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  • Harvick sweeps Michigan in one weekend

    Harvick sweeps Michigan in one weekend

    Like his run from a day earlier at Michigan International Speedway, Kevin Harvick had a fast car and had to fight off all comers to earn a victory. That was the case on Sunday, August 9, when Harvick held off a late challenge from Denny Hamlin in the final laps to win the Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan and to sweep both Cup races at the Irish Hills on the same weekend. The victory was Harvick’s sixth of this season, fifth at Michigan and the 55th of his Cup Series career. 

    The starting lineup was based on the results from Saturday’s Cup race at Michigan, where the top-20 finishers were inverted while the latter 20 competitors started as finished on Saturday. Chris Buescher, who finished 20th, was scheduled to start on pole position, but he started at the rear of the field in a backup car. As a result, William Byron and Clint Bowyer, both of whom finished 14th and 19th on Saturday, started on the front row and led the field to the start on Sunday.

    In addition to Buescher, the following competitors, including Austin Dillon, Ryan Newman, rookie Tyler Reddick, Aric Almirola, Michael McDowell, Ryan Preece, rookie John Hunter Nemechek and rookie Cole Custer, started at the rear of the field in backup cars. Rookie Brennan Poole also started at the rear of the field for an engine change, Daniel Suarez and Reed Sorenson both dropped to the rear of the field due to failing pre-race inspection twice and Josh Bilicki started at the rear of the field due to a driver change. 

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Byron and Bowyer battled dead even for the lead with Bowyer squeaking ahead to lead the first lap. Behind, Austin Dillon was assessed a pass-through penalty for unapproved adjustments made on the grid prior to the race.

    The following lap, Jimmie Johnson and Matt DiBenedetto overtook Byron for position with rookie Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace, Erik Jones and Kurt Busch trailing behind. By then, Bowyer was ahead with the lead by nearly half a second.

    By the fifth lap, Kyle Busch muscled his way up to seventh after overtaking brother Kurt and Wallace in Turn 2 a lap earlier. Behind, Ryan Blaney was in ninth, Chase Elliott was in 11th ahead of Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski. Denny Hamlin was in 17th, teammate Martin Truex Jr. was in 19th and Tyler Reddick was in 20th ahead of Alex Bowman. Rookie Cole Custer was in 25th ahead of Ryan Newman, Aric Almirola and Daniel Suarez.

    Five laps later and 10 laps into the race, Bowyer stabilized his early advantage by more than a second over Johnson followed by Bell, DiBenedetto, Byron and Jones. Two laps later, Bell, the fastest competitor on the track, moved into the runner-up spot after passing Johnson. Another lap later, Johnson lost momentum entering Turn 3 and fell back to sixth place while being overtaken by DiBenedetto, Byron and Jones. 

    By Lap 15, Harvick, winner of Saturday’s Cup Michigan race, cracked the top 10 after passing Wallace. Ahead of him, Kyle Busch was in eighth ahead of Blaney while Logano, Elliott, Keselowski and Hamlin were running in 12th through 15th.

    Five laps later and 20 laps into the race, Bowyer was still leading by more than two seconds over Bell, who continued to chop off Bowyer’s advantage. DiBenedetto was still in third place while Byron and Jones battled for fourth. The Busch brothers followed suit while Blaney and Harvick were in eighth and ninth. Johnson, meanwhile, had fallen back to 10th with Logano lingering behind him. By then, Wallace was in 15th ahead of Reddick, Truex was in 24th behind Almirola and Austin Dillon was back in 33rd place following his opening lap pass-through penalty.

    With the laps in the first stage dwindling, Bowyer and his No. 14 DEKALB Ford Mustang were still ahead and cruising by three seconds over Bell and his No. 95 Procore Toyota Camry. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch and his No. 18 M&M’s Fudge Brownie Toyota Camry continued to work towards the front as he moved into third place followed by Jones, Byron and DiBenedetto. Blaney was in seventh followed by Harvick, one of the fastest competitors on the track. Kurt Busch was in ninth while Logano was in 10th ahead of Johnson, Elliott, Hamlin and Keselowski. Reddick was in 17th behind Wallace while Truex was stuck back in 22nd.

    With no competition trailing behind him for the lead, Bowyer was able to navigate his way through lapped traffic and cruise to the first stage win on Lap 40 while claiming his third stage win of the season and crucial stage points towards making the Playoffs. Bell settled in second place followed by Kyle Busch, DiBenedetto and Jones. Byron, Blaney, Harvick, Kurt Busch and Logano settled in the top 10. 

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Kyle Busch emerged with the lead after exiting pit road first following a stellar stop by the No. 18 M&M’s crew. Harvick moved up to second place followed by teammate Bowyer, Byron and Jones. Following the first round of pit stops, Blaney, who was in the top 10, made another pit stop to fill up the fuel tank of his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang. 

    Prior to the restart and with the choose rule implemented, Byron moved up from fourth to second place and restarted beneath Kyle Busch on the front row, Johnson moved up from seventh to restart in third place alongside Harvick in the second row and Bowyer dropped back to sixth to restart on the outside lane in the third row alongside Logano.

    The second stage started on Lap 47 and Kyle Busch jumped to an early advantage with drafting help from Harvick. Not long after, Harvick made a three-wide move on Kyle Busch and Byron entering Turn 2 to take the lead and pull away. Busch settled in second followed by Bowyer, Byron and Jones. A lap later, Keselowski made his way into the top five after moving up to fourth. Behind, Bell was back in eighth following a slow stop under the first stage break. 

    By Lap 60 and with less than 100 laps remaining of the overall race, Harvick was leading by more than a second over Keselowski and Kyle Busch. Bowyer was in fourth followed by Bell, Jones, Logano, DiBenedetto, Elliott and Hamlin. Kurt Busch was in 11th followed by Almirola and Byron, Johnson and Bowman. Blaney was in 18th behind Reddick and ahead of Truex and Wallace. Matt Kenseth and Newman were in 16th and 23rd.

    Ten laps later, Harvick, who started to approach lapped traffic, was still ahead of the field by two seconds over Keselowski and more than three seconds over Kyle Busch. Bell was still in fourth place followed by Bowyer, Jones, Hamlin, Logano, Elliott and Almirola. Johnson and Byron were back in 14th and 15th behind Blaney while Truex was in 17th. 

    At the halfway mark on Lap 78, Harvick extended his advantage to more than three seconds over Keselowski with Kyle Busch trailing by more than four seconds, Bell by nearly six seconds and Bowyer by nearly seven seconds. Like his race-winning performance from Saturday and with the same car he drove to yesterday’s win, Harvick was able to drive away from the field and easily claim the second stage on Lap 85 for his fifth stage victory of the season. Keselowski settled in second place followed by Kyle Busch, Bell and Bowyer. Hamlin, Jones, Almirola, Logano and Blaney were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Harvick retained the lead after exiting pit road first ahead of Kyle Busch. Keselowski, Bowyer and Hamlin exited in the top five followed by Bell. Prior to the restart, Hamlin moved up to the front row to restart beneath Harvick, Kyle Busch fell back to fourth to restart on the outside lane alongside Blaney. Elliott and Keselowski restarted behind on the third row followed by DiBenedetto and Bowyer.

    Under 65 laps remaining, the final stage started under green. During the restart, Hamlin and Blaney boosted ahead with the lead and both competitors battled dead even before Blaney squeaked ahead with the top spot. Behind, Harvick and Hamlin battled for the runner-up spot followed by Elliott, Kyle Busch and Keselowski. Meanwhile, Bowman and Truex, both of whom struggled, were in 10th and 11th while Bowyer was in 12th ahead of Jones, Reddick and Bell. Byron was in 17th ahead of Kenseth while Johnson was in 20th behind Wallace.

    With around 60 laps remaining, Keselowski, who muscled his way up to the runner-up spot, made a move beneath Blaney in Turn 1 and challenged for the lead when he got loose and slipped up into Blaney as both Penske teammates wrecked across the Turn 2 outside wall. With the caution returning, the wreck eliminated Blaney and Keselowski from race-winning contention and the overall race.

    “I just lost it,” Keselowski said following his release from the infield care center on NBCSN. “It’s my fault. I feel really bad for my teammate, Ryan Blaney. He didn’t deserve that. I just came off of Turn 4 and [Harvick] was behind me. He gave me a push and I swear, I went into the corner like 20 mph faster than I had been all day. [I] Got pass [Hamlin] and went to get underneath [Blaney]. It just slipped, lost the back a little bit. I went to correct it and he was there, and I wiped him out and myself out.”

    “It’s unfortunate for the whole Penske organization,” Blaney added. “We had two fast cars, battling for the lead. It stinks that happened. He had a run like he said. He didn’t think he had a big of a run as he had and just got loose and unfortunately, got us both. That’s a shame to end our day like that with the Knauf/Menards Ford Mustang. We were so fast…Got the lead…It’s unfortunate, but it’s not going to carry over. Mistakes happen.”

    Under caution, Bowman made a pit stop after sustaining damage during the incident. Bowyer, who also sustained minimal damage to his car, remained on track inside the top 10. Prior to the restart, Kyle Busch moved up to restart beneath teammate Hamlin on the front row. Kurt Busch and Harvick restarted on the second row in front of Bell and Elliott.

    The race restarted under green with 55 laps remaining and Harvick made his way back to the lead over Hamlin. Elliott moved into third followed by Kyle Busch and Almirola. Kurt Busch charged his way up to sixth followed by DiBenedetto, Truex, Johnson and Bell. Meanwhile, Bowyer, who sustained a tire rub during the restart, made an unscheduled pit stop and was trapped a lap behind the leaders.

    Shortly after, the caution returned when Bell spun in Turn 2 after sustaining a flat tire. The caution was as a saving grace for Bowyer, who received the free pass and returned on the lead lap. 

    Under caution, nearly the entire field pitted and Hamlin exited pit road first after only taking fuel to his No. 11 FedEx Toyota, the first of many who elected to pit for only fuel. DiBenedetto exited in second after he also took only fuel to his car followed by Harvick, who opted for a two-tire stop. At the front, Almirola remained on track to inherit the lead, though he miscommunicated with his crew over code words and had meant to pit with the leaders.

    When the race restarted with 47 laps remaining, teammates Almirola and Harvick battled for the lead with Harvick leading the following lap before Almirola cleared his teammate for the lead the next lap. Behind, DiBenedetto moved up to third place followed by Truex, who made a three-wide move on Kurt Busch and Hamlin to move into the top five for the first time. Logano was in seventh followed by Jones, Kyle Busch and Newman. 

    With 40 laps remaining, Harvick made his way back to the lead after passing Almirola, though Almirola and his No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang remained competitive on old tires and low fuel. Truex was up in third place followed by DiBenedetto and Hamlin. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch was in ninth ahead of Johnson and Jones, Austin Dillon was up to 13th, Byron was in 15th and Bowyer was in 18th.

    Ten laps later and with 30 laps remaining, Harvick was still leading by two-tenths of a second over his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Almirola while Joe Gibbs Racing’s Truex and Hamlin battled for third place. Kurt Busch trailed by more than four seconds with brother Kyle up to sixth.

    Seven laps later, with the leaders approaching lapped traffic, teammates Truex and Hamlin passed Almirola to move up to second and third with Truex trailing race leader Harvick by less than a second. 

    With less than 20 laps remaining, the caution returned due to debris from Bowman’s No. 88 Adam’s Polishes/ChevyGoods.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, who had sustained a flat tire entering Turn 4 and near the pit road entrance. The caution was as a saving grace for Almirola, who was on the brink of having to make an unscheduled pit stop under green.

    Under caution, Almirola along with some that included DiBenedetto, Wallace, Kenseth, Michael McDowell, rookie John Hunter Nemechek, Ryan Preece and Daniel Suarez pitted while most of the leaders led by Harvick remained on track.

    With 15 laps remaining, the race restarted under green with Harvick and Hamlin on the front row in front of Truex and Logano. At the restart, Harvick retained the lead while teammates Truex and Hamlin battled for the runner-up spot. Teammate Kyle Busch made his way to fourth after passing brother Kurt and with DiBenedetto behind. 

    Two laps later, Hamlin settled in the runner-up spot in front of teammates Truex and Kyle Busch. By then, Harvick was ahead by nearly a second. Meanwhile, Almirola, following his pit stop, was up to eighth on fresh tires behind Elliott. 

    With less than 10 laps remaining, Harvick was leading by six-tenths of a second over Hamlin, who was slowly closing in towards Harvick, while teammates Truex and Kyle Busch battled for third place. During this time, Bowman made another unscheduled pit stop after making contact with the wall and sustaining another flat tire.

    With the laps dwindling, Hamlin continued to chop off Harvick’s advantage as he drew himself to being three-tenths of a second behind Harvick. While Hamlin remained within sight of Harvick’s rear bumper and made a few attempts to pass for the lead through the turns, Harvick was able to retain his advantage entering the straightaways.

    With two laps remaining, Hamlin gained a run in Turn 1 when Harvick lifted, but he also lifted entering Turn 2 as Harvick stabilized his advantage to nearly three car lengths. On the final lap, Harvick was still ahead with Hamlin still lurking behind. In Turn 3, Harvick remained on the inside lane while Hamlin went on the outside lane. Entering Turn 4, Hamlin gained a huge run on Harvick and got to his rear bumper. With the checkered flag waving and the leaders coming across the finish line through the frontstretch, Harvick was able to beat Hamlin by 0.093 seconds to grab a thrilling win.

    The victory was the 13th of the season for Ford, the manufacturer’s 42nd Cup victory since 2018 and the seventh of the season for Stewart-Haas Racing. With his two victories this weekend, Harvick tallied his top-five results of this season to 15 and top-10 results to 19. A day after tying the late Lee Petty for 11th place on the NASCAR Cup all-time wins list, Harvick has tied NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace for 10th place on the all-time wins list. 

    “It was a big challenge [on the battle with Hamlin],” Harvick said in Victory Lane on NBCSN. “Our Busch Light Apple Ford Mustang got really tight there in [Turns] 3 and 4. I could run really good through [Turns] 1 and 2 still, but I was just tight on that other end all day. I just got to thank all of my guys. They did a great job all weekend on pit road. Great pit calls. It’s been a long time since I’ve raced back-to-back days, let alone in the Cup car. I’ve never accomplished that, obviously, but we’ve done that a couple times this year. For us, it’s worked out pretty good. When you look at my team, we’ve been together for seven years now, and you look at the confidence that everybody has in each other, the details of the racecars and the thought of everything that goes into everything we do is untouchable.”

    Hamlin settled in the runner-up spot for his 12th top-five result of this season as this also marks the ninth time where he has finished first or second this season. Teammates Truex and Kyle Busch finished third and fourth while Logano held off Almirola to finish fifth.

    “Once we finally got to second, I knew we had something for [Harvick],” Hamlin said. “We got stalled there. He was tight, I was tight. We were better, that’s for sure. He just had the track position and could control the lanes there. [I] Wished I had Turns 1 and 2 to go do over again when we both lifted off of [Turn] 2 there. I should’ve faked low and went high, but I thought I could maybe get to the quarter panel and shoved him even higher. Just couldn’t quite do it, but proud of this whole FedEx Ground Toyota team. Obviously, a very strong run. We just needed a little bit more. Overall, I thought we just had a good-handling car and that’s what allowed us to keep pace there. I thought our whole team did a great job of adjusting overnight. We’re just plugging along here. [I] Really hate giving up wins to [Harvick]. I got tremendous respect for everyone on [the No. 4] team and Kevin. As we’ve gotten older, we’ve gotten wiser, learned to really appreciate what each other does on the race track and obviously, they’re have a great season as well.”

    “We battled back,” Truex said. “The car was pretty far off to start the race. We’re all pretty disappointed in that, obviously. Really proud of the effort to get the Auto-Owners [Insurance] Camry back upfront. Just really proud of our race team. We keep bringing top-three cars to the race track and the Playoffs are coming. So, we need to keep doing that. Just off at the start and had to rebound. Definitely, a different story than yesterday but pretty much, the same result. I was doing all I could to get up there. I got too tight there at the end. Just fought the balance too much all day. Wicked loose to start and wicked tight at the end. We’ll keep digging.”

    Almirola, DiBenedetto, Austin Dillon, Elliott and Kurt Busch rounded out the top 10. Jimmie Johnson finished 11th in his final run at Michigan while Bowyer ended his run in 14th place.

    There were 10 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 24 laps.

    With two victories this weekend and with four regular-season races remaining until the start of the 2020 Cup Playoffs, Harvick continues to lead the regular-season series standings by 137 over Keselowski and 140 over Hamlin.

    Results.

    1. Kevin Harvick, 90 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Denny Hamlin, six laps led

    3. Martin Truex Jr.

    4. Kyle Busch, four laps led

    5. Joey Logano

    6. Aric Almirola, nine laps led

    7. Matt DiBenedetto

    8. Austin Dillon

    9. Chase Elliott

    10. Kurt Busch

    11. Jimmie Johnson

    12. William Byron

    13. Ryan Newman

    14. Clint Bowyer, 43 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    15. Matt Kenseth

    16. Ryan Preece

    17. Christopher Bell

    18. Ty Dillon

    19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    20. Chris Buescher

    21. Bubba Wallace

    22. Corey LaJoie

    23. John Hunter Nemechek

    24. Tyler Reddick

    25. Cole Custer

    26. Daniel Suarez

    27. Erik Jones

    28. Michael McDowell

    29. J.J. Yeley, two laps down

    30. Brennan Poole, three laps down

    31. Reed Sorenson, three laps down

    32. Quin Houff, three laps down

    33. Josh Bilicki, four laps down

    34. Garrett Smithley, four laps down

    35. Timmy Hill, six laps down

    36. Alex Bowman – OUT, Tire

    37. James Davison, nine laps down

    38. Ryan Blaney – OUT, four laps led

    39. Brad Keselowski – OUT

    Next weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series will race for the first time on the Daytona International Speedway Road Course layout as the 2020 Playoffs approaches its starting point. The race at Daytona will occur on August 16 at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Harvick claims the first Cup Michigan race of the weekend

    Harvick claims the first Cup Michigan race of the weekend

    Following a late battle and the slightest of contact with Kyle Busch in the closing laps, Kevin Harvick prevailed through a series of late restarts and in overtime against Brad Keselowski to win the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday, August 8, the first of two NASCAR Cup Series races at Michigan of the weekend. The victory was Harvick’s fifth of the season, fourth at Michigan and the 54th of his Cup Series career.

    The starting lineup was based on a random draw. Joey Logano started on pole position for the second time this season and was joined on the front row with Denny Hamlin. 

    Prior to the race, NASCAR confiscated the spoilers from the Roush Fenway Racing two-car lineup of Ryan Newman and Chris Buescher during the pre-race inspection process. With both teams violating Section 12.4.12.b (spoiler section) of the NASCAR Cup rule book, both competitors dropped to the rear of the field and they were also docked 20 driver/owner points. In addition, their crew chiefs (Scott Graves and Luke Lambert) were each fined $25,000 for the infraction. Jimmie Johnson and Joey Gase also dropped to the rear of the field due to their respective cars failing pre-race inspection twice.

    When the green flag and the race commenced following a 45-minute delay because of the delayed Xfinity Series race occurring at Road America, Logano received a push from Aric Almirola on the outside lane to jump to an early lead as he led the first lap. The following lap, Hamlin attempted to pass Logano on the inside lane, but he lost his momentum entering Turn 2 as Logano retained the lead while Almirola challenged Hamlin for the runner-up spot. Behind, Kevin Harvick was in fourth followed by Alex Bowman, teammate Chase Elliott and Brad Keselowski, all of whom battled one another through Turns 3 and 4. 

    In Turn 1, Keselowski lost his momentum and dropped all the way back to 12th behind rookie Tyler Reddick, who was fresh off a one-year contract extension deal with Richard Childress Racing. 

    After the first 10 laps, Logano, who reported a vibration, was still leading by less than two-tenths of a second over Hamlin with teammates Almirola and Harvick trailing behind and battling one another for third place. A few laps later, Almirola dropped out of the top five after being overtaken by Harvick and Kurt Busch. 

    On Lap 14, Hamlin made a move beneath Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford in Turn 3 and both battled dead even for the lead through Turns 4 and 1. While Hamlin led the 15th lap, Logano cleared Hamlin for the lead back in Turn 2 just as the competition caution flew. Prior to the competition caution, Ryan Blaney made a green flag pit stop for early adjustments and fresh tires for the ensuing restart. At the time of caution, Almirola had fallen back to 10th place and Martin Truex Jr. was in sixth while Harvick, Bowman and Kurt Busch were scored in the top five. Erik Jones and Chase Elliott were in 11th and 12th while Matt DiBenedetto and William Byron were in 14th and 15th. Clint Bowyer was in 16th, Jimmie Johnson was in 17th and Ryan Newman was in 29th. 

    Under caution, a majority of competitors led by Keselowski, Almirola, Elliott, rookie Cole Custer, Byron, Austin Dillon and Newman pitted while the rest led by Logano, Hamlin, Reddick and Harvick remained on track. 

    The race restarted on Lap 19 and Hamlin received a push from Reddick on the inside lane to move into the lead through Turns 1 and 2. Behind, Logano, who restarted on the outside lane, retained the runner-up spot followed by Harvick, Kurt Busch and Bowman. A lap later, Truex cut a right-front tire in Turn 3 after making contact with Reddick in Turn 2. He was able to keep his car off the wall and return to pit road for two fresh right-side tires. The misfortune, however, cost Truex two laps.

    At the front, Harvick gained a run on Hamlin in Turn 4 and was able to pass Hamlin’s No. 11 FedEx Toyota to emerge with the lead on Lap 23. Behind, Blaney bolted his way into sixth place followed by Reddick and Jones. 

    By Lap 30, Harvick was ahead by two-tenths of a second over Hamlin. Kurt Busch was in third followed by Blaney, Bowman and Jones. Elliott was in eighth while Logano was back in ninth following contact with Kyle Busch in Turn 2. Bowyer was in 12th, Johnson was in 14th, Byron was in 17th and Almirola was in 18th. Truex was in 36th while Reddick, who had been running inside the top 10, was back in 35th after making an unscheduled pit stop under green a few laps earlier.

    With no one behind him nor close enough to challenge for the lead, Harvick was able to cruise to the win in the first stage on Lap 40 as he claimed his third stage victory of the season. Hamlin trailed in second place and above half a second followed by Blaney, Kurt Busch and Keselowski. Jones, Bowman, Elliott, Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were scored in the top 10. Logano had fallen back to 18th while battling loose-handling conditions to his car.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Hamlin exited pit road first ahead of Harvick following a stellar pit stop from the FedEx crew. Blaney exited in third place followed by Keselowski and Kurt Busch.

    Prior to the start of the second stage and with the new choose rule implemented, Harvick dropped from second to fourth to restart on the outside lane while Keselowski was lined up in second place and beneath Hamlin on the front row. In addition, Jones moved up from sixth to third as the second car to restart on the bottom lane while Bowyer moved up from ninth to fifth.

    The second stage started on Lap 47 and Hamlin gained a huge run on the outside lane to retain the lead. While the field behind battled intensely against one another and raced three to four wide for position, Blaney took the lead on Lap 49. Harvick settled right behind Blaney in second followed by Kurt Busch while Hamlin and Keselowski battled for fourth. 

    By Lap 55, Blaney was still ahead by less than four-tenths of a second over Harvick followed by Kurt Busch and Jones, who gained a huge run on the outside lane to pass both Hamlin and Keselowski for position a few laps earlier. Bowman trailed behind in seventh followed by Bowyer, Kyle Busch and Bubba Wallace. Elliott and Logano were in 12th and 15th while Johnson was in 17th. Reddick, who took the wave around to return to the lead lap under the first stage break, was in 26th while Truex was in 34th, still a lap behind. 

    Five laps later and with less than 100 laps remaining of the overall race, Blaney was still leading by less than half a second over Harvick with Michigan natives Jones and Keselowski lingering behind. Soon after, Hamlin joined the party as he battled teammate Jones and Keselowski for position inside the top five.

    With Blaney leading by less than two-tenths of a second over Harvick on Lap 67, the Busch brothers started to close in towards the top-five competitors for position. By Lap 76, Harvick benefitted from Blaney getting stuck behind a lapped car to reassume the lead. By then, Reddick made another unscheduled pit stop after he reported a flat tire to his No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Behind the leaders, Keselowski moved up to third after passing Hamlin, who earlier nearly wrecked with the lapped car of Timmy Hill. Both competitors continued to battle intensely for the spot as the laps of the second stage continued to dwindle.

    Like his run to the conclusion of the first stage, Harvick was able to pull away from Blaney by less than a second and not worry about any lapped traffic to win the second stage on Lap 85 and claim his fourth stage victory of the season. Blaney settled in second followed by Hamlin, Jones and Keselowski. Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Bowman, Bowyer and Johnson settled in the top 10. 

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Harvick, this time, exited pit road with the lead followed by Hamlin, Blaney, Keselowski and Kyle Busch.

    The final stage under green occurred with 65 laps remaining and Hamlin, who restarted on the inside lane, received a push from teammate Jones to move into the lead. In Turn 3, however, Jones and Harvick attempted to place Hamlin in a three-wide situation for the lead. While Jones slipped and dropped back into the top 10, Harvick was able to muscle his way back into the lead. Keselowski advanced to the runner-up spot over Hamlin while Blaney and Kyle Busch moved into the top five.

    The caution returned shortly after when rookie John Hunter Nemechek spun in a flurry of circles on the frontstretch following contact with Chris Buescher. With the caution, Truex received the free pass and cycled back to the lead lap. Under caution, few that included Buescher, Corey LaJoie, Newman, Almirola, Reddick and Nemechek pitted while the rest remained on track.

    With 58 laps remaining, the race restarted and Harvick was able to clear Hamlin on the outside lane to retain the lead. Keselowski and Hamlin battled again for the runner-up spot followed by Kyle Busch and Bowyer while Blaney, Johnson, rookie Christopher Bell, Jones and Elliott settled in the top 10. 

    Eight laps later, the caution returned for another spin in Turn 4 involving Nemechek. Under caution, the leaders pitted and Kyle Busch emerged with the lead after only taking fuel for his No. 18 M&M’s Fudge Brownie Toyota Camry. Jones and Truex followed suit after they elected for only fuel to their respective Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas followed by Elliott and Bell, both of whom opted for a two-tire stop. Harvick also opted for a two-tire stop to remain within sight of the lead.

    Prior to the restart and with the choose rule implemented, Harvick moved up to the front row on the inside lane beneath Kyle Busch while Austin Dillon and Jones lined up right behind the leaders. Keselowski lined up in fifth next to Truex followed by Hamlin and Elliott.

    With 46 laps remaining, the race restarted and Kyle Busch received a push from teammate Jones to retain the lead on the outside lane. A lap later, Harvick made a move beneath Kyle Busch in Turn 1 to reassume the lead. Behind, Truex passed teammate Jones and started to challenge teammate Kyle Busch for the runner-up spot. 

    With 40 laps remaining and with fuel in question for the leaders to complete the race to its scheduled distance, Harvick was still ahead by less than eight-tenths of a second over Kyle Busch followed by Joe Gibbs Racing’s Truex and Jones. Elliott was in fifth place followed by Austin Dillon, Keselowski, Logano, Bell and Hamlin with Blaney in 11th.

    Ten laps later, Harvick extended his advantage to more than a second over teammates Kyle Busch and Truex. Jones was in fourth while Elliott prevailed in a battle with Keselowski for fifth place. Behind, Hamlin was still running in 11th and trailing Team Penske’s Logano and Blaney for a spot in the top 10.

    With 26 laps remaining, the caution returned for a third incident involving Nemechek in Turn 3, who made contact with the outside wall and sustained heavy rear end damage. Compared to his previous two incidents, this recent incident ended Nemechek’s race in the garage as he will move to a backup car for Sunday’s race at Michigan.

    Under caution, some like Logano, Blaney, Bowyer, DiBenedetto, Michael McDowell, Matt Kenseth and Buescher pitted while the rest remained on track. Prior to the restart, Jones dropped back to sixth to restart as the fourth car on the outside lane while Elliott moved up to second and alongside Harvick on the front row. Keselowski and Kyle Busch were lined up behind the two leaders and in front of teammates Hamlin and Truex.

    With 18 laps remaining, the race restarted and Elliott powered his way into the lead on the inside lane. While the field fanned out and battled for positions through the straightaways and the turns, Elliott maintained a narrow advantage over Harvick a lap later followed by a flurry of Toyota competitors led by Kyle Busch, Truex, Bell, Jones and Hamlin. 

    Five laps after the restart and with the battle for the lead intensifying, the caution returned after Ryan Preece made contact with the outside wall in Turn 2. Under caution, some like Reddick and Kenseth pitted while the rest remained on track. Prior to the restart, Kyle Busch elected to restart on the inside lane beneath Elliott on the front row. Behind, Harvick and Hamlin restarted alongside one another in the second row. 

    The race restarted with nine laps remaining and Kyle Busch received a push from teammate Hamlin to take the lead through Turns 1 and 2. In Turn 3, however, Kyle Busch slipped following close racing with Harvick, which nearly involved contact between the two, and Harvick reassumed the lead while Busch lost his momentum and fell back to the top 10. Shortly after, the caution flew when rookie Cole Custer made hard contact into the outside wall in Turn 3 and retired from the race, thus moving him to a backup car for Sunday’s race at Michigan. At the time of caution, Harvick was leading followed by Elliott, Hamlin, Blaney, Wallace, Jones and Truex while Kyle Busch was back in ninth. The race eventually went into a red flag period for nearly six minutes to allow the clean-up crew to clear the incident site in Turn 3 caused by Custer. 

    Prior to the restart when the race resumed under caution, Hamlin elected to restart beneath Harvick on the inside line and on the front row in front of Wallace and Elliott with teammates Blaney and Keselowski in the third row. 

    The race restarted with three laps remaining and Harvick and Hamlin battled dead even for the lead entering Turn 1. It was there where Wallace attempted to make a three-wide move for more, but it was not enough as Harvick reassumed the lead in Turn 2. Elliott moved up to second followed by Blaney, Keselowski and Truex while Hamlin and Wallace dropped back to sixth and seventh. In Turn 4, Austin Dillon, McDowell and Newman wrecked in Turn 4 as the caution returned and the race went into overtime. 

    Prior to the overtime attempt, Keselowski restarted on the front row beneath Harvick in front of Hamlin and Elliott. Wallace and Blaney were lined up in the third row followed by Johnson and Truex.

    In the first overtime attempt, Harvick and Keselowski battled dead even against one another through half a circuit with both not prevailing ahead of the other and receiving not drafting help from behind. In Turn 3, however, Harvick cleared Keselowski for the lead on the outside lane entering Turn 4. On the final lap, Harvick’s No. 4 Busch Light Apple Ford Mustang were ahead by two-tenths of a second over Keselowski’s No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang. Though Keselowski remained within sight of Harvick, he was unable to gain any draft for the lead as Harvick was able to claim the checkered flag in first place and win by less than three-tenths of a second. 

    The victory was also the 12th of the season for Ford and the sixth for Stewart-Haas Racing. With his 54th career win, Harvick moved into a tie with the late Lee Petty for 11th place on the all-time series wins list.

    “This was an awesome car to drive today,” Harvick said on NBCSN. “The restarts were obviously a handful, but our Busch Light Apple Ford Mustang was really fast today and we held on for the long run and would really go on the short run and did everything we needed it to do. I think that the confidence is high when we come to Michigan. It’s a race track that’s been really good to us and just fits our style of cars. [Crew chief] Rodney [Childers] and [the No. 4 crew] have given me great racecars at Michigan every time we’ve come… I can’t say enough about our whole organization. Since we’ve come back from COVID, the work that these guys and gals are putting in at the race shop and the organization, they’ve had a lot of really good training from Tony Stewart in awkward situations on how to prepare for things. Thanks, Smoke!”

    “I knew I needed to be right there [with Kyle Busch],” Harvick added regarding the contact with Kyle Busch. “I couldn’t tell if I touched him. I knew I wanted that side draft there. I knew that we had a fast enough car to pass him, but I knew that I needed to take the opportunity I had and I needed to side draft him.”

    Keselowski finished in second place as he came one spot short of winning at his home track. Truex ended his race in third place followed by Blaney and Kyle Busch, who nipped teammate Hamlin at the line for a top-five run. 

    “[Harvick] is just super fast in the corners and the straightaway,” Keselowski said. “He was definitely the best car out here today. We put a good effort to kind of maximize our day and that is what we did, finished second. Proud of everyone on the Discount Tire Ford Mustang team. We will go back to work on it and hopefully find a little bit more for the race [Sunday].”

    “I just didn’t get loose and turn up to the wall by myself,” Kyle Busch said regarding the contact with Harvick. “I don’t know whether he hit me or it was just air. It was close enough that it disturbed my car and made me have to get out of [the gas] real bad and chase it real bad. Thankfully, we kept it out of the fence and at least try to salvage something out of it. That’s a pretty good run for us there. I felt like we had a fast car, but it was the best of the rest. [Harvick] was lights out. He deserved to win the race, anyways. It was a race for second today, overall. We’ve been fighting hard all year. We’ve been running well enough for good finishes. We just aren’t getting them. Today was another indication of that. We should’ve finished second, I guess, but a top five it is.”

    Hamlin, Elliott, Logano, Wallace and Kurt Busch rounded out the top 10. Buescher finished 20th and will start on pole position for the second Cup Michigan race on Sunday, August 9, alongside Bowyer with the top-20 finishers on Saturday being inverted for Sunday.

    Jones, who will not be remaining with Joe Gibbs Racing after this season, finished 11th and is 16 points behind 14th-place finisher Byron for the 16th and final spot to the 2020 Playoffs with five regular-season races remaining. Reddick, who finished 18th, is 19 points behind while Johnson, who finished 12th, is 22 points behind. DiBenedetto and Bowyer, both of whom finished 15th and 19th, are 40 and 41 points above the top-16 cutline while Wallace, who notched a career-high fourth top-10 result of this season, remains 123 points below the cutline.

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

    With his victory, Harvick continues to lead the regular-season series standings by 94 points over Keselowski, 127 over Hamlin and 128 over Blaney.

    Results.

    1. Kevin Harvick, 92 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    2. Brad Keselowski

    3. Martin Truex Jr.

    4. Ryan Blaney, 27 laps

    5. Kyle Busch, four laps led

    6. Denny Hamlin, 10 laps led

    7. Chase Elliott, nine laps led

    8. Joey Logano, 18 laps led

    9. Bubba Wallace

    10. Kurt Busch

    11. Erik Jones

    12. Jimmie Johnson

    13. Christopher Bell

    14. William Byron

    15. Matt DiBenedetto

    16. Aric Almirola

    17. Matt Kenseth 

    18. Tyler Reddick

    19. Clint Bowyer

    20. Chris Buescher

    21. Alex Bowman

    22. Corey LaJoie

    23. Ty Dillon

    24. Daniel Suarez

    25. Ryan Preece

    26. J.J. Yeley, one lap led

    27. Quin Houff

    28. Ryan Newman 

    29. Michael McDowell

    30. Reed Sorenson

    31. Austin Dillon

    32. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    33. Timmy Hill, two laps down

    34. Cole Custer – OUT, Accident 

    35. Garrett Smithley – OUT, Steering

    36. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident

    37. Brennan Poole – OUT, Engine

    38. James Davison, 58 laps down

    39. Joey Gase – OUT, Transmission

    The NASCAR Cup Series will return the following day, August 9, for its second Michigan race of the season, which will air on 4:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • 2020 Cup Playoff outlook after New Hampshire

    2020 Cup Playoff outlook after New Hampshire

    With August in its early stages of the year 2020, another race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule has been completed as the Playoffs near its initiating phase. With six regular-season races remaining, the battle for the final six Playoff spots continues to intensify with some big names either on the bubble or still on the outside and looking in.

    Following an intense battle between two veterans giving it their all, Brad Keselowski prevailed over Denny Hamlin for his third Cup victory of the season at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on August 2 as he continues his pursuit for a second series title. Like Keselowski, Hamlin had a productive afternoon of racing as he recorded a strong runner-up finish behind Keselowski. With the strength of five victories throughout this season, including last week at Kansas Speedway, Hamlin and his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team continue their pursuit for a first Cup title. Keselowski and Hamlin also remain as two of 10 competitors to be guaranteed a spot in the Playoffs by virtue of a victory this season. Also locked in include Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, rookie Cole Custer, Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr.

    The top winless competitor who continues to occupy one of the transfer spots to the Playoffs is Aric Almirola. For Almirola, who started on pole for the third time this season by virtue of a random draw, Sunday’s race at New Hampshire did not result in a win for the Floridian. Nonetheless, a seventh-place result, which marked his 12th top-10 result of this season and ninth in a row in recent weeks, along with stage points in both stages were enough to keep Almirola and his No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford team 145 points above the top-16 cutline.

    Unlike Almirola, Sunday’s race at New Hampshire was not magical for the Busch brothers. For Kurt, he started the race in 10th place and finished in 17th place. While the finish snapped his three-race string of top-10 results, the 2004 Cup champion remains 112 points above the cutline. Kyle’s race, however, was cut short 15 laps into the event following a wreck into the Turn 3 outside wall caused by a blown right-front tire. The incident marked Kyle Busch’s third DNF of the season and his seventh result outside the top 20. With no victories recorded throughout the first 20 races, the reigning Cup champion is 94 points above the cutline.

    For Clint Bowyer, his run at New Hampshire was primed for a strong result after starting in sixth place and finishing in the top 10 in both stages as he collected a handful of stage points. When the checkered flag waved, however, Bowyer ended his run in 18th, which marked his fifth consecutive finish outside the top 10. Even worse, Bowyer’s crew chief, Johnny Klausmeier, faces a one-race suspension due to two loose lug nuts discovered on Bowyer’s No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang during post-race inspection process. The lone good news for Bowyer continues to be that he is 43 points above the cutline.

    Coming off a late accident at Kansas Speedway, Matt DiBenedetto rebounded with another strong performance at New Hampshire. A year after recording a solid fifth-place result at New Hampshire, DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford team posted a sixth-place result on Sunday. His sixth top-10 result of this season has DiBenedetto 40 points above the cutline and still in position of making his first Playoffs appearance.

    Lastly, William Byron had another strong run in the making with crew chief Chad Knaus back atop the pit box. After starting in 16th, Byron methodically worked his way towards the front and was able to collect a handful of stage points following a fifth-place result in the second stage. In the final laps, Byron was primed for a top-10 result before he crossed the line in 11th place and in between his fellow competitors and targets battling towards the Playoff cutline. With his 13th top-15 finish of this season, his third in a row at New Hampshire, the Charlotte native continues to hold sole possession of the 16th and final transfer spot by 15 points.

    The first competitor who is outside of the cutline continues to be rookie Tyler Reddick. For Reddick, Sunday’s race at New Hampshire produced another strong performance for the Californian after starting 13th and fighting for a top-10 spot, including battling against his fellow rookie contenders Cole Custer and Christopher Bell. In the final laps, Reddick was able to charge his way to post a 10th-place result. With Byron finishing a spot ahead of him and gaining a handful of stage points, however, Reddick did not gain additional ground towards the cutline. He, nonetheless, remains in contention of pointing his way into the Playoffs as he trails by 15 points.

    The good news for Jimmie Johnson and his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team is that Sunday’s race at New Hampshire produced a decent outcome for them as they rallied from an early spin to cross the line in 12th place, which marked their highest result since finishing 10th at Martinsville Speedway in June. The bad news for them is that with Reddick and teammate Byron finishing ahead of them, Johnson and his team continue to trail the cutline as the 2020 Playoffs near its establishing point. By being 25 points behind, the seven-time Cup champion continues to remain on the hunt to move himself inside the cutline and receive a final opportunity to pursue his record-setting eighth championship.

    Unlike Kansas, Erik Jones did not have a good run at New Hampshire. The Michigan native suffered an early pit road penalty for pitting outside his pit box and struggled on the track in keeping pace with the leaders. By finishing 24th, a lap down, Jones trails the cutline by 31 points in his quest to make his third consecutive appearance in the Playoffs.

    The remaining competitors who still remain eligible to make the Playoffs while trailing by 125 or more points include Michael McDowell, Chris Buescher, Bubba Wallace, rookie Christopher Bell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., rookie John Hunter Nemechek, Ryan Newman, Ty Dillon, Matt Kenseth, Corey LaJoie and Ryan Preece. With his 26th-place finish at New Hampshire, Daniel Suarez is two points below the top-30 cutline in the regular-season standings. Should Suarez move himself back into the top 30 in the standings and record a win between next weekend at Michigan through the final regular-season race at Daytona International Speedway on August 29, he will receive an opportunity to be eligible for the Playoffs.

    The NASCAR Cup Series will compete at Michigan International Speedway in a doubleheader feature on August 8-9. The first Cup race at Michigan will occur on Saturday, August 8, at 4 p.m. ET on NBCSN while the second race will occur the following day, August 9, at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Keselowski rolls to a dominant win at New Hampshire

    Keselowski rolls to a dominant win at New Hampshire

    With his status for next season uncertain, Brad Keselowski reignited his momentum for his second Cup title by dominating and prevailing over several battles with Denny Hamlin to win the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the 20th race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season. The win was Keselowski’s third of this season, second at New Hampshire, third with crew chief Jeremy Bullins and 33rd of his Cup career, which moved him into a tie with the late NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Fireball Roberts for 24th on the all-time wins list.

    The starting lineup was based on a random draw. Aric Almirola started on pole position for the third time this season and was joined on the front row with Denny Hamlin, a three-time winner at New Hampshire and last week’s winner at Kansas Speedway. 

    Prior to the race, Jerry Baxter, crew chief for Bubba Wallace and the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team, and Ryan Sparks, crew chief for Corey LaJoie and the No. 32 Go Fas Racing Ford Mustang team, were both suspended from the race due to a pre-race inspection infraction for an improperly mounted ballast. In addition, both Wallace and LaJoie started at the rear of the field and were each docked 10 points. Engineer Roy Gangdal served as LaJoie’s interim crew chief while the No. 43 team went into a group effort for Wallace. Austin Dillon also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments.

    When the green flag waved, Almirola, who started on the outside lane, jumped to an early advantage followed by Brad Keselowski while Denny Hamlin, who started on the inside lane and had issues getting started, dropped to third. Behind, Kyle Busch moved his way into fourth place followed by Clint Bowyer while Chase Elliott dropped to sixth. 

    On the third lap, Keselowski made his move beneath Almirola to move into the lead. Behind, Kurt Busch slipped up the racing groove entering Turn 3 and dropped all the way back to 18th. While Keselowski continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over Almirola, teammates Kyle Busch and Hamlin along with Bowyer battled intensely for third with Elliott lurking behind. 

    On Lap 10, Blaney missed the racing groove in Turn 3 while running 10th and nearly slapped the outside wall, though he was able to gather his car back into the racing groove entering Turn 4. By the time he gathered his No. 12 Menards/Sylvania/Team Penske Ford Mustang back, he had fallen back to 15th. A lap later, a similar thing happened to William Byron, who nearly collected teammate Jimmie Johnson in the process when Byron and his No. 24 Liberty University/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE slipped. Byron’s miscue dropped him back to 15th as he was locked into a battle with rookie Tyler Reddick.

    A few laps later, Bowyer and Elliott made their way into the top five, which dropped Kyle Busch back to sixth and with Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano closing in towards Busch. 

    The first caution flew on Lap 15 when Kyle Busch blew a right-front tire and went dead straight into the Turn 3 outside wall as he sustained significant damage to the right side of his No. 18 Pedigree/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry. Following his incident, Busch nursed his No. 18 Toyota back to pit road and made the left-hand turn to the garage as he parked his car near his hauler and his race came to an early end. The incident also extended his winless streak this season to 20 races.

    “Just going down the backstretch there and about halfway down the backstretch, I felt it go flat and tried to get it slowed down enough without taking everybody else running over me behind me down the straightaway,” Busch said after being released from the infield care center on NBCSN. “I don’t know. I think there’s a replay of another Pedigree car here a few years ago that blew a right-front tire for absolutely no reason, too. Seems to be our luck with the Pedigree car here at New Hampshire. Sorry to all of our fans and all the Pedigree folks, but it’s still 2020.”

    Under caution, many that included Hamlin, Bowyer, Harvick, Kurt Busch, Erik Jones and others pitted for tires while the rest led by Keselowski and Almirola remained on track. Following the pit stops, Jones was held a lap for pitting outside his pit box.

    The race restarted on Lap 22 and Keselowski retained the lead followed by teammate Logano. Johnson gained a huge run on the outside lane entering Turn 4 to move into third place over Almirola while Elliott and Reddick battled for fifth. Behind, rookie Cole Custer moved into seventh followed by Hamlin and Byron. Harvick, the first car on fresh tires, moved back into 10th followed by Blaney and Bowyer. On Lap 25, Byron missed the racing groove entering Turn 3 for the second time of the day while battling inside the top 10 as he fell back to 16th. 

    While the battling for positions continued to ensue around the track, Keselowski was able to stabilize his advantage by nearly a second over teammate Logano by the time the competition flew on Lap 30. Under caution, a majority led by Logano pitted while others led by Keselowski, Hamlin, Reddick, Blaney and Harvick remained on track. Following the pit stops, LaJoie was assessed an over-the-wall too soon pit penalty. 

    When the race restarted on Lap 35, Keselowski retained the lead while Hamlin prevailed in a battle with Blaney for the runner-up spot. Bowyer, meanwhile, moved into fourth followed by Matt DiBenedetto and Harvick. 

    On Lap 38, Hamlin started to challenge Keselowski for the lead. He made a few attempts to move Keselowski for the lead, including bumping Keselowski’s rear bumper to loosen up the 2012 Cup champion, but Keselowski still prevailed with the top spot. Shortly after, Blaney joined the party as he started challenging Hamlin for the runner-up spot. 

    On Lap 44, Blaney moved into the runner-up spot after bumping Hamlin out of the way the previous lap as he started to set his sights towards teammate Keselowski for the lead. Behind, Bowyer and DiBenedetto continued battling for fourth followed by Harvick and Truex. Johnson, Bell and Byron were running in the top 10 while Logano, following his slow pit stop under the competition caution, was back in 12th ahead of Almirola. Elliott was in 14th followed by Reddick and Kurt Busch while Jones, who got back to the lead lap, was in 18th.

    On Lap 50, with the clouds and weather concerns surrounding the track, Keselowski was still leading by a narrow margin over teammate Blaney and Hamlin with the trio being two seconds ahead of Bowyer and DiBenedetto. 

    Three laps later, Blaney made a challenge for the lead over Keselowski, but was unable to clear his teammate for the lead as he lost his momentum and allowed Hamlin to move back into the runner-up spot. Another five laps later, Hamlin muscled his way to the lead but a lap later, Keselowski took it back while Blaney went to work again for the runner-up spot. 

    On Lap 61, following a heated, intense battle with two Penske competitors, Hamlin was able to move into the lead and retain it while being pressured by Keselowski and Blaney. Shortly after, the caution flew when Johnson got loose underneath Bowyer while battling for position and spun entering Turn 2. He was able to continue without sustaining any significant damage to his No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.

    Under caution, the majority of competitors led by Keselowski pitted while some led by Blaney and Byron remained on track. Following the pit stops, Elliott was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road.

    With seven laps remaining in the first stage, the race restarted under green with Blaney remaining as the leader. Behind, Hamlin, on fresh tires, bolted his way into the runner-up spot as the shuffling of positions ensued behind the leaders. With five laps remaining in the stage, Hamlin muscled his way back into the lead. Truex moved into the runner-up spot as Blaney fell back to third on older tires. Shortly after, Harvick moved into third followed by Blaney while Bell and Keselowski battled for position. 

    With the battling for positions continuing and light rain drops being reported near the track, Hamlin was able to cruise to the first stage win on Lap 75 as he also recorded his third stage victory of the season. Teammate Truex settled in the runner-up spot followed by Harvick, Bell and Keselowski while Blaney, Bowyer, Logano, Preece and Almirola settled in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, some like Blaney, Bowyer, Bell, Byron, Harvick, Custer, Reddick, Bubba Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Daniel Suarez and others pitted while the rest led by Hamlin remained on track.

    The second stage commenced on Lap 83 with Hamlin retaining the lead. Behind, teammate Truex remained in sight for the lead while Harvick moved into third over Bell. Keselowski was in fifth followed by teammate Logano, Almirola, Kurt Busch, Ryan Preece and DiBenedetto. 

    By Lap 90, with the intense racing from earlier easing down, Hamlin was still ahead by seven-tenths of a second over teammate Truex followed by Harvick, Keselowski and Bell. Behind, Elliott was in 13th followed by Blaney, Matt Kenseth, Custer and Jones. Byron was in 18th ahead of Ryan Newman and Bowman while Wallace was in 21st ahead of Reddick. Bowyer was in 24th while Johnson was in 27th. Not long after, the caution flew due to rain. By then, Harvick had overtaken Truex for the runner-up spot.

    Under caution, where the field continued to remain on track under cautious pace, nearly the entire field led by Hamlin pitted while few like Harvick, Blaney, Wallace and Bowyer remained on track. Following the pit stops, Truex was assessed an uncontrolled tire violation penalty and was sent to the rear of the field.

    With the race surpassing 100 laps, the race restarted as Harvick and Blaney engaged in a heated battle for the lead before Harvick cleared the field entering Turn 4. Behind, Hamlin, who restarted sixth on fresh tires, bolted his way to the runner-up spot while Logano moved into fourth. Soon after, Logano moved into third ahead of his two Penske teammates, Blaney and Keselowski, Behind, Bowyer was locked into a battle with Bell for sixth.

    On lap 104, Hamlin returned to the lead and three laps later, Logano moved into the runner-up spot over Harvick. Another three laps later, Keselowski moved into third. Behind, Bell was in fifth followed by Blaney, Bowyer, Almirola, Kurt Busch and Elliott, who was just ahead of teammate Byron.

    By Lap 125, Hamlin was leading by a second over Logano, who was starting to be pressured by teammate Keselowski for position. Harvick was still in fourth followed by Bell while Almirola was in sixth ahead of Blaney, Bowyer, Elliott and Byron, all of whom were in the top 10. Truex was in 14th following his pit penalty while Johnson was in 20th.

    Five laps later, Hamlin was still leading by nearly two seconds over Keselowski, who overtook Logano for the runner-up spot. Another two laps later, Almirola overtook teammate Harvick for the fourth spot.

    On Lap 141, Hamlin, who struggled with passing and lapping teammate Jones in Turn 2, was overtaken for the lead in Turn 3 by Keselowski. The lead for Keselowski, however, did not last long as Hamlin crossed over beneath Keselowski and moved back into the lead, though Keselowski remained within sight of his target for the top spot. 

    On Lap 146, Hamlin, who struggled with passing and lapping Wallace in Turn 2 again, passed Hamlin for the lead again in Turn 3 and entering Turn 4. This time, Keselowski was able to prevail on the outside lane in Turn 1 the following lap to retain the lead with clear race track while Hamlin went to work in challenging Keselowski back for the lead. Soon after, Keselowski started to approach a handful of cars that included Michael McDowell and Ty Dillon in lapping them, but he was ahead by nearly a second over Hamlin.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 151, Keselowski was ahead by more than a second over Hamlin followed by Logano, Almirola and Harvick, who was trailing by nearly 10 seconds. Ten laps later, Keselowski extended his advantage by more than three seconds over Hamlin with Logano trailing by nearly four seconds. Almirola was still in fourth, trailing by five seconds, while Byron moved up to fifth, trailing by nearly 12 seconds. Behind, Bell moved into sixth after passing Harvick while Bowyer, DiBenedetto and Elliott were in the top 10. Truex was in 11th while Johnson was in 19th.

    On Lap 166, Harvick made a pit stop under green for fresh tires and fuel. Nearly five laps later, just as Blaney entered pit road for service, the caution flew due to a spin in Turn 2 involving Bell, who was having a strong run prior to his incident caused by a flat tire. Under caution, the lead lap cars led by Keselowski, Hamlin and Logano pitted. Following the pit stops, Austin Dillon was the first off of pit road following a two-tire stop followed by Keselowski, Hamlin, Almirola, Byron and Logano. 

    With less than 10 laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted and Keselowski prevailed on four fresh tires to move into the lead through Turns 1 and 2. Behind, Hamlin moved into the runner-up spot while Almirola was in third. Logano moved into fourth ahead of Byron while Bowyer tried to shove his way into sixth between Austin Dillon and Truex. Shortly after, the caution flew when Kenseth spun in Turn 2. Under caution, with light sprinkles reported on the track, some like Blaney, Jones, Chris Buescher, Stenhouse, Ty Dillon and rookie Brennan Poole pitted while the rest remained on track.

    With two laps remaining in the stage, the racing under green resumed and Keselowski retained the lead through Turn 1 until Hamlin took it back in Turn 2. On the final lap of the stage, Keselowski and Hamlin battled against one another for the lead and Keselowski was just able to clear Hamlin entering Turn 4 to win the second stage on Lap 185 for his sixth stage victory of the season. Hamlin was in second followed by Logano, Almirola and Byron while Bowyer, Austin Dillon, Truex, Elliott and DiBenedetto settled in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, some like Austin Dillon, Harvick, Reddick, Wallace, Suarez and McDowell pitted while the rest remained on track.

    The final stage started with approximately 110 laps remaining with Keselowski leading, but Hamlin muscled his way into the lead the following lap. While Hamlin and Keselowski continued battling back and forth against one another for the lead, Byron started to challenge Almirola for third place, which he prevailed as he started to set his sights on the front two for the lead. Behind, Logano was in fifth ahead of Elliott and Truex with Bowyer, DiBenedetto and Johnson in the top 10. 

    Four laps after the restart, the caution returned for another single-car incident involving Kenseth, who blew a right-front tire. Under caution, some like Blaney, Harvick, Logano, Ty Dillon and McDowell pitted while the rest remained on track.

    With approximately 100 laps remaining, the race restarted and Keselowski reassumed the lead while Hamlin and Byron battled for the runner-up spot. A lap later, Hamlin was able to clear Byron for the runner-up spot while Almirola, Truex, DiBenedetto and Elliott railed behind. Johnson was in eighth followed by Custer and Bowyer. Another three laps later, a race turned bad became worse for Kenseth when he drew another caution due to another cut tire. Following his third incident, Kenseth took his No. 42 Clover/Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to the garage and retired. 

    Under caution, a majority of competitors led by Keselowski, Hamlin and Byron pitted. Following the pit stops, Logano, who miscommunicated with crew chief Paul Wolfe in opting to pit the previous caution and who pitted again this time with the field, emerged ahead after a fuel only stop followed by Ty Dillon, Hamlin, Byron, Keselowski and Truex. When the field cycled through, Elliott moved into the lead after opting to remain on track followed by Stenhouse, Bell, Blaney, Harvick and J.J. Yeley.

    With 93 laps remaining, the race restarted and Elliott retained the lead followed by Blaney and Stenhouse while Hamlin moved his way towards the top five. While Elliott and Blaney battled for the lead, Hamlin continued moving up the pack as he worked his way to third. Logano was in fifth, one spot ahead of Keselowski, while Harvick was in seventh. 

    Not long after the restart, the caution fell again when rookie John Hunter Nemechek made hard contact into the Turn 3 outside wall when he blew a right-front tire. Under caution, some like Elliott, Blaney, Stenhouse, Harvick, Bell, the Dillon brothers and McDowell pitted while the rest led by Hamlin, Logano and Keselowski remained on track.

    With 83 laps remaining, the race restarted under green and Hamlin retained the lead while Keselowski issued another challenge for the lead. Three laps later, Keselowski returned to the lead with Logano lurking behind. Truex was in fourth followed by Johnson and DiBenedetto. Byron, Custer, Reddick and Bowyer were in the top 10.

    With 75 laps remaining and with the skies starting to darken while overshadowed by the clouds, Keselowski and Hamlin continued to battle against one another intensely for the lead. Behind, Truex moved into third place, but not before Logano issued a challenge to retain the spot. Also, DiBenedetto moved into the top five ahead of Johnson while Byron and Custer battled inside the top 10. Elliott was in 12th ahead of Bowyer, Blaney was in 17th and Harvick was in 19th.

    Fifteen laps later, Keselowski was still ahead by more than a second over Hamlin and nearly two seconds over Truex. Logano was in fourth, trailing by nearly four seconds, followed by DiBenedetto. Johnson was in sixth followed by Byron, Almirola, Custer and Elliott while Reddick was in 11th ahead of Harvick. Behind, Kurt Busch was in 14th and Blaney was trapped in 16th.

    With approximately 50 laps remaining, Bell made a pit stop under green due to a flat right-rear tire, which ended his hopes of posting a top-10 result following an up-and-down day. Ten laps later, Keselowski was still leading by more than a second and a half over Hamlin with Truex, Logano and DiBenedetto trailing behind by four seconds or more.

    Another 10 laps later, Keselowski extended his advantage by more than two seconds over Hamlin with Truex trailing by less than five seconds. Logano was in fourth, trailing by eight seconds, followed by DiBenedetto, Almirola and Johnson. Harvick, one of the fastest cars on the circuit, continued charging his way up to eighth followed by Custer and Byron. Two laps later, Harvick overtook Johnson for seventh place.

    With 20 laps remaining, with fuel becoming the topic for some in terms of making it to the end, Keselowski extended his advantage to more than three seconds over Hamlin with Truex, Logano and DiBenedetto trailing by less than 10 seconds. 

    With 10 laps remaining, Keselowski was still ahead by less than three seconds over Hamlin as he started to approach lapped traffic. Once he was able to navigate his way through traffic, he was able to conserve and save enough fuel for the final 10 laps to take the checkered flag by 1.6 seconds over Hamlin after leading a race-high 184 laps and following an intense battle between the two veterans.

    Keselowski’s victory was also the sixth of the season for car owner Roger Penske and the 21st Cup career win for the new Ford Mustang since its inception for the 2019 season. The win at New Hampshire also marked the eighth season where Keselowski has won three or more races in a Cup season.

    “We’ve had a lot of great races this year with the 2 car, but we just hadn’t really went out and kind of dominated a race,” Keselowski said on NBCSN in front of an estimated crowd of 12,000 fans. “I was talking to Jeremy Bullins and that’s what we need to get to that next level. We’re right there, we need to go out and just dominate a race and that’s what today was for us with the Western Star/Alliance Truck Parts Ford Mustang. I’m really proud of my team and the effort they gave today. … It’s so great to be racing in front of fans again. It feels like forever, so welcome back, guys. Jeremy and this whole team’s been a kick in the butt for me to make me a little bit better and push me to find another level, and we’re doing that so far. I’m just really thankful. I’m in a great spot here and hungry for more wins. I don’t want to stop here. I want us to keep going and I know this team can do it.”

    Hamlin, who led 92 laps, settled in the runner-up spot for the third time this season and second in a row at New Hampshire as he also collected his 11th top-five finish of this season.

    “We just kind of were second there to [Keselowski],” Hamlin said. “We could really do well on restarts and we were going back-and-forth. Wow, that was some really, really good short track racing there. Hopefully the fans liked what they saw there with me and [Keselowski] for most of the day. Some great side-by-side racing. We treated each other fair and it’s good that we got one-two out of it.”

    Behind Keselowski and Hamlin, Truex made a nice rebound from his uncontrolled tire violation penalty to finish in third place followed by Logano and Harvick, who recorded his 13th top-five result of this season.

    “We ran second in the first stage and had a tire get away on pit road, had to come from the back,” Truex, who recorded his fifth top-five finish of the season, said. “That definitely made things a lot more challenging. [I] Had a decent Sport Clips Toyota, just wasn’t quite driving like we needed it to and then it kind of burned the tires off after 25 or 30 laps. We could hang with them and we would fall consistently off [Keselowski] and [Hamlin]. Third-best car and we finished third so all in all, a good day. Just have to find a little bit more. Just missed the balance a little bit today. Love coming up here to Loudon and this was a fun day.”

    DiBenedetto, Almirola and Custer finished sixth, seventh and eighth while Elliott and Reddick overtook Byron and Johnson in the final laps to round out the top 10. Johnson finished 12th in his 35th and final race at New Hampshire, one spot behind teammate Byron, while Bowyer, a two-time Cup New Hampshire winner, finished 18th, two spots ahead of Blaney.

    There were 22 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured 11 cautions for 52 laps.

    With his top-five finish, Harvick continues to lead the regular-season standings by 81 points over Keselowski with Hamlin trailing by 115 points and Blaney trailing by 118 points.

    Results.

    1. Brad Keselowski, 184 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Denny Hamlin, 92 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    3. Martin Truex Jr.

    4. Joey Logano

    5. Kevin Harvick, six laps led

    6. Matt DiBenedetto

    7. Aric Almirola, three laps led

    8. Cole Custer

    9. Chase Elliott, nine laps led

    10. Tyler Reddick

    11. William Byron

    12. Jimmie Johnson

    13. Austin Dillon, three laps led

    14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    15. Alex Bowman

    16. Ryan Preece

    17. Kurt Busch

    18. Clint Bowyer 

    19. Michael McDowell

    20. Ryan Blaney, five laps led

    21. Ryan Newman, one lap down

    22. Ty Dillon, one lap down

    23. Bubba Wallace, one lap down

    24. Erik Jones, one lap down

    25. Chris Buescher, one lap down

    26. Daniel Suarez, two laps down

    27. Brennan Poole, two laps down

    28. Christopher Bell, two laps down

    29. J.J. Yeley, two laps down

    30. James Davison, three laps down

    31. Garrett Smithley, six laps down

    32. Quin Houff, seven laps down

    33. Timmy Hill, seven laps down

    34. Joey Gase, eight laps down

    35. Corey LaJoie, 39 laps down

    36. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident

    37. Matt Kenseth – OUT, Accident

    38. Kyle Busch – OUT, Accident

    The NASCAR Cup Series will return next weekend and host its second series doubleheader weekend of this season at Michigan International Speedway. The first Cup Michigan race will run on August 8 at 4 p.m. ET on NBCSN while the second will run the following day, August 9, at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN. 

  • 2020 Cup Playoff outlook after Kansas

    2020 Cup Playoff outlook after Kansas

    With seven races remaining until the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs commences, the battle for the final six vacant spots within the top-16 cutline has changed course yet again. Following Thursday night’s Super Start Batteries 400 at Kansas Speedway, some on the bubble had good nights and kept themselves in contention for the postseason while others struggled and are setting their focus towards next weekend in making up the points lost.

    Ten Cup competitors are still guaranteed a spot to this year’s postseason battle for the championship. This includes Denny Hamlin, who earned his fifth win of 2020 at Kansas as he continues to pursue his first Cup championship. Among others who are guaranteed a spot in the Playoffs include Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon and rookie Cole Custer.

    The first winless competitor who is inside the top-16 cutline continues to be Aric Almirola. For Almirola, who started third based on a random draw, it was another strong night for the Floridian and his No. 10 Smithfield/Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team as he finished in the top 10 in both stages, racked up a handful of stage points and survived the late calamity to finish sixth for his best result at Kansas, the same track where he suffered a compression fracture to his T5 Vertebra following his harrowing accident in 2017. While it was another week without a win, the sixth-place result marked Almirola’s 11th top-10 result of the season, eighth in a row, as he is 134 points above the cutline.

    “I’m pretty eager to get a W,” Almirola said. “Man, this race team’s being doing a great job. We’ve been running really good. A long time ago, I would’ve gave anything to just run top 10 every week and run like we’ve been running. When you start tasting victory and you run upfront, you race around those guys, you wanna seal the deal and go to Victory Lane, but tonight, we were just a little bit off. We didn’t have as good of a car compared to the field as we have the last several weeks. Proud of my guys. We just keep chipping away at it, we keep building up that points buffer to the cutoff, which is nice, but now, we’re ready to go get a W and get some bonus points for the Playoffs. So, I think we’re capable and we got a really good race team.”

    Next up are the Busch brothers. For Kyle, who started eighth, the majority of the race had him and his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry towards the front and battling for the lead. After winning the first stage and leading 52 laps, Busch appeared to have a top-five run and even, a late charge for the win established until he made contact with the wall nearing 40 laps remaining. The contact forced Busch to pit under green as he lost a lap to the leaders during his stop. Following two late cautions, however, Busch was able to race his way back onto the lead lap. For the remainder of the race, he worked his way from the top 20 to finish in 11th. Despite remaining winless through the first half of the 2020 season, the reigning Cup Series champion is 120 points above the top-16 cutline.

    “That wasn’t the finish this M&M’S Fudge Brownie Camry deserved today,” Kyle Busch said. “We were tight most of the race and I just got into the wall there. We are making progress and think we showed that tonight. We will go back, get ready and head to New Hampshire next week.”

    For Kurt Busch, who started ninth, Thursday’s race at Kansas was a race where the 2004 Cup champion struggled with adjustments around the track and keeping pace with the leaders, though he remained within sight of the top 10. After finishing in the top 15 the first two stages, Busch battled loose conditions, but was able to work his way into the top 10 in the final laps. He was able to gain one additional spot on track before the checkered flag flew to finish in ninth for his 12th top-10 result of this season. With the finish, Busch and his No. 1 Monster Energy/Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team are 119 points above the cutline.

    “The car was a little tough at times throughout the race,” Kurt Busch said. “We struggled on some of the restarts with tires on heat cycles, but thanks to my guys on this Monster Energy Chevy. We battled hard together and never gave up on working to make it better and try to find the sweetest spot to run. We just need to keep after it and turn these top 10’s into better results.”

    For Clint Bowyer, there is no place like home as the Emporia, Kansas, native arrived back at his home track with an opportunity of locking up a spot in the Playoffs for himself and his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team. The Cup race on Thursday at Kansas, however, was a difficult one for Bowyer, who started 19th, struggled with handling issues, finished outside the top 15 in both stages, sustained minimal damage from a late multi-car wreck and could only work his way up to 14th when the race concluded. The one positive Bowyer was able to walk away with following the race at Kansas was being 42 points above the cutline.

    “Man, we were so loose in the first two stages,” Bowyer said. “We worked hard on it and got it better in the final stage. I don’t know how the heck I didn’t wreck in that [Lap 177] big wreck. We got some damage then we dodged a couple more [wrecks] after that. It was a tough race, but nobody on our One Cure team gave up and our pit crew helped us out a bunch tonight. It’s good to be back in the top 12 in points. That will help our qualifying spot in New Hampshire. It’s always good to be back home in Kansas. I just wish we could have had the fans here tonight. We really missed them and ready to get them back to the track.”

    Unlike Bowyer, Matt DiBenedetto and his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang team were not so fortunate after a late accident cost the driver and the team a handful of points in remaining inside the top-16 cutline. The first half of the race saw DiBenedetto appearing in and out of the top 10 after starting 12th, though he remained poised and in contention for a decent finish. That all came to a crashing halt around 100 laps remaining when he got hit by two cars on the backstretch and made hard contact with the outside wall as he was involved in a multi-car wreck. The damage was beyond repairable for the No. 21 team as DiBenedetto sustained his first DNF of the season and his fourth result outside the top 20. The silver lining for DiBenedetto is the picture of being 35 points above the cutline.

    “I couldn’t tell what was going on,” DiBenedetto said. “I just tried to go low. I saw guys checked up off of [Turn] 2. I didn’t see it. I just got clipped in the right side. Nothing I could do different. I am not going to lie. I am pretty frickin irritated. We have had garbage luck the last couple of weeks.”

    With a 10th-place result on Thursday night at Kansas that included one of his best performances this season, William Byron drew himself back inside the cutline. Starting 15th and racing with interim crew chief/veteran Keith Rodden, the Charlotte native struggled on restarts and could not keep pace with the leaders throughout the first two stages. The final stage was where Byron and the No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team appeared poised for the win as he remained on track on old tires and low fuel in the closing laps, a move that worked to his advantage as he led 27 laps in total. Following a pair of late restarts, however, Byron lost track positions to competitors running on four fresh tires and he was able to hang on to finish 10th when the checkered flag flew. With his sixth top-10 result of this season, Byron holds sole possession of the 16th and final spot to the Playoffs by 10 points.

    “It was a solid finish for us – we needed that for sure for the playoffs,” Byron said. “We started the race way off. We were really loose – just really struggling. The guys, Keith and everybody made a lot of great adjustments throughout the race. It really got us in a position where we could attack. As soon as we got probably 10 laps on our tires, the car felt pretty good. We just stayed out there on no tires, really ran there with [Keselowski] and was able to pass him back for the lead. I thought we were looking really good. Unfortunately, the two tires didn’t really work out for us there at the end. I think we just had too many laps on the left side and struggled there.”

    The first Cup competitor who is a spot below the cutline is rookie Tyler Reddick. Coming off a career-best runner-up finish at Texas Motor Speedway, Reddick, who started 23rd, rocketed his way towards the front as he finished sixth in the first stage. He went on to finish 15th in the second stage while fighting grip and loose conditions to his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. While Reddick had a strong car throughout the race at Kansas, he struggled with balance in the final stage and just missed out for a top-10 result as he settled in 13th when the checkered flag flew. The top-15 finish, nonetheless, allowed Reddick to draw himself to be 10 points below the cutline.

    “We had a fast No. 8 I Am Second Chevrolet on the long runs tonight at Kansas Speedway,” Reddick said. “We just needed a little more on the short runs. It was a tale of two extremes almost, where we fired off extremely loose but about halfway through the race built way too tight. I was able to run the top during Stage 1 before anyone else really could, and that allowed us to climb well up into the top 10 to get some valuable stage points. As the night went on and our car got tighter, I wasn’t able to run up there as well and had to search around for speed to try to keep up with the changing track conditions. Luckily, we were able to avoid a handful of wrecks during Stage 3 and started to climb back up through the field once we were able to loosen our Chevrolet back up a little bit. In the end, we just needed a couple more longer runs to really be able to get back into the top 10 tonight.”

    Trailing behind him is Erik Jones, who needed another strong run in his hopes of making his third consecutive postseason appearance. Starting 21st, Jones was able to carve his way towards the front and notch a 10th-place result in the first stage to collect a valuable stage point. From there, Jones kept himself in contention towards the top 10 and following a series of late cautions and multi-car wrecks, Jones and his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry team were able to drive their way into the top five and finish fifth. The top-five result was Jones’ fifth of this season and first since finishing third at Pocono Raceway in June. The finish also allowed the Michigan native to cut his deficit from the top-16 cutline in half from 24 to 12.

    “This is what we needed; we needed a really good points day,” Jones said. “It kind of seems like we’ve been in this spot the last couple of years unfortunately. It feels good to climb out of it. The Reser’s Camry was really good. We started really deep and just could never quite get up to the front and get some clean air. I kind of made a mistake on that last restart, I was trying to push too hard to get to the outside and gave up some ground there on those guys and had to make that back up. Good effort. Pit crew did good and the team gave me a good car. We just have to keep doing that and keep wracking these points up and hopefully get a win.”

    The competitor who took the biggest hit in the points following Kansas was Jimmie Johnson. Starting 20th, Johnson was able to methodically work his way towards the top 10 and remain poised for a decent result following a dismal run the previous race at Texas Motor Speedway. Everything changed with approximately 100 laps remaining when Johnson was involved in a multi-car wreck on the backstretch and sustained significant damage to his No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. While Johnson’s crew tried to repair the No. 48 machine to keep the seven-time Cup champion in contention for the remainder of the race, he was unable to meet the minimum speed requirement to continue with the repairs and was forced to end his race in the garage and in 32nd place, his sixth result this season outside the top 20. Prior to Kansas, Johnson was two points above the top-16 cutline. After Kansas, he is 18 points below the cutline and in jeopardy of missing the Playoffs for the second year in a row and in his final full-time Cup season.

    Another competitor who had a disappointing run at Kansas was Bubba Wallace. Starting 17th, Wallace’s troubles started at the 100-lap mark, when he spun entering Turn 4. More than 70 laps later, Wallace’s race went from bad to worse when he could not avoid a spinning Matt Kenseth entering Turn 4 and broke a right-front suspension during the wrecking process. The damage was enough to terminate Wallace’s long night in the garage as he is 100 points below the cutline.

    Like Johnson and Wallace, Chris Buescher had a dismal run at Kansas. Starting 13th, Buescher’s troubles started under the competition caution when he was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation during his pit stop and was sent to the rear of the field for the ensuing restart. On Lap 143, he spun in Turn 2, but was able to recover. He was not, however, able to avoid a vicious multi-car wreck with less than 90 laps remaining that involved his teammate Ryan Newman and ex-teammate Ryan Preece. The damage to the front of Buescher’s No. 17 Fifth Third Bank/Roush Fenway Racing Ford Mustang was enough to end his race in the garage and in 33rd place for his ninth finish outside the top 20. The run at Kansas has Buescher 107 below the cutline.

    Other competitors who continue to trail the top-16 cutline by deficits of 111 points or more include Michael McDowell, rookie Christopher Bell, rookie John Hunter Nemechek, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Newman, Ty Dillon, Matt Kenseth, Corey LaJoie, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Preece, rookie Brennan Poole and rookie Quin Houff.

    The battle for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will continue next Sunday, August 2, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, which will air at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Hamlin delivers with a late momentous victory at Kansas

    Hamlin delivers with a late momentous victory at Kansas

    The momentum for Denny Hamlin and his No. 11 FedEx/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team continued in the midwest after the Virginia veteran overtook Kevin Harvick for the lead with 13 laps remaining and held off Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. for the remainder of the race to win the Super Start Batteries 400 at Kansas Speedway under the lights. The victory was Hamlin’s fifth of this season, his third at Kansas and the 42nd of his NASCAR Cup Series career.

    The starting lineup was based on a random draw. Kevin Harvick started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Joey Logano. Josh Bilicki dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Harvick and Logano battled against one another through Turns 1 and 2 before Logano prevailed on the outside lane entering Turn 4 to lead the first lap. A lap later, Ryan Blaney moved into the runner-up spot as Harvick was under attack by Alex Bowman and Martin Truex Jr.

    By the sixth lap, while Logano led teammate Blaney by four tenths of a second, Truex moved into third after passing Harvick with Bowman trailing the two former Cup champions. Brad Keselowski made his way into seventh after passing Kyle Busch while Matt DiBenedetto moved into 10th. In addition, rookie Tyler Reddick, who started 21st, was up to 11th.

    On the 10th lap, Aric Almirola made his way back into the top five after passing Bowman. Shortly after, Bowman was overtaken by Keselowski and Kyle Busch for position. 

    By the 20th lap, Logano was still ahead by six tenths of a second over teammate Blaney, who was starting to be challenged by Truex for the runner-up spot. Closing in on the top three were Keselowski and Kyle Busch while Harvick fell back to sixth. Almirola, Bowman, Denny Hamlin and Reddick were scored in the top 10 followed by Erik Jones. 

    Two laps prior to the competition caution, Truex passed Blaney for the runner-up spot and he started to narrow his deficit from Logano for the lead. Logano, however, was able to maintain his advantage by Lap 25 when the competition caution flew.

    Under the competition caution, all of the lead lap cars pitted and Truex exited pit road first followed by teammate Kyle Busch, Blaney, Harvick and Logano. Following the pit stops, however, Logano was sent to the rear of the field due to an uncontrolled tire violation. Chris Buescher, who was scored in 25th when he pitted, also fell back to the rear due to an uncontrolled tire violation.

    When the race restarted on the 30th lap, Kyle Busch received a push from Blaney on the inside lane to move into the lead while Blaney and Truex battled for the runner-up spot. A lap later, Truex cleared Blaney for the runner-up spot while Harvick went to work in battling Blaney for third. Shortly after, Hamlin overtook Harvick and Blaney to move into third as Joe Gibbs Racing’s three of its four-car operation occupied the podium spots.

    By Lap 40, Kyle Busch was still leading by above a second while Hamlin was in the runner-up spot followed by Truex. Blaney, who reported a vibration to his No. 12 Dex Imaging/Team Penske Ford Mustang, was in fourth followed by Keselowski and Harvick. Bowman and Almirola were in seventh and eighth followed by DiBenedetto while Jones was in the top 10. Reddick was back in 12th in between Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson while Chase Elliott was in 14th. Hometown hero Clint Bowyer was in 15th ahead of rookie Christopher Bell and Bubba Wallace while William Byron, racing with interim crew chief Keith Rodden, was in 20th ahead of rookie Cole Custer. Logano was in 22nd ahead of Matt Kenseth and Austin Dillon while Ryan Newman was in 26th.

    Ten laps later, Kyle Busch and his No. 18 M&M’s Fudge Brownies Toyota Camry was still ahead by less than half a second over teammate Hamlin while his other teammate, Truex, was in third and trailing by above a second. Jones, the fourth JGR teammate, was in ninth behind Bowman. Blaney was still in fourth, trailing by more than three seconds, while Keselowski rounded out the top five and was behind by four seconds. 

    Towards the 60-lap mark, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made a pit stop under green after reporting fire in his cockpit. The mechanical issue was enough to end Stenhouse’s race early in the garage as his hopes to make the Playoffs took another hit. Stenhouse’s elimination marked his fifth DNF of the season and the fourth consecutive Cup race where a JTG-Daugherty Racing entry finished last in a Cup race after teammate Ryan Preece finished in last place the previous three races.

    With five laps remaining in the first stage, Kyle Busch stabilized his advantage by nearly two seconds over teammate Hamlin while teammate Truex, Blaney and Keselowski were scored in the top five. Behind, Reddick, one of the fastest cars on the track, was up to sixth. With no challenges mounted upon him in the closing laps, Busch was able to claim the first stage on Lap 80 and grab his first stage victory of the season. Teammates Hamlin and Truex finished second and third followed by Blaney and Keselowski. Reddick settled in sixth followed by Harvick, Almirola, Bowman and Jones, who held off Johnson approaching the start/finish line. Logano was back in 17th following his early pit road penalty.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Hamlin exited first ahead of Truex and Kyle Busch while Keselowski and Harvick were in the top five after exiting pit road. Following the pit stops, Byron was sent to the rear of the field due to an uncontrolled tire violation. 

    The second stage started on Lap 86 and Hamlin launched ahead with the lead after receiving a push from Keselowski on the outside lane. With Hamlin clearing the field and sailing at the front, a multitude of battles ensued behind as Keselowski and Truex battled for the runner-up spot while Kyle Busch, Blaney and Harvick battled for fourth. Kurt Busch moved up to seventh followed by DiBenedetto, Reddick and Jones. By Lap 92, teammates Truex and Kyle Busch moved back into second and third as Truex went to work in narrowing his deficit from teammate Hamlin and challenge for the lead.

    On Lap 97, Truex peaked ahead of Hamlin at the start/finish line and was able to clear him to emerge with the lead. A few laps later, the caution flew when Wallace spun his No. 43 Victory Junction/Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE entering Turn 4 below the apron near the pit road entrance and across the frontstretch grass. At the time of caution, Truex extended his advantage above a second over teammate Hamlin. 

    Under caution, the leaders pitted and Keselowski exited first following a two-tire stop. Truex, the first on four fresh tires, followed pursuit ahead of teammates Kyle Busch and Hamlin followed by Harvick, Blaney and Byron, who also opted for a two-tire stop and gained 14 spots on pit road. 

    On Lap 104, the race restarted and Keselowski and Truex battled against one another for the lead for a full circuit. Behind, a three-wide battle for third place ensued between Blaney, Kyle Busch and Hamlin through Turns 3 and 4. Keselowski was able to clear Truex for the lead shortly after while Blaney and Hamlin settled in third and fourth. Harvick made his way back into the top five in fifth followed by Kurt Busch and Almirola while Kyle Busch fell back to eighth ahead of Jones and Logano.

    By Lap 110, with the battling for positions settling down, Keselowski stabilized his advantage to half a second over Truex. Five laps later, Truex reassumed the lead while Hamlin started to challenge Keselowski for the runner-up spot. Behind, Blaney was still in fourth while Kyle Busch worked his way back to fifth after passing Harvick.

    Twenty laps later, Truex was ahead by less than two seconds over Hamlin while teammates Keselowski and Blaney were behind by more than four seconds. Kyle Busch trailed by less than five seconds with Harvick behind him. Behind, Johnson was in 10th as he was starting to challenge Kurt Busch for more while Reddick was in 11th ahead of Logano.

    On Lap 143, the caution returned when Chris Buescher spun in Turn 2. Under caution, the leaders pitted and Blaney emerged with the lead following a two-tire stop. Johnson, Reddick and rookie John Hunter Nemechek followed Blaney after all four also took two tires while Hamlin, the first car on four fresh tires, was scored in fifth ahead of Truex, Kyle Busch, Keselowski and Harvick.

    With 12 laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted and Johnson and Blaney battled for the lead through Turns 1 and 2 before Blaney was shoved out with the lead with drafting help from Hamlin. In one lap, Hamlin went from fifth to second. Behind, Keselowski moved into third followed by Almirola and Kyle Busch as Johnson continued to lose positions. Reddick and Nemechek, both of whom restarted in the top five, were also shoved out of the top 10.

    Towards the front, Hamlin, who made contact with the wall, had fallen back to fourth while Keselowski and Almirola each gained a spot. With the laps dwindling in the second stage, Keselowski started to mount a challenge on his teammate Blaney for the lead. In the final laps of the stage, Keselowski was able to pass teammate Blaney for the lead and mount ahead by nearly four tenths of a second to win the second stage on Lap 160 and for his fifth stage victory of the season. Blaney settled in second followed by Almirola, Hamlin and Kyle Busch. Harvick, Jones, Truex, Johnson and Elliott were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the leaders returned to pit road and Hamlin exited pit road first following a two-tire stop. Elliott exited second followed by Keselowski, the first on four fresh tires. Behind Keselowski were Blaney, Kyle Busch, Truex and Harvick.

    With 101 laps remaining and the track settling into night conditions, the final stage commenced. At the front, Elliott threw a huge block on Blaney on the bottom lane before he challenged Hamlin for the lead. In Turn 3, Hamlin retained the lead followed by Kyle Busch and Elliott as Truex, Blaney and Keselowski went three wide for fourth. The battle for positions expanded to three and four wide behind the leaders as Hamlin maintained a narrow lead over Elliott. 

    With 96 laps remaining, the caution returned when Kenseth was barely clipped by Ryan Preece as Kenseth spun entering Turn 4 and was hit by Wallace, who had nowhere to go. The incident broke Wallace’s right-front suspension as he took his car to the garage. The wreck hampered Wallace’s quest towards reaching the top-16 cutline. Under caution, the majority of the leaders remained on track while some like Preece, Reddick, Nemechek Newman, Bowman, Michael McDowell and Daniel Suarez pitted.

    The race restarted under green with 91 laps remaining and Hamlin received a push from teammate Kyle Busch to maintain the lead through Turns 1 and 2. Shortly after, the caution returned when Logano, who was losing speed and appeared to have sustained a flat left-front tire, was bumped by Harvick entering Turn 2 and made hard contact with the outside wall. Logano’s incident sparked a multi-car wreck that involved Austin Dillon, Johnson and DiBenedetto, who also made hard contact with the outside wall and sustained heavy damage to his No. 21 Menards/Dutch Boy/Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang. Under caution, the majority of the leaders remained on track while some like Byron, Bowyer, Ty Dillon, Austin Dillon, Johnson, Kenseth and Logano pitted. Logano would eventually retire from the race.

    With 85 laps remaining, the race restarted and Hamlin retained the lead ahead of Blaney and Elliott. The caution shortly returned for another multi-car wreck on the backstretch that started when Bell moved in front of Newman as was bumped by the veteran as he made contact with the outside wall and both Bell and Newman started coming back across the track wrecking. During the ensuing wreck that also involved Buescher, Preece veered left and slid toward the inside wall at full speed before taking a vicious head-on hit with the wall, nearly flipping in the process, before coming to rest on all four tires with a destroyed No. 37 Bush’s Beans Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Though Preece survived the vicious accident, the incident was his fourth in a row and after finishing last the previous three races. 

    “To be honest with you, we had a fast race car right there at the end,” Preece said after exiting the infield care center on NBCSN. “It’s frustrating for all of us at JTG Daugherty [Racing] because we’ve been working really hard and probably had a top-10 car there at the end. I’m alright, just ready for this year to turn around. We’ll be back next week.”

    The race went under a red flag period for nearly three minutes before it proceeded under caution. With 81 laps remaining, the racing under green resumed and Hamlin maintained the lead followed by teammate Truex and Blaney while Jones overtook Elliott to move into fourth. Four laps later, with the top three of Hamlin, Truex and Blaney separated by four tenths of a second, Jones was in fourth ahead of Keselowski while Kyle Busch, Elliott and Harvick were running in sixth through eighth. 

    Three laps later, Truex reassumed the lead. Shortly after, the caution returned when Newman, running with patches to his No. 6 Wyndham Redwards/Roush Fenway Racing Ford Mustang, spun in Turn 3 as he was able to make his way back to pit road. Under caution, nearly the entire lead lap cars pitted except for Byron, who remained on track to inherit the leader. Following the pit stops, Hamlin exited first followed by Blaney, Kenseth, Reddick and Bowman, all of whom opted for a two-tire stop. Truex was the first with four fresh tires followed by Keselowski, Jones, Kyle Busch, Elliott and Harvick.

    With 68 laps remaining, the race restarted and Byron and Hamlin battled dead even for one full lap before Hamlin emerged with the lead by a nose the following lap. Afterwards, Byron and the No. 24 AXALTA/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE emerged out front while Keselowski moved into the runner-up spot over Hamlin. With the battling for positions ensuing behind, Byron was still ahead by nearly three tenths of a second over Keselowski while Hamlin, Blaney and Kyle Busch were in the top five. 

    With 61 laps remaining, Keselowski returned to the lead and stabilized his advantage to three tenths of a second over Byron. By then, Johnson took his No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to the garage and retired after he failed to meet the minimum speed requirement to continue with the damage sustained from his late multi-car incident.

    Eleven laps later, Keselowski was still ahead by three tenths of a second over Byron, who was still keeping pace with Keselowski on four old tires. Kyle Busch moved into third after passing teammate Hamlin while Bowman was in fifth ahead of Blaney, Truex, Harvick, Jones and Elliott. Blaney, who made contact with the wall, stabilized his running position in sixth.

    Four laps later, Byron reassumed the lead and he started to extend his advantage by a second over Keselowski. Shortly after, Blaney and Kyle Busch made an unscheduled pit stop under green after both made contact with the outside wall. Their misfortunes allowed Hamlin, Truex and Bowman to move into the top five while Jones, Elliott, Harvick, Kurt Busch and Bowyer were scored in the top 10.

    With 32 laps remaining, with Byron still leading by nearly three seconds and with everyone on the track skeptical on making it to the finish on fuel, the caution flew when Corey LaJoie made contact with the wall. Under caution, all of the lead lap cars pitted for fuel. Following the pit stops, Byron and Bowman exited first and second after both Hendrick Motorsports teammates opted for a two-tire stop. Hamlin, the first on four fresh tires, exited third followed by Keselowski, Harvick and Truex. During the caution, Kyle Busch took the wave-around to return to the lead lap as he was scored in 17th.

    The race restarted under green with 28 laps remaining as teammates Byron and Bowman battled dead even for the lead for one full lap before Bowman emerged with the lead the following lap in Turn 3. Just as Harvick was about to mount a challenge on Byron for the runner-up spot, the caution returned when Nemechek spun on the backstretch. Under caution, the front runners remained on the track while some like Kyle Busch pitted.

    With 22 laps remaining, the race restarted and Bowman received a push from Harvick to retain the lead through Turn 1. In Turn 2, however, Harvick bolted on the outside lane to move into the lead followed by Hamlin while Bowman fell back to third. Behind, Keselowski was in fourth while Byron fell back to fifth.

    Two laps later, Harvick was ahead by four tenths of a second over Hamlin as Keselowski was in third and started to pursue Hamlin for the runner-up spot. Truex moved his way into fourth over Bowman, Jones moved into sixth and Byron was back in eighth ahead of Almirola. 

    As the laps continued to dwindle under 20 to go, Harvick was still ahead, but Hamlin and Keselowski were trailing by nearly half a second while both continued to battle. With 13 laps remaining, Hamlin gained a huge run on the outside of Harvick to emerge with the lead.

    With 10 laps remaining, Hamlin was still in the front by four tenths of a second over Harvick, who was starting to be pressured by Keselowski for the runner-up spot, as the leaders were starting to approach lapped traffic. Two laps later, Keselowski moved into the runner-up spot as Harvick was starting to be challenged by Truex for third. At this time, Bowman had fallen back to eighth after being passed by Custer while Byron was in ninth ahead of Kurt Busch.

    Five laps later, Hamlin was ahead by less than half a second over Keselowski as the leaders continued to encounter lapped traffic. Though Keselowski and Truex got within less than a second to Hamlin’s rear bumper, Hamlin was able to maintain his advantage to cross the finish line in first and grab his fifth victory of the season as he continues to pursue his quest to win his first elusive Cup championship.

    In addition to becoming the first five-time Cup winner of this season, Hamlin recorded his 11th series win with crew chief Chris Gabehart as both Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota recorded their sixth victory of the 2020 Cup season.

    “I don’t know that we had the best car,” Hamlin said on NBCSN. “We definitely had a top-three car all day. [I] Just went and got it there at the end. I saw [Harvick] get loose and usually when you’re loose, you’re not able to run up high. That was a benefit for us to be able to get that momentum going. The pit crew did an amazing job getting us out there ahead of everyone else that had four tires. Proud of this whole FedEx team. We’ve had a rough three weeks. We were leading at Indy when we blew a tire and this team is really hitting on all cylinders right now. We can win on any given week. That’s something that is really hard to come by, so this team’s good at short tracks, intermediates, superspeedways. Great engines, great help from them…all of our partners at JGR. They’ve just done a great job of building us fast cars.”

    Keselowski settled in the runner-up spot followed by Truex while Harvick ended his night in fourth ahead of Jones.

    “We just didn’t have a very good night with our Busch Light Apple Ford Mustang,” Harvick said on NBCSN. “It wouldn’t turn in the corners and was dead sideways on the exit of the corner. I was able to have a couple of good restarts there. We got to the lead, but we just went dead sideways there after about four to five laps. We were just holding on, hoping for another restart, because we could run for a couple of laps, but that was about it. Our pit crew did a great job tonight of keeping us in the game. We just stay in there and keep fighting, and hope for good restarts and good pit stops and in the end, you’re around the front and have a good night.”

    Almirola, Custer, Bowman, Kurt Busch and Byron rounded out the top 10. Kyle Busch settled in 11th ahead of Elliott while Blaney ended his race in 20th, a lap down.

    There were 21 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured 11 cautions for 47 laps.

    With his top-five result, Harvick continues to lead the regular-season series standings by 97 points over Keselowski, 100 over Blaney and 129 over Hamlin.

    Results.

    1. Denny Hamlin, 57 laps led

    2. Brad Keselowski, 30 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. Martin Truex Jr., 44 laps led

    4. Kevin Harvick, nine laps led

    5. Erik Jones

    6. Aric Almirola

    7. Cole Custer

    8. Alex Bowman, six laps led

    9. Kurt Busch

    10. William Byron, 27 laps led

    11. Kyle Busch, 52 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    12. Chase Elliott

    13. Tyler Reddick

    14. Clint Bowyer

    15. Ty Dillon

    16. Michael McDowell

    17. Matt Kenseth

    18. Daniel Suarez

    19. John Hunter Nemechek, one lap down

    20. Ryan Blaney, one lap down, 15 laps led

    21. Corey LaJoie, one lap down

    22. J.J. Yeley, two laps down

    23. Christopher Bell, three laps down

    24. Quin Houff, seven laps down

    25. Josh Bilicki, seven laps down

    26. Garrett Smithley, seven laps down

    27. Austin Dillon, 16 laps down

    28. Ryan Newman, 16 laps down

    29. Joe Gase, 16 laps down

    30. Brennan Poole, 48 laps down

    31. Reed Sorenson – OUT, Electrical

    32. Jimmie Johnson – OUT, DVP

    33. Chris Buescher – OUT, Accident

    34. Ryan Preece – OUT, Accident

    35. Joey Logano – OUT, Accident, 27 laps led

    36. Matt DiBenedetto – OUT, Accident

    37. Bubba Wallace – OUT, Accident

    38. Timmy Hill – OUT, Accident

    39. B.J. McLeod – OUT, Rear gear

    40. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Electrical

    The NASCAR Cup Series will return to action in the East Coast at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on August 2 with the race to air at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • 2020 Cup Playoff outlook after Texas

    2020 Cup Playoff outlook after Texas

    With eight races remaining until the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series regular season concludes, another name has been added to the Playoff picture. With a strategic move for fuel only to gain track position and through a series of late restarts, Austin Dillon earned his way into the Playoffs following an upset victory in Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

    Of all the accomplishments that Dillon established with his victory at Texas, the biggest one of all was guaranteeing himself and the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team a spot in the Playoffs for the fourth time in his career, where he will attempt to become the first NASCAR competitor to record a championship across the sport’s three major division series.

    Dillon’s win makes it 10 Cup Series competitors that are guaranteed a spot in the Playoffs by virtue of a victory, a list that include Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman and rookie Cole Custer. Dillon’s win also leaves six spots vacant with the 2020 Playoffs a month away from commencing.

    For the third time in the previous four weeks, including Sunday’s race at Texas, Aric Almirola and the No. 10 Smithfield/Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team had a potential shot in winning a race. Despite starting on pole by virtue of a random draw and leading 35 laps, an early pit road penalty for violating the blend-line rule cost Almirola track position and two laps from the leaders. He was able to race his way towards the front in the closing laps of the race before he settled in 10th for his 10th top-10 result of the season. The result has Almirola 109 points above the top-16 cutline and as the highest competitor in points with no recorded victories 18 races into the 2020 regular season.

    “One of these days we’ll get everything to go our way,” Almirola said. “That was my fault on the penalty, but we had such a fast car and got it back in position to compete for a win again before that caution came out. We’re still bringing fast Smithfield Ford Mustangs every weekend and we learned a lot for when we come back here and compete for a championship.”

    Behind, the Busch brothers had strong runs at the Lone Star state. Kurt and the No. 1 Monster Energy/Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team capped off a race with top-10 results in the two stages to finish eighth, a result that keeps Kurt 108 points above the cutline. Kyle, on the other hand, rallied from being involved in a midway multi-car accident that involved his teammate, Truex Jr., to battle for the lead late in the race before settling in fourth. To go along with top-10 results in both stages, Kyle is 95 points above the cutline in his quest to defend his series title. The Busch brothers also continue to pursue their first victory of this season.

    “We had one of our best points days so far this season with the Monster Energy Camaro,” Kurt Busch said. “We scored stage points in the first and second stages, followed by another top-10 result. I really battled a loose handling car all day, it was really difficult on the restarts and short-runs, so I really had to work my butt off there at the end with all the cautions.”

    “It was a good finish and proud of the effort for everyone on this Interstate Batteries team,” Kyle Busch said. “We came a long way today. We got a lot of damage on the frontend of the car that you can’t see with the eye. Going through the grass, it killed it. I thought early on in the first stage, second stage maybe that we had a second-place car and then as the day went, we just kept getting further and further behind. Still a lot of work to do. The car didn’t drive very good at all. Just was able to get something out of nothing there at the end. We’ll go to Kansas and see if we can get a win there.”

    Behind, Matt DiBenedetto had another strong result established following his third-place result at Kentucky Speedway. His run, however, was spoiled following a late incident, where he sustained damage to his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang after being hit by rookie Quin Houff. Over the final two restarts, DiBenedetto was able to race his way back onto the lead lap, but he was unable to charge his way into the top five as he settled in 17th. Nonetheless, the result kept DiBenedetto inside the top-16 cutline by 51 points as DiBenedetto attempts to qualify for his first Cup Playoffs.

    Next, Clint Bowyer rallied from starting 17th to work his way up to 11th when the checkered flag flew. The result keeps Bowyer and his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team inside the cutline by 36 points as Bowyer attempts to make his ninth Playoff appearance approaching next week’s Cup race at Kansas Speedway, his home track.

    “That was a hot, tough day, for sure,” Bowyer said. “We worked hard all race trying to get our Rush Truck Centers Ford to turn better and the guys did a great job fixing our damage from the wreck. I didn’t know if we were going to finish because our engine temperature was so hot. They got it cooled down and we made it to the end with a good finish.”

    For the second consecutive week, seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson had a potential run for a strong result spoiled by an on-track incident. Compared to last weekend at Kentucky, Sunday’s at Texas came early and it was one where Johnson was unable to rally back into race-winning contention. Despite making significant contact with the Turn 4 outside wall, Johnson was able to proceed multiple laps down and gain advantage of others’ misfortunes to finish in 26th. The result has Johnson and the No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE clinging onto the final transfer spot to the Playoffs by two points.

    The first competitor out of the Playoff picture and looking ahead is William Byron and the No. 24 AXALTA/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team. With his seventh finish outside the top 15, second DNF, of this season, Byron’s disappointing season in the Cup Series continued after being involved in two incidents in the final stage of the race and despite starting strong. With his 37th-place result, Byron trails the top-16 cutline by two points as he attempts to qualify for his second consecutive Playoffs.

    “Honestly, it’s going to be tough,” Byron said. “We just have to find speed first. We’re not really running good at all and we’ve got to figure that out…We’ve just got to figure it out and figure it out quick before the fall.”

    With his career-best runner-up finish behind teammate Austin Dillon, rookie Tyler Reddick gained significant ground towards the Playoffs as he is 14 points below the cutline and looks to join fellow competitor and Rookie-of-the-Year rival Cole Custer into the Playoffs.

    “We really couldn’t ask for much more than what we got today,” Reddick declared. “One spot better would have been great, but the recovery this No. 8 Cat Oil and Gas team made today was huge. We’re racing for the big picture of making the playoffs, so we have to race smart. Days like this will help us get there.”

    Compared to Kentucky, Erik Jones had a good result at Texas, where he collected a handful of stage points following the second stage and recorded a strong sixth-place result. The Michigan native, however, trails the cutline by 24 points as he also attempts to record his first Cup win since September 2019.

    “We needed a solid run and mistake free and that’s what we did,” Jones said. “I thought coming into this race if we could just go in and have no mistakes and have decent speed we could run top-five and we came real close to that. We have to keep doing that. Obviously, we need to get some points, especially with two winners the last two weeks that have been from outside the Playoff picture. That kind of changes things for us. We’ll keep rolling, but a decent day for us.”

    Next, Bubba Wallace rallied from difficult results at Kentucky Speedway and the All-Star Open at Bristol Motor Speedway to record a 14th-place run after running in the top 10 late in the race. Despite the decent run, his eighth top-15 run of this season, Wallace trails the cutline by 76 points as he attempts to make his first Playoff appearance.

    “A top-15 day for the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Cash App Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team at the Texas Motor Speedway – a long, hot day that’s for sure,” Wallace said. “Proud of the efforts from our team…I thought we had a chance there. If that last caution had not come out, we maybe could have held on for a top-10 finish. But all-in-all, a great effort. Good bounce back from our last two weeks and we’ll just keep pushing to get our cars better. We’ll see what we got [at Kansas Speedway].”

    Behind, Chris Buescher had a strong race in the making at his home track. After finishing ninth in the first stage and having a potential top-10 run established, his run was spoiled after being involved in a multi-car wreck at the start of the final stage. When the checkered flag flew, Buescher settled in 19th, a lap behind the leaders. The result has Buescher 86 points below the cutline as he attempts to make his second career Playoffs appearance, first since 2016.

    Other competitors that remain in contention of the 2020 Cup Playoff battle include rookie Christopher Bell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Michael McDowell, rookie John Hunter Nemechek, Ryan Newman, Ty Dillon, Matt Kenseth, Corey LaJoie and Ryan Preece.

    The battle for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs continues next week at Kansas Speedway, which will air on July 23 at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Austin Dillon secures Playoff spot with a win at Texas

    Austin Dillon secures Playoff spot with a win at Texas

    For the second consecutive week, a late caution changed an outcome of a NASCAR Cup Series race. On this occasion, Austin Dillon utilized pit strategy and capitalized over a handful of late restarts, including a battle with teammate Tyler Reddick, to win the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. The victory was Dillon’s third of his NASCAR Cup Series career and the first of the season for Richard Childress Racing as Dillon snapped an 88-race winless drought dating back to February 2018.

    The starting lineup was based on a random draw. Aric Almirola started on pole position for the second time this season and was joined on the front row with Ryan Blaney. Chase Elliott and Reed Sorenson started at the rear of the field due to their respective cars failing pre-race inspection twice. Josh Bilicki, Joey Gase and J.J. Yeley also started at the rear of the field due to driver changes.

    During the pace laps, Almirola reported issues to his brake pedal, but he remained on track for the start of the race. When the green flag waved, Almirola battled dead even with Blaney through Turns 1 and 2 before he cleared the field in Turn 3 and led the first lap. Blaney settled in second while the Busch brothers battled for third place along with Brad Keselowski.

    Behind, the early battling for positions continued as Kevin Harvick moved into the top five by the third lap after passing Keselowski. Three laps later, Martin Truex Jr. gained a spot over Keselowski for sixth with Matt DiBenedetto joining the battle. 

    At the front, Almirola continued to lead despite his brake pedal issues by nearly a second over Blaney with Kurt Busch in third and brother Kyle battling Harvick for fourth. Though Blaney narrowed the gap between himself and Almirola to approximately a half second, Almirola was able to retain the lead when the field reached the competition caution on the 20th lap. At the time of caution, Jimmie Johnson, who started 20th, was up to eighth while Denny Hamlin, who started seventh had fallen back to 16th. Chase Elliott, who started at the rear of the field due to failing pre-race technical inspection twice, was up to 24th.

    Under caution, the majority of the field pitted, and Kyle Busch was the first to exit pit road after opting for two fresh tires followed by William Byron, Alex Bowman, rookie Tyler Reddick and Blaney, the first with four fresh tires. Following the pit stops, Johnson was assessed a pit road penalty for having too many crew members over the wall. At the front, Almirola, teammate Harvick and Truex remained on track as they inherited the top-three starting spots.

    On the ensuing restart, Harvick assumed the lead on Lap 26 and on the inside lane while Truex challenged Almirola for the runner-up spot. Behind, Byron nearly slipped beneath Kyle Busch in Turn 3, but he was able to keep his car straightened and inside the top five. At the front, Harvick continued leading by a tenth of a second over teammate Almirola with Truex and Kyle Busch closing in for more. Behind, Blaney was back in ninth in between Erik Jones and Kurt Busch.

    By Lap 40, Harvick was still leading by nearly half a second over Almirola with Truex also closing in the two Stewart-Haas Racing teammates. Behind, Kyle Busch and Byron were in the top five with Bowman in sixth. Erik Jones, Blaney, Reddick and Kurt Busch were in the top 10 followed by Chris Buescher and DiBenedetto. Hamlin was in 15th followed by Joey Logano and Ryan Newman while teammates Elliott and Johnson were in 18th and 19th. Austin Dillon was in 20th followed by rookie Cole Custer, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and rookie Christopher Bell while Bubba Wallace and Matt Kenseth were in 27th and 30th.

    Ten laps later, Harvick continued to lead by a tenth of a second over teammate Almirola, who continued to stalk his teammate for the lead but was unable to navigate his way around Harvick’s No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang. On Lap 55, Almirola bolted his way around Harvick on the outside lane in Turn 2 to return to the lead. Four laps later, Almirola extended his advantage to over six tenths of a second over teammate Harvick while Joe Gibbs Racing’s Truex and Kyle Busch were slowly closing in towards Harvick. A lap later, Truex moved into the runner-up spot while Kyle Busch started battling Harvick for third. 

    Shortly after, Almirola and Harvick made a pit stop under green, giving the lead to Truex with Kyle Busch trailing by a second. Not long after Almirola pitted, he was penalized for a blend-line violation and was forced to serve his penalty by driving through pit road, a penalty that cost him two laps behind the leaders. On Lap 67, Truex’s No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry started sputtering after he ran out of fuel in Turn 2. He was, nonetheless, able to nurse his car back to pit road for service, but he lost two laps from the leaders when he returned on the track.

    At the front, Blaney was in command by half a second over Kyle Busch. Byron was in third, trailing by less than five seconds, followed by Jones, Bowman and Reddick. By Lap 85, Blaney was still ahead under two seconds over Kyle Busch. Behind, Johnson was in 10th ahead of Keselowski, Hamlin was in 12th, Elliott was in 18th, Harvick was in 29th, Truex was in 30th and Almirola was in 32nd.

    Not long after, pit stops under green commenced when Buescher made his stop followed by Johnson, Wallace, Custer, DiBenedetto and Newman. With 10 laps remaining in the first stage and with the entire field completing their pit stops under green, Blaney cycled back with the lead followed by Kyle Busch while Harvick was back up in third. Reddick was in fourth followed by Byron.

    For the remainder of the first stage, which concluded on Lap 105, Blaney was able to hold off Kyle Busch to claim his second stage win of the season. Harvick was in third followed by Reddick and Byron while Kurt Busch, Johnson, Bowman, Buescher and Truex were scored in the top 10. Under the stage break, some like Harvick, Reddick, Byron, Kurt Busch, Johnson, Truex, Newman, Kenseth, Wallace and rookie John Hunter Nemechek pitted while others led by Blaney and Kyle Busch remained on track. Also remaining on track included Hamlin, Elliott, Logano, Clint Bowyer and Bell. Following the pit stops, Newman was held a lap on pit road for pitting outside his pit box.

    The second stage started on Lap 112, and Blaney battled dead even with Kyle Busch for two full laps before Busch cleared Blaney for the lead on the bottom lane entering Turn 3. Two laps after, the caution flew when Johnson got loose entering Turn 4 and made contact with the outside wall, damaging the right side of Johnson’s No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Under caution, Johnson pitted along with Truex and Wallace. Following his pit stop, Johnson was assessed a two-lap penalty under caution due to having too many crew members over the wall, a misfortune that cost Johnson valuable points towards the Playoffs. Following Johnson’s incident, Newman was able to receive the free pass and return on the lead lap.

    When the race restarted on Lap 121, Kyle Busch received a push from teammates Hamlin and Jones to retain the lead. A lap later, Hamlin moved into the runner-up spot followed by Hamlin, Logano. Behind, Bell slipped through Turns 3 and 4 while running in the top 15 and made minimal contact with the outside wall, but the race remained under green. 

    On Lap 123, Hamlin moved into the lead followed by Blaney while Kyle Busch was in third ahead of Jones, Logano and Elliott. Three laps later, Blaney reassumed the lead following a battle with Hamlin. During this time, Johnson, following his two-lap penalty, was able to maintain minimum speed to remain on the track and racing despite the damage. He was, however, back in 40th, last, and eight laps behind the leaders. 

    By Lap 140, Blaney was still ahead by nearly a second over teammate Logano followed by a trio of Joe Gibbs Racing competitors led by Hamlin followed by Jones and Kyle Busch. Elliott was in sixth followed by Harvick while Kurt Busch, DiBenedetto and Almirola were in the top 10.

    With the race progressing under green, Buescher, one of many competitors looking on the outside of the Playoff picture, was in 11th followed by Byron and Truex while DiBenedetto and Almirola, both of whom are inside the top-16 cutline, were in ninth and 10th. At the front, Blaney was still ahead by two seconds over teammate Logano followed by Hamlin, Jones and Kyle Busch.

    On Lap 158, a second round of pit stops under green started when Byron pitted followed by teammate Elliott and race leader Blaney. Soon after, Bowyer made a pit stop followed by Kyle Busch, Reddick and Hamlin. When the field reached its halfway mark on Lap 167, Logano was in the lead, but he still needed to pit. A lap later, Logano pitted and Jones moved into the lead.

    With 30 laps remaining in the second stage and with most of the leaders pitting, Truex was in the lead but was among a handful of competitors who needed to pit. On Lap 190, Blaney cycled back to the lead followed by teammate Logano and Hamlin. Truex, who pitted with enough fuel to complete the second stage, came out in fourth ahead of Kurt Busch.

    For the final 20 laps, Blaney was able to stabilize his advantage by more than five seconds over teammate Logano to win the second stage on Lap 210 and claim his third stage of the season. Hamlin was in third followed by Kurt Busch and Harvick while Truex, Elliott, Almirola, Jones and Kyle Busch settled in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Blaney retained the lead following a four-tire pit stop. Keselowski exited second after opting for two tires followed by Hamlin, Logano, Elliott and Harvick.

    The final stage commenced with 116 laps remaining, and teammates Keselowski and Blaney battled dead even through Turns 1 and 2 before Keselowski cleared for the lead in Turn 3. At that time, Blaney got loose on the outside lane and teammate Logano had to lift off the throttle to avoid hitting Blaney, which jumbled up a number of competitors running in the top 10. Soon after, the caution returned for a multi-car wreck on the frontstretch that started when contact from Kurt Busch and Almirola turned Almirola into Kyle Busch, who then tagged teammate Truex sideways and into the outside wall as Busch plowed his No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry through the grass while continuing with no serious damage. Truex, however, was unfortunate after sliding across the wall and receiving hard contact from Stenhouse. The wreck also collected Byron, Custer, Buescher, Ryan Preece and Kenseth as the race was red-flagged for more than 11 minutes.

    When the red flag was lifted and the caution flag was displayed, some like Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Harvick, Bowyer and Byron pitted while others led by Keselowski, Hamlin, Elliott, Blaney and Almirola remained on track.

    With 110 laps remaining, the race restarted under green and Keselowski jumped to an early advantage. Hamlin pursued Keselowski followed by Blaney, who was battling with Elliott against one another for third. Soon after, the battle for the lead intensified as Hamlin and Blaney drew themselves to the rear bumper of Keselowski. 

    With 103 laps remaining, Hamlin made a challenge for the lead beneath Keselowski in Turn 4 and was able to lead a lap shortly after with both competitors battling against one another dead even through the corners and the straightaway. With Hamlin in the lead, Blaney moved into the runner-up spot with teammate Logano joining the battle for third against Keselowski. Behind, Almirola rallied his way back into fifth ahead of Elliott, Harvick and DiBenedetto. 

    With 97 laps remaining, Logano passed teammate Keselowski to move into third. At the front, Blaney reassumed the lead after passing Hamlin on the bottom lane in Turn 3. A lap later, Logano got loose in Turn 3, which allowed Almirola, Keselowski and Elliott to pass Logano with Harvick also in the mix of the battle. 

    Four laps later, the caution flew when Nemechek spun and made contact with the wall on the backstretch. At the time of caution, Blaney was ahead by above a second over Hamlin. Under caution, some led by Blaney, Hamlin, Almirola and Elliott remained on track while others led by Harvick, Logano, Keselowski and Kurt Busch pitted.

    The race restarted with 86 laps remaining, and Blaney and Hamlin battled against one another for one full lap before Blaney retained his lead through Turn 1. Behind, Elliott was in third followed by Almirola and Newman with DiBenedetto and Austin Dillon in sixth and seventh. Logano, Kurt Busch and Keselowski were in the top 10 followed by Harvick. Shortly after, the caution returned when Ty Dillon and his No. 13 GEICO/Germain Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE got loose beneath Byron’s No. 24 AXALTA/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE as both competitors made contact with the outside wall. Under caution, Bowyer, Reddick, LaJoie, Byron and Ty Dillon pitted. Byron, however, retired, which cost him in his battle to make the Playoffs.

    With 79 laps remaining, the race restarted as Blaney and Hamlin, again, battled against one another for the lead before Blaney moved in front of Hamlin to clear him for the lead. Soon after, Almirola started to challenge Hamlin for the runner-up spot with DiBenedetto and Elliott moving into the top five ahead of Logano and Keselowski.

    Three laps later, DiBenedetto and Almirola battled for third while Hamlin was trailing Blaney by three-tenths of a second and trying to gain a run back to Blaney for the lead. Behind, Kyle Busch had worked his way back to 10th behind brother, Kurt, while Harvick was in eighth. Jones was in 12th behind Austin Dillon while Reddick, Wallace, Kenseth and Bowyer were in 15th through 18th.

    With 60 laps remaining and the leaders needing to make a final pit stop for fuel to make it to the distance, Blaney was still leading by more than a second over Hamlin with Almirola, DiBenedetto and Logano in the top five. Elliott settled in sixth followed by Harvick, Keselowski and the Busch brothers.

    Under 50 laps remaining, the final round of pit stops under green started when Elliott pitted followed by race leader Blaney, Almirola, DiBenedetto and Hamlin, who opted for a two-tire change. Following the pit stops, Hamlin emerged ahead of Blaney, but as the laps dwindled, Blaney was able to chop off a chunk of the deficit from himself to Hamlin as they approached traffic. 

    Under 30 laps remaining, the caution flew when rookie Quin Houff made contact with Bell in Turn 3 while appearing to move to the inside lane off the pace and after bouncing off of DiBenedetto, he spun and made hard contact with the outside wall near Turn 4. At the time of caution, 14 competitors that needed to make a final pit stop occupied the top-14 positions led by Harvick and Logano. Under caution, a majority of those competitors pitted and Reddick exited first after only taking fuel to his car. Austin Dillon and Kurt Busch followed pursuit followed by Wallace and Logano, who was the first to exit pit road with four fresh tires over Harvick and Kyle Busch.

    When the field cycled through, Reddick emerged with the lead followed by teammate Austin Dillon, Kurt Busch, Logano and Harvick. Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Wallace, Jones and Bowman were in the top 10 while Hamlin, who received the free pass after being scored a lap down, was in 15th. Blaney, Almirola and Elliott were in 16th through 18th as they took the wave around under caution to return to the lead lap along with Newman, who was in 19th. DiBenedetto, who sustained damage following contact with Houff, was in 20th and scored a lap behind the leaders. 

    With 23 laps remaining, the race restarted and Austin Dillon, racing on two fresh left-side tires, cleared Reddick for the lead in Turn 2. With the two Richard Childress Racing competitors at the front and by more than a second with 20 laps remaining, Kyle Busch and Logano battled for third while Harvick was in fifth ahead of Wallace.

    With 16 laps remaining, the caution flew when Hamlin, who was battling for 12th, got loose underneath Bowman as both competitors spun through Turns 1 and 2. Bowman made contact with the outside wall and sustained right-side damage that eliminated him for the remainder of the race while Hamlin managed to slide his No. 11 FedEx Toyota without sustaining any significant damage. At the time of caution, Austin Dillon was ahead by more than two seconds over teammate Reddick with Logano, Kyle Busch and Harvick behind by more than three seconds. 

    The race restarted with 11 laps remaining, and both RCR teammates battled against one another for one full lap, where Reddick led a lap, before Austin Dillon emerged back at the front. The following lap, Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE was ahead by less than two-tenths of a second over Reddick and his No. 8 Caterpillar Oil and Gas Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Shortly after, Reddick started to close within teammate Dillon for the lead while Logano passed Kyle Busch for third.

    Then, the caution returned when Hamlin, whose race went from good to bad and worse, got loose entering Turn 4 and spun through the frontstretch grass, which set the race up for a two-lap shootout and another opportunity for the competitors on fresh tires to try to pounce on the two leading Richard Childress Racing competitors.

    With two laps remaining, the race restarted and Austin Dillon got a strong start on the inside lane to launch ahead with the lead with teammate Reddick pursuing him. On the final lap, Dillon was still ahead over Reddick while Logano and Kyle Busch battled against one another for third. For one final circuit, Dillon was able to stabilize his narrow advantage over Reddick and cross the finish line in first for his first checkered flag since winning the 2018 Daytona 500, which also marked the last time Richard Childress Racing and Justin Alexander, Dillon’s crew chief, were in victory lane in NASCAR’s premier series.

    With the win, Dillon became the 10th Cup competitor to be guaranteed a spot in the 2020 Playoffs by virtue of a victory, which marks his first Playoff appearance since 2018, as he recorded the third win of the season for Chevrolet. In addition, the native from Welcome, North Carolina, recorded the 100th Cup victory for the number 3.

    “Not bad for a silver spoon kid, right? I’ll take that.” Dillon said on NBCSN. “Got to thank everybody at RCR, ECR [Engines], Bass Pro Shops. Man, Tyler Reddick, he raced me clean. One-two [finish] for RCR – this has been coming, man. We’ve had good cars all year. Justin Alexander and my whole crew. I got my baby, Ace, back home, my wife, I love’em so much. Man, I don’t know. I’m just so happy. Thank God. To tell you the truth, it means a whole lot just for the family, for everybody, all of our partners. That was fun. I, definitely, had to earn it. I changed it up. I waited the second [restart] and I went on the last one. It worked out for me good.”

    After driving his No. 3 Chevrolet to victory lane and celebrating, he went to the infield care center for treatment following a 500-mile race with temperatures in the cockpit and around the track soaring above 90 and even, 100 degrees.

    Behind, rookie Reddick continued to impress after notching a career-best runner-up result in his 20th Cup career start while also recording his second top-five result of this season. This also marked the first 1-2 finish for Richard Childress Racing in a Cup race since Talladega Superspeedway in October 2011 between Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton. The runner-up result has Reddick 14 points below the top-16 cutline with eight races remaining until the 2020 Playoff field is determined in August.

    “[Today] was about strategy in our Cat Oil and Gas Chevrolet,” Reddick said on NBCSN. “We had good speed in our Chevrolet ZL1 1LE, but we just couldn’t get our Camaro back in contention after we took right sides [tires]. It really shifted the balance of our Camaro. That just put us behind and we had to catch a few breaks, some cars got collected in carnage. We avoided, but can’t ask for much more than what we got there. Me and my teammate on the front row there the last couple of restarts. [Dillon]’s done this a little bit longer than I have, and I’m a little rusty. I haven’t been on the front row in a while. He just snookered me those times. Kyle [Busch] was doing a really good job of pushing me, but that last [restart], I put us in a big deficit and just couldn’t get back out of it. There was one restart where I, probably, could’ve went to [Dillon’s] inside. I just wanted it to between us. I didn’t want to bring other cars into it, make sure that we could fight it out. We just got the restarts, kept giving us opportunities. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t get it done today, but hats off to the 3 [crew], all those guys working hard. It gets one RCR Chevrolet into the Playoffs and now, we’re below the cutline. We gotta keep fighting. If we can keep running like this, we don’t have to worry about points, hopefully.”

    Logano settled in third for his first top-five result since Martinsville Speedway in June ahead of Kyle Busch, who rallied from his midpoint accident, while Harvick finished fifth in his 700th Cup start.

    “I couldn’t believe it,” Logano said on NBCSN. “I thought when [Dillon and Reddick] did fuel only and we were sitting fourth, I’m like, ‘Man, we got’em.’ I thought, ‘Boy, we’re gonna win this race.’ We just needed 15 laps to get off the splitter down in [Turns] 3 and 4, that was the problem. By the time I got to that point, the race was over. Overall, I’m proud of what our Shell/Pennzoil Ford team did today. I thought that finishing second the first stage and a third overall with a shot at winning is progress. That’s what we need to do, build a little momentum. It stings not to win, but hey, it’s progress. So, we’ll keep moving.”

    Jones, Blaney, Kurt Busch, Keselowski and Almirola rounded out the top 10. Elliott finished 12th behind Bowyer, Wallace and DiBenedetto finished 14th and 17th, and Hamlin ended his run in 20th. Johnson settled in 26th, 12 laps behind the leaders.

    There were 29 lead changes for 12 different leaders. The race featured 10 cautions for 45 laps.

    With his top-five run, Harvick continues to lead the regular-season series standings by 91 points over Blaney.

    Results.

    1. Austin Dillon, 22 laps led

    2. Tyler Reddick, five laps led

    3. Joey Logano, 22 laps led

    4. Kyle Busch, 11 laps led

    5. Kevin Harvick, 40 laps led

    6. Erik Jones, seven laps led

    7. Ryan Blaney, 150 laps led, Stage 1 and 2 winner

    8. Kurt Busch

    9. Brad Keselowski, 15 laps led

    10. Aric Almirola, 35 laps led

    11. Clint Bowyer

    12. Chase Elliott

    13. Ryan Newman

    14. Bubba Wallace

    15. Michael McDowell

    16. Corey LaJoie

    17. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap led

    18. Matt Kenseth

    19. Chris Buescher, one lap down

    20. Denny Hamlin, one lap down, 11 laps led

    21. Christopher Bell, three laps down

    22. John Hunter Nemechek, three laps down

    23. Daniel Suarez, five laps down

    24. J.J. Yeley, six laps down

    25. Gray Gaulding, 11 laps down

    26. Jimmie Johnson, 12 laps down

    27. Brennan Poole, 12 laps down

    28. Reed Sorenson, 12 laps down

    29. Martin Truex Jr., 14 laps down

    30. Alex Bowman – OUT, Accident

    31. Josh Bilicki, 16 laps down

    32. Joey Gase, 16 laps down

    33. B.J. McLeod, 16 laps led

    34. Quin Houff – OUT, Accident

    35. Ty Dillon – OUT, DVP

    36. Timmy Hill – OUT, Electrical

    37. William Byron – OUT, Accident

    38. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident

    39. Cole Custer – OUT, Accident

    40. Ryan Preece – OUT, Accident

    The NASCAR Cup Series will return to action in the midwest at Kansas Speedway on July 23 with the race to air at 7:30 p.m. on NBCSN.

  • Kyle Busch dominant in Texas Truck win

    Kyle Busch dominant in Texas Truck win

    In his final Truck Series event of the 2020 season, Kyle Busch Motorsports Team Owner Kyle Busch, scored the win for the fifth time at Texas Motor Speedway Saturday night on what was a hot and blistering day in Fort Worth, Texas.

    “Our guys are really good with what they do,” Busch said about his recent Texas dominance in the Truck Series. “They’ve done a great job of putting some fast (Toyota) Tundras underneath me. Real proud of the effort tonight with (Danny) Stockman Jr. (crew chief). Him and I, we almost went five for five this year, I think if we didn’t have the part failure at Charlotte and speeding issues at Atlanta. We probably could have done that.”

    “It was nice to have another crew chief in the house. I haven’t worked with (Mike) Hillman Jr. (crew chief for Raphael Lessard) yet. However, it was nice to have a different crew chief, where I feel like we could go out there and be competitive, week in and week out. The 18 (Christian Eckes) and 51 ran together and fast, so that was really cool for me. Now, me turning over the 51 to Chandler (Smith) and some other guys, to cap off the rest of the year, it’s going to be exciting for me to see where their growth is at and our program is at. That’s good news for this truck, but bad news for them, they’ve got no excuses.

    Stages 40-40-87 made up the 167-lapper at Texas Motor Speedway. Last week’s winner at Kentucky, Sheldon Creed, drew the pole via random draw based on the top 12 in points.

    Stage 1: Lap 1 – Lap 40

    The first stage went caution-free, but the stage did have its moments. In the early going, Spencer Davis in his own No. 11 machine, experienced a left front tire rub. Shortly after, Creed experienced similar issues when he had a tire go down on his truck, forcing him to come down pit road and give up valuable track position.

    Meanwhile, there were short-lived battles on the track for the lead. Rookie Zane Smith and Kyle Busch traded the top spot three times before Busch managed to check out on Lap 35. The Las Vegas native then held on to take home the stage win with Smith, Tyler Ankrum, Ben Rhodes, Brett Moffitt, Christian Eckes, Todd Gilliland, Matt Crafton, Justin Haley, and Grant Enfinger rounded out the top 10 in the first stage. Even though Crafton ended up in the top 10 for the stage, he pitted under the stage break as the team replaced a battery that was having issues.

    Stage 2: Lap 45 – Lap 80

    As the green flag flew for the second stage, there were 16 laps of green flag runs before the yellow flew again on Lap 63. Another problem ensued in the ThorSport camp and this time, it was Johnny Sauter who leaked fluid onto the track after blowing up.

    When the restart came with nine to go in Stage 2, Christian Eckes shined and had his battle with Busch for the lead. Eckes was able to lead five laps in his first stint out front, but the second caution flew on Lap 74 for Jordan Anderson in the No. 3 as he would crash off Turn 4. Under the yellow, there were a couple of race leaders that pitted for adjustments, which included Busch, Eckes, among a few others. However, Eckes did not take any tires whereas Busch did.

    A short seven-lap run was seen, until a caution for Tate Fogleman and Derek Kraus on the backstretch ended the stage prematurely. Brett Moffitt played strategy by staying out and won the stage. Crafton, Ankrum, Rhodes, Smith, Eckes, Kraus, Ryan Truex, Chastain, and Enfinger were the top 10 finishers. Busch would wind up 12th in the stage.

    Stage 3: Lap 87 – Lap 167

    When the final stage got underway, a fun battle between Zane Smith, Christian Eckes, and Busch was seen. As Smith and Eckes battled each other, this allowed Busch to close in. With around 63 to go, Smith had a big wiggle off Turn 4 and nearly lost it. In doing so, Busch moved to second after passing Smith in the midst of things. Unfortunately, as the laps started to wind down, Smith had a flat right rear go down and had to make a pit stop, which ultimately ruined his chances for a good finish.

    Despite Smith’s misfortune, the final round of green-flag pit stops took place right around 40 to go. Most notably, Busch would pit with 37 to go, and almost gave the win away on his stop. As the Las Vegas native made his scheduled pit stop, he almost turned into the wrong pit stall and nearly pitted in Eckes (Busch’s teammate) stall. Fortunately for Busch, he realized it at the last second and saved his day by finding the right box to pit in.

    Once stops were completed, Busch cycled out in the lead and began to check out over the leaders. The final yellow of the night flew with 15 to go when Todd Gilliland in the No. 38 got turned by Ben Rhodes in the No. 99 on the backstretch after Gilliland skid up the track and came back down.

    The caution would set up a 10 lap dash to the finish and for a few short laps, a six Truck battle for the win was seen. Eckes gave Busch a good run for his money, but Busch fended off the New York native and grabbed the checkered flag for the third time this season and for the third consecutive time in the Truck Series at Texas Motor Speedway.

    When asked about Busch’s miscue on pit road, his crew chief, Danny Stockman Jr., thought it was funny.

    “Yeah, that was funny,” Stockman Jr said. “I actually thought he (Kyle Busch) was messing with them (Christian Eckes pit crew), but I haven’t talked to him about it, who knows. He drives the 18 (in the Cup Series) and he probably thought, he was going to the 18. He caught himself and eventually drove in the 51 box, so that was pretty funny.”

    There were five cautions for 26 laps and 15 lead changes among seven leaders. Busch led five times for 72 laps en route to victory.

    Official Results

    1. Kyle Busch, won Stage 1, led 72 laps
    2. Christian Eckes, led 52 laps
    3. Matt Crafton, led two laps
    4. Stewart Friesen
    5. Brett Moffitt, won Stage 2, led seven laps
    6. Tyler Ankrum
    7. Justin Haley
    8. Grant Enfinger
    9. Ben Rhodes, led one lap
    10. Ross Chastain, 1 lap down
    11. Derek Kraus, 1 lap down
    12. Raphael Lessard, 1 lap down
    13. Ryan Truex, 1 laps down
    14. Austin Wayne Self, 2 laps down
    15. Ty Majeski, 3 laps down
    16. Sheldon Creed, 3 laps down, led seven laps
    17. Cory Roper, 3 laps down
    18. Timmy Hill, 3 laps down
    19. Zane Smith, 3 laps down, led 26 laps
    20. Clay Greenfield, 4 laps down
    21. Spencer Davis, 5 laps down
    22. Codie Rohrbaugh, 6 laps down
    23. Angela Ruch, 7 laps down
    24. Spencer Boyd, 11 laps down
    25. Akinori Ogata, 12 laps down
    26. Tim Viens, 13 laps down
    27. Todd Gilliland, OUT, Crash
    28. Jordan Anderson, 15 laps down
    29. Jennifer Jo Cobb, OUT, Electrical
    30. Austin Hill, OUT, Engine
    31. Brennan Poole, OUT, Crash
    32. Tate Fogleman, OUT, Crash
    33. Johnny Sauter, OUT, Engine
    34. Norm Benning, OUT, Handling
    35. Natalie Decker, OUT, Engine
    36. Tanner Gray, OUT, Transmission

    Up Next: The NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series head to the Midwest at Kansas Speedway for a doubleheader on Friday and Saturday, July 24 and July 25.

  • Elliott records first All-Star triumph at Bristol

    Elliott records first All-Star triumph at Bristol

    In front of a packed grandstand and with an orange-colored neon glowing underneath his No. 9 UniFirst/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE under the lights, Chase Elliott held off Kyle Busch in a 15-lap dash to the checkers to win the 36th running of the NASCAR All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway following a dominating performance. The victory marked Elliott’s first All-Star triumph as he became the 25th Cup competitor to win the annual race.

    The starting lineup was based on a random draw. Martin Truex Jr. drew the pole position, but he dropped to the rear of the field due to failing pre-race inspection twice. Alex Bowman, who drew the second-place starting position, led the field to the start alongside Ryan Blaney.

    When the green flag waved for the start of the race and the first stage, spanning 55 laps, Bowman, who started on the outside lane, jumped to an early lead. After leading the first two laps, Blaney emerged with the lead. Behind, Kevin Harvick was in third, trailing by a second to Blaney, while teammates Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth battled for fourth, trailing by more than three seconds. 

    On the seventh lap, just as Kevin Harvick moved into the runner-up spot, Brad Keselowski made the slightest of contact to the left rear quarter panel of Kurt Busch while battling for fourth, which sent Busch’s No. 1 Monster Energy/Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE spinning through Turn 1 as the first caution flag flew. Busch was able to keep his car off the wall and proceed with no significant damage while also being dodged by the oncoming field. Under the first caution, he along with Justin Haley made a pit stop.

    The race restarted with 40 laps remaining in the first stage, and Blaney retained the lead following a strong start on the outside lane. Harvick settled into second followed by Bowman, Joey Logano and Chase Elliott, who made contact with Keselowski to move up the leaderboard. Keselowski settled in sixth followed by Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman while Matt Kenseth and Erik Jones were scored in the top 10. Behind the leaders, Matt DiBenedetto made contact with the outside wall entering Turn 3 after making contact with William Byron when Byron checked up, but he proceeded under green. 

    Ten laps later, Blaney was still ahead by nearly a half second over Harvick. Bowman was trailing by more than two seconds while Logano and Elliott battled for fifth. Four laps later, Elliott pulled off a bump-and-run move to move into fourth after passing Logano.

    While the laps in the first segment continued to dwindle under green, Blaney continued to stabilize his lead over Harvick by approximately half a second. Elliott was in third followed by Bowman and Jones while Almirola, Logano, Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Newman were in the top 10. Jimmie Johnson was in 11th followed by Denny Hamlin while Matt Kenseth had fallen back to 15th, one position ahead of Truex. Rookie Cole Custer and Justin Haley, both of whom were making their All-Star debuts, were in 17th and 18th, while Kurt Busch was mired in 20th, the rear of the field.

    With nine laps remaining in the first stage, Blaney lapped Kurt Busch as Harvick started to narrow the deficit to himself and Blaney. Behind, Elliott was behind by around a second while being one of the fastest cars on the track. Despite encountering DiBenedetto, who was on the verge of going a lap down, Blaney was able to hold off Harvick to emerge as the leader when the first stage concluded. DiBenedetto was able to remain on the lead lap while Kurt Busch received the free pass to return on the lead lap under the stage break.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Harvick assumed the lead followed by Elliott, Blaney, Jones and Bowman.

    When the second stage, spanning 35 laps, commenced, Harvick jumped to an early advantage on the outside lane while Elliott and Blaney battled for the runner-up spot. The caution returned a lap later when Newman got loose entering Turn 4 and spun towards the bottom lane, where he made minimal contact with the inside wall. He was able to drive back to pit road for tires and repairs.

    Five laps later, the race resumed under green and Harvick, again, jumped to an early advantage on the outside lane. The following lap, Elliott bolted his way to the lead on the outside lane when Harvick briefly fell off the pace. Four laps later, Elliott, Harvick and Blaney were separated by above half a second while fourth-place Bowman trailed by nearly two seconds. Keselowski was in fifth behind Bowman while Logano, Bowyer, Hamlin, Almirola and Kyle Busch settled in the top 10.

    With 10 laps remaining in the second stage, Elliott was still ahead by three-tenths of a second over Harvick while Blaney trailed by more than a second as the 20-car field settled in racing in a single file line. 

    Though Harvick remained within sight of Elliott, the Georgia native in the No. 9 Chevrolet was able to stabilize his advantage as he also started to extend it to nearly a second. With no interferences within sight in front or behind him, Elliott was able to retain the lead at the time the second stage concluded.

    Under the stage break, Blaney remained on track while the rest of the field pitted. Following the pit stops, Keselowski was the first to exit off pit road after having two left-side tires changed on his car. Elliott, the first with four fresh tires, followed pursuit along with Harvick and DiBenedetto, who also had two tires changed on his car. Logano was fifth over Bowman.

    Once the third stage spanning, 35 laps, commenced, Blaney, restarting on old tires, benefitted on the outside lane to retain the lead followed by teammate Keselowski, Elliott and Harvick. Three laps later, Elliott made contact to the rear bumper of Keselowski entering Turn 4 to pull himself beneath Keselowski while challenging for the runner-up spot. Two corners later, Elliott and Keselowski raced three wide with Harvick in Turn 2 before Keselowski settled back into the runner-up spot followed by Elliott and Harvick.

    With 23 laps remaining in the third stage, Blaney was ahead of a four-car battle for the lead as Keselowski and Elliott with Harvick trailing. Shortly after, Elliott pulled the bump-and-run move on Keselowski in Turn 1 to move into the runner-up spot as he quickly pursued Blaney for the lead. 

    Approximately 10 laps later, Elliott passed Blaney to reassume the lead. With the stage reaching its final 10 laps, he started to stretch his advantage to nearly a second over Blaney while teammate Keselowski and Kyle Busch caught him for position. While Keselowski and Kyle Busch continued to battle for third, Elliott was able stabilize his advantage to above half a second over Blaney to win the third stage.

    Under the stage break, some of the leaders led by Elliott and Blaney remained on track while others led by Harvick, Logano and Bowman pitted. The decision to pit for Harvick and others moved teammates Kyle Busch and Hamlin up to the top five.

    At the start of the final stage, spanning 15 laps, Elliott retained the lead following a strong launch, but he was pursued by Blaney and Kyle Busch while Keselowski fell back to fourth ahead of Hamlin. With 10 laps remaining, Elliott was ahead by less than half a second over Kyle Busch, who made a late appearance towards the front. Keselowski and Hamlin trailed the front two leaders while Blaney had fallen back to fifth with his tires starting to wear out. Harvick, racing on fresh tires, was back in seventh behind Jones and was running out of time to race back to the front. 

    Though Kyle Busch remained within sight of Elliott, he was unable to narrow the deficit between himself and Elliott nor was he able to find another groove/lane with his No. 18 M&M’s/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry to pass him. On the final lap, Elliott was able to stabilize his advantage for a final circuit to race back to the finish line under the checkered flag and win the All-Star Race by 0.418 seconds over Busch while cashing in over a million dollars.

    With the victory, Elliott recorded the ninth All-Star win for Hendrick Motorsports, (becoming the fourth HMS competitor to win the featured race), the 19th for the Chevrolet nameplate and the first for veteran crew chief Alan Gustafson. He also became the third youngest winner of the All-Star event at age 24 years, seven months and 18 days. As an added bonus, Elliott is guaranteed a spot in the All-Star Race for the next 10 seasons.

    In addition, the Elliotts joined the Earnhardts as the only father-son duo to win the All-Star Race. Ironically, Elliott joined his father, Bill, as the only drivers to win the All-Star Race at a different track from Charlotte Motor Speedway, (Bill won the All-Star Race at Atlanta in 1986).

    After taking the checkered flag, Elliott greeted his crew members, performed a smokey burnout and saluted the fans while receiving a chorus of cheers under the lights. With a crowd of above 20,000 in attendance for the race, this marked the largest crowd gathering for a NASCAR race since May and amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

    “Oh, my gosh! I can’t believe it,” Elliott said in front of a roaring crowd on FS1. “What a better night to have fans back than tonight. I mean, y’all are awesome. There’s nothing like Bristol. There’s nothing like the lights here. There’s nothing like racing here. I’ve never won here – what a race to do it. Just really proud of our team tonight and rebounding. We’ve had a really tough couple of weeks and just felt like we had kind of gotten off base and I felt like I was struggling. Just tried to hit the reset button this week, and came out and put on a great performance – great car. Just can’t thank all our partners enough, everybody that makes this happen. All those No. 9 hats and t-shirts up in the stands – love to see it…Bristol is an electric atmosphere that is unlike any other [racetrack] that we go to. [I] Couldn’t be more excited. We’re gonna celebrate this one, for sure, and we’ll take that million dollars back to Georgia. Why don’t we?”

    Kyle Busch, who won the All-Star Race in 2017, settled in the runner-up spot for his sixth top-five result in the All-Star event followed by Kevin Harvick, who fell short in winning his third All-Star event.

    “We’re trying hard and we’re running okay, but it seemed like we were mired in 10th place for much of that race tonight and the last couple of adjustments really helped us,” Busch said. “[Crew chief] Adam [Stevens] did a great job helping the car and making it better. I got a good restart and went from 12th all the way up to fifth [in the final 15-lap stage] so that was a huge bonus for us getting that track position. Overall, just got to keep fighting. I think that’s like four, five six second places this year, what do you do? You just have to keep going.”

    “There were a couple laps there that I had to spend a little more time in traffic than I needed to to get back to the front, but our Busch Light Apple Ford Mustang guys did a good job,” Harvick said. “I think that was the right call [for tires]. That was our only chance. We weren’t gonna beat [Elliott] where we were sitting on the same tires, so it all came down to getting past those cars for the first couple laps, but, in the end, it was definitely one lane. Much different than I thought it was gonna be.”

    Keselowski finished fourth followed by Hamlin while Blaney, who led a race-high 72 laps, settled in sixth on old tires.

    “We managed to win Stage 1 but fought a tight condition most of the race,” Blaney said. “I should have pitted at the end of Stage 2, but it was a fun event and glad to see fans back in the stands at Bristol tonight. We’ll be ready to go racing for real on Sunday in Texas.”

    Logano, Bowman, Almirola and Truex rounded out the top 10. DiBenedetto, Haley and Custer finished 13th, 14th and 16th in their first All-Star attempts while Johnson finished 17th in his 19th and final All-Star appearance.

    In addition to the neon glow under 16 of the 20 cars and the packed grandstands, this year’s All-Star Race featured the implementation of the “choose rule” format, which allowed all competitors to choose their lanes for all restarts, and the exposure of sponsors alongside the cars, where the numbers were moved from the door towards the rear wheels with the sponsors gaining a greater presence alongside the cars for a race.

    All 20 participants of the 2020 All-Star Race finished on the lead lap. There were six lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 13 laps.

    Results.

    1. Chase Elliott, 60 laps led, Stage 2 & 3 winner

    2. Kyle Busch

    3. Kevin Harvick, six laps led

    4. Brad Keselowski

    5. Denny Hamlin

    6. Ryan Blaney, 72 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    7. Joey Logano

    8. Alex Bowman, two laps led

    9. Aric Almirola

    10. Martin Truex Jr.

    11. Erik Jones

    12. William Byron

    13. Matt DiBenedetto

    14. Justin Haley

    15. Clint Bowyer

    16. Cole Custer

    17. Jimmie Johnson

    18. Matt Kenseth

    19. Ryan Newman

    20. Kurt Busch

    The NASCAR Cup Series will return on July 19 to race at Texas Motor Speedway as part of a triple-header weekend. The race will air at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.