Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: las vegas motor speedway

  • Hamlin dominates for Playoff win at Vegas, advances to Round of 8

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results.

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

    2. Chase Elliott, one lap led

    3. Kyle Busch, two laps led

    4. Martin Truex Jr., one lap led

    5. Ryan Blaney, eight laps led

    6. Tyler Reddick, five laps led

    7. Brad Keselowski, four laps led

    8. Kurt Busch

    9. Kevin Harvick

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

    11. Joey Logano

    12. Matt DiBenedetto

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

    14. Chase Briscoe, one lap down

    15. Daniel Suarez, one lap down

    16. Bubba Wallace, one lap down

    17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap down

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

    19. Aric Almirola, one lap down

    20. Ryan Newman, one lap down

    21. Michael McDowell, one lap down

    22. Alex Bowman, two laps down

    23. Ross Chastain, two laps down

    24. Christopher Bell, two laps down

    25. Chris Buescher, two laps down

    26. Erik Jones, two laps down

    27. Anthony Alfredo, two laps down

    28. Ryan Preece, two laps down

    29. Cole Custer, two laps down

    30. Corey LaJoie, three laps down

    31. Cody Ware, seven laps down

    32. Justin Haley, seven laps down

    33. BJ McLeod, 10 laps down

    34. Quin Houff, 12 laps down

    35. Garrett Smithley, 13 laps down

    36. Josh Bilicki, 15 laps down

    37. Joey Gase – OUT, Accident

    38. JJ Yeley – OUT

    Bold indicates Playoff contenders.

    Playoff standings.

    1. Denny Hamlin – Advanced

    2. Kyle Larson, +57

    3. Kyle Busch, +35

    4. Martin Truex Jr., +31

    5. Ryan Blaney, +24

    6. Chase Elliott, +22

    7. Joey Logano, +6

    8. Brad Keselowski, +4

    9. William Byron, -4

    10. Kevin Harvick, -7

    11. Alex Bowman, -13

    12. Christopher Bell, -25

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

  • Berry wins Xfinity Playoff opener at Las Vegas

    Berry wins Xfinity Playoff opener at Las Vegas

    On a night where the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs commenced, a non-title contender stole the show as Josh Berry outran teammate Justin Allgaier to win the Alsco Uniforms 302 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 25.

    The victory was Berry’s second of his Xfinity Series career and in his 20th start of this season. The victory also occurred as Berry filled in the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro as a relief competitor for veteran Michael Annett.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Xfinity event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Xfinity race. With that, Austin Cindric and AJ Allmendinger, both of whom wrecked and battled for the win last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, started on the front row. 

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Cindric had Justin Haley pushing him on the outside lane while Allmendinger had Justin Allgaier pushing him on the inside lane through Turn 1. Through Turns 1 and 2, Cindric and Allmendinger battled dead even for the top spot until Cindric was able to clear Allmendinger in Turn 3 and lead the first lap.

    Entering the second lap, Cindric was leading by two-tenths of a second over Allmendinger as the field fanned out to two lanes while battling for positions.

    Through the first five laps of the event, Cindric continued to lead by four-tenths of a second over Allmendinger while Justin Haley, Justin Allgaier and rookie Ty Gibbs were in the top five. Harrison Burton was in sixth followed by Daniel Hemric, Brandon Jones, Noah Gragson and Myatt Snider.

    Five laps later, Cindric stabilized his advantage to over Allmendinger. Behind, Allgaier overtook Haley for third while Gibbs, Harrison Burton, Hemric, Gragson, Brandon Jones and Riley Herbst were scored in the top 10.

    Another 10 laps later, Cindric stretched his advantage to nearly a second over Allmendinger. Teammates Gibbs and Hemric were up in third and fourth while Allgaier fell back to fifth.

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 25, Cindric remained as the leader of the field. Under the competition caution, some led by Allgaier, who had concerns of oil leaking from his car, pitted while the rest led by Cindric remained on the track.

    When the race restarted on Lap 30, Cindric and Allmendinger battled for the lead as the field fanned out to multiple lanes approaching the first turn. Just then, the caution returned for a multi-car wreck in Turn 1 that involved Joe Graaf Jr., Ty Dillon, Alex Labbe, Dylan Lupton, BJ McLeod, JJ Yeley, Brandon Brown, Bayley Currey and rookie Sam Mayer. Also involved were Playoff contenders Jeb Burton, Jeremy Clements and Riley Herbst, all of whom were eliminated from the race. At the time of caution, Allmendinger had managed to take the lead.

    Following an extensive cleanup period, the race restarted under green on Lap 40 as Allmendinger and Cindric started on the front row. At the start, Allmendinger received a strong start on the outside lane to retain the lead while Cindric moved up to second. Through the backstretch, Hemric challenged teammate Gibbs for third while Harrison Burton and Gragson battled for fifth. Behind, Brett Moffitt moved up to seventh ahead of Ryan Sieg and Brandon Jones.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Allmendinger earned his 10th stage victory of the season. Hemric made his way up to second followed by Cindric, Gibbs, Gragson, Harrison Burton, Sieg, Brandon Jones, Josh Berry and Moffitt. Meanwhile, Snider, Haley and Allgaier were in 11th, 12th and 14th.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Hemric emerged with the lead after beating Allmendinger off of pit road by a narrow margin. Back on the track, however, Ty Dillon and Brandon Brown moved up to first and second after both elected to remain on the track. During the pit stops, Gragson was sent to the rear for driving through multiple pit boxes while trying to enter his along with Sieg, who was penalized for an equipment interference

    The second stage started on Lap 51. At the start, Ty Dillon jumped ahead with the lead followed by Hemric as the field fanned out to multiple lanes again through the first turn. Through the backstretch, Brandon Jones muscled his way to third place followed by teammate Harrison Burton and Allgaier, all of whom overtook Brown on fresh tires.

    Three laps later, the caution flew when Sieg spun in Turn 2 as he collected Jade Buford. Under caution, Brandon Jones surrendered third place to pit due to a vibration on the right rear of his No. 19 Menards Toyota Supra. 

    On Lap 59, the race restarted under green. At the start, Ty Dillon retained the lead followed by Allgaier and Harrison Burton while Hemric fell back to fifth in front of Cindric, Gibbs and Berry.

    On Lap 65, the battle for the lead intensified was Allgaier closed in on Ty Dillon’s No. 31 South Point Chevrolet Camaro for the top spot. Behind, Harrison Burton was in third followed by Cindric, Gibbs and Hemric. Meanwhile, Gragson worked his way up to ninth ahead of Allmendinger, Haley, Brandon Jones and Myatt Snider.

    A lap later, Allgaier motored his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro to the lead. 

    By Lap 75, Allgaier continued to lead by more than a second over Ty Dillon while Cindric, Gibbs and Hemric were in the top five. Gragson was in sixth followed by Moffitt, Berry, Harrison Burton and Allmendinger while Haley, Brandon Jones and Snider were in 11th, 12th and 13th.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 90, Allgaier claimed his third stage victory of the season. Behind, Ty Dillon fended off Cindric to settle in second followed by Gragson, Hemric, Berry, Gibbs, Moffitt, Allmendinger and Haley.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Allgaier retained the lead followed by Cindric, Hemric, Gragson and Gibbs. Following the pit stops, Gragson was penalized again, this time for speeding on pit road. 

    With 105 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Allgaier retained the lead ahead of Hemric, Cindric and the field as the track fell into night conditions. The following lap, Cindric and Allmendinger overtook Hemric’s No. 18 Poppy Bank Toyota Supra for spots in the top three

    Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Allgaier was leading by half a second over Cindric while Allmendinger was in third. Hemric and Gibbs were in the top five followed by Berry, Haley, Snider, Moffitt and Brandon Jones.

    Ten laps later, Allgaier continued to lead by more than a second over Cindric and by more than two seconds over Allmendinger. Behind, Gibbs and Berry moved up to fourth and fifth while Hemric settled in sixth ahead of Gragson. 

    Another 10 laps later, the caution flew when a bump from Moffitt sent Haley and his No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet Camaro spinning in Turn 3. Under caution, the leaders returned to pit road and Allgaier retained the lead followed by Cindric, Gibbs, Allmendinger and Gragson.

    With 76 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Allgaier retained the lead on the outside lane despite being challenged by Gibbs and Cindric. Behind, Cindric bolted his way to second while Gibbs retained third ahead of Allmendinger and Gragson. 

    Six laps later, Allgaier stabilized his advantage to two-tenths of a second over Cindric. Meanwhile, Berry, Gibbs and Allmendinger battled for fifth ahead of Gragson. 

    Another three laps later, Cindric powered his No. 22 Odyssey Battery Ford Mustang to the lead over Allgaier. By then, Allmendinger worked his way up to third. 

    With 63 laps remaining, Allgaier reassumed the lead. Not long after, a battle for the runner-up spot between Cindric and Josh Berry occurred as Berry prevailed. During this battle, Gragson closed in on the top-three leaders followed by Allmendinger and Gibbs.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Allgaier was leading by nearly a second over teammate Berry while Cindric, Gragson and Gibbs were in the top five.  Allmendinger was in sixth followed by Hemric, Brandon Jones, Haley and Ty Dillon. Meanwhile, Harrison Burton was in 12th while Myatt Snider was back in 15th.

    Nine laps later, Berry, who filled in as an interim competitor in JR Motorsports’ No. 1 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet Camaro for veteran Michael Annett, made his way into the lead over teammate Allgaier.

    With less than 30 laps remaining, Brandon Jones pitted under green. Soon after, Allgaier pitted along with Hemric, Gibbs, Ty Dillon, Moffitt, Gragson, Allmendinger. Berry, the leader, also pitted during this sequence. During the green flag pit stops, Gibbs was penalized for speeding his No. 54 Interstate Batteries Toyota Supra on pit road.

    Under the final 20 laps, Haley, who had yet to pit, was leading followed by Snider, Allgaier, Berry and Gragson. Once Haley pitted, Allgaier, who overtook teammate Berry on the track, made his way back to the lead. Another two laps later, however, Berry reassumed the lead. 

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Berry was leading by more than three seconds over teammate Allgaier while teammate Gragson was in third, trailing by nearly nine seconds in his No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro. Cindric was up in fourth followed by Hemric and Brandon Jones while Allmendinger, Ty Dillon, Haley and Harrison Burton were in the top 10.

    With five laps remaining, Berry stabilized his advantage to four seconds over teammate Allgaier while teammate Gragson trailed by nine seconds in third place.

    When the white flag waved and the final laps started, Berry continued to lead by more than four seconds over teammate Allgaier. Following a smooth navigation around the circuit for a final time, Berry came back around and claimed the checkered flag for his first series win since Martinsville Speedway in April.

    In addition to securing his second Xfinity Series career victory, Berry became the first non-Playoff contender to win the Playoff opening race since Tyler Reddick made the last accomplishment at Kentucky Speedway in September 2017. Berry also recorded the 57th Xfinity career victory for JR Motorsports and the first win for JRM’s No. 1 team since Daytona International Speedway in February 2019.

    “Oh my gosh,” Berry, who led 38 laps, said on NBCSN. “This [car] was fast. It just took me a while to figure it out. I knew the race would go down to the bottom at the end, I felt like. I just wanted to really work hard, make sure my car ran good on the bottom [lane] and I just had to stay disciplined and keep working on it. [The No. 1 crew] made the right adjustments. I knew it was fast. Just finally got a long run, put everything together and I was able to do it.”

    “Me and Justin [Allgaier] have raced together a lot this year,” Berry added. “Most of them, he’s got the better of me. Today, we were able to get one. This is cool. This moves the No. 1 car to the next round in the owner’s points. That was really important for this group. They’ve worked so hard, they’ve been through so much and they deserve this. I wanna say hey to Michael [Annett] at home and thank him and his group for trusting me in driving this race car…One, two three finish [for JR Motorsports], that’s pretty cool.”

    With teammates Allgaier and Gragson finished second and third, JR Motorsports achieved its first 1-2-3 finish in NASCAR history.

    Allgaier was the highest-finishing Xfinity drivers’ title contender in second place on the track while teammate Gragson rallied from his pair of pit road penalties to settle in third place at his home track. With the results, Allgaier is ranked in third place in the Playoff standings, 38 points above the top-eight cutline, while Gragson is in fourth place in the standings, 37 points above the cutline.

    “It’s super tough,” Allgaier, who led a race-high 90 laps, said. “First of off, hats off to Josh and the No. 1 team. They, obviously, had a lot of adversity this year, so for them to come home with a victory was really cool. Just proud of our guys, everybody on this No. 7 team. I was disappointed in the middle of the race there. We felt like we were really good and then as the sun went down, we just needed a little bit more right-rear grip. That’s where I feel like [Berry] had us beat. We’ll rebound, we’ll go next week to Talladega. [We] Should’ve gotten some decent points tonight and hopefully, have a good week next week.”

    “I’m really frustrated, but I think the Bass Pro Shops No. 9 team and everybody at JR Motorsports should be really frustrated with me,” Gragson said. “Just ’cause it’s two weeks in a row and I need to get better. [The crew] brought an unbelievable race car to the track. I’m happy, happy for Josh, happy for Justin, happy everybody at JR Motorsports. Wish we could’ve beaten the guy…We’ll go on to Talladega, hopefully don’t get in a wreck, knock on wood and can transfer to the next stage.”

    Austin Cindric, the pole-sitter who led 33 laps, finished fourth and he leads the Xfinity Playoffs by four points over AJ Allmendinger, the 2021 Xfinity Series regular season champion, while Hemric, who was announced as a Kaulig Racing competitor for the 2022 Xfinity Series season, finished fifth and is in fifth place in the Playoff standings, 34 points above the cutline.

    Brandon Jones, AJ Allmendinger, Ty Dillon, Justin Haley and Harrison Burton finished in the top 10 on the track.

    There were 13 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 32 laps.

    Results.

    1. Josh Berry, 38 laps led

    2. Justin Allgaier, 90 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. Noah Gragson, one lap led

    4. Austin Cindric, 33 laps led

    5. Daniel Hemric

    6. Brandon Jones

    7. AJ Allmendinger, 20 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    8. Ty Dillon, 17 laps led

    9. Justin Haley, two laps led

    10. Harrison Burton

    11. Ty Gibbs, one lap down

    12. Brett Moffitt, one lap down

    13. Bayley Currey, one lap down 

    14. Tommy Joe Martins, one lap down

    15. Myatt Snider, one lap down

    16. Landon Cassill, one lap down

    17. Ryan Sieg, two laps down

    18. Kyle Weatherman, two laps down

    19. Ryan Vargas, two laps down

    20. Blaine Perkins, three laps down

    21. David Starr, four laps down

    22. Brandon Brown, four laps down

    23. Mason Massey, four laps down

    24. Josh Williams, five laps down

    25. Spencer Boyd, five laps down

    26. Jade Buford, six laps down

    27. Matt Jaskol, six laps down

    28. Matt Mills, seven laps down

    29. Jeffrey Earnhardt, seven laps down

    30. BJ McLeod, eight laps down

    31. Carson Ware – OUT, Electrical

    32. CJ McLaughlin – OUT, Overheating

    33. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident

    34. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

    35. Dylan Lupton – OUT, Accident

    36. Jeb Burton – OUT, AAccident

    37. JJ Yeley – OUT, Accident

    38. Alex Labbe – OUT, Accident

    39. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Accident

    40. Joe Graf Jr. – OUT, Accident

    Bold indicates Playoff contenders.

    Playoff standings.

    1. Austin Cindric, +66

    2. AJ Allmendinger, +59

    3. Justin Allgaier, +38

    4. Noah Gragson, +37

    5. Daniel Hemric, +34

    6. Justin Haley, +17

    7. Harrison Burton, +13

    8. Brandon Jones, +10

    9. Myatt Snider, -10

    10. Jeb Burton, -27

    11. Riley Herbst, -32

    12. Jeremy Clements, -36

    With the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs underway, the series will next travel to Talladega Superspeedway for the second Round of 12 event of the season. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, October 2, at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Christian Eckes secures first Truck Series win at Las Vegas

    Christian Eckes secures first Truck Series win at Las Vegas

    Former ARCA Menards Series champion Christian Eckes took home his first-ever NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Friday night. He did so with help from his ThorSport Racing teammates and after passing Todd Gilliland on a late-race restart.  

    “I knew we had a shot on that restart,” Eckes said about the victory. “For whatever reason, our restarts have been stellar. The last one all we had to do was go forward one spot and we were able to do that. The 16 (Austin Hill) was able to give me a great push and my teammate (Ben Rhodes) gave me a good push too. My Curb Records Tundra was really damn good.

    “Just proud of my whole team, this is a brand new truck we brought here. Our team did well finishing 1-2-3-4. My crew chief’s (Jeriod Prince) first win and my first win, it was a great night.”

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series headed west to Las Vegas Motor Speedway to begin the Round of 6 in the Truck Series Playoffs, a race that took an interesting turn Friday night. Stages of 30/30/74 laps made up the 134-lap event. John Hunter Nemechek was on the pole by virtue of NASCAR’s metric system.

    There was only one caution in Stage 1 and it happened only three laps into the event. The No. 45 of Chris Hacker crashed off Turn 4 and brought out the only yellow of the stage. Nemechek had a dominant truck early and led every lap of Stage 1 to take the stage victory. Gilliland, Chandler Smith, Ben Rhodes, Stewart Friesen, Zane Smith, Eckes, Sheldon Creed, Austin Hill and Tyler Ankrum were the top 10 finishers.

    During Stage 2, the action picked up with two cautions and a major incident that impacted two of the playoff drivers, John Hunter Nemechek and Zane Smith. On Lap 38, Zane Smith went three-wide with Nemechek and Friesen, only to cut down a left-rear tire and bring out the yellow. Under the yellow, his No. 21 truck eventually lost power, but the team replaced the battery with a new one.

    Nemechek’s issues began on Lap 48. The Mooresville, North Carolina native slowed on the backstretch and brought out the yellow on Lap 52 as he had no ignition fire. He did, however, get the truck refired.

    Meanwhile, Todd Gilliland turned the page and scored the stage victory. Rhodes, Carson Hocevar, Friesen, Creed, Tanner Gray, Austin Hill, Matt Crafton, Eckes, and Chandler Smith rounded out the top 10.

    Stage 3 was even more intriguing. A major crash occurred on Lap 70 with multiple trucks involved, including playoff drivers Chandler Smith and Creed. Creed’s teammate, Ankrum, spun off Turn 2 which caused a chain of events. Creed went to the bottom to miss the accident but was not clear and he plowed into the back of Smith’s truck. The accident ended the night for both drivers. Creed and Smith were treated and released from the infield care center following the incident.

    Later on in the stage, Nemechek’s problems continued to worsen. He once again brought out the yellow flag with 54 to go after stalling on the backstretch. Due to his mechanical problems, Nemechek was relegated to 33rd place finish, 49 laps down.

    The final caution of the night came inside 10 laps to go when the No. 42 of Carson Hocevar spun prior to pit road. The Niece Motorsports driver was penalized one lap for bringing out the yellow intentionally.

    With a four-lap restart, Gilliland hoped to gain his second win since Circuit of Americus back in May. However, Eckes powered right on by and eventually grabbed his first Truck Series victory with his ThorSport teammates Ben Rhodes, Matt Crafton, and Johnny Sauter taking the top four spots. It was the first time in series history that one team has accomplished the feat.

    “It’s tough to begin with but at this track it’s even crazier,” Rhodes said about finishing second. “We all saw at this track the restarts were wild all night long. I think I’m just happy with the night. Come in from Bristol, barely getting in, and now I hear we are the points leader. But I couldn’t be more proud of ThorSport Racing. Heck, we were one-through-four. I heard that was the first time in series history.”

    “I’m super proud of Christian Eckes. I gave him as big of a shove as I could down the backstretch and when that happened, he got the lead. I thought I could challenge him. We needed one more corner before that caution came out and maybe I could have challenged him for the win, but super proud of him. He deserves it. He’s been working hard on it, and with his part-time schedule, it’s really good to see. ThorSport Racing is on fire tonight.”

    Meanwhile, playoff driver Matt Crafton continued his consistency by finishing third. With the exception of Watkins Glen (finishing 22nd), Crafton has finished inside the Top 10 or five since Nashville back in June.

    “These guys behind pit wall. Junior (Carl Joiner, crew chief) and them making all of the right adjustments,” Crafton said. “We’ve never ever made as many adjustments as we did tonight. The Menards Toyota Tundra was good on long runs, but our short run speed – we were pathetic. We weren’t wanting that last restart but we did. I thought I had a good run off turn four and was going to try to do something with the 98 (Christian Eckes) and then the 99 (Ben Rhodes) turned underneath me and drove on by me. All-in-all, I’m really happy for Duke and Rhonda Thorson. 1-2-3-4, I don’t think that has ever been done. Thanks to Menards and everybody.”

    Eckes led once for four laps en route to victory.

    There were 10 cautions for 39 laps and 14 lead changes among 11 different leaders.

    Updated Truck Series Playoff standings following Race 1 in the Round of 6:

    1. Ben Rhodes, +34
    2. John Hunter Nemechek, +28
    3. Stewart Friesen, +9
    4. Matt Crafton, +5
      Below the cut line
    5. Sheldon Creed, -5
    6. Carson Hocevar, -16
    7. Zane Smith, -19
    8. Chandler Smith, -24

    Official Results following Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

    1. Christian Eckes, led four laps
    2. Ben Rhodes, led five laps
    3. Matt Crafton
    4. Johnny Sauter, led two laps
    5. Todd Gilliland, won Stage 2, led 66 laps
    6. Stewart Friesen, led one lap
    7. Grant Enfinger
    8. Austin Wayne Self
    9. Ryan Truex
    10. Austin Hill, led 12 laps
    11. Bret Holmes, led one lap
    12. Derek Kraus
    13. Chase Purdy
    14. Tate Fogleman, led one lap
    15. Spencer Davis
    16. Kris Wright
    17. Tyler Hill, 1 lap down
    18. Danny Bohn, 1 lap down
    19. Spencer Boyd, 1 lap down
    20. CJ McLaughlin, 1 lap down
    21. Dylan Lupton, 1 lap down
    22. Carson Hocevar, 2 laps down, led 8 laps
    23. Tanner Gray, 2 laps down
    24. Drew Dollar, 2 laps down
    25. Brett Moffitt, 3 laps down, led one lap
    26. Howie DiSavino III, 4 laps down
    27. Jennifer Jo Cobb, 5 laps down
    28. Cory Roper, 13 laps down
    29. Zane Smith, 19 laps down
    30. Jack Wood, OUT, Accident
    31. Hailie Deegan, OUT, Accident
    32. Keith McGee, OUT, Too slow
    33. John Hunter Nemechek, 49 laps down, won Stage 1, led 33 laps
    34. Tyler Ankrum, OUT, Accident
    35. Chandler Smith, OUT, Accident
    36. Sheldon Creed, OUT, Accident
    37. Chris Hacker, OUT, Damage Vehicle Policy

    Up Next: The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will head back east to Talladega Superspeedway Saturday, October 2, live on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio at 1 p.m. ET.

  • Kyle Busch primed for 600th Cup career start at Las Vegas

    Kyle Busch primed for 600th Cup career start at Las Vegas

    In his 17th full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series, Kyle Busch is set to reach a significant milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s Playoff event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which serves as his home track, the driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry will achieve career start No. 600 in NASCAR’s premier series. In doing so, Busch will also become the 31st different competitor to achieve 600 career starts in the Cup Series.

    A native of Las Vegas, Nevada, Busch made his inaugural presence in the Cup circuit at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March 2004. By then, he was a full-time Xfinity Series competitor for Hendrick Motorsports, competing for both the Rookie-of-the-Year title and the drivers’ championship. Driving the No. 84 Chevrolet for HMS, Busch started 18th and finished 41st in his Cup debut following an early retirement. He competed in five additional races for HMS throughout the 2004 season (Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, Auto Club Speedway in September, Kansas Speedway, Charlotte and at Atlanta Motor Speedway in October).

    In 2005, Busch earned a full-time ride with HMS for the 2005 Cup season, replacing two-time champion Terry Labonte. Driving the No. 5 Chevrolet, it took the first 25 races of the season for Busch to achieve his first Cup triumph at Auto Club Speedway in September. With his victory, Busch became the youngest winner in Cup history at age 20, four months and two days. He went on to record a second career win at Phoenix Raceway in November following a late battle with Greg Biffle. Despite missing the Playoffs and finishing 20th in the final standings, Busch captured the 2005 Cup Rookie-of-the-Year title and in a season where he also earned a pole, nine top-five results and 13 top-10 results.

    The following season, Busch achieved his lone victory of the season at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July. He went on to make the Playoffs for the first time in his career and achieve a pole, 10 top-five results and 18 top-10 results before finishing in 10th place in the final standings. The year after, Busch claimed his fourth Cup victory at Bristol Motor Speedway in March following a two-lap battle against veteran Jeff Burton. Busch’s Bristol victory was also the first event where NASCAR fielded the Car of Tomorrow stock car. Busch went on to earn 11 top-five results, 20 top-10 results, an average-finishing result of 14.1 and a spot in the Playoffs before finishing in fifth place in the final standings. By then, Busch surpassed 100 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series.

    In June 2007, Hendrick Motorsports announced that Busch will be replaced by Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the 2008 season. Two months later, Busch announced that he will be joining Joe Gibbs Racing to pilot the No. 18 Toyota Camry for the upcoming Cup season.

    In his first race with Joe Gibbs Racing and paired with crew chief Steve Addington, Busch kickstarted the 2008 season on a high note by finishing in fourth place in the Daytona 500 after leading a race-high 86 of 200 laps. Three races later, Busch achieved his first victory of the season and his first with JGR at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March after leading a race-high 173 of 325 laps. By winning at Atlanta, Busch also recorded the first NASCAR Cup career victory for the Toyota nameplate. 

    Following his Atlanta victory, Busch went on to win at Talladega Superspeedway in April, Darlington Raceway in May, Dover International Speedway and Sonoma Raceway in June, Daytona International Speedway and Chicagoland Speedway in July and at Watkins Glen International in August, which tallied his Cup win column to 12. By then, he had also achieved 15 top-five results and was leading the regular-season standings. Despite qualifying for the Playoffs and emerging as a title threat, Busch finished outside of the top 20 through the first three Playoff events, which were enough to diminish his championship hopes early. When the season concluded, Busch, who earned four additional top-10 runs through the final 10 races, capped off his first Cup season with JGR in 10th place in the final standings and with a total of eight victories, two poles, 17 top-five results, 21 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 12.5.

    In 2009, Busch achieved four victories (Las Vegas and Bristol Motor Speedway in March, Richmond Raceway in May and Bristol in August) along with a pole, nine top-five results and 13 top-10 results. He, however, failed the make the Playoffs by eight points following a difficult summer stretch and went on to finish 13th in the final standings. By then, he was paired with crew chief Dave Rogers. He rallied the following season by winning three times throughout the 36-race schedule (Richmond and Dover International Speedway in May and Bristol in August), collecting two poles, 10 top-five results and 18 top-10 results and making the Playoffs before finishing eighth in the final standings. By then, Busch surpassed 200 Cup career starts and had won 19 career races.

    For the majority of the 2011 Cup season, Busch and the No. 18 JGR Toyota team were strong on the track, with the combo winning four races (Bristol in March, Richmond in April, Kentucky Speedway in July and at Michigan International Speedway in August). During the midway section of the Playoffs, however, Busch’s title hopes came to an end as he went on to finish in 12th place in the final standings. The Playoffs was also where Busch was suspended for the Cup event at Texas Motor Speedway in November following a Truck Series incident with four-time series champion Ron Hornaday Jr., where Busch intentionally wrecked Hornaday under caution following an earlier incident and NASCAR suspended Busch from competing the remaining national touring series events during the Texas weekend. 

    Despite a disappointing conclusion to a strong 2011 season, Busch kickstarted the 2012 Cup season on a wild, high note by rallying from two near spins to edge reigning three-time Cup champion Tony Stewart in a photo finish to win the Shootout at Daytona in February. Busch went on to achieve his first points victory of the season at Richmond in April, which marked his fourth consecutive spring Richmond victory. Despite the victory, Busch’s 26-race regular-season stretch was mired with inconsistent results throughout the summer and he missed the Playoffs by three points. While he was not a title contender, Busch earned seven top-five results during the 10-race Playoff stretch before concluding the season in 13th place in the final standings.

    Five races into the 2013 Cup season, Busch snapped a 31-race winless drought by winning at Auto Club Speedway after overtaking teammate Denny Hamlin and former teammate Joey Logano on the final lap. Two races later and in his 300th Cup career start, Busch prevailed over Martin Truex Jr. to win at Texas in April. He went on to win at Watkins Glen in August and at Atlanta in September, which were more than enough for him to return to the Playoffs. While an accident at Kansas Speedway in October ended his title hopes, Busch went on to conclude the season in fourth place in the final standings, which marked his best points result since finishing fifth in 2007. Overall, Busch achieved four victories, three poles, 16 top-five results and 22 top-10 results in 2013. By then, his Cup career wins tallied to 28.

    In 2014, Busch recorded his lone victory of the season at Auto Club Speedway in March, which was enough for him to make the Playoffs for the seventh time in his 10-year Cup career. He went on to achieve three pols, nine top-five results and 15 top-10 results before capping off the season in 10th place in the final standings.

    The 2015 Cup season started off on a harrowing note for Busch, who was set to embark in his 11th Cup season and first with new crew chief Adam Stevens. While competing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ season-opening event at Daytona in February, Busch was involved in a late multi-car wreck, an accident that saw him make a hard head-on contact into a concrete barrier installed with no SAFER barriers. The accident left Busch with a massive compound fracture to his right leg, a minor fracture to his left foot and a sprained left finger. With Busch sitting out for the first 11 events of the season, names like Matt Crafton, David Ragan and Erik Jones participated as interim competitors for Busch in the Cup circuit.

    By the All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, Busch was medically cleared to return to racing. He had also received a medical waiver that would make him eligible for the Playoffs under the Playoff’s qualification rules. After finishing sixth in the All-Star event and 11th during the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, which marked Busch’s first Cup points event of the season, Busch rallied from finishing outside of the top 30 on the track during two of the following three races to achieve his first victory of 2015 and his 30th Cup career victory at Sonoma Raceway in June. The win checked off Busch’s first goal in his quest to make the 2015 Cup Playoffs.

    Following his victory at Sonoma and a 17th-place result at Daytona in July, Busch went on a three-race winning streak, where he won at Kentucky, New Hampshire and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway circuit in July. He also earned four additional top-10 results, which were enough for him to move into the top 30 in the regular-season standings and qualify for the Playoffs for the eighth time in his career.

    After finishing in the top five in five of the first nine Playoff events, Busch earned a championship spot in the Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November. During the finale, Busch led 41 of 267 laps and held off reigning champion Kevin Harvick to claim his fifth victory of the season and his first NASCAR Cup Series championship. In claiming his first Cup title, Busch became the 31st different competitor to win a championship in NASCAR’s premier series and the first since Richard Petty in 1971 to do so without competing the entire schedule. Busch also captured the fourth Cup career title for Joe Gibbs Racing and the first for Toyota, with the driver earning a pole, 12 top-five results and 16 top-10 results.

    Entering the 2016 season as the reigning Cup champion, Busch claimed four victories throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch (Martinsville Speedway and Texas in April, Kansas Speedway in May and at Indianapolis in July). He went on to make the Playoffs for the ninth time in his Cup career and earn enough consistent results to make the Championship Round at Homestead in November for a second consecutive season. During the finale, however, Busch pitted late for fresh tires and settled in sixth place on the track and in third place in the final standings. While he did not repeat as a Cup champion, Busch achieved four victories, two poles, 17 top-five results, 25 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 11.5. In addition, Busch surpassed 400 Cup career starts.

    Determined to reclaim his title, Busch went winless through the first 11 races of the 2017 Cup schedule before capturing his first victory in the non-points All-Star Race at Charlotte in May. Two months later, Busch achieved his first Cup points victory of the season at Pocono. He went on to win at Bristol in August before winning back-to-back Playoff races at New Hampshire and Dover between September and October while as a Playoff contender. Following his fifth victory of the season at Martinsville in October, Busch qualified for the Championship Round at Homestead in November for a third consecutive season. During the finale, however, Busch ended up as the runner-up finisher on the track and in the final standings behind Truex. In a season where he won five races, Busch also captured a career-high eight poles along with 14 top-five results, 22 top-10 results and a second consecutive average-finishing result of 11.5. He also surpassed 40 Cup career victories.

    The 2018 Cup season was one of Busch’s finest seasons to date, with the driver earning a total of eight victories throughout the 36-race schedule (Texas, Bristol and Richmond in April, Charlotte in May, Chicagoland in June, Pocono in July, Richmond in September and at Phoenix in November). By then, Busch surpassed 50 Cup career victories and had achieved a victory in every active track in the Cup Series. Along with a career-best eight victories, he also achieved four poles, a career-high 22 top-five results, a career-high 28 top-10 results and a career-best average-finishing result of 8.3. Despite making the Playoffs for the 11th time in his Cup career and earning a spot in the Championship Round at Homestead for a four consecutive season, Busch went on to finish in fourth place during the finale and in third place in the final standings.

    The momentum from the previous season carried forth for Busch entering the 2019 Cup season, with the driver winning twice through the first five scheduled events (Phoenix and Auto Club in March) and earning a career-best runner-up result in the season-opening Daytona 500. By then, he surpassed 500 Cup career starts. Busch went on to win at Bristol in April and at Pocono in June before capturing the regular-season championship and make his 12th appearance in the Playoffs. After finishing in the top 10 in five of the first nine Playoff spots, Busch managed to qualify for the Championship Round at Homestead in November for a fifth consecutive season. Having a strong car throughout the finale, Busch went on to win the race for his fifth victory of the season and for his second Cup Series championship, his first while completing the entire 36-race schedule. With his second Cup career title, Busch became the 16th different competitor to repeat as a champion in NASCAR’s premier series as he also claimed the fifth Cup title for Joe Gibbs Racing and the third drivers’ title for Toyota. He also capped off the 2019 season with a pole, 17 top-five results, 27 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 8.9.

    The 2020 Cup season was a roller coaster season for Busch, who went winless throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch. Despite making the Playoffs for the 13th time in his career, his hopes for a third title evaporated following the second round. Nonetheless, Busch extended his winning streak in the Cup circuit to 16 consecutive years after Busch outlasted teammate Truex in a late fuel mileage battle to win at Texas in October. Overall, Busch earned a victory, 14 top-five results and 20 top-10 results throughout the 36-race schedule before finishing in eighth place in the final standings.

    Paired with rookie crew chief Ben Beshore for this season, Busch commenced the season on another wild note by winning his second career Clash event on Daytona’s road-course venue following a last-lap pass on Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney, both of whom wrecked on the final corner. Despite crashing out on the final lap in the Daytona 500, Busch extended his Cup winning streak to 17 consecutive seasons after the two-time champion won at Kansas in May. Eight races later, he rallied from clutch issues to win the second of a Pocono Raceway doubleheader weekend after overtaking teammate Denny Hamlin and barely having enough fuel to finish. The two victories earned throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, along with 11 top-five results and 16 top-10 results, were enough for Busch to make the Playoffs for the 14th time in his career. Despite recent finishes of 35th, ninth and 21st in the Round of 16, Busch is through to the Round of 12 in the 2021 Cup Playoffs and seeded in fifth place with 3,022 points.

    Through 599 previous Cup starts, Busch has amassed two championships, 59 wins, 32 poles, 225 top-five results, 333 top-10 results and an average result of 13.6.

    Busch is set to make his 600th Cup career start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, September 26, at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Las Vegas

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Las Vegas

    Note: The quotes in the article are fictional.

    1. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin claimed fourth at Las Vegas and remained atop the points standings.

    “Joe Gibbs Racing put all four cars in the top 10,” Hamlin said. “And Kyle Busch had the best finish of us all. We’re all telling Kyle he ‘finished first’ just to make him feel better.

    “I think we’re all looking forward to racing on the dirt at Bristol in a few weeks. I guess you could say it’s ‘grounds’ for excitement.”

    2. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski won Stage 1 and finished second at Las Vegas.

    “I knew we had a car good enough to finish in the top five,” Keselowski said. “If you were a gambler, I’d have told you to bet the house on a top five. If you were a NASCAR fan, I’d have told you to bet the trailer.”

    3. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished sixth in the Pennzoil 400.

    “Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer have great chemistry in the announcer’s booth,” Larson said. “Their years of experience plus their witty banter is on-air magic. You could call it ‘mic joy.’”

    4. Kevin Harvick: Harvick started on the pole at Las Vegas but struggled from the start, suffering a tire rub and a flat tire early that eventually resulted in extensive handling problems. He finished 20th.

    “We had a fast car,” Karvick said. “The only problem was, it went downhill fast.

    “Hopefully, our trouble in Vegas will stay here, and won’t follow us to Phoenix. As the saying goes, ‘What Happens In Vegas Stays In Vegas.’ Hopefully, that’s true. The following is also true: if there was a Vegas show reboot of a 1970s sitcom about three working-class African-Americans in Watts that had an unlimited run on the Strip, it would be called, ‘What’s Happening (In Vegas) Stays In Vegas.’”

    5. Kyle Larson: Larson led a race-high 103 laps and pulled away on the final green-flag run to win the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas.

    “Frankly,” Larson said, “I’m ‘shocked,’ mostly because I overcame lengthy ‘suspension’ problems to get the win.

    “Honestly, I don’t know what to say, which means I’ve done something right.”

    6. Chase Elliott: Elliott spun with 99 laps remaining at Las Vegas, but recovered to salvage a 13th-place finish.

    “I’m so happy for Kyle Larson,” Elliott said. “He’s in the playoffs, which is the first step in becoming a NASCAR champion. Kyle will probably be the favorite when we return to LVMS. We’ll be back in Nevada in September, which Kyle calls being ‘reinstated.’”

    7. William Byron: Byron came home eighth at Las Vegas as Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson took the win.

    “Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr served as the race’s Grand marshal,” Byron said. “Many Las Vegas citizens were saying if that was his last job as a ‘starter,’ things are looking up for the Raiders.”

    8. Joey Logano: Logano finished ninth at Las Vegas.

    “Hiring Kyle Larson was a brilliant move for Hendrick Motorsports,” Logano said. “Larson is a team player, unlike that other Kyle that used to drive the No. 5 for Hendrick. With Kyle Busch, the team was all about ‘me, me, me.’ That kind of selfishness is called ‘I Racing,’ and Kyle Larson wants no part of that.”

    9. Kyle Busch: Busch finished third in the Pennzoil 400 at his hometown of Las Vegas.

    “Did I spin intentionally in the Trucks Series race on Friday?” Busch said. “That’s a question I’m unable to answer under oath, or with my hand on a bible, or honestly. Suffice it to say I’d answer with the sincerity of a Teresa Earnhardt wedding vow.”

    10. (tie) Christopher Bell: Bell finished seventh at Las Vegas as Joe Gibbs Racing placed all four cars in the top 10, led by Kyle Busch’s third.

    “That race just flew by,” Bell said. “That’s often not the case. Most times, I find myself saying, ‘I didn’t think that race would ever end.’ That’s in contrast to viewers at home watching Fox’s pre-race coverage, who find themselves saying, ‘I didn’t think that race would ever start.’”

    10. (tie) Ryan Preece: Preece finished 15th at Las Vegas.

    “Four races,” Preece said, “four different winners. And only one of those four winners made the playoff field last year. I think a precedent has been established: ‘anybody can win.’ And that’s the only reason I can find that would keep Quin Hoff, B.J. McLeod, Garrett Smithley, Cody Ware, Joey Gase, Josh Bilicki, and Timmy Hill motivated to continue embarrassing themselves week after week.”

  • Larson’s Vegas win isn’t a form of revenge – it’s a redemption story

    Larson’s Vegas win isn’t a form of revenge – it’s a redemption story

    It’s unanimously agreed that 2020 was a dumpster fire the world over, and NASCAR was not exempt from that assessment. There weren’t any cars on track for a while in the spring, and hardly any fans were able to attend the races. On top of that, there were off-track issues as well – notably the unfortunate instance when Kyle Larson’s utterance of an derogatory racial term cost him his job, his sponsors, and any hope of racing for the 2020 championship.

    Not long after, when the world devolved into chaos following George Floyd’s murder, it looked like any immediate hope of Larson returning to a stock car was going to have to wait. So Larson instead took to the dirt, winning several sprint car races and taking some time away from the NASCAR world. However, at the same time, Larson also completed sensitivity training on the way to being reinstated, which he was six months later before signing on with Hendrick Motorsports to drive for their No. 5 team.

    While this was going on, the NASCAR world witnessed the rise of one of the drivers as a strong voice in the NASCAR garage – Bubba Wallace. As the only full-time black NASCAR Cup Series driver, Wallace’s words became some of the most profound in the NASCAR community, especially following Floyd’s death, as well as the murders of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. His words became so profound that when they led to NASCAR’s forced removal of the Confederate Flag, he and NASCAR were praised by many across the world.

    When a noose was found in his garage area at Talladega over the summer, many believed it was an act of retaliation due to Wallace’s actions. However, when the matter of the noose turned out to be nothing more than a serious coincidence, several detractors sneered and jeered at him, accusing him of “playing a race card” even though cities were in fact burning due to racial violence.

    Several of those detractors even went as far as assuming (and asserting) that there were issues between Larson (again, who used a seriously insensitive racial epithet out of ignorance and lost his ride as a result) and Wallace (who became a much needed social activist in NASCAR). This was in spite of the fact that when Larson said what he said, Wallace was one of the first people to talk to him and to come to his defense.

    So sure were Wallace’s detractors that Larson was acting on a misplaced matter of revenge, that they either didn’t realize or weren’t paying attention to what Larson was doing away from the track – educating himself on matters of social injustice, so much so that when his sensitivity training ended he continued to visit areas such as the Urban Youth Racing School, volunteering at a food drive in Minnesota, and even visiting the site of Floyd’s death and visiting a memorial at the site.

    In short, Larson worked to better understand the plight of those who are socially disadvantaged and to become an ally. He spoke with Wallace, former driver Willy T. Ribbs, and NHRA competitor J.R. Todd. He worked to redeem himself after losing his ride, being publicly humiliated, and being labeled a racist.

    “The first lesson: The N-word is not mine to use,” Larson wrote in an essay he released last fall. “It cannot be part of my vocabulary.”

    “For far too long, I was a part of a problem that’s much larger than me. I fully admit that losing my job and being publicly humiliated was how I came to understand this. But in the aftermath, I realized that my young kids will one day be old enough to learn about what their daddy said. I can’t go back and change it, but I can control what happens from here on out.”

    Larson has shown to all just how hard he’s willing to go to prove himself worthy by scoring three top-10s in the first four races, moving his Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 into third in points following his win in Las Vegas on Sunday. After boiling the tires and thanking the fans and his team, one of the first people to meet him in Victory Lane was none other than Wallace.

    When Wallace visited Larson in Victory Lane, it spoke volumes as to how far Larson had come. Could Wallace have shunned Larson? Yes. Could the rest of the world shun Larson? Sure. But ultimately, it came down to the simple truth that Larson spoke in ignorance without thinking. People like Wallace recognized this and opened up to help educate Larson, and in return, Larson took the initiative to educate himself for the better. There isn’t any animosity. There isn’t any anger.

    Rather, there’s hope. There’s compassion. There’s empathy. All of these things that the world needs more of right now. Not revenge, there’s no revenge here. There’s only redemption for Larson. And although some may think the Vegas win was the cap on it all, if Larson has anything to say about it he’s going to keep working to spread those ideals.

  • Rick Hendrick’s belief in Larson vindicated with emotional win at Las Vegas

    Rick Hendrick’s belief in Larson vindicated with emotional win at Las Vegas

    Kyle Larson’s NASCAR Cup Series win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was another step forward on the road to redemption.

    He competed in only four races last year after his use of a racial slur during an iRacing event led to an indefinite suspension by NASCAR. A week later he was fired by Chip Ganassi Racing.

    Larson was immediately contrite, telling the Associated Press, “I was just ignorant and immature. I didn’t understand the negativity and hurt that comes with that word.”

    He completed the NASCAR mandated sensitivity training as well as taking further steps to better understand the implications of what he said and how they related to racial injustice in society.

    In October of last year, he signed with Hendrick Motorsports and NASCAR announced that Larson had been reinstated in January 2021.

    While some may have questioned Rick Hendrick’s decision to give Larson a second chance, Hendrick never doubted Larson’s potential. Fast forward to the fourth race of the season and Larson has already made it to victory lane. Hendrick was, however, surprised at how rapidly the team has come together.

    “I didn’t really expect for it to come this quick because I just thought it would take “more time to gel. But our cars are fast. He’s a champion really. I’m so lucky to have him. Cliff (Daniels, crew chief) is just a great young man. To win in the fourth race, especially when you don’t have any practice, you just show up and race, it’s really been awesome.

    “I think they’re going to have a lot of success together this year,” Hendrick reiterated. “If you look back at the road course he had a shot to win that. If you show up and you run well, that’s half the battle. Nobody doubts Kyle’s ability.”

    What made the victory at Las Vegas even more poignant is that Larson was driving the No. 5 Chevrolet with a paint scheme that was evocative of the car driven by Hendrick’s late son, Ricky.  

    “My wife and I were watching. Hendrick said. “It was emotional. It was joy. It was so many things. I love those colors. When we were going to be on the car, I mean, I wanted to run that paint scheme with that number. That meant a ton to me today and to my family just to honor our son. I love the paint scheme anyway. But Kyle made us proud today.”

    Hendrick went on to express his faith in Hendrick Motorsports, crediting Larson with bringing a new intensity to the organization.

    “I think the energy that he has brought to our company, along with the energy to see all the cars run as good as they’re running, that has got the whole organization on their toes. It just looks like at every race we’re in we’ve got cars in there that can win it. That’s what you want. You want an opportunity to win.

    “I just feel like the chemistry is so good right now,” Hendrick said. “I don’t know if I ever remember it being any better across the board with all four cars. Two cars sometimes, then one car winning them all. But now we’ve got a really good balance.

    “Everybody’s excited. I’m excited.”

    If Hendrick’s enthusiasm is any indication of what is to come, Hendrick Motorsports could very well be in contention for another championship title this November.

  • Sweet redemption for Larson at Las Vegas

    Sweet redemption for Larson at Las Vegas

    From sitting out of the competition due to suspension last season to racing his way to an early trip to Victory Lane this season, Kyle Larson muscled his way to a dominating victory in the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 7. The 28-year-old native from Elk Grove, California, led six times for a race-high 103 of 267 laps as he pulled away from Brad Keselowski in the late stages to record his first victory in his return to full-time NASCAR competition behind the wheel of Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 5 Chevrolet.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Kevin Harvick started on pole position and was joined on the front row with William Byron, winner of last weekend’s Cup event at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Harvick received a push from Kyle Larson to jump ahead with the lead. Through Turn 1, Larson was also able to move into second place as Michael McDowell went to work on Byron for third place. 

    With the field fanning out early to three lanes through the backstretch and through Turns 3 and 4, Byron was able to fight back and lead the first lap over teammate Larson and Harvick. With the field towards the front still fanning out to three lanes. Harvick was overtaken by a few more positions as Larson and Truex battled behind Byron for the runner-up spot.

    Following the first five laps of the event, Byron continued to lead by nearly two-tenths of a second over teammate and a hard-charging Chase Elliott. Larson was in third followed by Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. Harvick, meanwhile, fell back to eighth.

    Five laps later and through the first 10 laps of the event, Byron’s No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE retained a narrow advantage over teammate Elliott’s No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE while Truex and Larson battled dead even for third. Behind, Brad Keselowski challenged Hamlin for fifth while Christopher Bell, Kurt Busch, Alex Bowman and McDowell were in the top 10. Harvick, meanwhile, was back in 11th and in front of Austin Dillon, Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch.

    Another three laps later, Larson managed to overtake teammate Elliott for the runner-up spot. Behind, Keselowski overtook Truex for fourth place. Meanwhile, Byron remained in the lead. 

    After trailing and intimidating his teammate in the early laps for the lead, Elliott managed to muscle his way into the lead on Lap 20 over Byron. A few laps later, teammate Larson moved into the runner-up spot.

    Elliott was able to extend his advantage to nearly a second over teammate Larson when the competition caution flew on Lap 25. Byron, Truex and Keselowski were in the top five followed by Hamlin, Bowman, Kurt Busch, Ryan Blaney and Harvick. By then, Christopher Bell was in 11th, Logano was in 13th, Kyle Busch was in 16th in between Austin Dillon and Erik Jones, Tyler Reddick was in 19th, Bubba Wallace was in 21st, Aric Almirola was in 23rd in front of teammates Cole Custer and rookie Chase Briscoe, Daniel Suarez was in 26th and Ryan Newman was in 29th.

    Under caution, the leaders made the turn to pit road for early adjustments. Following the pit stops, Larson exited with the lead followed by Hamlin, Truex, Keselowski, Bowman Byron and Elliott. Behind, Wallace was assessed a pit road speeding penalty and sent to the rear of the field.

    The race restarted on Lap 30 with Larson and Hamlin on the front row. At the start, Hamlin received a push from Keselowski on the inside lane to move into the lead. Keselowski also moved into the runner-up spot while Larson fell back to third in front of teammate Elliott and Truex. 

    By Lap 33, Hamlin was out in front by two-tenths of a second over a side-by-side battle featuring Keselowski’s No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang and Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Elliott was right behind in fourth place followed by teammate Bowman, Truex, Blaney, Byron, Kurt Busch and Matt DiBenedetto. 

    Two laps later, Truex, Blaney and Bowman battled through three lanes for the fifth spot with Byron lurking behind. 

    Back at the front, Larson and Keselowski continued to battle for the runner-up spot with Elliott remaining in pursuit. At the front, Hamlin’s No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry remained in the lead. 

    By Lap 40, Hamlin was still leading by approximately a tenth of a second over Larson. Teammate Elliott was in third followed by Keselowski, who slipped and nearly clipped Elliott the previous lap in Turn 1. Behind, Blaney cracked the top five over Truex, Byron, Bowman, Kurt Busch and DiBenedetto. 

    Shortly after, Hendrick Motorsports’ teammates Larson and Elliott battled for the runner-up spot behind Hamlin while Blaney started to close in on Penske teammate Keselowski for fourth place. 

    In the midst of the battle towards the front, Bubba Wallace returned to pit road with the hood of his No. 23 Columbia Sportswear Toyota Camry up after he reported a power steering line issue.

    On Lap 44, Larson reassumed the lead over Hamlin. Behind, Keselowski caught back up to Elliott as he went to work on him for third place. Keselowski was eventually able to overtake Elliott for position and went to work on Hamlin for the runner-up spot. Blaney, meanwhile, remained in pursuit of the top-four leaders. 

    Not long after, the caution flew due to debris reported in Turn 2. The caution served as a huge break for Kevin Harvick, who had a left-front tire going down as a result of making contact with Erik Jones. Under caution, the majority of the leaders returned to pit road and Hamlin was able to exit off pit road first followed by Elliott, Keselowski, Bowman and Blaney.

    Back on the track, Larson remained in the race lead after electing to remain on the track on old tires. Joey Logano, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Tyler Reddick and teammate Austin Dillon also remained on the track.

    The race restarted on Lap 51 with Larson and Logano on the front row. At the start, Larson retained the lead while Elliott made a bold four-wide move behind to move back to the front. Through the backstretch, the field fanned out to three and four lanes.

    The following lap, Larson and Logano battled dead even for the lead as the field, featuring competitors on fresh tires compared to worn tires, continued to fan out to three and four lanes for position towards the front.

    By Lap 54, two forms of three-wide battles ensued at the front with Keselowski challenging teammate Logano and Larson for the lead. A lap later, Logano was able to clear the field with the lead. Behind, Elliott muscled his way back into third before taking back second place from Keselowski. Blaney and Larson battled for fourth while Bell and Byron battled behind for sixth. Truex and Hamlin, meanwhile, were back in 10th and 12th.  

    By Lap 60, Logano, racing in his No. 22 Pennzoil Ford Mustang on worn tires, continued to hold strong with the lead by a narrow margin over Elliott while Keselowski remained ahead of Larson for third place. Blaney was in fifth followed by Byron, Bell, Bowman, Kurt Busch and Hamlin. Truex was in 12th behind DiBenedetto.

    Two laps later, Elliott, racing on fresh tires, returned to the lead following a lengthly battle with Logano. In the ensuing laps, Penske teammates Keselowski and Blaney overtook their other teammate Logano for third and fourth. Behind, Larson fell back to ninth while Bell, Byron Bowman and Hamlin moved up. 

    Through the first 70 laps of the event, Elliott maintained a narrow advantage over Keselowski. Teammate Blaney was in third while Bell overtook Logano for fourth place. Bowman and Hamlin closed in on Logano for fifth while Byron, DiBenedetto and Larson were in the top 10. Truex was in 12th behind Kurt Busch.

    Two laps later, Keselowski made his way to the top of the field following a pass on Elliott for position. While Bell, teammate Hamlin and Bowman battled for fourth, Logano slipped back to eighth on worn tires, two spots ahead of Larson. 

    Back at the front, Keselowski and Elliott continued to battle intensely for the lead, with the latter prevailing not long after by two-tenths of a second. Blaney trailed by more than a second in third place while Hamlin and Bowman overtook Bell for fourth and fifth. 

    While Keselowski and Elliott continued to battle against one another on the track for the lead, Logano and Larson were back in ninth and 12th while Truex and Kurt Busch were in ninth and 11th. Kyle Busch was in 14th while Harvick, who started on pole, was mired in 18th.

    Following a lengthly battle with Elliott, Keselowski was able to reassume the lead on Lap 79 and hold on to claim the first stage victory on Lap 80, which also marked his first stage victory of the season. Elliott settled in second followed by Blaney, Hamlin and Bowman while Bell, Byron, DiBenedetto, Logano and Truex were scored in the top 10. 

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Hamlin returned to the lead following a strong pit stop from his crew. Keselowski exited in second place followed by Bowman, DiBenedetto, Blaney and Logano. During the pit stops, Elliott spent extra time on pit road to have damage on the right side of his No. 9 Chevrolet from an earlier pit stop caused by the jack repaired. In addition, Reddick was assessed a pit road speeding penalty.

    The second stage started on Lap 87 with Hamlin and Keselowski on the front row. At the start, Hamlin and Keselowski battled dead even through Turn 1 and the backstretch while Byron made a bold move on the outside lane to crack the top five. 

    The following lap, Keselowski was able to reassume the lead followed by teammate Blaney. Bowman, racing in his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, went to work on Hamlin for third while DiBenedetto and Byron battled for fifth. 

    By Lap 90, Keselowski was leading by approximately a tenth of a second over teammate Blaney. Hamlin retained third place by a narrow margin over Bowman and DiBenedetto while Larson closed in on teammate Byron for position. 

    Through the first 100 laps of the race, Keselowski continued to lead by approximately two-tenths of a second over teammate Blaney. Teammates Larson and Byron battled for third while Hamlin was in fifth. Bowman, DiBenedetto, Truex, Bell and Logano were in the top 10 followed by the Busch brothers. Elliott, meanwhile, worked his way up to 14th after restarting in 30th place at the start of the second stage.

    Five laps later, Larson muscled his way back into the runner-up spot and teammate Byron also moved up, thus dropping Blaney to fourth place. Meanwhile, Keselowski continued to lead the field. Another two laps later, however, Larson retook the lead by a narrow margin over Keselowski. 

    By Lap 115, Larson was the leader by nearly half a second over teammate Byron with Keselowski trailing by more than a second in third place. Blaney and Hamlin were in the top five followed by Bowman, DiBenedetto, Bell, teammate Truex and Logano. The Busch brothers were in 12th and 13th, Elliott was still mired in 14th and Harvick haas in 17th in front of Chris Buescher.

    By Lap 120, Larson continued to lead by approximately half a second over teammate Byron. Blaney was in third, but was now trailing by three seconds. Hamlin and Keselowski remained in the top five followed by Bowman, DiBenedetto, Truex, teammate Bell and Logano. Elliott, meanwhile, was back in 15th behind the Busch brothers and Ryan Preece.

    Shortly after, pit stops under green occurred as Bowman was the first of the leaders to pit followed by a multitude of competitors, including leader Larson.

    By Lap 130, Tyler Reddick, who had yet to pit, was leading followed by Michael McDowell, rookie/teammate Anthony Alfredo, Corey LaJoie, Daniel Suarez and Cole Custer while Larson was in seventh.

    At the halfway mark on Laps 133 and 134, Reddick continued to lead followed by Front Row Motorsports’ teammates McDowell and Alfredo. LaJoie and Suarez were in the top five while Larson was in sixth. Hamlin, Keselowski, teammate Blaney and Byron were in the top 10.

    By Lap 140 and with 20 laps remaining in the second stage, teammates McDowell and Alfredo were leading the field followed by LaJoie, Larson and Suarez. By then, Reddick pitted for service.

    On Lap 146, McDowell surrendered the lead to pit. A lap later, Larson reassumed the lead. Shortly after, rookie Alfredo pitted along with Corey LaJoie. By then, Larson’s advantage stretched to nearly six seconds over Keselowski. Hamlin was in third followed by Blaney and Byron. Bell along with teammates Truex and Kyle Busch followed by Elliott were in the top 10. DiBenedetto, meanwhile, was in 12th behind Ricky Stenhouse Jr. while Kurt Busch, Logano and Harvick were in the top 15.

    With the laps in the second stage dwindling, Larson continued to lead by a steady and healthy margin over Keselowski. Having no challengers close in on him for the top spot, Larson was able to hold steady and claim the second stage victory by more than three seconds over Keselowski on Lap 160. In claiming his first stage victory of this season, Larson became the sixth competitor to record a stage victory through the first four Cup races of the 2021 season. Hamlin settled in third followed by Byron and Blaney while Bowman, Bell, Truex, Kyle Busch and Elliott were scored in the top 10. By then, 21 of the 38-car field were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Larson retained the lead following service from his pit crew. Hamlin exited in second place followed by Bowman, Truex, Bell and Kyle Busch. Byron, meanwhile, fell back to 10th behind Keselowski, Blaney and Elliott.

    With 100 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Larson moved his No. 5 Chevrolet in front of Hamlin on the inside lane. He then blocked Hamlin entering Turn 1 on the outside lane as Truex issued a challenge on the inside lane. 

    Through the backstretch and coming back to Turn 4, Larson retained the lead over Hamlin and Truex as the field fanned out while battling for spots. Behind, Kyle Busch started to make his way into the top five.

    The following lap, the caution returned when Elliott got loose entering the backstretch, made contact with Kurt Busch and spun in a full 360 degrees before continuing. While the rest of the field managed to dodge him, Elliott sustained left-front fender damage as he pitted to have the damage assessed. Kurt Busch also pitted to have damage on his No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE addressed along with a flat right-rear tire. Meanwhile, Hamlin had taken the lead over Larson at the time of caution

    With 93 laps remaining, the race restarted under green with leader Hamlin and Larson on the front row. At the start, Larson squeaked ahead, but Hamlin received a push from teammate Truex on the backstretch to take back the lead. 

    Six laps later, the caution returned when Aric Almirola made hard contact against with the outside wall in Turn 1. The damage to the right side of Almirola’s No. 10 Smithfield Power Bites Ford Mustang was enough to end his race in the garage. At the time of caution, Hamlin was leading by nearly a tenth of a second over teammate Truex while Larson, Blaney and Keselowski were in the top five. Byron, teammate Bowman, Logano, Bell and Kyle Busch were in the top 10.  

    Under caution, some led by Hamlin, Truex and Blaney remained on the track while others led by Keselowski and Larson pitted.

    The race restarted with 83 laps remaining as teammates Hamlin and Truex occupied the front row. At the start, the two Joe Gibbs Racing teammates battled dead even for a full circuit before Truex peaked ahead in his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry as the field behind fanned out to three and four lanes. 

    With 80 laps remaining, Truex was out in front by more than a tenth of a second over teammate Hamlin followed by Blaney, Byron and Bell. Keselowski, the first competitor on fresh tires, was in sixth while Larson, who restarted 17th on fresh tires, was up in eighth behind DiBenedetto. 

    A lap later, Hamlin came under pressure from Keselowski for the runner-up spot as teammates Byron and Larson overtook Blaney for positions in the top five. 

    Down to the final 75 laps of the event, Hamlin fought back and reassumed the lead by a narrow advantage over teammate Truex while Larson and Keselowski quickly went to work on Truex for the runner-up spot. Soon after, an intense six-car battle for the lead ensued between Hamlin, teammate Truex, Larson, Keselowski, Byron and Blaney as Hamlin continued to duke against Truex for the lead. 

    With 70 laps remaining, Hamlin was still leading by nearly three-tenths of a second over Larson. Truex and Keselowski battled intensely for third place followed by Byron and Blaney. Bell was in seventh followed by DiBenedetto and Erik Jones. Kyle Busch was mired back in 10th. Meanwhile, Logano was in 13th while Elliott was in 16th behind Austin Dillon.

    Ten laps later and under 60 laps remaining, Larson reassumed the lead over Hamlin. He then stretched his advantage to more than a second over Hamlin with Keselowski remaining in third. Truex was in fourth followed by Blaney while Byron, Bell, Kyle Busch, DiBenedetto and Jones were in the top 10. 

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Larson was leading by more than a second over Keselowski with Hamlin trailing by more than two seconds. Blaney was in fourth, trailing by more than three seconds while Truex was in fifth.

    Nearly four laps later, pit stops under green started as a handful of leaders pitted followed by others.

    With 37 laps remaining and with nearly the entire field having made a pit stop, Daniel Suarez, who has yet to pit, was scored as the leader. Larson, the first competitor on fresh tires and fuel, was behind by less than nine seconds with Keselowski remaining in pursuit. 

    Eight laps later, Larson returned to the lead. By then, he was leading by a second and a half over Keselowski’s No. 2 Ford.

    With 20 laps remaining and the leaders making their way through lapped traffic, Larson extended his lead to two and a half seconds over Keselowski. Hamlin was tucked in third place followed by teammates Kyle Busch and Truex. Blaney was back in sixth followed by Bell, Byron, teammate Bowman and Logano. Meanwhile, DiBenedetto was in 11th ahead of Jones, Stenhouse, Austin Dillon and Elliott. Kurt Busch was in 20th behind McDowell while Harvick was in 22nd, the final car on the lead lap, behind Ryan Newman.

    A few laps later, Bowman, who was running in the top 10, made the turn to pit road due to a flat tire. During the process of trying to enter pit road, he nearly collided with rookie Alfredo. Shortly after, it went from bad to worse for Bowman, who was assessed a pass-through penalty down pit road due to a commitment line violation while trying to enter pit road to pit.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Larson continued to lead by more than two and a half seconds over Keselowski. Behind, Kyle Busch zipped his No. 18 Ethel M Chocolates Toyota Camry into third place while teammate Hamlin were in fourth. Blaney was in fifth followed by Truex, teammate Bell, Byron, Logano and Jones. 

    A few laps later, Larson extended his lead to more than three seconds over Keselowski with Kyle Busch trailing by more than six seconds, Hamlin by more than eight seconds, Blaney by more than nine seconds and Truex by more than 11 seconds.

    With five laps remaining, Larson remained in the lead by three seconds over Keselowski. By then, 15 competitors were recorded on the lead lap as the leaders continued to encounter heavy traffic.

    Spending the final laps methodically working his way through lapped traffic, Larson was able to maintain his healthy advantage of more than three seconds and complete the final laps on a successful note as he claimed the checkered flag to win at Vegas.

    The victory marked Larson’s seventh of his Cup career and first since October 2019 at Dover International Speedway as he became the fourth different competitor to win within the first four events of the 2021 season. Above all, the Vegas win also validated Larson’s return to the top level in NASCAR after being suspended nearly a year ago due to using a racial slur during a live iRacing event, a move that cost him his full-time ride with Chip Ganassi Racing. Late into the 2020 season, an opportunity for Larson to return to NASCAR arrived when Hendrick Motorsports signed Larson for the 2021 season.

    Larson’s victory also marked the first Cup victory for crew chief Cliff Daniels and the first for HMS’ No. 5 car since July 2017 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In addition, Larson became the 20th different competitor to win while driving for Hendrick Motorsports as HMS claimed Cup career win No. 265.

    “It was such an awesome race car,” Larson said on FOX. “[Crew chief] Cliff [Daniels] and everybody did a great job preparing this piece. It was so much fun to drive. I could go wherever I wanted to. I knew I had a really good car once we’d get single-filed out. Just drafting early in the run was tough. Thank you so much, Mr. [Hendrick], Jeff Gordon, everybody at Hendrick Motorsports for the amazing opportunity I’ve been gifted…This is definitely special.”

    “I know that this is Rick’s most special paint scheme for obvious reasons,” Larson added. “It’s just an honor for me to be able to drive it, our first time out with this [blue, white and red] color scheme. Like I said, just blessed…That was some fun racing on the restarts, so I hoped everybody enjoyed it. I know I did.”

    Keselowski settled in second place for his second top-five result of this season. Kyle Busch came home in third place as he claimed his first top-five finish of this season while teammate Hamlin and Blaney finished in the top five.

    “Yeah, good for [Larson],” Keselowski said on PRN. “He ran a great race. He was really fast. The kid’s got so much talent. I still wanted to beat him, though, but we had a great Discount Tire Ford Mustang. If he wasn’t here, we would have just stunk the show up, but he was and he ran good.”

    “We fought hard obviously,” Busch said. “We were a little behind the eight ball at the start of the green flag and just were super, super tight all day long. [Crew chief] Ben [Beshore] and the guys made awesome adjustments to and I was trying to give the best feedback I can to give them good information that they can base that off of and make the good adjustments. We improved each time. I don’t know where we missed it so far from the simulator, but that’s two weeks in a row where we’re not apples to apples. Just can’t say enough about Ethel M Chocolates, thank you guys…Ready to keep working on it and keep improving. We were just a little off on pace, overall pace, overall lap time from the fast guys.”

    “We’re close,” Hamlin added. “We just have to fine tune it. We’re gathering up information right now to figure out how we can make our FedEx Camry better in the fall. This is a good start. We got it in the short rounds but not enough long run speed…Overall, good start. We will see, gather all the data and I will figure out this week what we have to do.”

    “I thought it was a pretty solid day all day,” Blaney added. “We had to start pretty far in the back from our bad finish last week and was able to make it up to ninth before the [competition] caution and got third in the first stage and then like fifth in the second and ended up fifth. I thought we could have run second or third. [Larson] was really the fastest one all day long. It didn’t matter where he was he just drove through the field but overall, a really good effort by our group. We really needed that after having three pretty bad races to start off the year. It’s nice to kind of finally get a good run and just a no problem day, just having a solid car and working on it throughout the day. I’m really proud of [crew chief] Todd [Gordon] and the whole No. 12 bunch and nice to get a good finish. Now we can get rolling here.”

    Truex, teammate Bell, Byron, Logano and Erik Jones came home in the top 10 on the track. 

    Elliott settled in 13th behind Austin Dillon, DiBenedetto ended up in 16th, Kurt Busch finished 19th, Harvick came home in 20th and Bowman settled in 27th following his late pit road miscue. Chase Briscoe was the highest-finishing rookie in 21st. Suarez finished 26th while Bubba Wallace finished 28th.

    There were 27 lead changes for 12 different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 30 laps. 

    Hamlin continues to lead the regular-season standings by 38 points over Keselowski, 40 over Larson, 48 over Elliott, 49 over Bell and Logano and 51 over Harvick.

    Results.

    1. Kyle Larson, 103 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Brad Keselowski, 27 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    3. Kyle Busch

    4. Denny Hamlin, 47 laps led

    5. Ryan Blaney, one lap led

    6. Martin Truex Jr., six laps led

    7. Christopher Bell

    8. William Byron, 25 laps led

    9. Joey Logano, seven laps led

    10. Erik Jones

    11. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 

    12. Austin Dillon

    13. Chase Elliott, 22 laps led

    14. Chris Buescher

    15. Ryan Preece, one lap down

    16. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap down

    17. Michael McDowell, one lap down, eight laps led

    18. Ryan Newman, one lap down

    19. Kurt Busch, one lap down

    20. Kevin Harvick, one lap down

    21. Chase Briscoe, one lap down

    22. Tyler Reddick, one lap down, seven laps led

    23. Ross Chastain, one lap down

    24. Anthony Alfredo, one lap down, one lap led

    25. Cole Custer, one lap down

    26. Daniel Suarez, two laps down, 12 laps led

    27. Alex Bowman, two laps down

    28. Bubba Wallace, five laps down

    29. Justin Haley, five laps down

    30. B.J. McLeod, seven laps down

    31. Garrett Smithley, eight laps down

    32. Cody Ware, eight laps down

    33. Quin Houff, 11 laps down

    34. Joey Gase, 12 laps down

    35. Josh Bilicki, 15 laps down

    36. Timmy Hill, 21 laps down

    37. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Rear end

    38. Aric Almirola – OUT, Accident

    The NASCAR Cup Series will remain in the West Coast for the next event on the schedule at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona, next weekend. The race will occur on Sunday, March 14, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Luke Lambert to call 300th Cup race as crew chief at Las Vegas

    Luke Lambert to call 300th Cup race as crew chief at Las Vegas

    A significant milestone start is in the making for Luke Lambert, crew chief for Chris Buescher and the No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Mustang team in the NASCAR Cup Series. By participating in this Sunday’s Cup event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Lambert will call his 300th event atop the pit box in NASCAR’s premier series.

    A native of Mount Airy, North Carolina, Lambert grew up as a race fan and briefly competed in go-karts before attending North Carolina State University. During his college education, he worked as a driver and mechanic as part of the university’s Wolfpack Motorsports program.

    Following his graduation from NC State University in 2005, Lambert joined Richard Childress Racing. He started as a mechanical engineer before assuming the eventual role as race engineer, where he was a part of RCR’s No. 31 Chevrolet team driven by veteran Jeff Burton.

    Midway through the 2011 NASCAR Cup Series season, Lambert was named crew chief for Burton and RCR’s No. 31 Chevrolet team, where he replaced veteran Todd Berrier. Lambert’s debut as a crew chief occurred at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July, where Burton finished 35th following an engine failure.

    Lambert remained as Burton’s crew chief for the final 17 Cup races of the 2011 season. Together, they achieved a best on-track result of second place at Talladega Superspeedway in October, two top-five results, five top-10 results and a 20th-place result in the final standings.

    After spending the 2012 season in the Xfinity Series, where he guided veteran Elliott Sadler to four victories and a runner-up result in the final standings, Lambert returned to the Cup Series in 2013 and reunited with Burton as his crew chief. Working with Burton in all but two of the 36-race schedule, the combo achieved a best on-track result of third place at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July, two top-five results, four top-10 results and another 20th-place result in the final standings.

    Lambert remained at RCR and as crew chief for the No. 31 Chevrolet team in 2014, but he was paired with veteran Ryan Newman when Burton scaled back as a part-time competitor. While Lambert and Newman did not record a single victory throughout the 2014 Cup season, they were one of the most consistent teams on the track as they achieved five top-five results and 16 top-10 results throughout the entire season. In addition to making the Playoffs, they made it all the way to the Championship Round, where Newman went on to finish in a career-best second place in the final standings. 

    Lambert returned for a third full-time season in the Cup Series as crew chief for RCR’s No. 31 Chevrolet team with Newman remaining at the team. In late March 2015, Lambert was suspended for six races and fined $125,000 as a result of NASCAR discovering illegal modifications made to the tires on Newman’s car at Auto Club Speedway, which also cost Newman and RCR 75 driver/owner points. Despite the early suspension, Lambert and Newman went on to achieve a pair of season-best third-place results, five top-five results and nine top-10 results. While Newman made the Playoffs, he was eliminated from title contention following the Round of 12 and went on to finish 11th in the final standings. By the time the 2015 season concluded, Lambert also surpassed 100 starts in the Cup Series.

    In 2016, Lambert and Newman only achieved a season-best result of third place at Kentucky Speedway in July, two top-five results, 10 top-10 results and an 18th-place result in the final standings after missing the Playoffs.

    On March 19, 2017, at Phoenix Raceway, a late caution enabled Lambert to make a decisive pit strategy call to keep Newman out on the track with the race lead on old tires. During an overtime attempt, the strategic call paid off as Newman held off Kyle Larson to win and deliver the first NASCAR Cup career victory for Lambert. In addition, the Phoenix victory snapped a 127-race winless drought for Newman and a 112-race winless drought for Richard Childress Racing.

    In total, Lambert and Newman achieved one victory, seven top-five results and 13 top-10 results in 2017. They made the Playoffs for the third time in four seasons, but were eliminated following the Round of 16 and settled in 16th place in the final standings.

    Following the 2018 Cup season, where Lambert and Newman achieved nine top-10 results and a final points result of 17th place, Newman departed RCR for Roush Fenway Racing while Lambert was paired with Daniel Hemric, who was assigned to drive RCR’s No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE in 2019. By then, Lambert had also surpassed 200 starts in the Cup Series.

    Participating in all but one of the 36-race schedule in 2019, Lambert and Hemric achieved a pole, one top-five result, two top-10 results and a 25th-place result in the final standings. In addition, Hemric was able to achieve the 2019 Cup Rookie-of-the-Year title.

    For the 2020 season, Lambert departed RCR and joined Roush Fenway Racing to serve as crew chief for Chris Buescher and the No. 17 Ford Mustang team in the Cup Series. In their first race together, Buescher recorded a strong third-place result in the season-opening Daytona 500. They, however, went on to record an additional top-five result and an additional seven top-10 results before concluding the season in 21st place in the final standings.

    This season, Lambert and Buescher have achieved results of 31st, 11th and 19th through the first three Cup scheduled races. They are ranked in 15th place in the regular-season standings.

    Through 299 previous appearances in the Cup Series, Lambert has achieved one victory, one pole, 26 top-five results and 80 top-10 career results.

    Catch Lambert’s milestone start in the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 7, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Allmendinger nabs a win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

    Allmendinger nabs a win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series held their event today at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Alsco Uniforms 300. Throughout the race, it seemed as if there were several cars that were capable of dominating and winning the race however only one driver got it done. AJ Allmendinger, driving his No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet, took advantage of a late-stage caution to get the lead and stay there taking the checkered flag.

    Allmendinger stated after the race, “First off, it’s great to have you all back in the grandstands, that’s the most important thing. Without you and all of you at home we can’t do this, thank you so much for showing up and packing this place.” He continued, “I’m just emotional, this could be the last win, I don’t know. I hope not, I think we can do a lot more.”

    Daniel Hemric brought his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 home in second place, also having a great race.

    Hemric said, “First off, I’m so proud of the rebound of my pit crew this week.” Adding, “You hate to give one away like that but you know we wanted to have more speed to lead laps and win stages and we did that today. I lined up the shot there I just got beat. Congratulations to A.J.”

    Brandon Jones didn’t have the win but came in at a respectable third in his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota.

    Stage 1

    Stage 1 would only have one caution for the spinning car of Stefan Parsons. Hemric and Austin Cindric had really strong cars. Cindric led a good majority of the stage but, had to make a last-lap pass to win it which he did.

    Stage 2

    Stage 2 was rather chaotic at times having three cautions. Cindric cut a tire but was saved from losing a lap when the caution came out for Riley Herbst and Ty Dillon when they got together. Hemric dominated this stage and went on to win it with ease.

    Stage 3

    The Final Stage saw several great battles on the track, Hemric, Allmendinger, B.Jones, and Cindric were swapping the lead but it would be Allmendinger bringing home the prize. He took the lead with 62 laps to go and pretty much never looked back.

    Hemric, B. Jones, Cindric and Noah Gragson would round out the top five. Michael Annett, Josh Berry, Justin Haley, Harrison Burton, and Jeb Burton finished sixth through 10, respectively.

    Cindric leads in the Xfinity Series points standings with 191 points, second is Hemric with 170 points, third is Brandon Jones with 140 points, fourth is Ross Chastain with 133 points, and rounding out the top five is Justin Haley with 128 points.

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads next to Phoenix Raceway on March 13.