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Larson cruises to third All-Star career victory at North Wilkesboro

From an early speeding penalty to cashing in a million dollars in NASCAR’s revival of one of the sport’s oldest venues, Kyle Larson cruised to a dominant victory in the 2023 NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, on Sunday, May 21.

The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, led two times for a race-high 145 of 200-scheduled laps in a weekend where he started 16th out of the 24-car field and rallied from speeding on pit road during a caution period past the Lap 15 mark to methodically carve his way through the field. After assuming the lead from pole-sitter Daniel Suarez on Lap 55 of 200, Larson never looked back as he also retained the lead during a 90-lap shootout to beat runner-up Bubba Wallace by more than four seconds and win the All-Star Race for the third time in his career.

The starting lineup for the main event was determined through a Pit Crew Challenge that occurred on Friday, May 19, two 60-lap heat events. with the drivers’ qualifying time determined based on their respective crew’s pit stop time through a four-tire pit stop and the timing lines being established one box behind and ahead of the designated pit box. The teams who delivered the fastest pit services would enable their respective entries to start towards the front of two All-Star Heat Races comprising 60 laps that occurred on Saturday, May 20, and that set the official starting lineup for the All-Star event.

At the conclusion of both events, Daniel Suarez, whose No. 99 Trackhouse Racing pit crew executed a fast pit stop service in 13.297 during the Pit Crew Challenge that put him on the pole for the first Heat Race, earned the pole position for the main feature after winning the first Heat. Joining him on the front row was Chris Buescher, whose No. 17 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing pit crew delivered a pit stop service in 13.381 seconds that enabled him to start on the pole for the second Heat Race and carried forth to the driver winning.

Suarez and Buescher were among 21 competitors to have earned a spot for the 2023 All-Star Race by virtue of winning a Cup Series points race between 2022-23 or being a former Cup and All-Star Race winner. The eligibility list included Joey Logano, Austin Dillon, Chase Briscoe, William Byron, Christopher Bell, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson, Austin Cindric, Ross Chastain, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Tyler Reddick and Erik Jones.

The eligible competitors were joined by Josh Berry and rookie Ty Gibbs, both of whom transferred to the All-Star Race after finishing first and second, respectively, during the All-Star Open. The 24th and final starting spot went to rookie Noah Gragson, who was named the Fan Vote winner.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Suarez launched ahead with a strong start on the inside lane followed by Joey Logano and Chase Briscoe while Buescher, who started on the front row, struggled to launch on the outside lane, though he managed to draw even against Briscoe for third. As the field battled amid two lanes, Suarez managed to cycle back to the frontstretch with a clear view and lead the first lap.

During the second lap, Suarez retained the lead ahead of Logano followed by Briscoe and Christopher Bell while Buescher was struggling to transition from the outside to the inside lane for grip as he was locked in a tight battle against Denny Hamlin for fifth place. Buescher, however, would continue to lose more spots through Turns 3 and 4 as William Byron and Ryan Blaney overtook him. As the 24-car field settled in a long single-file formation, Suarez retained the lead by two-tenths of a second over Logano by the fifth lap.

Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Suarez was leading by four-tenths of a second over Logano followed by Hamlin, Byron and Briscoe while Blaney, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr. and Bell were in the top 10. Behind, Buescher dropped to 11th ahead of Kevin Harvick, Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. while Ty Gibbs, Kyle Busch, Erik Jones, Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, Kyle Larson, Josh Berry, Noah Gragson and Tyler Reddick trailed behind within the 24-car field.

Five laps later, the first caution of the event flew when Stenhouse, who slid up the track between Turns 3 and 4 and was trying to transition from the outside to the inside lane, got hit by Erik Jones as he spun his No. 47 Kroger/Coca-Cola Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 around in Turn 4 before proceeding without sustaining any significant damage. During the first caution period, names like Austin Dillon, Erik Jones, Wallace, Larson, Berry, Gragson, Reddick and Stenhouse pitted while the rest led by Suarez remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Larson was penalized for speeding on pit road.

When the race restarted under green on Lap 20, Suarez and Briscoe dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Suarez managed to peek ahead on the inside lane in his No. 99 Trackhouse Motorplex Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and retain the lead. Behind, Briscoe and Hamlin battled for second as Briscoe was trying to transition back to the inside lane. Despite losing spots to Hamlin and Logano, Briscoe managed to settle in fourth place in front of Elliott on the inside lane as the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes.

At the Lap 30 mark, Suarez was leading by over a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Hamlin followed by Logano, Briscoe and Elliott while Byron, Truex, Blaney, Keselowski and Buescher were running single file in the top 10. Behind, Gragson moved up to 11th ahead of Berry, Bell, Larson and Erik Jones while Reddick, Wallace, Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch and Harvick trailed in the top 20.

Ten laps later, Suarez continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over Hamlin while Logano, Briscoe and Elliott remained in the top five. Behind, Larson carved his way up to eighth on fresh tires behind Byron and Truex while Bell, Kyle Busch and Harvick were mired from 18th to 20th, respectively. In addition, Chastain was back in 21st while Cindric, Gibbs and Stenhouse were stuck from 22nd to 24th, respectively.

Through the first 50 scheduled laps, Suarez stabilized his advantage to four-tenths of a second over Hamlin followed by Logano while Larson was up in fourth place. Briscoe fell back to fifth ahead of Elliott, Truex and Buescher while Byron and Blaney were scored in the top 10.

Five laps later, Larson, who overtook Hamlin and Logano earlier, made his move on the frontstretch beneath Suarez as he rocketed his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead. Larson started to pull away on fresh tires as he was scored as the leader by more than a second-and-a-half over Suarez at the Lap 60 mark. Behind, Logano overtook Hamlin for third while Briscoe was in fifth ahead of Elliott, Buescher, Truex, Blaney and Erik Jones.

Shortly after, Byron and Kyle Busch pitted under green, a move that dropped both competitors out of the lead lap category, as Larson remained as the leader by more than two seconds over runner-up Suarez and more than three seconds over third-place Logano.

At the Lap 75 mark, Larson extended his advantage by six seconds over Suarez as Logano, Hamlin and Briscoe remained in the top five. Behind, Elliott retained sixth ahead of Buescher while Wallace and Blaney moved up to eighth and ninth in front of Truex and Reddick. By then, Larson was also starting to approach Harvick and Keselowski to lap both former Cup champions while Cindric and Stenhouse were also lapped.

Just past the Lap 90 mark, Larson continued to lead by more than 11 seconds over Suarez while Wallace moved his No. 23 Columbia Sportswear Company Toyota TRD Camry up to third. Logano was back in fourth followed by Briscoe, Reddick and Hamlin while Elliott, Buescher and Blaney were running in the top 10. By then, 16 of 24 competitors were scored on the lead lap.

When the competition caution period flew on Lap 100, which marked the halfway point of the event, Larson had retained a commanding lead over Wallace, who overtook Suarez for the runner-up spot four laps earlier. By then, 16 of 24 competitors were still scored on the lead lap, none of which included Truex, Byron, Gragson, Harvick, Keselowski, Cindric, Kyle Busch and Stenhouse.

During the competition caution period, the lead lap competitors led by Larson pitted. Following the pit stops, Larson retained the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Wallace, Suarez, Reddick, Briscoe and Elliott. Amid the pit stops, Chastain, who exited pit road seventh, was penalized for speeding on pit road. Logano and Bell were also penalized for uncontrolled tire violations.

When the race resumed under green flag conditions with 90 laps remaining, Larson retained the lead on the inside lane as he took off followed by Wallace as Suarez battled Reddick for third. Reddick would then bump Suarez to assume third place as the field jostled for positions.

With 75 laps remaining, Larson was leading by more than a second over Wallace while third-place Reddick trailed by more than two seconds in his No. 45 Beast Unleashed Toyota TRD Camry. Suarez retained fourth as he too trailed by more than two seconds followed by Buescher while Elliott, Briscoe, Blaney, Erik Jones and Ty Gibbs were scored in the top 10. By then, names that included Harvick, Byron, Keselowski, Cindric, Kyle Busch, Gragson and Stenhouse were not scored on the lead lap category.

Down to the final 60 laps of the event, Larson extended his advantage to more than two seconds over runner-up Wallace while Reddick, Suarez and Buescher remained in the top five. Larson would continue to extend his advantage to three seconds over Wallace with 50 laps remaining and more than four seconds with 40 laps remaining.

With 25 laps remaining, Larson stabilized his advantage to more than three-and-a-half seconds over Wallace followed by Reddick as Briscoe carved his No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang up to fourth ahead of Elliott. Behind, Suarez was back in sixth ahead of Blaney while Buescher, Erik Jones and Gibbs remained in the top 10. Meanwhile, Logano was in 11th ahead of Hamlin, Chastain, Bell, and Truex while Berry, Austin Dillon, Harvick, Keselowski and Byron were strapped in the top 20.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Larson continued to lead by more than four seconds over Wallace while both third-place Reddick and fourth-place Briscoe trailed by more than seven seconds. Larson would stabilize his advantage to over four seconds over Wallace as the event reached its final five-lap mark.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson remained as the leader by more than three seconds over Wallace. Despite dealing with lapped traffic for the majority of his dominant run in the second half of the event, Larson was able to smoothly cycle his way around the short circuit for a final time and back to the frontstretch as he streaked across the finish line to claim his third checkered flag in the All-Star Race.

With the victory, Larson notched his third All-Star career victory overall and in his previous four All-Star starts as he became the first competitor to win the All-Star Race in three different venues (North Wilkesboro Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway). He joined Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt as competitors to win the All-Star Race three times. He also recorded the 11th All-Star Race victory for Hendrick Motorsports and the 21st for Chevrolet while becoming the first competitor to win a Cup Series event at North Wilkesboro Speedway since Gordon won the last points-paying event at the track in September 1996.

As an added bonus, Larson’s All-Star victory capped off a weekend sweep after he won Saturday’s Craftsman Truck Series event at North Wilkesboro while driving for Spire Motorsports.

Photo by Andrew Boyd for SpeedwayMedia.com.

Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images.

“I can’t even tell you what [the win] means,” Larson said on FS1. “This is my third All-Star win at my third different track. At a historical place like this. You guys in the crowd made this weekend so awesome. We could feel the atmosphere all weekend. So much fun there. That was old-school ass-whoppin’, for sure. We had a great car on the long run there. I was just thinking that, for sure, there was gonna be a caution, right? I got out to a big lead. I could see everybody’s cars were driving like crap in front of me, but I cannot thank this No. 5 team enough. We were God-awful all weekend. Obviously, I had some strategy work out there at the beginning, but we drove from dead last to the lead and checked out by 12 or 13 seconds, and then I could just pace myself there that last run. What an amazing car. Everything that my car did bad on Friday and Saturday did great today.”

Wallace, who started 10th, retained the runner-up spot he acquired towards the end of the first half of the event as his second-place finish marked his career-best result in his third start in the All-Star event. Wallace’s 23XI Racing teammate Reddick rallied from starting 20th to finish third and notch his best result in his second All-Star career start.

“[Larson’s] capability throughout the whole run [made the difference],” Wallace said. “He could attack hard and then have something there at the end. If this was any other race, I’d be excited, but it’s for a million dollars, you come up short and walk home with nothing. Tail tucked between our legs, but all in all, just continuing to ride the momentum train. I wanna get [sponsor] Columbia in Victory Lane. We come up one spot short, so congrats to Larson. He’s been on a rail lately, so just have to keep it going. Now, we show back up to home turf and really got to keep the momentum going there and get ourselves deeper in the Playoffs here. Excited to be where we’re at right now. Just come up one spot short.”

“[I] Just needed a little bit on the balance, but the Beast Unleashed Toyota Camry TRD was really fast,” Reddick added. “I made a mistake earlier in the race back in the first 100 laps and let Kyle [Larson] squeeze by and he really mowed through traffic. We lined up, obviously, behind him on that restart and we could kind of stay in touch, but he was able to just keep far enough away. Honestly, a good, solid car. I had more left in the tank than I thought. [I] Wished I could have that back, but solid effort by our guys and our team. We stumbled a little bit in the Pit Crew Challenge and started deep, but we were able to claw our way through it.”

Briscoe charged his way to a strong fourth-place finish followed by Elliott while Blaney, Suarez, Erik Jones, Ty Gibbs and Logano capped off their runs in the top 10.

Notably, Kevin Harvick finished 18th in his 23rd and final career All-Star Race. In addition, Hamlin ended up 13th in between teammates Bell and Truex, Josh Berry finished 15th while subbing the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the injured Alex Bowman, Buescher fell back to 16th, Keselowski settled in 19th in front of Byron and Kyle Busch concluded his long night in 22nd.

There were three lead changes for two different leaders. The race featured two cautions for 13 laps. While all 24 starters finished the event, 12 finished on the lead lap.

Results:

1. Kyle Larson, 145 laps led

2. Bubba Wallace

3. Tyler Reddick

4. Chase Briscoe

5. Chase Elliott

6. Ryan Blaney

7. Daniel Suarez, 55 laps led

8. Erik Jones

9. Ty Gibbs

10. Joey Logano

11. Ross Chastain

12. Christopher Bell

13. Denny Hamlin, one lap down

14. Martin Truex Jr., one lap down

15. Josh Berry, one lap down

16. Chris Buescher, one lap down

17. Austin Dillon, one lap down

18. Kevin Harvick, two laps down

19. Brad Keselowski, two laps down

20. William Byron, two laps down

21. Austin Cindric, two laps down

22. Kyle Busch, two laps down

23. Noah Gragson, three laps down

24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., four laps down

Next on the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the 64th running of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, May 28, during Memorial Day weekend at 6 p.m. ET on FOX.

May 21, 2023
Logano executes final lap pass for a thrilling Cup victory at Atlanta

The patience and determination to execute a winning move on the final lap amid the draft paid off for Joey Logano as he capped off a dominant run with a final lap victory in the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 19.

The reigning two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion from Middletown, Connecticut, led five times for a race-high 140 of 260-scheduled laps and found himself in a prime position of battling for the victory against ex-teammate Brad Keselowski and a host of competitors running in two tight-packed lanes. After keeping the leaders within reach on the inside lane, Logano received a push from Corey LaJoie on the final lap to execute his race-winning move to the outside of Keselowski. Once he assumed the lead through the backstretch, the Connecticut native was able to pull away from the field and triumph both for the first time in the 2023 Cup season and at Atlanta.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Joey Logano notched his second Cup pole of the season after posting a pole-winning lap at 177.374 mph in 31.256 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Austin Cindric, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 177.340 mph in 31.262 seconds, while his third teammate Ryan Blaney qualified third fastest on the grid with a speed of 177.215 mph in 31.284 seconds.

Prior to the event, Christopher Bell, who spun during Saturday’s qualifying session, was the only competitor to drop to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota TRD Camry.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Logano jumped ahead and quickly crossed his No. 22 AutoTrader Ford Mustang from the outside to the inside lane in front of teammate Cindric to retain the lead ahead of two tight-packed lanes of competitors. As the field returned to the frontstretch, Logano led the first lap in front of his Team Penske teammates, all of whom were running on the outside lane, while the field remained in tight formation through two packed lanes.

Through the first five scheduled laps, Logano was leading ahead of teammates Cindric and Blaney while Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick were in the top five. Aric Almirola was in sixth, thus placing six Fords within the top-six spots, while Kyle Larson was the highest-running Chevrolet competitor in seventh. Chase Briscoe, Denny Hamlin and William Byron were in the top 10 while Chris Buescher, Michael McDowell, Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon, Justin Haley, Ross Chastain, rookie Noah Gragson, Bubba Wallace, Kyle Busch and Tyler Reddick occupied the top 20.

Five laps later, the first caution of the event flew when Bubba Wallace, who was running towards the top 20, got loose and spun towards the inside wall in the backstretch, where he impacted the wall before his No. 23 DoorDash Toyota TRD Camry came to a rest in the backstretch. Despite limping his damaged car to pit road and returned following the repairs, he fell out of the lead lap category. At the moment of caution, Logano retained the lead in front of his Team Penske teammates and the field. During the caution period, some like Ricky Stenhouse Jr., BJ McLeod, Corey LaJoie, Harrison Burton, Martin Truex Jr., rookie Ty Gibbs, Ryan Preece and JJ Yeley pitted while the rest led by Logao remained on the track.

When the event restarted on Lap 15, Logano and Keselowski dueled for the lead until Logano managed to pull away on the outside lane followed by teammates Cindric and Blaney. As Keselowski dropped to fourth, Larson and Hamlin battled for fifth amid two tight-packed lanes of competitors battling within the draft.

By Lap 25, the inside lane led by Hamlin started to gain momentum as Hamlin challenged Cindric for second followed by Larson while Logano, who remained on the outside lane in front of his Team Penske teammates, continued to lead the field.

Just past the Lap 40 mark, Logano retained the lead ahead of teammates Cindric and Blaney while Keselowski and Hamlin were running in the top five. Behind, Chris Buescher, Kyle Busch, Christopher Bell, Larson and Truex were competing in the top 10 as the top-32 competitors were separated by more than three seconds. By the event surpassed the Lap 50 mark, the top-32 competitors were separated by nearly four seconds as Logano continued to lead the field. In addition, nearly the entire field migrated to the outside lane and in a long single-file line behind Logano.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 60, Logano captured his first stage victory of the 2023 Cup season. Teammate Cindric settled in second followed by Keselowski while Blaney, who tried to make his move to the front on the inside lane on the first stage’s final lap, fell back to fourth. Hamlin settled in fifth while Bell, Kyle Busch, Buescher, Suarez and Truex were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Logano pitted while diving into Atlanta Motor Speedway’s new pit road entrance on the apron at the start of Turn 3 under a cautious pace. Following the pit stops, Kyle Busch exited with the lead despite concerns of not having enough fuel fueled into his No. 8 Lenovo Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Keselowski exited second followed by Blaney, Cindric, Logano and Truex.

The second stage started on Lap 67 as Kyle Busch and Keselowski occupied the front row. At the start, Busch and Keselowski battled for the lead, with the former managing to move in front of the field with drafting help from Blaney and in front of a bevy of Ford competitors. Two laps later, however, Blaney made his move in Turn 1 to assume the lead from Busch. Behind, Logano battled Busch for second on the inside lane while Keselowski remained within touch of the leaders. Not long after, however, a side-by-side battle ensued between Blaney and Busch with the field locked in two tight-packed lanes.

By Lap 75, Busch was drafted back into the lead with help from Logano before Logano launched his attack to reassume the top spot. Behind, Blaney, Keselowski, Buescher, Cindric, Truex, Hamlin, Bell, Bowman and Byron battled for spots within the top 10 while 35 of 36 starters were separated by more than three seconds.

Through the first 90 scheduled laps, Logano was leading a long line of competitors running towards the outside lane followed by Busch, Blaney, Keselowski and Buescher while Cindric, Truex, Hamlin, Bell and Bowman were scored in the top 10. Behind, Byron was in 11th ahead of Corey LaJoie, Daniel Suarez, Gragson and Austin Dillon while Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ross Chastain, Gibbs, Kevin Harvick and Larson were back in the top 20.

At the Lap 100 mark, Logano continued to lead in front of Busch, Blaney, Keselowski and Buescher while the top-31 competitors scaling back to Chase Briscoe were separated by more than four seconds. By then, names like Harvick, Erik Jones, Aric Almirola, Michael McDowell, AJ Allmendinger, Harrison Burton and Tyler Reddick were mired outside the top 20 while Josh Berry, who was making his third start as an interim competitor for Chase Elliott was in 20th behind teammate Larson.

Fifteen laps later, Logano retained the lead in front of Busch, Blaney, Keselowski and Buescher while Cindric, Truex, Hamlin, Bell and Bowman were running in the top 10. Another 10 laps later, Busch surrendered the runner-up spot to pit for fresh tires and fuel along with Truex, who had no fuel pressure reported to his car. Earlier, Austin Dillon nearly missed the pit road’s entrance as he had his car serviced.

At the halfway mark on Lap 130, Logano remained out in front ahead of teammate Blaney, Buescher, Cindric and Hamlin while Bell, Bowman, Byron, Suarez and Stenhouse occupied the top 10. By then, Keselowski peeled off the track to pit along with Corey LaJoie and Ty Dillon.

Two laps later, the Team Penske trio led by Logano, Blaney and Cindric pitted under green as Buescher cycled to the lead. Names that included Haley, Burton, Chastain, Suarez and Stenhouse would also pit. Amid the pit stops and with more front-runners pitting, Blaney was penalized with a pass-through penalty for speeding on pit road. In addition, Preece was penalized for a commitment line violation.

Back on the track and with nearly the entire field having made a pit stop under green, Bell, who had yet to pit and assumed the lead on Lap 137, was leading followed by Larson with nearly 20 laps remaining in the second stage. Once both pitted, Logano cycled his way back into the lead followed by teammate Cindric, Reddick, Byron and Buescher with 17 laps remaining in the second stage. Following his green flag pit stop, Bell managed to blend within the field and the draft in 13th in between LaJoie and Larson.

With less than 10 laps remaining in the second stage, Logano continued to lead in front of teammate Cindric, Reddick, Byron and Buescher while the top-12 competitors were separated by a second. In addition, the top-30 competitors were scored on the lead lap while Blaney was mired two laps down following his speeding penalty.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 160, Cindric, who made a three-wide move on teammate Logano and Reddick through Turns 3 and 4, muscled his No. 2 Menards Ford Mustang to his first stage victory of the 2023 Cup season. Logano settled in second ahead of Bowman and Reddick while Byron, Buescher, Truex, Hamlin, Keselowski and LaJoie were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, the lead lap competitors led by Cindric pitted and Aric Almirola cycled into the lead after only opting for fuel. Logano exited second followed by Cindric, Stenhouse, Bowman, Byron and Harvick. Following the pit stops, Buescher was penalized for speeding on pit road. In addition, Reddick made another trip to pit road to get enough fuel to his car.

With 92 laps remaining, the final stage started as Almirola and Stenhouse occupied the front row. At the start, Almirola was drafted into the lead from Logano through the first two turns before Stenhouse fought back on the inside lane with drafting help from Byron. As the field returned to the frontstretch, Stenhouse emerged with the lead followed by Byron as Harvick charged his way towards the front. With Stenhouse retaining the lead, Byron settled in second along with Almirola while Harvick, who tried to charge to the lead on the inside lane, settled in fourth place on the outside lane. Meanwhile, Hamlin, the first competitor running on the inside lane and receiving drafting help from LaJoie, was locked in a battle with Logano for fifth.

With 85 laps remaining, Hamlin emerged with the lead over Stenhouse as the field behind fanned out to two lanes while jostling for late positions. In the process, Larson moved up to fourth in front of Almirola, Harvick settled in seventh behind Keselowski, LaJoie was in eighth and Logano fell back to 12th behind Briscoe.

Down to the final 75 laps of the event, Hamlin was leading in front of Byron, Harvick, Larson and Stenhouse while Chastain, Almirola, Keselowski, Buescher and Josh Berry were in the top 10. By then, 31 of 36 starters were separated by less than two seconds.

Four laps later, however, Harvick, who was drafted into the lead with help from Chastain, got loose in front of Chastain’s front nose as his No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang veered sideways and backward before receiving a hard hit by Buescher and colliding against Berry and Byron in the backstretch as the caution returned. In the midst of a multi-car wreck, Kyle Busch, Harrison Burton and BJ McLeod were also involved as Harvick’s penultimate event at Atlanta, the track where he notched his first Cup career victory, came to a late end. Back at the front, Chastain managed to escape with the lead followed by Hamlin, Larson, Reddick and Almirola. During the pit stops, the leaders led by Chastain returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Almirola cycled his way back into the lead followed by Larson, Keselowski, Chastain (who got pushed into the grass while exiting pit road) and Reddick. During the pit stops, Hamlin made contact with Ty Dillon, who was trying to enter his pit stall.

When the event restarted under green with 61 laps remaining, Almirola retained the lead with drafting help from Larson on the outside lane and was eventually able to control both lanes exiting the backstretch and back to the start/finish line. With Almirola out in front, Larson was in second followed by Keselowski, Chastain, Reddick and Bell while names like Bowman, Suarez, Hamlin and Haley were in the top 10.

With 51 laps remaining, the caution returned when the leader Almirola veered sideways in Turns 3 and 4 after cutting a tire. With nowhere to go, Larson hit Almirola’s No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang before he got bumped from Reddick and clipped into the side of Haley’s No. 31 LeafFilter Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and veered back across to the frontstretch’s outside wall with a destroyed No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as Suarez also sustained damage while trying to avoid Larson. With Almirola and Larson eliminated from contention, Keselowski dodged the carnage to assume the lead. Under the caution period, names like Chastain, Truex, Ty Dillon, Haley, Austin Dillon, Suarez and Berry pitted while the rest led by Keselowski remained on the track.

During the following restart with 44 laps remaining, Keselowski, who was receiving constant guidance from veteran spotter TJ Majors, cleared the field along with Reddick as both remained first and second in front of the pack before Bowman squeezed in between both amid the draft. Soon after, Logano, with spotting help from Coleman Pressley, launched his charge to the front along with teammate Blaney, who rallied from his pit road penalty. In addition, Cindric worked his way up to fifth before eventually overtaking Reddick for fourth as Gibbs moved into the top six.

With 35 laps remaining, Keselowski’s No. 6 King’s Hawaiian Ford Mustang was leading ahead of Logano’s No. 22 AutoTrader Ford Mustang while Team Penske’s Blaney and Cindric dueled for third in front of a bevy of competitors stacked tight in a draft. A lap later, Logano moved back into the lead followed by teammate Blaney as Keselowski fell back to third. With Reddick and Cindric in the top five, Bell, Gibbs, AJ Allmendinger, Hamlin and Stenhouse battled within the top 10. With 30 laps remaining, however, Keselowski reassumed the lead from Logano as Toyota competitors Reddick, Bell and Hamlin made their way to the front. LaJoie also moved his No. 7 Celsius Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to fifth while Logano fell back to sixth, though he kept the leaders close within his sights on the inside lane.

Down to the final 20 laps of the event and with the field stacked to two tight-packed lanes in the draft, Keselowski was leading ahead of Reddick, Logano, Bell and Blaney while Hamlin, Cindric, LaJoie, Bowman and Kyle Busch were scored in the top 10. In addition, the top-23 competitors scaling back to Ty Dillon were separated by less than two seconds.

With 10 laps remaining, Keselowski continued to lead over Logano, Reddick, Blaney and Bell as the top-23 competitors scaling back to Austin Dillon were trailing by a second. By then, Keselowski and Logano began to duel amid the draft for the lead, with the former managing to peak ahead. With the battles towards the front ensuing, Keselowski retained the lead with five laps remaining as he cleared the field with Reddick, Bell, Logano, Hamlin and LaJoie closing in.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Keselowski remained as the leader over Bell and the field that was fanning out. By then, Logano, who kept the leaders within reach on the inside lane, had drafting help from LaJoie to move back to the front and launch a final attack on Keselowski for the lead. Entering Turn 1, Keselowski moved to the inside lane to block Logano. He then tried to move back up the outside lane to block Logano again, but it was too late as Logano gained the momentum and the drafting help from a bevy of cars, including Bell, to reassume the lead through the backstretch. With the field fanning out through Turns 3 and 4, Logano managed to gain control of both lanes with the clean air and streak across the finish line first with the victory.

With the victory, Logano notched his 32nd career victory in NASCAR’s premier series, his first since winning both the 2022 finale and championship at Phoenix Raceway in November and his first at Atlanta in his 19th series attempt. He also became the fourth different winner through the first five scheduled events on the 2023 season and delivered the first Cup victories of the season for both Team Penske and Ford.

“First off, it’s so special to win Atlanta for me,” Logano, who credited spotter Coleman Pressley and his No. 22 team, said on FOX. “So many memories of me and my dad, racing right here on the quarter mile [design]. This is the full circle for us. So many memories of gritting over there with the Legends car and racing, having a big time and dreaming of going straight at the quarter mile and going onto the big track. That was always a dream to do it. To finally win here means so much to me personally but to this race team. The AutoTrader Mustang, this thing was an animal. It was very, very fast. [I] Was able to lead a ton of laps and race really hard there at the end. Get a good push from [Bell] to clear myself and enough of a push to get all the way to the end. Huge victory. Nice to get one early in the season. It always feels better, but what a great day for us…We’re coming home with the trophy, baby!”

Keselowski, whose last Cup victory spans back to Talladega Superspeedway in April 2021, settled in second place, which was his best as a driver/co-owner of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, while Bell came home in third place after rallying from starting at the rear of the field. Behind, Corey LaJoie notched a career-best fourth-place finish while Reddick, who was battling sickness throughout the event, completed the top five.

“The bottom run came with a huge run,” Keselowski said. “I don’t know how, and I thought I had it blocked. Joey just kept shaking and his car didn’t stall out. I couldn’t get the push down the [backstretch]. I thought, ‘I’ll get a push down the back’ and [Bell] just hauled down there. Great run, all in all, for our [Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing] No. 6 Hawaiian Ford Mustang. We were right there. Glad a Ford won. It was a heck of a battle. The coolest thing about this is two veterans showed that you can run a race here, side by side, bump drafting and not wreck the field. I think that’s the coolest thing. It can happen if you race respectfully and I thought everybody did a great job. We were right there. Proud of my team and the effort. Just not much we could do there. You just keep running like this and the good finishes and the wins will come.”

“Whenever [Logano] and [Keselowski] got side by side, I felt like I lost the race,” Bell said. “Really, I think I screwed up whenever I went to the top [lane]. Coming to the white [flag] or one of those laps, I aborted on the bottom and went to the top, and gave [Logano] the bottom, which ultimately, got him the lead. That was disappointing, but ultimately, to come home third, I’m super happy with that. Great showing for our DeWalt Camry.”

“It feels great,” LaJoie said. “Fourth is great for ourselves, these Camaros and our small team. Just a great points day. We started off the year [with the] West Coast wing, really solid and to come back here, it’s a bit of a crapshoot, but to get another career best [finish] here. I don’t expect to show up and instantly win a race. You just have to keep putting yourself in these positions like Joey. That’s why he wins all the time because he’s upfront all the time. As I get myself some more confidence, race around these guys, these guys see me up there racing with them, our day’s gonna come.”

“This morning was kind of a struggle for me,” Reddick said. “[I] Didn’t get really any sleep through the early hours of the morning. Just really thankful that our Xfinity Toyota Camry TRD was handling as well as it was. We had a good car. I was trying to make sure all three of us [including Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell] could benefit from it. Unfortunately, I feel like my hesitancy cost us.”

Hamlin, Blaney, Erik Jones, rookie Ty Gibbs and Kyle Busch completed the top 10 on the track as 23 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

There were 20 lead changes for 13 different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 34 laps.

Following the fifth event of the 2023 Cup Series season, race winner Joey Logano leads the regular-season standings by a single point over Christopher Bell, five over Ross Chastain, 16 over Ryan Blaney, 17 over Brad Keselowski and 22 over Kevin Harvick.

Results.

1. Joey Logano, 140 laps led, Stage 1 winner

2. Brad Keselowski, 47 laps led

3. Christopher Bell, six laps led

4. Corey LaJoie

5. Tyler Reddick

6. Denny Hamlin, 14 laps led

7. Ryan Blaney, five laps led

8. Erik Jones

9. Ty Gibbs

10. Kyle Busch, seven laps led

11. Austin Cindric, five laps led, Stage 2 winner

12. Noah Gragson

13. Ross Chastain, five laps led

14. Alex Bowman

15. Todd Gilliland

16. AJ Allmendinger

17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., seven laps led

18. Josh Berry

19. Martin Truex Jr.

20. Austin Dillon

21. Michael McDowell

22. Justin Haley

23. Ty Dillon

24. Chase Briscoe, one lap down

25. Cody Ware, two laps down, one lap led

26. JJ Yeley, two laps down

27. Bubba Wallace, five laps down

28. Ryan Preece, 16 laps down

29. Daniel Suarez – OUT, DVP

30. Aric Almirola – OUT, Accident, 17 laps led

31. Kyle Larson – OUT, Accident

32. William Byron – OUT, Accident

33. Kevin Harvick – OUT, Accident, one lap led

34. Harrison Burton – OUT, DVP

35. Chris Buescher – OUT, Accident, five laps led

36. BJ McLeod – OUT, Accident

Next on the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is Circuit of the Americas for the third annual EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, and for the series’ first road course event of the season. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, March 26, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

March 19, 2023
Elliott captures first home Cup victory at Atlanta

The crowd inside Atlanta Motor Speedway was left cheering with pride and joy as Chase Elliott achieved his first victory on home turf following a wild and dominant run in the Quaker State 400 on Sunday, July 10. The 2020 Cup Series champion from Dawsonville, Georgia, led nine times for a race-high 97 of 260-scheduled laps and swept all three stages of the race.

During a three-lap dash to the finish, Elliott muscled his way from fourth to first before he fended off a valiant run by Corey LaJoie on the final lap to emerge out in front of the field with the caution flying for a multi-car wreck that involved LaJoie. From there, Elliott cruised back to the frontstretch to claim his long-awaited first win at his home track amid a chorus of cheers from the crowd.

With on-track qualifying that was initially set for Saturday canceled due to rain, the starting lineup was determined by NASCAR’s rulebook’s qualifying metric. As a result, Chase Elliott was awarded the pole position at his home track. Joining him on the front row was Ross Chastain.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Chastain received a strong push from Kyle Larson on the inside lane to jump to an early advantage as he led the first lap ahead of Elliott, Tyler Reddick and the field while Larson got loose entering Turn 4 and dropped out of the top 10. During the following lap, however, Elliott assumed the lead after overtaking Chastain’s No. 1 Jockey Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Turn 1 as he led the second lap before Chastain reassumed the top spot.

Through the first 10 scheduled laps and with the front-runners packed tightly in superspeedway formation, Chastain was leading followed by Ryan Blaney, Reddick, Denny Hamlin and Elliott while Alex Bowman, Michael McDowell, Chase Briscoe, Daniel Suarez and Chris Buescher were in the top 10. William Byron was in 11th followed by Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola, Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Justin Haley, Larson, Cole Custer and Kurt Busch. By then, Martin Truex Jr. was in 21st, rookie Austin Cindric was in 24th ahead of Bubba Wallace, Brad Keselowski was in 27th and Erik Jones was in 31st.

Ten laps later and with the 36-car field separated by 12 seconds, Chastain continued to lead ahead of a side-by-side duel between Hamlin and Blaney while Reddick and Elliott battled for fourth. By then, Kyle Busch challenged Bowman for sixth while Byron cracked the top 10.

Two laps later, Hamlin muscled his No. 11 Coca-Cola Toyota TRD Camry into the lead as he overtook Chastain on the outside lane with drafting help from Blaney’s No. 12 Wabash Ford Mustang. Another two laps later, Blaney used the outside lane to his advantage as he moved into the lead. With Elliott and Chastain battling for the runner-up spot, Hamlin settled back in fourth.

When the competition caution flew on Lap 25 and with the field fanned out to multiple lanes entering the frontstretch, Elliott, who managed to overtake Blaney during the previous lap, was scored the leader followed by Blaney, Reddick, Bowman and Hamlin while McDowell, Kyle Busch, Chastain, Bell and Byron were in the top 10. Prior to the competition caution, Hamlin made the slightest contact with Chastain through Turns 3 and 4 as Chastain briefly lost his momentum and dropped from the top five to the top 10.

During the competition caution, some of the drivers, led by Elliott, remained on the track while the rest of the field pitted. During the pit stops, Larson’s pit crew popped the hood of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to diagnose steering issues in the car while Bubba Wallace and Daniel Suarez had to back up for missing their mark toward their pit lanes. Following the pit stops, Truex was penalized for speeding on pit road.

When the race proceeded under green on Lap 30, Elliott assumed the lead and managed to retain the top spot when the field returned to the start/finish line despite being challenged by Blaney and teammate Alex Bowman.

Through the first 40 scheduled laps, Elliott remained as the leader followed by Blaney, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch and Bowman while Byron, Chastain, Reddick, Hamlin and rookie Todd Gilliland were in the top 10.

Eleven laps later and with the front-runners continuing to run in a tight, side-by-side pack, Blaney made his move through the backstretch to assume the lead as he led a lap for himself. Elliott, however, quickly returned to favor and reassumed the top spot entering the first two turns, leaving Blaney to settle in the runner-up spot in front of Bowman while Chastain and Hamlin battled for fourth place.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 60, Elliott managed to fend off a steaming pack of cars to claim his fourth stage victory of the season. Teammate Bowman settled in second followed by Chastain, Blaney, Byron, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Hamlin, Larson and Bell. By then, the top 17 competitors were separated by under two seconds.

Under the stage break, the leaders led by Elliott pitted and Reddick utilized a two-tire pit stop to his advantage as he exited with the lead followed by Chastain, Truex, Elliott and Bell.

The second stage started on Lap 66 as Reddick and Chastain occupied the front row. At the start and with the field jostling for positions in a tight, side-by-side pack, Reddick rocketed with the lead as he defended the field from the top to bottom lane to lead through the frontstretch before Chastain launched his challenge through the backstretch. Truex, however, drafted Reddick’s No. 8 Alsco Uniforms Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 back to the front as he commenced his challenge for the lead.

Then on Lap 70, Truex launched his No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota TRD Camry into the lead following a bold pass on the inside lane over Reddick through the first two turns as teammate Bell’s No. 20 Rheem Toyota TRD Camry followed in pursuit.

By Lap 75, Truex was ahead by a hair over Blaney followed by Bell, Reddick and Elliott while Hamlin, Chastain, Kurt Busch, McDowell and Larson were in the top 10. By then, the top-eight competitors were locked in a tight side-by-side battle as Truex and Blaney continued to duel dead even for the lead.

A few laps later, the caution flew for a three-car wreck that ensued on the backstretch and involved Ty Dillon, Chris Buescher and BJ McLeod. During the caution period, some led by Hamlin pitted while the rest led by Truex remained on the track.

When the race proceeded under green on Lap 83, teammates Truex and Bell dueled for the lead through the backstretch as Truex retained the lead with drafting help from Blaney. Shortly after, Blaney attempted to launch his bid for the lead on the inside lane, but Truex remained as the leader with the outside lane gaining the advantage as Elliott and Reddick moved up into the top three. Elliott, however, made his bid for the lead executed perfectly on Lap 86 as he overtook Truex on the inside lane and gained control of both lanes through the frontstretch.

Then on Lap 90, the caution flew when Truex slipped sideways off the front nose of Chastain as he spun and made contact against the outside wall between Turns 1 and 2. The incident between Truex and Chastain ignited a multi-car wreck that collected McDowell, Logano, Kyle Busch, Larson, Noah Gragson, Bell and Austin Dillon, whose No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 took a hard hit against the outside wall after being clipped by a spinning McDowell.

During the extensive caution period, most of the front-runners led by Blaney pitted while some led by rookie Harrison Burton remained on the track.

When the event resumed under green on Lap 98, Stenhouse, who spent the majority of the event having the hood of his car up during his pit stops, assumed the lead while Byron and Harrison Burton battled for the runner-up spot.

At the Lap 100 mark, Stenhouse was leading ahead of Burton while Byron, who briefly got loose entering the first turn, was in third. During the following lap, Burton received a draft from Byron to assume the lead and Todd Gilliland and Blaney made their move to the front. Another five laps later, Byron returned to the front as Reddick charged his way into the top five behind Stenhouse, Reddick, Burton and Gilliland. Not long after Byron assumed the lead, the caution flew when Buescher made contact with the outside wall in Turn 4 after blowing a right-rear tire.

When the event restarted under green on Lap 112, Byron and Stenhouse dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Byron received a push from Burton to clear the field and gain control of both lanes entering the frontstretch. Not long after, the field lapped Kyle Busch as Byron continued to lead ahead of Stenhouse, Reddick, Burton and Gilliland. During this process, Kurt Busch bolted his No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota TRD Camry into fourth place followed by Blaney while Burton and Gilliland fell back to sixth and seventh.

On Lap 119, Stenhouse briefly lost his momentum in Turn 1 and was slowly drifting out of the top 10 as Kurt Busch, Bell and Blaney made their way into the top five. By then, Byron remained the leader ahead of Reddick. McDowell also made an unscheduled pit stop under green to address a flat tire.

Eleven laps later and with most of the front-runners settling in a long single-file line, Byron continued to lead ahead of Reddick, Kurt Busch, Bell and Blaney while Burton, Gilliland, Erik Jones, Bowman and Elliott were in the top 10. By then, Keselowski was in 11th ahead of Chastain, Almirola, Corey LaJoie, Haley, Briscoe, Hamlin, Stenhouse, Daniel Suarez and Kevin Harvick. Wallace, Truex, Cindric and Larson were mired outside of the top 20.

Another seven laps later, the caution returned when Briscoe spun his No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford Mustang through the backstretch after cutting a right-rear tire. During the caution period, some, led by Erik Jones, pitted while the rest, led by Byron, remained on the track.

During a restart on Lap 142, Byron and Reddick dueled for the lead as Byron managed to make the outside lane work to his advantage again. Five laps later on Lap 147, Reddick made a bold move to the outside of Byron between Turns 1 and 2 to return to the lead followed by Blaney while Byron remained in hot pursuit for the lead on the inside lane.

Then with seven laps remaining in the second stage, Elliott navigated his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 from the bottom to the top and back to the bottom for a full lap as he returned to the lead followed by Reddick while Kurt Busch battled Blaney for third place. Meanwhile, Brad Keselowski made his way into the top five as he battled Blaney and Bowman.

Just prior to the start of the final lap of the second stage, the caution flew when Bowman, who was running towards the front, slipped sideways after cutting a right-rear tire and backed his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the outside wall entering the frontstretch, which his car came to a rest near the restart zone and needed assistance from a wrecker to return to his pit stall due to both rear tires on his car flat. The incident was enough for the second stage scheduled for Lap 160 to conclude under caution as Elliott claimed his fifth stage victory of the season. Reddick settled in second followed by Keselowski, Blaney, Kurt Busch, Bell, Burton, Byron, Chastain and Corey LaJoie.

Under the stage break, some led by Elliott pitted while others led by Cindric and Almirola remained on the track. Stenhouse, who had the hood of his No. 47 Kroger/Ball Park Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 pop up again, retired due to engine issues that had persisted in his car throughout the event.

With 95 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as Cindric and Almirola occupied the front row. At the start, Cindric and Almirola dueled for the top spot before Cindric benefitted on the outside lane with drafting help from Erik Jones. Harvick would soon join the battle and draft Jones clear of the field in the runner-up spot while Justin Haley and Chastain made their way into the top five.

Four laps later, the caution returned when Larson sent Ty Dillon into Garrett Smithley, which sent Smithley spinning entering Turns 3 and 4 and in front of a pack of cars as a number of competitors including Byron, Reddick, Gilliland, Keselowski, Wallace and Landon Cassill wrecked. The wreck spoiled strong runs being produced by Keselowski, Gilliland, Byron and Reddick, with the latter two retiring in the garage.

With 84 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Erik Jones received drafting help from Cindric on the outside lane to emerge out in front while Chastain fought back as the lead competitor on the inside lane. Four laps later, however, Chastain muscled his way into the lead on the inside lane while Elliott, LaJoie and Bell broke away from the pack and settled from second to fourth. Behind, Hamlin and Jones battled for fifth ahead of Cindric, Suarez, Harvick and Haley.

Nearing the final 70 laps of the event, the ninth caution of the event flew when Kyle Busch spun entering Turn 2 while Cody Ware, who was loose in Turn 2, ended up veering into the outside wall in the backstretch. Under caution, names like LaJoie, Suarez, Blaney, Logano and Kurt Busch pitted only for fuel while others like Chastain, Elliott, Hamlin, Bell, Truex, Erik Jones, Cindric, Harvick, Larson, Burton and Haley pitted for two fresh tires. Everyone else pitted for four tires.

With 66 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green as LaJoie made his way into the lead followed by Elliott and Chastain as the field duked and jostled for positions through multiple lanes.

Then with less than 60 laps remaining, the battle for the lead ignited between LaJoie and Elliott as both led a group of competitors stacked up through double lanes. Despite LaJoie’s persistence on the outside lane, Elliott managed to carve his way back to the lead as he cleared LaJoie with 55 laps remaining. By then, Truex was back in the race for the win as he battled LaJoie for the runner-up spot.

With 50 laps remaining, Elliott retained the lead ahead of Truex while LaJoie, Kurt Busch and Chastain were in the top five. By then, Blaney, Hamlin, Bell, Erik Jones and Suarez were in the top 10 as the top 18 competitors were separated by less than two seconds.

Ten laps later and with the field settling in a long single-file line, Elliott continued to lead ahead of Truex, LaJoie, Chastain and Hamlin while Bell, Blaney, Erik Jones, Haley and Cindric were scored in the top 10.

Another 15 laps later, the caution flew when Bell, who was running in sixth place, slipped sideways as he spun below the apron and through the frontstretch grass before he straightened his car through pit road. During the caution period, the situation went from bad to worse for Bell, whose left-rear tire came off as he was exiting his pit stall. Along with Bell, names like Wallace, Harvick, Gilliland, Kurt Busch, Almirola and Briscoe pitted under caution while the rest led by Elliott remained on the track.

Down to the final 19 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Elliott and Truex dueled for the lead until Truex received a strong push from Chastain on the inside lane to take the lead. With Truex clearing the field, Elliott and Chastain battled for the runner-up spot before Chastain attempted to make his move for the lead on the inside lane.

Three laps later, Elliott made his move to the inside of Truex through Turns 1 and 2 in a bid for the lead before Truex fought back on the outside lane as LaJoie made his way into the runner-up spot while Elliott fell back to third.

Then with 14 laps remaining, the caution flew when contact from Chastain sent Hamlin, who was running in fourth, spinning in Turn 4 as Keselowski also spun through the frontstretch grass to avoid hitting Hamlin.

Down to the final eight laps of the event, the race proceeded under green as Truex and LaJoie occupied the front row. At the start, Truex received drafting help from Elliott on the outside lane while LaJoie bolted his way into the lead on the inside lane with drafting help from Chastain. Just as the field led by LaJoie was approaching Turns 3 and 4, the caution quickly returned when Bell made contact with teammate Hamlin and Logano as all three collided and wrecked across the backstretch.

With the event set for a three-lap dash to the finish, the field restarted under green. At the start, LaJoie and Truex briefly dueled until LaJoie managed to pull ahead through the backstretch. Behind, Elliott, who restarted fourth, made a bold between Chastain and Truex as he launched his final bid for the lead and win. Then through the frontstretch, Elliott rocketed to the outside of LaJoie and he assumed the lead while Erik Jones and LaJoie battled for the runner-up spot in front of Chastain and Blaney.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Elliott was still leading ahead of LaJoie and Erik Jones. Then in Turn 1, LaJoie tried to make a move to the outside of Elliott, but Elliott fended off LaJoie’s charge as LaJoie, who got into the rear of Elliott, got loose and scraped the wall. After trying to keep his car straight, LaJoie veered sideways and barely clipped Blaney before he turned back across the outside wall and wrecked along with Kurt Busch and Cole Custer. The wreck was enough to conclude the event under caution as Elliott emerged out in front of Chastain and made his way back to the frontstretch for his first checkered flag at his home track.

In addition to claiming his first victory at his home track, Elliott became the first three-time winner of this year’s NASCAR Cup Series season as he recorded his 15th career win in his 240th series start. The Atlanta victory was the 16th for Hendrick Motorsports as Elliott joined a long list of icons, including his father Bill, to win a Cup race at Atlanta, Georgia.

“This one’s up there, for sure,” Elliott said on USA Network. “To win at your home track is a really big deal, I think, to any race car driver. I’ve watched a lot of guys do it over the years. Jimmie [Johnson] out in California. We haven’t really had a very good run here, so I felt like today was a great opportunity for us. Just so proud. This is home for me, home to a lot of great fans who made a lot of noise out today, home to NAPA. Couldn’t be more proud of the team. What a car. I’m not sure we’ve ever had a speedway car that good. If we had, I probably wrecked it at Daytona. What a few weeks it’s been. I felt like I gave one away last week [at Road America]. To come back and put on a performance like that, I’m really proud of that. Excited to get home. It’s gonna be a big one tonight. I’m looking forward to it.”

While Elliott was left beaming and saluting the crowd on the frontstretch, LaJoie, who was in position to achieve his first Cup victory, was left heartbroken on pit road as he concluded the event in 21st place and with a wrecked race car.

“[That was the] Closest I’ve ever been, for sure,” LaJoie said. “That was fun. I’m proud of my guys, Spire [Motorsports], RAZE Energy, Built Bar, Schluter, everybody that’s helped us out. It was nice to have [the car] out in the wind for once. I made my move, didn’t work out. [Elliott] made a good block and the siren’s ringing in Dawsonville. Unfortunately, I wished that granny in the front row over there wouldn’t have been clapping so much. I wished that No. 7 car was going to Victory Lane. We keep running like this, more consistently, that time will come…I was having some fun. I know that. Hopefully, we can have that No. 7 car up front more often.”

Chastain settled in second place after finishing in second at Atlanta earlier in March while Cindric came home in third place. Erik Jones earned his second top-five result of the season by finishing fourth while Blaney finished fifth.

“I hated I took the best car here and I tore it a couple of times,” Chastain said. “It’s incredible. Hats off to Chevrolet and Trackhouse [Racing] for bringing this fast of a Jockey Chevrolet. To be able to come back, our road crew and pit crew did an awesome job. To rebound through all the damage repairs. We had a shot and I got inside of [Elliott] coming off of [Turn] 2, coming to the checkered, and the caution came out…Almost gave it to us.”

Suarez, Haley, Almirola, Custer and Harrison Burton completed the top 10 on the track.

There were 27 lead changes for 12 different leaders. The race featured 13 cautions for 64 laps.

With seven regular-season races remaining this season, Chase Elliott leads the regular-season standings by 47 points over Ryan Blaney and 50 over Ross Chastain.

Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, William Byron, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick, Daniel Suarez, Kurt Busch, Chase Briscoe, Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman and rookie Austin Cindric are currently guaranteed spots for the 2022 Cup Series Playoffs based on winning once throughout the regular-season stretch while Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr. and Christopher Bell are above the top-16 cutline based on points. Kevin Harvick trails the top-16 cutline by 19 points, Aric Almirola trails by 42, Erik Jones, trails by 76, Austin Dillon trails by 116, Michael McDowell trails by 117, Justin Haley trails by 149, Chris Buescher trails by 163, Bubba Wallace trails by 178, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. trails by 190 and Cole Custer trails by 200.

Results.

1. Chase Elliott, 96 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

2. Ross Chastain, 32 laps led

3. Austin Cindric, seven laps led

4. Erik Jones, 10 laps led

5. Ryan Blaney, two laps led

6. Daniel Suarez

7. Justin Haley

8. Aric Almirola

9. Cole Custer

10. Harrison Burton, nine laps led

11. Martin Truex Jr., 27 laps led

12. Kevin Harvick

13. Kyle Larson

14. Bubba Wallace

15. Michael McDowell

16. Chase Briscoe

17. Todd Gilliland

18. Brad Keselowski

19. Christopher Bell

20. Kyle Busch

21. Corey LaJoie, 19 laps led

22. Kurt Busch, one lap down

23. Cody Ware, one lap down

24. Landon Cassill, one lap down

25. Denny Hamlin, one lap down, two laps led

26. Joey Logano – OUT, Dvp

27. Garrett Smithley, eight laps down

28. Ty Dillon – OUT, Dvp

29. Tyler Reddick – OUT, Accident, 13 laps led

30. William Byron – OUT, Accident, 41 laps led

31. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Engine, two laps led

32. Alex Bowman – OUT, Dvp

33. Chris Buescher – OUT, Accident

34. Noah Gragson – OUT, Suspension

35. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident

36. BJ McLeod – OUT, Accident

Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ lone annual visit of the season to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, July 17, at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

July 10, 2022
Byron scores first Cup career win at Daytona; 2020 Cup Playoff field is set

Dropping the hammer and refusing to lift out of the throttle at the right timing and in a last-stretch effort to keep his championship hopes alive, William Byron raced his way into the 2020 NASCAR Cup Playoffs after forcing his way into the lead with two laps remaining and holding off the field in overtime to score his first Cup career win in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway under the lights on August 29. The victory was Byron’s first in his 98th career start in NASCAR’s premier series as he became the 11th Cup competitor to clinch a spot into the Playoffs by winning a regular-season race.

The starting lineup was based on three statistical categories: current owner points standings, the results from a previous Cup race and the fastest lap from a previous Cup race. With that, Kevin Harvick, coming off his victory in the second of a Dover International Speedway doubleheader last weekend and who is the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series regular-season champion, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Martin Truex Jr. Austin Dillon dropped to the rear of the field due to failing pre-race technical inspection twice along with Clint Bowyer due to unapproved adjustments.

When the green flag waved and the race started, the field battled two by two for a full circuit until Truex was able to move in front of Harvick and lead the first lap. The following lap, Harvick gained a push from Brad Keselowski in Turn 2 and was able to come back around to lead the second lap by a nose over Truex’s No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry.

Approaching the third lap, William Byron made a move on the outside lane with drafting help from teammate Alex Bowman and started to challenge Harvick for the lead through the tri-oval and in Turn 1 with sparks flying beneath Byron’s No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.

On the fifth lap, Harvick was still leading, but the outside lane led by Byron gained a huge run entering Turns 1 and 2. Though the inside lane led by Harvick gained a run through Turns 3 and 4, Byron was able to lead a lap for himself on the sixth lap.

Through the early stages of the race and the opening 10 laps, the competitors running on the outside lane would gain an advantage through Turns 1 and 2, but the competitors on the inside lane would gain an advantage through Turns 3, 4 and the tri-oval, which kept the field dead even against one another while racing two to three wide approaching and past the start/finish line.

By Lap 10, Byron, racing on the outside lane, was back in the lead as he held a narrow advantage over teammate Bowman, rookie Cole Custer, Erik Jones and rookie Tyler Reddick all on the outside lane while Harvick was in sixth place and the first car running on the inside lane. In addition, J.J. Yeley was slowly limping his car back to pit road. Three laps later, Harvick dropped below the yellow line in Turn 2 and surrendered track position towards the front to tuck behind Ryan Newman’s No. 6 Guaranteed Rate Ford Mustang in 24th place to have debris removed from the grille of his No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang.

Back at the front on Lap 14, Byron and the No. 24 car were still leading ahead of teammate Bowman, Custer, Jones, Reddick, Kyle Busch and rookie John Hunter Nemechek all on the outside lane with Keselowski leading a pack of cars on the inside lane.

For the next six laps, Byron was able to remain ahead of a bevy of competitors in a single-file line through the competition caution flew on Lap 20. By then, Jones and Reddick were in fourth and fifth behind Custer while names like Daniel Suarez, Nemechek, rookie Christopher and Michael McDowell were in the top 10. Jimmie Johnson was in 11th ahead of Denny Hamlin, Keselowski, Truex and Ryan Blaney while Matt Kenseth, Bubba Wallace, Chase Elliott and Joey Logano were in 16th, 18th, 19th and 20th. Matt DiBenedetto was in 21st ahead of Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman and Chris Buescher while teammates Aric Almirola and Harvick were in 26th and 28th. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was in 30th behind teammate Ryan Preece while Clint Bowyer was in 33rd in between Brendan Gaughan and Austin Dillon.

Under the competition caution, nearly the entire field led by Byron pitted while names like Almirola, Truex, Harvick, Stenhouse and Ross Chastain, all of whom were racing towards the rear of the field, remained on track. Shortly after, the remaining cars that remained on track pitted prior to the restart.

Nearing the 25-lap mark, the race restarted under green with teammates Byron and Bowman on the front row. At the start, Byron moved in front of teammate Bowman on the inside lane to retain the lead. With Reddick running in third place behind the two leading Hendrick Motorsports competitors, Jones, who was scored in fourth place, was the first car to form a pack on the inside lane.

Not long after, Johnson moved up to fourth place while the inside lane led by Jones followed by teammate Kyle Busch and including Keselowski and Logano. After a handful attempts in trying to move in front of the Chevrolet brigade on the outside lane led by Byron, Jones emerged with the lead followed by his teammates Kyle Busch and Hamlin on Lap 29.

A lap later and with the pack continuing to battle intensely within the draft, Jones was still leading teammate Kyle Busch and Bell followed by McDowell, Logano and Kenseth. By then, Byron was back in seventh place.

On Lap 34, Byron returned to the lead followed by teammate Bowman, Reddick and Logano while Jones and Kyle Busch fell back to fifth and seventh. Two laps later, Logano emerged with the lead as the field continued to battle dead even in a pack for the top spot.

By Lap 40, Logano was still leading over teammate Blaney and his No. 12 Body Armor Ford Mustang followed by Jones, Kyle Busch, Bell and Hamlin. In addition, Byron was in 10th behind DiBenedetto and ahead of Reddick and Johnson, who earlier made a move on the inside lane in Turn 3 but lost his momentum when no one opted to go with him. Way behind the pack and trailing by approximately nine seconds, Bowyer was in 34th ahead of teammates Almirola and Harvick.

With approximately five laps remaining in the first stage, a pack of cars on the inside lane led by Reddick and his No. 8 KC Motorgroup Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE started to charge towards the front on the inside lane as he was in fifth place while pursuing for more on the track.

At the start of the final lap of the first stage, Jones attempted to make a move on Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang for the lead, but Logano blocked his momentum and retained his advantage through Turns 1 and 2. By then, the competitors running towards the front started to battle intensely for many positions as possible with Reddick, Johnson and Byron starting to charge on the inside lane. In Turn 3, Reddick gained a run and tried to side-draft Logano for the lead. Logano, nonetheless, was able to have enough horsepower on the outside lane and drafting help from Jones through Turn 4 to win the first stage on Lap 50 and for his fifth stage victory of the season. Jones settled in second in front of Reddick, Blaney and Johnson while Bell, Byron, McDowell, Hamlin and Kyle Busch were scored in the top 10.

In terms of the battle for the final three spots to the Playoffs, Bowyer was able to clinch a spot for this year’s postseason, though he finished 33rd in the first stage. With Bowyer’s accomplishment, all four Stewart-Haas competitors have made the Playoffs for the second time in the last three seasons. In addition, with Bowyer securing a Playoff spot, that left two spots vacant. Thus far, DiBenedetto was inside the top-16 cutline by three points and Byron was ahead by two with teammate Johnson trailing by two. The remaining competitors led by Jones and Reddick were placed in a “must-win” situation to make the Playoffs.

Under the stage break, the majority of the field led by Logano pitted while some led by Keselowski remained on track. Prior to the start of the second stage, however, Keselowski pitted along with Harvick, Logano, Almirola, Newman, Hamlin, Chastain, DiBenedetto, Buescher and Custer to top off their respective cars with fuel. Following the pit stops, however, Hamlin was penalized and sent to the rear of the field due to not entering pit road in a single-file line.

The second stage started on Lap 55 with Bell and Jones at the front of the pack. At the start, Jones gained a push from Johnson on the outside lane to move into the lead. With Jones leading and in a “must-win” situation to make the Playoffs, Johnson settled in second place followed by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kurt Busch and Kenseth. Bowman and his No. 88 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE were in fifth ahead of teammate Chase Elliott and Austin Dillon while Bell and Kyle Busch were back in eighth and ninth just ahead of Wallace.

By Lap 60, Jones and his No. 20 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry were still leading over Johnson and his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Kurt Busch and Kenseth were still in third and fourth followed by Bowman, Elliott, Austin Dillon, Bell, Kyle Busch and Wallace (all of whom were part of a bevy of competitors running in a single-file lane on the outside lane). In addition, names like Ricky Stenhouse Jr., rookie Brennan Poole, Nemechek and DiBenedetto were running in the top 15.

A few laps later, Wallace dropped out of the lead pack due to power issues on his No. 43 World Wide Technology Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, an issue he was able to diagnose and fix while racing at the back of the pack. Shortly after, on Lap 65, a number of Chevrolet competitors including Byron, Johnson, Elliott, Bowman, Reddick, Austin Dillon, Kenseth and Kurt Busch pitted for fuel under green as part of a strategic call to complete the remainder of the second stage on fuel. Another lap later, the next wave of competitors including Jones, Bell, Poole and rookie Quin Houff pitted for fuel.

Back on the track, Kyle Busch and his No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry assumed the lead followed by Stenhouse, Nemechek, DiBenedetto and Logano. Then, on Lap 72, Suarez, who has finished no higher than 18th place all season long, assumed the lead followed by Ty Dillon, Corey LaJoie, Wallace, Hamlin and Kyle Busch as a bevy of cars running in a single-file lane started to approach the lead group.

Eight laps later and at the halfway mark on Lap 80, Suarez and his No. 96 CommScope Toyota Camry from Gaunt Brothers Racing were still leading over Ty Dillon, Wallace and Kyle Busch. With Hamlin in fifth, names like Stenhouse, Nemechek, DiBenedetto and LaJoie were running in the top 10. Logano was in 10th ahead of teammate Blaney, Newman was in 13th ahead of McDowell, Harvick was in 18th ahead of teammates Bowyer and Almirola, Keselowski was in 21st, Johnson was in 24th ahead of Kurt Busch and Elliott, Jones was in 28th and Byron was in 31st ahead of Reddick and Bell.

With 12 laps remaining in the second stage, names like Ty Dillon, Wallace, LaJoie and Gaughan pitted for fuel while Suarez continued to lead over ex-teammates Kyle Busch and Hamlin. Three laps later and with the laps in the second stage winding down, Logano gained a huge run on the outside lane followed by teammate Blaney, Truex and a bevy of cars through Turns 2 and 3 to reassume the lead over Suarez.

With five laps remaining in the second stage, the Chevrolet pack led by Johnson caught back up to the lead pack as Johnson started to make his move towards the front. Approaching two laps remaining, Kyle Busch made a green flag pit stop for fuel.

At the front, Logano was still ahead followed by teammate Blaney with Truex leading the outside lane and pushing for more. At the start of the final lap of the second stage, Johnson, who was in fourth, attempted to make a move beneath Bowyer for more, but Bowyer blocked and was nearly turned in the process entering Turn 1.

Despite the intensity that was occurring behind him, Logano was able to hold off the field to win the second stage on Lap 100 and for his sixth stage victory of the season. Truex settled in second place followed by Bowyer, Kurt Busch and Johnson while Keselowski, DiBenedetto, Stenhouse, Blaney and Bell settled in the top 10.

In terms of the Playoff picture following the second stage, DiBenedetto was still ahead of the top-16 cutline by five points and Johnson ahead by four with Byron now trailing by four points as a result of Byron failing to gain stage points in the second stage while Johnson and DiBenedetto did.

Under the stage break, the leaders pitted for fuel and Logano retained the lead following a stellar four-tire pit stop. Prior to the restart, Harvick and Hamlin were among a number of competitors who made a pit stop for final adjustments and to top off their respective cars with fuel.

With 55 laps remaining, the final stage commenced under green with Logano and Truex leading the field. In Turn 1, Truex received a push from Johnson and was just able to slide in front of Logano to move into the lead. Bowyer was in third place followed by the Busch brothers and Johnson. Behind, DiBenedetto was battling Kenseth for seventh place.

Five laps later and with 50 laps remaining, Truex was still the leader ahead of Logano and a pack of cars running two to three wide. By then, the top-24 competitors were separated by less than a second.

Two laps later, Logano and Bowyer gained a drafting run on the outside of Truex through Turns 2 and 3 as Logano moved back to the lead. Truex, however, was able to reassume the advantage the following lap followed by teammate Kyle Busch, Johnson, Elliott and Kurt Busch while Logano dropped back to sixth.

With 41 laps remaining and the battle for the top spot within the lead pack continuing to intensify and with two- to three-wide racing ongoing, Kyle Busch moved into the lead while Johnson fell out of the draft and was clinging within the top-15 running order. Another lap later, Johnson was scored in 13th while Byron and DiBenedetto were scored in fifth and 13th while Elliott and Kurt Busch were running in second and third behind Kyle Busch. By then, Johnson was scored outside of the cutline in the standings.

Another lap later, things got tight for the lead pack running three wide as the field had to avoid Chastain, who was being lapped and was running as close to the outside wall in Turn 3. In addition, entering Turn 4, Blaney wiggled following contact with Jones, but he managed to straighten his car without spinning it in the middle of the pack.

With 35 laps remaining, the Chevrolet competitors led by Elliott and including Kurt Busch, Byron, Stenhouse, Bowman, Wallace, Austin Dillon, Reddick, Johnson and Kenseth made a pit stop under green for fuel. Another lap later, the Toyota competitors led by Kyle Busch and including Hamlin, Jones, Truex, Bell and Suarez pitted. Poole and Chastain also pitted with the Toyota competitors.

With 30 laps remaining, 13 Ford competitors led by Logano and followed by DiBenedetto, McDowell, Buescher and Nemechek were at the front of the pack. Shortly after, the Ford competitors led by Logano and including Buescher, Nemechek, Newman, Keselowski, Bowyer, McDowell, Blaney, Almirola, Harvick, LaJoie and Custer pitted for fuel.

Back on track, Kyle Busch assumed the lead followed by teammate Hamlin, Byron, Kurt Busch, Austin Dillon and a number of competitors running in a single-file line with less than 30 laps remaining. With the laps continuing to wind down, the competition heating up towards the front and with 20 laps remaining, Kyle Busch was still leading ahead of teammate Hamlin, Byron, Kurt Busch, Austin Dillon and Logano. Behind, Johnson was in 20th and scored outside of the top-16 cutline behind Byron and DiBenedetto, who was in 17th. In addition, Stenhouse, who made a handful of attempts to grab the lead on the inside lane, was back in 12th.

With 18 laps remaining, the caution flew when James Davison spun in Turn 3. Under caution, some like Byron, Elliott, Johnson, Bowman, Blaney, Almirola, Harvick, Ty Dillon, Buescher, Newman and Suarez pitted while the rest led by Kyle Busch remained on track.

The racing under green resumed with 13 laps remaining and with teammates Kyle Busch and Hamlin on the front row. At the start, Kyle Busch moved in front of Hamlin’s No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry to retain the lead. Three laps later, with the competition at the front heating up and with 10 laps remaining, Kyle Busch was still leading ahead of Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Bell, McDowell, Buescher and a multitude of cars.

A lap later, Kurt Busch and his No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE gained a run underneath brother Kyle to lead a lap, but Kyle reassumed the lead past the tri-oval. Behind, Reddick started to gain a huge run on the outside lane. In Turns 2 and 3, Reddick made a move beneath Kyle Busch for the lead.

In Turn 3, Reddick moved up the track and tried to squeeze and slide in front of Busch’s No. 18 Toyota. While trying to slide in front of Busch’s car, however, they touched and made contact with the outside wall. In addition, a chain reaction accident erupted that collected Jones, Kurt Busch, Truex, Austin Dillon, Stenhouse, Ryan Preece, McDowell and Newman. In the midst of the wreck, DiBenedetto along with teammates Johnson and Byron made it through with no damage to their respective cars. Following the carnage, Hamlin emerged with the lead over Reddick and the race was red-flagged for 10 minutes.

When the red flag was lifted and the race resumed under green with five laps remaining, Hamlin and Reddick battled for the lead dead even through Turn 1 while Reddick gained a push from Buescher and his No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford Mustang to move into the lead in Turn 2. The following lap, Logano drafted Hamlin to the lead and blocked a run from Bowyer while Reddick fell back to fourth.

In Turn 1, the following lap, Wallace started to form a third line on the outside lane and started to draft Logano to the front. With two laps remaining, Logano crossed over Hamlin at the tri-oval to move back into the lead while Wallace started to mount a challenge on the outside lane.

Entering Turn 1, however, Hamlin made contact with Logano and he bumped into Wallace, though all three kept their respective cars pointing straight. In addition, Byron stuck his nose in between Wallace, Logano and Hamlin in a four-wide battle for the lead as more contact was made amongst the leaders. With sparks flying underneath his car, Logano was turned off the front nose of DiBenedetto and made hard contact against the outside wall before being hit by Custer. In addition, another multi-car accident erupted that collected Reddick, Kenseth, Bell, Bowman, Suarez and Nemechek. Also involved was Johnson, who was hit by Kenseth across the outside wall, spun and sustained heavy damage to his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet. Following the accident, where Byron, Wallace and DiBenedetto managed to escape the carnage, the race was red-flagged for more than five minutes.

When the second red flag period was lifted and the race restarted under green in overtime, Hamlin and Byron were on the front row ahead of Bowyer and DiBenedetto. Way behind the leaders, Johnson continued on the lead lap following repairs to his car.

At the front, Byron received a push from Bowyer on the inside lane to take the lead ahead of Hamlin. In Turn 2, however, Bell and his No. 95 Rheem Toyota Camry gained a run to Byron’s rear bumper. When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Byron was still ahead. Behind, Truex moved up to second after passing Bell and started to challenge Byron for the lead on the outside lane. In Turn 1, Bowyer and his No. 14 Haas Automation Ford Mustang slipped following contact with Hamlin and he made contact with the outside wall. Behind him, Harvick, who had made contact with Buescher a lap earlier in Turn 2, also got into the wall amid a shower of sparks after cutting a tire.

At the front and with no caution flying, Truex and Byron continued to battle dead even for the lead and the win. Right behind them through Turn 2, LaJoie spun and made contact with the wall after being bumped by Bell while Almirola and Ty Dillon also wrecked. With still no caution flying and with Bell making contact with the wall, Byron fought back on the inside lane entering Turn 3 and received a push from teammate Elliott and his No. 9 Hooters Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to retain the lead while Truex lost his momentum after being placed in a three-wide battle with Hamlin and Brendan Gaughan.

Entering Turn 4 and with the checkered flag flying, Byron was able to hold off Elliott and a small pack of cars to streak across the finish line in first place and grab a win and a spot in the Playoffs.

With the victory, Byron recorded the 260th NASCAR Cup career win for Hendrick Motorsports and the first win for the No. 24 car since November 2015 at Martinsville Speedway, which was last made by NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon. In addition, Byron and Gordon are the only competitors to record a Cup win while driving the No. 24 car. The Charlotte native also became the 195th competitor to win a Cup race, the second first-time winner of this season and the 34th competitor to record a win across NASCAR’s three major division series (Cup, Xfinity and Truck Series). In addition, crew chief Chad Knaus recorded his first Cup win since June 2017 at Dover International Speedway and he extended his Playoff appearance as a title contender to 17 consecutive seasons.

Ironically, this marked the third consecutive season where the second Cup race at Daytona’s oval-shaped circuit produced a first-time winner (Erik Jones in 2018 and Justin Haley in 2019).

“This is incredible, man,” Byron said on NBC at the tri-oval and with fans present at the facility. “I’m just extremely blessed. It’s been a hard couple of year in the Cup Series and trying to get my first win, try to gel with this team and these guys have done an awesome job today and got us in the Playoffs. It’s amazing, man. [Daytona is] Probably the hardest track to points race. We didn’t have a great Stage 2, kind of got back in the pack, got shuffled when everyone went single file. [I] Thought my hopes were up there. We were racing around [DiBenedetto] and [Johnson] in the final stage. I was like, ‘Man, I got to really make something happen.’ Luckily, I was able to push [Wallace], [Logano] and him made some contact and opened up a hole for me. I wasn’t gonna lift, so it’s awesome. Thanks to Liberty University, Chevrolet. Thanks to God. It’s amazing.”

Elliott finished in second place nearly two weeks after he won on Daytona’s road course layout. Teammates Hamlin and Truex finished third and fourth while Wallace made a late rally to finish in fifth place for his third top-five career finish in the Cup Series.

Blaney finished in sixth place while Bowman, Gaughan, Buescher and Keselowski rounded out the top 10.

DiBenedetto finished 12th and secured one of two final spots to the Playoffs while Johnson finished 17th and failed to make the postseason in his final full-time season of racing.

“First and foremost, congratulations to my teammate getting his first Cup win like that,” Johnson said. “This setting and the drama to go with it – that’s a big win for Chad Knaus and William Byron. I’m really happy for those guys. I really felt like we had a way to transfer, to win, or point our way in the way it went in the first two stages. Things just got ugly down in turn one. Unfortunate, but that’s plate racing. The last couple of months, we’ve been really getting our act together and running well. Definitely disappointed to not be in the Playoffs – that was the number one goal to start the year. But, when I look back at the disqualification at Charlotte and then missing the Brickyard 400 due to my COVID-19 positive test and only miss it by six points – we did all that we could this year. I’m so thankful for Hendrick Motorsports and the career that I’ve had there, the relationship with Ally and their continued support for this race team. [Crew chief] Cliff Daniels and these guys on my team – they pour their guts out for me. There’s 10 races left, 10 trophies to go chase and we’ll have to focus our efforts there.”

“We made it!” DiBenedetto exclaimed. “I don’t care how we did it. I wasn’t, obviously, super thrilled with the finish. We couldn’t get going there on the restart. I don’t care. My goal was to come in here and make it. We had some really good competitors. Obviously, Jimmie [Johnson] and Willy B. [William Byron]. Congrats to him on his first win. Man, I wanted this so bad for this team, for Menards, Dutch Boy, Motorcraft, Quicklane and the Wood Brothers! Man, driving for the Wood Brothers. It’s something special. We’ll celebrate tomorrow and have a good day. It’s gonna be time to get to work, but I’m so glad we made the Playoffs. This team deserves this. I’m mentally tired after that one.”

Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, William Byron, Austin Dillon, Cole Custer, Aric Almirola, Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch and Matt DiBenedetto will make up the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff field.

Drivers that include Jimmie Johnson, Erik Jones, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Chris Buescher, Bubba Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Michael McDowell, Ryan Newman, John Hunter Nemechek, Ty Dillon, Matt Kenseth, Corey LaJoie, Ryan Preece, Daniel Suarez, Brennan Poole and Quin Houff missed the Playoffs and will not contend for this year’s championship battle.

There were 35 lead changes for 16 different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 21 laps.

Results.

1. William Byron, 24 laps led

2. Chase Elliott

3. Denny Hamlin, nine laps led

4. Martin Truex Jr., 14 laps led

5. Bubba Wallace

6. Ryan Blaney, one lap led

7. Alex Bowman, one lap led

8. Brendan Gaughan

9. Chris Buescher

10. Brad Keselowski, one lap led

11. John Hunter Nemechek

12. Matt DiBenedetto

13. Christopher Bell, two laps led

14. Michael McDowell, two laps led

15. Brennan Poole

16. Ross Chastain

17. Jimmie Johnson

18. Aric Almirola, one lap led

19. Clint Bowyer

20. Kevin Harvick, six laps led

21. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Accident

22. Ty Dillon – OUT, Accident

23. Quin Houff, two laps down

24. Timmy Hill, three laps down

25. Austin Dillon, three laps down

26. Daniel Suarez – OUT, Accident, 19 laps led

27. Joey Logano – OUT, Accident, 36 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

28. Matt Kenseth – OUT, Accident

29. Tyler Reddick – OUT, Accident, one lap led

30. Cole Custer – OUT, Accident

31. Joey Gase, six laps down

32. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident

33. Kyle Busch – OUT, Accident, 31 laps led

34. Kurt Busch – OUT, Accident, one lap led

35. Erik Jones – OUT, Accident, 15 laps led

36. Ryan Newman – OUT, Accident

37. Ryan Preece – OUT, Accident

38. Josh Bilicki, 13 laps down

39. James Davison – OUT, Accident

40. J.J. Yeley – OUT, Engine

The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will commence on September 6 at Darlington Raceway for the Cook Out Southern 500. The race will air at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

August 30, 2020
Roush Fenway Racing’s No. 6 to reach 1,000 starts at Kansas

A significant milestone is in the making for one of NASCAR’s and Roush Fenway Racing’s iconic numbers this week at Kansas Speedway. When the green flag waves for the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series race, the Super Start Batteries 400, at Kansas, the No. 6 will reach 1,000 starts under the Roush Fenway Racing banner in NASCAR’s premier series.

The No. 6 car was the first car that team owner Jack Roush fielded in the NASCAR Cup Series in 1988, the year Roush Racing was founded and made its debut in the 1988 Daytona 500 with Batesville, Arkansas, native Mark Martin serving as the team’s first driver led by crew chief Robin Pemberton. In the team’s first full-time season in the Cup circuit, Martin recorded a pole at Dover in September along with three top-five results and 10 top-10 results before concluding the season in 15th in the standings.

The following season, Martin and Roush’s No. 6 Ford team rebounded by starting on the pole six times along with finishing in the top five 14 times and in the top 10 18 times. In October, Martin recorded the first Cup victory for himself and for Roush at Rockingham’s North Carolina Speedway. Ultimately, he concluded the season in third in the final standings.

Starting the 1990 season fresh with new sponsor Folgers, Martin won three races, three poles and finished in the top 10 in all but six of the 29-race schedule. Though he led the points standings for the majority of the season, he was penalized 46 points following the second race of the season, which he won, due to a rules violation. The penalty cost Martin and Roush the overall championship by 26 points to Dale Earnhardt.

From 1991 to 2000, Martin and Roush’s No. 6 team won 28 Cup races. He also achieved 27 poles, 148 top-five results, 214 top-10 results and over 8,000 laps led. His best points results during the ten years were a pair of runner-up results in 1994 and 1998, though he finished no lower than eighth during those years. By then, Valvoline was his primary sponsor. From 2001 to 2004, Martin only won two races. He also achieved two poles, 30 top-five results, 62 top-10 results and over 1,100 laps led. His best points results during the four years were a runner-up result in 2002 and a fourth-place result in 2004. By then, Viagra was his primary sponsor and Roush’s No. 6 car had surpassed 500 starts in the Cup level. In addition, owner Jack Roush notched his first two NASCAR Cup championships with Matt Kenseth in 2003 and Kurt Busch in 2004.

The 2005 season started as Martin’s final full-time season of Cup racing while launching the “Salute to You” tour to thank his fans. Throughout the season, Martin won once at Kansas in October as he also achieved 12 top-five results, 19 top-10 results and led 324 laps before concluding the season in fourth in the final standings after making the Chase. One of Martin’s highlights during the season was winning the All-Star Race at Charlotte’s Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May while sporting a retro 1993 Valvoline scheme to his No. 6 car. Following the departure of Kurt Busch and Roush needing a driver for the No. 6 car in 2006, Martin agreed to return for another full-time season of racing. In 2006, while sporting the AAA logos on the car, Martin did not record a win, but he made his third consecutive Chase appearance while logging in seven top-five results and 15 top-10 results before concluding the season in ninth in the final standings.

Following Martin’s departure to Ginn Racing, Roush hired Unadilla, Georgia’s David Ragan as driver of the No. 6 AAA Ford led by veteran crew chief Jimmy Fennig. By then, Roush Racing became Roush Fenway Racing when John W. Henry, owner of the Fenway Sports Group, purchased half of the team’s stake with Jack Roush still overseeing daily operations of the organization. Ragan kicked off his rookie Cup season by finishing fifth in the Daytona 500 after dodging a last-lap accident. Throughout the season, however, Ragan struggled with consistency. He recorded two more top-10 results throughout the season before settling in 23rd in the final standings and falling short of the Rookie-of-the-Year title to Juan Pablo Montoya. Ragan rebounded the following season by recording six top-five results and 14 top-10 results before concluding the season in 13th in the final standings, the highest of the non-Chase contenders.

Between 2009 and 2010, while sporting the UPS colors on the No. 6 Ford, Ragan struggled with consistency as he logged five top-10 results between the two seasons with a best points result of 24th in 2010. In 2011, with the No. 6 UPS team led by Drew Blickensderfer, Ragan started the season by nearly winning the Daytona 500 until he was penalized for switching lanes prior to reaching the start/finish line and ultimately, finishing 14th. For the first 16 races of the season, Ragan recorded four top-10 results and his first career pole at Texas in April. He also won the Sprint Showdown at Charlotte in May to transfer to his first All-Star Race, where he finished eighth. In July, Ragan survived a wild night of carnage to score his first Cup career win at Daytona International Speedway. The victory marked the first time since 2005 where Roush’s No. 6 car won a race in NASCAR’s premier series. For the remainder of the season, Ragan recorded another pole at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and three more top-10 results before finishing 23rd in the final standings.

Following the 2011 season and Ragan’s departure from Roush Fenway Racing, the No. 6 car only made four starts throughout the 2012 Cup season with the reigning Xfinity Series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Stenhouse made his first start in the No. 6 Ford at the Daytona 500 in February, where he rallied from being involved in a late accident to finish 20th. He went on to finish 12th at Dover in September, 35th at Charlotte in October and 39th at Homestead in November. Stenhouse also competed the entire Xfinity race schedule in Roush’s No. 6 Ford Mustang, which he won and defended his series title. In 2013, Stenhouse graduated to the Cup Series on a full-time basis, replacing Matt Kenseth as driver of the No. 17 Ford while the No. 6 car was not fielded for the first time throughout a racing season since the team’s inception.

Following a two-year hiatus, the No. 6 car made its return to the track for the 2015 Cup season with the 2011 Daytona 500 champion Trevor Bayne set to pilot the car with sponsorship support from AdvoCare and the team led by veteran Bob Osborne. Throughout the 2015 season, however, Bayne struggled with consistency as he finished in the top 10 twice and concluded the season in 29th in the final standings. The following season, paired with crew chief Matt Puccia, Bayne recorded two top-five results and five top-10 results while leading a career-high 34 laps and winning a stage in the All-Star Open at Charlotte in May to transfer to the All-Star Race, where he finished seventh. Ultimately, he concluded the season in 22nd in the final standings. In 2017, Bayne finished 22nd in the final standings again while recording two top-five results and six top-10 results. The closest he came to winning a race in Roush’s No. 6 car was the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis in July, where he had a potential late-race winning strategy spoiled by a late caution that later led to him being involved in a multi-car wreck.

Throughout the 2018 season, the No. 6 car was split between Bayne and Matt Kenseth, who reunited with Roush Fenway Racing in an effort to help strengthen the performance of the team following recent on-track struggles. For Bayne, who competed in 21 Cup races, his best result was an 11th-place finish at Bristol in August while finishing 12th at Texas in April and 13th on three occasions. For Kenseth, who made his first start at Kansas in May, he recorded a pair of top-10 finishes in the final two races of the season and he picked up a stage win at Indianapolis in September.

For the 2019 season, Roush Fenway Racing shifted gears and welcomed the 2008 Daytona 500 champion Ryan Newman to pilot the No. 6 Ford Mustang led by crew chief Scott Graves. Throughout the season, Newman recorded three top-five results, 14 top-10 results and 57 stage points as he made the Playoffs before he concluded the season in 15th in the final standings.

This season, Newman and Roush’s No. 6 team appeared to start the season off by winning the 62nd running of the Daytona 500 until the veteran was involved in a harrowing accident on the final straightaway, an accident that left Newman injured and out of the racing seat for three races. During the three races that Newman was out, Ross Chastain piloted the No. 6 Ford as his best result was a 17th-place finish at Auto Club Speedway in March. Following a two-month hiatus of on-track racing amid the COVID-19 pandemic, when NASCAR returned at Darlington Raceway, Newman was cleared to return to drive Roush’s No. 6 car.

Since May, Newman has recorded seven top-15 results with a best result of 12th at Martinsville Speedway in June. He is ranked 26th in the regular-season standings and is 127 points below the top-16 cutline to make the Playoffs in his second season as driver of the No. 6 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing. Though he missed three races to start this season, he is granted a waiver to qualify for the Playoffs should he win and gain enough points to make the cutline.

Catch Roush Fenway Racing’s No. 6 car’s milestone start in the Super Start Batteries 400 at Kansas Speedway on July 23 at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

July 22, 2020
McDowell on pole position for NASCAR All-Star Open

Michael McDowell will start on pole position for the NASCAR All-Star Open at Bristol Motor Speedway on Wednesday, July 15, by virtue of a random draw. The lineup was revealed during Monday night’s coverage of NASCAR Race Hub on FS1.

McDowell, who is in his third season driving the No. 34 Ford Mustang for Front Row Motorsports, is ranked 24th in the Cup Series regular-season standings and he trails the top-16 cutline to the Playoffs by 90 points. He will attempt to make his first career start in NASCAR’s All-Star feature.

Joining McDowell on the front row will be Aric Almirola, who is eighth in the regular-season standings and will attempt to make his third career start in the All-Star Race. Rookie Christopher Bell, who will make his All-Star Open debut, will start third alongside Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who will attempt to make his fourth All-Star start. Rookie Tyler Reddick will start fifth as he attempts to race his way into his first All-Star Race.

Bubba Wallace, who edged Daniel Suarez in a thrilling finish for the Stage 2 win at Charlotte Motor Speedway to make his first All-Star Race start a year ago, will start sixth followed by William Byron, who edged Wallace for the win in Stage 1 to make his All-Star debut last season. Chris Buescher will start eighth while Clint Bowyer and Matt DiBenedetto round out the top-10 starting positions.

Rounding out the 21-car field are Austin Dillon, Ryan Preece, J.J. Yeley, Garrett Smithley, rookie Brennan Poole, rookie Quin Houff, Joey Gase, Daniel Suarez, rookie John Hunter Nemechek, Ty Dillon and Corey LaJoie.

The winners of each segment, (three in total – 35 laps in Segment 1, 35 in Segment 2 and 15 in Segment 3), will advance to the All-Star Race and will also be joined by the Fan Vote winner, all of whom will round out the 20-car field for the All-Star Race.

Notably, Timmy Hill and MBM Motorsports will not compete in the All-Star Open following recent wrecks at Pocono Raceway and at Kentucky Speedway. They will return for the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway on July 19.

The NASCAR All-Star Open will air on July 15 at 7 p.m. ET on FS1.

July 13, 2020
Talladega Cup summer race features unique top-10 notables

While Ryan Blaney celebrated his first triumph of this year’s NASCAR Cup Series season at Talladega Superspeedway, there were a number of competitors who left one of the world’s fastest superspeedway venues with strong results within the top 10.

The first was Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Starting 20th, Stenhouse was competitive at the drop of the green flag as he carved his way towards the front. After finishing in 12th the first stage, Stenhouse started to flex his muscles as he and teammate Ryan Preece battled inside the top 10 throughout the second stage. On Lap 106, Stenhouse led his first lap of the day and led again six laps later. In a two-lap dash to the conclusion of the second stage, he returned to the lead and a lap later, he received a draft from Kyle Busch on the frontstretch to edge Ryan Blaney and win the stage, thus earning valuable stage points in his quest to make this year’s postseason. For the final stage, Stenhouse restarted 24th, but he made his way towards the front in the closing laps. Following a late caution and an overtime restart, Stenhouse was behind Blaney for the win entering the frontstretch. He made contact with Aric Almirola and battled dead even at the finish line with Blaney. When the dust settled, Stenhouse fell short of the win by 0.007 seconds and at a track where he scored his first Cup win in 2017. Nonetheless, the runner-up result was Stenhouse’s best in his first 13 races with JTG-Daugherty Racing and his third top-five result of the 2020 season. The result moved Stenhouse from 21st to 20th in the regular-season series standings, where he trails points leader Kevin Harvick by 227 points.

“Yeah, I felt like I was a sitting duck there by myself,” Stenhouse said on MRN Radio. “Just trying to pick up different people to draft with all day. The Fords really stuck together, [Kyle Busch] and I pushed really good [at] each other and then, I don’t know what issue he had. So, I lost that guy, which I worked well with all day. All in all, our NOS Energy Drink car was really fast. Glad that a few fans got to stay here and watch a great race. I felt like we battled hard all day and put on a great show. It was fun.”

Sliding across the finish line in third was Aric Almirola. A week after notching his first top-five result of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Almirola started 15th and settled at the rear of the field in the early laps of the race. Throughout the first stage, Almirola slowly moved his way towards the front, but settled in 20th following the first stage. Following the second stage, Almirola was in 25th. Prior to the overtime restart, Almirola was in seventh and a lap later, he was in eighth. Entering the frontstretch, he gained a huge run and had appeared to establish a race-winning move beneath Blaney before he made contact with Stenhouse inches from the finish line. Sliding backwards across the line, he was able to finish third and keep his car intact. With his second consecutive top-five result of the season, his best result in 13 Cup races this season and his sixth consecutive top-10 result at Talladega, Almirola moved from 13th to 12th in the standings, where he trails teammate Harvick by 153 points.

“I thought we had a shot to get our Smithfield Ford Mustang in Victory Lane,” Almirola said on MRN. “We had a really good car and our strategy was to stay out of trouble all day and be there at the end. We were there at the end, it was close. We just couldn’t get it done. Proud of all of my guys on this team. We had a great week last week at Miami with a top five, and leave here at Talladega with another top five. So, we’ll keep building on that and looks like the ball’s going in the right direction for us.”

Next was Erik Jones, who was inches from establishing a race-winning move on Blaney before he settled for a top-five finish. Starting 18th, Jones spent the majority of the race running at the back of the pack along with teammate Martin Truex Jr. while his other teammates, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, battled at the front. Following the first stage’s completion under caution, Jones was in 23rd and was also the second-highest Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with Truex behind him and Hamlin scored a lap down. Jones continued running towards the rear of the field throughout the second stage, where he finished 29th. With 42 laps remaining, Jones restarted second, but was forced off the track and below the double yellow lines (out of bounds) by Christopher Bell, which resulted in a penalty for Bell. He was running within the top 20 in the closing laps, but following a late caution and prior to an overtime restart, Jones moved up to 13th. On the final lap, he drafted Stenhouse towards the front and on the frontstretch, he was behind Blaney and was prepared to mount a last-lap pass for the win. After feigning a move on the outside, he moved to the inside, but was blocked by Blaney. He moved up the outside lane again with rookie John Hunter Nemechek behind him. Blaney moved up the track and made contact with Jones, which sent Jones into the wall. Despite sustaining significant damage to the front of his No. 20 Toyota Camry, Jones limped across the line in fifth following a three-race slump, where he finished no higher than 20th. With his third top-five result of the season and first at Talladega, Jones moved from 18th to 17th in the standings, where he trails Harvick by 185 points.

Making his way to a sixth-place result was Chris Buescher. Starting 21st, Buescher finished 15th in the first stage and ninth in the second stage while spending the majority of the race inside the top 10 with a strong racecar. Following a series of late cautions and an overtime restart, Buescher was in third as he drafted Harvick to the front. He moved into second on the final lap, but did not receive any drafting help on the frontstretch as a handful of competitors overtook him for position. When the checkered flag waved, Buescher crossed the line in sixth for his third top-10 result of the season, his first at Talladega and his best result since finishing third in the Daytona 500 in February. With his result, Buescher, who also led four laps, remained in 19th in the standings and is 224 points behind Harvick.

“Not a bad run for our Fastenal Ford Mustang and our team,” Buescher said in a post-race interview on social media. “Lots of excitement throughout the race at different areas and I obviously wanted to replay the end to do a little bit better. At the end of the day, it was a good run for us. We’ll go on to Pocono and go get a doubleheader.”

Next was Alex Bowman. Coming into the weekend, Bowman had recorded two top-10 results in the previous eight races, one in the last seven. Starting eighth, Bowman remained towards the front in the early stages of the race. He led his first lap of the day on Lap 46 and again on Lap 50. He concluded the first stage in second under caution and emerged with the lead to start the second stage. By then, Bowman led a total of five laps before he was overtaken for the lead. When the second stage concluded, Bowman had fallen back to 16th. With three laps remaining, Bowman was in sixth when he dodged a late spin involving his teammate, Jimmie Johnson. With the race set into overtime, Bowman restarted within the top 15 and was able to battle his way to a seventh-place finish in two laps. With his fourth top-10 result of the season and third at Talladega, Bowman is eighth in the standings, trailing Harvick by 71 points. He is, nonetheless, guaranteed a spot in the postseason after winning earlier this season at Auto Club Speedway.

Last but not least, John Hunter Nemechek rallied from an early incident to post a career-best run for him in the Cup Series and in his first tango at Talladega. Starting 22nd, Nemechek was inside the top 10 when the competition caution flew on Lap 25, but he settled in 16th following the first stage’s conclusion. While battling inside the top 10 at the race’s halfway point, Lap 94, Nemechek reported a possible cut tire to his No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford entering the frontstretch. He then got loose and spun near the pit road entrance, but he kept his car spinning in the tri-oval grass without damaging his car. Nemechek was able to rally from the spin to finish 14th in the second stage, two spots behind his teammate, Michael McDowell. Battling within the top 10 and 15 throughout the remainder of the race, Nemechek was in 13th when the caution flew with three laps remaining for a single-car incident and sent the race into overtime. Restarting 13th, Nemechek was just outside the top 10 to start the final lap. Then, with a multi-car wreck behind him, he made a charge into the top five in Turn 3. Entering the frontstretch, Nemechek tried to draft Jones to the win, but made contact with Jones and Jones slapped the wall but continued straight. At the finish line, Nemechek was able to cross the line in eighth for his second top-10 finish of his early Cup career and of the season, and to also emerge as the highest-running rookie of the race. With his best result in his 16th Cup Series start, Nemechek is 22nd in the standings, 252 points behind Harvick.

“We had a really great run in our No. 38 Death Wish Coffee Ford Mustang today,” Nemechek said. “I really thought we had a shot at it at the end there, but I’m still proud of our entire team’s efforts. When we fired off, we were kind of tight, and then we had that tire go down in the second stage, but we managed to come back from it and battled into the top 10 by the end. I wish we would have won that thing, but a P8 finish at Talladega is still good for us and I want to thank everyone on the team for their support. I’m looking forward to giving Death Wish Coffee another chance at the checkered flag at Pocono.”

The NASCAR Cup Series will return on June 27-28 for a special doubleheader weekend at Pocono Raceway. The first Pocono event will run on Saturday, June 27, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX and the second Pocono event will run on Sunday, June 28, at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.

June 23, 2020