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  • 2020 Cup Playoff outlook after New Hampshire

    2020 Cup Playoff outlook after New Hampshire

    With August in its early stages of the year 2020, another race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule has been completed as the Playoffs near its initiating phase. With six regular-season races remaining, the battle for the final six Playoff spots continues to intensify with some big names either on the bubble or still on the outside and looking in.

    Following an intense battle between two veterans giving it their all, Brad Keselowski prevailed over Denny Hamlin for his third Cup victory of the season at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on August 2 as he continues his pursuit for a second series title. Like Keselowski, Hamlin had a productive afternoon of racing as he recorded a strong runner-up finish behind Keselowski. With the strength of five victories throughout this season, including last week at Kansas Speedway, Hamlin and his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team continue their pursuit for a first Cup title. Keselowski and Hamlin also remain as two of 10 competitors to be guaranteed a spot in the Playoffs by virtue of a victory this season. Also locked in include Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, rookie Cole Custer, Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr.

    The top winless competitor who continues to occupy one of the transfer spots to the Playoffs is Aric Almirola. For Almirola, who started on pole for the third time this season by virtue of a random draw, Sunday’s race at New Hampshire did not result in a win for the Floridian. Nonetheless, a seventh-place result, which marked his 12th top-10 result of this season and ninth in a row in recent weeks, along with stage points in both stages were enough to keep Almirola and his No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford team 145 points above the top-16 cutline.

    Unlike Almirola, Sunday’s race at New Hampshire was not magical for the Busch brothers. For Kurt, he started the race in 10th place and finished in 17th place. While the finish snapped his three-race string of top-10 results, the 2004 Cup champion remains 112 points above the cutline. Kyle’s race, however, was cut short 15 laps into the event following a wreck into the Turn 3 outside wall caused by a blown right-front tire. The incident marked Kyle Busch’s third DNF of the season and his seventh result outside the top 20. With no victories recorded throughout the first 20 races, the reigning Cup champion is 94 points above the cutline.

    For Clint Bowyer, his run at New Hampshire was primed for a strong result after starting in sixth place and finishing in the top 10 in both stages as he collected a handful of stage points. When the checkered flag waved, however, Bowyer ended his run in 18th, which marked his fifth consecutive finish outside the top 10. Even worse, Bowyer’s crew chief, Johnny Klausmeier, faces a one-race suspension due to two loose lug nuts discovered on Bowyer’s No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang during post-race inspection process. The lone good news for Bowyer continues to be that he is 43 points above the cutline.

    Coming off a late accident at Kansas Speedway, Matt DiBenedetto rebounded with another strong performance at New Hampshire. A year after recording a solid fifth-place result at New Hampshire, DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford team posted a sixth-place result on Sunday. His sixth top-10 result of this season has DiBenedetto 40 points above the cutline and still in position of making his first Playoffs appearance.

    Lastly, William Byron had another strong run in the making with crew chief Chad Knaus back atop the pit box. After starting in 16th, Byron methodically worked his way towards the front and was able to collect a handful of stage points following a fifth-place result in the second stage. In the final laps, Byron was primed for a top-10 result before he crossed the line in 11th place and in between his fellow competitors and targets battling towards the Playoff cutline. With his 13th top-15 finish of this season, his third in a row at New Hampshire, the Charlotte native continues to hold sole possession of the 16th and final transfer spot by 15 points.

    The first competitor who is outside of the cutline continues to be rookie Tyler Reddick. For Reddick, Sunday’s race at New Hampshire produced another strong performance for the Californian after starting 13th and fighting for a top-10 spot, including battling against his fellow rookie contenders Cole Custer and Christopher Bell. In the final laps, Reddick was able to charge his way to post a 10th-place result. With Byron finishing a spot ahead of him and gaining a handful of stage points, however, Reddick did not gain additional ground towards the cutline. He, nonetheless, remains in contention of pointing his way into the Playoffs as he trails by 15 points.

    The good news for Jimmie Johnson and his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team is that Sunday’s race at New Hampshire produced a decent outcome for them as they rallied from an early spin to cross the line in 12th place, which marked their highest result since finishing 10th at Martinsville Speedway in June. The bad news for them is that with Reddick and teammate Byron finishing ahead of them, Johnson and his team continue to trail the cutline as the 2020 Playoffs near its establishing point. By being 25 points behind, the seven-time Cup champion continues to remain on the hunt to move himself inside the cutline and receive a final opportunity to pursue his record-setting eighth championship.

    Unlike Kansas, Erik Jones did not have a good run at New Hampshire. The Michigan native suffered an early pit road penalty for pitting outside his pit box and struggled on the track in keeping pace with the leaders. By finishing 24th, a lap down, Jones trails the cutline by 31 points in his quest to make his third consecutive appearance in the Playoffs.

    The remaining competitors who still remain eligible to make the Playoffs while trailing by 125 or more points include Michael McDowell, Chris Buescher, Bubba Wallace, rookie Christopher Bell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., rookie John Hunter Nemechek, Ryan Newman, Ty Dillon, Matt Kenseth, Corey LaJoie and Ryan Preece. With his 26th-place finish at New Hampshire, Daniel Suarez is two points below the top-30 cutline in the regular-season standings. Should Suarez move himself back into the top 30 in the standings and record a win between next weekend at Michigan through the final regular-season race at Daytona International Speedway on August 29, he will receive an opportunity to be eligible for the Playoffs.

    The NASCAR Cup Series will compete at Michigan International Speedway in a doubleheader feature on August 8-9. The first Cup race at Michigan will occur on Saturday, August 8, at 4 p.m. ET on NBCSN while the second race will occur the following day, August 9, at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • 2020 Cup Playoff outlook after Kansas

    2020 Cup Playoff outlook after Kansas

    With seven races remaining until the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs commences, the battle for the final six vacant spots within the top-16 cutline has changed course yet again. Following Thursday night’s Super Start Batteries 400 at Kansas Speedway, some on the bubble had good nights and kept themselves in contention for the postseason while others struggled and are setting their focus towards next weekend in making up the points lost.

    Ten Cup competitors are still guaranteed a spot to this year’s postseason battle for the championship. This includes Denny Hamlin, who earned his fifth win of 2020 at Kansas as he continues to pursue his first Cup championship. Among others who are guaranteed a spot in the Playoffs include Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon and rookie Cole Custer.

    The first winless competitor who is inside the top-16 cutline continues to be Aric Almirola. For Almirola, who started third based on a random draw, it was another strong night for the Floridian and his No. 10 Smithfield/Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team as he finished in the top 10 in both stages, racked up a handful of stage points and survived the late calamity to finish sixth for his best result at Kansas, the same track where he suffered a compression fracture to his T5 Vertebra following his harrowing accident in 2017. While it was another week without a win, the sixth-place result marked Almirola’s 11th top-10 result of the season, eighth in a row, as he is 134 points above the cutline.

    “I’m pretty eager to get a W,” Almirola said. “Man, this race team’s being doing a great job. We’ve been running really good. A long time ago, I would’ve gave anything to just run top 10 every week and run like we’ve been running. When you start tasting victory and you run upfront, you race around those guys, you wanna seal the deal and go to Victory Lane, but tonight, we were just a little bit off. We didn’t have as good of a car compared to the field as we have the last several weeks. Proud of my guys. We just keep chipping away at it, we keep building up that points buffer to the cutoff, which is nice, but now, we’re ready to go get a W and get some bonus points for the Playoffs. So, I think we’re capable and we got a really good race team.”

    Next up are the Busch brothers. For Kyle, who started eighth, the majority of the race had him and his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry towards the front and battling for the lead. After winning the first stage and leading 52 laps, Busch appeared to have a top-five run and even, a late charge for the win established until he made contact with the wall nearing 40 laps remaining. The contact forced Busch to pit under green as he lost a lap to the leaders during his stop. Following two late cautions, however, Busch was able to race his way back onto the lead lap. For the remainder of the race, he worked his way from the top 20 to finish in 11th. Despite remaining winless through the first half of the 2020 season, the reigning Cup Series champion is 120 points above the top-16 cutline.

    “That wasn’t the finish this M&M’S Fudge Brownie Camry deserved today,” Kyle Busch said. “We were tight most of the race and I just got into the wall there. We are making progress and think we showed that tonight. We will go back, get ready and head to New Hampshire next week.”

    For Kurt Busch, who started ninth, Thursday’s race at Kansas was a race where the 2004 Cup champion struggled with adjustments around the track and keeping pace with the leaders, though he remained within sight of the top 10. After finishing in the top 15 the first two stages, Busch battled loose conditions, but was able to work his way into the top 10 in the final laps. He was able to gain one additional spot on track before the checkered flag flew to finish in ninth for his 12th top-10 result of this season. With the finish, Busch and his No. 1 Monster Energy/Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team are 119 points above the cutline.

    “The car was a little tough at times throughout the race,” Kurt Busch said. “We struggled on some of the restarts with tires on heat cycles, but thanks to my guys on this Monster Energy Chevy. We battled hard together and never gave up on working to make it better and try to find the sweetest spot to run. We just need to keep after it and turn these top 10’s into better results.”

    For Clint Bowyer, there is no place like home as the Emporia, Kansas, native arrived back at his home track with an opportunity of locking up a spot in the Playoffs for himself and his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team. The Cup race on Thursday at Kansas, however, was a difficult one for Bowyer, who started 19th, struggled with handling issues, finished outside the top 15 in both stages, sustained minimal damage from a late multi-car wreck and could only work his way up to 14th when the race concluded. The one positive Bowyer was able to walk away with following the race at Kansas was being 42 points above the cutline.

    “Man, we were so loose in the first two stages,” Bowyer said. “We worked hard on it and got it better in the final stage. I don’t know how the heck I didn’t wreck in that [Lap 177] big wreck. We got some damage then we dodged a couple more [wrecks] after that. It was a tough race, but nobody on our One Cure team gave up and our pit crew helped us out a bunch tonight. It’s good to be back in the top 12 in points. That will help our qualifying spot in New Hampshire. It’s always good to be back home in Kansas. I just wish we could have had the fans here tonight. We really missed them and ready to get them back to the track.”

    Unlike Bowyer, Matt DiBenedetto and his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang team were not so fortunate after a late accident cost the driver and the team a handful of points in remaining inside the top-16 cutline. The first half of the race saw DiBenedetto appearing in and out of the top 10 after starting 12th, though he remained poised and in contention for a decent finish. That all came to a crashing halt around 100 laps remaining when he got hit by two cars on the backstretch and made hard contact with the outside wall as he was involved in a multi-car wreck. The damage was beyond repairable for the No. 21 team as DiBenedetto sustained his first DNF of the season and his fourth result outside the top 20. The silver lining for DiBenedetto is the picture of being 35 points above the cutline.

    “I couldn’t tell what was going on,” DiBenedetto said. “I just tried to go low. I saw guys checked up off of [Turn] 2. I didn’t see it. I just got clipped in the right side. Nothing I could do different. I am not going to lie. I am pretty frickin irritated. We have had garbage luck the last couple of weeks.”

    With a 10th-place result on Thursday night at Kansas that included one of his best performances this season, William Byron drew himself back inside the cutline. Starting 15th and racing with interim crew chief/veteran Keith Rodden, the Charlotte native struggled on restarts and could not keep pace with the leaders throughout the first two stages. The final stage was where Byron and the No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team appeared poised for the win as he remained on track on old tires and low fuel in the closing laps, a move that worked to his advantage as he led 27 laps in total. Following a pair of late restarts, however, Byron lost track positions to competitors running on four fresh tires and he was able to hang on to finish 10th when the checkered flag flew. With his sixth top-10 result of this season, Byron holds sole possession of the 16th and final spot to the Playoffs by 10 points.

    “It was a solid finish for us – we needed that for sure for the playoffs,” Byron said. “We started the race way off. We were really loose – just really struggling. The guys, Keith and everybody made a lot of great adjustments throughout the race. It really got us in a position where we could attack. As soon as we got probably 10 laps on our tires, the car felt pretty good. We just stayed out there on no tires, really ran there with [Keselowski] and was able to pass him back for the lead. I thought we were looking really good. Unfortunately, the two tires didn’t really work out for us there at the end. I think we just had too many laps on the left side and struggled there.”

    The first Cup competitor who is a spot below the cutline is rookie Tyler Reddick. Coming off a career-best runner-up finish at Texas Motor Speedway, Reddick, who started 23rd, rocketed his way towards the front as he finished sixth in the first stage. He went on to finish 15th in the second stage while fighting grip and loose conditions to his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. While Reddick had a strong car throughout the race at Kansas, he struggled with balance in the final stage and just missed out for a top-10 result as he settled in 13th when the checkered flag flew. The top-15 finish, nonetheless, allowed Reddick to draw himself to be 10 points below the cutline.

    “We had a fast No. 8 I Am Second Chevrolet on the long runs tonight at Kansas Speedway,” Reddick said. “We just needed a little more on the short runs. It was a tale of two extremes almost, where we fired off extremely loose but about halfway through the race built way too tight. I was able to run the top during Stage 1 before anyone else really could, and that allowed us to climb well up into the top 10 to get some valuable stage points. As the night went on and our car got tighter, I wasn’t able to run up there as well and had to search around for speed to try to keep up with the changing track conditions. Luckily, we were able to avoid a handful of wrecks during Stage 3 and started to climb back up through the field once we were able to loosen our Chevrolet back up a little bit. In the end, we just needed a couple more longer runs to really be able to get back into the top 10 tonight.”

    Trailing behind him is Erik Jones, who needed another strong run in his hopes of making his third consecutive postseason appearance. Starting 21st, Jones was able to carve his way towards the front and notch a 10th-place result in the first stage to collect a valuable stage point. From there, Jones kept himself in contention towards the top 10 and following a series of late cautions and multi-car wrecks, Jones and his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry team were able to drive their way into the top five and finish fifth. The top-five result was Jones’ fifth of this season and first since finishing third at Pocono Raceway in June. The finish also allowed the Michigan native to cut his deficit from the top-16 cutline in half from 24 to 12.

    “This is what we needed; we needed a really good points day,” Jones said. “It kind of seems like we’ve been in this spot the last couple of years unfortunately. It feels good to climb out of it. The Reser’s Camry was really good. We started really deep and just could never quite get up to the front and get some clean air. I kind of made a mistake on that last restart, I was trying to push too hard to get to the outside and gave up some ground there on those guys and had to make that back up. Good effort. Pit crew did good and the team gave me a good car. We just have to keep doing that and keep wracking these points up and hopefully get a win.”

    The competitor who took the biggest hit in the points following Kansas was Jimmie Johnson. Starting 20th, Johnson was able to methodically work his way towards the top 10 and remain poised for a decent result following a dismal run the previous race at Texas Motor Speedway. Everything changed with approximately 100 laps remaining when Johnson was involved in a multi-car wreck on the backstretch and sustained significant damage to his No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. While Johnson’s crew tried to repair the No. 48 machine to keep the seven-time Cup champion in contention for the remainder of the race, he was unable to meet the minimum speed requirement to continue with the repairs and was forced to end his race in the garage and in 32nd place, his sixth result this season outside the top 20. Prior to Kansas, Johnson was two points above the top-16 cutline. After Kansas, he is 18 points below the cutline and in jeopardy of missing the Playoffs for the second year in a row and in his final full-time Cup season.

    Another competitor who had a disappointing run at Kansas was Bubba Wallace. Starting 17th, Wallace’s troubles started at the 100-lap mark, when he spun entering Turn 4. More than 70 laps later, Wallace’s race went from bad to worse when he could not avoid a spinning Matt Kenseth entering Turn 4 and broke a right-front suspension during the wrecking process. The damage was enough to terminate Wallace’s long night in the garage as he is 100 points below the cutline.

    Like Johnson and Wallace, Chris Buescher had a dismal run at Kansas. Starting 13th, Buescher’s troubles started under the competition caution when he was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation during his pit stop and was sent to the rear of the field for the ensuing restart. On Lap 143, he spun in Turn 2, but was able to recover. He was not, however, able to avoid a vicious multi-car wreck with less than 90 laps remaining that involved his teammate Ryan Newman and ex-teammate Ryan Preece. The damage to the front of Buescher’s No. 17 Fifth Third Bank/Roush Fenway Racing Ford Mustang was enough to end his race in the garage and in 33rd place for his ninth finish outside the top 20. The run at Kansas has Buescher 107 below the cutline.

    Other competitors who continue to trail the top-16 cutline by deficits of 111 points or more include Michael McDowell, rookie Christopher Bell, rookie John Hunter Nemechek, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Newman, Ty Dillon, Matt Kenseth, Corey LaJoie, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Preece, rookie Brennan Poole and rookie Quin Houff.

    The battle for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will continue next Sunday, August 2, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, which will air at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • 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.

  • Jones to make 250th start across NASCAR at Kansas

    Jones to make 250th start across NASCAR at Kansas

    When the NASCAR Cup Series competes in the Super Start Batteries 400 at Kansas Speedway on Thursday, July 23, Erik Jones will reach a significant milestone of his racing career. By starting this week’s race at Kansas, Jones will reach 250 starts across NASCAR’s three major division series.

    A native of Byron, Michigan, Jones’ racing career started at age seven in quarter-midget racing. From quarter midgets to Late Models, the CRA All-Star Tour and the ARCA Racing Series, Jones gained the attention of NASCAR Cup Series competitor Kyle Busch in December 2012, whom Jones beat to win the Snowball Derby. The following season, Jones made his first appearance within NASCAR’s three major division series when Kyle Busch Motorsports signed Jones to a five-race Truck Series deal in the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota Tundra. Racing at Martinsville Speedway, Rockingham Speedway and in two Iowa Speedway races, Jones achieved top-10 results in all of his starts. In November, Jones prevailed in a late battle with Ross Chastain to record his first Truck Series career win at Phoenix International Raceway. Prior to September 2014, Jones was the youngest winner across NASCAR’s major series at age 17 years, five months and eight days old. Jones’ win at Phoenix contributed to KBM’s No. 51 Toyota team winning the owners’ championship in a tie-breaker against eventual champion Matt Crafton and ThorSport Racing.

    In 2014, Jones competed in 12 Truck races with KBM and made his first three NASCAR Xfinity Series starts in the No. 20 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. In the Truck Series, Jones won three races and recorded two poles, five top-five results and eight top-10 results as he contributed to winning the second consecutive Truck owners’ title for KBM. Racing at Chicagoland Speedway in July, Bristol Motor Speedway in August and at Phoenix International Speedway in November, all in the Xfinity Series, Jones finished in the top 10.

    In 2015, Jones expanded his racing schedule by competing the entire 23-race schedule in the Truck Series for KBM and in 23 Xfinity Series races for JGR. In the Xfinity Series, Jones recorded his first career win at Texas Motor Speedway in April after beating Brad Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr. He won his second race at Chicagoland in June and went on to record three poles, 13 top-five results and 17 top-10 results. In the Truck Series, Jones achieved three wins, five poles, 11 top-five results and 20 top-10 results as he beat Tyler Reddick and Crafton to win the 2015 Truck Series championship. With his title, Jones became the youngest Truck Series champion at age 19 years, five months and 20 days old as he also recorded the first drivers’ title for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

    To go along with his eventful 2015 schedule, Jones turned in his first laps in the NASCAR Cup Series at Bristol in April, where he served as a relief competitor for Denny Hamlin, who relinquished his seat to Jones due to neck spasms. While Jones finished 26th, Hamlin was credited with the result and the points since he started the race. Jones made his official Cup debut at Kansas Speedway in May, driving the No. 18 M&M’s/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry as an interim competitor for the injured and eventual series champion Kyle Busch. Despite having a strong run, where he ran within the top five, Jones was involved in a late single-car incident in Turn 4 and settled in 40th. In November, Jones competed in two races in JGR’s No. 20 DeWalt/Dollar General Toyota Camry at Texas Motor Speedway and at Phoenix, replacing Matt Kenseth, who was suspended for deliberately wrecking Joey Logano the previous race at Martinsville Speedway. Jones finished 12th at Texas and 19th at Phoenix.

    The following season, Jones moved up to the NASCAR Xfinity Series in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 Toyota Camry. Throughout the 33-race schedule, Jones won four races, two Dash 4 Cash bonuses and nine poles as he also achieved 15 top-five results and 20 top-10 results. He made the inaugural Championship Round, but finished fourth in the final standings after finishing ninth in the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Though he did not achieve his first Xfinity title, he was named the 2016 Rookie-of-the-Year in the series. By then, he had surpassed 100 starts across NASCAR’s three major division series as he also made one Truck start at Gateway Motorsports Park in June for Kyle Busch Motorsports, where he finished fifth.

    In 2017, Jones graduated to the Cup Series and was named driver of the No. 77 5-Hour Energy Toyota Camry for Furniture Row Racing, which marks the first and only time FRR expanded to a two-car operation. Throughout his rookie Cup season, Jones recorded his first career pole along with five top-five results and 14 top-10 results. His best performances were at Michigan International Speedway and at Bristol in August. He finished third at Michigan, his home track, and dominated the following race at Bristol, leading a race-high 260 laps from the pole before he was overtaken by Kyle Busch in the closing laps and settled in second. Despite not recording a win throughout the season nor making the Playoffs, Jones beat Daniel Suarez to claim the Rookie-of-the-Year title. With his accomplishment, Jones also became the first NASCAR competitor to achieve the Rookie-of-the-Year title across NASCAR’s three major division series. He also competed in 18 Xfinity races for JGR, where he won three races and swept both Texas races.

    The following season, Jones replaced Matt Kenseth as driver of the No. 20 Toyota Camry for JGR. Through the first 17 races, Jones finished in the top 10 seven times and was ranked in 14th in the regular-season standings. The following week in July, Jones survived a carnage-filled night to beat former teammate/reigning champion Martin Truex Jr. and achieve his first NASCAR Cup career win at Daytona International Speedway. To July 2020, Jones is one of 33 competitors to record a victory across NASCAR’s three major division series. At the time of his win, he also became the ninth Cup competitor to win driving for Joe Gibbs Racing. The victory guaranteed a spot in the Playoffs for Jones, crew chief Chris Gayle and the No. 20 team. Jones, however, achieved one pole and 10 top-10 results for the remainder of the season as he concluded the year in 15th in the final standings. While he did not compete in any Xfinity race, he made one start in the Truck Series at Pocono Raceway in July as a relief competitor for Noah Gragson. He finished in the runner-up spot following a late battle with Kyle Busch.

    Jones remained with JGR in the Cup Series for the 2019 season. Throughout last season, Jones recorded his second Cup career win in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in September, a victory that guaranteed the Michigan native a spot in the Playoffs for the second consecutive year. In addition, Jones recorded 10 top-five results and 17 top-10 results before concluding the year in 16th in the final standings. When the 2019 season concluded, Jones had surpassed 200 starts across NASCAR’s three major division series as he also made one Xfinity start during the season at Bristol in August, where he finished 37th in XCI Racing’s No. 81 Toyota Supra after being involved in an early accident.

    Through the first 18 Cup races of this season, Jones has recorded four top-five results and seven top-10 results. He is ranked 18th in the regular-season standings and is 24 points below the top-16 cutline in an effort to make his third consecutive Cup Playoffs appearance. His lone highlight to this season has been winning the non-points Busch Clash at Daytona in February, where he rallied from being involved in three multi-car wrecks to receive a push from teammate Denny Hamlin on the final lap and pull away to win with a wrecked car.

    Catch Jones’ milestone start in NASCAR in the Super Start Batteries 400 at Kansas on July 23 at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • 2020 Cup Playoff outlook after Texas

    2020 Cup Playoff outlook after Texas

    With eight races remaining until the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series regular season concludes, another name has been added to the Playoff picture. With a strategic move for fuel only to gain track position and through a series of late restarts, Austin Dillon earned his way into the Playoffs following an upset victory in Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

    Of all the accomplishments that Dillon established with his victory at Texas, the biggest one of all was guaranteeing himself and the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team a spot in the Playoffs for the fourth time in his career, where he will attempt to become the first NASCAR competitor to record a championship across the sport’s three major division series.

    Dillon’s win makes it 10 Cup Series competitors that are guaranteed a spot in the Playoffs by virtue of a victory, a list that include Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman and rookie Cole Custer. Dillon’s win also leaves six spots vacant with the 2020 Playoffs a month away from commencing.

    For the third time in the previous four weeks, including Sunday’s race at Texas, Aric Almirola and the No. 10 Smithfield/Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team had a potential shot in winning a race. Despite starting on pole by virtue of a random draw and leading 35 laps, an early pit road penalty for violating the blend-line rule cost Almirola track position and two laps from the leaders. He was able to race his way towards the front in the closing laps of the race before he settled in 10th for his 10th top-10 result of the season. The result has Almirola 109 points above the top-16 cutline and as the highest competitor in points with no recorded victories 18 races into the 2020 regular season.

    “One of these days we’ll get everything to go our way,” Almirola said. “That was my fault on the penalty, but we had such a fast car and got it back in position to compete for a win again before that caution came out. We’re still bringing fast Smithfield Ford Mustangs every weekend and we learned a lot for when we come back here and compete for a championship.”

    Behind, the Busch brothers had strong runs at the Lone Star state. Kurt and the No. 1 Monster Energy/Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team capped off a race with top-10 results in the two stages to finish eighth, a result that keeps Kurt 108 points above the cutline. Kyle, on the other hand, rallied from being involved in a midway multi-car accident that involved his teammate, Truex Jr., to battle for the lead late in the race before settling in fourth. To go along with top-10 results in both stages, Kyle is 95 points above the cutline in his quest to defend his series title. The Busch brothers also continue to pursue their first victory of this season.

    “We had one of our best points days so far this season with the Monster Energy Camaro,” Kurt Busch said. “We scored stage points in the first and second stages, followed by another top-10 result. I really battled a loose handling car all day, it was really difficult on the restarts and short-runs, so I really had to work my butt off there at the end with all the cautions.”

    “It was a good finish and proud of the effort for everyone on this Interstate Batteries team,” Kyle Busch said. “We came a long way today. We got a lot of damage on the frontend of the car that you can’t see with the eye. Going through the grass, it killed it. I thought early on in the first stage, second stage maybe that we had a second-place car and then as the day went, we just kept getting further and further behind. Still a lot of work to do. The car didn’t drive very good at all. Just was able to get something out of nothing there at the end. We’ll go to Kansas and see if we can get a win there.”

    Behind, Matt DiBenedetto had another strong result established following his third-place result at Kentucky Speedway. His run, however, was spoiled following a late incident, where he sustained damage to his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang after being hit by rookie Quin Houff. Over the final two restarts, DiBenedetto was able to race his way back onto the lead lap, but he was unable to charge his way into the top five as he settled in 17th. Nonetheless, the result kept DiBenedetto inside the top-16 cutline by 51 points as DiBenedetto attempts to qualify for his first Cup Playoffs.

    Next, Clint Bowyer rallied from starting 17th to work his way up to 11th when the checkered flag flew. The result keeps Bowyer and his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team inside the cutline by 36 points as Bowyer attempts to make his ninth Playoff appearance approaching next week’s Cup race at Kansas Speedway, his home track.

    “That was a hot, tough day, for sure,” Bowyer said. “We worked hard all race trying to get our Rush Truck Centers Ford to turn better and the guys did a great job fixing our damage from the wreck. I didn’t know if we were going to finish because our engine temperature was so hot. They got it cooled down and we made it to the end with a good finish.”

    For the second consecutive week, seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson had a potential run for a strong result spoiled by an on-track incident. Compared to last weekend at Kentucky, Sunday’s at Texas came early and it was one where Johnson was unable to rally back into race-winning contention. Despite making significant contact with the Turn 4 outside wall, Johnson was able to proceed multiple laps down and gain advantage of others’ misfortunes to finish in 26th. The result has Johnson and the No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE clinging onto the final transfer spot to the Playoffs by two points.

    The first competitor out of the Playoff picture and looking ahead is William Byron and the No. 24 AXALTA/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team. With his seventh finish outside the top 15, second DNF, of this season, Byron’s disappointing season in the Cup Series continued after being involved in two incidents in the final stage of the race and despite starting strong. With his 37th-place result, Byron trails the top-16 cutline by two points as he attempts to qualify for his second consecutive Playoffs.

    “Honestly, it’s going to be tough,” Byron said. “We just have to find speed first. We’re not really running good at all and we’ve got to figure that out…We’ve just got to figure it out and figure it out quick before the fall.”

    With his career-best runner-up finish behind teammate Austin Dillon, rookie Tyler Reddick gained significant ground towards the Playoffs as he is 14 points below the cutline and looks to join fellow competitor and Rookie-of-the-Year rival Cole Custer into the Playoffs.

    “We really couldn’t ask for much more than what we got today,” Reddick declared. “One spot better would have been great, but the recovery this No. 8 Cat Oil and Gas team made today was huge. We’re racing for the big picture of making the playoffs, so we have to race smart. Days like this will help us get there.”

    Compared to Kentucky, Erik Jones had a good result at Texas, where he collected a handful of stage points following the second stage and recorded a strong sixth-place result. The Michigan native, however, trails the cutline by 24 points as he also attempts to record his first Cup win since September 2019.

    “We needed a solid run and mistake free and that’s what we did,” Jones said. “I thought coming into this race if we could just go in and have no mistakes and have decent speed we could run top-five and we came real close to that. We have to keep doing that. Obviously, we need to get some points, especially with two winners the last two weeks that have been from outside the Playoff picture. That kind of changes things for us. We’ll keep rolling, but a decent day for us.”

    Next, Bubba Wallace rallied from difficult results at Kentucky Speedway and the All-Star Open at Bristol Motor Speedway to record a 14th-place run after running in the top 10 late in the race. Despite the decent run, his eighth top-15 run of this season, Wallace trails the cutline by 76 points as he attempts to make his first Playoff appearance.

    “A top-15 day for the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Cash App Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team at the Texas Motor Speedway – a long, hot day that’s for sure,” Wallace said. “Proud of the efforts from our team…I thought we had a chance there. If that last caution had not come out, we maybe could have held on for a top-10 finish. But all-in-all, a great effort. Good bounce back from our last two weeks and we’ll just keep pushing to get our cars better. We’ll see what we got [at Kansas Speedway].”

    Behind, Chris Buescher had a strong race in the making at his home track. After finishing ninth in the first stage and having a potential top-10 run established, his run was spoiled after being involved in a multi-car wreck at the start of the final stage. When the checkered flag flew, Buescher settled in 19th, a lap behind the leaders. The result has Buescher 86 points below the cutline as he attempts to make his second career Playoffs appearance, first since 2016.

    Other competitors that remain in contention of the 2020 Cup Playoff battle include rookie Christopher Bell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Michael McDowell, rookie John Hunter Nemechek, Ryan Newman, Ty Dillon, Matt Kenseth, Corey LaJoie and Ryan Preece.

    The battle for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs continues next week at Kansas Speedway, which will air on July 23 at 7:30 p.m. ET 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.

  • 2020 Cup Playoff outlook after Kentucky

    2020 Cup Playoff outlook after Kentucky

    With nine races remaining until the 2020 NASCAR Cup Playoffs commences, a new name has been added to the postseason field.

    After his thrilling, four-wide pass for the win on Sunday in the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway, rookie Cole Custer has gone from being an Xfinity Series title contender to a Cup Series rookie and now, a Cup Series winner in a span of nine months. Of all the records he accomplished with his victory at Kentucky, the biggest one of all is guaranteeing himself and his No. 41 Haas Automation/Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team a spot in the postseason with an opportunity to contend for a Cup Series championship. In addition, he is set to become the 37th competitor to make the Cup Series Playoffs since its inception in 2004 and the first rookie contender to make the Playoffs since Chase Elliott and Chris Buescher qualified in 2016.

    Custer’s win at the Bluegrass State also stirred a major shakeup to the Playoff field with the Californian leaping from 25th to a spot within the top-16 postseason field. Through the first 17 Cup races of the 2020 season, nine competitors, including Custer, are guaranteed spots in the Playoffs by virtue of a win. That leaves seven spots vacant and many big names on the bubble or looking on the outside of the cutline with the postseason more than a month away from starting.

    The first competitor on the bubble is Aric Almirola, Custer’s teammate. Almirola and his No. 10 Smithfield/Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team had a race-winning setup at Kentucky after leading a race-high 128 laps and winning the first stage. An eighth-place result was a result that was not in mind for the Floridian, who has not won a Cup race since Talladega Superspeedway in October 2018. The good news for Almirola is he holds a 133-point cushion above the top-16 cutline and he recorded five consecutive top-five results prior to Kentucky, which indicates that his No. 10 team is hitting their strides late into the regular season while preparing for a title run.

    Like Almirola, Kurt Busch had a strong run at Kentucky. Starting seventh, Busch was shuffled out of the top 10 at the start of the race, but he was able to work his way back towards the front as the run progressed. Restarting fifth with two laps remaining, the 2004 Cup champion also had an opportunity to repeat his magic from last year’s Kentucky race, where he won in a thrilling two-lap shootout against his brother, Kyle. This year, however, Busch could only work his way as high as fifth when the checkered flag flew. While he did not earn his first win of the 2020 season, he and his No. 1 Monster Energy/Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team are 104 points above the cutline.

    Unlike Kurt, Kyle Busch had a disappointing run at Kentucky. A two-time Cup winner at the Bluegrass State, he started on pole by virtue of a random draw. After leading the first nine laps, things fell apart for Busch’s No. 18 M&M’s Toyota team, where they struggled in keeping pace with the leaders as the driver also fought grip issues. With less than 100 laps remaining, Busch nearly wrecked in Turn 4, but he was able to straighten his car and continue at the expense of losing multiple spots on the track. A 21st-place result left the reigning two-time Cup Series champion winless for another week into the 2020 season, but he remains 89 points above the cutline.

    If there was someone who had a great run at Kentucky on Sunday, it was Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang team. Starting 10th, DiBenedetto ran within the top five and top 10 throughout the race. On the final restart, he was able to charge his way from eighth to third when the checkered flag flew. DiBenedetto’s third-place result was his best since finishing in the runner-up spot at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in February. The podium spot was enough for DiBenedetto to stabilize himself above the cutline by 85 points.

    For Clint Bowyer, the Kentucky race was a day where late restarts hindered Bowyer’s run for a top-10 result. Starting 15th, Bowyer was able to work his way up to ninth when the first stage concluded. He was also in position for a top-10 result in the second stage, but a caution during a round of pit stops under green cost Bowyer spots as he could work his way back as high as 13th. In the final laps, Bowyer was in position to notch a top-10 result, but he was shuffled back to 14th when he crossed the finish line under the checkered flag. Bowyer’s eighth top-15 result of the season kept him 64 points above the cutline.

    For William Byron, it was a salvageable day for the Charlotte native and the No. 24 AXALTA/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team. Starting 21st, Byron made his way within the top 10 in the opening laps, but struggled on the bottom lane the ensuing restart. He worked his way up to 15th when the first stage concluded. The second stage was where Byron struggled the most with loose conditions as he settled outside the top 20 when the stage concluded. Making his way up towards the top 15 in the final stage, an opportunity presented itself for Byron during a cycle of pit stops under green and he was leading with 38 laps remaining. The caution allowed Byron to pit for four fresh tires and line up in sixth for the following restart. The bottom lane, however, hindered Byron’s progress to move towards the front. Despite starting seventh with two laps remaining, he was shuffled back to 11th when the checkered flag flew. With his 11th top-15 result of his junior season in the Cup level, he is 47 points above the cutline.

    A week after COVID-19 symptoms prevented him from racing for the first time since his debut in the Cup Series, Jimmie Johnson came roaring into Kentucky with vengeance and with a grand opportunity to leap himself into the Playoffs in his swan song season in the series. For much of the race, it appeared that Johnson and his No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team were growing closer and closer towards the front, working their way from starting 20th and running within the top 10. In the closing laps, Johnson was able to muscle his way into the top five and was lined up in third on a restart with 19 laps remaining with an opportunity to snatch the lead and his first win in over two years. Then, it came to a crushing blow when contact from Brad Keselowski sent Johnson sideways and out of contention. While Johnson was able to continue, the damage was done as he could only work his way back as high as 21st when the checkered flag flew. Even after missing last weekend’s race at Indianapolis followed by his result outside the top 20 at Kentucky, Johnson holds sole possession of the 16th and final spot to the Playoffs by 24 points as he is, already, setting his sights towards the upcoming regular-season races.

    With a 13th-place result, Austin Dillon finds himself outside the top-16 cutline by 24 points. The same goes for his Richard Childress Racing teammate and rookie Tyler Reddick, who trails by 41 points and continues to pursue his first Cup career win. Erik Jones, who struggled all race long at Kentucky with handling issues, finished 22nd as he and his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry team trail by 42 points. Like Jones, Bubba Wallace struggled with keeping up to pace with the leaders, and his 27th-place result, two laps behind, marked his seventh result outside the top 20. Wallace and the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team, however, remain in pursuit of the top-16 cutline by 84 points.

    Other notables that trail the top-16 cutline include Chris Buescher, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Christopher Bell, Michael McDowell, rookie John Hunter Nemechek, Ryan Newman, Ty Dillon, Matt Kenseth, Corey LaJoie, Ryan Preece and Daniel Suarez.

    Next on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on July 15, which starts with the All-Star Open at 7 p.m. ET on FS1 before the All-Star Race commences at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1. The next Cup points race is scheduled at Texas Motor Speedway on July 19, which will air at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • 2020 Cup Playoff outlook after Indianapolis

    2020 Cup Playoff outlook after Indianapolis

    With the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series regular season in its second half, there are 10 races remaining until the Cup Playoffs commence. Currently, six competitors are separated by 56 points for the 16th and final spot to the Playoffs while eight spots remain vacant for anyone in or out of the cutline to secure an early ticket to the postseason and with an opportunity to contend for the series championship.

    Following the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 at the Brickyard, the 16th race of the season, eight competitors are guaranteed a spot in the Playoffs based on a win. Kevin Harvick leads the way in the regular-season standings on the strength of four wins, including his recent one at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Chase Elliott and Brad Keselowski, both of whom trail Harvick by 85 and 88 points, are also guaranteed a spot by virtue of a victory. Others that are locked into the Playoffs with wins include Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr. and Alex Bowman.

    The first three competitors that occupy eight vacant spots to the Playoffs as winless competitors, following Indianapolis, are Aric Almirola, Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch. For Almirola, a race where he rallied from vibration concerns and an early unscheduled pit stop to finish third, his fifth consecutive top-five result was a result that stabilized his advantage from the top-16 cutline as he is 105 points inside the cutline and with an opportunity to make his third consecutive Playoffs.

    “We’re doing such a good job of being consistent,” Almirola said. “We’re bringing great race cars and we’re being really consistent running up front, so just really proud of this team and just want to keep it going. It’s fun to run up front like that.”

    For Kyle Busch, a sixth-place result marked a strong rebound from his 38th-place result last Sunday at Pocono Raceway due to a wreck. The result was his ninth top-10 result of the season as he is 10th in the regular-season standings and is 101 points above the top-16 cutline. The result, however, leaves him with a 16-race winless drought dating back to November 2019 at Homestead as he is still trying to pursue his first win of the 2020 season.

    “We just kept getting off on pit strategy with the Skittles America Mix Camry,” Kyle Busch said. “We had a valve stem come off the left rear [tire] on a stop and that put us in the back. Then we had vibrations at various points throughout the race with different sets of tires so we had to stay on top of that and make sure we changed those. Each time, that would put us on the back. I struggled to pass anybody most of the day, but somehow got spots on restarts. I was able to salvage a sixth-place finish and will head to Kentucky next week.”

    For his brother, Kurt, an early misfortune on pit road left the driver of the No. 1 Monster Energy/Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet team in 13th when the checkered flag flew. The result dropped Kurt Busch from 10th to 11th in the standings as he is 97 points above the cutline. He is also facing a 33-race winless drought dating back to July 2019 at Kentucky Speedway, which, ironically, marks the next destination for the Cup Series.

    Among those still inside the top-16 cutline are Matt DiBenedetto, Clint Bowyer and William Byron, who won the first stage but blew a left-front tire in the closing laps of the second stage. With a 27th-place result, which snapped his five-race stretch of finishing in the top 15, Byron and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team are 32 points above the cutline to the Playoffs.

    “Our Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE was super-fast today,” Byron said. “It just sucks because we have had a lot of these things happen this year. It’s not a fault of anyone, it just happens and it’s a bummer for sure. We’ve had fast cars and it feels like we always have bad luck when we do. That’s what hurts even more. We just need to bring that same speed to Kentucky and hopefully we won’t have any issues there. To be leading the race like that and have a tire issue is, I guess, a good way to go out. We’ll just see what we can do in Kentucky.”

    Despite missing his first Cup race in 663 races after testing positive of COVID-19, Jimmie Johnson still remains in the cutline by 36 points. His schedule for the remainder of his swan song season as a full-time competitor, however, remains undetermined as he awaits his upcoming COVID-19 tests and clearance from his physicians.

    Behind, Austin Dillon holds sole possession of the 16th and final transfer spot to the Playoffs by six points after finishing 18th despite running inside the top 10 the majority of the day at Indianapolis and gaining valuable stage points by finishing in the top five in the first two stages.

    “We had a really strong Dow Salutes Veterans Chevrolet today at the Brickyard and it was fun to be able to earn stage points in Stages 1 and 2 and lead laps,” Austin Dillon said. “Our Chevy was handling really well all day so we really only needed to make small adjustments throughout the race…Definitely not the finish we wanted or deserved today, but I’m proud of our effort. We had a lot of positives with earning stage points and leading laps.”

    The first competitor who trails the top-16 cutline is Erik Jones. Coming off an up-and-down weekend at the Pocono doubleheader, Jones ended his race in the garage after being involved in a harrowing accident in the second stage when he cut a right-front tire in Turn 3. His 33rd-place dropped him from 16th to 17th in the standings as he is behind by six points.

    “It’s a shame; it’s kind of the story of our season,” Jones said. “We’ve just had a rough year, and things are just not going our way. Hopefully, we can just turn it around, keep bringing fast cars and have things turn around for us.”

    With an eighth-place result and his fourth top-10 result of his rookie Cup season at Indy, rookie Tyler Reddick is 18th in the standings as he and his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet team trail the cutline by 16 points.

    “We had a great No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet when we could run in clean air and record some good lap times, but unfortunately we struggled in dirty air, like a lot of our competitors today,” Reddick said. “Any time we were battling someone side by side or from behind them, our car would just build way too tight and make it tough to gain or hold track position. We just had an up-and-down day, falling back early and then playing some strategy to stay out to start Stage 3 from the fifth spot…I was able to capitalize on the final restart with fresher tires and race up to eighth place, which is a great finish for our day. We had to grind it out today, but it turned out in our favor.”

    Behind Reddick, Bubba Wallace accomplished another respectable finish this season in his quest to make his first Playoffs. By finishing ninth and notching his third top-10 result of his junior year, Wallace gained two spots in the standings and is situated in 19th, 42 points behind the cutline, as he attempts to place a Richard Petty Motorsports entry in the Playoffs for the first time since 2014.

    “I guess it is good to be frustrated when you finish in the ninth place,” Wallace said. “All-in-all, it was a good day for this No. 43 World Wide Technology Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. It was fast. We just did not have the handling underneath us. It was good down the straightaways. It did not want to turn very well – specially behind traffic. One of the more frustrating days being behind cars and just trying to maneuver. So, coming out of there with a top-10 finish is good momentum going to the Kentucky Speedway – another good track for us. We will continue the good vibes and keep staying on [crew chief] Jerry [Baxter] to produce good finishes for us.”

    Trailing by 48 is Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who finished 36th after being involved in a bizarre wreck on pit road and ending his day early. Those who are in the top 30 in the points standings and still remain in contention for the Playoffs include Chris Buescher, rookie John Hunter Nemechek, Michael McDowell, rookie Christopher Bell, rookie Cole Custer, Ryan Newman, Ty Dillon, Matt Kenseth, Corey LaJoie and Ryan Preece.

    The road to the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs continues on Sunday, July 12, at Kentucky Speedway, which will air at 2:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Jones, Elliott, Almirola cap off Pocono doubleheader with top-five runs

    Jones, Elliott, Almirola cap off Pocono doubleheader with top-five runs

    While Denny Hamlin celebrated another win in the NASCAR Cup Series’ second race of the weekend at Pocono Raceway, drivers that included Erik Jones, Chase Elliott and Aric Almirola trailed the race winner from a distance, but with strong top-five runs entering the second half of this year’s Cup regular season.

    For Erik Jones, a third-place result on Sunday marked a huge turnaround from 24 hours earlier. In the closing laps of the second stage on Saturday, Jones’ race came to a crashing halt when he checked up entering Turn 4, was sent into a spin with rookie Tyler Reddick and made head-on contact with the inside wall that left Jones’ No. 20 Craftsman/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota destroyed and out of the race. On Sunday, racing in a backup car towards the rear of the field, the race started smoothly for the Michigan native as he was able to methodically carve his way through the field. Following the first stage, Jones finished 12 and in the second stage, he finished 13th. Throughout the final stage, which went green for the remainder of the race, Jones made his way into the top five in the closing laps. After making his final pit stop for fuel with 17 laps remaining, Jones was home free to make it to the end. With less than 10 laps remaining, Jones was back in the top five and he was able to gain two more spots to cross the line in third. The result marked Jones’ best finish along with his fourth top-five finish through 15 Cup races this season along with his fifth top-five result at the Tricky Triangle. The result was enough for Jones to move from 17th to 16th in the regular-season series standings as he is 14 points ahead of Austin Dillon for the final transfer spot to the 2020 Playoffs.

    “Yeah, today was a lot better than yesterday for sure,” Jones said. “It’s great to rebound like that. Unfortunately, I think we could have – definitely could have had two top-fives, and really, I think our primary car was quite a bit better than this car. I thought we could have probably contended both days a little more towards the win if we had our primary, but the Craftsman Camry was good. We made good changes overnight. We actually changed a lot of stuff and tried to kind of rebalance with what we had with this backup car. It’s nice to get a solid finish. I mean, we came off a good run at Talladega and went right back to a DNF and to come back here with a third. We just need to be consistent from here and keep it rolling.”

    Like Jones, a fourth-place result for Elliott was much needed coming off two consecutive disappointing weeks for the Georgia native and his No. 9 NAPA/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team. Mired with a 25th-place result on Saturday and starting at the rear of the field due to a transmission change, Elliott was in 13th at the conclusion of the first stage. He then worked his way into the top 10 throughout the second stage before finishing 11th after being edged by Hamlin for the final stage point. With less than 50 laps remaining in the final stage, Elliott was among a handful of competitors who made a green-flag pit stop for fuel that would last to the finish. For the remainder of the race, Elliott paced himself around the Tricky Triangle and benefited when more competitors, including Brad Keselowski, pitted to move up the leaderboard and cross the line in fourth. At the end of the race, Elliott was the highest-running Hendrick Motorsports’ car as William Byron and Alex Bowman finished in the top 10 while Jimmie Johnson finished 16th in his final run at Pocono. With Elliott’s fourth-place run, it was his seventh top-five result through 14 Cup races of the 2020 season and his third at the Tricky Triangle. Elliott and his No. 9 team are already guaranteed a spot in the 2020 Playoffs based on Elliott’s win at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May.

    “It was good to have a solid run for our NAPA team after yesterday being so poor,” Elliott said. “Obviously, we would’ve liked to of been a little better, but after starting in the back, I was pleased how I was able to move forward and gain a lot of that track position back. It was a good rebound. Looking forward to getting back on track at Indy.”

    Lastly, Almirola had a memorable weekend as he finished fifth and capped off the Pocono doubleheader with two consecutive top-five results. A day earlier, Almirola led the field to the start, led a race-high 61 laps and came home in third. On Sunday, Almirola started 18th and after pitting in the closing laps of the first stage, he was scored in 31st. By the start of the second stage, the Florida native was able to work his way into the top 10 and in the closing laps, his No. 10 Smithfield/Stewart-Haas Racing Ford was ahead of the pack. He took the lead just before a late caution for a single-car spin and on the following restart, Almirola was overtaken by Brad Keselowski and settled in second while earning valuable stage points in the second stage. With 25 laps remaining in the final stage, Almirola was in second, but was needing to pit for a final time to make it to the end on fuel. Four laps later, he pitted for fuel to make it to the end. With 10 laps remaining, he worked his way back to sixth and then, he gained one more position in the remaining laps to finish fifth. The fifth-place result was Almirola’s fourth consecutive top-five result and his second straight at Pocono after recording zero top-five results in his previous 15 starts at the Tricky Triangle. Following two stellar runs at Pocono, Almirola moved from 12th to ninth in the regular-season standings as he is 104 above the top-16 cutline.

    “Another top five,” Almirola said. “I’m so proud of [crew chief Mike Bugarewicz] and al the guys on this 10 team. That’s four top fives in a row. What a weekend we had here in Pocono, got a lot of stage points and finished third yesterday and fifth today. We’re riding a wave of momentum … We’ll go to Indy, a place that’s very similar to the tunnel turn at Pocono and felt like we were really good there this weekend. I’m excited about Indy and another top five.”

    The three drivers along with their fellow competitors will return for the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series’ race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400. The race will air on July 5 at 4 p.m. on NBC.

  • Talladega Cup summer race features unique top-10 notables

    Talladega Cup summer race features unique top-10 notables

    While Ryan Blaney celebrated his first triumph of this year’s NASCAR Cup Series season at Talladega Superspeedway, there were a number of competitors who left one of the world’s fastest superspeedway venues with strong results within the top 10.

    The first was Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Starting 20th, Stenhouse was competitive at the drop of the green flag as he carved his way towards the front. After finishing in 12th the first stage, Stenhouse started to flex his muscles as he and teammate Ryan Preece battled inside the top 10 throughout the second stage. On Lap 106, Stenhouse led his first lap of the day and led again six laps later. In a two-lap dash to the conclusion of the second stage, he returned to the lead and a lap later, he received a draft from Kyle Busch on the frontstretch to edge Ryan Blaney and win the stage, thus earning valuable stage points in his quest to make this year’s postseason. For the final stage, Stenhouse restarted 24th, but he made his way towards the front in the closing laps. Following a late caution and an overtime restart, Stenhouse was behind Blaney for the win entering the frontstretch. He made contact with Aric Almirola and battled dead even at the finish line with Blaney. When the dust settled, Stenhouse fell short of the win by 0.007 seconds and at a track where he scored his first Cup win in 2017. Nonetheless, the runner-up result was Stenhouse’s best in his first 13 races with JTG-Daugherty Racing and his third top-five result of the 2020 season. The result moved Stenhouse from 21st to 20th in the regular-season series standings, where he trails points leader Kevin Harvick by 227 points.

    “Yeah, I felt like I was a sitting duck there by myself,” Stenhouse said on MRN Radio. “Just trying to pick up different people to draft with all day. The Fords really stuck together, [Kyle Busch] and I pushed really good [at] each other and then, I don’t know what issue he had. So, I lost that guy, which I worked well with all day. All in all, our NOS Energy Drink car was really fast. Glad that a few fans got to stay here and watch a great race. I felt like we battled hard all day and put on a great show. It was fun.”

    Sliding across the finish line in third was Aric Almirola. A week after notching his first top-five result of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Almirola started 15th and settled at the rear of the field in the early laps of the race. Throughout the first stage, Almirola slowly moved his way towards the front, but settled in 20th following the first stage. Following the second stage, Almirola was in 25th. Prior to the overtime restart, Almirola was in seventh and a lap later, he was in eighth. Entering the frontstretch, he gained a huge run and had appeared to establish a race-winning move beneath Blaney before he made contact with Stenhouse inches from the finish line. Sliding backwards across the line, he was able to finish third and keep his car intact. With his second consecutive top-five result of the season, his best result in 13 Cup races this season and his sixth consecutive top-10 result at Talladega, Almirola moved from 13th to 12th in the standings, where he trails teammate Harvick by 153 points.

    “I thought we had a shot to get our Smithfield Ford Mustang in Victory Lane,” Almirola said on MRN. “We had a really good car and our strategy was to stay out of trouble all day and be there at the end. We were there at the end, it was close. We just couldn’t get it done. Proud of all of my guys on this team. We had a great week last week at Miami with a top five, and leave here at Talladega with another top five. So, we’ll keep building on that and looks like the ball’s going in the right direction for us.”

    Next was Erik Jones, who was inches from establishing a race-winning move on Blaney before he settled for a top-five finish. Starting 18th, Jones spent the majority of the race running at the back of the pack along with teammate Martin Truex Jr. while his other teammates, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, battled at the front. Following the first stage’s completion under caution, Jones was in 23rd and was also the second-highest Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with Truex behind him and Hamlin scored a lap down. Jones continued running towards the rear of the field throughout the second stage, where he finished 29th. With 42 laps remaining, Jones restarted second, but was forced off the track and below the double yellow lines (out of bounds) by Christopher Bell, which resulted in a penalty for Bell. He was running within the top 20 in the closing laps, but following a late caution and prior to an overtime restart, Jones moved up to 13th. On the final lap, he drafted Stenhouse towards the front and on the frontstretch, he was behind Blaney and was prepared to mount a last-lap pass for the win. After feigning a move on the outside, he moved to the inside, but was blocked by Blaney. He moved up the outside lane again with rookie John Hunter Nemechek behind him. Blaney moved up the track and made contact with Jones, which sent Jones into the wall. Despite sustaining significant damage to the front of his No. 20 Toyota Camry, Jones limped across the line in fifth following a three-race slump, where he finished no higher than 20th. With his third top-five result of the season and first at Talladega, Jones moved from 18th to 17th in the standings, where he trails Harvick by 185 points.

    Making his way to a sixth-place result was Chris Buescher. Starting 21st, Buescher finished 15th in the first stage and ninth in the second stage while spending the majority of the race inside the top 10 with a strong racecar. Following a series of late cautions and an overtime restart, Buescher was in third as he drafted Harvick to the front. He moved into second on the final lap, but did not receive any drafting help on the frontstretch as a handful of competitors overtook him for position. When the checkered flag waved, Buescher crossed the line in sixth for his third top-10 result of the season, his first at Talladega and his best result since finishing third in the Daytona 500 in February. With his result, Buescher, who also led four laps, remained in 19th in the standings and is 224 points behind Harvick.

    “Not a bad run for our Fastenal Ford Mustang and our team,” Buescher said in a post-race interview on social media. “Lots of excitement throughout the race at different areas and I obviously wanted to replay the end to do a little bit better. At the end of the day, it was a good run for us. We’ll go on to Pocono and go get a doubleheader.”

    Next was Alex Bowman. Coming into the weekend, Bowman had recorded two top-10 results in the previous eight races, one in the last seven. Starting eighth, Bowman remained towards the front in the early stages of the race. He led his first lap of the day on Lap 46 and again on Lap 50. He concluded the first stage in second under caution and emerged with the lead to start the second stage. By then, Bowman led a total of five laps before he was overtaken for the lead. When the second stage concluded, Bowman had fallen back to 16th. With three laps remaining, Bowman was in sixth when he dodged a late spin involving his teammate, Jimmie Johnson. With the race set into overtime, Bowman restarted within the top 15 and was able to battle his way to a seventh-place finish in two laps. With his fourth top-10 result of the season and third at Talladega, Bowman is eighth in the standings, trailing Harvick by 71 points. He is, nonetheless, guaranteed a spot in the postseason after winning earlier this season at Auto Club Speedway.

    Last but not least, John Hunter Nemechek rallied from an early incident to post a career-best run for him in the Cup Series and in his first tango at Talladega. Starting 22nd, Nemechek was inside the top 10 when the competition caution flew on Lap 25, but he settled in 16th following the first stage’s conclusion. While battling inside the top 10 at the race’s halfway point, Lap 94, Nemechek reported a possible cut tire to his No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford entering the frontstretch. He then got loose and spun near the pit road entrance, but he kept his car spinning in the tri-oval grass without damaging his car. Nemechek was able to rally from the spin to finish 14th in the second stage, two spots behind his teammate, Michael McDowell. Battling within the top 10 and 15 throughout the remainder of the race, Nemechek was in 13th when the caution flew with three laps remaining for a single-car incident and sent the race into overtime. Restarting 13th, Nemechek was just outside the top 10 to start the final lap. Then, with a multi-car wreck behind him, he made a charge into the top five in Turn 3. Entering the frontstretch, Nemechek tried to draft Jones to the win, but made contact with Jones and Jones slapped the wall but continued straight. At the finish line, Nemechek was able to cross the line in eighth for his second top-10 finish of his early Cup career and of the season, and to also emerge as the highest-running rookie of the race. With his best result in his 16th Cup Series start, Nemechek is 22nd in the standings, 252 points behind Harvick.

    “We had a really great run in our No. 38 Death Wish Coffee Ford Mustang today,” Nemechek said. “I really thought we had a shot at it at the end there, but I’m still proud of our entire team’s efforts. When we fired off, we were kind of tight, and then we had that tire go down in the second stage, but we managed to come back from it and battled into the top 10 by the end. I wish we would have won that thing, but a P8 finish at Talladega is still good for us and I want to thank everyone on the team for their support. I’m looking forward to giving Death Wish Coffee another chance at the checkered flag at Pocono.”

    The NASCAR Cup Series will return on June 27-28 for a special doubleheader weekend at Pocono Raceway. The first Pocono event will run on Saturday, June 27, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX and the second Pocono event will run on Sunday, June 28, at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.