Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: Texas Motor Speedway

  • Larson clinches championship spot with a win at Texas

    Larson clinches championship spot with a win at Texas

    The 2021 comeback, dream season for Kyle Larson became even brighter as the California kid dominated and fended off the field through four restarts under the final 25 laps to win the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, October 17.

    By winning the Playoff’s Round of 8 opener at the Lone Star state for his eighth victory of the season, Larson punched his ticket to the Championship 4 Round at Phoenix Raceway scheduled in early November as he will contend for his first NASCAR Cup Series championship.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Kyle Larson, winner of last weekend’s Playoff event at the Charlotte Roval, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Denny Hamlin.

    Prior to the event, Playoff contender Chase Elliott started at the rear of the field due to his No. 9 Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE failing pre-race inspection twice. Other competitors who started at the rear of the field due to two inspection failures included Corey LaJoie, rookie Chase Briscoe, Garrett Smithley and David Starr. Prior to the start, Alex Bowman, who was recently eliminated from the Playoffs, and Justin Haley also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective machines.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Larson received a push from Kyle Busch to jump to an early advantage for a full lap. With Larson leading the first lap, he had the green No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry piloted by Kyle Busch close in his rearview mirrors while the No. 22 AAA Insurance Ford Mustang driven by Joey Logano started to close in. Denny Hamlin maintained fourth while Martin Truex Jr. was challenged by Tyler Reddick and others for more.

    By the fifth lap, Larson was out in front by nearly half a second over Kyle Busch. While Hamlin started to challenge Logano for third, Ryan Blaney moved up to fifth followed by teammate Brad Keselowski.

    Through the first 10 laps of the event, Larson stabilized his advantage to nearly half a second over Kyle Busch while Logano, Blaney and Hamlin were in the top five. William Byron, following his elimination from the Playoffs, was up in sixth followed by Keselowski, Truex, Tyler Reddick and Chris Buescher. Meanwhile, Chase Elliott was up in 18th.

    Ten laps later, Larson extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Logano, who overtook Kyle Busch earlier. Blaney, meanwhile, started to close in on Logano and Busch for more while Byron was up in fifth ahead of Hamlin’s No. 11 Craftsman Toyota Camry.

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 25, Larson was leading by more than three seconds over Logano, who had teammate Blaney starting to challenge him for the runner-up spot. Behind, Byron moved his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE ahead of Kyle Busch. While seven Playoff contenders were in the top 10, Elliott, the eighth and final title contender, was up in 13th in between Buescher and Bubba Wallace.

    Under the competition caution, the leaders pitted and Byron, who opted for a two-tire pit stop, leapfrogged from fourth to the lead followed by Truex, Kyle Busch, Reddick, Christopher Bell and Logano, who made light contact with Justin Haley’s Spire Motorsports car while exiting his pit stall. Following the pit stops, however, Kyle Busch was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road.

    When the race restarted on Lap 30, Byron maintained the lead ahead of Truex and Reddick as the field fanned out to multiple lanes entering the first two turns. Just then, the caution returned for a 10-car wreck that started when Bubba Wallace, who was in between Kurt Busch and Keselowski, got loose underneath Busch, clipped Michael McDowell and was hit by Ross Chastain while Alex Bowman got turned after being hit by Cole Custer, Aric Almirola and Ryan Newman. Also involved were Ricky Stenhouse Jr., teammate Ryan Preece, Haley, Cody Ware and Joey Gase as many were taken out of contention. 

    In the midst of the carnage, Kyle Busch, who sustained minimal rear-end damage but managed to dodge most of the carnage, pitted for fresh tires along with Keselowski and Blaney.

    Following an extensive cleanup, the race restarted on Lap 39. At the start, Truex engaged in a heated side-by-side battle with Byron as the field again fanned out while jostling for positions. Truex managed to lead the following lap by a nose before Byron fought back on the inside lane and cleared Truex entering the backstretch. Behind was Matt DiBenedetto along with Logano and Bell while Hamlin was in sixth. Meanwhile, Elliott was left in a battle with Austin Dillon and Larson for eighth.

    On Lap 43, Reddick made the slightest of air contact with Truex entering Turn 3, which wiggled Truex’s car up the track and dropped him from second to fifth as Reddick, DiBenedetto and Logano took advantage of Truex’s misfortune.

    Through the first 50 laps of the event, Byron was leading by six-tenths of a second over Reddick while third-place DiBenedetto trailed by more than two seconds. Teammates Hamlin and Truex were in the top five ahead of Elliott. Bell, Larson, Blaney and Logano were in the top 10 followed by Austin Dillon, Erik Jones, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and Daniel Suarez. Kyle Busch, meanwhile, was in 16th ahead of Keselowski, Chris Buescher, Chase Briscoe and Corey LaJoie.

    Ten laps later, Byron continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over Reddick while third-place Hamlin trailed by more than four seconds. Behind, teammates Larson and Elliott moved in the top five ahead of Blaney, DiBenedetto, Bell, Truex and Erik Jones. Kyle Busch was in 11th, Logano was back in 12th and Keselowski was mired in 17th.

    Another 10 laps later, Byron stretched his advantage to more than a second over Reddick. Meanwhile, Larson flew his way to third place ahead of Hamlin, Elliott and Blaney while Kyle Busch worked his way up to seventh. Truex, however, slipped back to 10th in between DiBenedetto and Kurt Busch while Logano and Keselowski were in 13th and 17th.

    On Lap 82, Larson returned to the lead after gaining a huge momentum entering the backstretch and overtaking teammate Byron on four fresh tires compared to no fresh tires to Byron.

    Three laps later, Larson slowly started to extend his advantage to nearly seven-tenths of a second over teammate Byron while Reddick, Hamlin and Elliott remained in the top five. 

    Another five laps later, Larson’s advantage grew to more than a second over teammate Byron.

    On Lap 95, Larson pitted under green along with Byron, Reddick, DiBenedetto, Logano and others. Soon after, names like Elliott, Harvick and Hamlin, who led two laps, pitted. In the midst of the pit stops, Kyle Busch, racing with race engineer Seth Chavka serving as an interim crew chief, was leading with plans on winning the stage after pitting under the previous caution for the multi-car wreck.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Kyle Busch was leading by three-tenths of a second over teammate Bell while Blaney, Kurt Busch and Buescher were in the top five. By then, Truex pitted under green. Soon after, Bell surrendered the runner-up spot to pit.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 105, Kyle Busch claimed his seventh stage victory of the season. Blaney settled in second ahead of Larson, Kurt Busch, Byron, Briscoe, Hamlin, Elliott, Reddick and Keselowski. By then, 12 competitors were scored on the lead lap while names like Truex and Logano were behind a lap.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap competitors pitted as Kyle Busch retained the lead ahead of Larson, Kurt Busch, Truex, Blaney and Byron.

    The second stage started on Lap 112. At the start, Kyle Busch received a push from Byron to clear Larson entering the first turn and maintain the lead. 

    The following lap, Briscoe nearly made contact with Blaney entering Turn 3, but both competitors kept their cars straight as Briscoe moved up to sixth behind teammate Harvick. Meanwhile, Larson challenged Kyle Busch for the lead while Byron and Elliott were in third and fourth.

    After battling Busch side-by-side for a full lap, Larson reassumed the lead approaching Lap 117 ahead of Kyle Busch while Harvick challenged Byron for third ahead of Reddick, Elliott and Briscoe. 

    By Lap 120, Larson was out in front by nearly half a second over teammate Byron while Kyle Busch settled in third ahead of Reddick, Harvick and Elliott. Logano made his way up to seventh ahead of teammate Keselowski, Briscoe and Blaney while Hamlin and Truex were in 11th and 12th.

    Through the first 150 laps of the event, Larson, racing in his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, stabilized his advantage to nearly three seconds over teammate Byron while Kyle Busch, Reddick and Harvick were in the top five. Blaney and Elliott were in sixth and seventh followed by Keselowski, Keselowski and Hamlin while Truex was in 11th. 

    Nearly five laps later, green flag pit stops occurred as Elliott pitted his No. 9 Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Soon after, Austin Dillon pitted along with Logano, Reddick, Erik Jones, DiBenedetto.

    Just three laps shy of the halfway mark scheduled on Lap 167, the fourth caution of the event flew due to debris reported on the backstretch. 

    Under caution, the leaders pitted and Larson retained the lead upon exiting his pit stall followed by Kyle Busch, Byron, Keselowski, Harvick and Blaney.

    When the race restarted on Lap 170, Larson received a push from teammate Byron to maintain the lead ahead of Kyle Busch and clear the field. While Byron and Kyle Busch battled for second, Penske teammates Blaney and Keselowski dueled for fourth and more while Harvick was in sixth.

    By Lap 180, Larson was leading by three-tenths of a second over teammate Byron while Blaney, Keselowski and Harvick were in the top five. While Kurt Busch was up in sixth, brother Kyle was back in seventh ahead of Hamlin, Briscoe and Truex.

    At the Lap 200 mark, Larson continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over teammate Byron while Blaney, Harvick and Keselowski remained in the top five. Kurt Busch, Briscoe, Hamlin and Reddick were running sixth through ninth while Kyle Busch was mired back in 10th ahead of Truex and Logano.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 210, Larson, who encountered brief lapped traffic, fended off a hard-charging, teammate Byron and notched his 16th stage victory of the season. Blaney fended off Harvick to finish behind the two Hendrick Motorsports teammates while Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Hamlin, Briscoe, Reddick and Kyle Busch were scored in the top 10. The Playoff contenders finishing outside of the top-10 stage points spots were Truex (11th), Logano, (12th) and Elliott (15th).  

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Larson retained the lead following his service and after beating teammate Byron back to the pit exit line. Keselowski followed suit along with Blaney, Kurt Busch and Harvick. Following the pit stops, Daniel Suarez was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    With 118 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Larson was being pushed by Blaney on the inside lane while Byron was being pushed by Keselowski on the outside lane. Entering the backstretch, however, Larson persevered for the lead while Blaney challenged Byron for second. 

    The following lap, Kurt Busch, who was in sixth, dropped off the pace through the backstretch and made his way to pit road under green for two fresh left-side tires.

    Back at the front, Larson was leading by a narrow margin over teammate Byron while Harvick was in third along with Keselowski, Blaney, Hamlin, Logano, Kyle Busch, Briscoe and Reddick. 

    With 110 laps remaining, Larson slowly started to pull away with the lead while Harvick and Byron battled for second ahead of Keselowski and Blaney.

    Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Larson stretched his advantage to more than a second over teammate Byron while Keselowski, Blaney and Harvick were in the top five. Reddick was up in sixth followed by Briscoe, Hamlin, Logano and Kyle Busch while Elliott and Truex were in 11th and 12th.

    With 75 laps remaining, teammates Larson and Byron remained in first and second despite both battling vibration issues to their respective Chevrolets. Keselowski was in third, trailing by three seconds, while Blaney and Reddick remained in the top five. By then, Kyle Busch was outside of the top 10 in 11th while Elliott occupied 10th place. Not long after, Bell pitted under green. 

    Fifteen laps later, the caution flew when Briscoe, who was having a strong run in the top 10 and was battling Hamlin earlier before making contact with Hamlin and touching the Turn 4 outside wall, cut a right-rear tire and shredded debris through the backstretch. 

    Under caution, the leaders pitted and Larson retained the lead followed by Byron, Keselowski, Reddick, Hamlin and Blaney.

    With 54 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Larson received a push from Keselowski to clear teammate Byron and remain as the leader ahead of the field. 

    Four laps later, the battle for the lead started to ignite as Byron challenged Larson for the lead. Despite keeping his leader and teammate within his sights, Byron still could not gain a run to seal the deal over Larson.

    Another 10 laps later, Larson stabilized his advantage to three-tenths of a second over teammate Byron and six-tenths of a second over Keselowski while Reddick trailed by less than a second. Blaney was in fifth ahead of Hamlin, who had Daniel Suarez and Elliott closing in. Harvick and Logano were in the top 10 just ahead of Kyle Busch and Truex. 

    With 36 laps remaining, the seventh caution of the event flew when the motor on Logano’s No. 22 AAA Ford Mustang blew up through the backstretch, which forced the 2018 Cup champion to end his race in the garage and place an early blow to start the Round of 8.

    Under caution, some led by Elliott pitted while the rest led by Larson remained on the track.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Larson and Byron dueled for the lead followed by Reddick and Keselowski. Just then, the caution returned as Kyle Busch got Buescher sideways while rookie Anthony Alfredo, who made contact with teammate Michael McDowell, spun and backed his car into the outside wall in Turn 1. As Alfredo’s car slid down the track, fire then erupted beneath Alfredo’s car and the Turn 1 surface, though Alfredo was able to safely exit out of his car. The incident was enough for the event to be red-flagged for 11 minutes.

    When the red flag was lifted and the race restarted with 25 laps remaining, Larson received a push from Reddick to remain as the leader while Reddick challenged Byron for second. Behind, Hamlin made his way into fourth place ahead of Blaney while Keselowski slipped to sixth ahead of Harvick. 

    The following lap, a three-wide action occurred between Hamlin, Blaney and Harvick as they battled for fourth for a full lap in front of Truex and Kyle Busch. Then, Blaney made contact with Hamlin entering the frontstretch, which resulted in a tire rub and smoke coming out of Hamlin’s No. 11 Craftsman Toyota. Despite the contact, Hamlin, for the moment, continued in seventh behind Keselowski, Harvick and Blaney.

    Back at the front, Larson continued to lead ahead Reddick, who overtook Byron for second as Keselowski remained in the hunt.

    Then nearing the final 20 laps of the event, the caution returned when Hamlin spun through the backstretch after cutting the left-rear tire, which came from the contact with Blaney. Despite having minimum damage to his car, Hamlin, who also had a flat right-front tire, pitted and continued.

    Down to the final 16 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Byron shoved teammate Larson to the lead before trying to fend off Reddick and Harvick for second. 

    Shortly after, the 10th caution of the event flew when Truex, who was bumped by Suarez, made hard contact into the Turn 3 outside wall before limping his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry to his pit stall with significant right-side damage. The damage was enough to knock Truex out of contention in the closing stages of the event. 

    With nine laps remaining, the race restarted as teammates Larson and Byron retained the front row. At the start, Larson received another strong shove on the inside lane from Reddick to retain the lead. While Byron retained second, Reddick also fended off Keselowski, Blaney, Bell and Harvick to settle in third while challenging Byron for more. 

    With seven laps remaining, Reddick slipped beneath Byron in Turn 3 while trying to take second, which resulted with Reddick slipping out of the top five as Larson ran away with the lead.

    Just then, the 11th caution flew when Briscoe and Buescher made contact entering the backstretch, which resulted with Buescher spinning and getting hit by Hamlin before making hard contact with the inside wall and ending his race with a wrecked race car.

    With the race set to a two-lap shootout, the green flag waved as teammates Larson and Byron occupied the front row once again. At the start, Larson was able to clear Byron entering the first two turns to keep the lead as the field battled and fanned out behind.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson continued to lead while Keselowski challenged Byron for second. With the side-by-side battles occurring behind him, Larson streaked away from the field and came back around to claim his eighth checkered flag of the 2021 season.  

    By claiming his 14th NASCAR Cup Series career win and sweeping both Texas Motor Speedway Cup events of this season (he won the All-Star Race at Texas in June), Larson will make his first appearance in the Championship 4 Round as a title contender as he looks to deliver a second consecutive title for Hendrick Motorsports.

    “This is unreal,” Larson said on NBC. “I knew we’d have a good shot to win today and our car was amazing. That’s probably the best 550 [mph] package, intermediate car we’ve had all year. Thanks to everybody on this No. 5 team, HendrickCars.com, [owner] Rick Hendrick. This is so cool. We get to go race for a championship in a few weeks. This is crazy. I just got good pushes from behind me, really. I tried to stay patient on the throttle, to keep them to my back bumper and thankfully, I was able to just barely clear them every time into [Turn] 1 and not have to fight them off of [Turn] 2. Thanks to William [Byron], Tyler [Reddick], Brad Keselowski, anybody who was ever behind me, especially Brad there that last restart. Just awesome to win and hope we can get some more wins throughout the rest of the year.”

    “I don’t think we’re gonna lose focus on Kansas [Speedway] or Martinsville [Speedway], but I definitely think we can shift a little bit more to Phoenix [Raceway] car,” Larson added. “Really look forward to that. I love the West Coast. I love Phoenix. We’ve always been fast there. I think we should have a good shot. Our team’s been so strong all year long and might as well close it out now.”

    Byron received a push from Bell through the frontstretch to claim the runner-up spot, which moved Bell up to third and dropped Keselowski to fourth while Harvick finished in the top five. 

    “It’s all about the push,” Byron said. “I think here at Texas, the shortest lane kind of wins out because of the way the track kind of separates into Turn 1. The AXALTA Chevy was fast all day. We just never quite got control. I think [Larson] was definitely better than us that first stage and then, I was right there with him the rest of the time and it was just clean air, basically. Congrats to [Larson]. Kyle really deserves it. They’ve been awesome all year, flawless on pit road, pit calls and everything. Our team’s right there and I think we’re building something really good for years to come.”

    “The last few times we’ve been here, you get 40-, 50-, 100-lap runs in the end and jeez, we didn’t run more than two laps at the time for the last 45, 50 laps,” Keselowski said. “That’s not what we needed. We needed the long runs to be able to keep them honest. We had the long-run speed. Those guys were just blistering fast, [Larson] and [Byron]. Every restart, they just drove away from me. It’s kind of like, ‘Come on, give me some laps and let their stuff wear down!’ Just wasn’t the way it played out. We gained a point, but we moved up from eighth to sixth [in the standings], so that’s a nice little win for us. If you keep running like that, scoring high 30s, low 40s in points, we’ll transfer in.”

    Finishing in the top 10 were Blaney, Elliott, Kyle Busch, Reddick and Suarez. Hamlin, meanwhile, limped across the finish line in 11th place and with damage to the front nose of his car following his involvement in the previous caution.

    “It just gets wild and crazy,” Blaney said. “There’s not a ton of room here to kind of go on restarts and then, just trying to help each lane kind of move forward. You hope the lane you pick moves forward and I thought we could run third or fourth. I thought the top two, [Larson] and [Byron], were pretty spectacular. I thought we could run third or fourth and just lost a couple of spots here and there on each restart. Gained one, lose one and then, we ended up sixth. Proud of the Dex Imaging Ford Mustang team today. Good stage points. We got a good finish out of it. Go on to Kansas and keep on at it…Just gotta keep doing what you’re doing. I don’t think you can ever get comfortable unless you’re [Larson] right now for the next two races. You just have to keep racing like you have been. We did a good job on pit road and didn’t make any mistakes today. Had a fast enough car to run up at the front. You hope to bring that every single week. We’ll keep on focusing on one race at a time.”

    “I thought by the end, we were decent,” Elliott said. “Just by that point, obviously, too late…Congrats to Kyle. Hopefully, we can join those guys in Phoenix. I’m looking forward to these next two weeks. I think we can run good at the next couple [races]. We all got to be super close in points. I feel like we just go do our jobs these next two weeks and control what’s in our hands. and we’ll be alright. “

    “We probably missed four or five points there at the end of the day, but we missed four or five points at the stage as well, too” Kyle Busch said. “That’s about all we missed out on. We just didn’t have it. Certainly, [Larson] and [Byron] were the class of the field again. We were just slow. I found some laps where I could run wide open and I was able to just barely, barely, barely make the same time as them. Anytime I had to get out of the gas, they would just drive away. Got to go back to the drawing board for next week. Try to figure out some better stuff for Kansas. We’ll go get’em next week.”

    “We just didn’t have quite a fast-enough car,” Hamlin said. “I thought we were fifth at best, honestly. Two wrecks at the end. [Blaney] just got bounced up into us there. We got our tire cut, hit the wall and then, [Buescher] and [Briscoe] got into it there and came across the nose. The fact that there was that much attrition was a good thing for us because we were able to rally on that green-white-checkered to get to 11th…I’m pretty optimistic about next week at Kansas. We need some tools to fix this car because it is destroyed.”

    There were eight lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured 11 cautions for 55 laps. Only 15 of 39 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Kyle Larson, 256 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. William Byron, 55 laps led

    3. Christopher Bell

    4. Brad Keselowski

    5. Kevin Harvick

    6. Ryan Blaney

    7. Chase Elliott

    8. Kyle Busch, 20 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    9. Tyler Reddick

    10. Daniel Suarez

    11. Denny Hamlin, two laps led

    12. Erik Jones

    13. Matt DiBenedetto

    14. Austin Dillon

    15. Chase Briscoe

    16. Kurt Busch, two laps down

    17. Michael McDowell, two laps down

    18. Aric Almirola, three laps down

    19. Cole Custer, four laps down

    20. Corey LaJoie, five laps down

    21. Chris Buescher – OUT, Accident

    22. BJ McLeod, 10 laps down

    23. David Starr, 11 laps down

    24. Garrett Smithley, 13 laps down

    25. Martin Truex Jr. – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    26. Josh Bilicki, 15 laps down

    27. Timmy Hill, 17 laps down

    28. Ross Chastain, 23 laps down

    29. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident

    30. Joey Logano – OUT, Engine

    31. Quin Houff – OUT, Suspension

    32. Bubba Wallace – OUT, Accident

    33. Alex Bowman – OUT, Accident

    34. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident

    35. Ryan Newman – OUT, Accident

    36. Ryan Preece – OUT, Accident

    37. Justin Haley – OUT, Accident

    38. Cody Ware – OUT, Accident

    39. Joey Gase – OUT, Accident

    Bold indicates Playoff contenders.

    Playoff standings.

    1. Kyle Larson – Advanced

    2. Ryan Blaney, +17

    3. Denny Hamlin, +9

    4. Kyle Busch, +8

    5. Chase Elliott, -8

    6. Brad Keselowski, -15

    7. Martin Truex Jr., -22

    8. Joey Logano, -43

    The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will continue next weekend at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, October 24, which will occur at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN. 

  • Nemechek dominates for second Xfinity win at Texas

    Nemechek dominates for second Xfinity win at Texas

    With a championship spot on the line for eight Playoff contenders, including runner-up Daniel Hemric, John Hunter Nemechek, a part-time Xfinity Series competitor, had other plans and stole the spotlight after rallying from a late pit road penalty to win the Andy’s Frozen Custard 335 at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday, October 16, while on two fresh tires. 

    Nemechek, who currently competes as a full-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship competitor for Kyle Busch Motorsports, led three times for a race-high 92 of 200 laps as he fended off Hemric by more than a second to deny Hemric and seven other Playoff contenders an early automatic spot to the Championship Round at Phoenix Raceway scheduled in early November.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Xfinity event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Xfinity race. With that, AJ Allmendinger, winner of last weekend’s Playoff event at the Charlotte Roval, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Austin Cindric.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Allmendinger got off to a strong start as he cleared his No. 16 Andy’s Frozen Custard Chevrolet Camaro through the field through the first turn and led the first lap ahead of Cindric and Daniel Hemric. Behind, Noah Gragson was in fourth ahead of Justin Haley and Brandon Jones. 

    The following lap, Hemric, who was running on the outside lane, slipped from second to fifth as Cindric, Gragson and Haley muscled their way to the front on the inside lane. 

    By the fifth lap, Allmendinger was leading by nearly a second over Cindric while the field continued to jostle for positions towards the front.

    Through the first 13 laps, Allmendinger continued to lead the field. Then, Cindric emerged with the top spot in his No. 22 Snap-On Ford Mustang on Lap 14. 

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 20, Cindric remained out in front. During the competition caution, the front-runners led by Cindric elected to remain on the track.

    When the race restarted on Lap 25, Cindric and Allmendinger engaged in a tight side-by-side battle through Turn 1 and ahead of the field until Cindric squeaked ahead entering the backstretch. Then, the caution returned when Landon Cassill stalled his car in Turn 4. 

    Under caution, Jeb Burton and rookie Sam Mayer, both of whom made contact on the track, pitted for repairs.

    Six laps later, the race restarted under green. At the start, Cindric received a strong start on the inside lane after receiving a push from Hemric, which allowed him to clear Allmendinger entering Turn 1 as Hemric also moved up to second place.

    On Lap 33, Gragson made the slightest on contact to the rear bumper of Allmendinger’s car, which sent Allmendinger up the track and down from fourth to sixth while Gragson and Brandon Jones moved up. By then, Cindric continued to lead by a decent margin over Hemric.

    In the closing laps of the first stage, the third caution of the event flew when JJ Yeley stalled in Turn 4. Under caution, some like John Hunter Nemechek, Myatt Snider, Ryan Sieg, Daniel Hemric, Brandon Jones, rookie Sam Mayer, and Riley Herbst pitted while the rest led by Cindric remained on the track.

    Following a one-lap shootout to conclude the first stage on Lap 45, Cindric, who retained the lead, claimed his 10th stage victory of the season. Gragson settled in second followed by Allmendinger, Justin Allgaier, Michael Annett, Haley, Harrison Burton, Jeremy Clements, Brett Moffitt and Brandon Brown.

    Under the stage break, some led by Cindric pitted while the rest led by Hemric, who pitted under the previous caution, remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 51. At the start, Hemric pulled his No. 18 Craftsman Toyota Supra away from teammate Nemechek following a strong start on the inside lane while Mayer and Brandon Jones battled for third. In addition, Riley Herbst and Austin Hill overtook Myatt Snider through three lanes to move up to fifth and sixth. 

    Three laps later, the caution returned due to debris reported on the track. In the midst of the battles occurring towards the front and around the track, Hemric was out in front by a narrow margin over Nemechek.

    When the race restarted on Lap 61, Hemric and Nemechek were locked in a heated, side-by-side lead for a full lap before Hemric cleared Nemechek entering Turn 2. By then, Nemechek slipped entering the backstretch, which allowed Sam Mayer to move into the runner-up spot.

    Shortly after, the sixth caution flew when Ryan Sieg spun his No. 39 CMR Chevrolet Camaro in Turn 2.

    When the race restarted on Lap 68, Hemric retained the lead on the inside lane while Mayer slipped after having brief issues getting going on the outside lane, which allowed Nemechek to reassume the runner-up spot.

    Four laps later, Nemechek, making his second Xfinity Series start in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 54 Romco Toyota Supra, peaked ahead of Hemric to lead for the first time, but Hemric fought back through the backstretch. Then in Turn 3, Hemric slipped up the track and nearly wrecked with Nemechek, but both Joe Gibbs Racing competitors kept their cars straight as they continued to battle for the lead through the frontstretch. By the time the leaders entered the backstretch, Nemechek cleared Hemric to retain the lead.

    By Lap 75, Nemechek was leading by half a second over Hemric while Mayer, Jeb Burton and Riley Herbst were in the top 10. Haley was in sixth ahead of Michael Annett, Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones and Cindric. Allmendinger, meanwhile, was in 11th ahead of Gragson and Harrison Burton.

    With less than 10 laps remaining in the second stage, Nemechek extended his advantage to a full second over teammate Hemric while third-place Mayer trailed by more than six seconds. By then, Cindric slipped back to 12th behind Allmendinger while Gragson moved up to ninth. In addition, Haley overtook Herbst to move in the top five behind teammate Jeb Burton.

    Having no competition lingering or closing towards him, Nemechek, who made his way through lapped traffic, came back around to claim the second stage victory on Lap 90, which marked his second stage victory of the season. Hemric settled in second, trailing by a second, followed by Mayer, Jeb Burton, Haley, Herbst, Annett, Allgaier, Gragson and Allmendinger.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Nemechek retained the lead ahead of Hemric, Mayer, Jeb Burton and Haley. During the pit stops, Allmendinger nearly left his pit stall without a left-front tire after his jackman dropped the jack early while the crew members were changing the tires on the left side. In addition, Allmendinger’s service was slow for repairs due to hitting a tire being held by Gragson’s crew member during Gragson’s service. Both returned to pit road to have the lug nuts on their respective machines secured. Soon after, Haley dropped to the rear of the field due to an uncontrolled tire violation. 

    With 103 laps remaining, the final stage started. At the start, Nemechek jumped ahead following a strong start while Mayer issued a challenge on Hemric for the runner-up spot. Behind, Jeb Burton and Allgaier battled for fourth in front of Cindric. 

    Just shy of the halfway mark scheduled on Lap 100, the eighth caution flew for a heavy multi-car wreck involving Dylan Lupton, Tanner Berryhill and Jade Buford, who slammed into Lupton after nearly having the incident dodged.

    Down to the final 92 laps, the race restarted under green. At the start, Nemechek launched ahead following another strong start while Hemric and Mayer battled again side-by-side for second. Then through the backstretch, Allgaier made a bold three-wide move to take over the runner-up spot entering Turn 3. Hemric, however, fought back and took over second place through the frontstretch as the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes while jostling for positions.

    At the front, Nemechek extended his advantage to more than a second over Hemric and Allgaier while Mayer settled in fourth ahead of Jeb Burton and Cindric. Brandon Jones was in eighth, Harrison Burton was in 10th and Allmendinger was mired in 12th behind Herbst while ahead of Gragson and Haley. Meanwhile, Kyle Weatherman was penalized for a restart violation.

    With 80 laps remaining, Nemechek stabilized his advantage to nearly two seconds over teammate Hemric while Allgaier remained in third ahead of Cindric and Jeb Burton. Annett was in sixth ahead of Brandon Jones, Gragson, Brandon Brown and Allmendinger. By then, Mayer had fallen back to 12th behind Haley, Harrison Burton was mired in the top 15.

    Ten laps later, Nemechek remained as the leader by less than two seconds over Hemric while third-place Allgaier trailed by more than three seconds. Cindric remained in fourth ahead of Annett, Jeb Burton and Gragson, who recovered from his pit road issue following the second stage but was now under surveillance by NASCAR for possibly leaking fluid on the track. 

    Another 10 laps later, Nemechek, who was making his way through lapped traffic, continued to lead by two seconds over teammate Hemric as Allgaier, Cindric and Annett remained in the top five. Gragson also remained in sixth ahead of Allmendinger, Brandon Jones, Haley and Jeb Burton. Harrison Burton, meanwhile, remained as the lowest-running Playoff contender in 12th.

    Two laps later, the ninth caution of the event flew when CJ McLaughlin spun in Turn 4. Under caution, the leaders returned to pit road and Nemechek exited the pits with the lead ahead of Hemric, Allgaier, Cindric, Annett and Gragson. During the pit stops, Nemechek dropped out of the lead after being penalized for having too many crew members over the wall. In addition, Brandon Brown was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    Down to the final 51 laps of the event, the race restarted as Hemric and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, Cindric shoved Hemric clear of Allgaier through the first turn as he challenged Allgaier for second place. Meanwhile, Hemric was clear out in front while Annett overtook teammate Gragson for fourth. Behind, Allmendinger battled Brandon Jones for sixth.

    With 40 laps remaining, Hemric was out in front by more than a second over Allgaier while third-place Cindric trailed by more than two seconds. Gragson and Allmendinger were in fourth and fifth while Annett, Haley, Jeb Burton, Brandon Jones and Herbst were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Nemechek was in 12th before he made a bold move through the backstretch to overtake Jones, Harrison Burton and Herbst for eighth place.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Hemric stretched his advantage to more than two seconds over Allgaier while third-place Gragson trailed by nearly four seconds. Allmendinger and Cindric were in the top five ahead of Annett and Nemechek, who continued to methodically make his way to the front with a fast car. Haley, Harrison Burton and Brandon Jones were in the top 10.

    Just then, the 10th caution flew when Brandon Brown, winner at Talladega Superspeedway earlier this month, wrecked in the backstretch and retired due to heavy damage on his No. 68 Brandonbilt Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro.

    Under caution, the leaders pitted and Nemechek leap-frogged back to the lead following a two-tire stop ahead of Hemric, Allgaier, Gragson, Annett and Allmendinger. Meanwhile, Harrison Burton remained on the track to inherit the lead.

    Down to the final 21 laps of the event, the race restarted. At the start, teammates Harrison Burton and Nemechek battled dead even for a full lap until Burton cleared Nemechek returning to the frontstretch. 

    The following lap, however, Nemechek returned to the lead for the first time since Lap 144 as Hemric joined the battle involving his two JGR teammates. Allgaier and Gragson were in the top five ahead of Allmendinger, Cindric, Haley, Annett and Brandon Jones.

    With 15 laps remaining, Nemechek, racing on two fresh tires, was leading by less than seven-tenths of a second over teammate Hemric, who was trying to close in on four fresh tires, while third-place Harrison Burton, racing on four worn tires in his No. 20 Dex Imaging Toyota Supra, trailed by a second. 

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Nemechek stabilized his advantage to more than a second over teammate Hemric while Gragson was up in third, trailing in his No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro by less than three seconds. Behind, Allgaier and Allmendinger were up in fourth and fifth followed by Cindric and Harrison Burton, who continued to hold strong on worn tires. Haley, Annett and Jones were in the top 10.

    With five laps remaining, Nemechek, who started to make his way through lapped traffic, had his advantage decreased to less than a second as Hemric tried to close in for his first win and a championship finale spot. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Nemechek remained as the leader by more than a second over teammate Hemric. With a clear race track in front of him and his teammate unable to narrow the deficit, Nemechek, whose late strategy for only two fresh tires paid off, was able to come back around and claim his first checkered flag in this year’s Xfinity season. 

    With the victory, Nemechek collected his second Xfinity Series career win in his 55th series start, fourth of the season, and since winning his first at Kansas Speedway in October 2018. The victory was also the 10th of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 54 Toyota Supra led by crew chief Chris Gayle. Nemechek’s win also comes two days after announcing that he will be remaining with Kyle Busch Motorsports for the 2022 Truck Series season.

    This also marked the third time through the first four Playoff races where the events were won by non-Playoff Xfinity Series competitors.

    “[Spotter] Stevie Reeves and Chris Gayle kept me calm [after the pit road penalty],” Nemechek said on NBC. “I think this year, I’ve grown a lot as a driver. I’ve been put in positions like that in the Truck Series as well. Man, I can’t say enough about this whole team. The No. 54 [car] has been fast every single week. My goal coming in was to win. I had to win to prove to myself that I can do this and it’s just like taking a step back to the Truck Series. I wanted to get back to Victory Lane. Thank you to all the fans that are out here. It’s an amazing accomplishment to get this one done, beating my teammate as well. We’re racing for an owner’s championship, so I’m back in the No. 54 [car] at Phoenix. Going for double championships there when we go.”

    Behind Nemechek was Daniel Hemric, who led 54 laps but finished in second place for the 10th time in his career as he continues to pursue his first win across NASCAR’s top three national touring series. Ironically, Hemric also finished second to Nemechek during Nemechek’s first Xfinity career win in 2018.

    “[Nemechek] just made a really good call to take two [tires] there,” Hemric, who was left dejected, said. “Obviously, clean air was so big. When we had clean air with our Craftsman Toyota Supra there at one point, it was really good. We were on the tighter side all day. Even earlier when [Nemechek] was better than us, he was just a little freer. I just couldn’t quite carry the same mid-quarter exit speed. [Crew chief] Dave Rogers made good adjustments all day, getting it better. Once we got that clean air, we were pretty well checked out. The caution came out and [Nemechek] just made a good call there to take two [tires]. It’s ‘Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.’ It just didn’t work out. I was just too tight there. It never got far into the run where our tires could make a difference. With 20 laps to go, you’re not going to overcome the gap I needed to make up. Too tight. I was whipping it for all I had. [I] About pounded the fence there three or four times trying to catch [Nemechek]. Great job to those guys, congrats to those guys. Really fast JGR Supras. Just not quite good enough.”

    Gragson rallied from his early pit road issue and damage to finish in third place followed by teammate Allgaier and Cindric.

    Meanwhile, Allmendinger ended up in sixth place followed by teammate Haley, Harrison Burton, Annett and Brandon Jones, with the remaining eight Xfinity Playoff contenders finishing in the top 10.

    There were eight lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured 10 cautions for 54 laps.

    Results.

    1. John Hunter Nemechek, 92 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Daniel Hemric, 55 laps led

    3. Noah Gragson

    4. Justin Allgaier

    5. Austin Cindric, 34 laps led

    6. AJ Allmendinger, 13 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    7. Justin Haley

    8. Harrison Burton, six laps led

    9. Michael Annett

    10. Brandon Jones

    11. Jeb Burton

    12. Riley Herbst

    13. Sam Mayer

    14. Ryan Sieg

    15. Kaz Grala

    16. Brett Moffitt

    17. Bayley Currey

    18. Tommy Joe Martins

    19. Josh Williams

    20. Austin Hill, one lap down

    21. Myatt Snider, one lap down

    22. Ryan Vargas, one lap down

    23. Jeffrey Earnhardt, one lap down

    24. Alex Labbe, one lap down

    25. Kyle Weatherman, one lap down

    26. Joe Graf Jr., two laps down

    27. Mason Massey, four laps down

    28. Spencer Boyd, four laps down

    29. Jeremy Clements, four laps down

    30. Joey Gase, five laps down

    31. Jesse Little, five laps down

    32. Matt Mills, seven laps down

    33. Brandon Brown – OUT, Accident

    34. David Starr – OUT, Engine

    35. CJ McLaughlin – OUT, Suspension

    36. Landon Cassill – OUT, Electrical

    37. Tanner Berryhill – OUT, Accident

    38. Dylan Lupton – OUT, Accident

    39. Jade Buford – OUT, Accident

    40. JJ Yeley – OUT, Engine

    Bold indicates Playoff contenders.

    Playoff standings.

    1. AJ Allmendinger, +30

    2. Austin Cindric, +26

    3. Justin Allgaier, +4

    4. Noah Gragson, +2

    5. Daniel Hemric, -2

    6. Justin Haley, -6

    7. Harrison Burton, -21

    8. Brandon Jones, -32

    The 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs will continue next weekend at Kansas Speedway on Saturday, October 23, with the race scheduled to start at 3 p.m. ET on NBC. 

  • Weekend schedule for Texas

    Weekend schedule for Texas

    The NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series travel to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend.

    The Round of 8 Cup Series Playoffs begins at Texas, followed by races at Kansas Speedway and Martinsville Speedway where four more drivers will be eliminated. The four drivers left standing will compete for the series championship at the season finale at Phoenix on Nov. 7.

    On Saturday, the Xfinity Series Round of 8 Playoffs will also begin at Texas culminating with the season finale at Phoenix Raceway where they will crown a champion.

    The Camping World Truck Series is off and will return Oct. 30 at Martinsville Speedway, to determine the final four heading into the championship race at Phoenix.

    All times are Eastern.

    Saturday, October 16

    2:20 p.m.: Xfinity Series Driver Intros
    3 p.m.: Xfinity Series Andy’s Frozen Custard 335 race
    Stages 45/90/200 Laps = 300 Miles
    Pole: AJ Allmendinger
    NBC/PRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio/TSN3

    Sunday, October 17

    1:20 p.m.: Cup Series Driver Intros
    2 p.m.: Cup Series Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 race
    Stages 105/210/334 Laps = 501 Miles
    Pole: Kyle Larson
    NBC/PRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio/TSN

    Cup Series Playoff Drivers Following the Charlotte Road Course

    RankDriverPoints
    1Kyle Larson (P)4,065
    2Denny Hamlin (P)4,030
    3Martin Truex Jr. (P)4,029
    4Ryan Blaney (P)4,024
    5Kyle Busch (P)4,023
    6Chase Elliott (P)4,022
    7Joey Logano (P)4,013
    8Brad Keselowski (P)4,008

    Xfinity Series Playoff Drivers Following the Charlotte Road Course

    RankDriverPoints
    1AJ Allmendinger (P)3,050
    2Austin Cindric (P)3,044
    3Justin Allgaier (P)3,021
    4Noah Gragson (P)3,017
    5Daniel Hemric (P)3,016
    6Justin Haley (P)3,015
    7Harrison Burton (P)3,008
    8Brandon Jones (P)3,002

    Texas Motor Speedway Data

    Season Race #: 33 of 36 (10-17-21)
    Track Size: 1.5-mile
    Banking/Turn 1 & 2: 20 degrees
    Banking/Turn 3 & 4: 24 degrees
    Banking/Frontstretch: 5 degrees
    Banking/Backstretch: 5 degrees
    Frontstretch Length: 2,250 feet
    Backstretch Length: 1,330 feet
    Race Length: 334 laps / 501 miles
    Stage 1 & 2 Length: 105 laps (each)
    Final Stage Length: 124 laps

    Texas Motor Speedway Qualifying Data

    Track qualifying record: Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Ford (200.915 mph, 26.877 secs.) on November 3, 2017.
    2020 Playoff Pole Winner: Metric Qualifying set the Starting Lineup, Kevin Harvick started from the pole.

    • Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch lead the NASCAR Cup Series in starts at Texas Motor Speedway with 36 each.
    • Ryan Blaney (12 starts) leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in average starting position at Texas Motor Speedway with an 9.0.
    • Kurt Busch leads the NASCAR Cup Series in poles at Texas Motor Speedway with three (Spring 2015, Playoffs 2017, Spring 2018).
    • Four different manufacturers have won a NASCAR Cup Series pole at Texas Motor Speedway; led by Chevrolet (15 poles), and followed by Ford (12), Toyota (five) and Dodge (four).

    Texas Motor Speedway Race Data

    • Nine drivers have multiple wins at Texas Motor Speedway; three of them are active this weekend – Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick.
    • The youngest Texas winner is Joey Logano (April 7, 2014 – 23 years, 10 months, 14 days).
    • The third starting position is the most proficient starting position in the field at Texas Motor Speedway, producing more wins (eight) than any other starting position.
    • Four different manufacturers have won a NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, led by Ford with 15 wins; followed by Chevrolet (14), Toyota (eight) and Dodge (three).
  • Brandon Jones to make 200th Xfinity career start at Texas

    Brandon Jones to make 200th Xfinity career start at Texas

    Competing in his sixth full-time season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Brandon Jones is set to achieve a milestone start. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s Playoff event at Texas Motor Speedway, the driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Supra will reach 200 career starts in the Xfinity circuit.

    A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Jones made his Xfinity Series debut at Iowa Speedway in May 2015. By then, he had achieved two victories in the ARCA Menards Series and one victory in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, all while competing for Turner Scott Motorsports. Driving the No. 33 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing on a part-time basis, Jones started fifth and finished eighth in his Xfinity debut.

    Jones returned for four additional Xfinity races in 2015, starting at Iowa in August, which was followed by the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in August, Bristol Motor Speedway in August and at Kentucky Speedway in September. During this span, Jones notched a career-best fifth-place result at Kentucky.

    In 2016, Jones took over the No. 33 Chevrolet Camaro as a full-time Xfinity Series competitor. Commencing the season with a seventh-place result at Daytona International Speedway, Jones achieved a total of 12 top-10 results throughout the 33-race schedule. He also made the inaugural Xfinity Series Playoffs, where he was eliminated following the first round, and settled in 10th place in the final standings.

    While Jones achieved his first Xfinity career pole for the 2017 season-opening event at Daytona in February, he only achieved a total of three top-10 results throughout the 33-race schedule and failed to make the Playoffs before ending up in 16th place in the final standings.

    Following the 2017 season, Jones departed RCR and joined Joe Gibbs Racing to pilot the No. 19 Toyota Camry for the 2018 Xfinity season. Starting the season with a 10th-place result at Daytona in February, Jones achieved a pole, two top-five results, 17 top-10 results and a spot in the Xfinity Playoffs, where he was eliminated from title contention following the first round and went on to settle in ninth place in the final standings. By then, he surpassed 100 Xfinity career starts.

    Finishing in third place in the 2019 Xfinity season opener at Daytona, Jones logged in four top-five results and 13 top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, which were enough for him to make the Playoffs based on points. After finishing 11th, 16th and 37th in the Playoff’s first round, however, Jones was one of four competitor who were eliminated early from title contention. Jones rebounded the following weekend at Kansas Speedway in October by avoiding late calamity and fending off top Playoff contenders to score his first Xfinity Series career victory. He went on to finish in the top 10 in two of the final three races before settling in 10th place in the final standings.

    The following season, Jones achieved his second Xfinity Series career win at Phoenix Raceway in March following a late pass on teammate Kyle Busch. Following NASCAR’s return to action in May amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Jones completed a last lap pass on Austin Cindric to win for the second time in 2020 at Kansas in July. Six races later, Jones overtook teammate Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain prior to the final lap to achieve his third victory of the season and fourth of his career at Darlington Raceway in September. Returning to the Playoffs for a third consecutive season, Jones remained in title contention through the Round of 8 at Martinsville Speedway in October, but he fell short in making the Championship Round at Phoenix Raceway in November and contending for his first NASCAR title. Nonetheless, Jones and his No. 19 JGR Toyota team finished in sixth place in the final standings, which marks Jones’ best points result to date. 

    This season, Jones has recorded a stage victory, three runner-up results, 11 top-five results and 16 top-10 results through 29 scheduled Xfinity starts. After qualifying for the Xfinity Playoffs for a fifth season, Jones is coming off three consecutive top-10 results and is one of eight competitors to transfer to the Round of 8. He is currently lined up in eighth place in the Playoff standings with 3,003 points as he continues his pursuit for his first NASCAR national touring series championship.

    Through 199 previous Xfinity starts, Jones has achieved four career victories, three poles, 30 top-five results, 85 top-10 results, five Playoff appearances, nearly 600 laps led and an average-finishing result of 15.5.

    Jones is set to make his 200th Xfinity Series career start at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday, October 16, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Larson achieves second All-Star Race win at Texas

    Larson achieves second All-Star Race win at Texas

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results.

    1. Kyle Larson, 17 laps led

    2. Brad Keselowski, five laps led

    3. Chase Elliott, 12 laps led

    4. Joey Logano

    5. Ryan Blaney, 15 laps led

    6. Alex Bowman, nine laps led

    7. William Byron, 30 laps led

    8. Aric Almirola

    9. Kyle Busch, six laps led

    10. Kurt Busch

    11. Christopher Bell

    12. Michael McDowell

    13. Martin Truex Jr.

    14. Cole Custer

    15. Kevin Harvick

    16. Tyler Reddick

    17. Matt DiBenedetto, six laps led

    18. Ross Chastain

    19. Austin Dillon

    20. Ryan Newman

    21. Denny Hamlin 

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

  • Chastain, Reddick, Almirola and DiBenedetto transfer to All-Star Race following eventful All-Star Open

    Chastain, Reddick, Almirola and DiBenedetto transfer to All-Star Race following eventful All-Star Open

    Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick and Aric Almirola claimed starting spots for the 2021 NASCAR All-Star Race after each won a segment during the NASCAR All-Star Open at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, June 13. For the final transfer spot, Matt DiBenedetto earned a one-way ticket into the main event after being named the Fan Vote winner.

    The starting lineup was determined via driver points, making Tyler Reddick starting on pole position while Chris Buescher joined him on the front row.

    Prior to the race, Ross Chastain dropped to the rear of the field due to a violation discovered on his car pinpointing to his aero ducts. As a result, crew chief Phil Surgen was suspended from the weekend and Chip Ganassi Racing was fined $25,000. Austin Cindric (two pre-race inspection failures) and David Starr (unapproved adjustments) also started at the rear of the field. 

    When the green flag waved and the race started for the first segment, Buescher jumped ahead and battled Reddick for the lead entering the first turn before Reddick received a push from Matt DiBenedetto on the inside lane to take the lead.

    With the field jostling for position behind, Reddick led the first lap. Meanwhile, Buescher and rookie Chase Briscoe made their way into second and third over DiBenedetto as Bubba Wallace and Erik Jones joined the battle.

    Then, NASCAR declared that Buescher has been assessed a penalty for jumping ahead of the leader, Reddick, prior to the start of the event. In addition, Cindric was penalized for changing lanes at the start of the race.

    On the fourth lap, the caution flew when Wallace, who was running in fourth place ahead of Erik Jones and Matt DiBenedetto, got loose and spun in Turn 1 before coming to a rest below the apron. Despite the spin, Wallace continued with no damage to his No. 23 DoorDash Toyota Camry. 

    Under caution, Wallace pitted along with Daniel Suarez, Quin Houff, Garrett Smithley, Austin Cindric and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Following the pit stops, Stenhouse was assessed an over-the-wall too soon penalty. 

    When the race restarted on the eighth lap, Reddick retained the lead over Briscoe, Jones and the field through the first two turns. Not long after, the caution returned when Buescher spun in Turn 3 following a bump from Stenhouse. 

    Under caution, Buescher pitted along with Stenhouse and Josh Bilicki.

    When the race restarted on Lap 13, Reddick retained the lead followed by Jones, Briscoe and the field. 

    Two corners later, trouble ensued again when Jones, who battled hard against Briscoe, slipped up and spun sideways, where he was hit by Daniel Suarez before spinning back up to the wall with heavy damage as Suarez also made contact with the outside wall. The wreck was enough to knock Suarez and Jones out of contention to make the All-Star Race.

    Under caution, Briscoe pitted, but was busted for speeding on pit road.

    On Lap 18, the race restarted as Reddick and Ross Chastain started on the front row. At the start, Reddick and Chastain battled for the lead entering the backstretch while DiBenedetto and Corey LaJoie made a three-wide move on Almirola to move up towards the front.

    Coming to the final lap of the first segment, Chastain made his move on the outside lane of Reddick through Turns 3 and 4 and he was able to grab the lead past the start/finish line. Through Turn 1, Chastain was able to clear Reddick and pull away. 

    Following his surge on the final lap, Chastain, who rallied from starting at the rear of the field following pre-race inspection issues, rocketed away to win the first segment on Lap 20 and race his way into the All-Star Race for the first time in his career, joining teammate Kurt Busch in the main event.

    “It’s really cool,” Chastain said on FS1. “It’s been a good weekend on-track, but off-track, it’s obviously been really tough. Just fired me up more. This McDonald’s Chevy was obviously really good, coming from the back like that and race with guys like Reddick and those guys. I thought I was getting turned on the backstretch there when he drove into the left rear, but it’s a dream come true. Man, I’m living my dream as a farmer. Now, I get to go NASCAR racing in the All-Star Race with my heroes. It’s amazing.”

    Under the segment break, LaJoie pitted along with Justin Haley, Cody Ware, Houff, James Davison, Timmy Hill and David Starr.

    At the start of the second segment, Reddick received a push from Cindric on the outside lane to retain the lead ahead of DiBenedetto and Cindric. Meanwhile, Buescher and Almirola battled for fourth place followed by Wallace and Stenhouse. 

    By Lap 25, Reddick was the leader followed by Cindric, DiBenedetto, Almirola and Buescher. Wallace was in sixth followed by Briscoe, Stenhouse, rookie Anthony Alfredo and LaJoie. 

    A few laps later, DiBenedetto and Almirola overtook Cindric for second and third. Meanwhile, Reddick continued to lead by nearly a second. 

    By Lap 30, Reddick was leading by four-tenths of a second over DiBenedetto, with Almirola trailing by nearly a second. Behind, Cindric and Buescher battled for fourth place while Wallace retained sixth place.

    With five laps remaining in the second segment, Reddick was still leading despite encountering lapped traffic, but he had Almirola closing in for the lead.

    Down to the final two laps of the segment, Almirola drew his car behind Reddick’s rear bumper, but he could not navigate his way around Reddick to take the lead,

    On the final lap of the second segment, Reddick was leading by under two-tenths of a second over Almirola, who continued to keep Reddick in pressure. Despite Almirola’s late surge, Reddick was able to beat Almirola by nearly three-tenths of a second to win the second segment on Lap 40 as Reddick transferred to his first All-Star Race, joining teammate Austin Dillon.

    “Thankfully, we executed in the second segment,” Reddick said. “We got this thing in the race. That was the hottest 40-lap race I’ve ever done. That was hot.”

    Under the segment break, Stenhouse pitted along with Briscoe, Haley, B.J. McLeod and Garrett Smithley. 

    With 10 laps remaining, the final segment commenced under green. At the start, the field battled through two lanes as Almirola and DiBenedetto battled dead even for the lead. Following a close side-by-side battle with DiBenedetto for a full lap, Almirola pulled ahead with the lead.

    With five laps remaining, Almirola was leading by nearly half a second over DiBenedetto and Buescher. Cindric and Briscoe were in the top five followed by Wallace, Haley, Alfredo, Stenhouse and LaJoie.

    As Almirola continued to lead, DiBenedetto and Buescher battled for the runner-up spot as both were behind by seven-tenths of a second. 

    Having a clear lead to his advantage, Almirola, who has endured a difficult 2021 season, was able to navigate his way around the circuit for a final time and come back around to take the checkered flag and win the NASCAR All-Star Open as he punched his ticket into the All-Star Race for the fourth time in his career, joining teammates Kevin Harvick and Cole Custer. 

    “It just helps make you happy about something,” Almirola said. “It’s been a really tough year and the guys just continued to work their guts out and bring the best cars we can. And here at Texas today, we got a really fast car. We took the long way in, but I’m still glad we’re racing for a million bucks tonight. Just proud to give [my sponsors] something to smile about, really.”

    Despite finishing in the runner-up spot, Matt DiBenedetto claimed the 21st and final starting spot to the All-Star Race after being named the Fan Vote winner, a move that allowed him to transfer into the All-Star event for a second consecutive season.

    “That’s a relief,” DiBenedetto said. “We struggled a little bit with the car there, but man, thank you so much. That’s really cool. It means a lot to get all the votes from the fans. I can’t tell them how much I appreciate that and an opportunity to be an All-Star.”

    Buescher finished in third place followed by Briscoe and Cindric. Wallace rallied to finish sixth followed by Haley, Alfredo, Stenhouse and LaJoie. All eight competitors were among the remaining 18 competitors competing in the Open whom failed to make the All-Star Race.

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

    Results.

    1. Aric Almirola – Won third segment, 10 laps led

    2. Matt DiBenedetto – Fan Vote winner

    3. Chris Buescher

    4. Chase Briscoe

    5. Austin Cindric

    6. Bubba Wallace

    7. Justin Haley

    8. Anthony Alfredo

    9. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    10. Corey LaJoie

    11. Cody Ware

    12. B.J. McLeod

    13. Josh Bilicki

    14. Garrett Smithley

    15. Quin Houff, one lap down

    16. James Davison, one lap down

    17. Timmy Hill, one lap down

    18. David Starr, one lap down

    19. Tyler Reddick – Won second segment, 38 laps led

    20. Ross Chastain – Won first segment, two laps led

    21. Erik Jones – OUT, Accident

    22. Daniel Suarez – OUT, Accident

    The 2021 NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway will follow suit on Sunday, June 13, at 8 p.m. on FS1.

  • Kyle Busch wins in overtime at Texas, scores his 99th Xfinity Series victory

    Kyle Busch wins in overtime at Texas, scores his 99th Xfinity Series victory

    Kyle Busch scored his 99th Xfinity Series win at Texas Motor Speedway Saturday in the Alsco Uniforms 250. He led 94 laps in his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 Toyota, winning .433 seconds ahead of second-place finisher, Justin Allgaier.

    It was Busch’s second win in two Xfinity Series races this season. But it did not come easily as Busch had to persevere through three restarts in the final laps, coming out on top in overtime. Justin Allgaier was his biggest rival, leading 23 laps, but was unable to make the pass for the lead, and finished second.

    “Just being with a great group of guys and Joe Gibbs Racing is pretty awesome to drive to drive these Toyota Supras here in the Xfinity Series,’’ Busch said after the race.

    Busch noted that Allgaier’s JR Motorsports Chevrolet was probably just as good as his car and credited his victory to making the right moves on the last restarts.

    “I was just able to think through a few things there on a couple restarts that may or may not work but there at the end they did.’’

    Busch also had help from the third-place finisher, Team Penske’s Austin Cindric, who was behind Busch and pushed him on the final restarts.

    Cindric said his car was not as strong toward the end as it was during the first half of the race.

    “We faded halfway through the race,” he said. “We were really good to start with and just didn’t quite have the pieces to keep up with the track with the PJ1 fading away. Overall, it was a great race. It was good to get a playoff point and we had a good points day. We had a lot of people from Odyssey Battery here. The last time I did a suite appearance was back at Fontana last year. It’s great to have them as partners and we hope to keep the momentum going.”

    Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Daniel Hemric and Brandon Jones finished fourth and fifth as AJ Allmendinger, Noah Gragson, Brett Mofitt, Justin Haley and Michael Annett rounded out the top 10 finishers.

    Cindric leads the driver standings by 108 points over AJ Allmendinger. Hemric (-122), Harrison Burton (-157), Allgaier (-171), Haley (-175), Jeb Burton (-186), Brandon Jones (-226), Gragson (-249) and Michael Annett (-253) round out the top 10 in the championship standings.

    The next race for the Xfinity Series is Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • John Hunter Nemechek nabs fourth win of the 2021 Truck Series season at Texas

    John Hunter Nemechek nabs fourth win of the 2021 Truck Series season at Texas

    John Hunter Nemechek dominated Texas Motor Speedway on a hot Saturday afternoon in the Lone Star state to take home the victory in Saturday’s Speedycash.com 220. It was his fourth win of the 2021 Truck Series season and his first at Texas Motor Speedway.

    Nemechek leads the driver standings with four races remaining in the regular season.

    Nemechek started on the pole based on the qualifying metric system, won Stage 1, and cycled out as the leader once again in the final stage with 21 laps remaining to score the victory.

    Stages 35-35-77 laps made up the 147-lap event at Texas.

    Stage 1: Lap 1 – Lap 35

    Three cautions slowed the first stage and two of those cautions came out for the 2020 Truck Series champion Sheldon Creed. Creed brought out the first yellow on Lap 6 when the California native spun in Turn 2 and brushed the wall causing damage to the back end of the No. 2 machine. Then, on Lap 21, he caused the yellow again after spinning the same area.

    The final yellow for the stage was caused by the No. 49 of Ray Ciccarelli, who came to a stop off of Turn 2 at Lap 33. With the yellow coming out so late in the stage, Stage 1 would end under yellow and Nemechek grabbed the stage victory. Austin Hill, Ben Rhodes, Chandler Smith, Stewart Friesen, Brennan Poole, Austin Wayne Self, Derek Kraus, Todd Gilliland and Josh Berry rounded out the Top 10 finishers.

    Stage 2: Lap 40 – Lap 70

    Stage 2 was similar in terms of the number of cautions. On Lap 52, the No. 52 of Friesen was sent spinning sideways into Turn 2 after a bump from the No. 42 of Carson Hocevar. Then, on Lap 59, the No. 10 of Jennifer Jo Cobb came to a stop, and finally, with two to go in the stage (Lap 69), the No. 51 of Drew Dollar crashed in Turn 2 seeing an early end to his day.

    Zane Smith took the stage victory as Tanner Gray, Kraus, Poole, Ross Chastain, Berry, Chase Elliott, Chandler Smith, Nemechek and Grant Enfinger completed the Top 10.

    Stage 3: Lap 77 – Lap 147

    The final stage saw teams using various strategies. On Lap 78, Elliott took the lead from Chastain and led through Lap 108 (39 to go) when Elliott made his final pit stop. Nemechek stayed out longer than others hoping to build a large gap between Elliott and himself.

    Nemechek made his final stop 10 laps later than Elliott. He lost the lead briefly during his stop to Zane Smith but Nemechek recycled back to the lead with 21 to go. From there, he held on to a sizable lead over Elliott and won in his sixth track start at Texas Motor Speedway. Elliott, Chastain, and Austin Hill were the top five finishers.

    Nemechek led five times for 64 laps en route to victory. There were seven leaders among 15 different lead changes and six cautions for 38 laps.

    *Note: Niece Motorsports’ driver, Ross Chastain, who was originally scored with a third-place finish, was disqualified by NASCAR following post-race inspection. It was determined that the No. 45 entry had violated Section 20.6.2.13.a in the NASCAR Rule Book: “The throttle body must be used as supplied by the NT1 engine supplier without modification.”

    As a result of the infraction, Chastain was scored with a last-place finish of 36th.

    Official Results following the SpeedyCash.com 220 at Texas Motor Speedway:
    1. John Hunter Nemechek, won Stage 1, led 64 laps
    2. Chase Elliott, led 45 laps
    3. Grant Enfinger
    4. Austin Hill
    5. Chandler Smith
    6. Zane Smith, won Stage 2, led 12 laps
    7. Todd Gilliland, led eight laps
    8. Tyler Ankrum
    9. Tanner Gray, led seven laps
    10. Josh Berry
    11. Carson Hocevar
    12. Johnny Sauter
    13. Derek Kraus, 1 lap down
    14. Brennan Poole, 1 lap down
    15. Austin Wayne Self, 1 lap down
    16. Ryan Truex, 1 lap down
    17. Chase Purdy, 2 laps down
    18. Cory Roper, 2 laps down
    19. Tyler Hill, 2 laps down
    20. Matt Crafton, 3 laps down
    21. Dawson Cram, 3 laps down
    22. Kris Wright, 3 laps down
    23. Howie DiSavino III, 4 laps down
    24. Hailie Deegan, 5 laps down
    25. Tate Fogleman, 5 laps down
    26. Ben Rhodes, 6 laps down
    27. Spencer Boyd, 6 laps down
    28. Jesse Iwuji, 6 laps down
    29. Keith McGee, 7 laps down
    30. Norm Benning, 13 laps down
    31. Jennifer Jo Cobb, 16 laps down
    32. Ray Ciccarelli, OUT, Brakes
    33. Drew Dollar, OUT, Crash
    34. Stewart Friesen, OUT, Crash
    35. Sheldon Creed, OUT, Crash
    36. *Ross Chastain, led five laps – Disqualified, relegated to a last-place finish

    Up Next: The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to Nashville Superspeedway for the first time since 2011 on Friday, June 18, live on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio at 8 p.m. ET.

  • Weekend schedule for Texas

    Weekend schedule for Texas

    NASCAR heads to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. The Camping World Truck Series and the Xfinity Series will hit the track Saturday as the NASCAR Cup Series closes out the weekend with the All-Star Race Sunday night.

    Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson won the pole for the All-Star Race via random draw Tuesday afternoon.

    The starting lineup for the All-Star Open was determined by driver points. Richard Childress Racing’s Tyler Reddick will start on the pole.

    There will be no practice or qualifying sessions for the Xfinity Series and Truck Series races due to COVID-19 protocols established by NASCAR.

    The starting lineups will be determined by the following metrics formula:

    • 25 percent: Driver’s finishing position from the previous race
    • 25 percent: Car owner’s finishing position from the previous race
    • 35 percent: Team owner points ranking
    • 15 percent: Fastest lap from the previous race

    All times are Eastern.

    Saturday, June 12

    1 p.m.: Truck Series SpeedyCash.com 220 (Stages 35/70/147 laps = 220.5 miles)
    FS1/MRN/Sirius XM NASCAR Radio
    Defending race winner: Kyle Busch
    Pole: John Hunter Nemechek

    4 p.m.: Xfinity Series Alsco Uniforms 250 (Stages 40/80/167 laps = 250.5 miles)
    FS1/PRN/TSN2/Sirius XM NASCAR Radio
    Defending race winner: Austin Cindric
    Pole: AJ Allmendinger

    Sunday, June 13

    6 p.m.: Cup Series All-Star Open
    Pole determined by driver points: Tyler Reddick
    FS1/MRN/TSN3/Sirius XM NASCAR Radio

    8 p.m.: Cup Series All-Star Race (Rounds 1-4: 15 laps) (Round 5: 30 laps) (Round 6: 10 laps)
    Defending race winner: Chase Elliott
    Pole was chosen via a random draw: Kyle Larson
    FS1/MRN/TSN3/Sirius XM NASCAR Radio

    Click here for more info on the All-Star Race at Texas – format, eligibility and more.

    Did you know?

    2020 NASCAR Cup Series Champion Chase Elliott won last year’s All-Star Race.

    The NASCAR All-Star Race has previously been held at three tracks: Charlotte Motor Speedway (1985, 1987-2019) Atlanta Motor Speedway (1986) and Bristol Motor Speedway (2020).

    This year’s race includes seven former winners: Ryan Newman (2002), Kevin Harvick (2007, 2018), Kurt Busch (2010), Denny Hamlin (2015), Joey Logano (2016), Kyle Busch (2017), Kyle Larson (2019), and Chase Elliott (2020).

    Darrell Waltrip won the inaugural race in 1985. Bill Elliott, Chase Elliott’s father, won the event in 1986 in his home state of Georgia.

    Dale Earnhardt won in 1987 aided by the legendary “Pass in the Grass.”

    Michael Waltrip, now a Fox Sports NASCAR commentator, won the 1996 race by becoming the first to do so through winning the Open.

    Kasey Kahne (2008) is the only All-Star Race winner who earned his way into the race from the All-Star Open Fan Vote.

    Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson, now running a partial schedule in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, earned the most All-Star Race victories with four (2003, 2006, 2012-13).

    Lineup for All-Star Open

    Start pos.

    		DriverCar #Team
    1Tyler Reddick8Richard Childress Racing
    2Chris Buescher17Roush Fenway Racing
    3Matt DiBenedetto21Wood Brothers Racing
    4Ricky Stenhouse Jr.47JTG Daugherty Racing
    5Ross Chastain42Chip Ganassi Racing
    6Bubba Wallace2323XI Racing
    7Daniel Suarez99Trackhouse Racing Team
    8Erik Jones43Richard Petty Motorsports
    9Chase Briscoe14Stewart-Haas Racing
    10Aric Almirola10Stewart-Haas Racing
    11Corey LaJoie7Spire Motorsports
    12Anthony Alfredo38Front Row Motorsports
    13Quin Houff00StarCom Racing
    14James Davison15Rick Ware Racing
    15Josh Bilicki52Rick Ware Racing
    16Austin Cindric33Team Penske
    17Cody Ware51Rick Ware Racing
    18BJ McLeod78Live Fast Motorsports
    19Justin Haley77Spire Motorsports
    20Garrett Smithley53Rick Ware Racing
    21Timmy Hill66MBM Motorsports
    22David Starr13MBM Motorsports

    Lineup for All-Star Race


    		Start pos.DriverCar # Team
      
     1Kyle Larson5Hendrick Motorsports
     2Kyle Busch18Joe Gibbs Racing
     3Christopher Bell20Joe Gibbs Racing
     4Cole Custer41Stewart-Haas Racing
     5Austin Dillon3Richard Childress Racing
     6Chase Elliott9Hendrick Motorsports
     7Joey Logano22Team Penske
     8William Byron24Hendrick Motorsports
     9Brad Keselowski2Team Penske
     10Martin Truex Jr.19Joe Gibbs Racing
     11Michael McDowell34Front Row Motorsports
     12Kevin Harvick4Stewart-Haas Racing
     13Kurt Busch1Chip Ganassi Racing
     14Ryan Newman6Roush Fenway Racing
     15Alex Bowman48Hendrick Motorsports
     16Denny Hamlin11Joe Gibbs Racing
     17Ryan Blaney12Team Penske
     18Winner Open Round 1
     19Winner Open Round 2
     20Winner Open Round Final Round
     21Fan Vote
  • Brown to make 100th Xfinity Series start at Texas

    Brown to make 100th Xfinity Series start at Texas

    A significant milestone start is in the making for Brandon Brown, driver of the No. 68 Brandonbilt Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. By competing in this weekend’s event at Texas Motor Speedway, Brown will reach 100 career starts in the Xfinity circuit.

    A native of Woodbridge, Virginia, Brown made his Xfinity Series debut at Richmond Raceway in September 2016. By then, he had made select NASCAR Truck Series races in the previous two seasons and he was a student at Coastal Carolina University. Driving the No. 86 Chevrolet for Brandonbilt Motorsports, his family-owned team, Brown started 26th and finished 29th in his series debut. He went on to compete at Kansas Speedway in October, where he finished 25th, and the season-finale Homestead-Miami Speedway in November, where he finished 23rd.

    Brown returned for 10 Xfinity races in 2017, with his first event occurring at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March and his last occurring at Dover International Speedway in September. His best results were 17th at Dover in June and 20th at Darlington Raceway in September.

    In 2018, Brown competed in seven of the 33-race schedule, where he earned two 18th-place results (Darlington in September and Texas in November) and a 19th-place result (Richmond Raceway in April).

    The following season, Brown competed in all 33 Xfinity scheduled races between Brandonbilt Motorsports and RSS Racing. His best result was sixth at Daytona International Speedway in July. He also went on to earn a total of 10 top-15 results before settling in 15th place in the final standings.

    Brown returned as a full-time Xfinity competitor for Brandonbilt Motorsports in 2020, where he kicked off the season with a seventh-place result at Daytona in February. He earned four top-10 results and 17 top-15 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, which were enough for him to make the Xfinity Playoffs for the first time in his career.

    During the Round of 12 in the Xfinity Playoffs, Brown earned results of 15th, ninth and 26th, but his title hopes came to an early end after he was eliminated from the Playoffs. Two races later, Brown rebounded by earning his first top-five career result in the series after finishing fifth at Texas in October. He went on to conclude the season in 11th place in the final standings and with a career-high six top-10 results along with a career-best average result of 16.0.

    Through the first 13 races of this season, Brown has finished in the top five twice and in the top 10 seven times. During this span, he earned a career-best third-place result at Phoenix Raceway in March following a late restart and dash to the finish. He is currently ranked in 13th place in the Xfinity Series regular-season standings.

    Through 99 previous Xfinity Series starts, Brown has claimed three top-five results, 14 top-10 results and an average result of 19.0.

    Brown is primed to make his 100th Xfinity Series career start at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday, June 12, which will occur at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.