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Larson fulfills comeback season by capturing first NASCAR Cup Series championship at Phoenix

After spending the previous season on the sidelines, Kyle Larson made the most of his second opportunity with the powerhouse organization of Hendrick Motorsports and emerged as the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion after winning the season finale race at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday afternoon.

The Elk Grove, California, native qualified on the pole position Saturday and led seven times during the race for a total of 107 laps, including the final 28. He beat Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott to win his first Cup title in his first full-time season at Hendrick Motorsports along with claiming his season-high 10th race victory in the desert state.

Qualifying occurred on Saturday, November 6, to determine the starting lineup and Kyle Larson, a nine-time race winner vying for his first Cup title, won the pole position with a pole-winning lap at 137.847 mph. Joining him on the front row was Chase Elliott, Larson’s teammate and the reigning series champion who qualified with an initial fast speed at 136.939 mph.

With Larson and Elliott starting on the front row, Denny Hamlin, vying for his first Cup title, lined up in sixth place to contend for his first Cup title while teammate Martin Truex Jr., going for his second title, rolled off the starting grid in 12th place.

Larson, Hamlin and Truex entered the finale without their regular car chiefs after their respective cars failed the pre-race technical inspection process twice, but they all retained their starting spots for the main event. On the other hand, Josh Bilicki and Timmy Hill started the finale at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their cars.

When the green flag waved and the finale commenced, Larson briefly broke ahead through the frontstretch, but Elliott fought back entering the backstretch. As both Hendrick Motorsports teammates dueled coming back to the start/finish line, Larson led the first lap. Elliott, however, had other plans as he rocketed to the lead entering Turns 1 and 2 during the following lap.

By the fifth lap, Elliott’s No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE was ahead by half a second over teammate Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.

Two laps later, the first caution of the finale flew when Bubba Wallace got hit by Corey LaJoie, spun and backed into the Turn 3 outside wall with extensive rear-end damage. After exiting his damaged No. 23 DoorDash Toyota Camry, Wallace expressed his displease to LaJoie before making the mandatory trip to the infield care center.

Under caution, Larson elected to pit for four fresh tires and fuel while the rest of the field led by Elliott remained on the track.

When the finale restarted under green on Lap 11, Elliott retained the lead ahead of the field, which fanned out through the frontstretch. Behind, Ryan Blaney was in second followed by Denny Hamlin, William Byron and Kevin Harvick while Kurt Busch challenged Christopher Bell for sixth. Truex, meanwhile, was situated in the top 10.

Four laps later, the caution returned when LaJoie made contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. entering Turn 3, which sent both competitors spinning towards the outside wall as LaJoie sustained heavy rear-end damage.

Under caution, a majority of the field led by Elliott pitted while the rest led by Blaney remained on the track.

The finale restarted under green on Lap 20 as Blaney and teammate Brad Keselowski occupied the front row. At the start, Blaney retained the lead while Larson, who moved back into the top 10, made a bold move through the dogleg to move up to fourth ahead of Michael McDowell.

With the field continuing to fan out and jostle for positions, Larson settled in fourth behind Blaney, Ross Chastain and Keselowski while Elliott moved up to sixth. Truex was in eighth in between Chris Buescher and Kevin Harvick while Hamlin was in the top 15.

By Lap 25, Blaney was the race leader and Larson was the championship leader in second place just ahead of teammate Elliott, Chastain and Keselowski. Meanwhile, Truex was in sixth while Hamlin was mired back in 12th.

Through the first 30 laps of the finale, Blaney was leading by more than a second over Larson and Elliott, both of whom continued to challenge hard against one another for the championship lead early. Harvick was in fourth, trailing the lead by two seconds, while Truex remained in fifth. Keselowski, Byron, Joey Logano, Kurt Busch and Hamlin were in the top 10.

Five laps later, Harvick, who is pursuing his first victory of the season, moved up to second place on the track, thus dropping Larson and Elliott to third and fourth while Truex continued to run in fifth.

Another five laps later, Harvick, who cut Blaney’s advantage to a tenth of a second, started to challenge Blaney for the top spot around every turns and straightaway in his No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang. Behind, Elliott moved up to third while Truex challenged and passed Larson for fourth.

Through the first 50 laps of the event, a three-wide battle for the lead ensued between Harvick, Blaney and Truex through the frontstretch, with the latter gaining ground and catching the top-two leaders. Behind, teammates Elliott and Larson were in fourth and fifth while Hamlin moved up to sixth, thus placing all four Cup championship contenders in the top six.

Following their intensive battle at the front, Truex emerged with the lead on Lap 51 over Harvick, who led Lap 49, and Blaney, who led Laps 17-48 and 50.

By Lap 60, Truex extended his advantage to more than a second over Harvick. Behind, Elliott retained third place ahead of teammate Larson while Hamlin moved up to fifth place ahead of Blaney.

Ten laps later, Truex continued to extend his advantage to more than three seconds over Harvick while Elliott, Hamlin and Larson were situated in third, fourth and fifth. Behind, Blaney was trying to fend off Cole Custer and William Byron for sixth while Kurt Busch and Matt DiBenedetto were in the top 10.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 75, Truex, who won at Phoenix in March, received the early upper hand in his quest for his second Cup title by motoring his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry to his sixth stage victory of the season. Harvick settled in second followed by Elliott, Hamlin, Larson, Byron, Custer, Blaney, Kurt Busch and DiBenedetto.

Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Elliott emerged with the top spot following a stellar work from his pit crew. Truex exited in second followed by Harvick, Hamlin, Larson and Kurt Busch.

The second stage started on Lap 83. At the start and with the field fanning out through the dogleg, Elliott retained the lead by a narrow margin over Truex. The following lap, Larson made a bold three-wide move in between Hamlin and Harvick to move up to third.

By Lap 85, the final four championship contenders were running first through fourth and separated by less than a second as Elliott was leading ahead of Truex, Larson and Hamlin.

Five laps later, the four title contenders were separated by more than a second as Elliott stabilized himself in the lead by nearly six-tenths of a second over Truex. Third-place Larson trailed by more than a second while fourth-place Hamlin trailed by one-and-a-half seconds as Harvick started to close in on Hamlin.

Through the first 100 laps of the finale, Elliott continued to lead by more than a second over Truex, two seconds over teammate Larson and more than three seconds over Harvick, who overtook Hamlin a few laps earlier. Byron, Blaney, DiBenedetto, Kyle Busch and Aric Almiorla were in the top 10 while Kurt Busch, rookie Chase Briscoe, Tyler Reddick, Cole Custer and Christopher Bell were in the top 15. Meanwhile, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Alex Bowman were mired in the top 20 while Daniel Suarez and Ryan Newman were in 21st and 22nd.

Twenty laps later, Truex and Elliott battled for the top spot, with the former succeeding during the following lap. Harvick was in third, trailing by more than two seconds, while Larson and Hamlin remained in the top five.

On Lap 129, the caution flew when Quin Houff lost a right-front tire and smacked the outside wall hard right-side in Turn 3. The incident was enough to end Houff’s run in the garage and in the final NASCAR event for Starcom Racing.

Under caution, the leaders returned to pit road and Elliott exited with the lead followed by Harvick, Larson, Truex and Byron while Hamlin fell back to ninth.

When the finale restarted under green on Lap 135, Elliott retained the lead on the outside lane while teammate Larson challenged and overtook Harvick for second place through the first two turns. Behind, Byron closed in on Harvick for third as Truex joined the party.

Five laps later, the caution returned when Stenhouse hammered the outside wall in Turn 3 after blowing a left-front tire.

Another five laps later, the race restarted under green. At the start and with the field fanning out through the dogleg and entering the first two turns, Elliott just managed to clear Harvick through the backstretch as Larson made another strong move to the outside of Harvick to take second. The following lap, Truex overtook Harvick for third as Harvick was being pressured by Blaney for more.

Through the first 150 laps of the event, Elliott was leading by a second over teammate Larson while Truex was in third and slowly catching Larson for more. Harvick, Blaney, DiBenedetto and Byron were running fourth through seventh while Hamlin was mired in eighth in front of Keselowski and Aric Almirola.

By Lap 155, the caution flew when rookie Chase Briscoe, who cut down a left-rear tire, got bumped by Kyle Busch, spun and wrecked into the Turn 3 outside wall.

Under caution, nearly all of the lead lap cars pitted as Larson exited his pit stall with the lead followed by Elliott, Truex, Harvick and Hamlin. Back on the track, however, Tyler Reddick, Kurt Busch, Alex Bowman and Daniel Suarez remained on the track.

With 30 laps remaining in the second stage, Larson, who restarted in the second row, used the dogleg to thunder past Kurt Busch and Reddick to reassume the lead as the field fanned out through the frontstretch. Behind, Elliott also muscled his way to second behind teammate Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet as Truex and Hamlin also charged their way to the front.

A few laps later, the final four title contenders were back running first through fourth as Larson continued to lead by a narrow margin over teammate Elliott.

By Lap 175, title rivals Larson, Elliott, Hamlin and Truex remained in first through fourth, separated by two seconds, as Larson continued to lead ahead of teammate Elliott while Hamlin started to make his charge to the front after struggling early. Blaney settled in fifth ahead of Harvick, Logano, Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Byron.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 190, Larson took his stance in his quest to achieve his first Cup title by capturing his season-high 18th stage victory of the season. Teammate Elliott settled in second followed by Hamlin and Truex while Blaney ended up in fifth, trailing by more than three seconds. Harvick, Keselowski, Logano, Kyle Busch and Byron were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Larson exited his pit stall with the lead ahead of teammate Elliott, Hamlin, Truex and Kyle Busch.

With 115 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Larson peeked ahead and cleared teammate Elliott through the frontstretch and the first two turns. While Hamlin tucked in third behind the two Hendrick competitors, Truex battled Harvick for fourth place as Blaney and Kyle Busch kept both Cup champions within their sights.

Down to the final 100 laps of the finale, Larson stabilized himself with the lead by four-tenths of a second over teammate Elliott. Hamlin was in third, trailing by more than two seconds, while Truex was mired back in fourth, three seconds behind. Harvick and Blaney were in fifth and sixth as both closed in on Truex for more while Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Logano and Almirola were in the top 10.

Under the final 80 laps, the battle for the championship between two Hendrick Motorsports teammates ignited as Elliott, who tracked and methodically caught Larson, overtook Larson with 76 laps remaining. Though Elliott emerged with the lead, he had teammate Larson within close sights of his rearview mirror.

Near the final 70 laps of the event, Keselowski surrendered his spot in the top 10 to short pit under green.

Back on the track, Elliott was leading by more than half a second over teammate Larson as Hamlin, who was in third, started to close in on the two leaders in the fight for the championship. Truex, meanwhile, was in fourth and trailing by more than two seconds.

With 66 laps remaining, Hamlin was up into second place after overtaking Larson, all while Elliott continued to lead by nearly a second.

Just then and while a few more competitors including Truex pitted under green, the caution flew when rookie Anthony Alfredo went dead straight and pounded the outside wall in Turn 2. The caution served as a huge moment for Truex, who completed his service and remained on the lead lap.

Under caution, the lead lap competitors led by Elliott pitted and Hamlin exited in first followed by Elliott, Logano, Larson and Almirola. Back on the track, however, Truex, who pitted prior to the caution, cycled to the lead followed by Blaney.

With 58 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Truex and Hamlin dueled through the frontstretch until Truex cleared Hamlin entering the backstretch. Behind Blaney was in third followed by Elliott, Logano and Larson as the field jostled for positions.

Five laps later, the final four title contenders were back running first through fourth as Joe Gibbs Racing’s Truex and Hamlin led Hendrick Motorsports’ Elliott and Larson. In the midst of this, Elliott challenged Hamlin for the runner-up spot.

Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Truex was leading by nearly a second over Hamlin and Elliott, both of whom continued to battle for second place, while Larson trailed by more than a second. Blaney was in fifth followed by Logano, Harvick, Almirola, Ross Chastain and Christopher Bell.

Ten laps later, Truex stabilized himself with the lead by nine-tenths of a second over teammate Hamlin while third-place Elliott, who was losing ground to Hamlin, was nearly two seconds behind, and fourth-place Larson, who was gaining no ground on the leaders, was behind by more than three seconds.

Just then, the caution flew with 30 laps remaining due to debris reported in Turn 3 and coming off of David Starr’s car, with the driver reporting a broken rotor off of his car.

Under caution, the leaders pitted for four fresh tires and fuel. At the end of the services, Larson’s crew under the leadership of sophomore crew chief Cliff Daniels got the job done as he exited with the top spot followed by Hamlin, Truex and Elliott.

Down to the final 24 laps of the finale, the field restarted under green. At the start, Larson rocketed away with the lead as Truex also muscled his way into second place on the outside lane. Behind, Hamlin and Elliott battled for third.

With 20 laps remaining, Larson was leading by more than two-tenths of a second over Truex while Hamlin and Elliott persevered in his battle with Hamlin for third place.

Five laps later, Larson remained as the leader by four-tenths of a second over Truex as the battle for the win and the championship continued to ignite between both. Meanwhile, third-place Elliott trailed by more than a second while Hamlin was mired in fourth and more than a second behind.

Down to the final 10 laps of the finale, Larson slightly increased his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Truex while Elliott and Hamlin continued to battle for third ahead of Blaney.

With five laps remaining, Larson continued to lead by more than eight-tenths of a second over Truex. Behind, Hamlin moved his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry to third while Elliott was mired back in fourth and losing ground, trailing by less than three seconds, as Blaney started to challenge Elliott for more.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson was still leading by three-tenths of a second over Truex, who nearly got into the left-rear quarter panel of Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet entering the backstretch earlier, lost ground and was trying to narrow the deficit. While Truex got as close as he could, Larson kept himself at the front and was able to hold off the Joe Gibbs Racing driver through the final turn as he came back to the frontstretch and took the checkered flag to win both the race and the championship.

With the victory, Larson became the 35th different competitor to achieve a Cup Series championship and the fifth to do so while driving for Hendrick Motorsports as HMS, which won 17 of 36 races in this year’s schedule, achieved its 14th Cup title. Larson also joined Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch as the only Cup regular season champions to go on to win the overall season championship.

By claiming his season-high 10th victory of the 2021 Cup season and notching his 16th Cup career victory, Larson became the first championship-winning competitor to achieve double-digit victories in a championship-winning season, the last of which was made by Jimmie Johnson in 2007 when he beat teammate Jeff Gordon. Larson also racked up a career-high 20 top-five results, 26 top-10 results, nearly 2,600 laps led and a personal-best average-finishing result of 9.1.

This marked the eighth consecutive season where a competitor won the race in order to win the Cup championship in the current elimination-style Playoff format.

The championship also completed Larson’s redemptive road back to the top level in NASCAR after being released by Chip Ganassi Racing and indefinitely suspended from the sport for using a racial slur during a live iRacing event a year ago. Spending the majority of 2020 racing in sprint cars and the dirt, Larson was able to complete NASCAR’s Road to Recovery program and be reinstated prior to the 2021 season. By then, he was given an opportunity to reinstate his career when Hendrick Motorsports acquired him in October 2020, 13 months prior to Larson’s title.

Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“I cannot believe it,” Larson, who celebrated on the frontstretch and praised his pit crew, said on NBC. “I didn’t even think I’d be racing a Cup car a year-and-a-half ago. To win a championship is crazy. I’ve got to say first off thank you so much to Rick Hendrick, Hendrickcars.com, Jeff Gordon, NASCAR, every single one of my supporters in the stands watching at home, my family. I’ve got so many of my friends and family here. My parents, my sister, my wife and kids. [Son] Owen had been giving me crap a month-and-a-half ago about how I can’t win a Cup race when he’s there, so that added a lot of pressure. There were so many points in this race where I did not think we were going to win. Without my pit crew on that last stop, we would not be standing right here. They are the true winners of this race. They are true champions. I’m just blessed to be a part of this group. Every single man or person, man and woman at Hendrick Motorsports, this win is for all of us and every one of you. This is unbelievable. I’m speechless.”

“This event was crazy,” Larson added. “This format is wild. I’m glad we were able to get it done. And yes, a big shout-out to my parents for getting me involved in racing, my dad for everything he did, building my go-karts when I was young to get me playing around, my mom for videotaping every lap I ever raced and giving me something I could look at and study and get better. Gosh, so cool. I cannot believe it.”

Larson’s championship was one that received high praises from Rick Hendrick and Jeff Gordon, both of whom played instrumental roles in signing Larson for the 2021 season.

“I’ll tell you, we’ve always known he’s a wheelman, and he works so hard off the track,” Hendrick said on the championship stage. “Man, I just — he deserves this, and what a year, man. I never thought I was taking a risk [by signing Larson]. I mean, I know how good he is. I’m just fortunate we were able to get him, and man, what a wheelman he is. Ten races won, 11 with the All-Star Race. It’s unbelievable.”

“Unbelievable,” Gordon added. “By the whole team and Kyle Larson is a great talent. You give him a great race car and great race teams, and he does amazing things. We’ve seen it before, we’ve seen it in other forms of racing. He and this pit crew and this team, they did it all year long. They got to this point. What a battle. I just want to say Phoenix Raceway, NASCAR and all these fans that came out here today, this is what a championship weekend is supposed to feel like, and that was a championship battle. Great competitors and a great champion here.”

In addition, crew chief Cliff Daniels, who debuted atop the pit box midway into the 2019 season with Jimmie Johnson, achieved his first championship as a crew chief while the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team achieved its first title since the 1996 season with Terry Labonte.

“It’s an amazing moment,” Daniels said. “It’s been such a blessing just to be a part of this team, to be a part of Hendrick Motorsports. The thing that I think about the most is so many guys on our team have been there for so many years with Chad [Knaus] and with Jimmie [Johnson], and we learned from the best. We learned from those guys. Obviously, the last two, three years, just as a company, we were down a little bit. It was easy to get down as a team. It was easy for me to get down. It was easy for the guys to get down. For them to dig so hard all year long, to dig so hard today, because we were not the best car at times today. And then, for our pit crew to have a money stop on the money stop, I couldn’t be more thankful. I could not be more proud of those guys…They were ready.”

Truex, who initially had the race and the championship within his grasp until the late caution, concluded the season in second place on the track and in the standings for the third time in the previous four seasons. The runner-up result was one that left Truex disappointed in a season where he achieved four victories, 13 top-five results, 20 top-10 results and an overall average-finishing result of 12.0.

Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“The clean air seemed to be a good bit of an advantage,” Truex said. “Whoever got out front was good for 20, 30, 40 laps, and then the long run cars would start coming around. I don’t know. Ultimately we needed to beat [Larson] off pit road. It’s unfortunate, but we win and lose as a team. And really proud of our efforts this year. That’s three times we’ve been second and that sucks. Second hurts I’m not going to lie, especially with the car we had and the job the guys did. That’s racing, as they say, and sometimes you’re just not on the right end of things. We were on the right end to things to get the lead there and weren’t able to hold on to it. If we could have had the lead, I think it would have been over, but that’s kind of how [Larson] did it, too. So, they had a hell of a season and congrats to them. Gosh, second sucks. I hate it.”

Teammate Hamlin, who was starting to catch Larson and Truex in the closing laps, settled in third place on the track and in the standings as his bid to win his first Cup title in his 16th full-time season highlighted with two postseason victories, 19 top-five results, 25 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 8.4 fell short.

Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“Yeah, certainly, I really liked where we were at with about 25 [laps] to go,” Hamlin said. “We were just exceptional in the long run, which wasn’t too surprising, but started running [Truex] back down there and got within a couple car lengths and obviously that debris caution changed a lot. Special congrats to Larson and his team. Those guys, any time you can win 10 races in a year, you’re absolutely a deserving champion. They did a great job on the last pit stop and got him out there, and it was just set sail after that. Proud of my team. Really great effort adjusting on the car all day, getting it so much better, and thank our partners. Just a really good year. A really, really good year and things just didn’t pan out. We needed that thing to go green those last 25 laps, and it didn’t.”

Meanwhile, Elliott, who was overtaken by Blaney on the track, ended up in fifth place in the final leaderboard and in the final standings as he came up short in defending his series title. Despite the result, Elliott kept his head high in a season where he notched two victories, 15 top-five results, 21 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 11.4.

Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“I felt like our NAPA Chevy was really good and I thought our team did a really good job preparing this week,” Elliott said. “I was really proud of our group. I thought we brought a really good car and did a lot of things that we were wanting it to do today. Just didn’t work out and the sequence of the way all that went certainly was unfortunate for us, but look, proud of our team, a lot to build on and also, congrats to Kyle and Cliff. What an amazing season. Very, very deserving champions and glad to see Kyle have success. When you’re a good driver and a good person and you surround yourself with good people, success is warranted. It’s good to see that. But we’ll be back stronger next year and try to give them a run.”

Aric Almirola, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Christopher Bell and Brad Keselowski completed the top 10 on the track.

Austin Dillon, who finished 15th in the finale, emerged as the highest non-Playoff contender in the final standings in 17th place.

Despite finishing in 35th place following his accident, Chase Briscoe captured the 2021 Cup Rookie-of-the-Year title over Anthony Alfredo. With his accomplishment, Briscoe, who earned three top-10 results in his first full-time Cup season, became the third competitor to capture the rookie title across NASCAR’s top three national touring series (Cup, Xfinity and Truck).

Brad Keselowski finished 10th in his 435th and final run in the No. 2 Team Penske Ford Mustang while Todd Gordon, crew chief for Ryan Blaney, called his 526th and final race as a crew chief between the Xfinity and Cup Series before retiring.

Ross Chastain and Kurt Busch finished 14th and 16th in Chip Ganassi Racing’s final race and season in NASCAR as the team’s assets will be transferred over to Trackhouse Racing, which will be expanding to two cars and welcome Chastain as a teammate alongside Daniel Suarez, for the 2022 season.

Ryan Newman finished 23rd in his 725th career start in the Cup circuit as he has yet to announce his plans for the 2022 season.

Matt DiBenedetto finished 12th in his 72nd and final run with the Wood Brothers Racing team, Ryan Preece finished 20th in his 108th and final run with JTG-Daugherty Racing and Justin Haley finished 26th in his 34th and final run with Spire Motorsports.

Meanwhile, 23XI Racing settled in 21st place in the final standings and as the highest of the new teams over Trackhouse Racing (25th) and Live Fast Motorsports (32nd). The team will be expanding to two cars next season with Bubba Wallace and Kurt Busch set to drive for the team in 2022.

The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season was the ninth and final season for the current Generation 6 stock cars, thus paving the way for the new NextGen stock cars that will debut in NASCAR competition in February 2022. It was also the final season where the five lug nut pattern was implemented on the tires for the cars as the series will have a single, center-locked lug nut for the wheels next season.

There were 18 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 51 laps.

Results:

1. Kyle Larson, 107 laps led, Stage 2 winner

2. Martin Truex Jr.,72 laps led, Stage 1 winner

3. Denny Hamlin

4. Ryan Blaney, 33 laps led

5. Chase Elliott, 94 laps led

6. Aric Almirola

7. Kyle Busch

8. Kevin Harvick, one lap led

9. Christopher Bell

10. Brad Keselowski

11. Joey Logano

12. Matt DiBenedetto

13. Cole Custer

14. Ross Chastain

15. Austin Dillon

16. Kurt Busch, one lap led

17. William Byron

18. Alex Bowman

19. Tyler Reddick, four laps led

20. Ryan Preece

21. Daniel Suarez

22. Erik Jones

23. Ryan Newman

24. Michael McDowell

25. Chris Buescher, one lap down

26. Justin Haley, two laps down

27. BJ McLeod, three laps down

28. Cody Ware, six laps down

29. Joey Gase, nine laps down

30. Josh Bilicki, nine laps down

31. Garrett Smithley, 11 laps down

32. Corey LaJoie, 31 laps down

33. David Starr – OUT, Brakes

34. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident

35. Chase Briscoe – OUT, Accident

36. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident

37. Quin Houff – OUT, Accident

38. Timmy Hill – OUT, Handling

39. Bubba Wallace – OUT, Accident

Final standings.

1. Kyle Larson

2. Martin Truex Jr.

3. Denny Hamlin

4. Chase Elliott

5. Kevin Harvick

6. Brad Keselowski

7. Ryan Blaney

8. Joey Logano

9. Kyle Busch

10. William Byron

11. Kurt Busch

12. Christopher Bell

13. Tyler Reddick

14. Alex Bowman

15. Aric Almirola

16. Michael McDowell

Bold indicates championship finale contenders.

With the 2021 season concluded, the NASCAR Cup Series competitors enter their off-season period before commencing the 2022 season with the inaugural Clash event at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which will occur on February 6 at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.

November 7, 2021
Larson clinches championship spot with a win at Texas

The 2021 comeback, dream season for Kyle Larson became even brighter as the California kid dominated and fended off the field through four restarts under the final 25 laps to win the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, October 17.

By winning the Playoff’s Round of 8 opener at the Lone Star state for his eighth victory of the season, Larson punched his ticket to the Championship 4 Round at Phoenix Raceway scheduled in early November as he will contend for his first NASCAR Cup Series championship.

The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Kyle Larson, winner of last weekend’s Playoff event at the Charlotte Roval, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Denny Hamlin.

Prior to the event, Playoff contender Chase Elliott started at the rear of the field due to his No. 9 Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE failing pre-race inspection twice. Other competitors who started at the rear of the field due to two inspection failures included Corey LaJoie, rookie Chase Briscoe, Garrett Smithley and David Starr. Prior to the start, Alex Bowman, who was recently eliminated from the Playoffs, and Justin Haley also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective machines.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Larson received a push from Kyle Busch to jump to an early advantage for a full lap. With Larson leading the first lap, he had the green No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry piloted by Kyle Busch close in his rearview mirrors while the No. 22 AAA Insurance Ford Mustang driven by Joey Logano started to close in. Denny Hamlin maintained fourth while Martin Truex Jr. was challenged by Tyler Reddick and others for more.

By the fifth lap, Larson was out in front by nearly half a second over Kyle Busch. While Hamlin started to challenge Logano for third, Ryan Blaney moved up to fifth followed by teammate Brad Keselowski.

Through the first 10 laps of the event, Larson stabilized his advantage to nearly half a second over Kyle Busch while Logano, Blaney and Hamlin were in the top five. William Byron, following his elimination from the Playoffs, was up in sixth followed by Keselowski, Truex, Tyler Reddick and Chris Buescher. Meanwhile, Chase Elliott was up in 18th.

Ten laps later, Larson extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Logano, who overtook Kyle Busch earlier. Blaney, meanwhile, started to close in on Logano and Busch for more while Byron was up in fifth ahead of Hamlin’s No. 11 Craftsman Toyota Camry.

When the competition caution flew on Lap 25, Larson was leading by more than three seconds over Logano, who had teammate Blaney starting to challenge him for the runner-up spot. Behind, Byron moved his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE ahead of Kyle Busch. While seven Playoff contenders were in the top 10, Elliott, the eighth and final title contender, was up in 13th in between Buescher and Bubba Wallace.

Under the competition caution, the leaders pitted and Byron, who opted for a two-tire pit stop, leapfrogged from fourth to the lead followed by Truex, Kyle Busch, Reddick, Christopher Bell and Logano, who made light contact with Justin Haley’s Spire Motorsports car while exiting his pit stall. Following the pit stops, however, Kyle Busch was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road.

When the race restarted on Lap 30, Byron maintained the lead ahead of Truex and Reddick as the field fanned out to multiple lanes entering the first two turns. Just then, the caution returned for a 10-car wreck that started when Bubba Wallace, who was in between Kurt Busch and Keselowski, got loose underneath Busch, clipped Michael McDowell and was hit by Ross Chastain while Alex Bowman got turned after being hit by Cole Custer, Aric Almirola and Ryan Newman. Also involved were Ricky Stenhouse Jr., teammate Ryan Preece, Haley, Cody Ware and Joey Gase as many were taken out of contention.

In the midst of the carnage, Kyle Busch, who sustained minimal rear-end damage but managed to dodge most of the carnage, pitted for fresh tires along with Keselowski and Blaney.

Following an extensive cleanup, the race restarted on Lap 39. At the start, Truex engaged in a heated side-by-side battle with Byron as the field again fanned out while jostling for positions. Truex managed to lead the following lap by a nose before Byron fought back on the inside lane and cleared Truex entering the backstretch. Behind was Matt DiBenedetto along with Logano and Bell while Hamlin was in sixth. Meanwhile, Elliott was left in a battle with Austin Dillon and Larson for eighth.

On Lap 43, Reddick made the slightest of air contact with Truex entering Turn 3, which wiggled Truex’s car up the track and dropped him from second to fifth as Reddick, DiBenedetto and Logano took advantage of Truex’s misfortune.

Through the first 50 laps of the event, Byron was leading by six-tenths of a second over Reddick while third-place DiBenedetto trailed by more than two seconds. Teammates Hamlin and Truex were in the top five ahead of Elliott. Bell, Larson, Blaney and Logano were in the top 10 followed by Austin Dillon, Erik Jones, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and Daniel Suarez. Kyle Busch, meanwhile, was in 16th ahead of Keselowski, Chris Buescher, Chase Briscoe and Corey LaJoie.

Ten laps later, Byron continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over Reddick while third-place Hamlin trailed by more than four seconds. Behind, teammates Larson and Elliott moved in the top five ahead of Blaney, DiBenedetto, Bell, Truex and Erik Jones. Kyle Busch was in 11th, Logano was back in 12th and Keselowski was mired in 17th.

Another 10 laps later, Byron stretched his advantage to more than a second over Reddick. Meanwhile, Larson flew his way to third place ahead of Hamlin, Elliott and Blaney while Kyle Busch worked his way up to seventh. Truex, however, slipped back to 10th in between DiBenedetto and Kurt Busch while Logano and Keselowski were in 13th and 17th.

On Lap 82, Larson returned to the lead after gaining a huge momentum entering the backstretch and overtaking teammate Byron on four fresh tires compared to no fresh tires to Byron.

Three laps later, Larson slowly started to extend his advantage to nearly seven-tenths of a second over teammate Byron while Reddick, Hamlin and Elliott remained in the top five.

Another five laps later, Larson’s advantage grew to more than a second over teammate Byron.

On Lap 95, Larson pitted under green along with Byron, Reddick, DiBenedetto, Logano and others. Soon after, names like Elliott, Harvick and Hamlin, who led two laps, pitted. In the midst of the pit stops, Kyle Busch, racing with race engineer Seth Chavka serving as an interim crew chief, was leading with plans on winning the stage after pitting under the previous caution for the multi-car wreck.

At the Lap 100 mark, Kyle Busch was leading by three-tenths of a second over teammate Bell while Blaney, Kurt Busch and Buescher were in the top five. By then, Truex pitted under green. Soon after, Bell surrendered the runner-up spot to pit.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 105, Kyle Busch claimed his seventh stage victory of the season. Blaney settled in second ahead of Larson, Kurt Busch, Byron, Briscoe, Hamlin, Elliott, Reddick and Keselowski. By then, 12 competitors were scored on the lead lap while names like Truex and Logano were behind a lap.

Under the stage break, the lead lap competitors pitted as Kyle Busch retained the lead ahead of Larson, Kurt Busch, Truex, Blaney and Byron.

The second stage started on Lap 112. At the start, Kyle Busch received a push from Byron to clear Larson entering the first turn and maintain the lead.

The following lap, Briscoe nearly made contact with Blaney entering Turn 3, but both competitors kept their cars straight as Briscoe moved up to sixth behind teammate Harvick. Meanwhile, Larson challenged Kyle Busch for the lead while Byron and Elliott were in third and fourth.

After battling Busch side-by-side for a full lap, Larson reassumed the lead approaching Lap 117 ahead of Kyle Busch while Harvick challenged Byron for third ahead of Reddick, Elliott and Briscoe.

By Lap 120, Larson was out in front by nearly half a second over teammate Byron while Kyle Busch settled in third ahead of Reddick, Harvick and Elliott. Logano made his way up to seventh ahead of teammate Keselowski, Briscoe and Blaney while Hamlin and Truex were in 11th and 12th.

Through the first 150 laps of the event, Larson, racing in his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, stabilized his advantage to nearly three seconds over teammate Byron while Kyle Busch, Reddick and Harvick were in the top five. Blaney and Elliott were in sixth and seventh followed by Keselowski, Keselowski and Hamlin while Truex was in 11th.

Nearly five laps later, green flag pit stops occurred as Elliott pitted his No. 9 Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Soon after, Austin Dillon pitted along with Logano, Reddick, Erik Jones, DiBenedetto.

Just three laps shy of the halfway mark scheduled on Lap 167, the fourth caution of the event flew due to debris reported on the backstretch.

Under caution, the leaders pitted and Larson retained the lead upon exiting his pit stall followed by Kyle Busch, Byron, Keselowski, Harvick and Blaney.

When the race restarted on Lap 170, Larson received a push from teammate Byron to maintain the lead ahead of Kyle Busch and clear the field. While Byron and Kyle Busch battled for second, Penske teammates Blaney and Keselowski dueled for fourth and more while Harvick was in sixth.

By Lap 180, Larson was leading by three-tenths of a second over teammate Byron while Blaney, Keselowski and Harvick were in the top five. While Kurt Busch was up in sixth, brother Kyle was back in seventh ahead of Hamlin, Briscoe and Truex.

At the Lap 200 mark, Larson continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over teammate Byron while Blaney, Harvick and Keselowski remained in the top five. Kurt Busch, Briscoe, Hamlin and Reddick were running sixth through ninth while Kyle Busch was mired back in 10th ahead of Truex and Logano.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 210, Larson, who encountered brief lapped traffic, fended off a hard-charging, teammate Byron and notched his 16th stage victory of the season. Blaney fended off Harvick to finish behind the two Hendrick Motorsports teammates while Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Hamlin, Briscoe, Reddick and Kyle Busch were scored in the top 10. The Playoff contenders finishing outside of the top-10 stage points spots were Truex (11th), Logano, (12th) and Elliott (15th).

Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Larson retained the lead following his service and after beating teammate Byron back to the pit exit line. Keselowski followed suit along with Blaney, Kurt Busch and Harvick. Following the pit stops, Daniel Suarez was penalized for speeding on pit road.

With 118 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Larson was being pushed by Blaney on the inside lane while Byron was being pushed by Keselowski on the outside lane. Entering the backstretch, however, Larson persevered for the lead while Blaney challenged Byron for second.

The following lap, Kurt Busch, who was in sixth, dropped off the pace through the backstretch and made his way to pit road under green for two fresh left-side tires.

Back at the front, Larson was leading by a narrow margin over teammate Byron while Harvick was in third along with Keselowski, Blaney, Hamlin, Logano, Kyle Busch, Briscoe and Reddick.

With 110 laps remaining, Larson slowly started to pull away with the lead while Harvick and Byron battled for second ahead of Keselowski and Blaney.

Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Larson stretched his advantage to more than a second over teammate Byron while Keselowski, Blaney and Harvick were in the top five. Reddick was up in sixth followed by Briscoe, Hamlin, Logano and Kyle Busch while Elliott and Truex were in 11th and 12th.

With 75 laps remaining, teammates Larson and Byron remained in first and second despite both battling vibration issues to their respective Chevrolets. Keselowski was in third, trailing by three seconds, while Blaney and Reddick remained in the top five. By then, Kyle Busch was outside of the top 10 in 11th while Elliott occupied 10th place. Not long after, Bell pitted under green.

Fifteen laps later, the caution flew when Briscoe, who was having a strong run in the top 10 and was battling Hamlin earlier before making contact with Hamlin and touching the Turn 4 outside wall, cut a right-rear tire and shredded debris through the backstretch.

Under caution, the leaders pitted and Larson retained the lead followed by Byron, Keselowski, Reddick, Hamlin and Blaney.

With 54 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Larson received a push from Keselowski to clear teammate Byron and remain as the leader ahead of the field.

Four laps later, the battle for the lead started to ignite as Byron challenged Larson for the lead. Despite keeping his leader and teammate within his sights, Byron still could not gain a run to seal the deal over Larson.

Another 10 laps later, Larson stabilized his advantage to three-tenths of a second over teammate Byron and six-tenths of a second over Keselowski while Reddick trailed by less than a second. Blaney was in fifth ahead of Hamlin, who had Daniel Suarez and Elliott closing in. Harvick and Logano were in the top 10 just ahead of Kyle Busch and Truex.

With 36 laps remaining, the seventh caution of the event flew when the motor on Logano’s No. 22 AAA Ford Mustang blew up through the backstretch, which forced the 2018 Cup champion to end his race in the garage and place an early blow to start the Round of 8.

Under caution, some led by Elliott pitted while the rest led by Larson remained on the track.

Down to the final 30 laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Larson and Byron dueled for the lead followed by Reddick and Keselowski. Just then, the caution returned as Kyle Busch got Buescher sideways while rookie Anthony Alfredo, who made contact with teammate Michael McDowell, spun and backed his car into the outside wall in Turn 1. As Alfredo’s car slid down the track, fire then erupted beneath Alfredo’s car and the Turn 1 surface, though Alfredo was able to safely exit out of his car. The incident was enough for the event to be red-flagged for 11 minutes.

When the red flag was lifted and the race restarted with 25 laps remaining, Larson received a push from Reddick to remain as the leader while Reddick challenged Byron for second. Behind, Hamlin made his way into fourth place ahead of Blaney while Keselowski slipped to sixth ahead of Harvick.

The following lap, a three-wide action occurred between Hamlin, Blaney and Harvick as they battled for fourth for a full lap in front of Truex and Kyle Busch. Then, Blaney made contact with Hamlin entering the frontstretch, which resulted in a tire rub and smoke coming out of Hamlin’s No. 11 Craftsman Toyota. Despite the contact, Hamlin, for the moment, continued in seventh behind Keselowski, Harvick and Blaney.

Back at the front, Larson continued to lead ahead Reddick, who overtook Byron for second as Keselowski remained in the hunt.

Then nearing the final 20 laps of the event, the caution returned when Hamlin spun through the backstretch after cutting the left-rear tire, which came from the contact with Blaney. Despite having minimum damage to his car, Hamlin, who also had a flat right-front tire, pitted and continued.

Down to the final 16 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Byron shoved teammate Larson to the lead before trying to fend off Reddick and Harvick for second.

Shortly after, the 10th caution of the event flew when Truex, who was bumped by Suarez, made hard contact into the Turn 3 outside wall before limping his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry to his pit stall with significant right-side damage. The damage was enough to knock Truex out of contention in the closing stages of the event.

With nine laps remaining, the race restarted as teammates Larson and Byron retained the front row. At the start, Larson received another strong shove on the inside lane from Reddick to retain the lead. While Byron retained second, Reddick also fended off Keselowski, Blaney, Bell and Harvick to settle in third while challenging Byron for more.

With seven laps remaining, Reddick slipped beneath Byron in Turn 3 while trying to take second, which resulted with Reddick slipping out of the top five as Larson ran away with the lead.

Just then, the 11th caution flew when Briscoe and Buescher made contact entering the backstretch, which resulted with Buescher spinning and getting hit by Hamlin before making hard contact with the inside wall and ending his race with a wrecked race car.

With the race set to a two-lap shootout, the green flag waved as teammates Larson and Byron occupied the front row once again. At the start, Larson was able to clear Byron entering the first two turns to keep the lead as the field battled and fanned out behind.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson continued to lead while Keselowski challenged Byron for second. With the side-by-side battles occurring behind him, Larson streaked away from the field and came back around to claim his eighth checkered flag of the 2021 season.

By claiming his 14th NASCAR Cup Series career win and sweeping both Texas Motor Speedway Cup events of this season (he won the All-Star Race at Texas in June), Larson will make his first appearance in the Championship 4 Round as a title contender as he looks to deliver a second consecutive title for Hendrick Motorsports.

“This is unreal,” Larson said on NBC. “I knew we’d have a good shot to win today and our car was amazing. That’s probably the best 550 [mph] package, intermediate car we’ve had all year. Thanks to everybody on this No. 5 team, HendrickCars.com, [owner] Rick Hendrick. This is so cool. We get to go race for a championship in a few weeks. This is crazy. I just got good pushes from behind me, really. I tried to stay patient on the throttle, to keep them to my back bumper and thankfully, I was able to just barely clear them every time into [Turn] 1 and not have to fight them off of [Turn] 2. Thanks to William [Byron], Tyler [Reddick], Brad Keselowski, anybody who was ever behind me, especially Brad there that last restart. Just awesome to win and hope we can get some more wins throughout the rest of the year.”

“I don’t think we’re gonna lose focus on Kansas [Speedway] or Martinsville [Speedway], but I definitely think we can shift a little bit more to Phoenix [Raceway] car,” Larson added. “Really look forward to that. I love the West Coast. I love Phoenix. We’ve always been fast there. I think we should have a good shot. Our team’s been so strong all year long and might as well close it out now.”

Byron received a push from Bell through the frontstretch to claim the runner-up spot, which moved Bell up to third and dropped Keselowski to fourth while Harvick finished in the top five.

“It’s all about the push,” Byron said. “I think here at Texas, the shortest lane kind of wins out because of the way the track kind of separates into Turn 1. The AXALTA Chevy was fast all day. We just never quite got control. I think [Larson] was definitely better than us that first stage and then, I was right there with him the rest of the time and it was just clean air, basically. Congrats to [Larson]. Kyle really deserves it. They’ve been awesome all year, flawless on pit road, pit calls and everything. Our team’s right there and I think we’re building something really good for years to come.”

“The last few times we’ve been here, you get 40-, 50-, 100-lap runs in the end and jeez, we didn’t run more than two laps at the time for the last 45, 50 laps,” Keselowski said. “That’s not what we needed. We needed the long runs to be able to keep them honest. We had the long-run speed. Those guys were just blistering fast, [Larson] and [Byron]. Every restart, they just drove away from me. It’s kind of like, ‘Come on, give me some laps and let their stuff wear down!’ Just wasn’t the way it played out. We gained a point, but we moved up from eighth to sixth [in the standings], so that’s a nice little win for us. If you keep running like that, scoring high 30s, low 40s in points, we’ll transfer in.”

Finishing in the top 10 were Blaney, Elliott, Kyle Busch, Reddick and Suarez. Hamlin, meanwhile, limped across the finish line in 11th place and with damage to the front nose of his car following his involvement in the previous caution.

“It just gets wild and crazy,” Blaney said. “There’s not a ton of room here to kind of go on restarts and then, just trying to help each lane kind of move forward. You hope the lane you pick moves forward and I thought we could run third or fourth. I thought the top two, [Larson] and [Byron], were pretty spectacular. I thought we could run third or fourth and just lost a couple of spots here and there on each restart. Gained one, lose one and then, we ended up sixth. Proud of the Dex Imaging Ford Mustang team today. Good stage points. We got a good finish out of it. Go on to Kansas and keep on at it…Just gotta keep doing what you’re doing. I don’t think you can ever get comfortable unless you’re [Larson] right now for the next two races. You just have to keep racing like you have been. We did a good job on pit road and didn’t make any mistakes today. Had a fast enough car to run up at the front. You hope to bring that every single week. We’ll keep on focusing on one race at a time.”

“I thought by the end, we were decent,” Elliott said. “Just by that point, obviously, too late…Congrats to Kyle. Hopefully, we can join those guys in Phoenix. I’m looking forward to these next two weeks. I think we can run good at the next couple [races]. We all got to be super close in points. I feel like we just go do our jobs these next two weeks and control what’s in our hands. and we’ll be alright. “

“We probably missed four or five points there at the end of the day, but we missed four or five points at the stage as well, too” Kyle Busch said. “That’s about all we missed out on. We just didn’t have it. Certainly, [Larson] and [Byron] were the class of the field again. We were just slow. I found some laps where I could run wide open and I was able to just barely, barely, barely make the same time as them. Anytime I had to get out of the gas, they would just drive away. Got to go back to the drawing board for next week. Try to figure out some better stuff for Kansas. We’ll go get’em next week.”

“We just didn’t have quite a fast-enough car,” Hamlin said. “I thought we were fifth at best, honestly. Two wrecks at the end. [Blaney] just got bounced up into us there. We got our tire cut, hit the wall and then, [Buescher] and [Briscoe] got into it there and came across the nose. The fact that there was that much attrition was a good thing for us because we were able to rally on that green-white-checkered to get to 11th…I’m pretty optimistic about next week at Kansas. We need some tools to fix this car because it is destroyed.”

There were eight lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured 11 cautions for 55 laps. Only 15 of 39 starters finished on the lead lap.

Results.

1. Kyle Larson, 256 laps led, Stage 2 winner

2. William Byron, 55 laps led

3. Christopher Bell

4. Brad Keselowski

5. Kevin Harvick

6. Ryan Blaney

7. Chase Elliott

8. Kyle Busch, 20 laps led, Stage 1 winner

9. Tyler Reddick

10. Daniel Suarez

11. Denny Hamlin, two laps led

12. Erik Jones

13. Matt DiBenedetto

14. Austin Dillon

15. Chase Briscoe

16. Kurt Busch, two laps down

17. Michael McDowell, two laps down

18. Aric Almirola, three laps down

19. Cole Custer, four laps down

20. Corey LaJoie, five laps down

21. Chris Buescher – OUT, Accident

22. BJ McLeod, 10 laps down

23. David Starr, 11 laps down

24. Garrett Smithley, 13 laps down

25. Martin Truex Jr. – OUT, Accident, one lap led

26. Josh Bilicki, 15 laps down

27. Timmy Hill, 17 laps down

28. Ross Chastain, 23 laps down

29. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident

30. Joey Logano – OUT, Engine

31. Quin Houff – OUT, Suspension

32. Bubba Wallace – OUT, Accident

33. Alex Bowman – OUT, Accident

34. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident

35. Ryan Newman – OUT, Accident

36. Ryan Preece – OUT, Accident

37. Justin Haley – OUT, Accident

38. Cody Ware – OUT, Accident

39. Joey Gase – OUT, Accident

Bold indicates Playoff contenders.

Playoff standings.

1. Kyle Larson – Advanced

2. Ryan Blaney, +17

3. Denny Hamlin, +9

4. Kyle Busch, +8

5. Chase Elliott, -8

6. Brad Keselowski, -15

7. Martin Truex Jr., -22

8. Joey Logano, -43

The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will continue next weekend at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, October 24, which will occur at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

October 17, 2021
Larson rallies to win at the Charlotte Roval; Playoff’s Round of 8 set

Not even an early electrical issue could prevent Kyle Larson from continuing his quest for his first NASCAR Cup Series championship after the Elk Grove, California, native rallied to lead the final eight laps and win the Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course on Sunday, October 10.

The victory gave Larson an automatic pass to the Round of 8 in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs as the penultimate round in the Playoffs was determined and left some big names out of the championship battle.

The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Playoff contender Denny Hamlin started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Brad Keselowski.

Prior to the event, Garrett Smithley dropped to the rear of the field due to his car failing pre-race inspection twice.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Hamlin and Keselowski dueled for the lead through the first four turns until Hamlin was able to break free and clear Keselowski. Exiting the infield turns, Hamlin continued to lead through the backstretch oval turns, the backstretch chicane and the frontstretch chicane as he led the first lap.

Behind Hamlin, Joey Logano started to challenge teammate Kesleowski for second while Ryan Blaney and Christopher Bell battled for fourth ahead of Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson.

The following lap, Hamlin continued to lead by more than two seconds while Logano muscled his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang into the runner-up spot over Keselowski’s No. 2 Wurth Ford Mustang. While Blaney settled in fourth, Elliott moved his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE into fifth over Bell entering Turns 5 and 6.

By the fifth lap, Hamlin was leading by more than two seconds over Logano while Blaney, Keselowski and Elliott were in the top five. Bell was in sixth followed by Larson, William Byron, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch while Martin Truex Jr. and Alex Bowman were in 11th and 12th, all of whom were in the Playoffs. Behind, Aric Almirola spun in the backstretch chicane following contact from Chris Buescher but continued under green.

Three laps later, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to more than two seconds over Logano as Blaney, Keselowski and Elliott remained in the top five. By then, Truex, who started fifth but was struggling with early pace, slipped back to 13th behind Kurt Busch. Meanwhile, Austin Dillon was in 14th ahead of teammate Tyler Reddick and Erik Jones, Bubba Wallace was in 18th behind rookie Chase Briscoe, Matt DiBenedetto was in 20th in between Buescher and Michael McDowell, AJ Allmendinger was in 24th behind Corey LaJoie, Ryan Newman was in 25th ahead of Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez and Cole Custer, and rookie Anthony Alfredo was in 31st ahead of Justin Haley.

A lap prior to the competition caution scheduled on Lap 10, the strategic game began as names like Harvick, Bell, Truex, Bell, Kyle Busch, Suarez, Corey LaJoie, Erik Jones, Briscoe, Buescher, Cole Custer, DiBenedetto and Almirola pitted under green. During the pit stops, Bell was penalized for speeding on pit road.

Just as Hamlin was returning to the frontstretch to complete the 10th lap, he directed his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry to pit road along with Byron, Kurt Busch, Austin Dillon and Ross Chastain. Hamlin’s move allowed Logano to inherit the lead as the competition caution flew.

Under the competition caution, some led by Bubba Wallace pitted while others led by Logano remained on the track.

When the race resumed on Lap 13, teammates Logano and Blaney dueled for the lead through the first three turns until Blaney emerged as the new leader exiting the infield turns and entering the oval turns.

In the backstretch chicane, Keselowski spun off the front bumper of Bowman, which moved Larson and Hamlin to fourth and fifth behind Elliott while Bowman fell back to 11th behind Harvick. Keselowski, meanwhile, was in 38th.

By Lap 15, Blaney was leading by nearly eight-tenths of a second over teammate Logano while Elliott, Larson and Hamlin, the first competitor on fresh tires, were in the top five. Allmendinger was in sixth ahead of Kyle Busch, Byron, Kurt Busch and Harvick while Truex, Bowman and Bell were in 12th, 15th and 16th.

Five laps later, the second caution of the event flew when Ryan Newman, who spun a lap earlier in the infield turns, lost a right-rear tire, spun again and wrecked in Turn 14, narrowly avoiding Keselowski.

Under caution, some led by Larson and Hamlin pitted while the rest led by Blaney remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Hamlin was assessed a speeding penalty.

With three laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted under green. At the start, Blaney jumped ahead on the outside lane before Allmendinger crossed over beneath Blaney and challenged him for the top spot through the first three turns. Shortly after, Allmendinger, winner of Saturday’s Xfinity event at the Roval, assumed command while Elliott challenged Blaney for the runner-up spot, which he succeeded exiting Turn 8.

The following lap, Allmendinger was ahead of nearly four-tenths of a second over Elliott while Blaney, Truex and Logano were in the top five. Behind, Matt DiBenedetto missed the backstretch chicane and was forced to come to a stop before continuing to serve his penalty. In addition, Ryan Preece got turned exiting the front stretch chicane following contact with Logano, but the race continued under green.

On the final lap of the first stage, Elliott issued a challenge on Allmendinger for the top spot exiting the infield turns. Behind, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made contact with Kyle Busch exiting the backstretch chicane, but Busch prevailed ninth.

Following a brief fight against Allmendinger exiting the infield turns and returning to the oval turns, Elliott prevailed through the backstretch chicane. Elliott’s late perseverance and charge allowed him to come back around through the frontstretch chicane and win the first stage on Lap 25, which marked his fourth stage victory of the season. Allmendinger settled in second followed by Blaney, Truex, Logano, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Byron, McDowell and Harvick. By then, Larson was in 11th, Bowman was in 14th, Hamlin was mired in 21st and Bell was back in 26th.

Under the stage break, some led by Elliott pitted while the rest led by Allmendinger remained on the track.

The second stage started on Lap 29 as Allmendinger and Kyle Busch occupied the front row ahead of Byron, McDowell, Harvick and Larson. At the start, Kyle Busch muscled his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry into the lead following a battle with Allmendinger from the second turn through Turn 5. Shortly after, Byron moved his No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to second place. Behind, Harvick and Larson battled for fourth.

Through the first 30 laps of the event, Kyle Busch was leading by half a second over Byron while Allmendinger, Larson, Harvick, Austin Dillon, McDowell, Bowman, Custer and Suarez were in the top 10. Hamlin was in 13th, Keselowski and Bell were in 15th and 16th, Elliott was in 19th and Blaney was in 24th ahead of Truex and Logano.

Three laps later, the fourth caution of the event flew when Stenhouse made contact and turned Chase Briscoe in a cloud of smoke across the frontstretch.

Under caution, some led by Larson and Allmendinger pitted while the rest led by Kyle Busch remained on the track. During the pit stops, Larson’s crew popped the hood of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE open to change the battery. Teammate Bowman’s crew also popped the hood open on the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to replace an alternator belt with plans on replacing the battery following the second stage.

When the race restarted on Lap 35, Kyle Busch launched ahead with the top spot entering the first turn while Harvick moved into second place ahead of Byron, Austin Dillon, McDowell and Suarez.

Two laps later, Kyle Busch was leading by one-and-a-half seconds over Harvick and Byron, both of whom were currently scored below the top-eight cutline to the Playoff’s Round of 8. Behind, Elliott was up in sixth behind McDowell, Hamlin was in eighth, teammate Bell was in 11th, Blaney was in 16th, Keselowski was in 20th behind Allmendinger, Logano was in 21st, Truex was in 23rd, Bowman was in 29th and Larson was in 30th.

Through the first 40 laps of the event, Kyle Busch continued to lead by a second over Harvick while Byron, Austin Dillon and Elliott were in the top five. Behind, LaJoie came to a full stop after missing the frontstretch chicane. In addition, Bell drove through the grass in Turns 5 and 6. Earlier, Wallace came to a stop after missing the frontstretch chicane.

By Lap 45, Custer spun entering the first turn, but the race proceeded under green. By then, Kyle Busch was out in front by more than a second over Harvick while Elliott was up in third ahead of Byron and Austin Dillon. By then, Larson was in 18th behind Logano, Keselowski and Truex while Bowman was in 22nd behind Bell.

A few laps later, Chastain, Wallace and LaJoie pitted under green. Not long after, Byron, Austin Dillon, Allmendinger, Hamlin, Almirola, Briscoe, Suarez, DiBenedetto, Bell, Buescher, Kurt Busch, Custer Tyler Reddick, McDowell and Alfredo pitted.

Back on course, Kyle Busch continued to lead ahead of Harvick, who had rival Elliott charging for the runner-up spot. Following a smooth lap around the 17-course turn, Kyle Busch was able to claim his sixth stage victory of the season with the second stage concluded on Lap 50. Elliott overtook Harvick to settle in second followed by Blaney, Logano, Larson, Keselowski, Truex, Bowman and Byron.

Under the stage break, Bowman pitted while pit road was closed to have a voltage regulator on his car changed, which resulted in a penalty for Bowman to start at the rear of the field. Once pit road opened for the field, a majority of the field led by Kyle Busch pitted while others led by Byron and Austin Dillon remained on the track. Meanwhile, Larson’s crew went to work to change the alternator belt while giving Larson four fresh tires and fuel to last to the end. As the field began to stack up for a restart, Larson’s crew was able to repair the mechanical issue and get the driver back out on the lead lap while behind the field.

With 56 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Byron was able to retain the lead over Austin Dillon entering the first turn and the infield turns as the field fanned out and jostled for positions.

At the halfway mark between Laps 54 and 55, Byron was leading by a mere margin over Austin Dillon while Hamlin, Suarez and Allmendinger were in the top five. Just then, the caution returned when Elliott, winner of the previous two Cup Roval events, got hit by Harvick and sent into the wall in between Turns 7 and 8, which damaged the rear end and deck lid of Elliott’s car. As Elliott tried to continue through Turn 8, he made contact with Custer and spun below the apron. Despite the damage and a reported broken track bar, Elliott managed to continue as he was slated in 37th. The incident, however, reignited Harvick and Elliott’s rivalry following their confrontation at Bristol Motor Speedway in September, where Elliott cost Harvick an opportunity to win.

With 52 laps remaining, the field restarted under green. At the start, Byron retained the lead while Hamlin battled Austin Dillon for the runner-up spot ahead of Suarez. Shortly after, Allmendinger, who was in fifth, fell off the pace due to an engine issue entering the backstretch chicane, which forced the field to scatter to avoid Allmendinger’s Kaulig Racing machine as the Californian took his car to the garage.

Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Byron, coming into the Roval in a “must-win” situation, was leading by more than a second over Austin Dillon while Hamlin, Reddick and Suarez were in the top five. By then, Harvick was in 13th in front of Blaney, Kyle Busch was in 20th in between Keselowski and Truex, Larson was in 23rd behind Wallace, Bowman was in 26th and Elliott was mired in 36th, the last car on the lead lap. By then, Larson and Kyle Busch were barely above the top-eight cutline while Harvick, Elliott, Bell and Bowman were the four competitors scored below the cutline.

Ten laps later, Hamlin missed the backstretch chicane while trying to overtake Austin Dillon for the runner-up spot and served his penalty by coming to a full stop on the frontstretch chicane.

When the field returned to the front stretch, Byron remained in the lead by over Austin Dillon while Reddick, Kurt Busch and Buescher were in the top five. Hamlin fell back to sixth ahead of Suarez, DiBenedetto, Blaney and Chastain. Harvick was in 11th ahead of Erik Jones, Bell was in 14th in front of Logano, Larson moved up to 16th ahead of Keselowski and Kyle Busch was back in 18th ahead of teammate Truex and Bowman. Elliott, meanwhile, was mired in 34th and gaining no ground on the leaders.

A few laps later, Reddick, who was one of the fastest cars on the circuit, overtook teammate Austin Dillon for second as he trailed Byron by less than three seconds.

With 35 laps remaining, Larson, who was in the top 15, ignited green flag pit stops as he pitted followed by Bell. A lap later, Harvick and Logano pitted along with Kyle Busch, Truex, LaJoie and Briscoe. Another lap later, Byron surrendered the lead to pit along with Reddick, teammate Austin Dillon, Keselowski, Blaney, Suarez and Erik Jones.

Soon after, Kurt Busch, who led a lap, pitted his No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, giving the lead to Buescher and Hamlin. By then, Wallace, Preece, Custer and Joey Hand also pitted.

With 30 laps remaining, Hamlin, who has yet to pit, was leading followed by DiBenedetto and Byron, who was trailing by more than 14 seconds.

Two laps later, Hamlin pitted and gave the lead back to Byron, who had Tyler Reddick closing in on him for the lead. By then, Elliott, whose rear bumper cover was loose, was 86 seconds behind and on the verge of being lapped by his Hendrick Motorsports’ teammate.

With 23 laps remaining, the caution flew when the rear bumper cover from Elliott’s car came off on the backstretch. Under caution, a majority of the field led by Byron pitted while the rest led by Hamlin and DiBenedetto remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Bowman was busted for speeding on pit road, which sent him to the rear of the field and negatively affect his hopes of advancing to the Round of 8.

Down to the final 20 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Hamlin retained the lead as the field fanned out and jostled for positions entering the first turn. Behind, Reddick moved up to second while Byron battled for third against DiBenedetto. Behind, Kurt Busch and Larson battled for fifth with the latter prevailing.

Through the backstretch chicane, Keselowski spun again and caused a stack up to the competitors running towards the back. With the race remaining under green, Byron ignited a battle on Reddick for second as Hamlin continued to lead by a narrow margin.

Just then, Byron missed the backstretch chicane after getting hit by Reddick while running in front of Reddick and Larson in second. Despite stopping on the backstretch, the penalty was costly for Byron, who needed to win to keep his title hopes alive.

Back at the front, Hamlin was leading by more than a second over Larson, Reddick, DiBenedetto and Kurt Busch. Logano was in seventh, Blaney was in ninth ahead of Kyle Busch, Byron was back in 12th ahead of Harvick and Truex. Bell was in 17th while Elliott was in 21st behind LaJoie. Bowman was mired back in 29th.

Shortly after, the eighth caution of the event flew when LaJoie smacked the Turn 2 wall following contact with Custer as Joey Hand also collided into the wall.

Under caution, some including Stenhouse, Alfredo, Preece, Keselowski, Almirola, Bowman, LaJoie and Hand pitted while the rest led by Hamlin remained on the track.

With 14 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Hamlin launched ahead with another strong start while Reddick battled Larson for second as the field fanned out entering the first turn. Shortly after, Larson issued a challenge for the lead over Hamlin. Through the infield turns, Larson squeaked ahead with the top spot, but Hamlin fought back through the backstretch chicane as Reddick also challenged Larson for the runner-up spot through Turn 13. Behind, Kurt Busch missed the frontstretch chicane after slipping.

Back at the front, Hamlin was leading by a narrow margin over Reddick, who prevailed over his late battle and contact with Larson as Buescher was in fourth. Behind Logano moved up to fifth over DiBenedetto while Harvick, Byron and Kyle Busch were in the top 10. Elliott, meanwhile, was in 17th while Keselowski was in 24th.

Then with 11 laps remaining, Kevin Harvick’s title hopes for 2021 evaporated after he locked up the front tires of his No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang and pounded against the barriers in Turn 1 while running in the top 15, thus damaging the front nose of his car. At the time of the incident, Elliott had caught Harvick, but Harvick’s incident involved no contact with Elliott.

“I just pushed [the car] in there too hard,” Harvick, who was released from the care center and deflected any comments over his incident with Elliott, said. “I got the tire locked up and I couldn’t stop it once I felt like I needed to go, to get a couple spots back that I’d lost and I got the left front locked up, but I couldn’t get it to turn. Sometime, real life teaches you good lessons.”

Under caution, some including Elliott, Truex and Keselowski pitted while the rest led by Hamlin remained on the track.

Down to the final eight laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Hamlin pulled ahead through the first turn, but Larson made his move and took over the lead exiting Turn 4. Behind, Reddick moved up to second while Byron battled Buescher for fourth.

Through the backstretch chicane, Byron muscled his way up to third, but he now had seven laps to return to the front and maintain his title hopes.

The following lap, Larson was ahead by nearly a second over runner-up Reddick and less than two seconds teammate Byron. Behind, Buescher maintained fourth while Hamlin was back in sixth behind teammate Kyle Busch. Meanwhile, Bell was in ninth, Bowman was in 14th, Elliott was in 20th and Keselowski was in 28th behind Truex.

With five laps remaining, Larson continued to lead by less than a second over Reddick, who had Byron trying to pressure him for the runner-up spot.

Down to the final two laps, Larson stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Reddick and Byron. Just then, Byron’s title hopes dwindled as he spun and damaged his No. 24 car in Turn 5. Despite the incident, Byron continued as the race remained under green. Earlier, Truex spun on the backstretch following contact with Joey Hand.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson remained in the lead by more than a second over Reddick. Behind, Buescher moved up to third followed by Kyle Busch and Hamlin. Byron, meanwhile, continued in 11th ahead of teammate Elliott.

Navigating his way through the 17-turn course smoothly, Larson, who was scored outside the cutline early, came back around and claimed the checkered flag for the first time on the Roval and for the seventh time in 2021.

With the victory, Larson became the third different winner at the Charlotte Roval as he achieved his third road course victory of 2021. In addition, he notched his 13th career win in the Cup Series and swept both Cup Charlotte events of the season.

“I wouldn’t have believed it, that’s for sure,” Larson said on NBC. “I don’t know. I didn’t even really feel that good early, started changing some things up. [The crew] were doing a good job, letting me know what to do inside the cockpit to get better. About that time, I noticed my battery was going low, so I was gonna stress out. I’m like, ‘Man, I’m not gonna get knocked out of the Playoffs like this.’ It wasn’t looking too good. Thankfully, everybody on our No. 5 car did a great job of staying calm. [Crew chief] Cliff [Daniels], as always, did a great job communicating with me with what was going on, getting the battery changed, alternator, whatever it takes to get our battery staying running. Just an awesome day for Hendrick Motorsports and glad to get another win. Looking forward to the next round a lot.”

Reddick settled in second place for the third time in his Cup career while Buescher, Kyle Busch and Hamlin finished in the top five. DiBenedetto, Logano, Bell, Blaney and Bowman ended up in the top 10 on the track.

After settling in 12th place and earning enough points to advance to the Round of 8, Elliott maintained his composure when expressing his side of the incident with Harvick.

“[I’m] Really proud of our team,” Elliott said. “Our NAPA team did a really, really good job of fixing this [car]. It is destroyed and I think we finished 12th. Our team has a lot of fight and I’m just super proud of that. As far as Kevin goes, just wanna wish them Merry Offseason and a happy Christmas. It’s all good. Just glad we’re moving on. Proud of our team. We’re just eyes forward and just excited to be moving on. That’s the big picture. That’s really all that matters to me and our group, so we’ll keep fighting and see where we end up.”

Photo by Ted Seminara for SpeedwayMedia.com.

Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski have transferred into the Round of 8 in the Playoffs. Kevin Harvick, William Byron, Christopher Bell and Alex Bowman have been eliminated from title contention.

“Glad to finally be able to finish one today,” Kyle Busch said. “Thanks to M&M’s, all the guys on the team. [They] Did a good job, brought a good car, got the most out of it. We won that [second] stage. That helped a little bit for the reset going into next week and gave us one more point. Overall, we got everything we could out of it today. I wished there was more, but it kind of seemed like once everybody got strung out, that was about it. There wasn’t a whole lot of comers and goers throughout the runs, so overall, that’s kind of where we stacked out.”

“We got the good out of [the car],” Logano said. “So much for keeping it clean. That was the plan. Just ended up having a rough day, but ended up finishing seventh or even a shot at a top-five or top three even towards the end of the race there. Proud of our Shell/Pennzoil team. I got into [Ryan] Preece and dumped him early in the race. That was just my mistake. Overall, hey, we’re moving on to the Round of 8. It’s a great accomplishment, we’re proud of that. On to the next three [races] and try to score a bunch of points, maybe, or get a win. That might be the easiest way doing it, but we’ll maximize our races and get every point we can.”

“I was behind two guys side-by-side getting into the bus stop, so we’re all checked up, just trying to not get run over when we get run over,” Truex said. “I don’t know what the hell [Hand] was thinking. Riding around the back all day and he drives through a Playoff car for no reason. Luckily, we were able to come through, make it, pulled out some stage points. Really, that was the difference. Good strategy, terrible race car. We sucked. It was awful…It was just absolute garbage. Glad we made it. That’s all I can say, I guess. Thanks to everybody for all the support this year. Go on to the next round, see what we can do. It’s all reset.”

“Just not a good day,” Keselowski said. “[I] Had some decent speed. I think we could’ve run about 10th all day. Had a couple of restarts where we just kind of got ran over. We fought back from that best we could with the Wurth Ford Mustang. Salvaged what we could with a 20th-place day, but nowhere near what we were hoping for. Enough to get on and go to Texas.”

“Ultimately, we just weren’t good enough,” Bell said. “Made a lot of mistakes out there. We just weren’t fast enough. Bummer, but we’ll have to move on and I think we’ve got opportunities to win races every time we go to the race tracks. Building a notebook between me and [crew chief] Adam [Stevens]. Really proud to be in this No. 20 group, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing. Got good race tracks coming up and we’re gonna go out there and give it our all, and end the season on a high note.”

“Unfortunate,” Bowman said. “It’s tough to make a car live long here without any brake fans and tire cooling. [Crew chief] Greg [Ives] and all the guys on this Ally No. 48 team did such a good job, I guess, letting me know what I needed to do, to get it to the finish line and what I could and couldn’t do with fans. We put a battery in it at one point and kind of went from there. I’m exhausted. I’m just mentally drained after the roller coaster that was, but good to get a top 10. Wished we had more. Congrats to [Larson]. The kid’s superhuman. Bummed we’re not in the next round.”

Following the event, Byron, who ended up in 11th, had a post-race conversation with Reddick to express his displeasure over being hit by Reddick late in the event while battling towards the front and caused Byron to miss the backstretch chicane.

“I just passed [Reddick] off of Turn 8 and I guess he had [Larson] inside of him,” Byron said. “Just lack of awareness, like hit me in the back bumper right as I was downshifting to first gear, so there was no way I was going to make the chicane. It’s the lightest the car can be right there, so I don’t get it. He and I and [Larson] racing for the win and [Hamlin] had old tires, and we were in a good position. Just stinks, but just not the round we wanted. Definitely tough finishes, tough results, but we had speed in two of the three races to definitely advance. Thanks to Valvoline and Chevrolet…It was definitely looking like it was gonna be a really good day, even after the caution, looking like we were gonna have a shot to win. I was just too bad at the end there. Made a mistake and could’ve finished third, but finished 11th. Just stinks.”

“Unfortunately pretty straightforward,” Reddick said. “Just made a mistake, one that meant a lot. Slight bump, maybe a press like this is all it really took to cause wheel-hop, for [Byron’s] car to go sliding off. I hate that, wasn’t in any way what I was trying to do. If I was trying to do that, I would’ve hit him a lot harder. I hate that it happened. I hate that it did what it did. He was racing for everything just like I was. Obviously, his stakes were higher, but just unfortunate.”

There were 15 lead changes for 10 different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 18 laps. Thirty-one of the 39 starters finished on the lead lap.

Results.

1. Kyle Larson, eight laps led

2. Tyler Reddick

3. Chris Buescher, one lap led

4. Kyle Busch, 22 laps led, Stage 2 winner

5. Denny Hamlin, 25 laps led

6. Matt DiBenedetto

7. Joey Logano, four laps led

8. Christopher Bell

9. Ryan Blaney, 10 laps led

10. Alex Bowman

11. William Byron, 30 laps led

12. Chase Elliott, two laps led, Stage 1 winner

13. Daniel Suarez

14. Bubba Wallace

15. Austin Dillon

16. Michael McDowell

17. Erik Jones

18. Cole Custer

19. Ryan Preece

20. Brad Keselowski

21. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

22. Chase Briscoe

23. Ross Chastain

24. Aric Almirola

25. Kurt Busch, two laps led

26. Anthony Alfredo

27. Joey Hand

28. Josh Bilicki

29. Martin Truex Jr.

30. Quin Houff

31. Scott Heckert

32. Timmy Hill, one lap down

33. Kevin Harvick – OUT, Accident

34. Garrett Smithley, 13 laps down

35. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Accident

36. Cody Ware – OUT, Accident

37. Justin Haley – OUT, Engine

38. AJ Allmendinger – OUT, Engine, five laps led

39. Ryan Newman – OUT, Accident

Bold indicates Playoff contenders.

Playoff standings.

1. Kyle Larson – Advanced

2. Denny Hamlin – Advanced

3. Martin Truex Jr. – Advanced

4. Ryan Blaney – Advanced

5. Kyle Busch – Advanced

6. Chase Elliott – Advanced

7. Joey Logano – Advanced

8. Brad Keselowski – Advanced

9. Kevin Harvick – Eliminated

10. Christopher Bell – Eliminated

11. William Byron – Eliminated

12. Alex Bowman – Eliminated

The Round of 8 in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will commence next weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. The event will occur on Sunday, October 17, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

October 10, 2021
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Talladega

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished seventh at Talladega in a rain-delayed and rain-shortened race won by Bubba Wallace, who drives for 23XI Racing, co-owned by Hamlin and Michael Jordan.

“What a win by Bubba,” Hamlin said. “At some point, Bubba, Michael, and I will enjoy a victory cigar together. And to all those who have a problem with Bubba winning, I’ll see you in hell, and you can see me inhale.”

2. Kyle Larson: Larson suffered damage late in Stage 1 when contact between William Byron and Ross Chastain sent Chastain’s No. 77 hard into Larson’s left side. Larson limped home with a 37th-place finish.

“We spent a lot of time trying to get the car to maintain minimum speed,” Larson said. “How do I know I’m above that minimum speed threshold? I’m going faster than Quin Houff.”

3. Joey Logano: Logano came home third in the YellaWood 500.

“Racing at Talladega is all about getting a good run,” Logano said. “My Penske teammate Brad Keselowski knows that better than anyone because as far as his career with Penske goes, Brad had a good run.”

4. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished 12th in the YellaWood 500 at Talladega.

“Talladega is hectic enough when the weather is good,” Truex said. “When the threat of rain is added to the equation, it creates another level of chaos, and it confuses some fans because they see the word ‘equation’ and think they’ll have to do some type of math.”

5. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished 15th at Talladega and is sixth in the playoff standings, 15 points above the cut line.

“Saturday’s Xfinity race was shortened because of darkness,” Blaney said, “and apparently, should have been sponsored by ‘Natural Light’ beer.”

6. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished 18th at Talladega.

“I’m pretty sure Kevin Harvick is still angry with me,” Elliott said. “He apparently ‘has it in’ for me. The Round of 8 in the playoffs? It may ‘have it out‘ for Harvick.”

7. Kyle Busch: Busch came home 27th at Talladega and is only nine points above the playoff cut line.

“After the race was already delayed by a day,” Busch said, “it was certainly anti-climactic for it to end early because of rain. And I know anti-climactic, because I know all things ‘anti,’ because I may be the anti-Christ, according to a lot of fans.”

8. Kevin Harvick: Harvick posted a solid eighth-place finish at Talladega, but is ninth in the playoff standings, nine points below the cut line.

“I’m sitting on the playoff bubble,” Harvick said. “Surprisingly, despite its airiness, it really chaps my ass.”

9. William Byron: Byron crashed on Lap 116 after contact with Ryan Preece in a multi-car accident and finished a disastrous 36th. He’s is 44 points below the cut line.

“I’m heading to Charlotte with one goal in mind,” Byron said, “and that’s winning. That may sound overconfident, but hey, it’s ‘Go big or go home,’ and as a driver for Hendrick, Charlotte is conveniently home.”

10. Alex Bowman: Bowman crashed out at Talladega on Lap 97 after Chase Elliott bumped Ricky Stenhouse Jr., sending Stenhouse hard into the side of Bowman. Bowman finished 38th and is last in the playoff standings.

“I don’t know what happened,” Bowman said. “I’m not one to point fingers, or name names, or make accusations, but I am one to do all three of those at once. So, my finger is aimed at Chase Elliott, who I’m accusing of causing me to wreck. My ‘side’ of the story is the left side of my car was ruined, and I’m starting to ‘side’ with Kevin Harvick.”

October 5, 2021
Bubba Wallace makes history, earns first Cup career victory at Talladega

History was made under a wet, cloudy afternoon at Talladega, Alabama, after Bubba Wallace won the rain-shortened YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Monday, October 4, and claimed his first elusive NASCAR Cup Series career win.

Wallace, who dodged a late-race multi-car wreck, stormed to the lead with drafting help from Brad Keselowski with seven laps remaining in the second stage and continued to lead when another multi-car wreck occurred behind him two laps later that drew a caution. Soon after, rain, which dominated the weekend and forced the event to be postponed from its scheduled start on Sunday, October 3, began to pour across the superspeedway venue, which forced NASCAR to red-flag the event and park the field to pit road.

Nearly an hour after the event was red-flagged and with lightning strikes being reported along with continuous rain, NASCAR made the race official and Wallace was handed his first career win at his home track in NASCAR’s premier series and in his 143rd series start, thus becoming the second African-American competitor to win in the Cup level.

The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Denny Hamlin, winner of last weekend’s Playoff event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and last year’s fall event at Talladega, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with teammate Kyle Busch.

Prior to the event, Quin Houff and Joey Gase started at the rear of the field due to failing pre-race inspection twice. James Davison also started at the rear of the field for replacing David Starr for the event.

Following a one-and-a-half-hour delay due to morning precipitation on the track on Sunday, October 3, the competitors fired up their engines and hit the track in an attempt to commence the event on a cloudy afternoon. Not long after, however, precipitation hit the track again, which forced the pace car to lead the field back on to pit road and under another weather delay.

Then, NASCAR made the call to postpone the event from Sunday to Monday due to the continuous rain and no weather relief in sight.

When the competitors returned a day later, the race was able to start under green on a clear, cloudy afternoon. At the start, Kyle Busch jumped ahead with the lead on the inside lane followed by Chase Elliott while Hamlin slipped to third on the outside lane.

As Kyle Larson, Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski started to gain a run exiting the backstretch and entering the frontstretch, Kyle Busch was able to lead the first lap as the field began to fan out to multiple lanes and in a tight pack.

Just past the start/finish line, Logano stormed to the lead on the outside lane with drafting help from teammate Keselowski and Hamlin. Despite receiving a strong push to jump ahead through the backstretch, Logano nearly lost the top spot to Kyle Busch entering the frontstretch, but he was able to lead the following lap by a nose.

Through the first five laps of the event, Kyle Busch, who moved back to the lead on the third lap, was leading ahead of Elliott, Larson Kevin Harvick and Alex Bowman. Tyler Reddick was in sixth ahead of Logano, rookie Chase Briscoe, Matt DiBenedetto and Bubba Wallace. By then, Hamlin pulled his car out of the pack as part of a strategic move and settled his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry in 29th place.

By Lap 10, Harvick, who took over the lead on the sixth lap, was leading ahead of Ford teammates Logano, DiBenedetto, Ryan Blaney, Keselowski and Aric Almirola. Austin Dillon was in seventh ahead of William Byron, Cole Custer and Kyle Busch.

Soon after, the field, which had broken apart and was divided into certain sections of competitors, was back competing in a tight pack within the draft and beginning to fan out to multiple lanes. Then, the field fanned out three lanes deep as Truex, who received drafting help from Wallace, challenged Harvick and DiBenedetto for the lead, which he succeeded on Lap 15 before being overtaken by Larson two laps later.

By Lap 20, Custer, who received drafting help from teammate Harvick, emerged with the lead ahead of Larson, who led the previous three laps, while Logano and Wallace were in the top five ahead of a steaming pack of cars. By then, 38 of the 40 starters were separated by less than six seconds.

When the competition caution flew on Lap 25, Custer was still leading in his No. 41 Autodesk Ford Mustang ahead of Harvick, Logano, Blaney, Elliott, Keselowski and the field that settled through double lanes. By then, names like DiBenedetto, Ryan Newman, Austin Dillon, Daniel Suarez, Aric Almirola, Briscoe, Reddick, Hamlin and Christopher Bell were running outside the top 20 while Truex, Alex Bowman, Byron, Larson and Kyle Busch were back inside the top 20.

Under the competition caution, the majority of the field pitted while 12 competitors led by rookie Anthony Alfredo remained on the track. During the pit stops, Hamlin slid through his pit box and had to back up for fresh tires while Elliott nearly made contact with Cody Ware while exiting his pit stall.

A lap later, the 12 competitors led by Alfredo who remained on the track pitted, giving the lead to Harvick.

When the race restarted on Lap 29, Harvick briefly jumped ahead with the top spot on the inside lane before Truex received a big push from Kurt Busch and Keselowski to take the lead through the backstretch.

Then, Kurt Busch moved his No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to pass Truex on the inside lane and lead the following lap. Truex, though, fought back on the outside lane as the field was engaged in a competitive, tight pack within the draft.

By Lap 35, Harvick, who reassumed the lead a lap earlier, was ahead of Team Penske’s Blaney and Logano. Austin Dillon was up in fourth ahead of Keselowski, Chris Buescher, Hamlin, Custer and the field. Meanwhile, Kurt Busch was in ninth, Truex was in 11th, Kyle Busch was in 14th, Byron was in 20th, teammates Larson and Bowman were in 22nd and 23rd, and Elliott was in 29th.

Approaching the Lap 38 mark, the field fanned out to three lanes at the front as Hamlin challenged Keselowski and Harvick for the top spot. In the middle of the pack, a four-wide action nearly occurred that included Logano.

Through the first 40 laps of the event, Keselowski was leading ahead of Buescher, Hamlin, Logano, Austin Dillon, Harvick and the field. By then, Michael McDowell, who suffered damage under the competition caution and lost in touch with the field and the draft prior to the restart, was lapped by the leaders.

Three laps later, the top-26 competitors were separated by a second as Keselowski challenged and overtook Hamlin, who led the previous two laps, for the top spot. By then, Keselowski had drafting help from Ford teammate Chris Buescher and Logano while Hamlin was trying to keep Bowman in the draft. Meanwhile, Austin Dillon was trying to form a third line on the inside lane, but he was overtaken by the other two lanes that had a multitude of cars within the draft.

By Lap 50 and through the closing laps of the first stage, the majority of the field were running in a long single-file line on the outside lane led by Keselowski. In addition, names like Chris Buescher, Bubba Wallace, Justin Haley were in the top 10 while names like Ross Chastain, Corey LaJoie, Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick were in the top 15. Justin Allgaier, an Xfinity Series veteran, was in 16th ahead of Elliott.

Four laps later, Buescher, who bumped and moved Keselowski out of the way through the backstretch, led a lap for himself ahead of Logano and Harvick. Keselowski, meanwhile, was back in fourth alongside teammate Blaney.

On Lap 56, the caution flew when Justin Allgaier, running within the top 10, got bumped and turned off the front nose of Byron entering the frontstretch, where he collided against Larson’s No. 5 Cincinnati Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE against the outside wall before sliding across the track and near the pit road exit. Briscoe and Ryan Preece were also involved in the accident.

The early incident concluded the first stage scheduled on Lap 60 under caution as Buescher claimed his second stage victory of the season and the first since Homestead-Miami Speedway in February. Logano, the highest-running Playoff contender, settled in second ahead of Keselowski, Harvick, Reddick, Blaney, Elliott, Ross Chastain, Kurt Busch and Alex Bowman. By then, names like Byron, Kyle Busch and Truex were in the top-17 while Hamlin was in 23rd. Meanwhile, Larson, who was having issues re-firing his car during the repairs, lost a lap to the leaders.

Through the first stage, 12 different competitors had led at least a lap, comprising of 17 different lead changes.

Under the stage break, nearly the entire field pitted while names like Ricky Stenhouse Jr., DiBenedetto and Daniel Suarez remained on the track. Once the competitors who did not pit earlier pitted, Logano was leading ahead of Hamlin, Keselowski, Buescher and Blaney. Meanwhile, Harvick pitted a second time after reporting a flat left-rear tire, which sent him to the rear of the field.

The second stage started on Lap 64. At the start, Logano received a push from teammate Keselowski to maintain the top spot on the inside lane through the first turn while Hamlin challenged Blaney on the outside lane.

The following lap, Kyle Busch intentionally drew his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry out of the pack to settle behind the pack as Reddick challenged Logano for the lead. Reddick, however, was overpowered by Team Penske’s three Playoff competitors led by Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang.

Shortly after, the caution flew when Larson, who continued with the damage on his No. 5 car, lost the right-front tire, smacked the Turn 2 outside wall and shredded debris across the racing surface, making his day go from bad to worse.

Under caution, some led by Reddick and Hamlin pitted, mainly for fuel, while the rest led by Logano and Keselowski remained on the track. By then, Larson, who was four laps behind, was able to continue after meeting the minimum speed allotted while damaged.

On Lap 70, the entire field pitted for enough fuel to complete the second stage with weather threats looming near the track and the teams aiming to reach the halfway point to make the race official. During the pit stops, Hamlin nearly clipped Blaney while trying to enter his pit stall, which cost him time and positions.

Following the pit stops, Cody Ware was the leader ahead of Logano, Keselowski, Buescher, Blaney and Harvick while Bell, Kyle Busch, Reddick and Joey Gase were in the top 10.

Soon after, reports of rain near Turn 1 were reported as the pace car continued to lead the field at a cautious pace. Then on Lap 73, the pace car led the field to pit road and the race was red-flagged for a weather delay and for the jet dryers to dry the racing surface in Turns 1 and 2.

More than 18 laps later, the competitors returned to their cars and re-ignited the engines after the racing surfaces through the first two turns were dried, though weather threats and a flash flood watch remained within sight of the superspeedway venue.

When the field returned to the track, the competitors returned to pit road for another round of topping off with fuel to get to the conclusion of the second stage. Meanwhile, Justin Haley and LaJoie remained on the track ahead of Team Penske’s three competitors along with Buescher, Reddick, Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch and Harvick.

When the race restarted under green on Lap 77, Haley, piloting the No. 16 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Kaulig Racing, received drafting help from Logano on the inside lane while LaJoie had drafting help from Blaney on the outside lane through the first two turns.

Through the backstretch and entering the frontstretch, a third lane formulated on the outside lane as Buescher jumped ahead of LaJoie to move towards the front. Meanwhile, Haley continued to lead ahead of Logano and Keselowski.

By Lap 80, Bell moved his No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry to the lead as he received drafting help from Harvick and Hamlin while Buescher, who briefly led, nearly wrecked entering the second turn. Meanwhile, Bell was in front of a long single-file line running on the outside lane. In addition, names like Ryan Preece, Stenhouse, Cody Ware, Michael McDowell and Erik Jones were in the top 10.

Four laps later, Hamlin, who moved to the inside lane entering the frontstretch, received a push from former teammate Erik Jones to take the lead over teammate Bell. With Hamlin out in front, Jones and Custer were in second and third while Bell fought back on the outside lane with drafting help from Harvick.

Through 90 laps and with the intensity of the pack racing crescendoing, Harvick, who took over the lead a lap earlier, was leading ahead of Alex Bowman and Bell, who led the previous six of nine laps. Hamlin and Stenhouse were in the top five followed by Elliott, Erik Jones, Keselowski, Custer and Alfredo. By then, the top-36 competitors were separated by three seconds. Meanwhile, Larson was mired back in 39th, four laps behind. In addition, Briscoe was lapped by the field.

At the halfway mark on Lap 94, which would make the race official, Bell, who reassumed the lead two laps earlier, was out in front with drafting help from teammate Hamlin. Bowman then challenged on the outside lane followed by Harvick, Stenhouse, Erik Jones, Elliott, Custer, Keselowski, Buescher and the field mired in a tight three-wide pack.

Three laps later, the caution flew when Alex Bowman, who led the previous lap and was challenging Bell for the lead, was bumped by Stenhouse exiting the backstretch and made head-on contact into the outside wall before he was hit hard by Ross Chastain, which demolished his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. While most of the field dodged the incident, names like Reddick, Kyle Busch, Truex, DiBenedetto, Quin Houff, BJ McLeod and Preece were involved. The wreck, however, placed Bowman in a “must-win” scenario for next weekend’s Playoff event at the Charlotte Roval to keep his title hopes alive.

With 17 laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted under green as Stenhouse and Bell filled in the front row. At the start, Stenhouse had drafting help from Chase Elliott on the outside lane while Bell had teammate Hamlin and Harvick pushing him on the inside lane through the first two turns.

When the field returned to the frontstretch, Stenhouse maintained the lead followed by Elliott and Keselowski while Bell slipped back to fourth after losing the draft with Hamlin and Harvick. A lap later, though, Bell fought back on the inside lane, but Stenhouse continued to maintain the lead with continuous help from Elliott.

By Lap 108, Kurt Busch, who initially was pushing Bubba Wallace a lap earlier, stormed to the lead ahead of a three-wide cluster of cars with the skies darkening.

Down to the final 10 laps of the second stage, Kurt Busch was leading ahead of Harvick, Bell, Stenhouse and Hamlin while Wallace, Jones, Elliott, Austin Dillon and Keselowski were in the top 10.

Not long after, Harvick was drafted out of the lead pack as Kurt Busch and Stenhouse engaged in a heated duel for the lead.

On Lap 112, Bubba Wallace and Kurt Busch, Wallace’s future teammate at 23XI Racing, dueled for the lead as Wallace received a push from Keselowski on the outside lane to lead the following lap. Wallace then moved his No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota Camry in front of Busch and Bell while Keselowski remained on the outside lane in front of teammate Logano.

With five laps remaining in the second stage, the caution flew when Preece, who was running towards the front, got bumped and turned by Buescher, spun and smacked the backstretch outside wall before he clipped DiBenedetto and Byron, who had flames bursting out of his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Like teammate Bowman, the wreck placed Byron in a “must-win” scenario for the Roval to maintain his title hopes.

At the time of caution, Wallace retained the lead ahead of Keselowski and Logano while Kurt Busch and Bell were in the top five. Just then, the skies darkened and the track was overshadowed with scattered rain and clouds, which forced the pace car to lead the field to pit road and to a stop on Lap 117, three laps shy of the second stage.

While Wallace and the field awaited the decision, the jet dryers returned to the track to dry the racing surface. Soon after, reports of continuous precipitation along with lightning were made as nearly the entire grandstands were emptied and the competitors and teams took shelter near their respective pit box.

Then, 17 minutes after the lightning report was made, NASCAR declared the race official and Wallace, who awaited the decision in his pit box, was named the winner, having led the final five laps prior to the call and with the race 71 laps shy of its scheduled distance.

With the victory, Bubba Wallace became the 198th different competitor to win in the NASCAR Cup Series, the third first-time Cup winner of 2021, the 12th first-time winner at Talladega and the second African-American competitor to achieve a win in the NASCAR Cup Series. The first African-American competitor to win in NASCAR occurred in December 1963 made by the late NASCAR Hall of Famer Wendell Scott.

“Part of me was just sitting there waiting,” Wallace, who was anxiously awaiting NASCAR’s decision to declare the race official, said on NBCSN. “It’s not over with. Just sit there, bide our time. If we go racing again, that’s fine. We’ll put ourselves in position. But we had so many cool fans behind us in the pit box, just cheering for it to rain, so it kind of amped up the intensity a little bit.

“Just so proud of everybody at 23XI [Racing],” Wallace added. “New team. Coming in and getting a win late in the season. [It] Reminds me of 2013. Waited so long to get that first Truck win. I know a lot of history was made today, I believe, which is really cool, but it’s about my guys, it’s about our team, it’s about what we’ve done. Appreciate Michael Jordan, appreciate Denny [Hamlin] for believing in me, giving me the opportunity. Like we talk, it’s pretty fitting that it comes here at Talladega.”

When asked about being the second African-American competitor to achieve a win in the NASCAR Cup Series, the emotions began to pour out of Wallace’s face and voice while recognizing the significance.

“I never think about those things,” Wallace said. “When you say it like that, it brings a lot of emotions, lot of joy to my family, fans, friends. It’s pretty damn cool. Just proud to be a winner in the Cup Series.”

Finally, Wallace evoked an inspiring message to future inspirers following his long journey and hurdles to become a NASCAR Cup Series winner.

“This is for all those kids out there that want to have an opportunity, whatever they want to achieve and be the best at what they want to do,” Wallace said. “You’re gonna go through a lot of [expletive], but you always got to stay true to your path and not let the nonsense get to you. Stay strong, stay humble, stay hungry. There’s been plenty of times where I wanted to give up. You surround yourself with the right people and it’s moments like this that you appreciate.”

In addition to Wallace achieving his first win as a driver, the victory was also a first for veteran crew chief Robert “Bootie” Barker, who replaced Mike Wheeler as Wallace’s crew chief in mid-September. It was also the first for 23XI Racing, a newly formed NASCAR team that debuted this season and is co-owned by NASCAR veteran NBA legend Michael Jordan and NASCAR veteran Denny Hamlin.

“It’s just way more emotional [as an owner] because I know how difficult it is,” Hamlin, who finished seventh on the track, said. “These guys just worked so hard over the last 10 months to put this team together. We just spent a lot of hours getting this all put together. It’s great to see the results from all the work from these team guys. It means so much. It’s a learning process. We knew it was gonna be a learning process, but I’m so happy for the team…This is just the building step. We’re still in the beginning stages of our team. We’re still growing. We got some great things on the horizon, but this is just a great moral booster for everyone.”

Wallace’s first Cup victory at Talladega capped off a historic NASCAR triple-header weekend at Talladega filled with first-time winners as Tate Fogleman claimed his first Truck Series career win in a wild finish while Brandon Brown achieved his first Xfinity career win, both occurring on Saturday, October 2.

Wallace’s victory also meant that none of the remaining 11 Playoff contenders, aside from Hamlin, earned a one-way ticket to the Round of 8 by winning, leaving them to battle for the remaining seven vacant spots to the penultimate round in the Playoffs next weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (Roval).

Brad Keselowski was the highest-finishing Playoff contender on the track in second place while teammate Logano settled in third. Kurt Busch finished fourth while Christopher Bell completed the top five. Chris Buescher, Hamlin, Harvick, Erik Jones and Alfredo finished in the top 10.

Truex, Blaney and Elliott finished 12th, 15th and 18th while Kyle Busch ended up 27th, Following their misfortunes, teammates Byron, Larson and Bowman finished 36th, 37th and 38th.

There were 35 lead changes for 19 different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 27 laps. Only nine of the 40 starters did not finish on the lead lap.

Results:

1. Bubba Wallace, five laps led, Stage 2 winner

2. Brad Keselowski, 13 laps led

3. Joey Logano, nine laps led

4. Kurt Busch, nine laps led

5. Christopher Bell, 12 laps led

6. Chris Buescher, seven laps led, Stage 1 winner

7. Denny Hamlin, six laps led

8. Kevin Harvick, 16 laps led

9. Erik Jones

10. Anthony Alfredo, one lap led

11. Austin Dillon

12. Martin Truex Jr., two laps led

13. Cole Custer, seven laps led

14. Chase Briscoe

15. Ryan Blaney

16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 10 laps led

17. Michael McDowell

18. Chase Elliott

19. Quin Houff

20. Justin Haley, four laps led

21. Ryan Newman

22. Corey LaJoie

23. Daniel Suarez

24. Landon Cassill

25. Joey Gase

26. Aric Almirola

27. Kyle Busch, four laps led

28. Cody Ware, four laps led

29. Garrett Smithley

30. BJ McLeod

31. Josh Bilicki

32. Ryan Preece – OUT, Accident

33. Ross Chastain, one lap down

34. James Davison, one lap down

35. Matt DiBenedetto – OUT, Accident, two laps led

36. William Byron – OUT, Accident

37. Kyle Larson, four laps down, three laps led

38. Alex Bowman – OUT, Accident, one lap led

39. Tyler Reddick – OUT, Accident, two laps led

40. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident

Bold indicates Playoff contenders.

Playoff standings.

1. Denny Hamlin – Advanced

2. Kyle Larson, +22

3. Joey Logano, +21

4. Brad Keselowski, +20

5. Martin Truex Jr., +20

6. Ryan Blaney, +15

7. Chase Elliott, +9

8. Kyle Busch, +9

9. Kevin Harvick, -9

10. Christopher Bell, -28

11. William Byron, -44

12. Alex Bowman, -52

The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will continue at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course for the Bank of America Roval 400 on Sunday, October 10, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, which will mark the series’ seventh and final road course event of this season. It is also where the second round of eliminations in the Playoffs will occur.

October 4, 2021
Zipadelli to serve as Harvick’s crew chief at Talladega

Greg Zipadelli is slated to serve as an interim crew chief for Kevin Harvick and the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team for the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series Playoff event at Talladega Superspeedway.

Zipadelli, a two-time Cup championship-winning crew chief with 34 career victories, serves as competition director for Stewart-Haas Racing. He will be filling in for Rodney Childers, who will not be participating this weekend at Talladega after Harvick’s car was found with two lug nuts not secured following last weekend’s Playoff event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In addition to serving his one-race suspension, Childers is anticipated to be fined $20,000 from NASCAR.

With Zipadelli serving as Harvick’s crew chief, veteran Tony Gibson will be serving as competition director for all SHR operations this weekend.

Talladega will mark Zipadelli’s first time serving as an interim crew chief this season. The previous season, he served as an interim crew chief for six NASCAR national touring series events (four with Chase Briscoe in the Xfinity Series and two with Clint Bowyer in the Cup Series). During the six-race schedule, Zipadelli guided Briscoe and the No. 98 SHR Ford Mustang team to three victories (Homestead-Miami Speedway and Pocono Raceway in June along with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in July).

Currently, Harvick, who finished ninth in the previous Cup event at Las Vegas, is ranked in 10th place in the Cup Playoff standings and is seven points below the top-eight cutline. While he has yet to record his first victory of this season, he has achieved eight top-five results and 20 top-10 results as he is nearing 750 Cup career starts.

The upcoming Cup Playoff event at Talladega is scheduled to occur on Sunday, October 3, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

September 28, 2021
Hamlin dominates for Playoff win at Vegas, advances to Round of 8

Denny Hamlin took another step closer in achieving his first NASCAR Cup Series championship after the veteran Joe Gibbs Racing competitor held off Chase Elliott to win the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, September 26.

The victory was enough for Hamlin and his No. 11 JGR Toyota team to earn a spot in the Playoff’s Round of 8.

The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Kyle Larson, winner of last weekend’s Playoff event at Bristol Motor Speedway, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Ryan Blaney.

Prior to the event, Playoff contenders William Byron and Martin Truex Jr. started at the rear of the field after their respective machines failed pre-race inspection twice. Aric Almirola and JJ Yeley also dropped to the rear of the field for meeting the same fate as Byron and Truex. For Yeley’s case, however, his car failed pre-race inspection three times, resulting with his crew chief, Ty Brazeal, being ejected from the event and the driver penalized with a drive-through penalty at the start of the race.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Larson peaked ahead on the outside lane, but Blaney fought back on the inside lane through the first two turns. Through Turn 3, Blaney received a push from Kevin Harvick to clear Larson and lead the first lap in his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang. In Turn 3, Harvick got loose and shuffled back to sixth while mired in a tight, three-wide battle. During this process, Denny Hamlin moved up to third followed by Brad Keselowski, Alex Bowman and Kyle Busch as Joey Logano and Matt DiBenedetto joined the battle.

The following lap, Hamlin muscled his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry into the runner-up spot over Larson as Kyle Busch, DiBenedetto and Joey Logano battled for fourth through the backstretch and returning to the frontstretch.

Through the first five laps of the event, Blaney was leading by two-tenths of a second over Hamlin while Kyle Busch, Larson and Logano were in the top five. Alex Bowman, meanwhile, muscled his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE into sixth followed by DiBenedetto, Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott and Harvick. By then, Byron was in 21st behind Kurt Busch and Bubba Wallace while Truex was in 24th behind Ryan Newman.

Three laps later, Hamlin emerged as the new leader over Blaney as Larson and Kyle Busch, both of whom battled for third, closed in on Blaney for more. Behind, Logano moved into the top five ahead of DiBenedetto, Harvick and Bowman.

By Lap 20, Hamlin continued to lead by nearly six-tenths of a second over Blaney. Kyle Busch was in third ahead of Larson while DiBenedetto was in fifth. Harvick, Logano, Erik Jones, William Byron and Keselowski were in the top 10 followed by Chase Elliott, Bowman, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell and Austin Dillon. Kurt Busch, who was making his 750th career start, was in 16th ahead of rookie Chase Briscoe while Truex was in 19th ahead of Ryan Newman, Bubba Wallace, Michael McDowell and Ross Chastain.

When the competition caution flew on Lap 25, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to approximately six-tenths of a second over Blaney and more than a second over teammate Kyle Busch, who was making his 600th Cup career start. By then, Byron was up in ninth behind Erik Jones while Truex was mired in 18th behind Briscoe. In addition, teammates Elliott and Bowman were in 11th and 13th.

Under the competition caution, the leaders pitted and Kyle Busch emerged with the lead following his pit stops followed by teammate Hamlin, Blaney, Larson, Harvick and DiBenedetto. During the pit stops, Kurt Busch and Christopher Bell pitted again to have their respective machines repaired after both made contact with one another. In addition, Logano pitted again to have the lug nuts on his No. 22 Pennzoil Ford Mustang tightened.

When the race restarted on Lap 30, teammates Kyle Busch and Hamlin were locked in a heated, side-by-side battle in front of the field running in two lanes for a full lap. The following lap, Hamlin managed to squeak ahead of Kyle Busch as Larson and Blaney joined the battle. Behind, DiBenedetto battled Harvick for fifth. Another lap later, Kyle Busch retained second followed by Blaney as DiBenedetto shoved Larson through the frontstretch while battling Harvick.

By Lap 35, Byron battled teammate Elliott for seventh while DiBenedetto and Harvick battled for fifth. In addition, Blaney and Larson continued to battle for third while Kyle Busch kept teammate Hamlin within his sights for the lead.

Five laps later, the top-three competitors were separated by half a second as Hamlin continued to lead ahead of Kyle Busch and Larson. Meanwhile, the fourth-place competitor of Blaney was trailing by nearly a second while Harvick was in fifth. Byron was up in sixth while DiBenedetto fell back to seventh. Elliott, Tyler Reddick and Keselowski were in the top 10 followed by Bowman and Truex.

On Lap 44, Hamlin and Larson split the lapped car in Turn 3 while battling for the lead. Another lap later, Larson, who won at Vegas in March, made his way into the lead. Shortly after, Kyle Busch moved his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry into the runner-up spot.

Through the first 50 laps of the event, Larson was out in front by eight-tenths of a second over Kyle Busch while Hamlin was in third, trailing by more than a second. Blaney and Harvick were in the top five followed by Byron, Elliott, Reddick, DiBenedetto and Keselowski. Truex and Bowman were in 11th and 12th, Logano was back in 20th behind Michael McDowell and Christopher Bell was mired back in 25th behind Aric Almirola and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

By Lap 60, Larson extended his advantage to more than a second over Kyle Busch. While Hamlin and Blaney remained in the top five, Byron made his first appearance in the top five after overtaking Harvick earlier. In addition, Elliott overtook his new rival, Harvick, in sixth while Truex was in 10th. Logano and Bell, meanwhile, were mired back in 19th and 23rd.

Fifteen laps later, Larson continued to lead by nearly two seconds over Kyle Busch while Hamlin, Blaney and Byron remained in the top five. Elliott, Reddick, Harvick, DiBenedetto and Truex stabilized themselves in the top 10 ahead of Keselowski, Bowman, Erik Jones, Briscoe, Austin Dillon, Logano, Kurt Busch, Ross Chastain, Bubba Wallace and McDowell.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 80, Larson captured his 15th stage victory of the season. Kyle Busch settled in second followed by Hamlin, Blaney, Byron, Elliott, Reddick, Harvick, DiBenedetto and Truex.

Under the stage break, the leaders returned to pit road and Hamlin emerged with the lead ahead of Larson, Elliott, Blaney, Byron and Reddick while Kyle Busch dropped back to seventh following a slow pit stop. During the pit stops, Aric Almirola was penalized for equipment interference. In addition, Bell, who pitted a lap earlier to have some damage repaired on his car, lost a lap to the leaders after he failed to beat the pace car off of pit road.

The second stage started on Lap 87. At the start, Hamlin received a push from Blaney on the inside lane to retain the lead while Larson remained in the hunt. In the midst of the battle at the front, the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the backstretch. Then during the following lap, Larson made a bold move on the outside lane to reassume the lead as Elliott motored his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE into third. In addition, Byron challenged Blaney for fourth while Reddick was in sixth ahead of Harvick and Kyle Busch.

On Lap 90 and with the field competing in close quarters towards the front, Byron bolted his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE into the lead following a bold three-wide pass on Larson and Hamlin through the frontstretch and entering Turn 1. Larson then retained second followed by Blaney while Hamlin fell back to fourth in front of Elliott and Reddick.

Shortly after, the caution flew due to a heavy accident involving Joey Gase, where he lost a left-rear tire in Turn 1 and pounded the outside wall as he nearly flipped before coming to a rest below the Turn 2 apron and with significant rear-end damage. Despite climbing out under his own power, Gase was later transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.

Under caution, some led by Hamlin pitted while the rest led by teammates Byron and Larson remained on the track.

When the race restarted on Lap 98, Larson and Byron battled dead even for the top spot through the backstretch until Larson made his way to the front in Turn 3. Behind, teammates, Elliott and Byron battled for second while Bowman was up in fourth ahead of Blaney. Meanwhile, the field fanned out to multiple lanes as Kyle Busch was in ninth behind teammate Hamlin, Logano was in 11th ahead of Truex and Harvick got shuffled back to 16th.

At the Lap 100 mark, Larson continued to lead but was being pressured by teammate Elliott as teammate Byron and Blaney remained in pursuit. Two laps later, Elliott led a lap for himself by a nose, but Larson fought back on the outside lane and in a fierce, side-by-side battle. Meanwhile, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Hamlin and Kyle Busch were in sixth and seventh on fresh tires.

Soon after, the battle for the lead became a three-car battle as Byron joined the fight for the top spot along with teammates Larson and Elliott. By then, all four Hendrick Motorsports competitors were running first through fourth as Larson retained the lead. Not long after, Byron overtook teammate Elliott for second.

By Lap 110, Larson was leading by two-tenths of a second over teammate Byron while teammate Elliott settled in third, trailing by seven-tenths of a second. Behind, Blaney moved up to fourth followed by Hamlin and Kyle Busch while Bowman slipped back to seventh. DiBenedetto, Reddick and Kurt Busch were in the top 10 ahead of Logano, Harvick, Truex, Keselowski and Chris Buescher.

Ten laps later, Larson extended his advantage to more than a second over teammate Byron as Kyle Busch was up in third place. Teammate Hamlin was in fourth after overtaking Elliott while Blaney fell back to sixth ahead of Bowman, Reddick, DiBenedetto and Kurt Busch.

Another 10 laps later, Larson stabilized his advantage to more than two seconds over teammate Byron, who was told that he does not have enough fuel to complete the remainder of the second stage under green. Kyle Busch was in third followed by teammate Hamlin and Elliott while Blaney, Reddick, Bowman, DiBenedetto and Kurt Busch remained in the top 10.

Soon after, Elliott pitted under green along with teammate Byron, who ended up going with a two-tire pit stop after his crew members had issues changing the right-front tire on the No. 24 machine.

Back on the track and by Lap 140, Larson continued to lead by two seconds over Hamlin and by more than three seconds over Kyle Busch. While Elliott and Byron battled for 23rd, Blaney and Reddick were in the top five.

Through the first 150 laps of the event, Larson was leading by nearly a second over Hamlin and more than two seconds over Kyle Busch. By then, Erik Jones, who was told that he was five laps short in completing the second stage under green, had pitted.

Three laps later, Larson surrendered the lead to pit his No. 5 Tarlton and Son Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE under green. Also pitting were Blaney, Bowman and DiBenedetto while Hamlin took over the lead.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 160, Hamlin notched his 10th stage victory of the season. Kyle Busch settled in second followed by Reddick, Truex, Logano, Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Harvick, Austin Dillon and Bubba Wallace. By then, Elliott was able to race his way back on the lead lap on fresh tires in 17th while names like Byron, Larson, Blaney, DiBenedetto, Bell and Bowman were behind a lap. Byron, though, received the free pass as he was scored the first competitor a lap down.

Under the stage break, the leaders returned to pit road for service and Hamlin retained the lead followed by teammate Truex, Reddick, teammate Kyle Busch, Harvick and Logano.

With 101 laps remaining and the track falling into dark, night conditions, the final stage commenced. At the start, teammates Truex and Hamlin battled dead even through the backstretch until Truex cleared Hamlin entering Turn 3.

The following lap, however, Hamlin muscled his way back into the lead. Behind, a three-wide battle for third place occurred between Reddick, Kyle Busch and Harvick as Reddick prevailed entering the backstretch. Another lap later, Reddick moved up to second after passing Truex. Behind, Harvick battled Truex for third while Logano moved up to fifth ahead of Kyle Busch and Elliott.

With 90 laps remaining, Hamlin was leading by nearly three-tenths of a second over Reddick while Truex, Elliott and Kyle Busch were in the top five. Kurt Busch was in sixth ahead of Keselowski and Harvick while Logano and Briscoe were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Byron was in 12th in between Austin Dillon and Wallace while Larson was in 15th behind Blaney.

Down to the final 75 laps of the event, Hamlin continued to lead by nearly four-tenths of a second over Reddick while Truex, Elliott and Kyle Busch remained in the top five. By then, Byron was up in seventh, Harvick was in ninth, Logano was in 11th and Larson was mired back in 15th behind Daniel Suarez and Bubba Wallace.

Fifteen laps later, Hamlin extended his advantage to more than a second over Reddick. Truex and Elliott remained in the top five while Byron was back in the top five, moving into fifth ahead of the Busch brothers.

Not long after, green flag pit stops ignited as Kyle Busch pitted followed by Truex, Bowman, Almirola, Byron, Elliott, Blaney, Harvick, Harvick, Larson, Hamlin and others. During the pit stops, Bowman pitted for a second time due to a punctured wheel.

Down to the final 50 laps of the event and with the majority of the pit stops complete, Reddick, who has yet to pit, was leading followed by Keselowski, Austin Dillon and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. By then, Kurt Busch pitted.

Once Reddick pitted his No. 8 Caterpillar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, Keselowski led for four laps before pitting and giving the lead to Austin Dillon.

With 43 laps remaining, Byron, who was in fifth, fell off the pace and was forced to pit under green due to a flat right-rear tire.

Three laps later, Austin Dillon, who has yet to pit, continued to lead followed by Hamlin, who trailed by more than 13 seconds. Elliott was in third while Truex and Kyle Busch were in the top five. Reddick was back in sixth ahead of Blaney, Harvick, Bell and Kurt Busch.

Another two laps later, Austin Dillon pitted and Hamlin returned to the lead, thus completing the cycle of green flag pit stops.

Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Hamlin was leading by less than a second over Elliott while Truex, Kyle Busch and Reddick remained in the top five. Meanwhile, Harvick was in seventh behind Blaney, Logano was in 10th behind teammate Keselowski and Kurt Busch and Larson was in 11th. Behind, there were three Playoff contenders mired a lap behind: Byron in 21st, Bowman in 23rd and Bell, who was two laps down, in 25th.

With 20 laps remaining, Hamlin continued to lead by nearly two seconds over Elliott while third-place Kyle Busch trailed by nearly nine seconds. Truex remained in fourth while Reddick was under pressure by Blaney for fifth. By then, Larson cracked the top 10.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Elliott.

With five laps remaining, Elliott cut the deficit down to Hamlin to nine-tenths of a second, but Hamlin, despite navigating his way through lapped traffic, remained in the lead.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hamlin was leading by three-tenths of a second over Elliott, who closed the gap and was closing hard for the win. Despite being pressured by Elliott for a final lap, Hamlin was able to smoothly navigate his way around the circuit and claim the checkered flag along with the victory by four-tenths of a second over Elliott.

With his second victory of the season and first at Vegas, Hamlin also achieved his 46th NASCAR Cup Series career win, which moved him into a tie with the late NASCAR Hall of Famer Buck Baker for 17th place on the all-time wins list. In addition, Hamlin is the lone competitor to be guaranteed a spot in the Round of 8 in the 2021 Cup Playoffs.

“Just so happy for our FedEx Office team,” Hamlin said on NBCSN. “Joe Gibbs Racing just gives us great race cars. That’s what I’m so proud of is to drive for those guys. Can’t thank them enough for everything they do. Vegas, it feels so good to win in Vegas. Last couple times, I’ve been so close and just didn’t have the right breaks, but [the crew] dialed the car in great. Great to hold those guys off. I’m so happy to not have to worry about the next two weeks, but I’m a professional, so I’m gonna work just as hard each and every week to win.”

Elliott, who led a single lap, finished in second place for the sixth time this season while Kyle Busch ended up in third place in his 600th Cup career start at his home track. Both Cup champions are above the top-eight cutline.

“Yeah, we were really close,” Elliott said. “Just not quite close enough. Denny did a good job controlling the gap to me. He was having a hard time with [DiBenedetto]. I think he was doing a good job of giving himself enough room to be able to work the lanes and control the gap back to me. Super close. Really proud of our NAPA team. I feel like we’ve been performing at a really nice level the last three or four weeks. We just haven’t had great results to show for it. Proud of the effort tonight. I’m look forward to the next two [races]. It’s gonna be wild, so looking forward to it.”

“We got all we could,” Busch added. “I felt like during the daytime, we were a little bit better than [Hamlin]. We could race with him. I was looking forward to the lights coming on and us picking up speed and being able to rip the wall a little bit faster. When we got hit into the fence there off of [Turn] 2, the first time, it knocked speed out of our car. We helped it a little bit, coming to pit road, putting the last set of tires on it and I got it into the fence again, was trying to get by a lapped car. Not enough room over there, I guess, but overall, great job by [crew chief] Ben [Beshore] and my guys on this M&M’s Camry. They gave me a good piece. We moved forward all day long, so that was good. Good showing.”

Truex finished fourth while Blaney fended off Reddick to finish fifth on the track. Both Truex and Blaney are also above the top-eight cutline following Vegas.

“We just never could quite get the balance right,” Truex said. “Really struggled off of Turn 4 all day long, no matter what we did. Not sure exactly why. It’s not really something we’ve had here in the past, but definitely something going on there. We couldn’t fix it. We tried a lot. We made a lot of adjustments. [Crew chief] James [Small] and the guys did a really good job executing. We got all we could out of it. The Bass Pro Toyota was just a little bit off tonight. Wish we could’ve been better, but all in all, to grind out a fourth with that car was a good effort…Nothing bad happened to us. Everybody did a good job. Cross our fingers and cross our toes, do some praying this week and go to Talladega. See what happens.”

Reddick was the highest non-Playoff contender in sixth while Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Harvick and Larson finished in the top 10. Logano settled in 11th while Byron, Bowman and Bell finished 18th, 22nd and 24th, respectively.

“We just kind of grind all day,” Keselowski said. “No point were we the fastest car, but we executed really, really well. The pit crew did an awesome job. We’re not beating ourselves, whether it’s the things falling off the car or making big mistakes to get in trouble. I’m proud of that. This is a really dangerous team with the execution we have right now. If we can just find a little bit of speed, we can win races and win a championship. We don’t have that today, but we’re still soldering through, scoring a lot of points and putting ourselves in a good position.”

“The balance never really changed on our Subway Ford Mustang,” Harvick said. “Just kept plugging away at it and way better than we were last time. Made up some points and go to the next one. [Talladega]’ll be the same as this week. Just go try to score stage points, try to put yourself in the best position possible and go from there. I’ve done it all year. It’s an old story, right?”

“We didn’t make the right decision in the second stage,” Larson said. “We stayed out, got caught where we didn’t have enough fuel and had to pit, went a lap down because of it. Had to do the wave around, was on older tires…just hard battling through there. Just a battle. Had to keep my head on straight there, but we were able to dig through it and come away with a top 10. It surely should’ve been a lot better, but we were to still salvage an OK day. Get a stage win, get another Playoff point. That was good…It is what it is. We’ll go on to Talladega now and try to miss some chaos.”

“Nothing really went as planned,” Logano said. “We were definitely better in the daytime when the track was hot. It was probably our best run. Unfortunately, that was when we had a loose wheel and had to pit before the green flag after the [competition] caution. That kind of took away some stage points there. Got some stage points in the second round and there in the end, lot the handle a little bit as the track went cool. Lost some speed on top of that and had another vibration. Pretty much, nothing went good at the end of the race. Maybe, we should be happy with an 11th after all of that and we’re fighting through it, but definitely want to be a little bit more comfortable with the Pennzoil Mustang going into Talladega. All in all, we got what we could out of it for today. Left some still on the table, though. That’s probably the most frustrating part.”

“I thought we were really fast,” Byron said. “We came from the back to the front, took the lead and then obviously, had that caution. I chose the wrong lane there and had to run second there for awhile to Kyle. And then we had the strategy deal with not being able to make it on fuel and had to recover from that. We had to take two tires and that hurt us. We were able to drive all the way back to the front from the back again, so that was twice today. And then we had the flat tire. We had an awesome car. The No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet was amazing. I think it was right there with [Hamlin]. [I] Never got to really race him straight up. We’ll just have to keep bringing that speed.”

There were 21 lead changes for 10 different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 21 laps. Only 12 of 38 competitors finished on the lead lap

Results.

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

2. Chase Elliott, one lap led

3. Kyle Busch, two laps led

4. Martin Truex Jr., one lap led

5. Ryan Blaney, eight laps led

6. Tyler Reddick, five laps led

7. Brad Keselowski, four laps led

8. Kurt Busch

9. Kevin Harvick

10. Kyle Larson, 95 laps led, Stage 1 winner

11. Joey Logano

12. Matt DiBenedetto

13. Austin Dillon, one lap down, seven laps led

14. Chase Briscoe, one lap down

15. Daniel Suarez, one lap down

16. Bubba Wallace, one lap down

17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap down

18. William Byron, one lap down, seven laps led

19. Aric Almirola, one lap down

20. Ryan Newman, one lap down

21. Michael McDowell, one lap down

22. Alex Bowman, two laps down

23. Ross Chastain, two laps down

24. Christopher Bell, two laps down

25. Chris Buescher, two laps down

26. Erik Jones, two laps down

27. Anthony Alfredo, two laps down

28. Ryan Preece, two laps down

29. Cole Custer, two laps down

30. Corey LaJoie, three laps down

31. Cody Ware, seven laps down

32. Justin Haley, seven laps down

33. BJ McLeod, 10 laps down

34. Quin Houff, 12 laps down

35. Garrett Smithley, 13 laps down

36. Josh Bilicki, 15 laps down

37. Joey Gase – OUT, Accident

38. JJ Yeley – OUT

Bold indicates Playoff contenders.

Playoff standings.

1. Denny Hamlin – Advanced

2. Kyle Larson, +57

3. Kyle Busch, +35

4. Martin Truex Jr., +31

5. Ryan Blaney, +24

6. Chase Elliott, +22

7. Joey Logano, +6

8. Brad Keselowski, +4

9. William Byron, -4

10. Kevin Harvick, -7

11. Alex Bowman, -13

12. Christopher Bell, -25

Next on the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs schedule is Talladega Superspeedway for the second Round of 12 event. The race is scheduled to occur on Sunday, October 3, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

September 26, 2021
Larson captures the Bristol Night Race; Playoff’s Round of 12 is set

With an abundance of late battles, drama and tempers flaring around every corner, Kyle Larson took advantage of a late dust-up between teammate Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick to overtake Harvick with three laps remaining and drive away to win the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 18.

Larson, who had clinched his spot to the Round of 12 in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs coming into the event, claimed his sixth victory of the season as he is one of 12 competitors who will continue to pursue the 2021 Cup title in the following Playoff round.

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

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Truex flew away with the lead on the outside lane and proceeded to lead the first lap. Behind, Chase Elliott moved into second while Joey Logano battled Hamlin for third.

Through the first five laps of the event, Truex was out in front by a tenth of a second over Elliott while Hamlin, Logano and Christopher Bell were in the top five. Behind, Kyle Busch retained 10th ahead of Alex Bowman, Aric Almirola and William Byron.

A lap later, Elliott muscled his No. 9 Hooters Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to the lead over Truex’s No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry.

By Lap 10, Elliott stretched ahead with the lead by half a second over Truex while Hamlin, Logano and Kyle Larson were in the top five. Brad Keselowski was in sixth followed by Kevin Harvick, Bell, Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney. By then, all 16 Playoff competitors were in the top 20, with Kurt Busch mired in mid-pack.

Ten laps later, Elliott continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over runner-up Hamlin and by two seconds over third-place Logano. Larson and Keselowski were in fourth and fifth followed by Harvick while Truex fell back to seventh. Blaney, Kyle Busch and Bell were in the top 10 while Alex Bowman, teammate William Byron, Aric Almirola and Michael McDowell were in the top 15. Tyler Reddick and Kurt Busch were in 17th and 22nd.

Another 10 laps later, Elliott stabilized his advantage to four-tenths of a second over Hamlin while Larson trailed by nearly two seconds in third. Meanwhile, Logano fell back to sixth behind Harvick and Truex continued to fall back in 10th in between teammate Bell and Bowman.

When the competition caution flew on Lap 40, Elliott remained in the lead over Hamlin and Larson.

Under the competition caution, the leaders pitted and Elliott retained the lead ahead of Hamlin, Larson, Keselowski, Harvick and Truex.

When the race restarted on Lap 48, Elliott retained the lead following a strong start on the outside lane while teammate Larson also retained the runner-up spot ahead of Hamlin, Keselowski and Harvick. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch muscled his way to sixth followed by Ryan Blaney and the field.

Through the first 60 laps of the event, Elliott was leading by nearly half a second over Hamlin, who managed to overtake Larson earlier for the runner-up spot. Keselowski and Harvick were in the top five followed by Blaney, Byron, Kyle Busch, Truex and Bowman while Bell, Reddick, Aric Almirola, McDowell, Kurt Busch and Logano were in 12th, 13th, 15th, 17th, 21st and 23rd. Meanwhile, Austin Dillon was the highest non-title contender in 11th while Erik Jones was in 14th and rookie Chase Briscoe was in 16th. In addition, Ross Chastain, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Matt DiBenedetto were in the top 20 while Ryan Newman was in 22nd.

Fifteen laps later, Elliott continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over teammate Larson, who overtook Hamlin earlier and was slowly pursuing his Hendrick Motorsports’ teammate for the top spot.

Another nine laps later, Larson used the lapped car of David Starr to overtake teammate Elliott and take the lead. Shortly after, Hamlin moved his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry into the runner-up spot. Behind, Keselowski retained fourth ahead of Harvick, Blaney, Byron, Kyle Busch, Truex and Austin Dillon.

On Lap 91, Hamlin emerged as the fourth different leader of the event after overtaking Larson.

At the Lap 100 mark, Hamlin was leading by three-tenths of a second over Larson while Elliott, Keselowski and Blaney were in the top five. Harvick was in sixth followed by Byron, Kyle Busch, Truex and Bell while Bowman, Almirola, Reddick, McDowell, Kurt Busch and Logano were in 12th, 13th, 14th, 18th, 21st and 22nd.

Five laps later, Hamlin, the leader, nearly got turned by Cole Custer while trying to lap him, rookie Anthony Alfredo and a bevy of competitors. Despite the contact, Hamlin continued to lead by a decent margin over Larson and Elliott.

By Lap 120, the battle for the lead ignited between Hamlin and Larson, both of whom were trapped behind Logano and Bubba Wallace as both were trying to remain on the lead lap. Two laps later, Larson took the lead. Another lap later, however, Hamlin returned the favor and overtook Larson while also lapping Wallace.

Following his late battle with Larson amid lapped traffic, Hamlin was able to retain the top spot and claim the first stage victory on Lap 125, thus claiming his ninth stage victory of the season. Larson ended up in second followed by Elliott, Keselowski, Blaney, Harvick, Kyle Busch, Bell, Truex and Byron. By then, 22 competitors were scored on the lead lap as Kurt Busch and Logano were spared from being lapped while Wallace received the free pass. On the other hand, names like Ryan Newman, Cole Custer, Daniel Suarez, Chris Buescher, Ryan Preece and Corey LaJoie were lapped.

Under the stage break, the leaders made the turn to pit road and Larson emerged as the leader followed by Elliott, Keselowski, Hamlin, Harvick and Blaney. Following the pit stops, however, Elliott was penalized for speeding on pit road.

The second stage started on Lap 135 and Larson rocketed away with a strong start followed by Keselowski while Hamlin spun the tires on the inside lane, though he settled in third ahead of Harvick, Bell, Blaney and Kyle Busch.

On Lap 138, the No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang piloted by Brad Keselowski moved into the lead beneath Larson’s No. 5 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. At the same time, Hamlin overtook Larson for second while Harvick and Blaney kept Larson in their sights.

Seven laps later, Hamlin reassumed the lead while Larson challenged Keselowski for the runner-up spot. Behind, Blaney moved his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang up to fourth and closed in on the three leaders while Harvick, sporting the Subway Restaurants colors on his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang, was in fifth ahead of Kyle Busch.

By Lap 150, Hamlin extended his advantage to a second over Larson while Keselowski, Blaney and Harvick were in the top five. Kyle Busch, Bell, Byron, Almirola and Reddick were in the top 10 while Larson was mired in 21st behind Kurt Busch. Logano, meanwhile, was in 18th.

On Lap 167, the caution flew when Newman made contact with Cole Custer in the outside wall in Turn 4 and proceeded to smack the outside wall in Turn 2, collecting Custer again. Behind, Suarez was hit by Wallace while he checked up to avoid the incident while Chris Buescher barely avoided the carnage.

Under caution, the leaders returned to pit road and Larson returned to the lead followed by Hamlin, Keselowski, Harvick, Blaney and Kyle Busch. During the pit stops, Almirola, who had reported smoke earlier, returned to his pit stall after being told that fluid was discovered inside the left-front tire. His pit crew then popped the hood up and diagnosed the issue before sending him back on the track in 28th place, the final car on the lead lap. Shortly after, Almirola pitted again for mechanical repairs as fuel from his car was reported on the track.

On Lap 181, the race restarted under green. At the start, Larson retained the lead on the outside lane while Hamlin moved up to second and Harvick battled Keselowski for third. Behind, Blaney and Kyle Busch battled for fifth ahead of Reddick and Bell.

By Lap 190, Larson was leading by half a second over Hamlin while Blaney, Harvick and Keselowski were in the top five. Kyle Busch retained sixth ahead of Reddick, Bell, Logano and Elliott. Meanwhile, Byron was in 11th, Truex was in 15th, McDowell and Kurt Busch were in 17th and 18th behind Bowman and Almirola, following his fluid and mechanical issue, was in 24th, still on the lead lap but now below the top-12 cutline to the Playoffs.

Through the first 200 laps of the event, Larson continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Hamlin while Blaney, Harvick and Keselowski remained in the top five. By then, Elliott was up in eighth in between Bell and Byron while Logano battled Erik Jones for 11th.

On Lap 220, the caution flew when rookie Anthony Alfredo got sideways in Turn 3 with help from Corey LaJoie and made contact with the outside wall in Turn 4, where his No. 38 Dude Wipes Ford Mustang was hit by an oncoming BJ McLeod and Justin Haley. The incident was enough for NASCAR to red-flag the event.

When the red flag was lifted, some led by Blaney pitted while the rest led by Larson remained on the track.

On Lap 232, the race restarted under green. At the start, Larson fended off Keselowski to remain as the leader while Hamlin battled Keselowski for the runner-up spot. Behind, Elliott was in fourth ahead of Kyle Busch and Bubba Wallace while Byron battled Harvick for seventh.

A few laps later, Byron, a competitor trying to remain in the Playoffs, engaged in a battle with Kyle Busch for sixth place while Wallace and Elliott moved up to fourth and fifth.

With less than 10 laps remaining in the second stage, Larson continued to lead by a narrow margin over Hamlin and Keselowski while teammates Elliott and Byron were scored in the top five ahead of Harvick, Wallace and the field. Soon after, Alfredo scrapped the outside wall, but managed to pit without drawing a caution.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 250, the halfway mark, Larson captured his 14th stage victory of the season. Hamlin and Keselowski settled in second and third followed by Byron, who managed to overtake teammate Elliott. Harvick settled in sixth ahead of Blaney, Bell, Reddick and Kyle Busch. By then, Logano, Blaney and Harvick secured their spots for the Round of 12 in the Playoffs.

Under the stage break, some led by Larson pitted while the rest led by Harvick and Blaney remained on the track. During the pit stops, Reddick, a Playoff competitor, pitted a second time to have a lug nut on the right rear of his car tightened.

With 241 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Harvick took off with the lead on the outside lane followed by Blaney, who battled Bell as Truex joined the battle. Behind, the field fanned out to three lanes as Hamlin and Larson, both racing on fresh tires, bolted their way back to the front.

Six laps later, Blaney emerged as the new leader of the event. Behind, Hamlin was battling Almirola for fifth while Larson was in eighth behind Logano. Elliott was in 10th ahead of Chase Briscoe while Byron was in 12th ahead of Wallace and Keselowski.

With 220 laps remaining, Blaney was leading by half a second over Harvick while Bell, Hamlin and Larson were in the top five. Almirola was riding strong in sixth followed by Logano, Elliott, Byron and Truex while Bowman was in 11th ahead of Kyle Busch, and Keselowski. Meanwhile, Kurt Busch was mired in 22nd, McDowell was in 25th and Reddick was back in 26th.

Down to the final 200 laps of the event and while the leaders were mired behind lapped traffic, Blaney retained the lead over Harvick by a narrow margin. Bell was in third followed by Hamlin and Larson while Almirola, Logano, Elliott, Byron and Bowman were in the top 10. By then, McDowell, who was in 26th, was trying to remain on the lead lap.

Eight laps later, Harvick made his way into the lead over Blaney. By then, Bell, Larson and Hamlin were slowly catching the two leaders. Meanwhile, Elliott and Byron remained in seventh and eighth behind Almirola while Logano battled with Bowman, Kyle Busch and Keselowski for ninth place. By then, McDowell was lapped.

With 175 laps remaining, Harvick continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Larson while Blaney, Bell and Hamlin were in the top five ahead of Elliott, Byron, Bowman, Almirola and Kyle Busch.

Twelve laps later, Larson returned to the lead after overtaking Harvick. He then went to work to lap Playoff contender Kurt Busch, though Busch refused to give in. As Busch remained on the lead lap, Harvick closed back in on Larson’s rear bumper while Hamlin attempted to catch the two leaders.

Another eight laps later, Larson succeeded in lapping Kurt Busch as he went to work to lap Tyler Reddick, another Playoff contender.

With 150 laps remaining, Larson’s advantage was nearly a second over Harvick while Hamlin, Blaney and Bell were in the top five. By then, Larson lapped Austin Dillon as Dillon’s teammate, Reddick, was next on his radar.

Thirteen laps remaining, the caution returned for Quin Houff, who spun and wrecked in Turn 4 after cutting a left-rear tire. By then, Playoff contenders McDowell, Kurt Busch and Reddick were lapped while Larson was still leading ahead of Harvick.

Under caution, the leaders pitted and Larson retained the lead ahead of Hamlin, Harvick, Kyle Busch, Blaney and Elliott.

With 130 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Larson powered away with another strong start on the outside lane while Hamlin overtook Harvick for second. With the field shuffling and fanning out to three lanes behind, Kyle Busch battled Blaney for fourth ahead of Elliott, Byron was in eighth behind Bowman and Almirola was shuffled out of the top 10. By then, Bubba Wallace and Matt DiBenedetto, two non-Playoff contenders, were in ninth and 10th ahead of Truex.

Fifteen laps later, Larson was leading by three-tenths of a second over Hamlin while Harvick, Elliott and Blaney were in the top five. Teammates Bowman and Byron battled for seventh behind Kyle Busch while Wallace and DiBenedetto were in the top 10.

A few laps later, the caution returned for another incident involving Quin Houff, who cut the left-front tire this time. The incident was enough to terminate the remainder of his night race.

Under caution, some led by Blaney pitted while the rest led by Larson remained on the track.

With 104 laps remaining, the race restarted. At the start, Larson retained the lead entering the first turn while Hamlin issued a challenge on Harvick for the runner-up spot.

Then, with 101 laps remaining, Hamlin, who challenged Larson for the lead, made contact with Larson in Turn 4, which resulted with Hamlin going dead straight into the outside wall in Turn 1 with a flat right-front tire and drew the caution.

Down to the final 93 laps of the event, the race restarted. At the start, Larson cleared teammate Elliott with a push from Harvick to retain the lead. While teammates Larson and Elliott battled for the lead, Kyle Busch used the high lane to move up to fourth in between Harvick and Bowman. Meanwhile, Erik Jones was up in eighth behind Truex and Byron while DiBenedetto and Wallace continued to run in the top 10.

Six laps later, Elliott returned to the lead after overtaking teammate Larson on the inside lane.

With 75 laps remaining, Elliott was leading by four-tenths of a second over teammate Larson while Harvick, Kyle Busch and Byron were in the top five. By then, Byron was scored a single point outside of the top-12 cutline behind Almirola, who was in 17th in between Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick, who also remained in the hunt for a transfer spot.

Under the final 60 laps of the event, the battle for the lead intensified as Harvick challenged Elliott for the top spot. By then, Byron overtook Kyle Busch for fourth and was scored a single point inside the top-12 cutline over Almirola, who was back in 18th.

Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Elliott was still leading by two-tenths of a second over Harvick while Larson trailed by nearly six-tenths of a second. Byron, currently scored inside the top-12 cutline, was in fourth in front of Blaney, Kyle Busch, Bowman, Bell, Keselowski and Erik Jones. Truex and Logano were in 11th and 12th while Reddick was in 16th, Hamlin was in 18th ahead of Almirola and Kurt Busch was in 22nd.

Nearing the final 40 laps of the event, Kyle Busch pitted under green after suffering a flat tire. By the time he returned to the track, he was two laps behind and was placed on the verge of missing the top-12 cutline.

With 35 laps remaining, Harvick used several lapped cars, including Kyle Busch, to take the lead following several attempts to intimidate Elliott. Shortly after, Elliott, who was hit by Harvick after Harvick got loose, cut a left-front tire and pitted under green.

Not long after, Bell, who was having a strong run in the making, pitted under green after cutting a tire and damaging the right-front side of his car. The incident also placed Bell in jeopardy of not advancing in the Playoffs.

Back on track, Harvick continued to lead by a narrow margin over Larson, who continued to close in for the top spot. Meanwhile, Byron was up in third followed by Blaney and Bowman. Reddick was in 13th, Almirola was in 17th behind Wallace and Ross Chastain, Kurt Busch was in 19th and Kyle Busch was in 21st.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Harvick remained as the leader by nearly a second over Larson while teammate Byron was in third.

Then in the closing laps, Larson started to close back in on Harvick, who was being mired and slowed behind the lapped car of Elliott. Earlier, Elliott, who had returned to the track, ran into the side of Harvick to express his displeasure for the contact that cut Elliott’s tire and knocked him out of contention for the win. Now, Harvick, who had an advantage of more than a second over Larson near the final 10 laps, was losing ground behind Elliott as Larson closed in.

After trying to establish a run on Harvick during the previous laps, Larson seized an opportunity through the backstretch with four laps remaining as he went below Harvick and pulled off a daring, sliding move in front of Harvick entering Turn 4 to take the lead. Harvick then tried to crossover, which nearly turned Larson, but Larson withstood his ground and assumed command of the race with three laps remaining.

With Larson out in front, Byron joined the battle as he went to work on Harvick for second.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson was out in front by four-tenths of a second over Harvick and Byron. By then, Elliott yielded to teammate Larson. With time running out for Harvick, who was again held up by Elliott, Larson thundered his way to the victory at Bristol for the first time in his career.

With his sixth checkered flag of the season, first at Bristol and his 12th NASCAR Cup Series career win, Larson took another step closer in contending for his first Cup championship. In addition, he achieved the 275th NASCAR Cup win for Hendrick Motorsports.

“That was an awesome race!” Larson said on the frontstretch on NBCSN. “It was so cool to be able to race there for the win. Obviously, Harvick and Chase got together and Chase was upset and kind of held him up. It got Harvick having to move around and use his tires up off the bottom. I started to get some dives-in working off of [Turns] 1 and 2 and just got a big run, decided to pull the trigger, slide him and squeeze him a little bit. Then he had me jacked up through the frontstretch. It was wild. Had my hands full. Thanks to Valvoline and everybody who helps on this Hendrick Motorsports car. So cool. I love this place. This is, by far, my favorite track and this is why. You guys [fans] are amazing, loud. We feel the energy while we’re out there racing…I look forward to the rest of the year.”

While Larson celebrated on the frontstretch, tempers flared on pit road as Harvick and Elliott, both of whom pulled up together on pit road, climbed out of their cars and engaged in a heated face-to-face conversation. With NASCAR officials and crew members surrounding both competitors, the conversation turned heated as both competitors had to be separated by the officials and crew members, with Harvick tossing his glove towards Elliott and slamming his helmet on top of his own car.

Photo by Christian Gardner for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“I told [Elliott] it was kind of a chicken [expletive] move that he did there at the end,” Harvick, who received a chorus of boos from the crowd, said. “We’re racing for the frickin win at Bristol. We’re three wide in the middle and he throws a temper tantrum, like I was just trying to get the lead and race him hard. Then he pulls up in front of me and just sits there until I lose the whole lead, so I just hate it for our Subway Ford Mustang team to be able to lose a race like that. I watched him let [Byron] go by and then anytime you run into him, it’s a problem. [The fans] can boo all they want. I don’t care…I’m ready to rip somebody’s freaking head off.”

“Well, it’s something [Harvick] does all the time,” Elliott said. “He runs into your left side constantly at other tracks. Sometimes it does cut down your left side, other times it doesn’t. Did it to me in Darlington a few weeks ago because he was tired of racing me. Whether he did it on purpose doesn’t matter. At some point, you have to draw a line. I don’t care who he is or how long he’s been doing it. I’m going to stand up for myself and my team and we’re going down the road…I’m happy for Team Hendrick. Wish I could have got our Hooters Chevrolet in Victory Lane. But we’ll try again next week.”

The heated conversation between both competitors continued as Harvick and Elliott went inside Elliott’s hauler to further review and discuss the incident in private.

Meanwhile, Byron’s third-place result was enough for him to clinch the 12th and final transfer spot to the Round of 12 by two points over both Tyler Reddick and Aric Almirola, both of whom were eliminated from the Playoffs.

“Honestly, I don’t think I breathed for 100 laps,” Byron said. “It was, honestly, just trying to go as hard as you could. I had the best seat in the house for the leaders getting together. I was just trying to make as much speed as I could and felt like that was what our car had. We’re just trying to hold off [Blaney]. Just driving it as hard as you can. That’s a pretty awesome moment that we could pull through, being 18 points out coming into this race and finish third and advance is pretty amazing…I feel like we just had to get through this round. We had a really unfortunate start to it and made up for it tonight. Thanks to AXALTA, Chevrolet, Mr. Hendrick, everybody back at the shop. It’s pretty awesome.”

“Frustrating,” Almirola said. “Disappointed to have [our Playoff run] end like that just because we battled so much adversity throughout the night and got ourselves in position to where we’re running top 10 and doing what we needed to do. That caution came out there at the end where we had 18 laps on our tires. We stayed out and for whatever reason, when we re-fired on those tires, the car was on top of the race track, scathing, wouldn’t turn, didn’t have any side bite and just struggling. I don’t know. That’s not the way we wanted it to end, but we’ll keep going and battle it out the rest of the Playoffs and see if we can finish inside the top 10 in points.”

“Unfortunately, we certainly gave up more than two spots over the course this first round,” Reddick added. “Darlington or getting stuck down a lap at Richmond. Not just one key opportunity, but there was a number that was the difference. One situation, the situation tonight doesn’t really stick out as the one that makes it sting. It was just unfortunate that, getting in the Playoffs, we don’t have the pace that we had to just point our way into the Playoff leaderboard. To miss it by two [points]…Had the races that we did, it kind of adds up and for us to miss it by two and run the way we did, it isn’t a surprise. It stings, but we still get to go race the last six, seven races that we have on the schedule. Good tracks for us…Everything else on the race track will be the same, so we’ll go make the most out of those races.”

Despite their late on-track incidents, teammates Kyle Busch and Christopher Bell, both of whom finished 21st and 29th, managed to transfer to the Round of 12 in the Playoffs along with Alex Bowman, who achieved a strong fifth-place result.

“That was disappointing,” Bell said. “Overall, we still accomplished what we wanted to accomplish today. We were on our way to a nice finish and then, the flat tire really cost a lot of panic. Thankfully, we did our job. Got some stage points, performed well at Richmond last week, gave us a little bit of a buffer, and moving on…Take some momentum and move on to Vegas.”

“We just weren’t very good at being able to make up time on the leaders there,” Busch said. “[I] Was only going to be about fifth quick. We fought hard there all day long and had a flat there at the end and got way behind. I guess we made it [into the Round of 12], so that’s all that matters.”

“It was an interesting night, for sure,” Bowman said. “We were pretty awful to start the race and [crew chief] Greg [Ives] threw everything, including his laptop at it. I just started really at the race track and took a lot of adjusting on [the car] to get where we needed it. Obviously, it was really fast there at the end. Just proud of everybody on this No. 48 team for not giving up. My mistake at Darlington kind of put us in this box. Us and [Byron]. Really glad that [Byron] made it because I feel like, if they wouldn’t have, that would’ve been on me too. Just appreciative to make it through to this next round. Good track’s coming up for us this round. Just got to go do my job, not make any more mistakes and have a good rest of the Playoffs.”

Blaney finished fourth on the track while Keselowski, Truex, Erik Jones, Hamlin and Matt DiBenedetto completed the top-10 results.

There were 23 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 71 laps.

Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Alex Bowman, Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch and William Byron have transferred to the Round of 12 in the Playoffs. Tyler Reddick, Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch and Michael McDowell have been eliminated from title contention.

Results.

1. Kyle Larson, 175 laps led, Stage 2 winner

2. Kevin Harvick, 71 laps led

3. William Byron

4. Ryan Blaney, 45 laps led

5. Alex Bowman

6. Brad Keselowski, 10 laps led

7. Martin Truex Jr., five laps led

8. Erik Jones

9. Denny Hamlin, 65 laps led, Stage 1 winner

10. Matt DiBenedetto

11. Joey Logano

12. Tyler Reddick

13. Chase Briscoe

14. Ross Chastain

15. Austin Dillon

16. Bubba Wallace

17. Ryan Preece

18. Aric Almirola

19. Kurt Busch

20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap down

21. Kyle Busch, one lap down

22. Daniel Suarez, two laps down

23. Chris Buescher, two laps down

24. Michael McDowell, two laps down

25. Chase Elliott, three laps down, 129 laps led

26. Corey LaJoie, three laps down

27. JJ Yeley, five laps down

28. Cole Custer, six laps down

29. Christopher Bell, seven laps down

30. Garrett Smithley, 13 laps down

31. Josh Bilicki, 18 laps down

32. David Starr, 18 laps down

33. James Davison, 26 laps down

34. Quin Houff – OUT, Accident

35. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident

36. Justin Haley – OUT, Accident

37. BJ McLeod – OUT, Accident

38. Ryan Newman – OUT, Dvp

Bold indicates Playoff contenders.

Playoff standings.

1. Kyle Larson – Advanced

2. Denny Hamlin – Advanced

3. Martin Truex Jr. – Advanced

4. Ryan Blaney – Advanced

5. Kevin Harvick – Advanced

6. Joey Logano – Advanced

7. Chase Elliott – Advanced

8. Brad Keselowski – Advanced

9. Alex Bowman – Advanced

10. Christopher Bell – Advanced

11. Kyle Busch – Advanced

12. William Byron – Advanced

13. Tyler Reddick – Eliminated

14. Aric Almirola – Eliminated

15. Kurt Busch – Eliminated

16. Michael McDowell – Eliminated

The Round of 12 in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will commence next weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the South Point 400. The event will occur on Sunday, September 26, at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

September 19, 2021
Martin Truex Jr. rallies to win at Richmond, advances in Cup Series Playoffs

From an opening lap penalty to Victory Lane, Martin Truex Jr. punched his ticket into the Round of 12 in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs after the former Cup champion led the final 51 laps and beat teammate Denny Hamlin by more than a second to win the Federated Auto Parts 400 Salute to First Responders at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, September 11.

The victory came as Truex, who lined up on the front row, started the race by serving a pass-through penalty on pit road after jumping the initial start of the race over teammate Hamlin. Despite the penalty, Truex remained on the lead lap and methodically worked his way towards the front before leading three times for a total of 80 of 400 laps and running away from his teammates and fellow Playoff contenders as he took another step forward in pursuing his second championship.

The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. Kyle Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series regular-season champion, was scheduled to start on pole position. However, his car failed pre-race inspection twice and as a result, he was sent to the rear of the field. With that, Denny Hamlin, winner of last weekend’s Cup Playoff opener at Darlington Raceway, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with teammate Martin Truex Jr.

Along with Larson, Cole Custer started at the rear of the field due to his car failing pre-race inspection twice. Garrett Smithley also dropped to the rear of the field due to a driver change.

During the pace laps, the crew members and fans raised their American flags and passed for a moment of silence to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks while honoring the first responders affected by the event.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Truex jumped ahead of teammate Hamlin at the start/finish line and took off with an early lead. Not long after, Truex was penalized with a restart violation for crossing the start/finish line and starting the race ahead of the pole-sitter. As a result, Truex surrendered the lead to teammate Hamlin while serving his penalty by driving through pit road.

Back on the track, Hamlin was out in front by four-tenths of a second over Kurt Busch while the Team Penske trio — Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski — were in the top five. Kevin Harvick was in sixth ahead of Christopher Bell, Aric Almirola, Tyler Reddick and Alex Bowman, all of whom were in the Playoffs. Teammates Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott were in 11th and 12th followed by Kyle Busch while Ross Chastain and Austin Dillon, the first two non-Playoff contenders were in 14th and 15th. Michael McDowell was in 16th ahead of Ryan Preece, Matt DiBenedetto, Corey LaJoie and Chris Buescher.

By Lap 10, Hamlin was still leading by nearly six-tenths of a second over Kurt Busch followed by the Penske trio, Harvick and Bell. Another ten laps later, Hamlin extended his advantage to nearly two seconds over Kurt Busch.

When the competition caution flew on Lap 30, Hamlin continued to lead by nearly three seconds over Kurt Busch. By then, Harvick and Bell overtook Keselowski for fifth and sixth while Elliott was in the top 10. Meanwhile, Larson, who started at the rear of the field, was up in 19th while Truex, who was sent to the rear of the field following the start of the race, was in 29th, still on the lead lap.

Under the competition caution, the leaders pitted and Kurt Busch emerged with the lead following a quick four-tire pit stop, where he was followed by Hamlin, Logano, Harvick and Blaney. During the caution period, Kyle Busch was assessed a pit road penalty for removing equipment out of his box.

When the race restarted on Lap 36, Hamlin battled dead even with Kurt Busch as he led the following lap. Despite being pressured by Busch’s No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, Hamlin reassumed the lead as he was then pursued by Logano. While Blaney pressed Busch for more, Elliott was in fifth in front of Harvick and Keselowski.

Then on Lap 40, the caution flew when Kurt Busch, who was in third, spun and made hard contact into the Turn 1 outside wall after cutting a left-rear tire. The wreck was enough to end Busch’s night in the garage and put a huge dent to his Playoff hopes.

“I was just impressed with our speed and the way we unloaded and [the speed] we had in that first 30-lap run,” Kurt Busch said. “After the pit stop, something in the left rear wasn’t right. The guys said they got the tire tight. They made an adjustment and there was no rub and the left rear let go. I just radioed to them how loose the car was. Something happened with that left rear [tire]. It let go. It let go of our points and it let go of our whole season right now. I don’t know what we’re going to have to do at Bristol other than win. Now, we gotta dig out of this hole and give it out best.”

With the race restarting on Lap 47, Hamlin continued to lead over the field.

By Lap 55, Hamlin was leading by nearly a second over Blaney, with Logano, Elliott and Keselowski in the top five. Meanwhile, Larson and Truex were in 11th and 13th while Bowman, Byron, Kyle Busch and McDowell were in 15th, 19th, 23rd and 24th.

With five laps remaining in the first stage, Hamlin continued to lead by nearly four over Logano and Elliott while Blaney settled in fourth. Meanwhile, Larson was in fifth after overtaking Keselowski.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 80, Hamlin, who led all but four laps in the stage, collected his seventh stage victory of the season. Elliott prevailed over a late battle with Logano to settle in second while Larson made his way up to fourth ahead of Blaney. Chastain placed in sixth while Keselowski, Truex, Harvick and Almirola were scored in the top 10. By then, Reddick, Bell, Kyle Busch, Bowman, Byron and McDowell were in 11th, 12th, 14th, 15th, 19th and 21st.

Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Hamlin retained the lead following his pit service and ahead of Elliott, Logano, Larson, Keselowski and Blaney.

The second stage started on Lap 88. At the start, Hamlin launched ahead with a strong start on the inside lane while Elliott settled in second ahead of Logano.

Three laps later, Elliott muscled his No. 9 Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE into the lead over Hamlin. Meanwhile, Chastain made a bold three-wide move on Larson and Truex through Turns 2 and 3 to move his No. 42 Moose Fraternity Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to fifth.

At the Lap 100 mark, Elliott was leading by nearly six-tenths of a second over Hamlin, with Keselowski, Chastain and Logano in the top five. Larson was in sixth ahead of Truex, Blaney, Kyle Busch and Harvick. Almirola, Byron, Bowman, Bell and Reddick were in the top 16 while McDowell was in 18th area of Erik Jones and rookie Chase Briscoe. Meanwhile, Austin Dillon was in 15th, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was in 17th, Matt DiBenedetto was in 21st, Ryan Newman was in 23rd, Bubba Wallace was in 25th behind Chris Buescher and Daniel Suarez was in 28th in between Ryan Preece and Justin Haley.

Twenty laps later, Elliott continued to lead by more than a second over Hamlin while Chastain, the highest non-title contender, was up in third. Teammates Keselowski and Logano were in the top five followed by Kyle Busch and Truex. Larson was back in eighth while Blaney and Harvick were in the top 10 ahead of Almirola, Byron, Bowman, Bell, Austin Dillon and Reddick.

Nearly 10 laps later, pit stops under green commenced as Daniel Suarez pitted followed by Reddick, Austin Dillon and Hamlin. Soon after, Elliott surrendered the lead to pit followed by Keselowski, Logano, Truex, Harvick, Kyle Busch, Blaney, Stenhouse, Bowman and others. By Lap 135, Larson surrendered his temporary lead to pit.

By Lap 138, the No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry piloted by Hamlin emerged with the lead after overtaking Elliott earlier. By then, Bell and DiBenedetto pitted under green.

Twelve laps later, Hamlin was leading by nearly half a second over Elliott while Chastain continued to run in an impressive third place. Kyle Busch and Logano battled for fourth while Truex, Larson, Keselowski, Almirola and Blaney were in the top 10 while Bowman, Harvick, Byron, Bell and Reddick were in the top 16. McDowell, meanwhile, was in 31st and two laps behind.

On Lap 162, Elliott made a bold three-wide move on Hamlin and the lapped car of Suarez to take the lead in Turn 3.

Thirteen laps later, Elliott was out in front by half a second over Hamlin while third-place Kyle Busch trailed by more than four seconds. Truex, Larson and Logano were up in fourth, fifth and sixth while Chastain fell back to seventh ahead of Almirola, Bell and Keselowski. Blaney, meanwhile, was in 11th ahead of Bowman, Byron and Harvick.

A few laps later, a second round of green flag pit stops occurred as Truex pitted followed by Hamlin, Corey LaJoie, Keselowski, Harvick, Byron, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon and Elliott. During the pit stops, Elliott slid through his pit box and was forced to reverse into his box while the jack was still on the car. The situation quickly went from bad to worse as the jack got wedged underneath Elliott’s car, which made it a long service for the No. 9 crew.

By Lap 187 and when the green flag pit stops concluded, Hamlin cycled back as the leader by more than two seconds over teammate Kyle Busch and nearly three seconds over his other teammate, Truex. Logano and Chastain were in the top five followed by Larson, Harvick, Keselowski and Byron. Bowman, Bell and Blaney were in 11th, 12th and 13th while Elliott was mired back in 15th, the last car on the lead lap.

At the halfway mark on Lap 200, Hamlin continued to lead by more than two seconds over teammate Kyle Busch while Truex, Logano and Chastain were in the top five. By then, 15 competitors were scored on the lead lap, 13 of whom were Playoff contenders.

Twenty laps later, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to nearly two seconds over teammate Kyle Busch while Truex, Logano and Larson remained in the top five ahead of Chastain. By then, Elliott, running in 15th, was a lap behind, though he kept leader Hamlin within his sights.

Near the Lap 225 mark, Hamlin lapped the 14th-place car of Austin Dillon, leaving Dillon to battle Elliott to be the first competitor scored a lap behind. On Lap 231, however, Hamlin lapped the 13th-place competitor, Byron.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 235, Hamlin, who has led 161 laps, claimed his eighth stage victory of the season. Teammates Kyle Busch and Truex settled in second and third followed by Larson, Logano, Bell, Chastain, Almirola, Bowman and Harvick. Meanwhile, Elliott managed to overtake Austin Dillon and teammate Byron to move up to 13th and place himself as the first competitor scored a lap down, thus gaining the free pass under caution.

Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Hamlin retained the lead following another stellar stop followed by Truex, Kyle Busch, Larson and Bell. During the pit stops, Chastain was busted with a pit road speeding penalty.

With 156 laps remaining, the final stage started. At the start, Hamlin led a Joe Gibbs Racing 1-2-3-4 charge at the front, with Truex following in second ahead of Kyle Busch and Bell, who was under pressure from Logano.

Eight laps later, the caution flew when Bubba Wallace pounded the Turn 1 outside wall and limped back to pit road with right-front damage. Under caution, some like Keselowski pitted while the rest led by Hamlin remained on the track.

With 146 laps remaining, the race restarted. At the start, Hamlin took off with another strong start followed by Truex while Kyle Busch and Bell battled for third, thus placing all four JGR competitors at the front of the field. Despite making contact with his teammate, Bell moved his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry into third place ahead of Kyle Busch’s No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry.

Down to the final 140 laps of the event, Hamlin was ahead by nearly three-tenths of a second over teammate Truex while teammate Bell was in third and teammate Kyle Busch was in fourth ahead of Larson and Logano. Meanwhile, Elliott was in 11th behind Kevin Harvick and Keselowski was in 13th in between Aric Almirola and Austin Dillon.

Nine laps later, Truex motored his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry into the lead for the first time of the evening.

Another 11 laps later, Truex pulled ahead by more than a second over teammate Hamlin while teammates Kyle Busch and Bell remained in the top four. Larson was in fifth followed by Chastain. Logano, Harvick, Elliott and Austin Dillon.

Under the final 110 laps of the event, another round of green flag pit stops commenced as Chastain, Suarez and Cole Custer pitted followed by Bowman, Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Harvick, Preece, DiBenedetto, Logano, Almirola, Blaney and others. Not long after, Truex surrendered the lead to pit along with Hamlin and Larson.

Down to the final 100 laps of the event and with the green flag pit stops occurring, Bell, who has yet to pit, was leading followed by Chastain, who was a lap down but had already pitted.

Two laps later, Ross Chastain, who notched a strong top-five result last weekend at Darlington Raceway, emerged with the lead by six-tenths of a second over Kyle Busch followed by Truex, Hamlin and Logano. By then, 13 competitors were scored on the lead lap, 11 of which were Playoff contenders, including Bell.

Another six laps later, Kyle Busch moved into the lead for the first time of the evening after overtaking Chastain.

With 75 laps remaining, Kyle Busch extended his advantage to more than two seconds over teammate Truex while teammate Hamlin trailed by more than five seconds in third. Elliott carved his way back to fourth ahead of Chastain while Bell worked his way back to sixth.

By then, Larson was back in ninth behind Logano and Harvick.

Under the final 60 laps, pit stops under green commenced again as Truex pitted along with Reddick, Keselowski, Blaney, Bowman, Harvick, Logano, Bell, Hamlin and Kyle Busch, the race leader. Soon after, disaster struck for Kyle Busch, who was forced to serve a drive-through penalty through pit road after he was caught speeding on pit road.

Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Truex emerged with the lead. By then, Larson pitted under green while Kyle Busch served his pit road penalty as the cycle of green flag pit stops were concluding.

With 40 laps remaining, Truex was out in front by more than six seconds over teammate Hamlin while teammate Bell was in third, trailing by nearly nine seconds. Elliott and Logano were in the top five followed by Chastain, Harvick, Austin Dillon, Larson and Kyle Busch, all of whom were on the lead lap. Blaney, meanwhile, was the first competitor a lap down followed by teammate Keselowski, Bowman, Almirola and Reddick.

Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Truex stabilized his advantage to nearly five seconds over teammate Hamlin while teammate Bell trailed by more than 10 seconds. While Elliott and Logano remained in the top five, Kyle Busch was in ninth behind Chastain, Larson and Harvick.

With 10 laps remaining, Truex remained as the leader by three-and-a-half seconds over teammate Hamlin. Behind, Larson and Chastain battled for sixth while Bell, Elliott and Logano remained in the top five.

Five laps later, Truex continued to stabilize his advantage to less than three seconds over his hard-charging, teammate Hamlin.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Truex was still leading by less than two seconds over teammate Hamlin. Having a comfortable advantage over the field, Truex was able to cycle back to the finish line and streak across the finish line to take the checkered flag and the win.

The victory was Truex’s first since winning at Darlington Raceway in May, fourth of the season, third at Richmond and the 31st of his NASCAR Cup Series career, keeping him in 28th place on the all-time wins list and one behind of NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett. The win was also the eighth of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing. Above all, Truex advanced to the Round of 12 in the Playoffs, becoming the second to do so by winning in the Round of 16.

“It’s a big day,” Truex said on NBCSN. “It’s an important day in our history. I think all of us here – yeah, we’re proud to win. This car’s amazing, and there’s so many people to thank, but what a day to win on. It reminds you that it’s a privilege it is to get to come out here and do this. All these great fans that come out here, we couldn’t do any of these types of things without the men and women that take care of us and all the first responders, police officers, firefighters, the military, you name it. NASCAR’s very patriotic…Very proud of everybody to be able to do this today.”

“[The opening lap penalty] was frustrating, I’m not gonna lie,” Truex added. “I knew we’d have a good enough car to overcome it. It felt pretty good those first couple laps, so just one of those things. You got to put it out of your mind and you got to go race. We knew there was a lot on the line tonight, so very happy to get to do this and go to Bristol without any worries next week. It’s always fun.”

Hamlin, who is already guaranteed a spot in the Round of 12 after winning last weekend’s Playoff opening event at Darlington Raceway, settled in second place for the second time this season and for the second consecutive time at Richmond.

“Yeah, just a couple more [laps],” Hamlin, who led a race-high 197 laps, said. “Our pit stops were a little slow there and we lost about two or three seconds, maybe four on pit road on those two stops, and about a second and a half behind. We were coming, just we got off track with our car right there in the middle stages of the race, but overall [crew chief] Chris [Gabehart] and the team made great adjustments there at the end on the FedEx Camry. Just needed a couple more laps, that’s all. It’s the time where you got to bring your best. The whole [Joe Gibbs Racing] team, they brought fast cars for all of us today and I really wished we had gotten two [wins] in a row, but in regardless, still a great day for our team.”

Bell secured a strong third-place result followed by Elliott, who rallied from his pit stop miscue near the halfway mark, and Logano.

“I think, obviously, all of our Joe Gibbs Racing cars were extremely fast, so hats off to everyone back there at the shop, Toyota, [Toyota Racing Development] that gives us the resources that we need to come out here and do good,” Bell said. “We knew going into Richmond that this is one of our better racetracks, so we needed to capitalize on that and get all the points we could. We got some points there in Stage 2 and got a good finish out of it. Bristol is a really good racetrack for our company and me as a driver, but it’s a little bit – it’s just you can get caught up in stuff so easily at Bristol. It’s nice to have a buffer and hopefully, we can go to Bristol and have an uneventful event.”

“I was super proud of our effort,” Elliott said. “Our entire Kelley Blue Book team did a great job preparing for this week and then coming and executing a really fast car. I’m really proud of that. I hate our incident on pit road happened. I don’t know what I would have done any different. I guess let [Chastain] go is a safe thing, but it’s so close and always hard to tell kind of when they’re going to get done on the left side. I hate that. I thought I was long in the box and backed up out of a precautionary measure, but yeah, I hate that. I know that Kyle [Busch] and Martin [Truex Jr.] were really fast there at the end. I’m not sure if we would have had anything for them, but I sure would have liked to have found out…Nice rebound after last week. Everything about Darlington, that last weekend was miserable. Nice to come here and just put together a solid night. I felt like we performed at a really high level that I know we’re capable of every week. We perform like that the rest of the season, I think we’ll be just fine.”

“It seems like we had a little something for [the Gibbs cars] on the short runs,” Logano said. “I was hoping for, maybe, a caution, a good pit stop, good restart, maybe, I would’ve had something for them. Their long haul was tremendous. A lot of long runs tonight. That was where they were better than us. We were fifth place. Yes, it’s not a win, it’s not what we want, but it’s getting the points we need to get through to the next round. It’s a solid night. I think we were third in the first stage, fifth in the second and fifth as finished. Solid night at Richmond for the Shell/Pennzoil Mustang. I wanna win. I felt like this was one of our best shots to get it.”

Meanwhile, Kyle Larson finished sixth and clinched his spot for the Round of 12 in the Playoffs based on points.

“Yeah, it’s a lot better than we were here at Richmond earlier in the year,” Larson said. “At the beginning of the race, I thought I was going to have a really good shot to win, but we kind of lost the balance there and got it back a little bit there at the end. So, we probably finished where we deserved. [Kyle Busch] kind of had his problems, so maybe we finished one spot better. Not a bad day. To go to Bristol and know that we’re locked in is nice. We’ll try to be aggressive and get a win next week.”

Chastain came home in seventh as he emerged as the highest non-title contender for a second consecutive week. Harvick, Kyle Busch and Blaney completed the top 10.

Meanwhile, Alex Bowman, who won at Richmond in April, finished 12th and is tied with Kurt Busch for the 12th and final transfer spot heading into next weekend’s first Playoff elimination event at Bristol Motor Speedway.

“I felt like we started the race struggling, didn’t have much drive and was also really tight in the center, so which do you work on, right?” Bowman said. “[Crew chief] Greg [Ives] and the guys did a really good job. We got our Ally No. 48 Camaro rolling really good at the end of Stage 2, drove it to like eighth, we were fast. Made no adjustments, put a set of Goodyears on it, and they weren’t the goodest of the Goodyears. That set [of tires] put us a lap down and really struggled to make up for that throughout the rest of the night. Unfortunately, we ended up 12th. Obviously, [I] could’ve ended up much worse…The guys right in front of us that we got to beat are all really good at Bristol. [I] Pretty much just got to go and try to win, but that’s a hole I dug myself last week when I smacked the fence on Lap 7…I feel like I can go get the job done. Just got to go do it.”

Keselowski, Almirola and Reddick finished 13th, 14th and 15th while Byron dropped back to 19th, two laps behind the leaders. Michael McDowell ended his long night in 28th, five laps behind.

There were 21 lead changes for eight leaders. The race featured five cautions for 30 laps. Only nine of tonight’s 37 starters finished on the lead lap.

Results.

1. Martin Truex Jr., 80 laps led

2. Denny Hamlin, 197 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

3. Christopher Bell, 10 laps led

4. Chase Elliott, 58 laps led

5. Joey Logano

6. Kyle Larson, eight laps led

7. Ross Chastain, four laps led

8. Kevin Harvick

9. Kyle Busch, 39 laps led

10. Ryan Blaney, one lap down

11. Austin Dillon, one lap down

12. Alex Bowman, one lap down

13. Brad Keselowski, one lap down

14. Aric Almirola, one lap down

15. Tyler Reddick, two laps down

16. Chase Briscoe, two laps down

17. Daniel Suarez, two laps down

18. Matt DiBenedetto, two laps down

19. William Byron, two laps down

20. Ryan Newman, two laps down

21. Erik Jones, two laps down

22. Cole Custer, three laps down

23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., three laps down

24. Chris Buescher four laps down

25. Ryan Preece, four laps down

26. Anthony Alfredo, four laps down

27. Justin Haley, four laps down

28. Michael McDowell, five laps down

29. Corey LaJoie, five laps down

30. BJ McLeod, seven laps down

31. Garrett Smithley, 11 laps down

32. Bubba Wallace, 12 laps down

33. Joey Gase, 13 laps down

34. JJ Yeley, 14 laps down

35. Quin Houff, 14 laps down

36. Josh Bilicki, 15 laps down

37. Kurt Busch – OUT, Accident, four laps led

Bold indicates Playoff contenders.

Playoff standings.

1. Denny Hamlin – Advanced

2. Martin Truex Jr. – Advanced

3. Kyle Larson – Advanced

4. Joey Logano, +40

5. Ryan Blaney, +28

6. Kevin Harvick, +25

7. Chase Elliott, +19

8. Christopher Bell, +17

9. Brad Keselowski, +13

10. Kyle Busch, +8

11. Aric Almirola, +3

12. Kurt Busch, +0

13. Alex Bowman, -0

14. Tyler Reddick, -5

15. William Byron, -18

16. Michael McDowell, -38

The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will continue next weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race and where the first round of eliminations will occur. The race is scheduled to occur on Saturday, September 11, at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

September 12, 2021
Blaney caps off regular-season stretch with a thrilling win at Daytona

For a second consecutive week, Ryan Blaney stole the show after the High Point, North Carolina, native took the lead from Chris Buescher prior to the final lap and pulled away from the field wrecking behind to win the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway under caution on Saturday, August 28.

The victory was Blaney’s third of the season as he will be one of 16 competitors who will compete for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series championship over a 10-week Playoff stretch.

The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. Kyle Larson, the regular-season points leader, was scheduled to start on pole position, but instead, he started at the rear of the field due to his car failing pre-race inspection multiple times. With that, teammate William Byron, winner of last year’s Daytona 400 event, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Denny Hamlin.

Along with Larson, Joey Gase, Corey LaJoie and Kaz Grala started at the rear of the field due to multiple pre-race inspection failures. Michael McDowell and rookie Anthony Alfredo, teammates at Front Row Motorsports, also dropped to the rear of the field after it was discovered that both cars did not conform to NASCAR rule specifications pinpointing the deck lid extensions. As a result, crew chiefs Drew Blickensderfer and Seth Barbour were ejected from the event. Car chief Jason Sheets served as McDowell’s interim crew chief while Derrick Finley, Front Row Motorsports’ competition director, served as Alfredo’s interim crew chief. To make matters worse, Alfredo was assessed a pass-through penalty on pit road following the start of the race for illegal body adjustments made to his car while on the grid.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Byron received an early advantage on the outside lane with drafting help from Kyle Busch to take the lead, where he went on to lead the first lap by a nose over Hamlin.

The following lap, Byron broke away from the pack as he continued to lead ahead of Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr., all of whom were on the inside lane, while Kyle Busch settled as the lead car on the outside lane.

By the fifth lap, a majority of the pack formed a single-file line on the outside lane as Byron led teammate Elliott, Kevin Harvick, Truex, Matt DiBenedetto, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney and Kurt Busch. Leading the inside line was ninth-place Alex Bowman.

Two laps later, Kevin Harvick, who had drafting help from Blaney, peaked ahead by nose to lead a lap over Byron. Another two laps later and while Byron moved back into the lead, Elliott got shuffled out of the top five as he dropped to the mid-pack.

Through the first 10 laps of the event, Hamlin moved into the lead followed by Bubba Wallace while Byron, who had led seven laps, was back in third ahead of Austin Dillon and Harvick. Kyle Busch, Blaney, Ross Chastain, Bowman and Brad Keselowski were in the top 10. By then, Joey Logano was in 12th, Elliott was in 15th, Truex was in 20th in between teammate Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick, Kurt Busch was in 24th behind rookie Chase Briscoe and Ryan Preece and Kyle Larson was mired in 26th behind Aric Almirola.

Five laps later, the field fanned out to three tight lanes as Byron, who moved back into the lead the previous lap, was leading ahead of Hamlin, Chastain, Logano and Austin Dillon. Another three laps later, Chastain made a pit stop under green for two fresh tires and to have his fenders fixed. By then, Austin Dillon motored into the lead ahead of Elliott and Hamlin.

When the competition caution flew on Lap 20, Elliott squeaked ahead of Austin Dillon to lead followed by Truex, Logano and Stenhouse. Byron, Hamlin, Cole Custer, Blaney and Briscoe were in the top 10. By then, five different competitors led at least a lap.

Under the competition caution, the leaders pitted with all utilizing a variety of strategies. Following the pit stops Elliott retained the lead. Prior to the restart, Michael McDowell fell off the pace and took his car to the garage due to an engine failure and dropping fluid on the track.

When the race restarted on Lap 25, Elliott and Custer battled dead even for the lead before Elliott cleared the field when he and the field returned to the start/finish line. The following lap, Hamlin made a bold three-wide move on Logano and Austin Dillon in a bid for third place as Elliott and Custer battled for the lead ahead of a packed field.

By Lap 30 and with the majority of the field settled in a single-file line, Elliott continued to lead followed by Logano, Custer, Austin Dillon, Keselowski, Byron, Bell, Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Chastain.

Ten laps later, Elliott remained as the leader of a long single-file line followed by Logano, Custer, Austin Dillon, Keselowski, Byron, Bell, Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Chastain. Meanwhile, Truex was in 13th behind Blaney, Wallace was in 16th behind Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Almirola and Tyler Reddick were in 19th and 20th, Harvick and Larson were in 22nd and 23rd behind Briscoe, Bowman was in 25th behind Daniel Suarez and DiBenedetto was mired in 28th.

The following lap, Logano emerged as the new leader while Elliott got shuffled back to fourth in front of teammate Byron while trying to clean his grille. Two laps later, Elliott received a boost from teammate Byron to storm back into the lead while Logano had to defend the outside lane from a hard-charging Austin Dillon.

Approaching Lap 46, Logano gained a draft on Elliott, moved to the inside lane and tried to slide in front of Elliott through Turns 3 and 4, but he was unable to as Elliott retained the lead on the outside lane while Logano settled in as the lead car on the inside lane.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 50 following an early competitive race, Elliott managed to retain the lead and claim his third stage victory of the season. Hamlin settled in second followed by Kyle Busch, who nearly wrecked approaching the start/finish line following contact with Ross Chastain. Chastain was fourth followed by Truex, Austin Dillon, Corey LaJoie, Logano, Preece and Chris Buescher. By then, seven different competitors had led at least a lap within the pack racing and the draft.

Under the stage break, the leaders pitted for four fresh tires and to top off on fuel.

The second stage started on Lap 55. At the start, Truex pulled ahead by a slight margin over Elliott on the outside lane through the first two turns before clearing Elliott entering Turn 3. By then, he had names like Corey LaJoie, Christopher Bell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch settled in behind him.

Two laps later, LaJoie made a move beneath Truex to lead a lap before he got shuffled out of the draft and back in fourth.

Through the first 60 laps of the event, Truex, who took the lead back on Lap 58, was leading followed by teammate Bell, Stenhouse, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, LaJoie, Keselowski, Elliott, Chastain and Preece.

Fifteen laps later, Bell, who took over the top spot on Lap 70, was leading followed by Stenhouse, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Logano, Truex, Elliott, LaJoie, Briscoe, Reddick and a steaming pack of cars.

On Lap 77, the caution flew when Almirola and Bowman spun in the middle of Turn 4 while running near the rear of the field and in front of a handful of competitors. During the incident, Hamlin ran into the rear of Preece.

Four laps later, the race restarted under green as Logano and Bell started on the front row. At the start, Logano launched ahead followed by Bell while LaJoie received a push from Reddick through the backstraightaway before being shuffled out by Reddick, who tucked in behind Logano.

By Lap 90, Logano was leading followed by Reddick, Stenhouse, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Keselowski, Truex, Hamlin, Preece and Larson.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 100, Logano, who took over the lead three laps earlier over teammate Blaney, was scored the leader as he claimed his fifth stage victory of the season. Austin Dillon settled in second followed by Byron, Reddick, Larson, Blaney, Stenhouse, Kyle Busch, Wallace and Bell. By then, 11 different competitors had led at least a lap.

Under the stage break, the leaders pitted for fresh tires and fuel.

With 55 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Byron and Hamlin filled the front row. At the start, Hamlin received a push from Harvick to take over the lead. During the next four laps, Harvick led three before Elliott squeaked ahead to lead one for himself.

Five laps later, Harvick was back out in front followed by Hamlin, Byron, Wallace and Logano, who then mounted a charge on the inside lane while being pursued by Chastain, Elliott and others.

Another 10 laps later and with the field, which had fanned out to three lanes earlier, settling in a long single-file line, Chastain was leading followed by Bowman, Blaney, Kyle Busch, Harvick, Stenhouse, Wallace, Hamlin, Elliott and Briscoe.

With 38 laps remaining, the Ford competitors peeled off the track to pit under green. Back on the track, Chastain and Wallace battled for the lead ahead of the field that had fanned out to two lanes.

Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Wallace was leading followed by Kyle Busch, Chastain, Bell, Stenhouse, Truex, Bowman, LaJoie, Elliott and Landon Cassill. The following lap, Chastain received a push from Stenhouse to snatch the lead back from Wallace.

With 21 laps remaining, the caution flew for an accident involving Cody Ware, Joey Gase and Garrett Smithley, all of whom drive for Rick Ware Racing, in Turn 4. At the time of caution, Kyle Busch was the leader. Under caution, the front-runners pitted and the Fords moved up the pack, giving the lead to Logano. During the pit stops, Austin Dillon, who was battling battery issues to his car, was busted for speeding and was sent to the rear of the field.

Five laps later, the race restarted under green. At the start, Logano jumped ahead on the inside lane followed by teammate Blaney, Almirola, Buescher and Custer while DiBenedetto got shuffled back to sixth ahead of Kyle Busch and Harvick.

With 15 laps remaining, the caution flew when Truex got bumped by Stenhouse entering the backstretch and collided into Byron before spinning across the grass and proceeding with damage and firing rolling out of his car. Also involved were Briscoe, Cassill, Suare Alfredo, Keselowski and Tyler Reddick, the competitor occupying the 16th and final spot to the Playoffs as he had smoke trailing behind and damage on the front nose his car. The incident was enough for NASCAR to red-flag the event for nearly 15 minutes.

Following the cleanup period concluded and the caution was drawn back, teammates Reddick and Austin Dillon pitted to have their respective Chevrolets repaired with enough adjustments to finish the race.

With 10 laps remaining, the race restarted as teammates Logano and Blaney occupied the front row. At the start, Logano jumped ahead, but the field narrowed the gap through the backstraightaway and back to the tri-oval from the draft as Almirola moved up the leaderboard.

The following lap, Chris Buescher mounted a challenge on the inside lane to move up to third behind Logano and Blaney. He then received pushes from Kurt Busch and Elliott to move up to second as he challenged Logano for the lead.

With seven laps remaining, Buescher received a strong push from Elliott and Hamlin to take the lead, where he managed to slide in front of Logano through the backstraightaway.

A lap later, though, Elliott stormed to the lead while Buescher got shuffled out in a three-wide battle against Logano and Elliott. With Buescher falling back, Elliott was leading followed by Hamlin, Logano and Blaney while Matt DiBenedetto mounted a challenge on the inside lane.

Under the final five laps, Logano fell off the pace after he cut a tire in a shower of sparks. Despite the misfortune, Logano kept his car rolling on the outside lane as the field went by him and the race proceeded under green. At the front, DiBenedetto challenged Elliott on the outside lane for the lead as the field behind started to stack up and fan out multiple lanes with the finish within sight.

Then in Turn 3, DiBenedetto, who continued to intimidate Elliott for the lead, ran into the rear bumper of Elliott as both along with Hamlin skidded across the outside wall. The contact of the wall got Elliott loose and he slid up and into DiBenedetto across the outside wall again. The ensuing contact ignited a chain reaction wreck that involved Hamlin, Keselowski, Bell, Kyle Busch, Preece, Chastain, Custer, Stenhouse and Kaz Grala, a wreck that sent the race into overtime.

In the midst of the carnage, Buescher was back in the lead followed by Blaney, LaJoie, Austin Dillon and Harvick. Chastain was in sixth followed by Larson, Daniel Suarez, Bubba Wallace and Kurt Busch.

When the race restarted in overtime, Buescher and Blaney battled dead even entering the first turn before Blaney received a strong push from LaJoie to take the lead on the inside lane. LaJoie, though, received a draft from Harvick to close back to Blaney’s rear bumper in Turn 3.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Blaney was leading ahead of LaJoie and Buescher. Through Turn 1, Harvick made a bold move beneath LaJoie to move into second place, thus shuffling LaJoie out of the lead draft, as Suarez, Buescher, Kurt Busch and others mounted a final lap mount to the front.

Through the backstraightaway, Blaney continued to lead followed by Harvick and Suarez. Then, Suarez got loose in front of Kurt Busch and turned into Harvick, which triggered a big accident in Turn 3 involving Austin Dillon, Larson, Chastain, LaJoie, Bowman and Erik Jones.

With the field wrecking behind, Blaney pulled away unscathed and cruised to the finish line in first place as the caution flew due to the accident.

The victory marked Blaney’s first at Daytona International Speedway, his second consecutive Cup victory in recent weeks after winning last weekend at Michigan International Speedway, his third of the season and the seventh of his career.

“Man, that was a lot of fun,” Blaney said on NBC. “Gosh, we just barely missed that wreck. We got lined up on the front row and got a good push by [LaJoie]. You never know how the end of these days are gonna play out. Down the back, you don’t know what lane’s getting a bigger run. I guess somebody got tangled up over there. Hopefully, everyone’s okay. Man, this is so cool. Second win of the year with BodyArmor on the car. Winning at Daytona, this is so cool. It’s really special and man, it’s been a fun two weeks. Looking forward to next week! Got a good, enough momentum. It’d be nice to make it three [wins] in a row. We’ll see.”

Behind Blaney, Chris Buescher came home in second place while Bubba Wallace, who dodged the final lap carnage, recorded a strong third-place result. The best season results for both Buescher and Wallace, however, were not enough for either of them to make the Playoffs.

“It hurts,” Buescher said. “That one stings a lot, but at the same time, [I] appreciate everybody at [Roush Fenway Racing]. Awesome weekend for Fifth Third Bank…[I] Wanted to get that [win] for so many different reasons. To miss that Playoff spot by one spot, that’s a tough ending to the day, but proud of this group. Proud of the car we brought…That hurts.”

“The seas parted and when that wreck happened, I just stayed in it, came out third, but it’s not what we needed,” Wallace added. “Bummer, but solid day. We went up and led some laps. Unfortunate, we wanted to win. That was the most prepared I’ve ever been for this speedway stuff and [finished] third…It just stings.”

Following the post-race inspection, however, Buescher was disqualified from his runner-up result due to an illegal track bar mounting assembly. As a result, Buescher was demoted to 40th place, dead last, while Wallace was promoted to the runner-up result, which tied his best result in NASCAR’s premier series.

Ryan Newman was elevated to third place followed by Ryan Preece, both of whom also did not make the Playoffs. Meanwhile, Tyler Reddick, who barely escaped the final lap multi-car wreck, finished fifth and claimed the 16th and final spot to the Playoffs over teammate Austin Dillon, who was unable to finish the race after being swept up in the wreck. With that, Reddick joins Michael McDowell and Christopher Bell as first-time members of the Cup Series Playoffs this season.

“My emotions were shot as soon as we took the green on the last green-white-checkered [restart],” Reddick said. “I couldn’t even believe we finished seventh. Getting through that last crash coming to the line, it was a lot, I’m not gonna lie. Going to Homestead, running for Xfinity Series championships were a lot of fun. Really exciting, really nerve-racking, but what a roller coaster it is to be on the bubble going into Daytona, running into the back of somebody and have all the issues we did at the end there. Almost felt helpless there, but we didn’t give up and we fought through it.”

“It was a little bit of a roller coaster ride,” Austin Dillon said. “We fought our butts off in the stages. We made some good moves to get points and found ourselves in fourth-place for a green-white-checkered here at Daytona. That’s where we were when we won the Daytona 500, so I was feeling pretty good about it…We fought hard. The Bass Pro Shop Chevy was very fast. Two weeks in a row we’ve had great cars out of the No. 3 team. Just haven’t gotten the finishes we’d like to have, but very thankful that the good Lord took care of us tonight and we get to race at Darlington next week. Unfortunate that we’re not in the Playoffs, but we gave it all we could and fought until the very end.”

Justin Haley, Bowman, Elliott, BJ McLeod and Josh Bilicki finished in the top 10.

Despite being involved on the final lap accident, Kyle Larson, who was scored in 20th claimed the NASCAR Cup Series regular-season championship over Denny Hamlin, who ended up in 13th. The result made Larson the fourth different competitor to achieve the regular-season title in the Cup Series.

“I think I read somewhere earlier this week where we had overcome a 166-point gap to Denny [Hamlin],” Larson said. “I didn’t think it was possible, but our team worked so hard all of the regular season and [I] couldn’t have done it without Mr. [Hendrick] and Linda, all of their support, everybody back at the shop, too. It’s a long season, and we still got 10 races to go, but it’s a long point to get to here…I’m just the lucky guy who gets to drive [the car] and get a lot of the credit, but it’s really credit to everybody back at the shop.”

Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, William Byron, Alex Bowman, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Christopher Bell, Aric Almirola, Michael McDowell, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Tyler Reddick have made the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, and will contend for this year’s championship.

Chris Buescher, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Newman, Ryan Preece, Erik Jones, Corey LaJoie, Austin Dillon, Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez, Chase Briscoe, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Cole Custer, Matt DiBenedetto, Anthony Alfredo and Quin Houff are among the remaining competitors who failed to make the Playoffs.

There were 45 lead changes for 15 different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 31 laps.

Results.

1. Ryan Blaney, seven laps led

2. Bubba Wallace, eight laps led

3. Ryan Newman, two laps led

4. Ryan Preece

5. Justin Haley

6. Tyler Reddick

7. Alex Bowman

8. Chase Elliott, 36 laps led

9. BJ McLeod

10. Josh Bilicki

11. Erik Jones

12. Kurt Busch

13. Denny Hamlin, seven laps led

14. Aric Almirola

15. Kevin Harvick, four laps led

16. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Accident, one lap led

17. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident, three laps led

18. Ross Chastain – OUT, Accident, 14 laps led

19. Daniel Suarez – OUT, Accident

20. Kyle Larson – OUT, Accident

21. Chase Briscoe – OUT, Accident

22. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap down

23. Joey Logano, one lap down, 37 laps led

24. Cole Custer, one lap down

25. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap down

26. Anthony Alfredo, two laps down

27. David Starr, two laps down

28. Cody Ware, two laps down

29. Martin Truex Jr., two laps down, 13 laps led

30. Garrett Smithley, two laps down

31. Joey Gase, three laps down

32. Christopher Bell – OUT, Accident, eight laps led

33. Brad Keselowski – OUT, Accident

34. Kyle Busch – OUT, Accident, five laps led

35. Kaz Grala – OUT, Accident

36. Landon Cassill – OUT, Accident

37. William Byron – OUT, Accident, 12 laps led

38. Quin Houff, 29 laps down

39. Michael McDowell – OUT

40. Chris Buescher – Disqualified, eight laps led

The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will commence next weekend at Darlington Raceway for the Cook Out Southern 500 on Sunday, September 5, which will start at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

August 29, 2021