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  • Buescher, Gibbs pleased; Wallace dejected amid top-10 runs and Playoff shakeup at Daytona

    Buescher, Gibbs pleased; Wallace dejected amid top-10 runs and Playoff shakeup at Daytona

    Harrison Burton’s first NASCAR Cup Series career victory in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, August 24, was a victory that dramatically shook up the 2024 Cup Series Playoff field as he went from being mired outside the top-30 mark in this year’s regular-season standings to locking himself into the Playoffs and contend for a championship.

    Burton’s victory also meant that 13 spots are solidified by guaranteed Playoff competitors who have recorded at least one victory through 25 of 26 regular-season events on the 2024 schedule. In return, three open spots to the Playoffs remain vacant ahead of next weekend’s regular-season finale at Darlington Raceway for the crown-jewel Southern 500 and have left a multitude of big names, including runner-up finisher Kyle Busch, in a “must-win” situation to make the Playoffs.

    Among those who remain within striking distance of one another for the vacant Playoff spots based on points ahead of next weekend’s regular-season finale include Ty Gibbs, Chris Buescher and Bubba Wallace, all of whom survived a “war of attrition” night mired with on-track chaos to claim top-10 results.

    Ty Gibbs, who sported Dennis Quaid’s Reagan movie on his No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry XSE entry, backed up his top-three result from the previously scheduled event at Michigan International Speedway by finishing in fifth place in Saturday’s event at Daytona amid an overtime shootout.

    The fifth-place run marked Gibbs’ seventh top-five result of the 2024 Cup Series season and his 11th top-10 result through 25 scheduled events. As a result, Gibbs, who came into the event 38 points above the top-16 cutline towards making the Playoffs, increased his advantage by one point as he strives to make his first Cup Series Playoffs after next weekend’s regular-season finale at Darlington.

    Ironically, Darlington is where Gibbs notched his career-best result of second place earlier in May, and the Charlotte, North Carolina native is aiming for one spot better to also land him his first Cup Series career victory.

    “[Tonight’s finish] was really important,” Gibbs said on NBC. “I was just happy to have a good clean day, good points day. I think we have the speed to go win [at Darlington], so I think it’d be cool to go win and get my first win at the Southern 500. It would be awesome.”

    Like Michigan, Buescher, the reigning Coke Zero Sugar 400 winner, endured a rallying type of night where he was collected in on-track carnage and had to fight his way back to finish inside the top 10. Compared to Michigan, however, the Prosper, Texas’ incident at Daytona occurred late in the event with 10 laps remaining as he got squeezed into the Turn 1 outside wall against Ricky Stenhouse Jr. amid a multi-car wreck that nearly flipped the pole-sitter, Michael McDowell.

    With the No. 17 Fifth Third Bank/Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry managing to continue with minimal damage, Buescher avoided contact from another multi-car wreck with two laps remaining and managed to squeeze his way to a 10th-place finish in an overtime shootout.

    As a result, Buescher, who led 10 laps en route to his 10th-place run at Daytona, is 21 points ahead of the cutline in his quest to make his third career Cup Series Playoffs and second in a row while driving for Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing. He also holds sole possession of the final transfer spot ahead of the race at Darlington, a venue where Buescher nearly won in May before he was involved in a late skirmish with Tyler Reddick that knocked both out of contention while battling for the lead and win.

    “Our Fifth Third Bank Mustang was so good,” Buescher said. “We were able to push unbelievably well and make a ton of speed. It was a lot of fun for a long while there. [I got] Caught up in another accident. We were just trying to get it to the end and ultimately, it was not the day we needed, but yeah, we go to Darlington points being what they are. There’s a little bit of a cushion there, but we know we were really good there last time [in May]. [We’ll] Try and seal the deal this go around and make it easy going into the Playoffs.”

    Perhaps, no competitor was left more bitter with the outcome than Bubba Wallace, who dropped back out of the top-16 cutline despite rallying to post a strong sixth-place result at Daytona.

    The Mobile, Alabama, native methodically carved his way from starting 18th to lead for the first time on Lap 46. Leading 16 overall laps, Wallace’s event briefly went south when he was involved in a multi-car wreck with 10 laps remaining that dropped him from the lead group. After having his No. 23 Columbia/23XI Racing Toyota Camry XSE repaired and steering clear of another multi-car wreck with two laps remaining, Wallace navigated his way to sixth place when the checkered flag flew after an overtime shootout.

    The good news for Wallace was finishing in the top 10 for the 10th time in 2024, tying his career-best finish, and accumulating 10 top-10 results like his previous two Cup seasons.

    However, Harrison Burton’s Daytona victory dropped Wallace below the top-16 cutline two weeks after he boosted his way back above the cutline. Currently, Wallace is six points ahead of Chastain in the Playoff picture standings at 17th, but 21 points below the cutline.

    Ahead of this year’s regular-season finale at Darlington, Wallace is coming off four consecutive top-nine runs at the historic venue, including back-to-back seventh-place finishes during his last two Cup runs at Darlington. Wallace, however, is setting his primary focus on winning at Darlington to make the Playoffs. If he can accomplish this, it would mark his second consecutive appearance as a Playoff contender as he strives to be both competitive and win like teammate Tyler Reddick has done twice, including recently at Michigan.

    “You got one car [Reddick] fighting for a regular-season championship and another car [Wallace] right around the bubble. It’s unacceptable,” Wallace said. “I’ll take all that weight on my shoulders. [I] Should’ve won multiple times this year and I haven’t. We don’t even deserve to be here and we are. I got to go win next week. That’s it.”

    The pursuit to make the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs for Chris Buescher, Ty Gibbs and Bubba Wallace continues next Sunday, September 1, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, for the Cook Out Southern 500, which will air at 6 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Harrison Burton shakes up 2024 Cup Playoffs with first career victory at Daytona; delivers 100th win for Wood Brothers Racing

    Harrison Burton shakes up 2024 Cup Playoffs with first career victory at Daytona; delivers 100th win for Wood Brothers Racing

    After enduring a series of trials and challenges while struggling to be competitive in 97 previous starts in the NASCAR Cup Series level, Harrison Burton responded back in an emphatic style by scoring his first career victory and delivering a landmark win for Wood Brothers Racing amid an overtime shootout in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, August 24.

    The 23-year-old Burton from Huntersville, North Carolina, led only the final lap of 164 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started in 20th place and maneuvered his way through both stage periods and a series of late-race carnages that included pole winner Michael McDowell getting airborne on one late incident before rookie Josh Berry rolled over during the following incident.

    Then while restarting alongside Kyle Busch on the front row at the start of an overtime shootout, Burton, who lost ground to Busch at the start of the final lap, received a huge draft from Parker Retzlaff to overtake Busch through the backstretch. With the lead in his grasp for two final turns, Burton then pulled two blocks on Busch entering the frontstretch’s tri-oval. He had enough steam underneath the hood of the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford to steer to his first elusive Cup Series victory that enabled him to automatically race his way into the 2024 Playoffs and deliver the milestone 100th win for the Wood Brothers.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup on Friday, August 23, Michael McDowell notched his fourth Cup Series pole position of the 2024 season after posting a fast pole-winning lap at 183.165 mph in 49.136 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Todd Gilliland, who posted the second-fastest qualifying lap at 182.801 mph in 49.234 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the event commenced, teammates Michael McDowell and Todd Gilliland dueled for the lead in front of the field that was stacked amid two tight-packed lanes through the first two turns and the backstretch. As the majority of the field continued to run in a pack of two, McDowell led the first lap by a hair from the inside lane over Gilliland as he had Joey Logano drafting him while Gilliland had drafting help from Ryan Preece.

    During the next four laps, the field slowly began to fan out to three stacked lanes as McDowell, who continued to run in the inside lane, retained the lead throughout the four-lap stretch over teammate Gilliland, Logano and Preece. By then, a third drafting lane towards the outside wall led by Austin Cindric started to charge towards the front as Cindric had Brad Keselowski and Austin Dillon drafting him.

    This caused McDowell to go on defense as he tried to block and retain the lead through three lanes, but Logano capitalized on McDowell’s move to the outside lane, starting on the backstretch, to lead the sixth lap mark. Rookie Josh Berry then went three wide on both Logano and McDowell through the frontstretch to challenge for the lead from the inside lane, which caused Logano to lose ground and get shuffled out of the top five as Berry and McDowell dueled for the lead on the seventh lap.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps and with the entire 40-car field separated by less than three seconds amid three stacked lanes within the draft, Keselowski scored the lead ahead of Logano, McDowell, Berry and Gilliland while Cindric, Austin Dillon, William Byron, Chris Buescher and Daniel Suarez were running in the top 10. With a series of on-track shuffling towards the front ensuing over the next five laps, Logano carved his way back to the front as he was pursued by McDowell, Keselowski, Berry, Gilliland, Byron, Cindric, Austin Dillon, Buescher and Kyle Larson by Lap 15.

    At the Lap 20 mark, Gilliland was drafted into the lead by teammate McDowell from the outside lane as Keselowski, Logano and Berry were scored in the top five ahead of Cindric, Blaney, Byron, Austin Dillon and Larson. Behind, Chris Buescher, Daniel Suarez, Bubba Wallace, Kyle Busch and Ross Chastain followed suit in the top 15 while Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman, Tyler Reddick and Erik Jones were mixed in the top 20 ahead of Chase Elliott, Daniel Hemric, Martin Truex Jr., BJ McLeod, Ty Gibbs, Corey LaJoie, Justin Haley, Harrison Burton, Cody Ware and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., with Noah Gragson, Chase Briscoe, Parker Retzlaff, Shane van Gisbergen and John Hunter Nemechek trailing in the top 35.

    Five laps later, the top 39 of 40 starters were separated by four seconds while the top 25 were separated by less than a second, all of whom were racing amid three tight lanes within the draft, as Gilliland continued to lead ahead of teammate McDowell, Keselowski, Cindric and Berry.

    Just past the Lap 30 mark, Logano carved his way back to the lead as he was followed by teammate Blaney, Larson and Kyle Busch while Keselowski kept pursuit from the outside lane. Logano and Keselowski would proceed to duel for the lead for the following two laps as the front-runners began to fan out and draft aggressively in their march to the front.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 35, Berry, who received a strong push from Buescher towards the outside lane amid three stacked lanes, starting from the backstretch, fended off Logano and Buescher at the start/finish line to capture his first Cup stage victory of the 2024 season and of his career. Logano and Buescher followed suit in second and third, respectively, while Cindric, Blaney, Gilliland, Keselowski, McDowell, Byron and Larson were scored in the top 10. By then, 39 of 40 starters were scored on the lead lap while the event had featured 13 lead changes and six different competitors leading at least one lap.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Berry pitted for a first round of pit service, Other drivers led by Corey LaJoie and including BJ McLeod, Martin Truex Jr., rookie Zane Smith, Austin Dillon, Preece, Daniel Hemric, Shane van Gisbergen, rookie Carson Hocevar and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. remained on the track.

    Following the pit stops, Logano exited pit road first ahead of Buescher, Cindric, Berry, Larson, Chastain, Wallace, Keselowski, Gilliland and McDowell. During the pit stops, Daniel Suarez had fire blazing out of his No. 99 Coca-Cola Zero Sugar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as he left his pit stall, which he then cycled for a full lap before he returned to his pit stall while still blazing in flames and escaped the cockpit uninjured. The cause of the fire was spilled fuel that was run over by Hamlin as the spark then carried forth into Suarez’s entry.

    During the caution laps, a multitude of names that included Tyler Reddick, Erik Jones, Chase Briscoe, Cody Ware, Austin Hill, Noah Gragson, LaJoie, Austin Dillon, van Gisbergen, McLeod, Zane Smith, Justin Haley, Stenhouse, Truex and Hocevar pitted to top off with fuel as they were shuffled to the rear of the field.

    The second stage period started on Lap 41 as Logano and Buescher occupied the front row. At the start, both dueled for the lead through the first two turns before Logano received a draft from teammate Cindric and Berry from the outside lane to emerge ahead of Buescher, who continued to run on the inside lane and lead the following lap as he had Ross Chastain drafting him.

    With the field quickly fanning out to three packed lanes over the next four laps, Bubba Wallace, who did not record stage points during the first stage’s conclusion, maneuvered his way to the front as he challenged Buescher, Logano, Cindric and Keselowski for the lead as Chastain, Berry and Larson followed suit within the top eight.

    Through the first 50 scheduled laps and a series of on-track shuffling ensuing at the front, Chase Briscoe, who carved his way to the front a few laps earlier, was leading by a hair over Wallace as Hemric, Logano, Buescher, Austin Hill, Keselowski, Cindric, Berry and LaJoie were mired in the top 10 ahead of Chastain, Gilliland, Larson, Gragson, McDowell, Burton, Preece, Kyle Busch, Blaney and Haley. Meanwhile, Elliott, Nemechek, Ty Gibbs, Hamlin and Byron were mired in the top 25 as the top 38 competitors were separated by a second amid three packed lanes.

    Five laps later, Wallace, who reassumed the lead three laps earlier, retained the lead ahead of Buescher while Keselowski and Logano dueled for third place in front of the stacked field. Wallace proceeded to transition from the outside to the inside lane as he fended off Buescher and Logano for the top spot while LaJoie was trying to formulate a run from a third drafting lane toward the outside lane. Amid a series of on-track shuffling over the next four laps, Wallace retained the lead ahead of a long line of competitors opting to run towards the outside lane and behind Wallace

    Then on Lap 59, the caution flew for a multi-car wreck that erupted in the backstretch when Gragson, who was trying to carve his way towards the top-10 mark, was aggressively pushed into Chastain and Haley by LaJoie, where a stack-up caused LaJoie to get Gragson turned sideways and clip both Nemechek and Chastain as Truex, Bowman, Ty Gibbs, Hill, Hamlin, Erik Jones, Byron, Elliott, Larson, Hemric, Preece, Blaney, Austin Dillon and Reddick all wrecked. The multi-car wreck took a hit on Chastain’s hopes of remaining in Playoff contention as he lost one lap in the process of having his car still in contention to race while top names including Preece, Hamlin, Gragson and Elliott retired from further competition.

    During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Wallace pitted, primarily for fuel, while a select few led by Hocevar remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Buescher exited first ahead of Keselowski, Logano, Wallace, Berry, Cindric, Gilliland, McDowell, Burton and Blaney. Hocevar would then pit after leading a lap under caution while Reddick, Hill and Erik Jones remained on the track in the top three spots. The latter three would then pit shortly after, which enabled Buescher to cycle back into the lead.

    The start of the next restart period on Lap 66 featured teammates Buescher and Keselowski dueling for the lead against one another before Buescher muscled ahead with strong drafting help from Logano on the outside lane through the first two turns. With Buescher and Logano drafting their way to first and second on the track, Keselowski followed suit along with Wallace, Cindric and Burton while Berry was trying to mount a charge from the inside lane as he had drafting help from Gilliland. By Lap 68, however, the majority of the field migrated to a long single-file line towards the outside lane as Buescher led the way ahead of Logano, Keselowski, Wallace and Cindric.

    Just past the Lap 70 mark, Buescher continued to lead ahead of a long line of competitors running towards the outside lane as he was pursued by Logano, Keselowski, Wallace, Cindric, Burton, Kyle Busch, van Gisbergen, Haley and Gilliland. Behind, McDowell, Blaney, McLeod, Erik Jones, Ty Gibbs, Bell, Nemechek, Hill, Zane Smith and Berry occupied the top-20 spots ahead of Austin Dillon, Byron, Briscoe, Larson and Cody Ware. By Lap 73, however, the field quickly fanned out to two drafted lanes as Wallace received a draft from Kyle Busch while transitioning to the inside lane to reassume the lead. The field then fanned out to three lanes on Lap 75 as Logano overtook Gilliland to aggressively move into the lead as teammate Cindric, Haley, Blaney and Reddick quickly made their way to the front as Buescher, Wallace and Kyle Busch were getting shuffled out of the top-10 mark.

    On Lap 77, Cindric, who was running towards the front, nearly got sideways on the backstretch after he got hit on the side by Larson while being drafted by teammate Blaney, but he managed to keep his No. 2 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse straight despite getting shuffled out of the lead group as the race remained under green flag conditions.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 80 and a series of on-track shuffling ensuing at the front, Larson was leading by a hair over Gilliland and Logano while Busch, Blaney, Keselowski, McDowell, Reddick, Buescher and Byron were scored in the top 10. By then, the top-31 competitors were separated by four seconds as the top 18 were separated by under a second.

    Then on Lap 80, the caution returned when Erik Jones fell off the pace due to blowing a flat right-front tire to his No. 43 Family Dollar Toyota Camry XSE. Behind Jones, van Gisbergen, who was announced as a full-time Cup Series competitor for Trackhouse Racing in 2025, had his No. 16 Safety Culture Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 billowing in thick smoke through the backstretch as his car, which also ended up in flames, came to an end with an engine failure, where he then managed to park his car and escape uninjured.

    During the extensive caution period, some led by Gilliland and including Busch, McDowell and Cindric pitted while the rest led by Logano remained on the track.

    With the race restarting under green flag conditions on Lap 88, Loganon and Larson dueled for the lead through the first two turns and ahead of an aggressive field dueling amid two stacked lanes. While Logano had teammate Blaney drafting him from the outside lane, Larson gained the upper hand from the inside lane as he led the next lap with drafting help from Keselowski and Buescher as Gilliland and Busch closed in to join the draft.

    By Lap 90, Larson continued to lead ahead of Keselowski, Logano, Buescher and Blaney as Wallace started to ignite a third drafting lane towards the outside lane with drafting help from teammate Reddick. With the top 21 competitors separated by a second, Keselowski and Larson dueled for the lead in front of the stacked pack for the following lap.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 95, Logano held off a three-wide challenge from teammate Blaney and Keselowski to capture his second Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Larson and Gilliland followed suit behind the three Ford leaders while Haley, Busch, Byron, Buescher and Wallace were scored in the top 10. By then, the top-31 competitors were scored on the lead lap while the event had featured 31 lead changes.

    During the stage break, a majority of the field led by Logano pitted while a select few led by Keselowski and Stenhouse remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Chastain managed to cycle his way back onto the lead lap while Keselowski and Stenhouse would pit for fuel not long after.

    With 60 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as McDowell and Berry occupied the front row. McDowell launched ahead with the lead from the outside lane as he was drafted by Busch and Burton. Berry led the inside lane ahead of Haley and Cindric. McDowell would proceed to lead the following lap as he transitioned between the inside and outside lane to keep Berry behind him. In the process, Haley moved into second place during the next lap period while Berry settled in third ahead of Cindric and Busch as the top 32 competitors were separated by within two seconds.

    With less than 54 laps remaining and the majority of the field running in a long single-file line towards the outside lane, McDowell was leading ahead of Haley, Berry, Cindric, Busch, Burton, Nemechek, Zane Smith, Larson and Austin Dillon while Hemric, Austin Hill, Briscoe, Logano, Wallace, Blaney, Bell, Gibbs, Bowman and Erik Jones followed suit in close-quarters racing within the top 20. Meanwhile, Chastain was mired in 30th place along with Keselowski while Buescher was in 22nd in between Bell and Gilliland.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event and with the field both fanned and stacked out to two lanes, McDowell continued to lead ahead of Haley, Nemechek, Berry, Larson, Cindric, Busch, Logano, Burton and Hemric while the top 30 competitors were separated by less than two seconds.

    Ten laps later, Haley, who aggressively overtook McDowell for the top spot a lap earlier, was leading two stacks of competitors vying for spots amid the draft, with Cindric, McDowell, Logano, Berry, Nemechek, Keselowski, Larson, Buescher and Busch mingled in the top 10 ahead of Cody Ware, Burton, Bell, Zane Smith, Austin Dillon, Wallace, Hill, Briscoe, Gilliland and Blaney.

    Five laps later and with the majority of the field migrating towards the outside lane in a long single-file line, Haley continued to lead ahead of Berry, Nemechek, Larson, Busch, Cindric, McDowell, Logano, Burton and Cody Ware as the top-25 competitors were separated by less than two seconds and the top 32 separated by three seconds.

    Another five laps later, Haley retained the lead ahead of Berry, Nemechek, Larson and Busch with a majority of the lead lap field remaining in a long single-file line towards the outside lane while Cody Ware was trying to ignite a charge from the inside lane with drafting help from Bell and Wallace. By then, Truex was pinned multiple laps down after he pitted his car under green.

    Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Haley, who threw a series of blocks while transitioning from the inside and outside lane, retained the lead ahead of Berry while Bell muscled his way up to third place as he was followed by Nemechek, Larson, Wallace, Busch, Hemric, Cindric and Keselowski, with the top-30 competitors separated by less than two seconds. Three laps later, however, the field began to fan out aggressively to three stacked lanes as Nemechek challenged Haley for the lead from the outside lane.

    Then with 21 laps remaining, the caution flew.= when Nemechek, who was vying for the lead amid a three-wide battle with Busch and Haley, received a hard bump from Larson in the middle lane that caused Nemechek to turn across the right-front fender of Haley and send Nemechek’s No. 42 Pye Barker Toyota Camry XSE spinning below the backstretch’s asphalt, though Nemechek managed to keep his car off the wall and continue as no one else wrecked. At the moment of caution, Busch emerged as the leader ahead of Cindric, Larson, McDowell, Berry and Keselowski.

    During the caution period and with the field assessing their fuel situation to the finish, the entire lead lap field led by Busch pitted, primarily for fuel. Following the pit stops, Cindric exited pit road first, followed by Keselowski, Larson, McDowell, Busch, Logano, Blaney, Berry, Briscoe and Wallace. Within the pit stops Bell made contact with McLeod while exiting his pit stall.

    The start of the following restart period with 16 laps remaining featured Keselowski and Cindric dueling for the lead through the first two turns amid a wave of shoves towards the front, with Cindric having drafting help from Larson while Keselowski had drafting help from McDowell. Cindric would then prevail from the outside lane as he led the next lap ahead of Larson before Keselowski fought back.

    Shortly after, however, Keselowski was penalized for a restart violation, where he pulled ahead of the leader Cindric from the inside lane when he was not in control of the restart to launch ahead. Keselowski, however, remained on the track and towards the front before he yielded and served a pass-through penalty through pit road with 12 laps remaining. With Keselowski serving his penalty, the field fanned out to three stacked lanes as Cindric battled McDowell for the lead.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, the top 27 competitors were separated by less than a second amid three stacked lanes as Cindric, Larson and McDowell all dueled for the lead from the top, middle and bottom lanes, respectively. Amid the battles, Berry and Busch were scored in the top five as Logano, Wallace, Bowman, Reddick and Blaney were mingled in the top 10.

    A lap later, the caution flew for a multi-car wreck that erupted in Turn 1 when McDowell, who led the previous lap and transitioned towards the outside lane to block Cindric, got sideways off the front nose of Cindric as he spun to the bottom of the track. McDowell received a huge hit on the driver’s side by Logano as McDowell’s No. 34 Long John Silver’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse went airborne and nearly flipped. The car managed to land back on all four wheels while sliding back up the track and clipping the rear deck lid of Bowman’s No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the process.

    Amid the carnage, a multitude of names including Logano, Larson, Bowman, Bell, Wallace, Reddick, Haley, Byron, Blaney, Stenhouse, Buescher and Hill were all involved. Meanwhile, Cindric escaped with the lead while Berry, Busch, Bell, Austin Dillon and Zane Smith were scored in the top six.

    During the caution period, some including McLeod, Nemechek, Wallace, Joey Gase, Briscoe, Reddick, LaJoie and Chastain pitted their respective entries while the rest led by Cindric remained on the track.

    With three laps remaining, the race restarted under green as Cindric and Berry occupied the front row. At the start, Cindric and Berry dueled for the lead in front of two stacked lanes before Cindric muscled ahead from the inside lane entering the backstretch. Cindric and Berry continued to battle dead even for the lead for the following two turns as Cindric led the following lap by a hair, with Busch, Byron, Bell and Burton closely mixed in the top six.

    Then, with two laps remaining entering the backstretch, the caution flew and the event was sent into overtime following another multi-car wreck that started when a stackup at the front resulted in Busch bumping Cindric as Cindric went up the track and made contact with both Berry and Byron. It sent Byron’s No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 up into the outside wall hard while Cindric and Berry were sent sliding toward the backstretch’s infield.

    Amid the spins, Berry’s No. 4 eero Ford Mustang Dark Horse then went airborne and rolled over on its roof as the car slid down the backstretch and smacked the inside wall hard head-on before the car spun several times on its top and came to rest while still upside-down. Among those involved included Zane Smith, Erik Jones, Gilliland, Austin Dillon, Nemechek and Austin Hill while the rest of the field scattered to avoid the carnage.

    Amid the wild ride, Berry, who had the on-track safety crews roll the car back on all four wheels, managed to climb out and emerge uninjured with the driver giving thumbs up. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch escaped with the lead ahead of Burton while Bell, Retzlaff, Nemechek and Keselowski were scored in the top six as the event was placed in a red flag period for nearly seven minutes.

    When the red flag lifted and the field proceeded under a cautious pace, Kyle Busch and Burton opted to restart alongside one another for the first overtime attempt, with Busch having Bell, Cody Ware and Keselowski lining up behind him on the inside lane while Burton had Retzlaff, Nemechek and Gibbs lining up behind him on the outside lane.

    The start of the first overtime attempt featured Busch and Burton dueling for the lead until Busch rocketed his No. 8 Cheddar’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 ahead with drafting help from Bell’s No. 20 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry XSE on the inside lane. Busch would retain the lead through the backstretch and he started to muscle ahead of both Burton and Bell entering Turns 3 and 4 with a reasonable advantage.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Busch remained as the leader ahead of Burton and Bell with the field behind continuing to stack up and draft aggressively amid two lanes. Then as Busch was trying to keep Bell drafting him from the inside lane, Harrison Burton rocketed his No. 21 DEX Imaging Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the lead with a strong push from Parker Retzlaff from the outside lane.

    Then as Burton maintained the lead through Turns 3 and 4, he went up the track to block Busch. He blocked Busch again while transitioning back to the inside lane, going below the double yellow lines in the process. With Burton keeping his car straight and fending off Busch’s last corner efforts, he managed to beat Busch to the finish line by 0.047 seconds to claim his first triumph in the Cup Series.

    With the victory, Burton became the 205th competitor overall to win in NASCAR’s premier series, the first competitor to record a first Cup victory in 2024 and the first competitor to record a first Cup victory while driving for the Wood Brothers Racing team since Ryan Blaney made the last accomplishment at Pocono Raceway in June 2017. Ironically, Burton, who won in his 98th Cup career start, became the first competitor to record a first Cup win in Daytona’s 400-lap feature since William Byron did so in 2020 where he also achieved the feat in his 98th series start.

    Speaking of Wood Brothers Racing, the historic organization accomplished its seven-year battle of notching its elusive 100th victory in the Cup Series as Burton, who became the 19th competitor overall to win while driving for the Wood Brothers, drove the team’s No. 21 Ford to its first Daytona win since Trevor Bayne won the 2011 Daytona 500.

    As a result of his first Cup Series victory, Burton, who came into the event strapped in 34th place in the regular-season standings, earned a one-way ticket to the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs, which will mark his first opportunity and the Wood Brother’s third overall to contend in the Cup’s postseason elimination-style battle for the championship. Burton also became the 13th competitor overall to be guaranteed a 2024 Playoff berth by winning throughout the regular-season stretch.

    “I don’t know. I cried the whole victory lap,” Burton, who fought tears of emotions, said while celebrating with his team, family and father Jeff on the frontstretch, on NBC. “Obviously, [I] got fired from the shove. I wanted to do everything for the Wood Brothers that I could. They’ve given me an amazing opportunity in life. To get them [win No.] 100 on my way out is amazing. We’re in the Playoffs now. Let’s go to Darlington and see what happens.”

    The victory was a personal one for Burton, who is set to be a free agent after this season. With Josh Berry set to replace Burton in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford in 2025, Burton’s racing status for next season remains undetermined, though he strives to conclude the 2024 season strong.

    “It’s amazing,” Burton added. “It’s been the hardest three years of my life. Obviously, the hardest three years for some of these [No. 21] guys’ lives. To win the way that we just did, to beat the best in the business, Kyle Busch, across the line, it’s pretty fantastic. I made a bet with Jeremy [Bullins], my crew chief, that if we won, we’re staying here and driving home, so we’ll be at a bar somewhere! Come find us and we’re gonna celebrate this one!”

    Behind Burton, Kyle Busch, who led eight laps, recorded a strong runner-up result for his fourth top-five result of the 2024 season. Despite being left satisfied with his run, Busch trails the Playoff cutline by 106 points and is still left in a “must-win” situation entering next weekend’s regular-season finale at Darlington Raceway to keep his Playoff hopes alive.

    “I just finished second. It’s all good,” Busch said. “We were really, really, really lucky tonight to miss a few of them crashes. All good. Just real proud of everybody, [crew chief] Randall [Burnett], all the guys. Everybody at [Richard Childress Racing], ECR [Engines]. They did a great job and brought a fast car. [It] Wasn’t meant to be, so we’ll take this and got a good little stretch here going with these last three weeks and hope that we can do what we need to do in next week’s [race].”

    Christopher Bell came home in third place followed by Cody Ware, who recorded his first top-five result in the Cup Series, while Ty Gibbs battled back to finish in fifth place.

    Bubba Wallace also rallied to finish in sixth place followed by Parker Retzlaff and Brad Keselowski, who spun through the frontstretch’s tri-oval after crossing the finish line while Daniel Hemric and Chris Buescher completed the top-10 results in the final running order.

    With three spots into the 2024 Cup Series Playoff standings being vacant entering next weekend’s regular-season finale at Darlington, Martin Truex Jr. sits 58 points above the cutline and Ty Gibbs sits 39 points above the cutline. Meanwhile, Chris Buescher holds sole possession of the 16th and final transfer spot in the Playoffs by 21 points over Bubba Wallace and 27 over Ross Chastain.

    There were 40 lead changes for 16 different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 34 laps. In addition, 20 of 40 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 25th event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Tyler Reddick continues to lead the regular-season standings by 17 points over Kyle Larson, 18 over Chase Elliott, 68 over Ryan Blaney, 80 over William Byron and 86 over Christopher Bell.

    Results.

    1. Harrison Burton, one lap led

    2. Kyle Busch, eight laps led

    3. Christopher Bell

    4. Cody Ware

    5. Ty Gibbs

    6. Bubba Wallace, 16 laps led

    7. Parker Retzlaff

    8. Brad Keselowski, eight laps led

    9. Daniel Hemric

    10. Chris Buescher, 10 laps led

    11. Carson Hocevar, one lap led

    12. Ross Chastain

    13. Zane Smith

    14. Chase Briscoe, two laps led

    15. John Hunter Nemechek

    16. Alex Bowman

    17. Erik Jones

    18. Austin Cindric, 15 laps led

    19. BJ McLeod

    20. Joey Gase

    21. Kyle Larson, one lap down, five laps led

    22. Austin Dillon, two laps down

    23. Todd Gilliland, two laps down, five laps led

    24. Martin Truex Jr., three laps down

    25. Austin Hill – OUT

    26. Josh Berry – OUT, Accident, nine laps led, Stage 1 winner

    27. William Byron – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    28. Tyler Reddick – OUT, Accident

    29. Ryan Blaney – OUT, Accident

    30. Michael McDowell – OUT, Accident, 26 laps led

    31. Joey Logano – OUT, Accident, 34 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    32. Justin Haley – OUT, Accident, 21 laps led

    33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident, two laps led

    34. Corey LaJoie, 32 laps down

    35. Shane van Gisbergen – OUT, Engine

    36. Chase Elliott – OUT, Accident

    37. Noah Gragson – OUT, Accident

    38. Denny Hamlin – OUT, Accident

    39. Ryan Preece – OUT, DVP

    40.  Daniel Suarez – OUT, Fire

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, which will serve as this year’s regular-season finale and officially determine the 16-car field for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, September 1, during Labor Day weekend and air at 6 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • McDowell rockets to fourth Cup pole of 2024 at Daytona; Front Row Motorsports sweep front row

    McDowell rockets to fourth Cup pole of 2024 at Daytona; Front Row Motorsports sweep front row

    Front Row Motorsports’ Michael McDowell and Todd Gilliland rocketed their way to the front row starting spots for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, August 23, with McDowell soaring to his fourth Busch Light Pole Award of the 2024 season.

    McDowell, the 2021 Daytona 500 champion from Glendale, Arizona, was one of 10 from a list of 40-entered competitors to transfer into the second of two qualifying rounds consisting of one timed lap per round, with the top-10 competitors posting the 10-fastest lap times during the first round. At the conclusion of the first qualifying, McDowell and teammate Todd Gilliland had posted identical qualifying lap times at 182.86 mph in 49.218 seconds, where their times were both the fastest and the initial track record at Daytona in Next Gen cars.

    During the final round, McDowell, who was the next-to-last competitor of 10 to post a qualifying lap, soared his No. 34 Long John Silver’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry right back to the top of the leaderboard with a track qualifying record of 183.165 mph in 49.136 seconds in a Next Gen car.

    As a result, McDowell notched his fourth NASCAR Cup Series pole position of his career and his third on a superspeedway venue, all occurring in 2024. He will also start on pole position for the first time since doing so at World Wide Technology Raceway in June. The pole award also marks the fifth overall for Front Row Motorsports as McDowell, who is campaigning in his final season with the organization before moving to Spire Motorsports in 2025, strives to race his way into the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs with two regular-season events remaining on the schedule. Currently, he is 157 points below the top-16 cutline to make the 2024 Playoffs.

    “I’m just proud of everybody at Front Row Motorsports,” McDowell said on USA Network. “To have both cars on the front row is amazing. Just a testament to how hard everybody’s working at Front Row Motorsports. We know we got two shots left here [to make the Playoffs]. This is a big weekend for us, so to have both cars upfront is really important. Hopefully, we can stay up front, control the race and give ourselves a fighting chance to get into these Playoffs.”

    Joining McDowell on the front row for Saturday’s main event will be teammate Todd Gilliland, who was the last competitor to qualify during the final round of qualifying and posted the second-best lap at 182.801 mph in 49.234 seconds. Like McDowell, Gilliland faces a “must-win” situation to make the 2024 Playoffs as he and his No. 38 Grillo’s Pickles Ford Mustang Dark Horse team are 151 points below the top-16 cutline.

    Joey Logano, who posted the third-fastest qualifying lap at 182.341 mph in 49.358 seconds, will share the second row with Ryan Preece, who posted the fourth-best qualifying lap at 182.312 mph in 49.366 seconds. Rookie Josh Berry will start in fifth place with his best qualifying lap being scored at 182.197 mph in 49.397 seconds while Chase Briscoe will line up in sixth place with a qualifying lap at 182.194 mph in 49.398 seconds as Ford competitors claimed the top-six starting spots.

    William Byron, the highest-qualifying Chevrolet competitor, will start in seventh place while Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott round out the top 10 starting spots, respectively.

    Notably, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski will share the sixth row in 11th and 12th, respectively, while Chris Buescher, the reigning Coke Zero Sugar 400 winner, will start in 13th place as he shares the seventh row alongside Ryan Blaney. In addition, Austin Dillon will start 16th, Martin Truex Jr. will start 17th in his final full-time Cup start at Daytona, Bubba Wallace will line up in 18th place ahead of team owner Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain will occupy the 24th starting spot ahead of Michigan winner Tyler Reddick and Ty Gibbs.

    During the first qualifying round, Erik Jones was the only competitor who did not post a qualifying time after her forfeited his run due to an issue to his No. 43 Dollar Family Toyota Camry XSE entry. As a result, he will round out the 40-car grid by starting Saturday’s main event in 40th place, dead last.

    *All 40 entered competitors made the main event.

    Qualifying position, best speed, best time:

    1. Michael McDowell, 183.165 mph, 49.136 seconds
    2. Todd Gilliland, 182.801 mph, 49.234 seconds
    3. Joey Logano, 182.341 mph, 49.358 seconds
    4. Ryan Preece, 182.312 mph, 49.366 seconds
    5. Josh Berry, 182.197 mph, 49.397 seconds
    6. Chase Briscoe, 182.194 mph, 49.398 seconds
    7. William Byron, 182.057 mph, 49.435 seconds
    8. Austin Cindric, 181.998 mph, 49.451 seconds
    9. Kyle Larson, 181.899 mph, 49.478 seconds
    10. Chase Elliott, 181.752 mph, 49.518 seconds
    11. Kyle Busch, 181.613 mph, 49.556 seconds
    12. Brad Keselowski, 181.543 mph, 49.575 seconds
    13. Chris Buescher, 181.51 mph, 49.584 seconds
    14. Ryan Blaney, 181.499 mph, 49.587 seconds
    15. Noah Gragson, 181.408 mph, 49.612 seconds
    16. Austin Dillon, 181.40 mph, 49.614 seconds
    17. Martin Truex Jr., 181.17 mph, 49.677 seconds
    18. Bubba Wallace, 181.123 mph, 49.69 seconds
    19. Denny Hamlin, 181.006 mph, 49.722 seconds
    20. Harrison Burton, 180.999 mph, 49.724 seconds
    21. Alex Bowman, 180.937 mph, 49.741 seconds
    22. Daniel Suarez, 180.843 mph, 49.767 seconds
    23. Austin Hill, 180.835 mph, 49.769 seconds
    24. Ross Chastain, 180.825 mph, 49.772 seconds
    25. Tyler Reddick, 180.817 mph, 49.774 seconds
    26. Ty Gibbs, 180.752 mph, 49.792 seconds
    27. Christopher Bell, 180.745 mph, 49.794 seconds
    28. Daniel Hemric, 180.650 mph, 49.820 seconds
    29. Parker Retzlaff, 180.647 mph, 49.821 seconds
    30. Zane Smith, 180.563 mph, 49.844 seconds
    31. John Hunter Nemechek, 180.552 mph, 49.847 seconds
    32. Shane van Gisbergen, 180.426 mph, 49.882 seconds
    33. Cody Ware, 180.274 mph, 49.924 seconds
    34. Corey LaJoie, 180.263 mph, 49.927 seconds
    35. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 179.795 mph, 50.057 seconds
    36. Justin Haley, 179.766 mph, 50.065 seconds
    37. Carson Hocevar, 179.176 mph, 50.079 seconds
    38. BJ McLeod, 177.441 mph, 50.721 seconds
    39. Joey Gase, 175.114 mph, 51.395 seconds
    40. Erik Jones, 0.000 mph, 0.000 seconds

    The 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway is scheduled to occur on Saturday, August 24, and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Chase Briscoe wins the pole for NASCAR’s regular-season finale at Daytona

    Chase Briscoe wins the pole for NASCAR’s regular-season finale at Daytona

    Chase Briscoe captured the NASCAR Cup Series pole for Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway after posting a qualifying lap of 181.822 mph in the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. It marks Briscoe’s second Cup Series career pole.

    After qualifying, Briscoe admitted that he was not confident as he left pit road to qualify. “I was worried,” he said. “When I left pit road I did an absolutely terrible job. I spun the tires and I shifted way too early to second and then I had a double lift on the gas at third and fourth and I was like, ‘Man, I completely threw this away,’ so I knew it was gonna be extremely close getting back to the line and just barely was able to be there.

    “It’s cool for Stewart-Haas Racing. It’s no secret that it’s been a struggle for us this year and to bring two really fast Fords to Daytona and lock out the front row is a testament to everything the men and women back there are doing and this Roush Yates power under the hood.”

    His teammate, Aric Almirola, will join Briscoe on the front row, after laying down a 181.693 mph lap in the final round. Wood Brothers Racing’s Harrison Burton claimed the third spot in the No. 21 Ford, his career-best starting position. Toyota drivers Bubba Wallace (23XI Racing) and Ty Gibbs (Joe Gibbs Racing) rounded out the top five.

    Riley Herbst qualified sixth for Front Row Motorsports in only his third Cup Series start as Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson, the only Chevrolet driver in the top 10, was seventh. Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney was eighth quickest, as Stewart-Haas Racing teammates, Ryan Preece and Kevin Harvick, earned the final two spots in the top 10.

    There is more on the line than usual this weekend with only one spot remaining in the 16-driver Cup Series Playoffs which is set to begin next week at Darlington Raceway.

    All eyes will be on Chase Elliott as he attempts to keep the streak alive after having made the Playoffs for seven consecutive years. He is currently 19th in the driver playoff standings and nothing short of a win will advance him.

    After qualifying 23rd, Elliott will have his work cut out for him but he remains determined.

    “I still don’t think it matters a whole lot,” Elliott said of qualifying at Daytona. “I do think track position matters at some point during the day, and we saw that in the [Daytona] 500 here. I crashed there early on, but the part of the race I was in, I felt like everybody was stuck. We couldn’t go anywhere. I was looking around, and there were times during the race I was like, he’s trying to go forward and can’t.

    “I think the more the cars are the same as time has gone on, it’s hard to be different, then it puts all the emphasis on the little stuff. How fast are your pit stops? How much gas you got in it? How good’s your restart? All the itty-bitty little things become much larger pieces of the puzzle when the cars are just more and more the same, especially when you’re running around here wide open.”

    “There’s still a little bit of a difference,” he added. “Whether it’s the driver, the car or a combination of both, I still think a guy can make himself stand out.”

    Tune into the Coke Sugar Zero 400 Saturday evening at 7 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock for all the racing action as the Cup Series playoff field is set.

    Starting Lineup

    1. Chase Briscoe
    2. Aric Almirola
    3. Harrison Burton
    4. Bubba Wallace
    5. Ty Gibbs (R)
    6. Riley Herbst
    7. Kyle Larson
    8. Ryan Blaney
    9. Ryan Preece
    10. Kevin Harvick
    11. Chris Buescher
    12. Brad Keselowski
    13. Martin Truex Jr.
    14. Joey Logano
    15. Christopher Bell
    16. Austin Cindric
    17. AJ Allmendinger
    18. Kyle Busch
    19. Denny Hamlin
    20. Tyler Reddick
    21. Austin Dillon
    22. Daniel Suarez
    23. Chase Elliott
    24. Erik Jones
    25. Ross Chastain
    26. Austin Hill
    27. William Byron
    28. Justin Haley
    29. Josh Berry
    30. Ty Dillon
    31. Alex Bowman
    32. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
    33. JJ Yeley
    34. Brennan Poole
    35. Todd Gilliland
    36. Chandler Smith
    37. Corey LaJoie
    38. BJ McLeod
    39. Michael McDowell
  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Daytona

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Daytona

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished 29th at Daytona, and will start the playoffs in first with a 15-point lead over second-place Joey Logano.

    “I’m also 21 points ahead of Kyle Larson,” Elliott said. “Twenty-one points may not sound like much, but in the NASCAR playoffs, it’s pretty substantial. Of course, I want to maintain that lead, so I suggest Kyle ‘keep his distance’ from me.”

    2. Joey Logano: Logano won Stage 1 at Daytona and finished 12th in the Coke Zero Sugar 400.

    “I just signed a long-term extension with Penske Racing,” Logano said. “And I can’t wait to tell everyone, especially Kyle Busch.”

    3. Ryan Blaney: Blaney ran into early trouble when he was collected in a crash triggered when Denny Hamlin sent Erik Jones spinning in front of the field. Blaney’s No. 12 suffered heavy damage but was able to stay in the race, finishing 15th, and claiming the final playoff spot.

    “After that crash,” Blaney said, “I really didn’t know what to think. Luckily, my No. 12 Chevy was sponsored by a well-known auto parts franchise, and having the word ‘Advance’ on the side of my car told me exactly what I needed to do.”

    4. Kyle Busch: Busch took Stage 2 in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 and finished 10th, posting his 12th top 10 of the year.

    “In regards to my contract situation,” Busch said, “Toyota executive David Wilson said, ‘I don’t want to race against a pissed-off Kyle Busch.’ My potential teammates probably have a somewhat similar view, ‘because they just don’t want to race with Kyle Busch, pissed off or otherwise.”

    5. Kyle Larson: Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet overheated on lap 31, forcing him to the garage on lap 31. He finished last in 37th.

    “Speaking of hot,” Larson said, “Chase Elliott is still irritated with me about the finish at Watkins Glen. But I say let bygones be bygones. Hopefully, Chase can put it behind him as much as he wants to put me behind him.”

    6. Kevin Harvick: Harvick was knocked out of contention in the Coke Zero 400 when he was caught up in the “Big One” on lap 139. He continued and finished 20th.

    “You can’t take chances with the weather at superspeedways,” Harvick said. “Take it from me, when you’re doing close to 200 miles per hour and you see liquid on the track, the Kevin Harvick ‘4-Cast’ calls for a 100% chance of liquid in your pants.”

    7. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin was leading at Daytona when a sudden downpour caused most of the field to lose traction, causing the “Big One.” After a long rain delay, racing resumed and Hamlin finished 25th.

    “NASCAR should have stopped the race sooner,” Hamlin said. “But I can’t fully blame NASCAR officials. They have about as much control of the weather as they do over Ross Chastain.”

    8. Christopher Bell: Bell was one of many drivers involved in the “Big One” on lap 139. He finished 36th and will start the playoff with 2011 points, 29 back of Chase Elliott in first.

    “That wreck took out a lot of the big names,” Bell said. “And that left a lot of names in the top 10 that were not household names. It was a veritable ‘Who’s Who?’ of ‘Who is that?’”

    9. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished eighth at Daytona, but it wasn’t enough to put him in the playoffs as first-time season winner Austin Dillon took the surprising win.

    “One minute,” Truex said, “I’m in the playoffs. The next minute, I’m not. But that’s just the uncertainty of the final regular season race at Daytona: you can go from ‘OK’ to ‘KO‘ in a heartbeat.”

    10. Ross Chastain: Chastain finished 33rd at Daytona.

    “I’m seeded third in the playoff standings,” Chastain said. “And I’m sure the playoffs are going to be wild, especially with me in them. Fans and drivers alike are eager to find who I can eliminate from the playoffs first: me, or another driver.”

  • Austin Dillon wins and clinches 2022 Cup Series Playoff berth at Daytona

    Austin Dillon wins and clinches 2022 Cup Series Playoff berth at Daytona

    Facing a “must-win” scenario to retain his championship hopes for the 2022 season, Austin Dillon survived a whirlwind of a day to execute his lone mission of the day: winning to advance to the Cup Series Playoffs, which he did in the rain-postponed Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, August 28.

    The 32-year-old Dillon from Welcome, North Carolina, led twice for 10 of 160-scheduled laps overall. He threw himself in race-winning contention after dodging the Big One with 23 laps remaining while ironically rallying from being involved in an earlier multi-car wreck with 36 laps remaining, where he slid his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 sideways and backwards through pit road. Shortly after taking the lead, the race was placed in a red flag period due to rain for three hours and 19 minutes. When the race restarted for a 16-lap dash to the finish, Dillon lost the lead to rookie Austin Cindric at the start. Thirteen laps later, however, contact between Cindric and Dillon enabled the latter to reassume the top spot, where he had teammate Tyler Reddick drafting him amid a small pack of competitors. With his teammate behind him and no late challenges emerging from behind over the final three laps, Dillon was able to cycle his way back to the frontstretch and claim his first elusive checkered flag of the 2022 Cup Series season and race his way into the Playoffs.

    In the midst of the late turn of events with Dillon winning, Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr., both of whom were involved in separate multi-car incidents of their own, were left to battle amongst one another for the 16th and final transfer spot to the Playoffs. At the conclusion of the event, Blaney claimed the final spot to the Playoffs with a top-15 finish by a mere margin over Truex, who ended up in the top 10.

    With on-track qualifying that would determine the starting lineup initially scheduled for Friday but cancelled due to rain, Kyle Larson, winner of last weekend’s Cup event at Watkins Glen International, was awarded the pole position based on a metric qualifying formula per NASCAR’s rulebook. Joining him on the front row was teammate Chase Elliott, the 2022 Cup regular-season champion.

    When the green flag waved and the race started on Sunday morning after rain postponed the event from its original starting time from Saturday night, Larson briefly jumped ahead with an early advantage on the outside entering the first turn, but teammate Elliott received a strong push from Joey Logano and a bevy of competitors on the inside lane through the first two turns to launch ahead. With the inside lane gaining the advantage for a full lap, Elliott proceeded to lead the first lap ahead of Logano, Christopher Bell, Kevin Harvick and Michael McDowell while Larson was mired back in seventh.

    Two laps later, Elliott continued to lead ahead of Logano and Bell while Larson, the first competitor on the outside lane, moved up to fourth as the outside lane started to gain momentum towards the competitors on the inside lane.

    Five laps into the event, Elliott’s No. 9 Adrenaline Shoc Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was leading a long line of competitors on the inside lane while Logano, Bell, Harvick and McDowell were in the top five. Martin Truex Jr., Cole Custer, Larson, Daniel Suarez and William Byron were scored in the top 10, with Larson remaining as the first competitor leading the outside lane.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps and with the field fanning out to three tight-packed lanes, Elliott retained the lead ahead of Logano, Bell, Harvick and McDowell. Meanwhile, Larson, who was placed in a four-wide situation entering the backstretch and was shuffled all the way outside of the top 20 earlier, was trying to carve his way back to the front as he was scored in 20th while drafting teammate Alex Bowman and Ryan Blaney on the outside lane.

    Four laps later, trouble ensued for Larson as he fell off the pace entering the first turn and slowly limped his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to pit road and to the garage as he retired due to an engine issue. During Larson’s on-track issue, he stalled rookie Austin Cindric’s progress within the pack when he fell off the pace as Cindric lost the draft and was mired all the way back in 39th, eight seconds behind the leaders.

    Back on the track and at the Lap 20 mark, Elliott retained the lead of the overall event on the inside lane while Erik Jones started to gain a strong run on the outside lane with drafting help from Denny Hamlin and a bevy of competitors. Not long after, a side-by-side battle for the lead commenced between Elliott and Jones as Jones continued to receive a draft from Hamlin in a bid for the lead while Elliott remained in front of Logano’s front nose to fight back and retain a narrow advantage.

    Ten laps later, Erik Jones, who led the previous five of 10 laps following his side-by-side duel against Elliott, was out in front and with clean air on the inside lane followed by Hamlin, Elliott, Blaney, and Logano while Bell, Corey LaJoie, Harvick, rookie Harrison Burton and McDowell were in the top 10. By then, Cindric was lapped by the field.

    Just then on Lap 30, the first caution of the event flew when Hamlin, who nearly got Jones sideways entering the backstretch, slipped sideways in his No. 11 FedEx Cares Toyota TRD Camry and triggered a chain reaction wreck that involved teammate Bell, Keselowski, Harvick and Blaney while everyone else scattered to avoid the calamity. The incident moved Truex, who dodged the incident, up to 15th place in the regular-season standings while Blaney, who lost multiple lanes on pit lane for repairs after damaging the right front of his No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang, fell back towards the edge of the cutline in 16th place in the standings and in jeopardy of not making the postseason in the case of a new winner. The incident also eliminated Keselowski from Playoff contention amid a disappointing campaign in his first season as a driver/co-owner of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing.

    During the caution period, nearly the entire field pitted while names like Elliott, Harrison Burton, Logano, Truex, BJ McLeod, Noah Gragson and Kyle Busch remained on the track.

    With a single lap remaining in the first stage, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Elliott jumped ahead on the inside lane while Logano received drafting help from Truex on the outside lane to challenge for the lead. Logano then moved in front of Elliott to assume the lead. As Elliott tried to move to the outside lane of Logano to reassume the lead exiting the backstretch, Logano managed to maintain his advantage on the inside lane through the final two turns and beat Elliott back to the start/finish line to claim the first stage victory on Lap 35, thus claiming his fifth stage victory of the 2022 season. Elliott settled in second followed by Harrison Burton, Kyle Busch, Truex, LaJoie, Bubba Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Erik Jones and McDowell. By then, Blaney was mired back in 34th and three laps behind the leaders.

    Under the stage break, some led by Logano pitted while the rest led by LaJoie, who pitted prior to the first stage’s conclusion, remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Kyle Busch was sent to the rear for running over equipment. Prior to the restart, names like Chase Briscoe, Gragson, Truex, Elliott and Kyle Busch returned to pit road to top off on fuel.

    The second stage started on Lap 40 as LaJoie and Wallace occupied the front row. At the start, LaJoie and Wallace dueled for the lead as Wallace had drafting help from Erik Jones while LaJoie was getting drafted by Stenhouse. Following a side-by-side battle for nearly a full lap, Wallace assumed command on the outside lane. Not long after, a third drafting line formed as Christopher Buescher launched his bid for the lead. As Wallace moved up the track to stall Buescher’s progress, Erik Jones moved into the lead with drafting help from LaJoie, who soon moved to the inside of Jones to challenge for the lead. By then, the field fanned out the three tight-packed lanes as LaJoie moved into the lead despite being challenged by Jones and Buescher.

    Through the first 50 scheduled laps, Erik Jones, who reassumed the lead on Lap 46, was leading ahead of Wallace, Buescher and a number of competitors on the outside lane while LaJoie was leading the charge on the inside lane. Shortly after, Wallace was shuffled out of the lead pack and Jones lost the lead as Buescher moved to the lead with drafting help from LaJoie. By then, Ty Gibbs, who remained as an interim competitor in the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota TRD Camry for Kurt Busch, was lapped by the field.

    Ten laps later, Erik Jones, who led the previous seven of 10 laps, was out in front ahead of Byron and Buescher while Bowman issued his challenge for the lead on the outside lane with drafting help from Hamlin. By then, Blaney, who was a lap down at the start of the second stage, was lapped for a second time by the field with a flapped hood amid his early wreck.

    Another five laps later, Hamlin, who rallied from his early incident, was leading for the first time ahead of Logano, Burton, Kyle Busch, Daniel Hemric and Ross Chastain while Jones, who fell back into the top 10, remained as the first competitor on the inside lane ahead of Byron. Meanwhile, Buescher was shuffled all the way back to 27th. 

    Nearing the Lap 70 mark, Erik Jones drifted his No. 43 Focus Factor Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 towards the rear of the rear while bailing out of the lead pack as Hamlin continued to lead ahead of Logano, Burton, Kyle Busch and Justin Haley. By then, Gilliland was in sixth followed by Harvick, Stenhouse, Austin Dillon and Chastain while Bowman, Byron, Hemric, LaJoie, Elliott, Tyler Reddick, Truex, Daniel Suarez, Cole Custer and Cindric were in the top 20.

    Six laps later, the first round of green flag pit stops ensued as Toyota competitors Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Wallace and Truex peeled off the track to pit for fuel. Another two laps later, the rest of the field led by Logano pitted for fuel as Logano was the first competitor to exit pit road. Amid the pit stops and with the event reaching its halfway mark on Lap 80, McLeod was leading ahead of Elliott, Reddick, Stenhouse, Kyle Busch, Burton and the rest of the field. 

    By Lap 81, however, Elliott was back out in front before he was overtaken by Reddick with drafting help from Kyle Busch during the following lap. By then, the Toyota competitors that included Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Truex and Wallace cycled their way towards the top five after pitting two laps earlier than the field.

    At the Lap 90 mark, Kyle Busch and Reddick, both of whom led a combined six of the previous 10 laps, were locked dead even for the lead before Reddick assumed command with drafting help from Elliott as the field began to stack up in two tight-packed lanes. By then, Gibbs and Blaney were lapped by the field, with Gibbs five laps behind the leaders while Blaney was now six laps behind.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 95, Kyle Busch fended off the field through multiple lanes in his No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota TRD Camry to claim his second stage victory of the season. Teammate Truex edged teammate Hamlin and Logano in a three-wide battle for the runner-up spot while Wallace, Gilliland, Reddick, Harvick, Stenhouse and Austin Dillon were scored in the top 10. By then, Elliott was shuffled all the way back to 16th while Blaney was mired in 34th and six laps behind the leaders.

    Under the stage break, names like Ty Dillon, Buescher and McLeod remained on the track while the rest led by Kyle Busch pitted. During the pit stops, Busch was penalized for speeding on pit road. Prior to the start of the final stage, names like Ty Dillon, McLeod, Kyle Busch, Aric Almirola, Gilliland, Erik Jones, Gragson, Suarez and Blaney returned to pit road for service.

    With 60 laps remaining, the final stage started as McDowell, who assumed the lead after only opting for fuel, and Hamlin occupied the front row. At the start, McDowell emerged out in front with drafting help from Logano on the inside lane before Logano pulled out on the outside lane and took the lead with drafting help from teammate Cindric. 

    A lap later, the caution returned when McDowell got hooked off the front nose of Reddick in the backstretch as he slapped the outside wall and veered back across the superspeedway before clipping LaJoie and triggering another multi-car wreck that involved Chastain, Buescher and Byron. Among those involved included Truex, who slowly limped his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota TRD Camry back to pit road with right-front fender damage. In the midst of the wreck, McDowell’s Playoff hopes came to an end as he was unable to continue.

    With 53 laps remaining, the race restarted under green as Logano and Reddick occupied the front row. At the start, Reddick’s No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchens Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 received drafting help from Stenhouse’s No. 47 NOS Energy Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 on the outside lane while Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang retained the lead as he received drafting help from Bowman’s No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 on the inside lane. Reddick was able to lead the following lap before Logano reassume the top spot the lap after.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Reddick and Logano dueled for the lead followed by Stenhouse, Bowman, Wallace, Cindric, Briscoe, Hamlin, Custer, Burton and a bevy of competitors with potential weather threats looming near the superspeedway.

    A few laps later, the field fanned out to three tight-packed lanes as Reddick retained the lead ahead of Wallace, Logano and Bowman while moving from the inside to the outside lane to preserve his narrow advantage. As Reddick tried to fend off Wallace and the field with the lead, Bowman made his move into the lead with 46 laps remaining as he received drafting help from Stenhouse and Logano.

    With 40 laps remaining, Bowman continued to lead the race and a long line of competitors on the outside lane followed by Stenhouse, Logano, Briscoe and Custer. On the inside lane, Kyle Busch was in seventh with drafting help from Toyota teammates Wallace and Hamlin. By then, Truex, who remained on the lead lap, was in 26th while Blaney, who remained six laps behind the leaders, was mired back in 30th.

    Four laps later and just as Logano reassumed the lead from Bowman with drafting help from Briscoe, the caution flew when Briscoe, who moved from the bottom to the outside lane entering the frontstretch, got loose off the front nose of Bowman as he spun and veered back into the outside wall in front of a bevy of competitors on the outside lane. In the midst of his incident and spin, Briscoe’s No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang briefly came off the ground before his car came to a rest in the frontstretch grass. Among those involved included Bowman, Custer, Stenhouse, Gilliland, Wallace and Austin Dillon, who spun his No. 3 BREZTRI Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through pit road, as Wallace, who slid through the frontstretch grass, emerged with left-front fender damage to his No. 23 DoorDash Toyota TRD Camry. In the midst of the incident, some like Wallace and Dillon continued while the rest including Briscoe were eliminated from title contention.

    During the caution period, names like Justin Haley, Erik Jones and McLeod remained on the track while the rest led by Logano pitted.

    With 30 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Haley received a draft from Logano to retain the lead before Erik Jones started to gain momentum on the outside lane. Entering the backstretch, however, the caution returned when Erik Jones slipped off the front nose of Almirola and veered into the path of Logano as both spun below the backstretch and were dodged by the field. In the midst of the incident, Aric Almirola emerged in the runner-up spot behind Haley while Daniel Suarez, Buescher and Elliott were in the top five. In addition, Truex was in 14th while Blaney was mired in 29th and still six laps behind the leaders.

    Four laps later, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Haley fended off both lanes to retain the lead as Suarez issued his challenge for the lead on the inside lane with drafting help from Kyle Busch while Almirola was on the outside lane with drafting help from Buescher.

    Another lap later, Suarez moved to the outside of Haley through the frontstretch as he moved into the lead with drafting help from Almirola while Haley fell back to third in front of Kyle Busch and Hamlin. Shortly after, a stack-up through the backstretch allowed Hamlin to challenge Suarez for the top spot.

    Just then and with 23 laps remaining, the caution returned when nearly the entire field led by Suarez and Hamlin slipped sideways and wrecked in Turn 1 as rain was being reported around the superspeedway venue. Amid the late turns of events and with nearly everyone running towards the lead pack wrecked, Austin Dillon, who was running in the middle of the pack but dodged his wrecked fellow competitors while running below the apron, emerged out in front with the lead followed by Kevin Harvick, Cindric, Cody Ware and Kyle Busch while Truex, Landon Cassill, David Ragan, McLeod and Noah Gragson were scored in the top 10.

    Two laps later, the field led by Austin Dillon were led to pit road and the race was red-flagged due to inclement weather and with rain falling amid dark clouds and a shining sun.

    Following a delay of three hours and 19 minutes as the track was dried out amid the extensive rain delay, the red flag was lifted and the field returned to the track under a cautious pace. Meanwhile, Harvick, who was in second during the red flag delay, retired and had his No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang towed back to the garage after sustaining terminal damage from the Big One prior to the red flag period. Harrison Burton also retired after failing to maintain speed under the damage vehicle policy as the number of lead lap competitors dwindled to 10 led by Austin Dillon.

    Down to the final 16 laps of the event, the green flag waved and the race restarted. At the start, Dillon and Cindric briefly dueled for the lead until Cindric received a draft from Truex to launch his No. 2 Menards Ford Mustang into the lead through the first two turns and through the backstretch. As the field returned to the frontstretch, Cindric retained the lead followed by Austin Dillon and Landon Cassill wile Truex got shuffled back to fourth in front of teammate Kyle Busch and Reddick.

    During the following lap, Cindric led a four-car breakaway from the small pack followed by Austin Dillon, Cassill and Truex while Kyle Busch led the small pack ahead of Cody Ware, Reddick, McLeod, Ragan and Gragson. Meanwhile, Wallace was in 11th and a lap behind the leaders while Logano was in 12th, two laps behind. Logano’s teammate Blaney continued to run six laps behind in 18th place.

    With 10 laps remaining, Cindric continued to lead ahead of Austin Dillon, Cassill and Gragson, who received drafting help from Reddick to catch the four-car lead pack, while Truex fell back to fifth. Truex soon lost ground of the lead pack as he settled in sixth with Cassill in fifth while Gragson situated himself behind Cindric and Austin Dillon as Reddick settled stabilized himself behind Gragson’s No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Cindric retained the lead ahead of a four-year breakaway from the scattered pack followed by Austin Dillon, Gragson and Reddick while Cassill trailed by two seconds. Truex, meanwhile, stabilized himself in sixth while Ragan, Cody Ware, McLeod and Kyle Busch were in the top 10.

    Then with three laps remaining, Austin Dillon got into the rear of Cindric as Cindric slipped sideways below the apron in Turn 1. This allowed Dillon to return to the top of the leaderboard, though he was far ahead of the pack that quickly caught back to him towards the backstretch. Through the backstretch, however, teammate Reddick settled in second behind Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet followed by a hard-charging Cassill, Gragson, Ragan and Cody Ware while Cindric fell back to seventh.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Austin Dillon remained as the leader ahead of teammate Reddick, Cassill, Ragan, Cody Ware, Cindric and Gragson. Entering the first two turns and through the frontstretch, Dillon and Reddick continued to run first and second followed by Ware. Then through Turns 3 and 4, Cindric made his move to the outside of Ware for third place. He, however, could not gain any further drafting help from behind. This allowed Dillon to return to the frontstretch with a clear racetrack and no challenges from behind as he stormed across the finish line in first place and victorious ahead of Reddick and Cindric.

    By winning at Daytona in a “must-win” scenario, Austin Dillon notched his fourth career win in NASCAR’s premier series, his second at Daytona after winning the 2018 Daytona 500 and his first Cup victory since winning at Texas Motor Speedway in July 2020. Above all, he raced his way into the 2022 Cup Series Playoffs, which marked his fifth overall appearance in the Playoffs and first following a one-year absence.

    “Crazy faith,” Dillon said on NBC. “We stayed ready. I got to thank my teammate Tyler Reddick, BREZTRI, Bass Pro Shops. Everybody that makes this thing happen. Man, we’re in the Playoffs. There was a lot going on there [at the end]. I knew that if we got to the white [flag], if I waited too long, I was afraid somebody would wreck behind us, so I wanted to go ahead and get the lead. We were able to get it. I had a big run to [Cindric] and then, I had my teammate back there. I knew we were in pretty good shape to the end. He did a good job checking up any kind of run. I felt like I had good teammates and Chevrolet behind me. If I could get the lead, [Cindric] would not be able to hold onto the draft. It’s crazy. You just never give up and have faith. We had some tough finishes this year like Charlotte [in May]. I beat myself over that. I made a good move and just didn’t finish it off. Today, we finished it off. I’m so proud of these guys and I’m glad to be going to Victory Lane.”

    Teammate Reddick, who already solidified his spot in the 2022 Playoffs by virtue of winning twice throughout the regular-season stretch, came home in second place as he made it a 1-2 finish for Richard Childress Racing while RCR secured both competitors into the Playoffs. Cindric, who won the Daytona 500 in February and is a 2022 Cup Playoff newcomer, rallied for third place while Cassill and Gragson, both of whom were ineligible for the Playoffs but seeking their first victory in NASCAR’s premier series, finished in the top five.

    “I got hit by another race car going 190-200 mph,” Cindric said. “Glad I saved it. Glad I had a shot to come back through the field. [Dillon] is racing for a playoff spot. Totally expect to get drove through. Just a matter of time. Pretty bummed. I mean, we had a shot to win today. We put ourselves in position. Not a scratch on [the car]. Dang it. I knew I was a sitting duck. I felt like I was Xfinity racing again. I was the only Ford out there. One lap longer, [I] might have had a shot. I don’t know. Just frustrating just to be that close. Kind of pissed about it, but can’t be too upset. In the Playoffs and have a lot to fight for. Great opportunity.”

    Cody Ware, McLeod, Truex, Ragan and Kyle Busch finished in the top 10.

    Meanwhile and amid the late turn of events on the track, Blaney finished 15th while still six laps behind the leaders while Truex, who lost the draft and could not gain any momentum towards the frontstretch, ended up ninth. In the end, Blaney was the beneficiary as he claimed the 16th and final spot to the Playoffs by three points over Truex. The result extended Blaney’s consecutive seasons of making the Cup Playoffs to six seasons, thus ensuring all three Team Penske cars in the Playoffs, while Truex, the 2017 Cup Series champion, missed the Playoffs for the first time since 2014.

    “We’re very fortunate, that’s for sure,” Blaney, who continues to pursue his first victory of the season, said. “It was not a good day get going. You get torn up early and that point, our fate was not really in our hands. All we could do was try to keep working on it and fix it to where we could make laps. Thankfully, we were able to get enough cars throughout the wrecks that we kind of just kept moving up and we were able to get in. That’s definitely a lot more stressful than I wanted coming into here, but I just got to give a lot of props to the No. 12 group for fixing [the car] and sticking with it all day. That’s why you do it. Your day could start off like that and you just stay with them. Stay in the game and it was definitely beneficial for us, so I appreciate them. We’ll go race for a championship…Definitely, a roller coaster of emotions and luckily, it ended on a high for our group.”

    “Just not fast enough to keep up with those guys,” Truex said. “We got the restart we needed and got in a decent spot there. Just couldn’t keep up. I was wide open the whole last run there. It’s a shame. It stinks, but just too much damage to have enough speed to do what we needed to do. Hindsight’s always 20/20. We gave away plenty of points throughout the season, but it is what it is.”

    Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, Ross Chastain, Kyle Larson, William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick, Kevin Harvick, Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch, Chase Briscoe, Daniel Suarez, rookie Austin Cindric, Alex Bowman and Austin Dillon have made the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

    Martin Truex Jr., Erik Jones, Aric Almirola, Bubba Wallace, Chris Buescher, Justin Haley, Michael McDowell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Cole Custer, Brad Keselowski, rookie Harrison Burton, Ty Dillon, rookie Todd Gilliland, Corey LaJoie, Cody Ware and Kurt Busch, who was absent as he continues to recover from concussion-like symptoms, are the remaining competitors who did not make the Playoffs.

    There were 39 lead changes for 19 different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 30 laps. A total of 17 of 37 starters finished the race, with 10 finishing on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Austin Dillon, 10 laps led

    2. Tyler Reddick, 13 laps led

    3. Austin Cindric, 13 laps led

    4. Landon Cassill

    5. Noah Gragson

    6. Cody Ware

    7. BJ McLeod, two laps led

    8. Martin Truex Jr., one lap led

    9. David Ragan

    10. Kyle Busch, seven laps led, Stage 2 winner

    11. Bubba Wallace, one lap down, two laps led

    12. Joey Logano, two laps down, 14 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    13. Ty Gibbs, two laps down

    14. Alex Bowman, four laps down, 11 laps led

    15. Ryan Blaney, six laps down

    16. Cole Custer, seven laps down

    17. Erik Jones – OUT, Dvp, 22 laps led

    18. Ty Dillon – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    19. Harrison Burton – OUT, Dvp

    20. Kevin Harvick – OUT, Accident

    21. Aric Almirola – OUT, Accident

    22. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident

    23. Todd Gilliland – OUT, Accident

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

    25. Denny Hamlin – OUT, Accident, 13 laps led

    26. Daniel Hemric – OUT, Accident

    27. Chris Buescher – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    28. Justin Haley – OUT, Accident, eight laps led

    29. Chase Elliott – OUT, Accident, 31 laps led

    30. Corey LaJoie, 23 laps down, six laps led

    31. Chase Briscoe – OUT, Accident

    32. Michael McDowell – OUT, Accident, two laps led

    33. Ross Chastain – OUT, Accident

    34. William Byron – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    35. Brad Keselowski – OUT, Accident

    36. Christopher Bell – OUT, Accident

    37. Kyle Larson – OUT, Engine

    The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is set to commence next weekend at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, for the Cook Out Southern 500. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, September 4, at 6 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Blaney secures final Cup Series Playoffs berth at Daytona as Truex misses the cutline

    Blaney secures final Cup Series Playoffs berth at Daytona as Truex misses the cutline

    It was a bizarre Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway that was postponed to Sunday morning and concluded on Sunday afternoon following a rain delay of more than three hours. The race featured Austin Dillon making the most of a “must-win” scenario by racing his way into the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs and achieving his first elusive victory of the season.

    It also provided a sense of relief for Ryan Blaney, who rallied from a long afternoon to salvage a top-15 finish and claim the 16th and final berth in the Playoffs by three points over Martin Truex Jr., who was given a late opportunity to retain his title hopes for this season but was unable to execute in the final stages of the event.

    Following last weekend’s Cup event at Watkins Glen International, Blaney occupied the 16th and final transfer spot to the Playoffs by 25 points over Truex. Then on Thursday, Kurt Busch, who had been absent since suffering concussion-like symptoms at Pocono Raceway in July but had been granted an injury waiver to still be eligible for the Playoffs based on winning at Kansas Speedway in May, withdrew from Playoff contention. He determined that he would not be ready to return for the Playoffs and opted to focus on his health. With Busch out of contention, this left two of 16 spots in the Playoffs vacant and still to be determined entering Daytona, with Blaney in one guaranteed spot and Truex in another.

    When the on-track qualifying session that determined the starting lineup slated for Friday got canceled due to rain, Truex rolled off the grid during Sunday’s main event in 13th place based on a metric formula per NASCAR’s rulebook while Blaney started 16th.

    In the early stages of the main event, trouble ensued for Blaney, who was swept up in a Lap 30 multi-car wreck on the backstretch and sustained damage to his No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang after getting hit by a spinning Christopher Bell. Blaney’s pit crew managed to repair the damage to keep his car running at minimum speed, but he returned to the track three laps behind the leaders and with a flapped hood. While Blaney finished 34th in the first stage, Truex, who dodged the early multi-car wreck, managed to keep his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota TRD Camry intact and claim valuable stage points by finishing fifth in the first stage.

    Like the first stage, the second stage fell into the favors of Truex, who worked with Toyota teammates Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Bubba Wallace in the draft, as he edged teammate Hamlin and Joey Logano to finish second and claim more valuable stage points in his bid to make the Playoffs. Blaney, however, could not maintain the draft with the pack and was lapped multiple times by the field before finishing in 34th place in the second stage while six laps behind.

    The start of the third and final stage provided a tense for Truex, who was involved in a multi-car wreck in the backstretch after slipping sideways and getting hit by the spinning cars of Ross Chastain and William Byron before running through the grass and coming to a stop sideways with right-front fender damage. Despite the damage, Truex managed to limp his car back to pit road and remain on the lead lap while Blaney was still six laps behind.

    Through two additional incidents, including the Big One with 23 laps remaining that consumed nearly the entire field, and a rain delay of more than three hours, Truex and Blaney continue to duke against one another for a spot in the Playoffs as the field restarted with 16 laps remaining and with 16 of 37 starters remaining on the track. While Blaney remained six laps behind the leaders but inside the top 20 on the track, Truex found himself in the top five and with an opportunity to contend for the win. The final 16 laps, however, did not fall in the favors of Truex, whose No. 19 Toyota still lacked speed from the damage sustained from the late incident and received no drafting help towards the front as he fell back within the top 10. Approaching the frontstretch on the final lap, Truex was in ninth and tried to gain a run on the lead pack. The run was not enough as he crossed the finish line in eighth place while Blaney moved up to 15th on the final leaderboard.

    With Austin Dillon winning and leap-frogging himself from the outside and into the top-16 cutline to make the Playoffs in a “must-win” scenario, this made the final Playoff picture with one less spot available solely on points. As a result, Blaney, who gained spots amid the late wreckages, was able to grab the 16th and final spot to the Playoffs by three points over Truex.

    With his accomplishment, Blaney, who won the 2022 non-points All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway in May but continues to pursue his first Cup points victory of the season, made the Playoffs for a sixth consecutive season and in his first season with new crew chief Jonathan Hassler atop the No. 12 pit box. Throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, he has achieved three poles, five stage victories, eight top-five results, 12 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 13.7 as he now sets his sights on contending for his first Cup Series championship while competing alongside teammates Austin Cindric and Joey Logano, both of whom also made the Playoffs.

    “We’re very fortunate, that’s for sure,” Blaney, who was left relieved, said. “It was not a good day get going. You get torn up early and that point, our fate was not really in our hands. All we could do was try to keep working on it and fix it to where we could make laps. Thankfully, we were able to get enough cars throughout the wrecks that we kind of just kept moving up and we were able to get in. That’s definitely a lot more stressful than I wanted coming into here, but I just got to give a lot of props to the No. 12 group for fixing [the car] and sticking with it all day. That’s why you do it. Your day could start off like that and you just stay with them. Stay in the game and it was definitely beneficial for us, so I appreciate them. We’ll go race for a championship…Definitely, a roller coaster of emotions and luckily, it ended on a high for our group.”

    On the opposite end of the spectrum, Truex, the 2017 Cup Series champion who was the championship runner-up a year ago to Kyle Larson, failed to make the Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2014 in a regular-season stretch where he achieved a pole, seven stage victories, three top-five results, 12 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 13.2. He is the lone Joe Gibbs Racing competitor to not make the Playoffs while teammates Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin are set to contend for this year’s title. Nonetheless, he will embark on a 10-week stretch to contend for his first victory of the season before returning as a full-time Cup competitor for JGR in 2023.

    Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com

    “Just not fast enough to keep up with those guys,” Truex, who managed a smile, said. “We got the restart we needed and got in a decent spot there. Just couldn’t keep up. I was wide open the whole last run there. It’s a shame. It stinks, but just too much damage to have enough speed to do what we needed to do. Hindsight’s always 20/20. We gave away plenty of points throughout the season, but it is what it is.”

    Blaney and Truex set their sights on the next NASCAR Cup Series event of the 2022 schedule at Darlington Raceway for the Cook Out Southern 500, which will also commence the 2022 Cup Series Playoffs. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, September 4, at 6 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • NASCAR postpones 2022 Cup regular-season finale at Daytona to Sunday

    NASCAR postpones 2022 Cup regular-season finale at Daytona to Sunday

    The 2022 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway has been postponed a day later from its original starting date on Saturday, August 27, due to inclement weather.

    The announcement comes after NASCAR dealt with persistent rain, thunderstorms and lightning that delayed the event’s original green flag starting time at 7:46 p.m. ET on Saturday. With the weather forecast indicating that the rain would persist throughout Saturday evening, the announcement to postpone the event a day later to Sunday, August 28, was made not long after its original starting time. Live coverage of the event that will now occur on Sunday is scheduled to commence at 10 a.m. ET on CNBC, Peacock, NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    When the regular-season finale at Daytona commences, Kyle Larson, winner of last weekend’s Cup event at Watkins Glen International and the reigning Cup Series champion, will lead the 37-car field to green flag from pole position, which was awarded to him based on a metric formula per NASCAR’s rulebook after rain canceled this weekend’s on-track qualifying session that was scheduled to occur on Friday, August 26. Joining him on the front row will be teammate Chase Elliott, the 2020 Cup Series champion who clinched this year’s regular-season title.

    This weekend’s Cup event at Daytona serves as the 26th and final regular-season event of the 2022 season. Following the conclusion of the event, the 2022 Cup Series Playoff field that will comprise 16 competitors will be determined. Prior to the event, 14 competitors (Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, Joey Logano, William Byron, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe, Kyle Busch, Daniel Suarez, rookie Austin Cindric and Alex Bowman) have clinched spots for the Playoffs based on winning at least once throughout the regular-season stretch. Currently, Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr. occupy the final two vacant spots for the Playoffs based on points, with Blaney being 25 points ahead of Truex and Truex retaining the 16th and final transfer spot to the Playoffs by 187 points over Erik Jones.

    Names like Erik Jones, Aric Almirola, Austin Dillon, Bubba Wallace, Chris Buescher, Justin Haley, Michael McDowell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Cole Custer, Brad Keselowski, rookie Harrison Burton, Ty Dillon and rookie Todd Gilliland are the competitors who are situated outside of the top-16 cutline entering Daytona, but are still in contention to make the Playoffs. Their hopes of making the Playoffs depends on winning the regular-season finale and potentially eliminating Blaney or Truex from Playoff contention.

    Following this weekend’s regular-season finale at Daytona, the Playoffs are scheduled to commence at Darlington Raceway for the Cook Out Southern 500 next Sunday, September 4, at 6 p.m. ET on USA Network.

    The 2022 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona is scheduled to occur on Sunday, August 28, at 10 a.m. ET on CNBC.

  • Blaney caps off regular-season stretch with a thrilling win at Daytona

    Blaney caps off regular-season stretch with a thrilling win at Daytona

    For a second consecutive week, Ryan Blaney stole the show after the High Point, North Carolina, native took the lead from Chris Buescher prior to the final lap and pulled away from the field wrecking behind to win the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway under caution on Saturday, August 28.

    The victory was Blaney’s third of the season as he will be one of 16 competitors who will compete for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series championship over a 10-week Playoff stretch. 

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. Kyle Larson, the regular-season points leader, was scheduled to start on pole position, but instead, he started at the rear of the field due to his car failing pre-race inspection multiple times. With that, teammate William Byron, winner of last year’s Daytona 400 event, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Denny Hamlin.

    Along with Larson, Joey Gase, Corey LaJoie and Kaz Grala started at the rear of the field due to multiple pre-race inspection failures. Michael McDowell and rookie Anthony Alfredo, teammates at Front Row Motorsports, also dropped to the rear of the field after it was discovered that both cars did not conform to NASCAR rule specifications pinpointing the deck lid extensions. As a result, crew chiefs Drew Blickensderfer and Seth Barbour were ejected from the event. Car chief Jason Sheets served as McDowell’s interim crew chief while Derrick Finley, Front Row Motorsports’ competition director, served as Alfredo’s interim crew chief. To make matters worse, Alfredo was assessed a pass-through penalty on pit road following the start of the race for illegal body adjustments made to his car while on the grid.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Byron received an early advantage on the outside lane with drafting help from Kyle Busch to take the lead, where he went on to lead the first lap by a nose over Hamlin.

    The following lap, Byron broke away from the pack as he continued to lead ahead of Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr., all of whom were on the inside lane, while Kyle Busch settled as the lead car on the outside lane.

    By the fifth lap, a majority of the pack formed a single-file line on the outside lane as Byron led teammate Elliott, Kevin Harvick, Truex, Matt DiBenedetto, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney and Kurt Busch. Leading the inside line was ninth-place Alex Bowman.

    Two laps later, Kevin Harvick, who had drafting help from Blaney, peaked ahead by nose to lead a lap over Byron. Another two laps later and while Byron moved back into the lead, Elliott got shuffled out of the top five as he dropped to the mid-pack. 

    Through the first 10 laps of the event, Hamlin moved into the lead followed by Bubba Wallace while Byron, who had led seven laps, was back in third ahead of Austin Dillon and Harvick. Kyle Busch, Blaney, Ross Chastain, Bowman and Brad Keselowski were in the top 10. By then, Joey Logano was in 12th, Elliott was in 15th, Truex was in 20th in between teammate Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick, Kurt Busch was in 24th behind rookie Chase Briscoe and Ryan Preece and Kyle Larson was mired in 26th behind Aric Almirola.

    Five laps later, the field fanned out to three tight lanes as Byron, who moved back into the lead the previous lap, was leading ahead of Hamlin, Chastain, Logano and Austin Dillon. Another three laps later, Chastain made a pit stop under green for two fresh tires and to have his fenders fixed. By then, Austin Dillon motored into the lead ahead of Elliott and Hamlin.

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 20, Elliott squeaked ahead of Austin Dillon to lead followed by Truex, Logano and Stenhouse. Byron, Hamlin, Cole Custer, Blaney and Briscoe were in the top 10. By then, five different competitors led at least a lap.

    Under the competition caution, the leaders pitted with all utilizing a variety of strategies. Following the pit stops Elliott retained the lead. Prior to the restart, Michael McDowell fell off the pace and took his car to the garage due to an engine failure and dropping fluid on the track.

    When the race restarted on Lap 25, Elliott and Custer battled dead even for the lead before Elliott cleared the field when he and the field returned to the start/finish line. The following lap, Hamlin made a bold three-wide move on Logano and Austin Dillon in a bid for third place as Elliott and Custer battled for the lead ahead of a packed field.

    By Lap 30 and with the majority of the field settled in a single-file line, Elliott continued to lead followed by Logano, Custer, Austin Dillon, Keselowski, Byron, Bell, Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Chastain.

    Ten laps later, Elliott remained as the leader of a long single-file line followed by Logano, Custer, Austin Dillon, Keselowski, Byron, Bell, Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Chastain. Meanwhile, Truex was in 13th behind Blaney, Wallace was in 16th behind Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Almirola and Tyler Reddick were in 19th and 20th, Harvick and Larson were in 22nd and 23rd behind Briscoe, Bowman was in 25th behind Daniel Suarez and DiBenedetto was mired in 28th.

    The following lap, Logano emerged as the new leader while Elliott got shuffled back to fourth in front of teammate Byron while trying to clean his grille. Two laps later, Elliott received a boost from teammate Byron to storm back into the lead while Logano had to defend the outside lane from a hard-charging Austin Dillon.

    Approaching Lap 46, Logano gained a draft on Elliott, moved to the inside lane and tried to slide in front of Elliott through Turns 3 and 4, but he was unable to as Elliott retained the lead on the outside lane while Logano settled in as the lead car on the inside lane.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 50 following an early competitive race, Elliott managed to retain the lead and claim his third stage victory of the season. Hamlin settled in second followed by Kyle Busch, who nearly wrecked approaching the start/finish line following contact with Ross Chastain. Chastain was fourth followed by Truex, Austin Dillon, Corey LaJoie, Logano, Preece and Chris Buescher. By then, seven different competitors had led at least a lap within the pack racing and the draft.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted for four fresh tires and to top off on fuel.

    The second stage started on Lap 55. At the start, Truex pulled ahead by a slight margin over Elliott on the outside lane through the first two turns before clearing Elliott entering Turn 3. By then, he had names like Corey LaJoie, Christopher Bell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch settled in behind him.

    Two laps later, LaJoie made a move beneath Truex to lead a lap before he got shuffled out of the draft and back in fourth.

    Through the first 60 laps of the event, Truex, who took the lead back on Lap 58, was leading followed by teammate Bell, Stenhouse, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, LaJoie, Keselowski, Elliott, Chastain and Preece.

    Fifteen laps later, Bell, who took over the top spot on Lap 70, was leading followed by Stenhouse, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Logano, Truex, Elliott, LaJoie, Briscoe, Reddick and a steaming pack of cars.

    On Lap 77, the caution flew when Almirola and Bowman spun in the middle of Turn 4 while running near the rear of the field and in front of a handful of competitors. During the incident, Hamlin ran into the rear of Preece.

    Four laps later, the race restarted under green as Logano and Bell started on the front row. At the start, Logano launched ahead followed by Bell while LaJoie received a push from Reddick through the backstraightaway before being shuffled out by Reddick, who tucked in behind Logano.

    By Lap 90, Logano was leading followed by Reddick, Stenhouse, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Keselowski, Truex, Hamlin, Preece and Larson.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 100, Logano, who took over the lead three laps earlier over teammate Blaney, was scored the leader as he claimed his fifth stage victory of the season. Austin Dillon settled in second followed by Byron, Reddick, Larson, Blaney, Stenhouse, Kyle Busch, Wallace and Bell. By then, 11 different competitors had led at least a lap.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted for fresh tires and fuel.

    With 55 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Byron and Hamlin filled the front row. At the start, Hamlin received a push from Harvick to take over the lead. During the next four laps, Harvick led three before Elliott squeaked ahead to lead one for himself. 

    Five laps later, Harvick was back out in front followed by Hamlin, Byron, Wallace and Logano, who then mounted a charge on the inside lane while being pursued by Chastain, Elliott and others.

    Another 10 laps later and with the field, which had fanned out to three lanes earlier, settling in a long single-file line, Chastain was leading followed by Bowman, Blaney, Kyle Busch, Harvick, Stenhouse, Wallace, Hamlin, Elliott and Briscoe.

    With 38 laps remaining, the Ford competitors peeled off the track to pit under green. Back on the track, Chastain and Wallace battled for the lead ahead of the field that had fanned out to two lanes.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Wallace was leading followed by Kyle Busch, Chastain, Bell, Stenhouse, Truex, Bowman, LaJoie, Elliott and Landon Cassill. The following lap, Chastain received a push from Stenhouse to snatch the lead back from Wallace.

    With 21 laps remaining, the caution flew for an accident involving Cody Ware, Joey Gase and Garrett Smithley, all of whom drive for Rick Ware Racing, in Turn 4. At the time of caution, Kyle Busch was the leader. Under caution, the front-runners pitted and the Fords moved up the pack, giving the lead to Logano. During the pit stops, Austin Dillon, who was battling battery issues to his car, was busted for speeding and was sent to the rear of the field. 

    Five laps later, the race restarted under green. At the start, Logano jumped ahead on the inside lane followed by teammate Blaney, Almirola, Buescher and Custer while DiBenedetto got shuffled back to sixth ahead of Kyle Busch and Harvick.

    With 15 laps remaining, the caution flew when Truex got bumped by Stenhouse entering the backstretch and collided into Byron before spinning across the grass and proceeding with damage and firing rolling out of his car. Also involved were Briscoe, Cassill, Suare Alfredo, Keselowski and Tyler Reddick, the competitor occupying the 16th and final spot to the Playoffs as he had smoke trailing behind and damage on the front nose his car. The incident was enough for NASCAR to red-flag the event for nearly 15 minutes.

    Following the cleanup period concluded and the caution was drawn back, teammates Reddick and Austin Dillon pitted to have their respective Chevrolets repaired with enough adjustments to finish the race. 

    With 10 laps remaining, the race restarted as teammates Logano and Blaney occupied the front row. At the start, Logano jumped ahead, but the field narrowed the gap through the backstraightaway and back to the tri-oval from the draft as Almirola moved up the leaderboard.

    The following lap, Chris Buescher mounted a challenge on the inside lane to move up to third behind Logano and Blaney. He then received pushes from Kurt Busch and Elliott to move up to second as he challenged Logano for the lead. 

    With seven laps remaining, Buescher received a strong push from Elliott and Hamlin to take the lead, where he managed to slide in front of Logano through the backstraightaway.

    A lap later, though, Elliott stormed to the lead while Buescher got shuffled out in a three-wide battle against Logano and Elliott. With Buescher falling back, Elliott was leading followed by Hamlin, Logano and Blaney while Matt DiBenedetto mounted a challenge on the inside lane.

    Under the final five laps, Logano fell off the pace after he cut a tire in a shower of sparks. Despite the misfortune, Logano kept his car rolling on the outside lane as the field went by him and the race proceeded under green. At the front, DiBenedetto challenged Elliott on the outside lane for the lead as the field behind started to stack up and fan out multiple lanes with the finish within sight.

    Then in Turn 3, DiBenedetto, who continued to intimidate Elliott for the lead, ran into the rear bumper of Elliott as both along with Hamlin skidded across the outside wall. The contact of the wall got Elliott loose and he slid up and into DiBenedetto across the outside wall again. The ensuing contact ignited a chain reaction wreck that involved Hamlin, Keselowski, Bell, Kyle Busch, Preece, Chastain, Custer, Stenhouse and Kaz Grala, a wreck that sent the race into overtime.

    In the midst of the carnage, Buescher was back in the lead followed by Blaney, LaJoie, Austin Dillon and Harvick. Chastain was in sixth followed by Larson, Daniel Suarez, Bubba Wallace and Kurt Busch.

    When the race restarted in overtime, Buescher and Blaney battled dead even entering the first turn before Blaney received a strong push from LaJoie to take the lead on the inside lane. LaJoie, though, received a draft from Harvick to close back to Blaney’s rear bumper in Turn 3. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Blaney was leading ahead of LaJoie and Buescher. Through Turn 1, Harvick made a bold move beneath LaJoie to move into second place, thus shuffling LaJoie out of the lead draft, as Suarez, Buescher, Kurt Busch and others mounted a final lap mount to the front.

    Through the backstraightaway, Blaney continued to lead followed by Harvick and Suarez. Then, Suarez got loose in front of Kurt Busch and turned into Harvick, which triggered a big accident in Turn 3 involving Austin Dillon, Larson, Chastain, LaJoie, Bowman and Erik Jones.

    With the field wrecking behind, Blaney pulled away unscathed and cruised to the finish line in first place as the caution flew due to the accident.

    The victory marked Blaney’s first at Daytona International Speedway, his second consecutive Cup victory in recent weeks after winning last weekend at Michigan International Speedway, his third of the season and the seventh of his career.

    “Man, that was a lot of fun,” Blaney said on NBC. “Gosh, we just barely missed that wreck. We got lined up on the front row and got a good push by [LaJoie]. You never know how the end of these days are gonna play out. Down the back, you don’t know what lane’s getting a bigger run. I guess somebody got tangled up over there. Hopefully, everyone’s okay. Man, this is so cool. Second win of the year with BodyArmor on the car. Winning at Daytona, this is so cool. It’s really special and man, it’s been a fun two weeks. Looking forward to next week! Got a good, enough momentum. It’d be nice to make it three [wins] in a row. We’ll see.”

    Behind Blaney, Chris Buescher came home in second place while Bubba Wallace, who dodged the final lap carnage, recorded a strong third-place result. The best season results for both Buescher and Wallace, however, were not enough for either of them to make the Playoffs.

    “It hurts,” Buescher said. “That one stings a lot, but at the same time, [I] appreciate everybody at [Roush Fenway Racing]. Awesome weekend for Fifth Third Bank…[I] Wanted to get that [win] for so many different reasons. To miss that Playoff spot by one spot, that’s a tough ending to the day, but proud of this group. Proud of the car we brought…That hurts.”

    “The seas parted and when that wreck happened, I just stayed in it, came out third, but it’s not what we needed,” Wallace added. “Bummer, but solid day. We went up and led some laps. Unfortunate, we wanted to win. That was the most prepared I’ve ever been for this speedway stuff and [finished] third…It just stings.”

    Following the post-race inspection, however, Buescher was disqualified from his runner-up result due to an illegal track bar mounting assembly. As a result, Buescher was demoted to 40th place, dead last, while Wallace was promoted to the runner-up result, which tied his best result in NASCAR’s premier series.

    Ryan Newman was elevated to third place followed by Ryan Preece, both of whom also did not make the Playoffs. Meanwhile, Tyler Reddick, who barely escaped the final lap multi-car wreck, finished fifth and claimed the 16th and final spot to the Playoffs over teammate Austin Dillon, who was unable to finish the race after being swept up in the wreck. With that, Reddick joins Michael McDowell and Christopher Bell as first-time members of the Cup Series Playoffs this season.

    “My emotions were shot as soon as we took the green on the last green-white-checkered [restart],” Reddick said. “I couldn’t even believe we finished seventh. Getting through that last crash coming to the line, it was a lot, I’m not gonna lie. Going to Homestead, running for Xfinity Series championships were a lot of fun. Really exciting, really nerve-racking, but what a roller coaster it is to be on the bubble going into Daytona, running into the back of somebody and have all the issues we did at the end there. Almost felt helpless there, but we didn’t give up and we fought through it.”

    “It was a little bit of a roller coaster ride,” Austin Dillon said. “We fought our butts off in the stages. We made some good moves to get points and found ourselves in fourth-place for a green-white-checkered here at Daytona. That’s where we were when we won the Daytona 500, so I was feeling pretty good about it…We fought hard. The Bass Pro Shop Chevy was very fast. Two weeks in a row we’ve had great cars out of the No. 3 team. Just haven’t gotten the finishes we’d like to have, but very thankful that the good Lord took care of us tonight and we get to race at Darlington next week. Unfortunate that we’re not in the Playoffs, but we gave it all we could and fought until the very end.”

    Justin Haley, Bowman, Elliott, BJ McLeod and Josh Bilicki finished in the top 10. 

    Despite being involved on the final lap accident, Kyle Larson, who was scored in 20th claimed the NASCAR Cup Series regular-season championship over Denny Hamlin, who ended up in 13th. The result made Larson the fourth different competitor to achieve the regular-season title in the Cup Series.

    “I think I read somewhere earlier this week where we had overcome a 166-point gap to Denny [Hamlin],” Larson said. “I didn’t think it was possible, but our team worked so hard all of the regular season and [I] couldn’t have done it without Mr. [Hendrick] and Linda, all of their support, everybody back at the shop, too. It’s a long season, and we still got 10 races to go, but it’s a long point to get to here…I’m just the lucky guy who gets to drive [the car] and get a lot of the credit, but it’s really credit to everybody back at the shop.”

    Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, William Byron, Alex Bowman, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Christopher Bell, Aric Almirola, Michael McDowell, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Tyler Reddick have made the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, and will contend for this year’s championship.

    Chris Buescher, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Newman, Ryan Preece, Erik Jones, Corey LaJoie, Austin Dillon, Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez, Chase Briscoe, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Cole Custer, Matt DiBenedetto, Anthony Alfredo and Quin Houff are among the remaining competitors who failed to make the Playoffs.

    There were 45 lead changes for 15 different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 31 laps.

    Results.

    1. Ryan Blaney, seven laps led

    2. Bubba Wallace, eight laps led

    3. Ryan Newman, two laps led

    4. Ryan Preece

    5. Justin Haley

    6. Tyler Reddick

    7. Alex Bowman

    8. Chase Elliott, 36 laps led

    9. BJ McLeod

    10. Josh Bilicki

    11. Erik Jones

    12. Kurt Busch

    13. Denny Hamlin, seven laps led

    14. Aric Almirola

    15. Kevin Harvick, four laps led

    16. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    17. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident, three laps led

    18. Ross Chastain – OUT, Accident, 14 laps led

    19. Daniel Suarez – OUT, Accident

    20. Kyle Larson – OUT, Accident

    21. Chase Briscoe – OUT, Accident

    22. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap down

    23. Joey Logano, one lap down, 37 laps led

    24. Cole Custer, one lap down

    25. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap down

    26. Anthony Alfredo, two laps down

    27. David Starr, two laps down

    28. Cody Ware, two laps down

    29. Martin Truex Jr., two laps down, 13 laps led

    30. Garrett Smithley, two laps down

    31. Joey Gase, three laps down

    32. Christopher Bell – OUT, Accident, eight laps led

    33. Brad Keselowski – OUT, Accident

    34. Kyle Busch – OUT, Accident, five laps led

    35. Kaz Grala – OUT, Accident

    36. Landon Cassill – OUT, Accident

    37. William Byron – OUT, Accident, 12 laps led

    38. Quin Houff, 29 laps down

    39. Michael McDowell – OUT

    40. Chris Buescher – Disqualified, eight laps led

    The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will commence next weekend at Darlington Raceway for the Cook Out Southern 500 on Sunday, September 5, which will start at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Opinion: Haley’s Win A Win for NASCAR Regardless Of Spire’s Business Model

    Opinion: Haley’s Win A Win for NASCAR Regardless Of Spire’s Business Model

    In this day and age it’s not very often an underdog actually defies the odds and wins big in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. It’s far more likely in the lower divisions, but to see it in Cup is a borderline rarity.

    Sure, at Chicagoland Alex Bowman scored the win. Last season, Chase Elliott and Erik Jones scored their first wins. In 2017 Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Ryan Blaney all scored their first wins. But each of those drivers compete for established organizations in Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Roush-Fenway Racing, and Wood Brothers Racing. Each team has solid backing and solid footing in the sport. But when a freshly formed team like Spire Motorsports manages to put a driver in Victory Lane despite claims that they’re nothing more than a solid money grab, the underdog ranking goes up a few notches.

    During the red flag period at the end of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona which led to Justin Haley’s first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win in only his third attempt, social media on Twitter, Facebook, and even Reddit seemed to be torn between excitement over a true surprise winner in the Spire Motorsports organization and frustration how a sports agency managed to buy a charter just to grab some money, at least according to a few media pundits.

    Regardless of Spire’s true intentions, be it to build their team up into an actual competitor or to make a few bucks, the fact still remains that they have every right to be on the track. They bought the equipment, they formed the crew, they established the business side of the race team, and they put different drivers behind the wheel. For that matter they’ve managed to not just enter the race but actually put themselves in positions to be consistent and post decent runs, most notably with Haley. They’re a new team, so to go on Twitter and angrily pound out a tweet because it’s just so wrong and dumb that a cash grab team can win a race; don’t hate the player, hate the game. The No. 77 is right where it’s supposed to be on track.

    NASCAR isn’t even to fault for the win. Sure, Daytona has lights and a boatload of jet dryers leased out from other speedways for the event weekend. But after being pushed back a day, who in their right mind would want to stick around four, six, eight more hours just to finish 30+ more laps? The race was almost through, and Peter Sospenzo, who is not a slouch on the pit box, made the calls he needed to make to score the win for his team. Nothing was lost by calling the race. Nothing was hurt.

    In the moments after the race was called, Haley’s name was trending third worldwide on Twitter, a testimony to just how big of an upset this was. Some compared it to the Derrike Cope win at Daytona in 1990, while others compared it to Trevor Bayne’s Daytona win in 2011. Some even compared it to Jamie McMurray’s Charlotte win in 2002. Ultimately, as this is an opinion piece, it has to be said that this win is more like Greg Sacks winning at Daytona in July 1985. The No. 10 of Sacks was nothing more than a research and development entry for DiGard Motorsports but since it was actually contending for the lead they changed their approach from parking the car to letting Sacks go for the win, which he did.

    Similar concept for Spire and Haley. They were on track just to earn some experience and to give Haley some track time as it was only his third start in Cup. But just as it was at Talladega in his Cup debut, Haley kept himself within sight of the leaders. That proved to be the deciding factor when the red flag was dropped, and now Haley is a Cup Series winner.

    The world loves an underdog. This, after steady weeks of the same teams winning race after race which is bound to resume once the series hits Kentucky, is an undying fact. There wouldn’t be this much of a buzz if it were anyone else. But it wasn’t anyone else; it was Spire Motorsports and Haley, a duo that wasn’t really supposed to be in the Winner’s Circle, let alone at Daytona, but accomplished that anyway. The little team that wasn’t supposed to win did just that by impeccable strategy and an insane amount of luck.

    That’s not an unfamiliar story in NASCAR, and it’s a story that’s just as solid as many, many more over the years. So social media can keep on talking, saying that Spire is in the sport only for the money, that the team was undeserving, that they didn’t earn the win. It doesn’t matter; Haley and Spire are still the 2019 Coke Zero Sugar 400 winners.

    More importantly, NASCAR once again has a true underdog victory in it’s ranks.