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Kenseth, Almirola, Custer notch solid top-five results at Indianapolis

When the checkered flag flew following an eventful Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 at the Brickyard, Kevin Harvick emerged victorious for his third title at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Behind Harvick featured a unique trio of top-five finishers as Matt Kenseth chased Harvick across the line while teammates Aric Almirola and rookie Cole Custer took the checkered flag in third and fifth.

Coming into Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Kenseth’s best result in his previous 11 NASCAR Cup Series races for Chip Ganassi Racing was 10th at Darlington Raceway in May while he also recorded seven results outside the top 15. He was also coming off finishes of 11th and 12th last weekend in the Pocono doubleheader. Starting 21st on a random draw, the 2003 Cup champion worked his way up to 14th through the competition caution on Lap 13. Following a red flag period due to a huge wreck on pit road, Kenseth proceeded to run inside the top 15 for the majority of the first stage. Following a late caution and a four-tire stop for adjustments, Kenseth restarted in 16th with only a handful of laps remaining in the first stage, but was able to work his way back to 12th. At the start of the second stage, Kenseth worked his way into the top 10, where he remained throughout the second stage as he settled in sixth following the stage’s conclusion. The final stage was where Kenseth quietly flexed his muscles as he worked his way as high as third behind Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick in the closing laps. Following a late incident that eliminated Hamlin, Kenseth moved into second and was alongside Harvick with an opportunity to win in overtime. During the overtime attempt, however, Kenseth could not gain an early advantage over Harvick as he navigated his way around the famed racetrack for two final laps and finished in the runner-up position to Harvick. While he came short of grabbing a much-needed first win of the season, the second-place result marked Kenseth’s first top-five result since winning at Phoenix in November 2017 and the best result for Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 42 Chevrolet team since finishing fourth at Phoenix in March 2020. The runner-up finish was also Kenseth’s fourth in his 20th start at Indianapolis. The result moved Kenseth from 30th to 28th in the regular-season standings as he trails the top-16 cutline to the Playoffs by 138 points.

“It was a great day for the 42 team today,” Kenseth said. “It’s always nice to be up front and be in contention late in the race. [Crew chief] Chad [Johnston] did a great job on the box with his calls today. We had a really good strategy and the best tires coming to the end of the race, lining up fourth behind the leader late in the race, but just couldn’t get it done to take the lead. I tried everything to get to the front, but just didn’t have quite enough to get around [Harvick]. If we had gotten to the lead though, I know we would have been hard to beat. All in all, though, a great race for us. It felt good to run up front and was a confidence booster for all of us. Looking forward to getting to Kentucky and carrying that momentum forward.”

If there is a Cup competitor who has been on a roll in recent weeks, it is Almirola and the No. 10 Smithfield/Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team. Coming off four consecutive top-five finishes in the previous four weeks and starting fifth on a random draw, Almirola was running inside the top five in the early stages of the race when he made an unscheduled pit stop on Lap 30 after reporting a vibration to his car. He was able to work his way back on the lead lap as the green-flag run progressed and finished 16th in the first stage. During the second stage, Almirola made another pit stop after reporting vibration concerns to his car, but he was able to finish 11th in the second stage. Throughout the final stage, Almirola worked his way back towards the front and was able to return into the top five with approximately 20 laps remaining. With 15 laps remaining, he passed teammate and rookie Cole Custer to move into fourth while he watched his other teammate, Harvick, trying to find a way to overtake Denny Hamlin for the lead. Following a late incident involving Hamlin, Almirola restarted in third behind Kenseth in overtime and was able to navigate his way to finish third when the checkered flag flew. Almirola’s third-place result marked the first time in his Cup career where he has notched five consecutive top-five results in a season as he also achieved his first top-five career finish at Indianapolis. With his result, he is ninth in the regular-season standings and is 105 points above the top-16 cutline.

“We had such a great Smithfield Ford Mustang, but we kept having to get off-sequence on our pit strategy because we kept having tires come apart,” Almirola said. “They’d start to come apart and they would vibrate and shake so bad that I could hardly see where I was going, so we kept having to pit for that and it kept messing us up on our strategy and getting us off-sequence, but fortunately there at the end the caution came out when we needed it to and things finally went our way and we knocked out another top five, so just really proud of all the guys on this team. We’re doing such a good job of being consistent. We’re bringing great race cars and we’re being really consistent running up front, so just really proud of this team and just want to keep it going. It’s fun to run up front like that.”

Finally, Custer rallied from an 11-race stretch of finishing no higher than 12th to achieve his first top-five run in NASCAR’s premier series. Starting 30th on a random draw, Custer dodged a bizarre accident on pit road under the competition caution that stacked up multiple cars running at the rear of the field. He was able to work his way into the top 20 before settling in 14th following the first stage’s conclusion. In the second stage, Custer made his first appearance in the top 10 before he finished in 13th. Following a pit stop for adjustments, Custer was lined up in 16th for the start of the final stage. He then worked his way back into the top 10 and was in the top five with 31 laps remaining. Following a late caution for a single-car wreck, Custer pitted and was lined up in sixth for the following late restart. From there, he was able to work his way into the top five and was one of three Stewart-Haas Racing drivers running in the top five along with Harvick and Almirola. When the caution returned for another single-car wreck that sent the race into overtime, Custer was lined up in fourth and behind teammate Harvick. In overtime, Custer gave teammate Harvick the push needed to allow Harvick to maintain the lead and notch a victory at Indianapolis for the team. Behind, Custer lost two spots to Almirola and Brad Keselowski, but he was able to take the checkered flag in fifth. The fifth-place result marked Custer’s first top-five career finish in the Cup Series and his best result since finishing ninth at Phoenix in March 2020. In addition, Custer was the highest-finishing rookie of the race with Tyler Reddick finishing eighth, Bell in 12th, John Hunter Nemechek in 15th, Quin Houff in 23rd and Poole in 35th. With his result, Custer moved from 26th to 25th in the regular-season standings and is 87 points behind the top-16 cutline.

“It is awesome to have all of SHR running well here at Indy,” Custer said. “It is Tony’s [Stewart] backyard, so it is a huge race for us. For us, our team, this package has been exactly the opposite of what I am used to driving. For it to all come together today means a lot. Thanks to all the guys at SHR for bringing great race cars. HaasTooling.com went national this week, so check them out. I am psyched. I am really happy we finally had it all come together. I think it is just that I am getting better with the cars and knowing what to expect when we go to the track and getting better at what to bring in the cars to the track. It is a work in progress and having no practice doesn’t help that. I think it is all starting to come to us.”

The NASCAR Cup Series will return to race at Kentucky Speedway on July 12, which will air at 2:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

July 6, 2020
Allgaier’s return to Cup Series at Indy cut short

It has been an eventful weekend for Justin Allgaier. From receiving a call to fill in for one of NASCAR’s icons to pulling double duty between two of the sport’s major division series at a famed racetrack, the Illinois native, who races as a full-time competitor in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for JR Motorsports, was aiming for a strong result in his return to the sport’s premier series. Instead, Sunday’s Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 at the Brickyard did not fall in the favors for Allgaier and the No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team after a bizarre wreck on pit road left them out of contention and exiting early in the race.

For Allgaier, it started on Friday, July 3, when he was called to serve as an interim driver of the No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, who had tested positive for COVID-19 along with his wife, Chani, and was unable to compete in the Cup Series for the first time in 663 races, none since November 2001. In addition to Johnson and his wife, one member of Johnson’s crew went under self-quarantine due to coming into contact with the driver during the last few days. Johnson’s positive test of COVID-19 was something that Hendrick Motorsports quickly alerted NASCAR and was following all the necessary guidelines under the sport’s COVID-19 guidelines.

Based on a random draw, the No. 48 team led by crew chief Cliff Daniels was due to start fourth, but the driver change sent Allgaier to the rear of the field when the green flag waved at Indy. For the first 12 laps, Allgaier was able to methodically work his way up to 30th when the competition caution flew. Things changed, however, under caution when Allgaier was entering pit road. It was past the pit road entrance when he was caught up in a pileup as a result of a stack up. In the ensuing chaos, Allgaier was hit in the rear end by rookie Brennan Poole, ran into the back of Corey LaJoie and pinned the right-rear tire changer of Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 crew against Blaney car before coming to rest alongside Ryan Preece’s crumbled car with significant front nose damage.

Following a red flag period spanning more than 11 minutes, the No. 48 crew went to work to repair the car. By the time the damage was repaired, Allgaier returned to the track in 39th, multiple laps down. Shortly after a restart on Lap 20, the right-front tire blew on the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet and Allgaier was off the pace while trying to make his way back to pit road. Shortly after, crew chief Daniels made the call for Allgaier to park the car in the garage as his race came to an end.

“[Poole], actually, got in the back of me,” Allgaier said after being released from the infield care center. “I didn’t know if I got [hit] the gentleman on [Blaney’s crew] or not. Once the wreck started happening in front of us and we all got bottled-up there, one car after another were getting run into. It’s just a shame. I hate it for these guys on this Ally No. 48 [team]. They’ve done such a great job. They’ve prepared so well for the circumstances. Obviously, our hearts and thoughts are for Jimmie and his family right now. That’s the most important piece of all this is getting him back to the race track soon. And, I wanted to do well for them today and it’s disappointing to be standing here talking to [TV interviewer] unfortunately. But we’ll go on. I don’t know what next week looks like yet. We’ll go run the Xfinity Series race and go have a good shot at it. It’s a disappointing way to end the Brickyard 400.”

Allgaier’s 37th-place result in his 77th Cup career start, first since August 2016 at Bristol Motor Speedway, was a result he did not have in mind, especially at a track where he won at in the 2018 Xfinity Series season and coming off his seventh-place result in the Indianapolis Grand Prix Circuit the day before. Nonetheless, he remained humble and thankful for the opportunity to race at Indianapolis in the iconic No. 48 machine and for Johnson, who is scheduled to retire at the conclusion of this season following an illustrious racing career.

“I told Mr. [Hendrick] and I told Jimmie as well just how honored I was that they would ask me to be in this role. It means a lot. It means a lot as a driver. It means a lot to everybody involved and my family. Hopefully, I get the opportunity to do it again.”

There are no current plans established for Johnson’s return to racing nor for the No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team in terms of driver plans for next weekend’s Cup race at Kentucky Speedway. He may return only after receiving clearance from his physician and has two negative COVID-19 test results spanning 24 hours apart. His initials plans of testing an IndyCar vehicle for Chip Ganassi Racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on Wednesday, July 8, has been cancelled.

Allgaier will return for the upcoming NASCAR Xfinity Series’ doubleheader weekend at Kentucky Speedway on July 9 and 10, which will both air at 8 p.m. ET on FS1. The NASCAR Cup Series will return for its next scheduled race at Kentucky on July 12 at 2:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

July 6, 2020
Harvick benefits in overtime to defend Indianapolis title

For a third consecutive NASCAR Cup Series race, the battle for the win came down to a late duel between Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin, On this occasion, Harvick benefited from a late incident involving Hamlin and an overtime restart while alongside Matt Kenseth to win the 2020 Big Machine Vodka 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The victory was Harvick’s fourth of the season, the third at Indianapolis and the 53rd of his NASCAR Cup career.

The starting lineup was based on a random draw. Joey Logano drew the pole position and was joined on the front row with Kurt Busch. Timmy Hill started at the rear of the field due to failing pre-race inspection twice along with Justin Allgaier, who filled in as an interim driver for seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson.

Delayed by an hour due to lightning reports near the track, the race was able to proceed as the sun came out and cleared the clouds. When the green flag waved, Logano and Kurt Busch were locked in a side-by-side battle through Turns 1 and 2 before Logano cleared Busch for the lead entering Turn 2 and was able to lead the first lap. Following the first lap, the majority of the field settled in racing single file. On the fourth lap, while battling for a top-10 spot, Kyle Busch made contact with Ryan Blaney through the Turn 4 straightaway, but both competitors kept their car running straight with Blaney moving up. As the run progressed, Martin Truex Jr. was losing positions after reporting an issue to the Electronic Control Unit (ECU) to his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry.

On Lap 13, Kevin Harvick made the left-hand turn to pit road for four fresh tires with no fuel. At the time Harvick was having his service complete, the competition caution flew with Logano ahead of Denny Hamlin and Kurt Busch. By then, Truex had fallen back to 28th while Allgaier was in 29th. Alex Bowman was in fourth followed by teammate Chase Elliott, Blaney and Brad Keselowski while Kyle Busch was in 10th ahead of William Byron and Bubba Wallace. Matt Kenseth was scored in 14th, Erik Jones was in 16th and Ryan Newman was in 21st. John Hunter Nemechek was the highest-running Cup rookie in 15th while rookies Cole Custer, Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell were in 20th, 22nd and 23rd.

Under the competition caution, nearly the entire field peeled on to pit road for the first round of service. Towards the back, however, the field jumbled up that started when Michael McDowell pulled into his pit stall. McDowell’s turn into his stall jumbled the competitors behind and ignited a chain reaction wreck that collected Ryan Preece, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Bell, Reddick, Chris Buescher, Allgaier, rookie Brennan Poole, Corey LaJoie and Truex. During the carnage on pit road, Allgaier and Poole pinched Blaney’s right-rear tire changer, Zach Price, between the two cars and Blaney’s No. 12 Menards/Team Penske Ford as a tire from Blaney’s pit box also flew and landed on McDowell’s No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford. Price survived, but was transported to the Methodist Hospital. The red flag was displayed for more than 11 minutes to have the pit road entrance cleared of the wreckage.

Once the red flag lifted and the field cycled through under caution, Harvick emerged with the leader after electing to remain on the track following the competition caution. Logano, the first car to exit pit road first, was second followed by Bowman, Aric Almirola, Keselowski and DiBenedetto. Kurt Busch, who entered pit road in third, had fallen back to 28th after struggling in his pit stall, where the jack dropped and he ran over the air hose while trying to exit his pit stall. Following the wreck, those that were done for the day were LaJoie and Preece. Truex, who was initially held for two laps for too many crew members over the pit wall under the damaged vehicle policy, also retired.

When the race restarted on Lap 20, Harvick and Logano battled dead even for three turns before Harvick persevered on the outside lane in Turn 3 to lead the following lap. Logano settled in second followed by Almirola. During the restart, Bowman, who restarted third, was placed in a three-wide battle between Almirola and Keselowski entering Turn 1 and had fallen back to eighth. Behind the leaders, Allgaier, who returned on the track with front nose damage and multiple laps down, returned to pit road after losing a right-front tire. Ultimately Allgaier took the No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to the garage as his return to the Cup Series while subbing for Johnson came to an early end. In addition, Stenhouse and Poole, both of whom attempted to continue following the pit road incident, also retired after failing to reach the minimum speed requirement.

Ten laps later, Harvick was still leading ahead of Logano, Almirola, Keselowski and Hamlin, who had just passed Elliott for position. DiBenedetto was in seventh followed by Byron, Bowman and Kyle Busch. On Lap 32, Almirola made an unscheduled pit stop due to a vibration concern to his No. 10 Smithfield/Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang, an issue that cost Almirola a lap and back outside the top 30. During this time, Harvick was still leading and stabilizing a healthy lead over Logano, Hamlin, Keselowski and Elliott.

On Lap 39, Almirola was able to work his way around race leader and teammate Harvick to unlap himself. A lap later, the caution returned when Newman made contact with the Turn 3 outside wall after blowing a right-front tire in Turn 3. Under caution, the majority of the field pitted and Ty Dillon emerged with the lead after taking two tires. Harvick, the first car with four fresh tires, exited in second followed by Elliott, McDowell, Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Keselowski, Bowman, DiBenedetto and Logano. At the front, Byron remained on track to inherit the lead followed by Jones, Austin Dillon and Ross Chastain.

With four laps remaining in the first stage, Byron maintained the lead on the outside lane while Jones settled in second. The following lap, Harvick was back in the top five in fifth while DiBenedetto went three wide on Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch and Hamlin in the Turn 4 straightaway for position. With two laps remaining, Elliott went three wide with Harvick and Ty Dillon while drafting Austin Dillon through the Turn 4 straightaway to move up to fourth. With more battling occurring behind the pack for positions, Byron was able to maintain the lead and win the first stage on Lap 50 while collecting valuable stage points towards his quest to make the Playoffs. Jones finished second followed by Austin Dillon, Elliott and Harvick while Hamlin, DiBenedetto, Kyle Busch, Keselowski and Clint Bowyer were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, some like Byron, Wallace, Jones, Austin Dillon, Ty Dillon, Logano, Kurt Busch, Bowman, Almirola, McDowell, Nemechek, Reddick and Daniel Suarez pitted while the rest remained on track with Elliott leading Harvick and Hamlin.

The second stage started on Lap 56 and Elliott received a push from DiBenedetto on the outside lane to clear the field for the lead in Turn 1. The following turn, DiBenedetto moved into second and Hamlin moved into third while Harvick dropped to fourth. By Lap 60, Elliott was able to stabilize his advantage by nearly a second over DiBenedetto, Hamlin and Harvick while Kyle Busch trailed by more than two seconds. Another five laps later, Elliott stretched his lead to nearly two seconds over DiBenedetto, who was starting to be pressured by Hamlin for position. Behind, Kenseth was running in sixth, Bell was in eighth and Blaney was in 11th. Jones was in 10th, Byron was in 13th ahead of Austin Dillon and Kurt Busch, and Wallace was in 16th ahead of Almirola.

By Lap 70, Elliott expanded his lead to above four seconds over DiBenedetto and nearly five seconds over Hamlin. A lap later, with the leaders approaching lapped traffic, Hamlin bolted around DiBenedetto on the outside lane in the Turn 4 straightaway to move into second. In addition, Kenseth moved into fifth after passing Kyle Busch a corner earlier.

On Lap 74, the caution returned when Jones blew a right-front tire and went dead straight into the Turn 3 outside wall, which busted the radiator and ignited flames underneath the hood of Jones’ No. 20 Toyota Camry. Fortunately, Jones was able to climb out of his demolished car and walk away uninjured, though the wreck marked his second DNF in the last three Cup races. Under caution, the leaders pitted and Byron emerged with the lead after opting for a two-tire stop. Austin Dillon exited second followed by Hamlin, the first car on four fresh tires. Kurt Busch and Harvick emerged in the top five followed by Elliott, Kyle Busch, DiBenedetto, Kenseth and Bowyer.

The race restarted on Lap 83 and Austin Dillon forced his way into the lead on the inside lane after battling Byron through Turns 1 and 2. Shortly after, Byron blew a left-front tire, which damaged the hood of his No. 24 Liberty University/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE as he also made contact with the outside wall in Turn 3. Byron’s misfortune drew another caution of the race. Following repairs in his pit stall, Byron was unable to remain on the lead lap.

When the race restarted on Lap 88, Austin Dillon and Hamlin battled through Turns 1 and 2 before Harvick made a daring three-wide move on both drivers while almost running outside the racing surface to move back into the lead entering Turn 3. Behind, the caution returned when Blaney got loose underneath teammate Keselowski, spun and backed into the Turn 3 outside wall. Despite the repairs, Blaney, ultimately, failed to reach the minimum speed and retired.

With nine laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted and Harvick launched ahead on the outside lane to maintain the lead. Entering Turn 2, Hamlin slipped and made the slightest of contact with Austin Dillon, which allowed Elliott to gain a run for second. By the entrance of Turn 4, Elliott was able to move into second followed by Hamlin and DiBenedetto while Austin Dillon dropped to fifth. By then, Harvick checked out to nearly a two-second advantage.

With three laps remaining, Bowman made a green-flag pit stop and was just able to exit pit road and remain ahead of race leader Harvick to remain on the lead lap. At the start of the final lap of the stage, however, Harvick lapped Bowman and was able to cruise to the win of the second stage. Elliott held off Hamlin to finish second while DiBenedetto and Austin Dillon finished in the top five. Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Bell and Bowyer were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, a number of competitors pitted, including Kurt Busch, Bowyer, Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Wallace, DiBenedetto, Kenseth, Almirola, Custer and Nemechek pitted.

The final stage commenced with 54 laps remaining and Harvick, again, jumped to an early advantage on the outside lane. Elliott, however, fought back on the inside lane to remain in a tight battle with Harvick for the lead. In Turn 2, Hamlin went three wide on Harvick and Elliott to squeak ahead, but Harvick gained a huge run on the outside lane in Turn 3 to thunder back into the lead. Hamlin and Elliott remained in second and third followed by rookies Bell and Reddick while Kenseth settled in sixth.

With 45 laps remaining, Harvick was ahead by three-tenths of a second over Hamlin. Elliott was in third, nearly two seconds behind the front two, followed by rookies Bell and Reddick with Kenseth in sixth. Bowyer, Logano, DiBenedetto and Kyle Busch were scored in the top 10. Custer was in 11th ahead of Keselowski while Austin Dillon was in 13th ahead of Nemechek. Kurt Busch and Almirola were in 15th and 16th while Wallace was in 18th. Bowman, who had received the free pass to return on the lead lap prior to the final stage, was back in 20th.

As the run progressed, Harvick and Hamlin separated themselves from third-place Elliott by three seconds while needing at least a final pit stop to complete the race to its distance. With 38 laps remaining, at the time when Reddick made a green-flag pit stop, Hamlin’s crew led by crew chief Chris Gabehart ordered Hamlin and his No. 11 FedEx/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry to pit road for a final pit stop under green. A lap later, Harvick pitted along with Elliott and Bell while Kenseth remained on track to inherit the lead. By the time Harvick exited pit road, Hamlin was able to cycle his way in front of Harvick like he did last weekend in the second Pocono race, a move that enabled him to win last weekend.

With 30 laps remaining, Kenseth was still leading by more than seven seconds over Kyle Busch, nearly 13 seconds over Logano and Keselowski, and 14 seconds over Custer. Hamlin was in 12th while Harvick was in 13th and slowly gaining ground to Hamlin. During this time, Bowyer and Nemechek had made a green-flag pit stop.

Two laps later, more green-flag pits stops occurred as Logano pitted. Not long after, the caution flew when Bowman made hard contact into the Turn 1 outside wall after cutting a right-front tire. Under caution, drivers like Kenseth, Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch, DiBenedetto, Custer, Keselowski, Almirola and Elliott pitted while Hamlin and Harvick remained on track to inherit the front row for the closing laps.

With 22 laps remaining, the race restarted and Hamlin launched ahead with the lead on the outside lane through Turn 1. Harvick, who got loose in Turn 1 and lost two spots while nearly making contact with Kenseth on the restart, made his way back to the runner-up spot two corners later as Kenseth moved into third. Custer moved in fourth followed by teammate Almirola while Bell slipped to sixth. A lap later, Harvick drew himself to the rear bumper of Hamlin in Turn 2 and was prepared to make a slingshot move on Hamlin for the lead, but he went high entering Turn 3, which allowed Hamlin to maintain his advantage.

With 15 laps remaining, Hamlin was ahead by three-tenths of a second over Harvick while Kenseth was behind by eight-tenths of a second. Behind, Almirola made his way past teammate Custer for position. Three laps later, the top-three competitors of Hamlin, Harvick and Kenseth were separated by seven-tenths of a second and the trio were ahead of fourth-place Almirola by more than two seconds, fifth-place Custer by three seconds and sixth-place Bell by four seconds.

With seven laps remaining, Hamlin’s run went from good to bad after he blew a right-front tire and went dead straight into the Turn 1 outside wall as smoke and flames erupted beneath Hamlin’s crumbled car. The wreck was enough to end his hopes of winning at Indianapolis for the first time and in his 15th attempt at the famed racetrack.

“It’s tough,” Hamlin said, “I hate it for the FedEx team. We did what we needed to do. It’s just didn’t work out for us, today. [I] Had a fast car, obviously. [I] Was stretching it out there, but wasn’t pushing right front [tire] at all. It’s, kind of, roulette whether you get one that’s gonna stay together or not. Mine didn’t and you saw the end result. That stinks, but proud of the whole FedEx Toyota team. We’ve just been so good here lately. I hate that I feel like I’m doing all I can. These big races, just a lot of things like this just don’t go my way all the time. We’re still gonna go next week and try to win the next one. We’ll do all we can.”

Hamlin’s misfortune allowed Harvick to move back into the lead followed by Kenseth, Almirola, Custer and Bell. Under caution and as the sky was shining brightly into sunset, the leaders remained on track while others, including Bell and Elliott, pitted.

When the race restarted into overtime, Harvick received a push from teammate Custer to clear the field entering Turn 1 and retain the lead. Entering Turn 2, Kenseth moved back into second and Almirola moved into third. The following turn, Keselowski moved into fourth while Custer fell back to fifth. When Harvick started the final lap, he was ahead by six-tenths of a second. For one final circuit, Harvick was able to maintain his advantage over Kenseth and streak across the finish line in first to add another Brickyard 400 win to his résumé.

With the win, Harvick joined Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch as the only Cup competitors to win back-to-back Brickyard 400s at Indianapolis. He also achieved his 30th win driving the No. 4 car for Stewart-Haas Racing and his 750th top-10 result in NASCAR’s premier series.

“Well, we knew that [Hamlin], he was gonna be close on tires and [crew chief] Rodney [Childers] told me on the radio he said, ‘Just make sure you keep the pressure on him,’ and that was all the pressure I could give,” Harvick said. “Those guys do a really good job. Just got to thank on my Busch Light Ford Mustang…everybody who is a part of this program and just keeps bringing good racecars to the racetrack. I didn’t have anymore room [when passing three wide for the lead]. That was for sure, but it’s the Brickyard. This is what I grew up wanting to do as a kid, win at the Brickyard and to be able to come here and have won for the third time is something that I could have never dreamed of. But just really, really proud of all these guys on this team.”

Kenseth finished second followed by Almirola, Keselowski and Custer. Kyle Busch settled in sixth followed by McDowell, Reddick, Wallace and Logano. Elliott settled in 11th followed by Bell while Kurt Busch finished 13th in his 700th Cup career start. Austin Dillon and DiBenedetto wrecked on the final lap and both settled in 18th and 19th.

The race capped off an eventful triple-header, Independence Day weekend of racing activities between NASCAR and IndyCar at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

There were 11 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 43 laps.

With his victory, Harvick continues to lead the Cup Series regular-season standings by 85 points over Elliott and 88 over Keselowski.

Results.

1. Kevin Harvick, 68 laps led, Stage 2 winner

2. Matt Kenseth, 12 laps led

3. Aric Almirola

4. Brad Keselowski

5. Cole Custer

6. Kyle Busch

7. Michael McDowell

8. Tyler Reddick

9. Bubba Wallace

10. Joey Logano, 14 laps led

11. Chase Elliott, 26 laps led

12. Christopher Bell

13. Kurt Busch

14. Ty Dillon

15. John Hunter Nemechek

16. Clint Bowyer

17. Ross Chastain, one lap led

18. Austin Dillon, five laps led

19. Matt DiBenedetto

20. Daniel Suarez, one lap down

21. J.J. Yeley, one lap down

22. B.J. McLeod, one lap down

23. Quin Houff, two laps down

24. Garrett Smithley, two laps down

25. Josh Bilicki, three laps down

26. Joey Gase, four laps down

27. William Byron, five laps down, 15 laps led, Stage 1 winner

28. Denny Hamlin – OUT, Accident, 19 laps led

29. Timmy Hill, eight laps down

30. Alex Bowman – OUT, Accident

31. Chris Buescher – OUT, Accident

32. Ryan Blaney – OUT, DVP

33. Erik Jones – OUT, Accident

34. Ryan Newman – OUT, Accident

35. Brennan Poole – OUT, DVP

36. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, DVP

37. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident

38. Martin Truex Jr. – OUT, Accident

39. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Accident

40. Ryan Preece – OUT, Accident

The NASCAR Cup Series will return to race at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky, on July 12 as part of a quadruple-header weekend. The race will air at 2:30 p.m. on FS1.

July 5, 2020
Weekend schedule for Indianapolis

The world’s most famous 2.5-mile oval track, Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS), will host the first-ever NASCAR/INDYCAR triple-header this weekend. The 2-day event that kicks off with NTT INDYCAR SERIES (NTTICS) GMR Grand Prix on the track’s road course at noon on Saturday followed by NASCAR’s Xfinity Series (NXS) Pennzoil 150 at 3 p.m. on NBC. Then on Sunday, the NASCAR Cup Series will race the 27th running of the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 at 4 p.m. on NBC and broadcast live on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network.

All times are Eastern.

NASCAR Cup Series

The Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 race will be 400 miles (160 laps) and broken up into three stages. The first two stages will be 50 laps each and the final stage will be 60 laps.

Five former Indianapolis race winners are entered in this weekend race. Seven-time series champion Jimmie Johnson with four wins (2006, 2008, 2009, 2012), Kevin Harvick (2003, 2019), Kyle Busch (2015, 2016), Brad Keselowski (2018) and Ryan Newman (2013).

NASCAR Xfinity Series

The NASCAR Xfinity Series will race the road course for the first time in series history this weekend. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course is a 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course that will provide a whole new set of challenges for drivers and teams. Saturday’s race will be 62 laps for 151.22 miles with the first two stages being 20 laps each and the final stage is 22 laps.

For the first time since the break from the COVID-19 pandemic, the NASCAR Xfinity Series will be allowed to practice prior to race. The teams and drivers will get two practice sessions on Friday, July 3 at 1:30 p.m. ET and at 3 p.m. ET.

All times are Eastern.

NASCAR:

Friday, July 3

1:30 p.m. – 2:25 p.m.: First Xfinity Series practice – NBC Sports App

3 p.m. – 3:55 p.m.: Final Xfinity practice – NBC Sports App

Saturday, July 4

3 p.m.: Xfinity Series Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard (road course) – 62 laps/151.22 miles – Stages: 20/40/62 (NBC, NBC Sports App, PRN/IMS Radio Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Sunday, July 5

4 p.m.: Cup Series Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 Powered by Big Machine Records – 160 laps/400 miles – Stages: 50/100/160 (NBC, NBC Sports App, PRN/IMS Radio Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

NTT IndyCar:

Friday, July 3

11:30 a.m.: 1 p.m. IndyCar practice (NBC Gold)

4:30 – 5:45 p.m.: IndyCar qualifying (NBCSN)

Saturday, July 4

Noon: IndyCar GMR Grand Prix – 80 laps/207.32 miles (NBC, IMS Radio Network)

July 3, 2020
Logano to start on pole at Indianapolis

For the sixth time since May, Joey Logano will start in the top three for an upcoming NASCAR Cup Series race. On this occasion, it will be on pole position. That will be case on Sunday, July 5, as Logano will lead the field for the start of the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after drawing the pole based on a random draw.

It will mark the first time Logano will start first in a Cup race this season. It will mark the eighth time where Logano and his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil/Team Penske Ford Mustang team will start in the top five in a Cup race, the sixth since NASCAR’s return to on-track racing in May amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Logano, who is coming off a disappointing doubleheader weekend at Pocono Raceway with finishes 36th and 24th, is tied in sixth in the regular-season series standings with Martin Truex Jr., trailing points leader Kevin Harvick by 81 points, and has two wins and six top-10 results through the first 15 races of this year’s Cup season and in his first full-time season with former Cup championship-winning crew chief Paul Wolfe.

Starting alongside Logano will be the 2004 Cup champion Kurt Busch, who is slated to make his 700th series start. Alex Bowman will start third alongside teammate Jimmie Johnson, who will make his 19th and final start at Indianapolis. Aric Almirola, coming off two consecutive top-five runs in the Pocono doubleheader weekend, will start fifth. Denny Hamlin, who won the second of the Pocono doubleheader races, will start sixth followed by teammates Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. with Brad Keselowski and Chase Elliott to start in the top 10. Kevin Harvick, winner of the first Pocono doubleheader races and the reigning Brickyard 400 winner, will start 11th alongside Ryan Blaney.

Starting in positions 13-26 are rookie Tyler Reddick, Ryan Newman, Matt DiBenedetto, Austin Dillon, Bubba Wallace, William Byron, rookie John Hunter Nemechek, Chris Buescher, Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer, Erik Jones, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Joey Gase and rookie Brennan Poole.

Starting in positions 27-40 are Michael McDowell, Garrett Smithley, Ty Dillon, rookie Cole Custer, Corey LaJoie, Ross Chastain, rookie Quin Houff, J.J. Yeley, rookie Christopher Bell, Ryan Preece, Daniel Suarez, Timmy Hill, Josh Bilicki and B.J. McLeod.

The Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 at Indianapolis, which will mark the 16th race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, will air on July 5 at 4 p.m. ET on NBC.

July 3, 2020
The NASCAR Xfinity Series prepares for historic weekend at Indianapolis

For over a century, Indianapolis Motor Speedway has been an epicenter of racing and has featured a festivity of crown-jewel races across different motorsports regions. From the United States Grand Prix in Formula One to the Indianapolis 500 in IndyCar and NASCAR’s Brickyard 400, the track presents the best of racing and entertainment for the fans, the competitors and the teams, especially those aiming to achieve and stamp their name as a winner at the historic racing venue and pressing their lips against the yard of bricks on the frontstretch with a victorious kiss. Now, for the 2020 Independence Day weekend, the 2.5-mile track in Indianapolis will feature a unique and historic schedule lineup to kick off its first racing events of this year.

For the second time in the last three seasons, the NASCAR Xfinity Series will be introduced to a racing event on a track very familiar to its schedule, but with a twist. The twist comes in the form of racing at the venue on a layout that is both an oval and a road course. That will be the case on Saturday, July 4, when the Xfinity Series races on the famed racetrack’s infield road course and parts of its 2.5-mile speedway, including the frontstretch with the start/finish line and the yard of bricks, for its 13th event of the 2020 season known as the Pennzoil 150.

The Xfinity oval-road course event at Indy features 14 turns, making it a 2.439-mile event, and will span 62 laps, 150 miles. Stage breaks for the race are scheduled on Lap 20, 40 and 62. While the COVID-19 pandemic has prevented NASCAR from allowing drivers and teams to run practice or qualifying sessions prior to a race, there will be two practice sessions on Friday, July 3, at Indy’s road course to prep the competitors and the teams in time for the main event on Saturday. Jeb Burton, driver of the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports, will start on the pole based on a random draw for the series’ race with no fans in attendance throughout the weekend.

Every competitor and team will receive a first-hand experience of the track’s layout for the first time during Friday’s practice sessions. In January, Matt DiBenedetto, driver of the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang in the NASCAR Cup Series, took part in a one-day Xfinity testing session on Indy’s road course layout in Team Penske’s No. 22 Xfinity Series Ford Mustang, driven by Austin Cindric. Due to DiBenedetto’s test session, he will not be eligible to compete in this weekend’s series race.

This weekend’s Xfinity race at Indy will also provide an opportunity for road course ringers like A.J. Allmendinger, Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric, and even hometown heroes like Briscoe and Justin Haley, to master their skills towards the historic track’s layout and stamp their names as the inaugural winner of NASCAR’s road course event at Indianapolis. For drivers like Cindric, Justin Allgaier, Ross Chastain and Michael Annett, this weekend comes with an opportunity for them to notch their first Xfinity Series win of the season and receive a free pass to the Playoff with the series reaching its midpoint of the regular season. For others like Myatt Snider, Brandon Brown and Jeremy Clements, this weekend comes with an opportunity to gain as many points and positions as possible, through aggressiveness or consistency, towards the battle for the top-12 cutline and towards the Playoffs. This weekend also features the return of Mike Wallace, a NASCAR veteran since 1990 who last competed in 2015, and the debut of Jade Buford, an IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge and Rolex Grand-Am Sports Car competitor from Brentwood, Tennessee.

The 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series has completed 12 races and has featured seven different winners, five of which are full-time series competitors and are guaranteed a spot in the Playoffs. With four wins, including last weekend at Pocono Raceway, Briscoe leads the regular-season series standings by three points over Noah Gragson and 33 over Chastain. Coming off his career-best fourth-place finish at Pocono, Snider holds sole possession of the 12th and final spot to the Playoffs by four points over Brown.

The Xfinity Series has been racing at Indiana since 1982, but at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis through 2011. In 2012, the series made its debut at the 2.5-mile speedway as part of a doubleheader weekend with the NASCAR Cup Series, which has raced at the famed racetrack since 1994. From 2012 to 2019, five different drivers have won an Xfinity race at Indianapolis with Kyle Busch holding the most with four, including last season.

While the experience of racing on an oval-road course layout at Indianapolis is new to NASCAR, it is not for the track along with other motorsports regions. Since 2014, the NTT IndyCar Series has raced at the track’s road course layout for the GMR Grand Prix, an event that runs two weeks prior to the Indianapolis 500 on the track’s 2.5-mile oval. From 2000 to 2007, Formula One raced at the Indianapolis road course for its annual United States Grand Prix, where names like Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton and Rubens Barrichello won. From 2008 to 2015, the track’s road course featured Grand Prix motorcycle racing. Motorcycle racing will return at the track for its MotorAmerica Championship of Indianapolis on October 9-11, 2020. The track’s road course has even held the Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational, a racing meet sanctioned by the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association. The Indy Lights, a development series sanctioned by IndyCar, was scheduled to race at Indy’s road course layout in early July, but the series’ season was cancelled and put in a hiatus until 2021.

NASCAR, however, is no stranger in featuring an oval-road course venue to its schedule. Since 2018, Charlotte Motor Speedway utilized its infield road course configuration for a doubleheader weekend for the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series during the Playoffs. Known as the Charlotte Roval, the course measures 2.28 miles in length and features 17 turns between the infield course layout and multiple portions of the speedway’s oval-shape track. On March 4, 2020, Daytona International Speedway will host its annual Busch Clash race for the Cup Series on the speedway’s infield road course layout with parts of the speedway’s 2.5-mile high banks under the lights on February 9, 2021. NASCAR’s first oval-road course event at Daytona will mark the first of a six-day span of racing action leading up to the 2021 Daytona 500 on February 14. The layout has previously been used for the IMSA’s annual Rolex 24 at Daytona along with the annual Daytona 200 motorcycle race.

The Xfinity Series will be part of motorsports’ history this weekend as this will mark the first IndyCar-NASCAR doubleheader at the same track on the exact date. With the Cup Series slated to run the Brickyard 400 on oval on Sunday, July 5, this weekend will be marked as a triple-header weekend between NASCAR and IndyCar. Prior to the Xfinity race on Saturday afternoon, the IndyCar Series will race its annual GMR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis road course layout on Saturday morning. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, IndyCar revised its schedule that included postponing the GMR Grand Prix from May to July 4, the exact date as the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ first oval-road course race on the track, and as the second race of the season for the series. Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud, the reigning Indianapolis 500 winner, and Will Power, the 2018 Indy 500 champion, remain the only two IndyCar competitors to win at the track’s road course layout in its six-year history. The IndyCar Series completed its first race of the season at Texas Motor Speedway on June 6, which was won by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon.

The Fourth of July doubleheader will not mark the only IndyCar race at Indianapolis. With the revised schedule, the series will race for the third time at Indianapolis, second on the track’s road course known as the IndyCar Harvest GP, on October 3. The 104th running of the Indianapolis 500 on the track’s oval-shaped layout, which was initially scheduled to run on Memorial Day weekend, is scheduled to occur on August 23 with fans in attendance. Among the names who will attempt to make the starting grid for the race will be two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso, who will drive the No. 66 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet Dallara. The current and revised 2020 IndyCar Series schedule features 14 races across nine different tracks with seven races cancelled, among which includes the Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama; the Grand Prix doubleheaders in Detroit, Michigan; the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas; the Streets of Long Beach, California; the Exhibition Place in Toronto, Canada; and the series’ anticipated return to Virginia’s Richmond Raceway.

The upcoming NASCAR and IndyCar races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway serves as part of an eventful race weekend throughout Independence Day weekend. In other motorsports news, Formula One, which will celebrate its 70th anniversary of the first F1 season, will make its first anticipated start of the year at Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Styria, Austria, for the Austrian Grand Prix on July 5. It is the first of two races scheduled at Red Bull Ring with the F1 series to return the following weekend on July 12 for the Styrian Grand Prix. The start of the 2020 Formula One season was scheduled to commence in March, but was paused due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This Sunday will provide a first opportunity for the current F1 drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas for Mercedes, Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc for Ferrari, Max Verstappen and Alexander Albon for Red Bull Racing, Carlos Sainz Jr. for McLaren, Daniel Ricciardo for Renault, Kimi Räikkönen for Alfa Romeo Racing and Pierre Gasly for AlphaTauri along with Haas F1 competitors Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean to compete and make up for the loss time on the track. The current and revised 2020 F1 schedule features eight races across six countries with the rest of the schedule to be determined. Some countries like the United States of America, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, United Arab Emirates, Russia and China have postponed their scheduled F1 races to unknown dates while others like Australia, Monaco, Singapore, France and Japan have cancelled their F1 races this year.

In addition, the 2020 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season will resume on July 4 at Daytona International Speedway for the WeatherTech 240 spanning two hours and 40 minutes. It will mark the second SportsCar race of the season since the Rolex 24 at Daytona on January 25-26. There are 10 WeatherTech SportsCar races in 10 different tracks that are currently in schedule to occur through November 14 for the finale, the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring at Florida’s Sebring International Raceway.

The inaugural Pennzoil 150 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course for the NASCAR Xfinity Series will air on July 4 at 3 p.m. ET on NBC after IndyCar’s GMR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Road Course, which will air at noon ET on NBC. The NASCAR Cup Series’ Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway will air on July 5 at 4 p.m. ET on NBC.

July 2, 2020
Kenseth to move into 20th on all-time Cup starts list at Indianapolis

It has been more than a month since Matt Kenseth made his unexpected return to the NASCAR Cup Series, but the 2003 series champion is on the verge of a milestone start of his own. By taking the green flag at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 on Sunday, July 5, Kenseth will surpass the late Dale Earnhardt Sr. and move into 20th on the all-time Cup starts list with career start number 677.

A native of Cambridge, Wisconsin, Kenseth made his first Cup career start at Dover Downs International Speedway in September 1998. Serving as an interim competitor in the No. 94 McDonald’s Ford for Bill Elliott, who was absent while attending his father’s funeral on race day, Kenseth recorded an impressive sixth-place result in his debut. The following season, Kenseth made five Cup starts in the No. 17 DeWalt Power Tools Ford for car owner Jack Roush with Robbie Reiser serving as crew chief. His best result was a fourth-place finish at Dover in September.

In 2000, Kenseth campaigned on a full-time basis in the Cup Series with Roush Racing. He recorded his first career win in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte’s Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May in his 18th series start. He went on to record four top-five results and 11 top-10 results to finish 14th in the final standings and beat Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the Rookie-of-the-Year title. After going winless in 2001, Kenseth rebounded the following season by winning five races, his first Cup pole and tallying 11 top-five results and 19 top-10 results to conclude the season in eighth in the final standings.

In 2003, Kenseth started the season by finishing 20th in the Daytona 500. He rebounded the following two races by finishing third at North Carolina Speedway and winning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. After finishing fourth the following weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Kenseth was the points leader. For the remainder of the 2003 Cup season, Kenseth did not win, but he generated a bulk of consistent results that included 11 top-five finishes and 25 top-10 finishes to maintain the lead in the standings through the season’s conclusion. After finishing fourth at North Carolina Speedway, the penultimate race of the season, Kenseth clinched his first NASCAR Cup Series championship with a 226-point advantage over Jimmie Johnson. The championship was a first for Kenseth, crew chief Robbie Reiser and car owner Jack Roush. The following week at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the final race of the season, Kenseth finished 43rd, last, due to an early engine failure, but he officially wrapped up the title by 90 points over Johnson. To July 1, 2020, Kenseth remains one of four competitors to win a Cup title despite recording a single victory throughout a season.

From 2004 to 2012, Kenseth won 17 races and seven poles while recording 95 top-five finishes and 162 top-10 finishes, all in the No. 17 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing. Among his accomplishments included winning two Daytona 500s, (2009 and 2012), and the 2004 All-Star Race at Charlotte. He made the Chase for the Cup in eight of his nine seasons driving for Roush with a best points result of second in 2006 behind Jimmie Johnson.

In 2013, Kenseth departed Roush and joined forces with Joe Gibbs Racing to drive the No. 20 Dollar General/Husky Tools Toyota Camry in the NASCAR Cup Series, replacing Joey Logano while Ricky Stenhouse Jr. graduated to the Cup Series to drive Kenseth’s No. 17 Ford. After finishing 37th in the Daytona 500 due to an engine failure despite leading 86 laps and finishing seventh the following week at Phoenix, Kenseth scored his first triumph with JGR at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after beating Kasey Kahne on two fresh tires. On that day, Kenseth also became the third Cup driver to win while celebrating a birthday. He went on to win four more races throughout the 26-race regular season, (Kansas Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Kentucky Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway), to enter the Chase as a championship threat against Jimmie Johnson. When the 2013 Chase for the Cup commenced, Kenseth won the opening two races at Chicagoland Speedway and at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and led the standings for six of the final 10 races before Johnson assumed the points lead with three races remaining following his victory at Texas in November. The following race at Phoenix, Kenseth struggled both on the track and in the pits. By finishing 23rd, he entered the finale at Homestead trailing Johnson by 28 points. Though he won the pole, led a race-high 44 laps and finished second at Homestead behind teammate Denny Hamlin, Johnson won his sixth championship with a ninth-place result by 19 points, leaving Kenseth settled as the championship runner-up in his first season with JGR.

From 2014 to 2017, Kenseth won eight races and nine poles while recording 43 top-five finishes and 79 top-10 finishes as driver of the No. 20 Toyota for JGR. He made the Chase in all four seasons with a best points result of fifth in 2016. To July 1, 2020, Kenseth is ranked 22nd on the all-time Cup wins list with 39.

At the conclusion of the 2017 season, Kenseth was left without a full-time ride for the 2018 Cup season as Erik Jones assumed driving responsibilities of the No. 20 JGR Toyota. In May, however, Kenseth rejoined Roush Fenway Racing to split driving responsibilities of the No. 6 Ford Fusion with Trevor Bayne for the remainder of the Cup season. In his first race of the 2018 season, Kenseth finished 36th after being involved in a late multi-car wreck. In his 15-race slate with RFR, Kenseth’s highlights included winning a stage at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in September, finishing seventh at Phoenix in November and finishing sixth the following week in the finale at Homestead.

After not making a start in NASCAR last season, Kenseth was named driver of the No. 42 Credit One Bank/McDonald’s/Clover Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Chip Ganassi Racing for the remainder of the 2020 season following the suspension of Kyle Larson and his use of a live racial slur during an iRacing event. In his first race in over a year at Darlington Raceway in May, Kenseth finished 10th. For the next 10 races, he has finished in the top 15 three more times, which includes both Pocono Raceway races last weekend.

Through his first 11 races of the season since May, Kenseth has achieved only one top-10 finish, two stage points and is 30th in the regular-season series standings, trailing points leader Kevin Harvick by 399 points and the top-16 cutline to the Playoffs by 159 points. He has been granted a waiver by NASCAR to qualify for the Playoffs should he win a race and generate enough points to make the top-16 cutline.

This Sunday’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway will not only mark Kenseth’s 677th start in NASCAR’s premier series. It will also mark his 20th start at the famed racetrack, a venue where he has achieved 12 top-10 finishes, a best result of second in 2003, 2006 and 2016, 55 laps led and an average result of 12.68 in his previous 19 starts. He currently holds the most top-five finishes at Indy among active drivers, (nine). He is also ranked third among most starts by active Cup drivers behind Kurt Busch and Harvick.

Catch Kenseth’s milestone start in the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 at Indianapolis on July 5 at 4 p.m. ET on NBC.

July 1, 2020
Harvick to move into sixth place on Cup consecutive starts list at Indianapolis

Following a productive doubleheader weekend at Pocono Raceway, Kevin Harvick is set to achieve a milestone of his own on Sunday, July 5, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. By taking the green flag in the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 at Indianapolis, Harvick will break a tie with two-time champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer Terry Labonte and move into sixth place on the all-time NASCAR Cup consecutive starts list with 656 series consecutive starts.

The consecutive streak for Harvick dates all the way back to Talladega Superspeedway in April 2002, a week after Harvick served a one-race suspension in the Cup race after being penalized by NASCAR the day before for rough driving in the Truck Series at Martinsville, where he intentionally spun out Coy Gibbs. In his previous 655 consecutive race span dating through June 28, 2020, Harvick has tallied 50 Cup wins, 31 poles, 207 top-five finishes and 356 top-10 finishes while leading over 14,000 laps and competing for two organizations, Richard Childress Racing and Stewart-Haas Racing. During this span, Harvick won three Clash events at Daytona International Speedway, two All-Star races and his first Cup championship in 2014 with SHR. He has finished in the top 10 in the final standings 15 times and has made the Championship Round in five of the last six seasons.

After finishing second last weekend in the second Pocono Raceway event of the weekend, Harvick tied Labonte for sixth on the all-time Cup consecutive starts list. In addition to breaking the tie and moving into sole possession of the sixth-place position in the consecutive starts list, Harvick will make his 20th consecutive/career start at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a track where he has recorded 13 top-10 finishes and two victories, (2003 and 2019). Currently, Harvick holds the best stats among active Cup competitors at Indianapolis in five categories, which includes 13 top-10 results, three poles, over 3,000 laps led, 18 lead-lap finishes and an average result of 8.95.

Harvick is currently in his seventh season driving the No. 4 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing with crew chief Rodney Childers atop the pit box. Through 15 races of the 2020 season, Harvick has won three races, including one of the two doubleheader races at Pocono Raceway last weekend, and has recorded one stage win and 12 top-10 results as he leads the regular-season series standings by 52 points over Ryan Blaney. The 2014 Cup champion is set to become the leading active Cup competitor with consecutive starts once seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson retires from full-time racing at this season’s conclusion. Harvick is also three races away from becoming the 17th competitor to achieve 700 starts in NASCAR’s premier series as he pursues his quest to win his second series championship.

Catch Harvick’s milestone start and his attempt to defend his Indianapolis title in the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 on July 5 at 4 p.m. ET on NBC.

July 1, 2020
Kyle Busch to make 550th Cup start at Indianapolis

With big brother Kurt set to achieve a milestone start of his NASCAR Cup Series career, Kyle Busch will also make a milestone start of his own at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 5. By taking the green flag for the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400, the younger Busch will reach 550 starts in NASCAR’s premier series. The milestone comes in his 16th season racing in the Cup Series, 13th in the No. 18 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing.

A native of Las Vegas, Nevada, and the younger brother to the 2004 Cup champion Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch made his Cup debut at his home track, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, in March 2004 and in the No. 84 CARQUEST Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. At the time, he was competing for the team on a full-time basis in the Xfinity Series, where he won five races, finished second in the final standings and claimed the series Rookie-of-the-Year title. He finished 41st in his Cup debut due to a crash and competed in five more races throughout the 2004 season, scoring a best result of 24th at California Speedway in September.

The following season, Busch was promoted as full-time driver of the No. 5 Kellogg’s Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series. Following an up-and-down season, Busch achieved his first Cup win in his 31st series start at California Speedway in September 2005. At that time, Busch became the youngest winner in the Cup Series’ history at age 20 years, four months and two days. Despite missing the Chase for the Cup, Busch achieved his second Cup victory at Phoenix International Raceway in November 2005 following a late battle with Greg Biffle. To go along with a pole, nine top-five results and 13 top-10 results with a final standings result of 20th, Busch claimed the 2005 Cup Rookie-of-the-Year title. Busch continued driving the No. 5 Kellogg’s/CARQUEST Chevrolet for HMS in 2006 and 2007, winning one race apiece and tallying one pole, 21 top-five finishes and 38 top-10 finishes with a best points result of fifth in 2007.

When the 2007 season concluded, Busch was replaced at Hendrick Motorsports by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and he joined forces with Joe Gibbs Racing to pilot the No. 18 Toyota Camry sponsored by Mars Inc. and Interstate Batteries. In his first race with the team, Busch led a race-high 86 laps in the Daytona 500 before finishing in fourth. After finishing fourth the following week at Auto Club Speedway, Busch emerged as the points leader for the first time in his Cup career. Two races later, Busch notched his first win with JGR and recorded the first Cup win for crew chief Steve Addington and the Toyota nameplate at Atlanta Motor Speedway. From there, Busch went on a hot streak as he won seven more races across seven different tracks, (all of which he won at for the first time), and entered the 2008 Chase for the Cup as one of the title favorites. He, however, recorded three consecutive finishes outside the top 20 in the first three Chase races, which left him eliminated from title contention. He concluded the 2008 Cup season in 10th in the final standings.

The following season, Busch won four races, which included his hometrack, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and winning on his 24th birthday at Richmond International Raceway in May, but he missed the Chase by eight points to Brian Vickers. Despite the up-and-down season in the Cup Series, he went on to win his first NASCAR Xfinity Series title after achieving nine victories throughout the season. The 2010 season was a record-breaking season for Busch as he won 24 races across NASCAR’s three major division series, three of which came in the Cup Series while paired with new crew chief Dave Rogers. The racing events at Bristol Motor Speedway from August 18-21 marked a major milestone moment for Busch, when he became the first NASCAR competitor to win across all three major division series in the same weekend at the exact racetrack. He made the Chase in 2010, but concluded the season in eighth in the final standings.

Between 2011 and 2012, Busch tallied five Cup wins, three poles, 27 top-five finishes and 38 top-10 finishes, though he finished 12th and 13th in the final standings within the two years. By then, he had surpassed 100 wins across NASCAR’s three major division series and he had also won the inaugural Cup race at Kentucky Speedway in 2011. He rebounded in 2013 by winning four races and three poles along with 16 top-five results and 22 top-10 results to conclude the season in fourth in the final standings after making the Chase for the sixth time in his career. Among Busch’s Cup highlights in 2013 was dodging a last lap incident involving teammate Denny Hamlin and ex-teammate Joey Logano to win at Auto Club Speedway in March and winning at Texas Motor Speedway in April in his 300th series start. To July 2020, Busch is one of seven competitors to win in career start number 300.

After winning only once in 2014 and concluding the season in 10th in the final standings, Busch was paired with Xfinity Series crew chief Adam Stevens for the 2015 Cup season. Then came February 21, when Busch was involved in a late multi-car wreck and made head-on contact into a concrete wall installed with no SAFER barriers. He was transported to the Halifax Medical Center, where he was diagnosed with a massive compound fracture in the lower right leg along with a small fracture in his left foot. The wreck left Busch on the sidelines for the first 11 Cup races into the season, though he was granted an injury waiver that would allow him to make the Chase as long as he met the qualification standards. In May, Busch returned as driver of JGR’s No. 18 Toyota and in June, he achieved his first victory of the season at Sonoma Raceway. The win at Sonoma completed the first phase for Busch to make the Chase as he needed consistent runs through September to be guaranteed a spot. He then went on a hot streak, winning three consecutive races, (Kentucky Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway and at Indianapolis Motor Speedway), and earning enough consistent finishes and points to qualify for the Chase. Following a consistent run throughout the Chase, Busch raced his way into the Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 22 and as the only JGR competitor still in contention for the title. On that day, Busch won the finale and claimed his first NASCAR Cup Series championship in his 11th season. To go along with Busch’s first title, it was the first Cup title for crew chief Adam Stevens, the first for Joe Gibbs Racing since 2005, the first for Mars Inc. and for Toyota. Busch also became the first competitor to win a Cup title despite not competing the entire season since Richard Petty made the last accomplishment in 1971.

From 2016 to 2018, Busch won 17 more Cup races and tallied 14 poles, 53 top-five results and 75 top-10 results, all while reaching the Championship Round in all three seasons with a best result of second in 2017. Among his achievements within the three seasons included winning at Martinsville Speedway, Kansas Speedway and Pocono Raceway for the first time, winning his second straight Brickyard 400 victory in 2016, claiming his first All-Star win at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May 2017, winning across all three division series at Bristol in August 2017, becoming the first driver to record a win in every active NASCAR Cup track following his first Coca-Cola 600 victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May 2018 and surpassing 50 Cup wins following the 2018 season.

Last season, in his 12th season driving for JGR, Busch reached his 500th Cup start at Atlanta in February, a week after finishing second to teammate Denny Hamlin in the season-opening Daytona 500. He finished sixth in his milestone start and in third the following week at his hometrack in Las Vegas. The following week, he achieved his first victory of the 2019 Cup season at Phoenix in March and returned the following week by winning at Auto Club Speedway. On that day, Busch recorded his 200th victory across NASCAR’s three major division series. He won two more races throughout the regular season to make the Playoffs. He was able to race his way into the Championship Round and win the finale at Homestead to claim his second Cup championship.

This season, through the first 15 races of the 2020 Cup season, Kyle Busch has recorded seven top-five finishes and eight top-10 finishes, and is ranked 11th in the regular-season standings, trailing points leader Kevin Harvick by 158 points. He has won a total of 56 Cup races, though he continues to pursue his first victory of the season. Sunday’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway will mark Busch’s 16th Cup start at the famed racetrack and at a place where he has won twice in back-to-back seasons in 2015 and 2016 along with recording 10 top-10 results and averaging a result of 12.47. He is also a four-time winner at the venue’s oval-shaped layout in the Xfinity Series. Busch will also look to become the third NASCAR competitor to achieve three Cup wins at Indianapolis.

Catch Kyle Busch’s milestone start on July 5 for the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 at 4 p.m. ET on NBC.

July 1, 2020
Kurt Busch to reach milestone start at Indianapolis

A milestone start is in the making for Kurt Busch heading into this weekend’s Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 5. When the green waves at Indy, the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion will achieve 700 starts in the sport’s premier series. The milestone comes in his second full-time season as driver of the No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Chip Ganassi Racing.

“It’s amazing,” Busch said. “To have this opportunity and to have been blessed to have raced with so many great race teams over the years, just making it past the local track was something that I thought was an achievement because my dad was a local racer. He won a lot. But it was like money, sponsors, and the whole challenge of even getting to like the Southwest Tour and Late Model division, that was even tough for us way back in the past. So, it’s amazing. Twenty years of racing at the top series level and now having 700 starts, I never would have guessed.”

A native from Las Vegas, Nevada, Busch made his Cup debut at Dover Downs International Speedway in September 2000 as driver of the No. 97 John Deere Ford for Roush Racing, replacing Chad Little. After finishing 18th at Dover, Busch competed in seven of the remaining eight Cup races of the season in Roush’s No. 97 Ford, scoring a best result of 13th at Charlotte’s Lowe’s Motor Speedway, before he was promoted to a full-time driving role in 2001. In his first full-time season in the Cup Series, Busch recorded his first pole position at Darlington Raceway in September and achieved three top-five results and six top-10 results throughout the season with a best finish of third at Talladega Superspeedway in April. He finished the year in 27th in the standings, though he did not make the field at Atlanta Motor Speedway in November.

The following year, it took the first six races into the 2002 season for Busch to achieve his first Cup triumph at Bristol Motor Speedway following a late battle against Jimmy Spencer. His first Cup victory came in his 48th series start. Busch went on to win three more races, (Martinsville Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway), and conclude the season with 12 top-five finishes, 20 top-10 finishes and a final standings result of third. After winning four races, notching 14 top-10 results and finishing 11th in the final standings in 2003, Busch rallied the following season by recording three wins, a pole, 10 top-five results and 21 top-10 results, all while making the inaugural Chase for the Cup and generating enough consistent results to win the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway by eight points over Jimmie Johnson and 16 over Jeff Gordon. The championship was a first for Busch, the first for veteran crew chief Jimmy Fennig and the second for team owner Jack Roush.

After winning three races throughout the 2005 season, Busch was suspended and released from Roush Racing two races shy of the season’s conclusion following a confrontation with Maricopa County Sheriff deputies in November prior to the Phoenix race weekend for suspicious DUI driving. Following his departure from Roush, Busch joined forces with team owner Roger Penske as driver of the iconic No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge following the retirement of Rusty Wallace. It took the first five races into the 2006 season for Busch to win for the first time with Penske at Bristol Motor Speedway. Despite the win at Bristol to go along with six poles, seven top-five finishes and 12 top-10 finishes, Busch concluded the season in 16th in the final standings after failing to make the Chase.

From 2007 to 2010, Busch continued to drive the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge for Penske and won seven races, including the All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway followed by the Coca-Cola 600 in 2010 with veteran crew chief Steve Addington. In those four seasons, he also tallied three poles, 30 top-five results, 62 top-10 results and made the Chase in three seasons. His best points result was fourth in 2009 with crew chief Pat Tryson.

Busch remained with Penske for the 2011 Cup season, but he assumed driving responsibilities of the newly formed No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge with Addington remaining as his crew chief while Brad Keselowski, coming off his NASCAR Xfinity Series championship, was assigned to pilot the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge with Paul Wolfe, his championship-winning crew chief, to continue to lead him. Busch kickstarted the new relationship in a new car and with his new sponsors by winning the non-point Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway, which marked Busch’s first superspeedway victory of any type. He followed that up by winning the first Gatorade Duel qualifying races and finishing fifth in the Daytona 500. Fifteen races into the season, Busch recorded his first elusive win with the No. 22 team at Sonoma Raceway after leading 76 of the event’s 110-scheduled laps. He would win once more at Dover International Speedway in October and conclude the season with three poles, eight top-five finishes, 16 top-10 finishes and in 11th in the final standings while making the Chase for the sixth time in his career.

Following a mutual termination of his partnership with Penske, Busch reached a one-year, handshake deal with team owner James Finch to drive the No. 51 Chevrolet for Phoenix Racing in the 2012 season. In his 30-race stretch with Phoenix Racing, Busch achieved two top-10 results, including a season-best third at Sonoma Raceway, while sustaining six DNFs and not competing at Pocono Raceway in June due to being suspended following an off-track encounter with a reporter. After Talladega Superspeedway in October, Busch transitioned to Furniture Row Racing for the remaining six races of the 2012 season, scoring a best result of eighth in back-to-back weekends at Texas Motor Speedway and at Phoenix Raceway, before racing as a full-time driver for the team in 2013. Though he did not record a win, Busch’s full-time season with Furniture Row Racing’s No. 78 Chevrolet team was a success as he recorded a pole, 11 top-five finishes, 16 top-10 finishes and finished 10th in the final standings, all while putting the team in the Chase for the first time.

Despite a productive season with FRR, Busch transitioned to Stewart-Haas Racing as the team’s fourth competitor in 2014 and as driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet. Despite a slow start to the first four races of the season, Busch rebounded the following two events by finishing third at Auto Club Speedway and rallying from an on-track altercation with Keselowski to win at Martinsville Speedway following a late battle with Jimmie Johnson. The Martinsville win was the second for Busch along with his first triumph with SHR and the first win for rookie crew chief Daniel Knost. It also snapped his 83-race winless drought dating back to October 2011. He went on to record six top-five finishes and 11 top-10 finishes while concluding the season in 12th in the final standings.

Busch started the 2015 season suspended over allegations of domestic violence under NASCAR’s personal conduct policy, but he was reinstated by NASCAR in March prior to the upcoming race at Phoenix International Raceway, where he finished fifth. Paired with veteran crew chief Tony Gibson, Busch went on to win twice and record 10 top-five finishes, 21 top-10 finishes and three poles before concluding the season in eighth in the standings. From 2016 to 2018, Busch won one race apiece and tallied eight poles, 21 top-five finishes and 58 top-10 finishes with a best result of seventh in 2016 and 2018, all while making the Chase. In between those three seasons, Busch recorded the first Daytona 500 victory for himself and Stewart-Haas Racing in 2017 and he recorded the first wins for crew chiefs Johnny Klausmeier and Billy Scott. He also established a record-setting run of lead-lap finishes to the first 22 races of the 2016 season before the streak came to an end the following race at Bristol due to a wreck. When Busch won at Bristol in August 2018, it was his sixth triumph at the track dubbed Thunder Valley and it was the 100th Cup win for the Ford Fusion.

Last season, following his departure from Stewart-Haas Racing at the conclusion of the 2018 Cup season, Busch and longtime partner Monster Energy joined forces with Chip Ganassi Racing and the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team. Through the first half of the season, 18 races, Busch achieved 10 top-10 results. In July, Busch outdueled his brother Kyle on a two-lap shootout to win at Kentucky Speedway for his first win with Ganassi and to record the first NASCAR victory for crew chief Matt McCall. He concluded the season in 13th in the standings despite achieving six top-five results, 18 top-10 results and three stage wins.

Through the first 15 races of the 2020 Cup Series season, Busch has achieved nine top-10 results with a best result of third coming at Auto Club and Darlington, and has recorded a stage win. He is ranked 10th in the regular-season standings and trails points leader Kevin Harvick by 151 points. With 31 Cup career wins, Busch is ranked 27th on the all-time wins list, (seventh among active drivers).

On Sunday, Busch will become the 16th driver to reach 700 career starts in the Cup Series. He is also one of two active competitors set to reach the 700th start milestone in 2020 as Harvick, a former teammate to Busch at Stewart-Haas Racing, is set to reach the mark at Texas Motor Speedway on July 19. For Busch, he will also make his 20th consecutive start at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a track where Busch has finished in the top 10 six times with a best result of fifth in 2001 and has achieved an average result of 19.42 in his previous 19 starts.

Catch Busch’s milestone start in the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 5 at 4 p.m. ET on NBC.

July 1, 2020