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  • Larson achieves second All-Star Race win at Texas

    Larson achieves second All-Star Race win at Texas

    The 2021 comeback season for Kyle Larson continued under the lights in the Lone Star state after the Elk Grove, California, native prevailed over a late battle against Brad Keselowski and Chase Elliott to win the NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, June 13, and claim his second All-Star career victory.

    The starting lineup was determined via random draw, with Kyle Larson, winner of last weekend’s Cup event at Sonoma Raceway, starting on pole position and Kyle Busch joining him on the front row. 

    Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick and Aric Almirola transferred to the All-Star Race following their respective segment victories in the All-Star Open along with Matt DiBenedetto, winner of this year’s All-Star Fan Vote.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced for Round 1, the field battled dead even through the first two turns and entering the backstretch led by the two Kyles. At the start/finish line, Kyle Busch’s No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry led the first lap over Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.

    Then in Turn 1, the caution waved when Christopher Bell got sideways in Turn 1, though he was able to straighten the car on the apron and not sustain any damage to his No. 20 CRAFTSMAN Toyota Camry. Bell was the only competitor who pitted under caution, with caution laps not counting in the race.

    When the race restarted on a 14-lap dash through the first round, the two Kyles battled dead even for the lead again for one full lap before Busch prevailed the following lap. With Kyle Busch leading, Cole Custer challenged Larson for the runner-up spot ahead of Chase Elliott and William Byron with the field battling intensely for spots.

    Through the first five laps of the event, Kyle Busch was leading by three-tenths of a second over Larson, with Byron, Custer and Elliott in the top five. Joey Logano and Austin Dillon were in sixth and seventh followed by Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick. 

    Two laps later, Larson overtook Kyle Busch to assume the lead for the first time. At the same time, Byron challenged Busch for the runner-up spot, though the former retained the spot.

    Not long after, Kyle Busch attempted to challenge Larson back for the lead on the inside lane, but Larson retained the top spot on the outside lane entering the backstretch. Soon after, Byron also took over the runner-up spot while Elliott and Custer battled for fourth.

    By Lap 12, the battle for the runner-up spot heated up as Elliott joined teammate Byron and Kyle Busch in an attempt to overtake both. With Larson still leading, Byron was able to clear himself to remain in second while Kyle Busch continued to battle Elliott for third place. 

    Back at the front, Larson was able to fend off teammate Byron and Kyle Busch to claim Round 1 on Lap 15. Byron, Kyle Busch, Elliott and Custer settled in the top five followed by Austin Dillon, Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Ross Chastain and Logano.

    Under the first break, the leaders pitted for early adjustments. Prior to the second round, the top-12 competitors were inverted in positions, a decision made via random draw. The move made Ryan Blaney and Kevin Harvick start on the front row.

    When Round 2 started on Lap 16, Blaney received a push from Chastain to retain the lead entering the first turn. Soon after, Chastain attempted to make a move on the outside lane for the lead, but his plan backfired as Keselowski took over the runner-up spot while Chastain was left in a battle with Chase Elliott. Behind, Harvick drifted back to eighth.

    The following lap, Chastain got Blaney sideways entering Turn 1, but Blaney maintained the lead and straightened his No. 12 Menards/Wrangler Ford Mustang, though he was left in a battle with teammate Keselowski for the lead.

    At the front, teammates Blaney and Keselowski battled dead even for the lead, with Keselowski fighting on the inside lane and Blaney on the outside. Chastain, meanwhile, was in third followed by Elliott and the Busch brothers.

    By Lap 20, Blaney was leading by a narrow margin over teammate Keselowski while Chastain, Kurt Busch, Elliott, Byron, Kyle Busch, Logano, Martin Truex Jr. and Custer were in the top 10. 

    Five laps later, Penske’s Blaney and Keselowski were running first and second followed by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Chastain and Kurt Busch, with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch in fifth and Hendrick Motorsports’ Elliott running in sixth. 

    When Round 2 concluded on Lap 30, Blaney survived an intense, competitive battle for the lead as he was the leader followed by teammate Keselowski, Chastain, Kurt Busch, Byron, Elliott, Kyle Busch, Custer, Denny Hamlin and Logano.

    Under the second break, the leaders returned to pit road for more adjustments. 

    Prior to the third event, the entire field was inverted, giving DiBenedetto and Almirola the front row. 

    When Round 3 started on Lap 31, DiBenedetto cleared Almirola to lead the field as Michael McDowell challenged Almirola for the runner-up spot. Behind, Ryan Newman challenged Harvick for fourth as Alex Bowman joined the party. 

    A few laps later, McDowell made a bid for the lead through the backstretch, but DiBenedetto received a push from Almirola’s No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang through Turn 4 to remain in the lead entering the backstretch.

    By Lap 35, DiBenedetto was leading by a narrow margin over McDowell followed by Bowman, Almirola and Larson. Newman was in sixth followed by Christopher Bell, Austin Dillon, Hamlin and Harvick.

    Two laps later, Bowman moved his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE into the lead.

    By Lap 40, Bowman was leading by half a second over DiBenedetto, with Almirola, McDowell and Newman in the top five,

    With the field behind battling for position, Bowman was able to retain the top spot and claim Round 3 on Lap 45. DiBenedetto was in second place followed by Almirola, McDowell, Newman, Larson, Hamlin, Bell, Byron and Harvick.

    Under the round break, the leaders returned to pit road for adjustments as the race transitioned to evening conditions.

    Prior to the fourth round, the top-nine competitors via random draw were inverted, placing Byron’s No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE into the lead.

    When Round 4 started on Lap 46, Byron and Bell battled side-by-side for the lead for one full lap before the former prevailed. Soon after, Larson made his way into the runner-up spot over Bell while DiBenedetto, Bowman and Hamlin battled for fourth. Elliott was mired back in ninth while Kyle Busch was in 17th.

    By Lap 50 and at the halfway mark, Byron was leading by two-tenths of a second over teammate Larson, with Bell trailing by six-tenths of a second. DiBenedetto and Hamlin battled for fourth while Bowman, Elliott, Blaney, Newman and McDowell were in the top 10.

    With the laps in the fourth round dwindling, Larson started to catch teammate Byron for the lead as he decreased the deficit to a tenth of a second.

    Despite being challenged by his teammate for the lead, Byron was able to hold on to the lead and win Round 4 on Lap 60 by a tenth of a second over Larson. Hamlin, Bell, Elliott, Blaney, Bowman, DiBenedetto, Almirola and Newman were scored in the top 10.

    Under the round break, the leaders pitted for another round of adjustments.

    The lineup for the fifth round was determined via the cumulative results from the first four rounds, giving Byron the lead and teammate Larson the runner-up spot.

    When Round 5 started on Lap 61, the entire field battled dead even led by teammates Byron and Larson.

    The following lap, names like Hamlin, Bell, DiBenedetto, Reddick, Truex, Harvick and McDowell made a mandatory pit stop under green. Soon after, Kyle Busch pitted along with Newman and Austin Dillon. Then, Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon were assessed a penalty for speeding on pit road.

    Back on track, Byron was leading followed by teammates Larson, Elliott and Bowman, with Kurt Busch and Keselowski in fifth and sixth. Soon after, Blaney pitted along with Custer.

    By Lap 70, all four Hendrick Motorsports competitors were running first through fourth, with Byron still out in front. By then, Custer and Kurt Busch made their mandatory pit stop under green.

    Through Lap 75, Byron continued to lead, though he was one of eight competitors that had yet to pit.

    Not long after, Byron pitted along with Larson, Elliott, Bowman and Chastain. Through the next three laps, Keselowski, Logano and Almirola were the final round of competitors to make a mandatory pit stop.

    Just then, the caution flew when Chastain, who had just pitted, spun in Turn 1 following contact from Newman. At the time of caution, Keselowski, who was the last competitor to pit, was able to cycle ahead with the lead over Elliott, Byron and Larson. 

    Under caution, few names like Chastain, Kyle Busch and DiBenedetto pitted. By then, Kyle Busch received the free pass and returned to the lead lap while Austin Dillon was still trapped a lap behind.

    When the race restarted on Lap 80, Keselowski and Elliott battled dead even for the lead, with Elliott leading the next lap by a nose. With the battle for the lead heating up in the closing laps, Elliott was able to take the rocket ahead with the lead on the outside lane through the following lap followed by teammates Byron and Larson as Keselowski slipped back to fourth.

    By Lap 85, Elliott was still leading by more than a tenth of a second over teammate Byron. Keselowski moved back into third place followed by Larson and Blaney while Logano was in sixth.

    When Round 5 concluded on Lap 90, Elliott was able to fend off teammate Byron to remain in the lead. Larson and Blaney settled in third and fourth followed by Keselowski, Logano, Hamlin, Bowman, Kurt Busch and Almirola.

    Under the final round break, Austin Dillon received the free pass and returned on the lead lap, making all 21 competitors scored on the lead lap entering the final round. Few names like Harvick, McDowell, Newman, Reddick, DiBenedetto and Austin Dillon pitted while under caution.

    Following the mandatory green flag pit stops from all competitors during the fifth round, it was announced that Chase Elliott’s pit crew led by crew chief Alan Gustafson earned $100,000 for being the fastest pit crew of the evening.

    The lineup for the final round was determined via the results from the fifth round, keeping Elliott and Byron on the front row.

    When the Final Round started on Lap 90 and for a 10-lap shootout to the finish, Elliott peaked ahead in Turn 1 before Blaney made a bold three-wide move while going for the lead over Larson and Byron, with Byron falling back. Through the backstretch, Blaney and Elliott engaged in a heated battle, with Elliott receiving a push from Larson to squeak ahead.

    The following lap, teammates Elliott and Larson battled dead even for the lead across the line and for nearly a full circuit before Keselowski bolted his way to the lead beneath Elliott and Larson through Turns 3 and 4. Though Keselowski led the following lap, Larson fought back on the outside lane and reassumed the top spot with seven laps remaining.

    With five laps remaining, Larson was leading by nearly a tenth of a second over Keselowski, with Elliott trailing by two-tenths of a second and Logano and Blaney running in the top five. Despite being pressured by Keselowski and Elliott, Larson continued to hold strong with the lead.

    Down to the final three laps of the event, Larson continued to lead by a tenth of a second over Keselowski, with Elliott trailing by three-tenths of a second and slowly falling back. 

    When the final lap started, Larson was ahead by nearly three-tenths of a second over Keselowski, who continued to trail Larson closely, but not have enough to complete his run to the lead. Through the backstretch and Turn 3, Larson stabilized his narrow margin over Keselowski to come back around the finish line and take the checkered flag on Lap 100, thus winning the All-Star Race and a million dollars.

    With the victory, Larson became the eighth competitor to claim multiple All-Star victories as he won his first All-Star event since 2019. In addition, he recorded the 10th All-Star victory for Hendrick Motorsports and the first for crew chief Cliff Daniels.

    FORT WORTH, TEXAS – JUNE 13: Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, and crew chief Cliff Daniels celebrate in victory lane after winning the NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway on June 13, 2021 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images).

    “Honestly, I can’t believe it,” Larson said on FS1. “That second run there, we were really bad and I was like, ‘Man, we’re in trouble.’ I went backwards that round, so I was like we got an uphill battle and did not imagine myself winning this race today. Cliff and everybody works so hard on this thing, made some good adjustments during those first, second and third rounds, and got us in position. That last restart worked exactly how I needed it to do…I can’t believe it.”

    Keselowski finished in second place in his 13th appearance in the All-Star event, which marked his third runner-up event in the event.

    “It feels like to run second to the Hendrick cars right now is kind of an accomplishment,” Keselowski said. “They’re just stupid fast. I had [Larson] off of Turn 4, but they just have so much speed. He just motored right on back by me like damn. It feels like a first in class day for the Discount Tire Ford. [Crew chief] Jeremy Bullins and the team did a great job of executing and getting us in position. We just didn’t have enough speed to make the most of it, but good execution day and I’m proud of that.”

    Elliott, winner of last year’s All-Star event at Bristol Motor Speedway, settled in third place. Logano and teammate Blaney finished in the top five. Bowman, teammate Byron, Almirola, Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch completed the top 10 on the track.

    There were 10 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured seven cautions. All 21 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Kyle Larson, 17 laps led

    2. Brad Keselowski, five laps led

    3. Chase Elliott, 12 laps led

    4. Joey Logano

    5. Ryan Blaney, 15 laps led

    6. Alex Bowman, nine laps led

    7. William Byron, 30 laps led

    8. Aric Almirola

    9. Kyle Busch, six laps led

    10. Kurt Busch

    11. Christopher Bell

    12. Michael McDowell

    13. Martin Truex Jr.

    14. Cole Custer

    15. Kevin Harvick

    16. Tyler Reddick

    17. Matt DiBenedetto, six laps led

    18. Ross Chastain

    19. Austin Dillon

    20. Ryan Newman

    21. Denny Hamlin 

    Next on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ inaugural event at Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday, June 20, with the event to occur at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN as FOX’s coverage of this year’s NASCAR season concludes.

  • NASCAR and Texas Motor Speedway announce All-Star Race format

    NASCAR and Texas Motor Speedway announce All-Star Race format

    NASCAR and Texas Motor Speedway announced the All-Star Race format Wednesday evening. This will be the first time the event has been hosted at the 1.44-mile track. The exhibition race will be held on June 13 and will air at 8 p.m. ET on FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    This is a non-points event but the stakes are high as the race winner will earn a $900,000 prize with $100,000 going to the fastest pit crew in a mandatory pit stop.

    There will be six rounds for a total of 100 laps and the starting lineup for Round 1 will be determined by a random draw. The first four rounds will consist of 15 laps each, the fifth round will be 30 laps and the final round will be a 10-lap shootout.

    Texas Motor Speedway president and GM Eddie Gossage said, “Drivers and pit crews better pack their lunch pails because they are going to have to work extremely hard to earn the honor of celebrating in Victory Lane.” Gossage also indicated that he has planned a Wild West theme for pre-race ceremonies, saying, “This is a full metal rodeo for a big ole bag of dough.”

    The race format will also include inverted fields and only green flag laps will count.

    FORMAT:

    • Round 1 – 15 laps. After this round, the field will be inverted using a random draw and will start between the eighth and 12th positions.
    • Round 2 – 15 laps. The entire field will be inverted after this round.
    • Round 3 – 15 laps. The field will be inverted again using a random draw and starting between the eighth through 12th positions.
    • Round 4 – 15 laps.
    • Round 5 – 30 laps. The lineup for this round will be determined by the cumulative finish from the first four rounds. The driver with the best cumulative finish will start on the pole. This round also features a mandatory four-tire pit stop. The crew with the fastest pit stop will claim the $100,000 bonus.
    • Round 6 – 10 lap Shootout. The cars will line up by their finishing position in Round 5.

    The NASCAR Open will be run before the NASCAR All-Star Race at 6 p.m. ET on FS1. It will consist of three segments of 20/20/10 laps. The winner of each segment will race their way into the All-Star event. NASCAR fans will also be able to vote for a driver in the Fan Vote which will open Thursday, May 13 on NASCAR.com.

    The drivers that are eligible for the NASCAR All-Star Race have won a points race in 2020 or 2021, have previously won an All-Star Race and currently compete full-time and drivers who have won a NASCAR Cup Series Championship and currently compete full-time.

    Drivers who are currently eligible to participate in the All-Star Race:

    1. Christopher Bell
    2. Ryan Blaney
    3. Alex Bowman
    4. Kurt Busch
    5. Kyle Busch
    6. William Byron
    7. Cole Custer
    8. Austin Dillon
    9. Chase Elliott
    10. Denny Hamlin
    11. Kevin Harvick
    12. Brad Keselowski
    13. Kyle Larson
    14. Joey Logano
    15. Michael McDowell
    16. Ryan Newman
    17. Martin Truex Jr.

  • Elliott records first All-Star triumph at Bristol

    Elliott records first All-Star triumph at Bristol

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results.

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

    2. Kyle Busch

    3. Kevin Harvick, six laps led

    4. Brad Keselowski

    5. Denny Hamlin

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

    7. Joey Logano

    8. Alex Bowman, two laps led

    9. Aric Almirola

    10. Martin Truex Jr.

    11. Erik Jones

    12. William Byron

    13. Matt DiBenedetto

    14. Justin Haley

    15. Clint Bowyer

    16. Cole Custer

    17. Jimmie Johnson

    18. Matt Kenseth

    19. Ryan Newman

    20. Kurt Busch

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

  • Almirola, Byron, DiBenedetto, Bowyer advance to All-Star Race

    Almirola, Byron, DiBenedetto, Bowyer advance to All-Star Race

    Aric Almirola, William Byron and Matt DiBenedetto transferred to the All-Star Race after each won one of three stages in the All-Star Open at Bristol Motor Speedway. For the final transfer spot, it was Clint Bowyer who earned a one way ticket to the main event after being named the Fan Vote winner.

    The starting lineup was based on a random draw. Michael McDowell drew the pole position and was joined on the front row with Aric Almirola. Corey LaJoie started at the rear of the field due to failing pre-race inspection twice. 

    When the green flag waved, McDowell received a strong start on the outside lane to jump to an early lead. After the first lap, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. moved into second while Almirola settled in third. Behind, with the field jumbling up through the corners and entering the straightaways, rookies Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick made contact in Turn 3 and nearly spun, but both saved their cars from spinning. Following the contact, Reddick fell off the pace and out of the top 10. During the contact between the two rookies, the field raced four wide entering Turn 1 before Matt DiBenedetto scrubbed the outside wall.

    At the front, McDowell continued to lead, but was hotly pursued by Almirola, Stenhouse, Bubba Wallace and William Byron. On the 11th lap, Almirola made his move below McDowell and took the lead entering Turn 1, where he started to pull away. Shortly after, Stenhouse moved into the runner-up spot after passing McDowell. 

    When the first stage reached its halfway point, Wallace pulled a bump-and-run move beneath McDowell for position through Turns 1 and 2, but McDowell hooked Wallace’s right-rear quarter panel in Turn 2 and sent Wallace into the Turn 3 wall as he made hard contact into the Turn 3 outside wall, sustaining heavy damage to his No. 43 World Wide Technology/Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Behind, Byron made contact with McDowell as McDowell spun with left-rear damage, but was able to continue. The wreck, however, ended Wallace’s attempt to make his second consecutive All-Star Race appearance since he was unable to continue the race with his wrecked primary car, which also took him out of contention of potentially winning the Fan Vote.

    “Just disrespect when you get hooked into the wall,” Wallace said on FS1. “I don’t even need to see a replay…What a joke [McDowell] is.”

    With six laps remaining in the first segment, the race restarted and Almirola took off with the lead on the outside lane. Behind, Ryan Preece got loose in Turn 3 and Reddick made contact to the rear bumper of Preece, which damaged part of Reddick’s front nose. 

    At the front, Almirola continued to pull away with Byron in second and Ty Dillon in third ahead of Bowyer and Corey LaJoie. Despite Byron closing in towards the rear bumper of Almirola’s No. 10 Smithfield/Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang in the final laps, the Floridian was able to win the first stage spanning 35 laps and to transfer to the All-Star Race for the third time in his career.

    “Man, we’ve just had such a good run lately,” Almirola said on FS1. “We deserve to be in the All-Star Race. Our team has been doing an amazing job. We’ve been bringing really fast Ford Mustangs to the racetrack every weekend. So, proud to have Smithfield involved in the big show tonight. I was, actually, really nervous. When you come to a race like this, you just never know what could happen and you hate to have the All-Star Race and not be in it, especially with as good as we’ve been running lately. Proud of my guys, proud of the team…we’ll get ready for the big show tonight.”

    Under the stage break, some like Bowyer, Daniel Suarez, Preece, rookie Quin Houff, Ty Dillon, Reddick, rookie Brennan Poole and McDowell pitted.

    When the second stage started, Byron, who inherited the lead, jumped to an early lead, but was quickly pursued by Ty Dillon followed by LaJoie. The following lap, with the field jumbling up, Preece made contact with rookie John Hunter Nemechek as both spun through Turns 1 and 2, but both continued.

    With 28 laps remaining in the stage, the race restarted. On this occasion, Ty Dillon remained dead even with Byron through Turn 1, but slipped in Turn 2 as Byron was able to clear Dillon and retain the lead. Dillon fell back to fifth while Bell, Austin Dillon and Austin Dillon moved into the top 5. At the front, Byron stretched his advantage to nearly a second over Bell while Reddick moved back into the top five ahead of Clint Bowyer. Ty Dillon, meanwhile, had fallen all the way back to 12th following contact with Stenhouse and LaJoie as the pack behind the leaders were jumbling, again, for positions.

    As the laps progressed, Reddick fell out of the top 10 after making contact while McDowell was back up to sixth. At the front, Byron continued to lead, leading by nearly two seconds while approaching lapped traffic. With 13 laps remaining in the second stage, DiBenedetto made contact to the rear bumper of Bell to move into the runner-up spot and was quickly pursued by Austin Dillon and Bowyer while Bell fell back to fifth.

    With no drama occurring at the front nor the rear of the field, Byron was able to cruise his No. 24 AXALTA/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE across the start/finish line to win the second stage after leading all 35 laps in the stage and transfer to the All-Star Race for the second consecutive year. With Byron transferring to the All-Star Race, all four Hendrick Motorsports competitors will compete in the main event for a million dollars.

    “It’s always good to advance to the All-Star Race and have a shot to go for a million dollars,” Byron said on FS1. “The guys did a good job with this car, a little bit different AXALTA look for us this week, but it needs a little bit of love on the left-rear quarter panel, but hopefully, we can get that fixed up and just be ready to go. This is, actually, one of my favorite tracks, so it’s pretty awesome to see the fans here.”

    For the start of the final stage spanning 15 laps, DiBenedetto and Austin Dillon battled dead even through the first two turns before DiBenedetto pulled away with the lead. Behind, Bowyer moved into second and quickly drew himself to the rear bumper of DiBenedetto. 

    With 10 to go, DiBenedetto was ahead by half a second over Bowyer with Austin Dillon trailing by nearly a second. Buescher was in fourth followed by Nemechek and Ty Dillon. Five laps later, DiBenedetto stabilized his advantage by nearly a second over Bowyer with some battles for positions taking place behind the leaders. The advantage and the gap between himself and Bowyer was enough for DiBenedetto and the Wood Brothers Racing’s No. 21 Ford Mustang to cruise under the checkered flag to win the All-Star Open for his first non-point NASCAR Cup Series victory and to transfer to the All-Star Race for the first time in his career. 

    “I was hanging on for dear life,” DiBenedetto said on FS1. “We were so loose on entry. I was right on [the] ragged edge. Just thankful to the team for battling back. My gosh, we had big damage there at the start. Had to fix it. … So proud to be driving this thing.”

    Bowyer finished in the runner-up spot, but earned the final spot to the All-Star Race after being named the Fan Vote winner. With the vote, Bowyer will make his 11th All-Star Race appearance. With Bowyer transferring to the All-Star Race, all four Stewart-Haas Racing competitors will compete in the main event for a million dollars.

    “You hate to lean on [the fans], but man, [it] damn sure feels good to have fans back at the track!” Bowyer said on FS1. “It’s fun to be around this place. You want to talk about an All-Star event. This is the right track to do it. It’s only gonna get better as we go here. We got a little bit of work to do on our car. Hey, we’re in it. I watched my buddy, Kasey Kahne, win it one time off of the Fan Vote. Maybe, we can do the same thing.”

    Austin Dillon finished third followed by Buescher and Ty Dillon while Stenhouse, McDowell, Nemechek, LaJoie and Reddick rounded out the top 10, all of whom were 17 competitors who failed to qualify for the 2020 All-Star Race.

    There were three lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 18 laps.

    Results.

    1. Matt DiBenedetto – Stage 3 winner, 15 laps led

    2. Clint Bowyer – Fan Vote winner

    3. Austin Dillon

    4. Chris Buescher, one lap led

    5. Ty Dillon

    6. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    7. Michael McDowell, 10 laps led

    8. John Hunter Nemechek

    9. Corey LaJoie

    10. Tyler Reddick

    11. Christopher Bell

    12. Daniel Suarez

    13. Ryan Preece

    14. J.J. Yeley

    15. Brennan Poole

    16. Garrett Smithley

    17. Quin Houff, two laps down

    18. Joey Gase – OUT, Handling

    19. William Byron – Stage 2 winner, 35 laps led

    20. Aric Almirola – Stage 1 winner, 25 laps led

    21. Bubba Wallace – OUT, Accident

    The NASCAR All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway is next on July 15 at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Truex on pole position for NASCAR All-Star Race

    Truex on pole position for NASCAR All-Star Race

    The 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. will start on pole position for the 2020 NASCAR All-Star Race on Wednesday, July 15, by virtue of a random draw. The lineup was revealed during Monday night’s coverage of NASCAR Race Hub on FS1.

    Truex, who is in his second season driving the No. 19 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing, is ranked seventh in the Cup Series regular-season standings and trails points leader Kevin Harvick by 132 points. He is guaranteed a spot in the 2020 Playoffs by virtue of his victory at Martinsville Speedway in June. He will also make his ninth career start in NASCAR’s All-Star feature.

    Joining Truex on the front row is Alex Bowman, who will make his third consecutive All-Star Race appearance. Ryan Blaney, who will make his fourth consecutive All-Star start, will start third followed by newcomer Justin Haley, who will make his All-Star Race debut. Kevin Harvick, a two-time winner of the All-Star Race, will start fifth.

    Matt Kenseth, the 2004 All-Star Race champion who will pilot the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE that won last year’s race with Kyle Larson, will start in sixth followed by the 2010 All-Star winner and teammate Kurt Busch. Rookie Cole Custer, coming off his thrilling victory last Sunday at Kentucky Speedway, will roll off the grid in eighth while making his All-Star Race debut. Brad Keselowski will start ninth while Kyle Busch, the 2017 All-Star Race champion, will round out the top 10.

    Ryan Newman, the 2002 All-Star Race champion, will start 11th alongside Joey Logano, winner of the 2016 All-Star feature. Chase Elliott will start 13th next to teammate Jimmie Johnson, a four-time All-Star Race winner who will make his 19th and final start in the featured race. Denny Hamlin, the 2015 All-Star champion, will start 15th while teammate Erik Jones will round out the top-16 field as competitors that have already been guaranteed a spot for the main event.

    The final four spots of the 20-car field will be determined following the NASCAR All-Star Open, which will occur prior to the All-Star Race on July 15. The leaders/winners of each of the three segments will advance to the All-Star Race and will be joined by the Fan Vote winner.

    This year’s All-Star Race will occur at Bristol Motor Speedway for the first time in NASCAR history. Among the rules featured for the race includes the Choose Rule, where the competitors must commit to the inside or outside lane for a restart while approaching a designated spot on the track; extra sponsor exposure, where the car number will move to the rear wheel and allow the exposure of sponsors; and underglow lights, where the car automatically qualified for the All-Star Race will have lights glowing beneath the racing vehicles. This will mark the first time where the underglow lights will be featured on the cars since Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kurt Busch and Kyle Larson sported underglow lights to their cars during the Burnouts on Broadway spectacle as part of NASCAR’s Champion’s Week in Nashville last December.

    This year’s All-Star Race will feature four segments with 55 laps in the first segment, 35 in the second, 35 in the third and 15 for the fourth and final segment, a total of 140 laps where one million dollars awaits the winner.

    The 2020 NASCAR All-Star Race will air on July 15 at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Haley to compete in All-Star Race for Spire Motorsports

    Haley to compete in All-Star Race for Spire Motorsports

    Justin Haley, coming off his first NASCAR Xfinity Series career win at Talladega Superspeedway, will compete in this year’s NASCAR Cup All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Wednesday, July 15. 

    The Winamac, Indiana, native became eligible for the annual All-Star event when he scored his first Cup career victory at Daytona International Speedway in July 2019 in a rain-shortened race, though he is not a full-time Cup competitor. The win came in Haley’s third Cup career start, which was the earliest a Cup driver scored a first career win since Trevor Bayne won the 2011 Daytona 500 in his second series start. 

    Haley will be driving the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Spire Motorsports, the same organization he drove to his first Cup win, while sponsored by the Fraternal Order of Eagles. In addition, Haley, who became the 32nd driver to win across NASCAR’s three major division series, will also become the ninth NASCAR Next alumnus to compete in the annual exhibition race.

    Haley is in his second full-time season in the Xfinity Series with Kaulig Racing, where he has won once and notched seven top-10 results through 11 races. His lone Cup start this season came in February in the 62nd running of the Daytona 500, where he drove the No. 16 Fraternal Order of Eagles Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Kaulig Racing and finished 13th.

    With Haley’s entrance, 15 Cup competitors have secured their spots for the first All-Star Race to run at Bristol, including Matt Kenseth. The remaining competitors have until the event to either win any of the four regular-season series races prior to the All-Star Race (Pocono doubleheader, Indianapolis and Kentucky), transfer via the NASCAR All-Star Open that will occur prior to the All-Star Race on July 15 or as a final measure, be eligible for the Fan Vote win.

    This year’s All-Star Race at Bristol will mark the first time the annual event will occur outside of Charlotte Motor Speedway as Charlotte, North Carolina, continues to deal with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This will also be the first and only time in 2020 where the Cup cars will sport number logos towards the rear wheel instead of the car’s doors, a move that will provide more space for sponsor logos to appear on the car’s side and which serves as a test for NASCAR for possible, future uses.

    Further announcements regarding the format of the All-Star Race will be announced at a later date.