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  • Blaney steals the show with a late victory at Michigan

    Blaney steals the show with a late victory at Michigan

    The outside lane at Michigan International Speedway was the preferred lane for many at Michigan International Speedway, but the inside lane prevailed at the right time for Ryan Blaney. The High Point, North Carolina, native received a push from Kyle Busch to overtake and beat William Byron in an eight-lap dash to win the FireKeepers Casino 400 at the Irish Hills on Sunday, August 22.

    The victory was Blaney’s second of the season and his first since winning at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March.

    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, the regular-season points leader, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with teammate Chase Elliott.

    Prior to the event, Josh Berry and Joey Gase started at the rear of the field due to driver changes from their respective machines.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, teammates Larson and Elliott dueled dead even until Ryan Blaney issued a challenge on the inside lane through the first turn. Through the backstretch, however, Larson was able to pull ahead on the outside lane as he went on to lead the first lap ahead of Matt DiBenedetto.

    Meanwhile, Kurt Busch powered his way into third while Elliott was challenged by Kevin Harvick for fourth place. Behind, Ryan Blaney slipped back into the top 10 as Alex Bowman, Denny Hamlin and others moved up the leaderboard.

    On the third lap, DiBenedetto, who challenged Larson for the lead early, led the third lap before Larson took it back. Through the backstretch and entering Turn 4, Kurt Busch then moved into the runner-up spot over DiBenedetto as Elliott started to reel in the leaders. Just behind the top-four competitors were Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick, both of whom were battling for a top-five spot ahead of Alex Bowman.

    Through the first five laps, Larson continued to lead by nearly two-tenths of a second over Kurt Busch. Meanwhile, Martin Truex Jr. was mired back in 33rd after he sustained left-rear quarterpanel damage to his No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry.

    By Lap 10, Larson’s No. 5 Cincinnati Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE was leading by nearly four-tenths of a second over Kurt Busch’s No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE while DiBenedetto, Elliott and Hamlin were in the top five. Harvick was in sixth followed by Bowman, Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch. William Byron was in 11th ahead of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Blaney was back in 13th ahead of Chris Buescher and Erik Jones, who announced his return to Richard Petty Motorsports for the 2022 season. Ryan Newman was in 16th ahead of rookie Chase Briscoe, Brad Keselowski, Austin Dillon and Christopher Bell. Aric Almirola was in 21st ahead of Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez, Michael McDowell was in 24th, Bubba Wallace was in 26th and Cole Custer was in 29th. 

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 20, Larson, who has led all but one of the scheduled laps, was the leader by nearly half a second over Kurt Busch. By then, Byron moved into the top 10 while Blaney and Harvick fell back to 12th and 16th. Truex, meanwhile, was still mired in 33rd.

    Under the competition caution, the leaders pitted and Hamlin emerged with the lead after only opting for fuel under his first pit stop. Larson, who elected for a two-tire pit stop, exited in second followed by Kurt Busch, Elliott, Bowman and Reddick.

    When the race restarted on Lap 25, Hamlin, who restarted on the outside lane, received a push from Larson to muscled away from Elliott, who elected to restart on the inside lane on the front row. Elliott, though, was able to settle in the runner-up spot ahead of teammate Larson through the backstretch.

    Two laps later, Elliott thundered his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE into the lead over Hamlin’s No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry. Behind, Kurt Busch overtook Larson for fourth while Reddick settled in fifth.

    The following lap, Kurt Busch drag-raced and battled Hamlin for the runner-up spot, but Hamlin managed to prevail on the outside lane through the first two turns. Behind, Joey Logano challenged Larson for fourth, but he lost his momentum in Turn 4 and fell back to sixth ahead of Byron and Bowman.

    Through the first 30 laps of the event, Elliott was leading by nearly four-tenths of a second over Hamlin while Larson, Kurt Busch and Reddick battled in the top five. Byron moved up to sixth ahead of Logano, Bowman, DiBenedetto and Austin Dillon.

    Shortly after, the caution flew when Joey Gase wrecked in Turn 2. Under caution, few like Daniel Suarez pitted while the rest led by Elliott remained on the track.

    When the race restarted on Lap 35, Elliott and Kurt Busch battled dead even for the lead through the first turn and the backstretch until Elliott managed to pull ahead in Turn 3. Behind, Hamlin, who received a push from Logano through Turn 4, moved up to second while Logano moved his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang in front of Kurt Busch for third the following lap. The next lap after, Larson overtook Kurt Busch for fourth in Turn 3 while Austin Dillon, a competitor battling for a Playoff spot and who opted for four fresh tires under the competition caution, challenged Busch for fifth. 

    Nearing the first 40 laps of the event and with the field jostling for positions, Elliott was leading by three-tenths of a second over Hamlin and Logano. Larson and Austin Dillon were in the top five followed by Kurt Busch, DiBenedetto, Blaney, Byron and Brad Keselowski. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch, Harvick and Truex were in 12th, 13th and 16th while Tyler Reddick was back in 15th.

    With the race surpassing the Lap 50 mark, Elliott was leading by half a second over Austin Dillon. Hamlin, Logano and Larson were in the top five followed by Byron and DiBenedetto while Kurt Busch fell back to eighth ahead of brother Kyle and Blaney.

    Back at the front, Austin Dillon and Larson started to reel in on Elliott for the lead. Despite the challenge, though, Elliott was able to maintain the lead and claim his second stage victory of the season by winning the first stage on Lap 60. Behind, Larson managed to edge Dillon at the line to settle in second while Hamlin held off Byron to retain fourth. Logano, DiBenedetto, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch and Keselowski settled in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Larson exited with the lead following a stellar four-tire pit stop. Elliott followed in second ahead of Austin Dillon, Suarez (who opted for two fresh tires), Logano and Kyle Busch while Hamlin, who pitted from fourth place, fell back to 10th. Prior to the restart, Logano returned to pit road to have the lug nuts on his car tightened.

    The second stage started on Lap 66 as Larson and Austin Dillon started on the front row. At the start, Larson and Dillon battled dead even for the lead for a full lap until Larson prevailed on the outside lane through Turn 1. With Larson clear in the lead, teammate Elliott moved up to second over Dillon, who was being challenged by DiBenedetto for more.

    Behind, contact from DiBenedetto got Kurt Busch loose in Turn 3. While Busch prevented the car from spinning, he fell out of the top 10 and was mired near the midfield and around a bevy of cars. At the front, though, Larson continued to lead ahead of teammate Elliott, Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch and Suarez.

    By Lap 75, a three-way battle for the lead ensued as Larson, the leader, was pressured by Austin Dillon and Elliott for the top spot, all three of whom were separated by approximately three-tenths of a second. Kyle Busch was up in fourth followed by DiBenedetto, Keselowski, Christopher Bell, Hamlin, Bubba Wallace and Harvick.

    Five laps later, Elliott motored his way back into the lead.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 100, Elliott continued to lead by a narrow margin over teammate Larson. Austin Dillon settled in third ahead of Kyle Busch and Bell while Hamlin was in sixth. DiBenedetto, Byron, Keselowski and Blaney were in the top 10.

    Not long after, pit stops under green commenced as names like Harvick, Byron, Stenhouse, rookie Chase Briscoe and Bowman pitted. By Lap 110, Larson surrendered the lead to pit. The following lap, Elliott also pitted. A few laps later, Kyle Busch and Hamlin pitted, but Hamlin slid past his pit box while trying to enter his stall. During the pit stops, Ross Chastain took his car to the garage due to a fire in the rear end of his No. 42 Moose Fraternity Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.

    Back on the track and with the green flag pit stops concluding, Kyle Busch, who pitted three and four laps later than Larson and Elliott, cycled to the lead. Bell was in second while Larson and Elliott closed in and challenged Hamlin for third.

    Utilizing his pit strategy to perfection, Kyle Busch cruised to his fifth stage victory of the season after winning the second stage on Lap 120. Teammate Bell settled in second followed by Larson, Elliott and Hamlin. Behind, Austin Dillon nipped Keselowski for sixth, but then, Dillon’s strong day evaporated after contact from Keselowski sent Dillon head-on into the Turn 4 outside wall, where his car nearly flipped, before coming to a rest below the apron. The damage to the No. 3 Chevrolet was enough to terminate Dillon’s run for the day and put a huge dent to his Playoff hopes, though he will have a final opportunity to make the postseason next weekend at Daytona International Speedway. 

    “I was just trying to get as many stage points as I could get right there and did a good job of side-drafting and came down to the apron and I’ve seen just one quick replay, but it was after the start/finish line,” Dillon said at the infield care center on NBCSN. “I was starting to come up off the apron because it’s so rough down there. But I figured by that point, [Keselowski] would have given me a little room. I hate it. I’m thankful that the good Lord kept me safe today. That was a heck of a wreck, but I feel fine.

    “I hate it for BREZTRI and my guys, most of all,” Dillon added. “They built a rocket ship. They really wanted this one, and I did too. Just working our tails off right there. I think we would have had a shot to do something there at the end with our race car. It’s the best race car we’ve brought to the track at [Richard Childress Racing] this year, I feel like. It’s just a bummer but we’ve got Daytona left and I just hate it. I don’t know why it happened, really. I thought I had a little room to come up and he just held me down there a little bit too long, I guess.”

    In the midst of the incident, Reddick, Byron and DiBenedetto rounded out the top-10 stage points positions in the second stage.

    Under the stage break, names like Kyle Busch, Wallace, Elliott, Hamlin, Bell and Erik Jones pitted while the rest led by Larson remained on the track.

    With 74 laps remaining, the final stage started as Larson and Kurt Busch started on the front row. At the start, Larson and Kurt Busch battled dead even for the lead for a full lap, where Busch led for the first time before Larson received a push from teammate Byron to grab the lead through the first two turns. Behind, Byron motored his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE into the runner-up spot while Busch fell back to third ahead of Blaney, DiBenedetto and Truex.

    With 60 laps remaining, Larson was leading by a tenth of a second over teammate Byron while Kurt Busch, Blaney and Bowman were in the top five. Truex, following his early issues, was up in sixth ahead of teammate Hamlin, DiBenedetto, Logano and Reddick. Kyle Busch was mired back in 11th, Elliott was in 14th ahead of Harvick, Keselowski was back in 18th and Bell was in 21st.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event and with overcast clouds hovering above the track, Larson continued to lead by nearly four-tenths of a second over teammate Byron. Kurt Busch and Blaney remained in third and fourth while Truex was up in fifth ahead of teammate Hamlin, Bowman and Logano.

    Nearing the final 40 laps of the event, names like Elliott, Byron, Bowman and Blaney pitted under green. During this time, Larson, who ran out of fuel, pitted along with Kurt Busch, but he was overtaken by teammate Byron on the track.

    Under the final 40 laps, Hamlin emerged with the lead followed by teammate Truex while Logano, Kyle Busch and Reddick were in the top five. Not long after, Logano pitted along with Harvick and Truex.

    With 35 laps remaining, Hamlin pitted as teammate Kyle Busch took the lead. Following Hamlin’s pit service, teammates Byron and Larson managed to overtake him on the track. Three laps later, Kyle Busch pitted along with Elliott, thus giving the lead to Keselowski as Chris Buescher was in second and Bell was in third, all of whom were among some who needed to pit.

    With 20 laps remaining, the caution flew due to precipitation reported on the track. Five laps earlier, Byron emerged with the lead after Keselowski and Bell pitted, thus completing the cycle of green-flag pit stops. Teammate Larson moved up to second followed by Hamlin, Kurt Busch and Blaney.

    Under caution, some led by Keselowski pitted while the rest led by Byron remained on the track.

    Down to the final 14 laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Byron and Kurt Busch started on the front row. At the start, the field stacked up past the start/finish line, but Byron received a push from teammate Larson to retain the lead through the first turn. 

    As the field fanned out through the backstretch, Hamlin aggressively charged his way into the runner-up spot over Larson while Reddick made a bold four-wide move on Logano, Kurt Busch and Blaney entering Turn 3 in a bid to gain spots towards his Playoff hopes. Then, through Turns 3 and 4, Reddick slowly drifted up the track and got loose in front of Logano, who got sideways and turned by Truex. The spin by Logano ignited a chain-reaction wreck that involved Bell, Josh Berry, McDowell and Ryan Newman. The incident drew the caution back on the circuit. 

    With eight laps remaining, the race restarted. At the start and with the leaders battling dead even, Blaney, who restarted as the first competitor on the inside lane, received a huge shove from Kyle Busch to assume the lead in the first turn ahead of Byron as the field fanned out.

    A lap later, Reddick spun in Turn 3, but the race remained under green. Back at the front, Blaney continued to lead by a narrow margin over Byron, Larson and Kurt Busch. Behind, Briscoe overtook Hamlin for fifth. 

    Down to the final five laps of the event, the top-seven competitors were separated by half a second as Blaney, the leader, had Larson closing in on his rear bumper through the first two turns along with Byron, Kurt Busch, Hamlin, Briscoe and DiBenedetto. 

    A lap later, Kurt Busch, who challenged Byron for third, wiggled in Turn 2 and lost his momentum before he was hit by Briscoe. Despite the contact, all competitors continued straight. A turn later, DiBenedetto shoved Hamlin out of the way on the inside lane, which sent Hamlin up the track in front of Briscoe, all of whom continued without wrecking.

    Back at the front, Larson issued a challenge beneath Blaney, but he could not carry the momentum in Turn 1. Two turns later, Byron passed teammate Larson for the runner-up spot as he started to intimidate Blaney for the lead.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap of the race occurred, Blaney was still leading ahead of Byron and Larson, both of whom were setting up a final challenge on Blaney for the top spot. Through the first turn and the backstretch, Byron gained a draft but was unable to execute a dive run on Blaney entering Turn 3. Through Turns 3 and 4, Byron tried another move from the outside lane, but the run came too late as Blaney edged Byron by 0.077 seconds to capture his first victory in the Irish Hills and in an upset fashion.

    In addition to capturing his second victory of the season and first at Michigan, Blaney achieved his sixth win in the NASCAR Cup Series and his first multi-victory season in the Cup circuit. He also recorded the seventh consecutive Cup victory for the Ford nameplate at Michigan.

    “We got a great push by [Kyle Busch] on the restart and was able to get clear there,” Blaney, who led the final eight laps, said on NBCSN. “Michigan’s a matter of pretty much wide open and just trying to play the air game. I hate you have to race that way, but that’s how you have to run. It worked out for us. Man, I’m proud of everybody on the No. 12 team. We weren’t great to start the day off and yeah, kept working and working, got a lot better. It’s so cool to get in Victory Lane for Ford here. This is such a huge one for Ford. That was cool, man. I’m fired up.”

    Behind, Byron, who led 18 laps, settled in the runner-up spot while Larson, who led a race-high 71 laps and was aiming for his fourth victory at Michigan, ended up in third.

    “[Hamlin] tried to shove us into [Turn] 1 and I had to stay with him to not sacrifice my right rear,” Byron said. “Once you get put three-wide middle, it’s game over. I gave up the lead trying to protect the top [lane] and just didn’t have the loyalty there to push me to the lead. Overall, a really good car. The AXALTA Chevrolet was extremely fast. Definitely, I know we can bring that to the Playoffs. It stinks to finish second, but I feel like we had a really good car to go to battle with.

    “Yeah, the restart worked out a little better than I thought it was going to for me,” Larson said. “[Hamlin] tried to stick [Byron] three-wide. They got loose. I got to the middle. I think came out third or something there. Was able to get to second. Just made a couple bad moves, I guess. I think honestly just a little too patient behind [Blaney]. Could have made some later, you know, dives I guess to the inside. Who knows. I need to watch the replay.

    “Just made a couple wrong moves, allowed William to get by me. Once I was in third, I hoped they would get racing, get side drafted. I was never close enough to William to help him generate a run on [Blaney]. Ended up third. A good points day. Wish we could have had more, but all in all a good day for the Cincinnati Chevy.”

    Kurt Busch came home in fourth ahead of Hamlin while DiBenedetto, Kyle Busch, Elliott, Keselowski and Truex finished in the top 10.

    Despite finishing 14th, Kevin Harvick clinched his spot into the Playoffs based on points.

    There were 20 lead changes for 11 different leaders. The race six featured cautions for 29 laps.

    With one race remaining until the 2021 Cup Playoffs commences, Larson continues to lead the regular-season standings by 28 points over Denny Hamlin. Currently, 13 competitors (Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, William Byron, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Christopher Bell, Aric Almirola and Michael McDowell) are guaranteed Playoff spots based on winning at least once throughout the regular season.

    Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick are also guaranteed spots in the Playoffs based on points.

    Tyler Reddick, meanwhile, occupies the 16th and final berth to the Playoffs by 25 points over teammate Austin Dillon, with Matt DiBenedetto trailing by 120 points, Chris Buescher by 135, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. by 173, Ross Chastain by 185, Bubba Wallace by 195, Chase Briscoe by 227, Erik Jones by 250, Daniel Suarez by 254, Ryan Newman by 271, Ryan Preece by 279, Cole Custer by 295, Corey LaJoie by 370 and Anthony Alfredo by 440.

    Results:

    1. Ryan Blaney, eight laps led

    2. William Byron, 18 laps led

    3. Kyle Larson, 71 laps led

    4. Kurt Busch, one lap led

    5. Denny Hamlin, 10 laps led

    6. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap led

    7. Kyle Busch, 13 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    8. Chase Elliott, 68 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    9. Brad Keselowski, six laps led

    10. Martin Truex Jr.

    11. Chase Briscoe 

    12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    13. Christopher Bell

    14. Kevin Harvick

    15. Chris Buescher

    16. Alex Bowman

    17. Aric Almirola

    18. Erik Jones

    19. Bubba Wallace

    20. Michael McDowell

    21. Ryan Preece

    22. Daniel Suarez

    23. Cole Custer

    24. Ryan Newman

    25. Justin Haley

    26. Josh Berry

    27. Cody Ware, one lap down

    28. BJ McLeod, two laps down

    29. Tyler Reddick, two laps down

    30. Quin Houff, four laps down

    31. Josh Bilicki, five laps down

    32. Garrett Smithley, six laps down

    33. Joey Logano – OUT, Dvp

    34. Anthony Alfredo, 22 laps down

    35. Ross Chastain, 48 laps down

    36. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident

    37. Joey Gase – OUT, Accident

    The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season will cap off its regular-season stretch next weekend at Daytona International Speedway for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 and where the 16-car Playoff field will be determined. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, August 28, at 7 p.m. ET on NBC. 

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Indy Road Course

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Indy Road Course

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Kyle Larson: Larson finished third at Indy’s road course after contact on the last restart shuffled him out of contention for the win.

    “If not for a late debris caution,” Larson said, “I would have won the race going away. That would have been my sixth win of the year. Even so, with five wins, I’m still like the Charlie Sheen of NASCAR, because there’s winning and speed.”

    2. Chase Elliott: Elliott led 14 laps and finished fourth at Indy’s road course.

    “Before the track went haywire,” Elliott said, “it looked like it would be a battle between me and Kyle Larson. Kyle still beat me, which he’s done often. He really has my number. Every week, it seems he’s passing me for the lead. He keeps reminding me that the most applicable word that rhymes with ‘teammate’ is ‘checkmate.’”

    3. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin led with a lap remaining at Indy’s road course, but was bumped out of the lead and spun out by Chase Briscoe. Hamlin finished 23rd and confronted Briscoe after the race.

    “I wasn’t looking for a fight,” Hamlin said, just an explanation. And Chase’s explanation left me looking for a fight. Briscoe can say he didn’t know a penalty was coming; I don’t buy it. Briscoe’s concept of the rules is just as faulty as his concept of honesty.

    “I’m still winless. And I’ll be at a disadvantage when the playoffs start. But I could very well make history by becoming the first Cup champion to not win a single race. It would be quite an accomplishment. Trust me, it will be an ‘L’ of an accomplishment.”

    4. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex salvaged a 15th-place finish despite an early tire rub and a spin suffered when Truex ran over debris knocked loose from another car that ran over Indy’s faulty curbing.

    “I don’t know who was responsible for the curb issues at Indianapolis,” Truex said. “But they should be ‘curb-stomped.’

    5. Alex Bowman: Bowman finished 17th in the Verizon 200.

    “That was a wild race,” Bowman said. “Maybe the most exciting part for the fans trackside was seeing the track demolish the front ends of nine cars on Lap 77 when the curbing came up. So, that race had ‘Curb A-peel.’”

    6. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 14th in the Verizon 200.

    “What a stunning win for AJ Allmendinger,” Harvick said. “I may not be Allmendinger, but I feel like we could have something in common—we both could be playoff ineligible.”

    7. Kyle Busch: Busch finished 20th in a wild, crash-filled race on Indianapolis’ road course.

    “Drivers had mixed opinions about Indy’s road course,” Busch said. “I think those mixed opinions just became unanimous. Ask any driver now, and to a man, I think they would all choose 160 painstakingly monotonous laps in the Brickyard 400 over 95 incredibly exciting and eventful laps in the Verizon 200.”

    8. William Byron: Byron was snagged in a big crash caused by faulty curbing. He finished 33rd.

    “Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb waved the green flag to start the race,” Byron said. “Maybe he should have waved the red flag instead, and passed his own infrastructure bill to address outdated curbing at IMS.”

    9. Joey Logano: Logano’s day ended on Lap 77 when the curbing came undone and caused nine cars to wreck. Logano was one of the unlucky and finished 34th.

    “The curb just demolished the front end of my car,” Logano said. “In addition to several parts of my car, all hell broke loose as well. I really thought I could have won the race. But what’s the opposite of ‘kissing the bricks?’ ‘Kissing the curb.’”

    10. AJ Allmendinger: Allmendinger survived the attrition of a crash-filled Verizon 200 at the Brickyard and took the lead when Chase Briscoe took out Denny Hamlin.

    “I’d like to thank my team and my sponsors,” Allmendinger said. “We’ve had our difficulties this season, but much like the curbing at Indy—you just can’t keep us down.”

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Watkins Glen

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Watkins Glen

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Kyle Larson: Larson took charge in Stage 3 and held off Chase Elliott to win at Watkins Glen, earning his fifth win of the season.

    “This was a lot like my win at Sonoma in June,” Larson said. “There, I held off Elliott late, just like I did at Watkins Glen. Trust me, life is so much better when you don’t ‘get caught.’”

    2. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished fifth in the Go Bowling At The Glen.

    “Michael Jordan was at the race,” Hamlin said. “He was watching from the pits of Bubba Wallace’s No. 23 car, which we co-own. When Michael heard he’d be watching from the ‘pits,’ he got really excited, because he thought it would be in a casino.”

    3. Chase Elliott: Elliott started from the rear and almost pulled off the “worst-to-first” win, but couldn’t catch Hendrick teammate Kyle Larson, who scored his fifth win.

    “I failed pre-race inspection twice,” Elliott said. “Yeah, I said ‘twice.’ That’s a big ‘no-no.’ In any case, I had to start at the rear and my crew chief Alan Gustafson was ejected. Did it matter? Not really. I still was able to almost win the race, despite the penalties. Do I feel guilty about that? Yes, way more guilty than I feel about actually committing the penalties.”

    4. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex won Stage 2 and finished a strong third at Watkins Glen.

    “I’m disappointed,” Truex said. “Mostly because I didn’t fail inspection twice, didn’t have my crew chief ejected, and didn’t start from the rear, yet I still finished behind the guy who did. It’s hard to have a meaningful penalty in NASCAR when they are actually meaningless.”

    5. Kyle Busch: Busch finished fourth at Watkins Glen, sandwiched between Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin.

    “My brother Kurt is still looking for a ride for next season,” Busch said. “I told him if I hear of a team looking for a driver, I’d let him now. In other words, my ears will be ‘perked up,’ just not surgically.”

    6. Alex Bowman: Bowman came home 20th at Watkins Glen, the only Hendrick Motorsports driver outside the top-6.

    “How about You Tuber Tyler Hoover giving the ‘Start your engines’ command,” Bowman said. “That voice made me want to start my engine, then get as far away from him as possible. Hey, I like Norwegian death metal just as much as the next guy, but I like my grand marshals a bit more subdued.”

    7. William Byron: Byron finished sixth in the Go Bowling At The Glen as Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott scrapped for the win.

    “Larson and Elliott really led the way for Hendrick Motorsports,” Byron said. “Those guys dominate road courses. I like to think Alex and I are called the road course ‘B Team’ just because of our last names.”

    8. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished eighth at Watkins Glen.

    “Once again,” Harvick said, “my No. 4 Chevy sported the Busch Light Apple paint scheme. If you like Busch, and you like apples, you’re probably a reasonable person. If you like them together, you’re probably insane. But, by all means, buy a 12-pack.”

    9. Joey Logano: Logano won Stage 1 at Watkins Glen and eventually finished 22nd.

    “It was not a good day for Fords at Watkins Glen,” Logano said. “If Henry Ford were alive today, he’d be steaming. Actually, I guess he’d be combusting.”

    10. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski started on the pole at Watkins Glen and finished 35th in the GoBowling At The Glen.

    “I suffered two spins in Stage 1 alone,” Keselowski said. “It was a brake issue, so I told my crew exactly what you’d expect, ‘Make it stop.’”

  • Larson claims fifth checkered flag of 2021 at Watkins Glen

    Larson claims fifth checkered flag of 2021 at Watkins Glen

    Victory No. 5 was awarded to the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at Watkins Glen International after Kyle Larson led the final 26 of 90 laps and fended off his teammate and a hard-charging Chase Elliott to win the Go Bowling at The Glen on Sunday, August 8. The victory was Larson’s fifth of the season, which reignited his challenge for this year’s NASCAR Cup Series title.

    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, Brad Keselowski, who is set to join Roush Fenway Racing as a driver and co-owner in 2022, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with teammate Joey Logano.

    Prior to the event, Chase Elliott and Christopher Bell started at the rear of the field due to their respective cars not complying with the technical rules related to the rear window air deflector. As a result, Alan Gustafson, Elliott’s crew chief, and Adam Stevens, Bell’s crew chief, have been suspended from participating in today’s Cup event along with being fined $25,000. Both competitors were docked 10 points. Engineer Tom Gray served as an interim crew chief for Elliott while car chief Chris Sherwood was atop the pit box of Bell’s team.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Keselowski managed to pull ahead of teammate Logano to assume an early advantage through the first turn and heading into the Esses. Through the Esses, the backstretch, the chicane and the seven-turn, 2.45-mile road course, Keselowski managed to lead the first lap while the field battled jostled for positioning.

    Following the first lap, Ryan Newman spun in Turn 1, but he managed to continued and the race proceeded under green.

    By the third lap, Keselowski was still leading by three-tenths of a second over teammate Logano, with Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. in the top five. Ryan Blaney was in sixth followed by Tyler Reddick, William Byron, Kevin Harvick and Alex Bowman.

    Through the first five laps of the event, Keselowski, racing in the No. 2 Wabash National Ford Mustang, continued to hold a slim lead over teammate Logano’s No. 22 Verizon 5G Ford Mustang and Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. By then, Elliott and Bell were mired back in 23rd and 26th.

    On the ninth lap, Keselowski got loose while leading and spun in Turn 6. Keselowski’s misfortune allowed teammate Logano to slip by and take the lead just as the competition caution flew scheduled on Lap 10. Larson moved up to second place followed by Truex, Hamlin and Blaney while Keselowski, who quickly recovered following his spin, fell back to sixth.

    Under the competition caution, names like Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Elliott, Michael McDowell, Bubba Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Preece, rookie Chase Briscoe and others pitted while the rest led by Logano remained on the track.

    When the race restarted on Lap 12, Logano managed to pull ahead of Larson and retain the lead through the first turn and heading into the Esses. While Larson kept Logano in his sights, Truex and Hamlin were in third and fourth while Reddick battled Blaney, Byron and Kyle Busch for a spot in the top five. 

    By Lap 15, Logano continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over Larson while third-place Truex and fourth-place Hamlin were approximately a second behind. By then, Reddick retained fifth ahead of Blaney, Byron, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Alex Bowman. Behind, Austin Dillon was in 11th ahead of Erik Jones, Keselowski was in 14th behind Matt DiBenedetto, Aric Almirola was in 15th in front of Ross Chastain and Bell, Elliott and Kurt Busch were in 18th and 20th, Briscoe was in 21st, Daniel Suarez and Bubba Wallace were in 22nd and 25th and Ryan Newman was in 26th ahead of Stenhouse and Michael McDowell.

    Not long after, some competitors led by Blaney and including Harvick, DiBenedetto, Ryan Newman, Chastain, Briscoe, Cole Custer, Wallace, Bell and Almirola pitted under green. The following lap, Truex pitted just as the pit road entrance closed to signal the end of the first stage nearing.

    Back on the track, Logano continued to lead by nearly half a second over Larson and more than a second over Hamlin. Despite being pressured by Larson, Logano managed to maintain the lead and capture the first stage victory on Lap 20, thus claiming his fourth stage victory of the season. Larson settled in second followed by Hamlin, Reddick, Byron, Kyle Busch, Bowman, Elliott, Austin Dillon and Erik Jones.

    Under the stage break, a majority led by Logano pitted while others led by Stenhouse and Truex remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 22. At the start, Briscoe, who restarted on the second row, made a bold three-wide move in a bid for the lead. Truex, however, was able to take over the lead over Briscoe through the first turn and the Esses. Behind, Kevin Harvick made his way to fourth ahead of Blaney, Bell and Matt DiBenedetto.

    Approaching Lap 24, the caution flew due to James Davison stalling his car near Turns 6 and 7. By then, Truex was leading by more than a second over Briscoe, with Stenhouse, Harvick and Bell running in the top five. Behind, Blaney spun through the Bus Stop, but he managed to continue. In addition, Keselowski pitted to address a braking issue to his car. 

    Under caution, names like Keselowski, Suarez, rookie Anthony Alfredo, Blaney and RC Enerson pitted while the rest led by Truex remained on the track.

    When the race restarted on Lap 27, Truex managed to retain the lead while Harvick, a former Glen winner who is pursuing his first victory of the season, muscled his way into the runner-up spot. Briscoe fell back to third ahead of Bell, DiBenedetto and Stenhouse.

    By Lap 30, Truex continued to lead by more than two seconds over teammate Bell, who out-braked Harvick entering the Bus Stop the previous lap to take over the runner-up spot. Briscoe and DiBenedetto were in the top five followed by Chastain, Stenhouse, Logano, Custer and Larson. Behind, Elliott, who was running in the mid-20s, pitted under green after he flat-spotted his tires.

    With three laps remaining in the second stage, Bubba Wallace and Corey LaJoie pitted under green. By then, Truex was leading by three seconds over teammate Bell.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 40, Truex remained uncontested as he claimed his fifth stage victory of the season. Bell settled in second, trailing by more than three seconds, while Harvick, Larson, Briscoe, Chastain, DiBenedetto, Hamlin, Logano and Kyle Busch were scored in the top 10.

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

    With 47 laps remaining, the final stage started. At the start, Truex launched ahead while Bell withstood his ground over Harvick to retain the runner-up spot. Through the Esses, the backstretch and the bus stop, the field settled in a single-file line as Truex remained at the front ahead of teammate Bell.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 45, Truex was leading by three-tenths of a second over teammate Bell while Larson was in third and trailing by more than six-tenths of a second. Chastain and Harvick were in the top five followed by Briscoe, Kyle Busch, Byron, Logano and DiBenedetto. Behind, Austin Dillon was in 11th ahead of Newman and Aric Almirola, Keselowski was in 15th behind teammate Blaney, Hamlin and Elliott were in 16th and 18th, Kurt Busch was in 21st ahead of Reddick and Wallace was in 24th ahead of Bowman and Suarez.

    Two laps later, Bell and Larson issued a challenge for the lead on Truex past the start/finis line and entering the first turn, but Truex managed to fend off the near three-wide battle from both competitors past the first turn and through the Esses.

    With 40 laps remaining, the top-three competitors — Truex, Bell and Larson — were separated by less than a second, with Truex continuing to lead over teammate Bell and Larson. Chastain and Harvick continued to run in the top five ahead of Briscoe, Kyle Busch, Byron, DiBenedetto and Hamlin. By then, Elliott moved up to 11th ahead of Logano.

    Four laps later, what became an intense three-car battle for the lead dwindled down to two after Larson locked up his brakes and bumped into Bell, thus sending Bell’s No. 20 Stanley Toyota Camry spinning in Turn 1, though he continued under green. 

    With Bell out of contention, Truex was leading by more than a second over Larson. Behind, Harvick and Chastain pitted under green. Back on track, another green-flag incident occurred in Turn 1 after Keselowski locked up entering the first turn and spun, clipping teammate Logano in the process as both Penske competitors spun and sustained damage to their respective Mustangs.

    In the ensuing laps, names like Briscoe, DiBenedetto, Newman and McDowell pitted under green. Truex, the race leader, also pitted along with runner-up Larson, giving the lead to Hamlin while Elliott moved up to second.

    With 30 laps remaining and a variety of pit strategy occurring, Hamlin continued to lead while Elliott surrendered the runner-up spot to pit. By then, names like Blaney, Bowman, Almirola, Chris Buescher, Wallace, Alfredo, Josh Bilicki, Reddick and Stenhouse had made a pit stop.

    On Lap 63, Kurt Busch took over the top spot after Hamlin brought his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry for fuel. Two laps later, Kurt Busch pitted and Larson, who had managed to squeak ahead of Truex on pit road during his previous pit stop, emerged with the lead. By then, Custer and Suarez pitted.

    With 15 laps remaining, Larson was leading by nearly three seconds over Truex and nearly seven seconds over Elliott, who was the fastest competitor on the track. Behind, Kyle Busch and Byron were in the top five followed by Hamlin, Bell, Harvick, Chastain and Briscoe. 

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Larson continued to lead by less than five seconds over Truex, who also had the No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE piloted by Elliott in his rearview mirror.

    Not long after, Elliott overtook Truex’s No. 19 Reser’s Fine Foods Toyota Camry to move into the runner-up spot. By then, Elliott was more than five seconds behind teammate Larson.

    With five laps remaining, Larson maintained an advantage of approximately five seconds over teammate Elliott while Truex was trailing by more than seven seconds.

    Two laps later, Larson’s advantage was cut down to more than three seconds as Elliott continued to close in on his Hendrick Motorsports teammate. By then, the leaders were mired in lapped traffic.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson was leading by less than three seconds over teammate Elliott, who was given a final opportunity to win the event after starting at the rear of the field.

    Through the first turn, the Esses, the bus stop and the final corners, Larson was able to streak across the finish line and grab the win and the checkered flag by more than two seconds over teammate Elliott.

    In addition to claiming his fifth victory of the season, Larson captured his 11th NASCAR Cup Series career win and his second on a road course after winning at Sonoma Raceway in June. Larson also recorded the 10th Cup victory of the season for Hendrick Motorsports. With that, Larson, who signed a two-year contract extension to remain at Hendrick Motorsports nearly a month ago, drew himself into a tie with fifth-place finisher Denny Hamlin for the lead in the regular-season standings.

    “Yeah, it’s awesome,” Larson said on NBCSN. “I mean, it really just shows how good the organization is, all the people that they’ve assembled at their race shop, all the men and women. All four of us could not be getting these wins like we have been without them. Thanks to them, and thanks to everybody else I get to race for. Chase was already catching me pretty quick, even with me being in open track, so when I caught those, I think, four cars and got into [Anthony Alfredo] right here, I thought I would look at my mirror and [Elliott] would be right on me, but thankfully had a comfortable enough gap to where I could make a mistake like that…Thanks for everything you guys do for me, everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, Rick Hendrick, Jeff Gordon, [crew chief] Cliff Daniels, this whole 5 bunch. Another amazing car. I could tell from about Lap 3 after I stopped making a bunch of mistakes that we were going to have a car that could win today.”

    Elliott, who started at the rear of the field following a pre-race technical issue that left his crew chief Alan Gustafson suspended for the remainder of the day, settled in second place as he came one spot short in winning at The Glen for a third consecutive time.

    “I made too many mistakes to get the win, unfortunately, and made it too late in the race,” Elliott said. “Super proud of our team. Been kind of an uphill battle all day, but everybody was just super prepared coming into the day, and our NAPA team just did a really good job of fighting it. If I hadn’t have let them down there, I think we would have had a shot at it, but congrats to Kyle [Larson, race winner], Cliff, all the guys on the No. 5 [team]. Happy for everybody at HMS. Hendrick Motorsports has been working extremely hard, and not only do the people deserve to win, but Mr. [Rick] Hendrick deserves to win. Really happy for him, and I’ll try to clean some things up and make less mistakes next time. Maybe it’ll work out.”

    Behind, Truex came home in third place while teammates Kyle Busch and Hamlin finished in the top five.

    Byron finished in sixth followed by Bell, Harvick, Briscoe and Reddick.

    Twenty-five of the 37 competitors in the field finished on the lead lap, with James Davison being the only competitor to retire due to electrical issues.

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

    With three races remaining until the 2021 Cup Playoffs commences, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson are tied for the lead for the regular-season lead. Currently, 13 competitors (Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Kurt Busch, Aric Almirola, William Byron, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Christopher Bell and Michael McDowell) are guaranteed Playoff spots based on winning at least once throughout the regular season. Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Tyler Reddick continue to occupy the remaining three vacant spots to the Playoffs as winless competitors, with Reddick ahead by 15 points over teammate Austin Dillon, 135 over Chris Buescher, 147 over Matt DiBenedetto, 148 over Ross Chastain, 188 over Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 190 over Bubba Wallace, 219 over Chase Briscoe and 223 over Daniel Suarez.

    Results.

    1. Kyle Larson, 27 laps led

    2. Chase Elliott

    3. Martin Truex Jr., 34 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    4. Kyle Busch

    5. Denny Hamlin, six laps led

    6. William Byron

    7. Christopher Bell

    8. Kevin Harvick

    9. Chase Briscoe

    10. Tyler Reddick

    11. Matt DiBenedetto

    12. Ross Chastain

    13. Kurt Busch, two laps led

    14. Ryan Blaney

    15. Austin Dillon

    16. Aric Almirola

    17. Chris Buescher

    18. Cole Custer

    19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap led

    20. Alex Bowman

    21. Michael McDowell

    22. Joey Logano, 11 laps, Stage 1 winner

    23. Bubba Wallace

    24. Corey LaJoie

    25. Ryan Newman

    26. Anthony Alfredo, one lap down

    27. Erik Jones, one lap down

    28. Ryan Preece, one lap down

    29. Justin Haley, one lap down

    30. Kyle Tilley, one lap down

    31. Daniel Suarez, two laps down

    32. Quin Houff, two laps down

    33. Josh Bilicki, two laps down

    34. RC Enerson, two laps down

    35. Brad Keselowski, three laps down, nine laps led

    36. Garrett Smithley, three laps down

    37. James Davison – OUT, Electrical

    Next on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ inaugural event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course layout, which will occur on Sunday, August 15, at 1 p.m. ET on NBC. 

  • Almirola defies the odds with a wild, weather-shortened win at New Hampshire

    Almirola defies the odds with a wild, weather-shortened win at New Hampshire

    In a race mired with precipitation, an early accident eliminating two former Cup champions and a 10-lap reduction due to darkened skies, Aric Almirola erased his difficult regular-season stretch by scoring an upset win in the weather-shortened Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the 50th event at the Magic Mile, on Sunday, July 18.

    The Tampa, Florida, native capitalized late to lead twice for 25 laps and fend off a hard-charging Christopher Bell to return to Victory Lane in the NASCAR Cup Series following a 98-race winless drought.

    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 Busch started on pole position and was joined on the front row with teammate Martin Truex Jr.

    Prior to the event, Quin Houff, Corey LaJoie, Ryan Preece and BJ McLeod dropped to the rear of the field due to multiple pre-race inspection issues. Bubba Wallace also started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Kyle Busch launched his No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry ahead of teammate Truex and the field through the first two turns.

    With the field fanning out to two lanes through the backstretch, Kyle Busch led the first lap and was able to retain the lead despite an early challenge from teammate Truex. Behind, Chase Elliott was in third followed by Kurt Busch, winner of last weekend’s Cup event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and Alex Bowman. Denny Hamlin, the regular-season points leader, settled in sixth ahead of Ryan Blaney and Christopher Bell, winner of Saturday’s Xfinity event at New Hampshire.

    On the fifth lap, the caution flew when both Kyle Busch and Truex, the two leaders, wrecked in Turn 1 after both got loose entering the turn due to the slick conditions on the track as a result of rain falling on the track. Behind, Hamlin got loose while battling Bowman and spun, though he continued without sustaining any serious damage. While Hamlin remained on the track, Busch and Truex pitted to have their respective Toyota Camrys assessed for the damage.

    Not long after, the field was brought to pit road and the race was red-flagged on the eighth lap as the rain picked up around the circuit and the cloudy skies. At the time of the caution and delay, Elliott emerged as the leader followed by Kurt Busch, Bowman, Bell and Ryan Blaney while Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick were in the top 10.

    During the delay, Kyle Busch and his crew retired from the event due to the damage on the car.

    “We started the race under a mist,” Kyle Busch said on NBCSN. “It never should have gone green to begin with, but then it kept getting worse and worse lap over lap. The lap before, I went into [Turn] 1 and it shoved the nose really bad, and I was able to keep it under control. It wasn’t bad enough. The next time I went down there, hell, I lifted at the flag stand, maybe a little past the flag stand, don’t get too dramatic, and just backed it in. We’ve been talking about it for two laps that it was raining. There’s no sense in saying what I want to say, it doesn’t do you any good. We’re done, we’re going home. It’s over. There’s no fixing that thing.”

    Nearly two hours later amid the track-drying process, the red flag was lifted and the field returned to the track under the competition caution, which was initially scheduled for Lap 30. Prior to the start, NASCAR announced that Joey Logano, who pitted under the caution period while the pit road was closed, will be held two laps on pit road due to his crew working on the car during the red flag period. 

    Under caution, some led by Hamlin pitted while the rest led by Elliott pitted. During the pit stops, Ryan Preece was penalized for speeding while exiting pit road. Meanwhile, Truex was able to remain in the race following repairs to his No. 19 Reser’s Toyota Camry from his pit crew.

    When the race restarted on green on Lap 23, Elliott was challenged by Kurt Busch for the lead, which the latter succeeded the following lap. Two laps later, however, Elliott returned the favor entering the backstretch and reassumed the lead as Christopher Bell joined the party.

    By Lap 30, Elliott was leading by nearly half a second over Bell, who was followed by Blaney, Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski. Reddick was in sixth followed by Bowman, Chastain, Larson and Harvick.

    A few laps later, the caution returned due to rookie Anthony Alfredo spinning in Turn 4 following contact with Bubba Wallace. Under caution, some like Bowman, Larson, William Byron, Aric Almirola, Chris Buescher, rookie Chase Briscoe and Daniel Suarez pitted while the rest led by Elliott remained on the track.

    When the race restarted on Lap 38, Elliott and Bell battled for the lead for one full lap until Elliott’s No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE managed to clear Bell’s No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry through Turns 1 and 2. Behind, Cody Ware spun in Turn 2, but the race remained under green.

    As the field fanned out and the competitors battled for positions, Team Penske’s Blaney and Keselowski were in third and fourth followed by Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick.

    On Lap 42, Blaney overtook Bell for the runner-up spot. By then, Harvick moved into the top five while Kurt Busch fell back to sixth ahead of Reddick and Matt DiBenedetto.

    Through the first 50 laps of the event, Elliott was leading by nearly half a second over Blaney while Bell, Keselowski and Harvick were in the top five. Reddick was in sixth followed by Chastain, DiBenedetto, Kurt Busch and Hamlin. Austin Dillon was in 12th behind Cole Custer, teammates Bowman, Byron and Larson were in 14th, 15th and 16th, Aric Almirola was in 19th in front of Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Truex was mired back in 22nd, Ryan Newman and Briscoe were in 24th and 25th ahead of Wallace and Daniel Suarez was in 27th. Logano, meanwhile, was in 33rd and a lap behind.

    By Lap 60, Elliott continued to lead by a tenth of a second over Blaney. Behind, Keselowski moved up to third while Bell and Harvick battled for fourth ahead of Tyler Reddick.

    Two laps later, Blaney overtook Elliott for the top spot as he became the fourth different leader of the race. In the ensuing laps, Blaney started to extend his advantage to more than a second.

    Amid the overcast weather and the bizarre start, Blaney was able to remain in the lead with a comfortable advantage and claim the first stage victory on Lap 75, thus claiming his fourth stage victory of 2021. Behind, Keselowski prevailed over a late battle with Elliott to settle in second while Harvick and Reddick were scored in the top five. Scored in the top 10 were Bell, Hamlin, Chastain, DiBenedetto and Larson.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Harvick exited with the lead followed by Hamlin, Reddick, Keselowski, Elliott and Blaney.

    The second stage started on Lap 82 with Harvick and Hamlin on the front row. At the start, Harvick rocketed away from the field on the outside lane while Hamlin struggled to launch on the inside lane, which allowed Reddick to move into second place and the field to stack up and fan out to multiple lanes through the first two turns. 

    The following lap, Elliott battled Reddick for the runner-up spot while Hamlin was locked in a battle with Keselowski for fourth. Meanwhile, Harvick was out in front by more than half a second.

    By Lap 90, Harvick was leading by more than a second over Elliott while Keselowski, Reddick and Hamlin were in the top five. Blaney was mired back in sixth followed by Larson, Chastain, Bell and Almirola.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Harvick remained as the leader by more than one second over Elliott while third-place Keselowski was trailing by less than three seconds. Hamlin retained fourth place ahead of Blaney, Reddick, Chastain, Larson, Almirola and Bell. Bowman was in 11th ahead of Kurt Busch, DiBenedetto, Custer and Stenhouse. Byron was in 16th followed by Truex and Austin Dillon, Wallace was in 19th ahead of Chris Buescher, Newman was in 21st ahead of Suarez and Erik Jones, Michael McDowell was in 25th behind Ryan Preece and Briscoe was back in 29th. Logano, meanwhile, was in 30th and still a lap behind.

    Ten laps later, Harvick continued to lead by more than a second over Elliott and nearly three seconds over Keselowski, who had Hamlin challenging him for a top-three spot. Another 10 laps later, Harvick stabilized his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Elliott and more than three seconds over the new third-place competitor, Hamlin.

    On Lap 128, the caution flew due to Quin Houff spinning and making contact with the Turn 3 outside wall following contact with Ryan Newman. At the time of caution, Austin Dillon pitted despite pit road being closed at the time of his service.

    Under caution, the leaders returned to pit road and Harvick retained the lead after exiting pit road ahead of Hamlin, Keselowski, Elliott and Almirola. During the pit stops, Blaney, who dropped from first to fifth during the first stage caution period, dropped from fifth to ninth under the recent caution.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 135, Harvick and Hamlin, both of whom were seeking their first victory of the season, pulled ahead while Almirola challenged Keselowski for third place.

    A lap later, a three-wide battle ensued between Almirola, Elliott and Larson through Turns 1 and 2 before Larson prevailed ahead of the two for fourth place entering Turn 3. Behind, Blaney, Chastain and Bell battled for seventh while Harvick retained the lead ahead of Hamlin.

    Shortly after, the caution returned due to a two-car spin through the backstretch involving Wallace and Chris Buescher. In the midst of the incident and the caution, Logano received another free pass to return to the lead lap.

    When the race restarted on Lap 144, Harvick received another strong start to muscle away with the lead ahead of Keselowski while Hamlin was mired back in third ahead of the field after he struggled at the start.

    Two laps later, Keselowski, sporting a sleek blue and black scheme to his No. 2 eCascadia Ford Mustang, took over the lead ahead of Harvick and Hamlin.

    By Lap 150 and right at the halfway mark, Keselowski was leading by more than a second over Harvick while Hamlin, Blaney and Almirola were in the top five. Scored in the top 10 were Elliott, Larson, Chastain, Reddick and Bell.

    By Lap 175, Keselowski continued to lead by less than two seconds over Harvick, with Blaney and Hamlin in third and fourth. Almirola, meanwhile, continued to run in fifth ahead of Elliott.

    While Harvick started to close back in on Keselowski for the lead, Keselowski was able to retain a reasonable advantage over Harvick and claim his second stage victory of the season after winning the second stage on Lap 185. Harvick settled in second followed Blaney, Hamlin, Almirola, Elliott, Larson, Reddick, Chastain and Kurt Busch.

    Under the stage break, the leaders returned to pit road and Keselowski retained the lead after exiting with the lead followed by Harvick, Blaney, Almirola, Larson and Hamlin. Following the pit stops, however, Hamlin returned to pit road due to a missing lug nut.

    With 109 laps remaining and the skies above the track darkening, the final stage started as teammates Keselowski and Blaney started on the front row. At the start, Keselowski peaked ahead of Blaney and Harvick to retain the lead. While Penske’s Keselowski and Blaney battled for the lead, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Harvick retained third ahead of teammate Almirola, Larson, Bell and Chastain.

    Six laps later, Blaney, who kept teammate Keselowski in his sights, took the lead, though Keselowski refused to give in and with a potential dark weather-ending race looming.

    Down to the final 100 laps of the event, teammates Blaney and Keselowski battled for the top spot while Harvick narrowed the deficit to half a second. Meanwhile, Logano, who was two laps behind earlier in the race, was in 10th.

    Under the final 100 laps, both Blaney and Keselowski refused to surrender as they continued to battle intensely for the lead through every turn and corner, but with neither prevailing over the other. Harvick, meanwhile, continued to close in behind the two Penske Ford competitors.

    With 90 laps remaining, the top-three competitors were separated by six-tenths of a second as Blaney continued to lead by less than half a second over teammate Keselowski and six-tenths of a second over Harvick. Not far behind, Almirola was behind by more than a second while Larson was in fifth. Logano, meanwhile, was in eighth. 

    Ten laps later, Blaney, who earlier prevailed over his intense battle with teammate Keselowski, was ahead by less than nine-tenths of a second over Keselowski. Behind, Almirola moved up to third place ahead of teammate Harvick while Larson remained in fifth. Logano was up in seventh, Reddick was in ninth ahead of Bowman, Kurt Busch and Elliott were back in 13th and 14th, Truex was in 16th and Hamlin was mired back in 18th in between William Byron and Daniel Suarez.

    Another five laps later, the advantage for Blaney over teammate Keselowski grew to more than a second while third-place Almirola was trailing by two seconds.

    Under the final 65 laps of the event, Almirola overtook Keselowski for the runner-up spot while Blaney continued to lead by more than a second. Harvick, meanwhile, was more than three seconds behind while Larson remained in fifth, but behind by less than five seconds.

    Approaching the final 60 laps of the event, Almirola caught Blaney and started to challenge him for the lead. Despite repeated attempts from Almirola, Blaney managed to remain in front of Almirola’s No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang. 

    Then with 55 laps remaining, Almirola emerged with the lead following a pass on Blaney through Turns 2 and 3 before clearing him for good in Turn 4. 

    Just then, pit stops under green ensued as Elliott pitted along with Austin Dillon, Kurt Busch Keselowski, Newman and others. Harvick also pitted along with Bell, Logano, Larson, Blaney and race leader Almirola.

    Under the final 45 laps of the event and with most of the leaders having made a pit stop, DiBenedetto, who has yet to pit, was leading ahead of Byron and Keselowski, who had fresh tires and enough fuel to the finish. Almirola was mired back in fourth while Wallace was in fifth ahead of Bell.

    Not long after, Almirola overtook Keselowski for third place, but he was more than 18 seconds behind race leader DiBenedetto.

    With 36 laps remaining, Almirola overtook Byron for the runner-up spot while DiBenedetto continued to lead by more than 13 seconds. Behind, Keselowski and Bell overtook Byron for spots in the top five while Blaney was in sixth ahead of Harvick, Logano, Larson and Reddick.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, DiBenedetto, who drives for the legendary Wood Brothers Racing team but has no current racing plans established for 2022, continued to lead by less than six seconds over a hard-charging Almirola. Bell, meanwhile, was in third, less than eight seconds behind, while Keselowski and Blaney were in the top five.

    Three laps later, DiBenedetto, who was aiming for a shortened event and for his first Cup victory, surrendered the lead to pit for two tires and fuel. With DiBenedetto out of contention, Almirola returned to the lead with Bell behind by less than two seconds.

    With 20 laps remaining, Almirola was leading by more than a second over Bell. Keselowski remained in third while Blaney and Harvick battled for fourth. DiBenedetto, meanwhile, was in 13th.

    Just then, NASCAR declared that the event will be shortened to a final 10-lap dash to the checkered flag due to darkness looming around the track and with no lights installed around the Magic Mile. By then, Almirola continued to lead by more than a second over Bell with third-place Keselowski trailing by more than four seconds as the race remained under green.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Almirola, who was struggling to lap Austin Dillon, was leading by more than six-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Bell. Meanwhile, Logano was up in fourth ahead of teammate Blaney and Harvick.

    When the final lap of the darkened event started, Almirola continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Bell. Despite Bell’s final lap effort for the win, Almirola remained ahead and he was able to come back around to claim his first checkered flag in more than two seasons.

    With the win, Almirola, who came into the event in 27th place in the regular-season standings and a long shot in the Playoff battle, scored his third NASCAR Cup Series career victory and he achieved his first win in NASCAR’s premier series since October 2018 at Talladega Superspeedway. In addition, he became the 13th different competitor to be guaranteed a spot in the 2021 Cup Playoffs based off of winning throughout the regular-season stretch and he recorded the first victory of the season for Stewart-Haas Racing.

    “This is by far one of my favorite racetracks,” Almirola said on NBCSN. “I love coming up to the New England area and racing. I love this racetrack. I had this race won a couple years ago and I gave it away. I lost it, and I am so glad to win a race here with this race team. God is so good. We’ve been through so much and I’ve just stood the test and kept the faith. The team, everybody, they’ve just been working so hard. There have been so many people that have just continued to support us through the crappiest year ever, and, man, this feels so good for them. My pit crew, they did a phenomenal job on pit road. All the guys that work on this car, they just keep fighting. They just keep digging, bringing the best race car they can bring every week and it is no doubt, we have struggled, but, guess what? We’re going Playoff racing!”

    Bell, who was aiming for a weekend sweep after winning Saturday’s Xfinity event at New Hampshire, settled in second place for his second runner-up result in three weeks.

    “I didn’t know how may laps [NASCAR] cut it short, but definitely whenever I saw the board and saw that we were eight laps short, it stings man,” Bell said. “I felt like I probably had a little better pace than [Almirola] and I was able to get to him. I know lapped cars were giving him a bad time, but I was able to get to him. It was going to be a heck of a race, but really proud of everyone on this Rheem Pristine Auction Camry. They did really good. Everyone on this 20 crew, we didn’t start out the greatest and then we were really good, probably the best we were all day right there at the end of the race. That’s all you can ask for is to have a shot at it and just wish we had eight more laps.”

    Keselowski, who led 53 laps, came home in third place followed by teammates Logano, who rallied from two laps behind, and Blaney, who led 64 laps.

    Harvick, who led 66 laps, ended up in sixth followed by Larson, Chastain, Bowman and Hamlin.

    DiBenedetto, who pitted late for fuel, settled in 11th in front of Truex, Reddick, Cole Custer and Stenhouse. Kurt Busch came home in 16th, Elliott ended up in 18th behind Austin Dillon, Byron finished 21st behind Daniel Suarez, Wallace ended up in 26th behind Michael McDowell and rookie Chase Briscoe finished 27th.

    There were 14 lead changes for 10 different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 47 laps. 

    With four races remaining until the 2021 Cup Playoffs commences, Denny Hamlin continues to lead the regular-season standings by 13 points over Kyle Larson. Currently, 13 competitors (Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch, William Byron, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Christopher Bell and Michael McDowell) are guaranteed Playoff spots based on winning at least once throughout the regular season. Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Tyler Reddick occupy the remaining three vacant spots to the Playoffs as winless competitors, with Reddick ahead by five points over teammate Austin Dillon, 121 over Chris Buescher, 143 over Matt DiBenedetto, 144 over Ross Chastain, 170 over Bubba Wallace, 172 over Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and 195 over Daniel Suarez.

    Results.

    1. Aric Almirola, 25 laps led

    2. Christopher Bell

    3. Brad Keselowski, 53 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    4. Joey Logano

    5. Ryan Blaney, 64 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    6. Kevin Harvick, 66 laps led

    7. Kyle Larson

    8. Ross Chastain, three laps led

    9. Alex Bowman

    10. Denny Hamlin, one lap led

    11. Matt DiBenedetto, 20 laps led

    12. Martin Truex Jr.

    13. Tyler Reddick

    14. Cole Custer

    15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    16. Kurt Busch, one lap down

    17. Austin Dillon, one lap down

    18. Chase Elliott, one lap down, 53 laps led

    19. Erik Jones, one lap down

    20. Daniel Suarez, one lap down

    21. William Byron, one lap down

    22. Ryan Preece, one lap down

    23. Corey LaJoie, one lap down

    24. Ryan Newman, one lap down

    25. Michael McDowell, one lap down

    26. Bubba Wallace, one lap down

    27. Chase Briscoe, two laps down

    28. Justin Haley, two laps down 

    29. Chris Buescher, three laps down

    30. BJ McLeod, five laps down

    31. Cody Ware, eight laps down

    32. Anthony Alfredo, eight laps down

    33. Garrett Smithley, 10 laps down

    34. Josh Bilicki, 13 laps down

    35. Quin Houff – OUT, Accident

    36. James Davison – OUT, Clutch

    37. Kyle Busch – OUT, Accident

    The NASCAR Cup Series will be taking the next two weekends off for the Tokyo Summer Olympics before returning to action at Watkins Glen International on Sunday, August 8, which marks the series’ fifth road course event of 2021. The event is scheduled to occur at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN. 

  • Richard Boswell to call 100th Xfinity race as crew chief at New Hampshire

    Richard Boswell to call 100th Xfinity race as crew chief at New Hampshire

    A significant milestone start is in the making for Richard Boswell, crew chief for Riley Herbst and the No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. By participating in this weekend’s Xfinity event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Boswell will call his 100th Xfinity race as a crew chief.

    A native of Friendship, Maryland, Boswell, whose father, Dickie, was a successful late model competitor, grew up competing in racing, where he won multiple World Karting Association national titles in 1998 before competing in late models in 2001. In 2006, Boswell joined JR Motorsports and competed in the Hooters Pro Cup Series. As part of JRM’s racing program, Boswell made his lone NASCAR national touring series start at Memphis International Raceway in the Xfinity Series in October 2009. Driving the No. 5 JRM Chevrolet, Boswell started third and finished 23rd.

    Due to sponsorship issues, Boswell’s racing career as a driver came to an early close. Boswell, though, worked on becoming a crew chief in NASCAR by earning his mechanical engineering degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He continued to work for JR Motorsports and eventually joined Hendrick Motorsports, where he was a part of the No. 48 Chevrolet team piloted by Jimmie Johnson, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion.

    In 2016, Boswell made his debut as a NASCAR crew chief in November 2016 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the final Xfinity Series event of the season, for Cole Custer and the No. 5 JR Motorsports Chevrolet team. During the event, Custer started 18th and finished 17th.

    The following season, Boswell was selected to crew chief one of Stewart-Haas Racing’s two newly formed Xfinity Series entries, which competed in six events while being piloted by Kevin Harvick, the 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion. During the six-race schedule, Boswell and Harvick finished in the top 10 in all of their appearances, with their best result being a runner-up finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May.

    Boswell returned as crew chief for Stewart-Haas Racing’s No. 98 Ford Mustang for 12 Xfinity Series events in 2018, where the ride was shared between Harvick, veteran Aric Almirola and rookie Chase Briscoe. By then, SHR formed a partnership with Biagi-DenBeste Racing. Throughout the part-time season, Boswell earned his first two career victories as a crew chief, the first with Harvick at Atlanta Motor Speedway in February and the second with Briscoe at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval in October. The team also earned four top-five results and five top-10 results between Almirola, Briscoe and Harvick.

    Following two part-time seasons, Boswell was named crew chief for Briscoe and the No. 98 SHR Ford Mustang team for the entire 33-race Xfinity Series schedule in 2019. Throughout the season, Boswell and Briscoe achieved a win at Iowa Speedway in July. They also achieved two poles, 13 top-five results, 26 top-10 results, an average-finishing result of 8.2 and a spot in the 2019 Xfinity Playoffs, where Briscoe remained in title contention before being eliminated prior to the Championship Round. Despite finishing in fifth place in the final standings, Briscoe locked up the 2019 Xfinity Rookie-of-the-Year title.

    Remaining as an Xfinity crew chief for Briscoe and SHR in 2020, it only took two races into the season for Boswell and Briscoe to earn their first victory of the season, which occurred at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in February. At Darlington Raceway in May, Boswell and Briscoe achieved their second victory of the season when Briscoe fended off Kyle Busch in a thrilling finish.

    Following the first of a Homestead-Miami Speedway doubleheader weekend feature in June, Boswell was suspended from the following four Xfinity races due to a safety violation involving dropped ballast from Briscoe’s car prior to the event. Also suspended with Boswell were car chief Nick Hutchins and engineer DJ Vanderley. With Boswell suspended, Greg Zipadelli, competition director at Stewart-Haas Racing and a former championship-winning crew chief, filled in as Briscoe’s interim crew chief, where they won in three out of four races.

    Returning at Kentucky Speedway in July, the momentum for Boswell, Briscoe and the No. 98 SHR Ford team continued as Briscoe went on to win at Dover International Speedway in August and at Bristol Motor Speedway in September. 

    When the 2020 Xfinity Playoffs commenced, Boswell and Briscoe notched a dominating victory at Las Vegas in September. They went on to win at Kansas Speedway in October, a victory that secured the driver, crew chief and the team a spot in the Championship Round at Phoenix Raceway in November. During the finale, however, Briscoe ended up in ninth place on the track and behind his three fellow title contenders in the final standings. Overall, Boswell achieved six victories, 13 top-five results and 19 top-10 results in 29 races with Briscoe.

    For the 2021 season, Boswell remained in the Xfinity Series and as crew chief for SHR’s No. 98 Ford team. While Briscoe moved up to the Cup Series with SHR, however, Riley Herbst joined the team to pilot the No. 98 car as a full-time Xfinity driver. Through the first 18 Xfinity events of this season, Boswell and Herbst have achieved a pole, two top-five results, five top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 18.7. They are ranked in 13th place in the regular-season standings.

    Through 99 previous Xfinity events, Boswell has achieved nine victories, three poles, 37 top-five results and 61 top-10 results with five different competitors. 

    Boswell is set to call his 100th Xfinity Series career race as a crew chief at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, July 17, with the event scheduled to occur at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Harvick and Logano sound-off over Atlanta redesign

    Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Harvick and Logano sound-off over Atlanta redesign

    After news of the Atlanta Motor Speedway re-pave and reconfiguration on July 6, drivers are sounding off about their lack of input in the decision.

    The announced changes include decreasing the width of the track from 55 feet to 40 feet and increasing the 24-degree banking to 28 degrees. Soon after, various drivers stated that they had not been consulted about the changes.

    Marcus Smith, President and CEO of Speedway Motorsports, responded to the concerns about the Atlanta Motor Speedway news, stating, “We definitely talked to drivers.”

    Comments from SMI director of operations Steve Swift earlier this week did nothing to ease the tension.

    “We tried to do what’s good for the sport, and Marcus does talk to the drivers to gauge feedback on what works well for them and he feeds us that information, and I say this with jest a little,” Swift said, “but when a driver is happy the fans aren’t.

    While no drivers have come forward to say they were consulted, several have candidly shared their thoughts on the lack of communication.

    No one has been more direct than Kyle Busch.

    “If they’re going to narrow it up 15 feet, whatever it is, that’s the whole bottom groove,” he said. “We’re not going to be able to run around here 3 wide. You’re going to be stuck at two wide. It’s going to be as wide as Darlington. So trying to run around here at 210 mph, because if they don’t put plates on it, you’re going to be going way too fast.

    “Just think about it. Everybody needs to just think. There ain’t nobody thinking. Brains for sale. Never used. Operating racetracks.”

    Sunday before the Cup Series race at Atlanta, several drivers were questioned about the current state of affairs.

    Brad Keselowski confirmed that there was discord among the drivers.

    “I think there are some frustrations that come up time and time again where we’re working together until we’re not, and that can be frustrating, he said. “I sense a lot of those emotions through the garage area right now.”

    Joey Logano also questioned why the drivers were kept out of the loop.

    I think something I’ve learned over the last few years is everyone can bring something different to the table. When you bring 10 other people around that might change your perspective,” he explained. “We didn’t have the opportunity to do that.”

    Kevin Harvick was blunt in his assessment of the Atlanta repave and why the drivers were not consulted.

    “I’m just of the opinion that they don’t care. They just do what they want.”

    Denny Hamlin addressed the media Saturday and perhaps summed it up best.

    “I think we could help. We’re an asset. We are the biggest asset that NASCAR and these tracks could have if they just tell us their goals. We may not agree with the goal but we can help them get to where they want to go.”

    No one doubts the importance of fans. Without them, there would be no racing. But, it’s the drivers who strap in and put their lives on the line to entertain those fans. One perspective should never overshadow the other.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Road America

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Road America

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Kyle Larson: Larson contended all day at Road America, but was spun out late by Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman. Larson eventually finished 16th.

    “Alex apologized,” Larson said. “It was a sincere apology, so Alex, much like his braking into that corner, was ‘truly sorry.’”

    2. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin overcame early brake issues to post a fifth in the Jockey Made In America 250.

    “Kyle Busch had a clutch problem last week at Pocono,” Hamlin said. “I can certainly empathize, because I myself have ‘clutch’ problems, most often in the final race of the season.”

    3. Chase Elliott: Elliott started 34th after failing to post a qualifying time, but methodically worked his way into the lead, passing Matt DiBenedetto on Lap 38, and then overtaking Kyle Busch with 17 to go. Elliott then cruised to victory.

    “I wasn’t able to complete a full qualifying lap,” Elliott said. “So, I didn’t even register a lap time, which has to be the ultimate in ‘bad timing.’”

    4. Kyle Busch: Busch started 40th but quickly found his way to the front and eventually finished third at Road America.

    “I made my way to the front of the field so fast,” Busch said, “even troopers in Mooresville, North Carolina had to take notice.”

    5. Alex Bowman: Bowman finished 22nd at Road America.

    “I made a crucial error and wrecked Kyle Larson late in the race,” Bowman said. “What do you say to a teammate whom you just wrecked? Oddly enough, it’s the same thing you say to your team after a win—‘I did it!’ But maybe leave off the exclamation point.”

    6. Joey Logano: Logano finished 15th in the Jockey Made In America 250.

    “As is typical on a road course.” Logano said, “there was a lot of passing. Obviously, a better name for this race would have been the ‘Jockey For Position 250.’”

    7. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex overcame a pit road speeding penalty to record a ninth at Road America.

    “NASCAR raced at Road America for the first time in 65 years,” Truex said. “It’s awesome to be racing here, and in the great state of Wisconsin. Wisconsin is considered part of the ‘heart of America;’ with NASCAR fans here, it’s considered, at least for three days, the ‘heart attack of America.’”

    8. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 27th at Road America.

    “The No. 4 Chevrolet sported the Busch Light Apple paint scheme,” Harvick said. “If I’m reluctant to give you my honest opinion of the taste of Busch Light Apple, just tell me to ‘spit it out,’ and I’ll happily oblige.”

    9. William Byron: Byron started on the pole at Road America and was in contention until a late mistake sent him off course. Byron finished a disappointing 33rd.

    “I just made a stupid error,” Byron said, “and it cost me a top-five finish. My No. 24 Liberty University Chevy was set up perfectly. It handled like a dream. Despite having the word ‘Liberty’ on it, the car was anything but ‘free.’”

    10. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished 13th in the Jockey Made In America 250.

    “A driver named Kyle Tilley drove the No. 78 car,” Keselowski said. “Tilley is from a place called Bath, England. From what I hear, it’s a great place for any NASCAR fans to visit. But first, I suggest they visit Bath, America.”

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Pocono

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Pocono

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Kyle Larson: Larson took second in Sunday’s Visit The Pocono Mountains 350 after falling just short in Saturday’s race.

    “Congratulations to Kyle Busch,” Larson said. “He took a crappy situation and made it great. He did the opposite when he drove the No. 5 car for Hendrick Motorsports.”

    2. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin led late at Pocono but had to pit on the final lap for gas, dropping him to 14th.

    “If we could have had just a few more drops of gas,” Hamlin said, “we certainly would have found another way not to win the race.”

    3. Kyle Busch: Busch battled transmission issues at Pocono, but played the fuel mileage game perfectly and won the Explore The Pocono Mountains 350.

    “I was stuck in fourth gear and had no clutch,” Busch said. “Despite that, crew chief Adam Stevens told me I could win. I told him he was ‘full of it.’ He said, ‘No, but your fuel tank is.’”

    4. Alex Bowman: Bowman finished seventh on Sunday at Pocono, one day after winning Saturday’s Cup race.

    “Jeff Gordon accepted the vice chairman role at Hendrick Motorsports,” Bowman said. “I think everyone expects him to flourish in an executive role. The cycle is nearly complete. Jeff’s gone from ‘Boy Wonder’ to ‘Board Wonder.’”

    5. William Byron: Byron won Stage 2 and led the final stage until he was forced to pit for fuel with two laps remaining. He finished 12th.

    “There’s no worse feeling in racing than coming up short on gas,” Byron said. “Sometimes, when you’re fuel gauge says ‘E,’ what it’s really saying is ‘You’re F‘ed.’”

    6. Chase Elliott: Elliott suffered a flat right-front tire on lap 102 and fell a lap down. He eventually finished 27th.

    “All three of my Hendrick Motorsports teammates finished in the top 12,” Elliott said. “My finish won me an award HMS likes to call the ‘Rear-Ender Award,’ which means you finished last among the four Hendrick drivers. In other words, it means you’re not Kyle Larson.”

    7. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished fourth in the Visit The Pocono Mountains 350.

    “I just want to assure fans that you can simultaneously visit the Pocono Mountains,” Harvick said, “and the Mountains Of Busch.”

    8. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex won Stage 1 and finished 11th in the Explore The Pocono Mountains 350.

    “Congratulations to my Joe Gibbs teammate Kyle Busch,” Truex said. “He took lemons and made lemonade. That could be why many people consider Kyle the ‘yellow liquid’ of auto racing.”

    9. Joey Logano: Logano finished 10th at Pocono.

    “I can’t remember the last time I actually felt like I could win,” Logano said. “I just know we need to step it up. Like Kyle Busch, we need to find that extra gear.”

    10. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski came home third at Pocono, posting his first top-five since a third at Kansas in early May.

    “I had forgotten what a top five felt like,” Keselowski said. “In fact, I had become accustomed to finishing outside the top 20. Actually, that should help me acclimate pretty easily when I start driving for Roush-Fenway Racing.”

  • Kyle Busch coasts to a thrilling victory at Pocono

    Kyle Busch coasts to a thrilling victory at Pocono

    From clutch issues to Victory Lane, Kyle Busch played a late fuel strategy to perfection after overtaking teammate Denny Hamlin prior to the final lap and coasting for a final full lap on a dry tank to win the Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 at Pocono Raceway, the second of a Pocono Cup doubleheader weekend, on Sunday, June 27.

    The starting lineup was based off the results from Saturday’s Cup event at Pocono, with the top-20 finishers being inverted for Sunday’s event. Chris Buescher, who finished 20th, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Michael McDowell, who finished 19th on Saturday. 

    Prior to the event, names like Cole Custer, Ryan Newman, Kyle Larson, Ryan Preece, Ross Chastain, Corey LaJoie and rookie Anthony Alfredo started at the rear of the field in back-up cars. Justin Allgaier also started at the rear of the field after replacing Justin Haley in the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, with Haley opting to sit out following his hard wreck in the Xfinity Series event occurring early Sunday at Pocono.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Buescher pulled ahead on the outside lane to retain the lead over McDowell and the field through the first turn and entering the second turn.

    Through the first lap, Buescher was out in front followed by McDowell, Christopher Bell, Martin Truex Jr. and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Behind, Daniel Suarez was in sixth followed by Aric Almirola, Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick.

    The following lap, the first caution of the race flew when rookie Anthony Alfredo made hard contact with the outside wall in Turn 2.

    When the race restarted on the sixth lap, Buescher peaked ahead until he slipped entering the first turn and lost his momentum along with a bevy of spots. Buescher’s slip-up allowed McDowell to move to the lead followed by Joe Gibbs Racing’s Truex and Bell. Behind, Aric Almirola made his way to fourth followed by Stenhouse, Suarez, Keselowski, Reddick and Wallace as Buescher fell all the way back to 12th.

    Through the first 10 laps of the event, McDowell remained in the lead by a narrow margin over Truex and Bell while Almirola, Stenhouse, Keselowski, Suarez, Wallace, Kyle Busch and Reddick were running in the top 10. By then, Kurt Busch was in 11th in front of Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick and Buescher. Chase Elliott was in 16th in front of rookie Chase Briscoe and teammate William Byron, Austin Dillon was in 20th behind Erik Jones and Alex Bowman, winner of the first Cup Pocono doubleheader event, was in 21st in front of Denny Hamlin, Ross Chastain, Kyle Larson and Matt DiBenedetto. Ryan Newman, meanwhile, was in 29th.

    Three laps later, Truex moved his No. 19 Reser’s Fine Foods Toyota Camry into the lead. Teammate Bell quickly followed in his No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry to assume the runner-up spot while McDowell fell back to third in front of Almirola’s No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang.

    By Lap 20, Truex was out in front by more than a second over teammate Bell while Almirola, McDowell and Kyle Busch were in the top five. McDowell was back in sixth followed by Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace. Stenhouse was situated in ninth ahead of Suarez. Meanwhile, Logano and Harvick were in 12th and 13th, Elliott was still mired back in 15th in between teammate Byron and Kurt Busch, Bowman was back in 21st behind Hamlin and Larson was in 22nd in front of Erik Jones.

    Five laps later, Truex extended his advantage to more than two seconds over teammate Bell. Behind, Almirola, Keselowski and Kyle Busch remained in the top five ahead of Blaney and Wallace, with McDowell settling in eighth ahead of Stenhouse and Suarez.

    Shortly after, Hamlin brought his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry to pit road under green. A lap later, his teammates, Bell and Kyle Busch, pitted. Meanwhile, the fourth Joe Gibbs Racing competitor, Truex, remained on the track and in the lead. During this process, Hendrick Motorsports’ competitors Elliott and Byron also pitted.

    At the front, Truex held a comfortable advantage over runner-up Almirola. With no lead lap challengers closing in approaching Lap 30, Truex was able to come back around and claim the first stage victory as he also claimed his fourth stage victory of the 2021 season. Almirola settled in second followed by Keselowski, Blaney and Wallace while McDowell, Stenhouse, Reddick, Suarez and Logano were scored in the top 10. By then, Byron, who was in 33rd, managed to beat Truex at the start/finish line to return on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, nearly all of the leaders pitted and Truex retained the lead following his exit from his pit stall. Back on track, names like Keselowski, teammate Blaney, Austin Dillon, Bell, Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Elliott and Byron remained on the track. During the pit stops, Larson remained on pit road to have the front nose of his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE assessed after he ran into the rear of Hamlin on a restart.

    The second stage started on Lap 35 with Keselowski and Bell starting on the front row. At the start, Keselowski received a push from teammate Blaney to retain the lead through the first turn over Bell. Behind, Kyle Busch retained fourth place ahead of Byron, Hamlin and the field.

    By Lap 40, Keselowski continued to lead over teammate Blaney, Bell, Kyle Busch and Byron. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch, who was running in the top five, radioed issues to his No. 18 M&M’s Mini’s Toyota Camry as the car was popping out of fourth gear.

    Five laps later, teammates Keselowski and Blaney pitted, moving Kyle Busch to the lead. Larson, who reported overheating issues to his car, also pitted during this process. Earlier, Austin Dillon pitted.

    Through the first 50 laps of the event, Kyle Busch remained as the leader by nearly three-tenths of a second over Byron, with Bell, Hamlin and Elliott in the top five. Truex was in sixth followed by Almirola, Ross Chastain, Logano and Harvick. Not long after, Blaney made another pit stop to address a loose right-front wheel, a move that dropped him a lap behind the leaders.

    By Lap 60, Kyle Busch continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over Byron. Bell, teammate Hamlin and Elliott continued to run in the top five followed by Truex, Almirola, Chastain, Logano and Bowman.

    On Lap 65, Byron brought his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to pit road under green. By then, Daniel Suarez pitted. With Byron pitting from the runner-up spot, teammates Bell and Hamlin moved up to second and third behind their third teammate and leader, Kyle Busch. By then, all four Joe Gibbs Racing competitors were running in the top five, with Elliott in fourth.

    A few laps later, Kevin Harvick brought his No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang to his pit stall for service under green. 

    At the halfway mark on Lap 70, Kyle Busch was the leader followed by teammate Bell, Elliott, teammate Truex and Almirola. Chastain moved up to sixth followed by Logano, Bowman, Reddick and Kurt Busch. A lap earlier, Hamlin pitted.

    During the ensuing laps, Ryan Newman pitted along with Bell, Elliott, Truex, Chastain, Almirola, Kurt Busch, Bowman, Logano, Ryan Preece, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and others. During the sequence, Kyle Busch, who surrendered the lead to pit, had to receive a push from his crew after stalling his car with the car getting stuck in gear and not moving.

    Back on course and on Lap 75, Bubba Wallace was leading followed by DiBenedetto, Byron, Keselowski, Hamlin and Bell. Two laps later, Wallace pitted and Byron inherited the lead with Keselowski in second.

    By Lap 80, Byron was leading by more than two seconds over Keselowski, with Hamlin, Bell and Elliott in the top five. Truex was in sixth followed by Larson, Almirola, Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon.

    With the laps in the second stage concluding, Hamlin managed to overtake Keselowski for the runner-up spot. By then, Byron was clear out in front by more than two seconds. With a clear sight in front amid the lapped traffic, Byron was able to claim his second stage victory on Lap 80 as he also recorded his second stage victory of the season. Hamlin settled in second followed by Keselowski, Bell, Elliott, Truex, Kyle Busch, Larson, Almirola and Chastain.

    Under the stage break, some led by Keselowski pitted while others led by Byron remained on the track. During the pit stops, Kyle Busch spent extra time in his pit stall to have the shifter and gear issue on his car addressed. Despite pitting for a second time for repairs, Busch remained on the lead lap.

    With 50 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Byron received a push from Hamlin to remain as the leader. Behind, Elliott charged to third place followed by Bell, teammate Truex, Almirola and Bowman as the field battled intensely for positioning. 

    Two laps later, the caution flew due to debris that came off the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE piloted by Erik Jones, who earlier had a left-front tire flat.

    Under caution, some led by Byron and Hamlin pitted while the rest led by Elliott remained on the track. During the sequence, Elliott, who faked coming to pit road, was penalized for not maintaining his position on the track under caution, sending him back to fourth as Bell moved back to the lead.

    With 44 laps remaining, the race restarted under green as Bell and Bowman started on the front row. At the start, Bowman received a push from Ross Chastain on the inside lane to move into the lead over Bell. Behind, Chastain challenged Bell for the runner-up spot while Elliott and Harvick battled dead even for fourth place in front of Almirola and Keselowski. 

    Back to the frontstretch, Harvick made a bold three-wide move to move into the runner-up spot after Bell and Chastain made contact against one another. Following the contact, Chastain’s No. 42 McDonald’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE went up the race track in Turn 1 with a flat tire following the contact with Bell. 

    Then entering the frontstretch, Elliott made contact with Bell, sending Bell sideways. Though Bell sustained right-rear damage to his car, he prevented the car from spinning sideways as the race proceeded under green. The contact scattered the field as Bell fell out of contention. Both Bell and Chastain pitted following their on-track incident. 

    Back up front, Bowman was the leader by nearly seven-tenths of a second over Harvick, with Keselowski, Blaney and Reddick in the top five. McDowell was up in sixth followed by Elliott, Almirola, Kurt Busch and Hamlin.

    Under the final 40 laps, Elliott’s No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE fell off the pace due to a flat right-front tire as he made the trip to pit road for four fresh tires. Not long after, Matt DiBenedetto pitted along with Logano.

    With 35 laps remaining, Bowman continued to lead by four-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Harvick, with third-place Keselowski trailing by more than a second. Soon after, names like Blaney and Austin Dillon pitted. In addition, Elliott made a second pit stop due to another flat tire.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, the battle for the lead intensified as Bowman led by less than three-tenths of a second over Harvick. Soon after, Almirola surrendered his spot on the track to pit along with Stenhouse, who had smoke trailing out of the tailpipe of his No. 47 Scott Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE as he made the left-hand turn to the garage.

    Two laps later, Harvick pitted along with McDowell. Another three laps later, more pit strategy occurred as Bowman surrendered the lead to pit for fuel for his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, giving the lead to the No. 2 Freightliner Ford Mustang piloted by Brad Keselowski. 

    Nearing the final 20 laps of the event, Tyler Reddick surrendered the runner-up spot to pit.

    With 20 laps remaining and the fuel strategy conversation continuing among multiple teams, Keselowski, who was in question about having enough fuel to make it to the finish, was leading by over Byron. Kurt Busch, Hamlin and Larson were in the top five followed by Kyle Busch, Wallace, Preece, Briscoe and Suarez. Harvick, who had enough fuel to complete the race to its scheduled distance, was in 13th behind Truex while Bowman was in 15th behind Blaney.

    Five laps later, Keselowski continued to lead by more than three seconds over Byron, with Kurt Busch, Hamlin and Larson remaining in the top five. Harvick, meanwhile, was still mired back in 13th behind Truex as Blaney, Bowman and Reddick were in 14th, 15th and 16th.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Keselowski was leading by more than 11 seconds over Byron, with Kurt Busch, Hamlin, Larson, Kyle Busch and the field trailing by more than 21 seconds. Harvick, meanwhile, was up in 10th place behind Ryan Newman.

    Two laps later, Keselowski, who last pitted on Lap 87, surrendered the lead to pit for fuel, with the former Cup champion not having enough to initially complete the remainder of the race. Despite pitting for fuel, Keselowski managed to pick up speed and pull ahead of Harvick as both awaited the fuel fate of the front-runners.

    Back on course, Byron inherited the lead followed by Hamlin, the Busch brothers, Larson and Wallace. 

    With five laps remaining, Byron, who was trying to conserve fuel, was leading by more than two seconds over Hamlin with Kyle Busch also joining the party. By then, Keselowski and Harvick were in seventh and eighth.

    Then with two laps remaining, Byron, who last pitted on Lap 94, pitted as teammates Hamlin and Kyle Busch moved into first and second. 

    Shortly after, Hamlin fell off the pace exiting Turn 2 as he ran out of fuel. Despite trying to block his teammate, Kyle Busch assumed the lead on the outside lane entering the frontstretch as he started the final lap of the race. With Busch out in front and Hamlin pitting, Kyle Larson moved into second place, trailing by more than seven seconds. By then, Kurt Busch pitted.

    With the gas tank in the No. 18 Toyota running dry, Kyle Busch, who last pitted on Lap 95, was able to navigate his way around the triangle circuit for a final time and come back around to take the checkered flag and steal the win a day after finishing in the runner-up spot in the first Cup Pocono doubleheader event.

    The victory marked Busch’s second of this season, fourth at Pocono and the 59th of his NASCAR Cup Series career. It was also Busch’s second of the season with rookie Cup crew chief Ben Beshore.

    “[The car’s] Stuck in fourth gear,” Busch said on NBCSN. “About out of gas. Just saving, just riding, just playing the strategy the best we could with what was given to us. Just can’t say enough about everybody on my team, everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota, [Toyota Racing Development], all the work that they’re putting in and everything. Sometimes, these races aren’t always won by the fastest car, but I still felt like we had the fastest car. Even though we were in the back and behind and having to come back and having to persevere, being stuck in fourth gear, no clutch, all that stuff, it’s all burned out. Nothing left in his M&M’s Mini’s Camry. It was awesome today…This is really awesome to pull off another win here at Pocono. Feels good.”

    Behind, Larson, who struggled throughout the event and wrecked a day ago while leading on the final lap, had enough fuel to come home in second place as he collected his ninth top-two result of the season.

    “It’s surprising finish for us. Our HendrickCars.com Chevy was really loose for a majority of the race, then we got a lot of nose damage there on one of the restarts. Was off on speed. I felt like after that. [Crew chief] Cliff [Daniels] and everybody did a really, really good job managing the race, coached me through saving fuel there at the end. [I] Was hoping that [Kyle Busch] was going to run out. I saw [Hamlin] running out. I was, ‘Okay, they’re teammates, they got to be close to running out.’ [Busch] did pit a lap after us under caution. That actually probably won them the race. But, yeah, second-place finish, I thought we would be outside of the top-20. A lot of points throughout the race today; we’ll take it. Happy about the effort for sure all weekend.”

    Keselowski and Harvick, both of whom were charging hard on fuel, finished in third and fourth while Bubba Wallace achieved his first top-five result of the season and for 23XI Racing by finishing fifth.

    “We knew we were in a worse position than [Kyle Busch],” Wallace said. “It was just racing our race. I was trying to do the best that I could, but all in all, really solid weekend. First top five for the team. I think that’s a little pen to the paper action there to re-sign and re-up there. All in all, just happy with how the weekend went. Smooth sailing for the most part. Today was a little bit trickier, but perseverance. Just got to battle through it and proud of everybody here.”

    Blaney, Bowman, Preece, Reddick and Logano finished in the top 10.

    Byron, following his late pit stop, ended up in 12th behind Truex while Hamlin, who was a lap away from capturing his first victory of the season until he ran out of fuel, fell all the way back to 14th.

    “We had our hands tied up behind our backs,” Byron said. “Definitely had the fastest car. The caution didn’t fit us perfectly. We had control of the race there and was right on our number to make it or not, and just didn’t work out. Really fast car. The AXALTA Chevrolet was awesome. Sucks to lose’em like that, but I feel like we had everything we needed in the car. Just couldn’t save enough fuel as far back as we were. Just part of it, but thanks to the guys.”

    “The result is we’ve pitted on the last lap for three weeks in a row,” Hamlin said. “That’s tough. I hate seeing the white [flag], ended up coming to pit road. It’s just so frustrating, but fuel mileage’s got us the last two weeks and lug nuts the week before, but we’re running fast. We’re getting a little better. I think that overall, we had a little bit more speed this weekend than what we’ve had in the past few weeks. Just can’t see the checkered right now.”

    Truex settled in 11th, Austin Dillon and Suarez finished 13th and 15th, Almirola came home in 16th ahead of McDowell, Kurt Busch fell all the way back to 20th behind Chris Buescher, rookie Chase Briscoe finished 21st, Justin Allgaier finished 25th as a substitute competitor for Spire Motorsports, Chastain and Elliott ended up in 26th and 27th and Bell ended his strong run in 32nd behind Erik Jones.

    There were 12 lead changes for 10 different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 15 laps.

    With eight races remaining until the 2021 Cup Playoffs commences, Hamlin continues to lead the regular-season standings by four points over Larson. Eleven competitors (Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Christopher Bell and Michael McDowell) are guaranteed Playoff spots based on winning at least once through the first 19 regular-season events. Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Austin Dillon, Tyler Reddick and Kurt Busch occupy the remaining five spots as winless competitors, with Busch ahead by three points over Chris Buescher, 48 over Daniel Suarez, 54 over Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Bubba Wallace, 60 over Matt DiBenedetto and 72 over Ross Chastain. 

    Results.

    1. Kyle Busch, 30 laps led

    2. Kyle Larson

    3. Brad Keselowski, 31 laps led

    4. Kevin Harvick

    5. Bubba Wallace, three laps led

    6. Ryan Blaney

    7. Alex Bowman, 18 laps led

    8. Ryan Preece

    9. Tyler Reddick

    10. Joey Logano

    11. Martin Truex Jr., 19 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    12. William Byron, 22 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    13. Austin Dillon

    14. Denny Hamlin, one lap led

    15. Daniel Suarez

    16. Aric Almirola

    17. Michael McDowell, seven laps led

    18. Matt DiBenedetto

    19. Chris Buescher, six laps led

    20. Kurt Busch

    21. Chase Briscoe

    22. Ryan Newman

    23. Corey LaJoie, one lap down

    24. Cole Custer, one lap down

    25. Justin Allgaier, one lap down

    26. Ross Chastain, one lap down

    27. Chase Elliott, one lap down

    28. Cody Ware, one lap down

    29. B.J. McLeod, one lap down

    30. James Davison, three laps down

    31. Erik Jones, four laps down

    32. Christopher Bell, five laps down, three laps led

    33. Quin Houff, five laps down

    34. Anthony Alfredo, six laps down

    35. Josh Bilicki, eight laps down

    36. Garrett Smithley – OUT, Engine

    37. Timmy Hill – OUT, Handling

    38. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Engine

    Next on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is Road America, the series’ return to the track near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, since 1956. The event is slated to occur on Sunday, July 4, during Independence Day weekend at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.