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NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Homestead

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Kevin Harvick: Harvick struggled at Homestead, finishing 26th, one lap down. He still leads the points standings, with an eight-point edge over Joey Logano.

“I’m not used to finishing outside the top five,” Harvick said, “much less the top 10. Me in 26th place? That just doesn’t look right. It’s kind of like seeing Clint Bowyer’s head on a raving dancer’s body. I’ve seen the real Clint Bowyer dance. He does indeed have ‘moves like Jagger.’ That is, the moves of a 76-year-old man.”

2. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin won at Homestead in dominant fashion, sweeping all stages and leading 137 laps.

“I had a spirited battle with Chase Elliott on the track,” Hamlin said. “I had a spirited battle with Corey Lajoie on Twitter. They both finished second.”

3. Chase Elliott: Elliott battled Denny Hamlin late at Homestead, but couldn’t get around the No. 11 Toyota and settled for second.

“Joey Logano did me no favors,” Elliott said. “I guess he’s still irritated by what happened at Bristol. Heck, I already apologized, but he’s still being a dick about it. He’s also being petty. So, this is the first time that calling someone ‘Richard Petty’ was meant as an insult.”

4. Joey Logano: Contact with Ryan Newman ruined Logano’s night at Homestead and he finished two laps down in 27th place.

“I got loose,” Logano said, “hit the wall, and clipped the Oscar Mayer No. 6 car. Many people, including nearly all of my enemies, would say that’s ‘weiner on weiner’ crime.”

5. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished 10th at Homestead and now has seven consecutive top-10 finishes.

“Due to several weather delays,” Keselowski said, “the race didn’t end until 11 p.m. Hmmm. Eleven o’clock at night in Florida? I hear that’s just when the real action starts in this state.”

6. Ryan Blaney: Blaney was strong at Homestead, leading 70 laps and his way to a third-place finish.

“Trucks Series driver Ray Ciccarelli said he wouldn’t race again in response to NASCAR’s new Confederate flag ban,” Blaney said. “Then he said he might. All you need to do is look at Ray’s record as a driver, and you’ll see that his latest crusade is a lost cause.”

7. Kyle Busch: Busch finished sixth at Homestead as Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin took the win.

“I won the Craftsman Trucks race on Saturday night,” Busch said, “which snapped a two-race Trucks winless streak. And speaking of ‘streaks,’ a lot of other drivers might call me an ‘ass,’ but I have the shortest ‘skid marks‘ of any drivers.”

8. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished 12th at Homestead and is sixth in the points standings, 53 out of first.

“My JGR teammate Denny Hamlin started on the pole,” Truex said, “won the first two stages, and completed the deal with the win. Not only did Denny ‘sweep’ on the track, I also hear he ‘mopped the floor’ with Corey LaJoie on Twitter. Oh well.”

9. Alex Bowman: Bowman came home 18th in the Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead.

“Just a week after the Confederate flag was banned,” Bowman said, “we ran the ‘Dixie Vodka 400.’ That’s interesting. Personally, I hate vodka. I hate it so much, I started a club of like-minded people. I call it a ‘hate group.’”

10. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson finished 16th at Homestead.

“The tunnel that leads to the track was named in my honor,” Johnson said. “The joke is it does lead to the track, but doesn’t lead to Victory Lane.”

June 16, 2020
Homestead features unique top-15 notables

While Denny Hamlin earned a milestone win in his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday night’s Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the 12th race of the 2020 season, there were a multitude of competitors who earned strong results and left Miami satisfied with their performances.

The first was Tyler Reddick. Coming into Miami, Reddick had earned two top-10 results in the last six Cup races and was situated in 18th in the regular-season standings. The key aspect Reddick and his team had was the speed to run toward the front and it was only a matter of time before he could utilize the speed to earn a strong result. When the race proceeded under the lights in Homestead, the California native shined against the veterans and fellow future stars as he ran within the top five all race long despite starting 24th, led his first three career laps in the series and finished within the top three in both stages while earning valuable stage points in his quest to make the playoffs.

In the final laps, Reddick was within sight of the leaders before he drove his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE home in a solid fourth-place in his first Cup start at Homestead, a track where he won at the last two seasons in the Xfinity Series that clinched him the overall championships. With his fourth-place result, Reddick notched his first top-five finish in his 14th Cup Series career start along with his fourth top-10 result as he is two points shy of cracking the top 16 in the Cup standings. In addition, Reddick leads the Cup Rookie-of-the-Year standings by 70 points over John Hunter Nemechek, who finished 19th at Homestead. With Reddick’s top-five result, this marked the first time since 2007 where a rookie candidate finished inside the top 10 at Homestead.

“I’m really proud of my Chevy Cares Chevrolet team and the effort we showed today,” Reddick said. “We had really good speed today and were able to run up front pretty much all night long. The men and women of RCR and ECR did a great job preparing us with a fast racecar to bring down to my favorite track on the circuit. We were able to use that speed to our advantage and race into the top 10 within the first 30 laps, and were able maintain that track position…We got a little too tight by the end of the night to really make the fence work like I wanted, but all in all, it was a solid effort tonight. I’ve won the past two times I’ve come here, granted in the Xfinity Series, but it was so fun to be ripping the fence with three of the best tonight in the NASCAR Cup Series. It was a hard-fought battle and one we can build momentum off of.”

For this season, there were two rookies who finished in the top-10 results at Homestead as Christopher Bell also earned a decent result of eighth in Leavine Family Racing’s No. 95 Toyota Camry. For the Oklahoma native, the run at Miami and since NASCAR’s return in May produced a major turnaround from the start of his rookie Cup season. Following the first four races of the season, Bell’s average finish in the Cup Series was 29th to go along with two DNFs and a best result of 21st. The following six races, Bell improved his average result to 20th and he was able to claim his first two top-10 career results in the Cup Series. Starting 36th, Bell methodically carved his way through the field and found himself running inside the top 10 throughout the final stage. When the checkered flag flew, Bell finished eighth for his career-best finish in the Cup Series along with his third top-10 result in his 12th series start. The result allowed Bell to gain one position in the standings from 25th to 24th.

“Our Rheem Camry was really, really loose to start the night and then [crew chief] Jason [Ratcliff] did a great job adjusting on it got it pretty close to where I was happy and then we were able to pick our way though there,” Bell said. “The races are so long – there are so many yellows – that I really wasn’t worried about our starting position. I knew that if we had a car that was good; we were going to get up front. I’m not going to say that we’re ready to make the next step, but at least we are being competitive the majority of weeks and we just have to keep it up.”

Next was Aric Almirola. Prior to Homestead, the Florida native, in his third season driving for Stewart-Haas Racing, had an average-finishing result of 17.5 in the first 11 races and only three top-10 results. In addition, his highest-finishing result in the last four Cup races was a 20th-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway despite starting on the front row for three consecutive weeks by virtue of a random draw. At Homestead, Almirola started 21st, but by Lap 40, he proved that he had a strong car as he was in eighth. He finished fifth in the first stage and salvaged a 10th-place run in the second stage, which allowed him to gain valuable points towards making the playoffs. With the race progressing in a long green-flag stretch, Almirola kept his No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang near the front and was able to finish in fifth for his first top-five result in this year’s Cup season and his second at Miami. With his finish, Almirola moved from 14th to 13th in the series standings and sets his sights on next weekend’s race at Talladega Superspeedway, the site of Almirola’s last Cup victory dating back to October 2018.

“Man, we finally had a nice clean day today,” Almirola said. “We really needed that as a team. We haven’t raced a full race yet without having something go wrong. This proves we have the speed we need to compete this season if we continue to run clean with no mistakes. Homestead is not an easy track to earn a top-five at either. To get our first of the season here shows we have a lot of potential.”

Following a difficult midweek race at Martinsville Speedway, where a broken crush panel left him exposed to extreme heat behind the steering wheel and retiring in the closing laps while needing medical attention, Sunday’s run at Homestead felt like a win on a day that was already special for Austin Dillon. Prior to the main event, the Welcome, North Carolina, native and his wife, Whitney, celebrated the birth of the couple’s son, Ace. When the green flag dropped, Dillon, who started 16th, was able to navigate his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE inside the top 10, where he spent a majority of the race. Despite finishing eighth in the second stage and earning a handful of points towards his quest to make the playoffs, Dillon was running seventh towards the beginning of the final stage when he was penalized following a pit stop and sent to the rear for an uncontrolled tire violation. Despite the penalty, Dillon was able to carve his way through the field and finish in seventh for his fourth top-10 result of this season, his second in a row at Miami and to move from 17th to 16th in the series standings.

“We took our No. 3 Dow / Behr Ultra Scuff Defense Chevy to a top-ten [result],” Dillon said. “That was a fun race for the Dow Coatings team. We were not good to start – we started from the back a couple of times. Made big adjustments – [crew chief] Justin [Alexander] made a good adjustment about halfway through the race to allow us to get some stage points. Things started turning for us and we got a good restart. And then a caution came out, pitted and we had a tire that got away. Unfortunate, but we kept our heads down and dug hard. We were able to come all the way back to P-7. Strong run for our team.”

Four days after finishing in the top 10 at Martinsville Speedway, momentum continues to roll towards the favor of William Byron and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team as they capped off their first back-to-back top-10 results of the 2020 Cup Series season. Starting 22nd, Byron’s car came to life under the lights in Miami as he battled inside the top five most of the race along with teammates Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman. He finished eighth in the first stage and fifth in the second stage as he also collected valuable stage points in his quest to make the playoffs. When the checkered flag flew, Byron settled in ninth for his fourth top-10 result of the season and his first at Homestead. With the result, Byron gained one position in the standings from 16th to 15th.

“We had a good and solid night and honestly it was nice to be able to run in the top five,” Byron said. “We continued to adjust on the car as the race went along there. Hopefully we can continue to string runs together like we had tonight and be able make the right adjustments at the right point in the race to be in contention in the end. We’re getting close to that first win we just need to continue working on a couple things to get faster. On to Talladega.”

Last but not least, Bubba Wallace, who has been a key spokesperson in highlighting social injustice treatment/police brutality towards African Americans, raising prominence of the Black Lives Matter movement within the racing community and whose call to have the display of the Confederate flag banned from all NASCAR events approved and granted from NASCAR a few days later, backed up his strong performance at Martinsville Speedway with a decent performance and a late rally at Homestead. Starting 17th, Wallace spent the majority of the race inside the top 20, where he would finish in both stages. With the race progressing towards a long green-flag stretch, Wallace was able to move within the top 15 in the closing laps and settle in 13th for his fifth top-15 finish of the season, third in the last four Cup races, and his best result in Miami, which left the Alabama native situated in 20th in the standings.

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

June 16, 2020
Hamlin earns milestone win at Homestead

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results:

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

2. Chase Elliott, 27 laps led

3. Ryan Blaney, 70 laps led

4. Tyler Reddick, three laps led

5. Aric Almirola

6. Kyle Busch, two laps led

7. Austin Dillon

8. Christopher Bell

9. William Byron

10. Brad Keselowski, one lap led

11. Clint Bowyer

12. Martin Truex Jr.

13. Bubba Wallace

14. Matt DiBenedetto

15. Michael McDowell

16. Jimmie Johnson, one lap down

17. Kurt Busch, one lap down

18. Alex Bowman, one lap down

19. John Hunter Nemechek, one lap down

20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap down

21. Erik Jones, one lap down

22. Cole Custer, one lap down

23. Chris Buescher, one lap down

24. Ryan Preece, one lap down

25. Matt Kenseth, one lap down

26. Kevin Harvick, one lap down

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

28. Ty Dillon, two laps down

29. Corey LaJoie, three laps down

30. Ryan Newman, four laps down

31. Daniel Suarez, four laps down

32. Brennan Poole, seven laps down

33. Quin Houff, eight laps down

34. Timmy Hill, 10 laps

35. B.J. McLeod, 11 laps down

36. Joey Gase, 12 laps down

37. Josh Bilicki, 22 laps down

38. J.J. Yeley – OUT, Fuel pump

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

June 15, 2020
Joe Gibbs Racing Xfinity entries earn top-10 results in second Homestead race

Joe Gibbs Racing’s NASCAR Xfinity Series teams displayed strong performances in a span of two days for two races at Homestead-Miami Speedway. A day after Harrison Burton earned a thrilling win for himself and JGR in the first Xfinity event at Homestead, all JGR Toyota teams managed to finish in the top-10 in the second race down in Miami with Brandon Jones leading the way after earning a close runner-up finish.

The starting lineup was based on the results from Saturday’s event at Homestead, where the top-15 finishers from Saturday were inverted for Sunday’s race and the remaining spots were placed in the finishing order from Saturday. Burton, who won at Miami on Saturday, started 15th while rookie Riley Herbst and Jones started sixth and eighth.

When the green flag dropped, the JGR entries remained inside the top 15 while battling handling conditions to their respective Toyotas. When the competition caution flew on Lap 20, Jones was in third despite battling tightness to his No. 19 Toyota, Burton was in seventh despite struggling on exit and Herbst fell back to 13th despite rallying from early tight conditions. Under the competition caution, Herbst pitted for early adjustments while Jones and Burton remained on track with the leaders.

When the race resumed, Burton and Jones marched towards the front, running inside the top five. Following a late caution and a four-lap shootout to the conclusion of the first stage, Jones would lead the way for the team by finishing third while Burton and Herbst finished seventh and 18th. The trio pitted under the stage break for adjustments and exited pit road inside the top 10 for the start of the second stage.

On Lap 47, the start of the second stage, Jones made a three-wide move on Ross Chastain and Austin Cindric entering Turn 1 to take the lead. Four laps later, Jones was overtaken by Cindric for the lead and locked in a heated battle for the runner-up spot with Burton along with Noah Gragson and Daniel Hemric. As the laps progressed under green-flag conditions in the stage, Jones and Burton continued racing and battling inside the top five while Herbst was in 11th. When the second stage concluded, Jones and Burton finished third and sixth while Herbst settled in 11th. Under the stage break, the trio pitted with the field and exited inside the top 10.

When the final stage started with 78 laps remaining, the trio started battling one another and their fellow competitors for more positions inside the top 10 as Herbst remained within sight of his teammates. With less than 60 laps remaining, Jones was in third while Burton and Herbst were in sixth and seventh. With 45 to go, Herbst made a green-flag pit stop followed by Burton and Jones the following laps. With less than 10 to go, the trio was running inside the top 10 when Burton made contact with the wall and was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop. By the time Burton and his No. 20 Dex Imaging Toyota Supra returned on track, he was a lap behind.

With two laps remaining, the caution returned following a single-car wreck and Burton took the wave around by remaining on track. Jones and Herbst pitted under caution and exited inside the top five. In the first overtime attempt, however, Herbst was turned in Turn 2 after being bumped by AJ Allmendinger and was involved in a multi-car wreck. At the time of caution, Jones was able to pass Gragson for second while Burton was able to dodge the incident. Despite the damage, Herbst was able to continue and remain on the lead lap. In addition, Burton was the recipient of the free pass and returned on the lead lap.

In the second overtime attempt, Jones gained another strong short-run boost from his No. 19 Menards Toyota Supra and made a charge for leader Chase Briscoe. He tried to gain a run on Briscoe, but was unable to navigate a run in time to pass Briscoe as he settled in the runner-up spot and right behind the rear bumper of Briscoe’s No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. Burton was able to finish eighth while Herbst nursed his wounded No. 18 Monster Energy Toyota Supra across the line in ninth.

With his fourth top-five finish of this season, Jones jumped from eighth to sixth in the regular-season standings, trailing points leader Gragson by 90 points, and will be one of four competitors contending for the next Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus next weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.

“It was close, but I don’t think I got into [Briscoe],” Jones said. “We were just going as hard as we could. I didn’t get as good of a run through [Turns] one and two as I thought I was going to, so I saw him dive to the bottom in three and I wanted to use the high line. I wanted to try to get the big arc because I knew he was going to push up and I thought I could go low. That was the thought process there. I did try to fake him on the frontstretch to try to get him to move around and mess up but just didn’t work there. This was by far probably the hottest we’ve been in a while anyways. I think it was great that we were able to run back-to-back races. It was great that we were able to take the same exact car to the second race as well.”

Despite falling short in winning two NASCAR Xfinity races of the weekend at Homestead, Burton extended his remarkable streak of finishing in the top 10 in all 10 series scheduled races as he is still third in the standings, trailing Gragson by 45 points.

“I felt like we had a better car than we did yesterday,” Burton said. “We were a little bit more competitive. [Gragson] was still really good. [Jones] was better today, [Herbst] was better today, so as a company I think we made some strides. Not a finish my team deserves, but that happens. You are getting all you can the last few laps – right against the fence – and sometimes you just overstep. Once I got to the wall, I couldn’t get off of it, and that’s what caused the right rear to blow…I still haven’t won a stage – won two races but haven’t won a stage. Got to find a way to get those Playoff points, they are really important come later in the year. That’s my main goal now – to fire off faster and try to be aggressive from the start and hopefully, get more dominate.”

Herbst made a decent recovery from his late accident to earn his fifth top-10 finish of this season as he is still 11th in the standings, trailing Gragson by 179 points.

“I beat [Hemric] initially on the start, so I dropped down and made it three-wide on the bottom and I was about to clear him,” Herbst said. “AJ Allmendinger came from behind and gave me a push to help clear him and then he pushed me too far in the left side and hooked me up and wrecked us. All in all, it was a decent day and we got better and better. It’s promising. At the end there, we were probably top-five speed and just lacking a little bit. It was cool to get better as the day went, for sure.”

With the results, this marks the fourth time this season, second consecutive day, where all three Joe Gibbs Racing full-time entries finished in the top 10.

All three full-time JGR Xfinity competitors along with their fellow competitors will return on June 20 for the next series race at Talladega Superspeedway, where the race will air at 5:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

June 14, 2020
Allmendinger notches $100,000 bonus for Kaulig Racing at Homestead

A day after late pit road penalties knocked teammates Ross Chastain and Justin Haley out of potential race-winning contention, Kaulig Racing returned with three cars to the starting grid for the Contender Boats 250 at Homestead-Miami Speedway as Haley and AJ Allmendinger were two of four competitors contending for the second Dash 4 Cash bonus. Following two overtime restarts, Allmendinger was able to claim the $100,000 bonus with a fourth-place result as all three Kaulig competitors finished in the top six.

The starting lineup for Sunday’s race was based on having the top-15 finishers from Saturday inverted with the next 15-finishing competitors starting Sunday as they finished on Saturday and new entries rounding out the field. Haley, who finished 13th at Miami on Saturday, was the highest-starting Kaulig Racing competitor in third while Chastain, who finished ninth, started seventh. Allmendinger started at the rear of the field since he did not compete in Saturday’s race at Homestead.

When the green flag dropped, it did not take long for Chastain to flex his muscles early as he took the lead from Myatt Snider on the second lap. He led for a total of seven laps before he was overtaken by Chase Briscoe. When the competition caution flew on Lap 20, Chastain had fallen back to fourth while fighting the balance and grip of his car. Haley was back in sixth while Allmendinger was able to work his way up to 16th. Following another caution in the closing laps of the first stage, all Kaulig Racing teammates were in the top 15 while continuing to fight the grip levels and balance of their respective Chevrolet Camaros. Under the caution, Chastain gave up track position to pit while Haley and Allmendinger remained on track with the leaders. Following a four-lap dash to the conclusion of the first stage, Haley finished 14th while Allmendinger and Chastain finished 17th and 33rd.

Following pit stops under the stage break, Chastain remained on track to inherit the lead for the start of the second stage while Haley and Allmendinger moved to 10th and 11th after pitting. When the second stage started, Chastain led four laps before being overtaken by Brandon Jones. As the laps progressed, Chastain and Allmendinger were running inside the top 10 while Haley was in 12th. In the closing laps, Allmendinger reported loose conditions to his No. 16 Ellsworth Advisors Chevrolet Camaro while Chastain and Haley were battling tight conditions and falling back from the leaders. When the second stage concluded, Allmendinger finished 10th and earned a stage point while Chastain and Haley finished 12th and 15th.

When the final stage started with 78 laps remaining, all three Kaulig teammates restarted ninth through 11th and spent the majority of the stage racing within the top 10 and 15. During the run and following green-flag pit stops, all Kaulig competitors were behind a lap from the leaders. With the race dwindling to its final laps, the Kaulig competitors appeared to have top-10 runs solidified despite being a lap down when the caution flew with two laps remaining for a single-car incident in Turn 3. By then, Allmendinger, who was the first competitor a lap behind, was the recipient of the free pass to return on the lead lap while Haley and Chastain took the wave around.

In the first overtime attempt, Allmendinger made contact with rookie Riley Herbst while battling for a top-five spot, which turned Herbst into a wreck with JR Motorsports’ Michael Annett and Daniel Hemric. Everyone else behind, including Haley and Chastain, were able to scatter pass the wreck with no damage, though Haley and Chastain pitted under caution.

In the second overtime attempt, all three Kaulig competitors restarted inside the top seven and Chastain was able to carve his way to settle in third while watching Briscoe beat Jones to win the race right in front of him. Behind him, Allmendinger fended off Noah Gragson to finish fourth for his second consecutive top-five finish in his second start of this season and emerge as the highest-finishing Dash 4 Cash contender, thus winning the second $100,000 bonus of the 2020 season. Haley settled in sixth.

“We fought hard trying to figure out how to make the car better,” Allmendinger said on MRN. “At the end, we made it the best, but we were still about a ninth-place car. I fought hard to get Ellsworth Advisors $100,000, for Chevrolet, ECR, LeafFilter Gutter Protection, for sure. Can’t thank Xfinity enough for all they do and I guess we get to go to Talladega and do it again, right?!”

With their results, Allmendinger and Haley will contend for the next Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus at Talladega Superspeedway next weekend along with Briscoe and Jones.

With his second top-five result of this season, Chastain dropped from fourth to fifth in the standings, but is 61 points behind points leader Gragson. With his sixth top-10 result of this season, Haley remained in seventh in the standings, but is 105 points behind Gragson.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series will return on June 20 at Talladega Superspeedway, where the race will air at 5:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

June 14, 2020
Two races, two strikes for Gragson at Homestead

If there was one competitor who left both NASCAR Xfinity Series events of this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway with disappointment and feelings of déjà vu, it was Noah Gragson. The Las Vegas native driving for JR Motorsports had the car to beat in both racing events in Miami. Then like a bomb, his dominating performance en route to victory was halted by late-race cautions that would flip the cards on the table and allow his fellow competitors to emerge with late-race victories. While Saturday’s loss was difficult, Sunday’s loss came with a hard, bitter ending for Gragson.

Starting 13th, Gragson started at the rear of the field in a backup car but proved that he had a race-winning car when the green flag dropped. After carving his way through the field, Gragson was able to race up to sixth when the competition caution flew on Lap 20. Twelve laps later, Gragson was able to make his way into the top five when the caution returned following a two-car wreck on the backstretch. In the final four laps of the first stage, Gragson would be overtaken by two competitors for two positions and would finish in sixth.

The second stage was where Gragson flexed his muscles as he restarted in the top five but started to make his move to the front. Gragson spent a good portion of the stage battling hard with teammate Daniel Hemric, Brandon Jones and Harrison Burton for the runner-up spot before making his charge for the lead, occupied by Austin Cindric. On Lap 68, Gragson took the lead and was gone as he kept his car rim-riding towards the outside lane and toward the wall to gain speed from the corners to the straightaways, which allowed him to extend his lead. Like yesterday’s event, Gragson was uncontested and won the second stage while also collecting his fifth stage win of the season.

Following a smooth pit stop from his pit crew, Gragson retained the lead for the start of the final stage with 78 laps remaining. For the start of the final stage, Gragson would battle Cindric for the lead before the latter gained the upper advantage. With 61 laps remaining, Cindric made an unscheduled pit stop due to sustaining a flat tire as a result of making contact with the outside wall, which allowed Gragson to reassume the lead. By then, he was more than three seconds over runner-up Chase Briscoe and continued to stretch while remaining close to the wall to gain more speed.

Following green-flag pit stops and exiting second on track, Gragson returned to the lead with 36 laps remaining and was maintaining a healthy lead over Briscoe. He was cruising his way to another win of the season, redemption following his loss on Saturday and his second consecutive $100,000 bonus from the Dash 4 Cash program when déjà vu struck and the caution flew with two laps remaining when Cindric cut another tire and spun in Turn 3.

Under caution, Gragson fell to second as Briscoe’s pit crew got Briscoe ahead of him exiting the pits. On the first overtime attempt, Gragson slipped to third as Jones moved into second, moments before the caution returned for a multi-car wreck that knocked out Gragson’s teammates Hemric and Michael Annett. In the second overtime attempt, Gragson was unable to mount a rally back to the front as he settled in fifth, the highest-finishing JR Motorsports competitor, after being passed by two more competitors. Teammates Annett and Justin Allgaier finished 18th and 22nd while Hemric, who was unable to finish following his late wreck, settled in 31st.

While Gragson parked his No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro on pit road, he watched as Briscoe celebrated his third race win of the season while AJ Allmendinger was awarded the second Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus.

“[I’m] Gonna have to start working on myself because that’s unacceptable on my standards,” Gragson said on MRN. “[Crew chief] Dave Elenz and the rest of the team, they did an unbelievable job to set up the car. We had the lead there at the end and the caution [fell] with a lap and a half to go. These guys, they work their tails off and it’s not to run fifth. It’s to win these races. Gonna keep on focus, keep positive. Super thankful for this team and them sticking behind me. Gonna keep working on myself and try to be better next time, just learn from the opportunity and just take the positives from today.”

With his seventh top-10 result of this year’s Xfinity Series season to go along with two race victories, the bonus points for winning the second stage and leading a race-high 81 laps, Gragson leads the regular-season standings by 18 points over Briscoe and 45 over Burton.

Gragson, along with his fellow competitors, will return for the next series race at Talladega Superspeedway on June 20, where the race will air at 5:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

June 14, 2020
Briscoe rallies from penalty to win at Homestead in overtime

From a penalty to victory lane in a span of two days, Chase Briscoe outlasted the field in two overtime attempts to claim a thrilling win in the Contender Boats 250 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the second of a series doubleheader weekend in Miami. It was his fifth NASCAR Xfinity Series career victory and third of this season.

The win was also Briscoe’s first with interim crew chief and veteran Greg Zipadelli, who filled in for the suspended Richard Boswell after Briscoe’s team was penalized for a fallen ballast off of Briscoe’s car prior to yesterday’s series race at Homestead. In addition to crew chief Boswell, car chief Nick Hutchins and engineer D.J. Vanderley were also suspended for the next four series races.

The starting lineup was based on the results from Saturday’s event at Homestead, where the top-15 finishers from Saturday were inverted for Sunday’s race and the remaining spots were placed in the finishing order from Saturday. New additions were placed at the rear of the field. With his 15th-place result on Saturday, Myatt Snider started on pole position and was joined on the front row by Brandon Brown. Daniel Hemric, Carson Ware and Jairo Avila Jr. started at the rear of the field due to driver changes along with Justin Allgaier and Kody Vanderwal, both racing in backup cars. Noah Gragson also started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments.

When the green flag dropped, Snider received a boost from Justin Haley on the inside lane to jump to the lead. By the time Snider led the first lap, Ross Chastain moved into second and was able to take the lead the following lap. Briscoe, who started ninth, moved into second and three laps later, Austin Cindric raced into third.

On Lap 8, Briscoe made a move on the inside lane in Turn 1 and took the lead from Chastain. Three laps later, Cindric took the lead and was able to stabilize his lead to a comfortable margin over Briscoe. Cindric was able to maintain the lead by nearly two seconds over Brandon Jones and Briscoe when the field reached the competition caution on Lap 20. At the time of caution, Harrison Burton was in seventh after starting 15th with teammates Gragson and Allgaier were in sixth and eighth after both started at the rear of the field. Alfredo was in 10th after starting 12th and Hemric and Allmendinger were in 12th and 16th after starting at the rear of the field. Snider and Brown had fallen back to 11th and 29th. Under the competition caution, a majority of competitors remained on the track while some like Ryan Sieg and Riley Herbst pitted for early adjustments.

The race restarted on Lap 24, and Cindric retained the lead after receiving a strong start on the inside lane. Briscoe, who restarted on the outside lane, was shuffled back to fifth as Jones, Burton and Haley moved up the leaderboard along with Allgaier. By Lap 31, while most of the competitors continued battling for positions, Sieg, who restarted in 22nd but on fresh tires, had charged all the way up to second. The caution flew a lap later when Caesar Bacarella and Tommy Joe Martins wrecked on the backstretch. Under caution, the leaders remained on the track while a few including Chastain and Michael Annett pitted.

When the race restarted with four laps remaining in the first stage, a four-wide battle for the lead took place between Cindric, Sieg, Jones and Allgaier through Turns 1 and 2 before Sieg took the lead in Turn 3. Sieg was able to pull away from the field and win the first stage on Lap 40 for his second stage win in two days and by nearly two seconds over Annett, who made a miraculous charge after pitting prior to the restart. Cindric, Jones and Allgaier finished in the top five followed by Gragson, Burton, Hemric, Timmy Hill and Bayley Currey.

Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Cindric led Jones, Burton, Gragson and Annett. Sieg and Allgaier, both of whom pitted in the top three, fell back to 20th and 23rd after both had issues on pit road, where Allgaier clipped a tire out of Sieg’s pit box while entering his own pit box and then had issues exiting his pit stall while backing up to avoid making contact with Jeffrey Earnhardt. Chastain, who pitted in the closing laps of the stage, remained on track and assumed the lead.

The second stage started on Lap 47 and Jones went three-wide with Chastain and Cindric to take the lead entering Turn 1. Four laps later, Cindric returned to the lead. By Lap 55, Cindric stretched his advantage to more than a second over Jones who was locked in a four-car battle with Hemric, Gragson and Burton. Two laps later, Hemric moved into second as Briscoe joined the battle. Their battle allowed Cindric to continue to extend his advantage to over two seconds through Lap 60.

As the race progressed, Gragson moved into second followed by Burton, Briscoe and Jones while Hemric had fallen back to sixth ahead of Allmendinger. Allgaier was in ninth while Sieg was stuck in 26th.

On Lap 68, Gragson took the lead from Cindric and started to rocket away from the field while using the outside lane toward the wall to his advantage. Just like the majority of yesterday’s Xfinity race at Homestead, Gragson remained uncontested and cruised to the win of the second stage on Lap 80. Cindric finished second, trailing by nearly four seconds, followed by Jones, Briscoe and Hemric. Burton, Allgaier, Annett, Alfredo and Allmendinger finished in the top 10. Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Gragson retained the lead followed by Briscoe, Burton, Hemric and Cindric.

The final stage started with 78 laps remaining and Gragson received a bump from Burton on the inside lane to retain the lead. Two laps later, Cindric raced his way back to second followed by Briscoe while Burton, Hemric and Jones battled for fourth. Six laps later, Cindric reassumed the lead, where he started to stretch his advantage by more than a second over Gragson, who was challenged by Briscoe for the runner-up spot.

With 60 to go, Gragson raced his way back to the lead after Cindric scrubbed the wall. The damage cut Cindric’s right-rear tire as he was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop to address the flat tire. Once Cindric returned to the track, he was in 23rd, a lap behind, while Gragson was ahead by more than three seconds over Briscoe and nearly seven seconds over Hemric, Jones, Allgaier, Burton and Herbst.

With 50 to go, Gragson stabilized his lead to above four seconds over Briscoe while Jones, Burton and Hemric continued battling for third while behind by more than 10 seconds. Soon after, green-flag pit stops commenced as teammates Chastain and Haley pitted. During the green-flag pit stops, Allgaier was slowing his car to make the left-hand turn to pit road right in front of teammate Hemric, which caused Hemric to lock up his front brakes and circle around the track for another lap to make his stop, which cost him time from the lead. Once nearly the entire field pitted, Josh Williams emerged with the lead before pitting a lap later and allowing Cindric to take the lead. Two laps later, Gragson reassumed the lead as he started to pull away.

With 20 to go, Gragson, who continued rim-riding toward the outside wall, was ahead by over three seconds over Briscoe and 11 seconds over Cindric. Teammates Jones and Burton were locked in a heated battle for fourth while Hemric was back in sixth. During this time, Allgaier made an unscheduled pit stop after sustaining a flat tire from scrubbing the wall. Alfredo also pitted after making contact with the wall.

With 10 to go, Briscoe narrowed the deficit to less than two seconds over Gragson, who slowly started to approach lapped traffic but remained running toward the outside near the wall. A few laps later, Burton made an unscheduled pit stop due to a flat tire which ended his hopes to win twice in two days.

In the final five laps, Briscoe started to close toward Gragson, cutting his deficit to less than a second, but he soon made contact with the wall, which allowed Gragson to stabilize his advantage back to over a second.

Just as Gragson was about to take the white flag to start the final lap, Cindric wrecked in Turn 3 after cutting a right-rear tire, which drew the caution and set the race into overtime. Under caution, the leaders pitted and Briscoe beat Gragson off pit road first following a stellar pit stop. Hemric exited third followed by Jones, Herbst and Annett.

In the first overtime attempt, Briscoe maintained the lead and Jones took second away from Gragson. The caution quickly returned for a multi-car wreck in Turn 2 that started when Allmendinger got into the back of Herbst, sending Herbst and Annett against one another toward the outside wall while Hemric was clipped and made head-on contact with the inside wall as everyone else scattered to avoid the wreckage.

In the second overtime attempt, Briscoe and Jones battled for the lead while Gragson made contact with the outside wall in Turn 2 and fell back to the top 10. On the final lap, Briscoe was able to clear Jones for the lead and hold off the Georgia native for one final circuit and by 0.072 seconds at the finish line to win the race and to become the first three-time winner of the series this season.

“Just a testament to our team,” Briscoe said on MRN (Motor Racing Network). “Yesterday, we were so good and today, I don’t know what our deal was. We were still good, but we weren’t near as good as we were yesterday. I don’t know if it was the heat or what. We were able to find some speed up on the top [lane] that last run. I just kept trying to run the fence harder and harder and harder. I knew that if I could get to Noah, I felt like I’d put enough pressure on him after running him down the straightaway that he would make mistakes. With two [laps] to go, I was just trying to get more and more and more, and I was already on the edge. The caution, absolutely, fell perfect. The pit crew did an unbelievable job to get us upfront. Definitely a team win. [Jones] had a big run coming off of [Turn] 4 just because I drove it in so deep on the bottom so he could get to me. It almost cost me. It’s pretty dang cool for me, growing up a die-hard Tony Stewart fan to get a win with [crew chief] Zippy. That’s pretty cool. Happy that we can get our Ford Performance Racing School car in victory lane. We, definitely, weren’t the best car today, but I felt like we were yesterday. It’s nice to get some redemption.”

Jones finished second followed by Chastain while Allmendinger beat Gragson for fourth and claim the second Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus. With his accomplishment, Allmendinger became the 12th different driver to win the $100,000 bonus from the Dash 4 Cash program in the last five seasons.

“We fought hard trying to figure out how to make the car better,” Allmendinger said on MRN. “At the end, we made it the best, but we were still about a ninth-place car. I fought hard to get Ellsworth Advisors $100,000, for Chevrolet, ECR, LeafFilter Gutter Protection, for sure. Can’t thank Xfinity enough for all they do and I guess we get to go to Talladega and do it again, right?!”

The fifth-place result did very little to satisfy Gragson after dominating both Xfinity races in Miami and to fall short in the closing laps.

“[I’m] Gonna have to start working on myself because that’s unacceptable on my standards,” Gragson said on MRN. “[Crew chief] Dave Elenz and the rest of the team, they did an unbelievable job to set up the car. We had the lead there at the end and the caution [fell] with a lap and a half to go. These guys, they work their tails off and it’s not to run fifth. It’s to win these races. Gonna keep on focus, keep positive. Super thankful for this team and them sticking behind me. Gonna keep working on myself and try to be better next time, just learn from the opportunity and just take the positives from today.”

Allmendinger, Brisoce, Jones and Chastain will contend for the third Dash 4 Cash bonus next weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.

Haley, Snider, Burton and Herbst finished sixth through ninth and as the only competitors to finish on the lead lap while Cindric, the first car a lap down, finished 10th.

The race featured 20 lead changes with eight different leaders. There were six cautions for 28 laps.

Gragson retained the lead in the Xfinity Series regular-season standings by 18 points over Briscoe and 45 over Burton.

Results:

1. Chase Briscoe, 11 laps led

2. Brandon Jones, five laps led

3. Ross Chastain, 11 laps led

4. AJ Allmendinger

5. Noah Gragson, 81 laps led, Stage 2 winner

6. Justin Haley

7. Myatt Snider, one lap led

8. Harrison Burton

9. Riley Herbst

10. Austin Cindric, one lap down, 60 laps led

11. Anthony Alfredo, one lap down

12. Josh Williams, one lap down, one lap led

13. Joe Graf Jr., one lap down

14. Colin Garrett, one lap down

15. Jesse Little, one lap down

16. Jeffrey Earnhardt, one lap down

17. Colby Howard, one lap down

18. Michael Annett, one lap down

19. Ryan Sieg, two laps down, seven laps led, Stage 1 winner

20. Tommy Joe Martins, two laps down

21. Chad Finchum, two laps down

22. Justin Allgaier, three laps down

23. Alex Labbe, three laps down

24. Matt Mills, three laps down

25. Timmy Hill, three laps down

26. Bayley Currey, four laps down

27. Jeremy Clements, four laps down

28. Carson Ware, four laps down

29. Vinnie Miller, four laps down

30. Caesar Bacarella, six laps down

31. Daniel Hemric – OUT, Crash

32. Stefan Parsons, 26 laps down

33. Kody Vanderwal – OUT, Power steering

34. B.J. McLeod – OUT, Clutch

35. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Fire

36. Brandon Brown – OUT, Overheating

37. Ja Junior Avila – OUT, Electrical

38. Stephen Leicht – OUT, Handling

Next on the Xfinity Series schedule is Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama, which will occur on June 20 at 5:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

June 14, 2020
Kyle Busch victorious again at Homestead
After a rough stretch of races, Kyle Busch piloted his No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota Tundra back to victory lane again at Homestead Miami Speedway, but it wasn’t all that easy for the Las Vegas native.

Prior to the event going green, Busch had prerace inspection issues and had to drop to the rear and serve a pass-through penalty. It wasn’t until Lap 39 when the KBM driver would get back to the front to take the lead which he held for 58 laps, taking the Stage 2 victory. In the end, Busch had to persevere through a red flag and a late-race restart to take home his second victory of the year.

“You’re always concerned about tires being better and having the opportunity to out-show you, but I felt like six laps was just the right amount, any more than that and it probably would have been a different outcome,” said Busch.

“I knew the Cessna Beechcraft Toyota Tundra here was going to be awesome. Thanks to TRD and Rowdy Energy, everybody that helps us here and makes us so fast and want to say thanks to Big Machine Hand Sanitizer as well, they were on the quarter panel the last two weeks and we didn’t win and now they’re not here and we won.”

Stage 1: Lap 1 – Lap 30

When the race went green, not only the drivers were racing to the checkered flag, but NASCAR was as well due to potential impending weather in the area. With weather in the area, there was a lot of thrilling action from the start.

Sheldon Creed would make slight contact with the wall early on, while the leaders battled with each other. Despite Creed hitting the wall, there would be no caution and last week’s runner-up Austin Hill led the field to the mandatory competition caution on Lap 15.

After the caution, five laps later, another one ensued as a major wreck broke loose between Brett Moffitt and Zane Smith. Brennan Poole and Chase Elliott were also involved, albeit with slight damage to their vehicles. Unfortunately for Moffitt and Smith, their night was done early for too much damage and they were relegated to finishing 36th and 37th.

A late-stage restart was seen and Niece Motorsports driver, Ross Chastain, passed Hill just before the stage completed. Chastain would end up winning the stage with Ben Rhodes, Hill, Grant Enfinger, Matt Crafton, Todd Gilliland, Christian Eckes, Raphael Lessard, Stewart Friesen, and Creed the top-10 finishers.

Under the stage caution, several trucks stayed out including Eckes, Majeski, Ankrum, Poole, Kraus, Greenfield, Fogleman, Elliott, and Busch. Dawson Cram was too fast on pit road.

Stage 2: Lap 35 – Lap 60

Once Stage 2 began, Busch took the lead on Lap 39, which was the first time in the race for Busch to be out front.

Other than a piece of debris out of the racing groove, Matt Crafton in the wall in Turn 4 with five to go in the stage and losing a tire, Stage 2 was caution free.

With Stage 2 going caution free, Busch would take his first stage win of the night. Chastain, Hill, Eckes, Gilliland, Rhodes, Elliott, Kraus, Enfinger, and Lessard rounded out the top-10

Stage 3: Lap 66 – Lap 134

The third and final stage saw more action than the other previous stages.

Beginning with Lap 69, Poole had a tire go down which brought out the caution. Charlotte winner, Elliott, was in the wall slightly but no caution.

As a green flag run took place, green flag pit stops began with 39 to go. Eckes, Crafton and Poole played pit strategy during the normal cycle of stops. In order for the strategy to work, a caution had to be flown within their pit window. Alas, a caution was flown with 30 to go for Korbin Forrister who had problems with his No. 7 machine. Under the yellow, Eckes, Busch, Crafton and Rhodes among a few others came on to pit road to pit.

During the pit stops, we saw a bizarre incident that occurred when Sheldon Creed in the No. 2 got called to pit road at the last second. However, it was too late for Creed to make a left-hand turn to pit road, which caused him to hit the water/sand barriers. As water and sand went everywhere, a 15-minute red flag was displayed.

Once the red was lifted, a restart came with 24 to go. Busch would eventually take the lead a lap later and set the pace. But, the last caution flew with 12 to go for the No. 3 of Jordan Anderson, which set up a seven-lap dash to the finish.

It only took Busch a couple of laps before he cleared the field and once he did so, he set sail to his 58th career victory in the Truck Series, and his third victory at Homestead, the first time in seven years.

When asked if Busch would retire from the Truck Series as he approaches 100 in that series, he said it wouldn’t be that easy to kick him out.

“If my name is on the door, I’ll run as many as I’ll possibly can,” Busch said. “You can’t get rid of me that easily. Maybe one day, they’ll fix the rules where I will run more or I can be like Mark Martin and run Trucks full time (after I retire from Cup). Perhaps one day, I’ll go Trucks full time and run for a championship. Who knows?”

There were seven caution for 34 laps and six leaders among eight lead changes. Busch led twice for 82 laps.

Official Results
1. Kyle Busch, led 82 laps, won Stage 2
2. Tyler Ankrum
3. Ross Chastain, won Stage 1
4. Chase Elliott
5. Johnny Sauter
6. Todd Gilliland
7. Austin Hill
8. Christian Eckes
9. Matt Crafton
10. Ty Majeski
11. Raphael Lessard
12. Tanner Gray
13. Spencer Davis
14. Stewart Friesen
15. Derek Kraus
16. Austin Wayne Self
17. Grant Enfinger
18. Ben Rhodes
19. Brennan Poole
20. Sheldon Creed
21. Cory Roper
22. Spencer Boyd
23. Tate Fogleman
24. Angela Ruch
25. Tyler Hill, one lap down
26. Gray Gaulding, one lap down
27. Jennifer Jo Cobb, two laps down
28. Codie Rohrbaugh, two laps down
29. Ray Ciccareli, three laps down
30. Clay Greenfield, 12 laps down
31. Jordan Anderson, OUT, Crash
32. Dawson Cram, OUT, Transmission
33. Korbin Forrister, OUT, Crash
34. Norm Benning, OUT, Handling
35. T.J. Bell, OUT, Crash
36. Brett Moffitt, OUT, Crash
37. Zane Smith, OUT, Crash
38. Bryant Barnhill, OUT, Transmission
Up Next: The NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series will take a few weeks off before returning to action at Pocono Raceway Saturday, June 27.
June 14, 2020
Alfredo notches career-best result at Homestead

In the first of two NASCAR Xfinity Series events of the weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, there was Harrison Burton claiming a thrilling, upset win to add to his sensational start to his rookie season. There was Dale Earnhardt Jr. putting on a fascinating show to win in his lone start of this season. Then, there was Anthony Alfredo, who made a late charge to finish in fourth and achieve his first top-five result in his fourth Xfinity Series career start.

Starting 21st based on a random draw, Alfredo methodically worked his way to the front and was able to carve his way to 13th on Lap 20 right as the competition caution was displayed. Alfredo restarted 11th and was able to remain inside the top 15 for the duration of the first stage, where he finished 14th.

Following a stellar pit stop under the stage break, Alfredo made his first appearance in the top 10 in ninth. Throughout the second stage, Alfredo would remain in the bottom half of the top-10 running order and would finish in eighth, thus earning valuable stage points.

Following adjustments made to his No. 21 iRacing Chevrolet Camaro, Alfredo continued running well inside the top 10 throughout a 75-lap green-flag stretch, but as one of multiple cars behind a lap from the leaders. When the caution flag flew for a single-car wreck with seven laps remaining, Alfredo was in seventh and was the recipient of the free pass to return on the lead lap. In a two-lap shootout, Alfredo restarted seventh and was able to make a late charge, which included passing Dale Earnhardt Jr., to finish fourth and record the second top-five result for Richard Childress Racing’s No. 21 Chevrolet team led by rookie crew chief Andy Street after Myatt Snider finished fifth at Bristol Motor Speedway on June 1.

In four Xfinity Series starts this season, Alfredo has earned three top-10 results. His fourth-place result, however, was his first top-five finish in the series and gives the 21-year-old rookie from Ridgefield, Connecticut, more momentum toward his part-time status with Richard Childress Racing.

“[A] Very solid day for our iRacing Chevrolet Camaro,” Alfredo said. “[The] Richard Childress Racing guys stayed on top of it. I think I got us a little bit behind, needed a little more of an adjustment earlier for that long run, but once we got up on the fence [on the outside lane], it was so much fun. I’ve never done that before.”

“It was my first time racing at Homestead,” Alfredo added. “Running it right against the wall’s not only fun, but it’s cool to take speed out of it and I think we got it even better for that green-white-checkered finish, where we restarted seventh. We raced really hard for the wave around, and we got it. We were able to pit, restart seventh, last car on the lead lap, and high-sided a couple of guys, went three-wide on the top and brought it home fourth. Almost had third, too. I’m really pumped about that. I learned a bunch. The best part of it is that we get to do it again tomorrow. We get to translate everything we’ve learned, but I’m just really, really, really excited now because I have a better place to start with everything I learned.”

Alfredo will return and make his fifth Xfinity Series start the following day, June 14, for the second Homestead event of the weekend. The race will air at noon ET on FS1.

June 13, 2020
Earnhardt Jr. impresses in lone NASCAR start of 2020

In his lone NASCAR Xfinity Series start of this season, Dale Earnhardt Jr. put on a thrilling show at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the competition, his pit crew, the studio crew at or absent from the track and the fans watching from home. After spending the majority of the day battling for the lead against NASCAR’s future generation of stars, Earnhardt Jr. would take the checkered flag in fifth following a two-lap shootout to the finish.

Starting 12th based on a random draw and in his No. 8 Hellmann’s Chevrolet Camaro from JR Motorsports, Earnhardt Jr. carved his way into the top 10, settling in seventh by Lap 20 when the competition caution flew. When the race returned to green on Lap 25, Earnhardt Jr. continued racing inside the top 10. With two laps remaining in the first stage, the caution returned due to an engine failure in Kody Vanderwal car, which forced the first stage to conclude under caution. By then, Earnhardt Jr. finished in seventh.

The second stage was where Earnhardt Jr. started to flex his muscles as he moved into the top five and started to set his sights toward the lead and in the mix of a battle with teammate Noah Gragson, Ross Chastain and Austin Cindric. By Lap 57, Earnhardt Jr. was in second and continued battling with Gragson, Chastain and Cindric for the top spot. When the second stage concluded, Gragson would win the stage as Earnhardt Jr. finished fourth behind Cindric and Chastain.

Following a stellar pit stop under the stage break, Earnhardt Jr. exited pit road with the lead where he led four laps under caution. On the following restart, with 80 laps remaining, Earnhardt Jr. would be overtaken for the lead as he fell back to fourth. For the majority of the final stage and in a 75-lap green-flag run, he would settle within the top five and reignite his battle for the lead with Chastain, Cindric and Gragson.

With 31 laps remaining, following a late cycle of green-flag pit stops, Earnhardt Jr. was in second, pursuing Gragson by double digits. When a late caution returned with seven laps remaining for a single-car spin in Turn 1, Earnhardt Jr. pitted with the field and exited third.

On a two-lap shootout to the finish, Earnhardt Jr. restarted in third behind Gragson and gave his teammate a shot for him to retain the lead, but both JR Motorsports’ competitors would be overtaken for position at the start of the final lap. When the checkered flag flew, Harrison Burton stormed to an upset win while Earnhardt Jr. settled in fifth, two spots behind Gragson.

The top-five result was Earnhardt Jr.’s 70th of his Xfinity Series career, which came in his 142nd series start. It was also his 354th top-10 result between the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, a result that left one of NASCAR’s Most Popular Drivers and former Daytona 500 champion satisfied with his run.

“Man, I was so rusty,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “You see I was having trouble getting around [Chastain] there early in the race. That’s just ’cause I don’t have enough time to be able to trust where the car’s gonna end up, setting it in the corners. It was a lot of fun. I was rusty all the way through. We had it sailing there a few times, got some good speed out of the car, we were gaining on [Gragson] and I thought, ‘I’ll just keep driving it. No reason to try to save anything.’ He was so good on them long runs, we weren’t gonna catch him anyways. Hate we got that late yellow [flag] because our cars didn’t fire off very good. You saw it at the end of the race. We couldn’t go. It takes our cars a couple of corners.”

Even with his solid run, Earnhardt Jr. will hang up his helmet and fire suit for this season as Daniel Hemric will return to the driver’s seat of the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro the following day, June 14, where he will be one of four competitors contending for the second Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus.

“I’m gonna let [Daniel Hemric] have at it [tomorrow],” Earnhardt Jr. added. “That’s a lot of fun. This is a top, elite form of motorsports, in my mind, next to Cup. It’s not easy to get out there and compete with them boys. They’re so good and race so hard. My time’s running out.”

Earnhardt Jr.’s other two teammates, Michael Annett and Justin Allgaier, finished sixth and 32nd.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series will return for its second race of a doubleheader weekend at Homestead the following day, June 14. The race will air at noon ET on FS1.

June 13, 2020