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Tag: Denny Hamlin

  • Hamlin delivers with a late momentous victory at Kansas

    Hamlin delivers with a late momentous victory at Kansas

    The momentum for Denny Hamlin and his No. 11 FedEx/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team continued in the midwest after the Virginia veteran overtook Kevin Harvick for the lead with 13 laps remaining and held off Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. for the remainder of the race to win the Super Start Batteries 400 at Kansas Speedway under the lights. The victory was Hamlin’s fifth of this season, his third at Kansas and the 42nd of his NASCAR Cup Series career.

    The starting lineup was based on a random draw. Kevin Harvick started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Joey Logano. Josh Bilicki dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Harvick and Logano battled against one another through Turns 1 and 2 before Logano prevailed on the outside lane entering Turn 4 to lead the first lap. A lap later, Ryan Blaney moved into the runner-up spot as Harvick was under attack by Alex Bowman and Martin Truex Jr.

    By the sixth lap, while Logano led teammate Blaney by four tenths of a second, Truex moved into third after passing Harvick with Bowman trailing the two former Cup champions. Brad Keselowski made his way into seventh after passing Kyle Busch while Matt DiBenedetto moved into 10th. In addition, rookie Tyler Reddick, who started 21st, was up to 11th.

    On the 10th lap, Aric Almirola made his way back into the top five after passing Bowman. Shortly after, Bowman was overtaken by Keselowski and Kyle Busch for position. 

    By the 20th lap, Logano was still ahead by six tenths of a second over teammate Blaney, who was starting to be challenged by Truex for the runner-up spot. Closing in on the top three were Keselowski and Kyle Busch while Harvick fell back to sixth. Almirola, Bowman, Denny Hamlin and Reddick were scored in the top 10 followed by Erik Jones. 

    Two laps prior to the competition caution, Truex passed Blaney for the runner-up spot and he started to narrow his deficit from Logano for the lead. Logano, however, was able to maintain his advantage by Lap 25 when the competition caution flew.

    Under the competition caution, all of the lead lap cars pitted and Truex exited pit road first followed by teammate Kyle Busch, Blaney, Harvick and Logano. Following the pit stops, however, Logano was sent to the rear of the field due to an uncontrolled tire violation. Chris Buescher, who was scored in 25th when he pitted, also fell back to the rear due to an uncontrolled tire violation.

    When the race restarted on the 30th lap, Kyle Busch received a push from Blaney on the inside lane to move into the lead while Blaney and Truex battled for the runner-up spot. A lap later, Truex cleared Blaney for the runner-up spot while Harvick went to work in battling Blaney for third. Shortly after, Hamlin overtook Harvick and Blaney to move into third as Joe Gibbs Racing’s three of its four-car operation occupied the podium spots.

    By Lap 40, Kyle Busch was still leading by above a second while Hamlin was in the runner-up spot followed by Truex. Blaney, who reported a vibration to his No. 12 Dex Imaging/Team Penske Ford Mustang, was in fourth followed by Keselowski and Harvick. Bowman and Almirola were in seventh and eighth followed by DiBenedetto while Jones was in the top 10. Reddick was back in 12th in between Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson while Chase Elliott was in 14th. Hometown hero Clint Bowyer was in 15th ahead of rookie Christopher Bell and Bubba Wallace while William Byron, racing with interim crew chief Keith Rodden, was in 20th ahead of rookie Cole Custer. Logano was in 22nd ahead of Matt Kenseth and Austin Dillon while Ryan Newman was in 26th.

    Ten laps later, Kyle Busch and his No. 18 M&M’s Fudge Brownies Toyota Camry was still ahead by less than half a second over teammate Hamlin while his other teammate, Truex, was in third and trailing by above a second. Jones, the fourth JGR teammate, was in ninth behind Bowman. Blaney was still in fourth, trailing by more than three seconds, while Keselowski rounded out the top five and was behind by four seconds. 

    Towards the 60-lap mark, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made a pit stop under green after reporting fire in his cockpit. The mechanical issue was enough to end Stenhouse’s race early in the garage as his hopes to make the Playoffs took another hit. Stenhouse’s elimination marked his fifth DNF of the season and the fourth consecutive Cup race where a JTG-Daugherty Racing entry finished last in a Cup race after teammate Ryan Preece finished in last place the previous three races.

    With five laps remaining in the first stage, Kyle Busch stabilized his advantage by nearly two seconds over teammate Hamlin while teammate Truex, Blaney and Keselowski were scored in the top five. Behind, Reddick, one of the fastest cars on the track, was up to sixth. With no challenges mounted upon him in the closing laps, Busch was able to claim the first stage on Lap 80 and grab his first stage victory of the season. Teammates Hamlin and Truex finished second and third followed by Blaney and Keselowski. Reddick settled in sixth followed by Harvick, Almirola, Bowman and Jones, who held off Johnson approaching the start/finish line. Logano was back in 17th following his early pit road penalty.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Hamlin exited first ahead of Truex and Kyle Busch while Keselowski and Harvick were in the top five after exiting pit road. Following the pit stops, Byron was sent to the rear of the field due to an uncontrolled tire violation. 

    The second stage started on Lap 86 and Hamlin launched ahead with the lead after receiving a push from Keselowski on the outside lane. With Hamlin clearing the field and sailing at the front, a multitude of battles ensued behind as Keselowski and Truex battled for the runner-up spot while Kyle Busch, Blaney and Harvick battled for fourth. Kurt Busch moved up to seventh followed by DiBenedetto, Reddick and Jones. By Lap 92, teammates Truex and Kyle Busch moved back into second and third as Truex went to work in narrowing his deficit from teammate Hamlin and challenge for the lead.

    On Lap 97, Truex peaked ahead of Hamlin at the start/finish line and was able to clear him to emerge with the lead. A few laps later, the caution flew when Wallace spun his No. 43 Victory Junction/Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE entering Turn 4 below the apron near the pit road entrance and across the frontstretch grass. At the time of caution, Truex extended his advantage above a second over teammate Hamlin. 

    Under caution, the leaders pitted and Keselowski exited first following a two-tire stop. Truex, the first on four fresh tires, followed pursuit ahead of teammates Kyle Busch and Hamlin followed by Harvick, Blaney and Byron, who also opted for a two-tire stop and gained 14 spots on pit road. 

    On Lap 104, the race restarted and Keselowski and Truex battled against one another for the lead for a full circuit. Behind, a three-wide battle for third place ensued between Blaney, Kyle Busch and Hamlin through Turns 3 and 4. Keselowski was able to clear Truex for the lead shortly after while Blaney and Hamlin settled in third and fourth. Harvick made his way back into the top five in fifth followed by Kurt Busch and Almirola while Kyle Busch fell back to eighth ahead of Jones and Logano.

    By Lap 110, with the battling for positions settling down, Keselowski stabilized his advantage to half a second over Truex. Five laps later, Truex reassumed the lead while Hamlin started to challenge Keselowski for the runner-up spot. Behind, Blaney was still in fourth while Kyle Busch worked his way back to fifth after passing Harvick.

    Twenty laps later, Truex was ahead by less than two seconds over Hamlin while teammates Keselowski and Blaney were behind by more than four seconds. Kyle Busch trailed by less than five seconds with Harvick behind him. Behind, Johnson was in 10th as he was starting to challenge Kurt Busch for more while Reddick was in 11th ahead of Logano.

    On Lap 143, the caution returned when Chris Buescher spun in Turn 2. Under caution, the leaders pitted and Blaney emerged with the lead following a two-tire stop. Johnson, Reddick and rookie John Hunter Nemechek followed Blaney after all four also took two tires while Hamlin, the first car on four fresh tires, was scored in fifth ahead of Truex, Kyle Busch, Keselowski and Harvick.

    With 12 laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted and Johnson and Blaney battled for the lead through Turns 1 and 2 before Blaney was shoved out with the lead with drafting help from Hamlin. In one lap, Hamlin went from fifth to second. Behind, Keselowski moved into third followed by Almirola and Kyle Busch as Johnson continued to lose positions. Reddick and Nemechek, both of whom restarted in the top five, were also shoved out of the top 10.

    Towards the front, Hamlin, who made contact with the wall, had fallen back to fourth while Keselowski and Almirola each gained a spot. With the laps dwindling in the second stage, Keselowski started to mount a challenge on his teammate Blaney for the lead. In the final laps of the stage, Keselowski was able to pass teammate Blaney for the lead and mount ahead by nearly four tenths of a second to win the second stage on Lap 160 and for his fifth stage victory of the season. Blaney settled in second followed by Almirola, Hamlin and Kyle Busch. Harvick, Jones, Truex, Johnson and Elliott were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the leaders returned to pit road and Hamlin exited pit road first following a two-tire stop. Elliott exited second followed by Keselowski, the first on four fresh tires. Behind Keselowski were Blaney, Kyle Busch, Truex and Harvick.

    With 101 laps remaining and the track settling into night conditions, the final stage commenced. At the front, Elliott threw a huge block on Blaney on the bottom lane before he challenged Hamlin for the lead. In Turn 3, Hamlin retained the lead followed by Kyle Busch and Elliott as Truex, Blaney and Keselowski went three wide for fourth. The battle for positions expanded to three and four wide behind the leaders as Hamlin maintained a narrow lead over Elliott. 

    With 96 laps remaining, the caution returned when Kenseth was barely clipped by Ryan Preece as Kenseth spun entering Turn 4 and was hit by Wallace, who had nowhere to go. The incident broke Wallace’s right-front suspension as he took his car to the garage. The wreck hampered Wallace’s quest towards reaching the top-16 cutline. Under caution, the majority of the leaders remained on track while some like Preece, Reddick, Nemechek Newman, Bowman, Michael McDowell and Daniel Suarez pitted.

    The race restarted under green with 91 laps remaining and Hamlin received a push from teammate Kyle Busch to maintain the lead through Turns 1 and 2. Shortly after, the caution returned when Logano, who was losing speed and appeared to have sustained a flat left-front tire, was bumped by Harvick entering Turn 2 and made hard contact with the outside wall. Logano’s incident sparked a multi-car wreck that involved Austin Dillon, Johnson and DiBenedetto, who also made hard contact with the outside wall and sustained heavy damage to his No. 21 Menards/Dutch Boy/Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang. Under caution, the majority of the leaders remained on track while some like Byron, Bowyer, Ty Dillon, Austin Dillon, Johnson, Kenseth and Logano pitted. Logano would eventually retire from the race.

    With 85 laps remaining, the race restarted and Hamlin retained the lead ahead of Blaney and Elliott. The caution shortly returned for another multi-car wreck on the backstretch that started when Bell moved in front of Newman as was bumped by the veteran as he made contact with the outside wall and both Bell and Newman started coming back across the track wrecking. During the ensuing wreck that also involved Buescher, Preece veered left and slid toward the inside wall at full speed before taking a vicious head-on hit with the wall, nearly flipping in the process, before coming to rest on all four tires with a destroyed No. 37 Bush’s Beans Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Though Preece survived the vicious accident, the incident was his fourth in a row and after finishing last the previous three races. 

    “To be honest with you, we had a fast race car right there at the end,” Preece said after exiting the infield care center on NBCSN. “It’s frustrating for all of us at JTG Daugherty [Racing] because we’ve been working really hard and probably had a top-10 car there at the end. I’m alright, just ready for this year to turn around. We’ll be back next week.”

    The race went under a red flag period for nearly three minutes before it proceeded under caution. With 81 laps remaining, the racing under green resumed and Hamlin maintained the lead followed by teammate Truex and Blaney while Jones overtook Elliott to move into fourth. Four laps later, with the top three of Hamlin, Truex and Blaney separated by four tenths of a second, Jones was in fourth ahead of Keselowski while Kyle Busch, Elliott and Harvick were running in sixth through eighth. 

    Three laps later, Truex reassumed the lead. Shortly after, the caution returned when Newman, running with patches to his No. 6 Wyndham Redwards/Roush Fenway Racing Ford Mustang, spun in Turn 3 as he was able to make his way back to pit road. Under caution, nearly the entire lead lap cars pitted except for Byron, who remained on track to inherit the leader. Following the pit stops, Hamlin exited first followed by Blaney, Kenseth, Reddick and Bowman, all of whom opted for a two-tire stop. Truex was the first with four fresh tires followed by Keselowski, Jones, Kyle Busch, Elliott and Harvick.

    With 68 laps remaining, the race restarted and Byron and Hamlin battled dead even for one full lap before Hamlin emerged with the lead by a nose the following lap. Afterwards, Byron and the No. 24 AXALTA/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE emerged out front while Keselowski moved into the runner-up spot over Hamlin. With the battling for positions ensuing behind, Byron was still ahead by nearly three tenths of a second over Keselowski while Hamlin, Blaney and Kyle Busch were in the top five. 

    With 61 laps remaining, Keselowski returned to the lead and stabilized his advantage to three tenths of a second over Byron. By then, Johnson took his No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to the garage and retired after he failed to meet the minimum speed requirement to continue with the damage sustained from his late multi-car incident.

    Eleven laps later, Keselowski was still ahead by three tenths of a second over Byron, who was still keeping pace with Keselowski on four old tires. Kyle Busch moved into third after passing teammate Hamlin while Bowman was in fifth ahead of Blaney, Truex, Harvick, Jones and Elliott. Blaney, who made contact with the wall, stabilized his running position in sixth.

    Four laps later, Byron reassumed the lead and he started to extend his advantage by a second over Keselowski. Shortly after, Blaney and Kyle Busch made an unscheduled pit stop under green after both made contact with the outside wall. Their misfortunes allowed Hamlin, Truex and Bowman to move into the top five while Jones, Elliott, Harvick, Kurt Busch and Bowyer were scored in the top 10.

    With 32 laps remaining, with Byron still leading by nearly three seconds and with everyone on the track skeptical on making it to the finish on fuel, the caution flew when Corey LaJoie made contact with the wall. Under caution, all of the lead lap cars pitted for fuel. Following the pit stops, Byron and Bowman exited first and second after both Hendrick Motorsports teammates opted for a two-tire stop. Hamlin, the first on four fresh tires, exited third followed by Keselowski, Harvick and Truex. During the caution, Kyle Busch took the wave-around to return to the lead lap as he was scored in 17th.

    The race restarted under green with 28 laps remaining as teammates Byron and Bowman battled dead even for the lead for one full lap before Bowman emerged with the lead the following lap in Turn 3. Just as Harvick was about to mount a challenge on Byron for the runner-up spot, the caution returned when Nemechek spun on the backstretch. Under caution, the front runners remained on the track while some like Kyle Busch pitted.

    With 22 laps remaining, the race restarted and Bowman received a push from Harvick to retain the lead through Turn 1. In Turn 2, however, Harvick bolted on the outside lane to move into the lead followed by Hamlin while Bowman fell back to third. Behind, Keselowski was in fourth while Byron fell back to fifth.

    Two laps later, Harvick was ahead by four tenths of a second over Hamlin as Keselowski was in third and started to pursue Hamlin for the runner-up spot. Truex moved his way into fourth over Bowman, Jones moved into sixth and Byron was back in eighth ahead of Almirola. 

    As the laps continued to dwindle under 20 to go, Harvick was still ahead, but Hamlin and Keselowski were trailing by nearly half a second while both continued to battle. With 13 laps remaining, Hamlin gained a huge run on the outside of Harvick to emerge with the lead.

    With 10 laps remaining, Hamlin was still in the front by four tenths of a second over Harvick, who was starting to be pressured by Keselowski for the runner-up spot, as the leaders were starting to approach lapped traffic. Two laps later, Keselowski moved into the runner-up spot as Harvick was starting to be challenged by Truex for third. At this time, Bowman had fallen back to eighth after being passed by Custer while Byron was in ninth ahead of Kurt Busch.

    Five laps later, Hamlin was ahead by less than half a second over Keselowski as the leaders continued to encounter lapped traffic. Though Keselowski and Truex got within less than a second to Hamlin’s rear bumper, Hamlin was able to maintain his advantage to cross the finish line in first and grab his fifth victory of the season as he continues to pursue his quest to win his first elusive Cup championship.

    In addition to becoming the first five-time Cup winner of this season, Hamlin recorded his 11th series win with crew chief Chris Gabehart as both Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota recorded their sixth victory of the 2020 Cup season.

    “I don’t know that we had the best car,” Hamlin said on NBCSN. “We definitely had a top-three car all day. [I] Just went and got it there at the end. I saw [Harvick] get loose and usually when you’re loose, you’re not able to run up high. That was a benefit for us to be able to get that momentum going. The pit crew did an amazing job getting us out there ahead of everyone else that had four tires. Proud of this whole FedEx team. We’ve had a rough three weeks. We were leading at Indy when we blew a tire and this team is really hitting on all cylinders right now. We can win on any given week. That’s something that is really hard to come by, so this team’s good at short tracks, intermediates, superspeedways. Great engines, great help from them…all of our partners at JGR. They’ve just done a great job of building us fast cars.”

    Keselowski settled in the runner-up spot followed by Truex while Harvick ended his night in fourth ahead of Jones.

    “We just didn’t have a very good night with our Busch Light Apple Ford Mustang,” Harvick said on NBCSN. “It wouldn’t turn in the corners and was dead sideways on the exit of the corner. I was able to have a couple of good restarts there. We got to the lead, but we just went dead sideways there after about four to five laps. We were just holding on, hoping for another restart, because we could run for a couple of laps, but that was about it. Our pit crew did a great job tonight of keeping us in the game. We just stay in there and keep fighting, and hope for good restarts and good pit stops and in the end, you’re around the front and have a good night.”

    Almirola, Custer, Bowman, Kurt Busch and Byron rounded out the top 10. Kyle Busch settled in 11th ahead of Elliott while Blaney ended his race in 20th, a lap down.

    There were 21 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured 11 cautions for 47 laps.

    With his top-five result, Harvick continues to lead the regular-season series standings by 97 points over Keselowski, 100 over Blaney and 129 over Hamlin.

    Results.

    1. Denny Hamlin, 57 laps led

    2. Brad Keselowski, 30 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. Martin Truex Jr., 44 laps led

    4. Kevin Harvick, nine laps led

    5. Erik Jones

    6. Aric Almirola

    7. Cole Custer

    8. Alex Bowman, six laps led

    9. Kurt Busch

    10. William Byron, 27 laps led

    11. Kyle Busch, 52 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    12. Chase Elliott

    13. Tyler Reddick

    14. Clint Bowyer

    15. Ty Dillon

    16. Michael McDowell

    17. Matt Kenseth

    18. Daniel Suarez

    19. John Hunter Nemechek, one lap down

    20. Ryan Blaney, one lap down, 15 laps led

    21. Corey LaJoie, one lap down

    22. J.J. Yeley, two laps down

    23. Christopher Bell, three laps down

    24. Quin Houff, seven laps down

    25. Josh Bilicki, seven laps down

    26. Garrett Smithley, seven laps down

    27. Austin Dillon, 16 laps down

    28. Ryan Newman, 16 laps down

    29. Joe Gase, 16 laps down

    30. Brennan Poole, 48 laps down

    31. Reed Sorenson – OUT, Electrical

    32. Jimmie Johnson – OUT, DVP

    33. Chris Buescher – OUT, Accident

    34. Ryan Preece – OUT, Accident

    35. Joey Logano – OUT, Accident, 27 laps led

    36. Matt DiBenedetto – OUT, Accident

    37. Bubba Wallace – OUT, Accident

    38. Timmy Hill – OUT, Accident

    39. B.J. McLeod – OUT, Rear gear

    40. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Electrical

    The NASCAR Cup Series will return to action in the East Coast at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on August 2 with the race to air at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Austin Dillon secures Playoff spot with a win at Texas

    Austin Dillon secures Playoff spot with a win at Texas

    For the second consecutive week, a late caution changed an outcome of a NASCAR Cup Series race. On this occasion, Austin Dillon utilized pit strategy and capitalized over a handful of late restarts, including a battle with teammate Tyler Reddick, to win the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. The victory was Dillon’s third of his NASCAR Cup Series career and the first of the season for Richard Childress Racing as Dillon snapped an 88-race winless drought dating back to February 2018.

    The starting lineup was based on a random draw. Aric Almirola started on pole position for the second time this season and was joined on the front row with Ryan Blaney. Chase Elliott and Reed Sorenson started at the rear of the field due to their respective cars failing pre-race inspection twice. Josh Bilicki, Joey Gase and J.J. Yeley also started at the rear of the field due to driver changes.

    During the pace laps, Almirola reported issues to his brake pedal, but he remained on track for the start of the race. When the green flag waved, Almirola battled dead even with Blaney through Turns 1 and 2 before he cleared the field in Turn 3 and led the first lap. Blaney settled in second while the Busch brothers battled for third place along with Brad Keselowski.

    Behind, the early battling for positions continued as Kevin Harvick moved into the top five by the third lap after passing Keselowski. Three laps later, Martin Truex Jr. gained a spot over Keselowski for sixth with Matt DiBenedetto joining the battle. 

    At the front, Almirola continued to lead despite his brake pedal issues by nearly a second over Blaney with Kurt Busch in third and brother Kyle battling Harvick for fourth. Though Blaney narrowed the gap between himself and Almirola to approximately a half second, Almirola was able to retain the lead when the field reached the competition caution on the 20th lap. At the time of caution, Jimmie Johnson, who started 20th, was up to eighth while Denny Hamlin, who started seventh had fallen back to 16th. Chase Elliott, who started at the rear of the field due to failing pre-race technical inspection twice, was up to 24th.

    Under caution, the majority of the field pitted, and Kyle Busch was the first to exit pit road after opting for two fresh tires followed by William Byron, Alex Bowman, rookie Tyler Reddick and Blaney, the first with four fresh tires. Following the pit stops, Johnson was assessed a pit road penalty for having too many crew members over the wall. At the front, Almirola, teammate Harvick and Truex remained on track as they inherited the top-three starting spots.

    On the ensuing restart, Harvick assumed the lead on Lap 26 and on the inside lane while Truex challenged Almirola for the runner-up spot. Behind, Byron nearly slipped beneath Kyle Busch in Turn 3, but he was able to keep his car straightened and inside the top five. At the front, Harvick continued leading by a tenth of a second over teammate Almirola with Truex and Kyle Busch closing in for more. Behind, Blaney was back in ninth in between Erik Jones and Kurt Busch.

    By Lap 40, Harvick was still leading by nearly half a second over Almirola with Truex also closing in the two Stewart-Haas Racing teammates. Behind, Kyle Busch and Byron were in the top five with Bowman in sixth. Erik Jones, Blaney, Reddick and Kurt Busch were in the top 10 followed by Chris Buescher and DiBenedetto. Hamlin was in 15th followed by Joey Logano and Ryan Newman while teammates Elliott and Johnson were in 18th and 19th. Austin Dillon was in 20th followed by rookie Cole Custer, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and rookie Christopher Bell while Bubba Wallace and Matt Kenseth were in 27th and 30th.

    Ten laps later, Harvick continued to lead by a tenth of a second over teammate Almirola, who continued to stalk his teammate for the lead but was unable to navigate his way around Harvick’s No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang. On Lap 55, Almirola bolted his way around Harvick on the outside lane in Turn 2 to return to the lead. Four laps later, Almirola extended his advantage to over six tenths of a second over teammate Harvick while Joe Gibbs Racing’s Truex and Kyle Busch were slowly closing in towards Harvick. A lap later, Truex moved into the runner-up spot while Kyle Busch started battling Harvick for third. 

    Shortly after, Almirola and Harvick made a pit stop under green, giving the lead to Truex with Kyle Busch trailing by a second. Not long after Almirola pitted, he was penalized for a blend-line violation and was forced to serve his penalty by driving through pit road, a penalty that cost him two laps behind the leaders. On Lap 67, Truex’s No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry started sputtering after he ran out of fuel in Turn 2. He was, nonetheless, able to nurse his car back to pit road for service, but he lost two laps from the leaders when he returned on the track.

    At the front, Blaney was in command by half a second over Kyle Busch. Byron was in third, trailing by less than five seconds, followed by Jones, Bowman and Reddick. By Lap 85, Blaney was still ahead under two seconds over Kyle Busch. Behind, Johnson was in 10th ahead of Keselowski, Hamlin was in 12th, Elliott was in 18th, Harvick was in 29th, Truex was in 30th and Almirola was in 32nd.

    Not long after, pit stops under green commenced when Buescher made his stop followed by Johnson, Wallace, Custer, DiBenedetto and Newman. With 10 laps remaining in the first stage and with the entire field completing their pit stops under green, Blaney cycled back with the lead followed by Kyle Busch while Harvick was back up in third. Reddick was in fourth followed by Byron.

    For the remainder of the first stage, which concluded on Lap 105, Blaney was able to hold off Kyle Busch to claim his second stage win of the season. Harvick was in third followed by Reddick and Byron while Kurt Busch, Johnson, Bowman, Buescher and Truex were scored in the top 10. Under the stage break, some like Harvick, Reddick, Byron, Kurt Busch, Johnson, Truex, Newman, Kenseth, Wallace and rookie John Hunter Nemechek pitted while others led by Blaney and Kyle Busch remained on track. Also remaining on track included Hamlin, Elliott, Logano, Clint Bowyer and Bell. Following the pit stops, Newman was held a lap on pit road for pitting outside his pit box.

    The second stage started on Lap 112, and Blaney battled dead even with Kyle Busch for two full laps before Busch cleared Blaney for the lead on the bottom lane entering Turn 3. Two laps after, the caution flew when Johnson got loose entering Turn 4 and made contact with the outside wall, damaging the right side of Johnson’s No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Under caution, Johnson pitted along with Truex and Wallace. Following his pit stop, Johnson was assessed a two-lap penalty under caution due to having too many crew members over the wall, a misfortune that cost Johnson valuable points towards the Playoffs. Following Johnson’s incident, Newman was able to receive the free pass and return on the lead lap.

    When the race restarted on Lap 121, Kyle Busch received a push from teammates Hamlin and Jones to retain the lead. A lap later, Hamlin moved into the runner-up spot followed by Hamlin, Logano. Behind, Bell slipped through Turns 3 and 4 while running in the top 15 and made minimal contact with the outside wall, but the race remained under green. 

    On Lap 123, Hamlin moved into the lead followed by Blaney while Kyle Busch was in third ahead of Jones, Logano and Elliott. Three laps later, Blaney reassumed the lead following a battle with Hamlin. During this time, Johnson, following his two-lap penalty, was able to maintain minimum speed to remain on the track and racing despite the damage. He was, however, back in 40th, last, and eight laps behind the leaders. 

    By Lap 140, Blaney was still ahead by nearly a second over teammate Logano followed by a trio of Joe Gibbs Racing competitors led by Hamlin followed by Jones and Kyle Busch. Elliott was in sixth followed by Harvick while Kurt Busch, DiBenedetto and Almirola were in the top 10.

    With the race progressing under green, Buescher, one of many competitors looking on the outside of the Playoff picture, was in 11th followed by Byron and Truex while DiBenedetto and Almirola, both of whom are inside the top-16 cutline, were in ninth and 10th. At the front, Blaney was still ahead by two seconds over teammate Logano followed by Hamlin, Jones and Kyle Busch.

    On Lap 158, a second round of pit stops under green started when Byron pitted followed by teammate Elliott and race leader Blaney. Soon after, Bowyer made a pit stop followed by Kyle Busch, Reddick and Hamlin. When the field reached its halfway mark on Lap 167, Logano was in the lead, but he still needed to pit. A lap later, Logano pitted and Jones moved into the lead.

    With 30 laps remaining in the second stage and with most of the leaders pitting, Truex was in the lead but was among a handful of competitors who needed to pit. On Lap 190, Blaney cycled back to the lead followed by teammate Logano and Hamlin. Truex, who pitted with enough fuel to complete the second stage, came out in fourth ahead of Kurt Busch.

    For the final 20 laps, Blaney was able to stabilize his advantage by more than five seconds over teammate Logano to win the second stage on Lap 210 and claim his third stage of the season. Hamlin was in third followed by Kurt Busch and Harvick while Truex, Elliott, Almirola, Jones and Kyle Busch settled in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Blaney retained the lead following a four-tire pit stop. Keselowski exited second after opting for two tires followed by Hamlin, Logano, Elliott and Harvick.

    The final stage commenced with 116 laps remaining, and teammates Keselowski and Blaney battled dead even through Turns 1 and 2 before Keselowski cleared for the lead in Turn 3. At that time, Blaney got loose on the outside lane and teammate Logano had to lift off the throttle to avoid hitting Blaney, which jumbled up a number of competitors running in the top 10. Soon after, the caution returned for a multi-car wreck on the frontstretch that started when contact from Kurt Busch and Almirola turned Almirola into Kyle Busch, who then tagged teammate Truex sideways and into the outside wall as Busch plowed his No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry through the grass while continuing with no serious damage. Truex, however, was unfortunate after sliding across the wall and receiving hard contact from Stenhouse. The wreck also collected Byron, Custer, Buescher, Ryan Preece and Kenseth as the race was red-flagged for more than 11 minutes.

    When the red flag was lifted and the caution flag was displayed, some like Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Harvick, Bowyer and Byron pitted while others led by Keselowski, Hamlin, Elliott, Blaney and Almirola remained on track.

    With 110 laps remaining, the race restarted under green and Keselowski jumped to an early advantage. Hamlin pursued Keselowski followed by Blaney, who was battling with Elliott against one another for third. Soon after, the battle for the lead intensified as Hamlin and Blaney drew themselves to the rear bumper of Keselowski. 

    With 103 laps remaining, Hamlin made a challenge for the lead beneath Keselowski in Turn 4 and was able to lead a lap shortly after with both competitors battling against one another dead even through the corners and the straightaway. With Hamlin in the lead, Blaney moved into the runner-up spot with teammate Logano joining the battle for third against Keselowski. Behind, Almirola rallied his way back into fifth ahead of Elliott, Harvick and DiBenedetto. 

    With 97 laps remaining, Logano passed teammate Keselowski to move into third. At the front, Blaney reassumed the lead after passing Hamlin on the bottom lane in Turn 3. A lap later, Logano got loose in Turn 3, which allowed Almirola, Keselowski and Elliott to pass Logano with Harvick also in the mix of the battle. 

    Four laps later, the caution flew when Nemechek spun and made contact with the wall on the backstretch. At the time of caution, Blaney was ahead by above a second over Hamlin. Under caution, some led by Blaney, Hamlin, Almirola and Elliott remained on track while others led by Harvick, Logano, Keselowski and Kurt Busch pitted.

    The race restarted with 86 laps remaining, and Blaney and Hamlin battled against one another for one full lap before Blaney retained his lead through Turn 1. Behind, Elliott was in third followed by Almirola and Newman with DiBenedetto and Austin Dillon in sixth and seventh. Logano, Kurt Busch and Keselowski were in the top 10 followed by Harvick. Shortly after, the caution returned when Ty Dillon and his No. 13 GEICO/Germain Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE got loose beneath Byron’s No. 24 AXALTA/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE as both competitors made contact with the outside wall. Under caution, Bowyer, Reddick, LaJoie, Byron and Ty Dillon pitted. Byron, however, retired, which cost him in his battle to make the Playoffs.

    With 79 laps remaining, the race restarted as Blaney and Hamlin, again, battled against one another for the lead before Blaney moved in front of Hamlin to clear him for the lead. Soon after, Almirola started to challenge Hamlin for the runner-up spot with DiBenedetto and Elliott moving into the top five ahead of Logano and Keselowski.

    Three laps later, DiBenedetto and Almirola battled for third while Hamlin was trailing Blaney by three-tenths of a second and trying to gain a run back to Blaney for the lead. Behind, Kyle Busch had worked his way back to 10th behind brother, Kurt, while Harvick was in eighth. Jones was in 12th behind Austin Dillon while Reddick, Wallace, Kenseth and Bowyer were in 15th through 18th.

    With 60 laps remaining and the leaders needing to make a final pit stop for fuel to make it to the distance, Blaney was still leading by more than a second over Hamlin with Almirola, DiBenedetto and Logano in the top five. Elliott settled in sixth followed by Harvick, Keselowski and the Busch brothers.

    Under 50 laps remaining, the final round of pit stops under green started when Elliott pitted followed by race leader Blaney, Almirola, DiBenedetto and Hamlin, who opted for a two-tire change. Following the pit stops, Hamlin emerged ahead of Blaney, but as the laps dwindled, Blaney was able to chop off a chunk of the deficit from himself to Hamlin as they approached traffic. 

    Under 30 laps remaining, the caution flew when rookie Quin Houff made contact with Bell in Turn 3 while appearing to move to the inside lane off the pace and after bouncing off of DiBenedetto, he spun and made hard contact with the outside wall near Turn 4. At the time of caution, 14 competitors that needed to make a final pit stop occupied the top-14 positions led by Harvick and Logano. Under caution, a majority of those competitors pitted and Reddick exited first after only taking fuel to his car. Austin Dillon and Kurt Busch followed pursuit followed by Wallace and Logano, who was the first to exit pit road with four fresh tires over Harvick and Kyle Busch.

    When the field cycled through, Reddick emerged with the lead followed by teammate Austin Dillon, Kurt Busch, Logano and Harvick. Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Wallace, Jones and Bowman were in the top 10 while Hamlin, who received the free pass after being scored a lap down, was in 15th. Blaney, Almirola and Elliott were in 16th through 18th as they took the wave around under caution to return to the lead lap along with Newman, who was in 19th. DiBenedetto, who sustained damage following contact with Houff, was in 20th and scored a lap behind the leaders. 

    With 23 laps remaining, the race restarted and Austin Dillon, racing on two fresh left-side tires, cleared Reddick for the lead in Turn 2. With the two Richard Childress Racing competitors at the front and by more than a second with 20 laps remaining, Kyle Busch and Logano battled for third while Harvick was in fifth ahead of Wallace.

    With 16 laps remaining, the caution flew when Hamlin, who was battling for 12th, got loose underneath Bowman as both competitors spun through Turns 1 and 2. Bowman made contact with the outside wall and sustained right-side damage that eliminated him for the remainder of the race while Hamlin managed to slide his No. 11 FedEx Toyota without sustaining any significant damage. At the time of caution, Austin Dillon was ahead by more than two seconds over teammate Reddick with Logano, Kyle Busch and Harvick behind by more than three seconds. 

    The race restarted with 11 laps remaining, and both RCR teammates battled against one another for one full lap, where Reddick led a lap, before Austin Dillon emerged back at the front. The following lap, Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE was ahead by less than two-tenths of a second over Reddick and his No. 8 Caterpillar Oil and Gas Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Shortly after, Reddick started to close within teammate Dillon for the lead while Logano passed Kyle Busch for third.

    Then, the caution returned when Hamlin, whose race went from good to bad and worse, got loose entering Turn 4 and spun through the frontstretch grass, which set the race up for a two-lap shootout and another opportunity for the competitors on fresh tires to try to pounce on the two leading Richard Childress Racing competitors.

    With two laps remaining, the race restarted and Austin Dillon got a strong start on the inside lane to launch ahead with the lead with teammate Reddick pursuing him. On the final lap, Dillon was still ahead over Reddick while Logano and Kyle Busch battled against one another for third. For one final circuit, Dillon was able to stabilize his narrow advantage over Reddick and cross the finish line in first for his first checkered flag since winning the 2018 Daytona 500, which also marked the last time Richard Childress Racing and Justin Alexander, Dillon’s crew chief, were in victory lane in NASCAR’s premier series.

    With the win, Dillon became the 10th Cup competitor to be guaranteed a spot in the 2020 Playoffs by virtue of a victory, which marks his first Playoff appearance since 2018, as he recorded the third win of the season for Chevrolet. In addition, the native from Welcome, North Carolina, recorded the 100th Cup victory for the number 3.

    “Not bad for a silver spoon kid, right? I’ll take that.” Dillon said on NBCSN. “Got to thank everybody at RCR, ECR [Engines], Bass Pro Shops. Man, Tyler Reddick, he raced me clean. One-two [finish] for RCR – this has been coming, man. We’ve had good cars all year. Justin Alexander and my whole crew. I got my baby, Ace, back home, my wife, I love’em so much. Man, I don’t know. I’m just so happy. Thank God. To tell you the truth, it means a whole lot just for the family, for everybody, all of our partners. That was fun. I, definitely, had to earn it. I changed it up. I waited the second [restart] and I went on the last one. It worked out for me good.”

    After driving his No. 3 Chevrolet to victory lane and celebrating, he went to the infield care center for treatment following a 500-mile race with temperatures in the cockpit and around the track soaring above 90 and even, 100 degrees.

    Behind, rookie Reddick continued to impress after notching a career-best runner-up result in his 20th Cup career start while also recording his second top-five result of this season. This also marked the first 1-2 finish for Richard Childress Racing in a Cup race since Talladega Superspeedway in October 2011 between Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton. The runner-up result has Reddick 14 points below the top-16 cutline with eight races remaining until the 2020 Playoff field is determined in August.

    “[Today] was about strategy in our Cat Oil and Gas Chevrolet,” Reddick said on NBCSN. “We had good speed in our Chevrolet ZL1 1LE, but we just couldn’t get our Camaro back in contention after we took right sides [tires]. It really shifted the balance of our Camaro. That just put us behind and we had to catch a few breaks, some cars got collected in carnage. We avoided, but can’t ask for much more than what we got there. Me and my teammate on the front row there the last couple of restarts. [Dillon]’s done this a little bit longer than I have, and I’m a little rusty. I haven’t been on the front row in a while. He just snookered me those times. Kyle [Busch] was doing a really good job of pushing me, but that last [restart], I put us in a big deficit and just couldn’t get back out of it. There was one restart where I, probably, could’ve went to [Dillon’s] inside. I just wanted it to between us. I didn’t want to bring other cars into it, make sure that we could fight it out. We just got the restarts, kept giving us opportunities. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t get it done today, but hats off to the 3 [crew], all those guys working hard. It gets one RCR Chevrolet into the Playoffs and now, we’re below the cutline. We gotta keep fighting. If we can keep running like this, we don’t have to worry about points, hopefully.”

    Logano settled in third for his first top-five result since Martinsville Speedway in June ahead of Kyle Busch, who rallied from his midpoint accident, while Harvick finished fifth in his 700th Cup start.

    “I couldn’t believe it,” Logano said on NBCSN. “I thought when [Dillon and Reddick] did fuel only and we were sitting fourth, I’m like, ‘Man, we got’em.’ I thought, ‘Boy, we’re gonna win this race.’ We just needed 15 laps to get off the splitter down in [Turns] 3 and 4, that was the problem. By the time I got to that point, the race was over. Overall, I’m proud of what our Shell/Pennzoil Ford team did today. I thought that finishing second the first stage and a third overall with a shot at winning is progress. That’s what we need to do, build a little momentum. It stings not to win, but hey, it’s progress. So, we’ll keep moving.”

    Jones, Blaney, Kurt Busch, Keselowski and Almirola rounded out the top 10. Elliott finished 12th behind Bowyer, Wallace and DiBenedetto finished 14th and 17th, and Hamlin ended his run in 20th. Johnson settled in 26th, 12 laps behind the leaders.

    There were 29 lead changes for 12 different leaders. The race featured 10 cautions for 45 laps.

    With his top-five run, Harvick continues to lead the regular-season series standings by 91 points over Blaney.

    Results.

    1. Austin Dillon, 22 laps led

    2. Tyler Reddick, five laps led

    3. Joey Logano, 22 laps led

    4. Kyle Busch, 11 laps led

    5. Kevin Harvick, 40 laps led

    6. Erik Jones, seven laps led

    7. Ryan Blaney, 150 laps led, Stage 1 and 2 winner

    8. Kurt Busch

    9. Brad Keselowski, 15 laps led

    10. Aric Almirola, 35 laps led

    11. Clint Bowyer

    12. Chase Elliott

    13. Ryan Newman

    14. Bubba Wallace

    15. Michael McDowell

    16. Corey LaJoie

    17. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap led

    18. Matt Kenseth

    19. Chris Buescher, one lap down

    20. Denny Hamlin, one lap down, 11 laps led

    21. Christopher Bell, three laps down

    22. John Hunter Nemechek, three laps down

    23. Daniel Suarez, five laps down

    24. J.J. Yeley, six laps down

    25. Gray Gaulding, 11 laps down

    26. Jimmie Johnson, 12 laps down

    27. Brennan Poole, 12 laps down

    28. Reed Sorenson, 12 laps down

    29. Martin Truex Jr., 14 laps down

    30. Alex Bowman – OUT, Accident

    31. Josh Bilicki, 16 laps down

    32. Joey Gase, 16 laps down

    33. B.J. McLeod, 16 laps led

    34. Quin Houff – OUT, Accident

    35. Ty Dillon – OUT, DVP

    36. Timmy Hill – OUT, Electrical

    37. William Byron – OUT, Accident

    38. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident

    39. Cole Custer – OUT, Accident

    40. Ryan Preece – OUT, Accident

    The NASCAR Cup Series will return to action in the midwest at Kansas Speedway on July 23 with the race to air at 7:30 p.m. on NBCSN.

  • Truex on pole position for NASCAR All-Star Race

    Truex on pole position for NASCAR All-Star Race

    The 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. will start on pole position for the 2020 NASCAR All-Star Race on Wednesday, July 15, by virtue of a random draw. The lineup was revealed during Monday night’s coverage of NASCAR Race Hub on FS1.

    Truex, who is in his second season driving the No. 19 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing, is ranked seventh in the Cup Series regular-season standings and trails points leader Kevin Harvick by 132 points. He is guaranteed a spot in the 2020 Playoffs by virtue of his victory at Martinsville Speedway in June. He will also make his ninth career start in NASCAR’s All-Star feature.

    Joining Truex on the front row is Alex Bowman, who will make his third consecutive All-Star Race appearance. Ryan Blaney, who will make his fourth consecutive All-Star start, will start third followed by newcomer Justin Haley, who will make his All-Star Race debut. Kevin Harvick, a two-time winner of the All-Star Race, will start fifth.

    Matt Kenseth, the 2004 All-Star Race champion who will pilot the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE that won last year’s race with Kyle Larson, will start in sixth followed by the 2010 All-Star winner and teammate Kurt Busch. Rookie Cole Custer, coming off his thrilling victory last Sunday at Kentucky Speedway, will roll off the grid in eighth while making his All-Star Race debut. Brad Keselowski will start ninth while Kyle Busch, the 2017 All-Star Race champion, will round out the top 10.

    Ryan Newman, the 2002 All-Star Race champion, will start 11th alongside Joey Logano, winner of the 2016 All-Star feature. Chase Elliott will start 13th next to teammate Jimmie Johnson, a four-time All-Star Race winner who will make his 19th and final start in the featured race. Denny Hamlin, the 2015 All-Star champion, will start 15th while teammate Erik Jones will round out the top-16 field as competitors that have already been guaranteed a spot for the main event.

    The final four spots of the 20-car field will be determined following the NASCAR All-Star Open, which will occur prior to the All-Star Race on July 15. The leaders/winners of each of the three segments will advance to the All-Star Race and will be joined by the Fan Vote winner.

    This year’s All-Star Race will occur at Bristol Motor Speedway for the first time in NASCAR history. Among the rules featured for the race includes the Choose Rule, where the competitors must commit to the inside or outside lane for a restart while approaching a designated spot on the track; extra sponsor exposure, where the car number will move to the rear wheel and allow the exposure of sponsors; and underglow lights, where the car automatically qualified for the All-Star Race will have lights glowing beneath the racing vehicles. This will mark the first time where the underglow lights will be featured on the cars since Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kurt Busch and Kyle Larson sported underglow lights to their cars during the Burnouts on Broadway spectacle as part of NASCAR’s Champion’s Week in Nashville last December.

    This year’s All-Star Race will feature four segments with 55 laps in the first segment, 35 in the second, 35 in the third and 15 for the fourth and final segment, a total of 140 laps where one million dollars awaits the winner.

    The 2020 NASCAR All-Star Race will air on July 15 at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Hamlin to reach 700 starts across NASCAR’s major series at Kentucky

    Hamlin to reach 700 starts across NASCAR’s major series at Kentucky

    When the green flag waves on Sunday, July 12, for the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series race at Kentucky Speedway, Denny Hamlin will reach a significant milestone of his racing career. By starting this Sunday’s Quaker State 400 at the Bluegrass State, Hamlin will reach 700 starts across NASCAR’s three major division series. 

    A native of Chesterfield, Virginia, who started his career by racing go-karts and Late Model Stock Cars, Hamlin made his first NASCAR division series start at the Indianapolis Raceway Park in August 2004. Racing as a development driver for Joe Gibbs Racing, Hamlin drove the No. 03 Decoma/Gibbs Performance Chevrolet for EJP Racing to a 10th-place result in his NASCAR Truck Series debut. He competed in four more Truck races with the team and made his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at Darlington Raceway in November 2004, where he drove JGR’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Performance Racing Oil Chevrolet to a 33rd-place result.

    The following season, Hamlin graduated to a full-time driving role in the No. 20 Rockwell Automation Chevrolet in the Xfinity Series. Through the 35-race schedule, Hamlin went winless, but he recorded 11 top-10 results, a best finish of third at New Hampshire International Speedway in July and finished fifth in the final standings. In October, he made his NASCAR Cup Series debut at Kansas Speedway in JGR’s No. 11 FedEx Chevrolet, replacing Jason Leffler. He finished 32nd in his Cup debut, but he competed in the final six Cup races of the season. In those six races, he recorded three top-10 results and notched his first career pole at Phoenix International Raceway in November. His strong performances late in the season were enough for him to earn a full-time ride for the 2006 Cup Series season and in the No. 11 FedEx Chevrolet as one of three Cup competitors representing team owner Joe Gibbs.

    Based on his pole at Phoenix, Hamlin made his first start of the 2006 season in the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway in February. In his first superspeedway race in the Cup level, Hamlin won the 70-lap feature race and became the first rookie candidate to win the annual exhibition event at Daytona after beating icons like teammate Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson in a two-lap shootout. At Pocono Raceway in June, Hamlin started on pole and rallied from a spin due to a cut left-rear tire around the one-quarter mark of the race to claim his first Cup win in his 21st start. When the series returned at Pocono in July, Hamlin notched his second Cup career win as he swept both Pocono races and became the first rookie competitor to sweep two wins at the same track since Johnson made the last accomplishment at Dover in 2002. 

    Hamlin’s two wins along with earning 13 top-10 results throughout the 26 regular-season races were enough for him to qualify for the Chase, thus becoming the first Cup rookie candidate to make the premier series’ postseason battle for the title. He achieved six more top-10 results in the final 10 races before settling in third in the final standings, 68 points shy of the title. When the season concluded, Hamlin was named the 2006 Cup Rookie-of-the-Year recipient as he became the highest-finishing rookie candidate in the standings since the late James Hylton finished second in the 1966 standings.

    Throughout the 2006 season, Hamlin also raced as a full-time competitor in the Xfinity Series for Joe Gibbs Racing in the No. 20 Rockwell Automation Chevrolet. He achieved his first two career wins in the series at Mexico City in March and at Darlington Raceway in May. He also competed in one Truck race for Morgan-Dollar Motorsports at Martinsville Speedway in October, where he finished eighth. At the conclusion of the 2006 season, Hamlin also surpassed 100 starts across NASCAR’s three major division series.

    Following the 2009 season, Hamlin had competed in 280 races across the three division series and had tallied 17 victories, nine in Xfinity and eight in Cup. By then, Hamlin was still in JGR’s No. 11 FedEx car, but sporting the Toyota nameplate, a move made by JGR in 2008 across NASCAR. The 2010 season was among Hamlin’s strongest seasons to date, where he won a season-high eight races, including one win in the XFINITY Series at Darlington, and was in contention to achieve his first Cup title until late misfortunes in the final two races left him 39 points shy of the title to Johnson. Prior to the season’s conclusion, Hamlin reached 300 starts across the sport’s division series.

    The following season, Hamlin also recorded a single victory across NASCAR’s three series. This included his first Truck Series triumph at Martinsville Speedway in October while driving for team owner/Cup teammate Kyle Busch. Through July 2020, Hamlin is one of 32 competitors to win a race across NASCAR’s three major division series. 

    Hamlin went on to surpass 400 starts following the 2012 season, 500 at the conclusion of the 2015 season and 600 when the 2017 season concluded. By then, he had tallied his Cup career wins to 31, his Xfinity career wins to 26 and his Truck career wins to two. Among his accomplishments included winning five races in 2012 with veteran Darian Grubb, recording the 100th Cup win for Joe Gibbs Racing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September 2012, winning in his 300th Cup career start at Talladega Superspeedway in May 2014, recording the 100th Xfinity victory for Toyota at Richmond International Raceway in April 2015, notching Joe Gibbs Racing’s first All-Star win at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May 2015, achieving his first Daytona 500 win in a photo finish with Martin Truex Jr. in February 2016 and winning his second Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in September 2017. His best points result from 2011 to 2017 was third in 2014, where he utilized consistency to make it all the way to the Championship Round, only to fall short of the title to Kevin Harvick.

    After going winless in 2018, which marked the first time he concluded a Cup Series season without a victory, Hamlin rebounded in 2019 by winning six races, including the 61st running of the Daytona 500 in February and the penultimate event at Phoenix in November to clinch his spot to the Championship Round, all while working with new/current crew chief Chris Gabehart. In the finale at Homestead, Hamlin had a potential-winning car in the closing laps and was prepared to make a late charge for the championship, but his title hopes were dashed due to overheating issues that forced Hamlin to make an unscheduled pit stop. He finished 10th in Miami and fourth in the final standings, watching from a distance as teammate Kyle Busch won his second Cup title.

    This season, through the first 16 Cup races, Hamlin has won four races, including the 62nd running of the Daytona 500. He has also recorded three stage wins, nine top-five results and 10 top-10 results in 2020. He is ranked fifth in the regular season standings and trails points leader Kevin Harvick by 109 points, though he is also guaranteed a spot in the Playoffs by virtue of his four regular-season victories.

    Sunday’s race at Kentucky will mark Hamlin’s 10th Cup start in the Bluegrass State, where he is set to start in 12th based on a random draw. In his previous nine starts at the track, Hamlin has logged four top-five results with a best result of third place in 2012 and in 2015. He holds an average result of 14.89 at Kentucky.

    Catch Hamlin’s milestone start in the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky on July 12 at 2:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Harvick benefits in overtime to defend Indianapolis title

    Harvick benefits in overtime to defend Indianapolis title

    For a third consecutive NASCAR Cup Series race, the battle for the win came down to a late duel between Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin, On this occasion, Harvick benefited from a late incident involving Hamlin and an overtime restart while alongside Matt Kenseth to win the 2020 Big Machine Vodka 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The victory was Harvick’s fourth of the season, the third at Indianapolis and the 53rd of his NASCAR Cup career.

    The starting lineup was based on a random draw. Joey Logano drew the pole position and was joined on the front row with Kurt Busch. Timmy Hill started at the rear of the field due to failing pre-race inspection twice along with Justin Allgaier, who filled in as an interim driver for seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson.

    Delayed by an hour due to lightning reports near the track, the race was able to proceed as the sun came out and cleared the clouds. When the green flag waved, Logano and Kurt Busch were locked in a side-by-side battle through Turns 1 and 2 before Logano cleared Busch for the lead entering Turn 2 and was able to lead the first lap. Following the first lap, the majority of the field settled in racing single file. On the fourth lap, while battling for a top-10 spot, Kyle Busch made contact with Ryan Blaney through the Turn 4 straightaway, but both competitors kept their car running straight with Blaney moving up. As the run progressed, Martin Truex Jr. was losing positions after reporting an issue to the Electronic Control Unit (ECU) to his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry. 

    On Lap 13, Kevin Harvick made the left-hand turn to pit road for four fresh tires with no fuel. At the time Harvick was having his service complete, the competition caution flew with Logano ahead of Denny Hamlin and Kurt Busch. By then, Truex had fallen back to 28th while Allgaier was in 29th. Alex Bowman was in fourth followed by teammate Chase Elliott, Blaney and Brad Keselowski while Kyle Busch was in 10th ahead of William Byron and Bubba Wallace. Matt Kenseth was scored in 14th, Erik Jones was in 16th and Ryan Newman was in 21st. John Hunter Nemechek was the highest-running Cup rookie in 15th while rookies Cole Custer, Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell were in 20th, 22nd and 23rd.

    Under the competition caution, nearly the entire field peeled on to pit road for the first round of service. Towards the back, however, the field jumbled up that started when Michael McDowell pulled into his pit stall. McDowell’s turn into his stall jumbled the competitors behind and ignited a chain reaction wreck that collected Ryan Preece, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Bell, Reddick, Chris Buescher, Allgaier, rookie Brennan Poole, Corey LaJoie and Truex. During the carnage on pit road, Allgaier and Poole pinched Blaney’s right-rear tire changer, Zach Price, between the two cars and Blaney’s No. 12 Menards/Team Penske Ford as a tire from Blaney’s pit box also flew and landed on McDowell’s No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford. Price survived, but was transported to the Methodist Hospital. The red flag was displayed for more than 11 minutes to have the pit road entrance cleared of the wreckage. 

    Once the red flag lifted and the field cycled through under caution, Harvick emerged with the leader after electing to remain on the track following the competition caution. Logano, the first car to exit pit road first, was second followed by Bowman, Aric Almirola, Keselowski and DiBenedetto. Kurt Busch, who entered pit road in third, had fallen back to 28th after struggling in his pit stall, where the jack dropped and he ran over the air hose while trying to exit his pit stall. Following the wreck, those that were done for the day were LaJoie and Preece. Truex, who was initially held for two laps for too many crew members over the pit wall under the damaged vehicle policy, also retired. 

    When the race restarted on Lap 20, Harvick and Logano battled dead even for three turns before Harvick persevered on the outside lane in Turn 3 to lead the following lap. Logano settled in second followed by Almirola. During the restart, Bowman, who restarted third, was placed in a three-wide battle between Almirola and Keselowski entering Turn 1 and had fallen back to eighth. Behind the leaders, Allgaier, who returned on the track with front nose damage and multiple laps down, returned to pit road after losing a right-front tire. Ultimately Allgaier took the No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to the garage as his return to the Cup Series while subbing for Johnson came to an early end. In addition, Stenhouse and Poole, both of whom attempted to continue following the pit road incident, also retired after failing to reach the minimum speed requirement.

    Ten laps later, Harvick was still leading ahead of Logano, Almirola, Keselowski and Hamlin, who had just passed Elliott for position. DiBenedetto was in seventh followed by Byron, Bowman and Kyle Busch. On Lap 32, Almirola made an unscheduled pit stop due to a vibration concern to his No. 10 Smithfield/Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang, an issue that cost Almirola a lap and back outside the top 30. During this time, Harvick was still leading and stabilizing a healthy lead over Logano, Hamlin, Keselowski and Elliott. 

    On Lap 39, Almirola was able to work his way around race leader and teammate Harvick to unlap himself. A lap later, the caution returned when Newman made contact with the Turn 3 outside wall after blowing a right-front tire in Turn 3. Under caution, the majority of the field pitted and Ty Dillon emerged with the lead after taking two tires. Harvick, the first car with four fresh tires, exited in second followed by Elliott, McDowell, Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Keselowski, Bowman, DiBenedetto and Logano. At the front, Byron remained on track to inherit the lead followed by Jones, Austin Dillon and Ross Chastain.

    With four laps remaining in the first stage, Byron maintained the lead on the outside lane while Jones settled in second. The following lap, Harvick was back in the top five in fifth while DiBenedetto went three wide on Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch and Hamlin in the Turn 4 straightaway for position. With two laps remaining, Elliott went three wide with Harvick and Ty Dillon while drafting Austin Dillon through the Turn 4 straightaway to move up to fourth. With more battling occurring behind the pack for positions, Byron was able to maintain the lead and win the first stage on Lap 50 while collecting valuable stage points towards his quest to make the Playoffs. Jones finished second followed by Austin Dillon, Elliott and Harvick while Hamlin, DiBenedetto, Kyle Busch, Keselowski and Clint Bowyer were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, some like Byron, Wallace, Jones, Austin Dillon, Ty Dillon, Logano, Kurt Busch, Bowman, Almirola, McDowell, Nemechek, Reddick and Daniel Suarez pitted while the rest remained on track with Elliott leading Harvick and Hamlin.

    The second stage started on Lap 56 and Elliott received a push from DiBenedetto on the outside lane to clear the field for the lead in Turn 1. The following turn, DiBenedetto moved into second and Hamlin moved into third while Harvick dropped to fourth. By Lap 60, Elliott was able to stabilize his advantage by nearly a second over DiBenedetto, Hamlin and Harvick while Kyle Busch trailed by more than two seconds. Another five laps later, Elliott stretched his lead to nearly two seconds over DiBenedetto, who was starting to be pressured by Hamlin for position. Behind, Kenseth was running in sixth, Bell was in eighth and Blaney was in 11th. Jones was in 10th, Byron was in 13th ahead of Austin Dillon and Kurt Busch, and Wallace was in 16th ahead of Almirola.

    By Lap 70, Elliott expanded his lead to above four seconds over DiBenedetto and nearly five seconds over Hamlin. A lap later, with the leaders approaching lapped traffic, Hamlin bolted around DiBenedetto on the outside lane in the Turn 4 straightaway to move into second. In addition, Kenseth moved into fifth after passing Kyle Busch a corner earlier.

    On Lap 74, the caution returned when Jones blew a right-front tire and went dead straight into the Turn 3 outside wall, which busted the radiator and ignited flames underneath the hood of Jones’ No. 20 Toyota Camry. Fortunately, Jones was able to climb out of his demolished car and walk away uninjured, though the wreck marked his second DNF in the last three Cup races. Under caution, the leaders pitted and Byron emerged with the lead after opting for a two-tire stop. Austin Dillon exited second followed by Hamlin, the first car on four fresh tires. Kurt Busch and Harvick emerged in the top five followed by Elliott, Kyle Busch, DiBenedetto, Kenseth and Bowyer.

    The race restarted on Lap 83 and Austin Dillon forced his way into the lead on the inside lane after battling Byron through Turns 1 and 2. Shortly after, Byron blew a left-front tire, which damaged the hood of his No. 24 Liberty University/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE as he also made contact with the outside wall in Turn 3. Byron’s misfortune drew another caution of the race. Following repairs in his pit stall, Byron was unable to remain on the lead lap.

    When the race restarted on Lap 88, Austin Dillon and Hamlin battled through Turns 1 and 2 before Harvick made a daring three-wide move on both drivers while almost running outside the racing surface to move back into the lead entering Turn 3. Behind, the caution returned when Blaney got loose underneath teammate Keselowski, spun and backed into the Turn 3 outside wall. Despite the repairs, Blaney, ultimately, failed to reach the minimum speed and retired.

    With nine laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted and Harvick launched ahead on the outside lane to maintain the lead. Entering Turn 2, Hamlin slipped and made the slightest of contact with Austin Dillon, which allowed Elliott to gain a run for second. By the entrance of Turn 4, Elliott was able to move into second followed by Hamlin and DiBenedetto while Austin Dillon dropped to fifth. By then, Harvick checked out to nearly a two-second advantage. 

    With three laps remaining, Bowman made a green-flag pit stop and was just able to exit pit road and remain ahead of race leader Harvick to remain on the lead lap. At the start of the final lap of the stage, however, Harvick lapped Bowman and was able to cruise to the win of the second stage. Elliott held off Hamlin to finish second while DiBenedetto and Austin Dillon finished in the top five. Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Bell and Bowyer were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, a number of competitors pitted, including Kurt Busch, Bowyer, Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Wallace, DiBenedetto, Kenseth, Almirola, Custer and Nemechek pitted.

    The final stage commenced with 54 laps remaining and Harvick, again, jumped to an early advantage on the outside lane. Elliott, however, fought back on the inside lane to remain in a tight battle with Harvick for the lead. In Turn 2, Hamlin went three wide on Harvick and Elliott to squeak ahead, but Harvick gained a huge run on the outside lane in Turn 3 to thunder back into the lead. Hamlin and Elliott remained in second and third followed by rookies Bell and Reddick while Kenseth settled in sixth.

    With 45 laps remaining, Harvick was ahead by three-tenths of a second over Hamlin. Elliott was in third, nearly two seconds behind the front two, followed by rookies Bell and Reddick with Kenseth in sixth. Bowyer, Logano, DiBenedetto and Kyle Busch were scored in the top 10. Custer was in 11th ahead of Keselowski while Austin Dillon was in 13th ahead of Nemechek. Kurt Busch and Almirola were in 15th and 16th while Wallace was in 18th. Bowman, who had received the free pass to return on the lead lap prior to the final stage, was back in 20th.

    As the run progressed, Harvick and Hamlin separated themselves from third-place Elliott by three seconds while needing at least a final pit stop to complete the race to its distance. With 38 laps remaining, at the time when Reddick made a green-flag pit stop, Hamlin’s crew led by crew chief Chris Gabehart ordered Hamlin and his No. 11 FedEx/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry to pit road for a final pit stop under green. A lap later, Harvick pitted along with Elliott and Bell while Kenseth remained on track to inherit the lead. By the time Harvick exited pit road, Hamlin was able to cycle his way in front of Harvick like he did last weekend in the second Pocono race, a move that enabled him to win last weekend.

    With 30 laps remaining, Kenseth was still leading by more than seven seconds over Kyle Busch, nearly 13 seconds over Logano and Keselowski, and 14 seconds over Custer. Hamlin was in 12th while Harvick was in 13th and slowly gaining ground to Hamlin. During this time, Bowyer and Nemechek had made a green-flag pit stop.

    Two laps later, more green-flag pits stops occurred as Logano pitted. Not long after, the caution flew when Bowman made hard contact into the Turn 1 outside wall after cutting a right-front tire. Under caution, drivers like Kenseth, Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch, DiBenedetto, Custer, Keselowski, Almirola and Elliott pitted while Hamlin and Harvick remained on track to inherit the front row for the closing laps.

    With 22 laps remaining, the race restarted and Hamlin launched ahead with the lead on the outside lane through Turn 1. Harvick, who got loose in Turn 1 and lost two spots while nearly making contact with Kenseth on the restart, made his way back to the runner-up spot two corners later as Kenseth moved into third. Custer moved in fourth followed by teammate Almirola while Bell slipped to sixth. A lap later, Harvick drew himself to the rear bumper of Hamlin in Turn 2 and was prepared to make a slingshot move on Hamlin for the lead, but he went high entering Turn 3, which allowed Hamlin to maintain his advantage. 

    With 15 laps remaining, Hamlin was ahead by three-tenths of a second over Harvick while Kenseth was behind by eight-tenths of a second. Behind, Almirola made his way past teammate Custer for position. Three laps later, the top-three competitors of Hamlin, Harvick and Kenseth were separated by seven-tenths of a second and the trio were ahead of fourth-place Almirola by more than two seconds, fifth-place Custer by three seconds and sixth-place Bell by four seconds.

    With seven laps remaining, Hamlin’s run went from good to bad after he blew a right-front tire and went dead straight into the Turn 1 outside wall as smoke and flames erupted beneath Hamlin’s crumbled car. The wreck was enough to end his hopes of winning at Indianapolis for the first time and in his 15th attempt at the famed racetrack. 

    “It’s tough,” Hamlin said, “I hate it for the FedEx team. We did what we needed to do. It’s just didn’t work out for us, today. [I] Had a fast car, obviously. [I] Was stretching it out there, but wasn’t pushing right front [tire] at all. It’s, kind of, roulette whether you get one that’s gonna stay together or not. Mine didn’t and you saw the end result. That stinks, but proud of the whole FedEx Toyota team. We’ve just been so good here lately. I hate that I feel like I’m doing all I can. These big races, just a lot of things like this just don’t go my way all the time. We’re still gonna go next week and try to win the next one. We’ll do all we can.”

    Hamlin’s misfortune allowed Harvick to move back into the lead followed by Kenseth, Almirola, Custer and Bell. Under caution and as the sky was shining brightly into sunset, the leaders remained on track while others, including Bell and Elliott, pitted.

    When the race restarted into overtime, Harvick received a push from teammate Custer to clear the field entering Turn 1 and retain the lead. Entering Turn 2, Kenseth moved back into second and Almirola moved into third. The following turn, Keselowski moved into fourth while Custer fell back to fifth. When Harvick started the final lap, he was ahead by six-tenths of a second. For one final circuit, Harvick was able to maintain his advantage over Kenseth and streak across the finish line in first to add another Brickyard 400 win to his résumé.

    With the win, Harvick joined Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch as the only Cup competitors to win back-to-back Brickyard 400s at Indianapolis. He also achieved his 30th win driving the No. 4 car for Stewart-Haas Racing and his 750th top-10 result in NASCAR’s premier series.

    “Well, we knew that [Hamlin], he was gonna be close on tires and [crew chief] Rodney [Childers] told me on the radio he said, ‘Just make sure you keep the pressure on him,’ and that was all the pressure I could give,” Harvick said. “Those guys do a really good job. Just got to thank on my Busch Light Ford Mustang…everybody who is a part of this program and just keeps bringing good racecars to the racetrack. I didn’t have anymore room [when passing three wide for the lead]. That was for sure, but it’s the Brickyard. This is what I grew up wanting to do as a kid, win at the Brickyard and to be able to come here and have won for the third time is something that I could have never dreamed of. But just really, really proud of all these guys on this team.”

    Kenseth finished second followed by Almirola, Keselowski and Custer. Kyle Busch settled in sixth followed by McDowell, Reddick, Wallace and Logano. Elliott settled in 11th followed by Bell while Kurt Busch finished 13th in his 700th Cup career start. Austin Dillon and DiBenedetto wrecked on the final lap and both settled in 18th and 19th.

    The race capped off an eventful triple-header, Independence Day weekend of racing activities between NASCAR and IndyCar at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

    There were 11 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 43 laps.

    With his victory, Harvick continues to lead the Cup Series regular-season standings by 85 points over Elliott and 88 over Keselowski.

    Results.

    1. Kevin Harvick, 68 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Matt Kenseth, 12 laps led

    3. Aric Almirola

    4. Brad Keselowski

    5. Cole Custer

    6. Kyle Busch

    7. Michael McDowell

    8. Tyler Reddick

    9. Bubba Wallace

    10. Joey Logano, 14 laps led

    11. Chase Elliott, 26 laps led

    12. Christopher Bell

    13. Kurt Busch

    14. Ty Dillon

    15. John Hunter Nemechek

    16. Clint Bowyer

    17. Ross Chastain, one lap led

    18. Austin Dillon, five laps led

    19. Matt DiBenedetto

    20. Daniel Suarez, one lap down

    21. J.J. Yeley, one lap down

    22. B.J. McLeod, one lap down

    23. Quin Houff, two laps down

    24. Garrett Smithley, two laps down

    25. Josh Bilicki, three laps down

    26. Joey Gase, four laps down

    27. William Byron, five laps down, 15 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    28. Denny Hamlin – OUT, Accident, 19 laps led

    29. Timmy Hill, eight laps down

    30. Alex Bowman – OUT, Accident

    31. Chris Buescher – OUT, Accident

    32. Ryan Blaney – OUT, DVP

    33. Erik Jones – OUT, Accident

    34. Ryan Newman – OUT, Accident

    35. Brennan Poole – OUT, DVP

    36. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, DVP

    37. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident

    38. Martin Truex Jr. – OUT, Accident

    39. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Accident

    40. Ryan Preece – OUT, Accident

    The NASCAR Cup Series will return to race at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky, on July 12 as part of a quadruple-header weekend. The race will air at 2:30 p.m. on FS1.

  • Pit strategy nets Hamlin a win over Harvick at Pocono

    Pit strategy nets Hamlin a win over Harvick at Pocono

    It was a tale of two stories at the conclusion of the NASCAR Cup Series’ doubleheader at Pocono Raceway. A day after Kevin Harvick claimed his first Pocono triumph after holding off Denny Hamlin in the closing laps, it was Hamlin who played a strategic call in the late laps that got him ahead of Harvick and the redemption to victory after pulling away and winning the Pocono 350 at the Tricky Triangle, the second of a Cup doubleheader weekend in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. The win was Hamlin’s fourth of the season, third since May amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the 41st of his Cup Series career.

    The starting lineup was based on the results from Saturday’s 325-mile race at Pocono, where the top-20 finishers were inverted and the bottom 20 were left as finished. After finishing 20th on Saturday, Ryan Preece was awarded the pole position while Austin Dillon, who finished 19th, joined Preece on the front row.

    Multiple competitors dropped to the rear of the field. Rookie Quin Houff, rookie Tyler Reddick, Erik Jones, Joey Logano and Alex Bowman dropped to the rear after their respective teams opted to field a backup car for the second Pocono race. In addition, Chase Elliott and B.J. McLeod dropped to the rear of the field due to transmission changes along with William Byron and pole-sitter Preece, both due to engine changes.

    Following an early delay due to lightning strikes reported near the track, the race commenced with Austin Dillon and Kurt Busch on the front row. Busch jumped to an early lead followed by rookie Cole Custer. Ryan Blaney also moved into third while Dillon slipped back to fourth. Two laps later, Blaney moved into second as Chris Buescher overtook Austin Dillon for fourth. 

    Soon after, the first caution flew due to rain. Under the caution laps, rookie Tyler Reddick radioed power steering issues to his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. After running the next few laps on the track under caution despite the rain, the pace truck led the field down to pit road, where the race was red flagged and the jet dryers went to work to dry the track. 

    Approximately 51 minutes later, the red flag was lifted and the caution flag was displayed as the field proceeded back on the track. Soon after, light sprinkles hovered around the track, but the cars proceeded in running on the track under the caution laps. Under caution, Reddick’s crew continued to address power steering issues to Reddick’s car. By the time he returned on the track, he was five laps behind the leaders and in 40th, last of the field. 

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 11, Kurt Busch retained the lead and was able to stabilize his advantage by a car length over Blaney the following lap. DiBenedetto moved into third followed by Buescher and rookie Christopher Bell, who went three-wide a lap earlier to gain a load of positions. 

    On Lap 15, as the racing intensified behind the leaders and towards the middle of the pack, the caution returned when Michael McDowell spun after he cut a right-rear tire and made hard contact with the outside wall on the driver’s side in Turn 2. The cut tire was a result of an earlier contact with Elliott in Turn 4. The damage was too severe for McDowell to continue as he took his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford to the garage and retired a day after notching his best Cup result on a non-superspeedway track. Under caution, a number of competitors like Joey Logano, William Byron, Alex Bowman, Jimmie Johnson, Preece, Corey LaJoie, Daniel Suarez and rookie Quin Houff pitted while the rest remained on track.

    The race restarted on Lap 18, and Kurt Busch and Blaney battled dead even before Busch retained a small advantage in Turn 2. Behind the leaders, Buescher moved into third followed by rookies Custer and Bell. By Lap 20, Harvick, who started 20th and who was coming off his first Pocono triumph on Saturday, made his first appearance in the top five.

    With five laps remaining in the first stage, Kurt Busch was still ahead by two-tenths of a second over Blaney with third-place Buescher trailing by over a second. Bell was in fourth while Harvick was in fifth, two seconds behind the leaders. Two laps later, Blaney drew himself right to the rear bumper of Busch’s No. 1 Monster Energy/Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet in an attempt for the lead while Bell challenged Buescher for third. Behind, strategy started to play into factor of the race when several competitors like Johnson, Erik Jones, Bubba Wallace, Matt Kenseth, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Aric Almirola, Clint Bowyer and Hamlin made a green-flag pit stop. 

    At the front, Kurt Busch was able to hold off Blaney to win the first stage on Lap 30. Blaney finished second followed by Bell, Harvick and Brad Keselowski. DiBenedetto, Buescher, Truex, Kyle Busch and Custer rounded out the top 10. Johnson, who was lapped prior to the conclusion of the first stage, was the beneficiary of the free pass and return on the lead lap after being tabbed the first car a lap down when the caution flew. Under the stage break, Kurt Busch and Blaney remained on track along with others while a majority of the field behind the leaders, led by Bell and Harvick, pitted. DiBenedetto, Austin Dillon and Corey LaJoie pitted for two tires while Harvick was the first to exit on four fresh tires.

    The second stage commenced on Lap 36 and Blaney received a push from teammate Keselowski on the inside lane to challenge Kurt Busch on the outside lane for the lead. By Turn 3, Blaney took the lead and led the following lap while Kurt Busch battled Keselowski for second. Soon after, Truex and Erik Jones started challenging Kurt Busch for position as more jostling for positions ensued behind the leaders.

    On Lap 39, the caution returned when Bell spun entering Turn 2 and made heavy contact with the outside wall. The damage to the rear end of Bell’s No. 95 Rheem/Leavine Family Racing Toyota was too severe for the Oklahoma native to continue as he took his car to the garage and ended his race with a DNF, a day after notching his first top-five career finish in the Cup Series. Under caution, some that included Blaney, Truex, Logano, Kyle Busch and Harvick remained on track while others led by Keselowski pitted. Following the pit stops, Ty Dillon edged Keselowski to exit first after taking only fuel to his No. 13 GEICO/Germain Racing Chevrolet. Prior to the restart, drivers like Kurt Busch, Stenhouse, Byron and the Dillon brothers pitted again to top off with fuel.

    The race restarted on Lap 44, and Truex challenged Blaney for the lead through Turn 1 before Blaney rocketed on the outside lane through Turn 2. Two laps later, Buescher slipped in Turn 3 and made contact with the outside wall, thus drawing another caution. With Buescher coming back across the track and straightening his car with rear end damage, the field scattered to avoid making contact with Buescher’s No. 17 Fastenal/Roush Fenway Racing Ford. Under caution, a majority of the leaders remained on track while others like Almirola, Ryan Newman, Daniel Suarez, rookie John Hunter Nemechek and LaJoie pitted.

    When the race restarted on Lap 49, Truex made another attempt for the lead, but Blaney retained it through the Long Pond Straightaway. Behind, Kyle Busch was in third followed by Wallace and Hamlin with DiBenedetto falling back to sixth. Six laps later, Blaney was ahead by a second over teammates Truex, Kyle Busch and Hamlin. Harvick was in eighth while battling Elliott and Logano for position. Two laps later, Blaney surrendered the lead to make a scheduled green-flag pit stop. Blaney’s move allowed Kyle Busch to move into the lead followed by teammates Hamlin and Truex with Wallace, DiBenedetto, Harvick and Elliott trailing by more than four seconds. The following three laps, Truex, Kyle Busch and Wallace made a green-flag pit stop while Hamlin moved into the lead. Two laps later, Hamlin was leading by five seconds over Harvick while his fourth Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Erik Jones, was in sixth after passing Logano.

    Three laps later, Logano made a green-flag pit stop. By the time Logano returned, he was lapped by Hamlin. When the field reached its halfway mark of the 140-mile race and the sun was shining to its dwindling moments, Hamlin, who had just lapped Wallace, was leading by three seconds over Harvick, eight seconds over DiBenedetto and nearly nine seconds over Elliott. Meanwhile, drivers like Kyle Busch, Blaney and Truex were trapped outside the top 20.

    With 10 laps remaining in the second stage, the caution flew when Kyle Busch, who was battling Blaney, was bumped by Blaney entering Turn 2, spun and made hard contact with the inside wall as he crumbled the front nose of his No. 18 M&M’s/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, thus ending his day on the wrecker and winless for another week to the 2020 season. 

    “I don’t know,” Busch said after exiting the infield care center. “The [pit] guys did an amazing job from yesterday to today. I guess it proves that you get a little bit of practice time in and we’re gonna be a force to be reckon with. So hopefully, life gets back to normal, eventually. We’re in [year] 2020, so it doesn’t surprise me to get crashed out of the lead. The M&M’s Camry was pretty fast there. [Crew chief] Adam [Stevens] and the guys did a great job. It’s just very frustrating, unfortunate. I know what happened, but it doesn’t make any sense to talk about it because it will come across as a bad way.”

    Under caution, a majority of the leaders, led by Hamlin, pitted and Harvick exited first. Under the pit stops, Bowman was penalized for equipment interference after interfering with Blaney’s pit stop. Keselowski, Almirola, Stenhouse, Newman, Austin Dillon and Truex remained on the track.

    With six laps remaining in the second stage, Almirola assumed the lead over Keselowski, but the caution quickly returned when Preece spun in the middle of Turn 2. No one else made contact with Preece as Wallace went all the way below the apron to dodge Preece. Preece was able to return to the pits for fresh tires. Under caution, drivers like Jones, Wallace, Logano and LaJoie pitted.

    The race restarted with two laps remaining in the second stage and Keselowski reassumed the lead from Almirola. Keselowski was able to claim the second stage on Lap 85 by more than a second over Almirola. Newman finished third followed by Truex and Stenhouse while Harvick, Austin Dillon, Kurt Busch, DiBenedetto and Hamlin rounded out the top 10.

    Under the stage break, a handful of competitors that included Truex, Austin Dillon, Almirola, Stenhouse, rookie Brennan Poole, Suarez and Preece pitted for four tires.

    When the final stage started with 51 laps remaining and the sun was slowly setting, Keselowski retained the lead as Kurt Busch charged into second. Four laps later, Harvick moved into second as Kurt Busch was left in a battle with Hamlin for position. Another three laps later, Keselowski surrendered the lead to pit for fuel, giving the lead to Harvick with Hamlin trailing by over a second and Elliott by six seconds.

    Soon after, Logano and Newman made a green-flag pit stop. Logano, however, was penalized for driving through too many pit stalls. During his green-flag stop to change only his right-side tires, Johnson clipped a tire from one of his crew members while exiting his pit stall. With the tire rolling out of his pit box, Johnson was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation. Other drivers that pitted under green included Blaney, Kenseth, DiBenedetto, Kurt Busch and Elliott.

    With 35 laps remaining, Harvick made a green-flag pit stop for two fresh tires and enough fuel to complete the race. Hamlin returned to the lead, still needing to make a final green-flag pit stop, as Bowyer also pitted while Jones moved into second. Soon after, Bowman pitted followed by Wallace. With 30 laps remaining, Hamlin, who was still attempting to stretch his fuel tank to its fullest, was still leading by nearly nine seconds over Jones and 17 seconds over Almirola while Harvick was in 13th and less than 30 seconds behind the leaders. Aside from the top three, other drivers still racing on the track on low fuel included Truex, Byron, Stenhouse, Wallace, Custer, Austin Dillon and Nemechek.

    With 26 to go, Jones made a green-flag pit stop as Almirola moved into second. The following lap, Custer also pitted. By then, Harvick had carved his way up to sixth and was more than 33 seconds behind Hamlin, who was still leading by nearly 17 seconds over Almirola.

    With 20 to go, Hamlin pulled into his pit stall and pitted for four seconds of fuel and a two-tire pit stop with the driver and crew chief Chris Gabehart banking on exiting pit road and getting up to speed in front of Harvick. By the time Hamlin exited pit road, he was able to fire off ahead of Harvick, who was still nearly three seconds behind and tucked behind Stenhouse. During Hamlin’s stop, Almirola also made a green-flag pit stop as Truex assumed command. With 15 to go, Truex pitted and Hamlin returned to the lead by more than two seconds over Harvick.

    With ten laps remaining, Hamlin stabilized his lead by three seconds over Harvick despite encountering lapped traffic. At that time, Keselowski was in third followed by Elliott and Jones while Almirola was in sixth, trailing by nearly 22 seconds. In addition, Austin Dillon and Stenhouse surrendered their runs in the top 10 to pit. As the laps and the sun continued to dwindle around the Tricky Triangle, Hamlin continued to lead while Harvick was unable to narrow his deficit to Hamlin and as Keselowski slowly started catching Harvick for second. Behind, Jones moved into fourth after passing Elliott.

    With four laps remaining, Keselowski made a green-flag pit stop after running out of fuel, which allowed Jones, Elliott and Almirola to move into the top five. It did not change anything at the front as Hamlin was able to start the final lap of the race. For one final lap, Hamlin was able to stabilize his gap from Harvick and cruise to the checkered flag for another win to this season.

    With his sixth win at Pocono, Hamlin, who won after starting 19th, tied Jeff Gordon for the most wins at the Tricky Triangle track. In addition, Hamlin recorded his 60th win across NASCAR’s three major division series and he recorded the 350th victory for Joe Gibbs Racing across the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series. The victory was Hamlin’s 10th with crew chief Chris Gabehart.

    “A lot of adversity early,” Hamlin said. “We got some nose damage, had to fix that. We just worked on the car and got it better and better. I mean, it finished the race there a lot better than what we finished yesterday, and I thought we had a race-winning car yesterday. We knew after yesterday’s race and showing the speed we had, just don’t mess it up and we got a good shot today, and that’s what we did. You got to work [the pit strategy], but ultimately, the two fastest cars finished one, two both days. I think that there’s no secret there and this team’s been strong every week. We were in contention to win every single week and that’s all you can ask for as a racecar driver, and we’re just on a roll right now. We’re gonna keep getting better, keep getting faster racecars and giving me a bigger box to work in. If we don’t have the exact race setup or the handling’s not perfect, we’re still going out there winning races because we got decent car speed. We’re just continuing to make our stuff a little bit better and it’s making that room for error just a little bit bigger.”

    Harvick finished second, trailing Hamlin by three seconds, as he came one position short in winning back-to-back races at Pocono in the same weekend.

    “Yeah, we just pitted too early today and gave up too much time in lapped traffic,” Harvick said. “Yesterday, we won the race pitting that way. Just really proud of everybody on our Head for the Mountains Busch Beer Ford Mustang. Great two races and we’ll go to the next one.”

    Jones finished third followed by Elliott and Almirola. DiBenedetto and Byron finished sixth and seventh while Bowyer rubbed and edged Bowman to finish eighth. Truex rounded out the top 10. Keselowski settled in 11th following his late pit stop while Johnson finished 16th in his 38th and final start at Pocono.

    The race capped off an eventful day at Pocono, where all three of NASCAR’s major division series raced on the same day at the exact venue for the first time in the sport’s history. It also capped off a three-day race span at Pocono featuring five stock car division series races and five different winners.

    There were 12 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 32 laps.

    With his finishes of first and second this weekend, Harvick retains the lead in the Cup Series regular-season standings by 52 points over Blaney.

    Results.

    1. Denny Hamlin, 49 laps led

    2. Kevin Harvick, 11 laps led

    3. Erik Jones

    4. Chase Elliott

    5. Aric Almirola, four laps led

    6. Matt DiBenedetto

    7. William Byron

    8. Clint Bowyer

    9. Alex Bowman

    10. Martin Truex Jr., five laps led

    11. Brad Keselowski, 13 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    12. Matt Kenseth

    13. Kurt Busch, 35 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    14. Austin Dillon

    15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    16. Jimmie Johnson

    17. Cole Custer

    18. Ryan Newman, one lap down

    19. John Hunter Nemechek, one lap down

    20. Bubba Wallace, one lap down

    21. Corey LaJoie, one lap down

    22. Ryan Blaney, one lap down, 21 laps led

    23. Ty Dillon, one lap down

    24. Joey Logano, one lap down

    25. Ryan Preece, one lap down

    26. Daniel Suarez, one lap down

    27. Brennan Poole, two laps down

    28. J.J. Yeley, two laps down

    29. Timmy Hill, three laps down

    30. James Davison, four laps down

    31. Quin Houff, four laps down

    32. Garrett Smithley, four laps down

    33. Joey Gase, four laps down

    34. Josh Bilicki, four laps down

    35. Tyler Reddick, five laps down

    36. Chris Buescher, five laps down

    37. B.J. McLeod, seven laps down

    38. Kyle Busch – OUT, Accident, two laps led

    39. Christopher Bell – OUT, Accident

    40. Michael McDowell – OUT, Accident

    The NASCAR Cup Series’ next destination is at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400. The race will air on July 5 at 4 p.m. on NBC.

  • Banner run for four Toyota competitors at Pocono

    Banner run for four Toyota competitors at Pocono

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Harvick benefits on strategy, outduels Hamlin for first Pocono triumph

    Harvick benefits on strategy, outduels Hamlin for first Pocono triumph

    In his 39th attempt at a track dubbed the Tricky Triangle, Kevin Harvick scratched Pocono Raceway off of his bucket list. Harvick exited ahead of teammate Aric Almirola with 37 laps remaining following a two-tire pit stop, inherited the lead twenty laps later and held off a late challenge from Denny Hamlin to win the Pocono Organics 325, the first of two Pocono Raceway events this weekend, for his third NASCAR Cup Series win of the season and the 52nd of his career.

    The starting lineup was based on a random draw. Almirola, coming off his third-place result at Talladega Superspeedway backwards, drew the pole position and was joined on the front row with Ryan Blaney, who won at Talladega. Rookie Brennan Poole started at the rear of the field after his car failed pre-race inspection twice along with Josh Bilicki due to unapproved adjustments.

    Delayed by scattered rain, the field ran extra pace laps under caution. When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Blaney made an attempt for the lead on the inside lane, but he got loose entering Turn 1, which allowed Almirola to clear with the lead through the Long Pond Straightaway as Kyle Busch moved into second. On the fifth lap, Blaney retook second and was followed by teammate Joey Logano while Kyle Busch slipped back to fourth. 

    At the front, Almirola was able to maintain his advantage by a second over Logano and above two seconds over Blaney through the competition caution on Lap 13. By then, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Matt DiBenedetto, both of whom started 14th and 21st, moved up to 10th and 11th while Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick, both of whom started fifth and ninth, had fallen back to 12th and 15th. Under caution, the top-eight competitors remained on track while a majority led by Jimmie Johnson pitted for early adjustments. When the pit stops cycled through, 14 competitors remained on track while Johnson was in 15th, the first car on fresh tires.

    When the green flag flew and the race resumed on Lap 17, a handful of competitors running in the middle of the pack fanned out in racing five- to six-wide past the start/finish line before settling into side-by-side racing through Turn 1. Meanwhile, Almirola retained the lead followed by Logano while Blaney and Kyle Busch battled for third. The caution returned when rookie Quin Houff spun in Turn 2 and made contact with the inside wall.

    The following restart, on Lap 21, Logano, who was lined up with teammates Blaney and Brad Keselowski, was able to race alongside Almirola entering Turn 1 before he took the lead through the Long Pond Straight. By then, Chase Elliott, who was racing on fresh tires, moved into the top five after passing Kurt Busch. Two laps later, drivers like Denny Hamlin, Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and rookie Christopher Bell pitted under green as part of a strategic move for the following stage. While most of the battling for track position occurred just outside the top 10, Logano was able to cruise to the first stage win. Almirola finished second followed by Blaney while Kyle Busch and Elliott finished in the top five. Kurt Busch, DiBenedetto, Brad Keselowski, Alex Bowman and Erik Jones finished in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, some led by Logano remained on track while others like Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Johnson, Clint Bowyer, rookie Tyler Reddick, Ryan Newman, Jones, Bubba Wallace, rookie Cole Custer, Ryan Preece, Michael McDowell and Daniel Suarez pitted. Following the pit stops, Reddick was assessed a pass-through penalty for speeding on pit road.

    The second stage started on Lap 31, where Almirola was able to return to the lead after restarting on the bottom lane. Logano dropped to second while Elliott moved into third after passing Blaney. By then, DiBenedetto moved into the top five while Bowman, Austin Dillon and William Byron were running seventh through ninth. 

    By Lap 35, Hamlin was in 13th followed by Harvick and Kyle Busch while Johnson was in 20th. Over the next 10 laps, Blaney, Kurt Busch, Logano, DiBenedetto and Bowman made a green-flag pit stop. A lap later, on Lap 46, Almirola pitted under green along with Elliott. Their pit stops allowed Truex, who last pitted on Lap 14, to take the lead followed by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Hamlin and Kyle Busch, all of whom were running with distinct pit strategies. Byron was in fourth followed by Austin Dillon, Chris Buescher and Jones.

    By Lap 55, Truex was ahead by three-tenths of a second over Hamlin with Kyle Busch trailing by nearly two seconds. Behind, Harvick was in seventh, Matt Kenseth was in ninth and Bell was the highest-running rookie in 10th with Nemechek and Reddick in 12th and 13th. Johnson was in 14th followed by Wallace while Bowyer was in 20th. Almirola was in 24th followed by Logano, Blaney, Elliott, Kurt Busch and DiBenedetto, all of whom trailed the leaders by 28 seconds.

    Over the next five laps, Nemechek, Buescher and Austin Dillon made a green-flag pit stop. On Lap 60, Hamlin passed teammate Truex to inherit the lead. At the same time, Byron made a green-flag pit stop. Shortly after, Truex pitted along with Kenseth as his two teammates, Kyle Busch and Jones, moved into second and third. By then, Harvick and Bell were in the top five while Almirola was in 14th. A lap later, Johnson made a pit stop, but nearly made contact with the lapped car of Bilicki while trying to enter his pit box.

    With 13 laps remaining in the second stage, J.J. Yeley blew a left-front tire following contact with Nemechek the previous lap entering Turn 4 and drew a caution when the tire shredded and debris scattered from Yeley’s car. Under caution, nearly the entire field led by Hamlin and Kyle Busch pitted with Hamlin exiting first on four fresh tires. Following the pit stops, Ty Dillon was assessed a pass-through penalty for speeding on pit road. When the field cycled through, Almirola remained on track and returned the lead followed by Logano, Blaney, Elliott, Truex, Kurt Busch, Bowman, DiBenedetto and Byron.

    The green flag returned with eight laps remaining in the second stage and Almirola was able to fend off teammates Logano and Blaney to retain the lead through Turn 1. By then, Hamlin wasted no time carving his way to seventh. Two laps later, Jones lifted off the throttle entering Turn 4 and Reddick made contact with Jones’ No. 20 Toyota as both slid towards the inside wall with Jones pounding the wall head-on and Reddick sustaining heavy damage to the right side of his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. The caution fell following the wreck. Jones retired, moving him into a backup car for Sunday’s second Cup Pocono race, while Reddick continued. Under caution, a handful of competitors, including Kurt Busch, Byron, Austin Dillon, Johnson and Custer, pitted. On the track, Stenhouse stalled his car due to low fuel pressure and pitted to address the issue.

    With two laps remaining in the second stage, Almirola and Logano raced dead even through Turn 1 before Almirola cleared Logano on the outside lane through the first turn. With a majority of competitors jostling for positions in the two-lap dash, Almirola was able to win the second stage by three-tenths of a second over Logano for his first stage win of the 2020 season and gain crucial points towards the Playoffs. Truex settled in third followed by Blaney and DiBenedetto while Bowman, Harvick, Kyle Busch, Hamlin and Elliott finished in the top 10. 

    Under the stage break, only a handful of competitors that included Blaney, Elliott, Ty Dillon and Byron pitted while the rest remained on track. Elliott spent extra time in his pit box to have his right rear fender repaired. In addition, he turned down a bungee chord to hold his car in fourth gear, which popped out, as he will manage the gear himself for the remainder of the race. To make matters worse, he was penalized due to an uncontrolled tire violation and restarted towards the tail end of the lead lap car.

    The final stage commenced with 48 laps remaining as Almirola received a push from DiBenedetto to retain the lead. On the Long Pond Straight, Harvick went three wide with Logano and DiBenedetto to move into second. Logano fell back to sixth as DiBenedetto, Truex and Hamlin passed him.

    Eight laps later, Almirola was still ahead by six-tenths of a second over Harvick with DiBenedetto trailing by nearly four seconds. Truex, Logano and Hamlin were running fourth through sixth while Bowman, Newman, Kyle Busch and Bell were running inside the top 10. Shortly after, the following competitors of Blaney, Logano, Keselowski, Truex, Kyle Busch, Byron and Johnson made a green-flag pit stop. Over the next two laps, Bowman pitted along with teammate Elliott, Wallace, Bowyer and DiBenedetto.

    With 37 laps remaining, teammates Almirola and Harvick made their green-flag pit stops, but Harvick exited ahead of Almirola following a two-tire stop. Their services gave the lead to Hamlin followed by Newman, Michael McDowell, Buescher and Preece. Others competitors that pitted during this time included Nemechek, Kurt Busch, Bell, Austin Dillon and Kenseth. Five laps later, Hamlin surrendered the lead to pit for two fresh tires as Newman moved into the lead. By then, the top-seven competitors were still racing out on old tires and low fuel while Harvick, the first with fresh tires and a full tank of gas, was in eighth.

    With 23 laps remaining, Ty Dillon pitted for fuel while the top-six cars led by Newman continued running on the track as the leaders on low fuel and worn tires. Three laps later, McDowell passed Newman to move into the lead. Buescher was in third behind McDowell and Newman followed by Preece and Stenhouse. Shortly after, McDowell, Newman and Stenhouse pitted, giving the lead to Buescher. Another lap later, Preece pitted as Harvick moved into second, trailing Buescher by more than 11 seconds.

    Six laps later, Buescher pitted and Harvick assumed the lead with Hamlin, Almirola, Truex, Bell and Kyle Busch trailing. Another two laps later, Bowman made an unscheduled pit stop to address a flat right-rear tire and minimal damage to the right side of his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. The race remained under green-flag conditions with no debris reported on the track from Bowman’s car.

    With the laps dwindling, Hamlin, who reported vibrating issues to his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, started to narrow his deficit from Harvick, who was approaching lapped traffic. With 10 laps remaining, Harvick was ahead by less than a second over Hamlin with Almirola trailing by nearly 13 seconds, Bell by nearly 16 seconds and teammates Kyle Busch and Truex by approximately 18 seconds. 

    Three laps later, with seven to go, Logano made an unscheduled pit stop after blowing a left-front tire, but the race remained under green. By then, Elliott was lapped by Harvick, who was still a second ahead over Hamlin and more than 12 seconds ahead of Almirola. Another three laps later, Harvick, who had lapped Wallace, stabilized his lead to more than a second over Hamlin, who continued reporting vibrating concerns to his car. The following lap, Hamlin decreased his deficit to less than half a second to Harvick as the battle between the two veterans ignited. Though Hamlin nearly drew himself to the rear bumper of Harvick in the Long Pond Straightaway, Harvick gained a huge run entering Turn 4, which stalled Hamlin’s progress.

    When the final lap started, Harvick was ahead by three-tenths of a second over Hamlin. In the Long Pond Straight, Harvick was able to increase his lead by another three-tenths of a second after he broke Hamlin’s draft towards Harvick, which gave the driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford the advantage and the gap he needed to claim his first elusive checkered flag at Pocono.

    Coming into this weekend’s doubleheader, Harvick’s previous best result at Pocono was second four times. With his first win at the Tricky Triangle, Kentucky Speedway and the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval remain the only active Cup tracks where Harvick has yet to fill in a win column. In addition, Harvick joined Hamlin as the only three-time winners of this year’s Cup season with 14 races completed as he also recorded the third Cup victory of 2020 for Stewart-Haas Racing and the eighth for the Ford nameplate.

    “[I] Just gotta thank everybody on our Head for the Mountains Busch Beer Ford Mustang,” Harvick said on FOX. “We weren’t where we needed to be to start the start. Lost a bunch of track position. Came back, made some great strategy calls and we were able to get out front and make some good laps. It’s great to, finally, check Pocono off the list. Everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing has done such a great job with all of our cars every time we’ve come here over the last seven years. I guess we just need special paint schemes to get to Victory Lane. Just glad it didn’t rain all day. I think in the end, it’s gonna come down to strategy and what you need to do [on Sunday].”

    Hamlin finished second, more than seven-tenths of a second behind Harvick, for his eighth top-five result of this season followed by Almirola, who led a race-high 61 of the event’s 130-scheduled laps and earned his third consecutive top-five result this season. 

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

    “We opted to score a lot of points [in the stages], and that probably hurt us on strategy a little bit, but I’m really proud of [crew chief Mike] Buga [Bugarewicz] and these [No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford] guys,” Almirola said. “They’ve been bringing some awesome race cars. I felt like we were tit-for-tat there with [Harvick] when we were on older tires and in clean air. We’re trying to keep the momentum going. Three top fives in a row. I’m really proud of my race team.”

    Bell and Kyle Busch finished in the top five. Truex, Bowyer, McDowell and Keselowski finished sixth through ninth while Buescher passed Kenseth with two laps remaining to finish 10th. Ryan Preece finished 20th and will start on the pole position for the second Pocono race on Sunday, where he will share the front row with 19th-place finisher Austin Dillon. Melbourne, Australia’s James Davison finished 34th, five laps behind the leaders, in his Cup debut.

    There were 10 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 21 laps. Only 21 of the 40-car field finished on the lead lap.

    With his victory, Harvick stabilized his lead in the Cup Series regular-season standings by 29 points over Blaney and 47 over Logano.

    Results:

    1. Kevin Harvick, 17 laps led

    2. Denny Hamlin, 10 laps led

    3. Aric Almirola, 61 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    4. Christopher Bell

    5. Kyle Busch

    6. Martin Truex Jr., 14 laps led

    7. Clint Bowyer

    8. Michael McDowell, one lap led

    9. Brad Keselowski

    10. Chris Buescher, three laps led

    11. Matt Kenseth

    12. Ryan Blaney

    13. Matt DiBenedetto

    14. William Byron

    15. Ryan Newman, 13 laps led

    16. Cole Custer

    17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    18. Kurt Busch

    19. Austin Dillon

    20. Ryan Preece

    21. Jimmie Johnson

    22. Bubba Wallace, one lap down

    23. Corey LaJoie, one lap down

    24. John Hunter Nemechek, one lap down

    25. Chase Elliott, one lap down

    26. Ty Dillon, one lap down

    27. Alex Bowman, one lap down

    28. Daniel Suarez, two laps down

    29. Brennan Poole, three laps down

    30. Tyler Reddick, four laps down

    31. J.J. Yeley, five laps down

    32. Josh Bilicki, five laps down

    33. Garrett Smithley, five laps down

    34. James Davison, five laps down

    35. Timmy Hill, five laps down

    36. Joey Logano, six laps down

    37. Joey Gase, nine laps down

    38. Erik Jones – OUT, Accident

    39. BJ McLeod – OUT, Transmission

    40. Quin Houff – OUT, Accident

    The Cup Series’ second Pocono race as part of the doubleheader feature will air the following day, June 28, at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Hamlin earns milestone win at Homestead

    Hamlin earns milestone win at Homestead

    Denny Hamlin outlasted multiple weather delays due to lightning strikes and a late duel with Chase Elliott to win the Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway for his third win of the season. It was his third in Miami and his 40th NASCAR Cup Series career win, moving him into a tie with NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin for 19th place on the all-time Cup wins list.

    The starting lineup was based on a random draw. Hamlin started on pole position and was joined on the front row by Joey Logano. Quin Houff started at the rear of the field due to failing pre-race inspection twice along with B.J. McLeod due to unapproved adjustments.

    Delayed for nearly an hour due to scattered rain and lightning reported near the track, the race was able to roll under green-flag conditions for the opening three laps, where Logano, who started on the bottom lane, took an early lead and was followed by teammate Brad Keselowski. Shortly after, the first caution of the day flew on the fourth lap due to a lightning strike reported near the area. The field led by Logano was directed to pit road as the red flag was displayed.

    Following a delay of more than two hours, all drivers and crew members returned to their respective positions as the track was cleared for racing to resume. When the race returned to green on the ninth lap, Logano retained the lead over Hamlin, who settled in second while being pursued by Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick. 

    By Lap 20, Logano, Keselowski and Hamlin separated themselves from the pack by three seconds over fourth-place Harvick, who was being pursued by Elliott and rookie Tyler Reddick, who started in 24th. A lap later, the caution flew when Ryan Newman slid below the apron through Turns 3 and 4 after sustaining a flat right-rear tire. He was able to nurse his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford back to pit road to have the tire changed. Immediately, NASCAR declared the caution for Newman to serve as the competition caution initially established for Lap 25. At the time of caution, Kyle Busch was back in 10th after starting fourth and Jimmie Johnson was in 18th after starting ninth. Under caution, the leaders pitted and Logano retained the lead followed by Harvick, Reddick, Hamlin and Elliott. Following the pit stops, Matt Kenseth made another pit stop to address a loose wheel while Ty Dillon was assessed a pit road speeding penalty.

    When the race restarted on Lap 25, Logano received a bump from Reddick to retain the lead as Reddick battled Elliott for second. A lap later, Blaney made a three-wide move on Harvick and Hamlin in Turn 3 to move into fourth. Four laps later, Elliott emerged as the new leader after passing Logano in Turn 1 while Reddick wasted no time challenging Logano for the runner-up spot. Two laps later, just as Blaney was about to challenge teammate Logano for third, the fourth caution of the race flew due to another lightning strike reported outside the track. The field was directed to pit road and the race was placed in a red-flagged situation.

    Following a weather delay of nearly 40 minutes, the red flag was lifted and the drivers were cleared to return to their cars and reignite their engines. Once the cars returned to track under caution, the field pitted. Following the pit stops, Logano sustained damage after making contact with Houff. Behind, Harvick and Matt DiBenedetto also sustained damage to their respective machines when the field stacked up behind Logano. Harvick and DiBenedetto would pit again to have the damage addressed and repaired, sending them to the rear of the field.

    When the race restarted under green-flag conditions under the lights on Lap 37, Blaney made a charge on the outside lane to take the lead by the time the field cycled back to the start/finish line. Eight laps later, Blaney was ahead by more than a second over Hamlin, who slid in front of Elliott entering Turn 2 to move in the runner-up spot. Reddick and Keselowski followed suit. 

    By Lap 60, Blaney was still ahead by more than a second over Hamlin and Reddick. Aric Almirola, who started 21st, moved up to fourth and was trailing the leaders by four seconds followed by Elliott. During this time, Chris Buescher and William Byron, both of whom started 13th and 22nd, were in ninth and 10th while the Busch brothers of Kyle and Kurt, both of whom started fourth and 10th, were in 11th and 12th. Truex, who started sixth and was coming off his midweek win at Martinsville Speedway, was in 13th while Newman recovered from his early spin to settle in 14th. Harvick and Logano were back in 15th and 17th while Johnson was trapped in 26th. During this time, Erik Jones made an unscheduled pit stop to address a loose wheel. 

    With the laps of the first stage dwindling, a battle for the lead started brewing as Hamlin caught Blaney. Hamlin made several attempts in charging his No. 11 FedEx Toyota on the inside lane through the corners and try to clear Blaney entering the straightaways, but Blaney would gain momentum from rim-riding towards the outside wall to maintain his advantage through the straightaways. With four laps remaining in the stage, Hamlin moved back to the lead and was able to stabilize his lead to above a second. From there, Hamlin was able to fend off Blaney to win the first stage on Lap 80, his second of the season. Blaney finished second followed by Reddick, Elliott and Almirola. Keselowski, Alex Bowman, Byron, Bowyer and Buescher finished in the top 10. By then, teammates Kyle Busch and Truex were in 11th and 12th, Harvick was in 14th, Logano was in 20th and Johnson was in 25th.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Hamlin retained the lead followed by Elliott, Blaney, Bowman and Reddick. Once most of the leaders completed their stops, Logano remained on pit road to continue to have the front-nose damage repaired, but he was able to exit pit road in front of the pace car and remain on the lead lap. In addition, Johnson spent extra time on pit road as his crew went to work to repair a roof flap on top of his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet.

    The start of the second stage on Lap 88 featured an intense duel between Hamlin and Elliott for one full lap with Elliott edging ahead at the line. By the next lap, Elliott was able to clear Hamlin for the lead as Blaney followed in second. Behind, Reddick was challenged by Hendrick Motorsports’ teammates Bowman and Byron for fourth while Kyle Busch was in seventh. On Lap 91, Blaney reassumed the lead and three laps later, Elliott dropped to fifth after being overtaken by Hamlin, Reddick and Byron. With three Hendrick Motorsports’ drivers of Byron, Elliott and Bowman running inside the top six, the fourth HMS driver, Johnson, was in 23rd. Unlike Blaney, who was leading, his teammate, Joey Logano, was trapped in 29th. By Lap 100, Blaney was still in command by more than a second over Hamlin and Reddick with Byron trailing by nearly three seconds and both Bowman and Kyle Busch by nearly five seconds. 

    While the race progressed, green-flag pit stops started to occur on Lap 117 when Newman made a pit stop. Following the stops six laps later, Hamlin reassumed the lead by two seconds over Blaney as Reddick trailed by seven seconds and teammates Byron and Elliot trailed by nearly 10 seconds. Kyle Busch and Truex were in seventh and ninth while Harvick was in eighth. Keselowski was in 14th, rookie Christopher Bell was in 16th and Bubba Wallace was in 20th.

    By Lap 150, Hamlin was ahead by nearly five seconds over Blaney, who was in a fierce battle with Reddick for the runner-up spot. Elliott trailed by six seconds, Byron trailed by 10 seconds and Bowman by 12 seconds. In addition, drivers like John Hunter Nemechek, Newman, Cole Custer, Johnson, Logano, Kenseth, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ty Dillon and Suarez were behind by a lap. Three laps later, Blaney dropped to fourth as Reddick and Elliott moved up the leaderboard. When the second stage concluded on Lap 160, Hamlin won the stage followed by Reddick, Elliott, Blaney and Byron. Bowman, Truex, Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch and Almirola finished in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Hamlin exited pit road first followed by Elliott, Reddick, Blaney, Byron and Bowman. Kurt Busch was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation.

    When the final stage started with 99 laps remaining, Hamlin received a push from Reddick to maintain the lead through Turns 1 and 2 and clear the field. Elliott and Reddick duked for the runner-up spot while the rest of the field fanned out across the track while battling one another for positions. The caution returned three laps later when Logano and Newman made contact with one another and against the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2. Under caution, the leaders returned to pit road and Hamlin exited the pits first again followed by Elliott, Reddick, Blaney, Truex and Byron. Following the stops, Austin Dillon was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation.

    With 92 laps remaining, the green flag flew and Hamlin received another shove from Reddick to maintain the lead. In addition, Blaney went three-wide with Elliott and Reddick in Turn 2 before moving into second by Turn 4. Both Blaney and Elliott remained within sight of one another while pursuing Hamlin for the lead. Behind, Reddick fended off a charge from Byron to remain in fourth as he started to pursue Elliott for more. Meanwhile, Almirola was in sixth, Bell was in eighth and Jones, who had rallied from his early unscheduled pit stop, was in ninth in front of teammate Truex. Harvick and Kyle Busch were in 10th and 11th while DiBenedetto and Wallace were in 13th and 15th.

    With 75 to go, Blaney caught Hamlin for the lead and two laps later, he was able to return to the lead. A lap later, Hamlin returned the favor and threw himself back to the top spot. While Hamlin and Blaney battled, Elliott joined the battle as the top three were ahead by a second over fourth-place Reddick. Not long after, Elliott moved into second and started to pursue Hamlin for the lead. 

    As the run progressed, Hamlin was able to stabilize his lead under a second over Elliott with Blaney trailing by nearly two seconds. With 61 to go, Harvick’s night went south as he made an unscheduled pit stop due to a flat tire, which left him two laps behind the leaders. Three laps later, Buescher made an unscheduled pit stop after meeting the same fate as Harvick. In addition, Bowman made a scheduled pit stop for four fresh tires. Shortly after, green-flag pit stops started to occur as Stenhouse, Ryan Preece and Austin Dillon pitted. Following the stops, Elliott cycled back to the lead followed by Hamlin with Blaney, Reddick and Jones in the top five.

    With 40 to go, Elliott stabilized his lead by more than a second over Hamlin and more than four seconds over Blaney. A lap later, Kenseth, who was running inside the top 10 and was the only competitor who had yet to make a scheduled green-flag pit stop, pitted. Eight laps later, Hamlin was able to cut the deficit to half a second as he started to gain ground on Elliott on the long runs. Another three laps later, Hamlin gained a huge run in Turn 2 to pass Elliott for the lead after Elliott struggled to lap Logano, who refused to yield to the leaders. As the laps continued to dwindle to the final stages, the battle for the lead remained between two cars as Hamlin led a hard-charging Elliott by half a second with Blaney trailing by two seconds.

    With 17 to go, Hamlin started to stretch his advantage to nearly a second over Elliott as Blaney started to close within Elliott for the runner-up spot. A lap later, Elliott was able to trim the deficit to two-tenths of a second as leader Hamlin started to approach lapped traffic. Another two laps later, Elliott was behind by a tenth of a second as Reddick started to creep towards the leaders, making it a four-car battle for the win. 

    With eight to go, Reddick moved into third, but Blaney retook the position a lap later. During this time, Hamlin was leading Elliott by four-tenths of a second and was establishing a possible run for Hamlin as Blaney and Reddick lost ground to the leaders. In addition, Jones made an unscheduled pit stop after making contact with the wall.

    In the final laps, Elliott made contact with the wall, which allowed Blaney to challenge him for second while Hamlin to stabilize his lead over a second. With no late cautions nor challenges falling on him, Hamlin was able to cruise around the track for a final circuit and take the checkered flag to claim another win at Homestead. 

    With the win, Hamlin also became the first three-time winner of this year’s Cup season as he also recorded the 180th Cup win for Joe Gibbs Racing. The win also came as Hamlin’s crew chief, Chris Gabehart, returned to the track following his four-race suspension for the fallen ballast at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May.

    “Definitely, [the crew] just made our car really good,” Hamlin said on FOX. “This is the setup based on what we had in the fall here last year going for the championship. I had a strong car all day, obviously, with the laps led and was able to get around Chase there at the end. This whole FedEx team’s just done a phenomenal job with this Camry. This one’s real special. Gotta thank Coca-Cola, the Jordan brand, FedEx, all of our partners, everyone at JGR for putting together great race cars and keep digging and getting ourselves a little bit better. It seems like the end of these races seems to be Chase’s long suit, best suit. I knew that if I was just patient and ran the pace that I was comfortable with, we were gonna be hard to beat in the long run.”

    Elliott held off Blaney to finish second, less than a second behind Hamlin, while Reddick notched a solid fourth-place run for his first top-five finish in the Cup Series.

    “This Camaro just needed to get through lapped traffic a little better,” Elliott said on MRN. “That’s really about it. I thought, other than that, we did everything we needed to do.”

    “We could be running 20th every week,” Blaney said on Zoom. “You’re proud of the runs that you’ve created in a speed our team’s got. I’m proud of that. Yeah, it stinks we haven’t won, but the way I look at it is just keep running up towards the front like that. Just proud with the speed we have and that we’re close. Just little things will go a long way when you’re this close. If you have to find 15 spots worth of speed, that’s when it’s troublesome. Just proud of the effort. [I’m] Not frustrated or anything. Hopefully, we can keep this up and just keep getting better week in and week out.”

    Almirola recorded a strong fifth-place result while Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Bell, Byron and Keselowski rounded out the top 10 as 15 competitors finished on the lead lap. Johnson finished 16th, one lap down, in his 20th and final start at Homestead. Everyone except for J.J. Yeley finished the race on the track.

    The race featured 17 lead changes with seven different leaders. There were six cautions for 27 laps.

    Harvick, who finished 26th and was a lap behind, continues to lead the Cup Series regular-season standings by eight points over Elliott and 29 over Logano. 

    Results:

    1. Denny Hamlin, 137 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    2. Chase Elliott, 27 laps led

    3. Ryan Blaney, 70 laps led

    4. Tyler Reddick, three laps led

    5. Aric Almirola 

    6. Kyle Busch, two laps led

    7. Austin Dillon

    8. Christopher Bell

    9. William Byron

    10. Brad Keselowski, one lap led

    11. Clint Bowyer

    12. Martin Truex Jr.

    13. Bubba Wallace

    14. Matt DiBenedetto

    15. Michael McDowell

    16. Jimmie Johnson, one lap down

    17. Kurt Busch, one lap down

    18. Alex Bowman, one lap down

    19. John Hunter Nemechek, one lap down

    20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap down

    21. Erik Jones, one lap down

    22. Cole Custer, one lap down

    23. Chris Buescher, one lap down

    24. Ryan Preece, one lap down

    25. Matt Kenseth, one lap down

    26. Kevin Harvick, one lap down

    27. Joey Logano, two laps down, 27 laps led

    28. Ty Dillon, two laps down

    29. Corey LaJoie, three laps down

    30. Ryan Newman, four laps down

    31. Daniel Suarez, four laps down

    32. Brennan Poole, seven laps down

    33. Quin Houff, eight laps down

    34. Timmy Hill, 10 laps 

    35. B.J. McLeod, 11 laps down

    36. Joey Gase, 12 laps down

    37. Josh Bilicki, 22 laps down

    38. J.J. Yeley – OUT, Fuel pump

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

  • Denny Hamlin on pole for Cup Series race at Homestead

    Denny Hamlin on pole for Cup Series race at Homestead

    Denny Hamlin will start from the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It is the first pole this season for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver and the 34th of his Cup career.

    Team Penske driver Joey Logano will join him on the front row with his teammate Brad Keselowski starting in third. Kyle Busch will start fourth in the No. 18 JGR Toyota and Hendrick Motorsport’s Chase Elliott will round out the top-five.

    The lineup was determined by a random draw as explained below.

    Positions 1-12: Random draw from charter teams in those positions in owner points.

    Positions 13-24: Random draw among charter teams in those positions in owner points.

    Positions 25-36: Random draw among charter teams in those positions in owner points.

    Positions 37-39 will be filled out by open, non-chartered teams in order of owner points.

    The Dixie Vodka 400 will be televised Sunday on FOX at 3:30 p.m. ET with radio coverage provided by MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The stages are 80/160/267 laps for 400.5 miles.

    The Dixie Vodka 400 will close out a full weekend of racing that also includes an Xfinity Series doubleheader and a Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series race.

    Complete Starting Lineup:

    1) Denny Hamlin

    2 Joey Logano

    3 Brad Keselowski

    4) Kyle Busch

    5) Chase Elliott

    6) Martin Truex Jr.

    7) Kevin Harvick

    8) Alex Bowman

    9) Jimmie Johnson

    10) Kurt Busch

    11) Ryan Blaney

    12) Clint Bowyer

    13) Chris Buescher

    14) Ryan Newman

    15) Erik Jones

    16) Austin Dillon

    17) Bubba Wallace

    18) John Hunter Nemechek

    19) Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    20) Matt Kenseth

    21) Aric Almirola

    22) William Byron

    23) Matt DiBenedetto

    24) TylerReddick

    25) JJ Yeley

    26) Corey LaJoie

    27) Josh Bilicki

    28) Brennan Poole

    29) Joey Gase

    30) Michael McDowell

    31) Quin Houff

    32) Ty Dillon

    33) Ryan Preece

    34) BJ McLeod

    35) Cole Custer

    36) Christopher Bell

    37) Daniel Suarez

    38) Timmy Hill

    39) Reed Sorenson