busch and Newman. 

    With 40 laps remaining, Harvick made his way back to the lead after passing Almirola, though Almirola and his No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang remained competitive on old tires and low fuel. Truex was up in third place followed by DiBenedetto and Hamlin. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch was in ninth ahead of Johnson and Jones, Austin Dillon was up to 13th, Byron was in 15th and Bowyer was in 18th.

    Ten laps later and with 30 laps remaining, Harvick was still leading by two-tenths of a second over his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Almirola while Joe Gibbs Racing’s Truex and Hamlin battled for third place. Kurt Busch trailed by more than four seconds with brother Kyle up to sixth.

    Seven laps later, with the leaders approaching lapped traffic, teammates Truex and Hamlin passed Almirola to move up to second and third with Truex trailing race leader Harvick by less than a second. 

    With less than 20 laps remaining, the caution returned due to debris from Bowman’s No. 88 Adam’s Polishes/ChevyGoods.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, who had sustained a flat tire entering Turn 4 and near the pit road entrance. The caution was as a saving grace for Almirola, who was on the brink of having to make an unscheduled pit stop under green.

    Under caution, Almirola along with some that included DiBenedetto, Wallace, Kenseth, Michael McDowell, rookie John Hunter Nemechek, Ryan Preece and Daniel Suarez pitted while most of the leaders led by Harvick remained on track.

    With 15 laps remaining, the race restarted under green with Harvick and Hamlin on the front row in front of Truex and Logano. At the restart, Harvick retained the lead while teammates Truex and Hamlin battled for the runner-up spot. Teammate Kyle Busch made his way to fourth after passing brother Kurt and with DiBenedetto behind. 

    Two laps later, Hamlin settled in the runner-up spot in front of teammates Truex and Kyle Busch. By then, Harvick was ahead by nearly a second. Meanwhile, Almirola, following his pit stop, was up to eighth on fresh tires behind Elliott. 

    With less than 10 laps remaining, Harvick was leading by six-tenths of a second over Hamlin, who was slowly closing in towards Harvick, while teammates Truex and Kyle Busch battled for third place. During this time, Bowman made another unscheduled pit stop after making contact with the wall and sustaining another flat tire.

    With the laps dwindling, Hamlin continued to chop off Harvick’s advantage as he drew himself to being three-tenths of a second behind Harvick. While Hamlin remained within sight of Harvick’s rear bumper and made a few attempts to pass for the lead through the turns, Harvick was able to retain his advantage entering the straightaways.

    With two laps remaining, Hamlin gained a run in Turn 1 when Harvick lifted, but he also lifted entering Turn 2 as Harvick stabilized his advantage to nearly three car lengths. On the final lap, Harvick was still ahead with Hamlin still lurking behind. In Turn 3, Harvick remained on the inside lane while Hamlin went on the outside lane. Entering Turn 4, Hamlin gained a huge run on Harvick and got to his rear bumper. With the checkered flag waving and the leaders coming across the finish line through the frontstretch, Harvick was able to beat Hamlin by 0.093 seconds to grab a thrilling win.

    The victory was the 13th of the season for Ford, the manufacturer’s 42nd Cup victory since 2018 and the seventh of the season for Stewart-Haas Racing. With his two victories this weekend, Harvick tallied his top-five results of this season to 15 and top-10 results to 19. A day after tying the late Lee Petty for 11th place on the NASCAR Cup all-time wins list, Harvick has tied NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace for 10th place on the all-time wins list. 

    “It was a big challenge [on the battle with Hamlin],” Harvick said in Victory Lane on NBCSN. “Our Busch Light Apple Ford Mustang got really tight there in [Turns] 3 and 4. I could run really good through [Turns] 1 and 2 still, but I was just tight on that other end all day. I just got to thank all of my guys. They did a great job all weekend on pit road. Great pit calls. It’s been a long time since I’ve raced back-to-back days, let alone in the Cup car. I’ve never accomplished that, obviously, but we’ve done that a couple times this year. For us, it’s worked out pretty good. When you look at my team, we’ve been together for seven years now, and you look at the confidence that everybody has in each other, the details of the racecars and the thought of everything that goes into everything we do is untouchable.”

    Hamlin settled in the runner-up spot for his 12th top-five result of this season as this also marks the ninth time where he has finished first or second this season. Teammates Truex and Kyle Busch finished third and fourth while Logano held off Almirola to finish fifth.

    “Once we finally got to second, I knew we had something for [Harvick],” Hamlin said. “We got stalled there. He was tight, I was tight. We were better, that’s for sure. He just had the track position and could control the lanes there. [I] Wished I had Turns 1 and 2 to go do over again when we both lifted off of [Turn] 2 there. I should’ve faked low and went high, but I thought I could maybe get to the quarter panel and shoved him even higher. Just couldn’t quite do it, but proud of this whole FedEx Ground Toyota team. Obviously, a very strong run. We just needed a little bit more. Overall, I thought we just had a good-handling car and that’s what allowed us to keep pace there. I thought our whole team did a great job of adjusting overnight. We’re just plugging along here. [I] Really hate giving up wins to [Harvick]. I got tremendous respect for everyone on [the No. 4] team and Kevin. As we’ve gotten older, we’ve gotten wiser, learned to really appreciate what each other does on the race track and obviously, they’re have a great season as well.”

    “We battled back,” Truex said. “The car was pretty far off to start the race. We’re all pretty disappointed in that, obviously. Really proud of the effort to get the Auto-Owners [Insurance] Camry back upfront. Just really proud of our race team. We keep bringing top-three cars to the race track and the Playoffs are coming. So, we need to keep doing that. Just off at the start and had to rebound. Definitely, a different story than yesterday but pretty much, the same result. I was doing all I could to get up there. I got too tight there at the end. Just fought the balance too much all day. Wicked loose to start and wicked tight at the end. We’ll keep digging.”

    Almirola, DiBenedetto, Austin Dillon, Elliott and Kurt Busch rounded out the top 10. Jimmie Johnson finished 11th in his final run at Michigan while Bowyer ended his run in 14th place.

    There were 10 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 24 laps.

    With two victories this weekend and with four regular-season races remaining until the start of the 2020 Cup Playoffs, Harvick continues to lead the regular-season series standings by 137 over Keselowski and 140 over Hamlin.

    Results.

    1. Kevin Harvick, 90 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Denny Hamlin, six laps led

    3. Martin Truex Jr.

    4. Kyle Busch, four laps led

    5. Joey Logano

    6. Aric Almirola, nine laps led

    7. Matt DiBenedetto

    8. Austin Dillon

    9. Chase Elliott

    10. Kurt Busch

    11. Jimmie Johnson

    12. William Byron

    13. Ryan Newman

    14. Clint Bowyer, 43 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    15. Matt Kenseth

    16. Ryan Preece

    17. Christopher Bell

    18. Ty Dillon

    19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    20. Chris Buescher

    21. Bubba Wallace

    22. Corey LaJoie

    23. John Hunter Nemechek

    24. Tyler Reddick

    25. Cole Custer

    26. Daniel Suarez

    27. Erik Jones

    28. Michael McDowell

    29. J.J. Yeley, two laps down

    30. Brennan Poole, three laps down

    31. Reed Sorenson, three laps down

    32. Quin Houff, three laps down

    33. Josh Bilicki, four laps down

    34. Garrett Smithley, four laps down

    35. Timmy Hill, six laps down

    36. Alex Bowman – OUT, Tire

    37. James Davison, nine laps down

    38. Ryan Blaney – OUT, four laps led

    39. Brad Keselowski – OUT

    Next weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series will race for the first time on the Daytona International Speedway Road Course layout as the 2020 Playoffs approaches its starting point. The race at Daytona will occur on August 16 at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Harvick claims the first Cup Michigan race of the weekend

    Harvick claims the first Cup Michigan race of the weekend

    Following a late battle and the slightest of contact with Kyle Busch in the closing laps, Kevin Harvick prevailed through a series of late restarts and in overtime against Brad Keselowski to win the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday, August 8, the first of two NASCAR Cup Series races at Michigan of the weekend. The victory was Harvick’s fifth of the season, fourth at Michigan and the 54th of his Cup Series career.

    The starting lineup was based on a random draw. Joey Logano started on pole position for the second time this season and was joined on the front row with Denny Hamlin. 

    Prior to the race, NASCAR confiscated the spoilers from the Roush Fenway Racing two-car lineup of Ryan Newman and Chris Buescher during the pre-race inspection process. With both teams violating Section 12.4.12.b (spoiler section) of the NASCAR Cup rule book, both competitors dropped to the rear of the field and they were also docked 20 driver/owner points. In addition, their crew chiefs (Scott Graves and Luke Lambert) were each fined $25,000 for the infraction. Jimmie Johnson and Joey Gase also dropped to the rear of the field due to their respective cars failing pre-race inspection twice.

    When the green flag and the race commenced following a 45-minute delay because of the delayed Xfinity Series race occurring at Road America, Logano received a push from Aric Almirola on the outside lane to jump to an early lead as he led the first lap. The following lap, Hamlin attempted to pass Logano on the inside lane, but he lost his momentum entering Turn 2 as Logano retained the lead while Almirola challenged Hamlin for the runner-up spot. Behind, Kevin Harvick was in fourth followed by Alex Bowman, teammate Chase Elliott and Brad Keselowski, all of whom battled one another through Turns 3 and 4. 

    In Turn 1, Keselowski lost his momentum and dropped all the way back to 12th behind rookie Tyler Reddick, who was fresh off a one-year contract extension deal with Richard Childress Racing. 

    After the first 10 laps, Logano, who reported a vibration, was still leading by less than two-tenths of a second over Hamlin with teammates Almirola and Harvick trailing behind and battling one another for third place. A few laps later, Almirola dropped out of the top five after being overtaken by Harvick and Kurt Busch. 

    On Lap 14, Hamlin made a move beneath Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford in Turn 3 and both battled dead even for the lead through Turns 4 and 1. While Hamlin led the 15th lap, Logano cleared Hamlin for the lead back in Turn 2 just as the competition caution flew. Prior to the competition caution, Ryan Blaney made a green flag pit stop for early adjustments and fresh tires for the ensuing restart. At the time of caution, Almirola had fallen back to 10th place and Martin Truex Jr. was in sixth while Harvick, Bowman and Kurt Busch were scored in the top five. Erik Jones and Chase Elliott were in 11th and 12th while Matt DiBenedetto and William Byron were in 14th and 15th. Clint Bowyer was in 16th, Jimmie Johnson was in 17th and Ryan Newman was in 29th. 

    Under caution, a majority of competitors led by Keselowski, Almirola, Elliott, rookie Cole Custer, Byron, Austin Dillon and Newman pitted while the rest led by Logano, Hamlin, Reddick and Harvick remained on track. 

    The race restarted on Lap 19 and Hamlin received a push from Reddick on the inside lane to move into the lead through Turns 1 and 2. Behind, Logano, who restarted on the outside lane, retained the runner-up spot followed by Harvick, Kurt Busch and Bowman. A lap later, Truex cut a right-front tire in Turn 3 after making contact with Reddick in Turn 2. He was able to keep his car off the wall and return to pit road for two fresh right-side tires. The misfortune, however, cost Truex two laps.

    At the front, Harvick gained a run on Hamlin in Turn 4 and was able to pass Hamlin’s No. 11 FedEx Toyota to emerge with the lead on Lap 23. Behind, Blaney bolted his way into sixth place followed by Reddick and Jones. 

    By Lap 30, Harvick was ahead by two-tenths of a second over Hamlin. Kurt Busch was in third followed by Blaney, Bowman and Jones. Elliott was in eighth while Logano was back in ninth following contact with Kyle Busch in Turn 2. Bowyer was in 12th, Johnson was in 14th, Byron was in 17th and Almirola was in 18th. Truex was in 36th while Reddick, who had been running inside the top 10, was back in 35th after making an unscheduled pit stop under green a few laps earlier.

    With no one behind him nor close enough to challenge for the lead, Harvick was able to cruise to the win in the first stage on Lap 40 as he claimed his third stage victory of the season. Hamlin trailed in second place and above half a second followed by Blaney, Kurt Busch and Keselowski. Jones, Bowman, Elliott, Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were scored in the top 10. Logano had fallen back to 18th while battling loose-handling conditions to his car.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Hamlin exited pit road first ahead of Harvick following a stellar pit stop from the FedEx crew. Blaney exited in third place followed by Keselowski and Kurt Busch.

    Prior to the start of the second stage and with the new choose rule implemented, Harvick dropped from second to fourth to restart on the outside lane while Keselowski was lined up in second place and beneath Hamlin on the front row. In addition, Jones moved up from sixth to third as the second car to restart on the bottom lane while Bowyer moved up from ninth to fifth.

    The second stage started on Lap 47 and Hamlin gained a huge run on the outside lane to retain the lead. While the field behind battled intensely against one another and raced three to four wide for position, Blaney took the lead on Lap 49. Harvick settled right behind Blaney in second followed by Kurt Busch while Hamlin and Keselowski battled for fourth. 

    By Lap 55, Blaney was still ahead by less than four-tenths of a second over Harvick followed by Kurt Busch and Jones, who gained a huge run on the outside lane to pass both Hamlin and Keselowski for position a few laps earlier. Bowman trailed behind in seventh followed by Bowyer, Kyle Busch and Bubba Wallace. Elliott and Logano were in 12th and 15th while Johnson was in 17th. Reddick, who took the wave around to return to the lead lap under the first stage break, was in 26th while Truex was in 34th, still a lap behind. 

    Five laps later and with less than 100 laps remaining of the overall race, Blaney was still leading by less than half a second over Harvick with Michigan natives Jones and Keselowski lingering behind. Soon after, Hamlin joined the party as he battled teammate Jones and Keselowski for position inside the top five.

    With Blaney leading by less than two-tenths of a second over Harvick on Lap 67, the Busch brothers started to close in towards the top-five competitors for position. By Lap 76, Harvick benefitted from Blaney getting stuck behind a lapped car to reassume the lead. By then, Reddick made another unscheduled pit stop after he reported a flat tire to his No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Behind the leaders, Keselowski moved up to third after passing Hamlin, who earlier nearly wrecked with the lapped car of Timmy Hill. Both competitors continued to battle intensely for the spot as the laps of the second stage continued to dwindle.

    Like his run to the conclusion of the first stage, Harvick was able to pull away from Blaney by less than a second and not worry about any lapped traffic to win the second stage on Lap 85 and claim his fourth stage victory of the season. Blaney settled in second followed by Hamlin, Jones and Keselowski. Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Bowman, Bowyer and Johnson settled in the top 10. 

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Harvick, this time, exited pit road with the lead followed by Hamlin, Blaney, Keselowski and Kyle Busch.

    The final stage under green occurred with 65 laps remaining and Hamlin, who restarted on the inside lane, received a push from teammate Jones to move into the lead. In Turn 3, however, Jones and Harvick attempted to place Hamlin in a three-wide situation for the lead. While Jones slipped and dropped back into the top 10, Harvick was able to muscle his way back into the lead. Keselowski advanced to the runner-up spot over Hamlin while Blaney and Kyle Busch moved into the top five.

    The caution returned shortly after when rookie John Hunter Nemechek spun in a flurry of circles on the frontstretch following contact with Chris Buescher. With the caution, Truex received the free pass and cycled back to the lead lap. Under caution, few that included Buescher, Corey LaJoie, Newman, Almirola, Reddick and Nemechek pitted while the rest remained on track.

    With 58 laps remaining, the race restarted and Harvick was able to clear Hamlin on the outside lane to retain the lead. Keselowski and Hamlin battled again for the runner-up spot followed by Kyle Busch and Bowyer while Blaney, Johnson, rookie Christopher Bell, Jones and Elliott settled in the top 10. 

    Eight laps later, the caution returned for another spin in Turn 4 involving Nemechek. Under caution, the leaders pitted and Kyle Busch emerged with the lead after only taking fuel for his No. 18 M&M’s Fudge Brownie Toyota Camry. Jones and Truex followed suit after they elected for only fuel to their respective Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas followed by Elliott and Bell, both of whom opted for a two-tire stop. Harvick also opted for a two-tire stop to remain within sight of the lead.

    Prior to the restart and with the choose rule implemented, Harvick moved up to the front row on the inside lane beneath Kyle Busch while Austin Dillon and Jones lined up right behind the leaders. Keselowski lined up in fifth next to Truex followed by Hamlin and Elliott.

    With 46 laps remaining, the race restarted and Kyle Busch received a push from teammate Jones to retain the lead on the outside lane. A lap later, Harvick made a move beneath Kyle Busch in Turn 1 to reassume the lead. Behind, Truex passed teammate Jones and started to challenge teammate Kyle Busch for the runner-up spot. 

    With 40 laps remaining and with fuel in question for the leaders to complete the race to its scheduled distance, Harvick was still ahead by less than eight-tenths of a second over Kyle Busch followed by Joe Gibbs Racing’s Truex and Jones. Elliott was in fifth place followed by Austin Dillon, Keselowski, Logano, Bell and Hamlin with Blaney in 11th.

    Ten laps later, Harvick extended his advantage to more than a second over teammates Kyle Busch and Truex. Jones was in fourth while Elliott prevailed in a battle with Keselowski for fifth place. Behind, Hamlin was still running in 11th and trailing Team Penske’s Logano and Blaney for a spot in the top 10.

    With 26 laps remaining, the caution returned for a third incident involving Nemechek in Turn 3, who made contact with the outside wall and sustained heavy rear end damage. Compared to his previous two incidents, this recent incident ended Nemechek’s race in the garage as he will move to a backup car for Sunday’s race at Michigan.

    Under caution, some like Logano, Blaney, Bowyer, DiBenedetto, Michael McDowell, Matt Kenseth and Buescher pitted while the rest remained on track. Prior to the restart, Jones dropped back to sixth to restart as the fourth car on the outside lane while Elliott moved up to second and alongside Harvick on the front row. Keselowski and Kyle Busch were lined up behind the two leaders and in front of teammates Hamlin and Truex.

    With 18 laps remaining, the race restarted and Elliott powered his way into the lead on the inside lane. While the field fanned out and battled for positions through the straightaways and the turns, Elliott maintained a narrow advantage over Harvick a lap later followed by a flurry of Toyota competitors led by Kyle Busch, Truex, Bell, Jones and Hamlin. 

    Five laps after the restart and with the battle for the lead intensifying, the caution returned after Ryan Preece made contact with the outside wall in Turn 2. Under caution, some like Reddick and Kenseth pitted while the rest remained on track. Prior to the restart, Kyle Busch elected to restart on the inside lane beneath Elliott on the front row. Behind, Harvick and Hamlin restarted alongside one another in the second row. 

    The race restarted with nine laps remaining and Kyle Busch received a push from teammate Hamlin to take the lead through Turns 1 and 2. In Turn 3, however, Kyle Busch slipped following close racing with Harvick, which nearly involved contact between the two, and Harvick reassumed the lead while Busch lost his momentum and fell back to the top 10. Shortly after, the caution flew when rookie Cole Custer made hard contact into the outside wall in Turn 3 and retired from the race, thus moving him to a backup car for Sunday’s race at Michigan. At the time of caution, Harvick was leading followed by Elliott, Hamlin, Blaney, Wallace, Jones and Truex while Kyle Busch was back in ninth. The race eventually went into a red flag period for nearly six minutes to allow the clean-up crew to clear the incident site in Turn 3 caused by Custer. 

    Prior to the restart when the race resumed under caution, Hamlin elected to restart beneath Harvick on the inside line and on the front row in front of Wallace and Elliott with teammates Blaney and Keselowski in the third row. 

    The race restarted with three laps remaining and Harvick and Hamlin battled dead even for the lead entering Turn 1. It was there where Wallace attempted to make a three-wide move for more, but it was not enough as Harvick reassumed the lead in Turn 2. Elliott moved up to second followed by Blaney, Keselowski and Truex while Hamlin and Wallace dropped back to sixth and seventh. In Turn 4, Austin Dillon, McDowell and Newman wrecked in Turn 4 as the caution returned and the race went into overtime. 

    Prior to the overtime attempt, Keselowski restarted on the front row beneath Harvick in front of Hamlin and Elliott. Wallace and Blaney were lined up in the third row followed by Johnson and Truex.

    In the first overtime attempt, Harvick and Keselowski battled dead even against one another through half a circuit with both not prevailing ahead of the other and receiving not drafting help from behind. In Turn 3, however, Harvick cleared Keselowski for the lead on the outside lane entering Turn 4. On the final lap, Harvick’s No. 4 Busch Light Apple Ford Mustang were ahead by two-tenths of a second over Keselowski’s No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang. Though Keselowski remained within sight of Harvick, he was unable to gain any draft for the lead as Harvick was able to claim the checkered flag in first place and win by less than three-tenths of a second. 

    The victory was also the 12th of the season for Ford and the sixth for Stewart-Haas Racing. With his 54th career win, Harvick moved into a tie with the late Lee Petty for 11th place on the all-time series wins list.

    “This was an awesome car to drive today,” Harvick said on NBCSN. “The restarts were obviously a handful, but our Busch Light Apple Ford Mustang was really fast today and we held on for the long run and would really go on the short run and did everything we needed it to do. I think that the confidence is high when we come to Michigan. It’s a race track that’s been really good to us and just fits our style of cars. [Crew chief] Rodney [Childers] and [the No. 4 crew] have given me great racecars at Michigan every time we’ve come… I can’t say enough about our whole organization. Since we’ve come back from COVID, the work that these guys and gals are putting in at the race shop and the organization, they’ve had a lot of really good training from Tony Stewart in awkward situations on how to prepare for things. Thanks, Smoke!”

    “I knew I needed to be right there [with Kyle Busch],” Harvick added regarding the contact with Kyle Busch. “I couldn’t tell if I touched him. I knew I wanted that side draft there. I knew that we had a fast enough car to pass him, but I knew that I needed to take the opportunity I had and I needed to side draft him.”

    Keselowski finished in second place as he came one spot short of winning at his home track. Truex ended his race in third place followed by Blaney and Kyle Busch, who nipped teammate Hamlin at the line for a top-five run. 

    “[Harvick] is just super fast in the corners and the straightaway,” Keselowski said. “He was definitely the best car out here today. We put a good effort to kind of maximize our day and that is what we did, finished second. Proud of everyone on the Discount Tire Ford Mustang team. We will go back to work on it and hopefully find a little bit more for the race [Sunday].”

    “I just didn’t get loose and turn up to the wall by myself,” Kyle Busch said regarding the contact with Harvick. “I don’t know whether he hit me or it was just air. It was close enough that it disturbed my car and made me have to get out of [the gas] real bad and chase it real bad. Thankfully, we kept it out of the fence and at least try to salvage something out of it. That’s a pretty good run for us there. I felt like we had a fast car, but it was the best of the rest. [Harvick] was lights out. He deserved to win the race, anyways. It was a race for second today, overall. We’ve been fighting hard all year. We’ve been running well enough for good finishes. We just aren’t getting them. Today was another indication of that. We should’ve finished second, I guess, but a top five it is.”

    Hamlin, Elliott, Logano, Wallace and Kurt Busch rounded out the top 10. Buescher finished 20th and will start on pole position for the second Cup Michigan race on Sunday, August 9, alongside Bowyer with the top-20 finishers on Saturday being inverted for Sunday.

    Jones, who will not be remaining with Joe Gibbs Racing after this season, finished 11th and is 16 points behind 14th-place finisher Byron for the 16th and final spot to the 2020 Playoffs with five regular-season races remaining. Reddick, who finished 18th, is 19 points behind while Johnson, who finished 12th, is 22 points behind. DiBenedetto and Bowyer, both of whom finished 15th and 19th, are 40 and 41 points above the top-16 cutline while Wallace, who notched a career-high fourth top-10 result of this season, remains 123 points below the cutline.

    There were 12 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 43 laps.

    With his victory, Harvick continues to lead the regular-season series standings by 94 points over Keselowski, 127 over Hamlin and 128 over Blaney.

    Results.

    1. Kevin Harvick, 92 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    2. Brad Keselowski

    3. Martin Truex Jr.

    4. Ryan Blaney, 27 laps

    5. Kyle Busch, four laps led

    6. Denny Hamlin, 10 laps led

    7. Chase Elliott, nine laps led

    8. Joey Logano, 18 laps led

    9. Bubba Wallace

    10. Kurt Busch

    11. Erik Jones

    12. Jimmie Johnson

    13. Christopher Bell

    14. William Byron

    15. Matt DiBenedetto

    16. Aric Almirola

    17. Matt Kenseth 

    18. Tyler Reddick

    19. Clint Bowyer

    20. Chris Buescher

    21. Alex Bowman

    22. Corey LaJoie

    23. Ty Dillon

    24. Daniel Suarez

    25. Ryan Preece

    26. J.J. Yeley, one lap led

    27. Quin Houff

    28. Ryan Newman 

    29. Michael McDowell

    30. Reed Sorenson

    31. Austin Dillon

    32. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    33. Timmy Hill, two laps down

    34. Cole Custer – OUT, Accident 

    35. Garrett Smithley – OUT, Steering

    36. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident

    37. Brennan Poole – OUT, Engine

    38. James Davison, 58 laps down

    39. Joey Gase – OUT, Transmission

    The NASCAR Cup Series will return the following day, August 9, for its second Michigan race of the season, which will air on 4:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Bell to reach 150 starts across NASCAR following Michigan

    Bell to reach 150 starts across NASCAR following Michigan

    A significant milestone is in the making for Christopher Bell as the NASCAR Cup Series enters its upcoming doubleheader feature at Michigan International Speedway. By the time the Cup Series completes its two races at Michigan on back-to-back dates, Bell will achieve 150 starts across NASCAR’s three major division series (Truck, Xfinity and Cup Series).

    A native of Norman, Oklahoma, who started his racing career on dirt and won the 2013 USAC National Midget Series title, Bell made his debut within NASCAR’s three major division series at Iowa Speedway in June 2015, driving the No. 51 Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Finishing in fifth place in his Truck debut, Bell returned for the upcoming races at Kentucky Speedway and at Eldora Speedway in KBM’s No. 54 Toyota Tundra. After finishing 17th at Kentucky, Bell achieved his first NASCAR Truck career win at Eldora after leading a race-high 106 of 154 laps and prevailing over a late battle with Bobby Pierce. He made four more Truck starts for the remainder of the 2015 season, notching one top-10 result at Texas Motor Speedway in November.

    The following season, Bell was promoted as driver of the No. 4 JBL Toyota Tundra for KBM led by Jerry Baxter for the 2016 Truck Series season. In his first race in the No. 4 truck at Daytona International Speedway in February, Bell was involved in two separate incidents. He rallied from his incidents and was in position of recording a strong result until he was involved in a frightening accident on the final lap, where he barrel rolled nearly a dozen times past the start/finish line before coming to rest on all four wheels. He survived the incident and was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation. The following race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bell was leading in the closing laps until he blew a right-front tire and smacked the outside wall in Turn 4 at full speed. Despite the accident, Bell emerged uninjured. It took until June, nine races into the season, for Bell to achieve his second Truck Series career win, first on a paved track, at Gateway. In addition to winning at Gateway, Bell racked up nine top-five results, 17 top-10 results, 197 laps led and an average result of 9.5. He qualified for the postseason and made it all the way to the Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he settled in third place in the final standings.

    In 2017, Bell remained with KBM but was paired with Ryan “Rudy” Fugle. Following an eighth-place finish at Daytona, Bell recorded his first victory of the season at Atlanta. Through 22 of 23 Truck races, Bell achieved five victories, five poles, 14 top-five results and 20 top-10 results. The results allowed Bell to make the postseason and all the way to the Championship Round at Homestead. At Homestead, Bell finished in the runner-up spot and clinched his first NASCAR Truck Series championship over Johnny Sauter, Austin Cindric and Matt Crafton. In addition to recording his first NASCAR title, he also recorded the second championship for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Throughout the 2017 season, Bell also made his eight NASCAR Xfinity Series career starts between the No. 18 and No. 20 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. During the eight races, he recorded his first Xfinity career win at Kansas Speedway in October following a late dust-up with teammate Erik Jones. He also achieved three top-five results and five top-10 results.

    The following season, Bell graduated to a full-time driving role in the Xfinity Series and in the No. 20 Rheem/GameStop Toyota for JGR led by crew chief Jason Ratcliff. Following the first seven races of the season, Bell recorded his first win of the season at Richmond in April following a late battle with Noah Gragson. In July, Bell made history as he notched three consecutive Xfinity wins at Kentucky Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway and at Iowa Speedway. Thus, he became the first Xfinity competitor to win three consecutive races in a season since Dale Earnhardt Jr. made the last accomplishment in 1999. Qualifying for the Playoffs on the strength of his victories and consistent runs throughout the regular season, Bell achieved wins at Richmond Raceway, Dover International Speedway and at Phoenix Raceway to make the Championship Round at Homestead with an opportunity of winning his first Xfinity championship. For the finale, however, Bell suffered a flat right-rear tire in the final laps and finished 11th, thus finishing in fourth place in the final standings and missing the Rookie-of-the-Year title to the eventual champion Tyler Reddick. Nonetheless, Bell concluded the season on a positive note with seven wins, five poles, 18 top-five results, 20 top-10 results, 759 laps led and an average result of 11.1.

    Bell remained in the Xfinity Series with JGR for the 2019 season. At Auto Club Speedway in March, Bell reached 100 starts between the Xfinity and Truck Series. Throughout the season, Bell was dominant as he earned victories at Atlanta, Bristol, Dover, Iowa, New Hampshire, Road America, Richmond and Texas, all while making the Playoffs and earning a spot for the Championship Round at Homestead. Though he came into the finale with momentum, he finished fifth at Homestead and concluded the season in third place in the final standings. Despite the result of not achieving his first Xfinity title, Bell recorded career-high stats that included eight wins, six poles, 20 top-five results, 21 top-10 results, 2,005 laps led and an average result of 9.1.

    This season started off on a fresh note for Bell, who graduated to the NASCAR Cup Series to drive the No. 95 Toyota Camry for Leavine Family Racing led by Ratcliff. Through last weekend’s Cup race at New Hampshire, the first 20 races of his Cup career, Bell has achieved one top-five result, five top-10 results, four laps led and an average result of 20.4. He is currently ranked in 23rd in the regular-season standings and is 129 points below the top-16 cutline with six regular-season races remaining until the 2020 Cup Playoffs field is determined.

    All told, Bell has recorded 23 wins, 18 poles, 68 top-five results, 92 top-10 results and over 4,100 laps led in his previous 148 starts between NASCAR’s three major division series.

    Catch Bell’s milestone start at Michigan on August 9, which will occur at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Keselowski rolls to a dominant win at New Hampshire

    Keselowski rolls to a dominant win at New Hampshire

    With his status for next season uncertain, Brad Keselowski reignited his momentum for his second Cup title by dominating and prevailing over several battles with Denny Hamlin to win the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the 20th race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season. The win was Keselowski’s third of this season, second at New Hampshire, third with crew chief Jeremy Bullins and 33rd of his Cup career, which moved him into a tie with the late NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Fireball Roberts for 24th on the all-time wins list.

    The starting lineup was based on a random draw. Aric Almirola started on pole position for the third time this season and was joined on the front row with Denny Hamlin, a three-time winner at New Hampshire and last week’s winner at Kansas Speedway. 

    Prior to the race, Jerry Baxter, crew chief for Bubba Wallace and the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team, and Ryan Sparks, crew chief for Corey LaJoie and the No. 32 Go Fas Racing Ford Mustang team, were both suspended from the race due to a pre-race inspection infraction for an improperly mounted ballast. In addition, both Wallace and LaJoie started at the rear of the field and were each docked 10 points. Engineer Roy Gangdal served as LaJoie’s interim crew chief while the No. 43 team went into a group effort for Wallace. Austin Dillon also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments.

    When the green flag waved, Almirola, who started on the outside lane, jumped to an early advantage followed by Brad Keselowski while Denny Hamlin, who started on the inside lane and had issues getting started, dropped to third. Behind, Kyle Busch moved his way into fourth place followed by Clint Bowyer while Chase Elliott dropped to sixth. 

    On the third lap, Keselowski made his move beneath Almirola to move into the lead. Behind, Kurt Busch slipped up the racing groove entering Turn 3 and dropped all the way back to 18th. While Keselowski continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over Almirola, teammates Kyle Busch and Hamlin along with Bowyer battled intensely for third with Elliott lurking behind. 

    On Lap 10, Blaney missed the racing groove in Turn 3 while running 10th and nearly slapped the outside wall, though he was able to gather his car back into the racing groove entering Turn 4. By the time he gathered his No. 12 Menards/Sylvania/Team Penske Ford Mustang back, he had fallen back to 15th. A lap later, a similar thing happened to William Byron, who nearly collected teammate Jimmie Johnson in the process when Byron and his No. 24 Liberty University/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE slipped. Byron’s miscue dropped him back to 15th as he was locked into a battle with rookie Tyler Reddick.

    A few laps later, Bowyer and Elliott made their way into the top five, which dropped Kyle Busch back to sixth and with Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano closing in towards Busch. 

    The first caution flew on Lap 15 when Kyle Busch blew a right-front tire and went dead straight into the Turn 3 outside wall as he sustained significant damage to the right side of his No. 18 Pedigree/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry. Following his incident, Busch nursed his No. 18 Toyota back to pit road and made the left-hand turn to the garage as he parked his car near his hauler and his race came to an early end. The incident also extended his winless streak this season to 20 races.

    “Just going down the backstretch there and about halfway down the backstretch, I felt it go flat and tried to get it slowed down enough without taking everybody else running over me behind me down the straightaway,” Busch said after being released from the infield care center on NBCSN. “I don’t know. I think there’s a replay of another Pedigree car here a few years ago that blew a right-front tire for absolutely no reason, too. Seems to be our luck with the Pedigree car here at New Hampshire. Sorry to all of our fans and all the Pedigree folks, but it’s still 2020.”

    Under caution, many that included Hamlin, Bowyer, Harvick, Kurt Busch, Erik Jones and others pitted for tires while the rest led by Keselowski and Almirola remained on track. Following the pit stops, Jones was held a lap for pitting outside his pit box.

    The race restarted on Lap 22 and Keselowski retained the lead followed by teammate Logano. Johnson gained a huge run on the outside lane entering Turn 4 to move into third place over Almirola while Elliott and Reddick battled for fifth. Behind, rookie Cole Custer moved into seventh followed by Hamlin and Byron. Harvick, the first car on fresh tires, moved back into 10th followed by Blaney and Bowyer. On Lap 25, Byron missed the racing groove entering Turn 3 for the second time of the day while battling inside the top 10 as he fell back to 16th. 

    While the battling for positions continued to ensue around the track, Keselowski was able to stabilize his advantage by nearly a second over teammate Logano by the time the competition flew on Lap 30. Under caution, a majority led by Logano pitted while others led by Keselowski, Hamlin, Reddick, Blaney and Harvick remained on track. Following the pit stops, LaJoie was assessed an over-the-wall too soon pit penalty. 

    When the race restarted on Lap 35, Keselowski retained the lead while Hamlin prevailed in a battle with Blaney for the runner-up spot. Bowyer, meanwhile, moved into fourth followed by Matt DiBenedetto and Harvick. 

    On Lap 38, Hamlin started to challenge Keselowski for the lead. He made a few attempts to move Keselowski for the lead, including bumping Keselowski’s rear bumper to loosen up the 2012 Cup champion, but Keselowski still prevailed with the top spot. Shortly after, Blaney joined the party as he started challenging Hamlin for the runner-up spot. 

    On Lap 44, Blaney moved into the runner-up spot after bumping Hamlin out of the way the previous lap as he started to set his sights towards teammate Keselowski for the lead. Behind, Bowyer and DiBenedetto continued battling for fourth followed by Harvick and Truex. Johnson, Bell and Byron were running in the top 10 while Logano, following his slow pit stop under the competition caution, was back in 12th ahead of Almirola. Elliott was in 14th followed by Reddick and Kurt Busch while Jones, who got back to the lead lap, was in 18th.

    On Lap 50, with the clouds and weather concerns surrounding the track, Keselowski was still leading by a narrow margin over teammate Blaney and Hamlin with the trio being two seconds ahead of Bowyer and DiBenedetto. 

    Three laps later, Blaney made a challenge for the lead over Keselowski, but was unable to clear his teammate for the lead as he lost his momentum and allowed Hamlin to move back into the runner-up spot. Another five laps later, Hamlin muscled his way to the lead but a lap later, Keselowski took it back while Blaney went to work again for the runner-up spot. 

    On Lap 61, following a heated, intense battle with two Penske competitors, Hamlin was able to move into the lead and retain it while being pressured by Keselowski and Blaney. Shortly after, the caution flew when Johnson got loose underneath Bowyer while battling for position and spun entering Turn 2. He was able to continue without sustaining any significant damage to his No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.

    Under caution, the majority of competitors led by Keselowski pitted while some led by Blaney and Byron remained on track. Following the pit stops, Elliott was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road.

    With seven laps remaining in the first stage, the race restarted under green with Blaney remaining as the leader. Behind, Hamlin, on fresh tires, bolted his way into the runner-up spot as the shuffling of positions ensued behind the leaders. With five laps remaining in the stage, Hamlin muscled his way back into the lead. Truex moved into the runner-up spot as Blaney fell back to third on older tires. Shortly after, Harvick moved into third followed by Blaney while Bell and Keselowski battled for position. 

    With the battling for positions continuing and light rain drops being reported near the track, Hamlin was able to cruise to the first stage win on Lap 75 as he also recorded his third stage victory of the season. Teammate Truex settled in the runner-up spot followed by Harvick, Bell and Keselowski while Blaney, Bowyer, Logano, Preece and Almirola settled in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, some like Blaney, Bowyer, Bell, Byron, Harvick, Custer, Reddick, Bubba Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Daniel Suarez and others pitted while the rest led by Hamlin remained on track.

    The second stage commenced on Lap 83 with Hamlin retaining the lead. Behind, teammate Truex remained in sight for the lead while Harvick moved into third over Bell. Keselowski was in fifth followed by teammate Logano, Almirola, Kurt Busch, Ryan Preece and DiBenedetto. 

    By Lap 90, with the intense racing from earlier easing down, Hamlin was still ahead by seven-tenths of a second over teammate Truex followed by Harvick, Keselowski and Bell. Behind, Elliott was in 13th followed by Blaney, Matt Kenseth, Custer and Jones. Byron was in 18th ahead of Ryan Newman and Bowman while Wallace was in 21st ahead of Reddick. Bowyer was in 24th while Johnson was in 27th. Not long after, the caution flew due to rain. By then, Harvick had overtaken Truex for the runner-up spot.

    Under caution, where the field continued to remain on track under cautious pace, nearly the entire field led by Hamlin pitted while few like Harvick, Blaney, Wallace and Bowyer remained on track. Following the pit stops, Truex was assessed an uncontrolled tire violation penalty and was sent to the rear of the field.

    With the race surpassing 100 laps, the race restarted as Harvick and Blaney engaged in a heated battle for the lead before Harvick cleared the field entering Turn 4. Behind, Hamlin, who restarted sixth on fresh tires, bolted his way to the runner-up spot while Logano moved into fourth. Soon after, Logano moved into third ahead of his two Penske teammates, Blaney and Keselowski, Behind, Bowyer was locked into a battle with Bell for sixth.

    On lap 104, Hamlin returned to the lead and three laps later, Logano moved into the runner-up spot over Harvick. Another three laps later, Keselowski moved into third. Behind, Bell was in fifth followed by Blaney, Bowyer, Almirola, Kurt Busch and Elliott, who was just ahead of teammate Byron.

    By Lap 125, Hamlin was leading by a second over Logano, who was starting to be pressured by teammate Keselowski for position. Harvick was still in fourth followed by Bell while Almirola was in sixth ahead of Blaney, Bowyer, Elliott and Byron, all of whom were in the top 10. Truex was in 14th following his pit penalty while Johnson was in 20th.

    Five laps later, Hamlin was still leading by nearly two seconds over Keselowski, who overtook Logano for the runner-up spot. Another two laps later, Almirola overtook teammate Harvick for the fourth spot.

    On Lap 141, Hamlin, who struggled with passing and lapping teammate Jones in Turn 2, was overtaken for the lead in Turn 3 by Keselowski. The lead for Keselowski, however, did not last long as Hamlin crossed over beneath Keselowski and moved back into the lead, though Keselowski remained within sight of his target for the top spot. 

    On Lap 146, Hamlin, who struggled with passing and lapping Wallace in Turn 2 again, passed Hamlin for the lead again in Turn 3 and entering Turn 4. This time, Keselowski was able to prevail on the outside lane in Turn 1 the following lap to retain the lead with clear race track while Hamlin went to work in challenging Keselowski back for the lead. Soon after, Keselowski started to approach a handful of cars that included Michael McDowell and Ty Dillon in lapping them, but he was ahead by nearly a second over Hamlin.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 151, Keselowski was ahead by more than a second over Hamlin followed by Logano, Almirola and Harvick, who was trailing by nearly 10 seconds. Ten laps later, Keselowski extended his advantage by more than three seconds over Hamlin with Logano trailing by nearly four seconds. Almirola was still in fourth, trailing by five seconds, while Byron moved up to fifth, trailing by nearly 12 seconds. Behind, Bell moved into sixth after passing Harvick while Bowyer, DiBenedetto and Elliott were in the top 10. Truex was in 11th while Johnson was in 19th.

    On Lap 166, Harvick made a pit stop under green for fresh tires and fuel. Nearly five laps later, just as Blaney entered pit road for service, the caution flew due to a spin in Turn 2 involving Bell, who was having a strong run prior to his incident caused by a flat tire. Under caution, the lead lap cars led by Keselowski, Hamlin and Logano pitted. Following the pit stops, Austin Dillon was the first off of pit road following a two-tire stop followed by Keselowski, Hamlin, Almirola, Byron and Logano. 

    With less than 10 laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted and Keselowski prevailed on four fresh tires to move into the lead through Turns 1 and 2. Behind, Hamlin moved into the runner-up spot while Almirola was in third. Logano moved into fourth ahead of Byron while Bowyer tried to shove his way into sixth between Austin Dillon and Truex. Shortly after, the caution flew when Kenseth spun in Turn 2. Under caution, with light sprinkles reported on the track, some like Blaney, Jones, Chris Buescher, Stenhouse, Ty Dillon and rookie Brennan Poole pitted while the rest remained on track.

    With two laps remaining in the stage, the racing under green resumed and Keselowski retained the lead through Turn 1 until Hamlin took it back in Turn 2. On the final lap of the stage, Keselowski and Hamlin battled against one another for the lead and Keselowski was just able to clear Hamlin entering Turn 4 to win the second stage on Lap 185 for his sixth stage victory of the season. Hamlin was in second followed by Logano, Almirola and Byron while Bowyer, Austin Dillon, Truex, Elliott and DiBenedetto settled in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, some like Austin Dillon, Harvick, Reddick, Wallace, Suarez and McDowell pitted while the rest remained on track.

    The final stage started with approximately 110 laps remaining with Keselowski leading, but Hamlin muscled his way into the lead the following lap. While Hamlin and Keselowski continued battling back and forth against one another for the lead, Byron started to challenge Almirola for third place, which he prevailed as he started to set his sights on the front two for the lead. Behind, Logano was in fifth ahead of Elliott and Truex with Bowyer, DiBenedetto and Johnson in the top 10. 

    Four laps after the restart, the caution returned for another single-car incident involving Kenseth, who blew a right-front tire. Under caution, some like Blaney, Harvick, Logano, Ty Dillon and McDowell pitted while the rest remained on track.

    With approximately 100 laps remaining, the race restarted and Keselowski reassumed the lead while Hamlin and Byron battled for the runner-up spot. A lap later, Hamlin was able to clear Byron for the runner-up spot while Almirola, Truex, DiBenedetto and Elliott railed behind. Johnson was in eighth followed by Custer and Bowyer. Another three laps later, a race turned bad became worse for Kenseth when he drew another caution due to another cut tire. Following his third incident, Kenseth took his No. 42 Clover/Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to the garage and retired. 

    Under caution, a majority of competitors led by Keselowski, Hamlin and Byron pitted. Following the pit stops, Logano, who miscommunicated with crew chief Paul Wolfe in opting to pit the previous caution and who pitted again this time with the field, emerged ahead after a fuel only stop followed by Ty Dillon, Hamlin, Byron, Keselowski and Truex. When the field cycled through, Elliott moved into the lead after opting to remain on track followed by Stenhouse, Bell, Blaney, Harvick and J.J. Yeley.

    With 93 laps remaining, the race restarted and Elliott retained the lead followed by Blaney and Stenhouse while Hamlin moved his way towards the top five. While Elliott and Blaney battled for the lead, Hamlin continued moving up the pack as he worked his way to third. Logano was in fifth, one spot ahead of Keselowski, while Harvick was in seventh. 

    Not long after the restart, the caution fell again when rookie John Hunter Nemechek made hard contact into the Turn 3 outside wall when he blew a right-front tire. Under caution, some like Elliott, Blaney, Stenhouse, Harvick, Bell, the Dillon brothers and McDowell pitted while the rest led by Hamlin, Logano and Keselowski remained on track.

    With 83 laps remaining, the race restarted under green and Hamlin retained the lead while Keselowski issued another challenge for the lead. Three laps later, Keselowski returned to the lead with Logano lurking behind. Truex was in fourth followed by Johnson and DiBenedetto. Byron, Custer, Reddick and Bowyer were in the top 10.

    With 75 laps remaining and with the skies starting to darken while overshadowed by the clouds, Keselowski and Hamlin continued to battle against one another intensely for the lead. Behind, Truex moved into third place, but not before Logano issued a challenge to retain the spot. Also, DiBenedetto moved into the top five ahead of Johnson while Byron and Custer battled inside the top 10. Elliott was in 12th ahead of Bowyer, Blaney was in 17th and Harvick was in 19th.

    Fifteen laps later, Keselowski was still ahead by more than a second over Hamlin and nearly two seconds over Truex. Logano was in fourth, trailing by nearly four seconds, followed by DiBenedetto. Johnson was in sixth followed by Byron, Almirola, Custer and Elliott while Reddick was in 11th ahead of Harvick. Behind, Kurt Busch was in 14th and Blaney was trapped in 16th.

    With approximately 50 laps remaining, Bell made a pit stop under green due to a flat right-rear tire, which ended his hopes of posting a top-10 result following an up-and-down day. Ten laps later, Keselowski was still leading by more than a second and a half over Hamlin with Truex, Logano and DiBenedetto trailing behind by four seconds or more.

    Another 10 laps later, Keselowski extended his advantage by more than two seconds over Hamlin with Truex trailing by less than five seconds. Logano was in fourth, trailing by eight seconds, followed by DiBenedetto, Almirola and Johnson. Harvick, one of the fastest cars on the circuit, continued charging his way up to eighth followed by Custer and Byron. Two laps later, Harvick overtook Johnson for seventh place.

    With 20 laps remaining, with fuel becoming the topic for some in terms of making it to the end, Keselowski extended his advantage to more than three seconds over Hamlin with Truex, Logano and DiBenedetto trailing by less than 10 seconds. 

    With 10 laps remaining, Keselowski was still ahead by less than three seconds over Hamlin as he started to approach lapped traffic. Once he was able to navigate his way through traffic, he was able to conserve and save enough fuel for the final 10 laps to take the checkered flag by 1.6 seconds over Hamlin after leading a race-high 184 laps and following an intense battle between the two veterans.

    Keselowski’s victory was also the sixth of the season for car owner Roger Penske and the 21st Cup career win for the new Ford Mustang since its inception for the 2019 season. The win at New Hampshire also marked the eighth season where Keselowski has won three or more races in a Cup season.

    “We’ve had a lot of great races this year with the 2 car, but we just hadn’t really went out and kind of dominated a race,” Keselowski said on NBCSN in front of an estimated crowd of 12,000 fans. “I was talking to Jeremy Bullins and that’s what we need to get to that next level. We’re right there, we need to go out and just dominate a race and that’s what today was for us with the Western Star/Alliance Truck Parts Ford Mustang. I’m really proud of my team and the effort they gave today. … It’s so great to be racing in front of fans again. It feels like forever, so welcome back, guys. Jeremy and this whole team’s been a kick in the butt for me to make me a little bit better and push me to find another level, and we’re doing that so far. I’m just really thankful. I’m in a great spot here and hungry for more wins. I don’t want to stop here. I want us to keep going and I know this team can do it.”

    Hamlin, who led 92 laps, settled in the runner-up spot for the third time this season and second in a row at New Hampshire as he also collected his 11th top-five finish of this season.

    “We just kind of were second there to [Keselowski],” Hamlin said. “We could really do well on restarts and we were going back-and-forth. Wow, that was some really, really good short track racing there. Hopefully the fans liked what they saw there with me and [Keselowski] for most of the day. Some great side-by-side racing. We treated each other fair and it’s good that we got one-two out of it.”

    Behind Keselowski and Hamlin, Truex made a nice rebound from his uncontrolled tire violation penalty to finish in third place followed by Logano and Harvick, who recorded his 13th top-five result of this season.

    “We ran second in the first stage and had a tire get away on pit road, had to come from the back,” Truex, who recorded his fifth top-five finish of the season, said. “That definitely made things a lot more challenging. [I] Had a decent Sport Clips Toyota, just wasn’t quite driving like we needed it to and then it kind of burned the tires off after 25 or 30 laps. We could hang with them and we would fall consistently off [Keselowski] and [Hamlin]. Third-best car and we finished third so all in all, a good day. Just have to find a little bit more. Just missed the balance a little bit today. Love coming up here to Loudon and this was a fun day.”

    DiBenedetto, Almirola and Custer finished sixth, seventh and eighth while Elliott and Reddick overtook Byron and Johnson in the final laps to round out the top 10. Johnson finished 12th in his 35th and final race at New Hampshire, one spot behind teammate Byron, while Bowyer, a two-time Cup New Hampshire winner, finished 18th, two spots ahead of Blaney.

    There were 22 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured 11 cautions for 52 laps.

    With his top-five finish, Harvick continues to lead the regular-season standings by 81 points over Keselowski with Hamlin trailing by 115 points and Blaney trailing by 118 points.

    Results.

    1. Brad Keselowski, 184 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Denny Hamlin, 92 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    3. Martin Truex Jr.

    4. Joey Logano

    5. Kevin Harvick, six laps led

    6. Matt DiBenedetto

    7. Aric Almirola, three laps led

    8. Cole Custer

    9. Chase Elliott, nine laps led

    10. Tyler Reddick

    11. William Byron

    12. Jimmie Johnson

    13. Austin Dillon, three laps led

    14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    15. Alex Bowman

    16. Ryan Preece

    17. Kurt Busch

    18. Clint Bowyer 

    19. Michael McDowell

    20. Ryan Blaney, five laps led

    21. Ryan Newman, one lap down

    22. Ty Dillon, one lap down

    23. Bubba Wallace, one lap down

    24. Erik Jones, one lap down

    25. Chris Buescher, one lap down

    26. Daniel Suarez, two laps down

    27. Brennan Poole, two laps down

    28. Christopher Bell, two laps down

    29. J.J. Yeley, two laps down

    30. James Davison, three laps down

    31. Garrett Smithley, six laps down

    32. Quin Houff, seven laps down

    33. Timmy Hill, seven laps down

    34. Joey Gase, eight laps down

    35. Corey LaJoie, 39 laps down

    36. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident

    37. Matt Kenseth – OUT, Accident

    38. Kyle Busch – OUT, Accident

    The NASCAR Cup Series will return next weekend and host its second series doubleheader weekend of this season at Michigan International Speedway. The first Cup Michigan race will run on August 8 at 4 p.m. ET on NBCSN while the second will run the following day, August 9, at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN. 

  • 2020 NASCAR Cup Rookie of the Year mid-season review

    2020 NASCAR Cup Rookie of the Year mid-season review

    Five months after the first green flag of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season waved, the series has reached its halfway mark of this year. During the first 18 races of the 36-race schedule, a lot has occurred within the sport both on and off the track. From Ryan Newman’s harrowing accident on the final lap of the Daytona 500 to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that paused the on-track racing from nearly two months, from the sport returning at Darlington Raceway in May to running doubleheaders and four to five division series races a week, this season has been like none other in recent years. Among the storylines that have been ongoing throughout this year’s racing season has been the battle for this year’s Rookie-of-the-Year title between six up-and-coming competitors working their way to emerge as the next future stars of the Cup Series.

    Through the first 18 Cup races of this season, Tyler Reddick continues to lead the way in the rookie standings. Even though he is currently 17th in the regular-season standings and is 14 points shy of moving into the top-16 cutline to qualify for the Playoffs, Reddick has recorded a stage win at Talladega Superspeedway in June, the most top-10 results (six) and the best average result (17.17) among his five fellow rookie contenders. He is coming off a career-best result of second place at Texas Motor Speedway, where he finished behind teammate and race winner Austin Dillon following a late strategic call for fuel only. His previous best result was fourth place at Homestead-Miami Speedway in June. In addition to his stats, another factor the Corning, California, native has displayed through the first half of this season is the speed to keep pace and contend against NASCAR’s elite on a weekly basis. With eight races remaining until the Playoffs is set, Reddick and his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team led by crew chief Randall Burnett look to carry the speed and competitiveness throughout this season and from winning the previous two Xfinity Series championships towards contending for the 2020 Cup title.

    Trailing behind Reddick is Christopher Bell. For Bell, it has been an up-and-down first half of his rookie Cup campaign that has seen a major improvement entering the second half of the season. For the first five races of the year, the Oklahoma native and the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Toyota Camry team finished no higher than 21st, sustained two DNFs and were ranked 32nd in the regular-season standings. Since the second Darlington race in May through last weekend’s race at Texas, Bell has recorded five top-10 results and has worked his way up to 21st in the standings. His highlight run was at Pocono Raceway in June, the first of two Pocono races of the weekend, where he rallied from starting 36th to record a career-best fourth-place result ahead of former boss Kyle Busch. He is, however, 102 points below the top-16 cutline to make the Playoffs and needs to generate more strong results to come within reach of the Playoffs mark. With Bell and Leavine Family Racing’s future uncertain beyond 2020, the combo aims to strive for more and emerge as a competitive single-car organization for this season and beyond.

    Also trailing Reddick for the lead in the rookie standings is Cole Custer. While Reddick leads this year’s rookie class, the thing that Custer has, and the others rookies do not have, is a win. That was the case in July, when Custer made a bold, four-wide pass for the lead on the final lap against top names like Ryan Blaney, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. to score his first NASCAR Cup career win in his 20th series start and in an upset fashion. The victory not only made Custer as the first rookie contender to win a Cup race since 2016, but it also guaranteed the Californian and his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team a spot to this year’s Playoffs with an opportunity to contend for a Cup title. Prior to the win, Custer’s season started off on a low note with a lone top-10 result (ninth) at Phoenix in March along with seven results outside the top 20 in the first 16 races of the season. The turning point came at Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the Fourth of July weekend, where he recorded his first top-five finish in NASCAR’s premier series. A week later, ironically, Custer won his first Cup race at Kentucky. Despite being involved in a multi-car wreck last weekend at Texas, Custer and his team appear to adapt to this year’s weekly approach of starting in a position based on a random draw and diving into competitive race trim on race day. With the Playoffs a month away from commencing, Custer and his team have time to continue to gain more momentum and contend for more wins and points that would make the Californian not only a potential Rookie-of-the-Year winner, but also as a title threat for this season.

    Next up is John Hunter Nemechek. A third-generation driver from Mooresville, North Carolina, the opportunity for Nemechek to move to the Cup level came in the final three races of the 2019 season, when he took over the Front Row Motorsports Ford entry driven by Matt Tifft. When Tifft suffered a seizure and opted to focus on his health, Nemechek was named one of two full-time competitors for FRM. He started off his rookie season strong by finishing 11th in the Daytona 500 before he recorded finishes outside the top 20 the following three races. He rebounded on a strong note at Darlington in May by finishing ninth for his first top-10 career result in the Cup level. He finished in the top 20 in four of the next seven races before recording a career-best finish of eighth at Talladega, a result where Nemechek was in race-winning position before being involved in an incident approaching the finish line. Thus far, he has finished in the top 20 nine times and he is currently 25th in the regular-season standings, 120 points below the cutline. With the recent string of consistent finishes inside the top 15 to 20 results and the momentum building for Front Row Motorsports, Nemechek looks to place an FRM entry into their first postseason appearance since 2016 and extend the on-track success previously displayed by his father, Joe.

    Behind him is Brennan Poole. Like Bell, this season marks Poole’s first season ever racing in the Cup level, an opportunity that he announced last December when signing with Premium Motorsports. Unlike Bell, Poole has struggled in keeping pace with his fellow rookie contenders. His lone highlight was finishing 16th in the season-opening Daytona 500 in his first Cup race. For the next 17 races, he has finished no higher than 24th, which occurred at Bristol Motor Speedway in May. With the Texas native 32nd in the regular-season standings, he needs to grab a win and work his way into the top 30 in the standings to have any shot towards making this year’s Playoffs.

    Last but not least is Quin Houff, who was promoted to a full-time driving role in StarCom Racing’s No. 00 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for the 2020 and 2021 Cup seasons. Since his start this season, however, Houff has finished no higher than 23rd, which he finished at Indianapolis. He has also recorded five DNFs this season, including last weekend at Texas, where a last-minute turn to slow and come to pit road resulted with him clipping the cars of Bell and Matt DiBenedetto before wrecking himself out of the race. It was a move that was met by sharp criticism by Brad Keselowski. He is 34th in the regular-season standings and like Poole, he needs to grab a win and generate consistent results towards the front to work his way into the top 30 in the standings and have any shot for this year’s Playoffs.

    While Reddick leads the 2020 Cup Rookie-of-the-Year standings through the first half of this season, Harrison Burton leads the current Xfinity Series rookie standings while Christian Eckes leads the current Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series rookie standings.

    The Cup rookie contenders will embark on an 18-race stretch to conclude this year’s racing season and strive for more on-track success for the future, beginning on Thursday, July 23, for the Super Start Batteries 400 at Kansas Speedway. The race will air at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • McDowell on pole position for NASCAR All-Star Open

    McDowell on pole position for NASCAR All-Star Open

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Banner run for four Toyota competitors at Pocono

    Banner run for four Toyota competitors at Pocono

    It was a banner day for Kevin Harvick as he notched his first NASCAR Cup Series win at Pocono Raceway in his 39th attempt. It was also a banner run for the Toyota nameplate as four Toyota drivers earned top-10 results, three of which were top-five results, at the Tricky Triangle.

    The first was Denny Hamlin. Starting third based on a random draw, Hamlin fell back to fifth through the first 13 laps. Under the competition caution, he remained on track and was shuffled back to ninth on the following restart. Under three laps remaining in the first stage, the driver of the No. 11 FedEx/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota surrendered his track position to make a green-flag pit stop to set himself up for track position in the following stage. When the first stage concluded, Hamlin was in 36th. Under the stage break, Hamlin remained on track and gained a multitude of positions while his three JGR teammates pitted. Restarting 10th in the second stage, Hamlin slowly made his way towards the front as strategy became the theme throughout the stage and a multitude of competitors made green-flag pit stops. On Lap 60, Hamlin led his first lap of the day after passing teammate Martin Truex Jr., who peeled off to pit road. Hamlin would lead seven laps before pitting. With eight laps remaining in the second stage, Hamlin was in 10th when the caution flew. Through two late-stage restarts, Hamlin would settle in seventh in the second stage. Restarting seventh in the final stage with 48 laps remaining, Hamlin returned to the lead 11 laps later. Needing to pit to complete the race, Hamlin pitted five laps later for service. For the duration of the closing laps, Hamlin would carve his way back into second with Harvick ahead of him. Then, Hamlin started to report a bad vibration to his car. Despite the issue, Hamlin continued to narrow his deficit to Harvick with less than 10 laps remaining. With four laps remaining, Hamlin narrowed his deficit to less than half a second and was close to Harvick’s rear bumper. He was, however, unable to gain a draft to draw alongside Harvick and challenge for the win as he settled in second. With his runner-up result, Hamlin earned his eighth top-five result of this season and his 12th at Pocono to go along with his three regular-season victories this season and after leading 10 of the event’s 130-scheduled laps.

    “[The vibration]’s bad,” Hamlin said. “It was like someone loosened all the [lug] nuts on the car. It’s unfortunate. We got there and we came there from a long way back. Had a strong FedEx Camry. With about 15, 20 to go, the vibration just got really, really bad. Still, it would’ve been tough to pass. Even though we got there, it was gonna be tough to get around [Harvick]. Man, our car was extremely, extremely fast. [I’m] Optimistic for tomorrow’s race, for sure.”

    Next was rookie Christopher Bell, who shined the brightest of this year’s Rookie-of-the-Year Cup field at a track where he won at in the 2017 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series season with Kyle Busch Motorsports. Starting 36th, Bell gained 10 spots to move into 26th through the competition caution on Lap 13. Through the following two restarts, Bell kept his No. 95 Rheem/Leavine Family Racing Toyota intact. With three laps remaining in the first stage, Bell, like Hamlin, made a green-flag pit stop for early adjustments to his car for the next stage, thus finishing 35th at the conclusion of the first stage. Throughout the second stage, Bell worked his way into the top 10 and was running inside the top five when the caution flew for debris with 13 laps remaining in the stage. Through another caution and two late restarts, Bell concluded the stage in 11th, one spot shy of earning a stage point. At the start of the final stage, Bell remained in contention for a top-10 spot when he made a green-flag pit stop with 39 laps remaining to have enough fuel to make it to the end. From there, Bell was able to work his way up to fourth when the checkered flag flew. The fourth-place result marked Bell’s first top-five career finish in his 14th NASCAR Cup Series start and his fourth top-10 result of this season and in the last eight races. The top-five result was a satisfactory run for Bell, who had finished no higher than 21st in the first six races of the 2020 season.

    “Whenever I started working with [crew chief] Jason [Ratcliff] two years ago in the Xfinity Series, well even before that, I started following him and I knew he was really aggressive on strategy to get his driver up front,” Bell said. “[It] Seems like the majority of the race tracks that we’ve been to the last couple weeks have just been, put four tires on and go, but Pocono is definitely a place where you can mix up strategy, pit early, pit before the stages and so forth. Obviously, Jason did a great job and got us up front and we had the car speed to stay up there.”

    In addition, Kyle Busch rallied from his recent strings of frustration to leave the first Pocono event with a strong top-five run. Starting fourth, Busch was the highest-running Toyota driver in fourth through the first competition caution on Lap 13. Restarting in fourth, Busch outlasted through two additional restarts to finish fourth and gain valuable stage points towards the Playoffs. Under the stage break, Busch pitted with two of his JGR teammates and restarted 23rd for the following stage. In the early portions of the stage, Busch was running towards the top 15, but once a wave of competitors pitted on Lap 46, Busch was in third behind teammates Truex and Hamlin. Busch kept his No. 18 M&M’s Mini’s/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota towards the front when a late caution in the second stage came out due to debris. Opting to pit, Busch was in 11th when the racing resumed with eight laps remaining in the second stage. Through another late-stage restart, Busch finished 10th. He restarted in eighth in the final stage and made his final pit stop under green with 40 laps remaining. As the race dwindled to its final laps, Busch was able to work his way up to fifth, where he finished after taking the checkered flag. Despite remaining winless to the 2020 season, the top-five result was Busch’s first since finishing second at Atlanta Motor Speedway on June 7 and his eighth top-10 result of the season.

    “We had some speed and there were laps that I could run with [Hamlin], but he could just do it lap after lap after lap where I was pushing everything I had to keep up with him there,” Busch said. “I just couldn’t do it. I would make the tires mad and would start to fall back. We were just a little tight all day. We really fought tight early on, but we made some really good adjustments and got it a lot closer and got it a lot better. Our strategy there worked out to get us in the top-five – that was about all we could ask for out of today. We got some really good ideas for tomorrow hopefully that will help us out and hopefully get us some speed so we can keep up with those front guys.”

    Finally, Martin Truex Jr. rallied from a disappointing ending last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway to add another top-10 result to this season. Starting 11th, Truex was in 14th through the competition caution, 13 laps, when he opted to make his first pit stop of the day for four fresh tires, fuel and adjustments. The pit stop dropped him back to 21st, and through two restarts, Truex could finish as high as 13th following the first stage. Restarting in 10th for the start of the second stage, Truex emerged with the lead on Lap 45. He led the next 14 laps before surrendering the lead to teammate Hamlin while making a green-flag pit stop. In the closing laps of the second stage, Truex was running inside the top five. Through two late restarts, Truex settled in third in the second stage. Restarting in third in the final stage, Truex was battling within the top five when he made a green-flag pit stop, a stop to get him to the finish. In the final laps, while battling teammate Kyle Busch for a top-five spot, Truex reported a vibration to his No. 19 SiriusXM/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Despite the late concerns, Truex was able to cross the finish line in sixth for his seventh top-10 result of this season after leading 14 laps.

    “We started in a decent spot and lost some spots early,” Truex said. “I thought we had a pretty decent SiriusXM Toyota early on and kind of had to do a little different strategy there. Stage one didn’t look too good, but I felt like we were pretty close with the car. We made some adjustments and got some track position through stage two, so we were able to get some decent stage points there. We were in a decent spot again towards the end and got a really bad vibration, so I was a little concerned that we were going to have a tire issue or something. Luckily, it held on and it wasn’t a great finish by any means, but a solid finish for sure and something we can work on for tomorrow.”

    For the remaining Toyota competitors, Daniel Suarez and Timmy Hill finished 28th and 35th while Erik Jones ended his race in 38th following a late accident in the second stage, a wreck that left Jones trailing the top-16 in the regular-season series standings by six points and moving into a backup car for the second Cup Pocono race on Sunday, June 28.

    The NASCAR Cup Series will return for a second race at Pocono as part of the doubleheader feature on June 28 at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Cup rookies prepare for first tackle at Talladega

    Cup rookies prepare for first tackle at Talladega

    It has been a month since NASCAR returned to on-track racing amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and a number of firsts have occurred since the sport’s return. From midweek races to series’ doubleheaders at the same track and even quadruple-header weekends among the sport’s three major national division series, NASCAR has provided its share of resolving the unexpected and creating memories through the first half of the 2020 season. With Talladega Superspeedway next on the schedule, the unexpected is a term that every driver and team can annually anticipate from the drop of the green flag to the checkered. It is also a venue that can provide the element of surprise for anyone, especially for this year’s Cup rookie class.

    When the first green flag of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season flew at Daytona International Speedway in February, six rookies embarked on a yearlong journey filled with firsts and a new approach towards each track like none other from their previous seasons. This weekend will mark their first time racing at Talladega, one of the world’s fastest racing venues, in NASCAR’s premier series, which has not raced on a superspeedway event since the Daytona 500 in February.

    For years, Talladega is a track that does not yield a simple race-winning path for anyone after 500 miles. It is a track that requires patience, aggression and boldness for any competitor to emerge victorious ahead of a steaming pack of other competitors fighting towards the same goal. It is also a track that can make any dreams come true. Since its inception in 1969, 11 competitors have scored their first Cup win at Talladega, not since Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made the last accomplishment in 2017, which provides a golden opportunity for any rookie competitor to shine and rise to the occasion against NASCAR’s elite.

    Twelve races into the 2020 season, the reigning two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Tyler Reddick leads the Cup rookie standings. The Corning, California, native is coming off a career run last weekend at Homestead, where he finished fourth and picked up his first top-five career finish in the Cup Series. To go along with two additional top-10 results and fast racecars prepared by his team and crew chief Randall Burnett, Reddick is slowly peaking towards his first Cup win. When it comes to Talladega, there are two advantages for Reddick. The first is that Reddick is a former winner at the superspeedway event, having won last year’s Xfinity race at the track despite encountering early on-track issues. The second is that his team, Richard Childress Racing, has a rich history at Talladega with 12 wins, six poles and over 70 top-10 results, achieving results with names like Dale Earnhardt, Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer. With the results, Reddick looks to add his name to RCR legacy’s at the superspeedway venue in Alabama and extend his recent stretch of solid performances.

    Pursuing Reddick in the rookie standings is John Hunter Nemechek. The second-generation driver from Mooresville, North Carolina, has achieved three top-15 results since May, including his first top-10 career finish at Darlington Raceway (ninth), and has displayed a model of consistency in his first full-time season in NASCAR’s premier series. Nemechek has raced at Talladega seven times between the Xfinity and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, his best result being sixth in the 2017 Truck Series season and last year’s Xfinity Series season. An advantage Nemechek has towards Talladega is that his team, Front Row Motorsports, is competitive at superspeedway events (Daytona and Talladega). Since FRM’s started racing in the Cup Series in 2005, the team has notched 20 top-10 results, more than half coming at Talladega. In addition, Talladega serves as the track where the team notched its first Cup career win in 2013, when David Ragan and David Gilliland recorded a thrilling one-two finish for the team. With his consistent start, Nemechek looks to take the next step to finish at the front of the field and etch his name as the next upset winner at the world’s fastest racing venues.

    Next is Christopher Bell. The Norman, Oklahoma, native has achieved a multitude of accomplishments in racing, from sprint cars to stock cars. This includes winning the 2013 USAC National Midget title, three Chili Bowl sprint car titles, a NASCAR win at Eldora, the 2017 Truck Series championship and a combined 23 wins across the Truck and Xfinity Series in 14 different tracks, including his first road course win at Road America last season. There are a handful of accomplishments that Bell has yet to achieve, among which includes winning a Cup race and winning a superspeedway event. Thus far, Bell has achieved three top-10 results in his rookie Cup season and has raced at Talladega five times between the Xfinity and Truck Series, his best result being second in the 2017 Truck Series season and third in last year’s Xfinity Series season. His team, Leavine Family Racing, is competitive at superspeedway events despite scoring two top-10 career finishes at Talladega and his crew chief, Jason Ratcliff, has won at the track once in the 2011 Xfinity season with Kyle Busch. With his recent stride in producing decent results, Bell also looks to take the next step in his rookie Cup season by finishing towards the front and placing himself in position to emerge as an upset winner at a track that is very familiar with upset tales.

    While the last seven results since May have not fallen in the favors of Cole Custer, the Ladera Ranch, California, native remains in pursuit of his first breakthrough moment in the Cup Series while driving for one of the sport’s competitive teams, Stewart-Haas Racing. Entering this weekend, Custer has achieved one top-10 career finish in the Cup Series and has raced at Talladega four times between the Xfinity and Truck Series, with a best result of ninth in the 2018 Xfinity season. In 2018, Stewart-Haas Racing achieved its first Cup win at Talladega on a day where all four SHR cars led the field the majority of the race before Aric Almirola scored a breakthrough win of his career. This serves as an advantage for Custer to race towards the front competitively with a championship-winning team and possibly achieve his moment in NASCAR’s premier series.

    When it comes to Talladega Superspeedway, Brennan Poole has a notable moment at the track that is deemed heartbreaking. In 2016, Poole, driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, dodged a last-lap incident between Joey Logano and Elliott Sadler in the tri-oval to nip Justin Allgaier at the finish line and score what appeared to have been his first Xfinity Series career win. Upon reviewing the footage, however, NASCAR determined that Sadler, who had managed to straighten his car and continued to race despite wrecking, was ahead of the field at the moment of caution, which resulted in Sadler winning while Poole was demoted to third. To date, this remains the closest Poole has come in winning at Talladega. The Woodlands, Texas, native has raced at the track three additional times between the Truck and Xfinity Series, but all finishes have been outside the top 20. In his first 12 Cup career starts this season, Poole has recorded a career-best result of 16th from this year’s Daytona 500, but has finished as high as 24th in the last seven races. This weekend serves as an opportunity for Poole to hone his driving skills against the current Cup stars and claim the win that was taken away from him four years ago.

    Lastly, Quin Houff also looks to achieve a breakthrough moment of his racing career on the track. Through the first 12 races of this season, Houff has finished in the top 30 twice (Darlington & Bristol) while sustaining three DNFs and finishing outside the top 30 in five of the last six Cup races. Houff’s team, StarCom Racing, has raced in NASCAR since 2017 and has finished in the top 15 twice, both coming at Daytona and Talladega. Like Poole, Houff sets his focus on this weekend to etch his name against the sport’s elite.

    This year’s rookie Cup class are among six of multiple stars that includes Matt DiBenedetto, William Byron, James Davison, Ty Dillon, Brendan Gaughan, Gray Gaulding, Joey Gase, Timmy Hill, Corey LaJoie, Michael McDowell, B.J. McLeod, Ryan Preece, Daniel Suarez, Bubba Wallace and J.J. Yeley who will pursue their first win in the Cup Series this weekend at Talladega.

    All Cup Series competitors, including this year’s rookie class, will receive their first of two opportunities this season to conquer Talladega on June 21 with the race to air at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Homestead features unique top-15 notables

    Homestead features unique top-15 notables

    While Denny Hamlin earned a milestone win in his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday night’s Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the 12th race of the 2020 season, there were a multitude of competitors who earned strong results and left Miami satisfied with their performances.

    The first was Tyler Reddick. Coming into Miami, Reddick had earned two top-10 results in the last six Cup races and was situated in 18th in the regular-season standings. The key aspect Reddick and his team had was the speed to run toward the front and it was only a matter of time before he could utilize the speed to earn a strong result. When the race proceeded under the lights in Homestead, the California native shined against the veterans and fellow future stars as he ran within the top five all race long despite starting 24th, led his first three career laps in the series and finished within the top three in both stages while earning valuable stage points in his quest to make the playoffs.

    In the final laps, Reddick was within sight of the leaders before he drove his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE home in a solid fourth-place in his first Cup start at Homestead, a track where he won at the last two seasons in the Xfinity Series that clinched him the overall championships. With his fourth-place result, Reddick notched his first top-five finish in his 14th Cup Series career start along with his fourth top-10 result as he is two points shy of cracking the top 16 in the Cup standings. In addition, Reddick leads the Cup Rookie-of-the-Year standings by 70 points over John Hunter Nemechek, who finished 19th at Homestead. With Reddick’s top-five result, this marked the first time since 2007 where a rookie candidate finished inside the top 10 at Homestead.

    “I’m really proud of my Chevy Cares Chevrolet team and the effort we showed today,” Reddick said. “We had really good speed today and were able to run up front pretty much all night long. The men and women of RCR and ECR did a great job preparing us with a fast racecar to bring down to my favorite track on the circuit. We were able to use that speed to our advantage and race into the top 10 within the first 30 laps, and were able maintain that track position…We got a little too tight by the end of the night to really make the fence work like I wanted, but all in all, it was a solid effort tonight. I’ve won the past two times I’ve come here, granted in the Xfinity Series, but it was so fun to be ripping the fence with three of the best tonight in the NASCAR Cup Series. It was a hard-fought battle and one we can build momentum off of.”

    For this season, there were two rookies who finished in the top-10 results at Homestead as Christopher Bell also earned a decent result of eighth in Leavine Family Racing’s No. 95 Toyota Camry. For the Oklahoma native, the run at Miami and since NASCAR’s return in May produced a major turnaround from the start of his rookie Cup season. Following the first four races of the season, Bell’s average finish in the Cup Series was 29th to go along with two DNFs and a best result of 21st. The following six races, Bell improved his average result to 20th and he was able to claim his first two top-10 career results in the Cup Series. Starting 36th, Bell methodically carved his way through the field and found himself running inside the top 10 throughout the final stage. When the checkered flag flew, Bell finished eighth for his career-best finish in the Cup Series along with his third top-10 result in his 12th series start. The result allowed Bell to gain one position in the standings from 25th to 24th.

    “Our Rheem Camry was really, really loose to start the night and then [crew chief] Jason [Ratcliff] did a great job adjusting on it got it pretty close to where I was happy and then we were able to pick our way though there,” Bell said. “The races are so long – there are so many yellows – that I really wasn’t worried about our starting position. I knew that if we had a car that was good; we were going to get up front. I’m not going to say that we’re ready to make the next step, but at least we are being competitive the majority of weeks and we just have to keep it up.”

    Next was Aric Almirola. Prior to Homestead, the Florida native, in his third season driving for Stewart-Haas Racing, had an average-finishing result of 17.5 in the first 11 races and only three top-10 results. In addition, his highest-finishing result in the last four Cup races was a 20th-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway despite starting on the front row for three consecutive weeks by virtue of a random draw. At Homestead, Almirola started 21st, but by Lap 40, he proved that he had a strong car as he was in eighth. He finished fifth in the first stage and salvaged a 10th-place run in the second stage, which allowed him to gain valuable points towards making the playoffs. With the race progressing in a long green-flag stretch, Almirola kept his No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang near the front and was able to finish in fifth for his first top-five result in this year’s Cup season and his second at Miami. With his finish, Almirola moved from 14th to 13th in the series standings and sets his sights on next weekend’s race at Talladega Superspeedway, the site of Almirola’s last Cup victory dating back to October 2018.

    “Man, we finally had a nice clean day today,” Almirola said. “We really needed that as a team. We haven’t raced a full race yet without having something go wrong. This proves we have the speed we need to compete this season if we continue to run clean with no mistakes. Homestead is not an easy track to earn a top-five at either. To get our first of the season here shows we have a lot of potential.”

    Following a difficult midweek race at Martinsville Speedway, where a broken crush panel left him exposed to extreme heat behind the steering wheel and retiring in the closing laps while needing medical attention, Sunday’s run at Homestead felt like a win on a day that was already special for Austin Dillon. Prior to the main event, the Welcome, North Carolina, native and his wife, Whitney, celebrated the birth of the couple’s son, Ace. When the green flag dropped, Dillon, who started 16th, was able to navigate his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE inside the top 10, where he spent a majority of the race. Despite finishing eighth in the second stage and earning a handful of points towards his quest to make the playoffs, Dillon was running seventh towards the beginning of the final stage when he was penalized following a pit stop and sent to the rear for an uncontrolled tire violation. Despite the penalty, Dillon was able to carve his way through the field and finish in seventh for his fourth top-10 result of this season, his second in a row at Miami and to move from 17th to 16th in the series standings.

    “We took our No. 3 Dow / Behr Ultra Scuff Defense Chevy to a top-ten [result],” Dillon said. “That was a fun race for the Dow Coatings team. We were not good to start – we started from the back a couple of times. Made big adjustments – [crew chief] Justin [Alexander] made a good adjustment about halfway through the race to allow us to get some stage points. Things started turning for us and we got a good restart. And then a caution came out, pitted and we had a tire that got away. Unfortunate, but we kept our heads down and dug hard. We were able to come all the way back to P-7. Strong run for our team.”

    Four days after finishing in the top 10 at Martinsville Speedway, momentum continues to roll towards the favor of William Byron and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team as they capped off their first back-to-back top-10 results of the 2020 Cup Series season. Starting 22nd, Byron’s car came to life under the lights in Miami as he battled inside the top five most of the race along with teammates Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman. He finished eighth in the first stage and fifth in the second stage as he also collected valuable stage points in his quest to make the playoffs. When the checkered flag flew, Byron settled in ninth for his fourth top-10 result of the season and his first at Homestead. With the result, Byron gained one position in the standings from 16th to 15th.

    “We had a good and solid night and honestly it was nice to be able to run in the top five,” Byron said. “We continued to adjust on the car as the race went along there. Hopefully we can continue to string runs together like we had tonight and be able make the right adjustments at the right point in the race to be in contention in the end. We’re getting close to that first win we just need to continue working on a couple things to get faster. On to Talladega.”

    Last but not least, Bubba Wallace, who has been a key spokesperson in highlighting social injustice treatment/police brutality towards African Americans, raising prominence of the Black Lives Matter movement within the racing community and whose call to have the display of the Confederate flag banned from all NASCAR events approved and granted from NASCAR a few days later, backed up his strong performance at Martinsville Speedway with a decent performance and a late rally at Homestead. Starting 17th, Wallace spent the majority of the race inside the top 20, where he would finish in both stages. With the race progressing towards a long green-flag stretch, Wallace was able to move within the top 15 in the closing laps and settle in 13th for his fifth top-15 finish of the season, third in the last four Cup races, and his best result in Miami, which left the Alabama native situated in 20th in the standings.

    The NASCAR Cup Series will return on June 21 to race at Talladega Superspeedway for the second superspeedway event of the season. The race will air at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Bristol features unique names with top-10 results

    Bristol features unique names with top-10 results

    The conclusion of the Food City presents the Supermarkets Heroes 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway will go down with Brad Keselowski stealing the win in a wild finish after leaders Chase Elliott and Joey Logano wrecked in the final laps. While Keselowski emerged as the overall victor, there were other competitors who left Bristol feeling victorious and satisfied with their results following a difficult start to this season.

    First, there was Clint Bowyer. Prior to NASCAR’s anticipated return to racing following a two-month hiatus amid the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, the Kansas native was 13th in the series standings and had notched two top-10 results. Since the sport’s return, Bowyer struggled with capping off a strong start with a strong race car with a strong result. Most notably, the second Darlington race on Wednesday was a race where Bowyer had the race well within his hands after winning the first two stages and leading a race-high 71 laps until he cut a tire, spun and finished 22nd. In the Coca-Cola 600, he was involved in a single-car wreck four laps shy of the first quarter stage of the race and finished 39th. On Thursday at Charlotte, he was penalized twice for speeding on pit road on different occasions and salvaged a 16th-place result.

    At Bristol, Bowyer started 23rd based on a random draw, but was able to move inside the top 20 through the first 60 laps. By the time the first stage concluded, Bowyer gained more positions to move up to 12th. Starting the second stage fighting tight conditions, Bowyer would keep his car intact and move into the top 10 before finishing sixth at the conclusion of the second stage. Throughout the final stage, Bowyer raced inside the top 15 while avoiding more carnage surrounding him. With 30 laps remaining, Bowyer restarted ninth on fresh tires but was able to move up to fifth prior to a late caution. With five laps remaining, Bowyer avoided the Logano-Elliott skirmish to come out second behind Keselowski, where he would finish for his best result of the season. With his second top-five result of the season, Bowyer jumped from 14th to 12th in the standings.

    “We actually struggled pretty bad with our setup,” Bowyer said. “I don’t know, it was floating the nose really bad up off the corner all day long. I could gain and make some ground up in the center of the corner in, and in the middle, but if I had to pass somebody and turn underneath of them, I didn’t have the real estate. I was needing [Keselowski] to be a little bit closer. I wasn’t gonna feel bad about moving him, but it just didn’t materialize.”

    For seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, his swan song season in the series has been mixed with up-and-down results. Prior to the pandemic, Johnson was fifth in the standings. After last week’s race at Charlotte, he had fallen all the way back to 16th with three top-10 results under his belt. He had a strong runner-up result in the Coca-Cola 600 stripped away due to a post-race inspection failure which cost him a bevy of points.

    At Bristol, Johnson, who started 24th, methodically worked his way through the field and was well inside the top 10 prior to the first stage’s conclusion. He would finish 10th in the first stage. He spent the majority of the race inside the top 10 before opting to pit prior to the end of the second stage, where he finished 13th. In the final stage, Johnson moved his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet into the top five, running as high as second before being shuffled back to sixth in the closing laps. Following a late caution and the final restart with five laps remaining, Johnson kept his car intact to move and finish third for his best result of the season. Johnson’s fourth top-10 result of 2020 allowed him to move from 16th to 15th in the standings.

    “Wild and crazy night, for sure,” Johnson said. “Very strong performance for us. Really proud of the guys keeping our chins up through the last four weeks. We’ve had fast cars, really haven’t had the results to show for it. To put together a solid race, start to finish, great pit stops, fast car, be a threat. We need more long runs. There’s only one long race in the whole race. We were battling for the lead with Kyle [Busch]. I wish there were more long runs because our car didn’t have the short run speed in it.”

    For Austin Dillon, momentum is the key word to summarize the driver and the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet team. Coming into Bristol, Dillon had notched two top-10 results with a best result of fourth at Las Vegas in March. Dillon started 20th and was able to race his way inside the top 15 at the conclusion of the first stage. He would finish 15th again following the second stage and would remain on track under the stage break to move into the top five. He spent the majority of the first half of the final stage running inside the top 10 until he blew a right-front tire and smacked the outside wall with 172 laps remaining. The day went from good to bad to worse when Dillon was one of four drivers speeding on pit road and sent to the rear. Despite speeding on pit road again with 68 to go and falling to the rear, Dillon would recover to make his way back in the top 15 while also avoiding the late carnage. With five laps remaining, Dillon was ninth but was able to pick up three more spots to finish sixth behind Erik Jones for his second consecutive top-10 finish of this season. He dropped one spot in the standings from 15th to 16th, though he notched his third top-10 result of 2020.

    “The Symbicort Chevrolet was good when it mattered,” Dillon said. “We worked really hard today; hard-fought battle. We were pretty fast there at the end. [Crew chief] Justin [Alexander] made a great call to take tires with 38 laps to go and it showed up. We’re close, we’re getting there. Love how these races are playing out. Getting closer and closer!”

    Like his teammate and childhood hero Jimmie Johnson, a top-10 result was what William Byron and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team needed following a string of on-track challenges not only since NASCAR’s return at Darlington, but since the start of this season. Starting with a 40th-place result in the Daytona 500, the Charlotte native has finished in the top 10 once, which came at Phoenix in March. Coming off a 12th-place result at Charlotte, Byron started 13th and spent the first stage of the race mired in and out of the top 20. By the second stage, Byron was able to methodically work his way inside the top 10. He ran as high as fifth before settling in seventh following the second stage. He made contact with the wall at the start of the final stage, which dropped him all the way back to the top 20. He would spend the rest of the race working his way back into the top 10 while dodging the late carnage. When all was said and done, Byron was able to take the checkered flag in eighth, which was the highest he has finished since finishing second at Martinsville in October 2019. With his second top-10 result of the season, Byron gained one position from 17th to 16th in the standings.

    “It was a tough race at the start for us, but we finished eighth which was good,” Byron said. “Lately, we’ve had damage and just a lot of things go wrong for us. We just really needed a good finish and we did today. Once we finally got our track position back, we stayed up towards the top 10 and kept ourselves up there.”

    For Christopher Bell, it was not only a day where he matched his career-best result in the Cup Series. It was a day where he looked like a Cup veteran in only his ninth series start and after rallying from finishing outside the top 20 in the first five races of 2020. Starting 35th, Bell nearly made his way into the top 20 by Lap 60. Ultimately, he would finish 25th following the first stage. Then came a near-harrowing moment for the Oklahoma native on Lap 229, when he was able to escape a multi-car wreck through Turns 2 and 3, a wreck that collected his fellow rookie contenders Cole Custer and Tyler Reddick. Bell would continue to finish 17th in the second stage. Remaining on track under the caution after pitting the previous caution, Bell found himself running in the top 10. He ran as high as fourth before settling inside the top 10 throughout the green-flag run. Disaster struck, however, under caution with less than 70 laps remaining following a pit stop, where Bell was sent to the rear due to an uncontrolled tire violation. He would work his way back to the top 15 in the closing laps and would survive to a ninth-place result, making him the highest-finishing rookie in the race. With his second career top-10 result and third top-15 finish in the last four races, Bell is 25th in the standings.

    “We battled back and have begun to see some results, which is good,” Bell said. “It’s nice to be getting some results after the start of the season we had. We are continuing to build and get better, which is the goal. I’m a rookie and I’m learning more every race.”

    Last but not least, if there was someone who desperately needed a strong result following a string of dismal luck, it was Bubba Wallace and the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet team. Coming into Bristol, Wallace had four top-20 finishes under his belt and had failed to finish the last two Cup races at Charlotte. Starting 36th, Wallace nearly cracked the top 20 through the first 60 laps. He would finish 22nd in the first stage. He made his way inside the top 20 at the start of the second stage, but under caution past the 200-lap mark, Wallace was caught speeding on pit road, which sent him to the rear. He was able to dodge a multi-car wreck on Lap 229 despite making contact with Ryan Preece. When the second stage was complete, Wallace was 19th. Under the stage break, he remained on track to place himself in the top 10. When the race returned to green, Wallace slowly fell back to the top 15 on old tires. Under caution, however, with less than 170 laps remaining, Wallace was again tabbed with a speeding penalty that sent him to the rear. He would spend the duration of the next green-flag run working his way back to the top 10, which he was able to do so less than 60 to go. He would ignite a multi-car wreck with 36 to go that involved Aric Almirola and Martin Truex Jr., but he would proceed while continuing to fight to stay in the top 10. On the final five-lap dash to the finish, he had enough to edge Kevin Harvick and finish 10th for his best result since finishing sixth at Las Vegas. With his second top-10 result, Wallace is 22nd in the standings.

    “All-in-all, it was a good day at the Bristol Motor Speedway,” Wallace said. “It was fun there at the end. It was wild – that race had pretty much everything. We will carry some momentum over – finally got a good finish after two bad ones. We got the bad juju off our back and we will go onto the Atlanta Motor Speedway! We’ve got some work to do there. I am excited about the speed we’ve been bringing to the track each week. We need to tweak some things to get us to the next level. We are knocking on the door.”

    All competitors will return for the next scheduled NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on June 7. The race will air at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.