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  • Tyler Reddick Promoted by RCR to the No. 8 Caterpillar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the NASCAR Cup Series for 2020

    Tyler Reddick Promoted by RCR to the No. 8 Caterpillar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the NASCAR Cup Series for 2020

    Richard Childress Racing announced today that Tyler Reddick, defending NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion, will be driving the No. 8 Caterpillar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the 2020 season.

    Reddick, who currently pilots the No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro for the team in the Xfinity Series, has secured five wins, three pole awards, 21 top-five and 24 top-10 finishes so far this season and currently sits third in the Playoff standings. The 23-year-old Corning, California-native made his Cup Series debut with RCR in the 2019 DAYTONA 500 and made an additional Cup start at Kansas Speedway in May, during which he earned a ninth-place finish.

    “I’m beyond grateful to everyone at Richard Childress Racing for their support throughout this entire year and continued support into next year,” said Reddick.

    “It means a lot to me that Richard, his team, and Caterpillar believe in my ability to represent them both on and off the racetrack. My goal was always to get to race on Sundays, and I’m so excited to achieve that next year with RCR, ECR and Caterpillar. I’m excited to take this next step in my career with their support, but also realize I’ve still got a lot of work to do this year with my No. 2 team to bring home the Xfinity Series Championship. I can’t think of a better way to end RCR’s 50th celebration and kick off next year than by capturing that trophy.”

    Caterpillar, entering its 12th year of partnership with RCR, will serve as the primary partner on Reddick’s No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro for the 2020 season. The world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives began as a sponsor in NASCAR in 1993. Caterpillar is continuing their refreshed approach to expand their NASCAR program outside of the racetrack by leveraging their brand campaign and social channels.

    Prior to coming to RCR, Reddick secured his NASCAR Xfinity Series championship in 2018 with two wins, seven top-five and 20 top-10 finishes. Reddick previously completed a part-time Xfinity Series schedule in 2017, capturing one win, four top-five and six top-10 finishes, as well as three years in the NASCAR Truck Series, during which he secured three wins, 25 top-five and 40 top-10 finishes.

    Additional partnership information and team information for the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will be made at a later date.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Charlotte

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Charlotte

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished seventh at Charlotte and heads to Round 2 in second, five points behind Kyle Busch.

    “Last year,” Truex said, “Jimmie Johnson cost me the win here. He made an insane attempt to pass for the lead on the final corner. It didn’t end well for either of us. Things haven’t ended well for Jimmie in years.”

    2. Kyle Busch: Busch finished 37th in the Bank Of America Roval 400, 10 laps down.

    “I decided to call it a day when the race was red-flagged to allow clean up after a multi-car crash,” Busch said. “It was too hot to sit in the car any longer, and I was already three laps down. That was me saying ‘Bu-bye.’ That’s called ‘quitting while you’re behind.’”

    3. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished 19th at Charlotte.

    “Charlotte’s ‘roval’ is one of the trickiest tracks in NASCAR,” Hamlin said. “It requires a great deal of concentration. One lapse and you will find yourself driving straight into a barrier. Then winning.”

    4. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished third at Charlotte and heads to the next round of the playoffs fifth in the points.

    “I think NASCAR needs more road courses,” Harvick said. “Just so we can use the word ‘chicane’ more often. If you asked NASCAR fans if they know what a ‘chicane’ is, they would tell you ‘No.’ But chances are they would know they don’t like it.”

    5. Chase Elliott: Elliott recovered from crashing head-on into a tire barrier while leading to win at Charlotte’s roval.

    “That’s called ‘driving the brakes off’ the car,” Elliott said. “Luckily, my airbag didn’t deploy.”

    6. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished fifth in the Bank Of America Roval 400.

    “You really have to work to navigate Charlotte’s roval,” Keselowski said. “There are 17 turns; couple that with in-car temperatures in the 120s and the only way to describe it is ‘turn and burn.’”

    7. Joey Logano: Logano finished 10th at Charlotte and starts Round 2 of the playoffs fourth in the points, 17 behind Kyle Busch in first.

    “I only needed to finish 29th or better to advance to the next round,” Logano said. “So, ‘Admission Accomplished.’”

    8. Kyle Larson: Larson won Stage 1 at Charlotte and finished 13th.

    “I had a pit lane penalty,” Larson said. “I left my pit box while a crew member was trying to remove tape from the front of the car. That’s a violation and I was penalized a lap. I guess a ‘drive through’ penalty would have made more sense.”

    9. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished eighth at Charlotte.

    “Not many people think I can win the championship,” Blaney said. “But before I can wrap my arms around the Monster Energy Cup championship trophy, I have to embrace the role of underdog. It almost sounds like a romance novel. Hey, whatever gets your engine revving.”

    10. Alex Bowman: Bowman claimed a spot in Round 2 of the playoffs with a gutsy runner-up finish at Charlotte. On an oppressively hot day, Bowman required medical treatment for heat exhaustion after the race.

    “I was dizzy,” Bowman said. “So, like Bubba Wallace, I was ‘spinning.’

    “I’m currently feuding with Austin Dillon and Bubba Wallace. If they want to come after me, I welcome it. If they feel froggy, they should jump, or as it’s known on the roval, ‘wheel hop.’ It would be the only way they can impact the playoffs.”

  • Truex ends Round of 16 at Charlotte with disappointing seventh-place finish

    Truex ends Round of 16 at Charlotte with disappointing seventh-place finish

    Martin Truex Jr. came into the final Round of 16 with momentum after collecting two of the three wins in the first round. Coming into the Charlotte Roval Truex was looking to sweep the entire round for the first time in his career.

    Things were looking great for the No. 19 team until final practice on Saturday afternoon. Truex’s Toyota Camary engine expired in the backstretch chicane, forcing Truex and his team to change the motor and sending the team to a backup car.

    The disappointment carried over to Sunday’s race where the New Jersey native missed the chicane and had to stop the on the front stretch. From there, the team struggled in the race trying to play pit strategy to gain track position. Truex was unable to get any top-10 stage finishes and wound up a disappointing seventh-place finish after winning the first two races in the Round of 16.

    “It was up and down for sure,” Truex said to PRN Radio. “To start from the back like that, get penalized from the beginning for avoiding a wreck for missing the chicane is pretty stupid. Started way behind there, made our way up to second. Just didn’t have a good enough car or to take the lead. Then I just got really lose at the end. We probably should have got tires, but we didn’t expect all those cautions at the end.”

    Truex will be seeded in the second position, five points behind his teammate Kyle Busch.

  • Byron earns top-10 finish at Charlotte after leading early

    Byron earns top-10 finish at Charlotte after leading early

    Coming into the Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte, William Byron and his No. 24 team were below the cut line and needed a strong day to advance. It all started out well on Friday when he put his No. 24 Chevy on the pole. At this point, all he needed to do was either win the stage or have a decent stage finish to move him forward.

    Byron led the first 21 laps before being passed Kyle Larson and finishing second in Stage 1 under yellow. In Stage 2, he finished 10th. Mid-race Byron drove back up front but was only able to lead one more lap before settling in the top five. There were a couple of more chances for Byron and the No. 24 team to make something happen but in the end, he finished sixth.

    “It was great,” Byron told PRN Radio. “For us to advance to the next round is awesome for our team. I didn’t really know what to expect going into these Playoffs. Chad (Knaus, Crew Chief) just handled the day really well. He was super calm, didn’t really have any criticism. He had some advice, we just kind of bantered back and forth. It was a really good day for us. We knew what the goal was and we accomplished the goal. Would have loved to have won that first stage but it was a great day overall.”

    Byron will now be seeded in the 11th spot heading into the Round of 12 Playoffs, 45 points behind.

  • Spin and win for Elliott at Charlotte Roval

    Spin and win for Elliott at Charlotte Roval

    Chase Elliott came back to win the Charlotte Roval by passing Kevin Harvick late for the lead. But it wasn’t easy. With 45 to go on a restart, he spun into the tire barrier while leading the race. However, with perseverance and a couple of lucky breaks, he found his way to victory lane.

    “I really just messed up,” Elliott described to PRN Radio. “I made a mistake that you should never really make. I’m not sure if you can do anything more stupid leading one of these races. Take lessons and don’t do that. Odds are, I don’t know how it didn’t hurt it (car). I hit the wall pretty hard. Guys did a good job fixing it, luckily our splitter was still close to the ground and got it done. I’m just wowed. As wowed as anybody out there.”

    The Charlotte Roval was the final race in the Round of 16 playoffs and that meant four drivers would be eliminated from the Playoffs. At the start of the race, a few drivers had to go to the back. Denny Hamlin, Alex Bowman and Parker Kligerman had to start at the rear of the field because they had to go to backup cars, Landon Cassill for unapproved adjustments and J.J. Yeley for making a driver change. Martin Truex Jr. also had an engine change at the end of final practice.

    Stage 1: Lap 1- Lap 25

    The Charlotte Roval provided action on the first lap as Bowman missed the backstretch chicane and spun out. Truex missed it as well and had to stop on the front stretch. A couple of laps later, Bowman and Bubba Wallace had to serve a pass-through penalty for not stopping after the incident.

    The first caution waved on Lap 21, as the No. 47 of Ryan Preece wheel hopped the chicane on the backstretch. From there, a caution flew just a few laps before the first stage ended for a major pileup. Jimmie Johnson, Bowman, Erik Jones, Hamlin, Kurt Busch and Chris Buescher all wrecked in Turn 1 after a restart.

    With the incident, Stage 1 ended under yellow with Kyle Larson as the winner. William Byron, Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Aric Almirola, Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott and Daniel Suarez rounded out the top-10 finishers in the first stage. Larson was penalized for pitting outside the box under the stage break.

    Stage 2 began on Lap 27 and went to Lap 50.

    A few notable incidents happened in the second stage. Logano made a pit stop on Lap 37 before he came back to pit road after hitting a tire barrier in Turn 3. Then quite possibly one of the most notable incidents occurred on Lap 43, as Bowman retaliated against Wallace by wrecking him out on the chicane.

    A seven-lap dash was set up for the ending of Stage 2. This time it was Chase Elliott with the win. Keselowski, Bowyer, Johnson, Harvick, Michael McDowell, Truex, Suarez, Paul Menard and Byron were the top finishers in the second stage.

    Stage 3: Lap 54- Lap 109

    A lot happened in the final stage. On Lap 61, the No. 8 of Daniel Hemric spun around in Turn 14 to bring out the yellow. Then a pivotal moment came in the race. With 45 to go on the restart, Elliott locked up the tires in Turn 1 and went sliding into the wall. However, he somehow managed to get away with little damage.

    Another incident came on another restart with 43 to go, as Kyle Busch had a flat left front tire after making contact with Larson. Busch’s day went from bad to worse by being caught for driving through too many pit boxes. Then he was served a penalty.

    Pit stops started to begin with 35 to go. However, Harvick cycled out as the leader with 29 to go. Just as soon as the stops ended, a caution was flown with 25 to go for Matt Tifft who went spinning around in Turns 5 and 6. Another caution was also seen with 21 to go, as Ricky Stenhouse Jr. went spinning in the backstretch chicane.

    On Lap 92 the eighth caution came out for a major accident with Hamlin, Newman, Preece and Menard in Turn 6. However, the term “cautions breed cautions” came into effect late in the race. Two more cautions were seen before the race was over. One was for the No. 41 of Suarez after contact with Newman. The final one was for an accident in Turn 8 for an incident involving Kurt Busch, Chris Buescher, Newman and Preece.

    Due to an extensive cleanup, NASCAR was forced to fly the red flag with six laps remaining.

    Elliott made the pass on Harvick with six laps to go after the restart and held on to win his third race of the season.

    “It was one of the hottest races of the year for sure,” Elliott added to PRN Radio. “Was trying to make up as much time as I could. Obviously, I wasn’t going to catch Kevin (Harvick) without a caution. Just caught the cautions at the right time and had a couple of restarts that were mediocre I thought and the last two were really good. Luckily it felt like that, that’s not always me. You know, the timing and that, things kind of went our way.”

    “Just appreciate the effort, what a win for Hendrick Motorsports right over at the home track for a lot of guys. Nonetheless, it feels a lot like it. Just a big thanks to everyone making this happen and we’ll go on to at Dover.”

    Elliott led four times for 35 laps and picked up six playoff points.

    There were 10 cautions for 23 laps and 13 lead changes among nine drivers.

    Four drivers were eliminated from competing for the championship. Aric Almirola, Erik Jones, Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman will not move forward in the Playoffs.

    Making it to the Round of 12 are Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Clint Bowyer, William Byron, Ryan Blaney and Alex Bowman.

    Official Results

    1. Chase Elliott, won Stage 2, led 35 laps
    2. Alex Bowman
    3. Kevin Harvick, led 34 laps
    4. Clint Bowyer
    5. Brad Keselowski
    6. William Byron, led 23 laps
    7. Martin Truex Jr., led one lap
    8. Ryan Blaney
    9. Jimmie Johnson
    10. Joey Logano, led four laps
    11. Matt DiBenedetto
    12. Michael McDowell
    13. Kyle Larson, won Stage 1
    14. Aric Almirola
    15. Ty Dillon
    16. Paul Menard
    17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
    18. Chris Buescher
    19. Denny Hamlin
    20. Kurt Busch
    21. Ryan Preece
    22. Ross Chastain
    23. Austin Dillon
    24. Bubba Wallace
    25. Matt Tifft
    26. Parker Kligerman
    27. Corey LaJoie
    28. Landon Cassill
    29. J.J. Yeley
    30. Timmy Hill
    31. Joe Nemechek
    32. Ryan Newman
    33. Daniel Hemric
    34. Daniel Suarez, one lap down
    35. David Ragan, one lap down
    36. Garrett Smithely, OUT, Axle
    37. Kyle Busch, OUT, Suspension
    38. Josh Bilicki, OUT, Suspension
    39. Reed Sorenson, OUT, Electrical
    40. Erik Jones, OUT, Crash

    Up Next: Now that the Round of 16 had concluded, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers head to Dover International Speedway next Sunday, Oct. 6 for the beginning of the Round of 12.

  • Keselowski and Larson salvage strong finishes at Charlotte, advance to Round of 12

    Keselowski and Larson salvage strong finishes at Charlotte, advance to Round of 12

    It was an up and down day for Brad Keselowski and the No. 2 Team Penske team. Keselowski qualified 11th and led three laps before having to settle for a fifth-place finish. At one point, he had to pit after he locked up the tires in the front stretch chicane. With the help of late-race cautions, Keselowski rallied to a top-five finish and advances to the Round of 12.

    “It was a pretty miserable day,” Keselowski said to PRN Radio in describing the conditions. “I joked with the boss on the radio, I’m not running black cars on a day like today. It is what it is, the red flag was pretty brutal. That’s part of being a racecar driver is dealing with that. The car was okay today, just made the most with what we had. The 9 car was just flying, no one could touch him all day. We did the best we could and got a decent finish out of it.”

    Keselowski finished sixth in Stage 1 and second in Stage 2. He will be seeded seventh when the Round of 12 begins at Dover, 22 points behind Kyle Busch.

    Kyle Larson had a decent day as well. He got lucky toward the end of Stage 1 passing William Byron before the caution came out to end the stage under yellow. Larson wound up winning the stage. He didn’t get a top-10 stage finish in the second stage but came home with a somewhat disappointing 13th place finish after being strong early.

    “I felt like myself, William (Byron) were the next best,” Larson told PRN Radio. “We won the first stage then after that pit stop, I didn’t wait on them to pull tape and kind of drug the crew member out of the pit box. Got a penalty there, pretty stiff one and had to lose a lap. Got the lucky dog, thought we were going to be okay.”

    “There at the end, we were on older tires, we had a slow stop because we had damage and couldn’t get the right front out. So ended up 13th, but felt like we could easily have been in the top three. Just disappointed with our finish to show how good our car was.”

    Larson moves to the Round of 12 seeded eighth, 40 points behind Busch.

  • Harvick and Bowyer advance to Round of 12 after strong finishes

    Harvick and Bowyer advance to Round of 12 after strong finishes

    It was almost a happy day for Kevin Harvick who led 34 laps but was passed for the win late in the going. Harvick qualified sixth, placed eighth in Stage 1 and fifth in Stage 2.

    He recycled out as the leader after pit stops concluded with 29 to go. However, cautions late in the going caught him at the wrong time and he was passed by Elliott on Lap 103 and eventually wound up with a third-place finish. Regardless of the top-five finish, Harvick was already locked into the Round of 12.

    “I thought it was a great day for us,” Harvick said to PRN Radio. “Everybody on our Jimmy Johns Ford did a great job. From last year to this year, to have the improvement and Watkins Glen to now. We knew we were off from the Hendrick cars on speed and they put me in a great position to win the race if the caution didn’t come out. I kept seeing that 9 (Elliott) getting closer and closer and didn’t really see the 88 (Bowman), but I saw he had fresher tires.”

    “Just proud of everyone at Stewart-Haas. We worked hard to be competitive and it paid off.”

    Harvick will be seeded in the fifth position, 18 points behind Kyle Busch. The third-place finish was Harvick’s 11th top five of the year.

    His teammate Clint Bowyer had a similar day. The Emporia, Kansas native had a strong car starting fifth, finishing third in both stages and at one point he was third after a restart. Bowyer was also up front at one point in the race before wheel hopping and losing a couple of spots.

    However, Bowyer and his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing team did what they needed to do and are advancing to the Round of 12.

    “Going into the weekend, our backs were against the wall,” Bowyer said to PRN Radio. “We answered the call in qualifying. First of all, Mike (Bugarewicz, Crew Chief) answered the call unloading a fast car off the box. We qualified well, ran up front and passed cars. We did all the things we needed to do. Very proud of that race team, you never give up. It just shows, we were down and out after Vegas, could have easily been bummed out and gave up, but we didn’t and stuck to it.”

    “Had a good race last weekend and top five here. That’s good momentum and going to some racetracks that are good. I am not going to start this thing off on the wrong foot again like we did in Vegas.”

    Bowyer will be seeded 12th going into the next round of the Playoffs, 46 points behind Busch.

  • Byron wins pole in 1-2 sweep for Hendrick Motorsports at Charlotte

    Byron wins pole in 1-2 sweep for Hendrick Motorsports at Charlotte

    William Byron led the way at Charlotte Motor Speedway to capture his fifth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series pole this year and the fifth of his career. Alex Bowman qualified second for a 1-2 Hendrick Motorsports front-row sweep.

    Byron drove his No. 24 Chevrolet to a 103.198 mph lap on the 2.28-mile Charlotte Roval for back to back poles. He also qualified on the pole for this year’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in May.

    “The guys did a great job with this car,” he said, “and it really takes every corner around this race track to get a pole. I knew we could qualify top five but I really wanted the pole and really kind of went out there and got it. So, I’m really proud of this UniFirst team. It’s going to be great to start up front.”

    His teammate, Alex Bowman, will start second after a 103.078 mph lap in his No. 88 Chevrolet.

    “That run wasn’t the best,” Bowman said. “I know it could have been better. William (Byron) just did a great job there getting through the corners. It’s definitely a positive to be starting on the front row and we just have to focus on getting stage points on Sunday. Very proud of this Nationwide #REALtirement team and the hard work they put in today.”

    Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top five followed by Kevin Harvick in sixth and Kyle Larson in seventh.  Martin Truex Jr., who has won the first two playoff races in the Round of 16, will start in eighth. Ryan Blaney, the defending race winner, qualified ninth and Paul Menard will roll off in 10th.

    Chase Elliott will start 19th after missing a downshift during his qualifying run which caused him to wheel hop and subsequently spin. Denny Hamlin was another playoff contender who will have to start from the back of the field. During the first practice session, he spun and hit the Turn 5 tire barrier damaging his primary car and had to go to a backup car.

    Erik Jones will start 15th followed by Aric Almirola in 16th and Kyle Busch in 17th as Ryan Newman qualified 24th. Kurt Busch, who won the inaugural pole on the Roval last year, qualified his Chip Ganassi Chevrolet in 23rd.

    The Bank of America Roval 400 is set for Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC with radio coverage by PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

  • Weekend Schedule for Charlotte Roval

    Weekend Schedule for Charlotte Roval

    This weekend the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and the Xfinity Series head to Charlotte Motor Speedway. It will serve as the elimination race in the Round of 16 Cup Series Playoffs, trimming the field to 12 drivers. Ryan Blaney won the inaugural Bank of America Roval 400 last year.

    The Xfinity Series will feature the second of three playoff races in the Round of 12 at Charlotte. Chase Briscoe returns as the defending race winner. The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series is off and will return to competition at Talladega Superspeedway Saturday, Oct. 12.

    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, Sept. 27

    12:05 p.m. – 12:55 p.m.: Cup Series First Practice – NBCSN Tape delay at 2 p.m./ NBC Sports App

    1:05 p.m. – 2:25 p.m.: Xfinity Series First Practice – NBC Sports App

    3:05 p.m. – 3:55 p.m.: Xfinity Series Final Practice – NBCSN

    4:40 P.M.: Cup Series Qualifying – Multi-Vehicle/Two Rounds – NBCSN/PRN/ SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    Saturday, Sept. 28

    11:05 A.M. – 11:55 a.m.: Cup Series Second Practice – NBC Sports App

    12:10 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying – Impound Multi-Vehicle/Two Rounds – NBC Sports App/NBCSN joins at 12:30 p.m.

    2 p.m. – 2:50 p.m.: Cup Series Final Practice – NBCSN

    3:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Drive for the Cure 250 presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (155.3 miles, 67 laps), Stage 1 ends on Lap 20, Stage 2 ends on Lap 40, Final Stage ends on Lap 67 – NBCSN/PRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    Sunday, Sept. 29

    2:30 p.m.: Cup Series Bank of America Roval 400 (248.52 miles, 109 laps) Stage 1 ends on Lap 25, Stage 2 ends on Lap 50, Final Stage ends on Lap 109 –  NBC/PRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    Cup Series Playoff Standings Prior to Bank of America Roval 400

    RankDriverPointsStartsRace WinsStage WinsPlayoff PtsPts From Cutoff
    1Martin Truex Jr.2,141286541In On Wins
    2Kevin Harvick2,120283528Clinched on Points
    3Kyle Busch2,1172841146Clinched on Points
    4Brad Keselowski2,10628342455
    5Denny Hamlin2,10528433054
    6Joey Logano2,10128292950
    7Chase Elliott2,08828241837
    8Kyle Larson2,0762804525
    9Ryan Newman2,0652800014
    10Ryan Blaney2,059280248
    11Aric Almirola2,054280113
    12William Byron2,053280112
    13Alex Bowman2,05128105-2
    14Clint Bowyer2,04928000-4
    15Kurt Busch2,039281311-14
    16Erik Jones2,00828105-45

    Xfinity Series Playoff Standings Prior to Drive for the Cure 250

    Rank Driver Points Starts Race Wins Stage Wins Playoff Pts Pts From Cutoff
    1 Christopher Bell (P) 2,115 27 7 17 62 In On Wins
    2 Cole Custer (P) 2,093 27 6 6 44 60
    3 Tyler Reddick (P) 2,071 27 5 4 44 38
    4 Austin Cindric (P) 2,067 27 2 1 17 34
    5 Justin Allgaier (P) 2,054 27 0 5 12 21
    6 Michael Annett (P) 2,051 27 1 1 9 18
    7 Chase Briscoe # (P) 2,050 27 1 2 12 17
    8 Noah Gragson # (P) 2,048 27 0 1 5 15
    9 Brandon Jones (P) 2,033 27 0 3 4 -15
    10 Ryan Sieg (P) 2,029 27 0 1 1 -19
    11 Justin Haley # (P) 2,028 27 0 1 3 -20
    12 John H. Nemechek # (P) 2,027 27 0 0 0 -21

    Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Richmond

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Richmond

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex passed Kyle Busch for the lead on Lap 26 and won the Federated Auto Parts 400, his second consecutive win.

    “I had to overcome getting spun out by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. while I was leading,” Truex said. “Ricky’s made a habit of doing things like this. He’s ruined days, night, weekends, marriages, etc.”

    2. Kyle Busch: Busch won Stage 2 but couldn’t hold off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr., who got by Busch and cruised to the win.

    “We both had to deal with a lot of lapped traffic,” Busch said. “As you know, lapped traffic can sometimes be your best friend and sometimes be your worst enemy. Currently, lapped traffic is my worst enemy, on and off the track.”

    3. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin took third at Richmond as Joe Gibbs Racing cars took the top four spots until Erik Jones was disqualified from the fourth-place finish.

    “JGR was so dominant,” Hamlin said, “we may have put the rest of the teams down for the count. That count is ‘1-2-3-4.’ Unfortunately, Jones suffered a technical knockout.”

    4. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished seventh at Richmond and secured a spot in the next round of the playoffs.

    “Having my spot in the next round assured really takes the pressure off,” Harvick said. “It always better to have your place ‘clinched,’ as opposed to your sphincter.”

    5. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski started on the pole and finished fourth at Richmond.

    “I was originally scored in fifth,” Keselowski said, “but Erik Jones was disqualified after his car failed post-race inspection. Jones didn’t pass inspection and if Penske’s performance was any indication as to whether we have anything for Joe Gibbs Racing, then we didn’t ‘pass muster.’”

    6. Joey Logano: Logano struggled at Richmond and finished 12th.

    “I’m certainly not in the championship form I was in last year,” Logano said. “It’s basically the same car, but for some reason, I’m a ‘Shell’ of my former self.”

    7. Chase Elliott: Elliott started third and finished 14th at Richmond.

    “We’re headed to Charlotte for the first elimination race of the playoffs,” Elliott said. “There will be tension, there will be desperation, there will be anxiety. But enough about traffic on Bruton Smith Boulevard. I think everyone can agree that placing Kyle Busch right in the middle of that traffic would make it entertaining for everyone.”

    8. Kyle Larson: Larson finished sixth in the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond and is eighth in the playoff points standings.

    “Erik Jones became the first driver to be disqualified under NASCAR’s new crackdown on rules infringements,” Larson said. “I think NASCAR should be applauded for doing this. Let me clarify that last statement. NASCAR should be sarcastically applauded for doing that. This must be an aspect of NASCAR’s new ‘Rules Are Rules’ initiative.”

    9. Ryan Blaney: Blaney came home 17th at Richmond and is 10th in the playoff standings.

    “I’m looking forward to the ‘Roval’ and Charlotte Motor Speedway,” Blaney said. “Last year, I won when Martin Truex Jr. and Jimmie Johnson wrecked at the last corner racing for the lead. Here’s hoping lightning strikes twice. By that, I mean I hope lightning strikes the two leading cars and allows me to win again.”

    10. Ryan Newman: Newman finished fifth at Richmond.

    “I’m putting Roush Fenway Racing back on the map,” Newman said. “And speaking of ‘maps,’ it’s been so long since Roush Fenway visited Victory Lane, they probably need directions to get there.”