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  • Bowman leads a 1-2-3-4 finish for Hendrick Motorsports at Dover

    Bowman leads a 1-2-3-4 finish for Hendrick Motorsports at Dover

    It was an historic day for Hendrick Motorsports as Alex Bowman assumed the lead under the final 100 laps following a stellar pit stop from his crew and went on to beat teammate Kyle Larson and win the Drydene 400 at Dover International Speedway on Sunday, May 16, as he also led a 1-2-3-4 finish for the HMS organization.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Martin Truex Jr., winner of last weekend’s event at Darlington Raceway, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Denny Hamlin, teammate and the regular-season points leader.

    Prior to the race, Chase Elliott dropped to the rear of the field due to his car failing pre-race inspection twice. Ryan Newman also dropped to the rear due to unapproved adjustments. Josh Berry, who was making his NASCAR Cup debut in the No. 77 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports, also dropped to the rear of the field due to a driver change as he replaced Justin Haley, who was absent from the Cup event and Saturday’s Xfinity Series event due to COVID-19 protocols.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Truex launched ahead with the lead followed by Kyle Larson, Hamlin and Kyle Busch. Truex, though, was able to lead the first lap with the field behind jostling for position.

    Through the first 10 laps of the event, Truex continued to lead by half a second over Larson and nearly seven-tenths of a second over William Byron. Hamlin was in fourth followed by Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Chris Buescher and Christopher Bell.

    Five laps later, Byron, who had taken over the runner-up spot over teammate Larson, started to close in on Truex for the lead. Another lap later, Byron powered his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to the lead. 

    By Lap 20, Byron was leading teammate Larson and Harvick while Truex slipped back to fourth place ahead of teammate Hamlin.

    By Lap 30 and with the leaders approaching lapped traffic, Byron continued to lead by a narrow margin over teammate Larson. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch, who was running in the top 10, had fallen back to 12th place after reporting a mechanical issue to his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry.

    When the field reached the competition caution on Lap 35, Byron maintained the lead over teammate Larson, Harvick, Truex and Hamlin. By then, Chase Elliott, who started at the rear of the field, was in 17th while Kyle Busch, who continued to have mechanical issues with his car, had fallen back to 23rd. In addition, names like Ryan Preece, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, Cole Custer and Aric Almirola were spared from being lapped by Byron.

    Under the competition caution, the leaders pitted and Larson was able to exit pit road ahead of teammate Byron. Following the pit stops, Tyler Reddick, Corey LaJoie and Michael McDowell were sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road.

    When the race restarted on Lap 40, Larson took off with the lead followed by Harvick.

    By Lap 50, Larson was out in front by half a second over Harvick while Byron, Ryan Blaney and Denny Hamlin were in the top five. Chris Buescher was in sixth followed by Brad Keselowski, Logano, Alex Bowman and Elliott. Truex was back in 11th followed by Austin Dillon, Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace and rookie Chase Briscoe. Kyle Busch was in 29th, the final car on the lead lap.

    Three laps later, Kyle Busch, who continued to battle engine issues, was lapped by Larson. Meanwhile, Byron, who continued to run in third place, radioed brake issues to his car.

    Through the first 70 laps of the event, Larson remained in the lead by nearly two seconds over Harvick followed by Byron. Behind, Corey LaJoie pitted due to a flat tire.

    Five laps later, Larson extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Harvick followed by Byron, Blaney and Hamlin. Buescher, Logano, Keselowski, Elliott and Bowman all remained in the top 10 ahead of Austin Dillon and Truex, who was struggling with pace.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Larson continued to lead by more than four seconds over Harvick followed by Byron, Blaney and Hamlin. Elliott moved up to sixth followed by Buescher, Logano, Bowman and Keselowski.

    In the closing laps of the first stage, Larson increased his advantage to more than seven seconds. Behind, Hamlin moved up to second place followed by Blaney, Harvick and Elliott while Byron fell back to sixth.

    On the final lap of the first stage, Chase Briscoe, who was trying to remain on the lead lap ahead of leader Larson, scrubbed the outside wall in Turn 1, though he was able to prevent the car from spinning. The debris from Briscoe’s damaged car was enough for the first stage to conclude under caution as Larson was able to claim his fifth stage victory of the season. Hamlin maintained the runner-up spot followed by Blaney, Elliott and Harvick while Byron, Logano, Bowman, Buescher and Keselowski were in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Larson maintained the lead following his pit service. Hamlin exited in second place followed by Elliott, Blaney and Logano. Soon after, Truex made another pit stop to have damage to the front of his car repaired.

    The second stage started on Lap 129 with Larson and Hamlin on the front row. At the start, Larson maintained the lead while Elliott drew his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE alongside Hamlin’s No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry for the runner-up spot.

    By Lap 135, Larson was leading by eight-tenths of a second over teammate Elliott followed by Blaney, Hamlin and Logano. Harvick, Buescher, Austin Dillon, Kurt Busch and Byron were in the top 10. 

    Through the first 150 laps of the event, Larson remained as the leader followed by teammate Elliott, Blaney, Hamlin and Logano. Harvick was in sixth followed by Byron, Buescher, Austin Dillon and Alex Bowman. Kurt Busch and Keselowski were in 11th and 12th, Truex was in 14th ahead of Daniel Suarez, Bubba Wallace was in 17th behind Tyler Reddick and Kyle Busch was in 36th, eight laps behind. By then, names like Cole Custer, Erik Jones, Ryan Newman, Ryan Preece, Christopher Bell, Matt DiBenedetto, Michael McDowell and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were a lap behind.

    More than 20 laps later, the caution returned when Josh Berry scrubbed the wall in Turn 2. Prior to the pit road opening for the leaders, Blaney pitted to have a hole on the front of his car fixed and due to a flat tire. When the pits opened, the leaders pitted and Larson retained the lead after exiting ahead of Elliott, Hamlin, Harvick and Byron.

    When the race restarted on Lap 176, Larson launched ahead with a strong start followed by Elliott and Hamlin while Harvick and Byron battled for fourth place. In addition, Bowman, the fourth Hendrick Motorsports competitor, joined the party in sixth place.

    By Lap 190, Larson extended his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over teammate Elliott while Hamlin, Byron and Harvick continued to run in the top five. A few laps later, Penske teammates Logano and Keselowski nearly made contact with one another in Turn 1 while battling for eighth place. 

    At the halfway mark on Lap 200, Larson was leading by nearly a second over teammate Elliott while teammate Byron trailed by nearly five seconds. Hamlin was in fourth while Bowman was in fifth, marking all four Hendrick Motorsports competitors in the top five. Harvick was in sixth followed by Kurt Busch, Keselowski, Austin Dillon and Aric Almirola.

    By Lap 220, all four Hendrick Motorsports competitors were running first through fourth, with Larson leading Elliott, Bowman moving up in third and Byron back in fourth. Hamlin was in fifth followed by Harvick, Kurt Busch, Keselowski, Austin Dillon and Almirola. Logano, meanwhile, was in 13th behind Reddick and Truex.

    Despite having teammate Elliott closing in for the lead, Larson was able to pull away late as he approached lapped traffic and win the second stage on Lap 240 for his sixth stage victory of the season. Elliott followed behind in second place followed by teammates Bowman and Byron while Hamlin was in fifth. Harvick, Kurt Busch, Keselowski, Austin Dillon and Reddick were scored in the top 10. By then, names like Wallace and Logano remained on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Larson retained the lead following another stellar stop from his pit crew followed by Bowman, Elliott, Byron and Kurt Busch.

    With 152 laps remaining, the final stage started. At the start, Larson rocketed away with another strong start while teammates Bowman and Elliott battled for the runner-up spot. Behind, a three-wide battle ensued between Harvick, Keselowski and Hamlin with Harvick moving into sixth place behind Kurt Busch while ahead of Keselowski and Hamlin. 

    Down to the final 135 laps of the event, Larson was out in front by more than two seconds over teammate Bowman with teammate Byron trailing by nearly three seconds and teammate Elliott trailing by three seconds. Kurt Busch, meanwhile, remained in fifth followed by Harvick, Keselowski, Hamlin, Austin Dillon, Reddick, Blaney, Ross Chastain, Almirola, Logano, Suarez and Truex.

    Fifteen laps later, Larson stabilized his advantage to nearly three seconds over teammate Bowman with his other two teammates, Byron and Elliott, trailing by more than four seconds. Harvick was in fifth place, trailing by more than seven seconds, after overtaking former teammate Kurt Busch.

    Down to the final 100 laps of the race, Larson remained in the lead followed by teammates Bowman, Byron and Elliott with Harvick in fifth. A lap later, though, the caution returned when Aric Almirola made hard contact into the Turn 3 outside wall after he blew a right-front tire, with fire eventually flaming out of Almirola’s car. The on-track incident marked Almirola’s fifth DNF and his sixth result of 30th or worse this season. 

    Under the caution period, the leaders pitted and Bowman, whose pit crew clocked off a fast pit service, emerged with the lead ahead of teammates Larson, Elliott and Byron with Harvick coming out in fifth.

    With 92 laps remaining, the race restarted and Bowman maintained the lead over Larson and Elliott. Behind, Harvick overtook Byron for fourth with Hamlin lurking behind.

    Six laps later, the caution returned when a bump from Ricky Stenhouse Jr. sent rookie Anthony Alfredo sideways and spinning to the inside wall in Turn 2, where he made contact with the wall. In the midst of the incident, Stenhouse and Keselowski received minor damage to their respective machines.

    Under caution, a majority of competitors led by Hamlin pitted while the rest led by Bowman remained on the track. Overall, all four Hendrick competitors along with Harvick, Tyler Reddick, Daniel Suarez and Bubba Wallace remained on the track.

    With 81 laps remaining, the race restarted. At the start, Bowman pulled ahead followed by Larson while Elliott struggled to launch on the inside lane. Despite Larson challenging teammate Bowman for the lead through Turns 1 and 2, Harvick pulled his No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang alongside Larson’s No. 5 Nations Guard Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE in Turn 3, which allowed Bowman to maintain the lead.

    While Bowman continued to lead under the final 75 laps, Larson remained within sight of the lead by nearly seven-tenths of a second followed by Elliott, Harvick and Byron. Suarez and Reddick maintained sixth and seventh while Wallace battled owner Hamlin for eighth place.

    Just then, debris drew the caution, which jumbled the field and erased Bowman’s lead over teammate Larson. Under caution, a majority of the leaders remained on the track while others like Logano, Custer pitted.

    The race restarted with 70 laps remaining and with teammates Bowman and Larson on the front row. At the start, Bowman maintained the lead followed by Larson and Elliott while Byron retook fourth place over Harvick.

    Under the final 60 laps of the event, on-track battling occurring and with weather threats looming near the track, Bowman remained as the leader under half a second over a hard-charging Larson followed by Elliott, Byron and Harvick. Reddick, Suarez, Hamlin, Wallace and Logano were in the top 10 followed by Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain, Kurt Busch, Custer and Truex.

    With 50 laps remaining, Bowman continued to lead by half a second over teammate Larson with teammates Elliott and Byron remaining in third and fourth. Harvick remained in fifth followed by Reddick, Suarez, Logano, Hamlin and Wallace, who had Blaney challenging him for more.

    Down to the final 35 laps of the event, Bowman was leading by more than a second over teammate Larson while Elliott, Byron and Harvick stabilized themselves in the top five. Reddick, Logano, Suarez, Hamlin and Wallace also stabilized themselves in the top 10.

    With 20 laps remaining, the gap between leader Bowman and runner-up Larson remained to more than a second, with teammate Elliott behind by more than two seconds and teammate Byron trailing by more than seven seconds. Harvick remained in fifth place while Logano overtook Reddick for sixth place. A few laps later, Custer overtook Wallace for 10th place.

    Under the final 10 laps, the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE driven by Bowman continued to lead by more than a second over teammate Larson, who continued to lose ground on his teammate for the top spot. Bowman maintained his healthy advantage under the final five laps of the event. 

    With no challengers closing in to his rear bumper, Bowman was able to come back around and claim the checkered flag ahead of his three HMS teammates.

    The Dover victory marked Bowman’s first at the Monster Mile, fourth of his Cup Series career and second of this season as he joined Martin Truex Jr. as the only multi-winners of this year’s Cup season. He also returned the iconic No. 48 car to Victory Lane at Dover for the first time since 2017 made by Jimmie Johnson, who won at Dover 11 times. The 1-2-3-4 finish was a first for HMS and the fourth time done by a NASCAR team.

    “We won Richmond and then had a really rough couple weeks there,” Bowman said on FS1. “[We] Went to some really good race tracks for us and struggled. [I] Told the guys last week, ‘We’re still the same team that did it at Richmond.’ It’s another really good place for us. I’m just so pumped for Ally. It feels right to put the No. 48 back in Victory Lane here after how many races this car has won here. Mr. [Hendrick] is here, I don’t think I’ve won with him here befrore, so that’s really cool. Just so proud of this pit crew. It was a rough off-season for us and a big void to fill…The whole pit crew’s doing a really good job. Thanks to my spotter, Kevin Hamlin, for coaching me there at the end. It was fun racing Kyle [Larson] and glad to get Hendrick Motorsports another win.”

    With the Dover victory and career win No. 267, Hendrick Motorsports is one win away from tying Petty Enterprises for the most victories all-time in the Cup Series. In addition, Chevrolet is one win away from achieving 800 victories in NASCAR’s premier series.

    “I can guarantee you, this is the most nervous I’ve ever been in a race,” Rick Hendrick said. “Great day for the organization. Alex, congratulations to him. This is a sign of the guys working together and bringing good stuff to the track. I don’t think it’ll hit me till tomorrow that we were able to finish 1-2-3-4. That’s pretty hard to do, things can happen, pit stops, tires, anything. That’s a first. We’ll take it. It’s a great day for us.”

    Larson, who led a race-high 263 laps, crossed the finish line in second place, two seconds behind, and for his third runner-up result of the season. 

    “I felt like all of us, HMS guys, were pretty equal, so it was like whoever got out to the lead was gonna be hard to beat,” Larson said. “[Bowman’s] team just really did a good job on that pit stop, gain control of the race and never really had a shot after that. That one restart, I got to his bumper and got him loose, but [Harvick] was coming, so we had to let each other go, but hard to be disappointed with that second. I felt like I did everything I could. We led a lot of laps, won both stages. Good points, but I would’ve liked to have been one spot better…What a day for Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet. Thanks to everybody at the shop, the engine shop. This is pretty amazing…That’s a pretty special day, for sure.”

    Elliott finished in third place, three-and-a-half seconds behind, as he has yet to win this season. Byron capped off the 1-2-3-4 finish for Hendrick Motorsports by finishing fourth as he also captured his 11th consecutive top-10 result.

    Logano emerged as the highest-finishing non-Hendrick Motorsports competitor by finishing fifth while Harvick, Hamlin, Reddick, Suarez and Custer finished in the top 10. 

    Wallace claimed his first top-15 finish of this season and for 23XI Racing by finishing 11th ahead of Blaney, Kurt Busch, Austin Dillon and Chastain. Keselowski finished 16th, Truex came home in 19th and Kyle Busch capped off his long afternoon in 27th. Josh Berry finished 30th in his Cup debut.

    There were 10 lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 41 laps. 

    Denny Hamlin continues to lead the regular-season standings by 101 points over William Byron and 102 over Martin Truex Jr.

    With the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series regular-season stretch halfway complete, 10 competitors (Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, William Byron, Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Christopher Bell and Michael McDowell) are currently guaranteed a spot in the Playoffs based on winning at least once. Denny Hamlin would also be guaranteed a spot based on leading the regular-season standings. Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick, Austin Dillon, Chris Buescher and Tyler Reddick are inside the top-16 cutline to the Playoffs as winless competitors, with Reddick ahead by 17 points over Matt DiBenedetto, 30 over Kurt Busch, 32 over Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 38 over Ryan Newman, 49 over Bubba Wallace, 56 over Daniel Suarez and 58 over Ross Chastain.

    Results.

    1. Alex Bowman, 98 laps led

    2. Kyle Larson, 263 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    3. Chase Elliott

    4. William Byron, 21 laps led

    5. Joey Logano

    6. Kevin Harvick

    7. Denny Hamlin, two laps led

    8. Tyler Reddick

    9. Daniel Suarez

    10. Cole Custer

    11. Bubba Wallace

    12. Ryan Blaney

    13. Kurt Busch

    14. Austin Dillon

    15. Ross Chastain

    16. Brad Keselowski

    17. Chris Buescher

    18. Ryan Preece, one lap down

    19. Martin Truex Jr., one lap down, 16 laps led

    20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap down

    21. Christopher Bell, four laps down

    22. Erik Jones, four laps down

    23. Ryan Newman, four laps down

    24. Matt DiBenedetto, five laps down

    25. Michael McDowell, five laps down

    26. Corey LaJoie, seven laps down

    27. Kyle Busch, seven laps down

    28. Anthony Alfredo, eight laps down

    29. Quin Houff, 12 laps down

    30. Josh Berry, 12 laps down

    31. Cody Ware, 13 laps down

    32. Garrett Smithley, 17 laps down

    33. James Davison, 18 laps down

    34. Josh Bilicki, 19 laps down

    35. Chase Briscoe, 65 laps down

    36. B.J. McLeod – OUT, Engine

    37. Aric Almirola – OUT, Accident

    Next on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is a trip to Austin, Texas, for the series’ inaugural event at the Circuit of the Americas for the EchoPark Texas Grand Prix. The event is slated to occur on Sunday, May 23, at 2:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Bowman to make 200th Cup start at Kansas

    Bowman to make 200th Cup start at Kansas

    Competing in his sixth full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series, Alex Bowman is set to achieve a milestone start. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s event at Kansas Speedway, the driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE will reach 200 starts in NASCAR’s premier series.

    A native from Tucson, Arizona, Bowman made his inaugural presence in the Cup Series a month prior to the 2014 season. By then, he was coming off a full-time Xfinity Series season with RAB Racing and was testing for BK Racing during Dayton’s Preseason Thunder leading up to the Daytona 500. Bowman’s testing session was enough for him to earn a full-time ride with BKR for the 2014 Cup season and in the No. 23 Toyota Camry.

    Qualifying for the 2014 Daytona 500, Bowman finished 23rd in his first Cup career race. Throughout his first full-time season in the Cup circuit, he achieved a season-best 13th-place result at Daytona in July, an average result of 32.6 and a 35th-place result in the final standings. He also settled in sixth place in the Cup Rookie-of-the-Year standings.

    In 2015, Bowman departed BKR and joined Tommy Baldwin Racing as driver of the No. 7 Chevrolet SS. He started the season on a low note by failing to qualify for the Daytona 500 after wrecking in his Daytona Duel event. From the second race of the season at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where he raced, through the season-finale event at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November, Bowman achieved a season-best 16th-place result at Talladega Superspeedway in April, a total of three top-20 results, an average result of 31.6 and a 33rd-place result in the final standings.

    A month prior to the 2016 season, Bowman was replaced by Regan Smith at Tommy Baldwin Racing, thus leaving Bowman without a full-time ride for the first half of the Cup season. Everything changed in July, though, when Bowman was named driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet SS for the Cup event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July, replacing third-generation star Dale Earnhardt Jr. after Earnhardt Jr. was ruled out from competing after being diagnosed with concussion-like symptoms. During the main event at New Hampshire, Bowman was competitive and was in position for a strong result until a cut tire sent him into the wall late in the event and relegated him to a 26th-place result.

    With Earnhardt Jr. sidelined, Bowman ended up sharing the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet SS with four-time NASCAR Cup champion Jeff Gordon for the remaining 18 Cup events of the 2016 season. Competing in 10 events, Bowman recorded his first three top-10 career results in the Cup circuit, including a season-best sixth place at Phoenix Raceway in November, where he notched his first Cup career pole and led a race-high 194 of 324 laps. Bowman’s pole at Phoenix guaranteed him a spot for the 2017 Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona. Despite entering the 2017 season without a full-time ride, he drove Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 88 Chevrolet SS in the Clash, where he drove the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet SS to a third-place result following a side-by-side battle with Kyle Busch on the final lap.

    Three months after Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced his retirement from full-time Cup competition after 2017 in April, Bowman was named a full-time driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for the 2018 Cup season, a move that was endorsed by Earnhardt Jr.

    In his first run as a full-time HMS competitor, Bowman claimed the pole position for the 2018 Daytona 500. During the main event, he led 13 laps and was a top contender until he was collected in a late multi-car accident and finished 17th. He went on to earn a season-best third-place result at Pocono Raceway in July and a total of nine top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch. Despite recording zero victories throughout the regular season, Bowman was able to make the 2018 Cup Playoffs based on consistency.

    In the Playoff’s Round of 16, Bowman earned results of 19th, 12th and fourth, which were enough for him to advance to the Round of 12. During the Round of 12, however, he recorded results of 28th, 33rd and ninth, which eliminated from title contention. Bowman went on to conclude the season in 16th place in the final standings. By then, he surpassed 100 Cup career starts.

    Bowman commenced the 2019 Cup season by starting on the front row for the season-opening Daytona 500 and finishing 11th in the main event. Nine races later, he earned a career-best second-place result at Talladega Superspeedway in April. He went on to record two additional runner-up results the following two races at Dover International Speedway and at Kansas Speedway in May. 

    Five races later, Bowman prevailed in a late battle with Kyle Larson to claim his first Cup career win at Chicagoland Speedway in June. In becoming the 18th competitor to win while driving for Hendrick Motorsports, Bowman recorded the first victory for HMS’ No. 88 Chevrolet team since Phoenix in November 2015.

    Returning to the Playoffs, Bowman advanced to the Round of 12 following results of sixth, 23rd and second during the Round of 16. Despite recording results of third, 37th and 11th in the Round of 12, his title hopes came to an end. Nonetheless, Bowman went on to conclude the season in 12th place in the final standings and with a career-high seven top-five results.

    Remaining at HMS for a third consecutive season, Bowman opened the season with a 24th-place result in the Daytona 500 despite starting on the front row. Two races later, however, he notched his second Cup career victory at Auto Club Speedway after leading a race-high 110 of 200 laps. 

    Following his victory at Fontana, Bowman went on to earn a total of eight top-10 results before entering the Playoffs as a title contender. He transferred to the Round of 12 for the third consecutive season and following results of sixth, ninth and 16th in the Round of 16. For the 2020 season, though, he was also able to advance to the Round of 8 following results of fifth, 14th and eighth during the Round of 12. Bowman remained competitive during the Round of 8 while logging in results of third, fifth and sixth. They were not enough, however, for him to advance to the Championship Round at Phoenix. Ultimately, Bowman concluded the season in a career-best sixth place in the final standing and with a career-best 15 top-10 results. 

    This season, Bowman pilots the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, a ride driven by seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, who retired from full-time NASCAR competition following the 2020 season. His first run in the No. 48 car started off on a high note as Bowman claimed his second Daytona 500 pole of his career. In doing so, he became the first competitor to start on the front row for the 500 for four consecutive seasons. His bid for a first Daytona 500 victory, though, came to an end after being involved in an early multi-car wreck.

    Through the first eight Cup events of the 2021 season, Bowman’s best result was a third-place run at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March. The following event at Richmond Raceway in April, he overtook Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano following a late restart to claim his third Cup triumph and return the No. 48 HMS car to Victory Lane since June 2017 at Dover International Speedway.

    In 199 previous Cup starts, Bowman has achieved three career victories, three poles, 18 top-five results, 45 top-10 results, over 900 laps led and an average result of 21.7. He is currently ranked in 14th place in the 2021 Cup Series regular-season standings.

    Bowman is slated to make his 200th Cup career start at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, May 2, at 3 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Bowman grabs a thrilling late victory at Richmond

    Bowman grabs a thrilling late victory at Richmond

    Alex Bowman saved his best performance for the last after overtaking Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano on a restart with 12 laps remaining to win the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway on Sunday, April 18, for his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2021 season. In addition, Bowman won after rallying from a pit road penalty prior to the final stage.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Martin Truex Jr., winner of last week’s Cup event at Martinsville Speedway, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Denny Hamlin, Truex’s teammate and the regular-season points leader.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Truex jumped ahead with an early advantage. He was followed by Chase Elliott and Joey Logano while Hamlin, the first car on the outside lane, dropped back to fourth. 

    Entering Turn 1, Logano slipped up wide and Hamlin was able to move up to third place entering Turn 3. At the front, though, Truex led the first lap over Elliott.

    By Lap 10, Truex was out in front by more than six-tenths of a second over teammate Hamlin, with Logano, Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney in the top five. Kevin Harvick was in sixth followed by Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, William Byron and Austin Dillon.

    By Lap 25, Truex stabilized his early advantage by nearly eight-tenths of a second over Hamlin while Blaney, teammate Logano and Elliott remained in the top five. Harvick continued to run in sixth followed by Larson, Bell, Austin Dillon and Byron. 

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 30, Truex was leading by nearly a second over teammate Hamlin. By then, names like Tyler Reddick, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Bubba Wallace and Matt DiBenedetto were in the top 15. In addition, Alex Bowman was in 17th, Aric Almirola was in 19th ahead of teammate Cole Custer, Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman were in 21st and 22nd, rookie Chase Briscoe was in 24th behind Michael McDowell, Daniel Suarez was in 28th behind Austin Cindric and Erik Jones was in 29th. 

    Under the competition caution, the leaders pitted and Hamlin emerged with the lead following his four-tire service followed by teammate Truex, Blaney, Logano and Elliott. Larson, who came into pit road running in the top 10, dropped all the way back to 18th after receiving a packer on his car during his service.

    When the race restarted on Lap 37, Hamlin, this time around, prevailed on the outside lane to retain the lead while Logano moved up to second place over Truex. Behind, Byron moved his No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE into fourth place followed by Blaney while Elliott and Bell battled for sixth. 

    By Lap 50, Hamlin was leading by more than a second over Logano while Truex, Byron and Blaney stabilized themselves in the top five. Bell was in sixth followed by Elliott, Keselowski, Austin Dillon and Harvick.

    Through the first 65 laps of the event, Hamlin’s No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry continued to lead by more than a second over Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang. Truex’s No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry was in third followed by Byron and Blaney. Bell, racing in his No. 20 SiriusXM Toyota Camry, was in sixth followed by Austin Dillon, Keselowski, Harvick and Alex Bowman. Elliott, meanwhile, had fallen back to 11th in front of Kyle Busch while Larson was mired back in 21st place and in between Ryan Newman and Austin Cindric.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 80, Hamlin was scored the leader as he achieved his fourth stage victory of the season. Truex prevailed in a late battle over Logano to settle in second followed by Byron and Blaney. Bell, Bowman, Austin Dillon, Keselowski and Harvick were scored in the top 10. By then, 29 of the 38 competitors were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, the leaders returned to pit road and Hamlin, Truex, Logano, Byron and Blaney.

    The second stage started on Lap 90 with teammates Hamlin and Truex on the front row. At the start, Hamlin retained the lead following a strong start while Truex retained second place ahead of Logano and Blaney. Meanwhile, Bowman started to challenge teammate Byron for a spot in the top five.

    By Lap 100, Hamlin continued to lead by a narrow margin over teammate Truex, who started to pressure his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate for the top spot. 

    Four laps later and following an intense battle with his teammate, Truex returned to the lead following a pass through Turns 2 and 3. By then, Logano continued to run in third place followed by Bowman while Harvick cracked the top five.

    By Lap 110, Truex started to stretch his advantage as he was less than a second ahead of teammate Hamlin. Logano and Bowman battled for third place followed by Harvick, Byron, Blaney, Keselowski, Bell and Kyle Busch. Meanwhile, Kurt Busch was in 13th behind teammate Ross Chastain, Austin Dillon and Elliott were in 15th and 16th, Larson was in 18th in front of Reddick and Bubba Wallace was in 20th ahead of Briscoe, Cindric and Newman.

    Through the first 125 laps of the event, Truex continued to lead by less than half a second over teammate Hamlin. Logano stabilized himself in third place followed by Bowman’s No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE and Harvick’s No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang.

    By Lap 135, green flag pit stops started as Harvick pitted along with Kyle Busch, Chris Buescher, leader Truex, Hamlin, Bell, Briscoe, Cole Custer, Logano, Byron, Kurt Busch, Chastain, Wallace, Larson and others.

    In the midst of the pit stops, the caution flew on Lap 140 when a tap from Cindric sent Newman spinning in Turn 3.

    Under caution, some like Austin Dillon, teammate Reddick, Brad Keselowski, DiBenedetto, Corey LaJoie, Daniel Suarez and others that had not yet pitted under green pitted.

    With the field cycling back under caution and some taking the wave around, Harvick emerged with the lead, where he was set to restart alongside Truex. By then, 20 competitors were scored on the lead lap while names like Larson, Wallace, Briscoe, Erik Jones, Cindric, Buescher, Custer, McDowell, Newman and others were pinned a lap behind.

    When the race restarted on Lap 147, Truex rocketed away from Harvick to reassume the lead. Hamlin muscled his way into second place, thus dropping Harvick to third and with Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski and Logano trailing behind.

    By Lap 160, Truex was out in front by a second over teammate Hamlin while Harvick, Logano and Keselowski continued to run in the top five. Reddick was in sixth followed by Bowman, DiBenedetto, Austin Dillon and Suarez. LaJoie was in 11th followed by Bell, Kyle Busch, Byron and Kurt Busch.

    Through the first 175 laps of the event, Truex’s advantage over teammate Hamlin decreased to nearly half a second, though the former remained out in front.

    Nearly 10 laps later, a second round of pit stops under green commenced as the leaders Truex and Hamlin pitted. Soon, Austin Dillon made the turn to pit road along with Bowman, Harvick, Kyle Busch, Corey LaJoie, Elliott, Suarez, Larson, Logano, Buescher, Briscoe and others.

    By Lap 193, Keselowski, who has yet to pit, was leading followed by Kurt Busch and Blaney while Hamlin, the first competitor with fresh tires, was in fourth ahead of teammate Truex. Logano was in sixth while everyone else behind, starting with seventh-place Bowman, were a lap behind.

    On Lap 207, Hamlin utilized the fresh tires to his advantage as he overtook Keselowski for the lead. Shortly after, Truex moved into second place followed by Logano as Keselowski slipped back to fourth. Prior to this, Kurt Busch and Blaney pitted.

    By Lap 225, Hamlin, who was encountering lapped traffic, including Elliott, was ahead by less than half a second over teammate Truex followed by Logano, Bowman and Harvick. 

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 235, Hamlin was able to navigate his way through the lapped traffic to claim his fifth stage victory of the season. Teammate Truex finished second followed by Logano, Bowman, Harvick, DiBenedetto, Kyle Busch, Byron, Bell and Almirola. By then, Elliott, who was in 12th, was able to remain as the first competitor scored a lap behind, thus giving him the free pass ticket for the caution. The result left names like Reddick, Kurt Busch, Suarez, Keselowski and others pinned a lap behind.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Hamlin retained the lead following another stellar service from his crew. Teammate Truex, Logano, Harvick, Kyle Busch and Byron. During the pit stops, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was panelized for equipment interference. In addition, Bowman was sent to the rear of the field due to an uncontrolled tire violation.

    With 153 laps remaining, the final stage started as JGR’s Hamlin and Truex led the field on the front row. At the start, Hamlin retained the lead followed by Logano and Truex while teammate Kyle Busch started to challenge his way to the front while running in fourth. 

    Under the final 150 laps, Logano issued a challenge on Hamlin for the race lead. Though he was able to draw himself even with Hamlin’s car, he was unable to pull ahead nor clear Hamlin as Hamlin retained the top spot. 

    Shortly after, the battle for the lead between Hamlin and Logano became a three-man battle for the lead as Truex joined the party. 

    With 135 laps remaining, Hamlin remained as the leader by less than half a second over Logano and a second over Truex. Kyle Busch, the third JGR competitor, remained in fourth place while trailing the leaders by more than two seconds while Harvick was back in fifth place, trailing by three seconds. Matt DiBenedetto, meanwhile, was in sixth followed by Bell, Byron, Almirola and Austin Dillon.

    With 110 laps remaining, Hamlin stabilized his advantage as he was leading by more than a second over Logano and more than two seconds over Truex.

    Not long after, another round of pit stops under green commenced as Suarez pitted along with Austin Dillon, Bowman, Reddick, the Busch brothers, Almirola, DiBenedetto and others. Leader Hamlin also pitted followed by Truex.

    During the pit stops, disaster struck for Truex, who was caught speeding on pit road during his service and was forced to serve a drive-through penalty on pit road.

    Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Hamlin was leading by nearly two seconds over Logano. Kyle Busch was in third followed by Harvick and Bell. Byron, teammate Bowman, Almirola, Austin Dillon and DiBenedetto were in the top 10. Truex, following his pit stop penalty, was in 12th place, the final car scored on the lead lap.

    With 75 laps remaining, Hamlin stabilized himself as the leader by nearly half a second over Logano. Kyle Busch, racing in his No. 18 M&M’s Red Nose Day Toyota Camry, continued to run in third place followed by teammate Bell and Harvick. Truex, meanwhile, was in 10th place while Chase Elliott was back as the final car on the lead lap in 12th place. 

    Under the final 70 laps of the event, the battle for the lead started to heat up as Hamlin had Logano closing in on him for the lead as both encountered lapped traffic.

    Five laps later, Logano emerged with the lead over Hamlin. By then, Elliott was lapped along with Austin Dillon. 

    Under the final 60 laps of the event, pit stops under green occurred as names like Byron, Bowman, Elliott, Jones, Logano, Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Harvick, Keselowski, Truex and others pitted. Earlier, Byron tried to enter pit road but he was forced to circle around the track another lap after failing to slow his car prior to the pit road entrance. 

    Following the pit stops, Kyle Busch was penalized for a commitment line violation and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty through pit road. 

    With 50 laps remaining, Logano was leading by more than a second over Hamlin followed by Bell, Bowman and Byron. Harvick, Almirola, Truex and DiBenedetto were running sixth through ninth. Kyle Busch, following his late pit road penalty, was back in 10th place and trapped a lap behind.

    Under the final 35 laps of the event, Logano, who was navigating his way through lapped traffic, was still ahead by nearly eight-tenths of a second over Hamlin. Bell was in third place and trailing the two leaders by nearly 13 seconds. Bowman was in fourth and Harvick was in fifth.

    With the laps winding down, the battle for the lead started to heat up as Hamlin closed back in on Logano’s rear bumper for the lead. He then started to challenge Logano on the inside lane, with Logano fighting back on the outside lane. Way behind the leaders, Bowman started to catch Bell for third place.

    Then with 20 lap remaining and the battle for the lead between Logano and Hamlin heating up, the caution flew when a cut right-rear tire sent Harvick sliding into the Turn 1 outside wall, where he slapped the wall and sustained significant rear end damage. 

    Under caution, the leaders pitted and Hamlin reassumed the lead following another stellar service from his pit crew. Logano exited pit road in second place followed by Bowman, Bell and Almirola.

    With 12 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Hamlin took off with the lead with a strong start while Bowman challenged Logano for the runner-up spot.

    The following lap, Bowman took over the runner-up spot over Logano, but he was not done as he immediately challenged Hamlin for the race lead on the inside lane.

    Following a battle beneath Hamlin’s Toyota, Bowman emerged with the lead with 10 laps remaining following a power move in Turn 1.

    With five laps remaining, Bowman was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Hamlin. Logano was back in third while Almirola and Bell were in the top five. Behind, Truex worked his way up to sixth place followed by Byron, Kyle Busch, DiBenedetto and Austin Dillon.

    With the leaders starting to catch a bevy of lapped traffic, Bowman continued to lead while Hamlin was trying to close back in on Bowman’s No. 48 Chevrolet for the lead. Despite cutting the deficit down to nearly four-tenths of a second, it was too little, too late for Hamlin and Logano as Bowman came back around to Turn 4 in the midst of the traffic and claim the checkered flag by 0.381 seconds for the win.

    While Bowman achieved his third NASCAR Cup Series career win and first of the 2021 season, the Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 48 car returned to Victory Lane since June 2017 at Dover International Speedway made by Jimmie Johnson. In addition, Hendrick Motorsports achieved its first victory at Richmond Raceway since September 2008 and its 266th Cup career victory as Bowman became the eighth different winner through the first nine events of the 2021 Cup season.

    During his interview, Bowman, who won for the first time since March 2020 at Auto Club Speedway, dedicated his Richmond win to William “Rowdy” Harrell, a Hendrick Motorsports’ pit crew member who died along with his wife Blakley in a car accident in the Florida Keys last November.

    “[Crew chief] Greg Ives and all the guys, they have to deal with me at short tracks and I drive these places really wrong,” Bowman said on FOX. “We kind of instead of trying to make me figure it out, we went to work on getting the race car where I needed it to be. Greg has done such an amazing job at making that happen…This one is for Rowdy and his family. Miss him and Blakley every day. Just means the world to be able to win for Ally. It’s definitely emotional, obviously, with how hard the off-season was on us. Appreciative for the opportunity and we have more races to win this year.”

    “To be honest with you, we were terrible on short runs,” Bowman added. “We restarted third and I’m like man, if we get out of here with a solid top-five, we’ll be good. We’ve overcome a lot today. I don’t know if Greg pumped the pressures way up or what he did, but that’s more grip than I’ve ever had in a race car at Richmond and it worked out really well. Getting to race a guy like Denny at a place that this is really cool. I feel like we raced each other really clean, so I’m appreciative of that. It means a lot.”

    Hamlin, who led a race-high 207 laps, settled in second place for his eighth top-five result through the first nine races of the season, though he did not claim his first victory of the season, while Logano, who led 49 laps and was originally in position of claiming his second victory of the season, finished third.

    “We just didn’t take off quite as good there at the end,” Hamlin said. “I tried to warm it up and do everything that I could, just [Bowman] had a little more on those last few laps and I couldn’t hold the bottom. Once he got the position, we were just shut down there. Great job by this FedEx Ground team…We will keep digging. We are dominating, just have to finish it.”

    Bell finished in fourth place for his second top-five result of the season while Truex settled in fifth place following his pit road penalty.

    Almirola, Byron, Kyle Busch, DiBenedetto and Austin Dillon finished in the top 10 as only 14 of the 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Elliott finished 12th, Keselowski settled in 14th, Suarez finished 16th, Larson crossed the line in 18th, Harvick dropped back to 24th behind teammates Briscoe and Custer, Bubba Wallace finished 26th and Newman fell back to 30th.

    There were 20 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 39 laps. 

    With his runner-up result, Hamlin continues to lead the regular-season standings by 81 points over teammate Truex, 82 over Logano, 124 over Byron, 130 over Blaney and 135 over Larson.

    Results.

    1. Alex Bowman, 10 laps led

    2. Denny Hamlin, 207 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    3. Joey Logano, 49 laps led

    4. Christopher Bell

    5. Martin Truex Jr., 107 laps led

    6. Aric Almirola

    7. William Byron

    8. Kyle Busch, one lap led

    9. Matt DiBenedetto

    10. Austin Dillon, one lap led

    11. Ryan Blaney

    12. Chase Elliott

    13. Kurt Busch

    14. Brad Keselowski, 25 laps led

    15. Ross Chastain, one lap down

    16. Daniel Suarez, one lap down

    17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap down

    18. Kyle Larson, two laps down

    19. Erik Jones, two laps down

    20. Tyler Reddick, two laps down

    21. Corey LaJoie, two laps down

    22. Chase Briscoe, two laps down

    23. Cole Custer, two laps down

    24. Kevin Harvick, three laps down

    25. Chris Buescher, three laps down

    26. Bubba Wallace, three laps down

    27. Michael McDowell, four laps down

    28. Austin Cindric, four laps down

    29. Ryan Preece, four laps down

    30. Ryan Newman, five laps down

    31. Anthony Alfredo, five laps down

    32. B.J. McLeod, seven laps down

    33. James Davison, 10 laps down

    34. Quin Houff, 10 laps down

    35. Garrett Smithley, 11 laps down

    36. Cody Ware, 15 laps down

    37. Josh Bilicki, 16 laps down

    38. Justin Haley – OUT, Engine

    Next on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is Talladega Superspeedway, the first of two annual visits to the superspeedway venue for the series this season, with the first event to occur on Sunday, April 25, at 2 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Larson’s Vegas win isn’t a form of revenge – it’s a redemption story

    Larson’s Vegas win isn’t a form of revenge – it’s a redemption story

    It’s unanimously agreed that 2020 was a dumpster fire the world over, and NASCAR was not exempt from that assessment. There weren’t any cars on track for a while in the spring, and hardly any fans were able to attend the races. On top of that, there were off-track issues as well – notably the unfortunate instance when Kyle Larson’s utterance of an derogatory racial term cost him his job, his sponsors, and any hope of racing for the 2020 championship.

    Not long after, when the world devolved into chaos following George Floyd’s murder, it looked like any immediate hope of Larson returning to a stock car was going to have to wait. So Larson instead took to the dirt, winning several sprint car races and taking some time away from the NASCAR world. However, at the same time, Larson also completed sensitivity training on the way to being reinstated, which he was six months later before signing on with Hendrick Motorsports to drive for their No. 5 team.

    While this was going on, the NASCAR world witnessed the rise of one of the drivers as a strong voice in the NASCAR garage – Bubba Wallace. As the only full-time black NASCAR Cup Series driver, Wallace’s words became some of the most profound in the NASCAR community, especially following Floyd’s death, as well as the murders of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. His words became so profound that when they led to NASCAR’s forced removal of the Confederate Flag, he and NASCAR were praised by many across the world.

    When a noose was found in his garage area at Talladega over the summer, many believed it was an act of retaliation due to Wallace’s actions. However, when the matter of the noose turned out to be nothing more than a serious coincidence, several detractors sneered and jeered at him, accusing him of “playing a race card” even though cities were in fact burning due to racial violence.

    Several of those detractors even went as far as assuming (and asserting) that there were issues between Larson (again, who used a seriously insensitive racial epithet out of ignorance and lost his ride as a result) and Wallace (who became a much needed social activist in NASCAR). This was in spite of the fact that when Larson said what he said, Wallace was one of the first people to talk to him and to come to his defense.

    So sure were Wallace’s detractors that Larson was acting on a misplaced matter of revenge, that they either didn’t realize or weren’t paying attention to what Larson was doing away from the track – educating himself on matters of social injustice, so much so that when his sensitivity training ended he continued to visit areas such as the Urban Youth Racing School, volunteering at a food drive in Minnesota, and even visiting the site of Floyd’s death and visiting a memorial at the site.

    In short, Larson worked to better understand the plight of those who are socially disadvantaged and to become an ally. He spoke with Wallace, former driver Willy T. Ribbs, and NHRA competitor J.R. Todd. He worked to redeem himself after losing his ride, being publicly humiliated, and being labeled a racist.

    “The first lesson: The N-word is not mine to use,” Larson wrote in an essay he released last fall. “It cannot be part of my vocabulary.”

    “For far too long, I was a part of a problem that’s much larger than me. I fully admit that losing my job and being publicly humiliated was how I came to understand this. But in the aftermath, I realized that my young kids will one day be old enough to learn about what their daddy said. I can’t go back and change it, but I can control what happens from here on out.”

    Larson has shown to all just how hard he’s willing to go to prove himself worthy by scoring three top-10s in the first four races, moving his Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 into third in points following his win in Las Vegas on Sunday. After boiling the tires and thanking the fans and his team, one of the first people to meet him in Victory Lane was none other than Wallace.

    When Wallace visited Larson in Victory Lane, it spoke volumes as to how far Larson had come. Could Wallace have shunned Larson? Yes. Could the rest of the world shun Larson? Sure. But ultimately, it came down to the simple truth that Larson spoke in ignorance without thinking. People like Wallace recognized this and opened up to help educate Larson, and in return, Larson took the initiative to educate himself for the better. There isn’t any animosity. There isn’t any anger.

    Rather, there’s hope. There’s compassion. There’s empathy. All of these things that the world needs more of right now. Not revenge, there’s no revenge here. There’s only redemption for Larson. And although some may think the Vegas win was the cap on it all, if Larson has anything to say about it he’s going to keep working to spread those ideals.

  • Rick Hendrick’s belief in Larson vindicated with emotional win at Las Vegas

    Rick Hendrick’s belief in Larson vindicated with emotional win at Las Vegas

    Kyle Larson’s NASCAR Cup Series win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was another step forward on the road to redemption.

    He competed in only four races last year after his use of a racial slur during an iRacing event led to an indefinite suspension by NASCAR. A week later he was fired by Chip Ganassi Racing.

    Larson was immediately contrite, telling the Associated Press, “I was just ignorant and immature. I didn’t understand the negativity and hurt that comes with that word.”

    He completed the NASCAR mandated sensitivity training as well as taking further steps to better understand the implications of what he said and how they related to racial injustice in society.

    In October of last year, he signed with Hendrick Motorsports and NASCAR announced that Larson had been reinstated in January 2021.

    While some may have questioned Rick Hendrick’s decision to give Larson a second chance, Hendrick never doubted Larson’s potential. Fast forward to the fourth race of the season and Larson has already made it to victory lane. Hendrick was, however, surprised at how rapidly the team has come together.

    “I didn’t really expect for it to come this quick because I just thought it would take “more time to gel. But our cars are fast. He’s a champion really. I’m so lucky to have him. Cliff (Daniels, crew chief) is just a great young man. To win in the fourth race, especially when you don’t have any practice, you just show up and race, it’s really been awesome.

    “I think they’re going to have a lot of success together this year,” Hendrick reiterated. “If you look back at the road course he had a shot to win that. If you show up and you run well, that’s half the battle. Nobody doubts Kyle’s ability.”

    What made the victory at Las Vegas even more poignant is that Larson was driving the No. 5 Chevrolet with a paint scheme that was evocative of the car driven by Hendrick’s late son, Ricky.  

    “My wife and I were watching. Hendrick said. “It was emotional. It was joy. It was so many things. I love those colors. When we were going to be on the car, I mean, I wanted to run that paint scheme with that number. That meant a ton to me today and to my family just to honor our son. I love the paint scheme anyway. But Kyle made us proud today.”

    Hendrick went on to express his faith in Hendrick Motorsports, crediting Larson with bringing a new intensity to the organization.

    “I think the energy that he has brought to our company, along with the energy to see all the cars run as good as they’re running, that has got the whole organization on their toes. It just looks like at every race we’re in we’ve got cars in there that can win it. That’s what you want. You want an opportunity to win.

    “I just feel like the chemistry is so good right now,” Hendrick said. “I don’t know if I ever remember it being any better across the board with all four cars. Two cars sometimes, then one car winning them all. But now we’ve got a really good balance.

    “Everybody’s excited. I’m excited.”

    If Hendrick’s enthusiasm is any indication of what is to come, Hendrick Motorsports could very well be in contention for another championship title this November.

  • Sweet redemption for Larson at Las Vegas

    Sweet redemption for Larson at Las Vegas

    From sitting out of the competition due to suspension last season to racing his way to an early trip to Victory Lane this season, Kyle Larson muscled his way to a dominating victory in the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 7. The 28-year-old native from Elk Grove, California, led six times for a race-high 103 of 267 laps as he pulled away from Brad Keselowski in the late stages to record his first victory in his return to full-time NASCAR competition behind the wheel of Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 5 Chevrolet.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Kevin Harvick started on pole position and was joined on the front row with William Byron, winner of last weekend’s Cup event at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Harvick received a push from Kyle Larson to jump ahead with the lead. Through Turn 1, Larson was also able to move into second place as Michael McDowell went to work on Byron for third place. 

    With the field fanning out early to three lanes through the backstretch and through Turns 3 and 4, Byron was able to fight back and lead the first lap over teammate Larson and Harvick. With the field towards the front still fanning out to three lanes. Harvick was overtaken by a few more positions as Larson and Truex battled behind Byron for the runner-up spot.

    Following the first five laps of the event, Byron continued to lead by nearly two-tenths of a second over teammate and a hard-charging Chase Elliott. Larson was in third followed by Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. Harvick, meanwhile, fell back to eighth.

    Five laps later and through the first 10 laps of the event, Byron’s No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE retained a narrow advantage over teammate Elliott’s No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE while Truex and Larson battled dead even for third. Behind, Brad Keselowski challenged Hamlin for fifth while Christopher Bell, Kurt Busch, Alex Bowman and McDowell were in the top 10. Harvick, meanwhile, was back in 11th and in front of Austin Dillon, Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch.

    Another three laps later, Larson managed to overtake teammate Elliott for the runner-up spot. Behind, Keselowski overtook Truex for fourth place. Meanwhile, Byron remained in the lead. 

    After trailing and intimidating his teammate in the early laps for the lead, Elliott managed to muscle his way into the lead on Lap 20 over Byron. A few laps later, teammate Larson moved into the runner-up spot.

    Elliott was able to extend his advantage to nearly a second over teammate Larson when the competition caution flew on Lap 25. Byron, Truex and Keselowski were in the top five followed by Hamlin, Bowman, Kurt Busch, Ryan Blaney and Harvick. By then, Christopher Bell was in 11th, Logano was in 13th, Kyle Busch was in 16th in between Austin Dillon and Erik Jones, Tyler Reddick was in 19th, Bubba Wallace was in 21st, Aric Almirola was in 23rd in front of teammates Cole Custer and rookie Chase Briscoe, Daniel Suarez was in 26th and Ryan Newman was in 29th.

    Under caution, the leaders made the turn to pit road for early adjustments. Following the pit stops, Larson exited with the lead followed by Hamlin, Truex, Keselowski, Bowman Byron and Elliott. Behind, Wallace was assessed a pit road speeding penalty and sent to the rear of the field.

    The race restarted on Lap 30 with Larson and Hamlin on the front row. At the start, Hamlin received a push from Keselowski on the inside lane to move into the lead. Keselowski also moved into the runner-up spot while Larson fell back to third in front of teammate Elliott and Truex. 

    By Lap 33, Hamlin was out in front by two-tenths of a second over a side-by-side battle featuring Keselowski’s No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang and Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Elliott was right behind in fourth place followed by teammate Bowman, Truex, Blaney, Byron, Kurt Busch and Matt DiBenedetto. 

    Two laps later, Truex, Blaney and Bowman battled through three lanes for the fifth spot with Byron lurking behind. 

    Back at the front, Larson and Keselowski continued to battle for the runner-up spot with Elliott remaining in pursuit. At the front, Hamlin’s No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry remained in the lead. 

    By Lap 40, Hamlin was still leading by approximately a tenth of a second over Larson. Teammate Elliott was in third followed by Keselowski, who slipped and nearly clipped Elliott the previous lap in Turn 1. Behind, Blaney cracked the top five over Truex, Byron, Bowman, Kurt Busch and DiBenedetto. 

    Shortly after, Hendrick Motorsports’ teammates Larson and Elliott battled for the runner-up spot behind Hamlin while Blaney started to close in on Penske teammate Keselowski for fourth place. 

    In the midst of the battle towards the front, Bubba Wallace returned to pit road with the hood of his No. 23 Columbia Sportswear Toyota Camry up after he reported a power steering line issue.

    On Lap 44, Larson reassumed the lead over Hamlin. Behind, Keselowski caught back up to Elliott as he went to work on him for third place. Keselowski was eventually able to overtake Elliott for position and went to work on Hamlin for the runner-up spot. Blaney, meanwhile, remained in pursuit of the top-four leaders. 

    Not long after, the caution flew due to debris reported in Turn 2. The caution served as a huge break for Kevin Harvick, who had a left-front tire going down as a result of making contact with Erik Jones. Under caution, the majority of the leaders returned to pit road and Hamlin was able to exit off pit road first followed by Elliott, Keselowski, Bowman and Blaney.

    Back on the track, Larson remained in the race lead after electing to remain on the track on old tires. Joey Logano, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Tyler Reddick and teammate Austin Dillon also remained on the track.

    The race restarted on Lap 51 with Larson and Logano on the front row. At the start, Larson retained the lead while Elliott made a bold four-wide move behind to move back to the front. Through the backstretch, the field fanned out to three and four lanes.

    The following lap, Larson and Logano battled dead even for the lead as the field, featuring competitors on fresh tires compared to worn tires, continued to fan out to three and four lanes for position towards the front.

    By Lap 54, two forms of three-wide battles ensued at the front with Keselowski challenging teammate Logano and Larson for the lead. A lap later, Logano was able to clear the field with the lead. Behind, Elliott muscled his way back into third before taking back second place from Keselowski. Blaney and Larson battled for fourth while Bell and Byron battled behind for sixth. Truex and Hamlin, meanwhile, were back in 10th and 12th.  

    By Lap 60, Logano, racing in his No. 22 Pennzoil Ford Mustang on worn tires, continued to hold strong with the lead by a narrow margin over Elliott while Keselowski remained ahead of Larson for third place. Blaney was in fifth followed by Byron, Bell, Bowman, Kurt Busch and Hamlin. Truex was in 12th behind DiBenedetto.

    Two laps later, Elliott, racing on fresh tires, returned to the lead following a lengthly battle with Logano. In the ensuing laps, Penske teammates Keselowski and Blaney overtook their other teammate Logano for third and fourth. Behind, Larson fell back to ninth while Bell, Byron Bowman and Hamlin moved up. 

    Through the first 70 laps of the event, Elliott maintained a narrow advantage over Keselowski. Teammate Blaney was in third while Bell overtook Logano for fourth place. Bowman and Hamlin closed in on Logano for fifth while Byron, DiBenedetto and Larson were in the top 10. Truex was in 12th behind Kurt Busch.

    Two laps later, Keselowski made his way to the top of the field following a pass on Elliott for position. While Bell, teammate Hamlin and Bowman battled for fourth, Logano slipped back to eighth on worn tires, two spots ahead of Larson. 

    Back at the front, Keselowski and Elliott continued to battle intensely for the lead, with the latter prevailing not long after by two-tenths of a second. Blaney trailed by more than a second in third place while Hamlin and Bowman overtook Bell for fourth and fifth. 

    While Keselowski and Elliott continued to battle against one another on the track for the lead, Logano and Larson were back in ninth and 12th while Truex and Kurt Busch were in ninth and 11th. Kyle Busch was in 14th while Harvick, who started on pole, was mired in 18th.

    Following a lengthly battle with Elliott, Keselowski was able to reassume the lead on Lap 79 and hold on to claim the first stage victory on Lap 80, which also marked his first stage victory of the season. Elliott settled in second followed by Blaney, Hamlin and Bowman while Bell, Byron, DiBenedetto, Logano and Truex were scored in the top 10. 

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Hamlin returned to the lead following a strong pit stop from his crew. Keselowski exited in second place followed by Bowman, DiBenedetto, Blaney and Logano. During the pit stops, Elliott spent extra time on pit road to have damage on the right side of his No. 9 Chevrolet from an earlier pit stop caused by the jack repaired. In addition, Reddick was assessed a pit road speeding penalty.

    The second stage started on Lap 87 with Hamlin and Keselowski on the front row. At the start, Hamlin and Keselowski battled dead even through Turn 1 and the backstretch while Byron made a bold move on the outside lane to crack the top five. 

    The following lap, Keselowski was able to reassume the lead followed by teammate Blaney. Bowman, racing in his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, went to work on Hamlin for third while DiBenedetto and Byron battled for fifth. 

    By Lap 90, Keselowski was leading by approximately a tenth of a second over teammate Blaney. Hamlin retained third place by a narrow margin over Bowman and DiBenedetto while Larson closed in on teammate Byron for position. 

    Through the first 100 laps of the race, Keselowski continued to lead by approximately two-tenths of a second over teammate Blaney. Teammates Larson and Byron battled for third while Hamlin was in fifth. Bowman, DiBenedetto, Truex, Bell and Logano were in the top 10 followed by the Busch brothers. Elliott, meanwhile, worked his way up to 14th after restarting in 30th place at the start of the second stage.

    Five laps later, Larson muscled his way back into the runner-up spot and teammate Byron also moved up, thus dropping Blaney to fourth place. Meanwhile, Keselowski continued to lead the field. Another two laps later, however, Larson retook the lead by a narrow margin over Keselowski. 

    By Lap 115, Larson was the leader by nearly half a second over teammate Byron with Keselowski trailing by more than a second in third place. Blaney and Hamlin were in the top five followed by Bowman, DiBenedetto, Bell, teammate Truex and Logano. The Busch brothers were in 12th and 13th, Elliott was still mired in 14th and Harvick haas in 17th in front of Chris Buescher.

    By Lap 120, Larson continued to lead by approximately half a second over teammate Byron. Blaney was in third, but was now trailing by three seconds. Hamlin and Keselowski remained in the top five followed by Bowman, DiBenedetto, Truex, teammate Bell and Logano. Elliott, meanwhile, was back in 15th behind the Busch brothers and Ryan Preece.

    Shortly after, pit stops under green occurred as Bowman was the first of the leaders to pit followed by a multitude of competitors, including leader Larson.

    By Lap 130, Tyler Reddick, who had yet to pit, was leading followed by Michael McDowell, rookie/teammate Anthony Alfredo, Corey LaJoie, Daniel Suarez and Cole Custer while Larson was in seventh.

    At the halfway mark on Laps 133 and 134, Reddick continued to lead followed by Front Row Motorsports’ teammates McDowell and Alfredo. LaJoie and Suarez were in the top five while Larson was in sixth. Hamlin, Keselowski, teammate Blaney and Byron were in the top 10.

    By Lap 140 and with 20 laps remaining in the second stage, teammates McDowell and Alfredo were leading the field followed by LaJoie, Larson and Suarez. By then, Reddick pitted for service.

    On Lap 146, McDowell surrendered the lead to pit. A lap later, Larson reassumed the lead. Shortly after, rookie Alfredo pitted along with Corey LaJoie. By then, Larson’s advantage stretched to nearly six seconds over Keselowski. Hamlin was in third followed by Blaney and Byron. Bell along with teammates Truex and Kyle Busch followed by Elliott were in the top 10. DiBenedetto, meanwhile, was in 12th behind Ricky Stenhouse Jr. while Kurt Busch, Logano and Harvick were in the top 15.

    With the laps in the second stage dwindling, Larson continued to lead by a steady and healthy margin over Keselowski. Having no challengers close in on him for the top spot, Larson was able to hold steady and claim the second stage victory by more than three seconds over Keselowski on Lap 160. In claiming his first stage victory of this season, Larson became the sixth competitor to record a stage victory through the first four Cup races of the 2021 season. Hamlin settled in third followed by Byron and Blaney while Bowman, Bell, Truex, Kyle Busch and Elliott were scored in the top 10. By then, 21 of the 38-car field were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Larson retained the lead following service from his pit crew. Hamlin exited in second place followed by Bowman, Truex, Bell and Kyle Busch. Byron, meanwhile, fell back to 10th behind Keselowski, Blaney and Elliott.

    With 100 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Larson moved his No. 5 Chevrolet in front of Hamlin on the inside lane. He then blocked Hamlin entering Turn 1 on the outside lane as Truex issued a challenge on the inside lane. 

    Through the backstretch and coming back to Turn 4, Larson retained the lead over Hamlin and Truex as the field fanned out while battling for spots. Behind, Kyle Busch started to make his way into the top five.

    The following lap, the caution returned when Elliott got loose entering the backstretch, made contact with Kurt Busch and spun in a full 360 degrees before continuing. While the rest of the field managed to dodge him, Elliott sustained left-front fender damage as he pitted to have the damage assessed. Kurt Busch also pitted to have damage on his No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE addressed along with a flat right-rear tire. Meanwhile, Hamlin had taken the lead over Larson at the time of caution

    With 93 laps remaining, the race restarted under green with leader Hamlin and Larson on the front row. At the start, Larson squeaked ahead, but Hamlin received a push from teammate Truex on the backstretch to take back the lead. 

    Six laps later, the caution returned when Aric Almirola made hard contact against with the outside wall in Turn 1. The damage to the right side of Almirola’s No. 10 Smithfield Power Bites Ford Mustang was enough to end his race in the garage. At the time of caution, Hamlin was leading by nearly a tenth of a second over teammate Truex while Larson, Blaney and Keselowski were in the top five. Byron, teammate Bowman, Logano, Bell and Kyle Busch were in the top 10.  

    Under caution, some led by Hamlin, Truex and Blaney remained on the track while others led by Keselowski and Larson pitted.

    The race restarted with 83 laps remaining as teammates Hamlin and Truex occupied the front row. At the start, the two Joe Gibbs Racing teammates battled dead even for a full circuit before Truex peaked ahead in his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry as the field behind fanned out to three and four lanes. 

    With 80 laps remaining, Truex was out in front by more than a tenth of a second over teammate Hamlin followed by Blaney, Byron and Bell. Keselowski, the first competitor on fresh tires, was in sixth while Larson, who restarted 17th on fresh tires, was up in eighth behind DiBenedetto. 

    A lap later, Hamlin came under pressure from Keselowski for the runner-up spot as teammates Byron and Larson overtook Blaney for positions in the top five. 

    Down to the final 75 laps of the event, Hamlin fought back and reassumed the lead by a narrow advantage over teammate Truex while Larson and Keselowski quickly went to work on Truex for the runner-up spot. Soon after, an intense six-car battle for the lead ensued between Hamlin, teammate Truex, Larson, Keselowski, Byron and Blaney as Hamlin continued to duke against Truex for the lead. 

    With 70 laps remaining, Hamlin was still leading by nearly three-tenths of a second over Larson. Truex and Keselowski battled intensely for third place followed by Byron and Blaney. Bell was in seventh followed by DiBenedetto and Erik Jones. Kyle Busch was mired back in 10th. Meanwhile, Logano was in 13th while Elliott was in 16th behind Austin Dillon.

    Ten laps later and under 60 laps remaining, Larson reassumed the lead over Hamlin. He then stretched his advantage to more than a second over Hamlin with Keselowski remaining in third. Truex was in fourth followed by Blaney while Byron, Bell, Kyle Busch, DiBenedetto and Jones were in the top 10. 

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Larson was leading by more than a second over Keselowski with Hamlin trailing by more than two seconds. Blaney was in fourth, trailing by more than three seconds while Truex was in fifth.

    Nearly four laps later, pit stops under green started as a handful of leaders pitted followed by others.

    With 37 laps remaining and with nearly the entire field having made a pit stop, Daniel Suarez, who has yet to pit, was scored as the leader. Larson, the first competitor on fresh tires and fuel, was behind by less than nine seconds with Keselowski remaining in pursuit. 

    Eight laps later, Larson returned to the lead. By then, he was leading by a second and a half over Keselowski’s No. 2 Ford.

    With 20 laps remaining and the leaders making their way through lapped traffic, Larson extended his lead to two and a half seconds over Keselowski. Hamlin was tucked in third place followed by teammates Kyle Busch and Truex. Blaney was back in sixth followed by Bell, Byron, teammate Bowman and Logano. Meanwhile, DiBenedetto was in 11th ahead of Jones, Stenhouse, Austin Dillon and Elliott. Kurt Busch was in 20th behind McDowell while Harvick was in 22nd, the final car on the lead lap, behind Ryan Newman.

    A few laps later, Bowman, who was running in the top 10, made the turn to pit road due to a flat tire. During the process of trying to enter pit road, he nearly collided with rookie Alfredo. Shortly after, it went from bad to worse for Bowman, who was assessed a pass-through penalty down pit road due to a commitment line violation while trying to enter pit road to pit.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Larson continued to lead by more than two and a half seconds over Keselowski. Behind, Kyle Busch zipped his No. 18 Ethel M Chocolates Toyota Camry into third place while teammate Hamlin were in fourth. Blaney was in fifth followed by Truex, teammate Bell, Byron, Logano and Jones. 

    A few laps later, Larson extended his lead to more than three seconds over Keselowski with Kyle Busch trailing by more than six seconds, Hamlin by more than eight seconds, Blaney by more than nine seconds and Truex by more than 11 seconds.

    With five laps remaining, Larson remained in the lead by three seconds over Keselowski. By then, 15 competitors were recorded on the lead lap as the leaders continued to encounter heavy traffic.

    Spending the final laps methodically working his way through lapped traffic, Larson was able to maintain his healthy advantage of more than three seconds and complete the final laps on a successful note as he claimed the checkered flag to win at Vegas.

    The victory marked Larson’s seventh of his Cup career and first since October 2019 at Dover International Speedway as he became the fourth different competitor to win within the first four events of the 2021 season. Above all, the Vegas win also validated Larson’s return to the top level in NASCAR after being suspended nearly a year ago due to using a racial slur during a live iRacing event, a move that cost him his full-time ride with Chip Ganassi Racing. Late into the 2020 season, an opportunity for Larson to return to NASCAR arrived when Hendrick Motorsports signed Larson for the 2021 season.

    Larson’s victory also marked the first Cup victory for crew chief Cliff Daniels and the first for HMS’ No. 5 car since July 2017 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In addition, Larson became the 20th different competitor to win while driving for Hendrick Motorsports as HMS claimed Cup career win No. 265.

    “It was such an awesome race car,” Larson said on FOX. “[Crew chief] Cliff [Daniels] and everybody did a great job preparing this piece. It was so much fun to drive. I could go wherever I wanted to. I knew I had a really good car once we’d get single-filed out. Just drafting early in the run was tough. Thank you so much, Mr. [Hendrick], Jeff Gordon, everybody at Hendrick Motorsports for the amazing opportunity I’ve been gifted…This is definitely special.”

    “I know that this is Rick’s most special paint scheme for obvious reasons,” Larson added. “It’s just an honor for me to be able to drive it, our first time out with this [blue, white and red] color scheme. Like I said, just blessed…That was some fun racing on the restarts, so I hoped everybody enjoyed it. I know I did.”

    Keselowski settled in second place for his second top-five result of this season. Kyle Busch came home in third place as he claimed his first top-five finish of this season while teammate Hamlin and Blaney finished in the top five.

    “Yeah, good for [Larson],” Keselowski said on PRN. “He ran a great race. He was really fast. The kid’s got so much talent. I still wanted to beat him, though, but we had a great Discount Tire Ford Mustang. If he wasn’t here, we would have just stunk the show up, but he was and he ran good.”

    “We fought hard obviously,” Busch said. “We were a little behind the eight ball at the start of the green flag and just were super, super tight all day long. [Crew chief] Ben [Beshore] and the guys made awesome adjustments to and I was trying to give the best feedback I can to give them good information that they can base that off of and make the good adjustments. We improved each time. I don’t know where we missed it so far from the simulator, but that’s two weeks in a row where we’re not apples to apples. Just can’t say enough about Ethel M Chocolates, thank you guys…Ready to keep working on it and keep improving. We were just a little off on pace, overall pace, overall lap time from the fast guys.”

    “We’re close,” Hamlin added. “We just have to fine tune it. We’re gathering up information right now to figure out how we can make our FedEx Camry better in the fall. This is a good start. We got it in the short rounds but not enough long run speed…Overall, good start. We will see, gather all the data and I will figure out this week what we have to do.”

    “I thought it was a pretty solid day all day,” Blaney added. “We had to start pretty far in the back from our bad finish last week and was able to make it up to ninth before the [competition] caution and got third in the first stage and then like fifth in the second and ended up fifth. I thought we could have run second or third. [Larson] was really the fastest one all day long. It didn’t matter where he was he just drove through the field but overall, a really good effort by our group. We really needed that after having three pretty bad races to start off the year. It’s nice to kind of finally get a good run and just a no problem day, just having a solid car and working on it throughout the day. I’m really proud of [crew chief] Todd [Gordon] and the whole No. 12 bunch and nice to get a good finish. Now we can get rolling here.”

    Truex, teammate Bell, Byron, Logano and Erik Jones came home in the top 10 on the track. 

    Elliott settled in 13th behind Austin Dillon, DiBenedetto ended up in 16th, Kurt Busch finished 19th, Harvick came home in 20th and Bowman settled in 27th following his late pit road miscue. Chase Briscoe was the highest-finishing rookie in 21st. Suarez finished 26th while Bubba Wallace finished 28th.

    There were 27 lead changes for 12 different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 30 laps. 

    Hamlin continues to lead the regular-season standings by 38 points over Keselowski, 40 over Larson, 48 over Elliott, 49 over Bell and Logano and 51 over Harvick.

    Results.

    1. Kyle Larson, 103 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Brad Keselowski, 27 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    3. Kyle Busch

    4. Denny Hamlin, 47 laps led

    5. Ryan Blaney, one lap led

    6. Martin Truex Jr., six laps led

    7. Christopher Bell

    8. William Byron, 25 laps led

    9. Joey Logano, seven laps led

    10. Erik Jones

    11. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 

    12. Austin Dillon

    13. Chase Elliott, 22 laps led

    14. Chris Buescher

    15. Ryan Preece, one lap down

    16. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap down

    17. Michael McDowell, one lap down, eight laps led

    18. Ryan Newman, one lap down

    19. Kurt Busch, one lap down

    20. Kevin Harvick, one lap down

    21. Chase Briscoe, one lap down

    22. Tyler Reddick, one lap down, seven laps led

    23. Ross Chastain, one lap down

    24. Anthony Alfredo, one lap down, one lap led

    25. Cole Custer, one lap down

    26. Daniel Suarez, two laps down, 12 laps led

    27. Alex Bowman, two laps down

    28. Bubba Wallace, five laps down

    29. Justin Haley, five laps down

    30. B.J. McLeod, seven laps down

    31. Garrett Smithley, eight laps down

    32. Cody Ware, eight laps down

    33. Quin Houff, 11 laps down

    34. Joey Gase, 12 laps down

    35. Josh Bilicki, 15 laps down

    36. Timmy Hill, 21 laps down

    37. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Rear end

    38. Aric Almirola – OUT, Accident

    The NASCAR Cup Series will remain in the West Coast for the next event on the schedule at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona, next weekend. The race will occur on Sunday, March 14, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Byron scores resounding victory at Homestead

    Byron scores resounding victory at Homestead

    After struggling for the first two races of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, William Byron rebounded by racing his way to a resounding victory in the late stages of the Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, February 28. The win marked the second of his Cup career in his 111th career start.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Denny Hamlin, the reigning winner at Homestead, was due to start on pole position. He, however, dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments. With that, Joey Logano started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Christopher Bell, winner of last weekend’s event at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course.

    Along with Hamlin, Alex Bowman and Corey LaJoie started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments. James Davison joined the trio due to multiple pre-race inspection failures.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Logano jumped ahead with an early advantage while the field behind fanned out to two and three lanes entering Turn 2 while battling for spots. Logano was able to lead the first lap as Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch moved up while Bell fell back inside the top 10. 

    By the fifth lap, Logano retained an early advantage by seven-tenths of a second over Harvick with Keselowski behind by nearly a second while closing in on Harvick. Kurt Busch and Bell were in the top five followed by Michael McDowell, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson, teammate Chase Elliott and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    Two laps later, Keselowski overtook Harvick for the runner-up spot. Another lap by, Kurt Busch passed Harvick for the third spot. In addition, Larson moved up to sixth while Truex fell back to eight. 

    By Lap 10, Logano continued to lead, though his advantage shrieked to less than half a second over teammate Keselowski. 

    Two laps later, Keselowski muscled his way into the lead over teammate Logano. Behind, Larson continued to rim-ride his way to the front after passing Harvick for fourth place. Shortly after, Stenhouse overtook Harvick to move into the top five. Meanwhile, Truex and Elliott were back in ninth and 10th.

    By Lap 20, Keselowski stretched his advantage to more than two seconds over teammate Logano as Kurt Busch and Larson remained in pursuit. Stenhouse was in fifth followed by Harvick, Truex, Chris Buescher, Bell and Elliott.

    When the field reached Lap 25, a planned competition caution flew. By then, Keselowski extended his advantage to more than four seconds over teammate Logano. Kurt Busch fended off Larson and Stenhouse to remain in third place. Behind, Truex moved into sixth place followed by Harvick, Buescher, Bell and Ryan Blaney.

    By then, Elliott and Kyle Busch were in the top 15 while Tyler Reddick was in 17th, one spot ahead of Matt DiBenedetto. Alex Bowman was in 20th ahead of Bubba Wallace and Cole Custer while Denny Hamlin was back in 24th behind Aric Almirola.

    Under the competition caution, the leaders pitted and Keselowski retained the lead following a four-tire pit stop. Kurt Busch was able to exit pit road into second place followed by Logano, Harvick and Truex.

    When the race restarted on Lap 30, Keselowski and Kurt Busch challenged one another in a side-by-side battle for the lead for nearly one full lap. Entering Turn 4, however, Keselowski gained a run on the outside lane and retained the lead while teammate Logano attempted to pull a three-wide move on Harvick and Keselowski. Logano and Harvick were able to move into second and third while Kurt Busch slipped back to fourth. Shortly after, Buescher moved up to fourth over Kurt Busch as the field continued to battle for spots.

    By Lap 35, Keselowski was ahead by nearly half a second over teammate Logano. Behind, Harvick was in third followed by Stenhouse, Buescher, William Byron, Kurt Busch, Larson, Bell and Ryan Newman.  

    Five laps later, the two Penske drivers led by Keselowski were separated by seven-tenths of a second. Buescher moved up to third place followed by Byron and Stenhouse, who overtook Harvick for position. Larson moved back up to seventh while Kurt Busch fell back to eighth. Newman and Bell remained in the top 10 followed by Kyle Busch, Bowman, Austin Dillon, Blaney, Truex and Elliott.

    By Lap 42, Buescher made a move beneath Logano to move into the runner-up spot while Byron started to close in on Logano for third place.

    By Lap 50, Keselowski continued to lead by a narrow margin over Buescher. Byron remained in third place followed by Logano and Kurt Busch. Larson moved up to sixth followed by Stenhouse, Bowman and Newman. Harvick, meanwhile, slipped back to 10th followed by Bell, teammate Truex, Newman, Austin Dillon, Elliott and Kyle Busch. Further behind, Hamlin was in 20th and battling with power issues. 

    Three laps later, Buescher became the third different leader of the day after passing Keselowski. 

    By Lap 60, Buescher extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Byron while Keselowski fell back to third. Kurt Busch was in fourth followed by Logano while teammates Larson and Bowman were in sixth and seventh. Stenhouse fell back to eighth followed by Newman and Truex. Harvick, meanwhile, was back in 11th. 

    Four laps later, the caution flew due to fluid on the backstretch coming from the No. 15 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE driven by James Davison, who had smoke and flames erupting beneath the car as Davison made the turn to the garage.

    Under caution, the leaders pitted and Buescher retained the lead following a stellar four-tire stop over names like Keselowski, Logano, Truex, Bowman and Kurt Busch. During the pit stops, Byron dropped from second to seventh

    The race restarted on Lap 72 with Buescher and Keselowski on the front row. At the start, Keselowski and Buescher battled for the lead followed by Bowman, who muscled his way inside the top three over Logano, as the field fanned out to three lanes through the backstretch. 

    The following lap, Keselowski was back in the lead followed by Buescher, Bowman, Truex and Logano.

    With the laps in the first stage closing, Buescher closed back in on Keselowski in a battle for the lead. After pressuring Keselowski for the top spot, Buescher moved back into the top spot with two laps remaining in the first stage.

    Following his late charge and strong start in the early portions of the race, Buescher was able to easily cruise his No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang to the first stage victory on Lap 80. Keselowski trailed back by nearly a second followed by Truex, Byron and teammate Bowman. Larson settled in sixth followed by Logano, Elliott, Kurt Busch and Austin Dillon.

    Under the stage break, the leaders returned to pit road and Buescher exited pit road in first place following another stellar pit stop. Keselowski exited pit road in second place followed by Bowman, teammate Elliott and Logano

    The second stage started on Lap 87 with Buescher and Keselowski on the front row. At the start, Buescher and Keselowski battled for the lead while Logano was mired in a tight battle with all four Hendrick Motorsports competitors. 

    Shortly after, Elliott mounted his way towards the front after overtaking his teammates, Logano and Keselowski for positions. By Lap 88, Elliott muscled his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to the lead after passing Buescher in Turn 1. 

    With Elliott in the lead, teammate Larson and Buescher, both of whom overtook Keselowski, battled for second place. Byron and Bowman, teammates at Hendrick Motorsports, were in fifth and sixth. Truex was in seventh while Logano dropped back to eighth. Hamlin, who struggled at the start, was up in ninth followed by Austin Dillon, Kurt Busch and Cole Custer.

    On Lap 93, Buescher reassumed the lead over Elliott, who led four laps. Two laps later, Buescher stretched his advantage to nearly half a second over Elliott as teammate Larson settled in third. Teammates Byron and Bowman were in fourth and seventh while Keselowski, Truex and Logano were in fifth, sixth and eighth.

    Five laps later, teammates Larson, Elliott and Byron were locked in a heated battle for the runner-up spot, with Larson and Byron prevailing and moving up.

    By Lap 100, Buescher was leading by more than a second over Larson, who had teammate Byron closing in for more. Behind, teammate Elliott was locked in a battle with Truex for fourth place. Keselowski was in sixth followed by Bowman, Kurt Busch, Logano and Hamlin.

    Ten laps later, Buescher stabilized his advantage to more than one-and-a-half seconds. Behind, Truex overtook Larson and Byron for the runner-up spot while Kurt Busch worked his way back into sixth place. Elliott fell back to sixth followed by teammate Bowman, Keselowski, Hamlin and Austin Dillon.

    Another five laps later, Byron overtook teammate Larson for third place. By then, Buescher was still in the lead by more than a second over Truex.

    Shortly after, the first round of pit stops under green commenced as Newman pitted followed by Ross Chastain, Matt DiBenedetto, Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick. Hamlin, Elliott, Keselowski, Logano, Aric Almirola, Bell, Byron, Bowman, Custer, Michael McDowell, Truex, Kurt Busch, Larson, Erik Jones, Ryan Preece, Corey LaJoie and race leader Buescher pitted in the ensuing laps.

    When the majority of pit stops under green were completed, Truex emerged with the lead on Lap 125 moments after Daniel Suarez and Bubba Wallace pitted under green.

    By Lap 135, Truex was leading by nearly two seconds over Buescher while Byron was in third, trailing by more than four seconds. Kurt Busch and Austin Dillon were in the top five. Bowman was in sixth followed by Newman, Hamlin, Larson and teammate Elliott while Keselowski was in 11th. Earlier, Elliott, who made a three-wide move on teammate Larson and Keselowski for position through Turns 3 and 4, slipped up and got loose, though he was able to avoid wrecking in front of Keselowski.

    Behind the leaders, Logano was in 13th, Harvick was in 14th and Kyle Busch was in 18th.

    With the first 150 laps of the race complete, Truex remained in the lead by nearly two seconds over Buescher. Byron continued to run in third place followed by Kurt Busch and Austin Dillon. Bowman remained in sixth place followed by Hamlin, Larson, Newman and Almirola. Behind were Harvick, Keselowski and Elliott while teammates Logano and Blaney rounded out the top 15. 

    Three laps later, the caution returned when smoke billowed out of Corey LaJoie’s No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE due to his engine letting go down the backstretch.

    Under caution, the leaders pitted and Truex retained the lead after exiting pit road in first place followed by teammate Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Byron and Buescher.

    The race restarted with a one-lap dash to conclude the second stage as Joe Gibbs Racing’s Truex and Hamlin were on the front row. At the start, teammates Truex and Hamlin battled dead even through Turns 1 and 2. 

    Entering Turn 3, Hamlin squeaked ahead and tried to slide in front of teammate Truex for the lead. Byron, meanwhile, had other plans and made the inside lane work to his advantage as he powered through both JGR competitors and came out on top to claim the second stage victory on Lap 160. Hamlin settled in second followed by teammate Kurt Busch, Truex and Larson. Buescher, Harvick, Blaney, Bowman and Keselowski were scored in the top 10.

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

    With 100 laps remaining, the final stage commenced with Byron and Hamlin on the front row. At the start, Byron retained the lead followed by Hamlin as the field fanned out to three, four and five lanes through Turns 1 and 2. 

    When the field returned to the start/finish line, Byron continued to lead by a narrow margin over Hamlin while Larson overtook Kurt Busch for third place. Truex and Harvick were in fifth and sixth while Custer, Keselowski, Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick were in the top 10.

    With 90 laps remaining, Byron continued to lead by nearly a second over teammate Larson, who was locked in a heated battle with Hamlin for the runner-up spot. Truex was close behind in fourth while Kurt Busch was in the top five. Custer moved up to sixth place followed by Harvick, Keselowski, Austin Dillon and Reddick. Bowman was in 11th followed by Kyle Busch, McDowell, Ross Chastain and Newman. Bell and DiBenedetto were in 16th and 17th followed by Bubba Wallace, Blaney and Buescher. Elliott was all the way back in 23rd while Logano was in 25th in front of rookie Chase Briscoe. 

    Twenty laps later, Byron remained in the lead by more than a second over Truex. Larson, Hamlin and Kurt Busch were in the top five followed by Harvick, who overtook teammate Custer for position. McDowell worked his way up to eighth followed by Reddick and Keselowski.

    Under the final 70 laps of the race, the caution returned for an on-track incident involving Aric Almirola and Blaney, where Almirola tried to slide up in front of Blaney entering Turn 3 and the two made contact that resulted with both competitors making contact against the outside wall and sustaining damage to their respective machines.

    Under caution, the leaders pitted and Larson, whose pit crew struggled throughout the event, emerged with the lead following a stellar pit stop. Truex exited in second place followed by Kurt Busch, Hamlin and Harvick while Byron dropped back to sixth place. Following the pit stops, however, Hamlin was busted with a pit road speeding penalty.

    The races restarted with 60 laps remaining. At the start, Truex squeaked ahead while Larson fought back on the inside lane. While Truex and Larson battled for the lead, Byron made a bold three-wide move to overtake Keselowski and Harvick for third place. Byron then went to work on teammate Larson for the runner-up spot, which he prevailed. 

    Not long after, Byron reassumed the lead with 58 laps remaining after passing Truex with Larson lurking behind. Custer, meanwhile, worked his way into fifth place as he went to work in challenging Keselowski for fourth place. 

    With 55 laps remaining, a three-way battle for fifth place heated up between Kurt Busch, Harvick and Keselowski. Meanwhile, Byron was leading by nearly half a second over Truex with Larson behind by less than a second and Custer trailing by two seconds.

    Five laps later, Byron remained in the lead by over teammate Larson, who prevailed over a late battle with Truex. 

    Under the final 50 laps of the race and with the lights coming on as the race fell into night conditions, Kurt Busch, who was battling Custer for fourth place, radioed vibration issues to his No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.

    With 40 laps remaining, Byron stabilized his advantage to more than two seconds over teammate Larson. Truex remained in third place followed by Kurt Busch and Custer.

    Shortly after, Kurt Busch surrendered his top-five spot on the track to pit under green for tires and following his vibration issues. 

    With 30 laps remaining, Byron’s advantage over teammate Larson remained unchanged as Byron led by more than two seconds. Truex remained in third place, trailing by more than three seconds, while teammates Harvick and Custer trailed by more than eight seconds. By then, Logano made a pit stop under green. Shortly after, teammate Keselowski also pitted under green for four fresh tires.

    With 20 laps remaining, Byron stretched his advantage in his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to four seconds over Larson’s No. 5 Nations Guard Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE with Truex’s No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry trailing by nearly five seconds.

    With 10 laps remaining, Byron remained in the lead by less than five seconds over teammate Larson. Truex was in third place and more than five seconds behind Byron, though he was closing in on Larson for the runner-up spot. Reddick was in fourth followed by Harvick. Teammate Custer remained in sixth followed by McDowell, Newman, Bowman and Kyle Busch.

    Under five laps remaining, Byron continued to lead while a three-car battle for the runner-up spot ensued between Larson, Truex and Reddick. Utilizing the outside lane to his advantage while running close to the outside wall, Reddick moved into third place. Entering Turn 4, however, he got loose underneath Larson, though he prevented the car from spinning out.

    With Byron long gone with the lead, the battle for the runner-up spot continued to heat up as Reddick overtook Truex for third place and went to work on Larson for more, which he prevailed not long after.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Byron was out in front by nearly four seconds over Reddick and Larson. With no challengers coming close, Byron was able to cruise around the circuit for a final time and come back around to claim the checkered flag in first place and with a victory margin of nearly three seconds.

    With his second Cup career victory and first since winning at Daytona International Speedway in August 2020, Byron, who led a race-high 102 laps, became the third different winner of the 2021 season. While he snapped a two-race streak featuring first-time Cup winners, he extended the race-winning streak of Hendrick Motorsports to 36 consecutive seasons.

    The victory was the first of the season for Hendrick Motorsports and the 95th career victory for the No. 24 car. The victory was also the first in the Cup Series for crew chief Ryan “Rudy” Fugle, who worked and won seven Truck Series races with Byron in 2016. 

    “That guy [Fugle] has been huge for my career,” Byron said on FOX. “He’s the reason I’m here. I’m glad we could get him [a win]. He’s just awesome and this whole team did a phenomenal job. Everybody, pit crew, over the wall. Extremely blessed…I can’t even believe it. It was just a really smooth day and we worked hard in the winter on this track. I can’t believe it.”

    “You had to go with the wall at certain times; (Turns) 3 and 4 were really fast up there,” Byron added. “I definitely didn’t do it as good as the Xfinity cars do it, but I used it when I had to, and this car was just awesome. It’s really a lot of hard work. I think we went to the [simulator] four or five times this off-season and it just pays off, man. It’s awesome.”

    Behind, Reddick tied his career-best result after finishing in second place as he fell short in becoming the third first-time winner within the first three Cup races of the 2021 season. Compared to Saturday’s Xfinity Series event at Homestead, where his car failed post-race inspection and the driver was disqualified from his runner-up result to winner Myatt Snider, Reddick’s car passed the Cup post-race inspection process and he was able to remain in second place officially. Despite the result, he was less than pleased in falling short of the win.

    “Second place, it’s a good night considering how the first two weekends have went,” Reddick said. “I needed to get this Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevy to Victory Lane because if I would’ve, it would’ve gotten a lot of people in America free chicken tenders on Monday night. Once I really saw how fast we were in clean air, at the end there and I saw how fast we were catching everybody, it’s beyond frustrating. Just two or three different decision on a restart would’ve put me miles ahead and I would’ve been within reach. Second’s great, but I saw how much faster I was than those guys there at the end. Naturally, it’s frustrating.” 

    Truex, meanwhile, was able to squeak ahead of Larson to take third place while Harvick rounded out the top five.

    “I felt like that last run, for whatever reason, it didn’t do what it’d done all day,” Truex said. “[Byron] and [Larson] got by us on that restart, I’m like, ‘Alright, I’m just gonna take care of it here and hope that this is gonna be a really long run.’ That’s where we were strong all day. It just never happened. My balance got off there the last 40 laps or so and the car wouldn’t do what it did earlier. So close. The guys did a great job. It was a solid good effort for our Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry. Just proud of everybody for working hard. It’s definitely something we can build on.”

    “That got pretty intense there at the end, “Larson said on MRN. “[I was] Just trying to take care of my tires and was just struggling on the long runs. Loose for the majority of the race and there that last run, [I] actually got tight. But I felt like being tight was better for my long run just because I could be just a little more confident leading with the right front than the right rear. A top-five finish, I would’ve like to finish second, but those guys were better than me at the end and just couldn’t hold them off. I hate that I gave up those spots but all in all, a good day for the Nations Guard team.”

    McDowell, Newman, Kurt Busch, Bowman and Kyle Busch completed the top 10 on the track. Hamlin settled in 11th, Elliott was in 14th, Keselowski ended up 16th and Logano finished all the way back in 25th.

    There were 20 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 36 laps. 

    Hamlin continues to lead the regular-season standings by 20 points over Harvick, 31 over Logano, 33 over McDowell, 34 over Elliott and 35 over Kurt Busch.

    Results.

    1. William Byron, 102 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Tyler Reddick

    3. Martin Truex Jr., 37 laps led

    4. Kyle Larson, five laps led

    5. Kevin Harvick

    6. Michael McDowell

    7. Ryan Newman

    8. Kurt Busch

    9. Alex Bowman

    10. Kyle Busch

    11. Denny Hamlin

    12. Austin Dillon

    13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    14. Chase Elliott, four laps led

    15. Daniel Suarez, one lap led

    16. Brad Keselowski, 47 laps led

    17. Ross Chastain

    18. Chase Briscoe

    19. Chris Buescher, 57 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    20. Christopher Bell

    21. Ryan Preece

    22. Bubba Wallace, two laps led

    23. Cole Custer

    24. Anthony Alfredo

    25. Joey Logano, 12 laps led

    26. Justin Haley, one lap down

    27. Erik Jones, one lap down

    28. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap down

    29. Ryan Blaney, one lap down

    30. Aric Almirola, three laps down

    31. Garrett Smithley, four laps down

    32. Cody Ware, six laps down

    33. Josh Bilicki, eight laps down

    34. B.J. McLeod, nine laps down

    35. Quin Houff, nine laps down

    36. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Engine

    37. James Davison – OUT, Engine

    38. Timmy Hill – OUT, Electrical

    Next on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the first of a two-race West Coast swing for the series. The Vegas event in Nevada will occur on Sunday, March 7, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Bowman wins Daytona 500 pole, teammate Byron completes front row grid

    Bowman wins Daytona 500 pole, teammate Byron completes front row grid

    In his first qualifying session while piloting one of NASCAR’s iconic numbers, Alex Bowman stole the spotlight under the lights at Daytona International Speedway after claiming the pole position for the 63rd annual running of the Daytona 500 on Wednesday, February 10.

    Bowman, who was one of 44 competitors participating in the first Daytona 500 qualifying session at nighttime and under the lights around the 2.5-mile superspeedway, secured the top starting spot for the 500 with a pole-winning speed at 191.261 mph in 47.056 seconds, which was enough for him to edge teammate William Byron, who clocked in with a time at 190.219 mph in 47.314 seconds.

    With his accomplishment, Bowman secured his second Daytona 500 pole award, first since 2018 and the third of his NASCAR Cup Series career. His accomplishment also marked the 14th 500 pole award for Hendrick Motorsports and the ninth year in a row for Chevrolet. In addition, Bowman became the first competitor to qualify on the front row for the 500 for a fourth consecutive season. He qualified on the pole for the 2018 Daytona 500 and on the front row the following two seasons.

    “It doesn’t really have a whole lot to do with me,” Bowman said while crediting his team led by crew chief Greg Ives on FS1. “It’s a testament to these guys and everybody back at the shop at Hendrick Motorsports. They work so hard on these superspeedway cars. They’re beautiful when they get to the race track. Our Ally Camaro has been really fast since we unloaded and they focused a lot on trying to get the pole for the [Daytona] 500. It means a lot to us and we were able to achieve that…It feels really good. Man, it’s just awesome to be driving his No. 48 car.”

    Byron, who won the Daytona 500 pole position in 2019, secured the second starting spot and completed the front row grid for Sunday’s 500 as Hendrick Motorsports’ competitors locked up the front row for the 500 for the fourth time in the last eight years. Ironically, Bowman and Byron qualified on the front row for the 2019 Daytona 500.

    The rest of the competitors will have their starting spots for Sunday’s Daytona 500 determined following the Bluegreen Vacations Duel events at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday, February 14.

    Aric Almirola posted the third-fastest lap followed by Bubba Wallace, who was the fastest competitor during Wednesday’s practice session and turned in his first laps for 23XI Racing. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who won the Daytona 500 pole award last season, was the fifth-fastest competitor. Kevin Harvick, Christopher Bell, Ryan Preece, Austin Dillon and Daniel Suarez posted the top-10 fastest-qualifying laps followed by Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott.

    While teammates Bowman and Byron accomplished their task in qualifying on the front row, Preece and David Ragan were also left victorious after both secured starting spots for Sunday’s 500 based on their qualifying speed while competing in non-chartered entries. Preece will make his third consecutive Daytona 500 appearance while Ragan, who posted the 13th-fastest qualifying lap and finished in fourth place in last year’s 500, will make his 15th consecutive appearance on Sunday.

    The remaining non-chartered competitors that include Austin Cindric, Kaz Grala, Ty Dillon, Garrett Smithley, Timmy Hill and Noah Gragson will battle against one another for the final two spots for the 500.

    Gragson was unable to post a qualifying lap due to his No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE failing pre-qualifying inspection three times. As a result, he will start at the rear of the field in the second duel event. In addition, a crew member from Beard Motorsports was ejected following the inspection failures.

    Derrike Cope was also unable to post a qualifying lap due to battery issues on his No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, thus dropping him to the rear of the field for the second duel event. Unlike Gragson, Cope is guaranteed a spot for Sunday’s 500 based on a charter.

    The start of the qualifying session encountered a brief delay due to power outage.

    The Bluegreen Vacations Duel events at Daytona International Speedway are next on the schedule, with both to occur on Thursday, February 11. The first duel event will commence at 7 p.m. ET on FS1 while the second duel event will commence at 9 p.m. ET on FS1. All will lead up to the 63rd annual running of the Daytona 500, which will occur on Sunday, February 14, at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Speculation, questions arising from Hendrick’s pick of Larson’s spotter for ’21 season

    Speculation, questions arising from Hendrick’s pick of Larson’s spotter for ’21 season

    Heading into the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, a lot of the eyes in the NASCAR community are on Hendrick Motorsports and the driver of the No. 5, Kyle Larson. Larson, the former driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevy, lost his ride a few races into the 2020 Cup season following his utterance of a racial slur during an online racing event.

    For all intents and purposes, the mistake seemed less malicious and more insensitive than anything. Regardless, the punishment was adequate in the big picture of things – he lost his ride, sponsorships, and was suspended from NASCAR until he completed sensitivity training. Larson went above and beyond that, taking the initiative to participate in several outreach programs in an effort to educate himself and to better understand the racial plight and disparity in America, and on the announcement of his return to NASCAR competition he made it clear that he wasn’t going to stop with that.

    In the meantime, he managed to win a horde of dirt racing trophies while away from NASCAR; it’s safe to say that along with being paired with NASCAR’s 2020 Cup championship organization it is looking like Larson may be in the hunt for a title for the first time in his career. All of that will depend on his actions off and on the track. Sure, the on-track matters look to be a cinch – Larson is a wheelman in the truest sense. But off-track? 2020 was a shaky year in regards to social unrest, so Larson’s actions will do the talking on whether or not he’s serious about change for the better. There will be a lot of scrutiny in that area.

    With that said, Chris Monez was recently tabbed to be Larson’s spotter for the 2021 season. Already, NASCAR Twitter has exposed some questionable aspects regarding Monez and whether or not he’s the type of influence needed around Larson. A cursory search of Monez’s Twitter exposed several questionable tweets and likes that indicate a socio-political fringe mindset away from the track, including his subscription to a cult-like thought group known on the internet as QAnon. This included tweets with the group’s slogan among other things.

    In a nutshell, QAnon is an extremely dangerous fringe conspiracy idea that has zero basis in fact and has been labeled as a terrorist threat by the FBI, and in short, believes that Donald Trump is working in a clandestine fashion with several law enforcement officials behind the scenes in order to take down a Satanic-worshipping cabal of celebrity and Democratic pedophiles in a mass event called “The Storm,” where they will then be subject to public executions.

    Yes, that is what they actually believe.

    In the meanwhile, this is paired with several likes of anti-COVID mask tweets as well as a like of Trump’s tweet from August when he asked if/when Bubba Wallace would apologize for the noose found at Talladega in the summer. With all of this being said, it’s clear where Monez’s interests lie. It’s one thing to subscribe to a political ideology. That’s one of the many great things about being an American, where we can have that sort of freedom. But in 2020, socio-political ideologies began to merge with baseless fringe conspiracies, and many others seemed to jump off the mental deep end. If Monez’s Twitter likes amount to anything it seems like he’s one of those who made the plunge as well.

    That said, does it make sense to pair him with Larson, a driver who is working hard to prove that he’s changed? Is Monez the kind of influence he needs? For what it’s worth, any kind of social media “likes” a user has is a form of enabling/endorsing. And despite a substantial amount of NASCAR Twitter claiming that it was “wrong” for these old likes to be looked through, there’s an old adage from the early days of social media where anything is fair game when it’s in the public eye. It just so happens that Twitter is a public forum, and pairing Monez’s name with Larson makes him a very public figure.

    In other words, Monez’s “likes” and “tweets” are definitely fair game when it comes to being scrutinized. An argument can be made that if he didn’t want the NASCAR world to see it, then he wouldn’t have tweeted what he tweeted or liked what he liked. Being Larson’s spotter is no small thing. He’ll play a very integral role on race day considering the spotter is one of the top important roles on the team.

    So is it worth having someone with that mindset as an influence around Larson? What’s the price of victory worth in NASCAR? At the end of the day the team is privately owned so there’s no point in the social media outcry of “Fire him!” or what have you. But once again, Monez’s subscribing of dangerous conspiracy theories (with zero basis in fact) could compromise Larson’s drive for change. So is it worth it? Does it even matter?

    There was once a point where people could actually keep nonsense like that away from the race track, along with talk of religion or politics. But in 2020, a lot of people began making that stuff their identity in an attempt to make those opinions and ideologies valid. Suffice to say, from a logical point of view, opinion isn’t fact and should never be considered valid. Yet these days, there aren’t a lot of logical people out and about.

    Sadly, among those crazies, one is now a spotter for a driver on the eve of what could be the most important season of his career. And for all the work that driver has put in to come back, this adds extra scrutiny on an otherwise heavily scrutinized season. So when all is said and done, HMS and Larson must consider if it is worth it keeping this guy around.

  • Travis Mack named crew chief for Trackhouse Racing Team in 2021

    Travis Mack named crew chief for Trackhouse Racing Team in 2021

    Trackhouse Racing Team announced that Travis Mack will be serving as crew chief for the team’s No. 99 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team and driver Daniel Suarez for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.

    The announcement comes approximately a week after the 2020 NASCAR season concluded, where Mack is coming off his second full-time season as an Xfinity Series crew chief for Michael Annett and the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro team.

    Mack, a native from Louisville, Kentucky, joins Trackhouse Racing with an extensive resume of working on race cars and for racing teams. Starting his career working as a car chief for 10-time ARCA Racing Series champion Frank Kimmel in the early 2000s, Mack joined Hendrick Motorsports in 2005 and worked as a shock specialist. From there, his career blossomed as he was also a member of Hendrick Motorsports’ Nos. 24 and 88 teams before becoming a car chief for JR Motorsports and HMS in 2012-2017, working with names like Regan Smith, Chase Elliott and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    Mack made his first two appearances as a crew chief late in the 2017 Cup Series season for Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 Chevrolet SS team before being announced as a full-time crew chief for Kasey Kahne and the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team for the 2018 Cup season. Midway through the 2018 season, Mack returned to JR Motorsports to serve as crew chief for Michael Annett and the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro team.

    In February 2019, Mack achieved his first win as a crew chief when Annett also achieved his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory at Daytona International Speedway in February after leading a race-high/final 45 laps of the race. They went on to achieve a total of six top-five results and 19 top-10 results along with a pole as they made the Playoffs, where they concluded the season in ninth place in the final standings.

    This past season, Annett and Mack achieved four top-five results and 22 top-10 results as they made the Playoffs before concluding the season in ninth place in the final standings.

    The move to Trackhouse Racing will mark Mack’s return to the Cup Series as a crew chief since June 2018 when he was with Kasey Kahne and Leavine Family Racing.

    Trackhouse Racing Team is a newly formed NASCAR Cup Series team created by Justin Marks, an entrepreneur and former competitor, that announced its entrance into the sport in October. During the announcement, the team revealed that Daniel Suarez, the 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion and Cup Series veteran from Monterrey, Mexico, will be serving as their driver for the 2021 season. The team will be technically aligned with Richard Childress Racing and operate in Welcome, North Carolina. The team is also guaranteed an entry for every Cup race next season after being leased a charter from Spire Motorsports.

    Catch Mack’s return and Trackhouse Racing Team’s debut at Daytona International Speedway for the 63rd running of the Daytona 500 on February 14, 2021.