Chastain Breaks Out with COTA Victory

Ross Chastain won the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas to pick up his first career victory on Sunday afternoon.

Chastain has had a strong start to the season, with three consecutive top three finishes headed into COTA. Chastain put it all together on Sunday, and ran up front for a majority of the race.

Chastain had to hold off challenges from Tyler Reddick, AJ Allmendinger and Alex Bowman late in the race as numerous cautions forced multiple restarts. 

Allmendinger, one of the best road course racers, pressured Chastain over the final two laps. Chastain and Allmendinger made contact throughout the final lap, which ended with Allmendinger spun out in the sand trap and Chastain cruising to the checkered flag.

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Chastain said he knew Allmendinger would be upset after helping Chastain to become a better road racer.

“To go up against some of the best with AJ, I know he’s going to be upset with me,” Chastain said.  “We raced hard, both of us.  I’ve learned so much from him.”

Chastain said he knew his Trackhouse Racing team was close to getting to victory lane after strong runs for him and teammate Daniel Suarez.

“People don’t know how good this group is,” Chastain said.  “When it comes to a Cup win, I can’t let that go down without a fight.”

Allmendinger said he was proud of his team for putting together a car that could contend for the win.

“At the end of the day, we know we had a shot to win the race,” Allmendinger said.  “Proud of Kaulig Racing, the Chevy was so fast.  At the end of the day, each person’s got to make the move that they’re comfortable with.”

Bowman inserted himself into the battle for the lead on the final lap, and finished second after Allmendinger spun off track. 

Bowman said he has worked on his road course racing, which helped put him in position to battle for the win.

“I’ve really been trying to do a better job as a racecar driver at these road courses,” Bowman said.  “We had a really fast Ally Camaro. Hate that we didn’t come away with the win.”

Unofficial results:

1. Ross Chastain

2. Alex Bowman

3. Christopher Bell

4. Chase Elliott

5. Tyler Reddick

6. Ryan Blaney

7. Martin Truex Jr.

8. Austin Cindric

9. Erik Jones

10. Austin Dillon

11. Kevin Harvick

12. William Byron

13. Michael McDowell

14. Brad Keselowski

15. Justin Haley

16. Todd Gilliland

17. Harrison Burton

18. Denny Hamlin

19. Aric Almirola

20. Ty Dillon

21. Chris Buescher

22. Josh Bilicki

23. Cole Custer

24. Daniel Suarez

25. Kaz Grala

26. Boris Said

27. Cody Ware

28. Kyle Busch

29. Kyle Larson

30. Chase Briscoe

31. Joey Logano

32. Kurt Busch

33. AJ Allmendinger

34. Loris Hezemans

35. Joey Hand

36. Corey LaJoie

37. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

38. Bubba Wallace

39. Andy Lally

Dylan Buell/Getty Images

Bowman Steals Victory in Las Vegas

Alex Bowman won the Pennzoil 400 from the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Bowman ran inside the Top 10 for most of the race, but he wasn’t a factor at the front until the very last restart.  Bowman restarted on the front row after he took two tires on the final pit stop before overtime.

Bowman raced side-by-side with teammate Kyle Larson over the final two laps, and he was able to come away with his first win of the season after pulling ahead of his teammate on the final lap.

Meg Oliphant/Getty Images

Bowman said his car was fast throughout the race, but that he didn’t have the track position to show off the cars’ capabilities.

“What a call by [crew chief] Greg Ives and the guys to take two there; obviously it paid off,” Bowman said.  “This thing was fast all day. Just never really had the track position we needed to show it.”

Kyle Busch fought with his teammate Martin Truex Jr. over the final 40 laps as the two drivers dueled for the lead.  Busch held the lead when the final caution of the day came out for an incident involving Erik Jones and Bubba Wallace.

Busch was the first driver who took four tires on the final pit stop, but he didn’t have enough laps to contend for the victory and settled for a 4th-place finish.

Busch wrecked in qualifying on Saturday, and his team spent the rest of the day building the backup car to make it race-ready.

Busch said all four Joe Gibbs Racing teams came together to build him the car that drove from the back to the front.

“True testament to everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing,” Busch said.  “Really appreciate…my guys, but also the 11, 19 and 20. Everybody had a hand in helping make us go today, so really appreciate that.”

“We were fast at the end and just trying to do what I could to hold the lead there with Truex.  Wasn’t meant to be, not our day.”

Unofficial results:

1. Alex Bowman

2. Kyle Larson

3. Ross Chastain

4. Kyle Busch

5. William Byron

6. Aric Almirola

7. Tyler Reddick

8. Martin Truex Jr.

9. Chase Elliott

10. Christopher Bell

11. Austin Dillon

12. Kevin Harvick

13. Kurt Busch

14. Joey Logano

15. Corey LaJoie

16. Harrison Burton

17. Justin Haley

18. Chris Buescher

19. Austin Cindric

20. Ty Dillon

21. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

22. Daniel Hemric

23. Todd Gilliland

24. Brad Keselowski

25. Bubba Wallace

26. Cody Ware

27. Michael McDowell

28. BJ McLeod

29. Josh Bilicki

30. Garrett Smithley

31. Erik Jones

32. Denny Hamlin

33. Cole Custer

34. Greg Biffle

35. Chase Briscoe

36. Ryan Blaney

37. Daniel Suarez

Meg Oliphant/Getty Images

Bowman Surprises with Pocono Victory

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Alex Bowman won the Pocono Organics CBD 325 from Pocono Raceway in the first-half of the Pocono doubleheader on Saturday afternoon.

Bowman took the lead on the final restart and had a hard battle with teammate Kyle Larson for the lead over the final 20 laps.  Larson got around Bowman in the closing laps, and looked set to win his fourth-consecutive points race.

Headed into the final corner, Larson’s left-front tire came apart and that allowed Bowman to get by to get to victory lane.

James Gilbert/Getty Images

Bowman said he thought he had given the win away after Larson took the lead.

“We kind of gave the lead away; we were on two tires and just got super tight,” Bowman said.  “Tried to hold him off as long as I could.  We didn’t run that good all day, so I’m kind of in shock.”

Larson still finished ninth after riding the wall around the final turn. 

Larson said he was upset that his win streak came to an end after fighting his teammate for the lead.

“Hate that we didn’t get another win; would have been cool to win five in a row,” Larson said.  “One thing that’s kind of keeping me excited – and not depressed – is we get to go back again tomorrow.”

With no tire problems during the race on Saturday, Larson said he didn’t have any indication that the tire was going to come apart.

“I felt something right in the middle of the tunnel and wasn’t quite sure what it was yet,” Larson said.  “Then it kind of shredded halfway through the short-chute there and couldn’t turn.”

“Hate that we didn’t get the win, but cool that Alex still did.  Cool to keep Mr. H’s streak going.”

Unofficial results:
1. Alex Bowman

2. Kyle Busch

3. William Byron

4. Denny Hamlin

5. Ryan Blaney

6. Kurt Busch

7. Joey Logano

8. Kevin Harvick

9. Kyle Larson

10. Brad Keselowski

11. Tyler Reddick

12. Chase Elliott

13. Daniel Suarez

14. Bubba Wallace

15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

16. Aric Almirola

17. Christopher Bell

18. Martin Truex Jr.

19. Michael McDowell

20. Chris Buescher

21. Austin Dillon

22. Erik Jones

23. Ryan Preece

24. Chase Briscoe

25. Cody Ware

26. Anthony Alfredo

27. Justin Haley

28. James Davison

29. Garrett Smithley

30. BJ McLeod

31. Quin Houff

32. Matt DiBenedetto

33. Ross Chastain

34. Josh Bilicki

35. Timmy Hill

36. Corey LaJoie

37. Ryan Newman

38. Cole Custer

James Gilbert/Getty Images

Bowman Wins, Hendrick Motorsports Dominant in Dover

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Alex Bowman won the Drydene 400 from Dover International Speedway on Sunday afternoon to pick up his second win of the season.

Hendrick Motorsports was dominant on Sunday, and swept the top four spots.  Kyle Larson led 263 laps, but was beaten off pit road by Bowman following their final pit stops.

Bowman was able to stay ahead of his teammate on his way to victory lane, and said his pit crew helped get him to victory lane.

“So proud of this pit crew,” Bowman said.  “The whole pit crew is doing a good job.  Glad to get Hendrick Motorsports another win.”

Bowman said his team had to fight through some struggles since their last win at Richmond earlier in the season.

James Gilbert/Getty Images

“We won at Richmond, then had a really rough couple weeks,” Bowman said.  “Went to some really good racetracks for us and struggled.  Told the guys last week that we’re still the same team that won it at Richmond.”

After losing the lead, Larson was never able to get close enough to challenge Bowman for the win.

Larson said the Hendrick cars were so evenly matched that they couldn’t pass one another.

“It was like whoever got out to the lead was going to be hard to beat,” Larson said.  “Their team just did a really good job on the pit stop and gained control of the race.  I never really had a shot after that.”

“Hard to be disappointed with that second, I feel like I did everything I could.  What a day for Hendrick Motorsports.”

Unofficial results:

1. Alex Bowman

2. Kyle Larson

3. Chase Elliott

4. William Byron

5. Joey Logano

6. Kevin Harvick

7. Denny Hamlin

8. Tyler Reddick

9. Daniel Suarez

10. Cole Custer

11. Bubba Wallace

12. Ryan Blaney

13. Kurt Busch

14. Austin Dillon

15. Ross Chastain

16. Brad Keselowski

17. Chris Buescher

18. Ryan Preece

19. Martin Truex Jr.

20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

21. Christopher Bell

22. Erik Jones

23. Ryan Newman

24. Matt DiBenedetto

25. Michael McDowell

26. Corey LaJoie

27. Kyle Busch

28. Anthony Alfredo

29. Quin Houff

30. Josh Berry

31. Cody Ware

32. Garrett Smithley

33. James Davison

34. Josh Bilicki

35. Chase Briscoe

36. BJ McLeod

37. Aric Almirola

James Gilbert/Getty Images

Bowman Passes Hamlin Late, Wins at Richmond

Alex Bowman won the Toyota Owners 400 from Richmond Raceway on Sunday afternoon.

Bowman had a fast car throughout the race, but he didn’t take the lead until a late restart with ten laps remaining.  After restarting third, Bowman got around Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin to pick up his first win of the season.

Bowman said he was able to get by Hamlin due to his crew chief’s slight adjustment on the final pit stop.

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

“Getting to race a guy like Denny at a place like this is really cool,” Bowman said.  “We were terrible on short runs.  I don’t know if Greg Ives pumped the pressures way up or what he did, but that’s more grip than I’ve ever had in a racecar at Richmond.”

Bowman said the victory was emotional following the death of a crew member in the offseason.

“Means the world to be able to win for Ally,” Bowman said.  “Obviously emotional with how hard the offseason was on us.  Appreciative for the opportunity, and we’ve got a lot more races to win this year.”

Hamlin didn’t have enough time to chase down Bowman in the closing laps and had to settle for second.  With the dominant car on Sunday, Hamlin led a race-high 207 laps and swept both stages.

Hamlin said his team continues to roll even though they’ve been kept out of Victory Lane.

“We just didn’t take off quite as good there at the end,” Hamlin said.  “He had more grip there for a couple laps and I couldn’t hold the bottom.  Once he got position, we just got shoved out there.”

“Great job by this FedEx Ground team.  We’ll keep digging; we’re dominating, just got to finish it.”

Unofficial results:

1. Alex Bowman

2. Denny Hamlin

3. Joey Logano

4. Christopher Bell

5. Martin Truex Jr.

6. Aric Almirola

7. William Byron

8. Kyle Busch

9. Matt DiBenedetto

10. Austin Dillon

11. Ryan Blaney

12. Chase Elliott

13. Kurt Busch

14. Brad Keselowski

15. Ross Chastain

16. Daniel Suarez

17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

18. Kyle Larson

19. Erik Jones

20. Tyler Reddick

21. Corey LaJoie

22. Chase Briscoe

23. Cole Custer

24. Kevin Harvick

25. Chris Buescher

26. Bubba Wallace

27. Michael McDowell

28. Austin Cindric

29. Ryan Preece

30. Ryan Newman

31. Anthony Alfredo

32. BJ McLeod

33. James Davison

34. Quin Houff

35. Garrett Smithley

36. Cody Ware

37. Josh Bilicki

38. Justin Haley

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Harvick Wins at Darlington as NASCAR Returns from Shutdown

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kevin Harvick won the Real Heroes 400 from Darlington Raceway on Sunday afternoon in NASCAR’s return to racing.

NASCAR returned to the track for the first time after a 71-day shutdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  The race was run without fans in attendance, and there were no practice or qualifying sessions leading up to the race.

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Harvick had a dominant car throughout the race, and led 159 laps. 

Harvick said his team’s ability to unload with a fast car helped them succeed under Sunday’s unusual circumstances.

“I think as you look at Darlington and as you look at the things that happened this weekend, we really thought it was going to play into our hand,” Harvick said.  “Our guys are so good at hitting the car off the truck.”

The victory was Harvick’s 50th in the Cup Series, which tied him with NASCAR Hall of Famers Junior Johnson and Ned Jarrett.

Harvick said it was odd to pick up such a big victory without fans in attendance.

“It’s a pretty big honor to win 50 races in this deal,” Harvick said.  “It is weird, just because there’s nobody up there.  I didn’t think it was going to be that much different, and then we won the race and it’s dead-silent out here.  We miss the fans.”

Alex Bowman finished second, and was one of four strong Hendrick Motorsports drivers that challenged up front all race long. 

Bowman said second was a good way to restart the season.

“Sucks to finish second, but it’s really good to restart the season this way with a strong car off the truck,” Bowman said.  “It was a lot of fun to get to race a guy like Kevin at a place like Darlington.  Thought if I could get him there on the restart we’d have had a shot at it, but just came up a little bit short.”

NASCAR will return to Darlington on Wednesday night for the Toyota 500.  As with Sunday’s event, there will not be qualifying or practice for the race.  Instead, the field will line up based on the results of Sunday’s race, with the Top 20 finishers inverted.

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Alex Bowman

3. Kurt Busch

4. Chase Elliott

5. Denny Hamlin

6. Martin Truex Jr.

7. Tyler Reddick

8. Erik Jones

9. John Hunter Nemechek

10. Matt Kenseth

11. Austin Dillon

12. Aric Almirola

13. Brad Keselowski

14. Matt DiBenedetto

15. Ryan Newman

16. Ryan Blaney

17. Clint Bowyer

18. Joey Logano

19. Ty Dillon

20. Ryan Preece

21. Bubba Wallace

22. Cole Custer

23. Michael McDowell

24. Christopher Bell

25. Daniel Suarez

26. Kyle Busch

27. Brennan Poole

28. JJ Yeley

29. Reed Sorenson

30. Joey Gase

31. Corey LaJoie

32. Chris Buescher

33. Timmy Hill

34. Josh Bilicki

35. William Byron

36. Quin Houff

37. Garrett Smithley

38. Jimmie Johnson

39. BJ McLeod

40. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Bowman Dominant in California

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Alex Bowman won the Auto Club 400 from the Auto Club Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Bowman dominated throughout the weekend and led a race-high 110 laps.  Bowman unloaded fast on Friday, and he ran fast laps throughout both practices and qualified towards the front of the field.

Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Bowman said this was the second week in a row where his team was fast from start to finish.

“We’ve unloaded the last two weeks; I don’t think we’ve got a change in the racecar from how it came off the truck,” Bowman said.  “[Crew chief] Greg Ives and all the guys are just on point.”

Bowman said this victory is a statement for all the hard work his team has put in since his first win last June.

“The first one…was a really enjoyable experience, and then we sucked for six months,” Bowman said.  “We started this year so strong; I feel like I’ve got a lot of things on my side that I’m doing better.”

Kyle Busch finished second on Sunday after struggling with his car’s handling throughout the weekend.

Busch said his team is continuing to work on their speed.

“We have a lot of work to do,” Busch said.  “It wasn’t a second-place car, but thankfully we got a good finish out of it.”

Ryan Blaney seemed like he had the only car that could challenge Bowman, but he needed to pit for tires with two laps to go after shredding the right-rear tire.

Blaney, who finished second in the first two races of the season, said he wasn’t frustrated with the early season misfortune.

“I didn’t see any frustration,” Blaney said.  “Just corded a right-rear there at the end and gave up a good finish.  That one didn’t work out in our favor…just unfortunate end to the day, again.”

Unofficial results:

1. Alex Bowman

2. Kyle Busch

3. Kurt Busch

4. Chase Elliott

5. Brad Keselowski

6. Denny Hamlin

7. Jimmie Johnson

8. Aric Almirola

9. Kevin Harvick

10. Erik Jones

11. Tyler Reddick

12. Joey Logano

13. Matt DiBenedetto

14. Martin Truex Jr.

15. William Byron

16. Chris Buescher

17. Ross Chastain

18. Cole Custer

19. Ryan Blaney

20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

21. Kyle Larson

22. Michael McDowell

23. Clint Bowyer

24. Austin Dillon

25. John Hunter Nemechek

26. Ty Dillon

27. Bubba Wallace

28. Daniel Suarez

29. Corey LaJoie

30. Ryan Preece

31. JJ Yeley

32. Brennan Poole

33. Joey Gase

34. Garrett Smithley

35. Quin Houff

36. Reed Sorenson

37. Timmy Hill

38. Christopher Bell

Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Elliott Wins Playoff Cutoff at the Roval

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Chase Elliott won the Bank of America Roval 400 from the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course on Sunday afternoon.

Elliott had a dominant car throughout the race, but a miscue on a late restart almost ended his day.  After taking the green flag, Elliott locked up his tires and slid into the Turn 1 wall.

Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

Elliott said he was happy he could come back from the mistake.

“You talk about messing something up,” Elliott said.  “I pretty well blew it and got cautions at the right time and brought it home.”

Elliott led a race-high 35 laps on his way to victory lane, and the win was his third win of 2019, his second at a road course.

Elliott said the extra Playoff Points will help in the next round of the Playoffs.

“It’s our last road course, so the biggest thing is we have six more bonus points to continue forward with,” Elliott said.  “Luckily our car wasn’t too bad, and our Napa Camaro was fast enough to drive through there.”

After the race ended, four drivers were eliminated from the Playoffs as the first round came to an end.  Aric Almirola, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch and Erik Jones were all eliminated from contention.

Alex Bowman was on the bubble coming into the race on Sunday, and after spinning on lap 1 it seemed like his Playoff hopes would be over.  Bowman was able to drive up through the field to finish second and lock himself into the next round.

Bowman said he was glad to come back after trying to give the race away on the first lap.

“Glad we were able to rebound,” Bowman said.  “The guys obviously gave me a really strong car to come back through the field.”

Unofficial results:

1. Chase Elliott

2. Alex Bowman

3. Kevin Harvick

4. Clint Bowyer

5. Brad Keselowski

6. William Byron

7. Martin Truex Jr.

8. Ryan Blaney

9. Jimmie Johnson

10. Joey Logano

11. Matt DiBenedetto

12. Michael McDowell

13. Kyle Larson

14. Aric Almirola

15. Ty Dillon

16. Paul Menard

17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

18. Chris Buescher

19. Denny Hamlin

20. Kurt Busch

21. Ryan Preece

22. Ross Chastain

23. Austin Dillon

24. Bubba Wallace

25. Matt Tifft

26. Parker Kligerman

27. Corey LaJoie

28. Landon Cassill

29. JJ Yeley

30. Timmy Hill

31. Joe Nemechek

32. Ryan Newman

33. Daniel Hemric

34. Daniel Suarez

35. David Ragan

36. Garrett Smithley

37. Kyle Busch

38. Josh Bilicki

39. Reed Sorenson

40. Erik Jones

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images