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.
This weekend the NASCAR Cup Series travels to Daytona International Speedway for the regular season finale to determine the 16-driver field of the Playoffs. There is only one available spot, currently held by 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace, based on points earned.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs, in 17th place, is 32 points behind Wallace and Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez is 43 points back. If Wallace has a bad day at the track either driver could mathematically earn their way into the Playoffs. And we can’t forget the 14 other drivers who could score their first win of the year and claim the final spot.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Daytona with only three races remaining in the regular season. Eight drivers have already secured a spot in the 12-driver postseason field, including Austin Hill, John Hunter Nemechek, Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer, Sam Mayer, Chandler Smith, Sammy Smith and Jeb Burton.
Milwaukee Mile Speedway will host the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Sunday afternoon for the first time in 14 years as their postseason continues with the second race in the Round of 10. Ty Majeski won the first event at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on August 11 and will automatically advance to the Round of 8 at Bristol Motor Speedway on September 14.
All times are Eastern.
Friday, August 25
3 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying (Daytona) Impound (Single Vehicle/1 Lap/2 Rounds) NBC Sports App
5:05 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying (Daytona) Impound (Single Vehicle/1 Lap/2 Rounds) USA/MRN/SiriusXM/NBC Sports App
7:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Wawa 250 powered by Coca-Cola (Daytona) Stages 30/60/100 Laps = 250 Miles USA/MRN/SiriusXM/NBC Sports App
Saturday, August 26
2 p.m.: Truck Series Practice (All Entries) at Milwaukee – No TV 3 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series Practice (All Entries) at Milwaukee – No TV 4 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series Qualifying at Milwaukee Impound (Timed, All Entries) No TV
7 p.m.: Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 (Daytona) Stages 35/95/160 Laps = 400 Miles NBC/Peacock/MRN/SiriusXM
Sunday, August 17
11:30 a.m.: Truck Series Qualifying (Milwaukee) Impound (Single Vehicle/1 Lap/All Entries) FS2
1 p.m.: ARCA Sprecher 150 (Milwaukee) 150 LAPS = 152.25 Miles – FS1/MRN
4 p.m.: Truck Series Clean Harbors 175 (Milwaukee) Stages 55/110/175 Laps = 177.625 Miles FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
NASCAR Press Pass will be available throughout the weekend.
Notes:
Cup Series Purse: $8,778,583 Xfinity Series Purse: $1,640,749 Truck Series Purse: $644,030
In NASCAR’s longest-ever running of the Great American Race to commence the sport’s 75th anniversary of competition, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. muscled his way to win the 65th annual running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, February 19, amid two overtime attempts and a series of late carnages.
The 35-year-old Stenhouse from Olive Branch, Mississippi, rallied from a late pit road speeding penalty to take the lead from reigning series champion Joey Logano during the first of two overtime attempts. He then had to endure a second overtime attempt, where he nearly lost the lead on the final lap before a draft from Christopher Bell enabled Stenhouse to fend off Logano and remain ahead of him prior to a vicious multi-car wreck on the final lap that concluded the event under caution and sent the driver of the No. 47 JTG-Daugherty Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team to Victory Lane. In total, Stenhouse led the final 10 of 212 over-scheduled laps.
The starting lineup was determined through two single-car qualifying sessions that occurred on Wednesday, February 15, followed by a pair of Bluegreen Vacations Duels that occurred on Thursday, February 16. For the third time in his career, Alex Bowman started on pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 181.686 mph in 49.536 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Kyle Larson, who posted the second-fastest qualifying lap at 181.057 mph in 49.708 seconds. Joey Logano and Aric Almirola occupied the second row after both won their respective Duels. The only competitor to drop at the rear of the field was Kyle Busch in a backup car after he wrecked his primary car during the second Duel event.
When the green flag waved and the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season commenced, teammates Bowman and Larson dueled for the lead in front of two tight-packed lanes entering the first two turns. While Larson tried to pull ahead on the inside lane with drafting help from Logano, Bowman muscled away with the lead as he had a stronger draft on the outside lane followed by Almirola entering the backstretch. Larson then tried to pull even to Bowman’s No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 on the inside lane exiting the backstretch as he had Logano drafting him. As the field returned to the frontstretch, Larson managed to pull ahead and lead the first lap by a hair over Bowman as the field remained dead tight through two packed lanes.
Through the first five scheduled laps and with the field remaining in tight formation through two tight-packed lanes, teammates Bowman and Larson remained dead even for the lead followed by Almirola, Logano and Christopher Bell while Austin Cindric, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski and Corey LaJoie were in the top 10. Behind, Chris Buescher occupied 11th while Todd Gilliland, Michael McDowell, Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Preece, Zane Smith and Noah Gragson were running in the top 20.
At the Lap 10 mark, Bowman managed to break ahead with the lead followed by teammate Larson, while Almirola, Logano and Cindric were in the top five. By then, names like William Byron, Ross Chastain, Chase Briscoe and Austin Dillon were mired outside the top 20 while Conor Daly, Travis Pastrana, rookie Ty Gibbs and Jimmie Johnson were running towards the rear of the field.
Two laps later and just as Larson managed to break away from the pack with drafting help from Logano, Bell gained a strong run on both front-runners and made his move to the outside lane entering the frontstretch as he challenged Larson for the lead with drafting help from Bowman. He would prevail through the backstretch and clear the field with Bowman remaining right behind his No. 20 DeWalt/Rheem Toyota TRD Camry.
By Lap 25, Bell was scored as the leader despite remaining in a tight side-by-side battle against Larson amid two packed lanes. Bowman, Almiorla, Logano, Cindric, Blaney, Elliott, LaJoie and Keselowski were running in the top 10 while Johnson and Kyle Busch were scored in 26th and 33rd, respectively. A few laps later, Ty Dillon fell off the pace and took his car to the garage following a mechanical issue to his Spire Motorsports entry while the race remained under green flag conditions.
At the Lap 35 mark, Almirola ignited his challenge for the lead as he gained a draft from Cindric on the inside lane to lead a lap for himself ahead of Bell. By then, Conor Daly made a pit stop under green while names like Corey LaJoie, Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin emerged in the top 10. A lap later, however, Bowman navigated his way back into the lead as he had LaJoie pushing him while battling Bell.
Then during the following lap, the Ford competitors led by Almirola and Logano peeled off the track and on pit road for their first service of the event. A bevy of Chevrolet competitors led by rookie Noah Gragson and Bowman would pit during the following lap while the rest of the field that included a multitude of Toyota competitors and Chevrolet competitor Kyle Busch pitted during the following lap. During the final wave of pit stops, newcomer Riley Herbst locked up the front tires and spun his No. 15 SunnyD Ford Mustang behind Busch while trying to enter pit road, but the event remained under green flag conditions. Herbst, however, was assessed a pass-through penalty for a commitment line violation. Despite remaining on track to lead two laps for himself before pitting by himself under green, Pastrana was also penalized with a pass-through penalty for driving his No. 67 Black Rifle Coffee Toyota TRD Camry through too many pit boxes while exiting his pit stall.
By Lap 40 and with the first wave of pit stops being completed under green, Hamlin cycled his way into the lead followed by teammate Bell, Reddick, Briscoe and Almirola while Wallace, Cindric, Truex, Blaney and Kyle Busch were running in the top 10. Soon after, the field returned to competing within two tight-packed lanes as Briscoe drew himself in a side-by-side challenge against Hamlin for the lead.
On Lap 52, early trouble struck for Bubba Wallace, who moved up to the outside lane while battling with Briscoe for the lead before he got bumped by a fast-charging Truex on the backstretch as he slapped the outside wall. Despite keeping his No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota TRD Camry straight, he dropped to the rear of the field, pitted under green and returned on the track as he would eventually lose a lap to the leaders. Amid Wallace’s issue, Truex moved into the lead followed by his Toyota teammates Hamlin, Bell, Tyler Reddick and Gibbs.
By Lap 60, Truex retained the lead ahead of a long line of competitors that included teammates Hamlin and Gibbs while Almirola and Brad Keselowski were scored in the top five. By then, Jimmie Johnson was in eighth in between Ryan Preece and Kevin Harvick while Reddick and Bell were mired back in 12th and 25th, respectively.
When the first stage concluded on Lap 65, Keselowski, who commenced a late drafting charge to the front before overtaking Truex during the stage’s final lap with drafting help from a multitude of Ford competitors, claimed the first stage victory of the 2023 season. Ford competitors Preece, Buescher, Harvick and McDowell followed suit in the top five while Gibbs, Johnson, Almirola, Truex and Todd Gilliand were scored in the top 10, all of whom received the first wave of stage points. By then, names that included Hamlin, Byron, Cindric, Erik Jones, Kyle Busch, Justin Haley, Chase Elliott, Logano, Reddick and Blaney were running in the top 20 as 32 of 40 starters were scored on the lead lap. In addition, AJ Allmendinger received the free pass after managing to remain as the first competitor a lap down ahead of Wallace, Zane Smith and BJ McLeod.
Under the stage break, the entire field led by Keselowski pitted and Preece exited with the lead followed by Keselowski, Harvick, Almirola and McDowell. During the pit stops, Buescher had to back up to get into his pit stall while Hamlin and Logano nearly made contact against one another, with Logano running his car into the grass, while trying to exit pit road amid a tight scramble.
The second stage started on Lap 71 as Preece and Keselowski occupied the front row. At the start, Preece and Keselowski duked for the lead until Keselowski gained a draft from Almirola through the backstretch and moved in front of Preece’s No. 41 Haas Ford Mustang to lead a lap for himself. Almirola, however, was quick to challenge Keselowski on the outside lane as he had Cindric’s No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang drafting him while Keselowski remained in front of Preece and Harvick on the inside lane.
Through the first 80 scheduled laps, Keselowski and Almirola continued to duke for the lead followed by Preece, Cindric and Harvick while Byron, McDowell, Buescher, Truex and Gilliland were in the top 10. Behind, Kyle Busch, Logano, Erik Jones, Hamlin, Blaney, Johnson, Larson, Elliott, Haley and Reddick were running in the top 20 while Gibbs, Bowman, Stenhouse, Ross Chastain, Briscoe, Harrison Burton, Bell, Gragson, Allmendinger and Daniel Suarez were mired in the top 30. Meanwhile, Austin Dillon was scored as the final competitor on the lead lap in 33rd while Wallace was still mired a lap down in 34th in front of Zane Smith and Pastrana.
Ten laps later, Keselowski continued to lead on the inside lane followed by Preece and Harvick while McDowell and Almirola battled for fourth place in front of two tight-packed lanes.
At the halfway mark on Lap 100, Keselowski retained the lead ahead of the pack and a long line of competitors running on the inside lane. By then, Preece remained behind Keselowski in the runner-up spot followed by Harvick, McDowell and Erik Jones while Johnson, Larson, Reddick, Stenhouse and Truex were running in the top 10. By then, Kyle Busch was trying to launch a second drafting lane on the outside lane as he was just scored outside of the top 10 while 33 of 40 starters were scored on the lead lap.
Eight laps later, a multitude of competitors led by Kyle Busch and including a majority of Chevrolet competitors pitted under green for a second time while the rest of the field led by Keselowski remained on the track. Following the first wave of pit stops, Busch was assessed a pass-through penalty for speeding on pit road. Shortly after, a small wave of competitors led by Keselowski pitted for service under green. A wave of Toyota competitors including Ford competitor Harvick, followed suit during the next lap before Logano led the final wave of competitors down to pit road by the Lap 110 mark.
Once the green flag pit stops completed, Logano cycled into the lead followed by Buescher and Blaney. All three, however, were quickly caught by the field led by Reddick entering the frontstretch and chaos nearly ensued when Blaney and Buescher tried to stall the run from the pack. Once the field settled through two packed lanes, Logano retained the lead followed by teammate Blaney while Truex, Gibbs and Larson were in the top five. By then, Erik Jones, Buescher, Byron, Reddick and Harvick occupied the top 10.
Then on Lap 118, the caution flew when Harvick bumped and got Reddick’s No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota TRD Camry loose in Turn 4 as he clipped Blaney while barely missing Truex before both veered sideways and hit the outside wall. While the oncoming competitors behind scrambled to avoid the carnage, Erik Jones veered sideway below the apron along with Larson before he spun backwards and was hit by Elliott while Suarez also made contact against Elliott. While Blaney continued despite falling off of the lead lap category, top names that included Elliott, Jones and Reddick were eliminated from contention. During the caution period, some led by Buescher pitted while others led by Logano remained on the track.
With six laps remaining in the second stage, the race proceeded under green as Logano and Chastain occupied the front row. At the start, Logano rocketed away with the lead on the inside lane followed by Truex while Chastain was locked in a battle with AJ Allmendinger for third place. A lap later, Chastain drew his No. 1 AdventHealth Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 alongside Logano as he proceeded to lead a lap for himself before Logano returned the favor during the next lap. Chastain would then manage to reassume the lead and have both lanes to his control while Bowman and Logano dueled for second.
When the second stage concluded on Lap 130, Chastain edged Bowman by 0.015 seconds to claim the second stage victory. Logano settled in third while Stenhouse, Logano, Cindric, Truex, Byron, Allmendinger, Buescher and Bell were scored in the top 10 as the field fanned out to three lanes while streaking across the start/finish line.
Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Chastain, except for Wallace, pitted for service and Almirola exited with the lead after only opting for fuel followed by Buescher, Byron, Larson and Cindric. During the caution period, Chastain was penalized for speeding while entering pit road along with Gragson, who was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation. Bell was also penalized for running over his air hose.
With 63 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as Wallace and Almirola occupied the front row. At the start, Wallace jumped ahead with the lead as he had both lanes to his control through the first two turns. Through the backstretch, he moved from the bottom to the top lane to remain in front of Byron. This, however, allowed Almirola to gain the draft and move into the lead on the inside lane followed by Buescher as Larson also moved up to third.
Two laps later, the caution returned due to debris in the form of a right-front tire that came off in Turn 2 and off of Blaney’s damaged No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang. During the caution period, names that included Larson, Byron, Briscoe, Logano, Gragson, Truex, Cody Ware, Allmendinger, Stenhouse, Gilliland, Zane Smith, Bowman, Logano and Kyle Busch pitted, mainly for fuel. During the pit stops, Bowman endured a slow pit service to have his car repaired after making contact with Gragson while trying to enter his pit stall.
During the following restart with 57 laps remaining, Wallace and Almirola dueled for the lead for a second time before Almirola quickly pulled away on the inside lane as he was being drafted by Buescher and Harvick while Wallace had Cindric drafting him. During the following lap, Cindric along with a majority of competitors running on the outside lane overtook Wallace as Wallace lost the draft while being stuck in the middle of three packed lanes and fell back to 16th. Meanwhile, a side-by-side action for the lead was occurring between Almirola and Buescher.
With 50 laps remaining, Buescher was leading ahead of teammate/owner Keselowski followed by Almirola, Hamlin and Harvick while LaJoie, Cindric, Haley, Preece and Johnson were in the top 10. Shortly after, Hamlin drew his challenge for the lead beneath Buescher’s No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang, but the latter remained within contention.
Under the final 40 scheduled laps, the top-33 competitors on the track were separated by less than two seconds and within two packed lanes as Buescher continued to lead with drafting help from Keselowski while Almirola, Cindric and Preece settled in the top five ahead of Harrison Burton, McDowell, Hamlin, Suarez and Larson.
Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Buescher retained the lead followed by a long line of competitors running on the outside lane, which included seven Fords occupying the top-seven spots that included Keselowski, Almirola, Cindric, Preece, Burton and McDowell. A lap later, Wallace pitted for fresh tires and fuel under green.
Then with 25 laps remaining, a wave of competitors led by Buescher pitted under green, mainly for fuel, as Suarez took over the lead. The Toyota competitors led by Hamlin and Truex would pit during the following lap before a group of five led by McDowell pitted during the ensuing lap. More competitors led by Suarez would then pit with 21 laps remaining as Burton emerged with the lead. Shortly after, Burton pitted along with a handful of competitors including Logano. During the pit stops, Stenhouse was penalized for speeding while exiting pit road.
Then with 19 laps remaining, the caution flew when a stack-up on the outside lane entering Turns 1 and 2 resulted with McDowell hitting and sending Preece sideways as Preece spun below the track and hit the right side of Johnson’s car before he shot back up to the wall and ignited a multi-car wreck that collected Truex, Briscoe, Gibbs and Harvick. At the moment of caution, Burton, who had just pitted under green, cycled into the lead followed by Logano, Byron, Kyle Busch and Larson while Austin Dillon, Suarez, Allmendinger, Keselowski and Gragson were running in the top 10.
Down to the final 13 laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Burton and Logano occupied the front row. At the start, Burton and Logano battled dead even for the lead. As Burton tried to pull ahead through the backstretch, Logano gained the upper hand on the inside lane as he assumed the lead followed by Byron, Allmendinger and Larson. Then through the frontstretch, Logano’s car dipped below the double yellow lines. This caused a brief stack up as Byron was left in the middle of a three-wide battle and began losing spots after losing the draft. Then through the backstretch, Allmendinger forced his way below Logano as he took the lead followed by Larson as Logano was losing spots on the outside lane while nearly making contact with Burton.
As the field fanned out and jostled for positions toward the front with 10 laps remaining, Keselowski cycled his way back into the lead followed by Buescher, Allmendinger, Larson and Busch. Busch would soon move up to third followed by teammate Austin Dillon and Byron while Allmendinger was slowly losing ground after losing the lead pack.
Down to the final five laps of the event, Keselowski was leading teammate Buescher while Busch settled in third as he had teammate Dillon and Byron drafting him while Stenhouse, Logano, Cindric, Bell and Larson in top 10.
Then with four laps remaining, Busch dropped the hammer through the backstretch as he moved to the outside lane and was drafted into the lead followed by Dillon, Byron and Stenhouse while Keselowski and Buescher were stuck on the inside lane with no additional help as they dropped to fifth and sixth. Then as Busch led the field towards the frontstretch with the start/finish line within sight, the caution flew with two laps remaining and the event was sent into overtime when Suarez got turned and spun towards the frontstretch before getting his No. 99 Tootsies Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 stuck on the frontstretch grass.
At the start of the first overtime attempt, Busch, who started on the outside lane alongside Dillon, jumped ahead before crossing over in front of Dillon’s No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Club Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to get the draft from his Richard Childress Racing teammate while Logano tried to rally on the outside lane. Logano would gain the upper hand through the backstretch as he had Stenhouse, Larson and Bell pushing him while Busch had to save his No. 8 3CHI Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 from going off the track after getting bumped by Dillon. Then, Stenhouse moved to the inside of Logano as he took the lead followed by Larson. Not long after, however, the caution returned and the field was sent into a second overtime attempt when Dillon got bumped and turned by Byron exiting the backstretch as he bumped into Hamlin before sending himself and Byron for a spin. Both Dillon and Byron then veered back up the track and ignited another multi-car pileup in Turn 3 that involved Haley, Gilliland, Cindric, Burton, Gragson, Chastain, Zane Smith, Herbst and Johnson, whose strong run came to an end with a wrecked race car. In the midst of the carnage, Busch, who lost his teammate and drafting partner, fell back to sixth behind Logano and Allmendinger.
At the start of the second overtime attempt, where Stenhouse and Larson occupied the front row, Stenhouse retained the lead despite receiving pressure from Logano, Larson, Busch and a pack of cars through double lanes through the backstretch and entering the frontstretch.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Stenhouse remained as the leader before being overtaken by both Logano and Larson exiting the frontstretch. Entering Turns 1 and 2, however, Stenhouse received a push from Bell on the inside lane to mount his way back to the front and draw himself alongside Logano. Then through Turns 1 and 2, Pastrana got bumped by Almirola as he clipped Larson and sent Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 head-on into the outside wall. The contact triggered a massive wreck on the final lap that included Busch, Blaney, Cindric, Wallace, Keselowski, Hamlin and Allmendinger. The wreck on the final lap was also enough for NASCAR to conclude the event under caution and Stenhouse, who was low on fuel in overtime, emerged as the winner as he was out in front when the caution was displayed ahead of Logano and Bell.
With the victory, Stenhouse became the 42nd different competitor to win the Daytona 500 as he notched his third NASCAR Cup Series career victory and snapped a 199-race winless drought, with his last victory occurring at Daytona in July 2017. He also recorded the second Cup career victory for JTG-Daugherty Racing, which celebrated a Daytona 500 pole with Stenhouse in 2020, as co-owners Jodi Geschickter and Brad Daugherty became the first female and African-American duo as co-owners of a car to win the 500. Stenhouse’s victory also occurred in his first race being reunited with veteran Mike Kelley, who led Stenhouse to back-to-back Xfinity Series championships in 2011 and 2012.
Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“I think this whole off season [period], [crew chief] Mike [Kelley] just preached how much we all believed in each other,” Stenhouse, who celebrated by climbing the frontstretch catchfence, said on FOX. “[The team] left me a note on the car that said they believe in me and to go get the job done tonight. I made a few mistakes. We were able to battle back. This Kroger/Cottonelle team worked really, really hard this off-season. Great pit stops, Hendrick engines, glad a Chevy won. Man, this is unbelievable. This is the sight of my last win back in 2017. We worked really hard. We had a couple shots last year to get a win and fell short. It was a tough season, but man, we got it done. Daytona 500.”
“I knew I was gonna take the top [lane for the second overtime],” Stenhouse added. “I was hoping [Logano] was gonna follow and he did. He was able to push us out. I went to the bottom [lane]. [Busch] and [Logano] got a huge run. [Larson] split me in the middle, but another fellow dirt racer with Bell gave me a good shot down the little short chute into [Turn] 1. Man, we were out front when the caution came out. We were out of fuel, so the fuel light was going crazy, but man, I hope you all [fans] had fun. That was a heck of a race!”
While Stenhouse celebrated the victory, Logano, the reigning series champion, settled in a disappointing second place while Bell, Buescher and Bowman finished in the top five.
“Second’s the worst, man,” Logano said. “You’re so close. Leading the white flag lap there, I was up front. Kyle gave me a good push and you’re watching in the mirror and you’re three wide across there…You think you’re racing to the checkered flag and you put yourself in the best position to try to win at the start/finish line, and just caution came out. You wish you could race to the end. Obviously, you can’t when they wreck that much. Congratulations to Ricky. There’s nothing like winning the Daytona 500. That’s why it stings so much finishing second, but still proud of the team, still proud of the effort coming off the championship last year and bringing this Shell/Pennzoil Mustang back toward the front and getting a Ford close to the front. Wish it was in Victory Lane, though.”
“If you would’ve told me pre-race I was gonna run third, I would’ve jumped up and down and smiling ear to ear,” Bell said. “I am very happy and very, very thankful that I would get this Rheem and DeWalt Camry a good solid finish, but man, just so close to a crown jewel. I feel like if [the race] would’ve stayed green, I would’ve been on offense. Who knows, who knows, but very proud and thankful to be here at Joe Gibbs Racing. That’s really cool. Very, very happy for Ricky.”
Allmendinger, who was involved in the final lap multi-car melee, rallied to come home in sixth place while Suarez, Blaney, Chastain and Riley Herbst achieved top-10 results. Notably, Pastrana finished 11th in his Cup debut, Harvick finished 12th in his 22nd and final Daytona 500 career start in front of Zane Smith, Hamlin fell back to 17th while Larson, Kyle Busch, Wallace, Almirola, Keselowski and Cindric ended up 18th through 23rd, respectively, after wrecking on the final lap. In addition, Conor Daly and Johnson ended up 29th and 31st, respectively, in the final running order.
There were 53 lead changes for 21 different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 38 laps. At 212 laps (530 miles), this season marked the longest-ever running of the Daytona 500 in distance.
Following the first event on the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, Joey Logano leads the regular-season standings by two points over Chris Buescher, four over Ricky Stenhouse Jr., eight over Christopher Bell, 11 over Alex Bowman and 14 over Ross Chastain.
With the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season underway, the competitors and teams will be embarking on a three-race West Coast swing, beginning at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, which will mark the sport’s final competition at the two-mile speedway venue. The event is scheduled to occur on next Sunday, February 26, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
From starting at the rear of the field to claiming the lead at the moment of caution, Austin Hill commenced a new season of NASCAR Xfinity Series competition on a thrilling note by winning the Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. 300 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, February 18.
The 28-year-old Hill from Winston, Georgia, led four times for a race-high 39 of 125 over-scheduled laps in a season opener that started off on a rough note, when Hill was forced to surrender his pole-winning spot to resolve radio issues to his No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet Camaro. Starting at the rear of the field, he managed to methodically carve his way to the front and claim the first stage victory. He then spent the majority of the event running within the lead pack and managed to withstand the field during an overtime attempt to emerge victorious under caution amid a multi-car wreck on the final lap and win the opener at Daytona for a second consecutive season.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Austin Hill, the reigning Xfinity rookie of the year and the reigning Daytona opener winner, started on pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 182.563 mph in 49.298 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Parker Kligerman, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 182.441 mph in 49.331 seconds.
Prior to the event, the following names that included Blaine Perkins, Gray Gaulding, Kyle Sieg and Joey Gase dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective cars. Ryan Ellis also dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change while Stefan Parsons also fell back to the rear after replacing an ill Caesar Bacarella in the No. 45 Alpha Prime Racing entry. Jeb Burton would also start at the rear of the field after making a pit stop to replace a battery to his No. 27 Jordan Anderson Racing entry.
Then, just as the start of the event was approaching, Hill peeled off the track and pitted after dealing with radio issues to his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing entry. With Hill having to drop to the rear of the field, this allowed the third-place starter Cole Custer to start alongside Kligerman on the front row.
When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Kligerman, the new full-time driver of Big Machine Racing’s No. 48 entry, shot out with an early advantage on the outside lane by Sheldon Creed through the first two turns. Kligerman continued to lead through the backstretch until Custer fought back on the inside lane followed by Justin Allgaier and John Hunter Nemechek. Maintaining both lanes to his control, Custer proceeded to lead the first lap in his No. 00 Has Ford Mustang before Allgaier launched his bid for the lead on the inside lane. Through the backstretch, Allgaier was able to break away from the pack and move up the outside lane with drafting help from Nemechek as he went on to lead the second lap followed by Nemechek and Riley Herbst while Brandon Jones served as the lead competitor on the inside lane.
Through the first five scheduled laps and as the field fanned out to three tight-packed lanes, Allgaier was leading by a hair over Nemechek followed by Brandon Jones, Herbst and Daniel Hemric while Custer, Kligerman, Justin Haley, Sam Mayer and Creed were in the top 10. By then, rookie Chandler Smith was in 11th followed by Anthony Alfredo, Hill, Jade Buford and Josh Berry while Jeb Burton, Sammy Smith, Ryan Sieg, Brett Moffitt and Myatt Snider were running inside the top 20.
Two laps later, the first caution of the event flew when smoke billowed out of the No. 4 JD Motorsports entry piloted by Bayley Currey past the frontstretch. During the caution period, a multitude of names that included Herbst, Custer, Mayer, Berry, Burton, Snider, Parker Retzlaff, Jeremy Clements, Brennan Poole, Kyle Sieg, Kaz Grala, Ryan Ellis and Sammy Smith pitted while the rest led by new leader Nemechek remained on the track.
When the race restarted under green on Lap 11, Nemechek received a push from Kligerman to shoot to an early lead until Allgaier fought back on the inside lane through the first two lanes and the backstretch. As the field fanned out to three lanes, Nemechek and Allgaier continued to duel for the lead in front of Haley and Hill.
By Lap 15, Nemechek and Allgaier remained dead even in a tight battle for the lead and in front of a tight pack of cars, with Nemechek running the outside lane in front of Hemric while Allgaier remained on the inside lane in front of Haley.
At the Lap 20 mark, the caution returned when Mayer made contact with Blaine Perkins by turning Perkins into Hemric as Perkins proceeded to spin and hit the inside wall towards the pit wall entrance while Hemric limped his No. 11 Cirkul Chevrolet Camaro back to pit road with extensive right-front damage. The incident on the frontstretch was one that ended Hemric and Perkin’s run early. During the caution period, a multitude of names that included Buford, Creed, Kligerman, Moffitt, Custer, Herbst, Ryan Sieg, Clements, Grala, Brandon Jones, Mayer, Snider and Retzlaff pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track.
With the event restarting under green on Lap 25, Allgaier and Haley dueled for the lead until Haley was drafted into the lead on the outside lane following a push from Hill. During the following lap, Hill made his move beneath Haley to contend for the lead as he received drafting help from Allgaier on the inside lane. He would then prevail entering the frontstretch and proceed to fend off challenges coming through both lanes.
Then on the final lap of the first stage, Chandler Smith launched a final corner attack to Hill’s outside as the field jostled and scrambled for positions towards the front. Hill, however, was able to pull ahead on the inside lane through the frontstretch as he claimed the first stage victory on Lap 30. Smith settled in second while Allgaier, Haley, Burton, Creed, Berry, Kligerman, Nemechek and Snider were scored in the top 10 as all received the first wave of stage points of the season. Under the stage break, some led by Hill pitted while the rest led by Creed remained on the track.
The second stage started on Lap 36 as Creed and Mayer occupied the front row. At the start, Creed received a push from Kligerman to maintain a slight advantage through the backstretch before Mayer fought back after receiving a draft from Herbst’s No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang. As the rest of the field caught up to the two leaders, Creed and Mayer continued to duel for the lead before Herbst drew himself alongside Mayer to ignite his bid for the lead. By Lap 39, however, Mayer managed to pull away with a slight advantage over Creed and Kligerman.
Then on Lap 40 and as the field fanned out to three tight-packed lanes through the frontstretch, the caution returned when Creed, who was getting bumped by Kligerman, got loose as he barely hit Hill before veering into the outside wall just past the frontstretch and with damage to his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro. As the field scrambled to avoid the incident, Allgaier got loose as he also spun his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro from the bottom to the inside lane and just in front of Haley’s nose. Stefan Parsons also spun in the middle of the pack as he limped his car back to pit road with flat tires. During the caution period, some like Haley pitted while the rest led by Mayer remained on the track.
At the start of the following restart on Lap 45, Mayer prevailed on the outside lane with drafting help from Brandon Jones and in front of two tight-packed lanes. Kligerman would soon challenge Mayer on the inside lane as both engaged in a tight side-by-side battle for the lead. By the Lap 50 mark, however, Hill reclaimed the lead.
With five laps remaining in the second stage, Allgaier, who methodically carved his way back to the front following his spin, was scored as the leader followed by teammate Mayer, Moffitt, Hill and Jeb Burton.
When the second stage concluded at the halfway mark on Lap 60, Allgaier fended off teammate Mayer to claim the second stage victory on Lap 60. Mayer settled in second followed by Hill, Jones, Moffitt, Berry, Herbst, Nemechek, Custer, and Sammy Smith, who spun past the frontstretch after he got by Burton, who originally got bumped and turned by Alfredo.
Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Allgaier pitted while some that included Gray Gaulding, Poole, Joey Gase, CJ McLaughlin and Kyle Sieg remained on the track. All five competitors would eventually pit as Allgaier cycled his way back into the lead.
With 54 laps remaining, the final stage started as Allgaier and Hill occupied the front row. At the start, Allgaier and Hill dueled for the lead through the first two turns and they continued to battle dead even for the lead entering the frontstretch until Allgaier pulled ahead by a hair on the outside lane. He continued to lead the field as the event reached its final 50-lap mark.
Then with 45 laps remaining, a wave of competitors led by Allgaier pitted under green while the rest led by Nemechek remained on the track. During the pit stops, Kligerman spun, but he managed to straighten his car without hitting the wall. Another lap later, another wave of competitors led by Nemechek pitted under green as Gaulding assumed the lead. Once the final wave of competitors led by Gaulding pitted with nearly 40 laps remaining, Josh Berry cycled his way into the lead followed by Hill, Allgaier, Mayer and Herbst while Jones, Custer, Moffitt, Nemechek and Snider were in the top 10. By then, Allgaier was back in 11th while Kligerman plummeted to 30th.
Down to the final 35 laps of the event, Berry was leading a 15-car breakaway ahead of Hill, Allgaier, Mayer, Herbst, Jones, Custer, Haley, Buford and Chandler Smith while Alfredo, Burton, Moffitt, Nemechek and Snider.
Three laps later, the caution flew when CJ McLaughlin and Sammy Smith wrecked on the frontstretch. During the caution period, names like Alfredo, Clements, Retzlaff, Parsons, Josh Williams, Kligerman, Jesse Iwuji, David Starr and Smith pitted while the rest led by Berry remained on the track.
With 26 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Berry and Hill dueled for the lead until Hill peaked ahead through the first two turns. Berry, however, prevailed on the outside lane as he received a draft from all three of his JR Motorsports teammates to reassume the lead through the backstretch. Then during the following lap, Hill, who was being drafted by Herbst through the first two turns, managed to slide in front of Berry to control the field exiting the backstretch. Soon after, a multitude of competitors settled in a long single-file line on the outside lane as Hill retained the lead followed by Berry, Allgaier, Mayer and Jones while Nemechek, Snider, Ryan Sieg, Alfredo and Jeffrey Earnhardt were scored in the top 10.
Down to the final 20 laps of the event, the top-26 competitors were separated by two seconds while running in a long line on the outside lane and as Hill was leading Berry, Allgaier, Mayer, Jones, Nemechek, Snider, Ryan Sieg, Alfredo and Earnhardt while Kligerman, Herbst, Retzlaff, Joe Graf Jr. and Jade Buford, Gaulding, Parker Chase, Josh Williams, Chandler Smith and Haley occupied the top 20.
A few laps later, Moffitt dropped out of the 26-car train after scraping the wall and limping back to pit road with a flat tire. Despite the contact, the race remained under green flag conditions as Hill continued to lead the JR Motorsports’ quadruplet. Then with 12 laps remaining, Kligerman made a bold move to the inside lane and back up to the outside lane, where he forced Earnhardt into the outside wall in Turns 1 and 2 as Earnhardt fell off the pace with a flat tire.
With 10 laps remaining, Hill continued to lead a long line of competitors followed by Berry, Allgaier, Mayer and Jones while Nemechek, Snider, Ryan Sieg, Alfredo and Kligerman were scored in the top 10. By then, Parker Retzlaff was in 11th while Herbst, Graf Jr., Buford and Gaulding occupied the top 15.
Down to the final five laps of the event, Hill retained the lead ahead of the pack while the four JR Motorsports’ competitors remained in a single-file lane within the top five. Soon after, Kligerman, who was mired within the top 15, made the first move towards the inside lane as he tried to launch his bid to the front.
Three laps later, Allgaier initiated a move to the inside lane as he overtook Berry for the runner-up spot. Hill then moved back to the bottom of the track to block Allgaier as Jones opted to follow Allgaier. Then on the backstretch, Jones got turned by teammate Berry while running third as he spun his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro through the grass. The incident not only displayed the caution, but it also sent the field into overtime. Prior to overtime, however, Berry fell off the pace after his No. 8 Bass Pro Shops Club Chevrolet Camaro ran out of fuel. This allowed Alfredo and Nemechek to move up the leaderboard within the top five behind Hill, Allgaier and Mayer.
At the start of the first overtime attempt, Allgaier and Hill duked for the lead, with Hill receiving a draft from Alfredo while Allgaier battled back on the inside lane followed by teammate Mayer. Exiting the backstretch, Allgaier started to pull away on the inside lane as he placed a huge distance between himself and a side-by-side battle between Mayer and Hill.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Allgaier remained as the leader, but was far ahead of the pack that quickly caught back to him through the first two turns amid the draft. Through Turns 1 and 2, Mayer made a bold move to Allgaier’s outside to assume a brief advantage. Then entering the backstretch, he moved up in front of Hill’s front nose to block him while also bumping into Allgaier. This resulted with Mayer getting loose as Hill made contact and turned Mayer across the straightaway and into the outside wall. As a result, Mayer’s No. 1 Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet Camaro hit the wall and overturned on its roof as he slid upside down amid a shower of sparks throughout the backstretch before flipping back on all four wheels in the grass. While a majority of the field dodged the carnage, additional names that included Kligerman, Alfredo, Buford and David Starr also wrecked.
With the event concluding under caution, NASCAR was left to determine the winner between a tight three-wide battle between Hill, Nemechek and Allgaier. Following an extensive review, Hill was declared the official winner as he emerged out in front of both Nemechek and Allgaier when the caution was displayed.
With the victory, Hill claimed his third career win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and his first since winning at Atlanta Motor Speedway in July 2022. He also became the first Xfinity competitor of this season to be guaranteed a spot for the 2023 Xfinity Playoffs while also recording the eighth Daytona Xfinity victory for Richard Childress Racing and the 50th overall for Chevrolet. By winning the opener at Daytona for a second consecutive year, he became the first competitor to win the opener at Daytona in consecutive seasons since Tony Stewart achieved four consecutive opener wins from 2008 to 2011.
“I have no idea [how I won],” Hill said on FS1. “I don’t know. I didn’t feel like the inside line was that great all day, for most of the day. I just wanted to choose the top [lane]. I knew [Alfredo] would stay with me. He was pretty committed. When I saw [Mayer] and [Allgaier] get together, I went to go squeeze him. [Mayer] came down. He started getting loose and then, you can’t lift. It’s the last lap. I hope Sam’s okay. That was a heck of flip there, but as soon as the caution lights came out, I thought I had it, but it’s so close. To get back to back [wins] here at Daytona, it’s really special. That’s three wins for me now [at Daytona]. I can’t thank everyone at [Richard Childress Racing]. Our Bennett Chevrolet was so good. We came from the back two different times. [I] Hoped everyone enjoyed [the race]. It was such a blast. I had so much. We won at Daytona! Let’s go!”
With Hill emerging as the winner, John Hunter Nemechek settled in second place followed by Allgaier, who led 36 laps before being overtaken on the final lap.
“[I’m] Really proud of everybody at JR Motorsports,” Allgaier said. “Our Chevy Camaros were absolutely blazing fast. This whole team’s worked their guts out. To have the adversity that we had tonight, to go to the back and have that spin, just battled our way through. It’s crazy how fast our car was tonight and how good we were in traffic. [I’m] Disappointed. I thought I could get enough of a draft off of [Berry] and maybe, they couldn’t catch me, but I just got too far out there. That was really all it came down to, but proud of our team. Really proud of the effort we put in. I think we got a lot to walk out of here with our confidence high. We’ll go on next week to California and I think we’ll be as equally fast.”
Rookie Parker Retzlaff and Myatt Snider finished in the top five while Herbst, Joe Graf Jr., Ryan Sieg, Custer and Haley came home in the top 10 in the final running order. Mayer, who ended up 27th following his final lap wreck, emerged uninjured.
There were 25 lead changes for 11 different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 32 laps.
Following the first event of the 2023 Xfinity Series season, Austin Hill leads the regular-season standings by six points over Justin Allgaier, 18 over John Hunter Nemechek, 23 over Riley Herbst and 24 over Chandler Smith.
Results.
1. Austin Hill, 39 laps led, Stage 1 winner
2. John Hunter Nemechek, eight laps led
3. Justin Allgaier, 36 laps led, Stage 2 winner
4. Parker Retzlaff
5. Myatt Snider
6. Riley Herbst
7. Joe Graf Jr.
8. Ryan Sieg
9. Cole Custer, one lap led
10. Justin Haley, one lap led
11. Jeb Burton
12. Chandler Smith
13. Stefan Parsons
14. Brandon Jones
15. Josh Williams
16. Parker Chase
17. Jeremy Clements
18. Joey Gase
19. Sammy Smith
20. Gray Gaulding, one lap led
21. Kyle Sieg
22. David Starr, two laps led
23. Parker Kligerman, one lap led
24. Anthony Alfredo
25. Jade Buford
26. Josh Berry, 17 laps led
27. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident, 14 laps led
28. Jeffrey Earnhardt, one lap down
29. Brett Moffitt, one lap down
30. Jesse Iwuji – OUT, Electrical
31. CJ McLaughlin – OUT, Accident
32. Kaz Grala – OUT, Engine
33. Brennan Poole – OUT, Engine
34. Sheldon Creed – OUT, Accident, five laps led
35. Ryan Ellis – OUT, Accident
36. Daniel Hemric – OUT, Accident
37. Blaine Perkins – OUT, Accident
38. Bayley Currey – OUT, Engine
With the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series season underway, the competitors and teams will be embarking on a three-race West Coast swing, beginning at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, which will mark the series’ final competition at the two-mile speedway venue. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, February 25, at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.
Embarking on a part-time campaign for this year’s NASCAR Xfinity Series season with Joe Gibbs Racing, Myatt Snider is set to achieve a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s Xfinity season opener at Daytona International Speedway, Snider will reach 100 career starts in the Xfinity circuit.
A native of Charlotte, North Carolina, Snider made his inaugural presence in the Xfinity Series at the start of the 2020 season when he inked a part-time deal to compete between Richard Childress Racing and RSS Racing. By then, he had achieved the 2018 Craftsman Truck Series Rookie-of-the-Year title and was coming off a full-time campaign in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series for Racing Engineering. Commencing the 2020 season in RCR’s No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro, Snider notched his first career pole for the season opener at Daytona. Despite leading 22 of the first 23 laps, he ended up in 33rd place after being involved in an on-track incident midway into the event. He then finished no higher than 10th during the following five scheduled events before notching his first top-five career result at Bristol Motor Speedway in June, where he finished fifth.
By June 2020, Snider committed to running the remainder of the Xfinity Series season on a full-time basis between RCR and RSS Racing. Beginning at Atlanta Motor Speedway in June through the season finale at Phoenix Raceway in November, he recorded a total of four top-10 results, which included a season-best fourth-place finish at Pocono Raceway in June. During the span, his best result with RSS Racing was a seventh-place result at Homestead-Miami Speedway in June. Despite missing the 2020 Xfinity Playoffs, Snider led a total of 32 laps throughout the season and notched an average-finishing result of 20.6 before finishing in 16th place in the final standings.
For the 2021 season, Snider took over RCR’s No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro on a full-time Xfinity Series basis. He commenced the season by finishing seventh at Daytona before finishing 13th during the following event at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course. Then at Homestead, Snider benefitted through two overtime restarts and a late charge from Tyler Reddick to score his first Xfinity career victory in his 36th series start. With a guaranteed spot for the 2021 Xfinity Series Playoffs based on his Homestead victory, the Charlotte native proceeded to accumulate seven additional top-10 results during the final 23 regular-season events before the Playoffs commenced. Following respective finishes of 15th, 31st and eighth during the Round of 12, his title hopes came to an end as he was one of four competitor to not transfer to the Round of 8. Nonetheless, he went on to finish no higher than 10th during the final four scheduled events before concluding the season in ninth place in the final standings. Despite leading a total of nine laps throughout the season, he notched a career-high 11 top-10 results and a career-best average-finishing result of 17.0.
In November 2021, Snider inked a deal to drive the No. 31 Chevrolet Camaro for Jordan Anderson Racing for the upcoming Xfinity season. The news came a month after RCR announced that former Truck champion Sheldon Creed would replace Snider in the No. 2 car. Snider’s first event with Jordan Anderson Racing commenced on a harrowing note when he was involved in a vicious multi-car wreck on the final lap, where his car went airborne and was shredded on the front and rear ends after catching the backstretch catchfence. Despite the incident, Snider emerged uninjured. After finishing no higher than 21st during the first five scheduled events, he collected his first top-10 result of the season after finishing sixth at Circuit of the Americas in March. Eight races later, he notched his season-best result of second place at Portland International Raceway in June. Despite recording a total of four top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, he did not earn a berth for the 2022 Xfinity Playoffs. He went on to finish in the top 20 in four of the final seven Playoff events before settling in 18th place in the final standings. Despite leading more laps than his previous season at 21, he concluded the season with an average-finishing result of 21.9.
The 2023 season is set to mark another new beginning for Snider, who is scheduled to compete in six Xfinity events behind the wheel of the No. 19 Toyota Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing. His first start of the season will occur in the season opener at Daytona before competing at Portland in June. He will then cap off the season by competing in four of the final five scheduled events that include the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Martinsville Speedway and the season finale at Phoenix Raceway between October and November.
Through 99 previous Xfinity starts, Snider has achieved one victory, one pole, four top-five results, 21 top-10 results, 62 laps led and an average-finishing result of 19.8.
Snider is scheduled to make his 100th NASCAR Xfinity Series career start at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, February 18, with the event’s coverage to occur at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.
The 2023 NASCAR season is set to mark a new beginning for Kaz Grala, who will be competing as a full-time Xfinity Series competitor for the first time in his career with Sam Hunt Racing. This season will also mark his eighth season with at least one start across NASCAR’s top three national touring series, in which he is primed to achieve a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s Xfinity Series season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway, Grala will achieve 100 national touring series career starts.
A native of Boston, Massachusetts, Grala, whose racing career started with go-karts at X1 Boston at the age of four before moving up to Bandoleers, legends cars and stock cars, made his inaugural presence within NASCAR’s top three national touring series at Martinsville Speedway in April 2016, where he campaigned on a part-time basis in the Truck Series for GMS Racing. By then, he was coming off two full-time seasons in the ARCA Menards Series East, where he finished in seventh place in the standings during both seasons. During his Truck debut at Martinsville, Grala started 19th and finished 31st after being involved in an early single-truck incident. He proceeded to make eight additional Truck starts between GMS Racing’s Nos. 24 and 33 entries, where he recorded a total of three top-10 results and a season-best result of seventh place at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September. His final start of the season occurred at Phoenix Raceway in November, where he started 11th and finished 28th after being involved in a late incident.
The 2017 season produced Grala’s first and only full-time campaign to date within NASCAR’s top three national touring series as he was assigned to a full-time driving role of the No. 33 GMS Racing Chevrolet Silverado in the Truck circuit. He commenced the season on a high note by becoming the youngest competitor to win a pole position and a race at Daytona International Speedway in February at age 18 years, one month and 26 days. The victory occurred after Grala dodged a final lap multi-truck wreck to claim his first NASCAR Truck career victory and claim a guaranteed spot to the 2017 Playoffs. He went on to claim five additional top-10 results throughout the 16-race regular-season stretch, including a runner-up result at Dover Motor Speedway in June and a third-place result at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in September despite getting bumped and spun out of the way for the lead by Austin Cindric on the final lap. At the start of the Playoffs, however, Grala was eliminated from title contention following respective finishes of 10th, fifth and 29th during the Round of 8. Nonetheless, he went on to finish in the top 10 in three of the final four scheduled events before finishing in seventh place in the final drivers’ standings.
Coming off a strong Truck Series campaign, Grala graduated to the Xfinity Series for the 2018 season as he started the season as the driver of the No. 24 JGL Racing Ford Mustang. Despite commencing the season with a fourth-place run at Daytona in February, the Boston native was left without a ride after JGL ceased his entry following the first 10-scheduled events. A few days later, however, Grala managed to secure a part-time Xfinity ride in the No. 61 Ford Mustang for FURY Race Cars, beginning at a Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. Making a total of 12 starts with FURY for the remaining 23-scheduled events, he finished in the top 10 four times, which included a strong fifth-place result at Daytona in July.
In 2019, Grala made only five national touring series starts, all occurring in the Xfinity Series behind the wheel of the No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing. His first start with RCR occurred at Texas Motor Speedway in March, where he finished 18th. He went on to finish 14th during his next three scheduled starts at Richmond Raceway in April, Dover in May and at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July. He then capped off his five-race run with RCR by finishing fifth at Road America in August.
The 2020 season witnessed Grala competing in a total of seven national touring series events: one in the Cup Series, five in the Xfinity Series and one in the Truck Series. His first start of the season occurred in the Xfinity circuit at Kansas Speedway in July, where he returned for a second part-time stint with RCR and finished 13th. He went on to post his best result of the season at Road America in August, where he finished fourth, followed by back-to-back ninth-place results during a Richmond Raceway doubleheader feature in September. His final Xfinity start of the season occurred at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in October, where he ended up in 31st place due to a suspension issue despite winning the first stage. In August, Grala served as an interim competitor for Austin Dillon in RCR’s No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE entry in the Cup Series at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course in August. The news of Grala substituting for Dillon came after Dillon tested positive for COVID-19 leading up to the event as Grala made his first career start in NASCAR’s premier series. During the event, the Boston native recorded a strong seventh-place result. For the Truck Series, he made his lone start at Talladega in October, where he piloted the No. 44 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado to a ninth-place result.
For the 2021 season, Grala competed in a total of three Cup events, two Xfinity events and three Truck events. In the Cup circuit, he competed on a part-time basis for Kaulig Racing that commenced by making his Daytona 500 debut after earning a transfer spot for the main event based on his qualifying speed. During the 500, he led 10 laps before falling back to 28th place in the final running order due to being involved in a late incident. He then went on to post a strong sixth-place finish at Talladega in April and a 35th-place result at Daytona in August after being involved in a late multi-car wreck. In the Xfinity circuit, Grala made a total of two starts for Jordan Anderson Racing, where he finished 18th at Road America and 15th at Texas Motor Speedway, respectively. In the Truck circuit, he made a total of three starts for Young’s Motorsports, all of which occurred on road course venues, as he finished in the top 12 during all his starts. The highlight of his three-race Truck effort occurred during the inaugural event at Circuit of the Americas in May, where he finished second after overtaking Tyler Ankrum in the closing laps.
This past season, which marked his third consecutive season of making select starts across NASCAR’s top three national touring series, Grala made three starts in the Cup Series, nine in the Xfinity Series and 12 in the Truck Series. His best result in the Truck circuit was a seventh-place result in the series’ inaugural event at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in July, with all of his scheduled starts occurring with Young’s Motorsports. In the Xfinity circuit, he competed between Alpha Prime Racing, Big Machine Racing, Jesse Iwuji Motorsports and Sam Hunt Racing, with his best result being fifth at Watkins Glen International in August. In the Cup circuit, Grala teamed up with the newly formed Money Team Racing and embarked on a part-time campaign that commenced in the 64th running of the Daytona 500 in February. After earning a transfer spot for the main event through the first Bluegreen Vacations Duel, he ended up in 26th place in the 500 despite losing his right-front tire on Lap 40. His other two Cup starts were at Circuit of the Americas in March and in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, where he finished 25th and a season-best 23rd, respectively.
A month after the 2022 NASCAR season concluded, Grala was announced as a full-time competitor of the No. 26 Toyota Supra for Sam Hunt Racing, which he competed for and finished 23rd at Phoenix in November, for the 2023 season as he will contend for the series’ championship for the first time in his career.
Through 99 previous starts across NASCAR’s top three national touring series, Grala has achieved one victory, one pole, 11 top-five results, 30 top-10 results and 75 laps led while competing for 12 different organizations.
Grala is scheduled to make his 100th NASCAR national touring series career start in the Xfinity Series season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, February 18. The event’s coverage is slated to occur at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.
The reigning NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Zane Smith commenced the new season of competition on a high and bizarre note by winning the rain-shortened NextEra Energy 250 at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, Feb. 17.
The 23-year-old Smith from Huntington Beach, California, led three times for 17 of 79-shortened laps, including the final 15, where he assumed the lead on Lap 65 following a three-wide move against Corey LaJoie and Tyler Ankrum. He then retained the top spot for a few additional laps before the event was red-flagged for over an hour due to persistent rain that halted the event in the early stages. More than an hour after NASCAR attempted to dry the superspeedway venue and send the competitors back under racing conditions, Smith was declared the official winner of the event that was shortened 21 laps shy of its 100-lap scheduled distance.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, newcomer Nick Sanchez claimed his first career pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 181.899 mph in 49.478 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ty Majeski, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 180.785 mph in 49.783 seconds.
Prior to the event, names that included Clay Greenfield, Chase Purdy, Corey LaJoie, Josh Reaume and Canada’s Jason M. White dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective trucks. Newcomer Daniel Dye also dropped to the rear of the field due to a transmission change along with Chris Hacker, who fell back due to an engine change.
When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Majeski and Sanchez dueled for the lead early followed by Jack Wood and Christian Eckes entering the first turn. With the truck competitors remaining dead even through two tight-packed lanes through the backstretch, Majeski gained the early advantage as he was drafted into the lead followed by Eckes. With the clean air and control of both lanes, Majeski proceeded to lead the first lap ahead of Sanchez and Eckes.
During the following lap, Majeski retained the lead through the first two laps until Eckes was drafted into the lead following a strong push from Matt Crafton on the outside lane, which dropped Majeski back to third place. Not long after, the first caution of the event flew due to sprinkles reported around the superspeedway venue. Under the first caution period, some names like Derek Kraus, Chase Purdy, Daniel Dye and Tyler Ankrum pitted while the rest led by Eckes remained on the track.
Once the track was cleared from precipitation, the race restarted under green on the sixth lap. A few seconds later, however, the caution quickly returned due to reports of more rain around the superspeedway venue. At the moment of caution, Eckes retained the lead ahead of Crafton, Matt DiBenedetto, Majeski and Sanchez. During the caution period, names like Parker Kligerman, Corey LaJoie, Kris Wright, Colby Howard, Tanner Gray and Travis Pastrana pitted while the rest led by Eckes remained on the track.
When the race restarted on Lap 10, Eckes and Crafton dueled for the lead entering Turn 1 until Eckes peeked ahead with drafting help from DiBenedetto. Crafton, however, fought back on the outside lane through the backstretch before Eckes pulled ahead on the inside lane with another push from DiBenedetto as he retained the lead through the frontstretch.
Two laps later, Crafton received a huge push from teammate Majeski on the outside lane entering Turns 3 and 4 to assume full command of the lead in his No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 entering the frontstretch. Though he led the Lap 13 mark, Eckes fought back on the inside lane as he and Crafton continued to engage in repeated swaps for the lead from the outside to inside lanes. By Lap 15, Eckes managed to pull his No. 19 NAPA AutoCare Chevrolet Silverado RST away from the side-by-side action on the inside lane followed by DiBenedetto while Crafton remained as the lead truck on the outside lane. Crafton, however, fought back by Lap 18 as he received another push from Majeski to pull away on the backstretch.
Then on the final lap of the first stage, Majeski made his move to the outside of Crafton as he assumed the lead followed by Eckes and DiBenedetto. As Majeski moved back to the inside lane, Eckes charged on the outside lane as he drew himself alongside Majeski through the backstretch. Then in Turns 3 and 4, Majeski got loose towards the apron but managed to keep his truck straight. This, however, allowed Eckes to pull away as he claimed the first stage victory on Lap 20. Crafton settled in second while DiBenedetto, Hailie Deegan, Sanchez, Majeski, Carson Hocevar, Tanner Gray, Jack Wood and Grant Enfinger were scored in the top 10 on the track.
Under the stage break, some, led by Eckes, pitted while others, led by Ankrum and including Stewart Friesen, Colby Howard, Kligerman, Purdy and Pastrana remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Kris Wright was penalized for speeding on pit road. Corey Heim was also penalized for having a crew member jump over the pit wall too soon.
The second stage started on Lap 25 as Ankrum and Friesen occupied the front row. At the start, Ankrum pulled away with the lead on the inside lane through Turns 1 and 2 until Friesen gained momentum on the outside lane as he was drafted by Kligerman into the lead. As the field battled through two tight-packed lanes through the frontstretch, Ankrum drew his No. 16 LiUNA! Toyota Tundra TRD Pro back even against Friesen’s No. 52 Aim Autism/Halmar Toyota Tundra TRD Pro as they dueled for the lead. Not long after, the field fanned out to three lanes as Eckes tried to march his way back to the front.
Then on Lap 28, the caution flew as a multi-truck wreck erupted just past the start/finish line and on the frontstretch when Clay Greenfield got loose, slipped sideways and ignited carnage that included Dean Thompson, Deegan, Tanner Gray, DiBenedetto, Bret Holmes, Josh Reaume and Daniel Dye. Soon after, the event entered a red flag period and the competitors parked their trucks on the backstretch due to rain returning on the venue and as the safety workers went to work to clear the wreckage. Eventually, the competitors were ordered by NASCAR to cycle their trucks back to pit road as the event remained under a red flag period due to rain.
Following a red flag period spanning approximately 12 minutes, the competitors returned to the track at a cautious pace. Once the circuit was cleared, the race restarted under green on Lap 35 as Ankrum and Howard occupied the front row. At the start, Howard briefly peaked ahead until Ankrum retained the lead as he had the draft to his advantage on the inside lane. Howard, however, prevailed during the following lap as he cleared the field with the lead while Friesen and Ankrum dueled for second.
During the following lap, Ankrum responded right back by assuming the lead through the backstretch. As Ankrum nearly got turned off the front nose of Howard entering the frontstretch, Friesen made a bold three-wide pass on both Howard and Ankrum to take the lead as the field behind also fanned out to three tight-packed lanes.
Then on the final lap of the first stage, Friesen, who lost the lead to Ankrum through the first two turns, got turned into the outside wall on the backstretch after making contact with Ben Rhodes as Codie Rohrbaugh, Howard, Kligerman and Holmes also wrecked. The incident was enough to conclude the second stage scheduled on Lap 40 under caution as Ankrum claimed the second stage victory. Purdy settled in second followed by Crafton, Sanchez and Eckes while Enfinger, Rhodes, Enfinger, Jack Wood and Hocevar were scored in the top 10.
Under the stage break, the majority of the field led by Ankrum pitted while the rest led by Corey LaJoie remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Majeski was penalized for a second time due to a rear crew member jumping over the pit wall too soon. In addition, Jason A. White, a Richmond, Virginia, native driving for TRICON Garage, was also penalized for removing equipment out of his pit box.
Amid another brief on-track delay due to precipitation as the competitors remained on the track, the final stage commenced under the green flag with 53 laps remaining as LaJoie and Zane Smith occupied the front row. At the start, LaJoie and Smith briefly dueled for the lead until Smith pulled ahead with the lead followed by DiBenedetto and Ankrum. Exiting the backstretch, however, Ankrum received a draft from Eckes to storm back into the lead as he immediately moved in front of Zane Smith. Eckes, however, remained on the outside lane as he assumed the lead for two turns until LaJoie made a move beneath Eckes to reassume the lead.
With 50 laps remaining, LaJoie was leading ahead of Ankrum as both competitors engaged in repeated side-by-side battles for the top spot. Heim was in third followed by Zane Smith and DiBenedetto while Eckes, Crafton, Chase Elliott, Enfinger and rookie Rajah Caruth were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Majeski was in 11th followed by Rhodes, Hocevar, Tanner Gray and Jack Wood while Dye, Purdy, Travis Pastrana, Sammy Smith, and Timmy Hill occupied the top 20 amid a tight battle within the front pack.
Then with 43 laps remaining, the caution flew when rookie Rajah Caruth, who was running towards the top 10, made contact with both Zane Smith and Heim entering Turns 3 and 4, which got his No. 24 Wendell Scott Foundation Chevrolet Silverado RST sideways as he spun before he was hit by DiBenedetto and teammate Daniel Dye. Amid the carnage, a majority of competitors running towards the middle of the pack took evasive action to avoid the carnage, including Tanner Gray and Elliott as both dodged the wreck, Majeski also avoided the incident by a hair despite making contact against Dye and having to slam the brakes.
During the caution period, nearly the entire field except for LaJoie, Timmy Hill, Carson Hocevar and Josh Reaume pitted, though LaJoie’s move in remaining on the track was not as planned due to a miscommunication between himself and his pit crew on when pit road was open for service. Prior to the restart and with the majority of the competitors remaining uncertain on completing the remainder of the race’s scheduled distance on fuel, names like Timmy Hill, Carson Hocevar, Christian Eckes, Travis Pastrana, Chase Purdy, Chris Hacker, Jack Wood, Nick Sanchez, Sammy Smith, Kris Wright, Grant Enfinger, Derek Kraus and Jason A White pitted again to top off on fuel.
With 36 laps remaining, the event restarted under green. At the start, LaJoie jumped ahead with the lead on the inside lane through the first two turns. He then tried to fend off Ankrum on the outside lane, but Ankrum and Zane Smith placed LaJoie in the middle of a three-wide battle entering Turns 3 and 4 as Zane Smith assumed the lead in his No. 38 Love’s Ford F-150 while LaJoie drifted all the way to the back of the lead pack after losing the draft.
Three laps later, the caution returned due to reports of rain returning to the racing surface. By then, Zane Smith was the leader followed by Tanner Gray, Howard, Eckes and Enfinger while Majeski, Ankrum, Heim, Crafton and Elliott. Another six laps later amid an extensive caution period, the field led by Zane Smith returned to pit road and the race was placed on its second red flag hiatus due to the precipitation.
An hour later, the red flag lifted and the competitors returned to the track under a cautious pace in spite of the weather remaining misty and the rain transitioning from either raining or not raining. Soon after, the field returned to pit road and under another red flag period with 21 laps remaining. Soon after, NASCAR declared the event official due to the persistent rain and Zane Smith was declared the winner of the event on pit road.
For Smith, the Daytona victory was his second in a row after winning last year’s season opener, which made him the first competitor to win back-to-back Truck events at Daytona since Todd Bodine made the last accomplishment between 2008 and 2009. It also marked his eighth career victory in the Craftsman Truck Series and his second in a row after winning both the 2022 finale and series championship at Phoenix as he became the first competitor to be guaranteed a spot for the 2023 Truck Series Playoffs. Smith’s Daytona victory also marked the sixth Truck career win for Front Row Motorsports and the eighth time where the Ford nameplate won at Daytona.
““I know there’s about a million ways to get [a win] at Daytona, but we’re proving that,” Smith, who is set to make his Daytona 500 debut on Sunday, said on FS1. “Obviously, [I] wanted to go back racing there somewhat, to duke it out with good friends of mine. Hey, we’ll take a win at Daytona any day we can get. [I] Just give a huge shoutout to everyone at Front Row Motorsports. This whole group, man, I’ve said it over and over again, they work their guts out and it proves it. [We’re] Locked in the Playoffs. It’s like a repeat of last year. Just loving life right now.”
With Zane Smith winning the event, Tanner Gray settled in a career-best second place while Eckes, Colby Howard and Enfinger concluded in the top five. Majeski, Ankrum, Heim, Crafton and Elliott finished in the top 10.
Notably, Ben Rhodes finished 11th in front of Hocevar, Pastrana settled in 13th in front of newcomer Sammy Smith, Purdy ended up 17th, LaJoie fell back to 23rd and Sanchez finished 26th in his series debut in front of Jack Wood and Friesen.
There were 20 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 41 laps.
Following the first event of the 2023 Craftsman Truck Series season, Christian Eckes leads the regular-season standings by five points over Matt Crafton, nine over Ty Majeski, 10 over both Zane Smith and Tyler Ankrum, 12 over Tanner Gray and 14 over Grant Enfinger.
Results.
1. Zane Smith, 17 laps led
2. Tanner Gray
3. Christian Eckes, 19 laps led, Stage 1 winner
4. Colby Howard, two laps led
5. Grant Enfinger
6. Ty Majeski, two laps led
7. Tyler Ankrum, 15 laps led, Stage 2 winner
8. Corey Heim
9. Matt Crafton, two laps led
10. Chase Elliott
11. Ben Rhodes
12. Carson Hocevar
13. Travis Pastrana
14. Sammy Smith
15. Jason A. White
16. Timmy Hill
17. Chase Purdy, one lap led
18. Derek Kraus
19. Josh Reaume
20. Matt DiBenedetto
21. Jason M. White
22. Kris Wright
23. Corey LaJoie, 19 laps led
24. Mason Massey
25. Chris Hacker
26. Nick Sanchez
27. Jack Wood
28. Stewart Friesen, five laps down, two laps led
29. Rajah Caruth – OUT, Accident
30. Daniel Dye – OUT, Accident
31. Bret Holmes – OUT, Brakes
32. Parker Kligerman – OUT, DVP
33. Codie Rohrbaugh – OUT, Accident
34. Clay Greenfield – OUT, Accident
35. Hailie Deegan – OUT, Accident
36. Dean Thompson – OUT, Accident
With the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season underway, the series will travel west to Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the second event of the season. The event is scheduled to occur on March 3 at 9 p.m. ET on FS1.
After spending a majority of the night engaged in side-by-side battles for the lead, Aric Almirola managed to pull away and beat the field of 21 to win the second of two Bluegreen Vacation Duels at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday, February 16.
The 38-year-old Almirola from Tampa, Florida, led five times for 17 of 60-scheduled laps and managed to fend off late charges coming from Kyle Larson, Austin Cindric and Todd Gilliland in the closing laps to capture his second checkered flag in a Daytona Duel event and commence the 2023 campaign on a strong note after going winless during the previous NASCAR Cup Series season.
The second Duel victory awarded Almirola a handful of championship points and a starting spot on the second row in fourth place for this year’s Daytona 500 as he will contend for his first victory in his 13th career start in the Great American Race.
Prior to the event, Kyle Larson, who claimed a front row starting spot for the 65th running of the Daytona 500 on Wednesday night, started on the pole and was joined on the front row with Aric Almirola. Meanwhile, BJ McLeod dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his entry.
When the green flag waved and the first Duel event commenced, Larson and Almirola dueled for the lead until Larson received a draft from Chase Briscoe to break away from the pack and have both lanes to his control through the backstretch. As Briscoe moved up to second, Almirola was left to battle Kyle Busch for third place on the outside lane as Larson proceeded to lead the first lap.
During the second lap, the outside lane led by Almirola’s No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang gained ground on Larson entering the frontstretch as Almirola led the following lap by a hair. While Almirola was leading the competition, he could not control both lanes as a pack of competitors led by Larson on the inside lane fought back.
With the event reaching its first five-lap distance, Larson reassumed the lead ahead of a hard-charging Almirola followed by Briscoe, Cindric and Busch while Daniel Suarez, Chase Elliott, Ryan Preece, Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. were in the top 10.
A lap later and as Larson and Almirola continued to duke for the lead, the first caution of the event and between the two Duels flew when a side window from Justin Haley’s No. 31 Cirkul Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 came off and laid on the backstretch. During the first caution period, nearly the entire field led by Almirola and Larson pitted amid mixed strategies while Haley and BJ McLeod remained on the track. Haley and McLeod would eventually pit prior to the restart and give the top-two spots back to Almirola and Larson. During the caution period, Briscoe and Tyler Reddick, who stalled his car while trying to exit his pit stall, returned to pit road to top off on fuel.
When the race proceeded under green on Lap 10, Larson and Almirola dueled for the lead once again until Larson managed to break away far from the pack after receiving a push from Kyle Busch exiting the backstretch. Shortly after, however, Busch launched his challenge for the lead on Larson as the competitors towards the front battled in a tight pack within two lanes.
Through the first 20 scheduled laps, Busch, who engaged in a series of side-by-side battles against Larson for the lead earlier, was out in front by a hair over Suarez followed by Larson, Almirola and Cindric while Chase Elliott, Corey LaJoie, Todd Gilliland, Truex and rookie Noah Gragson were in the top 10. By then, 19 of 21 starters were separated by two seconds. In addition, Austin Hill was running in a transfer spot to make the Daytona 500 in 16th place while Conor Day, another competitor who was trying to make the 500, was in 20th behind Travis Pastrana, who holds a guaranteed spot to make the main event based on Wednesday’s qualifying speed.
At the halfway mark on Lap 30, Busch continued to lead ahead of Suarez, Larson, Almirola and Cindric while Elliott, LaJoie, Gilliland, Truex and Gragson remained in the top 10. Meanwhile, Haley was in 11th followed by Ryan Preece, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Reddick while Hill, Riley Herbst, Pastrana, Briscoe, Daly and McLeod rounded out the 21-car field.
With less than 25 laps remaining, Busch retained the lead ahead of a bevy of competitors that included Suarez, Larson, Almirola and Cindric while Elliott, LaJoie, Gilliland, Truex and Gragson were running in the top 10. Meanwhile, Hill remained in position to make the Daytona 500 in 15th in between Preece and Reddick while Daly, who lost the draft earlier, was mired back at the rear of the field in 21st place and a lap down.
Then with 20 laps remaining, the caution flew when Suarez bumped and turned Kyle Busch’s No. 8 3CHI Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, which was leading, into the outside wall on the backstretch and with heavy damage. Busch’s wreck ignited a multi-car crash that also collected Haley, Preece, Herbst, Pastrana and Hill, who limped his No. 62 Bennett Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 back to pit road but was unable to continue as his hopes of making the Daytona 500 came to an end. With Hill out, Daly, who was a lap down, now found himself in prime position to make the 500.
During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Suarez pitted mainly for fuel while Briscoe remained on the track, though he eventually pitted after the field did. During the pit stops, Suarez slid through his pit stall as Larson reassumed the lead followed by Almirola and Brad Keselowski.
Down to the final 14 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Larson and Almirola battled for the lead with Keselowski, Cindric and the rest of the field keeping the two leaders within reach amid a tight two-lane pack.
With 10 laps remaining, Almirola was leading by a hair over Larson followed by Keselowski, Cindric and Truex while Gilliland, LaJoie, Gragson, Elliott and Hamlin were in the top 10. Soon after, Cindric ignited his bid for the win as he contested against Almirola and Larson for the lead along with Gilliland.
Down to the final five laps of the event and with the competitors towards the front beginning to jostle through two tight-packed lanes, Cindric was out in front by a hair over Almirola followed by Gilliland, Larson and LaJoie as 14 of 21 starters were separated by more than two seconds. By then, Daly was back in 17th place, a lap down but in position of making the Daytona 500.
Then with three laps remaining, Gilliland moved into the lead followed by Almirola, Larson and Cindric as the intensity towards the front crescendoed.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Almirola, who gained a run to the outside of Gilliland, was leading by a nose over Gilliland as both competitors battled dead even in front of the pack. Then in Turn 1, Gilliland, whose car was shaking and getting loose, slipped sideways towards the apron following a bump from Larson. Miraculously, Gilliland kept his car straight and continued. He, however, lost his momentum as Almirola pulled away through the backstretch followed by Cindric and LaJoie. While the front-runners formed a long single file line behind Almirola through Turns 3 and 4, they could not gain a draft nor a final lap charge on Almirola as the Floridian managed to cycle back to the finish line and beat Cindric by 0.122 seconds to win and cap off the Duels on a high note.
The second Duel victory marked Almirola’s second career Duel win, his first since 2021 and the fourth Duel victory overall for Stewart-Haas Racing. It also marked his first checkered flag in NASCAR’s premier series since winning at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July 2021 as he aims to rebound following a disappointing 2022 campaign where he missed the Playoffs.
“I did have my hands full,” Almirola said on FS1. “[Crew chief] Drew [Blickensderfer] said this Smithfield Ford Mustang was going to be fast, but he said I’d probably have my hands full. We kind of went for it from qualifying, put all the speed in the car and kind of sacrificed some handling. As you could see tonight, it was a handful, but man, this is so cool. Daytona’s such a special place to me. I want that [Daytona 500 win] on Sunday. I know Sunday’s the big one. We’re gonna keep focused on that one. The job’s not finished.”
Cindric, the reigning Daytona 500 champion, settled in second behind Almirola in the final running order while Chase Elliott, Keselowski, Corey LaJoie, Larson, Gilliland, Truex, Denny Hamlin and Preece earned top-10 finishes on the track.
Meanwhile, Conor Daly, who came into the Duels with a “one in a million shot” of making the Daytona 500 after failing to post a qualifying lap on Wednesday, crossed the finish line in 17th place, a lap down, and raced his way into the main event. Daly’s accomplishment will enable him to make his second career start in the Cup circuit on Sunday and his first in the Great American Race as the Money Racing Team will compete in the Daytona 500 for a second consecutive season.
Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“We were inherently lucky for the last 36 hours, but we got luck,” Daly said. “I wished I could’ve said that I drove [the car] in on pure pace, but it was crazy. When we went out there, the car was bouncing around. I had no idea what was going on. I thought the drive train was broken and [crew chief] Tony [Eury Jr.] just made it better every time we got lucky with the yellows [flags] to try to get some experience. It is pretty crazy. This race, I’ve watched it for so many years and so much crazy stuff can happen. Thankfully, we were on the right side of the craziness.”
With Austin Hill and Beard Motorsports failing to qualify for the 500, Travis Pastrana, who was eliminated late in the event due to the multi-car wreck that involved Kyle Busch, will implement his qualifying speed set on Wednesday to make the main event.
There were 15 lead changes for six different leaders. The event featured two cautions for nine laps.
Results.
1. Aric Almirola, 17 laps led
2. Austin Cindric, three laps led
3. Chase Elliott
4. Brad Keselowski
5. Corey LaJoie
6. Kyle Larson, nine laps led
7. Todd Gilliland, one lap led
8. Martin Truex Jr.
9. Denny Hamlin
10. Ryan Preece
11. Noah Gragson
12. Daniel Suarez, two laps led
13. Tyler Reddick
14. Justin Haley
15. Chase Briscoe
16. BJ McLeod
17. Conor Daly, one lap down
18. Austin Hill – OUT, Accident
19. Kyle Busch – OUT, Accident, 28 laps led
20. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident
21. Travis Pastrana – OUT, Accident
With the starting lineup for the 65th annual running of the Daytona 500 set, the main event is set to commence on Sunday, February 20, which will also mark the start of NASCAR’s 75th season of premier series competition. The coverage for the event is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
The reigning two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano prevailed in a final lap duel against Christopher Bell to win the first of two Bluegreen Vacation Duels at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday, February 16.
The first Duel victory for Logano occurred as he led the final 29 of 60 scheduled laps, with his first opportunity of leading occurring following the first and only cycle of green flag pit stops just past the halfway mark. Then on the final lap, he fended off a brief challenge from teammate Ryan Blaney and Kevin Harvick entering the backstretch before he came under fire from Bell entering the frontstretch. Locked in a side-by-side battle with Bell coming to the finish line, Logano was able to pull ahead and edge him by 0.018 seconds to win a Daytona Duel event for the third time in his career.
The Duel victory also awarded Logano a handful of championship points and the third-place starting spot for this year’s 65th annual running of the Daytona 500 as he will contend for his second victory in the Great American Race.
Prior to the event, Alex Bowman, who claimed the pole position for the 65th running of the Daytona 500 on Wednesday night, started on the pole for the first Duel event and was joined on the front row by teammate William Byron. Meanwhile, newcomer Chandler Smith dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his Kaulig Racing entry.
When the green flag waved and the first Duel event commenced, teammates Bowman and Byron dueled for the lead early through the first two turns. As Byron peeked ahead on the inside lane, Bowman fought back on the outside lane through the backstretch as he had drafting help from Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace. Shortly after, Blaney ducked his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang below Bowman’s No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through Turns 3 and 4 as he assumed the lead followed by Wallace’s No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota TRD Camry. As the field returned to the frontstretch, Blaney led the first lap followed by Wallace, Bowman, Ross Chastain and Byron as the field started to fan out to three lanes. Shortly after, Bowman dropped to the rear of the field to preserve his pole-winning car as Chastain launched his early bid for the lead against Blaney.
Through the first five scheduled laps, Blaney and Chastain were engaged in a side-by-side battle for the lead while rookie Ty Gibbs, Wallace, Christopher Bell, Byron, Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano, Erik Jones and Harrison Burton were in the top 10 amid the field being stacked up and competing through two lanes. By then, all but one of 21 starters were separated by nine-tenths of a second while Bowman was mired all the way at the rear of the field in 21st place.
At the Lap 10 mark and with the front-runners settling in a single-file line, Blaney was leading ahead of Wallace, Byron, Logano and Burton while Chris Buescher, Kevin Harvick, Michael McDowell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Chastain were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Zane Smith and Chandler Smith, who were battling for a transfer spot for Sunday’s Daytona 500, were in 11th and 14th, respectively.
By Lap 20, Blaney continued to lead ahead of Wallace, Byron, Logano, Burton, Buescher, Harvick, McDowell, Stenhouse and Zane Smith while Bell, Gibbs, AJ Allmendinger, Erik Jones, Austin Dillon, Chastain, Chandler Smith, Cody Ware, Johnson, Ty Dillon and Bowman rounded out the 21-car field.
A lap later, green flag pit stops ensued as all the Chevrolet competitors pitted. Following the pit stops, however, Stenhouse and Chandler Smith were penalized for speeding on pit road as they were forced to serve a drive-through penalty through pit road under green.
At the halfway mark on Lap 30, Blaney retained the lead ahead of Wallace, Logano, Burton, Buescher, Harvick, Bell, McDowell, Zane Smith and Gibbs, with the top-nine competitors being separated by a second while the Chevrolet competitors led by Byron in 12th were trailing the leaders by more than 45 seconds. By then, Zane Smith occupied a transfer spot in 10th while Chandler Smith was mired back in 20th.
Shortly after, a host of competitors led by Blaney pitted under green. Following the pit stops, Gibbs was penalized with a pass-through penalty for speeding on pit road. When the field returned to the track under green, Logano cycled his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang into the lead followed by Harvick and Blaney.
Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Logano was leading a nine-car breakaway that included Harvick, Blaney, Buescher and Bell while Burton, Wallace, McDowell and Zane Smith while Byron was mired back in 10th. By then, the top-nine competitors who pitted on Lap 31 were leading 10th-place Byron and a host of Chevrolet competitors who pitted on Lap 22 by more than nine seconds. In addition, Zane Smith, who opted only for fuel during his green flag pit stop, was running in a transfer spot in ninth while Chandler Smith was mired towards the rear of the field in 21st place and a lap down.
With 10 laps remaining, Logano continued to lead ahead of Harvick, Blaney, Buescher and Bell while Burton, Wallace, McDowell, Zane Smith and Byron remained in the top 10. Logano would also retain the lead ahead of Harvick and a bevy of competitors with five laps remaining.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Logano remained as the leader ahead of Harvick as Blaney, Bell and Wallace moved to the outside lane in their bids to challenge Logano for the win. Just past the frontstretch, Harvick pulled up to block Blaney’s momentum, but Blaney ducked to the inside lane as he tried to challenge Harvick for second place. Harvick, however, fought back on the outside lane with drafting help from Bell and Wallace while Blaney was slowly losing ground and the draft.
Then through the backstretch, Bell pulled his No. 20 DeWalt/Rheem Toyota TRD Camry below Harvick’s No. 4 Busch Ford Mustang as he moved into second place. Shortly after, he made his move to the outside of Logano through Turns 3 and 4. Entering the frontstretch, Bell and Logano remained dead even for the lead until Logano, who had teammate Blaney gaining ground on him in the draft, managed to pull his Ford on the inside lane and edge Bell by 0.018 seconds to win the first Duel event.
Logano’s Duel victory was his first since 2020 and also the seventh overall for Team Penske as the Ford nameplate has achieved at least one Duel victory for a seventh consecutive victory.
“Just a great job by the Shell/Pennzoil team,” Logano said on FS1. “The execution of this race is everything. You know most likely there won’t be a caution, so you got to do a good job on pit road, cycle yourself to the front, but then, I’m sitting there as the leader. I’m thinking, ‘Man, I am a sitting duck. This is not where I want to be.’ I was hoping they started racing back there, which they did, which ended up kind of working out for me. When [Bell] got to me, I saw Blaney was behind me and I was like, ‘There’s my buddy. I gotta stick with him.’ I knew [Bell] would make the run to the outside [lane] and I probably wasn’t going be able to defend that. [I] Waited for [Blaney] to push me through there, so good Penske effort there to get a Duel win. Much better than what happened last year. I’m glad to have a nice start over here to this season.”
Bell settled in second place followed by Blaney, Buescher and McDowell while Harvick, Bubba Wallace, Zane Smith, Harrison Burton and Byron finished in the top 10 on the track.
Meanwhile, Zane Smith was also left smiling on pit road after finishing in eighth place and racing his way into the Daytona 500 for the first time in his career. The 500 event will mark his second career start in NASCAR’s premier series and the first of select Cup starts for the Californian as he is set to compete in this year’s Craftsman Truck Series season to defend his series title.
Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“Once we got to about 10 [laps] to go, I’m like, ‘Man, please, please, no caution,” Smith said. “Just a huge shoutout to my whole [Front Row Motorsports] team. Our Wellcare Mustang was good enough to get in, which there was a lot of really good open cars. Just so proud of everyone. Just unbelievable to be in the Great American Race.”
As a result, Chandler Smith, who could not recover from his early pit road speeding penalty, finished 21st and failed to qualify for Sunday’s Daytona 500. Nonetheless, he is set to compete on a full-time basis for Kaulig Racing in this year’s Xfinity Series season along with select Cup events throughout the year.
“Before [the race], I said I’m fine if I don’t make it, but it’d be awesome if I made it,” Smith said. “I’m a believer. I had a lot of fun right there. Even from that one Duel, I just learned so, so much, which was awesome taking that in. We weren’t able to get it this year, but hopefully, we can come back next year, make another attempt and get in on time.”
Amid the battles between the two Smiths, Jimmie Johnson, who finished 14th, claimed his starting spot for the 500 based on his qualifying speed from Wednesday night.
There were four lead changes for three different leaders. The event featured no cautions.
Results.
1. Joey Logano, 29 laps led
2. Christopher Bell
3. Ryan Blaney, 30 laps led
4. Chris Buescher
5. Michael McDowell
6. Kevin Harvick
7. Bubba Wallace
8. Zane Smith
9. Harrison Burton
10. William Byron
11. Ross Chastain, one lap led
12. Erik Jones
13. Austin Dillon
14. Jimmie Johnson
15. AJ Allmendinger
16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap down
17. Alex Bowman, one lap down
18. Chandler Smith, one lap down
19. Ty Gibbs, one lap down
20. Cody Ware, one lap down
21. Ty Dillon, one lap down
The second Bluegreen Vacations Duel is underway at Daytona International Speedway, which will complete the starting lineup for the 65th running of the Daytona 500 scheduled for Sunday, February 19.
For the eighth time in nine seasons, Hendrick Motorsports captured the spotlight in a Daytona 500 pole qualifying session as Alex Bowman muscled his way to win the pole position for this year’s 65th annual running of the Great American Race at Daytona International Speedway on Wednesday, Feb. 15.
The qualifying format that determined the front row of this year’s 500 event was based on two qualifying sessions comprised of a single-lap session for each competitor. Following the first round, the top-10 fastest qualifiers from a total of 42 transferred to the second and final single-lap round to contend for the pole and a front-row starting spot.
In the end, Bowman, who was the antepenultimate competitor during the first session and the final competitor during the second session rolled his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 on the track to post a qualifying lap. He secured the Busch Light Pole Award after posting a blazing pole-winning time of 49.536 seconds at 181.686 mph, which was enough to knock teammate Kyle Larson off the top of the qualifying chart. It was the 11th consecutive Daytona 500 pole for Chevrolet and the 16th overall for Hendrick Motorsports.
With his accomplishment, the 29-year-old Bowman from Tucson, Arizona, notched his fourth NASCAR Cup Series career pole and his third in the 500, which placed him in a tie with Fireball Roberts, Ken Schrader and Dale Jarrett for the second-most 500 poles in the series history. He also extended a personal record by claiming a front-row starting spot in the 500 for a sixth consecutive season. Bowman’s third 500 pole occurred in his first Cup points-paying qualifying attempt with his new crew chief Blake Harris, who replaced veteran Greg Ives after Ives retired from being a crew chief at the conclusion of the 2022 season. It also occurred after Bowman inked a three-year contract extension to remain at Hendrick Motorsports earlier in the day as he now attempts to win his first 500 in what will be his seventh start this Sunday.
“That’s the trick, right? We’ve, obviously, not been able to [win the Daytona 500] for the last five years,” Bowman said on FS1. “[We’re] Just trying to make the right decisions and transfer everything over to race trim for Sunday the best we can. Just so proud of Hendrick Motorsports, the engine shop, all the guys. This Ally No. 48 Camaro’s, obviously, really fast. I don’t have a lot to do with qualifying here. Just fortunate to qualify some really fast race cars. Really cool to see Hendrick Motorsports one, two, three. I’ll take it. It’s pretty cool.”
Joining Bowman on the front row will be his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson, who posted the second-fastest qualifying time of 49.708 seconds at 181.057 mph as Hendrick competitors swept the front row for the 500 for the eighth time in 14 seasons. This season will mark both the second consecutive season and second overall where Larson will start on the front row for the Great American Race after winning his first 500 pole a year ago. Like Bowman, Larson will vie for his first 500 victory with this season marking his 10th career start in the Great American Race.
“[Owner Rick Hendrick]’s, obviously, really excited,” Larson said. “I think this is a big deal for him and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, the engine shop at Hendrick. Really cool for the No. 48 team. That’s awesome. That’s pretty incredible, so hats off to that team. Congrats to Alex. Proud of everybody on the No. 5 team as well. It’s really awesome to be on the front row and know if you just finish the Duels tomorrow and don’t have to go to a backup car, you get to start on the front row on Sunday. Really looking forward to the Duels, getting some more laps, getting comfortable and then, get to race it on Sunday.”
William Byron, the 2019 Daytona 500 pole winner, posted the third-fastest qualifying time of 49.799 seconds at 180.727 mph as he will be one of the remaining 40 competitors to vie for their official starting spots for the 500 through a pair of Bluegreen Vacations Duel that will take place on Thursday, February 16. Veterans Aric Almirola and Joey Logano completed the top five in qualifying time and speed while Chase Briscoe, Ryan Blaney, Austin Cindric, Harrison Burton and Kyle Busch, all of whom advanced to the second and final qualifying round, rounded out the top 10 on the qualifying chart. Busch originally posted the sixth-fastest qualifying lap, but his time was stripped by NASCAR after he went below the yellow line boundary on the backstretch to complete his qualifying lap.
Bubba Wallace, who was one of 32 competitors who did not transfer to the second round, posted the 11th-fastest qualifying time of 49.997 seconds at 180.011 mph followed by Daniel Suarez, Chris Buescher, Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, Ryan Preece, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, rookie Ty Gibbs and Tyler Reddick.
Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson and Travis Pastrana were left celebrating on pit road with their respective teams and with each other after both achieved guaranteed spots for this year’s Daytona 500 by being the fastest two qualifiers competing for non-chartered teams.
Johnson, a seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and a two-time Daytona 500 champion with 83 career wins, emerged as the fastest competitor competing for a non-chartered team after posting the 23rd-fastest qualifying time of 50.202 seconds in 179.276 mph, which was enough to lock himself and his No. 84 Carvana Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team into the field. The accomplishment comes as Johnson enters the 2023 season as a part-time owner and competitor of Legacy Motor Club, rebranded from Petty GMS Motorsports, following a two-year absence from NASCAR competition. Sunday’s Daytona 500 will mark his 20th start in the Great American Race and the first of select events that have yet to be determined aside from the inaugural Cup event at the Chicago Street Course for Johnson.
“It feels great,” Johnson said. “Just a massive thank you to everyone at Legacy Motor Club. It’s been a lot of work to get three cars here, especially with how late this opportunity came along for me. That was stressful. It was hard to tell inside the car if it was a good lap or not. The RPM range is much different than the last time I was in a car and it just sounded flat and felt slow, but we’re sitting in a great spot as the fastest unchartered car. Very thankful for that.”
Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.
Pastrana, a former NASCAR and stunt competitor with championship-winning and X Games gold medals across supercross, motorcross and rally competition, posted the 25th-fastest qualifying time of 50.208 seconds in 179.254 mph, which was enough to fulfill a childhood dream by securing his No. 67 Black Rifle Coffee Toyota TRD Camry team owned by 23XI Racing into Sunday’s main event. With his accomplishment, he will make his inaugural presence in NASCAR’s premier series during Sunday’s main event as he has previously made 42 career starts in the Xfinity Series and five in the Craftsman Truck Series. Pastrana’s previous NASCAR national touring series career start to date occurred during the Truck Series Playoff event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in September 2020, where he finished 21st.
“I tell you what, qualifying for the 500, this is literally a dream come true,” Pastrana exclaimed. “This is bigger than big. Thank you so much to Black Rifle [Coffee], Dixon for giving me the opportunity to be here and for Denny [Hamlin], Michael [Jordan], everyone at the 23XI team for giving me a great car. I was sweating having to go to tomorrow. Like Kurt Busch said, now we go to tomorrow, now we learn. Now, the work starts.”
The remaining four open competitors that include Zane Smith, Austin Hill, Chandler Smith and Conor Daly will compete for the final two open spots for this weekend’s Daytona 500 through Thursday’s Duels. Smith, who was the first competitor to roll off of pit road to post his qualifying lap, rallied from stalling his car due to a mechanical issue with his No. 13 Quick Tie Inc. Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 that forced the Georgian to return to pit road before he returned two competitors later to post his qualifying lap. Daly was the only competitor who did not post a qualifying lap due to an oil line issue to his No. 50 BitNile Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as he will start his Duel at the rear of the field.
Next on the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule are a pair of Bluegreen Vacations Duels that will determine the rest of the starting lineup for this year’s 65th annual running of the Daytona 500 scheduled for February 19 at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX. First, on Thursday, the first Bluegreen Vacations Duel is slated to commence at 7 p.m. ET on FS1 while the second Duel event will follow suit at approximately 8:45 p.m. ET on FS1.
