Tag: Nashville Superspeedway

  • Ben Rhodes to make 200th Truck career start at Nashville

    Ben Rhodes to make 200th Truck career start at Nashville

    In his quest to both defend and capture his third NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship, Ben Rhodes is set to achieve a milestone start. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s series event at Nashville Superspeedway, the No. 99 ThorSport Racing Ford F-150 driver will make his 200th career start in the Truck Series.

    A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Rhodes made his inaugural presence in the Truck Series at Martinsville Speedway in March 2014. By then, he was competing for the ARCA Menards Series East title with Turner Scott Motorsports after previously competing with TSM in the ARCA Menards Series East on a part-time basis in 2013 and in the UARA-STAR Series with Marcos Ambrose Motorsports in 2012. Driving the No. 32 Chevrolet Silverado for TSM, Rhodes started 12th and finished eighth in his series debut. He would make three additional Truck starts with TSM at Dover Motor Speedway in May, Bristol Motor Speedway in August and at Phoenix Raceway in November, where he finished 22nd, ninth and fifth, respectively. By then, he had also secured the 2014 ARCA East title.

    After competing in 10 Xfinity Series events with JR Motorsports in 2015, Rhodes entered the Truck Series full-time for the 2016 season, where he piloted the No. 41 Toyota Tundra for ThorSport Racing. He commenced the season by finishing seventh at Daytona International Speedway in February before finishing sixth and 16th during his next two events. By then, he had notched his first career pole position at Martinsville Speedway in April. At Kansas Speedway in May, Rhodes was within striking distance of notching his first victory amid an overtime shootout until he made contact with veteran Johnny Sauter with two turns remaining and sent both into the outside wall, with Rhodes ending up in 18th place.

    Despite finishing no higher than 11th during his next three starts, he rallied by finishing fourth at Iowa Speedway and a career-best runner-up result at World Wide Technology Raceway, respectively, in June. With only a single extra top-10 result recorded during the final seven regular-season events on the schedule, Rhodes did not make the 2016 Truck Series Playoffs. Ultimately, he would finish no higher than 12th during the seven-race Playoff stretch before concluding his first Truck Series season in 14th place in the final standings.

    Remaining at ThorSport Racing while sporting the No. 27 alongside his entry for the 2017 Truck Series season, Rhodes began the season by finishing 12th at Daytona after being involved in a final lap multi-truck wreck that collected all four ThorSport Racing entries. After finishing fourth at Atlanta Motor Speedway and 20th at Martinsville Speedway, respectively, Rhodes was in position to achieve his first career victory at Kansas. He led 25 laps and had outdueled Kyle Busch in the closing laps until he blew his engine with eight laps remaining and retired in 23rd place. Amid the disappointment at Kansas, the Kentucky native would accumulate four top-five results, a runner-up result at Pocono Raceway in July and seven top-10 results during the following 11 regular-season events on the schedule.

    After finishing in sixth place during the regular-season finale at Chicagoland, Rhodes managed to claim the eighth and final transfer spot to the 2017 Playoffs in a tie-breaker over Ryan Truex. Then after finishing seventh in the Playoff opener at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September, Rhodes made a daring three-wide pass on Truex and Christopher Bell for the lead during a seven-lap dash to the finish before fending off Bell to score his first elusive career victory in his 46th Truck start and transfer from the Round of 8 to 6.

    Four races later, however, Rhodes’ hopes of transferring into the Championship 4 round came to an end during the Round of 8 finale at Phoenix Raceway after he got turned by Playoff rival Austin Cindric and made head-on contact into the inside wall before he slid up the track and collected teammate Matt Crafton during a restart with 21 laps remaining. Settling in 19th place during the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway after running out of fuel with five laps remaining, Rhodes would conclude his sophomore Truck season in fifth place in the final standings. By then, he tripled his top-five results (six) and earned seven additional top-10 results compared to his previous season (12). He had also led 203 laps and recorded an average-finishing result of 12.4.

    Returning to sport the No. 41 alongside his entry as ThorSport Racing changed manufacturers from Toyota to Ford, Rhodes commenced the season with two consecutive fourth-place finishes and five top-10 results through the first 10 scheduled events. Then after finishing in the runner-up spot at Chicagoland in June, Rhodes notched his first Truck victory of the season and the third of his career at his home track, Kentucky Speedway, in July after leading 38 laps. He notched two top-seven results during the final four regular-season events before the Playoffs began and made his second consecutive Playoff appearance.

    After being eliminated early from title contention with respective results of 14th, fourth and 16th throughout the Round of 8, he earned two top-five results and finished no lower than 12th during the final four events on the schedule before ending up in eighth place in the final standings. By then, he accumulated a career-high three poles, eight top-five results, and 13 top-10 results, with 232 laps led and an average-finishing result of 9.9 to coincide with his Kentucky victory.

    With Rhodes entering his fourth consecutive Truck Series season at ThorSport with his fourth different number, 99, for the 2019 season, he commenced the season with a 14th-place finish at Daytona after being involved in a multi-truck wreck during an overtime shootout despite leading 11 laps and leading when the incident occurred. Despite finishing in the runner-up spot three times and notching eight top-10 results during the 16-race regular-season stretch, Rhodes missed the Playoffs for the first time since 2016. He would finish in the top five twice and in the top 10 four times during the seven-race Playoff stretch before settling in ninth place in the final standings and with an average-finishing result of 11.3.

    Like the previous season, Rhodes’ season commenced with a wreck at Daytona after he was involved in a multi-truck wreck with three laps remaining while battling for the lead and ending up in 25th place in the final running order. He would rally by finishing in the top 10 during his next three starts as he would reach 100 career starts in the Truck Series. After finishing in the top five four times during his next 10 starts, Rhodes snapped a 48-race winless drought by notching his fourth career victory at Darlington Raceway in September after fending off Derek Kraus during an overtime shootout and etching his name back into the Playoffs.

    Despite transferring from the Round of 10 to 8 after respective finishes of 13th, 23rd and fourth throughout the Round of 10, Rhodes finished 20th, 20th and second, respectively, during the Round of 8, which were not enough for him to make the Championship 4 cutline. With a seventh-place finish during the finale at Phoenix Raceway in November, Rhodes ended up in seventh place in the final standings. By then, he notched a career-high nine top-five results, 14 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 10.0.

    The 2021 Truck Series season was a career year for Rhodes, who remained as a ThorSport Racing competitor for the sixth consecutive season and his third piloting the No. 99 truck while the team returned to fielding Toyota Tundras. During the season opener at Daytona, Rhodes overtook Cory Roper entering the tri-oval on the final lap before edging a hard-charging Jordan Anderson to claim his fifth Truck career victory and first at Daytona. He would then go back-to-back in victories and win multiple races in a Truck season for the first time in his career after winning the Daytona International Speedway Road Course during the following weekend.

    From there, Rhodes would finish in the top three three times and collect eight top-10 results during the final 13 regular-season events before the Playoffs commenced. Implementing consistency in the form of two top-three results and a total of four top-10 results throughout the Playoffs, Rhodes managed to make his first Championship 4 appearance. Then during the finale at Phoenix, Rhodes achieved his first Truck Series championship after finishing in third place on the track and emerging as the highest-finishing title contender over Zane Smith, John Hunter Nemechek and teammate Matt Crafton. With his accomplishment, Rhodes became the 19th different competitor to win a Truck Series title as he delivered both the fourth series’ driver’s title and first owner’s title for ThorSport Racing. Overall, Rhodes concluded the season with eight top-five results, a career-high 16 top-10 results, 99 laps led and a career-best average-finishing result of 9.3.

    Entering the 2022 Truck Series season as the reigning champion, Rhodes commenced the season by finishing in second place at Daytona. Six races later, he overtook Carson Hocevar with four laps remaining to notch his first victory of the season and the seventh of his career at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course in April. He would proceed to finish in the top 10 four additional times for the final 10 regular-season events before making his sixth consecutive appearance in the Playoffs. With two runner-up results throughout the Playoffs and a sixth-place finish during the Round of 8 finale at Homestead in October, Rhodes managed to transfer from the Round of 10 to the Championship 4 round by a single point. Amid a late pit strategic move for two fresh tires in the closing laps that enabled him to assume the lead both in the race and the title battle, Rhodes would be overtaken and beaten by title rival Zane Smith amid an overtime shootout as he would settle in second place in the final standings. While he did not defend his title, Rhodes concluded the 2022 Truck season with eight top-five results, 13 top-10 results, a career-high 271 laps led and an average-finishing result of 11.7.

    Returning to pilot a Ford while retaining control of ThorSport’s No. 99 entry for the 2023 Truck Series season, Rhodes commenced the season by finishing 11th at Daytona amid a rain-shortened event. He would then record three top-five results and five top-10 finishes during his next nine starts before notching his eighth Truck career victory and his first at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, with Rhodes collecting the first Triple Truck Challenge $50,000 bonus of the season. The Charlotte victory also guaranteed a spot into the 2023 Truck Playoffs for the Kentucky native, who finished no lower than 12th during the final five regular-season events.

    Despite enduring a difficult Round of 10, where he finished no higher than 16th twice, Rhodes managed to earn the eighth and final transfer spot into the Round of 8. Then, after finishing seventh and second, respectively, in the Round of 8’s first two events, he capitalized on a gusty pit call made by his championship-winning crew chief Rich Lushes to pit with 53 laps remaining, lead 22 laps and nurse his No. 99 Ford for the remainder of the event as the tires wore out to finish second at Homestead and secure the fourth and final transfer spot into the Championship 4 in a tie-breaker over rookie Nick Sanchez.

    During the finale at Phoenix, Rhodes withstood four overtime shootouts amid a series of late carnages that affected all four title contenders, including Rhodes himself, to fend off a late charge from title rival Grant Enfinger and finish fifth on the track, but as the highest-finishing title contender over Enfinger, Corey Heim and Carson Hocevar, that enabled Rhodes to win his second Truck Series championship. With the accomplishment, Rhodes became the fifth competitor to achieve multiple Truck Series championships as he also delivered the fifth series title for ThorSport Racing.

    This season, Rhodes has racked up two top-five results and four top-10 results through the first 12 scheduled events, with his highest result being a third-place run at Darlington in May. He is currently ranked in eighth place in the 2024 driver’s standings. Despite trailing the points lead by 177 points, he is 36 points above the top-10 cutline to make the 2024 Truck Series Playoffs with four regular-season events remaining on the schedule.

    Through 199 previous Truck starts, Rhodes has achieved two championships, seven victories, five poles, 58 top-five results, 107 top-10 results, 1,234 laps led and an average-finishing result of 11.6 as he strives to make the 2024 Playoffs and contend for his third series title.

    Ben Rhodes is scheduled to make his 200th Craftsman Truck Series career start at Nashville Superspeedway for the Rackley Roofing 200. The event is set to commence this upcoming Friday, June 28, and will air at 8 p.m. ET on FS2.

  • NASCAR reveals 2024 Xfinity Dash 4 Cash, Craftsman Trucks Triple Truck Challenge schedules

    NASCAR reveals 2024 Xfinity Dash 4 Cash, Craftsman Trucks Triple Truck Challenge schedules

    As the 2024 NASCAR season nears its approach, the Xfinity Series Dash 4 Cash and the Craftsman Truck Series’ Triple Truck Challenge initiatives are set to return and retain their spots in the first half of the upcoming racing season with one new and a bevy of familiar circuits also returning.

    For the Xfinity Series, the Dash 4 Cash program will launch its 16th consecutive season by hosting its qualifying event at Richmond Raceway on March 30, where the top four highest-finishing Xfinity regulars in the final running order will contend for the first round of bonus money. The first Dash 4 Cash event of the 2024 season will then occur at Martinsville Speedway on April 6 followed by the series’ lone visit of the season to Texas Motor Speedway on April 13, which is new to the initiative’s schedule, and Talladega Superspeedway on April 20 before concluding at Dover Motor Speedway on April 27.

    The highest-finishing Xfinity Dash 4 Cash contender in each event will receive the cash-winning prize of $100,000, with opportunities for the prize to increase should a competitor achieve the bonus more than once.

    This past season, where all Dash 4 Cash events occurred in April, Justin Allgaier claimed the first Dash 4 Cash bonus and the fifth of his career at Richmond Raceway despite finishing in 13th place, but by finishing ahead of his initiative rivals Sam Mayer, Sammy Smith and Daniel Hemric. John Hunter Nemechek claimed the second bonus at Martinsville in an event where he led a race-high 198 of 250 laps en route to his second Xfinity victory of the season. Cole Custer, the 2023 Xfinity Series champion, would conclude the initiative by claiming the final two bonuses at Talladega Superspeedway and at Dover Motor Speedway, where he finished fourth and seventh, respectively.

    Ironically, the trio of Allgaier, Custer and Nemechek would square off against one another along with Sam Mayer for the 2023 Xfinity Series championship at Phoenix Raceway in November for the Championship 4 round event. Allgaier and Custer are set to run another full-time Xfinity season and bid for more bonuses in 2024 with JR Motorsports and Stewart-Haas Racing, respectively, while Nemechek has moved up to the Cup Series to drive for Legacy Motor Club.

    For the Craftsman Truck Series, the Triple Truck Challenge initiative will occur in three events for a sixth consecutive season, beginning at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 24, which will also serve as the series’ 700th race in history. The initiative will continue at World Wide Technology Raceway on June 1 before concluding at Nashville Superspeedway on June 28, a three-race schedule that resembles last year’s schedule.

    Each event will offer Truck Series regulars three opportunities to notch a $50,000 bonus for themselves per race victory, with opportunities for the bonus to increase to $150,000 if two Triple Truck Challenge events are won by any eligible competitor or even to $500,000 if all three events are won.

    Last season, Ben Rhodes, the 2023 Truck Series champion, claimed the first Triple Truck Challenge bonus after achieving his first victory of the season at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. Grant Enfinger, the 2023 championship runner-up finisher, would earn the second bonus with his second victory of the season at Gateway’s World Wide Technology Raceway in early June. Carson Hocevar capped off the program by winning at Nashville Superspeedway in mid-June for his second career victory in the Truck circuit. Rhodes and Enfinger are slated to remain in the Truck Series with ThorSport Racing and CR7 Motorsports, respectively, and contend for additional opportunities while Hocevar is set to campaign in his first full-time season in the Cup Series for Spire Motorsports.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    With the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Dash 4 Cash and Craftsman Truck Series’ Triple Truck Challenge schedules set, the 2024 Truck Series season is set to commence at Daytona International Speedway for the Fresh From Florida 250 on February 16 with the event’s air coverage to occur at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1. The 2024 Xfinity Series season is scheduled to occur the following day, February 17, for the United Rentals 300 and air at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Nashville

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Nashville

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex led 50 laps at Nashville, but couldn’t match the speed of Ross Chastain in the final stage and settled for the runner-up spot.

    “Ross just had too much,” Chastain said. “You could say he ‘destroyed the field.’ If you add up all the cars of competitors he’s wrecked over the course of his career, you could also say he’s ‘destroyed the field.’”

    2. Kyle Busch: Busch suffered damage on Lap 147 when he tagged Ryan Blaney after cars in front checked up on a restart. Busch, however, recovered and salvaged a ninth-place finish.

    “‘It was an accident,’” Busch said, “is what I said after the race, and also this one time at an airport in Mexico.”

    3. William Byron: Byron finished sixth at Nashville.

    “As per usual,” Byron said, “my car was primarily sponsored by Liberty University. Liberty U. is even advertising during NASCAR races to attract students. Who wouldn’t want to attend Liberty? It’s the academic intersection of education, religion, and voyeurism.”

    4. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin won Stage 2 and finished third in the Ally 400.

    “There’s losing,” Hamlin said, “and then there’s losing to Ross Chastain. I hate all of those things.”

    5. Ross Chastain: Chastain started on the pole at Nashville and came on strong in the final stage to win the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.

    “It’s really cool being rewarded with a guitar for winning a race, ” Chastain said. “Let my ability to strum a tune remind everyone of my desire to win the Cup championship, because ‘I ain’t playing.’”

    6. Christopher Bell: Bell came home seventh at Nashville, posting his tenth top 10 of the year.

    “We’re headed to Chicago next week for the first NASCAR race on a street circuit,” Bell said. “Fans in the Windy City are in for a real treat. For once, something other than bullets are going to be whizzing through downtown Chicago.”

    7. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 24th in the Ally 400 at Nashville.

    “My No. 4 Ford sported the Busch Light Peach paint scheme,” Harvick said. “I’m not sure who this flavor of beer would appeal to, but they should have the taste slapped out of their mouths.”

    8. Joey Logano: Logano struggled to crack the top 10 at Nashville and scored a disappointing 19th in the Ally 400.

    “I was barely able to stay on the lead lap,” Logano said. “So, at least for a day, ‘Sliced Bread’ felt like the ‘End Piece.’”

    9. Ryan Blaney: Blaney crashed out at Nashville on Lap 147 when a restart stacked up the field, resulting in Kyle Busch rear-ending Blaney and sending him into the inside wall. Blaney finished last in 36th.

    “I don’t know who was leading the field to green on that restart,” Blaney said, “but I’d like to introduce them to a gas pedal, and also my fist.”

    10. Kyle Larson: Larson finished fifth at Nashville, recording his seventh top 5 of the season.

    “Ross Chastain looks like a real championship contender,” Larson said. “Now, he’s in the head of every other championship contender. You could say, like a real watermelon farmer, he ‘planted a seed.’”

  • Chastain fends off Truex for first Cup victory of 2023 at Nashville

    Chastain fends off Truex for first Cup victory of 2023 at Nashville

    In a season that has been characterized by an up-and-down journey through his share of run-ins and challenges, all while remaining competitive, Ross Chastain capped off a historic weekend that commenced by winning his first NASCAR Cup Series career pole to capturing his first Cup Series victory of the season in the third annual running of the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday, June 25.

    The 30-year-old Chastain from Alva, Florida, led five times for a race-high 99 of 300-scheduled laps in a weekend where he led the field to the green flag for the first time ever from pole position. After leading early before spending the majority of the event keeping pace with the front-runners, Chastain commenced his late charge to victory by overtaking Denny Hamlin for the lead with 70 laps remaining. Following a series of green flag pit stops, he then cycled back into the lead with 34 laps remaining and fended off a late charge from Martin Truex Jr. to capture the first checkered flag of the 2023 Cup season for himself and Trackhouse Racing.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, June 24, Ross Chastain notched his first Cup Series pole position of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 160.687 mph in 29.797 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Tyler Reddick, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 159.573 mph in 30.005 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Daniel Suarez started at the rear of the field in a backup car after wrecking his primary car during Saturday’s qualifying session. Corey LaJoie, who also had an incident during his qualifying run, also started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments and repairs made to his Spire Motorsports entry.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Chastain fended off an early challenge from Reddick to assume the lead through the first two turns. As the field fanned out and jostled early for on-track positions, Chastain proceeded to lead the first lap ahead of Reddick while Joey Logano moved up to third. Behind, Justin Haley, who qualified third, settled in fourth in front of Martin Truex Jr. and William Byron. In addition, Bubba Wallace and Denny Hamlin battled for seventh as the event surpassed the second-lap mark.

    The battles around the circuit would continue through the third lap as Truex and Byron moved into the top five while Haley fell back to sixth in front of Wallace, all while Chastain remained as the leader by a steady margin over Reddick. Chastain would proceed to retain the lead as the event reached its fifth lap mark.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Chastain was leading by two-tenths of a second over Reddick followed by Logano, Truex and Byron while Haley, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Wallace and Kyle Busch were in the top 10. Behind, Chris Buescher was in 11th ahead of Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman and rookie Ty Gibbs while AJ Allmendinger, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Christopher Bell and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. occupied the top 20.

    Just past the Lap 15 mark, Kyle Busch, who was running within the top 10, made an unscheduled pit stop under green due to a flat right-front tire on his No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. With Busch plummeting below the leaderboard and losing a lap, Chastain maintained the lead by within two-tenths of a second over Reddick. By then, Truex and Byron moved up to third and fourth while Logano was in fifth.

    At the Lap 25 mark, Chastain retained the lead by a tenth of a second over Reddick followed by Truex and Byron while Hamlin moved his No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry into fifth place. With Logano falling back to sixth, Haley was scored in seventh ahead of Elliott, Wallace and Buescher. Behind, Larson was situated in 12th in between Blaney and Bowman, Harvick was in 17th behind Christopher Bell and Keselowski was in 18th. In addition, rookie Noah Gragson, who received medical clearance to return to racing after missing Sonoma Raceway due to concussion-like symptoms, was mired in 26th in between Corey LaJoie and Daniel Suarez, Austin Cindric was in 28th and Chase Briscoe was back in 31st.

    Ten laps later, Chastain slightly stretched his advantage to half a second over Reddick while Truex, Byron and Hamlin remained in the top five. By then, Haley and Elliott moved up to sixth and seventh in front of Logano while Blaney carved his way into the top 10 in 10th place. Behind, Bowman moved up to 11th ahead of teammate Larson while Wallace fell back to 15th.

    Then just past the Lap 40 mark, green flag pit stops commenced as Ryan Preece pitted followed by Wallace, Harvick, Michael McDowell, Larson, Aric Almirola, Truex, Ty Gibbs, Hamlin, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Reddick and others. Chastain would then surrender the lead on Lap 42 to pit under green followed by more competitors as Byron proceeded to lead a lap for himself before he pitted during Lap 43 as Chase Elliott assumed a brief lead. Once Elliott pitted on Lap 45, teammate Alex Bowman cycled into the lead for a lap before he surrendered the lead to Suarez, who would pit after leading a lap for himself on Lap 46. By then, Ty Dillon, who had yet to pit, cycled into the lead while Michael McDowell, who pitted earlier, was assessed a pass-through penalty for a commitment line violation.

    By the time Ty Dillon pitted just past the Lap 50 mark, which completed the first cycle of green flag pit stops, Chastain cycled back into the lead ahead of Reddick. Behind, Byron moved up to third ahead of Truex and Hamlin while Kyle Busch, Elliott, Logano, Larson and Buescher were running in the top 10.

    At the Lap 60 mark, Chastain, who was trying to lap Noah Gragson, continued to lead by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Reddick and by more than a second over third-place Byron while Truex and Hamlin remained in the top five. With Gragson refusing to relent to the leaders during the proceeding lap, Reddick gained a strong run on Chastain through the first two turns before he drew himself alongside Chastain’s No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and assumed the lead, thus becoming the second leader of the event.

    Fifteen laps later, Reddick, who nearly lost the lead amid a side-by-side battle with Chastain six laps earlier, was leading by half a second over Chastain, who continued to keep Reddick within his sights. Meanwhile, third-place Byron trailed by more than two seconds ahead of Truex and Hamlin while Elliott, winner of last year’s Cup event at Nashville, carved his way up to sixth in front of Kyle Busch and Larson. In addition, Bell was up in ninth ahead of AJ Allmendinger, winner of Saturday’s Xfinity event at Nashville.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 90, Reddick, sporting The Big 615 radio station on Tuneln captured his third stage victory of the 2023 Cup season after fending off Chastain by four-tenths of a second. Byron and Truex followed suit in third and fourth along with Hamlin while Elliott, Kyle Busch, Larson, Bell and Allmendinger were scored in the top 10. By then, 25 of 36 competitors were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Reddick pitted for service. Following the pit stops, the No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 piloted by Byron managed to exit pit road first with the lead ahead of Chastain, Reddick, Truex, Hamlin and Larson. Amid the pit stops, Kyle Busch and Harvick were both penalized for speeding on pit road.

    The second stage started on Lap 97 as Byron and Chastain occupied the front row. At the start, Truex launched a three-wide challenge on Chastain and Byron through the first two turns and the backstretch. All three continued to battle tightly amid three tight lanes for a full lap and they would all continue to battle tightly by the Lap 100 mark. Then during the following lap, Truex managed to launch ahead in his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota TRD Camry and assume the lead with a clear racetrack around him while Byron and Chastain battled for second in front of Reddick and Bell.  

    By Lap 110, Truex was leading by nearly a second over Byron and Chastain while Reddick and Bell remained in the top five. Behind, Hamlin was in sixth ahead of Elliott, Blaney, Larson and Buescher while Bowman, Allmendinger, Ty Gibbs, Aric Almirola and Erik Jones were running in the top 15.

    Fifteen laps later, Truex stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Byron followed by Reddick, Chastain and Bell while Hamlin, Elliott, Larson, Blaney and Buescher were running in the top 10. By then, Allmendinger and Bowman continued to duel fiercely for 11th while Kyle Busch had carved his way up to 16th. In addition, Harvick was up in 20th while Logano had fallen to 19th.

    Nearly 10 laps later, the event’s second round of green flag pit stops commenced as Austin Dillon and Haley pitted. They were soon followed by Ty Gibbs and Kyle Busch as Reddick, Byron, Chastain, Bell, Larson, Blaney, Bowman, Almirola, Buescher, Bowman and Erik Jones pitted. Then on Lap 138, Truex surrendered the lead to pit as teammate Hamlin cycled into the lead.

    Then on Lap 138, the caution flew when Reddick, who had just pitted and was trying to cycle his way back onto pit road, spun towards the pit road entrance as a result of a loose right-rear wheel, which the wheel popped out of the car and rolled down towards the pit road wall as Reddick spun backward on pit road. During the caution period, Hamlin, Keselowski and Wallace, all three of whom had yet to pit, pitted, but all three were able to gain a bevy of spots from second through fourth as Truex cycled back into the lead. As a result of spinning and losing the wheel on pit road, Reddick was assessed a tail end of the line penalty as he lost two laps in the process.

    Just as the field restarted under green on Lap 146, the caution quickly returned amid a stacked restart as Keselowski struggled to launch forward when Blaney, who restarted within the top 20, got hit in the rear by Kyle Busch. While Busch briefly spun in front of Bowman, Blaney slid his No. 12 Menards/Pennzoil Ford Mustang all the way toward the bottom of the track and past the pit road exit before making head-on contact with the inside wall as his event came to an end just shy of the halfway mark.

    During the proceeding restart on Lap 152, the field fanned out entering the first turn as teammates Truex and Hamlin battled for the lead in front of Bubba Wallace. With Byron launching his attack on Wallace for third during the following lap, teammates Truex and Hamlin continued to duel for the lead. Despite pulling away from third-place Byron by seven-tenths of a second, Truex and Hamlin continued to battle dead even for the lead until Hamlin managed to rocket ahead with a clear racetrack and the lead on Lap 157.

    At the Lap 165 mark, Hamlin was leading by four-tenths of a second over a lurking Truex while Byron, Chastain and Wallace were scored in the top five. Behind, Bell was in sixth ahead of Elliott, Allmendinger, Larson and Erik Jones while Keselowski, Harvick, Ty Gibbs, Buescher and Daniel Suarez were in the top 15.

    Ten laps later, Hamlin retained the lead by four-tenths of a second over teammate Truex while Chastain moved up to third ahead of Byron and Wallace.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 185, Hamlin captured his fourth stage victory of the 2023 Cup season. Teammate Truex settled in second ahead of Chastain, Byron and Bell while Wallace, Elliott, Allmendinger, Harvick and Erik Jones were scored in the top 10.

    During the stage break, the leaders led by Hamlin pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Hamlin retained the lead after exiting first ahead of teammate Truex, Byron, Chastain, Bell, Elliott and Harvick. Amid the pit stops, Wallace, who pitted from sixth, exited pit road just outside the top 15 after enduring a slow pit service from his pit crew while Austin Cindric was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    With 108 laps remaining, the final stage started as teammates Hamlin and Truex occupied the front row. At the start and with the field fanning out, Hamlin retained the lead ahead of Truex and Chastain while the field behind jostled for positions.

    With 100 laps remaining, Hamlin was leading by four-tenths of a second over teammate Truex while Chastain, Bell and Byron were in the top five. Behind, Kevin Harvick carved his way up to sixth while Elliott, Suarez, Ty Gibbs and Logano occupied the top 10. Meanwhile, Erik Jones was in 11th while Keselowski, Buescher, Wallace, Larson, Allmendinger, Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch, Stenhouse and Harrison Burton were mired in the top 20, with 30 of 36 starters running on the lead lap.

    Ten laps later, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to within two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Truex while third-place Chastain trailed by more than a second. Hamlin would continue to lead teammate Truex by a tenth of a second another 10 laps later while Harvick carved his No. 4 Busch Light Peach Ford Mustang up to fourth as he trailed the lead by more than three seconds. Soon after with 74 laps remaining, Chastain battled and overtook Truex for second as he tried to launch his charge on Hamlin for the lead.

    Then with 70 laps remaining, Chastain gained a strong run on Hamlin exiting the frontstretch as he returned to the lead over Hamlin while Truex trailed in third by seven-tenths of a second. By then, Harvick retained fourth as he trailed by more than a second while Chase Elliott was in fifth and trailing by more than five seconds.

    With 61 laps remaining, late trouble struck for Harvick, who was starting to challenge Truex for third, as he fell off the pace and pitted under green to address a flat right-rear tire to his No. 4 entry. Not long after, another cycle of green flag pit stops slowly commenced as Elliott pitted followed by Truex, Corey LaJoie and Cindric. The leader Chastain would then pit with 58 laps remaining followed by Hamlin and after the pit stops, Chastain managed to blend back on the track ahead of Truex and Hamlin while more competitors pitted under green.

    With 45 laps remaining and with most of the field having made a pit stop under green, Kyle Busch was leading by more than seven seconds over Bowman, but both were in need of another pit stop to make it to the event’s scheduled distance. Meanwhile, third-place Chastain, the first competitor on four fresh tires and a full tank of fuel, was trailing by more than 14 seconds while Truex and Hamlin were in the top five.

    Then with nearly 40 laps remaining, Kyle Busch surrendered the lead to pit under green. Busch’s move gave Bowman the lead while Chastain cut the deficit to trail by more than four seconds. Once Bowman pitted his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 under green with 34 laps remaining, Chastain, who started to approach lapped traffic, reassumed the lead ahead of a hard-charging Truex, who kept Chastain close within his sights.

    Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Chastain was leading by a tenth of a second over Truex, who was trying to gain more ground on Chastain for the lead through every turn and straightaway, while third-place Hamlin trailed by more than three seconds.

    Ten laps later, Chastain, who started to experiment with different racing lanes to place a reasonable gap between himself and Truex, started to stretch his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Truex while third-place Hamlin trailed by more than four seconds.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Chastain continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over Truex as third-place Hamlin trailed by more than four seconds. Behind, Elliott and Byron were in the top five while Larson, Bell, Erik Jones, Allmendinger and Keselowski occupied the top 10.

    With five laps remaining, Chastain extended his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Truex, who was slowly losing ground on Chastain in his bid for a second consecutive victory in recent weeks.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Chastain remained as the leader by seven-tenths of a second over Truex. With Truex unable to gain ground to mount a final lap charge, Chastain was able to navigate his way around Nashville for a final time and cycle back to the finish line to capture his first elusive checkered flag of the 2023 Cup season.

    With the victory, Chastain, the championship runner-up finisher from last season, became the 11th different competitor to win through the first 17 regular-season events and place himself in prime contention to make the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs. He also notched his third Cup career victory, his first in 42 races and since winning at Talladega Superspeedway in April 2022. The Floridian also achieved his first oval-shaped victory and the first win for Trackhouse Racing since teammate Daniel Suarez won at Sonoma Raceway in June 2022.

    Ironically, Chastain extended Chevrolet’s winning streak at Nashville to three consecutive seasons in the three seasons the Cup Series has competed at Music City.

    “[The] Only thing sweeter [than winning] is this Georgia watermelon, I gotta tell you!” Chastain, who smashed a watermelon on the frontstretch, exclaimed on NBC. “This is incredible. This is why every little kid out there, anywhere in the world, when you get criticized and you’re going to if you’re competitive, they will try to tear you down. You will start believing them [that] you can’t do it. You have to go to your people, trust in the process, read your books, trust the big man’s plan upstairs and just keep getting up and going to work. I gotta tell you, a lot of self-reflection through all of this, but I had a group that believed in me and they didn’t let me get down. They bring rocket ships and I just try to point them into Victory Lane…It’s absolutely incredible the fight that we have.”

    “[The fun]’s just a desire to win,” Chastain added. “It’s just so hard at this level and it’s the best of the best. It’s where I’ve wanted to be since I was 18 years old. It’s a Cup win. I don’t care what happened the last month or by the rest of my life. It’s a freaking Cup win!”

    Truex, the winner of the previous Cup scheduled event at Sonoma, ended up in second place after leading 50 laps, though he maintained the lead in the regular-season standings, while teammate Hamlin rallied from wrecking late at Sonoma to settle in third at Nashville after leading 81 laps.

    “[I] Just needed to get the lead,” Truex said. “Once we lost it, I probably made a bad move, taking the bottom [lane] on the restart. Just too loose on the long runs. I could hang with whoever was leading. Just could never get off the corner good enough to make a move. Just lacking soundbite and then overall, just burning the rear tires off too much. Just really loose at the end of the race there as well. Just needed a little bit. Got lots of speed. Just could never get the balance where it needed it to be. Without having clean air, it was difficult. Overall, a good night for our Bass Pro/Tracker Toyota Camry. The guys are doing a great job. Just that close again. If we can keep doing this, we’ll be in good shape.”

    “I just think we had a third-place car the entire race,” Hamlin said. “I thought [Truex] was a little better. [Chastain], obviously, came on strong there at the end. That’s all we had with our FedEx Ground Toyota. It’s an optimized day. It’s a day with no mistakes and we gave ourselves a chance. Just didn’t have quite a fast enough car to go up and contend.”

    Meanwhile, Elliott notched his fourth top-five result of the season by finishing fourth, where he still trails the top-16 cutline to make the Playoffs by 64 points, while teammate Larson rallied to finish fifth.

    Byron, Bell, Erik Jones, Kyle Busch and AJ Allmendinger finished in the top 10. Notably, Suarez, who crashed into Chase Briscoe at the event’s conclusion while trying to congratulate teammate Chastain on the track, ended up 12th after starting the event at the rear of the field. In addition, rookie Ty Gibbs settled in 14th in front of Bubba Wallace, Bowman ended up 17th, Logano fell back to 19th, Harvick finished 24th after never recovering from his late tire issue and Reddick could only work his way up to 30th following his early spin and tire issue.

    There were 21 lead changes for 12 different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 24 laps. In total, 21 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    With nine regular-season events remaining of this year’s Cup Series schedule, Martin Truex Jr. continues to lead the regular-season standings by 18 points over both William Byron and Ross Chastain while Christopher Bell trails by 45 points and Kyle Busch trails by 48.

    William Byron, Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Christopher Bell and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. are currently guaranteed spots for the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs based on winning at least once throughout the regular-season stretch. Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Chris Buescher, Bubba Wallace and Daniel Suarez currently occupy the remaining vacant spots to the Playoffs based on points, with Suarez occupying the 16th and final vacant spot by two points over Alex Bowman, 10 over rookie Ty Gibbs, 24 over AJ Allmendinger, 27 over Michael McDowell, 45 over Corey LaJoie, 51 over Austin Cindric and 55 over Justin Haley.

    Results.

    1. Ross Chastain, 99 laps led

    2. Martin Truex Jr., 50 laps led

    3. Denny Hamlin, 81 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    4. Chase Elliott, one lap led

    5. Kyle Larson

    6. William Byron, five laps led

    7. Christopher Bell, three laps led

    8. Erik Jones

    9. Kyle Busch, 12 laps led

    10. AJ Allmendinger

    11. Brad Keselowski, two laps led

    12. Daniel Suarez, one lap led

    13. Austin Dillon

    14. Ty Gibbs

    15. Bubba Wallace

    16. Ryan Preece

    17. Alex Bowman, nine laps led

    18. Chris Buescher

    19. Joey Logano

    20. Corey LaJoie

    21. Harrison Burton

    22. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap down

    23. Justin Haley, one lap down

    24. Kevin Harvick, one lap down

    25.  Aric Almirola, one lap down

    26. Noah Gragson, one lap down

    27. Austin Cindric, one lap down

    28. Michael McDowell, one lap down

    29. JJ Yeley, two laps down

    30. Tyler Reddick, two laps down, 33 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    31. Chase Briscoe, two laps down

    32. Ty Dillon, two laps down, four laps led

    33. Brennan Poole, three laps down

    34. Josh Bilicki, three laps down

    35. Todd Gilliand, four laps down

    36. Ryan Blaney – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ inaugural event at the Chicago Street Course in Downtown Chicago, Illinois. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, July 2, at 5:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Allmendinger rolls to a chaotic Xfinity victory at Nashville

    Allmendinger rolls to a chaotic Xfinity victory at Nashville

    AJ Allmendinger survived a series of caution periods and on-track chaos, including one that involved him at the start of the second stage, to muscle his way to the front, assume a late lead and fend off the field during two late-race restarts to win the Tennessee Lottery 250 at Nashville Superspeedway on Saturday, June 24.

    The 41-year-old Allmendinger from Los Gatos, California, led three times for 25 of 196 over-scheduled laps in an event where he rolled off the starting grid in 11th place. After settling in third place at the conclusion of the first stage, he was then involved in a multi-car wreck at the start of the second stage that eliminated a handful of front-runners that included Cup Series rookie Ty Gibbs.

    Following a methodical drive back to the front for the remainder of the event, he then muscled his way into the lead with 46 laps remaining. Despite losing ground amid a slow pit service under green during the proceeding laps, Allmendinger then managed to reassume the lead from Parker Kligerman with 11 laps remaining. Despite having to endure two late-race restarts, including an overtime attempt, Allmendinger did not relent as he fended off the field of Xfinity Series regulars to grab his second checkered flag of the 2023 season.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Cole Custer notched his third pole position of the season after posting a pole-winning lap at 157.020 in 30.493 seconds. Joining him on the front row was rookie Chandler Smith, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 156.302 mph in 30.633 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Connor Mosack and Zane Smith dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. Joey Gase also dropped to the rear of the field as he started the event in a backup car and as a result of a driver change, where he replaced CJ McLaughlin.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, early trouble struck through Turns 1 and 2 when Jeb Burton and Kyle Sieg made contact and triggered a multi-car wreck that included Ryan Sieg, his brother Kyle and Stefan Parsons while the rest of the field veered to the bottom lane to avoid the carnage. Also involved was Justin Allgaier, winner of last year’s event at Nashville, after he collided into Parsons sideways while Parsons smacked the outside wall head-on. Despite suffering cosmetic damage to his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro, Allgaier managed to continue while remaining on the lead lap along with the Sieg brothers and Jeb Burton while Parsons retired.

    During the following restart on the eighth lap, Custer, who retained the lead through the event’s start and early caution period, continued to lead ahead of rookie Sammy Smith while Chandler Smith and Ty Gibbs battled for third. Entering the backstretch, Gibbs and Smith made contact, which caused the field behind Custer and Sammy Smith to fan out to three lanes. Then entering Turns 3 and 4, Austin Hill, who tried to overtake Gibbs and Chandler Smith for third amid three lanes, made contact beneath Gibbs and was sent spinning up the track as he barely clipped Jeb Burton before lightly backing his No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet Camaro into the outside wall while the rest of the field managed to dodge Hill’s incident. The incident was enough to draw the event’s second caution period.

    At the start of the proceeding restart on Lap 14, Sammy Smith and Custer dueled for the lead as the field fanned out. With Ty Gibbs also fanning out and overtaking teammate Smith for second, Custer retained the lead as the field navigated its way through a full lap under green flag conditions. With Custer leading, Carson Hocevar, winner of Friday night’s Craftsman Truck Series event at Nashville, muscled his way into third while Sammy Smith and Riley Herbst occupied the top five ahead of AJ Allmendinger.

    Three laps later, the event’s third caution flew when Chad Chastain, who was running in the middle of the pack, got loose entering Turns 3 and 4 and spun backward toward the outside wall as he also collected Ryan Ellis, who veered sideways and scrubbed the wall, while the rest of the field escaped unscathed.

    When the race restarted on Lap 21, Custer and Ty Gibbs dueled for the lead as the field fanned out to three lanes entering Turn 1. Through the turns, Gibbs started to peek ahead with the lead ahead of Custer before he assumed the spot with full authority during the following lap. With Gibbs leading Custer, Sammy Smith was in third followed by Hocevar and Allmendinger while Herbst was in sixth ahead of Chandler Smith, Parker Kligerman, Brandon Jones and rookie Parker Retzlaff.

    At the Lap 30 mark, Ty Gibbs was leading by more than a second over Custer followed by Sammy Smith, Allmendinger and Hocevar while Chandler Smith, Herbst, Parker Kligerman, Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer were in the top 10. Behind, Brandon Jones was in 11th ahead of John Hunter Nemechek, Josh Berry, Allgaier and Hill while Retzlaff, Zane Smith, Brett Moffitt, Daniel Hemric and Kaz Grala occupied the top 20.

    Nearing the Lap 40 mark, Ty Gibbs extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Custer while third-place Sammy Smith trailed by more than four seconds. Behind, Allmendinger and Hocevar remained in the top five while Chandler Smith was in sixth ahead of Herbst.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Ty Gibbs, who was making his fourth Xfinity start of the season and swept both stages at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, claimed his third Xfinity stage victory of the 2023 season. Custer trailed in second place by more than a second while Allmendinger, Hocevar, Sammy Smith, Chandler Smith, Herbst, Mayer, John Hunter Nemechek and Kligerman were scored in the top 10.

    Under the first stage break, the lead lap field led by Ty Gibbs pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Hill exited first after only opting for fuel to his car followed by Gibbs. During the pit stops, Nemechek was penalized for having too many crew members over the pit wall.

    The second stage started on Lap 52 as Hill and Gibbs occupied the front row. At the start, trouble struck for the front-runners when Hill made contact with Gibbs and sent Gibbs’ No. 19 He Gets Us Toyota Supra spinning through the first two turns, where he clipped Allmendinger and sent him spinning with damage before being hit by Hocevar’s No. 77 Premier Security Chevrolet Camaro against the outside wall as the rest of the field turned to the bottom of the track to avoid the carnage. In the midst of the carnage, Custer escaped with the lead followed by Mayer, Chandler Smith, Herbst and Creed while Gibbs and Hocevar retired.

    During the proceeding restart on Lap 59, Custer and Mayer battled dead even for the lead until Custer, who restarted on the outside lane, prevailed to retain the lead ahead of Mayer. The caution, however, quickly returned during the following lap when Connor Mosack slid sideways toward the outside wall in Turn 2. While trying to straighten his car, his car then jerked back across the wall and smacked the wall before emerging with extensive damage on both the front and rear ends.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 65, Mayer peeked ahead to lead a lap for himself, but Custer reassumed the top spot amid a fierce battle between himself, Chandler Smith and Mayer. On Lap 67, Chandler Smith made his move to the front and emerged as the new leader while Mayer, Custer and Herbst battled for second. During the following lap, the caution flew again when Sammy Smith, who was battling Sheldon Creed for fifth place, was bumped by Creed through Turns 1 and 2. The contact sent Smith back hard against the outside wall as the rear end of Smith’s No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota Supra was left destroyed while Creed, who veered sideways amid the contact, was hit by an oncoming Brandon Jones, who veered sideways with left-front damage to his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro.

    As the event restarted under green on Lap 75, Chandler Smith retained the lead ahead of Mayer while Custer rocketed his way up to third followed by Hemric, Herbst and Zane Smith.

    By Lap 80, Chandler Smith was leading by more than a second over Mayer followed by Custer, Hemric and Herbst while Zane Smith, Nemechek, Josh Berry, Brett Moffitt and Retzlaff were in the top 10 ahead of Kligerman, Ryan Sieg, Allgaier, Hill and Grala.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 90, Chandler Smith claimed his second stage victory of the 2023 season. Custer settled in second followed by a hard-charging Hemric while Mayer, Herbst, Nemechek, Zane Smith, Berry, Retzlaff and Moffitt were scored in the top 10.

    During the second stage break, where the event surpassed its halfway mark, the lead lap field led by Chandler Smith pitted. Following the pit stops, Chandler Smith retained the lead after exiting first followed by Custer, Hemric, Herbst, Nemechek and Zane Smith. Amid the pit stops, Herbst was penalized and sent to the rear of the field for an uncontrolled tire violation. In addition, Mayer, who pitted from fourth place, exited just outside of the top 10 amid a slow pit service, where he had to back his car while trying to leave his pit box after being blocked by Blaine Perkins.

    With 91 laps remaining, the final stage started as Chandler Smith and Custer occupied the front row. At the start, Chandler Smith retained the lead following a push from teammate Hemric while Hemric challenged Custer for second. With Custer retaining the runner-up spot over Hemric, Chandler Smith continued to lead while Nemechek charged his way in fourth followed by Zane Smith and Allmendinger.

    Six laps later, the caution returned when Kligerman spun in Turn 4 after receiving a bump by Kaz Grala, though Kligerman managed to quickly straighten his car below the apron and proceed without sustaining any significant damage.

    With the race restarting under green with 79 laps remaining, Chandler Smith retained the lead ahead of Custer and Hemric, with Hemric launching his charge for the lead as he overtook Custer for second. Then two laps later, Hemric assumed the lead over teammate Chandler Smith. Smith, however, reignited another charge on his Kaulig Racing teammate as he reassumed the top spot during the following lap with Custer rechallenging Hemric for second. Behind, Nemechek and Allmendinger battled for fourth as Chandler Smith stabilized his advantage to half a second.

    With 70 laps remaining, Chandler Smith was leading by four-tenths of a second over Custer and by more than a second over teammate Hemric while Nemechek and Allmendinger trailed in the top five. Smith would continue to lead with 60 laps remaining, but his advantage decreased to a tenth of a second over Custer as Custer methodically caught and challenged Smith for the lead. By then, Allmendinger, Hemric and Berry were in the top five while Nemechek, who was running in the top five a few laps earlier, made an unscheduled pit stop after reporting a vibration to his No. 20 Pye Barker Fire and Safety Toyota Supra.

    Five laps later, the battle for the lead intensified as Custer drew his No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang into a side-by-side battle against Chandler Smith’s No. 16 Quick Tie Products Chevrolet Camaro. While Custer had the advantage on the inside lane, Smith refused to relent as he remained on the gas and maintained the momentum with a narrow lead on the outside lane. With both continuing to duke for the lead, Allmendinger joined the battle as he gained massive ground on the two leaders in his No. 10 Bailey Zimmerman – Religiously Chevrolet Camaro. The battle amongst Smith, Custer and Allmendinger soon narrowed down to six-tenths of a second with the trio still dueling for the lead with 50 laps remaining.

    Two laps later, Allmendinger made his way into the runner-up spot after overtaking Custer before he proceeded to challenge his Kaulig Racing teammate Chandler Smith for the lead. With Custer losing ground on the two leaders, Allmendinger, who had managed to methodically carve his way back to the front following his Stage 2 incident, assumed the lead for the first time with 46 laps remaining while their third teammate, Hemric, was trailing in fourth place by more than three seconds.

    Then with under 45 laps remaining, green flag pit stops commenced as Allgaier pitted along with Custer, Chandler Smith and Jeremy Clements. The race leader Allmendinger and teammate Hemric would also pit with 43 laps remaining as Berry cycled his way into a brief lead. Amid the pit stops, Smith and Custer managed to cycle ahead of Allmendinger, who endured a slow pit stop.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event and with nearly the entire field having made a pit stop under green, Kligerman, who had yet to pit, was leading followed by Allmendinger, who had overtaken teammate Chandler Smith, who was dealing with an ill-handling race car amid a slide, on the track while Brandon Jones, Smith and Custer were in the top five.

    With 20 laps remaining, Kligerman, who remained on the track and was trying to conserve fuel to finish, continued to lead by more than six seconds in his No. 48 Spiked Light Coolers Chevrolet Camaro and over a hard-charging Allmendinger with third-place Custer trailing by more than nine seconds. Kligerman would proceed to lead by more than two seconds over Allmendinger with 15 laps remaining.

    Then with 11 laps remaining, Allmendinger, who methodically gained ground and drew himself alongside Kligerman during the proceeding lap, overtook Kligerman for the lead entering Turn 1. Allmendinger would proceed to stretch his advantage to more than two seconds over Kligerman, who continued to run on fuel-conserve mode, with 10 laps remaining while third-place Custer trailed by more than three seconds.

    Then with six laps remaining, the event’s 10th caution period flew when Chad Chastain spun in Turn 4. The caution period stalled Allmendinger’s progress as he was leading by more than two seconds over Custer while Kligerman was in third. During the caution period, six competitors that included the leader Allmendinger, Chandler Smith, Hill, Herbst, Berry and Hemric remained on the track while the rest led by Custer and Kligerman pitted.

    With the race restarting under green with two laps remaining, Allmendinger was drafted into the lead with help from Hill as the front-runners fanned out, among which included Herbst as he bolted his way towards the front. Then in Turns 1 and 2, trouble struck for Chandler Smith after contact with Berry amid a tight four-wide action that also included Custer and Hemric sent Smith spinning up the track while the rest of the field scrambled to the bottom of the track to avoid Smith’s incident. Amid the incident, Allmendinger remained as the leader followed by Herbst, Hill, Hemric, Berry and Kligerman, but the return of the caution sent the event into overtime.

    At the start of the first overtime attempt, Allmendinger managed to rocket away from Herbst and the field. The field behind would then fan out to multiple lanes through the backstretch as Allmendinger continued to muscle away with the lead entering Turns 3 and 4.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Allmendinger remained as the leader by eight-tenths of a second over Herbst, who was trying to fend off Hemric. Then just past the start/finish line, Hemric veered sideways, but he managed to straighten his car without triggering a wreck. Hemric’s loose moment, however, cost him a bevy of spots as Herbst, Hill and Mayer went by him. By then, Allmendinger was long gone with an advantage of more than a second through the backstretch. With the field battling amongst one another for as high as second, Allmendinger was able to cycle his way back to the finish line uncontested and score his second Xfinity victory of the 2023 season just as a multi-car wreck in the middle of the field erupted.

    With his first victory at Nashville, Allmendinger scored his 17th career win in the Xfinity Series, his second of the season after winning at Circuit of the Americas in March and his first oval, superspeedway venue victory since winning at Talladega Superspeedway in October 2022. In addition, this marked the third victory of the season for Kaulig Racing’s No. 10 “all-star” entry: twice made by Allmendinger and once by Kyle Larson at Darlington Raceway in May.

    “All thanks to all the men and women at Kaulig Racing,” Allmendinger said on USA Network. “We got [country artist] Bailey Zimmerman. He flew in from Chicago this morning. [It’s] Awesome to have him here and win a race for him. The car was really good. [I] Got caught up in that wreck on that one restart. [I] Thought at least our chance to win was over, but the guys did such a great job of fixing [the car]. This is one of those iconic trophies [Gibson guitars] you wanna win. What a cool way to do it.”

    “All these wins are amazing,” Allmendinger added. “I love winning on ovals because I know a lot of people doubt me being on an oval. What a great time.”

    Herbst, racing for the first time with new crew chief Davin Restivo, settled in a career-best second place for the third time in his career and after coming off eight consecutive events of finishing no higher than 14th. Mayer ended up third while Hill and Berry finished in the top five.

    Nemechek came home in sixth place while Zane Smith, Hemric, Custer and Retzlaff finished in the top 10. Behind, Kligerman, Moffitt and Allgaier, all of whom wrecked approaching the finish line, ended up 11th, 14th and 15th, respectively, while Chandler Smith rallied his way to 12th.

    There were 17 lead changes for 11 different leaders. The race featured a record-tying 11 cautions for 58 laps. In total, 16 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    With 11 Xfinity regular-season events remaining on the schedule, John Hunter Nemechek leads the regular-season standings by nine points over Austin Hill, 41 over Justin Allgaier and 51 over Cole Custer.

    Results.

    1. AJ Allmendinger, 25 laps led

    2. Riley Herbst

    3. Sam Mayer, six laps led

    4. Austin Hill, three laps led

    5. Josh Berry, one lap led

    6. John Hunter Nemechek

    7. Zane Smith

    8. Daniel Hemric, one lap led

    9. Cole Custer, 32 laps led

    10. Parker Retzlaff, three laps led

    11. Parker Kligerman, 22 laps led

    12. Chandler Smith, 74 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    13. Jeb Burton

    14. Brett Moffitt

    15. Justin Allgaier

    16. Kaz Grala

    17. Sheldon Creed, one lap down

    18. Kyle Weatherman, one lap down

    19. Ryan Sieg, one lap down

    20. Brennan Poole, one lap down

    21. Joe Graf Jr., one lap down

     22. Jeremy Clements, one lap down

    23. Anthony Alfredo, one lap down

    24. Brandon Jones, one lap down

    25. Kyle Sieg, one lap down

    26. Blaine Perkins, two laps down

    27. Jeffrey Earnhardt, two laps down

    28. Ryan Ellis, two laps down

    29. Chad Chastain, two laps down

    30. David Starr, three laps down

    31. Joey Gase, three laps down

    32. Mason Massey, 10 laps down

    33. Josh Williams – OUT, Alternator

    34. Sammy Smith – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    35. Connor Mosack – OUT, Dvp

    36. Carson Hocevar – OUT, Accident

    37. Ty Gibbs – OUT, Accident, 28 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    38. Stefan Parsons – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ inaugural event at the Chicago Street Course in Downtown Chicago, Illinois. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, July 1, at 5 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Hocevar scores second Truck career triumph at Nashville

    Hocevar scores second Truck career triumph at Nashville

    In a season where he silenced his doubters and became a NASCAR race winner for the first time in his career, Carson Hocevar doubled down with another reason to celebrate after scoring a late victory in the Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville Superspeedway on Friday, June 23.

    The 20-year-old Hocevar from Portage, Michigan, led the final 40 of 150-scheduled laps in an event where he rolled off the starting grid in seventh place before keeping pace with the front-runners as the event proceeded under the lights. He assumed the lead for the first time during a restart with 40 laps remaining and Hocevar appeared to be heading toward a potential victory when a late two-truck incident with 10 laps remaining stalled his momentum momentarily. After being one of select competitors to remain on the track instead of pitting for fresh tires, Hocevar then managed to fend off a late charge from reigning series champion Zane Smith during a three-lap shootout to claim the second checkered flag of this season and of his youthful career.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, rookie Nick Sanchez notched his third career pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 161.915 mph in 29.571 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Bayley Currey, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 161.844 mph in 29.584 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Toni Breidinger and Dean Thompson dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective trucks.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Sanchez and Currey briefly dueled for the lead entering the first turn until Sanchez rocketed ahead on the inside lane through the first turn. With Sanchez out in front through the backstretch, rookie Rajah Caruth, who qualified third, battled Currey for second. Corey Heim, the series points leader who returned from a one-race absence due to illness that caused him to miss the previous event at World Wide Technology Raceway in early June, joined the battle entering the third turn. Caruth would muscle ahead and acquire the runner-up spot as Sanchez proceeded to lead the first lap.

    Three laps later and amid a series of early on-track battles while Sanchez continued to lead ahead of Caruth, the first caution of the event. Hailie Deegan, who was battling Lawless Alan for a spot within the top 20, got loose underneath Alan in Turn 3 as both competitors slipped sideways up the groove, with Deegan barely clipping the No. 51 Rowdy Manufacturing Chevrolet Silverado RST piloted by Jack Wood. While Deegan backed her No. 13 ThorSport Racing Ford F-150 into Turn 3’s outside wall, Alan, who was trying to save his sideways truck, ended up darting back towards the wall as he was hit by Wood before both competitors hit the wall and emerged with damaged trucks.

    When the race restarted under green on the ninth lap, Sanchez fended off Caruth entering the first turn to retain the lead while Zane Smith, who restarted within the top six, got loose entering the first turn, but managed to continue without losing ground of the leaders. Shortly after, however, the caution returned when Alan blew a right-side tire and smacked the outside wall in Turn 1, his second incident of the night, and became the first retiree of the event.

    During the proceeding restart on Lap 16, Sanchez and Caruth battled for the lead until Sanchez managed to pull ahead of Caruth to retain the lead during the following lap. With Sanchez leading the field, Carson Hocevar, who started seventh, battled and overtook teammate Currey for third as Corey Heim, Zane Smith and rookie Taylor Gray battled for fifth.

    Through the first 25 scheduled laps, Sanchez was leading by two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Caruth while third-place Hocevar trailed by more than a second. Behind, Zane Smith and Currey battled for fourth while Heim, Tyler Ankrum, Taylor Gray, Grant Enfinger and Tanner Gray were running in the top 10. Meanwhile, Matt DiBenedetto was in 11th ahead of Stewart Friesen, Christian Eckes, Ben Rhodes and Chase Purdy while rookie Daniel Dye, rookie Jake Garcia, Matt Crafton, Ty Majeski and Colby Howard occupied the top 20.

    Five laps later, Sanchez continued to lead by a tenth of a second over Caruth, who continued to intimidate and challenge Sanchez for the lead through every turn and corner. Behind, Zane Smith muscled his Speedco Ford F-150 into third place over Hocevar and Currey while Heim trailed in sixth place.

    During the proceeding five laps, the battle for the lead continued to ignite between Sanchez and Caruth. With both competitors encountering lapped traffic, Caruth made several side-by-side challenges on Sanchez to acquire the lead, but Sanchez would manage to fend off Caruth’s attacks by the time both returned to the start/finish line.

    On Lap 36, Caruth managed to lead a lap for himself over Sanchez. A lap later, however, Caruth was quickly overtaken by Sanchez as Zane Smith followed suit. Zane Smith would then become the new race leader on Lap 39 after assuming the top spot over Sanchez while Caruth, who was off the pace, made an unscheduled pit stop to address a loss of fuel pressure to his No. 24 Born Driven Chevrolet Silverado RST.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Zane Smith, who stretched his advantage to more than two seconds after acquiring the lead on Lap 39, captured his second stage victory of the 2023 season. Sanchez settled in second as he trailed Smith by more than two seconds while Currey, Hocevar, Heim, Ankrum, Tanner Gray, Enfinger, DiBenedetto and Taylor Gray were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Zane Smith pitted. Following the pit stops, Heim managed to squeak ahead and exit first with the lead followed by Sanchez, Currey, Zane Smith, Ankrum and Taylor Gray.

    The second stage started on Lap 53 as Heim and Sanchez occupied the front row. At the start, Heim retained the lead followed by Currey, who overtook Sanchez for second after pushing Heim into the lead at the restart mark. Taylor Gray would then challenge Sanchez for third entering the backstretch before Sanchez retained the spot followed by Zane Smith. Gray would then get dropkicked to eighth as Rhodes, Hocevar and Ankrum overtook him for spots within the top seven. Soon after, Gray would be challenged by Matt DiBenedetto, Eckes and a steaming pack of competitors for eighth during the proceeding laps as Heim retained the lead over Currey and a hard-charging Zane Smith.

    By Lap 60, Heim’s No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro was leading by two-tenths of a second over Currey’s No. 41 Unishippers Chevrolet Silverado RST while third-place Zane Smith trailed by more than a second. Sanchez, meanwhile, was in fourth ahead of Hocevar while Rhodes, Ankrum, DiBenedetto, Taylor Gray and Christian Eckes were in the top 10.

    Two laps later, Currey led a lap for himself amid a fierce battle with Heim. Both competitors would then duel for the lead before Heim reassumed the top spot during the proceeding lap. With both competitors continuing to battle for the lead by Lap 65, Heim fended off Currey’s repeated attacks to retain the lead as Zane Smith narrowed his deficit to six-tenths of a second as he started to join the battle for the lead.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 75, Heim was leading by two-tenths of a second over Currey followed by Zane Smith, Hocevar and Sanchez while Rhodes, Ankrum, DiBenedetto, Tanner Gray and Taylor Gray were in the top 10. Behind, Eckes was in 11th ahead of Enfinger, Stewart Friesen, Chase Purdy and Daniel Dye while newcomer Jake Drew, Jake Garcia, Dean Thompson, Matt Crafton and Colby Howard were running in the top 20. Meanwhile, Ty Majeski, who was slow on the track three laps earlier due to an electrical issue, had pulled his truck off the course without drawing a caution.

    Then on Lap 84, the fourth caution of the event flew when Stewart Friesen spun his No. 52 Ferris Commercial Mowers Toyota Tundra TRD Pro entering Turn 4. During the caution period, DiBenedetto remained on the track to assume the race lead in his No. 25 Rackley Roofing Chevrolet Silverado RST while the rest of the lead lap field led by Heim pitted. Following the pit stops, Heim exited pit road first followed by Zane Smith, Hocevar, Rhodes and Currey. Amid the pit stops, Crafton was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation while Layne Riggs was also penalized for speeding on pit road.

    With five laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted under green. At the start, DiBenedetto maintained the lead through the first two turns as Rhodes, Heim and Zane Smith battled behind while fanned out to three lanes. Through the backstretch, however, Heim made his move beneath DiBenedetto and reassumed the lead. Amid the on-track jostles for spots, DiBenedetto was left to battle Hocevar and Zane Smith to retain second amid competing on worn tires while Heim started to pull away with the lead.

    Then with three laps remaining in the second stage, the caution returned when Daniel Dye, who was running outside the top 10, got loose as his truck washed up the track through Turns 1 and 2. Dye then clipped Layne Riggs as his truck started to turn down towards the track’s banking as Riggs was sent spinning through the backstretch. Riggs was then T-boned by an oncoming Bret Holmes as both competitors came to a rest with wrecked trucks.

    The recent caution period for the multi-truck wreck was enough for the second stage scheduled to conclude on Lap 95 to finish under caution as Heim captured his fifth stage victory of the 2023 season. Hocevar trailed in second followed by DiBenedetto while Zane Smith, Rhodes, Ankrum, Currey, Tanner Gray, Jake Drew and Eckes were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, select names that included DiBenedetto pitted while the rest led by Heim remained on the track. Among those who pitted included Grant Enfinger, the series’ recent winner at World Wide Technology Raceway who pitted for repairs to his left front after making contact with Dean Thompson on pit road during the previous caution period.

    With 48 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as Heim and Hocevar occupied the front row. At the start, Heim rocketed away from Hocevar and the field to retain the lead, though Hocevar kept Heim close within his sights. Behind, Zane Smith and Ben Rhodes battled for third while Currey trailed in fifth ahead of Ankrum, Tanner Gray, Jake Drew, Eckes and Sanchez.

    Two laps later, the caution returned when Thompson, who was battling Eckes for ninth, got loose beneath Eckes and started to wash up the track as he barely clipped Eckes’ No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST before he spun and backed his No. 5 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota Tundra TRD Pro into the outside wall, thus damaging his rear deck lid, in Turn 3. During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Heim remained on the track while select names that included Enfinger, Eckes, Friesen and Layne Riggs pitted.

    During the following restart with 40 laps remaining, Heim and Hocevar dueled dead even for the lead entering the first two turns until Hocevar rocketed his No. 42 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Silverado RST into the lead. With Hocevar emerging as the new leader of the event, Heim fell back to second while Zane Smith and Currey battled for third in front of Ankrum and Rhodes.

    With 35 laps remaining, Hocevar was leading by nine-tenths of a second over Heim while Currey and Zane Smith, both of whom trailed the leader by more than a second, continued to battle for third as Ankrum was trying to fend off Rhodes and Sanchez for fifth. Hocevar would proceed to extend his advantage to more than a second over the new runner-up competitor Zane Smith with 30 laps remaining.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Hocevar stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Zane Smith while third-place Heim trailed by more than three seconds. Currey and Rhodes were running in the top five while Sanchez, Ankrum, Purdy, Drew and Tanner Gray were battling in the top 10.

    Then with 10 laps remaining, the caution flew when Friesen, who was running 22nd, got loose and slipped sideways entering Turn 4 as he clipped Enfinger before colliding into Eckes and sending both to spin across the frontstretch grass. At the moment of caution, Hocevar was leading by more than a second over Zane Smith while Heim, Currey and Sanchez were scored in the top five.

    During the caution period, names that included Hocevar, Zane Smith, Heim, Chase Purdy, Tanner Gray and Jake Garcia remained on the track while the rest led by Currey and Sanchez pitted amid a mixed strategy.

    Down to a three-lap shootout, as Hocevar and Zane Smith occupied the front row, Hocevar received a big push from Chase Purdy to rocket ahead with the lead at the restart zone. As the field fanned out entering the first turn, Hocevar retained the lead while Zane Smith and Heim pursued the leader. Hocevar would continue to lead throughout the circuit while the field behind jostled for late positions.

    With two laps remaining, Sanchez, racing on fresh tires in his No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado RST, overtook Heim for third while Hocevar stabilized his advantage to three-tenths of a second over Smith.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hocevar remained as the leader by three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Zane Smith. Smith then tried to gain ground on Hocevar entering Turn 1, but he went wide and lost his momentum as Hocevar muscled away on the inside lane. Then through the backstretch, Smith and Sanchez set their final lap moves on Hocevar, but neither prevailed approaching Turns 3 and 4. This allowed Hocevar to pull away and beat both within three-tenths of a second to grab his second checkered flag of this season and of his career.

    With the victory, Hocevar joined Zane Smith, Christian Eckes and Grant Enfinger as the only competitors to achieve multiple Craftsman Truck Series victories this season while also recording the sixth career victory for Niece Motorsports. The Nashville victory occurred more than two months after the Michigan native claimed his first Truck triumph at Texas Motor Speedway amid a wild last-lap battle involving Nick Sanchez and Zane Smith.

    In addition, Hocevar, who is coming off four consecutive top-five results in recent weeks, claimed the third and final $50,000 bonus as part of this year’s Craftsman Triple Truck Challenge bonus.

    “I would say I enjoy [this ride] a lot right now,” Hocevar said on FS1. “I led [a race] to the [start/finish] line after the white [flag] and carried it around, so I could finally get that out of the rest. Hopefully, that puts together any doubters. [Team owner] Al Niece, I hope he lets me drive a truck for a long time because I wanna win a lot of races for him. In the meantime, hopefully, I can win a lot more races everywhere else, under the sun or any car I get in. [Crew chief] Phil Gould’s a magician with these things and just glad I’m finally being able to put a fraction together of what he deserves.”

    Meanwhile, Zane Smith, who is coming off four consecutive weeks of finishing 20th or worse, rallied by finishing in second place at Nashville for a second consecutive season while Nick Sanchez claimed his second top-three result of his career by finishing in third place.

    “Yeah, definitely frustrating,” Smith said. “I wanna win here really bad. I love this place. Just needed to be better on restarts. [I] Struggled really bad all night from first to second [gear], but third to fourth, that was really good. [The leaders] would just be too far ahead and then, that final restart, [Heim] had just jumped outside of us and just pulled us back even more. I was catching [Hocevar]. I feel like we were better than him, but he just had the track position and he had the clean air. We did not.”

    “At the end of the day, it was a good points night,” Sanchez added. “That’s what we needed, but I’d kind of be lying if I said I wasn’t a little disappointed. Third’s good, but I think we had the fastest truck. Just got to get better on my end. Got to execute a little better. I lost a little bit on pit road, so that hurt us. [I] Felt like we were always fighting behind, but can’t say enough about this No. 2 Rev Racing, Gainbridge Chevrolet crew. Every week, fast truck, so just go to Mid-Ohio and try again.”

    Heim ended up in fourth place despite leading a race-high 57 laps, but he managed to retain the lead in the regular-season standings, while Bayley Currey notched his second top-five career result by finishing fifth.

    Chase Purdy, Matt DiBenedetto, Tyler Ankrum, Ben Rhodes and rookie Jake Garcia completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    Notably, Jake Drew, the reigning ARCA Menards Series West champion, finished 12th in his Truck Series debut while Toni Breidinger finished 17th in her third Truck career start. Enfinger ended up 13th while Friesen and Eckes settled in 18th and 23rd, respectively, following their late wreck.

    There were nine lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 43 laps. In addition, 18 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 13th event of the 2023 Craftsman Truck Series season, Corey Heim leads the regular-season standings by 16 points over Zane Smith, 31 over Grant Enfinger, 44 over Ty Majeski and 47 over Ben Rhodes.

    With three regular-season events remaining on the schedule, Christian Eckes, Zane Smith, Carson Hocevar, Grant Enfinger, Corey Heim and Ben Rhodes are currently locked into the 2023 Truck Series Playoffs based on winning at least once throughout the regular-season stretch. Ty Majeski, Matt DiBenedetto, Matt Crafton and Nick Sanchez are above the top-10 cutline based on points, with Sanchez occupying the final transfer spot by six points over both Stewart Friesen and Tanner Gray, 39 over Chase Purdy and 63 over Jake Garcia.

    Results.

    1. Carson Hocevar, 40 laps led

    2. Zane Smith, 11 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    3. Nick Sanchez, 38 laps led

    4. Corey Heim, 57 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    5. Bayley Currey, one lap led

    6. Chase Purdy

    7. Matt DiBenedetto, three laps led

    8. Tyler Ankrum

    9. Ben Rhodes

    10. Jake Garcia

    11. Tanner Gray

    12. Jake Drew

    13. Grant Enfinger

    14. Taylor Gray

    15. Matt Crafton

    16. Timmy Hill

    17. Toni Breidinger

    18. Stewart Friesen

    19. Nick Leitz, one lap down

    20. Mason Maggio, one lap down

    21. Cory Roper, two laps down

     22. Daniel Dye, two laps down

    23. Christian Eckes, two laps down

    24. Jonathan Shafer, three laps down

    25. Spencer Boyd, three laps down

    26. Chase Janes, three laps down

    27. Layne Riggs, three laps down

    28. Hailie Deegan, four laps down

    29. Colby Howard, six laps down

    30. Jack Wood, six laps down

    31. Ty Majeski, 17 laps down

    32. Rajah Caruth, 31 laps down, one lap led

    33. Dean Thompson – OUT, Dvp

    34. Bret Holmes – OUT, Accident

    35. Memphis Villarreal – OUT, Electrical

    36. Lawless Alan – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season is the series’ second annual visit to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. The event is scheduled to occur on July 8 at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Weekend schedule for Nashville Superspeedway

    Weekend schedule for Nashville Superspeedway

    NASCAR heads to Nashville Superspeedway this weekend with a full schedule of events as all three national series compete. The superspeedway is a 1.33-mile, D-shaped oval, and the longest concrete surface track on the 2023 schedule.

    There have been two previous Cup Series races at Nashville. Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson won the inaugural event in 2021 and Chase Elliott returns as the defending race winner.

    JR Motorsports driver, Justin Allgaier, won the 2022 Xfinity Series event at Nashville. With another victory, he would become only the second back-to-back winner. Carl Edwards has the most Xfinity Series victories at the track with five (2006, 2007 sweep, 2011 sweep) and will be in attendance this weekend as the track pays tribute to his expertise at the venue.

    This will be the last race of the 2023 Triple Truck Challenge with a new winner collecting a 50,000 bonus or previous winners, Grant Enfinger and Ben Rhodes, earning an additional $150,000 payout.

    All times are Eastern.

    Press Pass will be available after qualifying and post-race for all series.

    Friday, June 23

    4 p.m.: Truck Series Practice (All Entries) FS1
    4:30 p.m.: Truck Qualifying (All Entries) Impound/Single Vehicle/1 Lap – FS1
    5:35 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice (All Entries) USA
    6:30 P.M.: Cup Series Practice (All Entries) USA

    8 p.m.: Truck Series Rackley Roofing 200
    Distance: 199.5 miles (150 Laps)
    Stages end on Laps 45, 95, 150
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM

    Saturday, June 24

    12 Noon: Xfinity Qualifying (Impound) Single Vehicle/1 Lap/All Entries – USA
    1 p.m.: Cup Qualifying (Impound) Group A & B – Single Vehicle/1 Lap/2 Rounds – USA/PRN/SiriusXM

    3:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Tennessee Lottery 250 race
    Distance: 250.04 miles (188 Laps)
    Stages end on Laps 45, 90, 188
    USA/PRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $1,616,383

    Sunday, June 25

    7 p.m.: Cup Series Ally 400
    Distance: 399 miles (300 Laps)
    Stages end on Laps 90, 185, 300
    NBC/PRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $8,516,134

  • Bubba Wallace to make 200th Cup career start at Nashville

    Bubba Wallace to make 200th Cup career start at Nashville

    In his sixth full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series, Bubba Wallace is primed to achieve a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s Cup event at Nashville Superspeedway, the driver of the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota TRD Camry will achieve 200 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series.

    A native of Mobile, Alabama, Wallace made his inaugural presence in NASCAR’s premier series at Pocono Raceway in June when he was named an interim competitor of the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford Fusion in place of Aric Almirola, who was recovering from a compression fracture to his T5 Vertebra after being involved in a vicious multi-car wreck at Kansas Speedway in May. By then, Wallace, who had recently lost his ride at Roush Fenway Racing in the Xfinity Series due to sponsorship issues, became the first African-American competitor to compete in a Cup Series event since Bill Lester made the last accomplishment at Michigan International Speedway in June 2006. During his Cup debut at Pocono, Wallace started 16th and finished 26th after serving multiple pit road speeding penalties. He returned for the following three of four Cup events, where he finished 19th at Michigan International Speedway in June, 15th at Daytona International Speedway and a season-best 11th at Kentucky Speedway in July, respectively, before Almirola returned to competition and Wallace was left without a full-time ride for the remainder of the season.

    In late October 2017, Wallace was named a full-time competitor of the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the 2018 Cup season, thus making him the first African-American competitor to compete on a full-time basis in NASCAR’s premier series since the late NASCAR Hall of Famer Wendell Scott made the last accomplishment in 1971. Making his Daytona Speedweeks debut in February, Wallace notched a strong third-place result in the first of two Daytona Duel events as he lined up in seventh place for the 60th running of the Daytona 500. He then edged veteran Denny Hamlin by 0.002 seconds in a two-lap shootout to finish in second place behind race winner Austin Dillon in the 500, which made him the highest-finishing African-American competitor in the Daytona 500’s history as he eclipsed the previous record made by Scott’s 13th-place result in 1966.

    Commencing his first full-time Cup season on a strong note at Daytona, Wallace then finished no higher than 20th during the following five scheduled events before posting his second career top-10 result at Texas Motor Speedway in April. He then led six laps during the following scheduled event at Bristol Motor Speedway before falling back to 16th place in the final scoreboard. Finishing no higher than 14th for the remaining 18 regular-season events, Wallace did not clinch a spot to the 2018 Cup Playoffs. After finishing no higher than 19th throughout the Playoffs, Wallace managed to finish 10th in the penultimate event at Phoenix Raceway in November before capping off the season in 21st at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Ultimately, he capped off his first full-time Cup campaign in 28th place in the final standings and in the runner-up spot behind William Byron in the rookie standings on the strength of three top-10 results, 10 top-20 results, 19 total laps led and an average-finishing result of 24.5.

    Through the first 12 events of the 2019 season, Wallace achieved only two top-20 results and finished no higher than 17th, which occurred at Martinsville in March. Then during the All-Star weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, he and the No. 43 RPM team rose to the occasion as the Alabama native fended off Daniel Suarez in a two-lap shootout to win the second stage of the All-Star Open and transfer to his first career appearance in the All-Star Race, where he went on to finish in fifth place. From the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in May through the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in September, Wallace notched a total of two top-15 results before achieving his second career top-five result in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which marked his second top-three run in NASCAR’s crown-jewel events. The top-three result at Indy, however, was not enough for him to make the 2019 Cup Playoffs. Managing only two additional top-15 results throughout the 10-race Playoff stretch, Wallace concluded his sophomore season in 28th place in the final standings and with an average-finishing result of 23.9.

    In 2020, which marked his third Cup season driving for Richard Petty Motorsports, Wallace commenced the season by finishing 15th in the 62nd running of the Daytona 500. He then posted a strong sixth-place result at Las Vegas Motor Speedway following a late strategic call to remain on worn tires during a two-lap shootout before finishing 27th and 19th during the following two scheduled events at Auto Club Speedway and Phoenix. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic season that initially paused all racing activities until May and throughout the Carolinas, Wallace finished no higher than 16th during his next four scheduled starts before notching a 10th-place result at Bristol Motor Speedway in June. He then earned an additional three top-15 results throughout the following four events before finishing ninth at Indianapolis in July and ninth at Michigan in August. Despite achieving his lone top-five result in the regular-season finale at Daytona in August, Wallace fell short of making the Playoffs for a third consecutive season. With a total of two top-20 results throughout the 2020 Playoffs, Wallace capped off his junior Cup season in 22nd place in the final standings as he also achieved a total of five top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 21.1. By then, he surpassed 100 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series.

    In September 2020, Wallace was named a full-time competitor of the newly formed No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota Camry team that was formed by NBA legend Michael Jordan and NASCAR veteran Denny Hamlin for the 2021 Cup season. Despite finishing second in the second of two Bluegreen Vacation Duels, Wallace’s first run with 23XI commenced on a fiery note after being involved in a multi-car wreck on the final lap of the 63rd running of the Daytona 500 and settling in 17th place in the final running order. He then finished no higher than 11th during his next 18-scheduled starts before notching his first top-five result of the season at Pocono Raceway in July by finishing fifth. Wallace’s top-five run occurred through fuel strategy as he remained on the track with enough fuel to finish.

    After posting three top-20 results during the following five events, he ended up in second place in the regular-season finale at Daytona in August, but fell one spot short of racing his way into the 2021 Cup Playoffs. Five races later at Talladega in October, though, Wallace achieved his first career win in NASCAR’s premier series after the event was concluded 71 laps shy of the full distance due to inclement weather, where Wallace made a late surge to the lead before fending off Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano amid the draft. By recording the first career win for 23XI Racing, Wallace became the 198th different competitor to win in NASCAR’s premier series and the first African-American competitor to win in NASCAR’s premier series since Wendell Scott made the first accomplishment in 1963 at Speedway Park in Jacksonville, Florida. Managing two 14th-place results for the final five scheduled events, Wallace capped off the season in 21st place in the final standings on the strength of his Talladega victory, three top-five results, 62 total laps led and an average-finishing result of 19.7.

    Remaining at 23XI Racing for the 2022 season, Wallace commenced the season on a high note by finishing in second place in the 64th running of the Daytona 500 after being beaten by rookie Austin Cindric by 0.036 seconds. He, however, finished no higher than 13th through the following 11-scheduled events before recording his second top-10 result of the season at Kansas Speedway in May. By then, Wallace and the No. 23 team had achieved a total of seven top-20 results. After finishing no higher than 12th during the next six events, he then ignited a hot streak by notching four consecutive top-eight results. This included a third-place result at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and a fifth-place run at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in July. He also posted a strong runner-up result at Michigan in August after starting on pole position for the first time in his career. With two top-13 results in the final three regular-season events, however, Wallace fell short of making the Playoffs for a fifth consecutive season.

    Then prior to the Playoffs, Wallace was moved to pilot 23XI Racing’s No. 45 entry that was competing for the owner’s title. Commencing the Playoffs with a ninth-place result in the Southern 500, Wallace earned his second Cup career victory at Kansas in September after leading 58 of 267 laps and beating owner Hamlin by a full second. The Kansas victory, which transferred the No. 45 team from the Round of 16 to 12 in the owner’s standings, made him the first African-American competitor to achieve multiple victories in NASCAR’s premier series and the 18th different winner of the 2022 campaign. The team’s entry, however, was eliminated from the owner’s battle after finishing no higher than seventh during the Round of 12. Then at Las Vegas in October, Wallace experienced a low point to his career by intentionally wrecking reigning champion Kyle Larson across the frontstretch and engaging in a shoving match with Larson following earlier contact with Larson that led to the incident. The wreck prompted NASCAR to suspend Wallace for the following event at Homestead as John Hunter Nemechek piloted the No. 45 entry. Returning for the final two events, Wallace capped off his strongest season to date by finishing eighth and 22nd at Martinsville and Phoenix, respectively, before ending up in 19th place in the final standings. By then, Wallace had achieved career-high stats in top fives (five), top 10s (10) and laps led in a season (150) while also achieving a career-best average-finishing result of 18.3.

    Through the first 16-scheduled events of the 2023 Cup Series season, Wallace is off to his strongest starts of a season to date. He and the No. 23 team have rallied from posting back-to-back DNFs through the first two scheduled events by finishing fourth at Las Vegas in March. After posting two top-14 results for the following five scheduled events, he then notched a ninth-place run at Martinsville in April. A week later, he was leading on the final lap at Talladega when he and fellow competitor Ryan Blaney made contact that resulted with Wallace triggering a multi-car wreck and ending up 28th in the final running order. Wallace, though, rallied by finishing 12th, fourth, fifth and fourth, respectively during the proceeding four events. Despite coming off two consecutive results outside the top 15 in 30th and 17th, respectively, he is currently ranked in 15th place in the driver’s standings and is inside the top-16 cutline to make the 2023 Cup Playoffs by 26 points.

    Through 199 previous Cup starts, Wallace has achieved two victories, one pole, 15 top-five results, 27 top-10 results, 299 laps led and an average-finishing result of 21.1.

    Wallace is scheduled to make his 200th Cup Series career start at Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday, June 25, with the event’s coverage to occur at 7 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • NASCAR reveals 2023 Xfinity Dash 4 Cash, Triple Truck Challenge schedules

    NASCAR reveals 2023 Xfinity Dash 4 Cash, Triple Truck Challenge schedules

    With the 2023 NASCAR season nearing its commencement, the Xfinity Series Dash 4 Cash and the Craftsman Truck Series’ Triple Truck Challenge programs will also be returning and featured in the early portions of the upcoming racing schedule.

    For the Xfinity Series, the Dash 4 Cash program will launch its 15th consecutive season by hosting its qualifying event at Circuit of the Americas for a second consecutive season on March 25, where the top-four highest-finishing Xfinity regulars in the final running order will contend for the first round of bonus money. The Dash 4 Cash program will then commence at Richmond Raceway on April 1 before returning for the following three consecutive events at Martinsville Speedway on April 15, Talladega Superspeedway on April 22 and Dover Motor Speedway on April 29. The highest-finishing Xfinity competitor in each event will receive the cash-winning prize, with opportunities for the cash-winning prize to increase should a competitor achieve the bonus more than once.

    This past season, Sam Mayer commenced the Dash 4 Cash program by winning the first bonus round at Richmond. Veteran AJ Allmendinger claimed the following two bonuses at Martinsville and Talladega before Noah Gragson claimed the fourth and final bonus at Dover. While Allmendinger and Gragson have moved up to the NASCAR Cup Series for this upcoming season, Mayer returns to the Xfinity Series for JR Motorsports as he will contend for another round of bonus money.

    For the Craftsman Truck Series, which has been renamed from the Camping World Truck Series, the Triple Truck Challenge will occupy three events for a fifth consecutive season and offer Truck regulars three opportunities to earn bonus money for themselves. The program will launch at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 26 before returning at World Wide Technology Raceway on June 3 and at Nashville Superspeedway on June 23.

    A year ago, Corey Heim claimed the first Triple Truck Challenge bonus after winning at World Wide Technology Raceway in Gateway. Ryan Preece went on to claim the second bonus after winning at Nashville before Parker Kligerman capped off the program by winning both the race and the bonus at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. While Preece and Kligerman have moved up to the Cup and Xfinity Series respectively, Heim will receive additional opportunities to compete for additional cash as he returns to the Truck Series as a full-time competitor for TRICON Garage.

    Photo by Simon Scoggins for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    For both initiatives, drivers who are competing for championship points in their respective series will only be eligible to compete in their respective cash-winning events (Xfinity for Dash 4 Cash and Truck for Triple Truck Challenge), thus making the Cup Series competitors ineligible for both program events.

    As part of the restriction process that will not allow competitors competing in additional national touring series events in major events, drivers who are not competing for Xfinity Series points will be ineligible to compete in the series’ Playoff events, elimination races and the inaugural Xfinity event at the Chicago Street Race that is scheduled to occur on July 1. In addition, Xfinity regulars will not be allowed to compete in the Truck season finale event at Phoenix Raceway on November 3 while Cup regulars are ineligible to compete in the Truck’s Playoff schedule. Cup regulars, however, are permitted to compete in a maximum of five Xfinity and Truck events that do not involve the major bonus, Playoff or championship events.

    The 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season is set to commence at Daytona International Speedway on February 17 with the event’s coverage to occur at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1. The 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series season is scheduled to occur the following day on February 18 with the event’s coverage to commence at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Nashville

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Nashville

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Chase Elliott: Elliott surged late and held off Kurt Busch to win the Ally 400 at Nashville, earning his first win since May 1st at Dover.

    “That was nearly two months without a victory,” Elliott said. “But holding this guitar trophy means I’m not going to ‘fret’ over that.”

    2. Ross Chastain: Chastain took fifth in the Ally 400.

    “My No. 1 car was primarily sponsored by Jockey for this race,” Chastain said. “In this business, you can never underestimate the importance of clean underwear, what with racing terms like ‘dirty air,’ ‘runs,’ and ‘rear spoilers.’”

    3. Ryan Blaney: Blaney posted a solid third in the Ally 400 at Nashville, scoring his seventh top-five of the season.

    “I’m still looking for that elusive win this season,” Blaney said. “I’d get my father Dave to help me find it, but history says he has no clue where to find a win.”

    4. Joey Logano: Logano finished ninth at Nashville.

    “Former Penske Racing great Rusty Wallace is appearing in a new Skechers commercial,” Logano said. “So, while Rusty wants to put his shoe in the retail market, his former teammate Ryan Newman still wants to put his shoe somewhere else, and that’s in Rusty where the sun don’t shine.”

    5. Kyle Busch: Busch was running second at the final caution at Nashville, and opted to pit for tires, which was ultimately the wrong decision. Busch finished 21st, as Chase Elliott, who stayed out, took the win.

    “Obviously,” Busch said, “pitting was the wrong call. And, obviously, only signing 100 autographs at a local Wal-Mart was also the wrong call. And obviously, the right thing to do would have been to sign fewer.”

    6. Kevin Harvick: Harvick came home 10th at Nashville, posting his eighth top-10 of the year.

    “Once again,” Harvick said, “my car was adorned with the Busch Light Apple paint scheme. I’m interested in people’s opinion of what appears to be an awful flavor. If you’re hesitant to give that opinion, I suggest you ‘spit it out.’”

    7. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex won Stages 1 and 2, but a late pit stop gamble shuffled him back, and he finished 22nd in the Ally 400.

    “I’m returning to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2023,” Truex said. “I think JGR cars give me the best chance to go fast and win races. So, when I ask myself, ‘Should I stay or should I go?,’ I can confidently answer ‘Both.’”

    8. Kyle Larson: Larson started third and finished fourth at Nashville, and is seventh in the points standings.

    “I haven’t won a race since February in California,” Larson said. “So I feel like I’m due, for a win, or sensitivity training, or both.”

    9. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin started on the pole and led a race-high 114 laps en route to a sixth-place finish at Nashville.

    “It could have been a much better finish,” Hamlin said. “I should have stayed out on that last caution. If I had it to do over, I would have done a ‘do-over.’”

    10. Christopher Bell: Bell finished eighth at Nashville.

    “Sunday’s race was delayed twice for lightning,” Bell said, “and once for rain. If only Tim Richmond and Jeremy Mayfield could have somehow caused a disturbance, the race could have also been delayed for ‘snow’ and ‘ice.’”