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  • Hamlin clips Larson for thrilling last lap Cup victory at Kansas

    Hamlin clips Larson for thrilling last lap Cup victory at Kansas

    Denny Hamlin executed a thrilling finish for the ages by stalking and making the slightest contact on Kyle Larson that sent Larson into the backstretch wall on the final lap to win the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, May 7.

    The 42-year-old Hamlin from Chesterfield, Virginia, led eight times for 34 of 267-scheduled laps in a Heartland event that generated competitive racing and various lead changes from start to finish. At the event’s conclusion, Hamlin, who spent the final 26 laps trailing and cutting Larson’s steady advantage while trying himself to overtake him, seized an opportunity at the start of the final lap when he got to Larson’s rear bumper and tried to overtake him through the first two turns. Then as Larson gained the momentum to pull ahead entering the backstretch, both competitors’ cars came together as Hamlin slipped up and resulted with Larson getting sideways and wrecking against the outside wall. This allowed Hamlin to sneak by with the lead as he cruised to his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2023 season by more than a second.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, William Byron notched his second Cup pole of the season and the 10th of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 179.206 mph in 30.133 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Kyle Larson, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 179.170 mph in 30.139 seconds.

    Prior to the event, the following names that included Josh Bilicki, Corey LaJoie and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Byron took off with the lead on the inside lane and assumed control of the field that fanned out through the first two turns and the backstretch. As the field continued to jostle for positions, Byron led the first lap while teammate Larson and Ross Chastain battled for second. Behind, Tyler Reddick was in fourth while Martin Truex Jr. retained fifth ahead of Joey Logano.

    During the third lap, however, Byron briefly fell off the pace and dipped his No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 below the apron after getting loose entering the backstretch, which allowed Larson and Chastain to rocket past him as they battled for the lead followed by a hard-charging Reddick. A tight three-car battle for the lead then ensued between Larson, Chastain and Reddick, with neither letting off the throttle nor giving an inch as they fanned out and slid up the track to stall the momentum.

    Then prior to the fifth lap, the three-car battle for the lead between Larson, Reddick and Chastain went south as Reddick, who was sliding up the track and attempting to file in behind Larson and in front of Chastain entering the frontstretch, made contact with Larson as he sent Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 spinning across the frontstretch. Larson, however, managed to keep his car spinning below the apron without getting hit from the oncoming field and proceed without sustaining any damage as the event’s first caution flew.

    During the first caution, names that included Larson, Brad Keselowski, Chase Briscoe, Josh Bilicki, Todd Gilliland, Harrison Burton, Ryan Preece, Justin Haley and JJ Yeley pitted while the rest led by the new leader Reddick remained on the track.

    When the race restarted on the ninth lap, Reddick retained the lead on the inside lane as the field fanned out through the first two turns and the backstretch. Behind, Chastain and Byron were in second and third while rookie Ty Gibbs used the outside lane to move his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota TRD Camry into the top five as he battled teammate Martin Truex Jr. for more. Denny Hamlin also launched his bid for a spot in the top five against Gibbs followed by Logano, Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace and Daniel Suarez.

    Through the first 15 scheduled laps, Reddick was leading by half a second over Chastain followed by Truex, Hamlin and Byron while Bell, Ty Gibbs, Wallace, Suarez and Logano were in the top 10. Michael McDowell was in 11th followed by Chris Buescher, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch while rookie Noah Gragson, Austin Cindric, AJ Allmendinger, Austin Dillon and Ty Dillon were running in the top 20. Meanwhile, Larson, who was trying to carve his way back to the front following his early spin, was mired outside the top 25 on the track.

    Thirteen laps later, Truex, winner of last week’s Cup event at Dover Motor Speedway, moved his No. 19 Reser’s Fine Foods Toyota TRD Camry into the lead after gaining momentum and seizing an opportunity for the top spot through the backstretch and Turns 3 and 4. Teammate Hamlin followed suit in second in his No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry as Reddick fell back to third.

    By Lap 37, Byron, who fell back to ninth, pitted under green, but was assessed a penalty for speeding on pit road, which dropped him to last place in the running order and out of the lead lap category. By then, Aric Almirola pitted as Austin Cindric, Suarez and Kyle Busch pitted their respective entries. The first cycle of green flag pit stops proceeded as Wallace and Chastain pitted along with Hamlin, Reddick, Harvick, Wallace and Logano.

    By Lap 40, Truex surrendered the lead to pit along with Josh Berry, AJ Allmendinger, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs and others. Truex’s pit stop, however, occurred a lap later than planned due to a miscommunication with his team. This allowed teammate Hamlin to overtake him for position on the backstretch with nearly the entire field having made a pit stop.

    Just past the Lap 45 mark, Corey LaJoie, who had yet to pit, was leading followed by Keselowski while Hamlin, the first competitor who pitted, cycled to third ahead of Truex and JJ Yeley. Then once LaJoie pitted on Lap 47, Hamlin cycled as the new leader by three-tenths of a second over teammate Truex. Truex, however, managed to narrow the deficit and reassume the lead from Hamlin on Lap 49 while Keselowski, who had yet to pit, retained third followed by Reddick and Ty Gibbs.

    On Lap 56, trouble ignited for Chase Briscoe, who exited his pit stall after completing a pit stop under green when the left-front wheel came off of Briscoe’s No. 14 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang and rolled down pit road. The tire, however, managed to roll behind the wall and Briscoe was able to reverse his car back to his pit stall without drawing a caution. He, however, was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation as Truex continued to lead ahead of teammate Hamlin, Reddick, Gibbs and Suarez.

    By Lap 65, Truex retained the lead ahead of teammate Hamlin and more than nine seconds over third-place Reddick while Gibbs and Suarez remained in the top five. Behind, Wallace was in sixth ahead of Bell while Blaney, Chastain and Kyle Busch were in the top 10. Two laps later, Keselowski, who was trying to stretch his fuel tank after pitting on the seventh lap, pitted under green after slipping out of the top-10 running order while Larson and Harvick battled for 11th.

    On Lap 71, the battle for the lead between teammates Truex and Hamlin reignited as Hamlin, who gained ground on Truex through the backstretch a lap prior, managed to carve his way past Truex amid lapped traffic to reassume the lead. By then, Byron’s rocky day went from bad to worse as he pitted under green after scrubbing the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 80, Hamlin captured his second stage victory of the 2023 season. Teammate Truex settled in second followed by teammate Ty Gibbs while Reddick, Suarez, Bell, Wallace, Blaney, Chastain and Larson were scored in the top 10. By then, 19 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Hamlin pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Hamlin retained the lead after exiting first followed by Truex, Gibbs, Suarez, Wallace and Blaney. During the pit stops, Reddick lost five spots on pit road due to a slow pit service involving the jack while Kyle Busch, who backed his car on pit road to tighten a lug nut, was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    The second stage started on Lap 88 as teammates Hamlin and Truex occupied the front row. At the start, teammates Hamlin and Truex dueled for the lead as the field fanned out and battled in close-quarters racing through the first two turns and the backstretch. In the midst of the battle for the lead, Suarez, who restarted third, was nearly turned in the backstretch as he fell within the top 10.

    As the field returned to the frontstretch, both Truex and Hamlin refused to give an inch nor let off the throttle as they continued to battle dead even for the lead while Chastain overtook Gibbs and Reddick for third. Behind, Elliott muscled his way to the front as he overtook Larson, Blaney and Wallace to move up to seventh.

    On Lap 94, Hamlin attempted to side-draft teammate Truex for the lead through the frontstretch, but Truex gained the momentum on the outside lane through the first two turns as he retained the lead. Their battles were among many occurring around the speedway as Chastain was starting to be pressured by Wallace for third while Blaney and Bell battled for seventh.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Hamlin, who pulled a slide job to reassume the lead from Truex, was leading by half a second over teammate Truex, with both continuing to pressure one another for the lead as third-place Wallace trailed by two seconds. Chastain and Gibbs were in the top five while Bell, Elliott, Larson, Josh Berry and Blaney were scored in the top 10. Behind, Suarez was back in 11th followed by Aric Almirola, Kevin Harvick, Reddick and Buescher while Kyle Busch was in 16th.

    Seven laps later, the caution flew when Austin Cindric, who was running 19th, blew a right-front tire and slapped the outside wall exiting the frontstretch and through the first two turns. Cindric’s incident was one that broke the wheel in half and fell off his No. 2 Freightliner Ford Mustang as he pitted. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Hamlin returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Wallace emerged as the new leader after exiting pit road first followed by Chastain, Truex, Gibbs, Larson and Hamlin. During the pit stops, Elliott backed his No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 back to his pit stall to have a left-side lug nut tightened as he lost a bevy of spots on pit road.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 113, Chastain jumped ahead with the lead on the inside lane, but Wallace quickly fought back on the outside lane with drafting help from Truex as he reassumed the top spot and held the lead amid a series of battles. With Wallace leading, Chastain and Truex battled for second as Hamlin was in fourth ahead of Larson, Gibbs and Almirola. Meanwhile, Reddick was back in eighth along with Kyle Busch, Josh Berry, Harvick and Bell while Blaney was back in 13th.

    On Lap 118, Truex used the inside lane to his advantage as he overtook Wallace for the lead entering the frontstretch. Behind, Larson rocketed his way up to third while Hamlin was in fourth ahead of Chastain. As Gibbs occupied sixth, Reddick and Kyle Busch battled for seventh while Elliott was back in 12th in between Almirola and Harvick.

    At the halfway mark between Laps 133 and 134, Truex was leading by more than a second over Larson and more than two seconds over third-place Hamlin while Wallace and Chastain were back in the top five. Reddick, Gibbs, Kyle Busch, Bell and Berry were in the top 10 while Elliott Harvick, Almirola, Buescher, Blaney, Suarez, Gragson, Austin Dillon, Allmendinger and Logano were running in the top 20. Notably, Keselowski was in 21st, Erik Jones was mired in 25th behind Harrison Burton and Byron was in 32nd.

    On Lap 138, the caution flew when Almirola, who was running 13th, snapped sideways and spun towards the bottom of the track in the backstretch as he slowly limped his No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang back to pit road with multiple flat tires. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Hamlin returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Larson managed to edge Truex and Hamlin off of pit road first as he assumed the lead followed by Chastain, Wallace and Kyle Busch. During the pit stops, Ty Gibbs reversed his car back to his pit stall to tighten a loose wheel on his entry. In addition, Keselowski was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    During the following restart on Lap 143, Larson and Truex dueled for the lead as the field fanned out through the backstretch and returning to the frontstretch. During the following lap, Larson managed to clear Truex, who had to lift off the throttle in Turn 4, to retain the lead as Hamlin followed pursuit in third. Behind, Wallace and Chastain battled for fourth as Kyle Busch and Elliott battled for sixth. As a series of on-track battles ensued, including one at the front where Wallace overtook Truex and Hamlin for second while Kyle Busch and Chastain bumped and rubbed fenders, resulting with the former voicing his displeasure to the latter, the caution returned on Lap 148 when Erik Jones spun his No. 43 Allegiant Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entering the backstretch. At the same time, Berry also spun after pinning Gibbs in between himself and Buescher, which resulted with Berry spinning his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 below the backstretch.

    During the caution period, names that included Keselowski, Austin Dillon, Harrison Burton, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Preece and Ty Dillon pitted while the rest led by Truex remained on the track.

    With 12 laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted under green. At the start, Larson and Wallace battled dead even for the lead for a lap, with neither managing to clear one another as Hamlin gained ground on both. During the following lap, both Larson and Wallace continued to duel with both Hamlin and Truex remaining within striking distance before Larson managed to pull a slide job and clear Wallace through Turns 1 and 2. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch moved up to fifth ahead of Blaney and Chastain.

    Then with eight laps remaining and just as Wallace reassumed the lead from Larson, the caution flew when Bell, who was running eighth, made contact against Chastain, spun his No. 20 SiriusXM Toyota TRD Camry off of the backstretch and pounded the outside wall as his strong run came to an end. During the caution period, some led by Logano remained on the track while the rest led by Wallace pitted.

    With three laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted under green. At the start, the field scrambled and fanned out through the first two turns between competitors on old tires versus new tires as Logano and McDowell battled for the lead. Then through the backstretch, the caution returned when Kyle Busch, who was trying to carve his way back to the front amid the mixed strategy, slid across the nose of Ryan Preece and spun his No. 8 Cheddar’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 below the track as he slapped the inside wall and slid backwards on flat tires as his roller coaster day came to an end. The incident was one that ended Busch’s. Busch’s incident was enough for NASCAR to conclude the second stage scheduled for Lap 165 under caution as Logano captured his second stage victory of the 2023 season. McDowell settled in second while Gragson, Erik Jones, AJ Allmendinger, Buescher, Austin Dillon, Ty Dillon, Larson and Hamlin were scored in the top 10. By then, 28 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, some led by Logano, including the ones that remained on the track during the previous caution period, pitted while the rest led by new leader Larson remained on the track.

    With 97 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as Larson and Hamlin occupied the front row. At the start, Larson retained the lead ahead of Hamlin following a push from teammate Elliott as a series of on-track battles ensued from the front to the back. With Larson leading, Wallace challenged his owner Hamlin for second with Elliott settling in fourth as Blaney, Truex and Reddick battled for fifth. Truex would then fall back to seventh as he was being pressured by teammate Ty Gibbs and Harvick for more.

    Then with 91 laps remaining and amid the continuous battles, the caution flew when Gibbs, who was battling teammate Truex and Harvick for seventh place, slid up the track entering the backstretch as he sent Truex up the track and towards the outside wall. While Truex proceeded, Gibbs then spun his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota TRD Camry below the track as he made little contact against the inside wall while flat-spotting his tires. He then damaged his right-front fender as his right-front tire shredded while he attempted to enter pit road, which resulted with him getting stuck towards the frontstretch grass and ending his race with a wrecked race car.

    During the following restart with 84 laps remaining, Larson and Hamlin battled for the lead amid the field fanning out as Larson managed to clear Hamlin and retain the lead. Behind, Blaney carved his way up to fourth while battling Reddick for the spot while Elliott overtook Hamlin for second. Behind, Truex was trying to carve his way back to the front as he was in seventh behind Wallace as Elliott started to challenge teammate Larson for the lead. After gaining a strong run through the backstretch, Elliott, who is needing a victory to make the 2023 Cup Playoffs after missing six of the first eight scheduled events, moved into the lead with 81 laps remaining as Hamlin tried to battle Larson for second.

    With 77 laps remaining, the caution returned when Harrison Burton spun his No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang off of Turn 2 while trying to avoid hitting Buescher. During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Elliott pitted while the rest that included Truex, Austin Dillon, Logano, Gragson and Todd Gilliland remained on the track.

    At the start of the following restart with 72 laps remaining, Truex and Austin Dillon dueled for the lead as Larson, the first competitor restarting on fresh tires, fanned out while charging his way back to the front. With Truex retaining the lead, teammates Larson and Elliott pressured Austin Dillon for second with Suarez in fifth as Hamlin was back in sixth ahead of Byron and Logano. With 69 laps remaining, however, Hamlin capitalized exiting the backstretch to overtake both Suarez and Elliott for fourth place while Larson, who managed to overtake Austin Dillon for second, started to pressure Truex for the lead.

    Then with 64 laps remaining, Larson side-drafted and overtook Truex through the frontstretch to reassume the lead on four fresh tires. He then started to pull away as Hamlin, Austin Dillon and Byron occupied the top five. Behind, Suarez was in sixth followed by Blaney while Wallace battled Reddick, Harvick and Elliott for eighth. The caution, however, returned with 62 laps remaining when Gragson, who was battling hard against Chastain for a top-15 spot and scrubbed the outside wall on the frontstretch a few laps earlier, got sideways by himself entering the backstretch as he spun his No. 42 Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 below the track.

    During the caution period, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Truex pitted while names that included Corey LaJoie, Preece and McDowell remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Larson exited first with the lead followed by teammate Byron, Hamlin, Suarez, Truex and Austin Dillon. Following the pit stops, however, Suarez was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation after a wheel rolled out of his pit box.

    With the race restarting with 56 laps remaining, the field fanned out and scrambled as Preece and LaJoie dueled for the lead in front of Byron, Larson and Hamlin. During the following lap and with the field still scrambling, Byron, who was two laps down early in the event, cycled into the lead followed by teammate Larson, Hamlin and Truex. Larson then engaged in a battle with his Hendrick Motorsports teammate for the lead with both refusing to give an inch while Hamlin tried to close in while running third.

    It would not take long, however, for the caution to return with 53 laps remaining when Erik Jones got loose after touching Almirola as he battled him for position and spun below the apron in Turns 3 and 4. At the same time, Berry spun off of the two turns, with both proceeding to pit their respective entries. The caution period enabled McDowell and Preece to pit while the rest of the field led by Byron remained on the track.

    During the proceeding event with 47 laps remaining, Larson gained the momentum on the outside lane to assume the lead from teammate Byron with Hamlin in third as Wallace charged his way back to fourth along with Chastain. Truex, meanwhile, fell back to seventh after having issues gaining speed on the inside lane as Wallace and Chastain battled for fourth.

    With 35 laps remaining, Larson was leading by six-tenths of a second over teammate Byron followed by Hamlin, Chastain and Wallace while Logano, Elliott, Truex, Reddick and Austin Dillon were in the top 10. Behind, Harvick was in 11th ahead of Blaney, Stenhouse, Allmendinger and LaJoie while Keselowski, Almirola, Suarez, Buescher and Justin Haley occupied the top 20.

    Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Larson extended his advantage to more than a second over Hamlin, who overtook Byron for second a lap earlier, as Chastain and Wallace remained in the top five. Larson’s advantage, however, decreased to six-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Hamlin with less than 20 laps remaining while third-place Byron trailed by more than two seconds.

    With 10 laps remaining, Larson, who scrubbed the wall four laps earlier while trying to navigate his way through lapped traffic, retained the lead by only three-tenths of a second over Hamlin, who continued to close in for the lead and now had Larson close to his front windshield.

    During the proceeding laps, Hamlin, who was experimenting different lanes to gain the ground needed on Larson, cut the deficit to as little as a tenth of a second as he tried to navigate his way around Larson for the lead amid more lapped traffic. Larson, however, maintained his ground as he was forced to block and fend off Hamlin for the lead. With nearly five laps remaining, Hamlin gained a run beneath Larson and nearly took over the lead on the frontstretch, but Larson managed to maintain the lead by a tenth of a second as he gained the momentum through the first two turns. Larson then managed to stabilize his advantage by only as high as half a second, leaving Hamlin more work to try and regain the ground.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson, who continued to block and fend off Hamlin’s charges through every turn and straightaway, remained as the leader by a tenth of a second over Hamlin. Through the first two turns, Hamlin tried once again to draw himself even with Larson for the lead, but Larson started to peek ahead entering the backstretch. It was there where the competitors’ cars touched as Hamlin slid up and barely clipped Larson left-rear quarter panel, which got Larson loose and into the outside wall on the backstretch. Despite hitting the wall, Larson managed to quickly straighten his car and proceed, but the damage was done as Hamlin escaped with the lead. After navigating his way through the final two corners without any pressure, Hamlin cycled back to the frontstretch and delivered with his first checkered flag of the 2023 season after winning by more than a second over Larson.

    With the victory, Hamlin, who won for the first time since winning the 2022 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, notched his 49th NASCAR Cup Series career victory, which tied him with NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart on the all-time wins list, and his fourth victory at Kansas Speedway. He also became the ninth different competitor to win through the first 12-scheduled events and the third to do so while driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, which achieved career victory No. 400 in NASCAR.

    The 2023 season marks Hamlin’s 17th season with at least one victory in NASCAR’s premier series. Hamlin also produced the first last-lap pass for the victory at Kansas Speedway.

    “Yeah, so proud of this whole FedEx team,” Hamlin, who was met with mixed reviews from the crowd, said on FS1. “I got position on [Larson] there. I was trying to side-draft him, but clipped his left rear. Glad he was able to at least finish and proud of my FedEx team, though. [That’s] 400 wins now for Joe Gibbs Racing. Just such a great accomplishment for them.”

    Larson, who rallied from his early spin, settled in second place for a second consecutive time in the spring Kansas event as he also notched his second runner-up result of the 2023 season.

    “I was really loose,” Larson said. “I was trying to do what I could to manage it. [I was] Just really loose on that end. [Hamlin] was a little bit better than me at the end there. Obviously, he was side-drafting really aggressively like he would, but he was like touching me, it felt like, and it just had me kind of out of control.”

    Byron capped off his miraculous comeback from two laps down to finish third followed by Bubba Wallace, who notched his second top-five result of the season. Points leader Chastain came home in fifth while Logano, Elliott, Truex, Reddick and Austin Dillon finished in the top 10 on the track.

    Meanwhile, tempers flared on pit road between 29th-place finisher Noah Gragson and fifth-place finisher Ross Chastain, both of whom made contact on the frontstretch that scales back to less than 70 laps remaining when Chastain forced Gragson up and into the outside wall and resulted with Gragson stalling Chastain’s momentum. After the race, both competitors met to discuss their incident on pit road and the conversation went south as Gragson grabbed Chastain’s chest. With the conversation intensifying, Chastain then swung a punch towards Gragson before both were separated by NASCAR officials.

    There were a record-setting 37 lead changes for 12 different leaders. The race featured 11 cautions for 57 laps. In total, 22 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 12th event of the 2023 Cup Series season, Ross Chastain continues to lead the regular-season standings by 31 points over Christopher Bell, 36 over Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin, 46 over Kevin Harvick and 50 over Tyler Reddick.

    Results.

    1. Denny Hamlin, 34 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    2. Kyle Larson, 85 laps led

    3. William Byron, 10 laps led

    4. Bubba Wallace, nine laps led

    5. Ross Chastain, three laps led

    6. Joey Logano, eight laps led, Stage 2 winner

    7. Chase Elliott, five laps led

    8. Martin Truex Jr., 79 laps led

    9. Tyler Reddick, 23 laps led

    10. Austin Dillon

    11. Kevin Harvick

    12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    13. Aric Almirola

    14. AJ Allmendinger

    15. Daniel Suarez

    16. Ryan Blaney

    17. Chris Buescher

    18. Justin Haley

    19. Brad Keselowski

    20. Corey LaJoie, seven laps led

    21. Erik Jones

    22. Ty Dillon

    23. JJ Yeley, one lap down

    24. Todd Gilliland, one lap down

    25. Josh Berry, one lap down

    26. Michael McDowell, one lap down

    27. Ryan Preece, one lap down

    28. Brennan Poole, three laps down

    29. Noah Gragson, five laps down

    30. Harrison Burton, six laps down

    31. Austin Cindric, seven laps down

    32. Chase Briscoe, seven laps down

    33. Josh Bilicki, seven laps down

    34. Ty Gibbs – OUT, Accident

    35. Kyle Busch – OUT, Accident

    36. Christopher Bell – OUT, Accident, three laps led

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ first of two scheduled visits this season to Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, for the Goodyear 400 and the sport’s throwback weekend. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, May 14, during Mother’s Day weekend at 3 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Grant Enfinger claims first Truck Series win of the season at Kansas

    Grant Enfinger claims first Truck Series win of the season at Kansas

    Grant Enfinger led 65 laps in the Heart of America 200 at Kansas Speedway Saturday night to capture his first CRAFTSMAN Truck Series win of the season. It was his first victory at the 1.5-mile track and the eighth of his Truck Series career.

    After the race, Enfinger gave much of the credit to his GMR Racing team and crew chief, Jeff Hensley.

    “Kansas has been a good track for us but we haven’t had a dominant truck like this in a long time.” He paused a moment, then said, “But lights out, we had the best Chevy Silverado out here. Thank you to Champion Power Equipment for sticking with me.

    “It’s been a dismal year and a half,” he continued. “I know we came up with a win last year but overall the season was a little sluggish, first seven races this year were a little bit sluggish. I was disappointed in our execution

    “But Jeff talked to me before the race. He gave me some encouragement. He did a heck of a job tonight. So the biggest thing is these guys just brought me an unbelievable Chevy Silverado.”

    Corey Heim finished second followed by Zane Smith, Stewart Friesen, Ross Chastain, Nick Sanchez (highest-finishing rookie), Kyle Busch, Jake Garcia, Taylor Gray and Tyler Ankrum to round out the top 10. Toni Breidinger finished 15th in her series debut.

    Heim thought he had a chance at the win until the final caution.

    “I think that last caution (for Kris Wright’s second spin) put a hole in our strategy a little bit,” he said. “If we had that last run go green and we had the same tires as the 23 (Enfinger), I thought we could beat him straight up.

    “As soon as we got that last caution and we were on uneven tires, I knew it was going to be all track position. I got hung up trying to block the 38 (Smith) and kind of took a step back from there and lost track position.”

    Zane Smith and Ty Majeski are currently leading the driver standings with 323 points each with the advantage going to Smith who has two race wins and one stage win. Ben Rhodes (-41) is third followed by Corey Heim (-47) and Grant Enfinger (-56), Christian Eckes -82, Matt Crafton -88, Tanner Gray (-103), Nick Sanchez (-118) and Matt DiBenedetto (-130) rounding out the top 10 in the driver standings.

    Next up for the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series is the Buckle Up South Carolina 200, next Friday at Darlington Raceway at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1 with radio coverage by MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    Results:

  • William Byron wins Cup Series pole, Kyle Larson second, for all-Hendrick front row at Kansas

    William Byron wins Cup Series pole, Kyle Larson second, for all-Hendrick front row at Kansas

    William Byron topped qualifying at Kansas Speedway with a 179.206 mph lap in the No. 24 Chevrolet to claim his second pole of the season and his 10th career NASCAR Cup Series pole. The Hendrick Motorsports driver will be joined on the front row by teammate, Kyle Larson, who came up a little short with a 179.17 mph lap.

    “Yeah, it feels great,” Byron said. “It feels really good to get a pole. Kansas (Speedway) is where I got my first truck win and that was really exciting, and I’ve never won here again (laughs). Hopefully, tomorrow can be a little bit better.

    “We’ve been kind of inching up on it in the Cup Series at this race track. We had good runs here last year – leading the race in the spring and got a flat tire, and then finished I think sixth in the fall race. So we’ve been pretty good here, it’s just a matter of putting it all together and hopefully, tomorrow is the day.”

    Larson was disappointed that he could not find enough speed to claim the pole but said, “Cool to be there on the front row with William. Wish I could have went just a little bit better. I need to look at the data to see where I gave up a little bit of time to him. Overall, I felt good about my lap and happy to be on the front row.”

    He also indicated that there was still work to be done on the Hendrick cars before the race.

    “Stil feel like we got to work on our cars quite a bit for race trim. I thought the Toyotas were much better.”

    Chevrolet and Toyota each claimed four of the top 10 starting positions with Ford earning two.

    Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain was third fastest in his No. 1 Chevrolet with Toyota drivers Martin Truex Jr. and Tyler Reddick completing the top-five. Joey Logano (Ford), Ty Gibbs (Toyota), Denny Hamlin (Toyota), Daniel Suárez (Chevrolet) and Ryan Blaney (Ford) rounded out the top 10.

    The AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway is set for Sunday at 3 p.m. ET and will be televised on FS1 with radio coverage provided by MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    Starting Lineup:

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Kansas

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Kansas

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin chased down Bubba Wallace over the closing laps, but couldn’t get close enough to make the pass, instead settling for his second-consecutive runner-up finish.

    “Congratulations to my 23XI Racing driver,” Hamlin said. “If I could have gotten a little closer, I was getting ready to make a ‘boss’ move.”

    2. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished 11th in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas.

    “We needed a solid performance,” Elliott said, “and we got it. I wasn’t happy with my performance at Darlington. By ‘backing it into the wall,’ I left my back against the wall.”

    3. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished ninth at Kansas.

    “Congratulations to Bubba Wallace on his win,” Blaney said. “That’s two straight wins by non-playoff drivers. I’m just the opposite: a non-winning playoff driver.”

    4. Christopher Bell: Bell finished third at Kansas and clinched a spot to the second round of the playoffs.

    “This takes a lot of the pressure off of me,” Bell said. “I don’t need to win; there are a lot of drivers who do. So, while they’re going ‘balls to the wall’ at Bristol, my balls will be in a much safer place.”

    5. Joey Logano: Logano started second at Kansas and finished 17th, one lap down.

    “North Wilkesboro will host the 2023 All-Star Race,” Logano said. “I think it’s great because NASCAR is going back to its roots. The only roots in Los Angeles, where last year’s race was held, are those being dyed in the hair of those L.A. posers.”

    6. Kyle Larson: Larson finished eighth in the Hollywood Casino 400.

    “I’m 27 points above the playoff cut line of 12th place,” Larson said. “So, barring a disaster, I should advance. I’m really excited to defend my championship, because trust me, defending a championship is much better than defending yourself.”

    7. William Byron: Byron finished sixth at Kansas.

    “The Bristol Night Race is going to be huge,” Byron said. “It’s on a Saturday, and some playoff drivers need a win just to advance to the next round. It’s going to be intense, and must-see TV. As the driver of the car with the ‘Liberty University’ paint scheme on his car, I can promise you fans will be watching as intently as Jerry Falwell, Jr. watches his wife and the pool boy.”

    8. Ross Chastain: Chastain solidified his playoff standing with a seventh at Kansas.

    “That’s right,” Chastain said, “I’m a good bet to make the second round of the playoffs. Personally, I’m thrilled that I’ll be able to make an impact in the second round. There are at least 11 other drivers that feel otherwise.”

    9. Kyle Busch: Busch finished a disappointing 26th at Kansas a spin on Lap 130 resulted in two flat tires, leaving him a lap down.

    “I’m headed to Richard Childress Racing in 2023,” Busch said. “They made a deal with me, so now they have to deal with me.”

    10. Kevin Harvick: Harvick’s day ended early at Kansas when he slammed the wall after getting loose while racing in tight quarters with Ross Chastain and Bubba Wallace. Harvick finished last in 36th.

    “That’s a finish of 33rd and 36th for me in the playoffs,” Harvick said. “The bad news? I’m the coldest driver in the playoffs. The good news? I’m not ‘on fire.’”

    “In regards to what happened at Darlington, I’m surprised Busch didn’t create a new marketing campaign around the slogan, ‘You got a light?’”

  • Bubba Wallace spoils the Playoffs with second Cup career victory at Kansas

    Bubba Wallace spoils the Playoffs with second Cup career victory at Kansas

    Bubba Wallace wheeled the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota TRD Camry to a late victory in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, September 11. It was the second time in recent weeks that a non-Playoff competitor spoiled the show in the early stages of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. On this occasion, it was a team that celebrated an automatic transfer to the second round in the owners’ standings.

    The 28-year-old Wallace from Mobile, Alabama, led two times for 58 of 267-scheduled laps, including the final 43, and rallied from an early loose wheel that forced him to pit for a second time prior to the start of the second stage as he held off team owner Denny Hamlin amid lapped traffic to score his second career win in NASCAR’s premier series. The victory enabled the No. 45 team to earn an automatic pass to the Round of 12 in the owners’ standings with Wallace not contending for the drivers’ title.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Playoff contender Tyler Reddick secured his second pole position of the season after posting a pole-winning lap at 180.608 mph in 29.899 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Joey Logano, who posted the second-best lap sat 180.385 mph in 29.936 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Aric Almirola and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective cars.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Reddick and Logano dueled early for the lead entering the first turn before Logano capitalized on the inside lane to assume the lead. With the field fanning out through the backstretch, Logano went on to lead the first lap while Alex Bowman muscled his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the runner-up spot over Reddick’s No. 8 Guaranteed Rate Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

    Two laps later, however, Bowman battled and overtook Logano on the outside lane for the lead. Reddick would soon overtake Logano for the runner-up spot while Christopher Bell and Ross Chastain occupied the top five ahead of a side-by-side battle between Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Bowman was leading by six-tenths of a second over Reddick followed by Logano, Bell and Chastain while Wallace, Larson, Kevin Harvick, rookie Austin Cindric and Martin Truex Jr. were in the top 10 ahead of Daniel Suarez, William Byron, Chris Buescher, Ryan Blaney and Austin Dillon.

    At the Lap 10 mark, Bowman stabilized his advantage to nearly eight-tenths of a second over Reddick followed by Logano and Bell while Wallace muscled his No. 45 Root Insurance Toyota TRD Camry into the top five. By then, half of the 16 Playoff contenders were running in the top 10 while Chase Elliott was the lowest-running Playoff contender in 26th. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch was in 22nd while Chase Briscoe was mired in 17th behind William Byron, Austin Dillon and Denny Hamlin.

    On Lap 25, a competition caution was displayed as scheduled by NASCAR. At the moment of caution, Bowman had extended his advantage to more than a second over Reddick while Logano, Bell, Wallace, Chastain, Truex, Larson, Harvick and Cindric were scored in the top 10.

    During the competition caution, the leaders led by Bowman pitted and Reddick reassumed the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Bowman, Logano, Bell, Truex and Wallace. Following the pit stops, however, Brad Keselowski, Briscoe and Truex were sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road. In addition, Hamlin was penalized for an equipment interference.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 31, Reddick and Bowman dueled for the lead as the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the backstretch and entering Turn 3. As Bowman and Reddick continued to battle dead even for the lead, a three-wide action for third place ignited between Logano, Chastain and Wallace as Harvick closed in. 

    Two laps later, however, the caution returned when Chastain and Wallace slid up the track and in front of Harvick entering Turn 4. This caused Harvick to get loose before he veered back to the right and smacked the outside wall in Turn 4 as he sustained significant right-side damage to his No. 4 Rheem Ford Mustang. The damage on the No. 4 Ford, which included the right-front suspension, was too extensive for Harvick to continue as he took his car to the garage and retired in 36th place, dead last.

    At the start of the following restart on Lap 38, Reddick retained the lead while fending off Blaney and Bowman before Logano challenged Bowman for third place through the first two turns. Behind, Chastain rocketed his No. 1 AdventHealth Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to fifth after he overtook Wallace and Bell as the field continued to dice for positions towards the front. 

    By Lap 50, Reddick was ahead by nearly a second over Blaney, Bowman, Chastain, Bell, Wallace, Logano, Buescher, Cindric and Byron. Behind, Stenhouse was in 11th ahead of Larson, Suarez, Kyle Busch, Elliott, Austin Dillon, Erik Jones, Almirola, Truex and Hamlin while Briscoe was in 29th.

    Fifteen laps later, however, the caution flew when the race leader Reddick slipped sideways and slapped the outside wall after he cut a right-rear tire in Turn 2.  The situation went from bad to worse for Reddick, who then spun below the apron as he was entering pit road and ultimately retired from the race. Under caution, the leaders led by Bowman pitted and Austin Dillon assumed the lead following a two-tire pit stop.

    With nine laps remaining in the first stage, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Austin Dillon and Bell dueled until Bell prevailed on the inside lane. Shortly after, Blaney battled and overtook Dillon for third before Truex and Chastain took Dillon three-wide in a bid for fourth followed by Stenhouse and Wallace. 

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 80, Bell, who was making his 100th Cup career start, captured his third stage victory of the 2022 season. Blaney settled in second while Truex, Stenhouse, Wallace, Elliott, Kyle Busch, Chastain, Logano and Austin Dillon, who fell back on two fresh tires, were scored in the top 10. By then, Hamlin was in 11th ahead of Byron and Larson while Cindric was in 15th followed by Suarez and Bowman. Briscoe was mired back in 25th while Reddick and Harvick were officially out of the event.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Bell returned to pit road for service while Almirola remained on the track to inherit the lead. Following the pit stops, Blaney and Wallace pitted to address loose wheels on their respective cars.

    The second stage started on Lap 86 with Almirola and McDowell, who opted for two fresh tires, on the front row. At the start and with the field fanning out, McDowell pulled ahead with the lead while Almirola, who slid up the track, made the slightest of contact with Bell and Elliott, though all continued to run straight. 

    During the following lap, Truex muscled his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota TRD Camry into the lead. Behind, Stenhouse moved in second over McDowell while Bell and Byron were in the top five. In addition, Almirola was in sixth in front of Elliott and Suarez while Kyle Busch and Logano were in the top 10.

    Another three laps later, the caution flew for Ty Gibbs, who got loose after making contact with Corey LaJoie and slapped the outside wall in Turn 2 as he flattened both right-side tires and sustained right-side damage to his No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota TRD Camry. During the caution period, Almirola and Ty Dillon pitted while the rest of the field led by Truex remained on the track.

    During a Lap 95 restart, Truex and Stenhouse dueled for the lead before Truex managed to clear himself with the lead and with a clear racetrack in front of him two laps later. Meanwhile, Bell and Byron battled for third in front of Kyle Busch and McDowell.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Truex was leading by more than half a second over Stenhouse while Bell was the highest-running Playoff contender in third in front of Kyle Busch and Byron. By then, seven of 16 Playoff contenders were running in the top 10 as Briscoe, Cindric, Suarez, Chastain, Austin Dillon, Blaney and Hamlin were mired outside of the top 10 on the track.

    Nine laps later, the caution returned when Stenhouse, who was running in second place, slapped the outside wall in the backstretch after he blew a right-rear tire on his No. 47 SunnyD Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. During the caution period, the leaders led by Truex pitted and Truex retained the lead after exiting with the top spot followed by Byron, Bowman, Logano, and Kyle Busch. Following the pit stops, however, Truex limped his way back to pit road to address a loose left-rear wheel. In addition, Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch and Suarez were all penalized for equipment interference.

    On Lap 114, the race restarted under green as teammates Byron and Bowman occupied the front row. Entering the first turn and with the field bunched up, however, the caution returned when Erik Jones, winner of last weekend’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, made contact with rookie Harrison Burton and Corey LaJoie while trying to squeeze himself in between both competitors as both LaJoie and Burton went up the track and clipped Almirola, who went spinning before both collided with one another toward the outside wall.

    At the start of another restart on Lap 120, Bowman used the inside lane to his advantage as he assumed the lead over teammate Byron while Logano was left in a three-wide battle against Briscoe and Elliott for third as Bell pursued behind.

    At the halfway mark in between Laps 133 and 134, Bowman was leading by eight-tenths over Logano, Byron, Elliott, Briscoe, Cindric, Bell, Blaney, Larson and Wallace. Chastain, Kyle Busch and Hamlin were in 12th, 14th and 17th while Suarez was in 21st and Austin Dillon was in 22nd.

    Then on Lap 136, the caution flew when Kyle Busch, who was in 12th in front of Truex and Chastain, got loose and spun his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota TRD Camry into the frontstretch grass after he cut a right-rear tire. During the caution period, the leaders led by Bowman pitted and Bowman retained the lead ahead of teammate Byron.

    With 22 laps remaining in the second stage, Bowman received a push from Bell on the inside lane to maintain the lead before Byron used the outside lane to overtake Bell for the runner-up spot. In addition, Logano moved up to third while Bell maintained fourth in front of Blaney and Elliott.

    With less than 10 laps remaining in the second stage, Bowman remained as the leader by four-tenths of a second over Bell while Byron, Elliott and Wallace were in the top five. Wallace’s owner Hamlin was in sixth in front of Logano, Larson, Blaney and Chastain.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 165, Bowman captured his second stage victory of the 2022 season. Bell settled in a close second place followed by Byron, Wallace, Elliott, Hamlin, Larson, Logano, Blaney and Chastain.

    Under the stage break, the leaders led by Bowman pitted and Bowman retained the lead following another strong pit stop from his pit crew while Wallace and Hamlin moved up to second and third.

    With 96 laps remaining, the final stage started. At the start, Bowman retained the lead while Wallace challenged Byron for the runner-up spot as the field fanned out through the backstretch. A few laps later, teammates Byron and Larson overtook Wallace for second and third as Logano and Bell closed in while Bowman started to pull away with the lead.

    With 87 laps remaining, Larson got loose entering Turns 3 and 4 while running on the outside lane. This allowed Byron and Wallace to go three wide on Larson as Wallace muscled his way into the runner-up spot. By then, Bowman was out in front by more than a second. 

    Eight laps later and with 75 laps remaining, Bowman stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Wallace followed by Byron, Bell and Larson, who continued to run in the top five despite brushing the wall earlier. Hamlin was in sixth while Blaney, Truex, Chastain and Logano were in the top 10 in front of Cindric, Elliott, Justin Haley, Suarez and Christopher Buescher.

    Another eight laps later, Wallace, who slowly tracked Bowman, overtook Bowman to assume the lead for the first time.

    Just past the final 55 laps of the event, green flag pit stops ensued as Truex pitted followed by teammate Hamlin and Byron. Shortly after, the leader Wallace pitted along with Bell, Blaney, Larson, Cindric, McDowell, Kyle Busch, Bowman and others.

    When the latest cycle of green flag pit stops concluded with 42 laps remaining, Wallace cycled his way back into the lead after Logano and Suarez, who endured a slow pit stop, pitted under green. By then, Bell moved into second followed by teammate Hamlin while Byron and Bowman were in the top five.

    With less than 30 laps remaining, Wallace was leading by two seconds over Bell, who was slowly gaining ground on Wallace for the lead as Wallace was navigating his way through lapped traffic. Hamlin was in third followed by Byron and Bowman while Chastain, Larson, Truex, Blaney and Elliott were in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Cindric, Austin Dillon, Briscoe, Suarez, Logano and Kyle Busch were in 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 18th and 24th.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Wallace stabilized his advantage to less than two seconds over Bell while third-place Hamlin trailed by more than two seconds. Another four laps later, Hamlin dueled and overtook teammate Bell on the frontstretch to assume the runner-up spot.

    With 10 laps remaining, Wallace continued to lead by two seconds over team owner Hamlin, who was navigating his way through lapped traffic, while third-place Bell trailed by less than three seconds.

    Five laps later, Wallace’s advantage decreased to less than a second and a half over Hamlin, though the former retained the top spot.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap commenced, Wallace remained as the leader by more than a second over Hamlin. Despite having lapped traffic in front of his windshield, Wallace was able to navigate his way around Kansas for a final time and cycle back to the frontstretch to claim his first elusive checkered flag of the 2022 season by a second over Hamlin. 

    With his second Cup career victory and by transferring the No. 45 23XI Racing entry into the Round of 12 in the owners’ standings, Wallace also became the 138th different competitor to achieve multiple wins in NASCAR’s premier series, he recorded the third career win for 23XI Racing and he became the 18th different winner through the first 28 scheduled events, which was a record in NASCAR history. The victory also meant that the No. 45 23XI Racing entry swept both Kansas Cup victories of the season after winning in May with Kurt Busch.

    This also marks the first time since the Playoffs debuted in 2004 where the first two Playoff events were won by non-title contenders after Erik Jones won at Darlington Raceway a week ago.

    Photo by Simon Scoggins for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “Man, just so proud of this team,” Wallace said on USA Network. “So proud of the effort that they put in each and every week. Just thankful for the opportunity, right? Took this jump from an idea two years ago from a text from Denny [Hamlin] before [23XI Racing] all even happened. He was ready to get the deal done. Appreciate him, appreciate [Michael Jordan]…everybody at 23XI. They work their tails off. Just so proud. Pit crew was awesome today. We had one loose wheel. Just thankful. Thankful for the opportunity and thankful to shut the hell up for a lot of people.”

    “I knew Denny was gonna be strong,” Wallace added. “That’s the things I look at. He wasn’t that good at the beginning of the day, and he comes up and finishes P2. That’s what I wanna start doing. We don’t have the best days. Just capitalize on moments like that. It’s cool to beat the boss, but man, we were just lights out today once we got to the lead. It was a lot of fun. It was just cool, calm and collective, and here we are. True fans that are out there, thank you, guys. I love you. It’s been a tough road. You [fans] are the best. Let’s keep this train rolling.”

    The runner-up result provided mixed emotions for Hamlin, positives from an owner’s perspective but disappointment from a driver’s perspective.

    “It’s a good overall day,” Hamlin said. “Just still frustrated about the first half of the race, obviously. We just aren’t executing that well. Really happy for our No. 11 Toyota team. They fought hard. They really stepped up that last half. We made the car quite a bit better. Just really happy about the outcome and really happy for that No. 45 team, Bubba Wallace and [crew chief] Bootie [Barker]. Bubba’s just really worked hard on his craft. We’ve just given him fast race cars and now, he’s showing what he’s got. I nearly wrecked to try to catch him off of [Turn] 4. I got bad loose and hit the fence, but I was driving as hard as I could. Nothing will ever come for free when you’re driving for me. If you think that I’m gonna let you win, you better go get another job. Just what a great day overall for Toyota.”

    The third-place finish for Bell felt like a victory for the Oklahoma native as he garnered enough points (58) to become the first Playoff competitor to secure a spot for the Round of 12 in the 2022 Cup Series Playoffs.

    “[I] Just got off a little bit on our balance that last run, but overall a great points day and very proud of everyone on this DEWALT No. 20 team,” Bell said. “Great day for Toyota and happy for Bubba to get a win. He was really deserving, really fast all day. Great points day. We’ll move on and try and win one. I’m very happy that we’re finally getting the results that this team deserves. Our speed has been there all year, and I feel like we’ve given up a couple good finishes. Last couple of weeks we’ve been building on it, and hopefully, we can keep the ball rolling.”

    Bowman, who led the most laps at 107, came home in fourth place in front of Truex. Byron, Chastain, Larson, Blaney and Daniel Suarez completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    There were 16 lead changes for 12 different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 43 laps.

    Results.

    1. Bubba Wallace, 58 laps led

    2. Denny Hamlin

    3. Christopher Bell, 12 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    4. Alex Bowman, 107 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    5. Martin Truex Jr., 24 laps led

    6. William Byron, nine laps led

    7. Ross Chastain

    8. Kyle Larson

    9. Ryan Blaney, two laps led

    10. Daniel Suarez, eight laps led

    11. Chase Elliott

    12. Austin Cindric

    13. Chase Briscoe

    14. Austin Dillon, three laps led

    15. Chris Buescher

    16. Michael McDowell, one lap led

    17. Joey Logano, one lap down, two laps led

    18. Noah Gragson, one lap down

    19. Justin Haley, one lap down

    20. Ty Dillon, one lap down

    21. Aric Almirola, one lap down, three laps led

    22. Cole Custer, one lap down

    23. Todd Gilliland, one lap down

    24. Landon Cassill, one lap down

    25. Brad Keselowski, one lap down

    26. Kyle Busch, two laps down

    27. Cody Ware, two laps down

    28. JJ Yeley, three laps down

    29. Erik Jones, three laps down

    30. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., five laps down

    31. BJ McLeod, five laps down

    32. Harrison Burton – OUT, Accident

    33. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Accident

    34. Ty Gibbs – OUT, Accident

    35. Tyler Reddick – OUT, Accident, 38 laps led

    36. Kevin Harvick – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. Christopher Bell – Advanced

    2. William Byron +48

    3. Denny Hamlin +47

    4. Joey Logano +40

    5. Ryan Blaney +36

    6. Alex Bowman +30

    7. Chase Elliott +28

    8. Kyle Larson +27

    9. Ross Chastain +26

    10. Daniel Suarez +6

    11. Tyler Reddick +2

    12. Austin Cindric +2

    13. Kyle Busch -2

    14. Austin Dillon -3

    15. Chase Briscoe -9

    16. Kevin Harvick -35

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff schedule is Bristol Motor Speedway for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race and where the first round of eliminations will occur. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, September 17, at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Tyler Reddick tops practice and qualifying, wins Busch Light Pole at Kansas

    Tyler Reddick tops practice and qualifying, wins Busch Light Pole at Kansas

    Tyler Reddick was last but not least in NASCAR Cup Series qualifying Saturday at Kansas Speedway. His lap of 29.899 seconds at 180.608 mph in the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet earned him the Busch Light Pole Award.

    “It’s reassuring,” Reddick said. “The last few times we’ve been here, we’ve had a car capable of leading, and we’ve been able to do that. It’s just been a matter of putting together the whole day, which is something we’ve fought at times throughout the year. Starting first is great any weekend, but being able to have that first pit stall is going to be key.”

    It’s Reddick’s second pole this year and his third career pole in the series. He outpaced Team Penske’s Joey Logano who will start second in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 for the second Playoff race in the Round of 16.

    “I haven’t seen his lap but I thought we had a pretty good lap,” Logano said. “Our car was tighter than the first run. It was still good the first run. I hated to adjust on it too much and I probably steered Paul (Wolfe) a little bit in the wrong direction there and didn’t really adjust enough. I am so proud of the Shell Pennzoil team.

    “We picked up a lot from practice and laid down a couple of quick laps there. A couple of front row starts in a row. That first pit stall is pretty big here though. I wish we had that. But we will go at them from where we are at.”

    The top five drivers are all in the Playoffs with Alex Bowman starting in third, Christopher Bell in fourth and Ross Chastain in fifth. Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson, Austin Cindric, William Byron and Chris Buescher, respectively, rounded out the top 10 in qualifying.

    Kansas – Starting positions for drivers in the Playoffs:

    1 – Tyler Reddick

    2 – Joey Logano

    3 – Alex Bowman

    4- Christopher Bell

    5 – Ross Chastain

    7 – Kyle Larson

     8- Austin Cindric

     9 – William Byron

    11 – Austin Dillon

    13 – Chase Briscoe

    14 – Kevin Harvick

    15 – Daniel Suarez

    17 – Ryan Blaney

    20 – Kyle Busch

    22 – Chase Elliott

    25 – Denny Hamlin

    Complete Starting Lineup:

  • Gragson capitalizes late to win rain-shortened Xfinity event at Kansas

    Gragson capitalizes late to win rain-shortened Xfinity event at Kansas

    A pass for the lead with 15 laps remaining in the second stage followed by a two-lap dash to the conclusion of the stage netted Noah Gragson and the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro team a rain-shortened victory in the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway on Saturday, September 10.

    The 24-year-old Gragson from Las Vegas, Nevada, led three times for 20 of 93-shortened laps, including the final 18, as he managed to retain the lead through two late restarts prior to the conclusion of the second stage, including a two-lap dash to the eventual finish over teammate Justin Allgaier and Ty Gibbs. When the second stage concluded on Lap 90, NASCAR directed the field to pit road on Lap 93 due to a weather delay. With the precipitation increasing and more rain approaching the track, NASCAR made the call to deem the race official and award Gragson his fifth Xfinity victory of the season and second in recent weeks after he won last weekend’s event at Darlington Raceway.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Brandon Jones notched his fifth career pole position, third of the season and second in recent weeks after posting a pole-winning lap of 174.695 mph in 30.911 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Ty Gibbs, winner of last year’s Xfinity event at Kansas who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 174.520 mph in 30.942 seconds.

    Prior to the event, names like Jesse Iwuji (who replaced Kyle Weatherman for the main event despite Weatherman practicing and qualifying for the main event), Joey Gase, Josh Williams, CJ McLaughlin, Brennan Poole, JJ Yeley, Kris Wright, Stefan Parsons and Brandon Brown dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective cars. Ryan Vargas also dropped to the rear of the field in a backup car after he wrecked his primary car during Saturday’s qualifying session.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, the field quickly fanned out to three lanes entering the first turn as Brandon Jones fended off teammate Ty Gibbs to lead the first lap. As the field continued to fan out through the second lap, AJ Allmendinger was in third ahead of Richard Childress Racing’s rookies Sheldon Creed and Austin Hill with JR Motorsports’ competitors Sam Mayer, Noah Gragson and Justin Allgaier following in pursuit.

    Four laps later and following an early battle with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Gibbs moved his No. 54 Reser’s Fine Foods Toyota Supra into the lead over Jones’ No. 19 Menards Toyota Supra.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Gibbs was leading by nearly three-tenths of a second over teammate Brandon Jones followed by Allmendinger, Gragson and Allgaier. Teammates Hill and Creed battled for sixth while Sammy Smith, Sam Mayer and Daniel Hemric occupied the top 10. Riley Herbst was in 11th followed by Ross Chastain, Ryan Sieg, Josh Berry and Brett Moffitt while Landon Cassill, Myatt Snider, Anthony Alfredo, Jeb Burton and Bailey Currey were in the top 20.

    Ten laps later, Gibbs extended his advantage to more than a second over teammate Brandon Jones while third-place Gragson trailed by nearly four seconds. Behind, Allmendinger and Allgaier battle for fourth while Sammy Smith, Hill and Mayer were in sixth, seventh and eighth. Meanwhile, Creed, coming off his career-best run at Darlington Raceway, had fallen back to ninth while Brett Moffitt was in 10th.

    At the Lap 30 mark, Gibbs, who was carving his way through lapped traffic, stabilized his advantage to nearly two seconds over teammate Brandon Jones while Gragson remained in third place and trailed by more than three seconds. By then, Sammy Smith moved his No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota Supra into fourth place followed by Allgaier while Allmendinger, Hill, Moffitt, Mayer and Herbst were in the top 10. Creed was back in 12th behind Josh Berry while Hemric, Cassill and Chastain battled in the top 15.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Gibbs rocketed his way to his fifth stage victory of the 2022 season. Gragson, who navigated his way around Brandon Jones for the runner-up spot nearing the Lap 40 mark, settled in second followed by Jones, Sammy Smith and Allgaier while Moffitt, Hill, Allmendinger, Berry and Herbst were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the leaders led by Gibbs pitted for the first time and Gibbs retained the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Gragson, Sammy Smith, Allgaier, Brandon Jones and Hill.

    The second stage started on Lap 51 as Gibbs and Gragson occupied the front row. At the start, Gibbs and Gragson dueled for the lead entering the first turn while Hill, who restarted in the top six, fanned out to three lanes in his No. 21 United Rentals Chevrolet Camaro as he moved up the leaderboard and battled Gragson for the runner-up spot. At the front, Gibbs retained the lead as Allgaier settled behind teammate Gragson and Hill before attacking Hill for third place. Meanwhile, Sammy Smith, who restarted third, fell back to sixth.

    Four laps later, Moffitt, who recorded a strong top-six result in the first stage, scrapped the outside wall in Turn 1 while running in the top 10 as he dropped back to 13th while the event proceeded under green.

    Through Lap 60, Gibbs was leading by more than a second over Gragson’s No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro while teammate Allgaier’s No. 7 Brandt Chevrolet Camaro trailed by more than three seconds. Hill and Brandon Jones occupied fourth and fifth while Cassill, Berry, Sammy Smith, Allmendinger and Chastain were running in the top 10.

    Ten laps later, the caution flew when Jeremy Clements, whose team awaits the verdict of appealing their encumbered victory at Daytona in August and currently sit outside of the Playoff picture, spun his No. 51 Chevrolet Camaro below the apron entering Turn 4 while trying to enter pit road. During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Gibbs pitted while names like Hill, Moffitt and Ryan Sieg remained on the track. 

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 75, Hill assumed an early advantage while Moffitt, who restarted on the front row and on the outside lane, spun the tires, which caused the field to jam up and fan out through the frontstretch and entering the first turn. Shortly after, Gragson rocketed his way into the lead in the backstretch. During the following lap, Allmendinger made his way into second followed by Brandon Jones, Allgaier and Gibbs while Hill continued to lose more spots on the track while on old tires.

    Then with eight laps remaining in the second stage, the caution returned due to rain reported on the track. At the moment of caution, Gragson was the leader followed by teammate Allgaier, then Gibbs, Brandon Jones and Sammy Smith. By then, Moffitt, Hill and Ryan Sieg had fallen back to 15th, 17th and 19th.

    With two laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted under green. At the start, teammates Gragson and Allgaier dueled for the lead through the first turn until Gragson managed to pull ahead of Allgaier through the backstretch while Gibbs used the outside lane to bolt his way into third place.

    During the final lap of the second stage, Gragson maintained the lead while Gibbs battled Allgaier for the runner-up spot in front of Jones. While the on-track battles behind the leaders continued for a final full lap, Gragson managed to cycle his way back to the frontstretch with the lead and record his 13th stage victory of the 2022 season. Behind, Allgaier edged Gibbs to settle in second despite getting body-slammed by Gibbs approaching the start/finish line. Brandon Jones and Chastain settled in the top five while Allmendinger, Berry, Sammy Smith, Mayer and Moffitt settled in the top 10. 

    Under the stage break, the field led by Gragson was brought to pit road and the race was red-flagged on Lap 93 due to a weather delay.

    Then as the rain continued, NASCAR deemed the race official and Gragson, who awaited any news in the garage, was awarded his fifth Xfinity Series victory of the season. The victory was Gragson’s 10th of his Xfinity career and his first in the series at Kansas as he sets his sights to the Playoffs and for his first NASCAR national touring series championship. The victory was also the 11th of the season for JR Motorsports.

    “[The race] was tough,” Gragson, who still managed to display his victorious trademark by climbing the fence on the frontstretch, said on USA Network. “I don’t know if we had the fastest car there at the beginning in the first stage. I felt like if [the race] would’ve went green, we could’ve kept working on [the car], working on it. We had a pretty fast car there, but I’ll take’em any way we get’em. [Allgaier] was fast. [Gibbs] was, obviously, the fastest car all day. Extremely grateful. Super thankful.”

    Teammate Allgaier concluded the event in the runner-up spot while Gibbs, Brandon Jones and Chastain finished in the top five. Allmendinger, Berry, Sammy Smith, Mayer and Moffitt were awarded top-10 results.

    There were six lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 18 laps.

    With a single regular-season event remaining in the schedule, Noah Gragson, Ty Gibbs, Justin Allgaier, AJ Allmendinger, Josh Berry, rookie Austin Hill and Brandon Jones have clinched spots for the 2022 Xfinity Playoffs based on winning once throughout the regular-season stretch while Sam Mayer and Riley Herbst have also clinched spots for the Playoffs based on points. Daniel Hemric, Landon Cassill, and Ryan Sieg occupy the remaining vacant spots to the Playoffs based on points. Rookie Sheldon Creed trails the top-12 cutline to make the Playoffs by 13 points, Brandon Brown trails by 100, Anthony Alfredo trails by 101 and Myatt Snider trails by 177.

    Results.

    1. Noah Gragson, 20 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Justin Allgaier

    3. Ty Gibbs, 66 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    4. Brandon Jones, five laps led

    5. Ross Chastain

    6. AJ Allmendinger

    7. Josh Berry

    8. Sammy Smith

    9. Sam Mayer

    10. Brett Moffitt

    11. Sheldon Creed

    12. Austin Hill

    13. Landon Cassill

    14. Ryan Sieg

    15. Daniel Hemric

    16. Riley Herbst

    17. Brandon Brown

    18. Anthony Alfredo

    19. Myatt Snider

    20. Kris Wright

    21. Jeremy Clements, one lap down

    22. JJ Yeley, one lap down

    23. David Starr, one lap down

    24. Josh Williams, one lap down

    25. Rajah Caruth, one lap down

    26. Stefan Parsons, one lap down

    27. Derek Griffith, one lap down

    28. Howie Disavino III, one lap down

    29. Dillon Bassett, one lap down

    30. Joey Gase, one lap down

    31. Mason Massey, two laps down

    32. Garrett Smithley, two laps down

    33. Ryan Vargas, two laps down

    34. CJ McLaughlin, two laps down

    35. Bayley Currey, three laps down

    36. Jesse Iwuji, four laps down

    37. Brennan Poole – OUT, Transmission

    38. Jeb Burton – OUT, Engine

    The 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series regular-season stretch is set to conclude next Friday, September 16, at Bristol Motor Speedway, where the 12-car Playoff field will be determined. Coverage for the event is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Creed salvages 11th-place run at Kansas, eyes Xfinity Playoff berth at Bristol

    Creed salvages 11th-place run at Kansas, eyes Xfinity Playoff berth at Bristol

    Rookie Sheldon Creed maintained his hopes of remaining eligible to make the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs with an 11th-place run in the rain-shortened Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway on Saturday, September 10.

    The 2020 Camping World Truck Series champion from Alpine, California, survived a roller coaster event in Kansas that started off on a positive note when he rolled off the grid in third place after posting the third-fastest qualifying lap on Friday. Through the first 10 laps, however, Creed had fallen out of the top five as he was mired in an on-track battle with teammate Austin Hill for sixth place. He was then scored in ninth place by Lap 20 while continuing to lose spots on the track while wrangling with handling issues to his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro.

    Despite the early handling issues, Creed managed to settle in 14th place following the first stage’s conclusion on Lap 45. He went on to conclude the second stage scheduled on Lap 90 in 11th place in front of teammate Hill, which was where he would ultimately end up in the final scoreboard when NASCAR ruled the event official on Lap 93 of 200 due to increasing precipitation.

    With his 14th top-15 result of the season and his seventh in nine recent events, Creed, who came into Kansas trailing the top-12 cutline to make the Playoffs by 16 points, accumulated three points as he trails the cutline by 13 points behind Ryan Sieg, who finished 14th.

    “I had a lot more confidence in [the car] that I thought what we had today,” Creed said on USA Network. “We fired off [the race] there. I thought we were really good and then, I don’t know, went to really bad when the track started building rubber. I tried so many different things. [I] Just couldn’t get anything to work or make speed. I don’t know where we missed it. [We] Just weren’t as good as thought as we were. Looks like we gained three points. [I] Wished we could’ve finished this one. Maybe play [pit] strategy. I don’t think we had the speed to win today, but maybe, could’ve played it differently and got a better finish and maybe, got a bigger gap to [Ryan Sieg] and us.”

    Creed’s current status in vying for a spot to the 2022 Xfinity Playoffs comes amid a roller coaster start to his first full-time campaign in the Xfinity circuit, where he replaced Myatt Snider to pilot the No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing following three full-time seasons in the Truck Series. Despite commencing the season in sixth place at Daytona International Speedway in February, Creed could only record five additional top-10 results through the following 16 scheduled events. Mired within the early top-10 results were nine results outside of the top 20, five DNFs and a four-race suspension handed to Creed’s crew chief Jeff Stankiewicz, car chief Kris McCabe and team engineer Sam Bowers due to a dropped ballast during a practice session at Martinsville Speedway in April.

    Since July, the tides began to turn in favor of Creed, who led 16 laps and finished 12th at Atlanta Motor Speedway before he recorded a pair of fifth-place results at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and at Pocono Raceway, respectively. Then during last weekend’s event at Darlington Raceway, Creed was within striking distance of claiming his first Xfinity victory at Darlington Raceway before he was overtaken by Noah Gragson on the final lap after losing his momentum while scrapping the outside wall to the finish and settled in a career-best second place.

    Ultimately, Creed went from recording an average-finishing result of 20.6 through the first 16-scheduled events to an average-finishing result of 11.3 during the previous 10 events, including his 11th-place result at Kansas. With his focus set for next weekend’s regular-season finale at Bristol, Creed’s bid to make the Playoffs comes down to either winning at Bristol or gaining 13 points on Ryan Sieg.

    “We’re just gonna go and do our best,” Creed added. “We’re gonna show up with the best car that we can and treat it like we’re going to the Final Four [round]. We just need to go and be on our A game at Bristol. We need to go practice good, we need to qualify good, we need to get max stage points and give ourselves a shot at the win at the end.”

    Creed’s final bid to make the 2022 Xfinity Series Playoffs is set to occur at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday, September 16, which marks the final regular-season event of the season. The event is scheduled to commence at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • John Hunter Nemechek grabs wild last lap Truck Series victory at Kansas

    John Hunter Nemechek grabs wild last lap Truck Series victory at Kansas

    John Hunter Nemechek denied an opportunity for Carson Hocevar to win and race his way into the Round of 8 in the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs by executing a final lap pass to win the Kansas Lottery 200 at Kansas Speedway on Friday, September 9.

    The 25-year-old Nemechek from Mooresville, North Carolina, led five times for a race-high 88 of 134-scheduled laps as he started the day sweeping the first two stages. After opting to surrender the lead and pit under green for four fresh tires and fuel with 32 laps remaining, Nemechek spent the next 31 laps bolting his way through lapped traffic and the field to catch Hocevar, who topped off on fuel on Lap 80 and was trying to stretch his fuel tank to the finish and with an opportunity to both win and advance in the Playoffs. Hocevar’s gamble, however, did not pay off on the final lap as he was overtaken by Nemechek, who proceeded to claim his second checkered flag of the 2022 Truck Series season and secure a spot for the Round of 8 in the Playoffs.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, John Hunter Nemechek claimed his sixth pole position of the 2022 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 175.444 mph in 30.779 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ty Majeski, who clocked in the second-fastest lap at 175.182 mph in 30.825 seconds.

    Prior to the event, names like Brett Moffitt, Mason Maggio, Armani Williams and Brennan Poole dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective trucks.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Nemechek received a push from teammates Corey Heim and Chandler Smith to assume an early advantage as he went on to lead the first lap. Meanwhile, Majeski retained the runner-up spot ahead of Heim, Christian Eckes and Chandler Smith as the field fanned out and jostled early for positions.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Nemechek was ahead by four-tenths of a second over Majeski and more than a second over Eckes while Heim fell back to fourth in front of teammate Chandler Smith’s No. 18 Safelite AutoGlass Toyota Tundra TRD Pro. Matt Crafton was in sixth while Ben Rhodes, Zane Smith, Ryan Preece and Matt DiBenedetto were in the top 10.

    At the Lap 10 mark, Majeski, who inherited the lead from Nemechek three laps earlier, was leading in his No. 66 Road Ranger Toyota Tundra TRD Pro by eight-tenths of a second over Nemechek while Eckes, Heim and Chandler Smith remained in the top five. Meanwhile, Playoff contenders Stewart Friesen, Carson Hocevar and Grant Enfinger were in 13th, 15th and 16th, respectively.

    By Lap 20, Majeski continued to lead by a tenth of a second over Nemechek, who relaunched and eventually overtook Majeski for the lead, followed by Eckes and Heim while Zane Smith moved his No. 38 Hamsters USA Ford F-150 into the top five. Ryan Preece also moved his No. 17 Morton Buildings Ford F-150 up to sixth while Chandler Smith fell back to seventh in front of Derek Kraus, Crafton and Rhodes.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 30, Nemechek, who reclaimed the lead on Lap 21, captured his fifth stage victory of the 2022 season. Majeski settled in second while Eckes, Heim, Zane Smith, Preece, Kraus, Chandler Smith, Crafton and Tanner Gray were scored in the top 10. With their results at the conclusion of the first stage, Nemechek and Zane Smith clinched spots for the Round of 8 in the Playoffs, joining Chandler Smith and Grant Enfinger.

    Under the stage break, the leaders led by Nemechek pitted and Nemechek exited with the lead followed by Eckes, Majeski, Heim, Preece and Gray.

    The second stage started on Lap 37 as Nemechek and Eckes occupied the front row. At the start, Nemechek rocketed with another strong start on the inside lane to retain the lead followed by Majeski while Eckes and Preece battled for third place. Behind, Heim muscled his way into fifth after overtaking Rhodes and Zane Smith through Turns 3 and 4 as the field jostled for positions.

    At the Lap 45 mark, Nemechek was leading by eight-tenths of a second over Eckes while Zane Smith, Preece and Majeski were in the top five. Heim fell back to sixth followed by Tyler Ankrum, Ben Rhodes, Crafton and Kraus while Carson Hocevar, Tanner Gray, Enfinger, Chandler Smith, Parker Kligerman, Bret Holmes, Matt DiBenedetto, Brett Moffitt, Colby Howard and Chase Purdy were in the top 20. Meanwhile, Friesen was mired back in 22nd in front of Hailie Deegan.

    Then with four laps remaining in the second stage, the caution flew when Bayley Currey spun the No. 44 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST below the apron on the frontstretch entering Turn 1. Currey’s incident was enough for the second stage scheduled to conclude on Lap 60 to conclude under caution as Nemechek captured his sixth stage victory of the season. Zane Smith settled in second followed by Preece, Eckes, Heim, Majeski, Ankrum, Kraus, Crafton and Hocevar were scored in the top 10. With his result in the second stage, Majeski secured a spot for the Playoff’s Round of 8.

    Under the stage break, the leaders led by Nemechek returned to pit road and Nemechek retained the lead following another quick pit service from his pit crew followed by Preece, Heim, Zane Smith, Kraus and Enfinger. Following the pit stops, Friesen pitted for a second time for adjustments to his spoiler.

    With 70 laps remaining, the final stage started as Nemechek and Preece occupied the front row. At the start, Nemechek retained the lead followed by teammate Heim and Preece as the field fanned out entering the first two turns and through the backstretch. Not long after, the caution returned when Kaden Honeycutt made contact with rookie Dean Thompson before spinning in the backstretch.

    During the following restart with 65 laps remaining, Nemechek received a push from teammate Heim to retain the lead while Preece, who restarted as the first competitor on the outside lane, was being overtaken by Heim and Zane Smith. While the field fanned out for positions amid Derek Kraus barely scrapping the outside wall in the frontstretch, Nemechek retained a steady advantage followed by Zane Smith, Heim, Preece and Enfinger while Christian Eckes, who was battling above the top-eight cutline to make the Round of 8 in his No. 98 CMR Construction & Roof Toyota Tundra TRD Pro was in sixth.

    Four laps later, the caution returned when the No. 22 AM Racing Chevrolet Silverado RST piloted by Brett Moffitt went up in smoke due to an engine loss entering the frontstretch. As Timmy Hill spun through the frontstretch grass after getting into the spilled oil, Moffitt’s truck erupted in flames as the driver quickly stopped below the apron in the frontstretch and retired. During the caution period, some like Hocevar, DiBenedetto, Colby Howard, Bailey Currey, Kaz Grala, Kaden Honeycutt and rookie Lawless Alan pitted while the rest led by Nemechek remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Hocevar pitted for a second time to top off on fuel.

    With 53 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Nemechek received another strong push from teammate Heim’s No. 51 JBL Toyota Tundra TRD Pro to retain the lead as Eckes launched a brief attack on Heim for the runner-up spot before the latter prevailed. With Heim in second, Eckes retained third ahead of Zane Smith, Preece and Enfinger.

    Thirteen laps later and with 40 laps remaining, Nemechek was out in front by more than a second over Zane Smith followed by Preece, Heim and Enfinger while Chandler Smith, Eckes, Majeski, Ankrum and Chase Purdy were in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Rhodes, Crafton, Hocevar and Friesen were in 12th, 14th, 16th and 17th, respectively.

    Then with 32 laps remaining, green flag pit stops ensued as the leader Nemechek pitted his No. 4 Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro followed by teammate Chandler Smith, who won the previous Truck event at Richmond Raceway to secure his spot into the Round of 8. Zane Smith soon followed along with Majeski, Chase Purdy, Rhodes, Preece, Tyler Ankrum, Parker Kligerman, Friesen, Enfinger, Heim, Bret Holmes, Eckes and Crafton. During the pit stops, Purdy was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    Back on the track and with 28 laps remaining, Hocevar, who last pitted on Lap 80 to top off on fuel and opted to stretch his fuel tank to the finish, was in the lead followed by teammate Currey while Colby Howard, DiBenedetto and Hailie Deegan were in the top five.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Hocevar continued to lead by more than six seconds over teammate Currey while Colby Howard and DiBenedetto retained third and fourth, respectively. Meanwhile, Nemechek, the first competitor racing on four fresh tires and a full tank of gas, was in fifth, trailing Hocevar by 12 seconds but blazing his way through the leaderboard with a fast truck.

    Six laps later, Nemechek navigated his way into the runner-up spot after zipping by Currey. By then, he was scored eight seconds behind Hocevar’s No. 42 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Silverado RST.

    With 10 laps remaining, Hocevar, who continued to run strong in spite of a low gas tank, retained the lead by five seconds over Nemechek while Zane Smith, Currey and Preece were in the top five.

    With five laps remaining, Hocevar, who was carving his way through lapped traffic, was still out in front by nearly two seconds over Nemechek, who was also mired in the lapped traffic, among which included Crafton’s No. 88 Menards Toyota Tundra TRD Pro.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hocevar was leading by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Nemechek, who cleared the lapped traffic and was right on Hocevar’s bumper. Then entering Turn 1, Nemechek bolted his truck beneath Hocevar and reassumed the lead entering the backstretch. With Hocevar shaking his truck after running out of fuel and losing ground entering the backstretch, Nemechek was able to cruise away with an increasing advantage through the final two turns and cycle back to the frontstretch to capture his second checkered flag of the 2022 season.

    With the victory that took him another step closer to achieving his first NASCAR national touring series championship, Nemechek grabbed his second Camping World Truck Series victory of the season, his first since winning at Darlington Raceway in May and his 13th career win in his 143rd series start. He also recorded his second NASCAR national touring series victory at Kansas since winning the Xfinity Kansas event in 2018 and the eighth victory of the season for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

    “It’s huge,” Nemechek said on FS1. “I can’t thank [the crew] enough for the truck they gave me tonight. The Toyota Tundra TRD Pro was absolutely on rails. Qualified on the pole, led a ton of laps, won both stages and won the race. We came here really good points-wise. It played out in our favor to go get some more Playoff points going into the next round. [It] Puts us in a good spot. We have some momentum on our side going into Bristol [Motor Speedway]. I think this one is even sweeter. It’s been a really tough week for myself, mentally, emotionally, things you just can’t control. It feels good to come out here and cap it off with a win and show who I am…Just proud of all my guys, proud to get back to Victory Lane. Second [win] of the year. We’re behind from last year, but I said I would rather win five races in the Playoffs and go win a championship than win five in the regular season. We’re gonna try and do that.”

    While Nemechek was left smiling on the frontstretch, Hocevar, who ran out of fuel on the final lap while trying to execute his late strategy but managed to coast across the finish line in second place, was left heartbroken on pit road for two reasons: the first was falling one lap short of claiming his first elusive Truck career win and the second was being one of two competitors to be eliminated from the 2022 Truck Series Playoffs. The final standings showed Hocevar missing the cutline to the Round of 8 by three points over Christian Eckes, who finished 10th.

    “I don’t know how you’re supposed to handle these,” Hocevar, who led 28 laps compared to Nemechek’s 88, said. “As many times as I’ve come and close, I should be used to this. I’m gonna be my bridesmaid at my own wedding. I don’t know. I thought I saved too much [fuel]. I could have gone harder and built a gap, but into [Turn] 3 coming to take the white flag, I started sputtering. I knew it was game over. [Kraus] had an issue [earlier] and I lost three seconds there. Looking back, I wished I would’ve gotten those back, but [crew chief] Phil Gould made a hell of a call. Even I didn’t see it. Fifty-six [laps] to go. There’s gonna be a yellow [flag], right? Cutoff race. It’s the Truck Series of all things…Just got beat. [I] Had the winning strategy. Just, obviously, didn’t work out.”

    Meanwhile, Ryan Preece came home in third place while Zane Smith and Enfinger finished in the top five. Chandler Smith settled in sixth place while teammate, Heim, then, Majeski, Colby Howard and Eckes completed the top 10 on the track.

    Zane Smith, Chandler Smith, John Hunter Nemechek, Ben Rhodes, Stewart Friesen, Ty Majeski, Grant Enfinger and Christian Eckes have transferred to the Round of 8 in the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs. Carson Hocevar and Matt Crafton have been eliminated from Playoff and championship contention for this season.

    “It’s just part of it,” Crafton, who missed the cutline by 10 points, said. “We sucked all year. To even get to the Playoffs was a feat in itself. To be in going into this race, just by three [points], that says a lot. It’s only the second race I’ve worked with [crew chief] Shane [Wilson]. We made the mistake. I’ve never ran some of the setup stuff that we ran tonight and I had [Wilson] jump the fence. I just had him tighten [the truck] up or free it up a little bit too much on the second run, and then we ended up going to the back and tightening it too much.

    “Just him learning some of my lingo of what I’m saying and what he’s doing. Put in our notebook and keeping working on it because the truck had a lot of speed earlier today and in qualifying. It is what it is. We were terrible all year. To even get to where we were, I just can’t thank these guys enough for how hard they’ve worked and how hard they’ve been kicked because it’s the baddest we’ve been. We have four of five more [races] to go. We can go out and don’t worry about points anymore and go about worry about wins.”

    There were 11 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 25 laps.

    Results.

    1. John Hunter Nemechek, 88 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    2. Carson Hocevar, 28 laps led

    3. Ryan Preece

    4. Zane Smith, two laps led

    5. Grant Enfinger, one lap led

    6. Chandler Smith

    7. Corey Heim

    8. Ty Majeski, 14 laps led

    9. Colby Howard

    10. Christian Eckes, one lap led

    11. Parker Kligerman

    12. Matt DiBenedetto

    13. Ben Rhodes

    14. Tyler Ankrum

    15. Matt Crafton, one lap down

    16. Tanner Gray, one lap down

    17. Bret Holmes, one lap down

    18. Kaz Grala, one lap down

    19. Timmy Hill, one lap down

    20. Stewart Friesen, one lap down

    21. Derek Kraus, one lap down

    22. Hailie Deegan, one lap down

    23. Dean Thompson, one lap down

    24. Kaden Honeycutt, one lap down

    25. Chase Purdy, two laps down

    26. Jack Wood, two laps down

    27. Bayley Currey, two laps down

    28. Jesse Little, two laps down

    29. Tyler Hill, four laps down

    30. Blaine Perkins, four laps down

    31. Lawless Alan, four laps down

    32. Mason Maggio, eight laps down

    33. Spencer Boyd, 10 laps down

    34. Brennan Poole, 11 laps down

    35. Armani Williams – OUT, Too slow

    36. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Engine

    Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. Zane Smith – Advanced

    2. Chandler Smith – Advanced

    3. John Hunter Nemechek – Advanced

    4. Ben Rhodes – Advanced

    5. Stewart Friesen – Advanced

    6. Ty Majeski – Advanced

    7. Grant Enfinger – Advanced

    8. Christian Eckes – Advanced

    9. Carson Hocevar – Eliminated

    10. Matt Crafton – Eliminated

    The Round of 8 in the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs is set to commence next Thursday, September 15, at Bristol Motor Speedway. The event’s coverage is scheduled to occur at 9 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • GMS Racing to achieve a combined 650 Truck Series starts at Kansas

    GMS Racing to achieve a combined 650 Truck Series starts at Kansas

    GMS Racing is set to achieve a milestone start in the team’s 10th season with one start in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. When GMS competitors Grant Enfinger and rookie Jack Wood take the green flag in this weekend’s Playoff event at Kansas Speedway, GMS Racing will reach a combined 650 career starts in the Truck circuit.

    GMS Racing, which was established by Allegiant Travel Company CEO Maurice Gallagher and is currently based in Statesville, North Carolina, made its inaugural presence during the 2011 ARCA Menards Series season. Two years later, the team expanded its program into the Camping World Truck Series and attempted to compete in five events with the No. 21 Chevrolet Silverado piloted by Spencer Gallagher, son of Maurice Gallagher. Throughout the season, Spencer Gallagher managed to qualify for three events as he finished 22nd at Kansas Speedway in April, 20th at Texas Motor Speedway and 32nd at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November, respectively.

    In 2014, GMS Racing fielded the No. 21 Chevrolet Silverado as a full-time entry for Joey Coulter. The team also fielded the Nos. 23 and 33 Chevrolet Silverados on a part-time basis, where Spencer Gallagher, Max Gresham and Brandon Jones piloted the entries. Throughout the season, Jones, who piloted the No. 33 truck in two events, finished 32nd and 12th at Martinsville Speedway in October and at Phoenix Raceway in November, respectively. Gallagher and Gresham each recorded a top-10 result in the No. 23 Chevrolet, with Gallagher earning a strong third-place result at Talladega Superspeedway in October. Coulter, meanwhile, earned three top-five results, 10 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 13.1 throughout the 22-race schedule before finishing in seventh place in the final drivers’ standings.

    Photo by Kirk Schroll for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    During the following season, Coulter, who did not compete due to a lack of funding, became team relationships coordinator for GMS while the No. 21 entry made a single appearance at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October, where Brennan Poole piloted the truck to an 11th-place result. The Nos. 23 and 33 Chevrolet Silverado entries became full-time entries, with Spencer Gallagher driving the No. 23 truck while Brandon Jones, Austin Dillon and Ty Dillon split the No. 33 ride. At New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September, Austin Dillon recorded the first NASCAR career victory for GMS Racing after leading a race-high 80 of 175-scheduled laps en route to his seventh Truck career victory from pole position. To go along with the victory, the Dillon brothers recorded a combined two poles, four top-five results and five top-10 results in six starts in the No. 33 entry while Jones, who made two starts, earned his best result of the season in 12th place at Phoenix in November. In his first full-time campaign in NASCAR, Gallagher notched his career-best result of second place at World Wide Technology Raceway in June along with a total of six top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 14.6 before finishing in 10th place in the 2015 standings.

    The 2016 season featured a major addition to GMS Racing’s Truck driver lineup as veteran Johnny Sauter was named a full-time competitor of the No. 21 Chevrolet Silverado entry, where he competed alongside the No. 23 entry retained by Spencer Gallagher and the No. 33 truck split between newcomers Grant Enfinger and Kaz Grala. GMS also debuted the No. 24 Chevrolet Silverado entry that competed on a part-time basis while split between Kyle Larson, Clint Bowyer, Shane Lee, Grala and Enfinger. In May, Ben Kennedy joined the team’s lineup, where he split time between the Nos. 24 and 33 entries, after departing Red Horse Racing. The team’s highlights throughout the 16-race regular-season schedule included Sauter winning in his debut with GMS at Daytona International Speedway in February and Kennedy notching his first career win in the No. 33 Chevrolet at Bristol Motor Speedway in August. The victories made by Sauter and Kennedy were enough for both to qualify for the inaugural Truck Series Playoffs. Meanwhile, Spencer Gallagher drove the No. 23 Chevrolet to six top-10 results throughout the regular season, which were not enough for him to make the Playoffs, while the No. 24 GMS entry earned a victory at Eldora Speedway in July with Larson along with six top-10 results. Through six of the seven-race Playoff stretch, GMS earned three additional victories after Enfinger drove the No. 24 Chevrolet to his first career win at Talladega Superspeedway in October while Sauter achieved back-to-back wins at Martinsville Speedway and at Texas Motor Speedway between October and November. The Playoff victories made by Sauter were enough to transfer the Wisconsin veteran and the No. 21 team all the way to the Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November. During the finale, Sauter achieved the first NASCAR championship for himself and for GMS Racing after finishing third on the track and ahead of title rivals Matt Crafton, Christopher Bell and Timothy Peters. Overall, the 2016 season was a breakout season for GMS Racing, which went to Victory Lane six times and achieved its first NASCAR national touring series championship, and for Sauter, who achieved his first multi-win season (three), racked up the most top-five (12) and top-10 results (19) in his career and earned his first NASCAR title. While Sauter earned the title, Kennedy finished in seventh place in the final standings after being eliminated from title contention following the Round of 6 while Gallagher, who achieved his first two career poles, ended up in 12th place.

    Photo by Ted Seminara for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    Embarking the 2017 season as the reigning champion, Sauter retained his seat in the No. 21 Chevrolet while Kaz Grala graduated to a full-time driving role in the No. 33 Chevrolet. The No. 24 Chevrolet also became a full-time entry for Justin Haley, the reigning K&N Pro Series East champion. Haley, however, was not allowed to compete in the first two scheduled events at Daytona and at Atlanta due to age restrictions, with the events filled by Scott Lagasse Jr. and Alex Bowman, respectively. Lastly, the No. 23 Chevrolet appeared for only the first three events of the schedule, with Spencer Gallagher driving at Daytona while Chase Elliott competed at Atlanta and Martinsville. Throughout the season, Elliott recorded the lone victory for the No. 23 entry at Martinsville in March while the No. 24 entry achieved a total of 13 top-10 results made between Lagasse, Bowman and Haley. Despite commencing his first season in the Truck Series at Martinsville in March and recording 10 top-10 results throughout the 16-race regular-season stretch, Haley did not make the Playoffs. Nonetheless, he went on to finish in the top 10 twice during the seven-race Playoff stretch before capping off his first Truck season in 12th place in the drivers’ standings. Meanwhile, Grala commenced his first full-time Truck season by becoming the youngest competitor to win both a pole and race at Daytona at age 18 after he dodged a multi-truck wreck on the final lap to capture his first NASCAR career victory in February. He went on to record five additional top-10 results for the remaining 15 regular-season events before entering the 2017 Truck Playoffs as a title contender. His title hopes, however, came to an early end following respective finishes of 10th, fifth and 29th during the Round of 8. He went on to finish in the top 10 three times during the final four-scheduled events before settling in seventh place in the final standings. Like Grala, Sauter secured his spot for the 2017 Playoffs on the strength of winning at Dover in May and at Chicagoland in September. After recording consistent top-10 results to transfer to the Round of 8, Sauter notched back-to-back victories at Texas and Phoenix in November, respectively, to advance to the Championship Round at Homestead for a second consecutive season. During the finale, however, Sauter finished third on the track, one spot behind Christopher Bell as Bell claimed the championship while Sauter, who was unable to defend his series title, was left with a runner-up result in the final standings coupled with four victories, 13 top-five results, 19 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 6.3. Despite falling short of defending its title, GMS Racing tied its career-high number of victories as an organization in a season at six.

    Photo by Simon Scoggins for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    Sauter and Haley remained as drivers of the Nos. 21 and 24 GMS entries for the 2018 season while the team welcomed Cody Coughlin and Dalton Sargeant as drivers of the newly-formed Nos. 2 and 25 Chevrolets, respectively. Midway into the season, however, Sargeant, who earned four top-10 results throughout the 16-race regular-season stretch, and Coughlin, who earned six top-10 results in 18 starts, were released from the team and both of their entries were piloted by multiple competitors that included Timothy Peters, Sheldon Creed, Spencer Gallagher and Tyler Dippel for the closing stretch of the season during the Playoffs. The No. 2 team concluded the season in 14th place in the owners’ standings, one spot behind the No. 25 GMS team that went to Victory Lane with Peters at Talladega in October. Meanwhile, Sauter and Haley achieved great on-track success, which started with both finishing first and second at Daytona in February that was won by Sauter. During the next nine scheduled events, Sauter racked up additional victories at Dover Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway and at Texas Motor Speedway between May and June while Haley earned his first Truck career victory at World Wide Technology Raceway in June. Sauter proceeded to win the regular-season finale at Bristol Motor Speedway in August and clinch the 2018 Truck regular-season title as he and Haley entered the Playoffs with momentum. Haley commenced the Playoffs on a high note by winning at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in August after overtaking a spinning Todd Gilliland and Noah Gragson on the final lap and final corner. After Sauter won at Martinsville in October and Haley won at Texas following a dramatic final lap overtake on Gilliland, both solidified spots for the Championship 4 finale at Homestead. During the finale, however, Haley finished eighth on the track, four spots ahead of teammate Sauter, as he and Sauter concluded the season in third and fourth place in the final drivers’ standings. Ultimately, the 2018 season produced GMS Racing’s highest number of victories in a season at 10.    

    Photo by Don Dunn for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    In 2019, Brett Moffitt, the reigning Truck Series champion who was released by his championship-winning team Hattori Racing Enterprises, joined GMS Racing to drive the No. 24 Chevrolet Silverado in a quest to defend his series title, where he replaced Justin Haley as Haley moved up to the Xfinity Series. GMS also hired Sheldon Creed, the reigning ARCA Menards Series champion who drove the No. 2 Chevrolet Silverado on a full-time basis, and newcomer Sam Mayer, who piloted the No. 21 Chevrolet in three events after Sauter parted ways from the organization. Mayer’s best on-track result was 19th at Phoenix in November while Creed, who did not make the Playoffs, notched two runner-up results, four top-five results, 11 top-10 results, a 10th-place result in the final standings and a runner-up result in the Rookie-of-the-Year standings during his first full-time Truck campaign. For Moffitt, he recorded five top-10 results during the first nine-scheduled events before being awarded his first victory of the season at Iowa in June. The victory occurred after NASCAR disqualified initial winner Ross Chastain due to his truck failing the post-race inspection process, thus prompting NASCAR to award the win for the runner-up finisher Moffitt. Two races later, he earned his first win of the season at Chicagoland before the 2019 Playoffs commenced. Moffitt’s pursuit to defend his title commenced on a strong note by winning the first two Playoff events at Bristol and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in September, respectively, as he transferred from the Round of 8 to 6. Despite finishing 29th at Martinsville, Moffitt utilized consistency to transfer to the Championship Round at Homestead for a second consecutive season. He was unable to defend his title after finishing fifth on the track and third in the final standings. Overall, Moffitt achieved four wins, three poles, 13 top-five results, 17 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 8.8 in his first season with GMS.

    Photo by Tim Jarrold for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    The 2020 Truck Series season featured a major expansion for GMS Racing in the series, where the team fielded five entries: the No. 2 Chevrolet for Creed, the No. 21 Chevrolet for rookie Zane Smith, the No. 23 Chevrolet for Moffitt, the newly-formed No. 26 Chevrolet for Tyler Ankrum and the No. 24 Chevrolet for multiple competitors that included Chase Elliott, Chase Purdy, Justin Haley, David Gravel, Kris Wright, Sam Mayer and Greg Biffle. Commencing the season by placing four of its five trucks in the top 10 at Daytona, GMS achieved its first Truck victory of the season at Charlotte in May when Elliott claimed a $100,000 bounty by beating Kyle Busch. The Charlotte event was also a banner event for GMS as teammates Zane Smith, Moffitt and Creed finished in the top five. Throughout the 16-race regular-season stretch, Creed piloted the No. 2 Chevrolet Silverado to his first three career victories in the series at Kentucky Speedway in July followed by Daytona International Speedway Road Course and World Wide Technology Raceway in August. Smith also earned his first two career victories in the series after winning at Michigan International Speedway and at Dover International Speedway in August following two-lap shootouts. The victories enabled Creed and Smith to make the 2020 Truck Playoffs along with Moffitt and Ankrum, both of whom made it in on points. Mayer then spoiled the start of the 2020 Truck Playoffs by claiming his first career win at Bristol after beating teammate Moffitt by more than four seconds. While Creed, Moffitt, Smith and Ankrum transferred from the Round of 8 to 6, Moffitt and Creed earned respective wins at Kansas Speedway and at Texas Motor Speedway in October to qualify for the Championship Round at Phoenix Raceway in November. Smith also transferred to the finale by three points while Ankrum failed to transfer past the Round of 6. During the finale, Creed utilized fresh tires to go from ninth to first during a two-lap shootout to win the 2020 Truck Series championship, which marked his first NASCAR national touring series title in his second season in the series and second for GMS in the Truck circuit. To go along with the championship, the 2020 Truck season was a memorable one for GMS as Zane Smith settled in second place in the final standings and captured the 2020 Truck Rookie-of-the-Year title while Moffitt, who initially had the championship lead within his grasp during the finale prior to the two-lap shootout, concluded the season in third place in the final standings, thus giving GMS a 1-2-3 in the final drivers’ standings. In total, GMS achieved a combined 10 victories, 33 top-five results and 59 top-10 results with its extensive drive lineup.

    Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images.
    Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images.

    Coming off their second championship, GMS Racing remained as a five-truck operation in 2021 while retaining Creed, Smith and Ankrum to the Nos. 2, 21 and 26 Chevrolets, respectively. The only changes made to the team included assigning Chase Purdy to a full-time role in the No. 23 Chevrolet and welcoming Raphaël Lessard to drive the No. 24 Chevrolet. Following the first seven scheduled events, however, Lessard, whose best finish of the season was third at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course in March, was released due to funding issues as the No. 24 Chevrolet was split between Ryan Reed, Chase Elliott, Doug Coby and rookie Jack Wood for the remaining 15 events. The lone highlight for GMS throughout the 15-race regular-season stretch was when Creed won at Darlington Raceway in May following a two-lap shootout. While Creed and Smith qualified for the 2021 Playoffs, Ankrum and Purdy did not accumulate enough points to make the postseason battle for the title. Once the Playoffs commenced, Creed notched back-to-back victories at World Wide Technology Raceway and at Darlington between August and September to transfer from the Round of 10 to 8. Then at Martinsville in October, Smith, who also transferred to the Round of 8, prevailed in a two-lap shootout to win and punch his ticket to the Championship Round finale at Phoenix for a second consecutive season. Creed, however, failed to transfer to the finale nor have the opportunity to defend his title by four points. During the finale, Smith was in position to achieve his first Truck title until he was overtaken by Ben Rhodes with eight laps remaining and ended up in the runner-up spot in the final standings for a second consecutive season. Creed finished fifth in the final standings, Ankrum ended up 15th and Purdy, who was absent for one event at Watkins Glen International in August following a positive COVID-19 test and was replaced by AJ Allmendinger, fell back to 19th. The No. 24 “all-star” entry settled in 18th place in the final owners’ standings on the strength of four top-10 results.

    At the start of this season, GMS Racing scaled back to fielding two full-time entries in the Truck circuit: the No. 24 Chevrolet Silverado RST for Jack Wood and the No. 23 Chevrolet Silverado RST for Grant Enfinger, who reunited with the organization since 2016. Despite recording seven top-10 results throughout the 16-race regular-season stretch, Enfinger secured a spot for the 2022 Truck Playoffs based on points. He then rose to the occasion during the first Playoff event at Lucas Oil Raceway in late July by charging from fourth to first during a two-lap shootout to record his first victory of the season and the seventh of his career. With his latest result being a fourth-place run at Richmond in August, Enfinger is currently guaranteed a spot for the Round of 8 in the Playoffs by virtue of winning at Lucas Oil Raceway. Meanwhile, Wood’s highest on-track result is 13th, which occurred at Atlanta in March. To go along with a total of five top-20 results and an average-finishing result of 25.2, he is ranked in fourth place in the Rookie-of-the-Year standings.

    Through a combined 648 starts, GMS Racing has achieved two championships, 42 victories, 14 poles, 158 top-five results, 308 top-10 results and 5,239 laps led with 36 different competitors.

    GMS Racing is set to achieve a combined 650 career starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Kansas Speedway on Friday, September 9. The start of the event is scheduled to occur at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.