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  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Watkins Glen

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Watkins Glen

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Kyle Larson: Larson took charge in Stage 3 and held off Chase Elliott to win at Watkins Glen, earning his fifth win of the season.

    “This was a lot like my win at Sonoma in June,” Larson said. “There, I held off Elliott late, just like I did at Watkins Glen. Trust me, life is so much better when you don’t ‘get caught.’”

    2. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished fifth in the Go Bowling At The Glen.

    “Michael Jordan was at the race,” Hamlin said. “He was watching from the pits of Bubba Wallace’s No. 23 car, which we co-own. When Michael heard he’d be watching from the ‘pits,’ he got really excited, because he thought it would be in a casino.”

    3. Chase Elliott: Elliott started from the rear and almost pulled off the “worst-to-first” win, but couldn’t catch Hendrick teammate Kyle Larson, who scored his fifth win.

    “I failed pre-race inspection twice,” Elliott said. “Yeah, I said ‘twice.’ That’s a big ‘no-no.’ In any case, I had to start at the rear and my crew chief Alan Gustafson was ejected. Did it matter? Not really. I still was able to almost win the race, despite the penalties. Do I feel guilty about that? Yes, way more guilty than I feel about actually committing the penalties.”

    4. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex won Stage 2 and finished a strong third at Watkins Glen.

    “I’m disappointed,” Truex said. “Mostly because I didn’t fail inspection twice, didn’t have my crew chief ejected, and didn’t start from the rear, yet I still finished behind the guy who did. It’s hard to have a meaningful penalty in NASCAR when they are actually meaningless.”

    5. Kyle Busch: Busch finished fourth at Watkins Glen, sandwiched between Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin.

    “My brother Kurt is still looking for a ride for next season,” Busch said. “I told him if I hear of a team looking for a driver, I’d let him now. In other words, my ears will be ‘perked up,’ just not surgically.”

    6. Alex Bowman: Bowman came home 20th at Watkins Glen, the only Hendrick Motorsports driver outside the top-6.

    “How about You Tuber Tyler Hoover giving the ‘Start your engines’ command,” Bowman said. “That voice made me want to start my engine, then get as far away from him as possible. Hey, I like Norwegian death metal just as much as the next guy, but I like my grand marshals a bit more subdued.”

    7. William Byron: Byron finished sixth in the Go Bowling At The Glen as Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott scrapped for the win.

    “Larson and Elliott really led the way for Hendrick Motorsports,” Byron said. “Those guys dominate road courses. I like to think Alex and I are called the road course ‘B Team’ just because of our last names.”

    8. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished eighth at Watkins Glen.

    “Once again,” Harvick said, “my No. 4 Chevy sported the Busch Light Apple paint scheme. If you like Busch, and you like apples, you’re probably a reasonable person. If you like them together, you’re probably insane. But, by all means, buy a 12-pack.”

    9. Joey Logano: Logano won Stage 1 at Watkins Glen and eventually finished 22nd.

    “It was not a good day for Fords at Watkins Glen,” Logano said. “If Henry Ford were alive today, he’d be steaming. Actually, I guess he’d be combusting.”

    10. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski started on the pole at Watkins Glen and finished 35th in the GoBowling At The Glen.

    “I suffered two spins in Stage 1 alone,” Keselowski said. “It was a brake issue, so I told my crew exactly what you’d expect, ‘Make it stop.’”

  • Larson claims fifth checkered flag of 2021 at Watkins Glen

    Larson claims fifth checkered flag of 2021 at Watkins Glen

    Victory No. 5 was awarded to the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at Watkins Glen International after Kyle Larson led the final 26 of 90 laps and fended off his teammate and a hard-charging Chase Elliott to win the Go Bowling at The Glen on Sunday, August 8. The victory was Larson’s fifth of the season, which reignited his challenge for this year’s NASCAR Cup Series title.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Brad Keselowski, who is set to join Roush Fenway Racing as a driver and co-owner in 2022, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with teammate Joey Logano.

    Prior to the event, Chase Elliott and Christopher Bell started at the rear of the field due to their respective cars not complying with the technical rules related to the rear window air deflector. As a result, Alan Gustafson, Elliott’s crew chief, and Adam Stevens, Bell’s crew chief, have been suspended from participating in today’s Cup event along with being fined $25,000. Both competitors were docked 10 points. Engineer Tom Gray served as an interim crew chief for Elliott while car chief Chris Sherwood was atop the pit box of Bell’s team.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Keselowski managed to pull ahead of teammate Logano to assume an early advantage through the first turn and heading into the Esses. Through the Esses, the backstretch, the chicane and the seven-turn, 2.45-mile road course, Keselowski managed to lead the first lap while the field battled jostled for positioning.

    Following the first lap, Ryan Newman spun in Turn 1, but he managed to continued and the race proceeded under green.

    By the third lap, Keselowski was still leading by three-tenths of a second over teammate Logano, with Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. in the top five. Ryan Blaney was in sixth followed by Tyler Reddick, William Byron, Kevin Harvick and Alex Bowman.

    Through the first five laps of the event, Keselowski, racing in the No. 2 Wabash National Ford Mustang, continued to hold a slim lead over teammate Logano’s No. 22 Verizon 5G Ford Mustang and Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. By then, Elliott and Bell were mired back in 23rd and 26th.

    On the ninth lap, Keselowski got loose while leading and spun in Turn 6. Keselowski’s misfortune allowed teammate Logano to slip by and take the lead just as the competition caution flew scheduled on Lap 10. Larson moved up to second place followed by Truex, Hamlin and Blaney while Keselowski, who quickly recovered following his spin, fell back to sixth.

    Under the competition caution, names like Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Elliott, Michael McDowell, Bubba Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Preece, rookie Chase Briscoe and others pitted while the rest led by Logano remained on the track.

    When the race restarted on Lap 12, Logano managed to pull ahead of Larson and retain the lead through the first turn and heading into the Esses. While Larson kept Logano in his sights, Truex and Hamlin were in third and fourth while Reddick battled Blaney, Byron and Kyle Busch for a spot in the top five. 

    By Lap 15, Logano continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over Larson while third-place Truex and fourth-place Hamlin were approximately a second behind. By then, Reddick retained fifth ahead of Blaney, Byron, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Alex Bowman. Behind, Austin Dillon was in 11th ahead of Erik Jones, Keselowski was in 14th behind Matt DiBenedetto, Aric Almirola was in 15th in front of Ross Chastain and Bell, Elliott and Kurt Busch were in 18th and 20th, Briscoe was in 21st, Daniel Suarez and Bubba Wallace were in 22nd and 25th and Ryan Newman was in 26th ahead of Stenhouse and Michael McDowell.

    Not long after, some competitors led by Blaney and including Harvick, DiBenedetto, Ryan Newman, Chastain, Briscoe, Cole Custer, Wallace, Bell and Almirola pitted under green. The following lap, Truex pitted just as the pit road entrance closed to signal the end of the first stage nearing.

    Back on the track, Logano continued to lead by nearly half a second over Larson and more than a second over Hamlin. Despite being pressured by Larson, Logano managed to maintain the lead and capture the first stage victory on Lap 20, thus claiming his fourth stage victory of the season. Larson settled in second followed by Hamlin, Reddick, Byron, Kyle Busch, Bowman, Elliott, Austin Dillon and Erik Jones.

    Under the stage break, a majority led by Logano pitted while others led by Stenhouse and Truex remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 22. At the start, Briscoe, who restarted on the second row, made a bold three-wide move in a bid for the lead. Truex, however, was able to take over the lead over Briscoe through the first turn and the Esses. Behind, Kevin Harvick made his way to fourth ahead of Blaney, Bell and Matt DiBenedetto.

    Approaching Lap 24, the caution flew due to James Davison stalling his car near Turns 6 and 7. By then, Truex was leading by more than a second over Briscoe, with Stenhouse, Harvick and Bell running in the top five. Behind, Blaney spun through the Bus Stop, but he managed to continue. In addition, Keselowski pitted to address a braking issue to his car. 

    Under caution, names like Keselowski, Suarez, rookie Anthony Alfredo, Blaney and RC Enerson pitted while the rest led by Truex remained on the track.

    When the race restarted on Lap 27, Truex managed to retain the lead while Harvick, a former Glen winner who is pursuing his first victory of the season, muscled his way into the runner-up spot. Briscoe fell back to third ahead of Bell, DiBenedetto and Stenhouse.

    By Lap 30, Truex continued to lead by more than two seconds over teammate Bell, who out-braked Harvick entering the Bus Stop the previous lap to take over the runner-up spot. Briscoe and DiBenedetto were in the top five followed by Chastain, Stenhouse, Logano, Custer and Larson. Behind, Elliott, who was running in the mid-20s, pitted under green after he flat-spotted his tires.

    With three laps remaining in the second stage, Bubba Wallace and Corey LaJoie pitted under green. By then, Truex was leading by three seconds over teammate Bell.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 40, Truex remained uncontested as he claimed his fifth stage victory of the season. Bell settled in second, trailing by more than three seconds, while Harvick, Larson, Briscoe, Chastain, DiBenedetto, Hamlin, Logano and Kyle Busch were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, some featuring Hamlin pitted while the rest led by Truex remained on the track.

    With 47 laps remaining, the final stage started. At the start, Truex launched ahead while Bell withstood his ground over Harvick to retain the runner-up spot. Through the Esses, the backstretch and the bus stop, the field settled in a single-file line as Truex remained at the front ahead of teammate Bell.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 45, Truex was leading by three-tenths of a second over teammate Bell while Larson was in third and trailing by more than six-tenths of a second. Chastain and Harvick were in the top five followed by Briscoe, Kyle Busch, Byron, Logano and DiBenedetto. Behind, Austin Dillon was in 11th ahead of Newman and Aric Almirola, Keselowski was in 15th behind teammate Blaney, Hamlin and Elliott were in 16th and 18th, Kurt Busch was in 21st ahead of Reddick and Wallace was in 24th ahead of Bowman and Suarez.

    Two laps later, Bell and Larson issued a challenge for the lead on Truex past the start/finis line and entering the first turn, but Truex managed to fend off the near three-wide battle from both competitors past the first turn and through the Esses.

    With 40 laps remaining, the top-three competitors — Truex, Bell and Larson — were separated by less than a second, with Truex continuing to lead over teammate Bell and Larson. Chastain and Harvick continued to run in the top five ahead of Briscoe, Kyle Busch, Byron, DiBenedetto and Hamlin. By then, Elliott moved up to 11th ahead of Logano.

    Four laps later, what became an intense three-car battle for the lead dwindled down to two after Larson locked up his brakes and bumped into Bell, thus sending Bell’s No. 20 Stanley Toyota Camry spinning in Turn 1, though he continued under green. 

    With Bell out of contention, Truex was leading by more than a second over Larson. Behind, Harvick and Chastain pitted under green. Back on track, another green-flag incident occurred in Turn 1 after Keselowski locked up entering the first turn and spun, clipping teammate Logano in the process as both Penske competitors spun and sustained damage to their respective Mustangs.

    In the ensuing laps, names like Briscoe, DiBenedetto, Newman and McDowell pitted under green. Truex, the race leader, also pitted along with runner-up Larson, giving the lead to Hamlin while Elliott moved up to second.

    With 30 laps remaining and a variety of pit strategy occurring, Hamlin continued to lead while Elliott surrendered the runner-up spot to pit. By then, names like Blaney, Bowman, Almirola, Chris Buescher, Wallace, Alfredo, Josh Bilicki, Reddick and Stenhouse had made a pit stop.

    On Lap 63, Kurt Busch took over the top spot after Hamlin brought his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry for fuel. Two laps later, Kurt Busch pitted and Larson, who had managed to squeak ahead of Truex on pit road during his previous pit stop, emerged with the lead. By then, Custer and Suarez pitted.

    With 15 laps remaining, Larson was leading by nearly three seconds over Truex and nearly seven seconds over Elliott, who was the fastest competitor on the track. Behind, Kyle Busch and Byron were in the top five followed by Hamlin, Bell, Harvick, Chastain and Briscoe. 

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Larson continued to lead by less than five seconds over Truex, who also had the No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE piloted by Elliott in his rearview mirror.

    Not long after, Elliott overtook Truex’s No. 19 Reser’s Fine Foods Toyota Camry to move into the runner-up spot. By then, Elliott was more than five seconds behind teammate Larson.

    With five laps remaining, Larson maintained an advantage of approximately five seconds over teammate Elliott while Truex was trailing by more than seven seconds.

    Two laps later, Larson’s advantage was cut down to more than three seconds as Elliott continued to close in on his Hendrick Motorsports teammate. By then, the leaders were mired in lapped traffic.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson was leading by less than three seconds over teammate Elliott, who was given a final opportunity to win the event after starting at the rear of the field.

    Through the first turn, the Esses, the bus stop and the final corners, Larson was able to streak across the finish line and grab the win and the checkered flag by more than two seconds over teammate Elliott.

    In addition to claiming his fifth victory of the season, Larson captured his 11th NASCAR Cup Series career win and his second on a road course after winning at Sonoma Raceway in June. Larson also recorded the 10th Cup victory of the season for Hendrick Motorsports. With that, Larson, who signed a two-year contract extension to remain at Hendrick Motorsports nearly a month ago, drew himself into a tie with fifth-place finisher Denny Hamlin for the lead in the regular-season standings.

    “Yeah, it’s awesome,” Larson said on NBCSN. “I mean, it really just shows how good the organization is, all the people that they’ve assembled at their race shop, all the men and women. All four of us could not be getting these wins like we have been without them. Thanks to them, and thanks to everybody else I get to race for. Chase was already catching me pretty quick, even with me being in open track, so when I caught those, I think, four cars and got into [Anthony Alfredo] right here, I thought I would look at my mirror and [Elliott] would be right on me, but thankfully had a comfortable enough gap to where I could make a mistake like that…Thanks for everything you guys do for me, everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, Rick Hendrick, Jeff Gordon, [crew chief] Cliff Daniels, this whole 5 bunch. Another amazing car. I could tell from about Lap 3 after I stopped making a bunch of mistakes that we were going to have a car that could win today.”

    Elliott, who started at the rear of the field following a pre-race technical issue that left his crew chief Alan Gustafson suspended for the remainder of the day, settled in second place as he came one spot short in winning at The Glen for a third consecutive time.

    “I made too many mistakes to get the win, unfortunately, and made it too late in the race,” Elliott said. “Super proud of our team. Been kind of an uphill battle all day, but everybody was just super prepared coming into the day, and our NAPA team just did a really good job of fighting it. If I hadn’t have let them down there, I think we would have had a shot at it, but congrats to Kyle [Larson, race winner], Cliff, all the guys on the No. 5 [team]. Happy for everybody at HMS. Hendrick Motorsports has been working extremely hard, and not only do the people deserve to win, but Mr. [Rick] Hendrick deserves to win. Really happy for him, and I’ll try to clean some things up and make less mistakes next time. Maybe it’ll work out.”

    Behind, Truex came home in third place while teammates Kyle Busch and Hamlin finished in the top five.

    Byron finished in sixth followed by Bell, Harvick, Briscoe and Reddick.

    Twenty-five of the 37 competitors in the field finished on the lead lap, with James Davison being the only competitor to retire due to electrical issues.

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

    With three races remaining until the 2021 Cup Playoffs commences, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson are tied for the lead for the regular-season lead. Currently, 13 competitors (Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Kurt Busch, Aric Almirola, William Byron, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Christopher Bell and Michael McDowell) are guaranteed Playoff spots based on winning at least once throughout the regular season. Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Tyler Reddick continue to occupy the remaining three vacant spots to the Playoffs as winless competitors, with Reddick ahead by 15 points over teammate Austin Dillon, 135 over Chris Buescher, 147 over Matt DiBenedetto, 148 over Ross Chastain, 188 over Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 190 over Bubba Wallace, 219 over Chase Briscoe and 223 over Daniel Suarez.

    Results.

    1. Kyle Larson, 27 laps led

    2. Chase Elliott

    3. Martin Truex Jr., 34 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    4. Kyle Busch

    5. Denny Hamlin, six laps led

    6. William Byron

    7. Christopher Bell

    8. Kevin Harvick

    9. Chase Briscoe

    10. Tyler Reddick

    11. Matt DiBenedetto

    12. Ross Chastain

    13. Kurt Busch, two laps led

    14. Ryan Blaney

    15. Austin Dillon

    16. Aric Almirola

    17. Chris Buescher

    18. Cole Custer

    19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap led

    20. Alex Bowman

    21. Michael McDowell

    22. Joey Logano, 11 laps, Stage 1 winner

    23. Bubba Wallace

    24. Corey LaJoie

    25. Ryan Newman

    26. Anthony Alfredo, one lap down

    27. Erik Jones, one lap down

    28. Ryan Preece, one lap down

    29. Justin Haley, one lap down

    30. Kyle Tilley, one lap down

    31. Daniel Suarez, two laps down

    32. Quin Houff, two laps down

    33. Josh Bilicki, two laps down

    34. RC Enerson, two laps down

    35. Brad Keselowski, three laps down, nine laps led

    36. Garrett Smithley, three laps down

    37. James Davison – OUT, Electrical

    Next on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ inaugural event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course layout, which will occur on Sunday, August 15, at 1 p.m. ET on NBC. 

  • Almirola defies the odds with a wild, weather-shortened win at New Hampshire

    Almirola defies the odds with a wild, weather-shortened win at New Hampshire

    In a race mired with precipitation, an early accident eliminating two former Cup champions and a 10-lap reduction due to darkened skies, Aric Almirola erased his difficult regular-season stretch by scoring an upset win in the weather-shortened Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the 50th event at the Magic Mile, on Sunday, July 18.

    The Tampa, Florida, native capitalized late to lead twice for 25 laps and fend off a hard-charging Christopher Bell to return to Victory Lane in the NASCAR Cup Series following a 98-race winless drought.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Kyle Busch started on pole position and was joined on the front row with teammate Martin Truex Jr.

    Prior to the event, Quin Houff, Corey LaJoie, Ryan Preece and BJ McLeod dropped to the rear of the field due to multiple pre-race inspection issues. Bubba Wallace also started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Kyle Busch launched his No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry ahead of teammate Truex and the field through the first two turns.

    With the field fanning out to two lanes through the backstretch, Kyle Busch led the first lap and was able to retain the lead despite an early challenge from teammate Truex. Behind, Chase Elliott was in third followed by Kurt Busch, winner of last weekend’s Cup event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and Alex Bowman. Denny Hamlin, the regular-season points leader, settled in sixth ahead of Ryan Blaney and Christopher Bell, winner of Saturday’s Xfinity event at New Hampshire.

    On the fifth lap, the caution flew when both Kyle Busch and Truex, the two leaders, wrecked in Turn 1 after both got loose entering the turn due to the slick conditions on the track as a result of rain falling on the track. Behind, Hamlin got loose while battling Bowman and spun, though he continued without sustaining any serious damage. While Hamlin remained on the track, Busch and Truex pitted to have their respective Toyota Camrys assessed for the damage.

    Not long after, the field was brought to pit road and the race was red-flagged on the eighth lap as the rain picked up around the circuit and the cloudy skies. At the time of the caution and delay, Elliott emerged as the leader followed by Kurt Busch, Bowman, Bell and Ryan Blaney while Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick were in the top 10.

    During the delay, Kyle Busch and his crew retired from the event due to the damage on the car.

    “We started the race under a mist,” Kyle Busch said on NBCSN. “It never should have gone green to begin with, but then it kept getting worse and worse lap over lap. The lap before, I went into [Turn] 1 and it shoved the nose really bad, and I was able to keep it under control. It wasn’t bad enough. The next time I went down there, hell, I lifted at the flag stand, maybe a little past the flag stand, don’t get too dramatic, and just backed it in. We’ve been talking about it for two laps that it was raining. There’s no sense in saying what I want to say, it doesn’t do you any good. We’re done, we’re going home. It’s over. There’s no fixing that thing.”

    Nearly two hours later amid the track-drying process, the red flag was lifted and the field returned to the track under the competition caution, which was initially scheduled for Lap 30. Prior to the start, NASCAR announced that Joey Logano, who pitted under the caution period while the pit road was closed, will be held two laps on pit road due to his crew working on the car during the red flag period. 

    Under caution, some led by Hamlin pitted while the rest led by Elliott pitted. During the pit stops, Ryan Preece was penalized for speeding while exiting pit road. Meanwhile, Truex was able to remain in the race following repairs to his No. 19 Reser’s Toyota Camry from his pit crew.

    When the race restarted on green on Lap 23, Elliott was challenged by Kurt Busch for the lead, which the latter succeeded the following lap. Two laps later, however, Elliott returned the favor entering the backstretch and reassumed the lead as Christopher Bell joined the party.

    By Lap 30, Elliott was leading by nearly half a second over Bell, who was followed by Blaney, Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski. Reddick was in sixth followed by Bowman, Chastain, Larson and Harvick.

    A few laps later, the caution returned due to rookie Anthony Alfredo spinning in Turn 4 following contact with Bubba Wallace. Under caution, some like Bowman, Larson, William Byron, Aric Almirola, Chris Buescher, rookie Chase Briscoe and Daniel Suarez pitted while the rest led by Elliott remained on the track.

    When the race restarted on Lap 38, Elliott and Bell battled for the lead for one full lap until Elliott’s No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE managed to clear Bell’s No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry through Turns 1 and 2. Behind, Cody Ware spun in Turn 2, but the race remained under green.

    As the field fanned out and the competitors battled for positions, Team Penske’s Blaney and Keselowski were in third and fourth followed by Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick.

    On Lap 42, Blaney overtook Bell for the runner-up spot. By then, Harvick moved into the top five while Kurt Busch fell back to sixth ahead of Reddick and Matt DiBenedetto.

    Through the first 50 laps of the event, Elliott was leading by nearly half a second over Blaney while Bell, Keselowski and Harvick were in the top five. Reddick was in sixth followed by Chastain, DiBenedetto, Kurt Busch and Hamlin. Austin Dillon was in 12th behind Cole Custer, teammates Bowman, Byron and Larson were in 14th, 15th and 16th, Aric Almirola was in 19th in front of Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Truex was mired back in 22nd, Ryan Newman and Briscoe were in 24th and 25th ahead of Wallace and Daniel Suarez was in 27th. Logano, meanwhile, was in 33rd and a lap behind.

    By Lap 60, Elliott continued to lead by a tenth of a second over Blaney. Behind, Keselowski moved up to third while Bell and Harvick battled for fourth ahead of Tyler Reddick.

    Two laps later, Blaney overtook Elliott for the top spot as he became the fourth different leader of the race. In the ensuing laps, Blaney started to extend his advantage to more than a second.

    Amid the overcast weather and the bizarre start, Blaney was able to remain in the lead with a comfortable advantage and claim the first stage victory on Lap 75, thus claiming his fourth stage victory of 2021. Behind, Keselowski prevailed over a late battle with Elliott to settle in second while Harvick and Reddick were scored in the top five. Scored in the top 10 were Bell, Hamlin, Chastain, DiBenedetto and Larson.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Harvick exited with the lead followed by Hamlin, Reddick, Keselowski, Elliott and Blaney.

    The second stage started on Lap 82 with Harvick and Hamlin on the front row. At the start, Harvick rocketed away from the field on the outside lane while Hamlin struggled to launch on the inside lane, which allowed Reddick to move into second place and the field to stack up and fan out to multiple lanes through the first two turns. 

    The following lap, Elliott battled Reddick for the runner-up spot while Hamlin was locked in a battle with Keselowski for fourth. Meanwhile, Harvick was out in front by more than half a second.

    By Lap 90, Harvick was leading by more than a second over Elliott while Keselowski, Reddick and Hamlin were in the top five. Blaney was mired back in sixth followed by Larson, Chastain, Bell and Almirola.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Harvick remained as the leader by more than one second over Elliott while third-place Keselowski was trailing by less than three seconds. Hamlin retained fourth place ahead of Blaney, Reddick, Chastain, Larson, Almirola and Bell. Bowman was in 11th ahead of Kurt Busch, DiBenedetto, Custer and Stenhouse. Byron was in 16th followed by Truex and Austin Dillon, Wallace was in 19th ahead of Chris Buescher, Newman was in 21st ahead of Suarez and Erik Jones, Michael McDowell was in 25th behind Ryan Preece and Briscoe was back in 29th. Logano, meanwhile, was in 30th and still a lap behind.

    Ten laps later, Harvick continued to lead by more than a second over Elliott and nearly three seconds over Keselowski, who had Hamlin challenging him for a top-three spot. Another 10 laps later, Harvick stabilized his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Elliott and more than three seconds over the new third-place competitor, Hamlin.

    On Lap 128, the caution flew due to Quin Houff spinning and making contact with the Turn 3 outside wall following contact with Ryan Newman. At the time of caution, Austin Dillon pitted despite pit road being closed at the time of his service.

    Under caution, the leaders returned to pit road and Harvick retained the lead after exiting pit road ahead of Hamlin, Keselowski, Elliott and Almirola. During the pit stops, Blaney, who dropped from first to fifth during the first stage caution period, dropped from fifth to ninth under the recent caution.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 135, Harvick and Hamlin, both of whom were seeking their first victory of the season, pulled ahead while Almirola challenged Keselowski for third place.

    A lap later, a three-wide battle ensued between Almirola, Elliott and Larson through Turns 1 and 2 before Larson prevailed ahead of the two for fourth place entering Turn 3. Behind, Blaney, Chastain and Bell battled for seventh while Harvick retained the lead ahead of Hamlin.

    Shortly after, the caution returned due to a two-car spin through the backstretch involving Wallace and Chris Buescher. In the midst of the incident and the caution, Logano received another free pass to return to the lead lap.

    When the race restarted on Lap 144, Harvick received another strong start to muscle away with the lead ahead of Keselowski while Hamlin was mired back in third ahead of the field after he struggled at the start.

    Two laps later, Keselowski, sporting a sleek blue and black scheme to his No. 2 eCascadia Ford Mustang, took over the lead ahead of Harvick and Hamlin.

    By Lap 150 and right at the halfway mark, Keselowski was leading by more than a second over Harvick while Hamlin, Blaney and Almirola were in the top five. Scored in the top 10 were Elliott, Larson, Chastain, Reddick and Bell.

    By Lap 175, Keselowski continued to lead by less than two seconds over Harvick, with Blaney and Hamlin in third and fourth. Almirola, meanwhile, continued to run in fifth ahead of Elliott.

    While Harvick started to close back in on Keselowski for the lead, Keselowski was able to retain a reasonable advantage over Harvick and claim his second stage victory of the season after winning the second stage on Lap 185. Harvick settled in second followed Blaney, Hamlin, Almirola, Elliott, Larson, Reddick, Chastain and Kurt Busch.

    Under the stage break, the leaders returned to pit road and Keselowski retained the lead after exiting with the lead followed by Harvick, Blaney, Almirola, Larson and Hamlin. Following the pit stops, however, Hamlin returned to pit road due to a missing lug nut.

    With 109 laps remaining and the skies above the track darkening, the final stage started as teammates Keselowski and Blaney started on the front row. At the start, Keselowski peaked ahead of Blaney and Harvick to retain the lead. While Penske’s Keselowski and Blaney battled for the lead, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Harvick retained third ahead of teammate Almirola, Larson, Bell and Chastain.

    Six laps later, Blaney, who kept teammate Keselowski in his sights, took the lead, though Keselowski refused to give in and with a potential dark weather-ending race looming.

    Down to the final 100 laps of the event, teammates Blaney and Keselowski battled for the top spot while Harvick narrowed the deficit to half a second. Meanwhile, Logano, who was two laps behind earlier in the race, was in 10th.

    Under the final 100 laps, both Blaney and Keselowski refused to surrender as they continued to battle intensely for the lead through every turn and corner, but with neither prevailing over the other. Harvick, meanwhile, continued to close in behind the two Penske Ford competitors.

    With 90 laps remaining, the top-three competitors were separated by six-tenths of a second as Blaney continued to lead by less than half a second over teammate Keselowski and six-tenths of a second over Harvick. Not far behind, Almirola was behind by more than a second while Larson was in fifth. Logano, meanwhile, was in eighth. 

    Ten laps later, Blaney, who earlier prevailed over his intense battle with teammate Keselowski, was ahead by less than nine-tenths of a second over Keselowski. Behind, Almirola moved up to third place ahead of teammate Harvick while Larson remained in fifth. Logano was up in seventh, Reddick was in ninth ahead of Bowman, Kurt Busch and Elliott were back in 13th and 14th, Truex was in 16th and Hamlin was mired back in 18th in between William Byron and Daniel Suarez.

    Another five laps later, the advantage for Blaney over teammate Keselowski grew to more than a second while third-place Almirola was trailing by two seconds.

    Under the final 65 laps of the event, Almirola overtook Keselowski for the runner-up spot while Blaney continued to lead by more than a second. Harvick, meanwhile, was more than three seconds behind while Larson remained in fifth, but behind by less than five seconds.

    Approaching the final 60 laps of the event, Almirola caught Blaney and started to challenge him for the lead. Despite repeated attempts from Almirola, Blaney managed to remain in front of Almirola’s No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang. 

    Then with 55 laps remaining, Almirola emerged with the lead following a pass on Blaney through Turns 2 and 3 before clearing him for good in Turn 4. 

    Just then, pit stops under green ensued as Elliott pitted along with Austin Dillon, Kurt Busch Keselowski, Newman and others. Harvick also pitted along with Bell, Logano, Larson, Blaney and race leader Almirola.

    Under the final 45 laps of the event and with most of the leaders having made a pit stop, DiBenedetto, who has yet to pit, was leading ahead of Byron and Keselowski, who had fresh tires and enough fuel to the finish. Almirola was mired back in fourth while Wallace was in fifth ahead of Bell.

    Not long after, Almirola overtook Keselowski for third place, but he was more than 18 seconds behind race leader DiBenedetto.

    With 36 laps remaining, Almirola overtook Byron for the runner-up spot while DiBenedetto continued to lead by more than 13 seconds. Behind, Keselowski and Bell overtook Byron for spots in the top five while Blaney was in sixth ahead of Harvick, Logano, Larson and Reddick.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, DiBenedetto, who drives for the legendary Wood Brothers Racing team but has no current racing plans established for 2022, continued to lead by less than six seconds over a hard-charging Almirola. Bell, meanwhile, was in third, less than eight seconds behind, while Keselowski and Blaney were in the top five.

    Three laps later, DiBenedetto, who was aiming for a shortened event and for his first Cup victory, surrendered the lead to pit for two tires and fuel. With DiBenedetto out of contention, Almirola returned to the lead with Bell behind by less than two seconds.

    With 20 laps remaining, Almirola was leading by more than a second over Bell. Keselowski remained in third while Blaney and Harvick battled for fourth. DiBenedetto, meanwhile, was in 13th.

    Just then, NASCAR declared that the event will be shortened to a final 10-lap dash to the checkered flag due to darkness looming around the track and with no lights installed around the Magic Mile. By then, Almirola continued to lead by more than a second over Bell with third-place Keselowski trailing by more than four seconds as the race remained under green.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Almirola, who was struggling to lap Austin Dillon, was leading by more than six-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Bell. Meanwhile, Logano was up in fourth ahead of teammate Blaney and Harvick.

    When the final lap of the darkened event started, Almirola continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Bell. Despite Bell’s final lap effort for the win, Almirola remained ahead and he was able to come back around to claim his first checkered flag in more than two seasons.

    With the win, Almirola, who came into the event in 27th place in the regular-season standings and a long shot in the Playoff battle, scored his third NASCAR Cup Series career victory and he achieved his first win in NASCAR’s premier series since October 2018 at Talladega Superspeedway. In addition, he became the 13th different competitor to be guaranteed a spot in the 2021 Cup Playoffs based off of winning throughout the regular-season stretch and he recorded the first victory of the season for Stewart-Haas Racing.

    “This is by far one of my favorite racetracks,” Almirola said on NBCSN. “I love coming up to the New England area and racing. I love this racetrack. I had this race won a couple years ago and I gave it away. I lost it, and I am so glad to win a race here with this race team. God is so good. We’ve been through so much and I’ve just stood the test and kept the faith. The team, everybody, they’ve just been working so hard. There have been so many people that have just continued to support us through the crappiest year ever, and, man, this feels so good for them. My pit crew, they did a phenomenal job on pit road. All the guys that work on this car, they just keep fighting. They just keep digging, bringing the best race car they can bring every week and it is no doubt, we have struggled, but, guess what? We’re going Playoff racing!”

    Bell, who was aiming for a weekend sweep after winning Saturday’s Xfinity event at New Hampshire, settled in second place for his second runner-up result in three weeks.

    “I didn’t know how may laps [NASCAR] cut it short, but definitely whenever I saw the board and saw that we were eight laps short, it stings man,” Bell said. “I felt like I probably had a little better pace than [Almirola] and I was able to get to him. I know lapped cars were giving him a bad time, but I was able to get to him. It was going to be a heck of a race, but really proud of everyone on this Rheem Pristine Auction Camry. They did really good. Everyone on this 20 crew, we didn’t start out the greatest and then we were really good, probably the best we were all day right there at the end of the race. That’s all you can ask for is to have a shot at it and just wish we had eight more laps.”

    Keselowski, who led 53 laps, came home in third place followed by teammates Logano, who rallied from two laps behind, and Blaney, who led 64 laps.

    Harvick, who led 66 laps, ended up in sixth followed by Larson, Chastain, Bowman and Hamlin.

    DiBenedetto, who pitted late for fuel, settled in 11th in front of Truex, Reddick, Cole Custer and Stenhouse. Kurt Busch came home in 16th, Elliott ended up in 18th behind Austin Dillon, Byron finished 21st behind Daniel Suarez, Wallace ended up in 26th behind Michael McDowell and rookie Chase Briscoe finished 27th.

    There were 14 lead changes for 10 different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 47 laps. 

    With four races remaining until the 2021 Cup Playoffs commences, Denny Hamlin continues to lead the regular-season standings by 13 points over Kyle Larson. Currently, 13 competitors (Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch, William Byron, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Christopher Bell and Michael McDowell) are guaranteed Playoff spots based on winning at least once throughout the regular season. Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Tyler Reddick occupy the remaining three vacant spots to the Playoffs as winless competitors, with Reddick ahead by five points over teammate Austin Dillon, 121 over Chris Buescher, 143 over Matt DiBenedetto, 144 over Ross Chastain, 170 over Bubba Wallace, 172 over Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and 195 over Daniel Suarez.

    Results.

    1. Aric Almirola, 25 laps led

    2. Christopher Bell

    3. Brad Keselowski, 53 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    4. Joey Logano

    5. Ryan Blaney, 64 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    6. Kevin Harvick, 66 laps led

    7. Kyle Larson

    8. Ross Chastain, three laps led

    9. Alex Bowman

    10. Denny Hamlin, one lap led

    11. Matt DiBenedetto, 20 laps led

    12. Martin Truex Jr.

    13. Tyler Reddick

    14. Cole Custer

    15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    16. Kurt Busch, one lap down

    17. Austin Dillon, one lap down

    18. Chase Elliott, one lap down, 53 laps led

    19. Erik Jones, one lap down

    20. Daniel Suarez, one lap down

    21. William Byron, one lap down

    22. Ryan Preece, one lap down

    23. Corey LaJoie, one lap down

    24. Ryan Newman, one lap down

    25. Michael McDowell, one lap down

    26. Bubba Wallace, one lap down

    27. Chase Briscoe, two laps down

    28. Justin Haley, two laps down 

    29. Chris Buescher, three laps down

    30. BJ McLeod, five laps down

    31. Cody Ware, eight laps down

    32. Anthony Alfredo, eight laps down

    33. Garrett Smithley, 10 laps down

    34. Josh Bilicki, 13 laps down

    35. Quin Houff – OUT, Accident

    36. James Davison – OUT, Clutch

    37. Kyle Busch – OUT, Accident

    The NASCAR Cup Series will be taking the next two weekends off for the Tokyo Summer Olympics before returning to action at Watkins Glen International on Sunday, August 8, which marks the series’ fifth road course event of 2021. The event is scheduled to occur at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN. 

  • Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Harvick and Logano sound-off over Atlanta redesign

    Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Harvick and Logano sound-off over Atlanta redesign

    After news of the Atlanta Motor Speedway re-pave and reconfiguration on July 6, drivers are sounding off about their lack of input in the decision.

    The announced changes include decreasing the width of the track from 55 feet to 40 feet and increasing the 24-degree banking to 28 degrees. Soon after, various drivers stated that they had not been consulted about the changes.

    Marcus Smith, President and CEO of Speedway Motorsports, responded to the concerns about the Atlanta Motor Speedway news, stating, “We definitely talked to drivers.”

    Comments from SMI director of operations Steve Swift earlier this week did nothing to ease the tension.

    “We tried to do what’s good for the sport, and Marcus does talk to the drivers to gauge feedback on what works well for them and he feeds us that information, and I say this with jest a little,” Swift said, “but when a driver is happy the fans aren’t.

    While no drivers have come forward to say they were consulted, several have candidly shared their thoughts on the lack of communication.

    No one has been more direct than Kyle Busch.

    “If they’re going to narrow it up 15 feet, whatever it is, that’s the whole bottom groove,” he said. “We’re not going to be able to run around here 3 wide. You’re going to be stuck at two wide. It’s going to be as wide as Darlington. So trying to run around here at 210 mph, because if they don’t put plates on it, you’re going to be going way too fast.

    “Just think about it. Everybody needs to just think. There ain’t nobody thinking. Brains for sale. Never used. Operating racetracks.”

    Sunday before the Cup Series race at Atlanta, several drivers were questioned about the current state of affairs.

    Brad Keselowski confirmed that there was discord among the drivers.

    “I think there are some frustrations that come up time and time again where we’re working together until we’re not, and that can be frustrating, he said. “I sense a lot of those emotions through the garage area right now.”

    Joey Logano also questioned why the drivers were kept out of the loop.

    I think something I’ve learned over the last few years is everyone can bring something different to the table. When you bring 10 other people around that might change your perspective,” he explained. “We didn’t have the opportunity to do that.”

    Kevin Harvick was blunt in his assessment of the Atlanta repave and why the drivers were not consulted.

    “I’m just of the opinion that they don’t care. They just do what they want.”

    Denny Hamlin addressed the media Saturday and perhaps summed it up best.

    “I think we could help. We’re an asset. We are the biggest asset that NASCAR and these tracks could have if they just tell us their goals. We may not agree with the goal but we can help them get to where they want to go.”

    No one doubts the importance of fans. Without them, there would be no racing. But, it’s the drivers who strap in and put their lives on the line to entertain those fans. One perspective should never overshadow the other.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results.

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

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

    3. Martin Truex Jr.

    4. Alex Bowman

    5. Ryan Blaney

    6. Tyler Reddick

    7. Chase Elliott, 13 laps led

    8. Christopher Bell

    9. Matt DiBenedetto

    10. Brad Keselowski

    11. Kevin Harvick

    12. Austin Dillon

    13. Denny Hamlin, two laps led

    14. Bubba Wallace

    15. Chase Briscoe

    16. Chris Buescher

    17. Cole Custer, one lap led

    18. Kyle Larson

    19. Joey Logano, one lap down

    20. William Byron, one lap down

    21. Ross Chastain, one lap down

    22. Corey LaJoie, two laps down

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

    24. Erik Jones, two laps down

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

    26. Anthony Alfredo, three laps down

    27. Michael McDowell, four laps down

    28. Ryan Newman, four laps down

    29. Justin Haley, five laps down

    30. BJ McLeod, six laps down

    31. Garrett Smithley, seven laps down

    32. Bayley Currey, seven laps down

    33. Cody Ware, seven laps down

    34. Josh Bilicki, 12 laps down

    35. Quin Houff, 12 laps down

    36. Daniel Suarez, 17 laps down

    37. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Suspension

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

  • Chris Gayle to call 150th Xfinity race as crew chief at Atlanta

    Chris Gayle to call 150th Xfinity race as crew chief at Atlanta

    A significant milestone start is in the making for Chris Gayle, crew chief for Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 54 Toyota Supra team piloted by multiple competitors in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. By participating in this weekend’s event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Gayle will call his 150th Xfinity career race as a crew chief.

    A native of Little Rock, Arkansas, Gayle spent two years as a student at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville before transferring to the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, where he earned a degree in mechanical engineering in 2002. Not long after, he joined Joe Gibbs Racing to work as a race engineer.

    Eleven years later, Gayle, who was a senior engineer for Kyle Busch in the NASCAR Cup Series, was promoted to the crew chief role, where he was paired with veteran Elliott Sadler and JGR’s No. 11 Toyota Camry team for the 2013 NASCAR Xfinity Series season. Throughout the 33-race Xfinity schedule, Gayle and Sadler earned nine top-five results and 20 top-10 results before finishing in fourth place in the final standings.

    Eight races into the 2014 Xfinity season, Gayle earned his first NASCAR career victory as a crew chief at Talladega Superspeedway in April, where Sadler held off the field in a three-lap shootout to return to Victory Lane following a one-year winless season. They went on to earn a pole, seven top-five results and 25 top-10 results before settling in third place in the final standings.

    Prior to the 2015 season, Sadler departed JGR and the team shuffled its crew chief lineup, placing Gayle as crew chief for the team’s No. 54 Toyota Camry piloted by multiple competitors, starting with Kyle Busch for the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway in February. The season, however, started off on a harrowing note when Busch was involved in a late multi-car accident that saw his car make head-on contact into a concrete wall installed with no SAFER barriers and the driver being transported to a local hospital, where he suffered a massive compound fracture to his right leg and a fractured left foot.

    With Busch absent and recovering from his injuries, Gayle spent the following 11 Xfinity events working with Erik Jones, Denny Hamlin and Boris Said. When Busch returned at Michigan International Speedway in June, he and Gayle went to Victory Lane after Busch completed a late pass on Chase Elliott en route to his first win of the season and in his first Xfinity start since the Daytona accident. A week later, Gayle went to Victory Lane with Erik Jones at Chicagoland Speedway. 

    In total, Gayle achieved seven Xfinity victories in 2015, six with Kyle Busch and one with Erik Jones. In addition, he notched five poles, 17 top-five results and 23 top-10 results throughout the 33-race schedule for JGR’s No. 54 Toyota team, which settled in the runner-up position behind Team Penske’s No. 22 Ford Mustang team in the final Xfinity owners’ standings.

    Gayle remained as JGR’s Xfinity “all-star” crew chief in 2016, where he worked with Dakoda Armstrong, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Drew Herring, Sam Hornish Jr., Owen Kelly, Bobby Labonte, David Ragan and Matt Tifft, all of whom took turns piloting the No. 18 Toyota Camry throughout the season. Throughout the 33-race schedule, Gayle earned 11 victories (10 with Kyle Busch and one with Hornish), 11 poles (nine with Kyle Busch, one with Ragan and one with Tifft), 19 top-five results and 23 top-10 results. When the final checkered flag of the season flew, JGR’s No. 18 Toyota team ended up in fourth place in the owners’ standings.

    Following the 2016 Xfinity season, Gayle moved up to the NASCAR Cup Series, where he worked as a crew chief for Erik Jones and the No. 77 Furniture Row Racing Toyota Camry team. After a four-year run in the Cup Series, where Gayle earned two career victories between 2018 and 2019 with Erik Jones, Gayle returned to the Xfinity Series for the 2021 season, where he was assigned to JGR’s No. 54 Toyota Supra team piloted by multiple competitors, starting with Ty Dillon for the season-opening event at Daytona in February. 

    Following a 14th-place result with Dillon at Daytona, Gayle returned to Victory Lane the following weekend at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course with Ty Gibbs, grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs, winning his first Xfinity race in his series’ debut. Since then, Gayle has achieved four additional victories this season, three with Kyle Busch and another with Ty Gibbs. Currently, with seventeen races of the 2021 season complete, JGR’s No. 54 team led by Gayle is ranked in second place in the owners’ standings.

    Through 149 previous Xfinity appearances, Gayle has achieved 25 victories, 20 poles, 63 top-five results and 102 top-10 results while working with 15 different competitors.

    Gayle is primed to call his 150th Xfinity race as a crew chief at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, July 10, with Kyle Busch scheduled to drive the No. 54 JGR Toyota Supra and with the race scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Road America

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Road America

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Kyle Larson: Larson contended all day at Road America, but was spun out late by Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman. Larson eventually finished 16th.

    “Alex apologized,” Larson said. “It was a sincere apology, so Alex, much like his braking into that corner, was ‘truly sorry.’”

    2. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin overcame early brake issues to post a fifth in the Jockey Made In America 250.

    “Kyle Busch had a clutch problem last week at Pocono,” Hamlin said. “I can certainly empathize, because I myself have ‘clutch’ problems, most often in the final race of the season.”

    3. Chase Elliott: Elliott started 34th after failing to post a qualifying time, but methodically worked his way into the lead, passing Matt DiBenedetto on Lap 38, and then overtaking Kyle Busch with 17 to go. Elliott then cruised to victory.

    “I wasn’t able to complete a full qualifying lap,” Elliott said. “So, I didn’t even register a lap time, which has to be the ultimate in ‘bad timing.’”

    4. Kyle Busch: Busch started 40th but quickly found his way to the front and eventually finished third at Road America.

    “I made my way to the front of the field so fast,” Busch said, “even troopers in Mooresville, North Carolina had to take notice.”

    5. Alex Bowman: Bowman finished 22nd at Road America.

    “I made a crucial error and wrecked Kyle Larson late in the race,” Bowman said. “What do you say to a teammate whom you just wrecked? Oddly enough, it’s the same thing you say to your team after a win—‘I did it!’ But maybe leave off the exclamation point.”

    6. Joey Logano: Logano finished 15th in the Jockey Made In America 250.

    “As is typical on a road course.” Logano said, “there was a lot of passing. Obviously, a better name for this race would have been the ‘Jockey For Position 250.’”

    7. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex overcame a pit road speeding penalty to record a ninth at Road America.

    “NASCAR raced at Road America for the first time in 65 years,” Truex said. “It’s awesome to be racing here, and in the great state of Wisconsin. Wisconsin is considered part of the ‘heart of America;’ with NASCAR fans here, it’s considered, at least for three days, the ‘heart attack of America.’”

    8. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 27th at Road America.

    “The No. 4 Chevrolet sported the Busch Light Apple paint scheme,” Harvick said. “If I’m reluctant to give you my honest opinion of the taste of Busch Light Apple, just tell me to ‘spit it out,’ and I’ll happily oblige.”

    9. William Byron: Byron started on the pole at Road America and was in contention until a late mistake sent him off course. Byron finished a disappointing 33rd.

    “I just made a stupid error,” Byron said, “and it cost me a top-five finish. My No. 24 Liberty University Chevy was set up perfectly. It handled like a dream. Despite having the word ‘Liberty’ on it, the car was anything but ‘free.’”

    10. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished 13th in the Jockey Made In America 250.

    “A driver named Kyle Tilley drove the No. 78 car,” Keselowski said. “Tilley is from a place called Bath, England. From what I hear, it’s a great place for any NASCAR fans to visit. But first, I suggest they visit Bath, America.”

  • Elliott extends road course dominance with a win at Road America

    Elliott extends road course dominance with a win at Road America

    In NASCAR’s six-plus decade return to Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, on Independence Day weekend, Chase Elliott extended his road course skillsets after the reigning Cup Series champion rallied from starting at the rear of the field to lead the final 17 laps and muscle away from the field to win the Jockey Made in America 250 at Road America on Sunday, July 4, as he returned to Victory Lane in the Cup circuit following a one-month dry spell.

    Qualifying occurred on Sunday, July 4, and William Byron claimed his sixth NASCAR Cup Series career pole position with a pole-winning lap at 110.359 mph. Teammate Kyle Larson joined him on the front row.

    Prior to the event, Kyle Busch and Ryan Preece dropped to the rear of the field in a backup car. Justin Haley also dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change along with Bubba Wallace due to a transmission change. Kyle Tilley, Josh Bilicki and Quin Houff started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective machines.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Byron peaked ahead with the lead through the first three turns. Through the Turn 4 straightaway and with the field fanning out to two and three lanes, Larson, who was battling AJ Allmendinger for the runner-up spot, also ignited an early challenge on teammate Byron for the lead from Turn 5 to Turn 9, but Byron maintained his advantage through the kink. As the field settled in a single-file line, Byron remained as the leader over Larson and Allmendinger from the kink to Turns 13 and 14.

    When the field returned to the start/finish line, Byron maintained the lead over teammate Larson and led the first lap. Allmendinger remained in third place followed by Reddick and Austin Cindric. Ross Chastain was in sixth followed by Matt DiBenedetto, Daniel Suarez, Denny Hamlin and teammate Martin Truex Jr.

    On the second lap, the first caution of the event flew when the No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE piloted by Suarez came to a stop under the Corvette bridge in Turn 6 due to a transmission issue, an issue that required a wrecker to have Suarez’s car pushed back to pit road and the garage.

    When the race restarted on the fourth lap, Byron retained the lead through the first three turns. Larson also maintained second place over Allmendinger and the field, which made its way through the Turn 4 straightaway and the left-hand fifth and sixth turns.

    By the fifth lap and with the field settling in a single-file line, Byron was leading by nearly three-tenths of a second over teammate Larson, while Allmendinger, Reddick and Cindric continued to run in the top five. Chastain, meanwhile, retained sixth followed by Truex, DiBenedetto, Denny Hamlin and Alex Bowman. By then, Joey Logano was in 12th behind Christopher Bell, Kurt Busch was in 14th, Chase Elliott was in 18th in between Erik Jones and Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski was in 22nd in front of Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch, Aric Almirola was in 25th  ahead of Ryan Newman and rookie Chase Briscoe and Bubba Wallace was mired back in 31st.

    Then in Turn 5, Larson, who made a bid for the lead over teammate Byron, overshot the left-hand fifth turn, which allowed Allmendinger to move into the runner-up spot while Larson fell back to third in front of Reddick and Cindric. 

    The following lap, Ryan Preece pulled his No. 37 Kroger Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE off the course in Turn 5 and behind the wall due to an engine issue. Despite Preece’s exit, the race remained under green as Byron continued to lead by nearly a second over Allmendinger.

    Through the first 10 laps of the event, Byron’s No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE continued to lead by more than a second over Allmendinger’s No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Larson, racing in his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, settled in third ahead of Reddick and Cindric while Chastain, Truex, Hamlin, DiBenedetto and Bell were in the top 10. By then, Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch, both of whom started at the rear of the field, were in 14th and 16th.

    During the 10th lap, Ty Dillon spun in the right-hand kink corner. Despite the spin, Dillon continued and the race remained under green. Shortly after, names like Cindric, DiBenedetto, Kyle Busch, Truex, Bubba Wallace, Aric Almirola, rookie Anthony Alfredo and Austin Dillon pitted. During the pit stops, Austin Dillon was busted with a pit road speeding penalty. Briscoe and Michael McDowell, both of whom pitted, were also penalized for driving through multiple pit stalls.

    The following lap, the second caution of the event flew when Kyle Tilley got stuck in the gravel trap after overshooting Turn 9. The incident was enough for the first stage scheduled on Lap 14 to conclude under caution, and William Byron claimed his third stage victory of the season. Allmendinger settled in second followed by Larson, Reddick, Chastain, Hamlin, Bell, Bowman, Kurt Busch and Elliott.

    Under the stage break, a multitude of competitors led by Byron pitted while the rest led by Martin Truex Jr. remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 16 with Truex and DiBenedetto on the front row. At the start, Cindric ignited his early bid for the lead as he pulled a three-wide move on Truex and DiBenedetto entering the first turn. By the third turn, Cindric emerged as the new leader. Through the Turn 4 straightaway and the left-hand fifth turn, Cindric was out in front of DiBenedetto while Kyle Busch muscle his way into third place.

    When the field returned to the start/finish line, Cindric was out in front by two-tenths of a second over DiBenedetto, who started to challenge Cindric for the top spot. Kyle Busch moved up to third followed by teammate Truex and Bubba Wallace in the top five. Byron, meanwhile, was in sixth while Aric Almirola, Ty Dillon, Reddick and Hamlin were in the top 10. Larson was in 11th ahead of teammate Chase Elliott, Kurt Busch, Chastain and Allmendinger.

    On Lap 18 and with a multitude of battles ensuing around the road course, DiBenedetto and Cindric engaged in a side-by-side battle for the lead through the Turn 4 straightaway and the left-hand fifth turn as Kyle Busch closely tucked himself behind the two leaders. While Cindric was able to retain a brief lead for another turn, DiBenedetto, though, was able to prevail for the lead in Turn 6 while Cindric retained the runner-up spot over Kyle Busch.

    The following lap, Cody Ware punted Quin Houff in Turn 5, but the race remained under green as both continued.

    By Lap 20, DiBenedetto, piloting the No. 21 Menards Ford Mustang, was leading by nearly a second over Cindric and his No. 33 Pirtek Ford Mustang. Kyle Busch, racing in his No. 18 Skittles American Mix Toyota Camry, was still in third followed by Truex and Byron. Reddick was in sixth followed by Larson, Wallace, Elliott and Hamlin.

    Then in Turn 5, Hamlin overshot the corner and kicked up some gravel after his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry overshot the corner, with the driver taking evasive action to avoid hitting Elliott’s No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. The off-track ride dropped Hamlin from the top 10 to 16th behind Aric Almirola.

    Two laps later, the battle for the lead ignited between DiBenedetto and Cindric, with the latter gaining a run through Turns 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 along with the kink corner. By then, Brad Keselowski was continuing from a spin in Turn 14.

    In Turn 1 and during the following lap, Cindric returned to the lead. Four turns later, however, Cindric locked up the brakes and went wide, which allowed Kyle Busch to move into the lead through Turn 6. Then, things went from bad to worse for Cindric, who spun in Turn 8 and had to loop his car around to continue without drawing a caution. Despite continuing, Cindric was off the pace and he ended up nursing his car to his pit stall, where he then took his car to the garage due to a mechanical issue.

    Back at the front, Kyle Busch, winner of Saturday’s Xfinity Series event at Road America and one of the Pocono Raceway doubleheader events last weekend, was leading by more than a second over DiBenedetto, with Truex, Reddick and Byron scored in the top five. By then, Corey LaJoie went off course, got loose and spun in Canada corner, but he continued despite kicking up dirt in the air.

    By Lap 25, Kyle Busch was leading by more than a second over teammate Truex, with Reddick, Byron and DiBenedetto in the top five.

    Not long after, names like Blaney, Elliott, Hamlin, Bowman, DiBenedetto, Allmendinger, Larson, Keselowski, Almirola, Chris Buescher, Bell, Briscoe, Austin Dillon, Erik Jones, McDowell, Alfredo, Cole Custer, Ty Dillon and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who had a flat tire, pitted under green. Kyle Busch and teammate Truex also pitted.

    In the midst of the pit stops, Reddick emerged with the lead on Lap 27. With pit lane closed, Reddick was able to maintain his advantage for the next two laps before claiming the second stage victory on Lap 29 as he also claimed his first stage victory of the season. Byron settled in second, trailing by more than four seconds, followed by Chastain, Larson, Kurt Busch, Logano, Kevin Harvick, Wallace, Justin Haley and Kyle Busch. Earlier, Kurt Busch went off course in Turn 6, though he was able to remain in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, a multitude of competitors led by Reddick pitted while the rest led by Kyle Busch and Elliott remained on the track.

    With 30 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Kyle Busch launched ahead with the lead followed by DiBenedetto through the first turn while Elliott slipped back to third. Busch maintained the lead through the first three turns and the Turn 4 straightaway as the field fanned out to two lanes while battling for positioning. 

    From Turn 5 to Canada corner, Busch continued to lead, but everything changed when DiBenedetto powered back into the lead entering Turn 12. 

    Through the first three turns, the Turn 4 straightaway and the left-hand fifth turn, DiBenedetto was the leader followed by Kyle Busch and Elliott while Hamlin and Briscoe were in the top five. 

    With 25 laps remaining, DiBenedetto was leading by two-tenths of a second over Elliott, who earlier made his way by Kyle Busch for the runner-up spot. Busch settled back in third ahead of teammate Hamlin and Bell. Briscoe, Bowman, Chris Buescher, Byron and McDowell were in the top 10.

    Then, Elliott took over the lead for the first time of the day in Turn 1. By Turn 6, Elliott was out in front by a decent advantage over Kyle Busch, who dropped DiBenedetto back to third.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Elliott was leading by more than four seconds over Kyle Busch, with Hamlin, Bell and DiBenedetto in the top five. Shortly after, Aric Almirola and Ryan Blaney pitted under green. Then, the caution flew when rookie Anthony Alfredo spun in Turn 1 and got stuck in the gravel trap as a result of a cut left-rear tire. The caution was well-timed for Blaney, who was having his front nose repaired following on-track contact.

    Under caution, nearly all of the leaders led by Elliott pitted, except for Almirola and Blaney, both of whom pitted earlier and remained on track. 

    With 17 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Almirola led the field through the first turn while Kyle Busch followed pursuit. Then, Busch engaged in a brief battle with Almirola through the following two turns before he took the lead away entering Turn 3. Through Turn 5, Elliott charged his way up into the runner-up spot behind Busch as the field behind battled and fanned out to two lanes.

    Entering the Canada corner, however, Elliott was able to reassume the lead over Kyle Busch as he maintained the top spot when he returned to the start/finish line and slowly started to pull away. 

    With 15 laps remaining, Elliott was leading by more than a second over Kyle Busch, with Hamlin, Larson and Almirola battling in the top five. Blaney was back in sixth followed by Bell, DiBenedetto, Bowman and Briscoe. 

    While Elliott and Kyle Busch continued to run in first and second, Larson was able to muscle his way into the third place over Hamlin in Turn 5.  

    A lap later, Byron, the pole-sitter, went off course in Turn 5, but the race remained under green.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Elliott remained as the leader by more than three seconds over Kyle Busch. Behind, Bell marched his No. 20 SiriusXM Toyota Camry into third place while Larson was in fourth ahead of Hamlin and Bowman. Kurt Busch, Briscoe, Almirola and DiBenedetto were in the top 10.

    With six laps remaining, Bowman locked up his brakes and bumped his teammate Larson, sending Larson spinning in Turn 5. Following the contact, Bowman and Hamlin, both of whom sustained damage following the contact with Larson, moved up to fourth and fifth followed by Kurt Busch and Briscoe while Larson fell back to 11th.

    Five laps later and with five laps remaining, Elliott continued to lead by nearly five seconds over Kyle Busch while third-place Christopher Bell trailed by six seconds. Bowman and Hamlin, meanwhile, remained in the top five ahead of Kurt Busch, Briscoe, Chastain, DiBenedetto, Reddick and Larson.

    A lap later, Bell moved into the runner-up spot after overtaking teammate Kyle Busch, with Elliott still leading by more than six seconds. 

    Down to the final two laps, Elliott maintained an advantage of more than five seconds over Bell, with Kyle Busch trailing by eight seconds. Behind, Briscoe locked up his brakes entering Turn 5 and nearly ran into the rear of Hamlin, though he was able to continue and remain in sixth place while Hamlin and Kurt Busch battled for fourth.

    When the final lap of the race started, Elliott was leading by less than six seconds over Bell. For one final time through the 14-turn circuit and with no challengers closing in, Elliott was able to cruise to the checkered flag and score the victory on the Fourth of July weekend as the crowd cheered.

    With the victory in NASCAR’s first event at Road America since 1956, Elliott notched his second victory of the 2021 season, first since winning the rain-shortened event at the Circuit of the Americas in May, his seventh road course win and his 13th Cup Series career victory in his 205th series start. Elliott also recorded the 10th victory of the season for Hendrick Motorsports.

    “I appreciate y’all [fans] coming out,” Elliott said on NBC. “Thank you for spending your Fourth of July with us. I hope you enjoyed the show. Man, it was a hot day, but a lot of fun, man. Just really proud of our team for overcoming some adversity early, having to start at the back, having good pit stops. [I] Had a really fast NAPA Chevy, so just so proud. We’ve had a rough few weeks, so [the win]’s really good.”

    “I just never felt like I got in a real good rhythm all of yesterday,” Elliott added. “For whatever reason there, about halfway through the race, I started finding some of that rhythm, was able to put it together, piece different parts of the track and then finally, I felt like I was able to piece most of it together. [I] stayed with it and glad that it worked out.”  

    Bell, who won the Daytona Road Course event in February, came home in a strong second-place result for his third top-five result of the season, first since Richmond Raceway in April, followed by Kyle Busch, who achieved his ninth top-five result of the season.

    “Yeah, I just, kind of, buried ourselves there,” Bell said. “We had that pit road penalty, but man, it was a lot of fun. Our SiriusXM Camry was really good and really proud of this No. 20 group. It’s been a trying last two months, but we feel like we’re getting back on track here, so there’s no reason why we can’t be running upfront every week.”

    “[I] Just kept working at it,” Busch added. “[I] Kept trying to do what I needed to do for adjustments there. Just did not have the tire life that [Elliott] did. Just incredible that they could continue to just drive away from us. His braking was really good, but then, the drive-off out of the corners was just awesome. They out-beat us by far today. Proud of the Skittles bunch, everybody here on the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camrys did a good job. We all ran upfront, we had good speed. We showed that we’re close. That’s all we had for what [Elliott] seems like impossible. Overall, just a good day fighting through traffic…I feel like we’re in a good spot and hopefully, we’ll go get’em next week.”

    Kurt Busch and Hamlin finished in the top five while rookie Chase Briscoe achieved his second top-10 result in the Cup Series by finishing sixth. Chastain, Reddick, Truex and DiBenedetto finished in the top 10. 

    Austin Dillon finished 11th, Keselowski settled in 13th in front of Almirola and Logano, Larson ended up in 16th following his late dust-up with teammate Bowman, Chris Buescher finished 18th in front of Erik Jones and Blaney and Bowman, who pitted following his contact with Larson, ended up in 22nd. 

    Bubba Wallace came home in 24th, Kevin Harvick ended up in 27th behind Ty Dillon, AJ Allmendinger ended up in 29th in front of McDowell and pole-sitter William Byron fell all the way back to 33rd.

    There were 10 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured four cautions for nine laps.

    With six races remaining until the 2021 Cup Playoffs commences, Denny Hamlin continues to lead the regular-season standings by three points over Kyle Larson. Currently, 11 competitors (Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, William Byron, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Christopher Bell and Michael McDowell) are guaranteed Playoff spots based on winning at least once throughout the regular season. Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Austin Dillon, Tyler Reddick and Kurt Busch occupy the remaining five vacant spots as winless competitors, with Kurt Busch ahead by 25 points over Chris Buescher, 69 over Ross Chastain, 70 over Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 74 over Matt DiBenedetto, 79 over Bubba Wallace and 88 over Daniel Suarez.

    Results.

    1. Chase Elliott, 24 laps led

    2. Christopher Bell

    3. Kyle Busch, four laps led

    4. Kurt Busch

    5. Denny Hamlin

    6. Chase Briscoe

    7. Ross Chastain

    8. Tyler Reddick, five laps led, Stage 2 winner

    9. Martin Truex Jr., one lap led

    10. Matt DiBenedetto, 10 laps led

    11. Austin Dillon

    12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    13. Brad Keselowski

    14. Aric Almirola, one lap led

    15. Joey Logano

    16. Kyle Larson

    17. Cole Custer

    18. Chris Buescher

    19. Erik Jones

    20. Ryan Blaney

    21. Corey LaJoie

    22. Alex Bowman

    23. Josh Bilicki

    24. Bubba Wallace

    25. Justin Haley

    26. Ty Dillon

    27. Kevin Harvick

    28. James Davison

    29. AJ Allmendinger

    30. Michael McDowell

    31. Cody Ware

    32. Ryan Newman

    33. William Byron, 15 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    34. Quin Houff

    35. Kyle Tilley, two laps down

    36. Daniel Suarez, nine laps down

    37. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Brakes

    38. Austin Cindric – OUT, Rear gear, two laps led

    39. Ryan Eversley – OUT, Rear gear

    40. Ryan Preece – OUT, Engine

    Next on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is Atlanta Motor Speedway for the series’ second visit to Hampton, Georgia this season. The event is slated to occur on Sunday, July 11, at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Pocono

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Pocono

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Kyle Larson: Larson took second in Sunday’s Visit The Pocono Mountains 350 after falling just short in Saturday’s race.

    “Congratulations to Kyle Busch,” Larson said. “He took a crappy situation and made it great. He did the opposite when he drove the No. 5 car for Hendrick Motorsports.”

    2. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin led late at Pocono but had to pit on the final lap for gas, dropping him to 14th.

    “If we could have had just a few more drops of gas,” Hamlin said, “we certainly would have found another way not to win the race.”

    3. Kyle Busch: Busch battled transmission issues at Pocono, but played the fuel mileage game perfectly and won the Explore The Pocono Mountains 350.

    “I was stuck in fourth gear and had no clutch,” Busch said. “Despite that, crew chief Adam Stevens told me I could win. I told him he was ‘full of it.’ He said, ‘No, but your fuel tank is.’”

    4. Alex Bowman: Bowman finished seventh on Sunday at Pocono, one day after winning Saturday’s Cup race.

    “Jeff Gordon accepted the vice chairman role at Hendrick Motorsports,” Bowman said. “I think everyone expects him to flourish in an executive role. The cycle is nearly complete. Jeff’s gone from ‘Boy Wonder’ to ‘Board Wonder.’”

    5. William Byron: Byron won Stage 2 and led the final stage until he was forced to pit for fuel with two laps remaining. He finished 12th.

    “There’s no worse feeling in racing than coming up short on gas,” Byron said. “Sometimes, when you’re fuel gauge says ‘E,’ what it’s really saying is ‘You’re F‘ed.’”

    6. Chase Elliott: Elliott suffered a flat right-front tire on lap 102 and fell a lap down. He eventually finished 27th.

    “All three of my Hendrick Motorsports teammates finished in the top 12,” Elliott said. “My finish won me an award HMS likes to call the ‘Rear-Ender Award,’ which means you finished last among the four Hendrick drivers. In other words, it means you’re not Kyle Larson.”

    7. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished fourth in the Visit The Pocono Mountains 350.

    “I just want to assure fans that you can simultaneously visit the Pocono Mountains,” Harvick said, “and the Mountains Of Busch.”

    8. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex won Stage 1 and finished 11th in the Explore The Pocono Mountains 350.

    “Congratulations to my Joe Gibbs teammate Kyle Busch,” Truex said. “He took lemons and made lemonade. That could be why many people consider Kyle the ‘yellow liquid’ of auto racing.”

    9. Joey Logano: Logano finished 10th at Pocono.

    “I can’t remember the last time I actually felt like I could win,” Logano said. “I just know we need to step it up. Like Kyle Busch, we need to find that extra gear.”

    10. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski came home third at Pocono, posting his first top-five since a third at Kansas in early May.

    “I had forgotten what a top five felt like,” Keselowski said. “In fact, I had become accustomed to finishing outside the top 20. Actually, that should help me acclimate pretty easily when I start driving for Roush-Fenway Racing.”

  • Kyle Busch coasts to a thrilling victory at Pocono

    Kyle Busch coasts to a thrilling victory at Pocono

    From clutch issues to Victory Lane, Kyle Busch played a late fuel strategy to perfection after overtaking teammate Denny Hamlin prior to the final lap and coasting for a final full lap on a dry tank to win the Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 at Pocono Raceway, the second of a Pocono Cup doubleheader weekend, on Sunday, June 27.

    The starting lineup was based off the results from Saturday’s Cup event at Pocono, with the top-20 finishers being inverted for Sunday’s event. Chris Buescher, who finished 20th, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Michael McDowell, who finished 19th on Saturday. 

    Prior to the event, names like Cole Custer, Ryan Newman, Kyle Larson, Ryan Preece, Ross Chastain, Corey LaJoie and rookie Anthony Alfredo started at the rear of the field in back-up cars. Justin Allgaier also started at the rear of the field after replacing Justin Haley in the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, with Haley opting to sit out following his hard wreck in the Xfinity Series event occurring early Sunday at Pocono.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Buescher pulled ahead on the outside lane to retain the lead over McDowell and the field through the first turn and entering the second turn.

    Through the first lap, Buescher was out in front followed by McDowell, Christopher Bell, Martin Truex Jr. and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Behind, Daniel Suarez was in sixth followed by Aric Almirola, Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick.

    The following lap, the first caution of the race flew when rookie Anthony Alfredo made hard contact with the outside wall in Turn 2.

    When the race restarted on the sixth lap, Buescher peaked ahead until he slipped entering the first turn and lost his momentum along with a bevy of spots. Buescher’s slip-up allowed McDowell to move to the lead followed by Joe Gibbs Racing’s Truex and Bell. Behind, Aric Almirola made his way to fourth followed by Stenhouse, Suarez, Keselowski, Reddick and Wallace as Buescher fell all the way back to 12th.

    Through the first 10 laps of the event, McDowell remained in the lead by a narrow margin over Truex and Bell while Almirola, Stenhouse, Keselowski, Suarez, Wallace, Kyle Busch and Reddick were running in the top 10. By then, Kurt Busch was in 11th in front of Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick and Buescher. Chase Elliott was in 16th in front of rookie Chase Briscoe and teammate William Byron, Austin Dillon was in 20th behind Erik Jones and Alex Bowman, winner of the first Cup Pocono doubleheader event, was in 21st in front of Denny Hamlin, Ross Chastain, Kyle Larson and Matt DiBenedetto. Ryan Newman, meanwhile, was in 29th.

    Three laps later, Truex moved his No. 19 Reser’s Fine Foods Toyota Camry into the lead. Teammate Bell quickly followed in his No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry to assume the runner-up spot while McDowell fell back to third in front of Almirola’s No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang.

    By Lap 20, Truex was out in front by more than a second over teammate Bell while Almirola, McDowell and Kyle Busch were in the top five. McDowell was back in sixth followed by Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace. Stenhouse was situated in ninth ahead of Suarez. Meanwhile, Logano and Harvick were in 12th and 13th, Elliott was still mired back in 15th in between teammate Byron and Kurt Busch, Bowman was back in 21st behind Hamlin and Larson was in 22nd in front of Erik Jones.

    Five laps later, Truex extended his advantage to more than two seconds over teammate Bell. Behind, Almirola, Keselowski and Kyle Busch remained in the top five ahead of Blaney and Wallace, with McDowell settling in eighth ahead of Stenhouse and Suarez.

    Shortly after, Hamlin brought his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry to pit road under green. A lap later, his teammates, Bell and Kyle Busch, pitted. Meanwhile, the fourth Joe Gibbs Racing competitor, Truex, remained on the track and in the lead. During this process, Hendrick Motorsports’ competitors Elliott and Byron also pitted.

    At the front, Truex held a comfortable advantage over runner-up Almirola. With no lead lap challengers closing in approaching Lap 30, Truex was able to come back around and claim the first stage victory as he also claimed his fourth stage victory of the 2021 season. Almirola settled in second followed by Keselowski, Blaney and Wallace while McDowell, Stenhouse, Reddick, Suarez and Logano were scored in the top 10. By then, Byron, who was in 33rd, managed to beat Truex at the start/finish line to return on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, nearly all of the leaders pitted and Truex retained the lead following his exit from his pit stall. Back on track, names like Keselowski, teammate Blaney, Austin Dillon, Bell, Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Elliott and Byron remained on the track. During the pit stops, Larson remained on pit road to have the front nose of his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE assessed after he ran into the rear of Hamlin on a restart.

    The second stage started on Lap 35 with Keselowski and Bell starting on the front row. At the start, Keselowski received a push from teammate Blaney to retain the lead through the first turn over Bell. Behind, Kyle Busch retained fourth place ahead of Byron, Hamlin and the field.

    By Lap 40, Keselowski continued to lead over teammate Blaney, Bell, Kyle Busch and Byron. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch, who was running in the top five, radioed issues to his No. 18 M&M’s Mini’s Toyota Camry as the car was popping out of fourth gear.

    Five laps later, teammates Keselowski and Blaney pitted, moving Kyle Busch to the lead. Larson, who reported overheating issues to his car, also pitted during this process. Earlier, Austin Dillon pitted.

    Through the first 50 laps of the event, Kyle Busch remained as the leader by nearly three-tenths of a second over Byron, with Bell, Hamlin and Elliott in the top five. Truex was in sixth followed by Almirola, Ross Chastain, Logano and Harvick. Not long after, Blaney made another pit stop to address a loose right-front wheel, a move that dropped him a lap behind the leaders.

    By Lap 60, Kyle Busch continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over Byron. Bell, teammate Hamlin and Elliott continued to run in the top five followed by Truex, Almirola, Chastain, Logano and Bowman.

    On Lap 65, Byron brought his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to pit road under green. By then, Daniel Suarez pitted. With Byron pitting from the runner-up spot, teammates Bell and Hamlin moved up to second and third behind their third teammate and leader, Kyle Busch. By then, all four Joe Gibbs Racing competitors were running in the top five, with Elliott in fourth.

    A few laps later, Kevin Harvick brought his No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang to his pit stall for service under green. 

    At the halfway mark on Lap 70, Kyle Busch was the leader followed by teammate Bell, Elliott, teammate Truex and Almirola. Chastain moved up to sixth followed by Logano, Bowman, Reddick and Kurt Busch. A lap earlier, Hamlin pitted.

    During the ensuing laps, Ryan Newman pitted along with Bell, Elliott, Truex, Chastain, Almirola, Kurt Busch, Bowman, Logano, Ryan Preece, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and others. During the sequence, Kyle Busch, who surrendered the lead to pit, had to receive a push from his crew after stalling his car with the car getting stuck in gear and not moving.

    Back on course and on Lap 75, Bubba Wallace was leading followed by DiBenedetto, Byron, Keselowski, Hamlin and Bell. Two laps later, Wallace pitted and Byron inherited the lead with Keselowski in second.

    By Lap 80, Byron was leading by more than two seconds over Keselowski, with Hamlin, Bell and Elliott in the top five. Truex was in sixth followed by Larson, Almirola, Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon.

    With the laps in the second stage concluding, Hamlin managed to overtake Keselowski for the runner-up spot. By then, Byron was clear out in front by more than two seconds. With a clear sight in front amid the lapped traffic, Byron was able to claim his second stage victory on Lap 80 as he also recorded his second stage victory of the season. Hamlin settled in second followed by Keselowski, Bell, Elliott, Truex, Kyle Busch, Larson, Almirola and Chastain.

    Under the stage break, some led by Keselowski pitted while others led by Byron remained on the track. During the pit stops, Kyle Busch spent extra time in his pit stall to have the shifter and gear issue on his car addressed. Despite pitting for a second time for repairs, Busch remained on the lead lap.

    With 50 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Byron received a push from Hamlin to remain as the leader. Behind, Elliott charged to third place followed by Bell, teammate Truex, Almirola and Bowman as the field battled intensely for positioning. 

    Two laps later, the caution flew due to debris that came off the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE piloted by Erik Jones, who earlier had a left-front tire flat.

    Under caution, some led by Byron and Hamlin pitted while the rest led by Elliott remained on the track. During the sequence, Elliott, who faked coming to pit road, was penalized for not maintaining his position on the track under caution, sending him back to fourth as Bell moved back to the lead.

    With 44 laps remaining, the race restarted under green as Bell and Bowman started on the front row. At the start, Bowman received a push from Ross Chastain on the inside lane to move into the lead over Bell. Behind, Chastain challenged Bell for the runner-up spot while Elliott and Harvick battled dead even for fourth place in front of Almirola and Keselowski. 

    Back to the frontstretch, Harvick made a bold three-wide move to move into the runner-up spot after Bell and Chastain made contact against one another. Following the contact, Chastain’s No. 42 McDonald’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE went up the race track in Turn 1 with a flat tire following the contact with Bell. 

    Then entering the frontstretch, Elliott made contact with Bell, sending Bell sideways. Though Bell sustained right-rear damage to his car, he prevented the car from spinning sideways as the race proceeded under green. The contact scattered the field as Bell fell out of contention. Both Bell and Chastain pitted following their on-track incident. 

    Back up front, Bowman was the leader by nearly seven-tenths of a second over Harvick, with Keselowski, Blaney and Reddick in the top five. McDowell was up in sixth followed by Elliott, Almirola, Kurt Busch and Hamlin.

    Under the final 40 laps, Elliott’s No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE fell off the pace due to a flat right-front tire as he made the trip to pit road for four fresh tires. Not long after, Matt DiBenedetto pitted along with Logano.

    With 35 laps remaining, Bowman continued to lead by four-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Harvick, with third-place Keselowski trailing by more than a second. Soon after, names like Blaney and Austin Dillon pitted. In addition, Elliott made a second pit stop due to another flat tire.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, the battle for the lead intensified as Bowman led by less than three-tenths of a second over Harvick. Soon after, Almirola surrendered his spot on the track to pit along with Stenhouse, who had smoke trailing out of the tailpipe of his No. 47 Scott Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE as he made the left-hand turn to the garage.

    Two laps later, Harvick pitted along with McDowell. Another three laps later, more pit strategy occurred as Bowman surrendered the lead to pit for fuel for his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, giving the lead to the No. 2 Freightliner Ford Mustang piloted by Brad Keselowski. 

    Nearing the final 20 laps of the event, Tyler Reddick surrendered the runner-up spot to pit.

    With 20 laps remaining and the fuel strategy conversation continuing among multiple teams, Keselowski, who was in question about having enough fuel to make it to the finish, was leading by over Byron. Kurt Busch, Hamlin and Larson were in the top five followed by Kyle Busch, Wallace, Preece, Briscoe and Suarez. Harvick, who had enough fuel to complete the race to its scheduled distance, was in 13th behind Truex while Bowman was in 15th behind Blaney.

    Five laps later, Keselowski continued to lead by more than three seconds over Byron, with Kurt Busch, Hamlin and Larson remaining in the top five. Harvick, meanwhile, was still mired back in 13th behind Truex as Blaney, Bowman and Reddick were in 14th, 15th and 16th.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Keselowski was leading by more than 11 seconds over Byron, with Kurt Busch, Hamlin, Larson, Kyle Busch and the field trailing by more than 21 seconds. Harvick, meanwhile, was up in 10th place behind Ryan Newman.

    Two laps later, Keselowski, who last pitted on Lap 87, surrendered the lead to pit for fuel, with the former Cup champion not having enough to initially complete the remainder of the race. Despite pitting for fuel, Keselowski managed to pick up speed and pull ahead of Harvick as both awaited the fuel fate of the front-runners.

    Back on course, Byron inherited the lead followed by Hamlin, the Busch brothers, Larson and Wallace. 

    With five laps remaining, Byron, who was trying to conserve fuel, was leading by more than two seconds over Hamlin with Kyle Busch also joining the party. By then, Keselowski and Harvick were in seventh and eighth.

    Then with two laps remaining, Byron, who last pitted on Lap 94, pitted as teammates Hamlin and Kyle Busch moved into first and second. 

    Shortly after, Hamlin fell off the pace exiting Turn 2 as he ran out of fuel. Despite trying to block his teammate, Kyle Busch assumed the lead on the outside lane entering the frontstretch as he started the final lap of the race. With Busch out in front and Hamlin pitting, Kyle Larson moved into second place, trailing by more than seven seconds. By then, Kurt Busch pitted.

    With the gas tank in the No. 18 Toyota running dry, Kyle Busch, who last pitted on Lap 95, was able to navigate his way around the triangle circuit for a final time and come back around to take the checkered flag and steal the win a day after finishing in the runner-up spot in the first Cup Pocono doubleheader event.

    The victory marked Busch’s second of this season, fourth at Pocono and the 59th of his NASCAR Cup Series career. It was also Busch’s second of the season with rookie Cup crew chief Ben Beshore.

    “[The car’s] Stuck in fourth gear,” Busch said on NBCSN. “About out of gas. Just saving, just riding, just playing the strategy the best we could with what was given to us. Just can’t say enough about everybody on my team, everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota, [Toyota Racing Development], all the work that they’re putting in and everything. Sometimes, these races aren’t always won by the fastest car, but I still felt like we had the fastest car. Even though we were in the back and behind and having to come back and having to persevere, being stuck in fourth gear, no clutch, all that stuff, it’s all burned out. Nothing left in his M&M’s Mini’s Camry. It was awesome today…This is really awesome to pull off another win here at Pocono. Feels good.”

    Behind, Larson, who struggled throughout the event and wrecked a day ago while leading on the final lap, had enough fuel to come home in second place as he collected his ninth top-two result of the season.

    “It’s surprising finish for us. Our HendrickCars.com Chevy was really loose for a majority of the race, then we got a lot of nose damage there on one of the restarts. Was off on speed. I felt like after that. [Crew chief] Cliff [Daniels] and everybody did a really, really good job managing the race, coached me through saving fuel there at the end. [I] Was hoping that [Kyle Busch] was going to run out. I saw [Hamlin] running out. I was, ‘Okay, they’re teammates, they got to be close to running out.’ [Busch] did pit a lap after us under caution. That actually probably won them the race. But, yeah, second-place finish, I thought we would be outside of the top-20. A lot of points throughout the race today; we’ll take it. Happy about the effort for sure all weekend.”

    Keselowski and Harvick, both of whom were charging hard on fuel, finished in third and fourth while Bubba Wallace achieved his first top-five result of the season and for 23XI Racing by finishing fifth.

    “We knew we were in a worse position than [Kyle Busch],” Wallace said. “It was just racing our race. I was trying to do the best that I could, but all in all, really solid weekend. First top five for the team. I think that’s a little pen to the paper action there to re-sign and re-up there. All in all, just happy with how the weekend went. Smooth sailing for the most part. Today was a little bit trickier, but perseverance. Just got to battle through it and proud of everybody here.”

    Blaney, Bowman, Preece, Reddick and Logano finished in the top 10.

    Byron, following his late pit stop, ended up in 12th behind Truex while Hamlin, who was a lap away from capturing his first victory of the season until he ran out of fuel, fell all the way back to 14th.

    “We had our hands tied up behind our backs,” Byron said. “Definitely had the fastest car. The caution didn’t fit us perfectly. We had control of the race there and was right on our number to make it or not, and just didn’t work out. Really fast car. The AXALTA Chevrolet was awesome. Sucks to lose’em like that, but I feel like we had everything we needed in the car. Just couldn’t save enough fuel as far back as we were. Just part of it, but thanks to the guys.”

    “The result is we’ve pitted on the last lap for three weeks in a row,” Hamlin said. “That’s tough. I hate seeing the white [flag], ended up coming to pit road. It’s just so frustrating, but fuel mileage’s got us the last two weeks and lug nuts the week before, but we’re running fast. We’re getting a little better. I think that overall, we had a little bit more speed this weekend than what we’ve had in the past few weeks. Just can’t see the checkered right now.”

    Truex settled in 11th, Austin Dillon and Suarez finished 13th and 15th, Almirola came home in 16th ahead of McDowell, Kurt Busch fell all the way back to 20th behind Chris Buescher, rookie Chase Briscoe finished 21st, Justin Allgaier finished 25th as a substitute competitor for Spire Motorsports, Chastain and Elliott ended up in 26th and 27th and Bell ended his strong run in 32nd behind Erik Jones.

    There were 12 lead changes for 10 different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 15 laps.

    With eight races remaining until the 2021 Cup Playoffs commences, Hamlin continues to lead the regular-season standings by four points over Larson. Eleven competitors (Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Christopher Bell and Michael McDowell) are guaranteed Playoff spots based on winning at least once through the first 19 regular-season events. Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Austin Dillon, Tyler Reddick and Kurt Busch occupy the remaining five spots as winless competitors, with Busch ahead by three points over Chris Buescher, 48 over Daniel Suarez, 54 over Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Bubba Wallace, 60 over Matt DiBenedetto and 72 over Ross Chastain. 

    Results.

    1. Kyle Busch, 30 laps led

    2. Kyle Larson

    3. Brad Keselowski, 31 laps led

    4. Kevin Harvick

    5. Bubba Wallace, three laps led

    6. Ryan Blaney

    7. Alex Bowman, 18 laps led

    8. Ryan Preece

    9. Tyler Reddick

    10. Joey Logano

    11. Martin Truex Jr., 19 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    12. William Byron, 22 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    13. Austin Dillon

    14. Denny Hamlin, one lap led

    15. Daniel Suarez

    16. Aric Almirola

    17. Michael McDowell, seven laps led

    18. Matt DiBenedetto

    19. Chris Buescher, six laps led

    20. Kurt Busch

    21. Chase Briscoe

    22. Ryan Newman

    23. Corey LaJoie, one lap down

    24. Cole Custer, one lap down

    25. Justin Allgaier, one lap down

    26. Ross Chastain, one lap down

    27. Chase Elliott, one lap down

    28. Cody Ware, one lap down

    29. B.J. McLeod, one lap down

    30. James Davison, three laps down

    31. Erik Jones, four laps down

    32. Christopher Bell, five laps down, three laps led

    33. Quin Houff, five laps down

    34. Anthony Alfredo, six laps down

    35. Josh Bilicki, eight laps down

    36. Garrett Smithley – OUT, Engine

    37. Timmy Hill – OUT, Handling

    38. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Engine

    Next on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is Road America, the series’ return to the track near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, since 1956. The event is slated to occur on Sunday, July 4, during Independence Day weekend at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.