Latest Newshttps://www.nascar.com/channel/latestnewsThe latest news and headlinesThu, 28 Mar 2024 13:50:45 +0000Richmond Turning Point: Mid-week story lineshttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/27/richmond-turning-point-mid-week-story-lines/Wed, 27 Mar 2024 16:44:40 GMT-0500128040cameron-richardson, circuit-of-the-americas, drivers, Fantasy Racing, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-cup-series, richmond-raceway, Series, stewart-haas-racing, teams, tracks, william-byronStaff ReportHere‘s what‘s happening in the world of NASCAR with COTA in the rearview and Richmond (Sun., 7 p.m. ET, FOX) right around the corner.

THE LINEUP ️

1️⃣ Could William Byron dominate his way through the season?

2️⃣ Not must win, but must-perform this weekend for Stewart-Haas Racing

3️⃣ How Christopher Bell lost COTA in Stage 2

4️⃣ These drivers are tops on short tracks in the Next Gen era

5️⃣ Catch the pack — news and notes from around the garage

AUSTIN, TEXAS - MARCH 24: William Byron, driver of the #24 RaptorTough.com Chevrolet, and crew chief Rudy Fugle celebrate in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas on March 24, 2024 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

1. Could William Byron dominate his way through the season? 

With a Daytona 500 and road-course victory already on the resume, the 26-year-old driver appears to be well on his way to cementing the No. 24 as the top dog in the Cup Series once again.

Two wins after six races on the Cup calendar match what Byron accomplished last year, as he marched on to six wins in 2023 and reached the Championship 4. Even though his 2024 has been hit or miss, with three finishes outside the top 10, he finished 25th or worse in three races at this point in 2023.

Richmond certainly wasn‘t kind to Byron last season with two results outside the top 20, but with the return of night racing around the 0.75-mile facility, the No. 24 team could solve their woes at the track as Byron and crew finished top 10 in six of eight races that concluded under the lights last season.

Based on trends in the Cup Series Playoffs era (since 2014), Byron is looking good to be a lock for a Championship 4 return as the first multi-time winner in each season of the current era has advanced to the title round in nine of 10 seasons. This is the third consecutive year Byron has accomplished the feat.

MORE: Final standings result for first drivers to score multiple wins in a season

While Richmond will be a challenge for the No. 24 team, Byron has won at three of the next six tracks on the schedule (Martinsville, Darlington, Texas) following the weekend in Virginia‘s capital.

Sonoma is on tap soon after that stretch and Byron will likely be the favorite for that event as he‘s finished top two in the last three road-course races.

2024 is still in its youth, but based on Byron‘s current prowess and his success on upcoming tracks, this could be the season that takes him from title contender to No. 1 in the Cup Series.

SONOMA, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 11: William Byron, driver of the #24 RaptorTough.com Chevrolet, Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota, and Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 Valvoline Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Toyota / Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on June 11, 2023 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images)

2. Not must-win, but must-perform this weekend for Stewart-Haas Racing

Stewart-Haas Racing hasn‘t visited Victory Lane since Kevin Harvick capped off a back-to-back run of wins at Richmond in 2022. With short tracks being the organization‘s bread and butter in the Next Gen era, can they finally snap a year-and-a-half winless drought? 

As Stewart-Haas Racing is in a current rebuild state with a fresh driver lineup, there have been subtle signs of its improvement early in the season.

Both Chase Briscoe and Noah Gragson have a pair of top 10s to kick off 2024 and the drivers showed quality pace at both Las Vegas and Phoenix. While Ryan Preece and Josh Berry have yet to find their stride this season, Richmond could flip the script.

The last time NASCAR visited Richmond, SHR was arguably the organization of the day with three top 10s and Briscoe bringing the No. 14 Ford home in 11th. Going back to the spring race in 2023, all four cars finished 18th or better, and rookie Berry finished second while filling in for the injured Chase Elliott at Hendrick Motorsports.

Sunday is the first Richmond night race in the Next Gen era, so there will be few notes to go off, with the new short-track package making its sophomore outing and both practice and qualifying sessions taking place in the middle of the day. As the race will likely be determined by pit strategy and tire conservation, it could play into the hands of Preece and Berry, who come from the local short-track scene where both aspects are paramount to success.

SHR doesn‘t need a victory Sunday evening, but Richmond will be pivotal in displaying the trajectory for the organization through the rest of 2024.

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA - JULY 30: Ryan Preece, driver of the #41 United Rentals Ford, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the #47 Kleenex Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway on July 30, 2023 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

3. How Christopher Bell lost COTA in Stage 2

NBC‘s Steve Letarte and MRN‘s Todd Gordon look back at Christopher Bell‘s first pit stop of the day at COTA, costing him precious seconds due to a fueling issue. 

4. These drivers are tops on short tracks in the Next Gen era

The usual suspects top the ranks of drivers with the most points scored on short tracks in the Next Gen car, but a few may surprise you ahead of Sunday‘s race at Richmond.

DriverPoints
Denny Hamlin443
Christopher Bell417
Kyle Larson416
Ryan Blaney342
Chase Elliott340
Joey Logano338
William Byron333
Ross Chastain328
Chase Briscoe323
Chris Buescher322

 

5. Catch the pack — news and notes from around the garage

Power Rankings: Kyle Busch set to ride COTA fury to Richmond win?

Paint Scheme Preview: See the schemes for Richmond doubleheader

Analysis: What we learned from first road course of 2024

NASCAR senior VP of competition Elton Sawyer: ‘We don‘t want to over-officiate‘ following COTA

Inside the Race: Explaining Justin Haley‘s post-race disqualification

Alex Bowman‘s early uptick offsets pressure: ‘It‘s our job to turn it around

ICYMI: Wild final lap at COTA leads to Xfinity win for Larson as SVG, Hill tangle

Exclusive look: Kyle Busch confronts Christopher Bell on pit road

Petty‘s take: Christopher Bell hit all the Kyles at COTA except for me

@nascarcasm: Fake texts to Bristol winner Denny Hamlin

Corey Heim cruises to first Truck Series win of 2024

Which driver is favored to win 2024 title after COTA?

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA - JULY 30: Chris Buescher, driver of the #17 Fastenal Ford, leads the field during the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway on July 30, 2023 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

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Sammy Smith improving his future with JR Motorsportshttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/27/sammy-smith-improving-his-future-with-jr-motorsports/Wed, 27 Mar 2024 16:42:04 GMT-0500128038drivers, jr-motorsports-teams, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-xfinity-series, sammy-smith, Series, teamsStaff ReportWhen Sammy Smith won in the infancy of his 2023 rookie season at Phoenix Raceway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Joe Gibbs Racing, all was looking great. He scored five additional top-five finishes with JGR the rest of the year.

Smith jumped directly from the ARCA Menards Racing Series, running nine races in the Xfinity Series in 2022 to gain experience for what was to come in 2023. His rookie campaign, however, was eye-opening.

“I learned a lot last year,” Smith told NASCAR.com of his rookie season. “Getting to new tracks for the first time — and I was with a new team last year, too. I think that was a combination of both, and every time we went back to a track for the second time, I feel like we performed better and got the car better. I think I was more prepared going there for the second time.”

RELATED: Sammy Smith driver page | About JR Motorsports

Smith was learning rapidly, retaining information like a fire hose. He struggled during the summer months, entering the postseason with seven consecutive finishes of 17th or worse, including a trio of DNFs.

During a playoff surge that nearly saw Smith win his way into the Championship 4 at Martinsville Speedway, JR Motorsports announced he would hop over to the Chevrolet camp for the 2024 season to replace Josh Berry in the No. 8 car. That ended Smith‘s four-year run with Toyota.

Smith believed a change of scenery was needed because “it clearly wasn‘t working” with JGR.

“A lot of different factors that played into mind of moving over here to JRM and Chevy,” Smith said. “Minus Josh, even last year, Justin [Allgaier] and Sam [Mayer] won a lot of races. Every year, [JR Motorsports] proved to win races. We have a new group around us with Adam Wall (crew chief) and a mixture of guys from last year and some new guys. I have a new spotter for myself.

“Everything is new, and it‘s been good so far, so I‘m looking forward to continuing it on. There were a lot of things for my future that were better. I wouldn‘t pinpoint it as just not working, it was just a combination of a lot of things.”

Smith‘s entry into the JRM fold also reunited the team with familiar sponsors Pilot Flying J, TMC Transportation and Allstate Peterbilt, which were a part of the team for five seasons with Michael Annett. Annett has mentored Smith over the years, with his late father Harold helping Smith start his racing career.

“It was really special to be able to welcome Sammy and everyone from Pilot Flying J, TMC and Allstate Peterbilt back to the JRM family,” Kelley Earnhardt Miller, CEO of JR Motorsports, provided in a statement. “We built a great relationship with them going back to when we had Michael here, and they were vital to allowing us to become a four-car operation. To have them return this season is something that we are all extremely proud of, and we can‘t wait to see what success lies ahead for Sammy and the entire No. 8 team.”

Smith has leaned on Annett in the past for tidbits and information. But largely, Annett has stayed out of the way and let Smith learn on the fly.

“If I had a little more success, he probably would have leaned on me more,” Annett said of Smith in an interview during the 2023 season. “He‘s got a bunch of good people around him that he can lean on that have had great success with where they are and he‘s shown that.

“He‘s shown he‘s got what it takes, and he‘s going to get it done.”

Seeing how much success JRM has had in recent years — including a team record 15 wins in 2022, followed by an eight-win season last year — Smith expects to run up front early and often. He‘s also been paired with Wall, who previously served as an engineer for Kyle Larson‘s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team in the Cup Series.

“I think the goal every weekend is to go out and win, and we want to do that, but it takes a lot more to get to that goal with processes that you have to do during the week,” Smith added. “For us, it‘s a lot different because we don‘t really know each other, and it makes it a lot tougher to find that balance of what I need when we show up to the track week in and week out.”

Improvements are visible through the first five events in 2024. Smith is tied with Brandon Jones for the most top 10s within the team (three), while veteran drivers Justin Allgaier and Sam Mayer combine to have three such results. Through the first five races in 2023, Smith‘s lone top 10 was the Phoenix victory.

MORE: 2024 Xfinity Series schedule | Smith to drive in four Truck races 

Smith believes it will be building a process before he finds Victory Lane, but he has high expectations for his sophomore season. Smith‘s next opportunity to build on that process will come at Richmond Raceway on March 30 (1:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“As much as we wish we could go out and win right away, it‘s probably not going to be like that,” Smith said. “We just have to keep working and I feel like that‘s something we can go do, we just have to get into a rhythm.”

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Alex Bowman's early uptick offsets pressurehttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/27/alex-bowmans-early-uptick-offsets-pressure/Wed, 27 Mar 2024 16:41:18 GMT-0500128036alex-bowman, chase-elliott, circuit-of-the-americas, drivers, hendrick-motorsports, jeff-gordon, kyle-larson, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, richmond-raceway, Series, teams, tracks, william-byronStaff ReportThrough six races last season, Alex Bowman was enjoying a tidy three-week run as the NASCAR Cup Series points leader. He won the Daytona 500 pole, led laps in the first three events and rode solid consistency (five top 10s) into that prime perch.

Things did not go up from there. A slight tapering-off led to a more dramatic fall with Bowman‘s four-week absence after he suffered a back injury in a sprint-car crash that April. His return to Cup Series competition was a shaky one that yielded just one top-five finish in the 23 races that followed, and his playoff hopes were dashed in his first winless campaign since 2018. Teammate Chase Elliott‘s season followed a near-parallel line with a six-week injury pause and a postseason miss, while fellow Hendrick Motorsports drivers William Byron and Kyle Larson marched to multi-win seasons and Championship 4 appearances.

RELATED: Cup Series standings | Bowman +2 in Power Rankings

Six races into this campaign, Bowman has responded to the pressure to perform — both with his elite teammates and the rest of the Cup Series field as measuring sticks — with some early signs of a positive turnaround. The 30-year-old driver registered his second consecutive top-five result in Sunday‘s road-course contest at Circuit of The Americas, providing some stability to the rough edges of the season‘s start.

While it‘s premature to label Bowman as all the way back — a win would do that — the No. 48 Chevrolet driver has modest early indicators in his favor. The steep expectations that stem from being part of one of NASCAR‘s powerhouse teams, Bowman says, are just the price of business.

“You look at last year, we started the year really strong, and then after I broke my back, we struggled the whole rest of the year. Yeah, you have to shoulder a lot of that, even when there are things that are outside of your control going on,” Bowman said last week at a Hendrick Motorsports preview for the team‘s 40th anniversary celebration. “So that‘s just part of racing. As a driver, your name‘s always on the door, so you‘re always going to have to shoulder that, but this is a high-pressure environment, right? Two of our teammates really thrived last year, and the other two of us struggled more than we would have liked. It‘s our job to turn it around and get pointed in the right direction.”

At last season‘s pivot point, Bowman noted the daunting nature of pressing “send” on the phone call to inform team principals Rick Hendrick and Jeff Gordon about his injury. The message on the other end, he said, was one full of support. “It wasn‘t like, ‘Gosh, I can‘t believe you did this to yourself,‘ ” Bowman recalled. “It was like, ‘How can we help you? And what do you need, and we‘ll do everything we can to help you and help you heal and get better as quick as possible.‘ ”

Alex Bowman

But last year was also a fragmented breaking-in period for Blake Harris, in his first season as the No. 48 crew chief after moving over from Front Row Motorsports. Harris was suspended for four races just a month into the season for L2-grade penalties across Hendrick‘s four-car fleet. He was back for just two races before Bowman was sidelined, and he shifted gears to work with short-track vet Josh Berry, a capable substitute now driving full-time for Stewart-Haas Racing, over a four-week span last spring.

“I mean, certainly would have scripted it differently, right?” Harris says in reflection. “But no, I‘m super fortunate to be with this group and this company. They‘ve got so much depth and so many people behind us that make all this happen. So I take every day as feeling fortunate to be able to be in the position and work with Alex, and I love working with him. I know it hasn‘t gone the way that we‘ve wanted, and we‘ve had opportunities to win races, though. We might not be where we want to be every week, but we‘ve had plenty of times we‘ve been in the mix, and things just haven‘t fallen our way. And when it does click and it does go our way, I think it‘ll be fine and we can get on a roll.”

Key to the approach, Harris notes, is the team‘s philosophy of resetting after each race, not allowing any frustrations to mount from one week to the next. The No. 48 team persevered after an in-weekend reset at COTA, making forward progress Sunday after a middling 17th-place qualifying effort on the eve of the race.

Those conscious breaks have helped the team navigate those hardships — however big or small — this season. Gordon, Hendrick‘s vice chairman, has taken notice.

“I mean, Alex is one of those guys where the bigger the challenge, seems like the better he does,” Gordon said. “I‘m going to leave here and try to find more ways to really challenge him even more.”

In whatever shape those in-house challenges might take, the task for Bowman will involve breaking out of a winless drought that spans two-plus years and 67 races back to his last Cup triumph in March 2022 at Las Vegas. He‘s a former winner at Richmond Raceway, where the Cup Series pays a visit this weekend for Sunday‘s Toyota Owners 400 (7 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

MORE: Weekend schedule: Richmond

A pair of fourth-place finishes are a start toward re-establishing Bowman‘s place among the sport‘s — and his team‘s — best. Climbing into podium contention is the next step.

“Bowman, yeah, when he gets on a roll, he gets his confidence up, there‘s no telling what they‘re capable of doing,” Gordon said. “I‘m really happy for them. Two top fives in a row. They‘d had a couple rough weeks, so they needed this. Hendrick Motorsports is tough, right? Four of the top drivers and teams out there, and there‘s a lot of pressure on you. If you‘re winning, there‘s pressure to continue. When you‘re not winning or you‘re not at the same level as your teammates, there‘s a ton of pressure that you got to get there.

“I‘m proud of him and Blake, the way they‘ve been working hard together to get some good finishes. Now I can‘t wait to see what they do next, as well.”

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Gibbs continues upward trajectory in 2024 Cup seasonhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/27/gibbs-continues-upward-trajectory-in-2024-cup-season/Wed, 27 Mar 2024 16:39:32 GMT-0500128034circuit-of-the-americas, drivers, joe-gibbs-racing, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, Series, teams, tracks, ty-gibbsStaff ReportAUSTIN, Texas — When the NASCAR Cup Series took to the 3.41-mile Circuit of The Americas road course Saturday morning for practice, Ty Gibbs controlled most categories. His No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the first car to hit the track and sat atop the scoring pylon throughout the extended session until the waning seconds when William Byron jumped to first.

Byron nipped Gibbs in qualifying, and the sophomore driver would start from third position in the 68-lap race. The No. 54 team still believed it was going to be a contender in the outcome of Sunday‘s race.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Gibbs raced inside the top five for the extent of the opening stage before his crew chief Chris Gayle called him to pit road from second position, coming to two laps remaining in the stage. With the bulk of the field flipping the stage, Gibbs still earned three stage points by finishing eighth.

Seeing how the race was playing out, Gibbs was called to pit road again late in the second stage, giving up valuable stage points to be in contention for the win in the final stage. Gibbs placed 11th in Stage 2, missing out on stage points by the slimmest of margins.

Throughout the final stage, Gibbs was just a tick off from Byron‘s lightning pace. Christopher Bell made a late rally to pass the No. 54 car within the final five laps of the race for second position. Gibbs held on to third at the checkered flag, tying the best finish of his career (Phoenix Raceway, two weeks ago).

It was a solid showing for Gibbs, who‘s currently on a streak of five straight top-10 finishes, the longest streak of his Cup career.

“We track these things we call strong performances, right? Which are top fives, leading laps and getting stage points and leading in the last part of the race,” Gayle said after the race. “This was another one for us. We honestly felt like we had a shot to win today. We needed to be a tiny bit better car-wise to pull it off, and you need to flip position and get to the lead, and I think we would have been in an OK spot.

“Long runs, we were better. Short runs, we weren‘t quite good enough. It was trading off that. We got the long run but still didn‘t quite get there. It‘s a good day. Good to be disappointed with a third.”

The frustration was apparent on Gibbs‘ face following the event. All that matters to him currently is winning his first Cup race as he remains winless through 57 attempts.

“It was good, but the most important is a win, and that‘s what I wish I could have got,” Gibbs said. “It‘s a good points day, looking at the big picture.”

Gibbs jumped to second in the regular season championship standings behind only his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. Six races into his sophomore season, he‘s a slim five points off the lead. Gibbs‘ 7.8 average finish through six races leads the Cup Series.

MORE: 2024 Cup standings | Gibbs‘ career stats

Gayle, who has been paired with Gibbs for the last four seasons dating back to the Xfinity Series, has seen his driver mature in great spurts. Nearly every week, the No. 54 car is part of the conversation for the win.

“[He‘s] ahead of schedule probably,” Gayle added. “We‘re right on pace where he‘s doing a good job, but I think we‘re going to take two steps forward, and there will be one every now and then we regress on because we‘re still ahead of schedule. It‘s still early in his career.

“To be this high in points, to have the start to the season that we‘ve had, now we‘ve got a margin where if that happens we‘re still in good shape. I think that‘s what is good is we‘re in a good position right now.”

With a pair of short tracks on the horizon, the schedule continues to lend itself to the No. 54 team. Gayle believes the team had a car capable of winning last fall at Martinsville Speedway before getting plowed by Joey Logano during the final stage. First up is a 400-lap event on Easter Sunday at Richmond Raceway (7 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), where the team has struggled.

“We need to be a little better than where we are, but we‘ve been able to do that at some of these race tracks so far this year,” Gayle said of Richmond. “If we continue the improvement that we did from last year to these first few events, we will be in good shape.”

RICHMOND: Upcoming schedule

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What we learned from COTAhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/25/what-we-learned-from-cota/Mon, 25 Mar 2024 15:16:24 GMT-0500128013christopher-bell, circuit-of-the-americas, drivers, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, Series, tracks, tyler-reddick, william-byronStaff ReportAUSTIN, Texas — William Byron‘s dominant day at Circuit of The Americas confirmed at least one thing: He hasn‘t lost a step of his road-course game since last year.

The No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team cruised to victory in Sunday afternoon‘s NASCAR Cup Series race after leading a race-high 42 laps, scoring his second win on a road course in the last three such events. The only exception? A second-place finish at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course last fall.

RELATED: Race recap | At-track photos

Byron‘s defense against Christopher Bell in the closing stages affirmed both his road-racing prowess and Toyota‘s ever-looming speed.

“I never saw him make a mistake, which is what it was going to take to win today in the closing laps,” said Jeff Gordon, vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports. “Because Bell had the faster car with the fresher tires, any big lockup into a corner, I think it would have been a different outcome. A lot of credit to William in doing that great job. Takes the whole team, the pit crew, everybody. They‘re truly on quite a run here to start this season off. Can‘t wait to see where they take it next.”

Gordon, like most in the garage, admitted he expected Toyotas to dominate Sunday‘s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix — even though Byron put the No. 24 Chevrolet on pole position. 23XI Racing‘s Tyler Reddick controlled COTA a year ago and showed plenty of speed in Saturday‘s practice, as did the Joe Gibbs Racing quartet of Bell, Ty Gibbs, Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin.

“They‘ve got a lot of speed,” Gordon said. “It‘s one thing when one car has speed, it‘s another thing when a group of them have speed. That tells you a lot about what they have, what they‘re bringing to the race track. It‘s certainly on our radar in a big way.”

Christopher Bell leads William Byron and others during a NASCAR race at COTA.

MORE: Watch NASCAR video highlights

But so is Byron, who became the first multi-time Cup winner this year — and the first multi-time winner in each of the last three seasons. For him and crew chief Rudy Fugle, Sunday‘s performance was business as usual on road courses, which is particularly notable since Watkins Glen International joins the NASCAR Playoffs this year in addition to Charlotte‘s road course.

“I think it‘s just part of the process and our evolution for our notebook for these race tracks,” Byron said. “I feel like for us, we can just take from this another data point of what we need to improve. I don‘t think anyone‘s car was driving perfect there. Just the way that this race track is with the ride over the bumps, just the way the curbing is, the track is pretty rough. I feel like it drives different than anywhere.

“At the same time, you can put this one in the notebook and say, ‘OK, when we go to what‘s next, whenever we go to the next one, we know what to work on.‘ We‘ll just try to keep building at each one. I feel like we‘ve gotten in a rhythm. We just have gotten a good feel for these places.”

Reddick told NASCAR.com earlier that it was important for his No. 45 Toyota to be “part of the conversation of winning this race.” That never really came into play Sunday, with Reddick leading just one lap and finishing fifth after qualifying third.

“I shouldn‘t say it‘s a bad day, but it‘s not what we want when we come to a road course, right?” Reddick said. “We were able to get away with some mistakes in certain areas with a fifth place. So I mean, that‘s not a bad thing, right? Obviously, none of us are satisfied with how we finished so we‘ll be hungry. We‘ll be working on it and getting ready for the next road course.”

Though Bell fell short at the buzzer, his electric charge should not be forgotten, either. The driver of the No. 20 Toyota — also a previous winner this season — has been a continuous threat on road courses with top 10s in 11 of his 21 starts on such tracks. Bell nearly erased a nine-second deficit to catch Byron‘s bumper, falling short by just 0.692 seconds at the checkered flag.

Gibbs also shined with a third-place run, cementing the belief his Toyota teammates continue to preach — that a road-course victory is likely coming soon for the 21-year-old sophomore racer.

The good news for the field is that the next road race isn‘t scheduled until June, when the Cup Series shifts westward to Sonoma Raceway in California. Until then, the notes from Circuit of The Americas will dictate teams‘ next steps in trying to dethrone the No. 24 team.

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Bell finishes second, upsets Buschhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/25/bell-finishes-second-upsets-busch/Mon, 25 Mar 2024 15:06:12 GMT-0500128011christopher-bell, circuit-of-the-americas, drivers, joe-gibbs-racing, kyle-busch, kyle-larson, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, richard-childress-racing, Series, teams, tracks, william-byronStaff ReportAUSTIN, Texas — Christopher Bell had a late-race charge for the ages in Sunday‘s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas. If the race was one lap longer, there‘s a high probability the No. 20 team would have been celebrating in Victory Lane.

With stage break cautions returning at COTA for the first time since 2022, Bell and his crew chief Adam Stevens pondered the idea of staying out to collect stage points if the opportunity arose. Instead of making three pit stops over 68 laps, the strategy would be to stretch the fuel tank as far as possible, making one less trip to pit road. It would also mean that pitting late in the final stage would mean Bell had the freshest tires for the sprint to the finish.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

The latter strategy panned out. Coming to Lap 13, when the pits closed until the conclusion of the opening stage, the front two runners of William Byron and Ty Gibbs came to pit road, handing the lead to Bell. The No. 20 team won its second stage of the season and gained 10 points, minimizing the loss if the two-stop strategy went awry.

“We took the points in Stage 1 and then we didn‘t see another caution,” Bell said. “We talked about it all week. If we were going to jump the stages or not and we decided that if we had the opportunity to win the stages, we would take the points.”

The No. 20 team was expecting more cautions to help trim the distance he trailed to the frontrunners. As he battled through the field, he sent Kyle Larson around on Lap 21. On Lap 40, it was Kyle Busch who went around off his front bumper in Turn 1. That led to a heated discussion from Busch, his former boss in the Craftsman Truck Series and teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, who stormed up to Bell after the race.

“The Larson deal, that was totally on me and I had no intentions of spinning Kyle out,” Bell said. “Kyle Busch, he opened his entry way up into Turn 1 because they were side-by-side, and I ran my normal line on the bottom and wasn‘t planning on passing him. He tried to do the crossover and I was underneath him. Obviously, I didn‘t mean to spin him out at all. I will reach out to him and talk to him whenever we‘re a little bit cooled off.”

After Bell made his final pit stop on Lap 49, he was north of 10 seconds behind Byron, who cycled back to the front of teams that pitted. Bell erased the gap quickly, first passing Ross Chastain before tracking down his Toyota teammate Tyler Reddick. Next up was Alex Bowman, and then he hustled to Ty Gibbs‘ back bumper. With two laps remaining, Bell was still 2.4 seconds behind Byron for the race lead.

MORE: Expanded COTA highlights | Watch NASCAR video highlights

Byron could see Bell getting larger in his rearview mirror.

“I mean, it was just trying to not make mistakes,” Byron said of seeing Bell close the gap. “I felt like I made a lot of micro-errors in the last 10 laps. I have to calm down a little bit, look back at those 10 laps and think about what could I do better in the car to stay mentally locked in and not get flustered by the mirror, seeing him closing in a braking zone.

“He definitely had fresher tires. I‘m sure that helped a little bit.”

When the white flag flew, Bell was 1.7 seconds back. He chopped another second off, but his Herculean effort came up seven-tenths of a second short of winning his second race of the young 2024 season.

“This thing was amazing,” Bell said. “Super, super fast and proud to have a nice, solid race.”

By scoring 45 points — the second-highest total at COTA — Bell jumped a spot in the regular season championship standings to seventh, 38 points behind Martin Truex Jr.‘s lead.

The strategy call, though, Bell believes may have cost him the race, noting: “Ultimately, I think that‘s why we didn‘t win.”

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William Byron dominates at COTAhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/25/william-byron-dominates-at-cota/Mon, 25 Mar 2024 14:33:41 GMT-0500128009alex-bowman, christopher-bell, circuit-of-the-americas, drivers, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, race-recap-ncs, ross-chastain, Series, tracks, ty-gibbs, tyler-reddick, william-byronStaff ReportHendrick Motorsports driver William Byron turned in a steady and inspired drive to earn the NASCAR Cup Series victory from pole position in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Austin‘s Circuit of The Americas road course Sunday, holding off the field by less than a second but dominating the field when he needed to.

Following up on his season-opening Daytona 500 win, the 26-year-old Charlotte native became the first driver to win multiple races this season. This was his 12th career NASCAR Cup Series victory and gave his Hendrick team a series all-time best 28th win on NASCAR road courses.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

While at times Byron made it look easy, holding a nearly three-second advantage on the field with 10 laps remaining, his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet did have to fend off a hard-charging Christopher Bell, who made up four positions in the closing laps and kept Byron honest in what was ultimately a 0.692-second margin of victory around the 20-turn, 3.41-mile circuit.

“I feel like I made a lot of mistakes in the last 10 laps, just micro-errors and Christopher was really fast there on the longer run,” Byron said. “This sport is so hard and so difficult week in and week out to show up and have fast cars. We‘ve had a little bit of a rough stretch the last few weeks but put a lot of preparation in this past week and just thankful for the team I have around me and all the people back home as well.

“Just super thankful to have this opportunity. It‘s just a lot of fun to win races, and it‘s really difficult, too.”

For his part, Bell, driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and a winner at Phoenix this season, acknowledged it came down to a good road-course battle among good teams and talented drivers.

“Obviously, once I got to him, it was going to be tough to pass him, I just needed a couple mistakes, but William has been really good on the road courses and he was flawless today,” Bell said.

MORE: Watch NASCAR video highlights

Just behind the pair was Bell‘s 21-year-old JGR teammate Ty Gibbs, who is having a stellar sophomore season in NASCAR‘s Cup Series. Gibbs ran top five for the majority of the day and was second to Byron until Bell passed him with only two laps remaining. The third-place effort marked Gibbs‘ fifth top-10 finish in the season‘s six races.

“We were just a little too loose in the right-handed corner,” Gibbs said. “I just wish we were a little tighter, but we did a really good job today. … Good points day. We‘ll just keep working hard.”

In fact, the effort now brings Gibbs to second place in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings, only five points behind his teammate Martin Truex Jr.

Byron‘s Hendrick teammate Alex Bowman finished fourth, followed by 23XI Racing‘s Tyler Reddick, the 2023 COTA winner.

Unlike the previous day‘s races at COTA with NASCAR‘s other two national series, Sunday‘s race had only two caution flags — both for scheduled stage breaks. It was a clean race that still featured seven leaders and 11 lead changes. But Byron led a dominant 42 of the 68 laps.

SHOP: Race winner gear

One of the sport‘s best road-course racers, AJ Allmendinger finished sixth, followed by the 2022 COTA winner, Ross Chastain. Chris Buescher, Kyle Busch and Truex rounded out the top 10.

Shane van Gisbergen and Kamui Kobayashi — two international drivers making their first Cup Series starts this year — endured difficult days. Van Gisbergen‘s No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet lost first gear during the middle portions of the race, and he finished 20th. Kobayashi had two on-track tangles — first with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and later with Sunoco rookie Josh Berry — that relegated his No. 50 23XI Racing Toyota to a 29th-place outcome.

Zane Smith was the highest-finishing rookie in 19th.

The NASCAR Cup Series moves to Richmond Raceway next Sunday for the Toyota Owners 400 (7 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson is the defending race winner.

NOTE: Post-race inspection in the Cup Series garage confirmed Byron‘s victory. The No. 51 was disqualified for not meeting minimum post-race weights. The No. 1 was taken to the R&D Center for further inspection.

Contributing: Staff reports

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SVG, Hill fall short at COTA after intense battlehttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/25/svg-hill-fall-short-at-cota-after-intense-battle/Mon, 25 Mar 2024 14:04:51 GMT-0500128007austin-hill, circuit-of-the-americas, drivers, hendrick-motorsports, kaulig-racing, kyle-larson, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-xfinity-series, richard-childress-racing, Series, shane-van-gisbergen, teams, tracksStaff ReportAUSTIN, Texas — Shane van Gisbergen and Austin Hill fought tooth and nail in overtime of Saturday‘s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Circuit of The Americas. Naturally, neither one of them took home the checkered flag.

Kyle Larson was the benefactor of the late-race bumping and banging between two of the toughest Xfinity Series regulars — even if SVG is a rookie still learning the stock-car ropes.

RELATED: Race recap | At-track photos: COTA

Van Gisbergen led 20 laps in the Focused Health 250, tied with Kaulig Racing teammate AJ Allmendinger for most of Saturday‘s race. His No. 97 WeatherTech Chevrolet controlled the final restart in NASCAR Overtime, but Hill stayed glued to his bumper up the hill into the tight hairpin of Turn 1. SVG ran wide and Hill scooted into the lead, suddenly storming to a potential third win of 2024.

But New Zealander SVG had more to say with his front bumper, running into Hill‘s back bumper into Turn 15 and pushing both cars wide — allowing Larson to charge left past both of them on the way to the win.

Van Gisbergen, winner of his Cup debut last July in the inaugural Chicago Street Race, crossed the line second but was levied a 30-second time penalty post-race for shortcutting the track on the final lap, dropping him to a 27th-place finish. Hill ended as the runner-up.

“That last restart, he just drove through me at (Turn) 1. I guess that‘s how it is here,” van Gisbergen told FOX Sports. “I just stood up for myself. But it was some pretty awesome racing with AJ, Kyle and at the end it just turned into a mess. But that‘s how it is. Really fun but wish we could‘ve got the lead, but Kyle just snuck in there.”

Hill explained to reporters that he caught SVG‘s rear bumper at the start/finish line surprisingly quick, almost as if SVG “semi-missed a shift,” Hill speculated.

“So I hit him and as we went up the hill, there‘s some bumps far left. We were both going over the bumps,” Hill said. “I was obviously hitting him. And then I got off of him once we got to the corner, and it looked like he was wheel-hopping at that point, slid up, so then I was like oh, this is my time and took the lead.

“We took the white and I was trying to drive in as deep as I could in the corners to not let them get to me, and then I kind of drove into (Turn) 13, started to slide the front end a little bit, and then I got really loose on exit of 14. I‘d have to watch the replay, but getting into 15, I‘m trying to protect and it felt like from my perspective, the 97 just ran through us. And I mean you see his front end; it‘s caved in really bad, so he didn‘t even give us a chance to make the corner obviously.”

Austin Hill drives a NASCAR Xfinity Series car at COTA.

MORE: Watch NASCAR video highlights

With neither making the corner, Larson was able to escape with his first Xfinity win of 2024. The 2021 Cup champion was able to partake in some fierce battles with SVG and Allmendinger earlier in the contest, with all three leaning on each other, dicing up with crossovers and charging corners during a run. Larson couldn‘t help but simply enjoy the moments.

“He‘s just better than us,” Larson said. “He‘s just way better than we all are at this. Like AJ is a level up from me, and he‘s a level up from AJ. I got too caught up in the moment having fun there. I should have just forfeited the spot and realized that we were racing time at that moment and I shouldn‘t have been racing him.

“I wanted to get to the lead. And he kind of surprised me when he got to my right side off of 13 — I didn‘t know that he was there. Then he surprised me again when he got to my left side because I thought he was still out there on the right side. I was like, OK, this is going to be fun. I‘m just gonna race him. We‘re gonna have some fun here. And then AJ got out and I‘m like, man, I just screwed myself.”

Getting lost in the joys of racing, though, is naturally a good thing — at least for Larson, who ended up in Victory Lane. Van Gisbergen enjoyed it too and smiled through the frustration of losing, but couldn‘t quite shake the defeat. As for his post-race emotions? He was feeling “a bit of everything.”

“It was a lot of fun,” he said. “The cars are awesome to drive, awesome to race. But yeah, gutted to bend it and gutted not to win at the end. Thinking so many things in my head, what I could have done different. But at the restart, I couldn‘t have done much different. I was on the inside and just got driven through, but we‘ve seen that here every year. That‘s kind of how it is, so I was expecting it I guess.”

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Larson wins Xfinity thriller at COTAhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/25/larson-wins-xfinity-thriller-at-cota/Mon, 25 Mar 2024 13:10:49 GMT-0500128005aj-allmendinger, austin-hill, circuit-of-the-americas, drivers, hendrick-motorsports, kyle-larson, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-xfinity-series, race-recap-nxs, Series, shane-van-gisbergen, teams, tracksStaff ReportKyle Larson was ultimately both patient and smart taking the lead on the final overtime lap to win an aggressive Focused Health 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Circuit of The Americas (COTA), the first road-course test for the series this year that earned an “A” for high drama and close competition.

New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen and Austin Hill were duking it out for the lead — and pushing each other high off the race line as the field approached the checkered flag. With those two fending each other off, Larson drove his No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet low around both and was able to pull away to a 1.215-second victory — the only lap the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champ led all day around the 20-turn, 3.41-mile road course.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos: COTA

Van Gisbergen took the checkered flag second in the No. 97 Kaulig Racing Chevy but was accessed a 30-second penalty for exceeding track limits in that last-lap battle with Hill, which ultimately put him in 27th. So Hill, driver of the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, was officially scored as the runner-up.

Larson was all smiles climbing out of car, conceding he wasn‘t surprised things got so aggressive in the end. He was one of the few cars — and only one among the front-runners — to drop into pit lane on the final caution to get gas and had worked his way back up front. It was his second big rally of the day. Larson dropped to the rear of the field before the start after his Hendrick Motorsports crew replaced a cracked brake rotor on his No. 17 Chevy. He recovered to challenge van Gisbergen and other front-runners through the middle stage of the race.

“It feels really special because seems like every time we‘ve run the 17 car — any of us four drivers — we‘re always fast on track and somehow give it away,” Larson said. “Today I was definitely not the fastest, but we were patient. I knew the 21 [Hill] had shoved SVG [van Gisbergen] through [Turn] 1 and if he got to him it could get dicey.

“I was just trying to be patient. I was thinking when to make my move and when I saw him shoving him through [turns] 15 and 16, I thought this could get good and thankfully I cleared them off in that corner. Pretty crazy. Just wild there. … Really cool, just awesome to win here at COTA.”

Neither van Gisbergen nor Austin Hill were too happy with the final outcome — both their cars damaged from the beating and banging on the final lap. Asked if he would speak to Hill about the racing, van Gisbergen said, “Yeah, I guess so.‘‘ But he was mostly positive about having a chance to win in only his fifth NASCAR Xfinity Series race of his career.

“It was a crazy race and the car got better and better,” van Gisbergen said. “On that last restart he [Hill] just drove through me in [turn] one. I guess I stood up for myself. But it was pretty awesome racing with [teammate] AJ [Allmendinger] and in the end just turned into a mess. That‘s how it is.

“It was really fun. Wish I could have gotten through to the lead, but the car [Larson] just snuck through there. He was driving really well. A lot of fun.”

While van Gisbergen managed a smile for the post-race television interview, he definitely had to battle all afternoon — including with Kaulig teammate Allmendinger, a two-time winner of this COTA Xfinity Series race and the series‘ best active road-course driver.

MORE: Weekend schedule: COTA | Watch NASCAR video highlights

They battled head-to-head for the final laps of the regularly scheduled race, only for Allmendinger to get swept up and out in a three-wide attempt for the lead in Turn 1 during the first green-white-checkered flag period. He was running fifth at the time of the final caution that forced a second overtime start and ultimately finished 10th.

John Hunter Nemechek finished third, reigning series champion Cole Custer was fourth and Parker Kligerman rounded out the top five. Rookie Jesse Love, Austin Green, last week‘s winner Chandler Smith, Sam Mayer and Allmendinger rounded out the top 10.

It was a particularly impressive day for Green, son of former Xfinity Series champion David Green, finishing seventh in his first series start.

Big Machine Racing driver Kligerman earned his first stage win of the year, claiming the Stage 1 victory. Brandon Jones seemingly won Stage 2 only to receive a penalty for cutting Turn 5 on the last lap of the stage. Stewart-Haas Racing‘s Riley Herbst was instead awarded the stage win — his first of the season.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to competition next Saturday with the ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway (1:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Chandler Smith is the defending winner, earning his career first Xfinity Series trophy there last spring.

Notes: Post-race inspection was all clear in the Xfinity Series garage without major issue, with Larson‘s No. 17 Chevrolet confirmed as the winning car. The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for driver Ty Gibbs was found with a single unsecured lug nut in a post-race check, which should mean a monetary fine for the team‘s crew chief in the midweek penalty report.

Contributing: Staff reports

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Heim roars to Truck Series win at COTAhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/23/heim-roars-to-truck-series-win-at-cota/Sat, 23 Mar 2024 17:49:42 GMT-0500128000circuit-of-the-americas, connor-zilisch, corey-heim-drivers, drivers, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-camping-world-truck-series, nascar-competition, nascar-craftsman-truck-series, nick-sanchez, race-recap-trucks, ross-chastain, Series, taylor-gray, taylor-gray-drivers, teams, tracks, tricon-garage, ty-majeskiStaff ReportAn afternoon of impressive restarts ultimately handed Corey Heim the winning finish in the XPEL 225 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at the famed Circuit of The Americas (COTA) road course in Austin, Texas on Saturday afternoon.

Heim dominated the race — his No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota leading a race-best 31 of the 46 laps and prevailing in an overtime finish to convincingly win his first race of 2024 and sixth of his career — by 1.625 seconds over his teammate Taylor Gray.

RELATED: Official results | COTA weekend schedule

ThorSport Racing‘s Ty Majeski, Spire Motorsports‘ Connor Zilisch and NASCAR Cup Series regular Ross Chastain in a Niece Motorsports Chevy rounded out the top five.

“Just prepared so hard for this race,” said Heim, who also won Stage 2. “I came into this race last year and struggled really. Finished sixth with a penalty and just all over the place. To put together a solid race like this is just so special and really just shows you how good our trucks are back at the shop.”

Heim has finished sixth or better in all five races this season.

“Just great consistency and that was the name of the game last year to make it as far as we did,” he said, smiling. “Didn‘t have the result at the end [of 2023] but I think this year we can make it back and prove we‘re champions. Super excited for the rest of the year, we‘re really just getting started and I think our best tracks are in front of us, so really can‘t wait.”

Heim‘s performance Saturday on the 20-turn, 3.41-mile road course was the afternoon standard, but there was plenty of good racing behind him. There were 14 lead changes among eight drivers, but no one other than Heim led double-digit laps.

Jack Hawksworth, a sports car and IndyCar driver making his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start, proved himself a talent to be reckoned with. He ran top five most of the day and led a lap. He finished sixth.

Reigning series champ Ben Rhodes, Christian Eckes, Dean Thompson and Tanner Gray rounded out the top 10.

MORE: At-track photos from COTA | Watch NASCAR video highlights

The 17-year-old phenom Zilisch, a Trackhouse Racing signee, started from pole position in his first start in one of NASCAR‘s national divisions. Leading the field, he went into the first corner hard, however, relinquishing the lead to Heim immediately. After a pit stop for tires and a motivational reminder from his veteran crew chief Brian Pattie, he returned with vengeance. He and his Spire Motorsports No. 7 team never gave up, getting him back on the lead lap and then in contention late in the race.

Zilisch was running in fourth place with less than five laps to go in regulation but was given a pass-through penalty for cutting the course. Fortunately, it came just as a caution flew and it only cost the teenager two positions. He opted to pit for gas during the ensuing yellow flag and was able to climb back to that impressive top-five finish in his first race.

Nick Sanchez won Stage 1 but dropped back after a Stage 2 penalty for cutting the course in the esses and a spin in close-quarters racing with Jake Garcia on Lap 21. After another spin in Turn 1 in overtime, he finished 20th in Rev Racing‘s No. 2 Chevrolet.

The race was forced to four extra laps after a late caution when the rear-end housing broke off the No. 04 Roper Racing Chevrolet driven by Marco Andretti. The event was briefly red-flagged for clean-up, and Andretti finished 31st in his first Truck Series start of the year. Post-race, competition officials announced that the rear-end housing and truck arms would travel to the NASCAR Research & Development Center for further evaluation.

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series returns to competition April 5 with the Long John Silver‘s 200 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Heim is the defending winner.

Notes: Post-race inspection in the Craftsman Truck Series garage was completed without major issue, confirming Heim as the race winner at COTA. The No. 7 Spire truck of Zilisch was found with one unsecured lug nut in a post-race check, which should result in a crew chief fine in next week‘s penalty report. Two drivers — ThorSport‘s Matt Crafton and Niece Motorsports‘ Matt Mills — were assessed 30-second penalties post-race for short-cutting the course in the final laps. … Heim moved up one spot in the standings into the Truck Series points lead. He is 10 points ahead of Majeski after five of 23 races this year.

Contributing: Staff reports

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SVG's first NASCAR double-duty weekendhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/23/svgs-first-nascar-double-duty-weekend/Sat, 23 Mar 2024 16:30:58 GMT-0500127994circuit-of-the-americas, drivers, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-xfinity-series, Series, shane-van-gisbergen, tracksStaff ReportAUSTIN, Texas — Eyes are pointed directly on Shane van Gisbergen this weekend at Circuit of The Americas. For the first time, he will be pulling double duty in the NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series. 

With van Gisbergen‘s background in Supercars, he isn‘t foreign to COTA. In 2013, he competed at the track, though not at its full 3.42-mile layout. Back then, at the end of the esses, there was a chicane with a jump immediately following it. But it didn‘t take long for him to realize on the weekly track walk, in which he walked his dog, Ronald, that the track surface has changed drastically over the past decade. 

“The surface looks really different, and then obviously looking at the back few corners, which I hadn‘t seen before,” van Gisbergen said during a media availability on Friday. “And you just forget how much elevation this place has. Like walking up turn one, you‘re puffing straight away. It‘s really steep. Yeah, I had forgotten that.”

RELATED: Xfinity COTA lineup | Saturday schedule at COTA

Compared to normal race weekends, van Gisbergen estimates putting double the amount of time on the Chevrolet simulator. He also utilized Trackhouse Racing‘s static simulator at the team‘s race shop. He believes the biggest challenge of going back and forth between the Xfinity and Cup cars will be the difference in shifting. 

“Just going from sequential back to the H-Pattern, just to not make mistakes,” van Gisbergen said, regarding using simulators. “We‘ve seen guys do that in the past. But I think the gears and the shift points are quite different, so shouldn‘t have any problem there. But yeah, it‘s not going to be easy.”

On Thursday evening, van Gisbergen chatted with seven-time NASCAR winner, and one of his mentors, Marcos Ambrose about what to expect between both races. He also prepared by watching different on-board cameras for each series to get a better understanding of the track and its limits.

“[Ambrose] said the Xfinity car will be unlike anything I‘ve ever driven,” van Gisbergen said. “The way it brakes and the way the rear end works. He said it‘s probably similar to the Cup cars he was racing, so hopefully those things help and helps me speed up the learning process.”

MORE: Watch NASCAR video highlights

COTA will mark the first of six road-course races on the Xfinity Series schedule. It will be the first time that van Gisbergen goes heads up against his Kaulig Racing — and winningest road-course driver in series history — teammate AJ Allmendinger in equal equipment on a road course. 

That in itself is a highly-anticipated battle. 

“[Allmendinger is] obviously at the top of his game and pretty impressive in those cars, and on the road courses here, as well,” van Gisbergen said. “I‘ve learned a lot from him, watching him on the simulator. I look forward to battling him on track, too. Hopefully we push each other forward and try to beat everyone else before we beat ourselves.”

It was an impressive start to the weekend for van Gisbergen, setting the fastest time in Xfinity Series practice by nearly four-tenths of a second. He will take the green flag for Saturday‘s Focused Health 250 on Saturday from second position (5 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). 

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William Byron secures pole at COTAhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/23/william-byron-secures-pole-at-cota/Sat, 23 Mar 2024 16:17:20 GMT-0500127996circuit-of-the-americas, drivers, Fantasy Racing, hendrick-motorsports, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, Series, teams, tracks, william-byronStaff ReportIn a thrilling final qualifying round, Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron was able to hold on to the pole position despite a 94.685 mph run by Joe Gibbs Racing‘s Ty Gibbs, whose slight bobble in the final turns — in the final seconds of the session — at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA) road course was just off the mark.

This is the 13th career pole for Byron, driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet — and the fifth on a road course, which is most among active drivers. This year‘s Daytona 500 winner edged Gibbs‘ No 54 JGR Toyota by a slight 0.015-second around the 20-turn, 3.41-mile road course to earn the right to lead the field to green in Sunday‘s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“It‘s just an evolution over time, going out to the karting track this week,‘‘ Byron said of preparing for the season‘s first road-course test. “Honestly this has been my first normal week since the [Daytona] 500 and being in my rhythm and kind of in my cocoon and being able to focus on driving the race car.

 “I feel very happy with the way the week has gone and feel very fresh going into this race, so I‘m excited for that.‘‘

RELATED: Starting lineup | Weekend schedule

As for Gibbs, who made a valiant, if unsuccessful, effort in the closing seconds to earn pole, it is still the second consecutive week he has started from the front row. Defending race winner, 23XI Racing‘s Tyler Reddick will start his No. 45 Toyota third. He has started among the top five now in all four NASCAR Cup Series races at COTA. JGR‘s Christopher Bell, a winner at Phoenix two weeks ago, will start fourth.

Spire Motorsports‘ Corey LaJoie, who turned in a showstopper effort in qualifying, will start fifth in the No. 7 Chevrolet, the best starting position of his nine-year NASCAR Cup Series career. And Ross Chastain, who scored his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory at COTA in 2022, will start sixth — his first top-10 start of the season.

Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin line up seventh and eighth with 23XI Racing‘s Bubba Wallace and Hendrick Motorsports‘ Chase Elliott rounding out the final round qualifiers.

Nineteen drivers broke the track record in what was a dramatic first session. Several of the drivers who had been fast earlier in the day surprisingly did not advance to challenge for pole position. Among those were New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen, who had been among those at the top of the speed charts in both practice sessions. He just missed advancing to final qualifying, finishing less than a hundredth of a second behind LaJoie in Group A. And just behind him, his Kaulig Racing teammate AJ Allmendinger, a two-time Xfinity Series winner at COTA, was also slightly off the qualifying pace.

Van Gisbergen and Allmendinger, who are both competing in Saturday afternoon‘s NASCAR Xfinity Series race, will start 12th and 14th, respectively on Sunday.

MORE: Watch NASCAR video highlights

Among those in Group B not to advance to final qualifying was Kyle Larson, who had shown top-five speed during practice. Larson, who is tied atop the championship points lead with Truex, was a little late to join his timed qualifying session as the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team performed a quick rotor change and was never a threat for the pole. He‘ll start Sunday‘s race 15th.

Austin Cindric was the top qualifying Ford and will start his No. 2 Team Penske Mustang 11th.  His teammate, reigning series champion Ryan Blaney will start the No. 12 Team Penske Mustang 28th among the 39-car field.

Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi — a two-time Rolex 24 at Daytona winner and two-time World Endurance Championship champion, will be making his NASCAR COTA debut in the No. 50 23XI Racing Toyota from 25th place on the starting grid.

Practice recap

Byron led the way in Cup Series practice at Circuit of The Americas at 94.703 mph. The No. 24 Chevrolet edged out Joe Gibbs Racing‘s Ty Gibbs (94.681 mph) and HMS teammate Alex Bowman (94.416 mph).

MORE: Practice results

Bubba Wallace (94.260 mph) and Christopher Bell (94.226 mph) rounded out the top five.

Kyle Busch (94.132 mph), Ross Chastain (94.129 mph), Kamui Kobayashi (94.021 mph), Kyle Larson (93.980 mph) and Shane van Gisbergen (93.947 mph) rounded out the top 10.

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Tyler Reddick returns to COTA with winning in mindhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/22/tyler-reddick-returns-to-cota-with-winning-in-mind/Fri, 22 Mar 2024 11:35:16 GMT-050012798523xi-racing, circuit-of-the-americas, drivers, manufacturer, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, Series, teams, toyota, tracks, tyler-reddickStaff ReportOne year ago, Tyler Reddick proved to be the class of the field at Circuit of The Americas, driving a near-flawless race on the way to his first victory with 23XI Racing in the No. 45 Toyota.

His 2024 return to the 3.41-mile road course in Austin, Texas, comes with a personal expectation for more of the same in Sunday‘s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

MORE: Racing Insights: Reddick projected to win COTA

“It‘s important for us and this team to go to COTA and perform like we expect: Be in the lead, in the top five, part of the conversation of winning this race,” Reddick told NASCAR.com in a Tuesday teleconference. “It‘s really important for where I‘m at and where this team is at. We‘ve got to go in there and perform.”

Reddick‘s track record in the NASCAR Cup Series‘ three trips to COTA has been exceptional, with top 10s in each race, top fives in each of the last two and a convincing win to boot in 2023. That day, he led 41 of 75 laps through triple overtime, maintained an average running position of 3.71 according to NASCAR‘s loop data, and posted a race-high 13 fastest laps throughout the race.

It was a remarkable performance in his debut year for 23XI, which came one year earlier than scheduled after an accelerated split from Richard Childress Racing after the 2022 campaign. To win in just the sixth race of 2023 was a critical boon for a team in just its third season at the Cup level.

“That was a great moment for us,” Reddick said. “Being able to win that early on, after having what was leading up to that point a really rough start to the year, just got us locked in where we needed to be. We went on a pretty good stretch there where … going into Bristol, we‘d gotten up to like fifth or somewhere in there in points, knocking on the door of first. So it kind of set us up on a good run for a while.”

Tyler Reddick holds his index finger up and smiles in Victory Lane after winning at COTA.

Reddick has already shown significant speed in 2024, the only driver to challenge Kyle Larson for a win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway before finishing second, then leading a race-high 68 laps at Phoenix Raceway that resulted in a 10th-place finish. He‘s scored the third-most stage points (43, behind Larson and Ryan Blaney), yet he only has an average finish of 20.2, 23rd amongst full-time drivers.

“It‘s kind of a tale of two different stories, right?” Reddick said. “When the days go great, we‘re in the hunt. We‘re scoring the most or the second-most amount of points on the day. And that‘s the story of Vegas and Phoenix. The rest of it is getting caught up in stuff and not getting points at all. I mean, more particularly, Atlanta and Bristol. Even before we had the chance to earn stage points were out of the race for the most part, out of contention. So, yeah, that‘s been tough.

“But I mean, it‘s not like we‘re at a reach of the points lead yet. I mean, it‘s still very early on. It took two good races to correct our bad start, and I feel like we just get back into our rhythm and score stage points and finish these races where our cars stack up speed-wise, we‘ll be fine.”

COTA may be the perfect place for Reddick to relocate that rhythm. But last year‘s success doesn‘t guarantee the same this year, thanks in large part to a different aerodynamic package on short tracks and road courses this season.

“We are not gonna be able to take what we brought the last time and expect it to do the same,” Reddick said. “The car‘s gonna be different. We got a new Toyota Camry as well. So we‘re going to have to make changes. But hopefully, that, more than anything, just helps us hopefully like we did with the short-track/road-course package last year. We were the first to really hit it right. Hopefully, with this new simple diffuser short-track/road-course package, we hit it right first.

“We saw that a little bit at Phoenix. I felt like we were really, really strong. The other Toyotas were, too, so it would not shock me if a lot of my Toyota teammates are the ones that we‘re fighting for this win against.”

MORE: COTA weekend schedule | Watch NASCAR video highlights

In addition to Bubba Wallace, Reddick will have another teammate on track this weekend, with Kamui Kobayashi piloting the No. 50 Mobil 1 Toyota in his second Cup appearance.

“It‘s just one more ace in the hole,” Reddick said. “I mean, certainly, he has limited experience in the Cup car, but it‘s a track he knows. It‘s a track that he knows that our cars are really, really strong at.”

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Classic COTA races to watchhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/22/classic-cota-races-to-watch/Fri, 22 Mar 2024 11:35:00 GMT-0500127987aj-allmendinger, alex-bowman, circuit-of-the-americas, drivers, kyle-larson, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-classics-nascar, nascar-cup-series, ross-chastain, Series, tracks, tyler-reddickStaff ReportThroughout the 2024 NASCAR season, Ken Martin, director of historical content for the sanctioning body, will offer his suggestions on which historical races fans should watch from the NASCAR Classics library in preparation for each race weekend.

Martin has worked for NASCAR exclusively since 2008 but has been involved with the sport since 1982, overseeing various projects. He worked in the broadcast booth for hundreds of races, assisting the broadcast team with different tasks. This includes calculating the “points as they run” for the historic 1992 finale — the Hooters 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Here are Ken‘s recaps and rewinds to watch before this weekend‘s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas.

2021 EchoPark Texas Grand Prix

Tyler Reddick captured the first pole of his NASCAR Cup Series career for the inaugural race at the Austin, Texas road course.

When the green flag waved for the first time, chaos quickly ensued as rain began to fall on the track. All of the drivers came into the pits to change from their usual slick tires to treaded rain tires for more grip.

Multiple drivers had trouble early on in the rainy conditions, including Kevin Harvick, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell and Bubba Wallace.

The rain started to pick up during the second stage, which triggered heavy visibility issues for the drivers. This set off an incident where Martin Truex Jr. collided with Michael McDowell, before Cole Custer‘s car slammed into the carnage and caught on fire.

Rain continued throughout the event, as Kyle Larson took the lead from Alex Bowman as the laps started to disappear. Chase Elliott took command before the red flag flew with 14 laps remaining, due to heavier rainfall.

The race was called official, and Elliott was awarded the victory. The triumph marked Chevrolet‘s 800th win in the Cup Series and was also Hendrick Motorsports‘ 268th victory, tying Petty Enterprises for the most wins by a team in NASCAR history.

2022 EchoPark Automotive Texas Grand Prix

The final three laps to the 2022 edition of the event saw a handful of drivers with a chance at the victory but it was Ross Chastain who emerged victorious.

Loris Hezemans stopped on the track, which resulted in a restart with three laps remaining.

When the green flag waved, it didn‘t take long for chaos to take out a handful of contenders. Joey Logano, Kurt Busch and Kyle Larson made contact near the first corner, resulting in another yellow flag.

This set up a thrilling finish between Alex Bowman, Tyler Reddick, AJ Allmendinger and Chastain. Allmendinger moved Chastain around Turn 15, allowing Bowman to take the top spot. Chastain got revenge on Allmendinger‘s move, as Allmendinger eventually spun around, relegating him to a 33rd-place finish.

Chastain held on for his career Cup Series win driving the No. 1 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing.

MORE:  Watch NASCAR video highlights

AUSTIN, TEXAS - MARCH 26: Tyler Reddick, driver of the #8 3CHI Chevrolet, and Alex Bowman, driver of the #48 Ally Chevrolet, drives during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Echopark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas on March 26, 2022 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images)

2023 EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix

Two former champions had early issues, as Brad Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson were both involved in an accident with Ty Dillon.

Pole-sitter William Byron captured the stage one victory.

Tyler Reddick slowly worked his way to the front of the field, as he won the second stage and looked like a strong contender.

A handful of late-race cautions set up three different overtime restarts but Reddick held on to capture his first victory driving the No. 45 Toyota for 23XI Racing.

The race also featured a handful of road-course ringers, highlighted by Kimi Räikkönen in the No. 91 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing, Jenson Button in the No. 15 Ford for Rick Ware Racing and Jordan Taylor, who was subbing for an injured Chase Elliott.

You can watch these three races and hundreds more by visiting NASCAR Classics.

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Dale Jr. to run Fall Bristol Xfinity racehttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/21/dale-jr-to-run-fall-bristol-xfinity-race-with-hellmanns/Thu, 21 Mar 2024 12:33:28 GMT-0500127976bristol-motor-speedway, dale-earnhardt-jr, drivers, jr-motorsports-teams, justin-allgaier, nascar-cup-series, nascar-xfinity-series, Series, teams, tracksStaff ReportHellmann‘s Mayonnaise and JR Motorsports announced Thursday a multiyear extension of the team‘s Xfinity Series program through 2026. The extension will mark the 18th consecutive year that the organizations have been paired together.

The partnership details the primary sponsorship of six races per season on the team‘s No. 7 Chevrolet — currently driven by Xfinity Series veteran Justin Allgaier — as well as the return of Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 88 at Bristol Motor Speedway for the fall 2024 event.

RELATED: Xfinity Series schedule | Dale Jr. through the years

“We are grateful for Unilever and Hellmann‘s continued support and partnership,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “They have played a huge role in our organization and our success ever since the early days of JR Motorsports, both on and off the track. They are a huge component to every part of our company, and we‘re looking forward to seeing what the future holds.”

Unilever/Hellmann‘s initially made its debut with the Xfinity Series team during the 2009 season, when JR Motorsports was only a two-car operation. Now, 16 years and two more entries later, the Hellmann‘s brand has become one of the longest-running partners in NASCAR and the longest-tenured partner of the JRM team.

“On behalf of Hellmann‘s and Unilever, we‘re honored to continue our partnership with JR Motorsports and Dale Earnhardt Jr., and see the Hellmann‘s logo around the track for the 2024 season,” said Chris Symmes, senior marketing director for dressings & condiments at Unilever North America. “Dale has always been a great supporter of our brand and we‘re proud to support him as he returns to the racetrack.”

GET TICKETS: 2024 fall Bristol race weekend

Earnhardt‘s return to Bristol Motor Speedway in the fall further extends his streak of racing in a Unilever-branded Chevrolet every year since the partnership began in 2009. In 2023, he raced the No. 88 Hellmann‘s Chevy at “The Last Great Colosseum,” where he led 47 laps before retiring due to mechanical failure.

Justin Allgaier has also experienced success driving the No. 7 with Hellmann‘s on the hood, finding Victory Lane three times in the 2023 season at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Daytona International Speedway, and a thrilling finish at Martinsville, propelling the driver into the Championship 4 race at Phoenix to round out the year.

The team plans to announce the races for Justin Allgaier and the No. 7 Chevrolet at a later date.

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NASCAR to manage Bowman Grayhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/21/nascar-to-manage-racing-operations-for-bowman-gray-stadium/Thu, 21 Mar 2024 12:26:36 GMT-0500127978ben-kennedy, bowman-gray-stadium, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, nascar-regionalZack AlbertNASCAR announced Thursday that it will manage the racing operations at Bowman Gray Stadium, the historic North Carolina short track with origins that date back to stock-car racing‘s earliest years. The move is meant to preserve the future of the longest-running NASCAR-sanctioned venue, with the sanctioning body assuming a lease with the City of Winston-Salem through December 2050.

The quarter-mile track has hosted weekly grassroots events since 1949 at the city-owned stadium under the leadership of multiple generations of the Hawkins family, operating under the company banner of Winston-Salem Speedway, Inc. The earliest race meets were promoted by NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. together with Alvin Hawkins, the sanctioning body‘s first flagman and a NASCAR Hall of Fame Landmark Award nominee.

RELATED: Bowman Gray through the years | Watch NASCAR video highlights

Austin Shuford was named the new general manager of the stadium racing operations, bringing a wealth of experience from Track Enterprises, promoting events at the Nashville Fairgrounds and other venues across the country. The Hawkins family, however, will remain active in the preparations and other managerial duties as Bowman Gray gets set to open its 76th season of racing Saturday, April 20.

NASCAR Chairman & CEO Jim France and Bowman Gray promoter Gray Garrison shake hands

“There‘s a lot of history of the families working together, and a lot of history that we‘ve had with that stadium,” said Ben Kennedy, NASCAR senior vice president of racing development and strategy. “Especially over the next few years in particular, we want to stay super close. … They‘re going to continue to stay involved with us as we kind of get our feet underneath of us because they know every nook and cranny of that entire facility. They know how things operate, and they have relationships in the city that are priceless. We‘ve got to make sure that we‘re shepherding that into the next generation.”

Kennedy said that talks with Gray Garrison — the stadium‘s promoter and grandson of Alvin Hawkins — began informally nearly two and a half years ago, when Garrison approached him during a test of NASCAR‘s Next Gen car at Bowman Gray. Those conversations about the track‘s future gradually built steam in the months that followed.

The stadium has held a special place for Garrison, who first helped to park cars there at the age of 12, then touted souvenir programs in the horseshoe-shaped grandstands before he was big enough to carry a whole stack. “Everybody in the family did a tour of duty there,” the 62-year-old Garrison says now. “That‘s what everybody did.”

But Garrison said he also recognized the importance of the facility to the NASCAR family. Bill France Jr. met his future wife — then Betty Jane Zachary, a Winston-Salem native — at the track in 1957, and Kennedy joined the list of all-time feature winners with a victory in what is now called the ARCA Menards Series East in 2013 with his family in attendance to celebrate the achievement. That long list of winners reads like a who‘s who of stock-car racing pioneers, with NASCAR Hall of Famers from the Cup Series and Modified Division earning checkered flags. Tim Flock, a 2014 NHOF inductee, was Bowman Gray‘s first track champion, and Richard Petty‘s 100th Cup Series victory came at the stadium, which hosted premier-series events from 1958-71.

“We all realized, at some point in time, we‘ve got to pass it on to someone else,” Garrison says. “And we felt like what a better partner coming in than you can do with NASCAR. Our big thing is, we really care about the drivers, the competitors, the fans, and they‘re like family to us. So we wanted to make sure if we did do something, we wanted to make sure somebody would come in have the same love for the sport and the same vision that we did, and we feel like NASCAR would be the best choice to come in and take this over.

“A lot of these things are not about money. It‘s about relationships. I think NASCAR, they‘re definitely not getting involved at Bowman Gray for the money. It‘s the relationship that‘s the full circle of things. … It‘s pretty unique, we think, how it ties back in 70-some years later, how it comes back around, and we feel like it‘s going to be in good hands.”

Key members pose following a historic signing at one of NASCAR

Kennedy acknowledged that NASCAR‘s increased involvement in Bowman Gray‘s operations, combined with Next Gen testing there in recent years, may fuel speculation over a possible national-series return to the stadium. He said the potential exists for the track to be used as a proving ground for new technologies in future tests. As for its appearance on future schedule for the Cup Series or other circuits, the idea isn‘t unfounded, but for now remains just scuttlebutt.

“Potentially. I certainly wouldn‘t rule anything out, and I‘d be lying to say if we haven‘t talked about it before,” Kennedy said. “We‘ve talked about hundreds of tracks. … So obviously nothing to report today. Our focus is really getting up and running on April 20 this year with weekly Modified racing.”

Kennedy said to expect little change for fans and competitors taking in the racing experience, which packs roughly 15,000 fans — give or take a couple thousand, depending on who you ask — into the stands on any given Saturday night. Each season traditionally begins in the second half of April, then ends after three weekends in August so that nearby Winston-Salem State University may begin its home football schedule on the track‘s grass infield.

The close-quarters “Madhouse” style of racing has risen to prominence in recent years through a pair of reality TV series, plus weekly broadcasts on FloRacing, living up to its longtime billing as “still the most exciting of them all.” Adult admission at Bowman Gray has held steady at $12, a relative bargain, and the track regularly adds themed meets to the schedule with Ladies‘ Night, demolition derbies and monster-truck exhibitions.

“I expect it to be very similar, if not identical to what people have seen,” Kennedy says. “In the past, there might be some kind of small tweaks and upgrades that we might make to the facility, but other than that, the true experience and the uniqueness of it is exactly that. It‘s the concession stands and the ticket pricing and the racing on the track and the entertainment off the track. It‘s all of that mixed together, and I think that‘s what makes it so unique and so special. That‘s something that Jim (France, NASCAR chairman) has asked us to make sure that we maintain, and I know the Garrison family wants to maintain.”

MORE: Cup drivers with Bowman Gray experience

Keeping that status quo and mutual support going hits home with Garrison as well.

“I think the biggest takeaway from this is it shows their support for grassroots racing,” Garrison says. “You know, they don‘t need to be at Bowman Gray, but it‘s a passion they have for weekly racing, and they want to be there to show their support for grassroots racing. And we think that‘s very important, not only here in the community of Winston-Salem but in the racing community as a whole. Hey, NASCAR‘s still here to stay in weekly racing, they want to be involved, and they want to help it grow, and I think that‘s a huge statement on their part.”

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Turning Point: First road course on taphttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/20/cota-turning-point-first-road-course-on-tap/Wed, 20 Mar 2024 14:38:38 GMT-0500127968bristol-motor-speedway, circuit-of-the-americas, drivers, Fantasy Racing, hendrick-motorsports, joe-gibbs-racing, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-cup-series, pat-decola, Series, teams, tracksPat DeColaHere‘s what‘s happening in the world of NASCAR with Bristol in the rearview and COTA (Sun., 3:30 p.m. ET, FOX) right around the corner.

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

THE LINEUP ️

1️⃣ Bristol continues boomin‘ start to 2024 season

2️⃣ What will road-course racing look like in 2024?

3️⃣ COTA‘s new restart zone, explained

4️⃣ Averages among the elite on road courses

5️⃣ Catch the pack — news and notes from around the garage

cars race at bristol

1. Bristol delivers across the board, continues boomin‘ start to 2024

More tire fall-off than expected led to one of the most wild, unpredictable races at Bristol in years, ending with Denny Hamlin putting on a showcase for the ages as others faded.

Another week, another banger.

The 2024 season is off to a raucous start, with Sunday‘s stellar showing at Bristol only continuing to deliver the weekly dose of adrenaline we‘ve been spoiled with so far this year. There‘s always a little extra juice heading to the Tennessee mountains, but, my goodness, did the Food City 500 and the return to concrete prove to be so much more than anybody anticipated.

MORE: Bristol wows with record lead changes, tire strategy

Like, just watch this incredible, delightful madness.

How often do we get the 13th-place driver essentially saying he had a blast of a day at the race track? Literally never.

Bristol‘s tire difficulties, while unexpected, led to one of the most popular — among both fans and drivers — races from start to finish in recent memory. Watching all of the different strategies play out, some brilliantly and some catastrophically, while race winner Denny Hamlin reminded everyone that, oh yeah, he‘s legitimately one of the best finesse drivers of all time, was a thing of Bristol beauty.

It comes on the heels of what‘s already been a memorable season and it legitimately still feels like things are just getting started. We might just be scratching the surface of where this campaign will go, which feels like it could be anywhere, in any direction.

And up next?

One of the premier motorsports facilities in the world — a road-course race at Circuit of The Americas.

denny hamlin celebrates at bristol

2. What will road-course racing look like in 2024?

If you think the 2024 season has been unpredictable so far … well, that likely isn‘t going to change with the year‘s first road course on tap.

At some point, we‘ll start seeing some of the same faces in Victory Lane this year.

Don‘t count on it starting this weekend.

Road courses have taken on significantly more importance in the past several years, with the bar raised even higher for 2024 as Watkins Glen International shifts to a September date to mark the postseason‘s second twisty track. As such, it‘s smoothed out the parity levels across the field as more teams put a heightened emphasis on them.

As such, six different organizations won each of the six road-course races we saw last year, while eight different drivers won the last eight road races overall. Granted, for quite some time, there were only two such events per year, but the last time the Cup Series went longer than eight road-course races with different winners was literally in the first 13 such races in series history from 1953-54.

There was a period during the last decade when it routinely felt like a two-driver contest between aces Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr., but those days are, clearly, long gone. In fact, we might even be fully at the opposite end of the spectrum. Not only has Elliott not won on a road course in 14 races, 10 different drivers have visited Victory Lane since the last time he did.

A whopping 15 (!) active drivers have a road-course win on their resumé, so that‘s nearly half the field right there that you know can get it done. Combine that with the fact that each of the last four first-time winners all earned their maiden victories on road courses — including one at COTA — and you start to look at drivers like Ty Gibbs (more on him below), John Hunter Nemechek, Zane Smith, Josh Berry and Todd Gilliland, among others, as somebody that could break through and you start to really realize how wide open things are.

Sunday‘s field will be one of the more decorated and versatile in recent memory, as well.

Per Racing Insights, drivers on the current entry list combine for:

• Nine Cup championships
• 16 NXS championships
• 4 Truck championships
• 330 Cup wins from 25 drivers
• 387 NXS wins from 30 drivers
• 164 Truck wins from 26 drivers
• 5 IMSA wins
• 81 Supercar wins
• 5 Indy Car wins

Consider that part-time Cup specialists and excitement-generators AJ Allmendinger, Shane van Gisbergen and Kamui Kobayashi contribute heavily to those figures and boy, there‘s a lot to look forward to for Sunday.

Most particularly its unknowns.  

cars race at cota

3. COTA‘s new restart zone, explained

Circuit of The Americas brings a new challenge to the field with the introduction of a new restart zone; FOX‘s Larry McReynolds and MRN‘s Todd Gordon explain in this edition of “Inside the Race.”

4. Averages among the elite on road courses

Plenty of names you‘d expect rank among the sport‘s best road racers on average finish, but another — about to make his 10th road-course start — stands out quite a bit.

DriverCarStartsAvg. FinishWins
Chase ElliottNo. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet308.57
Tyler ReddickNo. 45 23XI Racing Toyota2113.053
Ty GibbsNo. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota913.560
Chris BuescherNo. 17 RFK Racing Ford3213.720
Kyle LarsonNo. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet3314.244
Martin Truex Jr.No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota5114.315
Joey LoganoNo. 22 Team Penske Ford4514.471
Austin CindricNo. 2 Team Penske Ford1514.730
Kyle BuschNo. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet5314.774

 

5. Catch the pack — news and notes from around the garage

Power Rankings: Chase Elliott set to reclaim road-course crown at COTA?

Paint Scheme Preview: See the schemes for COTA tripleheader 

Analysis: Chemistry of Gabehart, Hamlin shines in Bristol triumph

NASCAR SVP Probst: ‘Would not want to change (Bristol tires) much at all‘

Inside the Race: Track temps and how they influence tires wear

Bowman, crew chief Harris dive into ‘nerve-wracking‘ Bristol top five

Racing to history: Hendrick reaches 80,000 laps led in Cup Series

Analysis: Bristol wows with record lead changes, unexpected tire strategy

Kyle Petty: Weighing in on Stewart Friesen vs. Nick Sanchez

@nascarcasm: Fake texts to Bristol winner Denny Hamlin

Christian Eckes wins Bristol for first Truck victory of 2024

Which driver is favored to win 2024 title after Bristol?

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Williams resets after unlucky start to 2024https://www.mrn.com/2024/03/20/josh-williams-resets-after-unlucky-start-to-2024-xfinity-season/Wed, 20 Mar 2024 14:34:40 GMT-0500127966aj-allmendinger, circuit-of-the-americas, drivers, josh-williams, kaulig-racing, NASCAR, nascar-xfinity-series, Series, shane-van-gisbergen, teams, tracksStaff ReportWhen Josh Williams knew last fall that he would be joining Kaulig Racing for the 2024 Xfinity Series season on a multiyear deal, he also realized it came with a different set of obstacles. For the first time in his racing career, he was paired with a perennial, front-running organization.

Williams, who has worked his entire career toward such an opportunity, raised expectations for the incoming season. Before the 2024 season opener at Daytona International Speedway, he even declared to NASCAR.com, “I‘m going to win a race — at least one. We might win more, but at least one somewhere. We‘re going to make the playoffs, for sure.”

RELATED: Williams joins Kaulig for full-time Xfinity Series campaign in 2024

Kaulig Racing knew Williams would have an adjustment period. It marked a new era where he would be getting premium information from an organization that expects to compete for championships on a yearly basis. It‘s also an organization that prides itself on giving drivers who haven‘t given up on their journey an opportunity to succeed.

“I‘m not going to lie, it‘s going to be super hard,” Chris Rice, president of Kaulig Racing, said of Williams joining the team. “When you‘re teammates with AJ Allmendinger, [Shane van Gisbergen], it‘s going to be different for him because he‘s never had those kinds of guys as teammates. He‘s up for the challenge.”

Williams‘ happy-go-lucky yet relentless personality jives with Kaulig Racing. Meghan Henriques, his marketing agent for the past decade, said he has a considerable chip on his shoulder to perform at a high level.

“I want him to go out there, have some fun again and show everyone what he is truly made of,” she said, “and stop thinking this is it because it‘s not. It‘s just the beginning for him.”

Williams is always up for a challenge. Over the offseason, Rice challenged his driver to get in better shape. It was either that or lose his signature mullet. Williams dropped 25 lbs.

Everything is different for Williams in 2024. Kaulig‘s preparation for race weekends is far dissimilar from anything he‘s had previously. He‘s already been on the Chevrolet simulator more this season than the entire 2023 season while driving for DGM Racing.

Williams, who is known to turn a few wrenches and get his hands dirty working on the machines he drives, has even had to step back from that role.

“I try to when I go to the shop, and they get mad at me, ‘You don‘t have to do that,”” Williams joked about working on his hot rods. “And I‘m like, ‘I know what I‘m doing.‘ And they are like, ‘We know that you know what you‘re doing, but you don‘t have to do that.‘ A lot of the guys in the shop I‘ve known for years, and they give me a hard time and every time I start doing something.”

Simply showing up to the track under the Kaulig banner was a contrast. Entering the 2024 season, Kaulig Racing had 23 Xfinity victories to its name, with the team‘s top-10 percentage north of 51% (278 top 10s in 537 starts).

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

“It changes a lot,” Williams said of his outlook. “Every time they drop the lift gate, we have a shot to win this thing. That‘s a huge difference, especially at the tracks that I‘m strong at in years past. It‘s going to be interesting to see how I run in [Kaulig] equipment compared to what I was in before.”

The first month of the 2024 racing season has been unkind to the No. 11 team. Williams has a best finish of 14th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, with the other three results outside the top 25. His misfortune kicked off at Daytona when he was involved in an 11-car pileup at the beginning of the second stage. He had three left-rear tires go flat at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Most recently at Phoenix Raceway, Jeremy Clements got into Williams on Lap 6, which grounded the sway bar off his car. He took the checkered flag in 27th position, five laps down.

When describing the first four races with Kaulig, Williams kept it short: “Unlucky.”

No. 11‘s misfortune has buried Williams to 30th in the championship standings, earning a mere 37 points. He is already 61 points below the elimination line, but he isn‘t even thinking about the postseason.

“Your results are what shows,” Williams said. “The points, I don‘t try to chase that. We‘re not to that point. Once it gets to playoff time, and if we‘ve made up that many spots and have had some solid runs, then we‘re going to get to the point where we can watch that stuff and try to chase that stuff and a win.”

Williams remains upbeat despite the current circumstances, believing the misfortune will cycle itself through.

“I know that it‘s not a team issue, it‘s just something out of our control,” Williams added. “That‘s what makes it OK. It‘s not like we‘re just having bad runs and don‘t have any speed — luck just isn‘t there. That‘s what keeps me positive. It‘s something that no one can control.”

MORE: 2024 Xfinity Series standings | 2024 Xfinity Series schedule

Leaning on his teammates Allmendinger and van Gisbergen — two of the best road-course competitors in the field — at Circuit of The Americas will help Williams through the Focused Health 250 on March 23 (5 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Williams has yet to compete at COTA as he‘s failed to qualify for the race on two occasions. He was suspended during last season‘s event.

Two looming short tracks in Richmond Raceway and Martinsville Speedway follow, which will be the time for Williams to strike.

“It‘s super important because those are the types of race tracks that I succeed at,” Williams said. “It‘s a good opportunity for me to capitalize on gaining our points back and putting us back into a comfortable position, running well. Once you run good a couple of times, everything changes. The morale of the people, confidence, everything changes. I think we‘ve got a good opportunity when we go back racing to have some solid finishes if we can stay out of trouble and the whole thing will change.”

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Elliott to run Dale Jr. throwbackhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/20/elliott-to-run-dale-jr-daytona-500-throwback/Wed, 20 Mar 2024 14:29:32 GMT-0500127964chase-elliott, dale-earnhardt-jr, darlington-raceway, daytona-500, daytona-international-speedway, drivers, hendrick-motorsports, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-cup-series, Series, teams, tracksStaff ReportChase Elliott and Hendrick Motorsports unveiled Wednesday morning the throwback paint scheme the No. 9 driver will run for the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on May 12 (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The scheme is a nod to NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr.‘s 2014 Daytona 500 victory, in which he led 54 laps en route to his second victory in the “Great American Race” at Daytona International Speedway.

RELATED: See No. 9 throwback from every angle | Watch the 2014 Daytona 500

Chase Elliott‘s No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet Camaro highlights the iconic red, white and blue scheme fans saw leading the field and in Victory Lane four times throughout the 2014 season, with wins in Daytona‘s season opener, once at Pocono Raceway and later Martinsville Speedway.

chase elliott darlington throwback scheme

The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion‘s relationship with Earnhardt traces back quite some time, and Elliott first truly broke onto the NASCAR scene as a future superstar behind the wheel of the JR Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet. He took over that ride full-time in 2014 — the same year Earnhardt won the 500 in this paint scheme — claiming the Xfinity Series championship that season.

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

Elliott heads to the “Track too Tough to Tame” hoping to capture his first victory at the South Carolina facility. Chase Elliott has 151 laps led, four top fives and seven top-10 finishes through 14 Cup starts at Darlington. The closest that the Dawsonville, Georgia native has come to winning at the “Lady in Black” came in 2023, when he finished third in the month of May.

DARLINGTON: See last year‘s classic schemes | Iconic throwbacks over time

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Goodyear official responds to Bristol tire wearhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/19/goodyear-official-responds-to-bristol-tire-wear/Tue, 19 Mar 2024 14:59:40 GMT-0500127941bristol-motor-speedway, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-cup-series, racing-teams, teams, tracksStaff ReportGoodyear tires were the topic of many a NASCAR conversation Monday after a thrilling, unpredictable classic Sunday afternoon at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The severe tire wear around the 0.533-mile track in the Food City 500 threw everyone for a loop, including Goodyear, its director of racing Greg Stucker told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Monday afternoon. The result was an exciting battle of tire management, but Goodyear is looking into what led to the Sunday surprise.

MORE: Recap Hamlin‘s Bristol win | Watch NASCAR video highlights

Tires used in Sunday‘s race were the same tire code that Goodyear provided for teams in September, leading to more confusion in figuring out why it behaved so differently Sunday than it did during the playoff race last fall.

“Yesterday was a drastic departure from what we expected,” Stucker said Monday on SiriusXM. “The goal now is to just try to figure out why that happened, but I think we‘re approaching it it really positively.”

That positive reaction stems from fan, driver and NASCAR sentiment alike. John Probst, NASCAR‘s senior vice president of innovation and racing development, called Sunday‘s race “one of the best short-track races I‘ve ever seen.”

“For the past year or so,” Stucker said, “the drivers have been pushing us to be more aggressive in our recommendations to be more aggressive in tire wear and let them manage the tires over the course of the run. And I think that‘s what we saw yesterday. Tire management was key. It was probably the most important thing of anything in the race.

“Now, I‘m not advocating that we have tire wear as severe as we saw yesterday every race. But I think it‘s a place where we could draw a line in the sand and I think we can learn from that.”

NASCAR Cup Series drivers pit for tires at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The next steps have already begun, which center on why the tires wore after approximately 50 laps Sunday as opposed to lasting a full 130 laps back in September.

“I mentioned before that this was the same tire that we raced last in September of last year. It‘s the same D numbers; it‘s a different production line,” Stucker said. “So we‘re not taking anything for granted. It‘s the same spec, but is there anything that could stand out that could create a difference? A couple of drivers after the race told us, ‘Look, you can‘t convince me that was the same tire the way it behaves,‘ and we get that. I mean, there‘s no question that the tire didn‘t wear the same. It didn‘t put rubber down like it did in September. It just behaved differently.

“Now was that because of the tire itself? Was that because of the race track? Obviously, resin was put down on the race track instead of the PJ1 which was done last year. We haven‘t really decided if that could be a factor yet. That‘s one thing that we‘re looking at. … Was there anything they did differently washing the race track or anything like that?

“So there‘s a lot to go through. But we‘re certainly looking at every piece of the puzzle from our perspective and make sure there was nothing in our raw materials or any of our processes that would create any sort of difference.”

Ultimately, Stucker credited the wheelmen and their teams for navigating the situation with grace to get to the checkered flag without further issue, concluding the record-breaking race on a 121-lap green-flag run.

“Kudos to the drivers,” Stucker said. “That‘s what they‘ve been saying. Again, it was extreme yesterday, but I think what transpired just reinforced what they‘ve been saying and how important it is to put some of the control of the car back in the hands of the drivers because it really does make a difference. And I say drivers, but it‘s also in the hands of the crew chiefs. The crew chiefs had to go to work yesterday also, right, and try to make adjustments with a race car so the drivers could keep the tires underneath them. And so I think if you poll the garage, most everybody had a pretty darn good time, even in a challenging situation because it was fun behind the wheel; it was fun for the crew chiefs to make adjustments.”

RELATED: Chemistry of Hamlin, Gabehart shine at Bristol

Stucker said there will likely be another Goodyear tire test held at Bristol before returning to “The Last Great Colosseum” in September for this year‘s playoff race. But any adjustments will be made within the hopes of maintaining notable tire wear while better understanding and expecting the tire behavior.

“With the feedback we‘ve gotten and hearing some of the comments, we don‘t have to go too terribly far, I think,” Stucker said. “We don‘t want to go back and go too hard. But I think we have to understand what happened, and we have to go back and try to replicate that and make sure that it doesn‘t happen again. We‘ve got to understand why we were surprised and what we can do to fix it so we can go back with the expectation of 80% or so (of Sunday‘s wear), go back with that in September and deliver exactly what we expect.”

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Zilisch prepared for double duty at COTA, Five Flagshttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/19/zilisch-prepared-for-double-duty-at-cota-five-flags/Tue, 19 Mar 2024 14:49:58 GMT-0500127943advance-auto-parts-weekly-series, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-craftsman-truck-series, nascar-regionalStaff ReportThere will be no time to rest for Trackhouse Racing development driver Connor Zilisch on Saturday.

Shortly after concluding his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut with Spire Motorsports at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, Zilisch will take a short flight to Pensacola, Florida to compete with Pinnacle Racing Group in the ARCA Menards Series East opener at Five Flags Speedway.

Zilisch has no idea how he is going to execute a grueling doubleheader weekend on two different types of tracks, but he has full confidence in his own ability to deliver strong performances for both Spire and PRG.

“I‘ve done a bunch of preparation to be ready for both races,” Zilisch said. “I‘m ready to make the most of the opportunity with the ARCA car and the truck. Pensacola is going to be the biggest thing, as I‘m showing up to the track without practice or qualifying and with no experience in an ARCA car on an oval.

“There‘s going to be a lot of new stuff for me, but I‘m doing everything I can to be ready for it.”

While most young drivers would see the 3.4-mile layout at COTA as an imposing challenge, Zilisch is entering that race without much trepidation. Road racing encompasses a key part of Zilisch‘s identity as a driver. In 2020, he became the first American to win the CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy, joining an elite list of champions that includes current Formula One competitor Charles Leclerc.

Zilisch only added to his road course racing prestige when he entered his first Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway earlier this year for the LMP2 class. Displaying maturity and resolve, Zilisch played an integral part in leading his team Era Motorsport to the LMP2 class victory and an overall finish of ninth.

The efficiency continued for Zilisch during the 12 Hours of Sebring this past weekend, as he helped put Era Motorsport on top of the LMP2 leaderboard once again after an arduous day of racing.

Winning two consecutive endurance crown jewels has given Zilisch plenty of confidence over the past few months while preparing to tackle a busy oval racing schedule. Along with a full East Series campaign, Zilisch is slated to make several appearances in the Truck Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and the zMAX CARS Tour.

It did not take long for Zilisch to initially acclimate himself to oval racing. He took home a checkered flag in his debut Pro Late Model race back in 2022 and has since added a CARS Pro Late Model Tour victory to his resume, which he obtained at Ace Speedway last year.

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

Connor Zilisch, driver of the No. 57 late model, during the South Carolina 400 Charlie Powell Memorial at Florence Motor Speedway in Florence, South Carolina on November 18, 2023. (Ted Malinowski/NASCAR)

There are many aspects of oval racing Zilisch is still trying to ascertain, but the knowledge obtained through heavy braking zones and diverse corners at road courses around the United States were crucial in expediting his early development.

“With oval racing, you have two corners you need to perfect, while road racing has about 15 corners you need to get good at,” Zilisch said. “Road racing has prepared me very well, and I feel like I can adapt to a lot of different cars. No matter what track I go to, I‘m always prepared for it.”

Zilisch showcased that versatility in his ARCA Menards Series debut with PRG at Watkins Glen International.

Connor Zilisch, driver of the No. 57 Late Model Stock Car, during driver introductions for the Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour‘s Blue Ridge 250 at Tri-County Speedway in Granite Falls, North Carolina on October 21, 2023. (Susan Wong/NASCAR)

Nobody in the field could match Zilisch‘s pace for most of the day, as he led a race-high 34 laps after starting on the outside pole. A potential victory for Zilisch evaporated during a one-lap shootout in the rain, as he was moved by Jesse Love in the final corner, forcing him to settle for a disappointing second.

Zilisch is hoping for an even better outcome in his NASCAR national debut at COTA. A driver affiliated with Spire won the first three events on the Truck Series schedule, so Zilisch intends to keep that trend going Saturday by relying on previous road course experience and the stellar equipment at his disposal.

PRG also carries an efficient track record in ARCA outside of what Zilisch nearly accomplished in his debut. Luke Fenhaus led the organization visited Victory Lane twice on the ARCA platform in 2023, and they are expected to be favorites for the East Series title with Zilisch behind the wheel.

Barring a prolonged ending to the Truck Series event, Zilisch believes he can arrive in Pensacola at a reasonable hour and debrief with PRG about their plan for the East Series feature. The turnaround will be quick between the two states, but Zilisch intends to stay composed and focused on one race at a time.

“It‘s going to be tough, especially with how much is going on,” Zilisch said. “I just have to stay calm and let others do all the hard work. Racing is not easy, but I need to recover from the Truck Series race even though it‘s not going to be that long or that hot.

“Mentally, I need to get myself in the right headspace to race on an oval after I‘m finished with COTA.”

A two-state, same-day doubleheader may be a new challenge for Zilisch, but he is no stranger to dealing with adversity. Facing plenty future NASCAR and Formula One stars through his developmental period has matured Zilisch into a driver capable of winning in any discipline at 17 years old.

Despite this, Zilisch is trying to set both high and reasonable expectations for himself between COTA and Five Flags. He knows Spire and PRG are going to prepare race-winning equipment, but Zilisch will consider the marathon day a success if he keeps each vehicle in one piece and obtains valuable knowledge for future starts.

 “With the amount of experience I have in NASCAR‘s national series, which is basically none, any kind of success would be cool,” Zilisch said. “This year I‘m trying to learn as much as I can and not really focus on where I finish. Hopefully we can get some good results [on Saturday].”

The 2024 season has already been a strong one for Zilisch with his accomplishments on road courses. A great weekend between COTA and Five Flags could be crucial for Zilisch to carry that momentum into stock car competition for the rest of the year and beyond.

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Chemistry of Gabehart, Hamlin shines in Bristol winhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/18/chemistry-of-gabehart-hamlin-shines-in-bristol-win/Mon, 18 Mar 2024 16:47:31 GMT-0500127933bristol-motor-speedway, denny-hamlin, drivers, joe-gibbs-racing, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-cup-series, Series, teams, tracksStaff ReportHeading into Sunday‘s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, no one truly knew how the NASCAR Cup Series cars would react upon the concrete surface of the 0.533-mile bullring oval.

Not after Saturday‘s practice, anyway, which resulted in track conditions and tire-wear patterns that were confusing at best, or otherwise befuddling.

And yet the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team spotlighted by driver Denny Hamlin and crew chief Chris Gabehart rose above any adversity thrown at them in the 500-lap chess match that struck Thunder Valley on Sunday afternoon.

MORE: Bristol wows in concrete return | Cup Series standings

If you‘ve been watching NASCAR racing since 2019, it should be no surprise that this duo‘s chemistry was perfectly matched yet again. Their Bristol triumph marked their 20th win together — plus one with former lead engineer Sam McAuley in Gabehart‘s relief in 2022. Hamlin‘s 21 victories since the start of 2019 are the most of all drivers, equating to an 11.4% win rate in those 185 points-paying races.

No matter the situation, Hamlin and Gabehart appear unfazed by misfortune, oddities or distractions. So when Goodyear‘s tires began wearing to their cords early and often on Bristol‘s concrete, Hamlin and Gabehart evaluated, adapted and conquered.

“He did a great job of just updating me with every pit stop what was going on with the tires,” Hamlin said Sunday. “‘Hey, this was this amount of run, how many laps. This tire was corded; this tire was corded.‘ Just letting me make adjustments from there. That‘s really what he did great. It allowed me to do my job at a high level when you have that kind of information. Certainly, he just kept making the car better, as well.

“It‘s not all driver. You have to have a car that is easy on the tires, as well. They just did a great job building me that today.”

Bristol provided perhaps the most unpredictable 500 laps ever run around “The Last Great Colosseum,” a bold claim to be sure, but not unfounded after a track-record 54 lead changes among 16 drivers while each competitor figured out how best to maximize their equipment in real time.

“Again, it‘s so far off the playbook from what anyone was expecting when the lift gates opened Saturday morning,” Gabehart said. “No one. There‘s not a single driver, single crew chief, engineer that planned on this. You calibrate your entire world around a certain set of parameters for Bristol. It was pretty clear right after practice, again pretty clear after 80 laps into the race, all of that had to go out the window.

“Now it‘s instincts. A lot of your prep work, tools and planning, for the most part, are invalid. It‘s still a race car. It‘s still got an engine, driver, four black things on it for a while ‘til they turn gray. It‘s way different. You have to go off instinct every part of the race. That‘s everybody. That‘s the tire guy, the car chief, the mechanics helping. …

“Every 40 laps those guys are having to get data off the tires, get the information to me so I can get it to him, get the next set ready to go. Goodyear released another set. We have to go get it, match that set up. We don‘t just bolt them on the car. There‘s a lot that goes into what did we get, how does it match up with the tires we have, when do you want to use these, use your qualifying scuffs. It had it all, and that really makes it fun.”

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

Denny Hamlin, left, and Chris Gabehart speak before a NASCAR Cup Series race.

That fun — the exuberance of winning a race that necessitated mental strategy, different techniques and quick processing — glowed upon their faces Sunday evening as they sat in the Bristol media center.

And that the track demanded abnormal approaches to its corners as opposed to different years? That only added to the thrill Hamlin experienced in Victory Lane.

“I know I had such a huge role in the result,” Hamlin said. “If the car was not good, I wasn‘t going to win. But I feel like I played a huge factor in the result. It‘s really a proud one for me. Certainly one of the more proud ones I‘ve had in my career, no question.”

How fitting, too, one week after explaining that more tire management would put the results of the race more into the drivers‘ hands at Phoenix Raceway. In fact, Phoenix proved another example of Gabehart and Hamlin overcoming obstacles after Hamlin spun while battling Tyler Reddick for the race lead, rallying back to an 11th-place finish.

With a series-best 8.46 average running position and 272 laps led, it‘s been a rock-solid start for the No. 11 group. Don‘t be surprised if the team only gets better from here.

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Bristol delivers record-setting dayhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/18/bristol-delivers-record-setting-day/Mon, 18 Mar 2024 15:07:41 GMT-0500127926bristol-motor-speedway, denny-hamlin, joe-gibbs-racing, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-seriesStaff ReportBRISTOL, Tenn. — Crew chief Chris Gabehart said managing Sunday‘s race at Bristol Motor Speedway was like being a football coach where the entire game plan goes out the window in the first quarter.

And to him, that was a good thing.

His driver, Denny Hamlin, came out on top on a day when there were a track-record 54 lead changes, a number that blew away the old mark of 40 that had stood since April 14, 1991, when Rusty Wallace beat Ernie Irvan by two feet.

It was footing — or the point where the rubber meets the road — that forced crew chiefs and drivers to adjust on the fly to stay ahead of tire falloff that was hitting them more quickly than expected.

What resulted was perhaps one of the wildest and most exciting short-track races in recent memory.

RELATED: Race results | Driver standings

“It was fantastic,” Gabehart said. “The whole weekend was nothing what any of us expected, the driver, the crew chiefs, the engineers, the pit crew, the team, the spotter. I mean, from the minute practice was over, we suspected something was going to be different. I think a lot of us thought maybe 80 (laps), 100 in, this place would rubber in and get a little more familiar. But it did not.

“It was a blast. I‘m not just saying that because we won. I‘m saying that because it was fun to have to do something so unrefined.”

The unrefined, outside-the-box thinking also challenged the drivers, putting the race squarely in their hands as they soon realized that this would be a Bristol event like no other. The top three finishing drivers — Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski — also happened to be among the most experienced drivers in the Cup Series garage.

Hamlin, 43, said he drew upon his experience in late models to help save tires Sunday, resulting in his 52nd Cup win.

“Yeah, it was challenging,” Hamlin said. “A different kind of challenge, for sure. Certainly not something we‘ve had to do for a very long time in managing tires.

“Lesson learned early on. I kind of ran a certain pace, a certain line, wore my tires out. From that point on made some adjustments internally. He (Gabehart) made some adjustments to the car that allowed me to just manage it from that point on.

“Once it got into that tire management type of race, certainly my history in late models where you had to do that big-time certainly paid off.”

What caused the tire falloff was still a bit of a mystery as teams were breaking down pit boxes and loading up haulers, but by several accounts, the 0.533-mile concrete oval just wasn‘t taking on the same amount of rubber that it did last fall when Goodyear used the same tire.

Shreds of tire rubber coat the top of the Bristol concrete after the NASCAR Cup Series race.

With the track eating up tires at a pace of every 40 to 50 laps, it led NASCAR to release an additional set of tires during the race, giving teams 12 sets (11 fresh and one carrying over from practice/qualifying) to get through the 500 laps. There were some anxious moments about whether there would be enough tires to get through the race, but the action on the track was undeniable.

“On the allotment (of tires) we actually removed a set of tires from the fall race coming into this race,” said John Probst, NASCAR chief racing development officer. “That‘s on us, not Goodyear. So, we actually gave that back during the race as you guys saw. We‘ll go back and look at it all. There were times in the race obviously when there was anxiety over whether we were going to have enough tires to finish it. But man, coming out in the end and watching all that, I wouldn‘t want to change much at all.”

One difference this weekend as opposed to the fall was the use of resin instead of PJ1 as a track compound to help promote grip in the bottom lane and applied in the corners. Several drivers noted after practice and qualifying how it was giving them a different feel. But there was a reason for the change.

“One thing we learned with our testing on the wet weather on ovals was that the cars are the best way to dry the track quickly. The fans want to see the cars on track,” Probst said. “So when we came here and tested, we tried the PJ, and when we wet the track down, it was almost like oil on the track, the cars were getting no traction. So when we came back here this year with the wet-weather package for Bristol, we elected to use the resin vs. PJ1.”

MORE: No. 11 tire changer: ‘We‘ve got everything it takes‘ | Watch NASCAR video highlights

There will be much to unpack from this race, and Probst said NASCAR would work with Goodyear and the teams to look at things further. Goodyear echoed that assessment.

“We tested here last year with the intent to come up with a tire package that generated more tire wear,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear‘s director of racing. “That was the request from NASCAR and the teams.

“And we feel like we had a very successful test and a very successful race in the fall of last year because we did exactly that. We ran a full fuel stop and definitely saw wear, but we thought it was spot-on. So now we‘re trying to understand what‘s different and why is the race track behaving differently this weekend than what it did a year ago.”

Stucker also said he thought it would be a good bet that there would be a test between now and the race in the fall at Bristol, which will be the elimination race in the Round of 16 of the NASCAR Playoffs. That should give everyone plenty of time to think about what just happened at Bristol and the unique situation that unfolded on Sunday.

“While it‘s hard on us, yes, it‘s supposed to be hard, you‘re supposed to see these guys struggle,” Gabehart said. “You‘re supposed to see the 25th-place car look like a mess and the teams trying to figure out how to rebound and rally. Help (the driver) understand whether this run the (tire) management didn‘t work or the leader‘s running too hard this run, but tell your driver … and let him adjust inside (the car). It‘s supposed to be hard. This is not supposed to look easy.”

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eNASCAR's Salas making Truck debut at COTAhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/18/enascars-salas-making-truck-debut-at-cota/Mon, 18 Mar 2024 14:58:07 GMT-0500127928esports, iracing-esports, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-craftsman-truck-series, nascar-regionalStaff ReportA lifelong dream will soon become a reality for eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series competitor Vicente Salas, who will make his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas this Saturday (1:30 p.m. ET on FS1).

Salas will drive the No. 20 Chevrolet Silverado for Young‘s Motorsports with sponsorship from Miramar Financial Group.

“I am beyond excited,” Salas said. “It‘s really a full circle moment. The first car I ever sat in was at Home Depot, it was a Tony Stewart No. 20 car. I think I was 2 or 3 years old at the time. Honestly it is what has driven me until now, sitting in that race car and that feeling.

“To be able to make my first start in the Truck Series driving the No. 20 as well, it just feels surreal.”

The opportunity to make his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut came after Salas reached out to Young‘s Motorsports Team Principal Tyler Young in 2023, who has 80 starts in the Truck Series himself.

At the time, Salas was trying to put together the funding to compete in the Truck Series or ARCA Menards Series. While the two sides were unable to reach a deal, the meeting with Young ultimately helped lead to the opportunity for Salas to race at COTA this weekend.

“Last year I wanted to run some ARCA or some Trucks and someone that has always been super highly spoken of is Tyler Young,” Salas said. “I got his contact info and hit him up, I told him I really want to talk to you and try to run some races for you guys.

“Unfortunately, I didn‘t get to do anything with him last year, but it was cool to just have him in my contacts and know that if I wanted to go race to just give him a call.”

Salas will become the latest driver with eNASCAR experience to compete in a NASCAR national series event, joining drivers like Dale Earnhardt Jr., Josh Berry, Parker Retzlaff and Kaden Honeycutt, among others.

Salas, a 21-year-old third-generation American with roots in Latin America, has been working towards this opportunity for the last few years.

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

He burst onto the scene in 2021 by winning an eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series event at Richmond Raceway as a rookie.

That victory helped propel him to a real-world opportunity to compete in a zMAX CARS Tour event at Hickory Motor Speedway in 2022, where he brought home a fourth-place finish.

Salas secured enough funding for a season of Late Model Stock Car racing at Hickory the following year. It did not take Salas long to find success, as he won his first race on March 25, 2023 after a last-lap pass.

All the time spent in eNASCAR over the past couple of years, especially with his current team Kanaan eSports, is what Salas credits for his ability to excel in a real race car.

“I don‘t believe I‘d be anywhere near where I am at now without the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series,” Salas said. “For me, living out on the West Coast, I felt like I was disconnected from the actual NASCAR scene here on the East Coast.

“I built connections, made new friends that work in the industry here and they were able to get me the connection to go race a Pro Late Model, then the connection to go race the Late Model Stock last year and now to go race this Truck. That win is what helped me get into a Late Model and without that win or without that series, I don‘t believe I‘d be where I am.”

So how is Salas preparing for his first start in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series?

If you said by turning laps on iRacing at the virtual COTA, then you‘d be right.

“I have already been running laps. I have talked to a lot of drivers who drive a lot on iRacing and drive in NASCAR as well and they have said the Truck is very close on the sim to what it is in real life,” Salas said. “I‘ve already been running laps at COTA and trying to get as many tips and tricks from the guys I know that have run that track.

“I‘m just super excited to get rolling at COTA.”

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Byron into the wall early at Bristolhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/17/william-byron-into-the-wall-early-at-bristol-motor-speedway/Sun, 17 Mar 2024 20:24:07 GMT-0500127919bristol-motor-speedway, drivers, hendrick-motorsports, misc, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, News, racing-teams, Series, teams, tracks, william-byronStaff ReportWilliam Byron found trouble early in Sunday‘s NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet contacted the outside wall on Lap 21 after a bump from behind by Joey Logano. Logano was in the middle of a three-wide sandwich with Christopher Bell to his left and Byron to his right.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Slight contact between Logano and Bell sent Logano‘s No. 22 Ford up into Byron‘s left-rear quarter panel, leading Byron into the wall before sliding there again in Turns 3 and 4. The caution flag waved two laps later for debris from Byron‘s Chevrolet.

Byron‘s No. 24 team, headed by crew chief Rudy Fugle, repaired a bent right-rear toe link within the allotted time of the damaged vehicle policy and returned to competition six laps down.

“Car feels fine here,” Byron radioed after the restart at Lap 31.

Byron, the 2024 Daytona 500 winner, was unable to recover and finished 35th, eight laps down.

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

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Hamlin scores Bristol winhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/17/denny-hamlin-fends-off-teammate-truex-to-score-bristol-win/Sun, 17 Mar 2024 20:23:29 GMT-0500127917bristol-motor-speedway, denny-hamlin, drivers, Fantasy Racing, joe-gibbs-racing, martin-truex-jr, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, race-recap-ncs, Series, teams, tracksStaff ReportBRISTOL, Tenn. — How appropriate.

On a day where tire management was the essential element in a NASCAR Cup Series race, three veterans swept the podium positions, with Denny Hamlin winning Sunday‘s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

In a race that produced 54 lead changes — a record for Cup Series short tracks — Hamlin lost the lead briefly to Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. in the closing laps but regained it in traffic and beat Truex to the finish line by 1.083 seconds.

RELATED: Full results | At-track photos

In a return to concrete after three straight spring races on dirt, Hamlin won his second straight race at the 0.533-mile speedway and his fourth overall, second-most among active drivers to Kyle Busch‘s eight.

The victory was the 52nd of Hamlin‘s career, 13th all-time and his first this season.

But the story was the tires and the mysterious way they behaved in a race that saw the track start to eat through to the cords 45 laps into a green-flag run.

Goodyear brought the same tire that ran without issues in last fall‘s night race, but on Sunday, the concrete surface did not take rubber. Instead, marbles (small balls of rubber from degraded tires) accumulated high in the corners, making the top of the track untenable.

There were two variables that might have helped to account for the tire issues. The temperature was roughly 10-15 degrees cooler than it was for last year‘s night race, which was run on Sept. 16.

NASCAR also opted for a different resin in the bottom lane from the PJ1 traction compound previously in use.

Whatever the cause, with his short-track background, Hamlin was best equipped to deal with the surprising situation.

“That‘s what I grew up here doing in the short tracks in the Mid Atlantic, South Boston, Martinsville,” said Hamlin, who grew up in Chesterfield, Viriginia. “Once it became a tire-management race, I really liked our chances.

“Obviously, the veteran in Martin, he knew how to do it as well. We just had a great car, great team. The pit crew just did a phenomenal job all day. Can‘t say enough about them. … Man, it feels so good to win in Bristol.”

SHOP: Race winner gear

Truex passed Hamlin for the lead in traffic on Lap 483 but surrendered the top spot to the race winner one lap later, as the teammates worked around slower cars. Truex‘s tires gave up the ghost on the last few circuits, as Hamlin pulled away.

“Apparently, that‘s what I needed to have happen here at Bristol to have a shot at winning — I guess this tire management thing fit into my wheelhouse here at Bristol,” Truex said.

“Man, the difference was just coming out of the pits so far behind Denny (after green-flag pit stops during the final run). I had to use mine up more on the last run. The last four, five laps of the race, was cord.”

Hamlin led a race-high 163 laps, as the four JGR drivers spent a combined 383 of 500 laps at the front field, with Ty Gibbs leading 137, Truex 54 and Christopher Bell 29.

Brad Keselowski, a three-time winner at the track, finished third, 7.284 seconds behind Hamlin. Hendrick Motorsports drivers Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson were fourth and fifth, respectively, as only five drivers finished on the lead lap.

The last time five or fewer drivers finished on the lead lap was the June 6, 2004 race at Dover.

John Hunter Nemechek, Chris Buescher, Chase Elliott, Gibbs and Bell came home sixth through 10th, respectively.

Larson and Truex leave Bristol tied for the series lead, passing defending series champion Ryan Blaney, who finished 16th.

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

William Byron, the Daytona 500 winner, hit the wall at Lap 21 and lost numerous laps on pit road, ultimately finishing 35th, eight laps down.

The Cup Series makes the shift to its first road course of 2024 as Circuit of The Americas awaits next Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Notes: No issues were found in post-race inspection in the Cup Series garage, confirming Hamlin‘s first victory of the season. No cars were taken back to the NASCAR R&D Center for teardown inspection.

Contributing: Staff report.

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Eckes wins Truck Series race at Bristolhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/16/eckes-wins-truck-series-race-at-bristol/Sat, 16 Mar 2024 22:35:38 GMT-0500127914bristol-motor-speedway, christian-eckes, drivers, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-camping-world-truck-series, nascar-competition, nascar-craftsman-truck-series, race-recap-trucks, Series, tracksStaff ReportBRISTOL, Tenn. — Sometimes a victory tastes sweetest when it comes as a chaser for a bitter defeat.

That was certainly the case for pole winner Christian Eckes, who held off Kyle Busch in the closing laps to win Saturday night‘s Weather Guard Truck Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

In last year‘s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoff race at Bristol, Eckes gave up the lead to Corey Heim with six laps left and finished second by 0.218 seconds. The loss cost Eckes, who led 150 laps in that event, a berth in the Championship 4 at Phoenix, where his victory in the season finale gave him a consolation prize but not a title.

On Saturday night, Eckes passed Busch for the lead on Lap 159 and held it for the final 92 circuits as Busch made a frenetic charge that fell just short. In traffic, Eckes crossed the finish line 0.141 seconds ahead of the career Truck Series victory leader.

“Oh, man, it‘s so sweet,” said Eckes, who won for the first time this season, the first time at Bristol and the sixth time in his career. “There‘s just so much behind this win from last year, missing out on the Championship 4 and losing the race with (six) to go.

“To come back and redeem ourselves was our number one goal, and not only that, but the first three races (of this season), how terribly they‘ve gone. We had a lot of issues, and to come back and run really good just shows the resilience of the team.”

MORE: Watch NASCAR video highlights

By putting his No. 19 McAnally Hilgemann Racing Silverado in Victory Lane, Eckes extended Chevrolet‘s 2024 Truck Series winning streak to four races.

Under the sixth and final caution, which slowed Busch‘s pursuit for eight laps, Busch radioed to his team, “We‘re a second-place truck, maybe third.”

But that didn‘t prevent Busch from charging after Eckes after a restart on Lap 227 of 250. As the run progressed, Busch cut into Eckes‘ lead, which had grown to more than one second, and closed to his back bumper by the time Eckes crossed the finish line.

“The crazy part about it is, we fought loose all through practice, all through qualifying, all through the beginning part of the race on older date codes,” Busch said. “Then we put on the newer date codes of tires and were instantly tight. So, just not being able to prepare and practice on what you expect to race on hurt us.

“We tightened up all day, and obviously I don‘t think we were as tight as the 19 (Eckes) at the end but, you know, just track position. I let him go early in that run to just go burn his stuff off and track position at the end, just aero effects… Didn‘t have enough rubber on the road to outduel him.”

Zane Smith finished third in the first race of a double-duty weekend. Three-time series champion Matt Crafton was fourth after joining Eckes and Busch in a three-way battle for the lead before the final caution for a shunt involving Stewart Friesen and Nick Sanchez on Lap 219.

EXCLUSIVE: Sanchez, Friesen have confrontation on pit road

Series leader Tyler Ankrum was fifth, extending his margin over second-place Corey Heim to 17 points. Heim finished sixth, followed by Taylor Gray, Rajah Caruth, Grant Enfinger and Sunoco rookie Layne Riggs.

Ty Majeski, the winner at Bristol in 2022, spun from the top five at Lap 144 shortly after the start of the Final Stage, collecting ThorSport Racing teammate Ben Rhodes in the process. Majeski‘s No. 98 Ford later went behind the wall due to mechanical issues, resulting in a 34th-place finish.

The Truck Series returns to action next Saturday at Circuit of The Americas (1:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NOTE: Post-race inspection concluded without issue, confirming Eckes as the race winner. The No. 91 Chevrolet driven by Zane Smith was found with one lug nut unsecured, which will result in a monetary fine.

Contributing: Staff report.

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HMS closing on 80,000 laps ledhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/16/hms-closing-on-80000-laps-led/Sat, 16 Mar 2024 20:54:52 GMT-0500127905alex-bowman, bristol-motor-speedway, chase-elliott, drivers, hendrick-motorsports, jeff-gordon, jimmie-johnson, kyle-larson, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-cup-series, rick-hendrick, Series, teams, tracks, william-byronStaff ReportBRISTOL, Tenn — The high concrete banks at Bristol Motor Speedway might just be the place for Hendrick Motorsports to perhaps etch another memorable record into the history books.

Hendrick Motorsports has led 79,997 laps in its 40-year stretch in the NASCAR Cup Series, beginning with Geoff Bodine‘s first circuit at Martinsville Speedway on April 29, 1984. And so, the opportunity is there for the organization to hit — and surpass — 80,000 laps led during Sunday‘s Food City 500 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Weekend schedule | At-track photos: Bristol

“It‘s a lot of laps, for sure, and a lot of race wins encapsulated into all those laps that they‘ve led as a company,” Chase Elliott told NASCAR.com. “Definitely proud to have been a very, very small part of that, but I‘ve enjoyed my time, and hopefully we can keep adding to it.”

Of course, the current four-driver Hendrick quartet has played a role in making the near-milestone achievable in the first place. While driving under the Hendrick moniker, all four have led significant laps, with 2020 Cup Series champ Elliott (5,108 laps led), 2021 title-winner Kyle Larson (4,548), William Byron (2,640) and Alex Bowman (1,301) combining to lead 13,597 circuits, which accounts for approximately 17% of the Hendrick total.

“It‘s really, really amazing when you think about the amount of laps led,” Larson told NASCAR.com. Not only wins with whatever we‘re at, 303 or 304 and almost the 80,000 laps led, it‘s crazy. Yeah, to be a part of that, 2021, we had a great season and kind of broke the record for laps led in a season, so that was really neat.

“This year, in general, just a lot of history with Rick (Hendrick‘s) 40th season, so to break records this year is pretty cool.”

While the four drivers have combined to lead a respectable total, that doesn‘t mean there is an opportunity to etch into the Hendrick history books even more, especially when the likes of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson have piloted Hendrick machines. The seven-time Cup Series champ in Johnson led 18,941 laps as driver of the No. 48 Chevy, spanning from 2002-20. However, the four-time Cup champ in Gordon holds the ultimate crown; Gordon‘s 24,936 laps led from 1993-2016 surpasses all 29 Hendrick drivers to lead at least one lap with the team. Together, the pair has led 43,877 laps, a staggering 55% of the Hendrick total.

MORE: Where Racing Insights projects HMS drivers to finish at Bristol 

In other words, there is a hefty way to go before the current Hendrick crop can crack into the same stratosphere. But perhaps, with a touch of youth, passing and, well, leading, the current Hendrick iteration can give it a respectable try.

“So, Jeff and Jimmie, though, they‘ve, them two together probably have I‘m guessing 50% of the laps,” Larson said. “… we have a lot of catching up to do for those two guys.”

“I hope so,” Elliott said. “Obviously time will tell, but it‘s a different era than what it used to be, just as far as guys don‘t seem to dominate entire days. It seems like you might have guys be good at certain stages, but again, Kyle dominated at Vegas, so I guess anything is on the table.”

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

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Ryan Blaney charges to pole at Bristolhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/16/ryan-blaney-charges-to-pole-at-bristol/Sat, 16 Mar 2024 20:30:15 GMT-0500127903bristol-motor-speedway, drivers, Fantasy Racing, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, ryan-blaney, Series, team-penske, teams, tracksStaff ReportBRISTOL, Tenn. — The vagaries of the concrete surface at Bristol Motor Speedway shocked the NASCAR Cup Series drivers during Saturday‘s time trials, but Ryan Blaney was best able to deal with the changes between rounds.

The reigning series champion navigated the 0.533-mile short track in 15.356 seconds (124.954 mph) in the second round of qualifying to claim the pole position for Sunday‘s Food City 500 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Starting lineup | Weekend schedule

“The track kind of caught everybody by surprise,” said Blaney, who earned his first Busch Light Pole Award since April 2022 at Richmond, his first at Bristol and the 10th of his career.

“The time fall-off and the grip loss behind the wheel was incredible. It was like ‘Who can not mess up a lap and still put a decent time down?‘ Great to get our first pole of the year, and ready to go tomorrow.”

Blaney‘s Team Penske Ford was 0.020 seconds faster than the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Mustang of second-place qualifier Josh Berry (124.792 mph). Toyota driver Denny Hamlin was third fastest at 124.178 mph.

Team Penske‘s Joey Logano qualified fourth, giving Ford drivers three of the top four starting spots. Chase Elliott was fifth in the fastest Chevrolet.

Blaney ran the fastest lap of the day in the first round (15.134 seconds) and opted not to try a second lap in the opening session. That strategy paid off, given the dramatic fall-off most drivers experienced in the money round.

“I think that was a big advantage for us,” said Blaney, who leads the series standings after finishing second, third and fifth in his last three races. “We got the good fortune of going out last in our group, so I could bail after one lap if we were in…

“A lot of teams and drivers, us included, are going to be really scratching our heads tonight, like, ‘What‘s the track going to do tomorrow?‘”

MORE: Watch NASCAR video highlights

Chase Briscoe, who tied Hamlin for the second fastest overall lap in Round 1 at 126.528 mph (15.165 seconds), will start sixth on Sunday, followed by Michael McDowell, William Byron, Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson.

Hamlin is the most recent winner at Bristol, having taken the checkered flag in last year‘s Night Race.

Ryan Blaney turns laps during NASCAR Cup Series practice at Bristol.

Practice recap

Ryan Blaney was fastest in Group A practice at 127.682 mph over Kyle Busch, Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain and Joey Logano. In Group B, Harrison Burton was quickest of the group but 13th overall on the single-lap charts. Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were the next quickest drivers in Group B.

MORE: Practice results

Twelve drivers completed runs of at least 20 laps during their respective sessions. Blaney was fastest on 20-lap averages over Noah Gragson, John Hunter Nemechek, Ross Chastain and Zane Smith.

Ty Gibbs contacted the outside wall in Turn 2 early in Group B, forcing the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing team to repair some of Gibbs‘ Toyota. The sophomore driver slid sideways in the center of the corner on a slick race track.

Contributing: Staff report.

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Berry: 'Cup racing is hard'https://www.mrn.com/2024/03/16/berry-cup-racing-is-hard/Sat, 16 Mar 2024 20:10:11 GMT-0500127907bristol-motor-speedway, drivers, josh-berry-drivers, kevin-harvick, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-cup-series, Series, stewart-haas-racing, teams, tracksStaff ReportBRISTOL, Tenn. — Sunoco rookie Josh Berry knew the transition from the NASCAR Xfinity Series to Cup racing wasn‘t going to be easy, especially since he is following 60-time winner Kevin Harvick in the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford.

A combination of bad luck and self-inflicted wounds has relegated Berry to 31st in the standings through four races. His best result of 20th came at Las Vegas, where he finished on the lead lap for the only time this season.

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

“It‘s been a little bit disappointing,” Berry acknowledged on Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he‘ll start second in Sunday‘s race (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). “Even when I started this going back to last summer, people asked me all the time what my expectations were, and I always said that I expected it to be hard — and it is hard.

MORE: Full starting lineup | Bristol results

“Cup racing is hard. So with that side of it, I think each race, we‘ve had little-ish different things happen that maybe hurt our finish or not.”

Back-to-back pit road speeding penalties at Atlanta definitely were a setback, as was a spin during qualifying at Phoenix.

“I made a couple of mistakes over the last few weeks,” Berry said. “Spinning out in qualifying at Phoenix put us really far behind all these guys. All week, all they talk about is how you can‘t pass.

“I mean, having a mistake like that puts you really far behind and makes your day look worse than it really is, so, for me, it‘s just hopefully getting some of these mistakes out of the way early on and start qualifying a little bit better, and I think we‘ll be fine.”

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Kobayashi returns to 23XI at COTAhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/16/kobayashi-returns-to-23xi-at-cota/Sat, 16 Mar 2024 19:59:22 GMT-050012789923xi-racing, circuit-of-the-americas, drivers, kamui-kobayashi, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-cup-series, Series, teams, tracksStaff ReportKamui Kobayashi will rejoin 23XI Racing and make his second career NASCAR Cup Series start at Circuit of The Americas later this month, the team announced Wednesday.

This marks the second consecutive year the 37-year-old Japanese driver will race in NASCAR‘s premier series, with his first stint coming last August at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Kobayashi finished 33rd as pilot of the No. 67 Toyota.

RELATED: 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule| Buy COTA tickets now!

MORE: Watch NASCAR video highlights

Kobayashi, who has experience in the FIA World Endurance Championship, Formula 1 and Super Formula Championship among other ventures, continues NASCAR‘s trend of international stars competing at the highest level of stock car racing. Other international racers to don the NASCAR fire suit over the last year include Jenson Button, Kimi Räikkönen and Shane van Gisbergen.

The Cup Series will race at COTA for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix on March 24 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

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'Still some character' in North Wilkesboro's new pavementhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/16/still-some-character-in-north-wilkesboros-new-pavement/Sat, 16 Mar 2024 19:50:31 GMT-0500127901drivers, hendrick-motorsports, joe-gibbs-racing, joey-logano, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-all-star-race, nascar-cup-series, north-wilkesboro-speedway, Series, team-penske, teams, ty-gibbs, william-byronStaff ReportNORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — The ongoing and stunning refresh of North Wilkesboro Speedway from the stock-car ashes added another chapter this week, debuting fresh asphalt for the first time in more than 40 years. Thankfully, Cup Series drivers reported that the pavement kept some of the character that made the historic 0.625-mile track distinct.

William Byron, Ty Gibbs and Joey Logano put a variety of Goodyear tire compounds and constructions to the test Wednesday in the first of two days of Cup Series sessions ahead of the NASCAR All-Star Race on May 19. Wednesday‘s sunny session came after a single day of Goodyear testing held Tuesday for the Craftsman Truck Series.

RELATED: Cup Series standings | Weekend schedule: Bristol

The early reviews were generally favorable from the Cup Series trio, who noted how drastic the change was from last year‘s All-Star Race, held on an abrasive asphalt surface that was last installed in 1981. That surface was patched and prepped to withstand nearly a week of racing last May, with the plan all along to start anew in the fall.

“They did a good job. There‘s still some character. It‘s still a unique-shaped racetrack, which is all good,” said two-time Cup Series champ Joey Logano. “There‘s a pretty big bump down into Turn 1, I think, where the wall was out too long, and they cut it, and it‘s kind of an interesting area, and there‘s a huge bump leaving (turn) four, which really kind of upsets the cars. I don‘t think that‘s bad. I‘m OK with it. That‘s something that made this race track so cool in the past is that you had a lot of character, it‘s bumpy, and you‘re forced to move around them because it was challenging. You make the thing like glass, I don‘t know if that really makes the racing better. So I think the fact that it‘s got a couple of bumps and some areas where drivers can make mistakes and jump out of the groove and do different things, it‘s just going to promote passing. That‘s a good thing.”

Logano said that the thicker-gauge tire used during last weekend‘s Cup Series race at Phoenix served as the control tire. A run earlier in the day produced a one-second falloff after a 25-lap stint, “which I thought was really good,” Logano added, saying that the control had the most wear. “That‘s probably the direction that the majority is pushing, I think at this point. We‘ll probably make some verification longer runs tomorrow, but so far everything seems like it‘s going as planned.”

No lap times were provided since the test fell under Goodyear‘s jurisdiction, but Logano noted “we were hauling ass” with the speed he found in the new pavement. Byron laughed and seconded the sensation, saying: “It seemed like ‘mash throttle, mash brake.‘ ”

MORE: Watch NASCAR video highlights

Byron noted that drivers were hesitant to venture outside of the preferred racing line, finding other areas of the track dusty and not rubbered in. The Daytona 500 winner said that it would take time for the groove to widen out, but that short tracks tend to regain their personality quicker than other ovals, drawing the comparison to events at Richmond Raceway after it was last repaved in 2004.

“I vividly have seen some of those races and I feel like it was pretty treacherous,” Byron said. “A lot of guys would get in crashes or there‘d be a lot of restart wrecks, so I think the racing could actually be pretty exciting with a repave on a short track. But yeah, it won‘t have the style of like comers and goers, I don‘t think. I think it‘ll be the guys who are up toward the front will be racing hard, and there‘s probably just going to be more wrecks.”

New pavement or not, the rugged speedway that‘s stood here since the 1940s continued to provide all the nostalgic feels, on a day with “chamber of commerce” weather that track promoters bask in. The track‘s return to Cup Series racing last May for the first time since 1996 was a celebrated part of NASCAR‘s 75th anniversary season last year.

Logano hopes the place can keep that solid, old-school mojo going when the All-Star Race returns in just more than two months‘ time.

“This place is cool,” Logano said. “For me, I remember coming here, I guess it was five or six years ago when it was shut down, and we shot a couple of videos here. It was a ghost town. There was graffiti everywhere, there was weeds growing through the race track. I mean, it‘s crazy. It was like the world ended, and no one‘s been here since the last race. You walked in the infield care center … there were stretchers in here still, and it was kind of creepy, but it‘s kind of crazy to see all that and what Marcus Smith and (Speedway Motorsports) have done, I think to restore the race track, but keep the feel, they did a tremendous job.

“I know they had to repave. I think every driver doesn‘t ever want to see a repave, but it‘s coming apart. You‘ve got to do something. We patched it, we got through last year. I don‘t think you can get lucky that many times before you‘ve just got to bite the bullet and do it. But I do think when you come up here, it‘s just a different vibe than any other race track you go to when you pull up to it, it‘s cool. Where you‘re at, you‘re in the mountains, man. It‘s just a unique facility. And I think last year the fans showed up and appreciated it and thought it was really cool, and I would expect this year, you‘re probably gonna have a similar crowd and hopefully we‘ll deliver again and keep that hype.”

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Races to watch before Bristolhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/15/nascar-classics-races-to-watch-before-bristol/Fri, 15 Mar 2024 16:16:58 GMT-0500127895bristol-motor-speedway, dale-earnhardt, drivers, elliott-sadler, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-classics-nascar, nascar-cup-series, rusty-wallace, Series, tracksStaff ReportThroughout the 2024 NASCAR season, Ken Martin, director of historical content for the sanctioning body, will offer his suggestions on which historical races fans should watch from the NASCAR Classics library in preparation for each upcoming race weekend.

Martin has worked for NASCAR exclusively since 2008 but has been involved with the sport since 1982, overseeing various projects. He worked in the broadcast booth for hundreds of races, assisting the broadcast team with different tasks. This includes calculating the “points as they run” for the historic 1992 finale — the Hooters 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Here are Ken‘s suggestions to watch before this weekend‘s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

1985 Valleydale 500

NASCAR Cup Series drivers couldn‘t have picked a better day to shine as the first live-televised race from Bristol had a little bit of everything.

The race featured 14 cautions for a total of 90 laps. It was almost easier to make a list of who wasn‘t involved in the cautions than it was to tally up who had issues. It didn‘t take long for many of the usual contenders, including defending Cup Series champion Terry Labonte. Bill Elliott, Darrell Waltrip and a handful of other cars received damage in the accident.

Labonte was later involved in another incident just before the halfway point of the event.

Dale Earnhardt, who started 12th, made his way through the field to the point, proving he was the car to beat. The lack of power steering on his No. 3 car did not affect the race‘s outcome as the final laps chipped away.

A late-race battle between Earnhardt and Ricky Rudd captivated the crowd, and the pair traded the lead back and forth a handful of times over the final 80 laps.

When the checkered flag waved, it was Earnhardt in Victory Lane. He led a race-high 214 laps. Rudd finished second, while Labonte recovered from his rough day to finish third.

1986 Valleydale 500

The 1986 Spring race at Bristol turned out to be a memorable day for a future Hall of Fame driver.

A 29-year-old Rusty Wallace, with just two full-time NASCAR Cup Series seasons to his name, captured the first victory of his career. He had to hold off several of NASCAR‘s 75 Greatest Drivers to do so.

Darrell Waltrip, Terry Labonte, Dale Earnhardt, Geoff Bodine and Neil Bonnett all led at least 23 laps, but it was Wallace who led the final 101 en route to Victory Lane.

Waltrip, Labonte, Earnhardt and Wallace left Bristol first through fourth in the season standings, respectively.

Elliott Sadler, in the No. 21, leads John Andretti in the No. 43 and Jeremy Mayfield in the No. 12 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

2001 Food City 500

Nothing seemed more fitting than to see a battle for the victory shape up between two of the most iconic car numbers in NASCAR Cup Series history.

The No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing car of Elliott Sadler and the No. 43 Petty Enterprises car of John Andretti each looked to break a handful of winless streaks at Bristol.

The No. 21 car had not visited Victory Lane in a points-paying event since Morgan Shepherd won at Atlanta in 1993. Sadler, who was in his third season in the Cup Series, had yet to record a top-five finish in his career.

John Andretti was looking to take the No. 43 car back to victory lane for the Petty team for the first time since 1999 when he won at Martinsville. The car number had just three total victories since 1984.

Sadler, who started 38th, held off Andretti to capture his first career victory.

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Larson projected to lasso in a Bristol winhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/15/racing-insights-larson-projected-to-lasso-in-a-bristol-win/Fri, 15 Mar 2024 16:15:58 GMT-0500127891bristol-motor-speedway, drivers, Fantasy Racing, hendrick-motorsports, kyle-larson, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, Series, tracksStaff ReportAfter Christopher Bell led the charge in a dominant Toyota performance on the 1-mile Phoenix Raceway out west, Racing Insights predicts Kyle Larson to strike another win this season, this time at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Food City 500 on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Larson has generally run well at Thunder Valley in the past. Since 2017, he‘s been the best on the Tennessee oval in laps led (780), average finish (5.78), top-10 finishes (8) and second-place finishes (3). One of those runner-up results came last fall when Larson charged back from 36th in the Round of 16 finale.

RELATED: Set your Fantasy Live roster | Weekend schedule

The metrics predict Denny Hamlin, the most recent Bristol winner, to finish second. Larson‘s teammates William Byron and Chase Elliott, along with Team Penske‘s Ryan Blaney, round out the projected top five. Christopher Bell, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Chris Buescher and Ross Chastain are projected to complete the top 10.

The twist of not running the new short-track package, coupled with the fact that it will be the first time in the Next Gen era that the Bristol spring race is on concrete, could cause fierce battles up and down the grid. This weekend will be a test for how teams react to the new landscape surrounding Sunday‘s race.

OTHER DRIVERS TO WATCH

CHRISTOPHER BELL: Bell won at Bristol last spring, but the difference is that there is no dirt this time. That shouldn‘t be a problem for Bell. Whether it‘s dirt or concrete, he stands firmly at the top with 835 laps run in the top five at Bristol since 2022 and has scored the second most points at the circuit in the Next Gen era.

CHASE ELLIOTT: The 2020 champ is focused on becoming a perennial contender once again. Bristol bodes as a circuit for Elliott to finally crack the top 10 as he‘s finished second (2022) and seventh (2023) in his last two visits there.

TY GIBBS: It‘s already been an impressive start to Gibbs‘ sophomore season. He led 102 laps last time around the “Last Great Colosseum,” and given how he took control at The Clash in February and Phoenix last week, the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota will be one to watch.

CHRIS BUESCHER: A previous Bristol winner himself, it‘s hard to think Buescher won‘t be in the mix this weekend. He‘s finished in the top 10 in three of the last four Bristol races and only ranks third behind Bell and Larson for most laps run inside the top five at Bristol in the Next Gen era (609).

BRAD KESELOWSKI: Both RFK cars cracked the top five last week, and with another short track on deck, it‘s hard to imagine they won‘t ride the momentum into another solid weekend. Keselowski is a three-time Bristol winner and RFK Racing has made a note to be a force on the short track since last season.

RACING INSIGHTS‘ PROJECTIONS FOR THE FOOD CITY 500

Racing Insights‘ advanced statistical formula includes current track, current track type, recent performance, team data and pit-crew data to arrive at a projected winner and full race results.

FinishCar NumberDriver
15Kyle Larson
211Denny Hamlin
324William Byron
49Chase Elliott
512Ryan Blaney
620Christopher Bell
76Brad Keselowski
822Joey Logano
917Chris Buescher
101Ross Chastain
1119Martin Truex Jr.
1214Chase Briscoe
1348Alex Bowman
1423Bubba Wallace
1545Tyler Reddick
1654Ty Gibbs
1741Ryan Preece
188Kyle Busch
193Austin Dillon
2034Michael McDowell
2177Carson Hocevar
2299Daniel Suárez
237Corey LaJoie
2410Noah Gragson
2543Erik Jones
2638Todd Gilliland
2747Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
282Austin Cindric
2921Harrison Burton
3016AJ Allmendinger
3151Justin Haley
3242John H. Nemechek
334Josh Berry
3471Zane Smith
3531Daniel Hemric
3615Kaz Grala


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Cup drivers eager for return to concrete at Bristolhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/15/cup-drivers-eager-for-return-to-concrete-at-bristol/Fri, 15 Mar 2024 16:15:14 GMT-0500127893brad-keselowski, bristol-motor-speedway, christopher-bell, denny-hamlin, drivers, joe-gibbs-racing, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-cup-series, rfk-racing, Series, teams, tracksStaff ReportIt‘s not hard to find something concrete to say about Sunday‘s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

For the past three seasons, NASCAR Cup Series drivers have spent the spring event at Bristol racing on Tennessee red clay, 2,300 truckloads worth.

This year, however, dirt won‘t be covering the concrete surface for the first race at the 0.533-mile track. Under the circumstances, you might think Christopher Bell would be chagrined at the loss of an opportunity to defend last year‘s win on the dirt surface.

MORE: Full Bristol schedule

Instead, Bell waxed almost euphoric about the prospect of two 2024 Bristol races on the high-banked concrete. In his last two Bristol Night Races, Bell ran fourth in 2022 and third in 2023 after winning the pole.

“I love racing at Bristol,” said Bell, who almost assuredly cemented his place in the 2024 Playoffs with his victory last Sunday at Phoenix Raceway. “It‘s literally my favorite race on the schedule. I‘m very thankful we get to go twice this year. It‘s been a track we have excelled at the last couple of times we have been there — we‘ve been close.

“Bristol is another important race for us; you don‘t win the Championship there, but you can definitely lose it if you‘re not good. Having a versatile car is the key to a good run at Bristol. We know the bottom will be good because they are spraying the resin (traction compound) down, and we know the top is going to come in at some point, so you have to have a car that can really run both places.”

And that‘s from a driver who grew up racing on dirt and won three straight Chili Bowl Nationals during NASCAR offseasons.

The last driver to win a spring Bristol race on concrete was Brad Keselowski in 2020, a feat he accomplished from the pole. Keselowski, however, hasn‘t won a Cup race since April 25, 2021 at Talladega, his last year with Team Penske.

Now an owner/driver with RFK Racing, the 2012 series champion saw his drought reach 102 races with last week‘s fourth-place run at Phoenix.

With eight victories, Kyle Busch is far and away the leading active winner at Bristol, but like Keselowski, Busch has switched teams — from Joe Gibbs Racing to Richard Childress Racing — since his last victory at the 0.533-mile short track in the spring of 2019.

Denny Hamlin, who won last year‘s Bristol Night Race, is tied with Keselowski with three victories at the track, second-most among active drivers.

“As a purist, I love seeing this race back on the concrete,” Hamlin said. “Obviously, as the last guy that won there, it‘s going to be good to go back there and kind of test what this car wants compared to what we had in the past.

“We‘re going to have to tweak on it, but we feel like we‘ve got a good base setup with what we had last year.”

Because of high speeds and extreme loads in the corners—Bristol is billed as the “World‘s Fastest Half-Mile”—Cup drivers won‘t be using the new short-track package that debuted last Sunday at Phoenix.

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Bristol Turning Point: Top story lines, news and morehttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/15/bristol-turning-point-top-story-lines-news-and-more/Fri, 15 Mar 2024 16:13:46 GMT-0500127889bristol-motor-speedway, christopher-bell, drivers, Fantasy Racing, hendrick-motorsports, joe-gibbs-racing, kyle-larson, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-cup-series, pat-decola, phoenix-raceway, Series, teams, tracksPat DeColaHere‘s what‘s happening in the world of NASCAR with Phoenix in the rearview mirror and Bristol (Sun., 3:30 p.m. ET, FOX) right around the corner.

THE LINEUP ️

1️⃣ Will this be the season of Christopher Bell vs. Kyle Larson?

2️⃣ What kind of sparks will fly on Sunday at Bristol?

3️⃣ Why The little things matter at Bristol Motor Speedway

4️⃣ High flyers on the high banks

5️⃣ Catch the pack — news and notes from around the garage

christopher bell at phoenix

1. Is 2024 finally going to be the season Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson trade wins each weekend?

The two most recent Cup Series race winners might be destined to duel each other all season long, and it could end with one of them hoisting the Bill France Cup.

The past two race weekends have gone to dominant victors at the top of their respective games, flexing on the field as they ride into Victory Lane for the first time this year. They also each happen to be, arguably, among the most talented race car drivers in the world across any discipline.

Strap in because Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson might be about to take us on one heck of a ride this season.

Seemingly always on parallel yet totally unique paths, the pair of dirt devils have taken different trajectories to Cup Series superstardom, but make no mistake — they‘re both fully, firmly there. Larson already collected a Cup title of his own in 2021, while Bell is the only driver to make both Championship 4 fields since then.

Get used to seeing that, because the notion of at least one of them (and probably both) racing for a title in the finale seems near inconceivable over the next decade.

It‘s entirely possible this pair of (mostly) friendly rivals winds up in a tit-for-tat, anything-you-can-do kind of season-long battle, trading wins each weekend as each attempts to gain the upper hand, a la Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon in 1995 and a certain “Big Three” outpacing everyone in 2018.

And it‘s entirely possible we see it directly play out this weekend at Bristol, where Bell and Larson are two of the best.

Both are among the top three in points scored on short tracks in the Next Gen car and are tied for the most career Bristol stage wins, with three apiece. Bell is the most recent spring winner at Bristol — albeit on dirt — while Larson is a 2021 winner and has led nearly 800 laps in his last nine starts there while finishing in the top 10 in eight of them.

Sunday afternoon‘s short-track showdown feels like a tailor-made opportunity for this pair to showcase again what we‘ve seen out of each the past two weekends — only this time, they could be door-to-door, beating and banging as they come to the checkered flag.

christopher bell and kyle larson pose

2. What kind of sparks will fly on Sunday at Bristol?

With the first true “short track” on deck and a month‘s worth of pent-up frustrations to process, we could see some fireworks play out on Sunday. 

There‘s going to be a lot to unpack after Sunday.

For the first time since 2020, the spring Bristol event will return to its concrete surface, with the Next Gen racers taking to the Tennessee high banks during the day for the first time as well. Despite being half the length of last week‘s 1-mile Phoenix Raceway, this weekend won‘t deploy the 2024 rules package for short tracks and road courses we saw last week, adding an additional layer of mystery to how things will play out.

Racing intrigue? Check.

The last four short-track races were all won by different organizations, too. The last five Bristol races were won by five different drivers, all five of whom drove for different teams.

Not to mention that Chris Buescher — himself a recent Bristol winner — has just as many short-track wins in the Next Gen era as Team Penske and Stewart-Haas Racing combined.

The final lead change has also come with 32 laps or fewer remaining in nine of the last 11 Bristol races, so it‘s going to come down to the wire, whoever it is.

Potential for chaos? You betcha.

And lest we forget that this race is coming at the tail end of a month-plus stretch that saw three separate trips out West, the Super Bowl of the sport and all of the emotion and drama that comes along with it, two races moved a day in each direction because of biblical rainfall and everybody‘s clocks just moved forward an hour.

Basically, patience is going to be in short supply come Sunday. If the field is tired and cranky already, surely flying jet fighters in a gymnasium for a few hours (tip of the cap to Kyle Petty) is just what the doctor ordered.

Fists haven‘t flown yet this year, but there are a few feuds on the burner, slowly simmering. Sudden elder statesman Joey Logano hasn‘t shied away from giving young firestarters Ty Gibbs and John Hunter Nemechek his unsolicited feedback, and reigning champion Ryan Blaney and Ross Chastain — former Brad Keselowski Racing teammates — can‘t seem to get away from each other on track each week, a trend that dates at least back to last year‘s Phoenix finale and probably longer. Keep your eye on Chase Briscoe and Erik Jones, as well, after the pair of typically mild-mannered Midwesterners took umbrage with how they raced each other at Phoenix.

From the competition on track to the potential fireworks off it after the checkered flag, Sunday‘s race just offers so much and it‘s shaping up to be a can‘t-miss event. 

ryan blaney chats with ross chastain

3. Around the Track: The little things matter at Bristol Motor Speedway

Find out why winning at Bristol is about all the small things and fine details in this edition of “Around the Track.”

4. High flyers on the high banks

There are some interesting names among drivers with the most amount of laps spent in the top five at Bristol during the Next Gen era — will one take home the hardware Sunday?

DriverCarLaps in top five
Christopher BellNo. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota835
Kyle LarsonNo. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet660
Chris BuescherNo. 17 RFK Racing Ford609
Denny HamlinNo. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota519
Ty GibbsNo. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota384
William ByronNo. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet288
Kevin HarvickNo. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford (retired)268
Michael McDowellNo. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford224
Brad KeselowskiNo. 6 RFK Racing Ford214
Chase ElliottNo. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet169

5. Catch the pack — news and notes from around the garage

Power Rankings: Ty Gibbs leading series in average finish — first win incoming?

Paint Scheme Preview: See the schemes for Bristol doubleheader

Tuned In: Brad Moran evaluates new short-track package post-Phoenix

Analysis: Bell makes title case for Toyota with Sunday showing

Kyle Petty: How Toyota was able to class the field in Phoenix

Inside The Race: Toyota‘s rising from the ashes at Phoenix

Ranking Sunday‘s Phoenix top-10 finishers by likelihood of making the Championship 4

RFK Racing drops appeal of No. 17 team penalty; suspensions to begin at Bristol

Logano unloads after Nemechek contact ends No. 22‘s day at Phoenix

Ty Gibbs overcomes setbacks after strong start, earns career-high result at Phoenix

@nascarcasm: Fake texts to Phoenix winner Christopher Bell

Chandler Smith surges in overtime, grabs Xfinity Series win in Phoenix

Which driver is favored to win 2024 title after Phoenix?

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Caruth can continue historic run at Bristolhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/14/rajah-caruth-can-continue-historic-run-on-bristols-high-banks/Thu, 14 Mar 2024 11:23:39 GMT-0500127879bristol-motor-speedway, drivers, nascar-camping-world-truck-series-playoffs, nascar-craftsman-truck-series, nascar-impact, nascar-wire-service, rajah-caruth, Series, spire-motorsports, teams, tracksStaff ReportThe NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series returns to action after a week off, and Spire Motorsports driver Rajah Caruth has a chance at another career milestone in Saturday night‘s Weather Guard Truck Race at Bristol Motor Speedway (8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

With a victory from the pole in the March 1 Truck Series event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Caruth became the third African-American driver to win a NASCAR national series race, joining NASCAR Hall of Famer Wendell Scott and Bubba Wallace.

MORE: Bristol schedule | Craftsman Truck Series standings

Should Caruth win at Bristol on Saturday, he would be the eighth driver in the series to win his first and second races in consecutive starts, joining Rich Bickle (1997), Kurt Busch (2000), Ted Musgrave (2001), Todd Bodine (2004), Kasey Kahne (2004), Kyle Busch (2005) and Johnny Benson Jr. (2006).

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

An alumnus of NASCAR‘s Drive for Diversity program, Caruth credits that initiative with his rise to national-level racing.

“It‘s really the only reason I was able to go from sim racing to real life,” Caruth said on Monday during a Zoom call with reporters. “Aside from that, I didn‘t have any path to race in real life…

“They not only gave me my shot in 2019, they also gave me the time to develop. They allowed me to grow. I showed up every day, trying to get better, working on the cars, learning how to race. They‘re the only reason I got to this point now.”

In trying to win a second straight race, Caruth will face a daunting challenge—from Spire Motorsports teammate Kyle Busch, a five-time Truck Series winner at Bristol. The all-time series leader with 65 victories, Busch is making his third start of the season after winning at Atlanta and finishing 15th at Las Vegas.

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Joey Logano stays upbeat amid tough starthttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/14/joey-logano-stays-upbeat-in-toughest-start-of-a-season-ive-ever-had/Thu, 14 Mar 2024 11:19:37 GMT-0500127876drivers, joey-logano, john-hunter-nemechek, nascar-all-star-race, nascar-cup-series, north-wilkesboro-speedway, Series, team-penske, teams, tracksZack AlbertNORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — Joey Logano‘s current spot in the NASCAR Cup Series standings could conceivably prompt a panic-button moment four races in. His position might also feed the prevailing thought that the worst of his misfortune is behind him.

“Depends on the moment you ask me,” Logano says with a sanguine laugh. “We‘re sitting here Wednesday, I‘ve gotten back under control, which is good.”

Logano heads to this Sunday‘s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) mired in 30th place in the points after a rocky kickoff to the 2024 campaign. The 33-year-old driver of Team Penske‘s No. 22 Ford leads the Cup Series with two pole positions and three front-row starts, but has three finishes of 28th or worse.

RELATED: ‘Character‘ in North Wilkesboro repave

A ninth-place day at Las Vegas two weeks ago marks the lone race where Logano hasn‘t been collected in a crash. Any chance to build on that was hampered last Sunday at Phoenix Raceway, where a bump from John Hunter Nemechek sent him careening into the outside retaining wall 109 laps short of the end.

Logano is exactly 100 points behind Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney, the reigning Cup Series champion and current standings leader. For now, with 22 regular-season races to remedy his situation before the Cup Series Playoffs, Logano‘s outlook is short on gloom and doom, but with the acknowledgment of how difficult this starting stretch has been.

“It‘s definitely the toughest start of a season I‘ve ever had,” Logano said at the end of Wednesday‘s Goodyear tire testing at North Wilkesboro Speedway. “Some of it, out of our control; some of it, in our control, but we just haven‘t scored the points. The superspeedways, Atlanta, our cars were really fast. Vegas, we were mediocre. Last week was a struggle. With that said, the way the races are these days, you can pick that car up, put it fifth, and it‘ll probably run fifth. Just we didn‘t qualify good enough and stay up there and get up there. And then we got caught up in that crash there with John Hunter. So, just one of those things.

“You hope that it all just comes up in one lump and it‘s over for the rest of the season. I don‘t know how the averages work out like that, but all we can do is just stay focused in on what we do — keep preparing, keep bringing fast race cars. This is the same team that‘s won two championships, the team that knows how to do it. Paul (Wolfe, No. 22 crew chief) knows. We all know. We don‘t really have to talk about it a whole bunch. We kind of know the situation, we know who we are, we know we can fight out of it. So, just keep on digging.”

MORE: Bristol weekend schedule | Watch NASCAR video highlights

Logano said he had discussed last weekend‘s incident with Nemechek, who was apologetic post-race at Phoenix, saying that he intended to reach out. “We talked,” Logano said. “We‘re good.”

The sting of sitting P30 in points remains, but Logano said there‘s solace to be found in a history of resilience for both him and his No. 22 team. Logano has bounced back from subpar efforts before, perhaps most notably in winning his first Cup Series championship in 2018, one year after a rare playoffs absence.

“I mean, it helps you in these moments mentally when you know you can do it, right?” Logano said. “If you‘re earlier in your career and you haven‘t gone through many things like this before, you wonder if you‘re ever going to win again. But when you‘ve done it for — what am I, 15, 16 years in now — I‘ve been through the cycle a few times. I know that we will get out of it. I know it‘s not easy, and don‘t get me wrong, it‘s not fun. It‘s freakin‘ miserable, but it is what it is, and you just kind of keep fighting and you come out the other end. You stick with the habits and keep going.”

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10-lap dash at Bristol - Kyle Busch vs. Dale Earnhardthttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/13/10-lap-dash-at-bristol-kyle-busch-vs-dale-earnhardt/Wed, 13 Mar 2024 10:06:43 GMT-0500127870bristol-motor-speedway, dale-earnhardt, drivers, kyle-busch, nascar-cup-series, richard-childress-racing, Series, teams, tracksPat DeColaOne of the most enjoyable parts of being a sports fan is, of course, “remembering some guys” — along with occasionally breaking off into side conversations about who a sport‘s true “G.O.A.T.” is across any era.

It‘s a familiar argument: MJ vs. LeBron. Montana vs. Brady. Petty vs. Earnhardt vs. Johnson. You know the drill.

What makes these discussions unique among NASCAR fans, however, is that drivers race at wildly different tracks each weekend, and certain drivers can be totally human at one, while completely untouchable at another.

Enter Kyle Busch.

Still one of the sport‘s all-time greats — not to mention its all-time winningest — Busch falls just short of the greatest-of-all-time discussion (at least for now), with his two Cup Series titles paling in comparison to the seven each that Dale Earnhardt, Jimmie Johnson and Richard Petty all collected.

But at Bristol Motor Speedway? There‘s no driver that‘s torn up the Tennessee high banks this millennium better than Rowdy.

MORE: Full Bristol weekend schedule | Watch NASCAR video highlights

kyle busch bows at bristol

The future Hall of Famer has two more trips to Victory Lane there (eight total) than any other track — and five more than any other active driver has. His 2,593 laps led count there is more than 1,000 higher than at his next-best track, Richmond Raceway, where he‘s actually run two more races.

The No. 8 Richard Childress Racing driver‘s style of racing is perfectly suited for sustained Bristol success, and has, for fairly obvious reasons, often been compared to RCR‘s most recent champion — The Intimidator.

Earnhardt also repeatedly staked a claim in Bristol lore, nearly cracking double-digits in the win column (nine) while turning in the best average finish (9.3) the track has seen among drivers with more than six starts there. It was also the site of his first Cup Series win — as a rookie! — in 1979.

RELATED: All 76 of Earnhardt‘s Cup Series wins

Seeing these two drivers compete against one another truly would‘ve been something to behold, and at Bristol, even more so.

Our friends at NASCAR on NBC, thus, posited the question on Tuesday with NASCAR set to take on Bristol this weekend: in a 10-lap dash to the finish at Bristol with both drivers in their prime, who wins?

Busch actually chimed in himself and gave, honestly, the perfect answer.

Well, there you have it. Hard to argue that. It would be a beating, banging battle for the ages.

One thing‘s for sure, though — we wouldn‘t want to miss it.

Tune in Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) to see if Busch can break back into Victory Lane at Bristol for the first time since 2019.

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Connor Zilisch to make Xfinity debut with JRMhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/12/connor-zilisch-to-make-xfinity-debut-with-jrm/Tue, 12 Mar 2024 15:35:08 GMT-0500127857connor-zilisch, drivers, homestead-miami-speedway, jr-motorsports-teams, kansas-speedway, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-regional, nascar-xfinity-series, phoenix-raceway, Series, teams, tracks, watkins-glen-internationalStaff ReportConnor Zilisch will make his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut on Sept. 14 at Watkins Glen International as pilot of the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet after his 18th birthday, the team announced Tuesday.

Zilisch, the 2024 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona winner, will additionally race at Kansas Speedway (Sept. 28), Homestead-Miami Speedway (Oct. 26) and Phoenix Raceway (Nov. 9).

RELATED: Xfinity Series schedule 

“We couldn‘t be happier to welcome Connor into the JR Motorsports family and to give him an opportunity behind the wheel of our No. 88 Chevrolet,” JRM CEO Kelley Earnhardt Miller said in a press release. “Connor is an extremely talented young man and we can‘t wait to see what he can do when he gets to the track with us at Watkins Glen.”

A Mooresville, North Carolina, native, Zilisch, 17, has won multiple national karting championships and set track records at six different venues in his first year in the Sports Car Club of America in 2021. He made his ARCA Menards Series debut in 2023, starting on the front row in the No. 28 Chevrolet at Watkins Glen and finishing runner-up on Aug. 18. Zilisch also signed a multiyear agreement with Trackhouse Racing in January as a developmental driver.

“It‘s a dream come true to have the opportunity to race in the Xfinity Series with JR Motorsports for select races this year,” Zilisch said. “I have a lot to learn, considering that I‘ve never raced in stock cars on the big tracks, but there‘s no better team to learn with than JRM. I can‘t thank everyone at Chevrolet enough for all their support in helping me get to this point, and I can‘t wait to give my all to make the most of this opportunity.”

MORE: Watch NASCAR video highlights

Additional details regarding partners for Zilisch and the No. 88 team will come at a later date.

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Crash ends tough day for Loganohttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/11/crash-ends-tough-day-for-logano/Mon, 11 Mar 2024 12:03:35 GMT-0500127843carson-hocevar-drivers, corey-lajoie, derek-kraus, drivers, joey-logano, josh-berry-drivers, misc, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, phoenix-raceway, Series, team-penske, teams, tracksStaff ReportA Lap 204 crash sidelined three-time Phoenix winner Joey Logano early from Sunday‘s NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway.

Logano was running outside the top 20 in Sunday‘s Shriners Children‘s 500 when contact from John Hunter Nemechek‘s No. 42 Toyota sent his No. 22 Team Penske Ford into the outside retaining wall. The cars of teammates Corey LaJoie and Carson Hocevar, plus rookies Derek Kraus and Josh Berry, were also collected in the stack-up.

Logano exited after completing 203 of a scheduled 312 laps. He will be credited with 34th place in the 36-car field.

MORE: Unofficial results from Phoenix

“Obviously I just got hit from behind,” Logano said after being evaluated and released from the infield care center. “Just overdrove the corner behind me and wrecked us. It‘s a shame. We weren‘t running any good at all anyways, but, doesn‘t make it better. Just fighting for lucky dogs, which, you get back there and everyone‘s racing not real good and I got caught up in it.”

Nemechek radioed that he didn‘t mean to get into Logano and felt the No. 22 Ford slowed early upon entry to Turn 1. Logano disagreed.

“You‘ve got to lift to make the corners,” he said. “You can‘t hold it wide-open around Phoenix, and maybe he should take a look and realize he can‘t do that, too. He drove straight in the back of me, and he needs to be man enough to own that.”

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

Nemechek indeed took accountability for the incident upon exiting his No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota with a 25th-place finish.

“It‘s my fault. I apologize to Joey and those guys,” Nemechek told NASCAR.com. “I‘m gonna reach out to Joey. Probably gonna reach out to (Logano‘s crew chief) Paul Wolfe and also to Roger Penske. I guess I just misjudged it.

“I hit the brake pedal really hard and I didn‘t really slow down and got in the back of him. It‘s my fault. Made a mistake. Gotta learn from it, own it and hopefully him and I can have a conversation this week.”

Logano entered Sunday‘s event ranked 24th in the Cup Series standings. His best finish in the Cup Series this year has been ninth, last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He leaves the site of November‘s title race with three finishes of 28th or worse after four races.

A two-time Cup champion, Logano was fastest in Friday‘s practice but only qualified 23rd. He remained unsure why he and the team were so far off Sunday.

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Jesse Love continues to impresshttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/11/jesse-love-continues-to-impress/Mon, 11 Mar 2024 11:52:31 GMT-0500127841drivers, jesse-love, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-xfinity-series, phoenix-raceway, richard-childress-racing, Series, teams, tracksStaff ReportAVONDALE, Ariz. — Four races into a rookie campaign should come with its learning moments and an abundance of room for growth and improvement.

At just 19 years old, it only took a month into the 2024 Xfinity Series season for Jesse Love to score his first top-five finish: a runner-up Saturday afternoon at Phoenix Raceway.

Love nearly ran all 200 miles inside the top 10, making a beeline for his first milestone result. But then two golden opportunities sprouted for him to turn an almost guaranteed top 10 into an even better finish.

RELATED: Phoenix results | At-track photos

With 57 laps to go, a multicar wreck down the backstretch collected heavy hitters such as John Hunter Nemechek, Sam Mayer and Riley Herbst. Love was able to squeak by the melee and found himself immediately inside the top five.

As the race wound down, Love was in a hotly contested tilt for third place with Sheldon Creed, Love‘s predecessor in the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

With Love and Creed going 12 rounds for a podium spot, then-leader Justin Allgaier cut a left-rear tire, flipping the script of the race.

Starting on the second row behind Creed, Love said he had a race win in sight, but by the time the field entered Turn 1 on the overtime restart, Chandler Smith set sail for the eventual race victory.

“I thought I had it 100 percent. I have a lot of confidence on restarts and when that caution came out I was like ‘it‘s mine,‘ ” Love said. “I just got a little hitched up into [Turns] one and two there. I just didn‘t have the real estate I needed to get to the 18 (Creed) or 81 (Smith). And yeah, we were able to get by the 18 there, which was good for our guys and morale, but I wanted that one pretty bad. So I‘m trying to be genuine about it and express some of my frustration, right? But at the same time I‘m, I‘m pumped to be here and I‘m pumped to have had a good run. It‘s something to build off.”

Love‘s first month has been a whirlwind and he‘s been thrown into the fire immediately in dealing with multiple scenarios. He put the No. 2 on the pole in his first two career Xfinity starts at Daytona and Atlanta, and led a whopping 157 of 169 laps in the Peach State.

However, those races only amassed a best finish of 12th after Love ran out of fuel in the closing laps at Atlanta.

After pit-road mistakes at Las Vegas last weekend resulted in a pedestrian 17th-place result, Love took a more conservative approach for Phoenix.

“I think that‘s that my 90 percent‘s enough,” Love said. “I try to just race that 90 percent today and have a good day and maybe if I was rambunctious, I probably could have had a better shot to win, but we needed to have a good run and have a drama-free day.”

At such a young age where growing pains are bound to happen racing at a high level, Love kept his poise all afternoon around the 1-mile Arizona oval and was awarded with the second-place result over Creed on the final lap.

“I think it‘s pretty obvious to say I wanted to get that position,” Love said. “I thought my car was better than his. “I just could not pass and he‘s hard to pass. Sheldon is really good at being a race-car driver, as everybody knows, right? He‘s hard to pass and he puts his car in good spots that are bad for me. So it took me a while and I knew that restart came out that I was at least going to be second, I just. … I wanted to win it.”

MORE: Xfinity Series standings | Watch NASCAR video highlights

Love‘s rapid maturity can be credited partly to his crew chief Danny Stockman. A longtime veteran atop the box for many drivers who have come through the ranks at RCR, Stockman said he‘s been impressed by what Love has been able to do with just four races under his belt.

“He‘s incredible. I like the way he races these guys,” Stockman told NASCAR.com. “He could‘ve moved Sheldon out of the way a few times, and he didn‘t. He chose to race and clean, and those are the guys I want to be surrounded by. Such a hell of a race-car driver, and he‘s got a bright future for sure.”

Since rolling off the hauler at Daytona, Stockman knew how fast the No. 2 was going to be with Love behind the wheel but understood the natural adversity that came with developing a teenage driver and getting them in the right mindset.

“Everywhere we‘ve been, we‘ve had speed capable to run in the top five,” Stockman said. “Last week, we had a really good car. We just had some pit road issues that we fixed this last week, and we came here this weekend and executed and it all worked out. We‘re having a lot of fun right now. I got a heck of a team behind me and a lot of guys that know the talent that we have sitting in this race car. So I think we hold our expectations within ourselves really high, and when you can do that you have a team that believes in what we got going on, the sky‘s the limit.”

In his long tenure as a crew chief, Stockman has created separate categories for drivers and puts Love in one where he sees him making it to NASCAR‘s highest level.

“There‘s guys that can do this and there‘s guys that are going to do this, and he‘s one of the guys that are going to do this,” Stockman said. “He‘ll be racing on Sundays someday, and in my career, I‘ve been fortunate to work with some really talented kids, but this one‘s pretty high up on my stature for sure. We‘re having a lot of fun right now. I mean, last week at Vegas, we had a few pit road issues and we‘re learning from it, right? We‘re not keeping up making the same mistakes and today we had a flawless day. We had great pit stops. We had good execution. We made good adjustments, and the driver drove his ass off, so that‘s all you want these days.”

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Toyota's strong performance at Phoenixhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/11/toyotas-strong-performance-at-phoenix/Mon, 11 Mar 2024 11:38:58 GMT-0500127838christopher-bell, denny-hamlin, drivers, joe-gibbs-racing, manufacturer, misc, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, phoenix-raceway, Series, teams, toyota, tracksStaff ReportAVONDALE, Ariz. — Even with Christopher Bell parked squarely in Victory Lane, the dust settling after a dominant showing in the desert, the results from Sunday‘s NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway don‘t tell the full story of Toyota‘s impressive day.

The Camry XSE shined in the debut of the latest short-track package with Toyota drivers leading 298 of 312 laps around the 1-mile oval. And for as strong as Bell was, his 50 laps led were just fifth-most of the six different leaders, trailing Denny Hamlin (68 laps led), Tyler Reddick (68), Ty Gibbs (57) and Martin Truex Jr. (55) but ahead of Ford‘s Todd Gilliland, who led the 14 laps that Toyota didn‘t.

“For Toyota, this was a momentous win,” said David Wilson, president of Toyota Racing Development USA.

MORE: Full Phoenix recap

Eight months from Sunday, a Cup championship will be awarded at the same track. Last November, Bell was the only Toyota in the hunt for a title and had plenty of long-run speed — but hardly got to show it after a brake rotor exploded at Lap 109. The good news? The team didn‘t seem to lose any of that speed in the four months since.

“It‘s a little bit cathartic,” crew chief Adam Stevens said. “We felt like we were going to be really competitive in the race last time. We again started just missing the balance a little bit. Had one attempt to fix it, then blew that rotor just a few laps later.

“If anything, we built off that this weekend. We were definitely, definitely better this week. But everything is so new, a new tire combination. We were fortunate enough to be part of that test in December. It‘s a new aero package for the field. A new body for Toyota. There‘s just a lot of ‘new‘ in there. It took a lot of different setups to really get the balance back.

“Credit to my guys. My new engineer William (Hartman) really dug in there along with myself and Bell, came up with something we thought was going to work, and it did. We‘re pretty pleased.”

A pack of Toyota cars lead the NASCAR Cup Series field at Phoenix.

Phoenix has historically been a dismal track for the Toyotas in the Next Gen era, with the automaker leading a total of 15 laps in the four Cup races since 2022. That changed in a big way Sunday, with the manufacturer sweeping the top five best average running positions, per NASCAR‘s loop data.

Reddick (4.75) and Hamlin (5.98) led the field in that stat through Sunday‘s race, but the two nearly converged at Lap 215 in a battle for the lead. On Reddick‘s left, Hamlin washed up the track, bounced off Reddick‘s door and spun. Ultimately, Reddick finished 10th and Hamlin 11th. But Chris Gabehart, crew chief of Hamlin‘s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, left plenty content with what he saw.

“Realistically, I thought we made bigger jumps on Friday and bigger jumps on Saturday than I thought was attainable for Sunday,” Gabehart told NASCAR.com. “I thought a clean Sunday (would be) if we could compete inside the top five — about what you saw. If we could do that, that‘s as much as I can realistically hope for where we‘ve been at this track. So I hate seeing that we made the mistake, but we did make the mistake racing for the lead.”

WATCH: Hamlin spins in battle for lead

Despite celebrating the win, Bell cautioned that what we see come November may be a different picture. Hendrick Motorsports‘ Kyle Larson and William Byron were two of the Championship 4 contenders last fall, with Byron qualifying on the pole position. On Sunday, Larson was the team‘s highest finishing driver in 14th place while Byron, Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman finished 18th, 19th and 20th, respectively.

“The Hendrick cars clearly missed it this week, right? They‘re not going to miss it in November whenever a championship is on the line and they‘ve had however many races to get their setup dialed in,” Bell said. “Clearly the JGR cars and the Toyota group hit on the setup the best. We saw that in 2022 whenever Next Gen was first introduced, the Fords smoked everybody this race. It just takes time with these changes to optimize it.

“We‘re on the winning side of it this time. But the field is going to be tighter, and I would expect the favorites to be up front whenever we come back in November.”

Phoenix is not the only 1-mile oval on the NASCAR calendar — but no other track truly replicates it, giving the spring race a unique level of importance. World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway — at 1.25 miles — has two asymmetrical corners but not a distinct tri-oval. New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a flat mile-long track with symmetrical corners and straights. The 0.75-mile Richmond Raceway looks closest to Phoenix, but its tri-oval sweeps as opposed to Phoenix‘s steeply-banked dogleg.

“There‘s no doubt it‘s the closest thing you have to compare to,” Gabehart said. “Because people will talk about Gateway and Richmond and Loudon, but there‘s no Phoenix. And certainly, those that are behind will want to look towards the Gateways and the Loudons to say, ‘Ah, maybe this will work for Phoenix.‘ And those that did run well today know that while they‘re similar, they‘re not the same. So everyone‘s gonna look at this race really close and go to work and figure out how to get better at it. We‘ll be no different.

“Certainly we overachieved as the 11 car most of the weekend, and the 20 was excellent in the race just like he was in practice. So Joe Gibbs Racing has a lot of good data leaving here for sure.”

Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin race at Phoenix.

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

Gabehart‘s surprise in the gains made throughout the weekend came partially due to the fact that the team took a drastically different approach into the weekend.

“I was purposeful about keeping the setup on a certain side of the balance and forcing him (Hamlin) out of his comfort zone and just try to race a race that way,” Gabehart said. “And while it was unfortunate that we had to go to the back, I actually saw it pay a lot of dividends when we did because we could pass a lot of cars and drive back up through there. So I know it‘s the right direction.

“It is out of his comfort zone a little bit and we still have some things to refine. You know, took a pretty big step to get to where we were. And that‘s the great thing about NASCAR racing, right? So I look at Christopher Bell and what they ran and it‘s just a different driver and it‘s a different team and they look at it slightly different way. And while we all have the ‘same car and the same parts,‘ there‘s infinite amounts of combinations to put them all together, and they‘re just putting them all together a little bit better at this track.”

Better indeed. Bell has had plenty of speed since the start of the 2023 season, but execution, luck or a combined lack of either often sank their results before the checkered flag. The No. 20 team performed at maximum potential Sunday — and that could be dangerous for the field.

“I just hope that this gives a little bit more insight to the world the capability that the 20 team has,” Bell said.” I feel like the last two years through the Next Gen era, myself and everyone inside of our team have seen glimpses of the potential, but haven‘t really been able to live it to fruition yet.

“I mean, I say this a lot, and the rest is up to us to make it happen, but I feel like this is just the beginning. Making the final four and winning one or two races a year, that‘s not our final goal. We don‘t want to be a one- or two-win team a year. We want to be the championship contender year after year, multiple race wins year after year.”

Win No. 1 is in the books for 2024.

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Bell wins at Phoenixhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/10/christopher-bell-roars-at-phoenix-seals-first-cup-series-win-of-the-season/Sun, 10 Mar 2024 18:33:47 GMT-0500127832brad-keselowski, chris-buescher, christopher-bell, drivers, joe-gibbs-racing, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, phoenix-raceway, race-recap-ncs, racing-teams, rfk-racing, Series, teams, tracks, ty-gibbsStaff ReportAVONDALE, Ariz. — There were so many variables in Christopher Bell‘s victory in Sunday‘s Shriners Children‘s 500 at Phoenix Raceway that it‘s difficult to pinpoint the determinative factor.

First, Toyota introduced a new body style in the NASCAR Cup Series this season. Second, NASCAR debuted a new short-track competition package in Sunday‘s race. Third, the Toyotas unloaded for Friday‘s 50-minute practice with consistent speed — allowing them to test their long-run prowess.

That combination of factors conjured up a decisive victory for Bell at a track where Toyota drivers had led a total of 15 laps in four Next-Gen-era races combined.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Bell and his Camry compatriots turned that statistic upside down on Sunday, combining to lead 298 of 312 laps. After Denny Hamlin started from the pole position, all four Joe Gibbs Racing drivers led significant numbers of laps — Hamlin with 68, Ty Gibbs with 57, Martin Truex Jr. with 55 and Bell with 50.

Tyler Reddick, a 23XI Toyota driver, contributed 68 laps led, as Bell ended Chevrolet‘s three-race winning streak to start the season.

And while some drivers had difficulty in dirty air, Bell‘s No. 20 Camry had no trouble passing cars, coming from 20th on a restart on Lap 221 to claim the lead and beat Ford driver and runner-up Chris Buescher to the finish line by a distant 5.465 seconds.

“Man, this one feels really good,” said Bell, who was eliminated from last year‘s Championship 4 race at Phoenix when a brake rotor exploded. “Just a credit to (crew chief) Adam (Stevens), man. Adam, my engineers… all the mechanics on this thing.

“You don‘t get cars like that very often, as you know. Just super, super proud. Proud to be on this 20 car. This Rheem Camry was amazing today. I feel like we have capability of running races like this a lot. Hopefully, this is the first of many this year.”

The victory was Bell‘s first at Phoenix and the seventh of his career.

SHOP: Race winner gear

Divergent pit strategies under the sixth and final caution for Hamlin‘s spin in Turn 2 on Lap 215 — as he broke loose to the inside of Reddick‘s car while fighting for the lead — scrambled the running order, with Truex and eight other drivers staying on track while the rest of the field came to pit road.

With the final 92 laps running caution-free, Truex had to pit for fuel and tires on Lap 272, surrendering the lead to Bell, who held it the rest of the way.

After crashing out in 37th place last Sunday at Las Vegas, Buescher was happy with his solid second-place run.

“I didn‘t quite see the 20 (Bell) there at the end, so I know they were lights-out,” Buescher said. “We have some work to do to get to that point. What thrills me is we were by no means perfect on balance, so we have a lot of room to make this thing better, which is awesome.”

Gibbs, who regained track position with a two-tire pit stop on Lap 218, came home third, a career-best finish. Brad Keselowski ran fourth, two spots behind his Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing teammate; and reigning Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney drove home fifth, ending a streak of three straight runner-up finishes at the 1-mile track in the Sonoran Desert.

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

Ross Chastain, a Phoenix winner last November, was sixth, and Truex worked his way through the field on fresher tires to finish seventh. Michael McDowell, Chase Briscoe and Reddick completed the top 10. Hamlin finished 11th after his Lap 215 spin.

Blaney overtook 14th-place finisher Kyle Larson for the series lead. He leaves Phoenix 10 points ahead of Larson and Truex, who are tied for second in the standings.

The Cup Series‘ next race is the Food City 500, scheduled Sunday, March 17 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Notes: Chastain was the only Chevrolet driver to finish in the top 12… The only non-Toyota driver to lead laps was Todd Gilliland, who ran long in his Front Row Motorsports Ford during a cycle of green-flag pit stops in Stage 2 and held the top spot for 14 circuits. … Reddick won the first stage, and Bell claimed victory in the second stage.

No issues were found in post-race inspection in the Cup Series garage, confirming Bell’s first victory of the season. Two cars — the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and the No. 6 RFK Racing Ford — will be brought to the NASCAR Research & Development Center for further inspection.

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Chandler Smith wins Xfinity race in Phoenixhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/09/chandler-smith-wins-xfinity-race-in-phoenix/Sat, 09 Mar 2024 20:54:12 GMT-0500127829chandler-smith, cole-custer, drivers, jesse-love, jr-motorsports, jr-motorsports-teams, justin-allgaier, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-xfinity-series, phoenix-raceway, race-recap-nxs, racing-teams, Series, sheldon-creed, teams, tracksStaff ReportAVONDALE, Ariz. — Chandler Smith had a message for his Joe Gibbs Racing team after taking the checkered flag in overtime in Saturday‘s Call811.com Every Dig. Every Time. 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Phoenix Raceway.

“We‘ll take ‘em when we can get ‘em,” Smith radioed before celebrating his second career victory with a burnout near the start/finish line.

It was good fortune — combined with Justin Allgaier‘s disastrous bad luck — that put Smith in Victory Lane after 205 laps at the 1-mile track in the Sonoran Desert.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos

Allgaier held a lead of nearly three seconds after crossing the stripe on Lap 195 of a scheduled 200. But as the driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet approached Turn 1, his left-rear tire went flat.

Allgaier‘s car turned sideways and smashed into the outside wall, ending the race for the veteran driver from Illinois.

On the subsequent overtime restart, Smith pulled away from teammate Sheldon Creed and reached the finish line 0.365 seconds ahead of Sunoco rookie Jesse Love, who edged Creed for the runner-up spot by 0.019 seconds.

“Going through the dogleg (on the front stretch), I felt (the tire) come apart, like I ran something over, and at that point you‘re just a passenger,” Allgaier said. “I just hate it that we tore up a race car. We didn‘t go to Victory Lane. I hate it for all the guys and gals at JR Motorsports.”

Allgaier‘s ill fortune was determinative, but it wasn‘t that Smith didn‘t deserve the victory. He won the first 45-lap stage wire-to-wire and led a race-high 88 laps to Allgaier‘s 52.

“We just lacked a little bit on the 7 (Allgaier),” Smith said. “I hate that happened to him — he had that in the bag. I‘m so proud of everybody back at Joe Gibbs Racing. It‘s good finally to get this first win off our back for these guys.

“So let‘s go keep racking ‘em up.”

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

Stage 2 winner Cole Custer led 61 laps, but his car suffered from a loose handling condition during the final run.

With Custer fading badly, Smith was in the lead, more than 2.5 seconds ahead of Allgaier, when Hailie Deegan brushed the Turn 2 wall on Lap 137. To that point, Smith and Custer had combined to lead all the laps.

The relatively innocent-looking fourth caution, however, set the stage for the chaos that followed. Smith lost three spots on pit road as John Hunter Nemechek took the lead.

On the subsequent restart on Lap 144, Smith and Nemechek were racing in close quarters when contact from the right-front of Smith‘s Toyota turned Nemechek‘s Supra in front of the field.

All told, 11 cars sustained damage, with Nemechek, hard-luck Sam Mayer (third DNF in four races), Hailie Deegan, Parker Retzlaff and Jeb Burton unable to continue.

MORE: Lap 144 pileup thins field | Weekend schedule: Phoenix

Smith‘s No. 81 Toyota was none the worse for wear and restarted next to Allgaier, the race leader, on Lap 152. On the longest green-flag run of the day, Allgaier pulled away and was cruising toward a comfortable victory when disaster struck, opening the door for Smith to secure his first victory since last April‘s win at Richmond for owner Matt Kaulig.

Austin Hill came home fourth, with Custer, the defending series champion, claiming the fifth spot. Sunoco rookie Shane van Gisbergen, Brandon Jones, Parker Kligerman, Sammy Smith and Anthony Alfredo completed the top 10.

The Xfinity Series will take a week off and return to action March 23 at the Circuit of The Americas (5 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Notes: Post-race inspection in the Xfinity Series garage was complete without major issue, confirming Smith as the race winner. The No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet of Jesse Love and the No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevy of Parker Kligerman were each found with one unsecured lug nut, which will result in a fine for each team‘s respective crew chiefs in the midweek penalty report. … Chandler Smith jumped into the Xfinity Series points lead, leapfrogging Austin Hill by one spot in the standings. … Richard Childress Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing have two victories apiece in the early stages of the season.

Contributing: Staff reports

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Denny Hamlin claims Cup Series pole at Phoenixhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/09/denny-hamlin-claims-cup-series-pole-at-phoenix/Sat, 09 Mar 2024 18:23:17 GMT-0500127826chase-elliott, denny-hamlin, drivers, Fantasy Racing, joe-gibbs-racing, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, phoenix-raceway, racing-teams, Series, teams, tracks, ty-gibbsStaff ReportAVONDALE, Ariz. — Denny Hamlin was convinced he had to improve his performance at Phoenix Raceway, and on Saturday afternoon, he took the first step in that direction.

Touring the 1-mile track in 27.138 seconds (132.655 seconds) in the final round of qualifying, Hamlin put his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota on the pole for Sunday‘s Shriners Children‘s 500 (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Starting lineup | At-track photos | Weekend schedule

Hamlin, who hasn‘t won at Phoenix since 2019, beat JGR teammate Ty Gibbs (132.227 mph) by 0.088 seconds for the top starting spot in the fourth NASCAR Cup Series event of the season.

“I‘m really trying to get better at this place,” Hamlin said after securing his first Busch Light Pole Award of the season, his third at Phoenix and the 41st of his career, 13th-most all-time.

“If we want to make a run at a championship — and you‘ve got to win it through Phoenix — you‘ve got to get better at Phoenix.”

The pole position was the 150th for Toyota in the Cup Series, with Hamlin accounting for 36 of those. His first five poles came in Chevrolets before Joe Gibbs Racing switched to Toyota. Included in that group of five was Hamlin‘s first career pole, at Phoenix in 2005.

Unlike the rest of his final-round competitors, who made sharp cuts across the front stretch dogleg, Hamlin took a more conservative approach and benefitted from a more favorable angle into Turn 1 on his money lap.

“I was kind of 50-50 on it,” Hamlin explained. “I didn‘t cut it in the first round, but we consistently saw that I was about a half-car-length behind entering Turn 1, but my angle was better.

“That was a very indecisive decision — ‘OK, I won‘t go all the way, but I won‘t stay where I was,‘ and it netted out in a good position where I was able to cut a little bit but also keep my angle into Turn 1.”

MORE: Watch NASCAR video highlights

Chase Elliott (132.144 mph), winless since the fall Talladega race in 2022, qualified third in his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, followed by Toyota drivers Erik Jones and Daytona 500 winner William Byron.

Tyler Reddick was sixth fastest, ahead of Noah Gragson in the top Ford, followed by Chase Briscoe, Michael McDowell and Sunoco rookie Carson Hocevar.

Hamlin‘s pole-winning run broke a streak of three straight poles to open the season by Ford drivers.

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Elliott hungry for Victory Lane returnhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/09/elliott-hungry-for-victory-lane-return/Sat, 09 Mar 2024 18:05:03 GMT-0500127820chase-elliott, drivers, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, phoenix-raceway, Series, tracksStaff ReportAVONDALE, Ariz. — Donning a hoodie and jeans, Chase Elliott entered the media center following Friday‘s 50-minute Cup Series practice session at Phoenix Raceway insouciant about how the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet fired off the hauler.

Despite putting down the seventh-quickest lap around the 1-mile oval, the 2020 Cup champion trudged through discussing how his car felt and how Sunday‘s race would play out (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Instead, Elliott deferred to opening up about where his mindset is early into the 2024 season versus the end of 2023.

RELATED: Phoenix weekend schedule | Cup Series standings

Elliott crossed the finish line of last season 16th at Phoenix and 17th in points after missing the postseason for the first time in his career. While 2023 involved recovery from a fractured leg around this time last year, the numbers were still so-so for the perennial title contender.

Elliott‘s best finish in the final four races of 2023 was 15th. After the sun gave way to desert twilight, signaling the end of the 2023 season, Elliott had already started thinking about 2024.

“At that point, obviously, our season was all been over and we were just trying to think about this year, or at least I was, you know and just trying to think about what I could do to drive the car in a better way that suits the way it wants to be driven,” Elliott said. “I wasn‘t necessarily spent. Yeah, I was frustrated at different times. But I mean, I could be frustrated today and you wouldn‘t know it so it‘s some days I might show a little more than others.

“But it‘s not because I don‘t want to be here. It‘s not because I don‘t want to do good. In fact, it‘s really the exact opposite. It‘s because I do want to do well and it‘s because I do care. And you know you can take that for whatever you want, but I, I just want to be good at my job.”

Elliott‘s casual demeanor slowly turned into one of reminiscing and what drives him to compete.

It‘s been 37 races since Elliott‘s last trip to Victory Lane at Talladega in the fall of 2022. Any driver wants to get back to winning as soon as possible but as Elliott shares that sentiment, he‘s taking every stride with purpose no matter how long it may take him to snag his next checkered flag.

“I‘m a pretty realistic person and I kind of look at things for what they are probably too much some days,” Elliott said. “But I think that I recognize that things aren‘t just going to get better overnight. I have known that for a period of time now and at the end of the day, I don‘t know how many steps there are to getting to where you need to go. I think until you encounter that entire journey, I don‘t think anyone really knows. But I‘m willing to take however many steps it takes to get there and I think that‘s the bottom line of the importance of what matters.”

That first step on the journey came last weekend at Las Vegas as the No. 9 team got the first look at what their car can do outside of a superspeedway this season. A 12th-place finish isn‘t the standard neither Elliott nor the team wants but it was a massive improvement over a 32nd-place run at Vegas last fall, and it‘s the first point of emphasis marked off the checklist to improve over the course of a 36-race calendar.

“That was our first report card, so I think until we‘re just running more races, keep chipping away at it,” Elliott said. “Long ways to go, and hopefully, we can just continue to work in areas that we feel need to be worked on and hope that those areas lend results, and I thought they did a little bit last week. Was it good enough? No. Am I satisfied? No. Was it better than last fall? Yes, it sure was. So I think from that, you know, you just have to take little improvements where you can get him especially when you know you have a lot of work to do.”

With a diverse circuit of tracks every season, Elliott said it‘s difficult to pinpoint what individual aspect he wants to improve on most to turn a 12th-place run into a top 10 or better. He‘s yet to crack the top 10 on the results sheet through three races this season but consistency has found Elliott seventh in the Cup standings, just 23 points behind points leader and Hendrick teammate Kyle Larson.

On his quest for win No. 19 of his Cup career, Elliott has drawn comparison with another professional athlete — Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.

MORE: Elliott through the years | Watch NASCAR video highlights

In his current victory drought, Elliott can see similarities in the respective drives and chases to be the top guy in their respective sport. Whether it‘s coming up short at the track every Sunday or an annual heartbreaking defeat in the postseason at the hands of three-time Super Bowl champion signal-caller Patrick Mahomes, Elliott understands both sides of being the top guy and falling short.

“I think one fortunate piece of my career as we‘ve gone through periods of time and we‘ve had a lot of success and we‘ve also got also gone through periods of time where we haven‘t,” Elliott said. “So I think kind of as we‘ve gone down this path of having a tough year last year you kind of look at things a little differently and it kind of makes me think about a Josh Allen, a guy that just can‘t quite get over that hump, but we all know he‘s really good.

“How does he handle having to play Mahomes in the AFC Championship every year? and at some point, he‘s gonna beat him. And you know, I think that journey is pretty cool to watch a guy who‘s obviously very talented and can do a really good job and works hard at his craft and seems like a good dude. But he‘s just just been that little tick off and I think there‘s a lot to be learned and gained from that journey probably more so than just watching people dominate.”

Elliott‘s current journey is a unique one where he‘s not only trying to beat everyone on track but also playing catchup with his teammates as Larson and William Byron have won 13 races combined since Elliott‘s last victory, including two of the first three to kickstart 2024.

Getting back to a standard is much easier said than done but Elliott isn‘t rushing to force a result and respects the work and discipline it takes for athletes both in and outside of racing to work to the level they want to find.

“I enjoy watching people and I enjoy watching people work hard to be good at their craft and all that‘s different,” Elliott said. I enjoy watching it and I respect it because while I might not know everything about it, I know it‘s hard and I think that‘s all I need to know. It‘s hard, and they‘re and they‘re really good at what they do.”

“Just work hard, you know, make sure you‘re putting the time in and pushing yourself in areas that you know you‘re weak. You know, I think a lot of times they‘re staring you right in the face and you just got to get to push yourself to get uncomfortable.”

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Drivers react to new short-track packagehttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/09/drivers-react-to-new-short-track-package/Sat, 09 Mar 2024 17:25:47 GMT-0500127818chase-briscoe, chase-elliott, denny-hamlin, drivers, front-row-motorsports, joe-gibbs-racing, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-cup-series, phoenix-raceway, Series, stewart-haas-racing, teams, todd-gilliland-drivers, tracksStaff ReportAVONDALE, Ariz. — The full-field debut of the 2024 short-track package was the hot topic of conversation after NASCAR Cup Series practice Friday at Phoenix Raceway.

With a simplified rear diffuser and shorter rear spoiler, each vehicle hit the 1-mile tri-oval in advance of Sunday‘s Shriners Children‘s 500 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Drivers were split in how effective the new changes were after 50 minutes of Friday practice.

“I would say that it was probably a little bit better in traffic,” said Denny Hamlin, who was second-fastest in the session. “Very small from what I could tell. Nothing earth-shattering. If you got caught behind somebody, you would really get caught behind someone. But that‘s typical of what we had before.”

MORE: Recap Friday‘s practice

Martin Truex Jr., his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, felt like the difference may have been negligible at best.

“It felt similar honestly,” Truex said. “I couldn‘t really tell. I mean, the teams engineer everything to make the cars close to balanced as they can. So I felt exactly like I did here last fall.”

Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, was 25th in single-lap speed but ranked 10th of 18 competitors in 20-lap averages. The spring winner at Phoenix in 2022 said he noticed some different reactions over the course of a run.

“I thought you could run a little more sideways a little bit easier on exit,” Briscoe told NASCAR.com. “And for me, I didn‘t get around a lot of cars, but I thought when guys were around me, they could get a little bit closer and not pay as big of a penalty as normal. It‘s hard to say until we all get out there. But definitely from where we brake at and all that, I figured that was all going to be backed up. It was the same as always. But yeah, I think it will be better than what we had.”

A closer look at the 2024 aerodynamic package using the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford at Phoenix Raceway.

In addition to the new aerodynamic package, Goodyear has brought tires with thicker treads to Phoenix designed to keep more heat in the tires on short tracks in hopes to increase lap-time fall-off.

“Any time you can have your lap-time variability from good to bad from new (tires) to old, you‘re going to see more passing,” Hamlin said. “So the more we can create that, the better the drivers are going to have a hand in their finish on any given weekend.”

With a new aerodynamic package and tire combination comes renewed work for the crew chiefs tasked with setting up the vehicle for their drivers. Todd Gilliland in the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford was 30th-best in single-lap speed and ranked the same in 10-lap averages. Crew chief Ryan Bergenty said any obvious differences in how the fresh combo will race will show Sunday rather than during 20-lap runs in practice.

“What we fight is we‘re starting to figure out where the line in the sand is for mechanical grip versus aero grip and aero platform,” Bergenty said. “I think as a group, we (Front Row) did a good job coming here with a wide range of what we got. And now we‘re in position to be able to hone in to what we think‘s gonna be the best for the rest of the weekend.”

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

Hamlin and his crew chief, Chris Gabehart, ended Friday‘s session pleased with the speed in their No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Managing the thicker tire treads will be a priority for everyone come Sunday‘s 312-lap feature, but there is a lingering question: How does a driver manage their tires better than the other drivers?

“Certainly, we‘re always studying each other, right?” Hamlin said. “I mean, everyone right now is in their hauler studying whoever was the two fastest cars of the day, trying to figure out what they can. Where are they losing speed? Where they need to get their car better to drive like that car that is fastest? So that‘s why you see the field so tight.”

“We‘re all working in a tighter box and by definition, that makes it easier to converge,” Gabehart added. “And convergence means track position is key. Because physics does matter. So one car behind another, behind another, behind another — the one at the end is gonna go the slowest. Physics is always going to dictate that. So some of this is just what you have. …

“The best drivers will be the best drivers, and the best teams will be the best teams. So I do think this is looking like a step in the right direction.”

A close-up view of Goodyear tires in the Phoenix Raceway garage ahead of NASCAR Cup Series practice.

Ford and Toyota each have new bodies for the 2024 season as well, and Friday‘s practice proved the Camry XSE to be undeniably quick, with six Toyotas in the top 10 in single-lap speeds and five of the seven best 10-lap averages. Joey Logano, driving the No. 22 Team Penske Ford Dark Horse Mustang, was fastest in single-lap speed and fourth-best on 10-lap averages.

But at what point Sunday will we get a true feel for what these changes have to offer? The first run will be telling, Bergenty and SHR crew chief Rodney Childers said, but Gabehart cautioned it won‘t be everything.

“I think this track does tend to tighten up throughout the day, so that first run won‘t tell you the whole story, but it will definitely give you an idea,” Gabehart said. “I really think by the second run in Stage 2 — 180 laps into the race, the track‘s really took a lot of rubber — that‘s when you‘ll see the guys that have really got a good handle on this place …  you‘ll really see if you‘ve got something for them or not.”

Ultimately, Hamlin enters Sunday optimistic for what the on-track product could look like, with hopes for even tighter racing ahead.

“It‘s going to be a very, very small change,” Hamlin said, “but anything that can allow us to run closer to each other and to cross each other‘s wake without the air-blocking that we‘ve seen over the last few weeks, I think that that‘ll be a good thing and I certainly think this package (and) this tire is heading in the right direction.”

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Breidinger inspires next generation of female racershttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/09/breidinger-inspires-next-generation-of-female-racers/Sat, 09 Mar 2024 17:19:58 GMT-0500127816NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-regional, toni-breidingerStaff ReportPHOENIX — Hot on the (w)heels of Raising Cane‘s newly launched campaign featuring NASCAR‘s first Arab American female driver Toni Breidinger, the race car driver and Victoria‘s Secret model took it back to where it all started in honor of International Women‘s Day.

Yesterday morning, Toni and her twin sister Annie — a woman in STEM who‘s a car engineer for OEM — hosted 13 aspiring young female drivers at Phoenix Kart Racing Association (PKRA), where the duo raced annually as kids and Toni won her first go-kart race. All with a shared passion for speed, Toni, Annie and the lucky racers spent the morning zipping around the track, eating box combos and sharing personal stories and experiences.

Toni Breidinger

To kick off the event, Toni and Annie conducted a Q&A session and discussed how they got to where they are in their respective careers — both crushing stereotypes and inspiring women around the world as they lead the pack in the male-dominated industries of NASCAR and engineering.

The girls also asked about how Toni handled setbacks throughout her career, who she admired most in the sport, and what the future held for her.

“I truly believe seeing is believing, so being able to get involved and hopefully inspire the next generation of women in motorsports is really special to me,” Breidinger said. “I started my racing journey in Go Karts, so I know what it‘s like to be in these girls‘ position. I‘m excited to share with them what I‘ve learned on my journey so far and help them along with theirs.”

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

Before any rubber met the road, Toni presented the Women‘s Sports Foundation (WSF) with a $100,000 check in honor of both International Women‘s Day and Toni, who is a WSF Athlete Ambassador.

Founded by sports icon and social justice pioneer Billie Jean King in 1974, WSF is one of the first organizations to recognize the powerful connection between sports access, equity and society. Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the Foundation exists to enable girls and women to reach their potential in sport and life.

Toni, like many impactful women athletes, has worked with WSF for years to help pave the way for the next generation.

Toni Breidinger

“We are honored to have Toni as part of the WSF family, and we will never stop cheering her on as she goes fast, takes chances, and inspires the next generation to keep racing,” said WSF CEO Danette Leighton. “We are grateful for Raising Cane‘s donation to our critical work in Toni‘s honor that will help us continue to work towards a future where all girls and women can play, compete and lead — this Women‘s History Month and beyond — without barriers.”

The event was part of a larger campaign from Raising Cane‘s, which features Toni and is focused on speed and accuracy — two things at which Toni excels. As a lifelong fan of Raising Cane‘s and good friend of Raising Cane‘s owner Todd Graves, the partnership between Toni and the brand was poised for “pole position” right out of the gate.

Toni Breidinger

“I‘m excited to have the opportunity to not only partner with Toni again, but begin a partnership with the Women‘s Sports Foundation, which is close to Toni‘s heart and helps young girls realize their potential through sports,” said Graves. “Toni embodies hard work, perseverance and tenacity, and is a role model for women around the world as she continues paving her own way in sports and culture.

“I admire her both as an athlete and friend, and when she mentioned the great work the Women‘s Sports Foundation has done and will continue to do, I knew it would be a great fit for us to honor this Foundation for International Women‘s Day and in the future.”

Driving a Raising Cane‘s-branded car, Toni will race in Friday‘s General Tire 150 at Phoenix Raceway, where she‘s one of four women drivers in the field.

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Queen to make Truck debut at North Wilkesborohttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/09/queen-to-make-truck-debut-at-north-wilkesboro/Sat, 09 Mar 2024 16:53:04 GMT-0500127814NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-craftsman-truck-series, nascar-regional, tricon-garageStaff ReportMOORESVILLE, N.C. — TRICON Garage announced today that CARS Tour late model stock car standout Brenden “Butterbean” Queen will make his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway behind the wheel of the No. 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro.

The Chesapeake, Virginia, driver had a breakout campaign in 2023 earning four victories, 13 top-fives and 15 top-10s in CARS Tour competition en route to a second-place finish in the series points standings.

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

Beyond the CARS Tour, Queen captured his second Hampton Heat triumph at Langley Speedway and scored victories in the Battle of the Stars at All-American Speedway and the Thanksgiving Classic at Southern National Motorsports Park.

Queen‘s No. 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro will carry primary sponsorship from Best Repair Company, a full-service mechanical and electrical repair and maintenance provider based in Norfolk, Virginia. Longtime racing supporter Leith Cars will also be featured in an associate role.

“I have been dreaming of this since I started racing go-karts at six years old,” said Queen. “It‘s an honor to have the opportunity to team up with TRICON and Toyota to make my Truck Series debut at the track that put my name on the map last year.”

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Caruth highlights why 'representation is so important'https://www.mrn.com/2024/03/08/rajah-caruths-win-highlights-why-representation-is-so-important/Fri, 08 Mar 2024 15:02:35 GMT-0500127806drive-for-diversity, drivers, las-vegas-motor-speedway, nascar-camping-world-truck-series, nascar-craftsman-truck-series, nascar-cup-series, nascar-impact, rajah-caruth, spire-motorsports, teams, tracksZach SturnioloThe media tour Rajah Caruth took on Monday was exhausting. Some of it included travel. Most of it included hours of teleconferences staring at a webcam.

All of it celebrated one thing: Caruth‘s first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win, which came Friday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Such a heavy media tour after winning the third Truck Series race of 2024 would have been unusual had it not been for the context of Caruth‘s victory. He became the third Black driver to win a race in a NASCAR national series. Between the NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Truck Series, only 10 times has a Black driver gone to Victory Lane: once for Wendell Scott, eight times for Bubba Wallace and now once for Caruth.

MORE: Recap Caruth‘s breakthrough night in Vegas 

Showcasing history is critical. But so is highlighting opportunity. Therein lies the importance of representation in NASCAR across all platforms.

Caruth — known within the garage area as one of the sport‘s hardest-working drivers — captured a convincing win on a standard 1.5-mile oval after executing a flawless green-flag pit cycle and led 38 laps in the process. He then climbed out of the truck and was interviewed by FOX Sports‘ Josh Sims, a reporter ingrained in NASCAR since 2015 and who became the first Black pit reporter to cover the sport on a nationally televised broadcast when he joined FOX Sports in 2021.

That visual of two Black men in prominent NASCAR positions on a national broadcast — one a winning driver, the other a reporter — was one that simply had not been seen before.

“First of all, it‘s funny to hear it because I have goosebumps after you put it that way,” Sims said in a teleconference with NASCAR.com. “And it‘s not like I wasn‘t aware of it — because I very, very much was after it happened. I mean, you look no further than Twitter right away. The amount of people that said that image was powerful, that‘s what my timeline was filled with, you know? I knew the magnitude of the moment for Rajah, and in the back of my mind, I thought about the fact that I‘m going to be the one out there, and this is going to be a big moment visually.

“At the same time, I want to make sure that, to a certain degree, you stick the landing. You ask the important questions, and you make sure you give Rajah his moment to let everybody know what it means to him. But I‘d be lying if I didn‘t admit I was excited that it was me that got to be out there with him. Because it really is a cool moment.”

With less representation, particularly in such a public setting, there is less chance a young person of color can envision themselves in either Caruth‘s or Sims‘ shoes. That door is opening now.

“I think it‘s a really big deal,” Caruth told NASCAR.com of the interview with Sims. “Being involved, I can‘t really see from a bird‘s eye view how it makes waves, but I certainly hope that it helps because representation is so important. I think it‘ll be cool when (Xfinity Series driver) Hailie (Deegan) wins her first race, if it‘s Kim (Coon), if it‘s Heather DeBeaux or someone like that. I feel like equally, that‘ll be cool as well.”

Ultimately, Caruth sees the bigger picture in the aftermath of his moment. The stars of NASCAR are changing, thanks in part to the aforementioned Drive for Diversity program. In the program‘s 20th anniversary, four of nine national series races this year have been won by program alumni: Nick Sanchez in the Daytona Truck race; Daniel Suárez in the Atlanta Cup race; Caruth at Vegas; and Kyle Larson in the Vegas Cup race.

So, where is the sport evolving?

RELATED: Learn about NASCAR Drive for Diversity program

“Hopefully to the point where the headlines aren‘t that it was another Black driver or Hispanic driver, right?” Caruth said. “It‘s just, ‘This person won.‘ That‘s the goal, to have it be as representative of the country as any other sport. That‘s the way I see it. We‘re doing the right things and just gotta keep it up.”

Indeed, in many respects, the sport has looked this way for some time now. Caruth described being a young NASCAR fan in Washington, D.C., as “isolation” being the only kid at school that knew anything about the sport. Growing up in East Brunswick, New Jersey, Sims never had NASCAR on his radar as a kid. But going to the track as an adult changed Sims‘ perspective.

Rajah Caruth celebrates in Victory Lane.

“I started really covering the sport in 2015 when I moved to Charlotte,” Sims said. “The one thing I noticed is there already was a lot of diversity at the track. I just wasn‘t aware of it because I wasn‘t at the track on a week-in and week-out basis. But from the pit crew to a lot of people that work behind the scenes, there are a lot of faces of color, there are a lot more women that work in the sport that you wouldn‘t really know about unless you were there.”

That point further emphasizes the importance of storytelling through coverage, Sims said, and the need to highlight those diverse characters in a more public light so people understand their stories, their backgrounds and how hard they‘ve worked to achieve success in such competitive fields regardless of skin color.

“That‘s why when Rajah is leading towards the end of the race, it‘s important to highlight how he got there,” Sims said. “That this is a young man that came from iRacing, similar to a William Byron. So then you draw that comparison with someone else that‘s made it to the top of the sport. None of this has anything to do with what he looks like or where he came from or anything like that. It has to do with his journey.”

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

His journey through eSports and gaming further proves representation isn‘t just about how Caruth looks either. Being a significant member of the flourishing and substantial iRacing community connects Caruth to racing enthusiasts who first got their speed fix virtually.

Perhaps no sport can provide a better pathway from virtual to real-world than NASCAR, which now has seen Caruth and Byron, the Hendrick Motorsports superstar, claim early-season wins.

Before he was a Daytona 500 champion and Cup Series prodigy, Byron was an all-world iRacing driver. Similarly, Caruth‘s first opportunity with a steering wheel in his hand came in the iRacing community. While these two are among the first eSports racers to break through, they won‘t be the last.

“It‘s not easy, right?” Caruth said. “If you think you‘re just going to wake up and it‘s going to be in front of you, it‘s not. You‘ve got to put in the work and listen — emphasis on ‘listen‘ because I think about my first years racing on iRacing, learning how to be fast on there, making a lot of mistakes. Honestly, it was kind of the same when I started in real life. I just listened to people that wanted to help me. I put in the work, late nights, early mornings, showing up. I caught some breaks, for sure.

“I tell those kids — because I know there‘s a lot out there that are in similar spots than me — y‘all can do it. You just got to put in the work, pay attention, just do the right thing, and it will work out.”

As he continues to pursue a career in NASCAR, race will always be a part of Caruth‘s story — but perhaps never more than racing itself.

“It‘s a part of me, and I honor it and I cherish it and it‘s a part of my personality. It‘s how I grew up,” Caruth said on this week‘s episode of “Stacking Pennies” with Corey LaJoie. “At the same time, it‘s not a character trait. It is a little — I don‘t want to say pressure because the ultimate pressure is to perform and do the best that you can and do the things during the week to be the best race car driver on Fridays and Saturdays. But honestly, I think about that all the time because I know the amount of people that are watching me.

“And honestly I take that as a feather in my cap sometimes. Because if I do good, I can really help the sport. … I know if I do good in NASCAR, I can help the sport so much because the people that I grew up with and a lot of my friends in that world, this is a completely different industry for them, so I know I can just help a lot.”

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RFK Racing appeals suspensionshttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/07/rfk-racing-suspensions-on-hold-as-team-appeals-vegas-penalty/Thu, 07 Mar 2024 14:08:16 GMT-0500127797chris-buescher, drivers, jr-motorsports-teams, nascar-cup-series, rfk-racing, Series, teams, thorsport-racing, youngs-motorsportsStaff ReportEditor‘s note: This story was updated on March 7 to reflect RFK Racing‘s appeal.

RFK Racing appealed NASCAR‘s penalty to the No. 17 team for a detached wheel during last Sunday‘s Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The team asked for a deferral of the suspensions of two crew members while the penalty was under appeal, which NASCAR granted on Thursday.

Chris Buescher finished last in Sunday‘s Pennzoil 400 after his right-front wheel became unfastened, and his crash into the outside retaining wall forced a caution period in the 28th of 267 laps.

As a result of the safety violation of Sections 8.8.10.4 A&C (Tires and Wheels; Loss or separation of an improperly installed tire/wheel from the vehicle during the event) in the NASCAR Rule Book, No. 17 crew members Nicholas Patterson (jack) and Jakob Prall (front tire changer) were suspended for two Cup Series events, which is now pending the appeal.

MORE: Las Vegas results | Flores weighs in on pit-related error

Three other teams — two in the Xfinity Series and one in the Craftsman Truck Series — were each fined for having single lug nuts unsecured in safety checks after their races last weekend in Las Vegas.

In the Xfinity Series, the crew chiefs for two teams were docked $5,000:

  • No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet (crew chief Phillip Bell)
  • No. 42 Young‘s Motorsports Chevrolet (crew chief Andrew Abbott)

A single Craftsman Truck Series team was penalized with a $2,500 fine:

  • No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford (crew chief Joe Shear Jr.)
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Racing Insights: Ryan Blaney is set to sizzle at Phoenixhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/07/racing-insights-ryan-blaney-is-set-to-sizzle-at-phoenix/Thu, 07 Mar 2024 14:06:04 GMT-0500127795drivers, Fantasy Racing, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, phoenix-raceway, ryan-blaney, Series, tracksStaff ReportWith Chevrolets winning the first three races of the season, it‘s only a matter of time until the other two manufacturers close the gap and find Victory Lane to even the score. Racing Insights predicts that we could see just that this weekend, with Ford driver Ryan Blaney projected to outduel his 2023 Championship 4 counterparts and already-made season winners William Byron and Kyle Larson to the finish line on Sunday in the Shriners Children‘s 500 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Set your Fantasy Live roster | Weekend schedule

After back-to-back performances of top-three finishes and finishing runner-up in the last three events at Phoenix Raceway, Sunday will be a prime opportunity for the 2023 Cup Series champ to carry the momentum and provisionally lock himself into the playoffs. 

The advanced metrics expect Blaney‘s Team Penske teammate, Joey Logano, and the most recent Phoenix winner, Ross Chastain, to round out the top five. After that, Racing Insights projects the Toyotas of Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, and Tyler Reddick to occupy the majority of the remaining top 10 spots and has Chase Elliott earning his first top-10 finish of the season.

Still, anything can happen in the Wild West, but expect this race to hold a great deal of weight despite it being just the fourth race of the 2024 season and the site of the finale down the road. Teams and drivers who have title hopes will get their first chance to cut their teeth into this year‘s new short-track package and have an idea of what to expect if they find themselves contending for a championship come November.

OTHER DRIVERS TO WATCH

KYLE LARSON: Shocker, right? Well, the fact is plain and simple: Larson has been scary consistent on the 1-mile oval. In his last 10 races at Phoenix, he has netted nine top-10 finishes. There‘s no doubt he will be a major player this weekend, aiming to earn back-to-back wins.

ROSS CHASTAIN: Chastain won last year‘s season finale at Phoenix and led more than half the race, upsetting the Championship 4 drivers en route to Victory Lane. Additionally, he has finished in the top three in all but one Phoenix race in the Next-Gen era.

BRAD KESELOWSKI: While Keselowski is off to a cold start and has an average finish of 22.8 in the last four races at Phoenix, consider this to be more of a wild-card pick. The desert has proven to be a place where drivers can end dry spells, and given the unpredictable nature of the Cup Series, you never know when it could be your week.

KYLE BUSCH: Despite some early woes to start the season (apart from an all-time finish at Atlanta), Busch has always been a threat to win at Phoenix throughout his career. Not only does he have the most Phoenix wins among active drivers with three, he has a career average finish of 10.9 at the circuit.

CHASE BRISCOE: This is a sneaky-good pick to watch. Briscoe won the Phoenix spring race in 2022 and has turned in two additional top-10 performances in his last three Phoenix races. He also ranks fifth in most laps run in the top five at Phoenix Raceway in the Next-Gen era.

RACING INSIGHTS‘ PROJECTIONS FOR THE SHRINER‘S CHILDREN 500

Racing Insights‘ advanced statistical formula includes current track, current track type, recent performance, team data and pit-crew data to arrive at a projected winner and full race results.

FinishCar NumberDriver
112Ryan Blaney
224William Byron
35Kyle Larson
422Joey Logano
51Ross Chastain
619Martin Truex Jr.
711Denny Hamlin
820Christopher Bell
99Chase Elliott
1045Tyler Reddick
1123Bubba Wallace
1214Chase Briscoe
138Kyle Busch
146Brad Keselowski
1548Alex Bowman
1641Ryan Preece
174Josh Berry
1810Noah Gragson
1917Chris Buescher
203Austin Dillon
2154Ty Gibbs
2299Daniel Suárez
232Austin Cindric
2443Erik Jones
2534Michael McDowell
2647Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
277Corey LaJoie
2831Daniel Hemric
2977Carson Hocevar
3051Justin Haley
3121Harrison Burton
3238Todd Gilliland
3371Zane Smith
3442John H Nemechek
3516Derek Kraus
3615Kaz Grala

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Reactions to Rajah Caruth's first winhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/05/reactions-to-rajah-caruths-first-truck-series-win/Tue, 05 Mar 2024 12:57:25 GMT-0500127775bubba-wallace, dale-earnhardt-jr, drivers, kyle-larson, las-vegas-motor-speedway, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-camping-world-truck-series, nascar-craftsman-truck-series, nascar-cup-series, rajah-caruth, Series, spire-motorsports, teams, tracks, william-byronStaff ReportRajah Caruth celebrated his first career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory Friday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, becoming the third Black driver to win a NASCAR national touring series event, joining Wendell Scott and Bubba Wallace.

The motorsports community and beyond rallied around social media to congratulate Caruth, whose respect around the garage area and beyond shined brightest in his first crowning moment.

MORE: Full race results | History, family intersect for Caruth in breakout win

But one of the people who reached out to congratulate Caruth might catch people by surprise: Kelly Rowland.

“Yeah, bro! Yeah, man!” Caruth smiled when reminded Monday by NASCAR.com.

The famed singer, actress and television personality — perhaps best known for her time spent as a member of Destiny‘s Child — posted a celebratory Instagram story and wrote “I‘m so happy for you!!” after tagging Caruth, with whom she connected last year at the Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

“Yeah, Auntie Kelly, man, she‘s very cool,” Caruth said. “We got connected over a year ago at the Clash. And now we have a more personal connection. So it‘s been great to have her support in a lot of different ways.”

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

Rowland was far from the only big name to offer Caruth kudos. Longtime New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara called his win “legendary” while actor Mekai Curtis from TV show “Power Book III: Raising Kanan” connected with Caruth.

“I‘ve had so much support and so I really appreciate it,” Caruth said.

See a sampling of the flurry of congrats that came Caruth‘s way:

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Reddick earns runner-up finish in Sin Cityhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/04/reddick-earns-runner-up-finish-in-sin-city/Mon, 04 Mar 2024 17:21:32 GMT-050012776623xi-racing, drivers, las-vegas-motor-speedway, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, Series, teams, tracks, tyler-reddickStaff ReportLAS VEGAS — In the waning laps of Sunday‘s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Tyler Reddick was in the shadow of Kyle Larson. It was a position he was familiar with throughout the duration of 267 laps.

Reddick had a mediocre qualifying effort on Saturday, putting him middle of the pack in 18th for the start of the race. The No. 45 Toyota soared through a chaotic opening stage immediately, however, to finish runner-up to Larson and earn nine stage points. 

That track position was short-lived, as Reddick slid through his pit stall at the end of the first stage. He lost nearly 15 positions along with all the progress he gained during the first stage. 

“Our biggest challenge was our track position,” said Billy Scott, crew chief of the No. 45 car. “We had an early draw in qualifying that added to it, but we didn‘t have our best effort yesterday, so we had a lot to overcome from our starting position and pit stall. That‘s what got us at the end of Stage 1 — we worked up there to get second and got boxed in, had to back up — had a mess. 

“Just having to overcome that all day. I felt like we were one of the best cars and had a shot at it.”

RELATED: Race results | Best Vegas photos

Throughout the second stage, Reddick powered through the field and finished second to Larson. He ran second for the majority of the final stage and began hunting down Larson in a 27-lap sprint to the finish. Reddick maneuvered his car where he was most comfortable, rim-riding the wall and making a run for the win. 

With two laps remaining, Reddick was within a quarter of a second of Larson. But the 2021 Cup Series champion blocked Reddick‘s air and was able to hold off Reddick for the victory after leading a race-high 181 laps. 

“We were pretty evenly matched, so I don‘t know if there is anything that I could have done to get around him,” Reddick said of his battle with Larson. “He would have had to make a big mistake or had some traffic knock his momentum down. 

“It‘s a solid effort for our team and that‘s how we need to run. I don‘t like running second.”

Reddick mentioned that with Larson blocking, he couldn‘t get out of the wake of his dirty air to get a good enough run on the leader. 

“The wake isn‘t wide, but you don‘t ever want to follow someone into the corner,” Reddick added. “The air is so turbulent underneath the car after it exits the diffusor that drivers can use the block to their advantage.”

Larson dominated the race running the bottom lane, but when Reddick was closing in he began playing a cat-and-mouse game. 

MORE: Watch Larson fend off Reddick | Drivers to sweep stages

Larson said: “With two to go, he expected, I think, me to run the middle or top or something, and I was able to do kind of a nice lazy arc to the bottom and take his air away in the center of (Turns) 3 and 4 and got him tight. That killed his run down the front stretch, and thankfully that was the white flag. I knew as long as I hit my marks I was going to be safe to the checkered.

This is the third time the two northern California drivers and longtime competitors swept the first two spots of a Cup Series race. Larson has come out with the upper hand on all three occasions. Sunday‘s race at Las Vegas played out similarly to last year‘s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, where Larson won by 0.447 seconds. In Sin City on Sunday, the margin of victory was 0.464 seconds. The first time they finished first and second was in the 2021 playoff race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course, advancing the No. 5 team to the Round of 8.

It was a much-needed finish for the No. 45 team, which had a best effort of 29th in the first two weeks of the season. The 53 points scored by Reddick vaulted him 12 positions higher in the regular season championship standings to 12th. That only slighted the disappointment of finishing runner-up.

“It‘s good, surely,” Reddick said of getting his first top-five finish of the season. “Regular season points matter, but we‘re capable of winning races and we need to do that.”

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

With Toyota debuting its new Camry body on a downforce track, Scott considers Las Vegas a success. The team sees it has speed and knows it can be competitive as it gets more comfortable with the inner workings of the car. 

“With a new body for this year, you don‘t really know what you have until you get out here and get your first intermediate race under you,” Scott added. “We‘ve got a lot to build on. We had Tyler a year earlier than we were expecting last year. This was supposed to be our first year with him and we‘ve got a lot of stuff that we‘ve built on and a lot that we are optimistic about.”

Next on the schedule is Phoenix Raceway on March 10 (3;30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), which will allow Toyota to see how it ranks out of the gate on a shorter track with the new body. Reddick has finished third in the previous two spring races at Phoenix. 

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Hendrick rings a bell in Las Vegashttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/04/hendrick-rings-a-bell-in-las-vegas/Mon, 04 Mar 2024 17:14:49 GMT-0500127768alex-bowman, chase-elliott, drivers, hendrick-motorsports, kyle-larson, las-vegas-motor-speedway, misc, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, racing-teams, Series, teams, tracks, tyler-reddick, william-byronStaff ReportLAS VEGAS — The sound that pierced Sunday‘s usual Victory Lane patter — the “woos” from the winning crew, the camera shutters and the fan buzz — was a ringing bell. It was persistent, cutting through the confetti that blew all over the Las Vegas Motor Speedway grounds in a gale-force wind. It also seemed early.

Hendrick Motorsports custom holds that a victory bell cart rolls through the organization‘s sprawling campus after each NASCAR Cup Series win, with the celebration of a Sunday triumph stretching into midweek commemoration. Now Hendrick‘s No. 5 team has a new tradition — a travel-sized version.

RELATED: Las Vegas results | At-track photos

Kyle Larson made it two Las Vegas victories in a row Sunday, mimicking the stage-sweeping triumph he posted here last fall in the Cup Series Playoffs. In leading 181 of the 267 laps, he handed Hendrick Motorsports its second win in three races to start the organization‘s 40th-anniversary campaign with some oomph to match the preseason sizzle and serving notice with an early season statement to the rest of the field.

The new victory ritual has its fledgling roots stemming from this year‘s preseason kickoff event that brought the No. 5 crew together with the Hendrick Automotive Group. In true, old-school car-dealer fashion, big sales achievements mean ringing the bell to mark the occasion. Leave it to Darryl Jackson, the automotive division‘s charismatic vice president of financial services, to lend that tradition to the race team that HendrickCars.com sponsors.

“Anybody who knows Darryl Jackson, he is the hype man of all hype men,” No. 5 crew chief Cliff Daniels told NASCAR.com. “He‘s hilarious and wide open, and he made us these bells because he wanted us to ring it in Victory Lane any time we won. Hate that he couldn‘t be here today. I‘m sure he was back in Charlotte, but we already took a video of us ringing the bell, sent it back to Darryl. He‘s super happy, super proud. So I honestly think it‘s just an evolution of what‘s already a lot of fun for a Hendrick tradition.”

Larson‘s performance vaulted him into the early lead in the Cup Series standings, a 10-spot jump aided by Sunday‘s maximum-points day. His teammates are right there with him — William Byron fourth and Chase Elliott seventh, with Alex Bowman in 13th — as the only four-car team with all its drivers currently in the way-too-early playoff positioning.

Early on, it seemed Byron — who won this race in similarly dominating fashion last year — might be Larson‘s closest competition. He looked every bit the part until his No. 24 Chevy caught a massive piece of debris on the grille that sent his engine‘s temperatures skyrocketing into the red. Byron made an unscheduled pit stop to remove a trash bag that would need an entire sanitation crew to fill, rallied from a lap down and then recovered again after he slid through his pit box on a final-stage stop.

“I think I passed the whole field twice,” Byron told his crew on the radio.

“I think three. Let‘s make it four,” said No. 24 crew chief Rudy Fugle, who coaxed his driver to an eventual 10th-place result.

That left Tyler Reddick as Larson‘s top challenger, and his dogged pursuit in the closing laps also made a statement. While it wasn‘t the three-wide photo finish of the week before at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the closer Reddick‘s No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota got to Larson‘s bumper, the more the suspense built. But Larson answered every charge Reddick made.

“Today, we did everything great from start to finish — pit crew, pit calls, restarts, the car itself, myself in the seat, blocking the right way and making speed while doing it was good,” Larson said. “If we can carry that on, I think there is definitely potential to have a great season like we did in 2021.”

Larson‘s 2021 reference was a nod to his 10-win breakout season that ended in his first Cup Series championship. Measuring potential just three races into a 36-race season is often a dangerous proposition, but so far, the indicators are all pointing toward positives.

MORE: Stage-sweeping Cup Series wins | Watch NASCAR video highlights

Chevrolet is 3-for-3 to start the Cup Series season, with no let-up in the venerable Camaro ZL1 as rivals Ford and Toyota begin the process of sorting their new bodies for this season. Ford‘s signs of strength so far have been in qualifying with its own 3-for-3 mark in winning pole positions. Sunday, Toyota made its own proclamation of in-race speed with Reddick‘s runner-up finish but also with admirable showings from the Joe Gibbs Racing camp, with Ty Gibbs, Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin all scoring top-10 finishes.

“We‘re going to have to keep evolving pretty quick because the more they start to get their stuff figured out, the gap is going to get closed,” Daniels said. “To be honest, I know that win both stages and win the race, you would say we had the dominant day, but there were some cars that were pretty tough right there with us, and at the end of long runs, the 45 was there every time. I think the gap is actually tighter than what it may look on paper.”

On paper, the records show four Hendrick Motorsports victories in the last five Vegas races, at least providing the impression that the road to Victory Lane in Sin City and at other intermediate-sized tracks may have to go through its four-car fleet.

Larson said he came away from the No. 5 team‘s preseason gathering with his own bell and that another went to Daniels. A third one, Larson said, is safely kept in the team‘s hauler for occasions such as Sunday‘s.

As Larson said in Victory Lane, “Hopefully, we‘re going to be ringing that thing a lot this year.”

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Larson holds off Reddick for Vegas winhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/03/kyle-larson-holds-off-tyler-reddick-wins-cup-series-race-at-las-vegas/Sun, 03 Mar 2024 19:26:17 GMT-0500127744drivers, hendrick-motorsports, kyle-larson, las-vegas-motor-speedway, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, race-recap-ncs, racing-teams, Series, teams, tracksStaff ReportLAS VEGAS — Based on the box score alone, you might think Kyle Larson dominated Sunday‘s Pennzoil 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

You‘d be wrong.

Yes, Larson led 181 of 267 laps at the 1.5-mile track. Kyle Busch led the second-most—18. And, yes, Larson swept the first two stages and took the checkered flag to secure his third victory at Las Vegas, tying Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski for most among full-time active Cup drivers.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

The truth is that Larson had to use all his consummate skills behind the wheel to hold off Tyler Reddick after a restart with 27 laps left. Larson had the short-run speed, enough to build significant advantages early in a run.

But Reddick soon would begin closing the gap, so much so that with two laps left, Reddick was a scant 0.143 seconds behind Larson at the stripe, roughly one car-length.

Larson, however, was adept at putting his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in a position to block the progress of Reddick‘s No. 45 23XI Toyota, and when the race ended two laps later, Larson had increased the margin to 0.441 seconds.

“I knew Tyler was going to be the guy to beat from the first stage,” said Larson, who won for the first time this season and the 24th time in his career. “He was really fast there. I was hoping those guys were going to get racing a little bit longer behind me, because I felt like it was going to time out where he was running really hard and getting the tow to catch me at the end.

“Thankfully, (I) was able to air block him a couple laps and get him tight. I thought him and (23XI teammate) Bubba (Wallace) were going to get working together again to build a run, so I was happy that didn’t happen.

“But all in all, such a great job by this Hendrick Cars Chevy team and just their execution, pit road, restarts—all that was great. Cool to get a win here at Vegas again. Back-to-back, swept all the stages again. Can’t ask for much more.”

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

The closing laps brought a familiar pattern that had developed during the race. In both the first and second stages, Reddick was closing fast on Larson but couldn‘t get close enough before the stages ended. The end of the race was déjà vu.

“Yeah, Kyle did a really good job there of pretty much taking away every option I had to close the gap,” said Reddick, whose cause was hurt by pit road issues, including a slide through his stall. “Yeah, he seemed pretty good in the middle, and I was obviously really good on the bottom. He just never let me have it.

“I kept trying to run higher and higher, and he was kind of running right in the middle of the race track there, was kind of pretty efficient to block both lanes. Every time I kind of got close, we’re running just wide open enough in Turn 1 and 2 that he could kind of defend pretty well. It’s frustrating. I feel like we were never up front really all day long until it got to the stage end.”

The victory was Larson‘s second straight in Sin City and the 10th at LVMS for team owner Rick Hendrick, whose cars have won four straight spring races at the intermediate track. It was the third straight win for Chevrolet to start the season.

Reigning series champion Ryan Blaney finished third, followed by Ross Chastain, who started from the rear of the field because of an unapproved adjustment to his No. 1 Trackhouse Chevrolet (replacing a dislodged portion of the wrap on his car). Chastain also overcame a pit road speeding penalty incurred during a green-flag stop on Lap 121.

Ty Gibbs rallied from an uncontrolled tire violation to finish fifth, followed by Noah Gragson, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, pole winner Joey Logano and DAYTONA 500 winner Willam Byron, who fought back from a lap he lost in removing a large trash bag that had attached to the nose of his car on the windswept track.

Larson took over the series lead from Busch, who finished 26th after drawing a penalty for pitting outside his box midway through the final stage. Blaney is second in the standings, eight points behind Larson. Busch dropped to sixth, 23 points back.

NOTE: Post-race inspection in the Cup Series garage concluded without issue, confirming Larson as the race winner.

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Nemechek dominates at Las Vegashttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/02/nemechek-dominates-xfinity-race-at-las-vegas/Sat, 02 Mar 2024 21:28:50 GMT-0500127741drivers, joe-gibbs-racing, john-hunter-nemechek, las-vegas-motor-speedway, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-xfinity-series, race-recap-nxs, racing-teams, Series, teams, tracksStaff ReportLAS VEGAS — Chandler Smith won the battle. John Hunter Nemechek won the war.

The Joe Gibbs Racing teammates spent most of Saturday afternoon racing each other for the top spot in The LiUNA!, a 300-mile NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It was Nemechek who proved superior in the long run.

After Smith won the first two stages of the race — the second with a deft last-lap pass of Nemechek‘s No. 20 Toyota — Nemechek asserted his dominance.

By the time Nemechek crossed the finish line at the end of Lap 200, he held a 4.360-second lead over pole winner Cole Custer, who had charged into second place after a late cycle of green-flag pit stops.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

“Hats off to all the guys on this 20 team for Joe Gibbs Racing, said Nemechek, who led a race-high 99 laps in securing his first victory of the season, his first at Las Vegas and the 10th of his career.

“Man, it‘s awesome to come out here and win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with a limited number of starts. Our goal is to come and win as many as we possibly could. Nothing else matters.

Congrats to Tyler (Allen). He‘s the crew chief this year on the 20 car; his first win as a crew chief. Our spotter, Ryan Blanchard — his first win as well… Man, it feels so good to win here in Las Vegas. Got to rest for tomorrow, so I‘m excited.”

Now full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series with Legacy Motor Club, Nemechek will race in Sunday‘s Pennzoil 400 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Smith arguably had the best car in the race until he pitted with the rest of the field at the second stage break.

“We just over-adjusted a little bit,” said Smith, who led 74 laps, including the first 49, and came home third. “(We were) trying to stay ahead of the race track, and it feels actually like it might have gotten a little colder as well.

“It felt like track definitely freed up, and we went in that same direction, thinking it was going to tighten up. So you live and you learn… We were pretty dominant and we just over-adjusted, but I‘m happy that a Joe Gibbs Racing car still won.”

MORE: Watch NASCAR video highlights

Austin Hill, who triumphed in the first two races of the season, at Daytona and Atlanta, was fourth, with Riley Herbst finishing fifth after dominating the Las Vegas race last fall. AJ Allmendinger, Ryan Sieg, Sammy Smith, Brandon Jones and Justin Allgaier completed the top 10.

Hill retained his series lead by 22 points over Smith in second. Hailie Deegan was the top Sunoco rookie with a 15th-place finish.

For the second time in three races, ill fortune beset JR Motorsports‘ Sam Mayer, who completed just 22 of 120 laps in the season opener at Daytona.

Mayer was running 10th on Lap 8 on Saturday when the No. 31 Chevrolet of fifth-place qualifier Parker Retzlaff turned sideways in front of him and slammed into the right side of Mayer‘s car, knocking him out of the race.

“It‘s just the year from hell,” Mayer said. “Very frustrating and unfortunate and can‘t wait to get to Phoenix (for next Saturday‘s race).”

Another early casualty was New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen, who took his Kaulig Racing Chevrolet behind the wall with overheating problems after completing 27 laps.

Van Gisbergen and Mayer finished 37th and 38th, respectively, in the 38-car field.

NOTE: Post-race inspection in the NASCAR Xfinity Series was completed without issue; confirming Nemechek as the winner. The Nos. 9 and 42 each had one lug nut not safe and secure.

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Cup Series ready for Las Vegas encorehttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/02/cup-series-ready-for-las-vegas-encore/Sat, 02 Mar 2024 18:44:24 GMT-0500127737atlanta-motor-speedway, brad-keselowski, daniel-suarez, drivers, joey-logano, kyle-larson, las-vegas-motor-speedway, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-cup-series, Series, tracks, william-byronStaff ReportPennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube

(Sunday, 3:30 p.m. ET | FOX | PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Weekend schedule | TV schedule | Weather tracker | NASCAR 101

Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Track length: 1.5 miles
Cup Series race purse: $9,386,054
Race distance: 267 laps | 400 miles
Stages: 80 | 165 | 267

Starting lineup: Logano lands 30th Cup Series pole
Pit stall assignments:
Where drivers will pit Sunday
Defending winner:
William Byron, March 2023

Key things to watch

Saturday sessions

Joey Logano continued his front-row streak in Saturday‘s Busch Light Pole qualifying, going 3-for-3 to start the season by putting his No. 22 Team Penske Ford atop the time chart with a 184.357 mph lap. He‘ll be joined on the front row by Kyle Larson, the Las Vegas track‘s most recent winner last October. Larson was also fastest in the consecutive 10-lap average category in Cup Series practice, which was topped by Trackhouse Racing‘s Ross Chastain in single-lap speed. | Read practice, qualifying recap 

Big story line

What does the Cup Series do for an encore after last week‘s dazzler at Atlanta?

The brilliance of last Sunday‘s three-wide photo finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway remains the talk of the tour, but it‘s a far different intermediate-sized track that greets the Cup Series this weekend. Both the Atlanta tilt and the season-opening Daytona 500 were held with the superspeedway rules configuration, but the Cup Series‘ baseline package will make its 2024 debut this weekend at Vegas, where the turns are banked 20 degrees vs. the 28-degree Atlanta curves. Sunday‘s 400-miler should provide a truer test for the Cup Series‘ early balance of power, in contrast to the sometimes-fickle brand of racing seen in the first two superspeedway-style events.

Las Vegas hasn‘t had a race as close as Daniel Suárez‘s 0.003-second win last weekend, but then again, few tracks have. Jimmie Johnson edged out Matt Kenseth in this race in 2006 by a 0.045-second margin in the closest Cup Series event in Vegas track history (32 races), but just last fall, Larson held off Christopher Bell here by a scant 0.082 seconds at the finish. Three of the four closest Las Vegas finishes have occurred in the last four years.

The event will also mark the first intermediate oval for the new Ford and Toyota bodies that made their Cup Series debut this year. Both manufacturers are looking for their first win of the season after a Chevrolet sweep of the first two Cup Series events. Fords have ruled qualifying so far, with three poles in three races.

And the weather deserves its own mention, with windy conditions prevailing all weekend long at Las Vegas. The buffeting breeze is forecast to subside slightly after the National Weather Service‘s high-wind warning expires Sunday morning, but the gusty feel will be a factor for teams, drivers and fans in attendance to bundle up for.

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

joey logano celebrates winning the pole Chris Graythen | Getty Images

History tells us…

A pair of Ford pilots top the all-time win list among active drivers, with Team Penske‘s Logano and RFK Racing‘s Brad Keselowski each prevailing three times at Las Vegas. Both of those drivers are currently experiencing dry spells, with Logano riding a 33-race winless skid and Keselowski‘s drought at an even 100 races.

More recently, Hendrick Motorsports drivers have ruled the Las Vegas roost, winning three of the last four races with three different drivers and finishing 1-2-3 in this race last year with William Byron outlasting teammates Larson and Alex Bowman at the checkered flag. The only non-Hendrick driver to win at Las Vegas during that two-year span is Logano, who reached the 30-win mark in his Cup Series career here in 2022 on the way to his second Cup championship.

He may not be the betting favorite to win, but watch out for…

Alex Bowman. Going off as a 22-1 shot, Bowman heads to the site of the most recent of his seven Cup Series victories (March 2022) with reason for optimism. The No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports driver has been a top-three finisher in two of his last three Vegas starts. The small sample size of the 2024 campaign has been a mixed lot for Bowman, who was runner-up to teammate William Byron in the Daytona 500, then placed a crash-hampered 27th at Atlanta last week. Worth an honorable mention among potential underdogs is Todd Gilliland, who has yet to crack the top 20 at Vegas in four starts but is the Cup Series‘ current chart-topper in laps led. He‘s a 250-1 long shot. | Las Vegas odds

Speed reads

Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles. 

• Turning Point: Trends from Atlanta, heading to Vegas | Read article
• Trackhouse‘s triumph:
Giving NASCAR‘s disruptors their due | Read article
• Worldwide win:
Suárez keeps celebration rolling with Pitbull | Read article
• Glove fits: Logano, Stewart-Haas penalties in focus at Vegas | Read article
• Front Row‘s upswing:
McDowell, Gilliland impress early on| Read article
• NASCAR Classics: Picks to click from our video library for Vegas viewing | Read article
36 for 36: NASCAR survivor pool selections for Las Vegas | Read article
Memory lane: Through the years with Las Vegas‘ biggest moments | See the photos
• Inside the numbers: Racing Insights projects the final race results | Read article
At-track photos: Scenes, sights from the city that never sleeps | Photo gallery
• Fantasy Fastlane: Lineup advice for Las Vegas | See fantasy tips
• Paint Scheme Preview: Fresh designs with Las Vegas style | Pick a favorite
• Power Rankings: Suárez makes statement in Top 20 | Latest driver rankings

Fast facts

Race-relevant statistics, brought to you by the experts at Racing Insights.

Martin Truex Jr. has registered seven consecutive top-10 finishes at Vegas, the longest active streak among Cup Series drivers. He is a two-time Las Vegas winner (2017, 2019).
Hendrick Motorsports swept all four stages in last year‘s Las Vegas races. The organization‘s next Cup Series stage win will be its 100th.
Chevrolet has won five of the last seven Cup Series events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

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Joey Logano soars to pole at Las Vegashttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/02/joey-logano-soars-to-pole-at-las-vegas/Sat, 02 Mar 2024 18:32:40 GMT-0500127735drivers, joey-logano, las-vegas-motor-speedway, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, racing-teams, Series, team-penske, teams, tracksStaff ReportLAS VEGAS— For the second NASCAR Cup Series race this young season, Joey Logano will start on the pole.

After speeding around windswept Las Vegas Motor Speedway at 184.357 mph in the final round of Saturday‘s time trials, Logano will occupy the top spot on the grid for Sunday‘s Pennzoil 400 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Starting lineup | At-track photos

A three-time winner at the 1.5-mile intermediate speedway — tied with Brad Keselowski for most among full-time active drivers — Logano beat Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson (184.225 mph) for the pole position by 0.021 seconds.

The Busch Light Pole Award was Logano‘s third at Las Vegas and the 30th of his Cup Series career. It was also unexpected, based on Logano‘s performance in practice.

“I didn‘t expect it when I saw our short-run speed in practice,” Logano said. “We showed that we had great long-run speed. Our second run, we made an adjustment and went back out and like, ‘Oh, wow, we‘re really competitive.‘ The car was driving pretty good.

“So I felt really good about that, but our short run, our fire-off, we weren‘t real fast… and I barely made it through the first round (of qualifying) by the skin of our teeth.”

Logano said the wind, which stiffened between rounds, was a significant factor in his pole-winning run in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford.

“I‘ve got to think it‘s wind that made the difference,” Logano said. “The first run, I was pretty slow through (Turns) 1 and 2 all the way through the corner… we (must have) had a big gust the first run, or something that held us back a little bit.

“That doesn‘t seem to make sense. We were really good through 1 and 2 the second time. The first time we were horrible through there.”

Logano‘s Team Penske teammate Austin Cindric (184.093 mph) qualified third, followed by Daytona 500 winner William Byron (183.911 mph), as Fords and Chevrolets split the top four grid positions.

Bubba Wallace (183.648 mph) was fifth in the fastest Toyota. Chase Briscoe, Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs, Chris Buescher and Christopher Bell will start sixth through 10th, respectively, in Sunday‘s race.

Logano, who won the pole for the Daytona 500, qualified second for last Sunday‘s race at Atlanta using a webbed glove on his left hand, presumably for an aerodynamic advantage by blocking more airflow through the car.

But the glove did not conform to mandated safety standards. For the violation, he lost his starting spot and incurred a fine of $10,000.

MORE: Logano‘s gloves, SHR roof rails in post-penalty focus at Las Vegas | Watch NASCAR video highlights

“I‘m going to take a portion of the responsibility for that, too,” said Logano. “I didn‘t build the glove. I didn‘t make it on my own — I can‘t sew, OK? That‘s what it was, and we had a conversation about it.

“What I‘m proud about is that, as a team, even though it was a tough situation to us and hard to go through, embarrassing for sure, but the fact that we got through it and just move on and focus on the next week. We showed we have speed in our race car and put it on the pole.

“To me, it‘s a statement-type lap.”

Practice

Trackhouse Racing‘s Ross Chastain set the fastest time in practice at 184.269 mph. The No. 1 Chevrolet bested Noah Gragson (183.661 mph), Ty Gibbs (182.859 mph), Tyler Reddick (182.846 mph) and Denny Hamlin (182.723 mph), who all rounded out the top five.

RELATED: Full practice results | Las Vegas schedule

Bubba Wallace (182.673 mph), Chase Briscoe (182.439 mph), William Byron (182.346 mph), Kyle Larson (182.328 mph) and Chris Buescher (182.094 mph) completed the top 10.

Practice only had one pause in the action when Ryan Preece spun and hit the Turn 2 wall with the left side of his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford during Group A.

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Drivers still buzzing over Atlanta finishhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/02/drivers-still-buzzing-over-atlanta-finish/Sat, 02 Mar 2024 18:13:49 GMT-0500127732atlanta-motor-speedway, corey-lajoie, daniel-suarez, drivers, las-vegas-motor-speedway, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-cup-series, ryan-blaney, Series, tracksStaff ReportLAS VEGAS — From the drop of the green flag in last week‘s Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the Cup Series field was on the chip. The instant intensity led to a 16-car pileup — the biggest melee of wreckage in track history — on just the second lap of the race.

From start to finish, the entire field was on the edge of surpassing the limits of their respective race cars. Some drivers boiled the fast-and-furiousness down to being able to maximize the limit of the tire provided while still being able to control their chassis enough to make aggressive moves. Compared to the Daytona 500 just one week prior, there wasn‘t much fuel saving going on, which allowed drivers to maneuver through the field like an old-school superspeedway race.

“I was saying, ‘I don‘t know what was in everyone‘s cereal that morning that decided to be so intense racing the whole time,‘” 2023 Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney said on Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, site of Sunday‘s Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). “It was fun.”

MORE: Full Las Vegas schedule | Logano earns 30th career pole

Even all-around superstar Kyle Larson, who wouldn‘t list superspeedway racing among his stronger skills, had a blast. The No. 5 car led 17 laps prior to getting involved in a lap 220 incident that also collected Brad Keselowski and Corey LaJoie.

Afterwards, he was still smiling from ear-to-ear despite it being the fourth time he‘s wrecked out at Atlanta in the five races since it‘s been reconfigured.

“It was fun, to me, because we were up front for a lot of it and battling,” Larson said. “There was no real fuel-saving stuff, so you were just going at it and never settled in line — you were always trying to pass, which was fun. It‘s kind of like all the drivers had the same mindset of not riding around.”

That aggressiveness over the course of 400 miles resulted in seven multi-car incidents. The race also set a track record with a whopping 48 lead changes. And despite just three of the 37 starters not having any sort of crash-related damage, 29 cars saw the checkered flag.

“Everyone is talking about the finish and the finish was spectacular, but the whole race was great,” Blaney added. “We had the big wreck on lap one-and-a-half, but the whole race, we were going at it.

“We were dicing it up; the cars were a handful. You saw guys spin out on their own and it shows how on edge you were and if you got a wrong sniff of air at some point, you just turn around. It was a blast. Hopefully, as that track keeps aging, it keeps getting better and better. The whole 400 miles was a great show.”

LaJoie had high praise of the race, saying: “Everybody was quick to judge Atlanta, but you give it two years of aging and it gives us the most entertaining race we‘ve ever seen.”

daniel suarez celebrates with a burnout at atlanta

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

Despite the fierce battles throughout the field, the Atlanta race will be remembered for the finish. Daniel Suárez, Blaney and Kyle Busch crossed the finish line three abreast, separated by .007 of a second. Suárez squeaked out the win by .003 seconds over Blaney, making it the third-closest finish in NASCAR history. It trails only Darlington in 2003 in a classic battle between Ricky Craven and Kurt Busch and a nailbiter in Talladega in 2011 with Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer, both of which were .002 seconds.

“The entire race, I felt behind the seat and you guys probably felt from the media center, a lot of fans from home and at the race track, the intensity of the race was very high,” Suárez stated. “Probably one of the most intense races I‘ve been a part of.”

Even on re-watch, drivers were giddy over the race. LaJoie explained that while studying film and watching the race on Monday, he was on the edge of his seat, which was similar to how it felt inside his cockpit.

“That [expletive] was electric,” LaJoie added, who rebounded to finish 13th with a battered No. 7 Chevrolet. “I go back and watch it and my heart was beating and I‘m sitting on the couch on a Monday afternoon, saying, ‘Oh my goodness, this is wild.‘”

Without a doubt, drivers and their spotters were left mentally fatigued at Atlanta. Battling that personal exhaustion is a true test, making it only more rewarding when a team is successful.

“Every lap, I was reaching up and tugging the belts, ‘Holy [expletive], this is wild,” LaJoie said. “It‘s a mental battle of a fast-paced chess game.”

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Social media reacts to Caruth's Truck Series winhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/02/social-media-reacts-to-caruths-truck-series-win/Sat, 02 Mar 2024 17:26:34 GMT-0500127725bubba-wallace, dale-earnhardt-jr, drivers, kyle-larson, las-vegas-motor-speedway, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-camping-world-truck-series, nascar-craftsman-truck-series, nascar-cup-series, rajah-caruth, Series, spire-motorsports, teams, tracks, william-byronStaff ReportRajah Caruth celebrated his first career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory Friday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, becoming the third Black driver to win a NASCAR national touring series event, joining Wendell Scott and Bubba Wallace.

The motorsports community rallied around social media to congratulate Caruth, whose respect around the garage area and beyond shined brightest in his first crowning moment. From Wallace to Dale Earnhardt Jr. and much more, see the reactions that had people beaming Friday night for Caruth:

RELATED: Full race recap | Race results

MORE: Watch NASCAR video highlights

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History, family intersect for Caruthhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/02/history-family-intersect-for-caruth/Sat, 02 Mar 2024 16:57:56 GMT-0500127727drivers, las-vegas-motor-speedway, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-camping-world-truck-series, nascar-craftsman-truck-series, nascar-cup-series, rajah-caruth, Series, spire-motorsports, teams, tracksStaff ReportLAS VEGAS — Samantha Caruth was beaming. As a self-proclaimed hugger, she took the moment to embrace seemingly everyone who visited Victory Lane late Saturday night to congratulate her and her son, Rajah, on his first trip there in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

Roger Caruth sat close by, checkered cloth in hand while fielding calls from well-wishers who were still awake back home, thousands of miles from the Las Vegas Motor Speedway oval. His notifications for missed calls and unread texts had already surged past two dozen in the short walk from pit road to the trophy presentation in the center of the fan-friendly garage. That figure was expected to multiply as word of his son‘s accomplishment spread.

“Some people are sleeping on the East Coast, so they‘re probably going to find out in the morning,” Roger Caruth told NASCAR.com. “So that‘s when my phone‘s going to really start blowing up.”

It was a good problem to have.

“It‘s exciting,” he said. “I mean, that‘s what racing is about.”

Rajah Caruth celebrated a historic night by becoming the third Black driver to win a NASCAR national series race, etching his name alongside Hall of Fame trailblazer Wendell Scott and current-day Cup Series star Bubba Wallace. The 21-year-old driver punctuated the moment with a professional-grade smoky burnout that made him look like a seasoned veteran, far removed from his earlier Late Model triumphs at Hickory and Tri-County in the North Carolina foothills and light-years away from his iRacing roots.

History intersected with family Friday night at Las Vegas, and Roger Caruth was among the first to cross the tri-oval‘s infield grass to embrace his son after the checkered flag unfurled.

“I‘m pretty speechless. It‘s been a tough journey so far,” said Rajah Caruth, now in his second full season of Truck Series competition. His first truck win arrived in his 30th start. “A lot of people have helped me get to this point. Thank you to every single one of y‘all. Definitely ups and downs, but this journey has been fruitful at times and testing at times. … This winter was a lot of uncertainty about where I‘d be driving, not having a bunch of funding behind me at the time. I just stayed true to my faith and my family. Fortunately, a lot of people put a lot of stuff together for me to be in this spot.”

RELATED: Caruth scores first Truck Series win | NASCAR community reacts

Even before Friday night‘s triumph, the week had been a banner one for Caruth. His Spire Motorsports No. 71 Chevrolet team received extra backing from HendrickCars.com just two days earlier, increasing its primary sponsorship from a previously announced 10-race deal to a secure, full-season run for 2024.

That vote of confidence was rewarded in short order in Friday‘s qualifying session when Caruth rocketed to his first career Truck Series pole position. The FOX Sports crew that interviewed him after his qualifying effort had perceived an uncharacteristic show of emotion. Caruth blamed his would-be tears on catching some dust in his eyes — a trope of an excuse right up there with cutting onions. He explained later that because of the intense, swirling wind in the Nevada desert, the dust was the actual culprit and not a convenient, hackneyed scapegoat.

The extra support was rewarded again in Friday night‘s race, where Caruth ran consistently among the top five with finishes of second and third at the stage breaks. The final stage is where the No. 71 group nailed the final pit stop — the Spire team with the strategy piece and Caruth on the execution — when his closest challengers stumbled with penalties or other shortcomings in the sequence.

The Caruth family -- from left: Roger, Samantha and Rajah -- on the starting grid at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

The week had already been a win for Caruth & Co., but when the pit-stop exchange netted out and the race went clean and green for the final stretch, a breakthrough seemed well within reach.

“Wherever he placed, I would have been celebrating,” Samantha Caruth said in between hugs later. “This is just extra on top of extra. He‘s living his dream in real-time.”

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

The pinch-me dream state from Las Vegas was shared by the Spire Motorsports group that‘s grown in big leaps in recent months. Spire‘s Craftsman Truck Series operation is continuing the legacy of the Kyle Busch Motorsports team that it absorbed, now with four allied full-time trucks making a run of it alongside its expanded three-car Cup Series effort.

Doug Duchardt, a longtime NASCAR executive with a wide breadth of racing experience, was a key component to Spire‘s recent moves. He‘s been on the job as Spire Motorsports team president for all of three months now. Duchardt has experienced plenty of wins and championships from his earlier management roles with Hendrick Motorsports and Chip Ganassi Racing, but his post with Spire represents part of a ground-up build from an organization that first hit the track just five years ago.

Caruth‘s victory — which made Spire-affiliated teams 3-for-3 in the Truck Series win column so far this season — was a big step in the organization‘s growth.

“I think every first win is special for anyone. I think for Rajah and for Spire and then for HendrickCars who just came on, it‘s just … it‘s extremely, it‘s hard to state how special just for everyone,” Duchardt told NASCAR.com. “Rajah has a pretty cool demeanor, he doesn‘t show a lot of emotion, but I know it‘s been a lot of work, and a lot of work by him and all of his support system with his family. So I‘m just really happy and proud — of him and for him.

“But then our team, it was a huge lift for the whole team to put four truck teams and three Cup teams together in one shop and work together to get through all that and get through this first bit of the season. And so I‘m just proud of everyone at Spire Motorsports for getting through that. And I think what makes it special is, of course, it‘s three in a row in the Truck Series with three different drivers, and it just shows the depth of the team and how much those guys on that truck side work together.”

The celebration rolled on into the night, with Victory Lane team photos, another trophy pic with Caruth‘s group-chat besties and other commemorations of a career first. “Aw, I‘m so happy for you guys,” said Cup Series standout Ross Chastain after finding his way to Victory Lane for one of Samantha Caruth‘s hugs.

MORE: At-track photos: Vegas | Weekend schedule

Among the rotation in the hat dance of Victory Lane photos was a family portrait worth savoring.

“I‘m really glad both my parents are here,” Rajah Caruth said. “Especially my dad. I know my sister‘s watching, too. They‘ve been my rock. My dad took me to my first race. Both my parents did, with my late granddad. Got me that first experience. Really enabled me to put in the work and chase the dreams, like I said, of living by myself in North Carolina. I can‘t imagine for a mom, for a dad, to send their 18-year-old kid to a completely different culture, a completely different lifestyle, to live on his own, work at a race shop, and be in a completely different environment.

“I‘m glad they‘re here. They‘ve been with me every step of the way. That‘s honestly a blessing I‘ve really had, is having my parents, my sister, a lot of really good close friends and others that have helped elevate me, helped me during the tough times and helped me celebrate for the good ones.”

“This is a beginning of a bright future, I think,” Roger Caruth said. “It‘s been kind of a struggle to get here, but that‘s the nature of the game. We just took full advantage of the opportunities that we had, knowing that he had to potentially do what he did tonight.”

What better place to savor a career-defining triumph than Las Vegas, with the nearby glitz, the neon lights, the cheeky nightlife, the long-ingrained gambling culture and the high-roller swagger. Gaming media scribes at the Vegas speedway pointed out to Caruth that his accomplishment was also a big win Friday night for bullish bettors. At the suggestion that he stay awhile to share in the party atmosphere, Caruth politely but firmly declined.

“I‘m going home, bro,” Caruth laughed. “I am flying back, yeah. I am a homebody. I stay inside.”

Which all makes sense. Home, after all, is where family is.

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Rajah Caruth earns historic Trucks winhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/02/rajah-caruth-earns-historic-truck-series-win/Sat, 02 Mar 2024 16:47:03 GMT-0500127723drivers, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-camping-world-truck-series, nascar-competition, nascar-craftsman-truck-series, race-recap-trucks, racing-teams, rajah-caruth, Series, spire-motorsports, teamsStaff ReportLAS VEGAS — Rajah Caruth made a promise after taking the checkered flag in the Victoria‘s Voice Foundation 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“There‘s more to come, for sure,” said the 21-year-old Spire Motorsports driver moments after securing his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win from the pole position in Friday night‘s race.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

An alumnus of NASCAR‘s Drive for Diversity program, Caruth is the third African-American driver to win a NASCAR national series race, joining Hall of Famer Wendell Scott and Bubba Wallace.

It was a day for firsts for Caruth, who earlier on Friday won the initial Truck Series pole of his career by 0.001 seconds over Christian Eckes.

But it was Caruth‘s pit crew that helped decide the issue. During a 62-lap green-flag run to the finish, crew chief Chad Walter called Caruth‘s No. 71 Chevrolet to pit road early in the cycle.

The over-the-wall crew performed a flawless stop, and after other contenders made their stops during the cycle, Caruth inherited the lead on Lap 114 with an advantage over Taylor Gray of nearly two seconds.

That margin enabled Caruth, who led 38 laps, to finish 0.851 seconds in front of fast-closing Tyler Ankrum, who passed Gray for the second spot on Lap 120.

“It‘s surreal,” said Caruth. “Thinks so much to (sponsor) HendrickCars.com and Mr. H (Hendrick) for putting me in this thing all year, and with the men and women at Spire.

“So many people have helped me get to this point, and I can‘t believe it. I just stayed cool. We lost track position in little portions of the race, and we stayed in the game. … My guys got me a great stop, and we just executed.”

MORE: Watch NASCAR video highlights

A lack of execution ruined the chances of several contenders. Ty Majeski, who led a race-high 40 of the 134 laps and swept the first two stages, drew a penalty for speeding on pit road on Lap 102. So did Daytona winner Nick Sanchez, snuffing out a late rally.

Defending race winner Kyle Busch‘s crew was guilty of a tire violation, preventing Caruth‘s Spire teammate from contending for the victory. But with Busch winning last week at Atlanta, Spire now has two straight victories.

In the closing laps, Ankrum could see Caruth tantalizingly in front of him, just out of reach.

“I wish we would have had 10 more laps, and I think we could have gotten it,” said Ankrum, who retained his series lead by five points over second-place Majeski. “But we tend to say that a lot in racing. I wish we would have been able to do it, but I think our time is coming.” 

Corey Heim finished third and is seven points behind Ankum in the standings. Caruth climbed one spot from fifth to fourth, 10 points out of the series lead.

Gray ran fourth on Friday, followed by Christopher Bell. Eckes, Matt Crafton, Zane Smith, Grant Enfinger and Majeski completed the top 10. Busch finished 15th, one lap down.

The Truck Series will head east to race at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 16 (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NOTE: Post-race inspection in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series was completed without issue; confirming Caruth as the winner

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Can anyone in the Xfinity Series stop Austin Hill?https://www.mrn.com/2024/03/01/can-anyone-in-the-xfinity-series-stop-austin-hill/Fri, 01 Mar 2024 17:15:56 GMT-0500127714austin-hill, Chevrolet, drivers, las-vegas-motor-speedway, manufacturer, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-wire-service, nascar-xfinity-series, richard-childress-racing, Series, teams, tracksStaff ReportThere‘s an old axiom that posits that it‘s better to be lucky than good.

So, what happens when you have both factors in your favor?

Answer: You‘re Austin Hill, and you win back-to-back NASCAR Xfinity Series races to start the 2024 season.

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

Hill won the rain-delayed United Auto Rentals 300 at Daytona on Feb. 19, taking the checkered flag in the season-opener for the third straight year. Five days later, he won at Atlanta when Richard Childress Racing teammate and pole winner Jesse Love — and a host of others — ran out of fuel late in an event that went to overtime.

On Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Hill will try to win his third straight race in The LiUNA! (5 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

MORE: Las Vegas schedule | Xfinity Series standings

There‘s a streak on the line for Chevrolet, too. Chevrolet drivers have swept two straight Cup/Xfinity/Truck tripleheader weekends and are looking to extend that success in the three national series at Las Vegas.

Las Vegas native Riley Herbst looks to disrupt that string of victories in the No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. Herbst got his breakout Xfinity Series win last year at his home track during a streak of five straight top-four finishes to end the season.

“I‘m pumped,” Herbst said. “Not only am I going home, but I‘m also going to a track that means the world to me. I started my racing career just next to the big track at the Las Vegas Bullring. That win last October meant everything. I had waited so long for it and, honestly, it just made it that much more meaningful to get it at my home track.

“There‘s definitely confidence going into this race, not only from me, but from the entire No. 98 Monster Energy team. We‘ve had speed at every race since then, and I know we can go out and contend for the win again. We still have to do everything right, but I‘m confident in this team.”

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Classics to watch before Las Vegashttps://www.mrn.com/2024/03/01/nascar-classics-to-watch-before-las-vegas/Fri, 01 Mar 2024 16:50:15 GMT-0500127716hendrick-motorsports, joe-gibbs-racing, las-vegas-motor-speedway, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-classics-nascar, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, rfk-racing, Series, teams, tracksStaff ReportThroughout the 2024 NASCAR season, Ken Martin, director of historical content for the sanctioning body, will offer his suggestions on which historical races fans should watch from the NASCAR Classics library in preparation for each upcoming race weekend.

Martin has worked for NASCAR exclusively since 2008 but has been involved with the sport since 1982, overseeing various projects. He worked in the broadcast booth for hundreds of races, assisting the broadcast team with different tasks. This includes calculating the “points as they run” for the historic 1992 finale — the Hooters 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The following suggestions are Ken‘s picks to watch before the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

1998 Las Vegas 400

The inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 1, 1998, the third race of NASCAR‘s 50th Anniversary season.

The celebrations stemming from NASCAR‘s storied history combined with the bright lights of Las Vegas created an edge-of-your-seat excitement before the green flag even waved.

Rusty Wallace‘s usual No. 2 Ford for Roger Penske was running a special scheme for the event, as Elvis Presley graced the hood of his car, which also included a special design on the door.

Ford was the story of the weekend, as Dale Jarrett put his Robert Yates Racing powered car on the pole, with another Ford of Geoff Bodine starting alongside of him. Altogether, Ford qualified in 16 of the first 24 positions.

That theme continued in the race, headlined by Mark Martin and the rest of his Jack Roush-led teammates. Martin led a race-high 82 laps en route to etching his name in the history books as the first Cup Series driver to win at the track.

All four of his teammates also finished in the top 10. Jeff Burton came home behind Martin in second, while Johnny Benson Jr. was fourth, Ted Musgrave was sixth and Chad Little came home 10th.

Dale Earnhardt, who finished eighth, was the only driver not piloting a Ford to finish in the top 14.

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 1, 1998: Mark Martin celebrates his victory in the Las Vegas 400 NASCAR Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The win was the first of seven victories Martin enjoyed during the 1998 NASCAR Cup season. (Photo by ISC Images & Archives via Getty Images)

2010 Shelby American 400

Amid all of his NASCAR Cup Series dominance, Jimmie Johnson captured his record fourth victory at Las Vegas. Johnson, who was coming off four of an eventual five straight championships, led the final 17 laps en route to Victory Lane.

The race featured 18 lead changes among nine drivers.

Johnson held off a legendary contingent of drivers to the checkered flag, as 11 of the first 12 finishers were named to NASCAR‘s 75 Greatest Drivers List in 2023. Altogether, 19 of those 75 drivers started the race.

Jeff Gordon (third), Mark Martin (fourth), Matt Kenseth (fifth) and Tony Stewart (seventh) have already been enshrined in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Johnson had won at the track in 2005, 2006 and 2007, which at the time made him the only driver with three victories at the track. Jeff Burton (1999 and 2000) and Matt Kenseth (2003 and 2004) were the only other two drivers at the time, who had multiple victories at Las Vegas.

To this date, Johnson is still the only driver with four victories at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

LAS VEGAS - FEBRUARY 28: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe

2017 Kobalt 400

Martin Truex Jr. passed Brad Keselowski with two laps remaining to pick up his first victory at the track.

He started second and dominated the event, leading 150 of 267 laps. Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano and Keselowski rounded out the top five.

The excitement didn‘t stop when the checkered flag waved, as chaos ensued on pit-road following a late race battle between Kyle Busch and Joey Logano. The two made contact on the track, which saw Busch spin around en route to a 22nd place finish.

Busch walked over to make his displeasure with Logano known following the race before a scuffle broke out between crew members and the drivers.

You can watch these three races and hundreds more by visiting NASCAR Classics.

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Why Byron may get another hat dancehttps://www.mrn.com/2024/02/29/why-byron-appears-headed-for-a-hat-dance-in-vegas/Thu, 29 Feb 2024 15:43:35 GMT-0500127699Fantasy Racing, hendrick-motorsports, las-vegas-motor-speedway, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, william-byronStaff ReportIt might be time for Hendrick Motorsports to break out the big victory hats again this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. That‘s because Racing Insights predicts William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet, will be headed to Victory Lane on Sunday in the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

FANTASY LIVE: Set your roster | Weekend schedule

In the advanced metrics, Byron outpoints teammate Kyle Larson by a significant margin, with Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney and Alex Bowman rounding out the top five. Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick, Martin Truex Jr. and Bubba Wallace complete the top 10. Meanwhile, Chase Elliott, in 17th, is the one Hendrick car left out of the party, according to the prediction model.

Perhaps the biggest reason to expect Byron to top off the field this week was the dominance he showed on the 1.5-mile tracks over the course of the entire 2023 season. He won the spring Las Vegas race last year and scored 44 more points than any other driver on 1.5-mile tracks in 2023.

If Byron can replicate last year‘s superiority on 1.5-mile tracks, then that will be a significant obstacle for the rest of the field to overcome.

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

OTHER DRIVERS TO WATCH

KYLE LARSON: Larson won the Las Vegas race in October and has finished inside the top 10 in 10 of his last 12 Las Vegas starts. If Byron doesn‘t bust out the big hats, it could be Larson doing the honors instead.

MARTIN TRUEX JR.: The two-time Las Vegas winner is the only driver to finish in the top 10 there in every one of the four races in the Next Gen car. Clearly, he and the No. 19 team at Joe Gibbs Racing have hit on something  that works well in the desert.

CHRISTOPHER BELL: He‘s lurking beneath Larson and Byron in several of the key stats at Las Vegas and on 1.5-mile tracks, but one place where he leads is with his streak of four top-10 finishes on 1.5-mile tracks. Count on Christopher to be in the hunt.

ROSS CHASTAIN: He‘s third behind Larson and Byron in laps led at Las Vegas in the Next Gen car. Look for the Trackhouse Racing star to do some more disrupting this week.

BUBBA WALLACE: He‘s known more for his superspeedway racing, but Wallace is showing significant progress on 1.5-mile tracks with five top-10 finishes in the last seven races. Plus, he finished fourth at Las Vegas last spring.

Projections as of Thursday, Feb. 29.

RACING INSIGHTS‘ PROJECTIONS FOR THE PENNZOIL 400 PRESENTED BY JIFFY LUBE

Racing Insights‘ advanced statistical formula includes current track, current track type, recent performance, team data and pit-crew data to arrive at a projected winner and full race results.

FinishCar NumberDriver
124William Byron
25Kyle Larson
311Denny Hamlin
412Ryan Blaney
548Alex Bowman
620Christopher Bell
71Ross Chastain
845Tyler Reddick
919Martin Truex Jr.
1023Bubba Wallace
118Kyle Busch
126Brad Keselowski
1322Joey Logano
1417Chris Buescher
1554Ty Gibbs
163Austin Dillon
179Chase Elliott
1847Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
1999Daniel Suárez
2021Harrison Burton
2143Erik Jones
2251Justin Haley
2341Ryan Preece
2414Chase Briscoe
2534Michael McDowell
262Austin Cindric
277Corey LaJoie
284Josh Berry
2910Noah Gragson
3038Todd Gilliland
3177Carson Hocevar
3242John H Nemechek
3371Zane Smith
3431Daniel Hemric
3515Kaz Grala
3616Derek Kraus

 

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Turning Point: Atlanta fallout, story lines, newshttps://www.mrn.com/2024/02/29/turning-point-atlanta-fallout-story-lines-news/Thu, 29 Feb 2024 15:42:23 GMT-0500127701atlanta-motor-speedway, daytona-500, daytona-international-speedway, drivers, hendrick-motorsports, las-vegas-motor-speedway, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-cup-series, Series, tracks, zach-sturnioloStaff ReportHere‘s what‘s happening in the world of NASCAR with Atlanta Motor Speedway in the rearview mirror and the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway right around the corner.

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

THE LINEUP ️

1️⃣ Will Daniel Suárez ride the momentum from Atlanta into Las Vegas?

2️⃣ Will Ford or Toyota put an end to Chevrolet‘s early dominance?

3️⃣ Significance of roof rails and the Stewart-Haas confiscation

4️⃣ Only two races in — but who is in trouble already?

5️⃣ Catch the pack — news and notes from around the garage

Daniel Suárez celebrates his Atlanta win in Victory Lane.

1. Will Daniel Suárez ride the momentum from Atlanta into Las Vegas?

With “hot seat” conversations swirling, Suárez‘s early trip to Victory Lane provides window into what could be a strong regular season.

The difference between Atlanta winner Daniel Suárez finishing first or third was a matter of 0.007 seconds — the tightest margin between three cars in NASCAR Cup Series history, according to Racing Insights. But those milliseconds could be the difference of a career path for the driver of Trackhouse Racing‘s No. 99 Chevrolet.

Suárez, the 2016 Xfinity Series champion, now has the chance to build an incredible regular season after earning a treasured spot in the playoffs just two races into the year. Locking that up before the calendar turns to March provides Suárez and new crew chief Matt Swiderski the opportunity to take more gambles — both in setups and race strategy.

The next steps of that journey will be taken this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Sunday, 3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the first track of the 2024 schedule that won‘t feature drafting in a pack and may provide better insight on what the year will truly have in store for the field. The bumpy 1.5-mile tri-oval in Nevada hasn‘t been great for Suárez historically, a track where he‘s nabbed just two top 10s in 13 starts. He led 31 laps in the 2022 playoff race there but only finished 16th, following that up in 2023 with results of 10th in March and 15th in October.

But a win in Suárez‘s pocket could open the door for bigger risks in hopes of bigger rewards — without facing the penalty of missing the postseason. Trackhouse Racing‘s dilemma — and therefore Suárez‘s — is that there are four drivers signed to the quickly-rising team with only two charters in team owner Justin Marks‘ hands. Suárez‘s teammate Ross Chastain has won four races across each of the past two seasons to Suárez‘s two, and Zane Smith is already at the Cup level under a Trackhouse contract while racing the No. 71 Chevrolet at Spire Motorsports. Shane van Gisbergen made the leap from elite Supercars racer to rising NASCAR star after winning his Cup debut at the inaugural Chicago Street Race in 2023 and now has a full-time ride in the Xfinity Series, contracted with Trackhouse while competing for Kaulig Racing — with eyes on a full-time Cup ride whenever that door opens.

A thrilling and popular victory at Atlanta may be all Suárez needed to quell those concerns surrounding his future, even if he “never felt like (he) was on the hot seat.” But improved performance through the rest of 2024 could prove pivotal after just nine top fives from 2022-23 compared to Chastain‘s 25.

It all starts Sunday in Sin City.

Austin Cindric in a Ford and Denny Hamlin in a Toyota lead the field in a NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta.

2. Will Ford or Toyota put an end to Chevrolet‘s dominance?

Two races, two wins for Chevy. But Ford and Toyota bring new hope into the Las Vegas desert.

Chevrolet‘s early-season stranglehold on the competition isn‘t only limited to the NASCAR Cup Series. Through six national series regular-season events including the Xfinity Series and Craftsman Truck Series, the bowties are undefeated.

But the other two manufacturers in NASCAR might have a bigger say Sunday at Las Vegas. Ford‘s new Dark Horse Mustang and Toyota‘s fresh Camry XSE have had their own flashes of brilliance through this season‘s infancy — and we may not have seen all their potential capabilities yet either.

Fords have swept the front row in qualifying each of the last two weeks with Joey Logano and Michael McDowell taking turns as Cup Series polesitters in 2024. Toyotas swept the Bluegreen Vacations Duels qualifying dashes at Daytona with Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell just 12 days after Denny Hamlin celebrated a victory in the exhibition Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Feb. 3.

Las Vegas will be a beast of its own, one that likely tells us more than what Los Angeles, Daytona or Atlanta could offer. But that‘s not to say Chevrolet should suddenly cower in the corner. Hendrick Motorsports has won each of the last three spring races at Las Vegas with three different drivers — Kyle Larson in 2021 (in the Gen 6 Camaro), Alex Bowman in 2022 and William Byron in 2023. For what it‘s worth, Chase Elliott would love to break his winless streak and add to Hendrick‘s full house.

But the Chevrolets also have the advantage of bringing a known product to the race track with relevant notes to inform decisions. Ford and Toyota, meanwhile, will head to Vegas relying solely on simulation data and hopes their reconfigured calculations prove correct.

Noah Gragson drives the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford at Atlanta.

3. Inside the Race: Significance of roof rails and the Stewart-Haas Atlanta confiscation

The Nos. 10 and 41 Stewart-Haas Racing teams were docked 35 driver and owner points Tuesday for infractions. Why do roof rails matter? Steve Letarte and Todd Gordon explain.

 

4. Only two races in — but who is in trouble already?

Some big names find themselves well outside the top 25 in points after Daytona and Atlanta. Who can turn their seasons around fastest?

DriversDaytonaAtlantaCurrent points position
Joey Logano32nd28th31st
Tyler Reddick29th30th24th
Brad Keselowski33rd33rd34th
Josh Berry25th29th29th
Todd Gilliland35th26th30th
Austin Dillon37th22nd33rd

5. Catch the pack — news and notes from around the garage

Power Rankings: Daniel Suárez makes a statement but what comes next?

Paint Scheme Preview: See the schemes for Las Vegas tripleheader

Analysis: Race of a lifetime at Atlanta dazzles with historic finish

NASCAR Classics: Races to watch following exciting photo finish

Kyle Petty: Suárez‘s photo finish will replace Lee Petty‘s as mile marker for sport

@nascarcasm: Fake texts to Atlanta winner Daniel Suárez

Austin Hill saves just enough gas, steals Xfinity Series win at Atlanta

Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch just short in slim, three-wide finish at Atlanta

Social media reacts to Atlanta finish: ‘What a race!‘

The NASCAR Cup Series races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

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Bubba Pollard to make Xfinity debut at Richmond with JRMhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/02/29/bubba-pollard-to-make-xfinity-debut-at-richmond-with-jrm/Thu, 29 Feb 2024 15:41:03 GMT-0500127703advance-auto-parts-weekly-series, dale-earnhardt-jr, jr-motorsports-teams, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-regional, nascar-xfinity-series, richmond-raceway, SeriesStaff ReportMOORESVILLE, N.C. — Champion Late Model driver Andrew “Bubba” Pollard will make his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut next month with the support of Rheem Manufacturing and JR Motorsports, the team announced today.

The 37-year-old Senoia, Georgia native will drive the No. 88 Rheem Chevrolet for the team owned by NASCAR Hall of Famers Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Rick Hendrick, and Kelley Earnhardt Miller in the March 30 Xfinity Series race at Richmond Raceway.

Pollard, a perennial contender in the prestigious Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida year after year, has gone to Victory Lane in more than 100 Late Model races in his career, including the All American 400 at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway and, most recently, at Speedfest for the third time. Next month‘s event at Richmond will mark the veteran short track ace‘s first attempt in an Xfinity Series machine and his first at the racy 0.750-mile oval.

“I‘m very excited,” Pollard said. “I really don‘t know what to expect, as it‘s all very new to us, but I‘m very thankful for the opportunity that Rheem and JR Motorsports have given me. I hope we can make the most of it. I‘ve never had any laps at Richmond, and I haven‘t driven an Xfinity car, so it‘s all going to be new.”

The future of the sport is one that relies on drivers earning their way to the top levels, and both Rheem and JRM understand the importance of an opportunity like this for one of the top Late Model racers in the nation.

“JR Motorsports has grown so much over the years,” said Earnhardt Miller, CEO of JR Motorsports. “But the core of what we do, from our championship-winning Late Model team to the NASCAR Xfinity Series, is to produce championship drivers and team personnel. Bubba Pollard is a great example of that sort of progression, and we‘re proud to support him alongside a great partner in Rheem Manufacturing.”

WATCH: Pollard holds off William Byron for Late Model win at North Wilkesboro

Bubba Pollard celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the ASA STARS National Tour ECMD 150 at North Wilkesboro Speedway on May 17, 2023. (Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

Rheem Manufacturing, founded in 1925, is currently the only manufacturer in the world that produces heating, cooling, water heating, pool & spa heating and commercial refrigeration products and the largest manufacturer of water heating products in North America.

“Bubba Pollard represents everything that‘s good about racing from the sport‘s grass roots to the highest levels,” said Ed Raniszeski, Rheem motorsports executive. “What‘s so admirable about Bubba and others like him is their lifetime investment in quality performance, professional dedication, doing things right, and giving it their best all the time, even when they think no one is watching.

“That‘s why Rheem, the Earnhardt and Miller families, as well as many others, are thrilled to give Bubba the chance he‘s earned and deserves to show others what we have been watching in amazement for years.”

Pollard recognizes the efforts of both Rheem and JRM in bringing new drivers from the grassroots to NASCAR‘s top divisions.

“Dale and Kelley and Rheem have a history of giving guys like me opportunities to race at the next level, opportunities that normally wouldn‘t happen,” Pollard said. “I have a lot of respect for them for how much they offer to drivers like me. It‘s pretty cool to be part of it. You never know what might happen in the future.”

To prepare for his race at Richmond, Pollard will compete in the ARCA Menards Series event at Five Flags to get acquainted to a heavier stock car. Following his race at Richmond, Pollard has a full short-track schedule in both Super Late Models, as well as races in the zMAX CARS Tour set for 2024.

Pollard‘s Xfinity Series debut at Richmond behind the wheel of the No. 88 Rheem Chevrolet for JRM is scheduled to go green on Saturday, March 30 at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

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Suárez continues Atlanta celebration with Pitbullhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/02/29/suarez-continues-atlanta-celebration-with-pitbull/Thu, 29 Feb 2024 15:39:43 GMT-0500127705atlanta-motor-speedway, daniel-suarez, drivers, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-cup-series, Series, teams, trackhouse-racing, tracksStaff ReportDaniel Suárez and Trackhouse Racing are riding the high of winning one of the closest finishes in NASCAR history during the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday in a three-wide finish with Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch.

RELATED: Alternate angle of Atlanta finish | Weekend schedule in Las Vegas

The party didn‘t just end once the team loaded up from the Peach State as Trackhouse Racing co-owner Pitbull performed at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, on Wednesday night. During Pitbull‘s set, he speaks about Suárez in great detail, calling the Monterrey, Mexico native a “fighter” and an “underdog” before describing Suárez as someone who is “living the American dream and fighting for it.”

Pitbull would then go on to shout out the entire Trackhouse organization before bringing Suárez out on the stage to celebrate the win with cheers from the Nashville crowd.

You can view the full interaction that Trackhouse posted on social media below.

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Beyond being disruptors, Trackhouse happens to be great on trackhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/02/29/beyond-being-disruptors-trackhouse-happens-to-be-great-on-track/Thu, 29 Feb 2024 15:39:06 GMT-0500127697daniel-suarez, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, nascar-impact, ross-chastain, trackhouse-racingStaff ReportOne question remained Sunday night for the team owner who has turned the NASCAR world on its ear.

And after a post-race media center session sprinkled with some of his now familiar musings about the Next Big Idea, Justin Marks seemed giddy and relieved to steer the subject matter to much humbler beginnings.

“You‘re my last interview tonight, and you know what, I think you were the first interview that I ever did in stock-car racing at Kentucky in ARCA in 2005,” Marks told Catchfence.com‘s Chris Knight. “I finished like 38th.”

Actually, it was a 36th in that July 7, 2006 race at Kentucky Speedway — one of many inauspicious finishes in a relatively nondescript stock-car career. Marks won in ARCA and Xfinity, and he enjoyed even more success in sports cars with a Rolex 24 class win among victories at several prestigious tracks.

He is, by many definitions, a racer, but behind the wheel is not how he made his fame.

Marks is most recognizable as the founder of Trackhouse Entertainment Group, a burgeoning sports and entertainment conglomerate whose racing division has established a strong foothold in the Cup Series since 2021 and will expand overseas into MotoGP this season.

The success generally is viewed through the prism of Silicon Valley upstart. His stunning and steep trajectory into the team ownership stratosphere smacks of a venture capitalist playing four-dimensional chess. Marks deftly has executed eight-figure power plays to acquire charters, drivers and real estate.

It‘s an impressive portfolio, and it sometimes obscures what underpins it all — results.

RELATED: Relive Suárez‘s dramatic win at Atlanta | Watch NASCAR video highlights

Give this NASCAR disruptor his due: His race team is far more than just a startup trying to move fast, break stuff and sell out for the big payday.

Marks always is clear on the primary objective. “Trackhouse is a winning company,” he said matter of fact Sunday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway after his team‘s seventh Cup victory in less than two years.

But when your partner is an internationally renowned recording artist named Pitbull whose latest album is named after your team, it‘s easier for the general public to overlook how well your finishes are backing up your already grandiose plans for transforming global motorsports.

Daniel Suárez‘s exhilarating three-wide victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway finally might have been a tipping point.

It now seems reasonable to suggest Trackhouse‘s dynamism on the track somehow is exceeding its ambitious vision for overhauling how teams do business in NASCAR‘s premier series.

As Dizzy Dean once said, “It ain‘t bragging if you can do it,” and Trackhouse has made a habit recently of delivering its biggest flourishes when the NASCAR spotlight is at its brightest:

— The astounding “Hail Melon” was concocted and accomplished by Ross Chastain at Martinsville Speedway, the unbelievably brave and violent wall ride heard around the world that catapulted the No. 1 Chevrolet into the 2022 championship round.

— Capping the first street course in the series‘ 75-year history, New Zealand‘s Shane van Gisbergen (hand-picked by Marks as part of the Project 91 initiative) became the first driver to win his Cup debut in more than 40 years — giving NASCAR the indelible and improbable visual of a Kiwi celebrating in the heart of downtown Chicago as dusk fell on the Fourth of July weekend last season.

— Chastain stole the show by outdueling champion Ryan Blaney to win the 2023 season finale at Phoenix Raceway and mark himself as a trendy 2024 championship favorite as the first non-title contender to win the championship round.

— And now Suárez‘s mesmerizing victory — the third closest in NASCAR history — has become another viral sensation for a team accustomed to life in the racing zeitgeist.

With the installation of each new eye-popping LED screen brightly illuminating the pits and garage, Trackhouse has become a trendsetter. Its VIP areas aim to set new standards of at-track hospitality. Live entertainment is a staple of its marketing activations.

The case can be made that Trackhouse Racing‘s on-track exploits actually have been undersold and overshadowed because the team has tried so hard to change the game with an aggressively creative and unconventional approach off the track.

“We want to be the people that come in and try to do different things,” Marks said. “This is a sport that needs big brands and teams that are motivated to be ambassadors of an entertainment property and to give the fans something to get excited about. If we‘re leaders in that, then great. We‘re kind of doing our thing, but this is an amazing sport, and more people need to see it. So we feel like we‘re ambassadors of that.”

But along with that flash and sizzle, don‘t overlook the team also is doing the blocking and tackling necessary to become a formidable and perennial championship contender. It‘s excelling in major moments while stockpiling an enviable stable of young talent with the long-term contours of possibly expanding into a four-car dynasty.

“I think there‘s a big opportunity in this sport,” Marks said. “I have a certain belief about what‘s possible in this sport, and it‘s just the way I do things.”

That eventually could become the way for NASCAR.

Not bad for a one-time also-ran.

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Sheldon Creed on moving to JGRhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/02/28/sheldon-creed-on-moving-to-jgr/Wed, 28 Feb 2024 12:17:21 GMT-0500127678austin-hill, drivers, joe-gibbs-racing, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-xfinity-series, richard-childress-racing, Series, sheldon-creed, teamsStaff ReportSheldon Creed‘s two-year stint at Richard Childress Racing in the Xfinity Series ended sourly. The California driver was ready for a restart, and Joe Gibbs Racing became his new home.

“I was looking at the future, and I wasn‘t in love with where I was,” Creed told NASCAR.com of his move to JGR three days before the 2024 Xfinity Series season got underway. “I liked it, I had fun and had a lot of good people around me, but I wasn‘t enjoying it as much as I wanted to. I felt like I would fit in better here or somewhere else.”

RELATED: JGR announces four-car Xfinity lineup for 2024 | The JGR lineup reveal in photos

Admittedly, JGR wasn‘t the first call Creed made. Once Josh Berry announced he was moving to the Cup Series with Stewart-Haas Racing, Creed called JR Motorsports, but Sammy Smith filled that spot quickly. Stewart-Haas Racing was another potential suitor.

Steve deSouza, JGR‘s EVP NASCAR Xfinity Series/Development, explained it wasn‘t the first time they spoke with Creed. With JGR rebranding its Xfinity program, the timing was perfect.

“Sheldon and his grandfather (Maurice Ortega) have come to us three times, and a lot of times it was timing, and it just didn‘t work,” deSouza said. “This year, it came up with a number of sequences of events on their side and some on ours. We had a slot that was open for an interim period of time, and they called right in there.

“I got a text from Maurice and a phone call from Sheldon on the same weekend, and they didn‘t even know that either one of them had called me. I was thinking they were just exploring, which they had done a couple of times previously. We were happy to get him.”

With little sponsorship, Creed admitted that moving to JGR was a challenge. But after two winless years with RCR and a total of 11 top-five finishes, the move was made.

“I felt like I was stuck,” Creed said of his time at RCR. “Some weeks, we would be good, and some weeks, we would run 15th all day. That was frustrating to me. There was maybe nothing that I could do about it, but it was tough to accept that. I didn‘t think it was me.

MORE: Watch NASCAR video highlights

“I‘ve said in the past that I think Gibbs cars are some of the best. I‘m getting rid of that excuse now this year. Now, it‘s up to me. I like that pressure, and me saying that puts pressure on myself. If I don‘t do good this year and run the same, I‘ll go race dirt for fun. This is a proving year to myself as well.”

Creed‘s drive to perform is visible to deSouza and JGR. They know he has something to prove after moving to the Xfinity Series in 2022 as a top prospect after winning the 2020 Craftsman Truck Series title with GMS Racing.

“[Creed] has ambition,” deSouza said. “He‘s won in everything. He has championships in everything he‘s run, and this has been a struggle for him. Part of our mission is to try to work with him and get him through that. Clearly, he‘s got the speed. He‘s impatient at times, so we will try to coach up on that and focus on what‘s important from the technology side of performance. From the drivers meetings we‘ve had, he‘s very knowledgeable about a lot. He doesn‘t vocalize a lot of it, but in the discussions, it‘s very clear that he understands all of it and can have a dialogue about it, which is very encouraging.”

Creed is labeling 2024 a make-or-break season. He believes he must wheel the No. 18 Toyota to multiple wins in order to call his first season under the Toyota banner a success.

“I came out of trucks winning, and if I wasn‘t the favorite, I was at least looked at,” Creed said. “I went to two years of not running good and, in my opinion, got forgotten about. If I could turn this into a good year with multiple wins and a shot at the championship, then I feel like I put my name back in the conversation.”

WATCH: Chaotic end to 2023 Martinsville playoff race | Creed on Martinsville finish | Hill discusses Martinsville

Before the season went green, Creed hadn‘t spoken to former RCR teammate Austin Hill, who he had a run-in with during the final laps of the penultimate race of the 2023 season. The former teammates rubbed fenders at Martinsville Speedway, allowing Justin Allgaier to get the win. The following week, neither driver was eligible for the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway. He also laughed off comments made by Richard Childress following the Martinsville race, saying, “I‘ve had drivers drive for me before, but nobody as stupid as Sheldon Creed.”

Creed knows he will be racing Hill‘s RCR team aplenty throughout the 2024 season, and the No. 21 team is undefeated thus far in two superspeedway races. The No. 18 car nearly lost out on the battle with Hill in the season opener, as Creed scored his third consecutive runner-up finish dating back to that Martinsville race.

If Creed performs well with JGR, he‘s hoping it snowballs into an opportunity at the Cup level. His primary goal is to make it to the Cup Series in a solid car. Creed has kicked off the season with a bang, scoring top fives in both races at Daytona and Atlanta. As the series heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway (March 2, 5 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), he ranks second in the championship standings.

MORE: 2024 Xfinity Series schedule | 2024 Xfinity standings

“I would just love to have a paid-for ride,” Creed added. “I want to race Cup; that‘s my goal is to race a good Cup car. That‘s goal number one, down the road, whether that‘s next year, two years from now. Who knows, I could be here at Joe Gibbs Racing in an Xfinity car another three years.”

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Front Row Motorsports continues momentumhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/02/28/front-row-motorsports-continues-momentum/Wed, 28 Feb 2024 12:14:12 GMT-0500127676atlanta-motor-speedway, drivers, front-row-motorsports, michael-mcdowell, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-cup-series, Series, teams, todd-gilliland-drivers, tracksStaff ReportEighth and 26th-place finishes on paper don‘t have the ring to them that racing organizations look for after any given race.

These were the results for Front Row Motorsports Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway following a 400-mile firecracker that saw intense, edge-of-your-seat racing from Lap 1 to the three-wide finish that saw Daniel Suárez grab his second career checkered flag in the third-closest finish in Cup Series history.

While the finishing order doesn‘t show either FRM car as a race-contending competitor, the on-track performances from both Michael McDowell and Todd Gilliland earned a historic day for the Ford camp.

RELATED: Suárez wins Atlanta in photo finish | Sunday‘s race results

FRM led 85 laps in the 260-lap thriller Sunday evening, the most the organization has ever led in a Cup race.

McDowell was the polesitter for the event, but it was Gilliland who diced his way to the lead after starting fourth. Gilliland held serve more than every other driver at Atlanta, leading six different times for a grand total of 58 laps.

A string of late-race incidents eventually caught Gilliland as the 23-year-old settled for the 26th-place result four laps down, but he proved he can put the speed and talent on display when given the opportunity.

“It felt really good. In my heart, I definitely believe that I can do it with those guys week in and week out,” Gilliland said. “Our car was really fast. I was making really aggressive moves but really in control the whole time. That‘s what it takes is my confidence gets more and more, and hopefully, those guys‘ confidence around me gets better with every lap also. We‘ve just got to keep doing that, and hopefully, the better runs will come more consistently and race up front with those guys more and more.”

Gilliland was willing to put his No. 38 Ford in precarious moments in the pack. Whether side-by-side, three-wide or even four-wide on the narrow straights, Gilliland was ready for the ferocity.

During the race, Gilliland threw out the simile of the racing as a haunted house, calling it “fun, but I‘m scared for my life.”

“It‘s 100% intensity every single lap,” Gilliland added. “When I was up front, we were just throwing massive slide jobs, and it‘s full commitment every single lap. I don‘t think anyone‘s car‘s driving 100% perfect, so it‘s very on edge. You‘re expected to be in the gas almost wide open around the whole place. Air‘s moving so much around in the pack and can really put you in some tricky spots, so you‘re white-knuckled pretty much the whole time.”

MORE: Watch NASCAR video highlights

Through two races, Gilliland has led the most laps in the Cup Series (74). It‘s already throttled what he led in his career before the Daytona 500 (11). After not piloting the No. 38 on six different occasions last season, the young driver is hungry to prove he belongs at NASCAR‘s highest level.

“I‘m trying to prove it to myself, my team, sponsors, everyone, right? The whole industry,” Gilliland said. “This is what I want to do for the rest of my life, so I better start running good and just keep sticking around, keep having good runs and hopefully just better finishes along the way.”

The opening races of the season for FRM attest to the team‘s overall prowess on drafting-style race tracks.

McDowell, winner of the 2021 edition of the “Great American Race,” has sat on the front row adjacent to Joey Logano in both races to start 2024. McDowell nabbed his first career pole during the weekend in his 467th Cup Series start. However, a mechanical failure early at Daytona and a pit-road mistake in Stage 2 have kept the 39-year-old from backing the strong qualifying efforts.

McDowell‘s crew chief Travis Peterson said he‘s proud of how the No. 34 team has started the year and what the technical alliance with Team Penske and increased backing from Ford has done for FRM.

“The start of the year has been strong,” Peterson told NASCAR.com. “It sucks we didn‘t get to race for it in Daytona. It kinda sucks we didn‘t get to race for it again (Sunday), but I think we had two of the best cars in the field back-to-back weeks. Obviously, it gets a little more real going to non-superspeedway racing here soon, but I really felt like we were probably the car to beat. It was super strong. He could go a whole lane by himself and get to the front. Awesome that the 38 got up there and led like he did. Hate the way it ended for them.

MORE: Latest 2024 Cup Series Championship odds

“Happy we ended up salvaging an eighth with a completely busted up car, but hopefully, this just leads to good things. Hopefully, we can keep doing this every week, and we won‘t have to worry about stressing about points.”

McDowell has reached the playoffs two of the last three years and has proven to be one of the top road-course aces in the Cup Series after he dominated on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course last year to punch his 2023 postseason ticket.

Up next on the checklist for the organization is to continue racing up front every Sunday. From qualifying to the checkered flag, there‘s hope in the FRM camp that they are capable of racing with the big-time organizations on any type of track, and the chemistry between the No. 34 and No. 38 teams adds to the optimism.

“The better we both do, the more we push each other, the better we all get as a group,” Peterson said. “That‘s the type of thing we need to do every week is both run up front and have speed and see what the year brings us.”

“It‘s incredible. I‘m super excited and super happy to be a part of it,” Gilliland said. “Michael‘s been here for a long time, and he‘s been on a steady grind of getting better and better. I‘m super excited to hopefully start contributing more and more every single week. Last year, a lot of races he was head and shoulders better than us so we still have a long ways to go compared to everybody and our teammates especially, but to see the growth of this organization is incredible.”

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HendrickCars.com to sponsor Caruthhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/02/28/hendrickcars-com-to-sponsor-caruth-spire/Wed, 28 Feb 2024 12:10:36 GMT-0500127680drivers, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-craftsman-truck-series, nascar-cup-series, nascar-impact, rajah-caruth, Series, spire-motorsports, teamsStaff ReportHendrickCars.com extended its partnership with NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Rajah Caruth and Spire Motorsports and will continue to serve as the primary sponsor for the No. 71 Chevrolet for the rest of the 2024 season.

It was announced before the season that HendrickCars.com would initially partner with Caruth for the first 10 races of the Truck Series season, but the 21-year-old standout from Washington, D.C., drew attention after finishing third at Daytona International Speedway and eighth at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

RELATED: Caruth‘s career stats | 2024 Truck Series schedule

“Rajah has had a tremendous start to 2024,” Gary Davis, executive vice president of the Hendrick Automotive Group, said in a press release. “When you combine his on-track potential, how he represents himself and HendrickCars.com, his impressive social media presence, and the incredible fan support he receives, we couldn‘t pass on supporting him for the entire season.”

Caruth is an alumnus of NASCAR‘s Drive for Diversity Driver Development Program and is currently fifth in the Truck Series standings. With the backing of HendrickCars.com and a solid start to the season, Caruth aims to build off the early momentum and become a budding contender as the season progresses.

MORE: Watch NASCAR video highlights

“It‘s pretty special to have HendrickCars.com on my chest,” Caruth said in the release. “I think about Phoenix last year when I drove the Xfinity car for Hendrick Motorsports. That, within itself, was an incredible moment. Knowing that HendrickCars.com has extended their relationship with Spire Motorsports and my No. 71 team kind of leaves me speechless. I‘m super grateful because they don‘t do that for just anyone. For me, to be affiliated with that group and have their support is an honor. I‘m excited to get on with the rest of the season. We‘ve gotten off to a good start and I think the race in Las Vegas on Friday night is going to show our potential for the rest of the season.”

Caruth‘s next race will be Friday‘s Victoria‘s Voice Foundation 200 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway (9 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

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SHR receives L1-level penaltieshttps://www.mrn.com/2024/02/27/stewart-haas-racing-receives-l1-level-penalties/Tue, 27 Feb 2024 17:42:07 GMT-0500127660atlanta-motor-speedway, j-j-yeley, joey-logano, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-cup-series, nascar-xfinity-series, noah-gragson, ryan-preece, ryan-truex, stewart-haas-racing, team-penskeStaff ReportNASCAR hit Stewart-Haas Racing with two L1-level penalties on Tuesday after last weekend‘s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

After NASCAR confiscated the roof rails of the No. 10 Ford of driver Noah Gragson and the No. 41 Ford of Ryan Preece at the race track, it docked both teams 35 driver and owner points in Tuesday‘s penalty report.

Per the NASCAR Rule Book, roof air deflectors must consist of parts outlined in Section 14.5.6.1.a. Additionally, they must meet the following criteria: be constructed of 0.05-inch thick aluminum; be installed perpendicular in the applicable slots; must not interfere with the functioning of the roof flaps; and must be painted.

“It‘s a team part, but it has to meet the CAD drawing,” NASCAR Senior VP of Competition Elton Sawyer said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Tuesday. “And in this case, it didn‘t meet that.”

MORE: Cup standings after Atlanta | More info on SHR infraction

Joey Logano, driver of Team Penske‘s No. 22 Ford, was also dealt a $10,000 fine for modifying an SFI-approved protective glove. Section 14.3.1.1 (“Driver Protective Clothing/Equipment”) in the NASCAR Rule Book requires protective gloves meet SFI-approved specifications.

After qualifying second at Atlanta, Logano was sent to the rear of the field for the start of Sunday‘s race and issued a mandatory pass-through penalty after the green flag.

“What happened at the race track and the way it was handled was strictly based on performance and using that device,” Sawyer said on SiriusXM. “Now, altering an SFI-certified safety piece of apparel, that‘s a different topic.”

Logano‘s left-handed glove was modified with webbing between the thumb and index finger. Per SFI specifications, “gloves shall have separate sections for each finger and thumb.”

RELATED: Breaking down Logano‘s glove infraction | Watch NASCAR video highlights

In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota piloted by Ryan Truex was found with one lug nut unsecured after the conclusion of Saturday‘s race, resulting in a $5,000 fine to crew chief Seth Chavka.

Additionally, SS GreenLight Racing crew chief Jason Miller was suspended from each of the next two NASCAR Xfinity Series races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Phoenix Raceway. Miller, crew chief of J.J. Yeley‘s No. 14 Chevrolet at Atlanta, was found in violation of Section 4.4.D of the Xfinity Series Rule Book, which specifies “member-to-member confrontation(s) with physical violence (e.g. striking another competitor)” as an action that could result in a fine and/or suspension. Miller confronted and became physical with driver Kyle Weatherman after Saturday‘s race.

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Hendrick announces 2024 Xfinity programhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/02/27/hendrick-announces-2024-xfinity-program/Tue, 27 Feb 2024 15:59:35 GMT-0500127655alex-bowman, boris-said, chase-elliott, hendrick-motorsports, kyle-larson, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-cup-series, nascar-xfinity-series, william-byronStaff ReportCONCORD, N.C. — In 2024, Hendrick Motorsports will enter 10 NASCAR Xfinity Series races with primary sponsorship from HendrickCars.com. Each of the organization‘s four NASCAR Cup Series drivers will compete in the No. 17 Chevrolet Camaro this season, along with a special appearance by popular road-racing veteran Boris Said.

The schedule will kick off March 9 at Phoenix Raceway with the first of four starts for 2024 Daytona 500 champion William Byron and crew chief Brandon McSwain, the lead engineer on the No. 24 Cup Series team. The remaining six races for the No. 17 team will be called by 2014 Xfinity Series champion crew chief Greg Ives, who has 15 NASCAR national series wins.

RELATED: Full Xfinity Series schedule | Watch NASCAR video highlights

The No. 17 HendrickCars.com team made four Xfinity Series starts in 2022 and six in 2023. In 10 combined appearances, it accumulated three pole positions, six top-five finishes and seven top 10s, including three second-place results.

“The No. 17 is a big part of our story, and it would be special to see it win — and win often — during our 40th anniversary season,” said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports and chairman and CEO of Hendrick Automotive Group. “The sponsorship has been a big success for HendrickCars.com and our dealerships, and we‘re pleased to add more races and take it to another level in 2024. It‘s Victory Lane or bust.”

The No. 17 car number has a rich history with Hendrick Motorsports. NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip drove it to nine wins for the team from 1987 to 1990, including in the 1989 Daytona 500. The car number was also driven by Ricky Hendrick in various races, including in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2000 and 2001. The HendrickCars.com paint scheme will again be based on the No. 17 truck driven by Hendrick during his 2001 rookie season.

NO. 17 CHEVROLET — 2024 NASCAR XFINITY SERIES SCHEDULE 

DateEventDriver
March 9Phoenix RacewayWilliam Byron
March 23Circuit of The AmericasKyle Larson
May 11Darlington RacewayWilliam Byron
May 25Charlotte Motor SpeedwayChase Elliott
June 8Sonoma RacewayBoris Said
June 22New Hampshire Motor SpeedwayAlex Bowman
July 6Chicago Street CourseKyle Larson
July 13Pocono RacewayWilliam Byron
Aug. 13Darlington RacewayChase Elliott
Sept. 14Watkins Glen InternationalWilliam Byron

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SVG finishes third in second career Xfinity racehttps://www.mrn.com/2024/02/27/svg-finishes-third-in-second-career-xfinity-race/Tue, 27 Feb 2024 15:37:34 GMT-0500127653atlanta-motor-speedway, drivers, kaulig-racing, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-xfinity-series, Series, shane-van-gisbergen, teams, trackhouse-racing, tracksStaff ReportHAMPTON, Ga. — Still freshly minted to the NASCAR scene, multi-time Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen added yet another significant highlight to his stock-car racing career Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The New Zealand native snagged a third-place finish in his second career NASCAR Xfinity Series start, improving upon a 12th-place finish in his debut race a week ago at Daytona International Speedway.

The turn to stock cars has been rapid for van Gisbergen, who scored an electric victory in the inaugural Chicago Street Race last year in his NASCAR Cup Series debut with Trackhouse Racing. After signing full-time with Trackhouse in the offseason and being leased to Kaulig Racing for a full Xfinity Series campaign this year, the 34-year-old is off to a dream start in 2024.

RELATED: Austin Hill steals Xfinity race at Atlanta | At-track photos

Five days after rallying from his fair share of setbacks at Daytona, he turned a clean day around Atlanta Motor Speedway for a gutsy third-place result.

“It was pretty wild,” van Gisbergen said. “We come in to pit and I thought we had saved a bit of fuel but we still come anyway and obviously it was the right call but yeah, what an awesome feeling just running and then trying to block and follow those guys up front. I was just smiling the whole time. It was really cool.”

Before a late caution with two laps to go Saturday evening, van Gisbergen ran 12th, on a clear path to match his Daytona result. However, fuel management came at a premium in the closing stages and a horde of drivers ran out of gas, including race dominator Jesse Love, who led a whopping 157 of 169 laps, including a sweep of the first two stages.

While Atlanta‘s current configuration falls under a new subgenre of superspeedway racing, van Gisbergen still had to race in a pack and use drafting-style techniques to stay toward the front of the field for the full event. He even described the race as “pretty crazy. This is like Daytona on steroids.”

During the race, van Gisbergen‘s former Supercars team Red Bull Ampol Racing shouted out the Kiwi as they were partaking in their own race on the other side of the world.

Van Gisbergen returned the love to his old team as he also continues to support them.

“Well I was up until 12:30 [a.m.] last night watching them get a 1-2. Yeah, pretty special,” van Gisbergen said. “I‘ve still got a lot of mates back home so yeah, pretty awesome.”

MORE: Watch NASCAR video highlights

Coming up for van Gisbergen will be his first test on a non-drafting style, 1.5-mile oval at Las Vegas Motor Speedway next Saturday (5 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). He has competed on an asphalt oval before at Lucas Oil Raceway Park last year in the Craftsman Truck Series, but van Gisbergen says he‘s more than ready for his next challenge.

“They look pretty loose on a track like that so just want to get out there and feel it,” van Gisbergen said.

Though not unheard of, it is not often that rookies in NASCAR start their seasons in the way van Gisbergen has, and there may be no one that has had a more dramatic transition to NASCAR than van Gisbergen. But so far, he has passed his first few tests with flying colors.

“Since Chicago, my life has changed completely, but yeah, I‘m so stoked how this is going,” van Gisbergen said. “We‘ve got some great companies onboard and just supporting me having a crack.”

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Social media reacts after Atlanta finishhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/02/26/social-media-reacts-after-atlanta-finish/Mon, 26 Feb 2024 18:52:21 GMT-0500127646atlanta-motor-speedway, daniel-suarez, drivers, kyle-busch, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-cup-series, ryan-blaney, Series, teams, trackhouse-racing, tracksStaff ReportThe historic, three-wide photo finish that resulted in a thrilling Daniel Suárez victory left everyone talking after Sunday‘s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

NASCAR diehards and casual viewers alike expressed their awe following Suárez‘s dash, with his No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet just 0.003 seconds ahead of Ryan Blaney at the checkered flag of the Cup Series‘ second race of the year. Sandwiched between the two was Kyle Busch, whose No. 8 Chevy trailed Suárez by only 0.007 seconds.

MORE: Blaney, Busch on being on wrong end of all-timer | Race results| NASCAR video highlights

A look at what drivers, fans and others had to say after the Atlanta thrasher:

MORE: Relive the thrill with the full Race Rewind | Suárez: ‘It was so close‘ to capture win

 

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Hill steals Xfinity Series win at Atlantahttps://www.mrn.com/2024/02/25/hill-steals-xfinity-series-win-at-atlanta/Sun, 25 Feb 2024 22:50:43 GMT-0500127635atlanta-motor-speedway, austin-hill, drivers, jesse-love, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, nascar-xfinity-series, race-recap-nxs, racing-teams, richard-childress-racing, Series, teams, tracksStaff ReportHAMPTON, Ga. — Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Jesse Love led almost all the laps, but in the end, it was his Richard Childress Racing teammate, Austin Hill, who had Saturday‘s RAPTOR King of Tough 250 fall into his lap.

For Hill, who won last week‘s NASCAR Xfinity Series season-opener at Daytona International Speedway, it was the continuation of a serendipitous start to 2024. Hill is the first driver since Tony Stewart in 2008 to win the first two events of an Xfinity season.

The victory was Hill‘s third in the last four races at Atlanta Motor Speedway and the eighth of his career.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Atlanta

But victory for the driver of the No. 21 Chevrolet came at the expense of Love, who started from the pole, swept the first two stages and led 157 of 169 laps. Love ran out of fuel at the start of a two-lap overtime, as Hill grabbed the lead for the first time and held off eventual runner-up Chandler Smith by 0.106 seconds.

The bottom line? Running behind the leaders in a single-file line, Hill was able to save more fuel than his teammate at the front of the pack. Hill had enough in his tank to stave off Smith, who pitted for fuel under caution on Lap 164.

“I was really thinking we were down and out,” Hill said. “I was thinking the 2 (Love) was going to go get ‘em, and hey, if I can‘t win, let my teammate win. We were riding there in fourth or fifth — whatever it was — I was saving fuel.”

On the overtime restart on Lap 168, Hill‘s car stumbled when he shifted from third to fourth gear.

“The 81 (Smith) hit me really hard, and that woke it back up, and I had enough fuel to complete the lap,” Hill added. “But I‘ve got to take this moment to congratulate Jesse Love, my teammate. He ran an awesome race. To be a rookie and to lead that many laps, he should be sitting in Victory Lane right now.”

The coup de grace for Love came when the Ford of Ryan Sieg ran out of fuel on Lap 161 of a scheduled 163 and stopped on the track in Turn 4. The caution extended the race by six laps and allowed a dozen cars to pit before the overtime restart.

Among those who took advantage of the fuel stop was New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen, who finished third in his second Xfinity Series start.

“It‘s almost comical,” Love said. “Man, I‘m just so damn proud of everybody on this Whelen car. It just wasn‘t meant to be. …

“I always try to take responsibility for everything, so as a driver I should have saved more fuel. Man, I just didn‘t want anybody to catch me off-guard. I thought I saved a ton. Man, that overtime or that caution just lasted forever.

“No matter what, I‘m really proud of our guys. We had a great showing. Led a lot of laps man. It just wasn‘t in store for us today.”

Van Gisbergen was delighted to be on the other side of the fuel equation.

“Pretty awesome,” he said. “Great job by (crew chief) Bruce (Schlicker) on the box there to pit us. I had so much fun. Just learning about it and running in the pack. Yeah, to be P3 in the second race in the WeatherTech Chevy is pretty awesome. I‘m stoked.

MORE: Watch NASCAR video highlights

“It‘s just good to get a result and have a clean car, especially after last week (at Daytona) when I got involved in so much stuff. So, to have a clean race, not make too many mistakes, and complete every lap, we learned a lot. It was awesome.”

Riley Herbst, Love‘s foremost challenger over the closing laps was among the first to run out of fuel — from the second position on Lap 160. Cole Custer hit empty almost simultaneously, then Sieg, causing the fateful caution.

The gas shortage throughout the field scrambled the finishing order, leaving Sheldon Creed fourth and Parker Retzlaff fifth. Jeremy Clements, Anthony Alfredo, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Ryan Truex and Sammy Smith completed the top 10.

The Xfinity Series will next race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 2 (5 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Note: Post-race inspection in the NASCAR Xfinity Series garage concluded without significant issue, confirming Hill and the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing team as the winner. One lug nut was not secured properly on the No. 19 Toyota driven by Ryan Truex, which will result in a monetary fine. … Love is the first driver since Christopher Bell in 2017 to lead more than 100 laps in his first two Xfinity Series starts combined. Bell led 152 of 250 laps in his second start at Iowa. Love led 34 laps in his series debut last Monday at Daytona, giving him a total of 191 over the two races.

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Daniel Suárez wins after photo finish at Atlantahttps://www.mrn.com/2024/02/25/daniel-suarez-wins-after-photo-finish-at-atlanta/Sun, 25 Feb 2024 22:48:06 GMT-0500127633atlanta-motor-speedway, daniel-suarez, drivers, joey-logano, michael-mcdowell, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, race-recap-ncs, racing-teams, ryan-blaney, Series, teams, trackhouse, trackhouse-racing, tracks, william-byronStaff ReportHAMPTON, Ga. — It was a race of remarkable ebb and flow.

It was a race of breathtaking four-wide action into corners not built to accommodate such derring-do.

And it was totally appropriate that Sunday‘s Ambetter Health 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway ended in a three-wide photo finish, with Trackhouse Racing‘s Daniel Suárez eking out a victory over Ryan Blaney by what looked to be an inch or two at the finish line.

NASCAR timing and scoring showed Suárez ahead of Blaney by 0.003 seconds at the stripe, with Kyle Busch in third, 0.007 seconds behind the race winner.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

As the three drivers sped through the final two corners, Suárez held the outside lane with Blaney on the bottom and Busch in the middle. Suárez surged forward, approaching the start/finish line to earn his second career victory — and his first since June of 2022 at Sonoma Raceway — by the thinnest of margins.

Suárez, whose No. 99 Trackhouse Race Chevrolet suffered damage to the hood on a Lap 2 crash in Turn 1, had the lead for a restart with five laps left after the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford of Josh Berry collided with Carson Hocevar‘s No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet on Lap 249 of 260 to cause the 10th and final caution of the race.

Blaney, the defending series champion, grabbed the top spot almost immediately and held it for four laps, but Suárez and Busch mounted runs on the final lap in the top and middle lanes, respectively. Blaney chose to make his bid for victory from the bottom lane and fell just short.

“It was so damn close, man,” said Suárez, still marveling that he was the winner. “It was so damn close. It was good racing. Ryan Blaney there, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric also was doing a great job giving pushes. In the back straightaway, he didn‘t push me because he knew I was going to (screw) his teammate, but, man, what a job.

“We wrecked (on) Lap 2. The guys did an amazing job fixing this car. I can‘t thank everyone enough, Trackhouse Racing, Freeway Insurance, Chevrolet, all the amazing fans here. Let‘s go!”

As the final lap unfolded, Blaney was shocked at the force of the runs challenging him.

WATCH: Suárez discusses finish | Blaney: ‘Glad we can do that for the fans‘ | Busch: ‘Proud of everybody‘

“I thought I laid back enough in (Turns) 1 and 2 to not let both lanes get that big of a run,” Blaney said. “I did that like the three laps before the end, and I was able to manage it kind of fairly well, and they just got both lanes shoving super hard. I just chose the bottom, and it was the safest place to be.

“What a cool finish. Appreciate the fans for sticking around. That‘s a lot of fun. That‘s always a good time when we can do that, race clean, three-wide finish to the end. Happy for Daniel. That was cool to see. Fun racing with Kyle. I can‘t complain; I‘ve won them by very, very little, too, so I can‘t complain too much when I lose them by that much.”

To Busch, the outcome was predictable, given the positions of the cars in the final two corners.

“Yeah, typically whoever is behind getting into (Turn) 3 prevails at the start-finish line with the side draft and everything, so I was… I think I was second to the 12 (Blaney) right there, and the 99 was the furthest back, and he made the ground back up with the side draft and stuff…

“It‘s good to see Daniel get a win. We were helping each other, being Chevy team partners and working together there. Shows that when you do have friends and you can make alliances that they do seem to work, and that was a good part of today.”

The start of the race was a harbinger of the wild finish.

Moments after crossing the finish line to complete the first lap of the race, Todd Gilliland checked up near the front of the field and stacked up the cars behind him. All told, 14 cars were officially involved, a track record for a single incident at the 1.54-mile speedway.

MORE: Multicar crash strikes at Lap 2 at Atlanta

The machines of Alex Bowman, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell and Noah Gragson all sustained heavy damage. Austin Dillon and Harrison Burton, early victims in last Monday‘s Daytona 500, both were part of the melee.

Burton was able to continue, as was Suárez, who made multiple pit stops as his crew worked to repair his car. Dillon lost two laps on pit road but regained them as the beneficiary under the third and fourth cautions.

If the Lap 2 wreck was an impediment for nearly half the field, the first attempt at green-flag pit stops in Stage 2 was equally discomforting. Polesitter Michael McDowell locked his brakes near the pit road entrance in Turn 3 and collided with Daytona 500 winner William Byron, costing both drivers a lap.

Speeding penalties impeded Busch, Berry, Ross Chastain, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Bubba Wallace, with Erik Jones‘ crew drawing a penalty for a runaway tire. Like McDowell and Byron, those drivers all found themselves a lap down after their respective pass-throughs under green.

MORE: Watch NASCAR video highlights

Through subsequent cautions, however, they regained the lead lap, and Busch raced his way into contention for the win.

Cindric finished fourth, followed by Wallace, Stenhouse Jr., Chastain, McDowell and Chris Buescher, all of whom made commendable recoveries to earn top-10 results.

The race featured a record 48 lead changes among 14 drivers — the fifth straight race at Atlanta with more than a dozen leaders. Gilliland led a race-high 58 laps, a team record for a single race by a Front Row Motorsports driver. Cindric was out front for 32 laps, followed by Blaney (31) and Busch (28).

Suárez led twice for nine laps.

Joey Logano, the defending race winner, received unwelcome news before the start of the race. The driver of the No. 22 Ford was deemed to have violated NASCAR rule 14.3.1.1 governing driver protective clothing and equipment.

Logano‘s left driving glove featured webbing between the thumb and forefinger, an unauthorized modification of SFI-approved equipment. Under an at-track penalty, Logano dropped from the second position to the rear of the field for the start and began to serve a pit-road pass-through when the pileup in Turn 1 on Lap 2 slowed the field.

MORE: Buy winner gear 

The misery of others was serendipity for Logano, who completed his pass-through without losing a lap. By the end of Stage 1, he was 12th, and after the top 10 pitted during the stage break, Logano was second when Stage 2 went green.

On Lap 99, Logano passed Gilliland for the lead as part of a pack of six Fords at the front of the field. On the final lap of the stage, however, Logano‘s fortunes soured once again when his No. 22 Mustang pushed up the track on the backstretch and collected Buescher and Denny Hamlin.

Towed to his pit stall, Logano lost eight laps and any hope he might have had of defending his 2023 victory.

The NASCAR Cup Series heads next to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube on Sunday, March 3 at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

NOTE: Post-race technical inspection in the NASCAR Cup Series garage at Atlanta concluded without issue, confirming Suárez as the race winner.

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Alex Slitz Getty Images
Analysis: Atlanta race dazzleshttps://www.mrn.com/2024/02/25/analysis-race-of-a-lifetime-at-atlanta-dazzles/Sun, 25 Feb 2024 22:41:05 GMT-0500127629atlanta-motor-speedway, austin-cindric, brad-keselowski, bubba-wallace, chase-briscoe, daniel-suarez, drivers, kyle-larson, misc, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, racing-teams, Series, teams, trackhouse, trackhouse-racing, tracksStaff ReportStock-car racing doesn‘t get any better than this.

A three-wide photo finish at the line. Four-wide racing for the lead. Daring blocks. Close-quarters racing that makes you cringe with every near touch. That was the thrill that Atlanta Motor Speedway brought to NASCAR Cup Series fans on Sunday night.

MORE: Race results | Suárez scores photo-finish win at ATL

The historic finish between race winner Daniel Suárez and runners-up Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch is an all-timer in just about every sense. The 0.003-second margin of victory is the third-closest in NASCAR Cup Series history, and Busch was third, only 0.007 seconds behind Suárez. It marks the tightest checkered-flag run since the debut of the Next Gen car in 2022 — and the closest since 2011, when a 0.002-second difference at Talladega Superspeedway separated the top finishers.

Justin Marks, whose Trackhouse Racing organization owns the No. 99 Chevrolet that Suárez dashed into Victory Lane in his own last-lap heroics, summed up what everyone was thinking Sunday night: How could it get any better?

“I think from an entertainment value standpoint, I don‘t know what more you could want from a race like tonight,” Marks said. “It was incredible. My heart rate was 150 (beats per minute) just watching. All race long, I talked to my wife about this; the calmest people here are the guys driving the cars because we‘re all just watching this, just holding our breath. This is one of the most compelling races I think that you could want for a sport. It was an incredible thing to watch.”

Dazzling, decisive drives put all 37 drivers‘ skill on display throughout the course of the 400-mile affair, their machines dancing on the edge of control through every corner. Each lap featured a moment where all hell could blow apart — but often resulted in remarkable steers and onto the next corner.

“What the viewer doesn‘t understand is how difficult it is to follow at this race track, especially when you have all that turbulent air coming out of the hood next to the other cars,” said Austin Cindric, the fourth-place finisher just 0.077 seconds behind Suárez. “That‘s what got me at the end, honestly, guys just running close to me. It‘s not easy to do, but I guess that‘s why they call us the best in the world.”

Bubba Wallace scored his second straight fifth-place finish to open the 2024 campaign in his No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota, following last week‘s Daytona 500 with a rally after a Lap 2 melee collected him and a dozen others. The high banks and drafting-style racing shared between Daytona and Atlanta — now pitched in consecutive weeks — nearly requires the exhaustion of thought, constantly calculating where to place your vehicle, time your run and avoid the wall (or your competitors).

“What a day. I‘m so glad we‘re done with superspeedway racing for a while,” Wallace said. “The mental toll it takes on you, to just making sure you make the right move for 260 laps, including the race last week too, is a lot.”

That perspective emphasizes how fervent the action was behind the wheel at Atlanta. But for as fiery as the racing was on the track, drivers were having a blast on track putting their cars in precarious positions — even those who wrecked out of the event.

“I actually had a lot of fun today,” said Kyle Larson, ousted after a crash at Lap 219. “It was super intense and it‘s been a great race. It‘s been the opposite from last weekend with no fuel saving and guys going at it, so it‘s been fun.”

“This is super-intense racing,” Brad Keselowski echoed after his day ended in the same incident. “The track cooled off and now you can really, really push hard. I think it‘s some of the best racing you‘ll ever see.”

MORE: Lap 2 melee collects numerous cars | Logano, Buescher, Hamlin tangle at Stage 2 end

Chase Briscoe nearly spun multiple times throughout the day, then eventually did at Lap 240 racing four-wide with Suárez, Busch and Denny Hamlin. The nose of his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford was crunched off the SAFER barrier after incidental contact with Hamlin, but that didn‘t sour his mood after being evaluated and released from Atlanta‘s infield care center.

“That was the most fun I‘ve ever had here,” Briscoe said. “And I think some of that is just our guys did a really good job of bringing a car that we could be aggressive with and make moves. I‘m actually looking forward to coming back here. That was a lot of fun. Guys were just making huge moves and big runs, but we were able to not get close to crashing a lot of times like we would at Daytona or Talladega. I had a lot of fun.”

WATCH: NASCAR video highlights

How could they not? Cindric rocketed to the lead in a gutsy four-wide dash to the left on the frontstretch — and Busch followed through, the pack maintaining that four-wide fever for nearly a full lap around the 1.54-mile quad-oval.

It was an all-out brawl. Drivers were making moves on the cusp of imminent danger. How do they pull off such logic-defying moves?

“Someone‘s gotta do it,” Cindric said. “I can promise you I‘ll be the guy.”

The best part? We get to run it back in September to open the playoffs.

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Blaney, Busch just short in Atlanta finishhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/02/25/ryan-blaney-kyle-busch-just-short-in-slim-three-wide-atlanta-finish/Sun, 25 Feb 2024 22:40:47 GMT-0500127631atlanta-motor-speedway, daniel-suarez, drivers, kyle-busch, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, racing-teams, richard-childress-racing, ryan-blaney, Series, team-penske, teams, trackhouse, trackhouse-racing, tracksStaff ReportHAMPTON, Ga. — By less than a hundredth of a second, both Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch came up just shy of victory in Sunday‘s dazzling NASCAR Cup Series event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, on the short end of a three-wide photo finish won by Daniel Suárez in an ever-so-slight margin.

Blaney, the defending Cup Series champion, led six times for 31 laps, but his No. 12 Team Penske Ford was just 0.003 seconds back in second place at the checkered flag in the third-closest finish in series history. Another 0.004 seconds back was Busch‘s No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, third and stuck in between Blaney‘s No. 12 and Suárez‘s No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevy.

RELATED: Race Results | At-track photos 

“I felt great about how the race went. Just in that moment you‘re like, ‘Damn. That sucks,”” Blaney said. “We just lost by three inches right? But then realize hey, it‘s a good day. It‘s fun racing for the lead like that. We didn‘t get tore up. The competitor in you, when you lose, you‘re like ‘ah‘ but I had fun tonight.”

The final contest for the lead reached its boiling point when Suárez steamed forward in the upper lane, with Busch squeezing into the middle to make it a three-wide scrap entering the third turn. The trio rode three-abreast the rest of the way.

With how fast runs were being made in the draft, Blaney said there was little time to make a move quick enough to defend out front.

“I didn‘t think I really did anything different than like the three laps before that when I got the lead,” Blaney said. “I thought I kind of managed both lanes OK. I didn‘t think I got that far out front. I thought I kind of laid back right in the middle of (Turns) 1 and 2 to get everyone close to where they were close off of Turn 2 to where I could get some energy from them, to where they didn‘t have too big of a run. Both lanes just got massive runs.

“When you got two lanes training you, I don‘t know where to go. I guess I could‘ve just bailed to the top and made the 99 hit me in the ass but it all happens so quick.”

Blaney has been a part of numerous photo finishes already in his Cup career, winning three different Talladega races with a largest margin of victory of 0.012 seconds over William Byron.

He‘s also been on the losing side of the coin in such situations; most significantly, losing the 2020 Daytona 500 to Denny Hamlin by just a few feet as the two were side-by-side at the checkered flag.

“I can‘t complain much about losing them by a handful of inches,” Blaney said. “I‘ve won them by two or three feet. You‘re going to be on both ends of it. Pretty fortunate to be on the good side of winning them by a foot or two so losing here tonight by a little bit, it‘s still a good run.”

MORE: Blaney: ‘Glad we can do that for the fans‘ | Busch reflects after near-miss at Atlanta

Busch ran up front for the majority of the 400-mile event, leading six different times for a total of 28 laps.

“Our Cheddar‘s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet was one of the top-five cars today at Atlanta Motor Speedway and had a good shot at the win,” Busch said. “The No. 12 car was deservingly one of the faster cars, and with all the carnage, it took out some other guys early.  Towards the end of the race, you don‘t have that many alliances.”

Busch lost his Richard Childress Racing teammate Austin Dillon on Lap 2 as the No. 3 spun entering Turn 1, wading up 14 cars. Dillon remained in the race but only managed a 22nd-place result.

Four Chevrolets finished in the top 10 but a majority of the manufacturer‘s vehicles were involved in incidents throughout the day, including Daytona 500 winner William Byron, who was caught up in a pit-road tango with Michael McDowell, after McDowell locked his brakes on pit entry.

“All of my friends disintegrated and went away throughout the day,” Busch said. “Bubba Wallace came to the rescue, and he was a huge part of our success at the end of the race coming off Turn 2 and down the backstretch to get a run. On that last restart, I just got a little too far ahead of the No. 99 car and he got a good side draft through the corner. I didn‘t think the outside would prevail, but with the run down the frontstretch and the side draft, that is what hurt us. Typically, whoever is behind getting into Turn 3 prevails at the start-finish line with the side draft and everything.

“I think I was running in second place to the No. 12 car at that point, and the No. 99 car was the furthest back. He used the side draft to make the ground back up and win the race. There was nothing I could have done differently.”

WATCH: NASCAR video highlights

While both Blaney and Busch leave Atlanta just short of glory and a guaranteed spot in the Cup Series Playoffs, the two drivers shared how happy they were to see Suárez in Victory Lane.

“It‘s good to see Daniel Suárez get a win because as Chevy team partners we were helping each other and working together there,” Busch said. “It shows that when you do have friends and you can make alliances that strategy does seem to work. That was a good part of today to see that come to fruition.”

“I‘m happy for Daniel. That‘s cool to see him win one and was fun racing with him,” Blaney said. “He‘s a great guy so can‘t complain too much when you‘re close like this and hopefully the fans enjoyed it. That was a hell of a damn race.”

Contributing: Staff reports

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Busch surges to 65th Truck Series victoryhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/02/24/busch-surges-to-65th-truck-series-victory/Sat, 24 Feb 2024 20:11:08 GMT-0500127622atlanta-motor-speedway, bayley-currey, christian-eckes, corey-heim, corey-heim-drivers, drivers, kyle-busch, mcanally-hilgemann-racing, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-craftsman-truck-series, nascar-cup-series, nick-sanchez, niece-motorsports, race-recap-trucks, racing-teams, Series, spire-motorsports, taylor-gray-drivers, teams, thorsport-racing, tracks, ty-majeskiStaff ReportHAMPTON, Ga. — When Kyle Busch sold his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team to Spire Motorsports, he didn‘t surrender his prowess behind the wheel.

Driving the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet in his first start of 2024, Busch inherited the lead from Grant Enfinger on Lap 129 of 135 and held off Ty Majeski and Corey Heim over the final five laps to win his seventh race at Atlanta Motor Speedway and the 65th of his career, extending his own series record.

Enfinger was out front for 21 consecutive laps before one of his tires began losing pressure, forcing him to the pits after Busch, Majeski, Heim, Taylor Gray and Nick Sanchez, last week‘s winner at Daytona, sped past.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Busch crossed the finish line 0.187 seconds ahead of Majeski, who edged Heim for the runner-up position by 0.009 seconds. Gray and Sanchez came home fourth and fifth, respectively.

“I actually got a run on the 9 truck (Enfinger) down the backstretch,” Busch said of the pass for the win. “He must have been going flat down the backstretch and slowing down because it gave me — it sucked me up right to him. Then he got loose in the corner. I got loose in the corner. We all checked up trying not to crash.

“Thankfully, we didn‘t. I thought that was a big moment. But then we got the lead right there, and after that, it was about trying to protect it. Majeski was a bit of a wing man today. Appreciate him — and the history we‘ve had together growing up racing late models with him a lot in Wisconsin and around those parts.

“That was a lot of fun. Great to get Chevrolet to Victory Lane.”

The race was the first of five events Busch will run for Spire Motorsports this year, after selling Kyle Busch Motorsports to the organization late in the 2023 season. Busch now has 230 victories across all three of NASCAR‘s national series (63 NASCAR Cup, 102 Xfinity and 65 Craftsman Truck).

Coming through the final corner, Busch effectively blocked Majeski‘s only potential path to victory.

“I had a run, and I got to Kyle‘s bumper,” Majeski said. “I knew he was going to cover the bottom. My only shot was to try and fade right, get to his quarter panel. That was the only shot that I had.

“Overall, super proud of the day. The truck was a little ill-handling in the beginning. (Crew chief) Joe Shear made some great calls, tightened me up a little bit so we could go racing.”

Tyler Ankrum led a race-high 46 laps but got shuffled back in the bottom lane after Enfinger passed him for the top spot in Lap 108. Busch, who won Stage 2, was out front for 33 laps and Enfinger 23. Ankrum finished seventh behind Kaden Honeycutt in sixth.

MORE: Memorable moments at Atlanta | Watch NASCAR video highlights

Christian Eckes led 20 laps and won the first stage but suffered brake issues that prevented him from stopping in his pit box during the Stage 1 break. Eckes retired after 50 laps in 33rd place.

There were 20 lead changes among seven drivers and seven cautions for 37 laps.

A bizarre caution period slowed the event‘s final stage when a portion of the roof flew off the No. 41 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet driven by Bayley Currey. The team indicated that the top area of the truck was compromised when it hit a piece of debris earlier in the event, and the roof eventually gave way.

The Craftsman Truck Series‘ next race is scheduled for Friday, March 1, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (9 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Note: NASCAR officials disqualified the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford because of missing windshield fasteners discovered in post-race technical inspection. Layne Riggs had driven the No. 38 truck to an apparent 24th-place result, but the penalty for violating Rule 14.4.10.1.G (“Windshield fasteners must remain tight and stationary for the entire event”) in the NASCAR Rule Book knocked the team to last in the finishing order. No other issues were found in post-race inspection, confirming Busch‘s victory in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet.

Contributing: Staff reports

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No. 8 RCR team makes crew changehttps://www.mrn.com/2024/02/24/no-8-rcr-team-makes-crew-change/Sat, 24 Feb 2024 20:02:52 GMT-0500127620atlanta-motor-speedway, drivers, kyle-busch, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-cup-series, richard-childress-racing, Series, teams, tracksStaff ReportHAMPTON, Ga. — Ahead of Sunday‘s NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway (3 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Kyle Busch and the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing team will have a new jackman in Garrett Crall as he takes over for Josh Sobecki.

The change comes after a loose wheel suffered by the team after a pit stop during the Stage 2 break of last Sunday‘s Daytona 500. Busch limped his No. 8 Chevrolet around the 2.5-mile superspeedway back to pit road without further damage and rallied to finish 12th while leading 12 laps in the “Great American Race.”

RELATED: Sunday‘s Cup Series lineup | Photos from Atlanta

Busch said on Saturday that RCR attempted to make pit crew changes during the offseason, this latest shake-up coming after the team shifted several key personnel between the Nos. 3 and 8 teams early on in last year‘s playoffs.

“We were trying to redo a few different positions over the offseason, and some of the talent we were scouting, talking to and giving offers to, they declined them and went somewhere else,” Busch said. “We kind of just had what we had, and we‘ve been working through that. It‘s tough out there. It‘s really hard to recruit and get guys. Especially with where RCR is based and where they‘re at, it‘s a long drive to get up to Welcome (North Carolina) to pit-stop practice sometimes three and four times a week, whatever it might be.

“I know that [pit-crew coach] Ray [Wright] and all the guys there in the pit crew department are working super hard. Trust me, they‘ve heard it — not from me, but from Richard week in and week out. Their ears are bleeding, but I know they‘re trying and I know they‘re working hard. Trust me, there were plenty of offers over the offseason to try and get different talent up there, and we just weren‘t able to secure it.”

MORE: Watch NASCAR video highlights

After the pit stop at Daytona, RCR owner Richard Childress had fiery words for the No. 8 pit crew, telling the team to straighten up for the final stage.

Over the years, Busch has been the one to voice his displeasure after a mistake but with Childress being hands-on with his Cup teams and actively engaged during races, Busch has taken a step back from being the lead vocalist over team communications.

“Richard is very involved and wants any situation to get better,” Busch said. “If we‘re not winning every single race out of the year, then how did we lose that one race? What can we do to make it better? That‘s a racer‘s mentality … that‘s what we all try to strive for and try to be better at. It‘s tough sometimes when you have the human element. We all make mistakes. I made tons of them last year and my crew stuck behind me — was passionate that I was their driver and wanted to go to the next week and figure out how to win the next one. I know where Richard is coming from, and I appreciate that — the emphasis he puts on greatness and wanting to be better. It‘s what we all strive for.”

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Michael McDowell wins pole at Atlantahttps://www.mrn.com/2024/02/24/michael-mcdowell-wins-pole-at-atlanta/Sat, 24 Feb 2024 19:54:19 GMT-0500127618atlanta-motor-speedway, drivers, joey-logano, kyle-larson, martin-truex-jr, michael-mcdowell, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, racing-teams, Series, teams, tracks, william-byronStaff ReportHAMPTON, Ga. — Michael McDowell and Joey Logano performed their own version of “Trading Places” during NASCAR Cup Series time trials on Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

After finishing second to Logano in qualifying for the season-opening Daytona 500, McDowell will start his 467th Cup race from a position he has never occupied before — first on the grid — with Logano beside him in second.

RELATED: Starting lineup | Weekend schedule 

Having won the first Busch Light Pole Award of his career, McDowell will lead the field to green in Sunday‘s Ambetter Health 400 at the 1.54-mile track (3 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

All told, seven Fords and three Chevrolets comprised the top 10 in the qualifying session.

The only driver to break the 31-second mark, McDowell posted a time of 30.999 seconds (178.844 mph) in the final round of time trials, beating second-place Logano (178.424 mph) by 0.073 seconds.

Kyle Busch (178.235 mph) earned the third starting position, with Todd Gilliland, McDowell‘s teammate at Front Row Motorsports, claiming the fourth spot at 178.080 mph.

“That‘s awesome,” McDowell said after topping the session. “Two weeks in a row, we sat on the front row. We need to back that up with a good result (on Sunday). We‘ve got both cars in the top five, so that‘s awesome.”

Kyle Larson, defending series champion Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher, Austin Cindric, Chase Briscoe and Austin Dillon will start the Ambetter Health 400 from fifth through 10th, respectively.

MORE: Watch NASCAR video highlights

For the second straight race, no Toyotas advanced to the top 10 in qualifying, though Martin Truex‘s 12th-place effort on Saturday was an improvement from Daytona, where Erik Jones was the fastest Camry driver in time trials at 22nd.

Daytona 500 winner William Byron missed the final round by 0.002 seconds (behind Hendrick teammate Larson.

The 400-miler (260 laps) is the second race of the Cup Series season.

Contributing: Staff reports

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NASCAR.com's 36 for 36 picks for Atlantahttps://www.mrn.com/2024/02/23/nascar-coms-36-for-36-picks-for-atlanta/Fri, 23 Feb 2024 16:39:24 GMT-0500127611atlanta-motor-speedway, austin-cindric, corey-lajoie, justin-haley, NASCAR, nascar-cup-series, todd-gilliland-drivers, tracksStaff ReportNASCAR.com‘s 36 for 36 continues at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

With 36 races and 36 full-time Charter cars, our players select one car per race, but there‘s a simple twist: Once they‘ve made the pick, they can‘t choose that car again for the rest of the 36-race season. Yes, that means every car will be selected exactly once … a survivor pool, by another name.

Follow along weekly as our panel of pickers — Dustin Albino from Jayski, along with Steve Luvender and Cameron Richardson from NASCAR.com — embark on a season-long journey to think like strategists and prove their picking prowess.

We‘ll also feature a fourth “community” 36 for 36 pick each week, as decided by fan vote on the r/NASCAR subreddit. Can the collective vote topple our trio of full-timers?

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

Standings after Race 1

RankNamePointsBehind
1Steve Luvender28
t-2Dustin Albino13-15
t-2r/NASCAR Community13-15
4Cameron Richardson1-27

Race 2 of 36: Atlanta

Daytona yielded mixed results for our pickers to kick off the season. Cameron Richardson‘s selection of Harrison Burton (No. 21) didn‘t make it past Lap 6, while Dustin Albino and the Reddit community pick of Riley Herbst (No. 15) earned 13 points after a 24th-place finish. Steve Luvender‘s ninth-place-finishing Noah Gragson (No. 10) pick yielded 28 points for an early points lead.

Now, with Daytona in the books, it‘s time to focus on Atlanta — another drafting track that could come up big for the underdogs. How did our pickers plan this one?

Jayski‘s Dustin Albino: No. 51, Justin Haley

A graphic depicting the 36 for 36 pick of Dustin Albino

Dustin‘s pick last week (Daytona): No. 15, Riley Herbst
Points earned last week: 13 (24th-place finish)
Total season points: 13 (second place)

Dustin: Did you watch the Daytona 500!? At one point, Haley had driven up to second position for Rick Ware Racing. Haley is one of 11 drivers to have multiple top-10 finishes on the reconfigured Atlanta track. The Indiana native is known for being an elite superspeedway competitor, so would it really be surprising if he had another solid outing? After all, J.J. Yeley finished seventh for RWR in the most recent Atlanta race. Granted, it was cut short due to inclement weather.

NASCAR.com‘s Steve Luvender: No. 2, Austin Cindric

A graphic depicting the 36 for 36 pick of Steve Luvender

Steve‘s pick last week (Daytona): No. 10, Noah Gragson
Points earned last week: 28 (ninth-place finish)
Total season points: 28 (first place)

Steve: Is it a little unwise to waste a Team Penske driver on Race 2 and at a draft-heavy track where an underdog could shine? Maybe, but my early strategy is to make ‘bargain‘ selections where I think a driver can bring in as many points as possible, like my Noah Gragson pick at Daytona that netted 28 points. (Yes, I‘m bragging. The points leader is bragging.) Austin Cindric should be a solid bet for Atlanta. Not only is he quite adept at drafting — he was in contention for a second Daytona 500 win until a last-lap crash — he‘s fared reasonably well in the current superspeedway-esque configuration at Atlanta, leading laps in each of the last three races with an average finish of 8.7 to show for it.

NASCAR.com‘s Cameron Richardson: No. 38, Todd Gilliland

A graphic depicting the 36 for 36 pick of Cameron Richardson

Cameron‘s pick last week (Daytona): No. 21, Harrison Burton
Points earned last week: 1 (39th-place finish)
Total season points: 1 (fourth place)

Cameron: Sure, my Daytona 500 pick may have only completed five laps, so get your laughs in now. But that all changes now heading to the Peach State as I‘m rolling with Todd Gilliland. The driver of the No. 38 led the third-most laps (16) in the “Great American Race” last Monday and was working his way to the front as the race wound down before getting collected in the 23-car pileup with nine to go. I expect the Fords to once again be fast at Atlanta, and Gilliland started inside the top 10 in the Cup Series‘ last visit to Atlanta.

r/NASCAR Community: No. 7, Corey LaJoie

A graphic depicting the 36 for 36 pick of the NASCAR Reddit community

r/NASCAR‘s pick last week (Daytona): No. 15, Riley Herbst
Points earned last week: 13 (24th-place finish)
Total season points: 13 (second place)

Corey LaJoie is far and away the subreddit choice of the week. And for good reason, too: Driver No. 7 has been a standout at Atlanta‘s new configuration, earning back-to-back top fives in the spring race — the only driver to achieve such a feat. From the voting thread:

u/Striking-Insurance-3: “I believe Corey is a great vote for Atlanta, hasn‘t shown same strength on other tracks as he has on ‘Superspeedways‘ solid bet while saving some of the big dogs for later in the season”

u/Comprehensive-Bat760: “Picking LaJoie because he‘s really underappreciated.

Plus, his 4th place finish in the Daytona 500 is going to help him.”

u/SBMVPJustinHerbert: “New New Atlanta history for LaJoie:

2022 1: 5th
2022 2: Blocked going for the win on the last lap
2023 1: 4th
2023 2: Running just outside the top 10 when he crashed

Pretty clearly his best track in my opinion, and coming off a strong 500 effort, is my personal suggestion for the week.”

Check back next week to see how our pickers fared at Atlanta as we begin the season-long 36 for 36 journey.

And, if you‘ve got a competitive itch beyond meticulously managing your Fantasy Live lineup each week, feel free to save or print your own 36 for 36 sheet and see if you can beat our pickers and the Reddit community!

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Kyle Busch's pursuit to win Daytona 500https://www.mrn.com/2024/02/23/kyle-buschs-pursuit-to-win-the-daytona-500/Fri, 23 Feb 2024 16:37:08 GMT-0500127609atlanta-motor-speedway, daytona-500, daytona-international-speedway, kyle-busch, nascar-cup-series, richard-childress-racingStaff ReportKyle Busch has been chasing the Daytona 500 since 2005. The man with more than 200 NASCAR national series wins and two NASCAR Cup Series championships has just one thing missing from his personal trophy case — the Harley J. Earl Trophy.

This year was Busch‘s 19th attempt in the “Great American Race” to try and get it.

The No. 8 Richard Childress Racing team gave NASCAR.com access to shadow the program at Daytona International Speedway, starting with Thursday‘s Bluegreen Vacations Duels through the checkered flag of the Daytona 500.

Follow along for a behind-the-scenes look at the team‘s weekend in the 66th annual running of the Daytona 500.

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

THURSDAY

After starting Duel 2 fourth, Busch was involved in a significant crash on Lap 47 that ended his night in the qualifying race for the Daytona 500

Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 12 Menards/PEAK Ford, in flames after an on-track incident with Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 8 Zone Chevrolet, and Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 6 Castrol Edge Ford, during the NASCAR Cup Series Bluegreen Vacations Duel No. 2 at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 15, 2024 in Daytona Beach, Florida.

POST-WRECK: The No. 8 Chevrolet is towed to the far corner of the auxiliary garage. Most of the splitter is torn away, while scuffs decorate the vinyl wrap of the blue and green Camaro down the right side.

Within five minutes, the crew gets the car on jack stands, opens the hood and begins inspecting the rear deck lid with crew chief Randall Burnett. Car chief Clay Alexander struggles to rip the right-rear wheel off the car. Burnett and a NASCAR official inspect the inner wheel well of the right rear.

Officials reserve the right to decide whether a team fixes its primary car or swaps to a backup. The team‘s backup car is already wrapped with the appropriate paint scheme, saving the team hours of additional work.

There‘s also a sense of déjà vu: Busch crashed in the 2023 duel and used a backup car for the Daytona 500. He led at Lap 200 — the race‘s scheduled conclusion — but the race went to overtime, where Busch was involved in a race-ending wreck.

At 9:52 p.m., Andy Petree, Richard Childress Racing‘s vice president of competition, appears at the side of the No. 8 car. He finds Burnett and the two discuss the situation as the crew continues to assess the primary car while prepping parts for the backup.

“It‘s just distressing,” Petree says. “We wrecked a lot last year — way too much. Kind of demoralizing to start off the whole thing here wrecking again. It‘s just like last year. But I mean we rebounded very well and put ourselves in position to win the 500, just to get wrecked again. But we‘re gonna keep fighting. This team‘s got a lot of fight left. But it‘s just a kick in the gut to have it happen again.”

Petree has been associated with elite superspeedway cars for the last 24 years, dating back to his days as a team owner with Andy Petree Racing and its then-alliance with RCR and Dale Earnhardt Inc. That RCR is a contender at every superspeedway is intentional.

“We do it on purpose,” Petree says. “This is the biggest race of our season so it means a lot to be good here and so we put a lot of emphasis on it. We put a lot of focus on it. I would say some years, maybe we put too much focus on it. You have the most time to prepare for the Daytona 500. You‘ve got all offseason. You put all hands on deck. It‘s just one of those priorities that Richard had and RCR had over the years.”

By 11:17 p.m., an enormous amount of work has been done. A new engine and all driveline parts are installed on the approved backup car as the crew works diligently. Had it gone unused, this car was previously slated as the team‘s primary car for Atlanta. Heads are down, focused on the tasks at hand. The fabric protective cover is laid over the primary car at 11:18, and two minutes later, the backup is covered, ready to rest until tomorrow.

FRIDAY

The team resumes work when the garage opens at 9 a.m., with both primary and backup cars facing nose-to-nose as they were the night before. Roughly two hours into their work, the group is bumping old-school hip-hop classics on their speakers: Eric B & Rakim, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, and The Fugees, to name a few.

At 1:31 p.m., finishing touches are being put on the backup car, hammering sides of spoiler ever so slightly to get it into the optimal alignment. Engine tuner Matt Lombardi ensures the belt tensions are correct and no fluids are leaking. Burnett says everything has gone as planned this morning. “The team knows the drill.”

Half an hour later, the backup sparks to life, its new Earnhardt-Childress Racing motor ignited. Lombardi is overseeing the engine, tuning as the power supply comes up to temperature. He goes to the car‘s rear and works in the trunk with Alexander, and after wrenching in the right-rear portion of the trunk, Lombardi lowers the deck lid with an approving nod and heads back to the engine.

By 2:15 p.m., the car is ready for technical inspection. There is not an obligation to run through tech before Friday‘s practice session, but going through now can confirm the car is up to par. Within 15 minutes, the car is back in the garage stall.

“I wouldn‘t say clean and green,” Burnett says after the first go, “but not bad.”

Two hours pass before they go through tech a second time. What transpired in between involved walking through every detail again and adjusting based off what they saw in inspection the first time through. Alexander, the car chief, says going through twice Friday might save a step Saturday. This time, through, all is good and they‘re ready for practice at 5:35 p.m.

Busch heads onto the track to make laps by himself to make sure there‘s “nothing funny” with the car, Burnett says, and then plans to draft with other Chevrolets.

By 5:40, after completing a few solo laps, Busch is back in the garage. “Let‘s go over everything, make sure everything‘s good, then join the Hendrick guys and draft,” Burnett radios. But there‘s some confusion. The Hendrick cars are still at speed. Spotter Derek Kneeland asks whether the No. 8 is supposed to join, or if they‘re supposed to meet on pit road.

“I don‘t know. We‘re supposed to meet on pit road from 5:45-5:50,” Burnett says. Kneeland speaks to the Hendrick spotters and says they hadn‘t been told anything.

There were three other groups on track at that time. The new goal? Blend with one of them. It‘s 5:52 p.m. and Busch is the lead car in a draft of seven, with RCR teammate Austin Dillon, JTG Daugherty Racing‘s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Hendrick drivers Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, William Byron and Alex Bowman.

Over the next 12 minutes, Busch alternates positions in line — middle, trailing, leading. Burnett would like to see a couple more laps, but ultimately feels this is a good spot to get a read on the car‘s balance. Busch reports the car drives fine, but a tight condition off Turn 4 is the biggest issue.

Kyle Busch and crew chief Randall Burnett chat in the garage area at Daytona.

The session ends shortly thereafter, and the No. 8 Chevrolet returns to the garage. There, the team assesses what they learned during the 50-minute session, analyzes the adjustments they made and ultimately prepares to shut down for the evening.

“Yeah, it‘s been a little chaotic,” Burnett says after the session. “Obviously, it‘s less than ideal to get your primary car tore up. Fortunately, we had experience going through that last year, so we kind of knew what to expect. So, the guys did a really good job of getting the car together. The guys at the shop did a really good job of making sure the backup car was prepped really well. And so when we unloaded it, it was in really good shape. So that helped a ton.”

Busch‘s feedback from the Duel helped inform Burnett‘s direction on the backup car: The car started tight and built loose over a run, giving Burnett and engineers Nate Troupe and Andrew Dickeson something to ponder.

“I don‘t know that we got it 100% of what he wanted, but I think we got the right direction,” Burnett said. “I think we‘ll make a few more changes for Sunday for the 500 to try to help him with that.”

After practice, interior specialist Richard Parks explained this week‘s workload was a “little bit worse than usual” because the backup didn‘t have all the driver cooling components that were in the primary. But overall, with the help of Joe Mchone as an additional hand this week, “it really wasn‘t too bad for us,” Parks said.

“Kyle‘s pretty easy with all this stuff,” he added. “He‘s not too hard to please, believe it or not. So yeah, it went pretty well for as far as the interior stuff goes.”

Standing in the hauler after snacking on Fritos dipped in Stan‘s Pimento Cheese Spread, Burnett is pleased with what he sees at the end of the night.

“Now we can kind of fine-tune and fluff and buff on the car some and get it really right and work on some setup stuff that we wanted to try and go from there,” Burnett said.

As the group prepares to close shop for the night, the overriding sentiment now is optimism.

“We‘re very positive. We feel like we‘ve got a really good shot,” Parks said. “This is our backup car — not our best car or our best motor. … But we still feel like we got a really good shot at this thing, especially with Kyle driving the car.”

SATURDAY

10:25 a.m.: Cup Series final practice is canceled because of inclement weather, which didn‘t change any of the No. 8 team‘s plans anyway. The group remains hard at work preparing the car before inspection opens at 11 a.m. So far, “fluff and buff” has referred mainly to attention near the spoiler and deck lid, though Parks and Mchone tend to the front windshield and some center braces in the cockpit.

10:40 a.m.: The atmosphere is generally more tense at this moment, with the spoiler seemingly not cooperating with their preferred angles. Burnett takes a hammer to the back of the spoiler, direct center, trying to make it adhere both to their preferences and within NASCAR‘s specifications.

Clay Alexander, Scott

11:57 a.m.: Over an hour later, the team is now lending some attention to the rear wheel wells and their corners nearest the doors. They‘ve still yet to run through inspection and will have to warm the motor before they roll to tech. Parks estimates about another 20 minutes until then, but tensions have otherwise eased.

12:10 p.m.: Jim Campbell, vice president of GM Performance & Motorsports, makes his way to the No. 8 team‘s garage as guests of Chevrolet tour the facilities. The timing is perfect as the car is rolled out of the garage and beneath an awning — the rain has steadied — as the engine roars, then purrs, then comes up to temperature. Campbell knows well the effort RCR puts into this race and cherishes the relationship with Childress. There aren‘t many 50-year businesses or partnerships, he notes, but this one has lasted.

12:21 p.m.: Inspection time. The vibe is much lighter now than it was an hour ago as the team arrives to the first station. The Camaro is jacked up and placed on stands, wheels then removed and set aside. This station involves an overview of the chassis, so officials will look over the car inside and out — cockpit, wheel wells, trunk, hood, everywhere — to make sure all is compliant.

Here, Parks sparks more conversation. This year marks his 29th in the sport and 17th with RCR after stops at Bill Davis Racing and Petty Enterprises among others. He‘s seen plenty of highs and lows at RCR in his tenure — and praised Tyler Reddick for getting them going in the right direction. Reddick still stops by to chat with the group as well, emphasizing the strength of those relationships. Parks also praises Alexander, the car chief, for his role in keeping this team sharp. “He‘s made me a better mechanic,” Parks says.

12:41 p.m.: After 20 minutes, it‘s onto the next inspection station. Former driver and now longtime official David Green inspects the cockpit, measuring the headrests and their clearances. Then it‘s ahead to templates: spoilers, roof, side panels, windshields — all have a designated template that the car must fit. One official points to the left-rear deck lid and its aerodynamic shark fin before speaking with a crewman about it. There‘s no significant hubbub here, but it does appear to be an area of concern.

1:04 p.m.: The car is back to the garage stall and scaled but will need to go through inspection once more. The underwing scanner showed the car was failing by thousandths of an inch. A first failure is harmless; a second could result in a crew member being ejected for the rest of the weekend.

1:50 p.m.: Back to the underwing scanner and holding their breath. “It‘s just so tense because there‘s so much that can go wrong,” Burnett explains. He reiterates Parks‘ earlier praise of Alexander as the “unsung hero” of this team. Meanwhile, it‘s time for the car to roll up the ramp and be scanned again. A minute later, it‘s all smiles from mechanic Scott “Burt” Widener and Burnett.

2:05 p.m.: Back in the garage and all clear. The No. 8 car passed on its second run through tech. Now the car is jacked with only three team members allowed inside the stall at a time, overseen by one official. The crew removes the struts used for tech and installs the race shocks. This is the final step, then the car is ready for the “Great American Race.”

The relief is palpable as we step from the stall to the hauler. Burnett explains the relief of passing tech is “massive” because he doesn‘t want his guys in trouble. It falls back on him as the crew chief, plus sponsors call asking why you can‘t get through tech. “Just a mess.” The weight is off everyone‘s shoulders now.

2:35 p.m.: The team is officially done for Saturday. No extra team meeting and everyone‘s happy — ready for lunch. Today‘s spread is tri-tip beef, barbecue chicken, beans and potato salad. One last “Nice job, guys,” from Burnett signals the end the day.

The No. 8 team observes the car in the garage at Daytona

SUNDAY

9:30 a.m. — The 66th annual Daytona 500 is officially postponed to Monday at 4 p.m. ET because of rain. Teams will be able to access the haulers at 10 a.m. Monday and their cars in the garage at 11 a.m. The crew uses the free day to rest and recuperate.

MONDAY

10:04 a.m.: It‘s race day. Team members file into the hauler shortly after the garage area opens. Burnett snacks on Pringles and a can of Diet Coke while water-cooler chats commence around the hauler. All the car needs are race tires and an engine warmup. Then it‘s ready for the grid.

10:25 a.m.: Kneeland makes his way to the hauler. After the Duel races, he and Busch spent an hour reviewing film and discussing takeaways from their qualifying race. Examining the wreck, Kneeland says it was a racing incident, the result of lost momentum from cars in front without much place to go.

We chat about his role, experiences and the significance of getting Busch to Victory Lane in the Daytona 500. “There is no secret everybody‘s talking about that this week,” he said. That undertone has persisted through the race weekend. Today could be the day.

10:40 a.m.: A sense of gratitude is evident through the hauler. There are tired bodies but not worn-out spirits. Parks makes it a point to emphasize: “We get to work on this team. We don‘t have to. We get to.”

Alexander, the car chief, has a similar reflection. He was a mechanic on the No. 3 Chevrolet in 2018 when Austin Dillon won the Daytona 500 and has the tattoo to prove it. Clay tried his hand at racing behind the wheel but realized that wouldn‘t be his long-term path. So when opportunity knocked around 2012 for him to work at Phoenix Racing in North Carolina, he sold just about everything, including his truck, to move from Franklin, Tennessee, to make it happen.

“Yeah, we complain about the small details because we want everything to be perfect,” Alexander says, “but at the end of the day, I‘m one of 40 people doing this at the top level.”

12:32 p.m.: Fitted with its race tires, the car is rolled into the procession, waiting for its turn to be placed on the grid. There are still three and a half hours until this race begins, but the sun is finally shining. There‘s a nervous energy. Eight minutes later, the job is done: The No. 8 Chevrolet glistens in the sunshine, parked perfectly between the Chevys of Austin Dillon and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. at pit entry.

3 p.m.: While the drivers‘ meeting begins in the media center, the No. 8 team meets in its hauler. Outside, Sheryl Crow‘s “Soak Up the Sun” blares on the track‘s PA system, fitting for the sunny Monday afternoon after two dismal days of rain.

Burnett leads the meeting with a succinct, “Welcome to Daytona.” He thanks the team for its hard work to get the backup car prepared after Thursday with a successful Friday practice. He cautions the team doesn‘t have a great pit stall for Monday‘s race — pit stall No. 20 behind Tyler Reddick and in front of Ryan Preece. That shouldn‘t be an issue during green-flag stops, he adds, but something to be mindful of under caution. Burnett breaks down the stages and anticipates fuel-only stops — but be ready with tires in case Busch locks his tires coming to pit road and they need to call an audible.

“Today‘s the day,” Burnett said. “Today‘s the day we start our season. Let‘s come out here strong. We got the best driver in the garage. That‘s for sure. So, let‘s do this proud and have a great day. Been fortunate enough in my career to win one of these things, and it‘s something you‘ll never forget.”

3:40 p.m.: Busch is introduced at the stage. Fans standing next to his car cheer loudly. Unlike past years, they are not anomalies. There is a notable pickup in cheers over jeers, a sign of changing times around Busch. Jared Reid, the tire technician, checks tire pressures at the same time, the air wheezing through the tire gauge. At 3:46 p.m., Parks is prepping the interior, getting tape stripped for Kyle to use when he straps in, safeguarding the data-collecting mouthguard Busch will utilize and more.

3:54 p.m.: Busch arrives to his machine, just minutes after his wife, Samantha, and their two children, Brexton and Lennix, arrived. They join Kurt Busch at the car, who was eagerly waiting to see his brother. Kurt knows what this race‘s glory means, having won the Harley J. Earl Trophy in 2017 and speaks to Kyle separately at the left rear of the car. Perhaps today is Kyle‘s day. He heads to the front of the car and takes five photos with sponsor guests — Zone, Chevrolet, RCR. Someone poses the basic-but-imperative question: “You gonna win?” “We‘re gonna try,” Busch says with a laugh.

3:57 p.m.: With obligations complete, it‘s family time for Busch. In his arms is 21-month-old Lennix while Brexton, 8, inspects the car. Samantha returns from a separate conversation and the four are ready for family pictures — first with backs to the tri-oval then backs toward Turn 4.

3:58 p.m.: Burnett and team owner Richard Childress have a brief conversation, jovially interrupted by the towering Brad Daugherty, co-owner of Stenhouse‘s No. 47 just next door. The trio shares laughs and hugs and wish each other luck. NASCAR President Steve Phelps drops in as well, sharing a pleasant conversation with Childress.

4 p.m.: Reddick stops by on the way to his car, laughing with the group he worked with from 2020-22. Childress, meanwhile, has found the Busches, chatting with Samantha while Brexton and a friend laugh at their side. Kyle is still holding Lennix, who looks content in dad‘s arms.

4:05 p.m.: The Busch family gathers just outside the driver-side door, heads bowed as the pre-race prayer gets underway. Then their hands land over their hearts for the national anthem. The Thunderbirds rocket over the tri-oval to end it and the family shares one last moment together before Kyle climbs in.

Kyle Busch and his family embrace on the grid at the 2024 Daytona 500.

4:31 p.m.: The starter gives the signal: One lap until we go green. Alexander, Widener and Mchone take seats in front of the live monitor. Reid stands behind them looking at his laptop. An anxious energy has persisted from the grid to this moment. All they want is to see that green flag.

4:34 p.m.: The green flag is out for the Daytona 500.

Lap 6: Caution. Harrison Burton gets turned near the front of the field with Carson Hocevar, spins through the tri-oval grass and back into traffic where Austin Dillon and Kaz Grala hit him. Busch escapes without damage and now sits 26th. “All good so far,” reports Busch. Alexander signals to the pit crew they will stop for fuel only, which is completed with no issue at Lap 9, rejoining in 27th.

Lap 41: “We‘re real close,” Burnett says about fuel. Busch will need to save. Through the on-track jostling, Busch pushes Chase Elliott all the way to the lead, but Busch needs to fall back a bit to the front bumper of Josh Berry.

Lap 54: “Pit this time. Do not slide your tires. Fuel only.” That‘s the message delivered to Busch, who‘s also reminded to adjust his brake bias before hitting pit road.

Lap 55: It‘s a clean stop and Busch escapes with the lead of the Chevy mates he pitted with, ahead of William Byron, Elliott, Daniel Suárez, Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman and Ross Chastain.

Lap 62: The Chevys — tailed by three Toyotas — storm at full throttle past front-runners David Ragan and Ryan Preece, who are in fuel-save mode. Busch leads for the first time today.

Lap 65: It‘s a photo finish for the stage win, but Elliott takes it over Larson. Busch crosses the line sixth to score five stage points as the caution flag waves. Busch describes the balance of his race car “unpredictable.” He says it‘s a little tight because he loses the nose, so he‘s using more wheel to pull it down with the front tires. “10-4, pal,” Burnett says. “We‘ll pit for four (tires) when it opens.” Busch can go when the jack is dropped but will wait a second on fuel.

Lap 67: “Tire, tire, tire. Grab it, grab it, grab it.” The tire was wrangled, but not in enough time to avoid a safety violation for interference with the No. 45 group pitting Reddick‘s car. That will be a penalty and send Busch to the tail of the field. “I don‘t think we waited on fuel, did we? Did we get it?” asks Busch. “No, we didn‘t get it all the way full,” Burnett confirms. “I‘ll let you know how short we are in a minute.”

Lap 68: Kneeland laments losing the stage win but Burnett pumps him back up. “You did a great job there, though, man,” Burnett said. “Last to first almost.” Moments later, the fuel situation is also clarified: “It‘s not cram-packed full of fuel, but it‘s pretty full. We‘re gonna stay out and race from here, pal.”

Lap 69: Well, staying out was the plan until the penalty is called from the tower. With a trip to the back of the field in sight, Burnett calls Busch back to pit road to top off for fuel ahead of the restart.

Lap 100: Halfway home in the Daytona 500. Burnett tells Kneeland they‘re about 15-18 laps away from needing to pit. “We gonna have anybody to pit with?” Kneeland asks. “I‘m working on it, Derek,” Burnett says. “Give me a minute.”

Lap 113: “Pit this time! Pit this time!” It‘s a fuel-only stop as Busch arrives to the box without issue, on pit road the same time as Dillon, Stenhouse, Suárez, Hemric, Zane Smith, AJ Allmendinger and David Ragan. Busch leads the group off pit road.

Lap 123: Busch surges to the lead by himself and maintains the top lane with pushes from Byron and Allmendinger while Cindric, Blaney and Suárez push to their left. Cindric is aggressively side-drafting off through the corners, nearly pinching the No. 8 car to the wall through the 31-degree banking.

Lap 130: In the outside lane, Byron shoves Busch, trying to urge them to the front and win Stage 2. But the Penske teammates on the bottom have other thoughts. Blaney jives left from behind Cindric exiting Turn 4, sending Cindric to the outside lane as Blaney goes on to win the stage. Busch is fourth at the line for seven stage points. “Well, hell of a job again,” Burnett radios. “I would‘ve never guessed the 12 would‘ve shucked the 2 like that.”

Lap 133: Disaster looms. Busch leaves the pit box on the jack, but the left-front wheel was never tightened. Somehow, Busch nurses it all the way back around the 2.5-mile speedway with the wheel still attached to the car, despite sparks and a flat in the process.

Lap 134: Busch returns to the stall and gets a new left-front tire — safely secured this time through — with a top-off of Sunoco gasoline. He stays on the lead lap and returns to the tail of the field for the third time today, including the start.

Lap 149: Hello, Rowdy. Busch surges back to the lead in a three-wide move in the tri-oval. He continues to lead the middle lane with Alex Bowman in tow as the bottom falls back, while Denny Hamlin and LaJoie work to move the outside lane. Is this the year?

Lap 161: Trying to fit into the hole between LaJoie and Christopher Bell in the outside lane exiting Turn 2, Busch loses the nose of his car and scrubs the retaining wall with the right side of his car. No harm, no foul, but a scare nonetheless.

Lap 176: It‘s crunch time. Burnett hurries off the pit box and over to the No. 45 team‘s command, where they discuss which lap pit stops might occur. Burnett hustles back to his box and formulates a plan.

Lap 177: The call is to pit this time — but it‘s too late. Busch is stuck on the high side and can‘t get down to pit with the Chevys from Kaulig Racing and Spire Motorsports.

Lap 178: It‘s the Toyotas‘ turn to pit, including Reddick‘s No. 45 car. Burnett‘s goal was not to pit at the same time as Reddick so neither team was slowed, and the No. 8 car stays on track for one more lap.

Lap 179 : Finally, Busch hits pit road with only Hamlin and Haley as companions. That Busch made it to pit road was a near-miracle in the team‘s eyes, nearly out of fuel after last pitting at Lap 134 to rectify the left-front issue.

Lap 183: With pit stops complete, Busch reignites his charge toward the front. Within a lap, he goes from 25th to 15th using the inside line off Turn 4 before rocketing back to the outside exiting the tri-oval.

Lap 192: And it struck. At the head of the field, an errant bump from Bowman to Byron triggers a 23-car melee at the end of the backstretch, eliminating several contenders from this Daytona 500. Busch was able to slow to a near-stop and escaped unscathed, navigating through the minefield of debris in Turns 3 and 4. The No. 8 team has life in it yet — fittingly scored eighth as the red flag waves.

Lap 196: Back to green. It‘s a four-lap shootout to decide the Daytona 500. The two lanes remain in parade formation as they build to speed, gridlocking Busch in 10th.

Lap 197: Finally, an opportunity to jump to the third lane out near the wall arises in Turns 3 and 4. Busch jumps right of Bell with a head of steam as help comes from rookie Zane Smith and four others to the stripe.

Lap 198: Across the start/finish line, Elliott comes up in front of Busch. The outermost lane previously led by Busch has to check up for Elliott, but the middle lane led by Chastain and Bowman now has no momentum, allowing the inside lane to advance further with Byron out front. The middle lane reforms and pulls up to battle for third, but Busch is effectively out of it. The jostling killed his momentum, and now he dives to the bottom lane at the back of the pack coming to the white flag.

Lap 199: Coming into the tri-oval, Busch gets a massive run and leaps to the center lane — perhaps there‘s a chance to salvage a decent finish out of this after all. But there‘s another crash at the front of the field. Chastain and Cindric collide across the stripe and slide through the tri-oval grass. Moments after the front-runners took the white flag, the caution flag is displayed. Race over.

Lap 200 is here. It‘s the lap that Busch led in 2023. Then, it just meant an overtime finish was imminent. This year, Byron led at the time of caution and won the Daytona 500.

Kyle Busch, alone, looks out at the stands during qualifying at night at Daytona.

So ends another chapter in the story of Kyle Busch‘s search for the Harley J. Earl Trophy. There was no question his car was capable. There was no question the driver was capable. But when the green flag flew, circumstances favored others once again.

The procession down pit road post-race was subdued, traditional for the runners-up in the glorious-yet-merciless “Great American Race” — stunning and celebratory for one, dismal and heartbreaking for 39 others. Busch parked the car in line and removed his helmet and head sock. It was a hasty exit from the rubber-tarnished No. 8 Chevrolet after 500 miles, but an exit he can‘t make without witnessing the 26-year-old Byron who once drove for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Craftsman Truck Series performing exuberant donuts in the frontstretch grass.

Busch‘s legs return to earth, he removes his mouthguard and meets with his public relations representative. He collects his hat, confirms he has no further media obligations, and begins the walk back to his motorhome through the Xfinity Series garage. En route, the reporters face the difficult job of finding the words to navigate another fresh heartbreak.

What can he say about the team‘s rally through this year‘s adversity?

“What about it?”

He was in position to capitalize on the restart that mattered most. What did he need for it to have gone right?

“I have no idea. I don‘t know what could‘ve been done different.”

“I don‘t know when it was over per se,” he said of the end of the race. “We got down, we got back in line, we got out of the pits and we were seventh, eighth in line and tried to pick off a couple. Got shucked out of line. Got shoved to the back. I don‘t know.”

The pursuit of questioning ends, and Busch walks away after two decades trying to claim the trophy that has eluded him in his NASCAR Cup Series career.

Petree walks behind pit wall toward the garage area, backpack in tow as he prepares to put this race behind him and head to the FOX Sports broadcast booth to help analyze the upcoming Xfinity Series race.

“We felt good about what we had today and it just didn‘t work out,” Petree said. “These things, sometimes they work in your favor; sometimes they don‘t. They just didn‘t tonight. I‘ve got to give Kyle a lot of credit. We got caught in a really bad spot with about 10 or 12 laps to go and he was like, the only thing we can do now is just be in a position to avoid the wreck which he knew was coming — then it did happen. And then that restart didn‘t work out the way that I think that Kyle had figured it would. I think he probably thought there would have been a third lane forming sooner than it did, and it just didn‘t work out.”

At 8:18 p.m. ET — as fitting a time as any for the longtime driver of the No. 18 car — the No. 8 Chevrolet arrives back at its hauler at the hands of Parks, Mchone, Burnett, Alexander and Lombardi. Twenty-hours later than scheduled, it‘s time to load this car up and go home. But they sure wish it was being kept in Daytona instead as the centerpiece of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.

“I mean, the road crew guys did a great job,” Burnett said. “Everybody at RCR and ECR did a great job of overcoming some adversity this week to give us a car we could contend with after we got wrecked up in the 150 (duel) there. Had a great car for qualifying the car and good car for the 150 and got tore up and brought the backup car out and was capable of winning the race. So that says a lot about our team.

“On the flip side of that, we didn‘t do a great job of executing. We‘ve got some stuff to clean up on pit road for sure. Had really good speed. Kyle did a great job, drove his butt off all night long and just, disappointing. We had a car we were capable of winning with, and we just didn‘t get it done tonight.”

Burnett was a member of Chip Ganassi Racing‘s No. 1 team when Jamie McMurray drove that orange and black Chevrolet into Victory Lane at Daytona. He knows the glory of the Harley J. Earl. But he knows, too, the crushing weight of the losses Daytona more readily hands out — and has to Kyle Busch for 20 years.

“It‘s just, it‘s one of those things, man,” Burnett said. “It‘s so much that‘s gotta go right to win this race, and we didn‘t have enough go right today. So we‘ll come back again next year and try it again. You know, they give one of them Harley J. Earls out every year. So hopefully we‘ll come back next year and carry it home with us.”

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The frenzy of a Monday night doublehttps://www.mrn.com/2024/02/23/from-victory-lane-to-pit-road-the-frenzy-of-a-monday-night-double/Fri, 23 Feb 2024 16:35:02 GMT-0500127607daytona-500, drivers, hendrick-motorsports, jr-motorsports-teams, nascar-cup-series, nascar-xfinity-series, sammy-smith, Series, teams, william-byronStaff ReportCONCORD, N.C. — Ryan Patton has a recurring nightmare about his job that has awoken him in a cold sweat and clutching for a phantom tire.

“Usually it‘s at Martinsville, and I‘m outside the track trying to get in,” the Hendrick Motorsports tire carrier said. “And I‘m not ready at all for a pit stop.”

That terrifying feeling hit him again Monday night at Daytona International Speedway — and somehow it happened during the biggest waking dream of his life. After pitting the No. 24 Chevrolet that William Byron drove to victory in the 66th Daytona 500, Patton, rear tire changer Orane Ossowski, front tire changer Jeff Cordero and jackman Spencer Bishop got barely an hour to celebrate the most sought-after prize in NASCAR.

The confetti hardly had settled on the Harley J. Early Trophy when the foursome suddenly was dashing off to 300 more miles of work on the pit crew for Sammy Smith‘s No. 8 Chevrolet in the Xfinity Series race — the nightcap of the first Monday doubleheader in Daytona history. As Patton sprinted the length of pit road with a fresh set of radios while his teammates scrambled to grab new pit guns and equipment, the reality set in quickly.

“I‘m like, ‘Holy (crap), I‘m living my nightmare right now,‘ ” he said with a laugh. “One of the guys on our team was trying to congratulate me, and he‘s like, ‘Why are you running?‘ Because I‘ve got to go pit the next race!

“It was a lot of excitement, emotion and panic.”

Duty called at Daytona amidst the chaos of playing catch up. Though it was roughly 10 laps into the Xfinity race before they actually were ready to service Smith‘s car (and another 10 laps before the pit box was complete), the crew members answered the bell and nearly swept the day (Smith led six laps and was contending for the top five before a last-lap incident) — a feat that left Dale Earnhardt Jr. stunned on social media.

Though jokes were made in a pre-race meeting about skipping the Xfinity race if the No. 24 won the Daytona 500, there was no recourse for finding replacements. Plus, the challenge of possibly being crowned 800-mile Daytona champions immediately was accepted, as the crew explained Thursday during a group interview on the Hendrick campus to recount their wild adventure.

“With this group, whatever we do, we want to do our best,” Bishop said. “Even though we just won the 500, we can‘t just half-ass it. So yeah, you‘re on an emotional high, but we‘ve got to refocus, lock in and do a good job for Sammy Smith as well. We can‘t just phone it in and say, ‘Oh yeah, we won the 500, so sorry about that loose wheel.‘ You still want to do a good job because that‘s your reputation and your job.”

But there also still needed to be time to soak in the aftermath of winning The Great American Race, which was a first for Ossowski, Cordero, Bishop and fueler Landon Walker. As the party began with Byron on the frontstretch grass, there was an understanding that every last second of exultation would be used. Told no after asking half in jest if any substitutes had been found for the Xfinity race, Ossowski replied, “All right then. We‘re going to be late!”

William Byron is surrounded by his team as they celebrate his Daytona 500 win

“When we went to Victory Lane, I wasn‘t going to take one or two pictures and then bounce to pit the Xfinity race,” Cordero said. “I wanted to enjoy all of it. We got done taking pictures and were just hanging out after we sprayed the champagne. Then the Xfinity cars fired up, and I said, ‘This is fun. But we‘ve got to go!‘ ”

Walker tried to hustle his teammates to their next gig while also thrashing with a hodgepodge of Hendrick team members to get the No. 24‘s pit disassembled and reorganized for transport to Atlanta Motor Speedway (a task normally handled by the full pit crew).

“I didn‘t know if they were going to make it to the Xfinity race because Patton still was in the 24 hauler as the cars were literally about to take the green,” Walker said. “Obviously, I wanted to celebrate longer with those guys, but that was the only downside. It was funny how it all worked out.”

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

Between races, there were moments of absolute frenzy for every crew member.

After realizing he didn‘t have their Xfinity pit guns (usually obtained an hour before the race), Ossowski made a mad dash to the supplier‘s hauler in the garage and ran into Cordero, who was rolling back their equipment cart. While dropping off the Cup radios at the No. 24 hauler, Patton tore through every locker to ensure nothing was missing. Bishop scrambled to confirm he had the proper jack for the Xfinity car, and everyone hunted headsocks that went missing in the Daytona 500 celebration.

But the scene was relatively calm upon reaching the No. 8 Xfinity pit. JR Motorsports road crew members had done the heavy lifting of assembling the pit box with tires at the ready. Aside from a few personal touches and hooking up their pit guns, the setup work mostly was done.

“They did a really good exponentially helping us get all the basic stuff ready,” Cordero said. “It really took the pressure off us.”

Those orders enthusiastically came from the top down. When he arrived with a champagne bottle in one hand and a bag of Victory Lane hats in the other, Cordero immediately was greeted warmly by Earnhardt Jr. “Dale Jr.‘s won that race, and he understands,” Cordero said. “Everyone at JRM knows how important that race is. They gave us a lot of grace when we got there, and they all congratulated us, too.”

Patton never will forget Earnhardt Jr. proclaiming, “Damn, man, I‘ve got the Daytona 500 champs pitting my race car!” and Ossowski got a big hug from the Hall of Famer. “That was awesome,” he said. “I looked up before one of our stops, and Dale Jr.‘s just standing there on his phone, taking pictures of tires on the wall. In Daytona history, Dale Jr.‘s pretty high up, and he‘s there with his headset just like ‘Hey man!‘ ”

In another massive time-saver, JRM allowed the pit crew to stay in their Cup fire suits instead of changing into their Xfinity sponsor-branded gear.

“It hit me after the first pit stop when Sammy came on the radio and was like, ‘Great stop, boys. It‘s good to see you made it,‘ ” Patton said. “Kudos to him, because he‘s looking for a Pilot Flying J red fire suit, and we‘re out there in white Axalta suits. Pulling in with guys wearing  different logos and fire suits running in front of him, it was a good heads up on his part not to think he was coming into the wrong stall and clipping one of us.”

The No. 24 team executes a pit stop at Daytona

Monday marked only the second time since the Next Gen era began in 2022 that Cup and Xfinity races were held on the same day (May 29, 2023 at Charlotte Motor Speedway was the first). Cup switched to a single lug nut with Next Gen while Xfinity remained at five lug nuts, and there are distinctions in choreography, processes and speed.

On their first Xfinity pit stop, Cordero and Spencer slightly got crossed up because the jack man follows the tire changer in Xfinity and leads in Cup (where stops are much faster).

Bishop views the series‘ pit stops contrasts “as two different sports. It‘s almost like a heptathlete where one is shot put and one is discus. They‘re similar but different enough. And whenever the car hits pit road, it really doesn‘t matter what‘s going on around you. You‘re singularly focused. It‘s just the nature of doing pit stops. If your mind is elsewhere wandering around, you‘re not going to be great at your job.”

That includes distractions such as the bone-rattling mid-February chill of Daytona as midnight approaches. As the temperatures plummeted into the mid-40s for the final 20 or so laps, the No. 8 crew was left to shiver inside firesuits still damp with Gatorade and champagne from Victory Lane three hours earlier.

“That‘s when it kicked in that the adrenaline was starting to tail off,” Patton said. “Because we hadn‘t eaten since before the Daytona 500. We‘d been there since 9 a.m. when the garage opened.”

The full wait actually was much longer. The pit crew arrived Saturday morning for Xfinity‘s original afternoon start time. After a Sunday morning postponement of Xfinity and Cup, the team fruitlessly tried to pass the time with fun activities that never came to fruition — with everyone idling in Daytona, there were three-hour waits for go-karts and escape rooms. After another long wait to switch to unplanned hotel rooms Sunday night, they at least got a nice steak dinner at Firebirds (where they ran into No. 24 crew chief Rudy Fugle, who picked up their check).

There still was hope of the Xfinity race as a nice warmup before Monday morning rain pushed its start time from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

“We‘d been there since Saturday morning, and now it‘s Monday morning, and we haven‘t done anything,” Ossowski said. “You‘re anxious. We‘ve been here three days. Can we pit a race car?”

Aside from a nervous moment on the first stop for Byron — who missed his stall after a near-collision with teammate Alex Bowman, whom he later would outduel for his 11th career win — the Daytona 500 went off without a hitch with most of the pressure on Walker, who made four fuel-only stops among the team‘s seven.

“I am used to it, but it doesn‘t ever get easier,” Walker said. “When it gets down to that moment of a fuel-only stop to potentially put yourself in position to win the race, it doesn‘t matter how many times you‘ve done it. It feels like the first time.”

William Byron celebrates in Victory Lane with the No. 24 team.

The No. 24 pit crew got home at 4:30 a.m. Tuesday and had the day off. They were back at it Wednesday. Their Thursday morning pit practice ended with a red Cadillac Escalade V-Series driving the opposite way through the concrete launch pad. Team owner Rick Hendrick was behind the wheel, personally congratulating each team member who has made its share of history.

After delivering Hendrick Motorsports‘ 300th victory last year, Byron gave the team a record-tying ninth Daytona 500 win (matching Petty Enterprises) on the 40th anniversary to the day of Hendrick‘s first Cup start.

With so much to celebrate, the team threw another party Thursday night in Charlotte for a proper fete of the Daytona 500 triumph without time constraints.

“There are pit crew guys that go 10 or 12 years in a career and never win a race in all three divisions,” Ossowski said. “Every single one we celebrate like it‘s our last because you owe it to yourself to be in the moment.”

MEET THE PIT CREW WHO PULLED THE DOUBLE

Ryan Patton: Tire Carrier
Hometown:
Delphos, Ohio
Ohio Northern University
Has been at Hendrick Motorsports since August 2011 and was part of Jimmie Johnson‘s championship teams.

Spencer Bishop: Jack Man
Hometown:
Pine Hurst, North Carolina
Wake Forest University tight end from 2009-12.

Jeff Cordero: Front Tire Changer
Hometown:
Salem, Connecticut
Was formerly at Joe Gibbs Racing from 2018-21 and won a championship with Kyle Busch.

Orane Ossowski: Rear Tire Changer
Hometown:
Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada
Attended UNC Charlotte, interning with the chassis and composite shop at Hendrick before transferring to the pit department four years later.
One of a very small group of left-handed tire changers on pit road.

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Kvapil to make Xfinity debut at Martinsvillehttps://www.mrn.com/2024/02/22/kvapil-to-make-xfinity-debut-at-martinsville/Thu, 22 Feb 2024 15:44:47 GMT-0500127596advance-auto-parts-weekly-series, dale-earnhardt-jr, jr-motorsports-teams, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-regional, nascar-xfinity-seriesStaff ReportMOORESVILLE, N.C. — JR Motorsports today announced that two-time and defending zMAX CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car champion Carson Kvapil will make his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at the famed Martinsville Speedway on April 6 behind the wheel of the team‘s No. 88 Chevrolet.

As a product of JRM‘s vaunted Late Model organization, Kvapil becomes the fifth driver from the program to make his NXS debut for the organization, joining Richard Boswell, Josh Berry, William Byron and Sam Mayer.

“Our Late Model program at JR Motorsports has been a huge part of the success we‘ve had as a company,” said Dale Earnhardt Jr. “We‘re excited to be able to give Carson the opportunity to take the next step in his career.

“Helping young drivers with opportunities to climb the ladder is part of the foundation of JRM. Carson is part of a long list of drivers who deserve the chance to take that step forward in the sport.”

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

Dale Earnhardt Jr, driver of the number 3 late model and Carson Kvapil, driver of the number 8 late model, during the 9th Annual IceBreaker at Florence Motor Speedway in Florence, South Carolina on February 10, 2024. (Ted Malinowski/NASCAR)

A native of Mooresville, North Carolina, Kvapil started his foray into NASCAR competition last season, making starts in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and the ARCA Menards Series, scoring a career best ARCA finish of second at Kansas Speedway.

“I‘m really looking forward to making my NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at Martinsville,” said Kvapil. “My dad (Travis Kvapil) made his NASCAR Cup Series debut there back in 2004, so it‘s cool to make my first Xfinity start at the same track.

“I‘ve run there in the Late Models for JR Motorsports and done well, and hopefully I‘ll be able to use that experience to hit the ground running again with JRM in April.”

Kvapil heads into his third season with JRM‘s storied Late Model program fresh off of back-to-back championships, nine wins, 27 top-five finishes and 951 laps led in his combined 34 starts in the CARS Tour. Kvapil‘s two titles gave JRM their fourth and fifth championships for the Late Model team, which dates back to 2004.

He joins Berry as the only drivers to earn multiple championships for JRM across the Late Model and NXS competition.

Additional details regarding partners for Kvapil and the No. 88 team will be announced in the coming weeks.

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NASCAR Manager mobile game availablehttps://www.mrn.com/2024/02/22/nascar-manager-mobile-game-now-available/Thu, 22 Feb 2024 15:34:43 GMT-0500127592gaming, misc, mobile, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, SeriesStaff ReportRise through the ranks and take the checkered flag to earn epic rewards in NASCAR Manager, the brand-new mobile game from developer Hutch Games, now available on IOS and Android.

Combining the energy and excitement of NASCAR racing directly with the design and strategy of a manager-style game, NASCAR Manager lets you experience it all with the ease of access from your smartphone.

RELATED: Download NASCAR Manager | Watch NASCAR video highlights

Join a team and work as a unit, earning a reputation for your team and competing in exhibitions to win perks. Make split-second management decisions as you go head-to-head in exciting PvP racing modes while you recruit and train the best drivers to create your ultimate team, complete with unique custom liveries and detailed car tuning. 

Compete in thrilling 1-v-1 contests with the toughest rival stock car drivers worldwide. From PvP duels and monthly exhibitions to weekly leagues, there are endless ways to prove yourself. Will you tell your drivers to go full throttle from the start or save fuel and tires for a late surge? 

 NASCAR Manager is free to download on both the Apple App Store and Google Play store in all territories.

MORE: Download NASCAR Mobile App

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Trending topics entering Atlantahttps://www.mrn.com/2024/02/22/trending-topics-entering-atlanta/Thu, 22 Feb 2024 15:29:52 GMT-0500127594atlanta-motor-speedway, daytona-500, daytona-international-speedway, drivers, hendrick-motorsports, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-cup-series, pat-decola, Series, tracksStaff ReportHere‘s what‘s happening in the world of NASCAR with the Daytona 500 in the rearview mirror and the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway right around the corner.

THE LINEUP ️

1️⃣ Will William Byron ride an early playoff spot to a second straight Championship 4?

2️⃣ Is Hendrick Motorsports going to be in a class of its own in 2024?

3️⃣ Don‘t blame this on Ross at all‘ after daring Daytona move

4️⃣ He‘s won everywhere, man: Stats show Byron is a superstar

5️⃣ Catch the pack — news and notes from around the garage

william byron sprays champagne

1. Will William Byron ride an early playoff spot to a second straight Championship 4?

One of last year‘s Championship 4 contenders is already destined to have a date with the 2024 NASCAR Playoffs after a thrilling Daytona 500 win.

One down, 15 to go. With Byron already penciled in as one of the 16 drivers that will compete for the 2024 Cup Series championship, it‘s time to start prognosticating … even if the postseason won‘t start for another, oh, seven months or so. Byron is notoriously known for his hot starts — and occasional midseason lulls — but him winning the 2024 Daytona 500 is a Big Dealu2122ufe0f. 

There are a million wonderful aspects to it, but one part of the beauty of NASCAR‘s biggest race is that anybody in the field can win. We‘ve seen that happen with some one-hit wonders (Trevor Bayne, Derrike Cope, etc.), some veterans getting their crowning-achievement moment (Ward Burton, Austin Dillon) and even maybe the greatest driver of all time finding every way to lose one before finally cracking the code after 20 years of trying and frustration (Dale Earnhardt), but Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano are arguably the only championship favorites to win the race in the past decade.

Until now.

It‘s possible there isn‘t a driver in the sport with a faster-rising star than Byron, already a 10-time Cup Series winner entering his Age 26 season fresh off a Championship 4 appearance a season ago — a season in which he led the series in wins — before adding his first Harley J. Earl to the trophy case.

Let me be clear — this is terrible, crummy news for the rest of the field. All that excitement about what could be in store for 2024 — the championship field was wide open! — and then this guy goes out and puts a damper on it in one fell swoop. To make matters worse, he‘s the most recent winner at Atlanta and enters the weekend as one of the favorites to do it again.

Byron and his longstanding relationship with crew chief Rudy Fugle has paid tremendous dividends in the Cup Series after the two were successful together in lower ranks. The two only continue to deepen that bond and get stronger race each race. And now they have 25 more pressure-free races to prepare for Byron‘s 10-race sprint from September to November in search of his first title.

Tough break, everyone. Better luck next year.

Then again, there‘s a reason trophies aren‘t handed out before the checkered flag, and there‘s a reason a champion isn‘t crowned in February. Anything can happen from here.

But every driver wishes they were in Byron‘s position.

rick hendrick in victory lane with team

2. Is Hendrick Motorsports going to be in a class of its own in 2024?

Byron off to a hot start is no surprise, but the rest of Hendrick‘s stable of drivers have championship aspirations of their own.

You‘d better get used to seeing Mr. H in a backward (or oversized) hat in Victory Lane this year.

His No. 24 Chevrolet‘s massive Daytona 500 victory, while monumental, was not a shock. Byron is a former Daytona summer race winner and was already targeted as the championship favorite as voted on by NASCAR.com‘s staff. It also won‘t be a shock to see the rest of his Hendrick Motorsports teammates pile on plenty of 2024 wins and join him in the title talk.

Two of them — Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson — have won championships of their own this decade, while the other — Alex Bowman — just finished runner-up to Byron in the 500, is a seven-time Cup winner himself and was leading the points for a few weeks last season before a back injury derailed his Playoffs hopes.

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

In short, Rick Hendrick‘s arsenal is loaded.

Mr. H never brings a bad lineup to the race track, but the pure talent level and stature within the sport of this current quartet feels about as formidable as early in the last decade when it also showcased a pair of superstar Cup champs, the sport‘s other Most Popular Driver and a talented racer from out west that could pop off a win any given weekend.

We still have a whopping 25 regular-season races to sort out who the contenders and pretenders are, and we‘ve seen comers and goers aplenty over the years. From everything we‘ve seen so far and how 2024 is shaping up on paper, however, the Fab Four coming out of the Hendrick shop might just be that upper echelon of teams that the rest of the garage is chasing all year.

william byron shakes hands with chase elliott

3. Inside the Race: ‘Don‘t blame this on Ross at all‘ after daring — but unsuccessful — Daytona move for the win

The heat was quickly put on No. 1 driver Ross Chastain after what happened in the closing moments of the Daytona 500 — but should it have?

 
 

4. He‘s won everywhere, man: Stats show Byron is a superstar

How much of a force is No. 24? Not only does he win … he wins big, he wins often and he wins on any kind of track type.

DateTrackTrack TypeStarting PositionLaps Led
8/29/2020Daytona International Speedway2.5-mile superspeedway624
2/28/2021Homestead-Miami Speedway1.5-mile intermediate31102
3/20/2022Atlanta Motor Speedway1.54-mile superspeedway12111
4/9/2022Martinsville Speedway0.526-mile short track5212
3/5/2023Las Vegas Motor Speedway1.5-mile intermediate2176
3/12/2023Phoenix Raceway1-mile short track364
5/14/2023Darlington Raceway1.366-mile intermediate47
7/9/2023Atlanta Motor Speedway1.54-mile superspeedway1819
8/20/2023Watkins Glen International2.45-mile road course266
9/24/2023Texas Motor Speedway1.5-mile intermediate186
2/19/2024Daytona International Speedway2.5-mile superspeedway184

5. Catch the pack — news and notes from around the garage

Power Rankings: No. 24 Byron begins 2024 in best way possible — with a Daytona 500 win

Paint Scheme Preview: See the schemes for Atlanta triple header

Analysis: With Daytona 500 win, William Byron forging own path with No. 24

Worth the wait: Byron the latest among drivers who won on Monday

Raw reaction: Rick Hendrick finds out his team just won the 2024 Daytona 500

@nascarcasm: Fake texts to Daytona 500 winner William Byron

Austin Hill wins third straight Xfinity Series opener at Daytona

Chastain: ‘I can go to sleep tonight knowing that I took the white flag, making the move to win the Daytona 500‘

Kyle Petty: Bad blocks or great superspeedway racer? It depends

cars race at atlanta motor speedway

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Austin Hill wins Xfinity race at Daytonahttps://www.mrn.com/2024/02/20/austin-hill-wins-xfinity-series-race-at-daytona/Tue, 20 Feb 2024 14:10:58 GMT-0500127567austin-hill, daytona-international-speedway, drivers, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-xfinity-series, race-recap-nxs, richard-childress-racing, Series, teams, tracksStaff ReportDAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — While other NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers were competing, and crashing, in Monday night‘s United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway, Austin Hill was playing a different game — Monopoly.

At the 2.5-mile superspeedway roughly two miles away from Atlantic Avenue, Hill beat former teammate Sheldon Creed to the finish line by 0.591 seconds to earn his third straight victory in the Xfinity season opener at the World Center of Racing.

The third win came on Monday because of weekend-long rain that forced NASCAR to reschedule the race from Saturday afternoon. The event served as the second leg of a doubleheader with the Daytona 500, which was postponed from Sunday and won by William Byron.

Hill has now owned Victory Lane at Daytona long enough to build a house there.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

“It tops it off—three-peat,” Hill exclaimed. “You know how hard it is to win at Daytona? God almighty!”

Not that the driver of the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet didn‘t have his share of adversity. Hill overcame an early wreck on Lap 37 of 120, a flat tire and a self-destructive bent on pit road.

He crossed the finish line in a car that was heavily taped on the right front, but none of the obstacles could stop him from displaying his superiority on superspeedways once again.

“I don‘t know what was going on with me on pit road today,” Hill said. “But my guys just kept telling me, ‘Look, man, dig deep; you‘re really good at these superspeedways.‘ I tried to screw it up on pit road—sped on pit road, slid through the box…

“I don‘t even know what time it is. I know it‘s past my bedtime, but we‘re about to party tonight, I can tell you that.”

After pitting with a flat tire on Lap 97, Hill restarted 22nd but quickly worked his way forward. Two more cautions helped, and after lining up third for the final restart on Lap 118, he made quick work of Jordan Anderson and Chandler Smith ahead of him.

Hill was out front by more than a car-length when Ryan Sieg spun behind him off Turn 2 on the final lap. From that point, Hill simply had to steer his car to the finish line and won by a comfortable margin.

Parker Retzlaff ran third, one spot in front of his owner/driver Anderson.

“The little team that could is getting bigger,” Anderson said proudly.

Chandler Smith came home fifth, followed by Riley Herbst, John Hunter Nemechek, Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones and AJ Allmendinger.

MORE: Watch NASCAR video highlights

The race featured nine cautions for 44 of the 120 laps. There were 19 lead changes among 14 different drivers., with Sunoco rookie Jesse Love, the pole winner, leading a race-high 32 laps from the opening green flag.

Love, however, suffered more damage in the Lap 37 wreck than did his RCR teammate Hill. He finished 20th in an aerodynamically-challenged Chevrolet.

New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen, winner of last year‘s NASCAR Cup Series Chicago Street Race, drove his battered Kaulig Racing Chevrolet to a 12th-place finish in his Xfinity debut.

The Xfinity Series shifts to Atlanta Motor Speedway next Saturday for the RAPTOR King of Tough 250 (5 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NOTE: Post-race inspection was completed in the Xfinity Series garage without issue, confirming Austin Hill as the winner.

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Analysis: Byron forging own pathhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/02/20/analysis-with-daytona-500-win-william-byron-forging-own-path-with-no-24/Tue, 20 Feb 2024 14:08:07 GMT-0500127569daytona-500, daytona-international-speedway, drivers, hendrick-motorsports, jeff-gordon, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, rick-hendrick, Series, teams, tracks, william-byronStaff ReportDAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — After stopping to congratulate his crew, there was Jeff Gordon making the long walk through the tri-oval grass to join his team in celebrating another Daytona 500 win. The four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion won the “Great American Race” three times as a stock-car phenom in his 20s, but this feeling hit a little differently.

The No. 24 Chevrolet was again heading to Victory Lane, but this time with another 20-something hotshot leading the charge.

William Byron held on for victory in Monday‘s Daytona 500, scoring his first win in NASCAR‘s most prestigious race. The triumph provided a meaningful kickoff to the 40th-anniversary season for Hendrick Motorsports. Thanks to Sunday‘s rainout, the victory arrived Monday — 40 years to the day that Charlotte car-dealer mogul Rick Hendrick made his first venture into team ownership, with Geoff Bodine finishing a respectable eighth in the 1984 running of the 500.

RELATED: Daytona 500 results | At-track photos

Gordon was pivotal to the organization‘s success through many of those four decades, amassing 93 Cup Series wins — all with the No. 24 that he made famous. Now as vice chairman in Hendrick Motorsports‘ executive wing, Gordon has oversight of a four-car operation with an impartial desire for all to succeed. Impartial, it should be noted, is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence.

“I try not to be biased, but William is making it hard on me,” Gordon said with a laugh. But the 52-year-old former wunderkind says he‘s also ready for Byron to write his own story with his former car number, creating his own identity as the current keeper of the No. 24.

A Daytona 500 win represents a major step toward galvanizing that path.

“It is 2024, and the 24 is always going to be very, very special to me,” Gordon said, “but what I loved the most is seeing him make it his number and building that fan base not only — 24 fans have been around for a long time, but his own fans. A win like this, my gosh, this is going to elevate that up to the next level and bring a whole lot more new fans to the sport and for William. That‘s what I get excited and look forward to.”

If last year marked a breakout season for Byron, this season‘s start with a signature victory signals an extension of that. It took two-plus years in the Cup Series for Byron to break through as a race winner, then another two-plus years to reach the six-win bar he established in 2023.

MORE: Blog: All the Daytona 500 updates | Race Rewind

His career win total now goes to 11. His unread texts count — by the time he reached his post-race press conference — stood at 122. As for what his win column could look like after the 2024 campaign, the ceiling is a high one, especially with Byron entering the year aiming to curry the respect and stature he feels the team deserves — even as part of a team roster with two recent former champions in Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson who might overshadow him.

“Yeah, I use it all as fuel, so just keep it coming,” Byron said. “All the preseason predictions and everything. I think it just for me, I just try to stay quietly focused. I feel like for me, I do well having my own space and being able to work through the things with my race team. I have to kind of balance that kind of calm demeanor with working with my team and being vocal enough to do the things we need to do to get the car better and things like that.”

“I don‘t know. I don‘t read too much into it. I‘m never going to be the most vocal guy. I just enjoy getting in the race car and putting the helmet on and going to work. That‘s what I‘ve always lived for.”

The experience provided a new perspective for Gordon from his front-office role. The last time Hendrick Motorsports won the Daytona 500, Gordon was in his next-to-last season of Cup Series competition as teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove to victory in 2014.

Ten years later, this triumph gave him a special insight to the teamwork involved in making a powerhouse racing operation go.

“I might not have been driving the car tonight, but I felt like I made every lap with our guys,” Gordon said, “especially with the 24 and with William in those closing laps when he was out front. To me, when I found out that they had won, I honestly was about as excited as I was when I was driving.”

SHOP: Daytona 500 winner gear

The level of excitement was sky-high for the No. 24 team during the celebration in front of the main grandstand. Gordon noted the level of youthful enthusiasm, which rivaled the vibe of some of his earliest triumphs.

As Byron continues to forge his path with Gordon‘s former number, he‘s also inherited a legion of fans with loyalties connected to the No. 24. Those allegiances span both past and present.

“I just try to continue to come out of my shell and be myself around race fans,” Byron says. “It‘s tough. I never grew up envisioning that I was going to drive the 24 car. It definitely takes a while to get comfortable with that, but it‘s just special to have so many fans that followed Jeff all of the years of his career, and you meet a lot of cool people that have followed him for years. And ultimately us now.”

WATCH: NASCAR video highlights

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Chastain 'content' despite last-lap crashhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/02/19/chastain-content-despite-last-lap-crash/Mon, 19 Feb 2024 23:39:17 GMT-0500127561austin-cindric, corey-lajoie, daytona-500, daytona-international-speedway, drivers, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-cup-series, ross-chastain, Series, teams, trackhouse, trackhouse-racing, tracks, william-byronStaff ReportDAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Ross Chastain was almost loaded in for the start of Monday‘s Daytona 500 when he heard some last-minute words of encouragement over the pre-race ruckus. Chastain had wriggled most of the way into the cockpit of the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet when Trackhouse Racing founder Justin Marks got his attention.

“What am I going to be drinking in about three hours?” Marks yelled over the hood.

“You know,” Chastain said with a grin and a nod to his new Busch Light sponsorship.

Nearly three hours and 199 of 200 laps later in Monday‘s rain-delayed crown jewel, that same hood was pointed into the infield grass at Daytona International Speedway after Chastain‘s bold move for a potential race-winning pass. Any celebratory cans of his sponsor‘s sudsy product stayed on ice. Chastain was credited with a midpack 21st-place finish — where he started — but his challenge to eventual Daytona 500 champ William Byron was among the strongest on a topsy-turvy day.

RELATED: Daytona 500 results | At-track photos

“I took the gap, and I don‘t apologize for that,” Chastain said. “I can go to sleep tonight knowing that I took the white flag, making the move to win the Daytona 500. Four years ago, it was with eight laps to go or something. I‘ve got it down to one lap to go. Yeah, too aggressive, though, when you don‘t finish.”

Chastain stayed clean and clear of the race‘s twists and turns, and he was out front when a massive crash erupted close behind him with 10 laps to go. He was still atop the scoring pylon when the field lined up for the final restart with four laps remaining.

Chastain‘s No. 1 stayed door-to-door with the No. 24 Chevy of Byron for the first two laps of the final green-flag stretch, until Byron inched ahead with a massive push from Austin Cindric and others in the low groove. Chastain‘s lane regrouped as it barreled to the white flag, and that‘s when he saw an opening.

Chastain dipped low on Byron, who held his ground. As he did, he made contact with Cindric‘s No. 2 Ford, sending both cars sliding.

Chastain initially took his share of the blame, saying he made too hard a left turn, collecting Cindric. But as the two drivers chatted outside the infield care center to discuss their collision, Cindric seemed to absolve Chastain, pointing the finger at Corey LaJoie‘s pressure and push just before the start-finish line. “Corey finished fourth, so congrats,” Cindric said. “I mean, he tried to fit a car where there wasn‘t a car, and just continued to push through my left-rear until I wrecked.”

MORE: Watch NASCAR video highlights

Coming that close to winning the Daytona 500 had the potential to carry a certain sting for Chastain, but the 31-year-old Florida native was mostly encouraged just to have a shot at victory in the “Great American Race.” For himself and Marks, there was instead peace about the outcome.

“I mean, I love Ross Chastain and he‘s got a lot of fight,” Marks told NASCAR.com. “We had a really fast race car here, and the Busch Light people are super-excited to watch their car lead the race. We have a big history in front of us in this sport, a lot to accomplish. I‘m not getting too low right now, I‘m just really proud of the effort that he put in, the effort that the team put in. You know, 10 times out of 10, I want a guy that goes for it.”

Said Chastain: “We still had a shot, though, so yeah, I really do feel content. It‘s weird to say it, but we did everything right.”

For Chastain and Marks, the post-race toast in Daytona‘s Victory Lane will have to wait. Chastain entered his sixth Daytona 500 appearance with a “why not us?” mentality, and the team nearly cashed in on that approach.

“I just gave him a hug and told him I‘m proud of him and said that you know, we‘re gonna be doing a lot of these Daytona 500s together,” Marks said after the two met in the No. 1 team‘s hauler. “We‘re going to have a lot of opportunities to win this race. I think everybody at Trackhouse, we do a pretty good job of managing our expectations and knowing that these races always come down to a game of millimeters at the end, and you have to shoot your shot. You have to go for it. I‘m glad that he did. He‘s in really good spirits. Probably already thinking about Atlanta.”

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Byron wins 66th Daytona 500https://www.mrn.com/2024/02/19/william-byron-wins-66th-daytona-500/Mon, 19 Feb 2024 23:16:34 GMT-0500127558daytona-500, daytona-international-speedway, drivers, hendrick-motorsports, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, race-recap-ncs, Series, teams, tracks, william-byronStaff ReportDAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — William Byron gave team owner Rick Hendrick something extra to celebrate in the 40th anniversary year of Hendrick Motorsports.

In a frantic scramble after a restart on Lap 197 of 200 in the Daytona 500, Byron reached the start/finish line and took the white flag moments before NASCAR called the fifth caution of the evening as Ross Chastain slid wildly through the infield grass off the bumper of Austin Cindric‘s Ford.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Alex Bowman was a close second to his teammate at the moment of caution, giving Hendrick a 1-2 finish and the organization‘s first victory in the “Great American Race” since Jimmie Johnson bested teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. to the stripe in 2013.

The victory was Hendrick‘s ninth in the Daytona 500, tying the company with Petty Enterprises for most in the history of the NASCAR Cup Series most prestigious event. The race was postponed from Sunday to Monday because of heavy rains during the weekend.

A screenshot of the Daytona 500 finishing order

“I‘m just a kid from racing on computers and winning the Daytona 500,” said the 26-year-old Byron, who picked up the 11th Cup Series victory of his career and his second at Daytona, the first coming in the 2020 summer race at the 2.5-mile superspeedway.

“I can‘t believe it. I wish my dad was here. He‘s sick, but this is for him, man. We‘ve been through so much, and we sat up in the grandstands together and watched the race (when Byron was younger). This is so freaking cool.”

WATCH: Byron shares emotions following Daytona 500 win | Bowman on runner-up finish  

Hendrick could barely contain his elation in Victory Lane.

“I‘m telling you, you couldn‘t write the script any better,” he said. “When we thought about coming down here the first time, we didn‘t think we should be here, felt so out of place.

“We win this on our 40th to the day, it‘s just… and tied a record now, so that‘s awesome.”

Before the final restart, Chastain was racing at the front of the field on Lap 192 when a bump from Alex Bowman got Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron out of shape and knocked Byron into the right rear of Brad Keselowski‘s Ford.

Keselowski turned up the track into the Ford of Joey Logano, who had led a race-high 45 laps to that point. Reigning series champion Ryan Blaney‘s Ford was among the 23 cars involved in the accident that left a string of mangled vehicles strewn along the backstretch.

MORE: Watch NASCAR video highlights

The wreck knocked Blaney, Keselowski and Logano out of the race, along with Tyler Reddick, defending race winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Daniel Suárez and Todd Gilliland. NASCAR red-flagged the race for 15 minutes 27 seconds for track cleanup.

“Speedway racing again,” Logano said ruefully. “It‘s a lot of fun until this happens. It was pretty interesting, with a lot of pushing and shoving there at the end. Our car was able to take it. Our Mustang was so fast. It could lead a line really well. I kind of thought I had the cars I wanted around me. I had at least one I wanted around me but just couldn‘t make it work.”

“Obviously, hate what happened on that backstretch,” Byron said of the accident. “I just got pushed and got sideways. But so proud of this team, whole Axalta team, 40th anniversary to the day, on Monday.

“Just extremely blessed and thankful for all the opportunities, and we just want to keep it going. We have a lot to prove this year, and this is a good start, obviously.”

How much Byron has yet to prove is debatable. He won a series-best six races last year, qualified for the Championship 4 and finished third in the final standings.

RACE REWIND: Wild finish brings new Daytona 500 victor

The race was not quite five laps old when an eight-car accident off Turn 4 started the inevitable attrition. Contact from Keselowski‘s Ford in a tightly bunched line of the outside knocked John Hunter Nemechek‘s Toyota into the center lane and into the side of Harrison Burton‘s Ford.

Burton slid toward the infield, collecting the Chevrolet of Sunoco rookie Carson Hocevar. Burton‘s No. 21 Mustang shot up the track and slammed into the Ford of Kaz Grala and the Chevrolet of Austin Dillon. Behind Dillon, Hocevar careened into the path of seven-time series champion Jimmie Johnson, who couldn‘t avoid the collision.

The wreck eliminated the cars of Burton, Hocevar and Grala. Dillon took his No. 3 Chevy to the garage for extensive repairs, and Johnson lost two laps on pit road as his Legacy Motor Club crew worked frantically to repair his Camry.

“I don‘t remember exactly who it was on my outside,” Burton said after a trip to the infield care center. “It just looked like they either got a bad push or got loose and just hit me in the right side and sent me across.

“The grass was so wet that once I got in the grass, I thought I‘d be OK, but the car just kept going and going… so really sad that our day is over as quick as it was. We had a really fast Ford. It‘s just a bummer. There‘s nothing we can do but just move on and try to win next week.”

It took 187 more laps of racing before the colossal wreck that dwarfed the earlier incident thinned the field and set up the fight to the finish among the cars that survived.

In a race that featured 41 lead changes among 20 drivers, Christopher Bell ran third, followed by Corey LaJoie, Bubba Wallace and AJ Allmendinger. Chastain, who didn‘t have quite enough room when he dived to the inside of Cindric on the penultimate lap, finished 21st, one spot ahead of Cindric.

Seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, who was initially caught in the first yellow of the day on Lap 6, finished 28th. Reddick, the 2024 Bluegreen Vacations Duel 1 winner, finished 29th.

SHOP: Daytona 500 winner gear

Defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Blaney finished 30th after being involved in the 23-car pileup.

The Cup Series will head to Atlanta Motor Speedway next for the Ambetter Health 400 on Feb. 25 (3 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NOTE: Post-race inspection in the Cup Series garage at Daytona concluded without issue, confirming Byron as the race winner. Corey LaJoie’s No. 7 Chevrolet and Bubba Wallace’s No. 23 Toyota will be sent back to the R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina, for further inspection.

Contributing: Staff Reports

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HMS drivers look to end Daytona 500 droughthttps://www.mrn.com/2024/02/18/hms-drivers-look-to-end-daytona-500-drought/Sun, 18 Feb 2024 10:50:18 GMT-0500127546daytona-500, drivers, hendrick-motorsports, kyle-larson, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-cup-series, Series, teams, william-byronStaff ReportDAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Hendrick Motorsports hasn‘t won the Daytona 500 since 2014.

“Don‘t remind me,” said Jeff Gordon, vice chairman of HMS and a three-time winner of the “Great American Race.”

Half of the team‘s 2024 NASCAR Cup Series roster has won championships, thanks to Chase Elliott in 2020 and Kyle Larson in 2021. But none of the four, including teammates William Byron and Alex Bowman, have visited Daytona 500 Victory Lane.

“There‘s no other win like it. There just isn‘t,” Gordon said Wednesday as the organization celebrated its 40th-anniversary kickoff. “And I want one of these four guys to experience that. I want all four of them to experience it over the future because it is so special and you realize it once you win it. But right now, they‘re realizing how hard it is to win.”

RELATED: Daytona 500 starting lineup | See special Martinsville schemes

Larson has won some of NASCAR‘s biggest races — the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, the Bristol Night Race and the Cup Series Championship race at Phoenix Raceway, to name a few. But the Daytona 500 remains a box unchecked after 10 attempts.

What makes it so difficult to win, in his estimation, starts with putting your car in the right place as the laps dwindle away in the 500-mile affair.

“It starts from literally like early in the race, I feel like,” Larson told NASCAR.com. “So I think just knowing how to position yourself (and) having a team around you to position yourself for that final stint. And then yeah, I think you see often that, I feel like with a lot of the guys who consistently run up front, everybody else in the field realizes that they‘ve had success and they trust them to follow them. So you really need help from behind as well.”

William Byron scored his first career Cup victory on the high banks of Daytona in the summer of 2020 but has struggled historically more in the Daytona 500. In six “Great American Race” starts, Byron has never finished better than 21st and has crashed out three times.

“I mean, they‘re hard to move forward, so you kind of get stuck,” Byron said of racing at superspeedways. “We saw three-wide (racing last year), and a lot of that has to do with saving fuel and how that all plays out. So it‘s just tough to balance. Now I feel like everyone‘s gotten so smart with this strategy that it‘s just more of a track position thing than ever. Like you can‘t really make a lot of mistakes and get back, so just trying to manage that.”

MORE: At-track photos from Daytona

Larson and Byron both advanced to the Championship 4 in 2023 as Larson eyed his second Cup title, and Byron made his first true bid. Neither were able to leave Phoenix Raceway with the trophy, but that didn‘t diminish the successful seasons of either the No. 5 or No. 24 teams.

“We want to be better, and there‘s definitely room to get better,” Larson said. “But the offseason was good for me anyway. It was relaxing, and you know, raced a little bit. But yeah, just got to spend time with the family and you get to get some more one-on-one time with them because once I start racing, I‘m pretty much gone a lot of time.

“The last month and a half or so, I‘ve been working with Cliff (Daniels, crew chief) and the guys closely, just studying and talking about things and how to be better and where we can get better.”

Larson‘s No. 5 team did alter a bit through the offseason. Lead engineer Adam Wall is now a crew chief in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for Sammy Smith in the JR Motorsports No. 8 car.

“So we shuffled some things around with the engineering area and brought one new person, Brian Ross, in,” Larson said. “So other than that, our team is pretty much the same, and Brian has been a great addition so far. I really enjoy having him, and yeah, look forward to getting racing.”

Byron netted a career-high six wins last season in a true breakout year for the 26-year-old. The goal is to capitalize on that momentous campaign after falling short to Ryan Blaney in Phoenix last fall.

“I think we have our own goals as a team,” Byron said, “and things that we‘ve kind of identified as weaknesses — or even the strengths that we did have and just trying to keep those, or maintain or get better. And so I feel like there‘s still areas that … I felt like we could be a lot better and overall just be faster, you know, especially at the right times of year, but try to just have more speed.”

WATCH: NASCAR video highlights

In recent years, Valvoline has increased its presence on both the Nos. 5 and 24 cars and recently added a new Restore and Protect line as well.

“It‘s cool,” Larson said. “They‘re always innovating and trying to come up with new product and they‘re the first and only to remove up to 100% of deposits. So I think that‘s something to be proud of.”

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Daytona 500 postponed, joins Xfinity opener on Mondayhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/02/18/daytona-500-postponed-by-rain-joins-xfinity-opener-on-monday/Sun, 18 Feb 2024 10:45:19 GMT-0500127544daytona-500, daytona-international-speedway, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-cup-series, nascar-xfinity-seriesStaff ReportDAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR officials have postponed the Daytona 500 to Monday because of rain, meaning it will join the season-opening Xfinity Series race in a first-ever doubleheader at Daytona International Speedway to start the work week.

A combination of Saturday rainfall and Sunday‘s threatening weather forecast prompted officials to push the 66th running of the Daytona 500 to Monday at 4 p.m. ET, to be telecast on FOX with radio coverage through MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The “Great American Race” had been scheduled for a Sunday, 2:30 p.m. ET start.

RELATED: Daytona Speedweeks schedule | At-track photos

The Xfinity Series‘ United Rentals 300 — originally planned for a Saturday start at 5 p.m. ET — was rescheduled to Monday at 11 a.m. ET (FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Fans with Saturday grandstand tickets and admission to the Hard Rock Bet Fanzone may attend both the NASCAR Xfinity Series race and the Daytona 500.

FOX‘s NASCAR RaceDay will remain scheduled for Sunday. Fans can tune in at 11 a.m. ET on FS1 and FOX at 1 p.m. ET.

Saturday‘s on-track schedule was washed away, with final Daytona 500 practice canceled by steady precipitation at the 2.5-mile track. Weather also delayed Xfinity Series qualifying by two hours, and a single round of time trials was completed before more rain arrived. The season-opening race for the ARCA Menards Series headed off the weather with a move from Saturday afternoon to Friday night after the Craftsman Truck Series event.

Former Daytona 500 winner Joey Logano will start from the pole position after topping the chart in Wednesday night‘s Cup Series qualifying session. He will share the front row with fellow Ford driver Michael McDowell, who won the “Great American Race” in 2021.

One row behind them will be a pair of Toyotas, with Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell securing those starting spots based on their victories in Thursday night‘s 150-mile qualifying races, the Bluegreen Vacations Duels.

WATCH: ‘Walk with the Greats‘ Daytona 500 heroes | Classic Daytona races | NASCAR video highlights

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Xfinity race at Daytona postponedhttps://www.mrn.com/2024/02/17/xfinity-race-at-daytona-postponed-to-monday/Sat, 17 Feb 2024 18:07:01 GMT-0500127541daytona-international-speedway, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-competition, nascar-xfinity-series, Series, tracksStaff ReportDAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR officials have postponed Saturday‘s season-opening Xfinity Series race to a Monday start at Daytona International Speedway because of rain.

A combination of Saturday rainfall and Sunday‘s threatening weather forecast prompted officials to reschedule the Xfinity Series‘ United Rentals 300 — originally planned for a Saturday start at 5 p.m. ET — to Monday at 11 a.m. ET. The race will be telecast on FS1, with radio broadcast coverage on MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

RELATED: 2024 Daytona Speedweeks schedule | At-track photos

Parts of Saturday‘s on-track schedule were washed away, with final Cup Series practice canceled by lingering precipitation at the 2.5-mile track. Weather also delayed Xfinity Series qualifying by two hours, and a single round of time trials was completed before more significant rain arrived mid-afternoon. Officials had moved Saturday‘s start time up to 4 p.m. ET and completed driver intros in an effort to beat the approaching showers before the skies opened.

Rookie Jesse Love won the pole position for the Xfinity Series‘ 300-miler, placing his No. 2 Chevrolet in the first starting spot for his series debut. He‘ll start alongside Richard Childress Racing teammate Austin Hill on the front row when the race takes the green flag.

The race will be held a day after the Cup Series season gets underway with the 66th Daytona 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Former winner Joey Logano is the polesitter after topping Wednesday night‘s qualifying session in the Team Penske No. 22 Ford.

RELATED: Cup Series practice canceled Saturday | Watch NASCAR video highlights

The season-opening race for the ARCA Menards Series headed off the weather with a move from Saturday afternoon to Friday night after the Craftsman Truck Series event.

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Preview: 2024 Daytona 500https://www.mrn.com/2024/02/17/preview-2024-daytona-500/Sat, 17 Feb 2024 17:03:08 GMT-0500127538daytona-500, daytona-international-speedway, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-cup-series, Series, tracksStaff Report66th Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway

(Monday, 4 p.m. ET | FOX | MRN, SiriusXM)

Everything you need to know for Monday‘s NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway, the first points-paying event of the 2024 Cup Series season.

Weekend schedule | TV schedule | Weather tracker | NASCAR 101

Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Track length: 2.5 miles
Cup Series race purse: $28,035,991
Race distance: 200 laps | 500 miles
Stages: 60 | 130 | 200

Starting lineup: Logano on pole for Daytona 500
Pit stall assignments:
Where drivers will pit on Monday
Defending winner:
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 2023

Key things to watch

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday sessions

Daytona 500 build-up is its own animal, with an expanded qualifying process and extra practice. Ford drivers had the upper hand early on in pole qualifying, with Joey Logano (Team Penske) and Michael McDowell (Front Row Motorsports) sweeping the front row. Toyota flexed its muscle late in the Bluegreen Vacations Duel qualifying races, with Tyler Reddick (23XI Racing) and Christopher Bell (Joe Gibbs Racing) converting last-lap passes to divide the victories. Drivers learned plenty about how their cars push and handle in the aerodynamic draft in the Duels and in Friday‘s practice, which was led by Denny Hamlin at the head of a top-eight sweep by Toyota drivers. | Read qualifying recap | Friday‘s practice recap | Saturday session canceled

Big story line

Who gets a career-altering moment? Weighing favorites and the long waits

There are a couple of camps of drivers who fall into the category of “Great American Race” favorites — former winners with a special superspeedway savvy and those still missing a Harley J. Earl Trophy in their collection — some with an agonizingly lengthy wait time. Denny Hamlin is first and foremost in the former category, aiming for his fourth victory in the 500, and Joey Logano sets up from the first starting spot in search of a second Daytona crown to match his 2015 triumph.

Among the long-suffering drivers without a Daytona 500 win are big-name standouts and future Hall of Famer material. “I mean, it‘s missing, right? There‘s no checkmark there,” said Kyle Busch, who said that a 500 win doesn‘t necessarily validate a career — citing HOF members Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace and Tony Stewart among that group. Busch is 0-for-18 in the “Great American Race” and joins Brad Keselowski (0-for-14), Cup Series champ Ryan Blaney (a stealthy but always contending 0-for-9), and Martin Truex Jr. (0-for-37 at Daytona overall) among those pining for a victory in NASCAR‘s most prestigious event.

History tells us…

Going the extra mile(s)?

Five of the last six runnings of the Daytona 500 have gone into overtime, including last year‘s record 530-miler that went 12 extra laps. “Statistically, I think you have to plan on it,” said Chris Buescher, with Daytona International Speedway‘s most recent winner noting the tendency toward multicar crashes in the closing laps.

Those overtime attempts have been the frequent result of late-race crashes, sparked by a combination of aggression, poorly executed aerodynamic pushes or both. Blaney, after yet another heavy hit at the World Center of Racing in Thursday night‘s qualifying races, has had his fill of it. | Blaney: ‘It‘s just guys not being smart‘

He may not be the betting favorite to win, but watch out for…

Jimmie Johnson. It feels funny to think of a seven-time Cup Series champion as anything less than a sure-fire contender, but there Jimmie Johnson sits at 70-1 on the odds board. The driver and minority owner for Legacy Motor Club eked out a qualifying berth in Thursday night‘s Duels, but as a two-time Daytona 500 winner, he rises into the conversation of potential underdogs. His team‘s switch to Toyota this year also gives the automaker reinforcements in its superspeedway numbers in the aerodynamic draft. | Daytona 500 odds

RELATED: Watch NASCAR video highlights

Speed reads

Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles. 

• Dale Jr. retrospective: Next-level stardom after second Daytona 500 win | Read article
• Blaney‘s next act:
2023 champ braces for title defense, responsibility | Read article
• Berry‘s new journey:
 “Our team will surprise a lot of people” | Read article
Ride of passage: Turn 4‘s tunnel a special Daytona original | Read article
Manufacturer mix: New-look Fords, Toyotas to challenge Chevy‘s reign | Read article
• Daytona debate: Racing Insights projects the final race results | Read article
At-track photos: Sights and scenes from Daytona Speedweeks | Photo gallery
• Fantasy Fastlane: Setting your Daytona 500 lineup | See fantasy tips
• Paint Scheme Preview: New designs to kick off the season | Pick a favorite
• Power Rankings: Hamlin rises in preseason pecking order | Latest driver rankings

Fast facts

Race-relevant statistics, brought to you by the experts at Racing Insights.

Ford notched its 30th Daytona pole, sweeping the front row in the Daytona 500 for the first time since 2012.
Kyle Busch leads all drivers in laps led among drivers that are winless in the Daytona 500 with 330.
• 
Only once has a stage winner in the Daytona 500 gone on to win the race (Denny Hamlin in 2020 after winning Stage 2).

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Sanchez wins Truck race at Daytonahttps://www.mrn.com/2024/02/16/sanchez-wins-truck-series-race-at-daytona/Fri, 16 Feb 2024 23:56:36 GMT-0500127535daytona-international-speedway, drivers, misc, NASCAR, NASCAR Cup Series, nascar-camping-world-truck-series, nascar-competition, nascar-craftsman-truck-series, nick-sanchez, race-recap-trucks, Series, teams, tracksStaff ReportDAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — With cars wrecking and flipping behind him in overtime, Nick Sanchez claimed the first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory of his young career in Friday night‘s Fresh From Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway.

The race ended under caution on the second lap of the overtime after Rajah Caruth, running fourth, moved up the track and turned the No. 91 Chevrolet of Jack Wood in front of the field.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Sanchez and runner-up Corey Heim were clear of the chaos, and Caruth escaped with minimal damage and finished third. But behind them, the Chevy of Daniel Dye launched the Toyota of Taylor Gray, which flipped in mid-air and landed upright on its tires in a gaggle of mangled cars.

All told 12 trucks were involved in the wreck, which caused the record 12th caution of the evening.

Coincidentally, Sanchez rallied from a 12-truck crash on Lap 6 to score the victory for his No. 2 Rev Racing Chevrolet team in his sophomore season.

“It‘s huge,” Sanchez said. “We spent all of last year trying to get a win. I knew coming into this year I knew that I had to, right? What better race than to do it than Daytona? Honestly, out of every race, if I was going to do it, this would have been the last one (I expected), but happy to do it. It‘s awesome.

“I just knew I had to lead at the white flag, because they were probably going to wreck. I‘m glad they wrecked — if everyone is OK. I‘m just happy.

“It‘s huge. Obviously, we have a new technical partner in Spire (Motorsports) — our first race with them. What a better way to start a partnership. (Sponsor) Gainbridge has stuck with me. They were winless last year. They all deserve it, and they‘re going to celebrate with me.”

MORE: Watch NASCAR video highlights

Caruth was thankful for his third-place finish, but he rued the wreck that ended the race.

“I‘m trying to play it back differently in the last laps, but thank you to everybody at Spire Motorsports, HendrickCars.com, the Hendrick Automotive Group, and Mr. H (Rick Hendrick) for what they‘ve done for me along with everybody at Spire and Chevy,” Caruth said.

“Man, I felt like I got a bad push there, and you‘re already getting tight off of the corner, and everybody is going for all they have on the last lap. I feel terrible to see trucks like that torn up. I hope Taylor (Gray) is all right. But a good night to start the year.”

Fifty-one of the 101 laps were run under caution, and it didn‘t take long for the action to start. The first major incident KO‘d a handful of drivers.

On the backstretch on Lap 6 of a scheduled 100 circuits, a shove from Christian Eckes‘ Chevrolet turned the Ford of three-time series champion Matt Crafton into the Ford of Layne Riggs, igniting a 13-truck accident that eliminated Ty Dillon, Thad Moffitt and Jake Garcia.

With his team unable to make repairs on his No. 38 Ford F-150, Riggs took his truck to the garage under caution on Lap 17.

“Chaos, a lot of craziness — everybody was just kind of all over the place,” Dillon said after a mandatory trip to the infield care center. “I‘ve never seen anything look like that from behind the wheel four laps into a race.

“With my experience, I knew something like that was going to happen. That‘s why I got myself to the bottom to hopefully have a spot to bail. And sure enough, it happened. I thought I got through … I hit the grass and it knocked the tires out of my hand, and I was trying to catch it with the throttle …

“Just hate to be taken out so early and not have a chance.”

The Lap 6 incident was a harbinger of the chaos to come.

Defending series champion Ben Rhodes saw a good night turn bad when Tyler Ankrum door-slammed his Ford on Lap 68. Rhodes pitted with a flat tire a lap later, but after leaving the pits, he spun and crashed as the lead pack tried to dodge the No. 99 Ford in the center of the track.

Rhodes exited the race, and soon after, Johnny Sauter was an innocent victim of a four-truck wreck off Turn 4 — after leading 24 laps, second only to Sanchez‘s 26.

Bret Holmes finished fourth, followed by Spencer Boyd. Stefan Parsons, Crafton, Timmy Hill, Bryan Dauzat and Eckes completed the top 10.

NOTE: Post-race inspection in the Truck Series garage was completed with no issues, confirming Sanchez as the winner.

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