Byron Holds Off Logano and Dillon to Win at Martinsville

William Byron won the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 from Martinsville Speedway on Saturday night.

Byron had a strong car throughout the race, but followed his teammate Chase Elliott through the first two stages. Byron finally took the lead on the pit stop at the second stage break, and the only time he gave it up over the final 200 laps was during green-flag pit stops.

Byron had to hold off Joey Logano and Austin Dillon on the final overtime restart after a late caution bunched up the field on his way to his second win of the season.

Byron said he knew he would need to be perfect over the final two laps with strong cars behind him.

Meg Oliphant/Getty Images

“I knew when that last caution came out...I thought everybody behind us would pit and luckily we…were aggressive,” Byron said.  “I chattered the tires in 3 and 4, and kind of left the bottom open. I was able to kind of block my exits and get a good drive off.”

Byron won Thursday night’s Camping World Truck Series race, and said he had always wanted to win one of most famous trophies on the circuit, a grandfather clock.

“Always wanted to win at Martinsville,” Byron said.  “Got two clocks this weekend, so I enjoy that.”

Logano said Byron did a good job defending the lead over the final two laps.

“William kind of messed up off of four and let me get to him,” Logano said.  “He did a really good job of brake-checking. I couldn’t accelerate off the corner and be as close as I needed to be down into 3 to execute the old bump-and-run.”

Dillon started 23rd on Saturday, and a strong long-run car allowed him to get to the front on a rare Martinsville race that went caution-free for most of the night. Dillon restarted third on the final restart, but he was forced to defend after he spun the tires heading to the green flag.

Dillon said he was disappointed he couldn’t capitalize on a car with such speed throughout the day.

“I like to pride myself on when we get in those situations as being clutch, and that was anything but on that last restart,” Dillon said.  “Once I got back in line there, I had some grip and I feel like we had good forward drive all night long. I just felt like if we got through the gears, we’d have a shot at him.”

“We’ve been working our tails off. We’ve been working really hard to make this car as good as possible. Want to get RCR a win and that’s what we’re here racing for.”

Unofficial results:

1. William Byron

2. Joey Logano

3. Austin Dillon

4. Ryan Blaney

5. Ross Chastain

6. Kurt Busch

7. Kyle Busch

8. Aric Almirola

9. Chase Briscoe

10. Chase Elliott

11. Austin Cindric

12. Alex Bowman

13. Erik Jones

14. Kevin Harvick

15. Chris Buescher

16. Bubba Wallace

17. Brad Keselowski

18. Tyler Reddick

19. Kyle Larson

20. Christopher Bell

21. Cole Custer

22. Martin Truex Jr.

23. Ty Dillon

24. AJ Allmendinger

25. Michael McDowell

26. Harrison Burton

27. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

28. Denny Hamlin

29. Daniel Suarez

30. Todd Gilliland

31. Justin Haley

32. Corey LaJoie

33. Cody Ware

34. JJ Yeley

35. Josh Bilicki

36. BJ McLeod

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Larson Picks Up First Win of the Season in California

Kyle Larson won the Wise Power 400 from Auto Club Speedway on Sunday afternoon to pick up his first win of the season.

Larson started from the back on Sunday due to unapproved adjustments prior to the race, and he worked his way to the front as the race went on. 

Tyler Reddick was dominant in the first half of the race, but a flat tire and contact with William Byron ended his day and allowed Larson to get control.

Meg Oliphant/Getty Images

Larson said problems for some of the faster drivers allowed him to get to the front.

“There were definitely some guys that were quicker than us, but they had their misfortunes,” Larson said.  “Just kept our heads in it all day.”

Larson said he struggled with his car’s handling during practice, but that his team worked hard on making the right adjustments overnight.

“Hard work all weekend there,” Larson said.  “Didn’t feel great in practice yesterday; [Crew Chief] Cliff Daniels and everybody made some good adjustments overnight and the car handled a lot better.”

Reddick’s teammate Austin Dillon ran in the top 15 for most of the day on Sunday, but quick pit stops allowed him to get track position as multiple cautions flew late in the race.

Dillon said his team kept his car in contention.

“Those guys were amazing, they kept us in the race,” Dillon said.  “We were really struggling at the beginning; kept adjusting on it and the cleaner air we got, the better we got.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Larson

2. Austin Dillon

3. Erik Jones

4. Daniel Suarez

5. Joey Logano

6. Aric Almirola

7. Kevin Harvick

8. Kurt Busch

9. Daniel Hemric

10. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

11. Cole Custer

12. Austin Cindric

13. Martin Truex Jr.

14. Kyle Busch

15. Denny Hamlin

16. Chase Briscoe

17. Ty Dillon

18. Ryan Blaney

19. Bubba Wallace

20. Todd Gilliland

21. Garrett Smithley

22. BJ McLeod

23. Justin Haley

24. Tyler Reddick

25. Alex Bowman

26. Chase Elliott

27. Brad Keselowski

28. Corey LaJoie

29. Ross Chastain

30. Josh Bilicki

31. Michael McDowell

32. Cody Ware

33. Harrison Burton

34. William Byron

35. Chris Buescher

36. Christopher Bell

James Gilbert/Getty Images

Blaney Wins at Daytona, Reddick Takes Final Playoff Spot Over Dillon

Ryan Blaney won the Coke Zero Sugar 400 from Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night in NASCAR’s regular season finale.

Blaney took the lead on the final restart, and was able to hold off the field as a wreck took out most of the leaders heading into the final corner.  Blaney was ahead of Chris Buescher as the caution flag flew, and he was able to head to victory lane for the second-consecutive weekend.

Blaney said he had to use his superspeedway experience to choose the right line while in the lead.

Logan Riely/Getty Images

“You never know how the end of these are going to turn out,” Blaney said.  “Down the back you just don’t know what lane is going to get a bigger run.”

Blaney said the push from Corey LaJoie on the restart is what helped him get to victory lane.

“The biggest thing is just getting the push,” Blaney said.  “It really all started with [LaJoie] giving me a good push and getting me out front.”

With only one spot open for the Playoffs heading into the regular-season finale, Buescher was in position late to get the victory and lock himself into the Playoffs.

Buescher came up one spot short after restarting as the leader heading in overtime, and said he will be thinking about his final restart.

“I’m sure I’ll play it back and find something else different,” Buescher said.  “Top line wasn’t organized at the start and bottom was; they were digging.  Difficult ending to a day…to miss that Playoff spot by one spot.”

Tyler Reddick came into the race in the final Playoff spot, but his chances seemed to diminish throughout the race as his teammate Austin Dillon picked up points in the first two stages before Reddick was involved in a big accident towards the end of the race.

Reddick’s team got the car back out on track as multiple winless drivers battled for the win in the closing laps.  Reddick was able to sneak through the last-lap accident that collected Dillon and locked himself into the final Playoff spot.

Reddick said it was a stressful race with everything that went wrong.

“Almost felt helpless there, but we didn’t give up and we fought through it,” Reddick said.  “I knew it was about 14 points I had on that green-white-checkered.  It was just go hard and try to stay up tight to the cars ahead of me and keep the nose out of clean air.”

Dillon said his team fought hard with a fast car before their luck ran out at the end of the race to end their Playoff push.

“We fought our butts off in the stages; made some good moves to get stages points,” Dillon said.  “We fought hard.  The car was fast…unfortunate that we’re not in the Playoffs.  We gave it all we could and fought to the very end.”

Unofficial results:

1. Ryan Blaney

2. Chris Buescher

3. Bubba Wallace

4. Ryan Newman

5. Ryan Preece

6. Tyler Reddick

7. Justin Haley

8. Alex Bowman

9. Chase Elliott

10. BJ McLeod

11. Josh Bilicki

12. Erik Jones

13. Kurt Busch

14. Denny Hamlin

15. Aric Almirola

16. Kevin Harvick

17. Corey LaJoie

18. Austin Dillon

19. Ross Chastain

20. Daniel Suarez

21. Kyle Larson

22. Chase Briscoe

23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

24. Joey Logano

25. Cole Custer

26. Matt DiBenedetto

27. Anthony Alfredo

28. David Starr

29. Cody Ware

30. Martin Truex Jr.

31. Garrett Smithley

32. Joey Gase

33. Christopher Bell

34. Brad Keselowski

35. Kyle Busch

36. Kaz Grala

37. Landon Cassill

38. William Byron

39. Quin Houff

40. Michael McDowell

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

McDowell Surprises with Daytona 500 Victory

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Michael McDowell won the Daytona 500 from the Daytona International Speedway on Sunday night.

McDowell was running third headed down the backstretch while he pushed Brad Keselowski to the front. After Keselowski made contact with leader Joey Logano, McDowell was able to sneak past as a massive crash erupted in the pack.

McDowell was ahead of Chase Elliott and Austin Dillon at the time of the caution, which officially froze the field and awarded McDowell his first career victory in NASCAR’s biggest race.

McDowell said he was excited to pick up his first victory after 14 years in the Cup Series.

“Just can’t believe it,” McDowell said.  “So many years just grinding it out for an opportunity like this.  Such a great way to get a first victory."

Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

With the laps winding down, a group of Ford drivers led the field.  Logano, Kevin Harvick, Keselowski and McDowell ran single-file until the final lap.  McDowell said the manufacturer teamwork helped give them all a chance at the victory.

“We had our Ford partners at the end and they all crashed; luckily I was able to make it through,” McDowell said. 

Elliott was second at the moment of the caution, and he said he knew he came up short when he saw the caution lights come on.

“I don’t think it was very close,” Elliott said.  “Got next to him and saw the lights come on, so I knew it was over right there.”

Elliott, who began his championship defense on Sunday, said he was just excited to finish NASCAR biggest event after having bad luck in years past.

“Staying out of trouble…that’s not something I’ve done a very good job of here in this race,” Elliott said.  “We finished one, so I’m pretty pleased with that.”

Unofficial results:

1. Michael McDowell

2. Chase Elliott

3. Austin Dillon

4. Kevin Harvick

5. Denny Hamlin

6. Ryan Preece

7. Ross Chastain

8. Jamie McMurray

9. Corey LaJoie

10. Kyle Larson

11. Cole Custer

12. Joey Logano

13. Brad Keselowski

14. Kyle Busch

15. Austin Cindric

16. Christopher Bell

17. Bubba Wallace

18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

19. Chase Briscoe

20. Joey Gase

21. Cody Ware

22. Kurt Busch

23. BJ McLeod

24. Josh Bilicki

25. Martin Truex Jr.

26. William Byron

27. Tyler Reddick

28. Kaz Grala

29. Quin Houff

30. Ryan Blaney

31. Chris Buescher

32. Anthony Alfredo

33. Matt DiBenedetto

34. Aric Almirola

35. Alex Bowman

36. Daniel Suarez

37. David Ragan

38. Ryan Newman

39. Erik Jones

40. Derrike Cope

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Keselowski Dominates in Richmond

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Brad Keselowski won the Federated Auto Parts 400 from Richmond Raceway on Saturday night to lock himself into the second round of the Playoffs.

Keselowski was dominant all night, and led a race-high 192 laps.  Keselowski took the lead for the first time in Stage 2, and he was able to control the race the rest of the way.

Keselowski’s team brought the same car to Richmond that won earlier in the year at New Hampshire, and he said he hopes to take the same car to Phoenix and fight for the Championship.

“I wanted to do a really cool burnout with it, but I want this car for Phoenix; it’s two-for-two,” Keselowski said.  “I don’t want to look too far ahead; we’ve got to get there.”

“If we can get to Phoenix, we’ll be really good.”

Martin Truex Jr. was strong on Saturday, but he wasn’t able to catch Keselowski on the final run, ultimately settling for a second-place finish.

Truex said he didn’t think he was going to run up front after struggling with his car’s handling early in the race.

“Never really got the balance right all night,” Truex said.  “It was slow on the short run early and slow on the long run late.  Somewhere in between we’d be pretty competitive, but we really couldn’t just put it all together.”

“Just solid every week.  Hopefully we can keep putting ourselves in the front and we can win races.”

Next Saturday, the Cup Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway for the final race in the firsr round of the Playoffs, where four drivers will be eliminated from championship contention.

Austin Dillon, one of the underdogs going into the Playoffs, followed up his runner-up finish at Darlington with a fourth-place at Richmond with one of the fastest cars of the night to put himself 36 points above the cut line.

Dillon said a late-race pit miscue may have cost him a shot at contending with Keselowski for the victory.

“When we came to pit road, we were trying to bring everybody down,” Dillon said.  “I was going to hit the red box, so I had to make another lap.  That cost us three seconds.”

“I hope they keep doubting us.  We’re in a good spot and we’ve got a good round after that.  We’ll go to Bristol and do what we need to do to get to the next round.”

Unofficial results:

1. Brad Keselowski

2. Martin Truex Jr.

3. Joey Logano

4. Austin Dillon

5. Chase Elliott

6. Kyle Busch

7. Kevin Harvick

8. Aric Almirola

9. Alex Bowman

10. Clint Bowyer

11. Tyler Reddick

12. Denny Hamlin

13. Kurt Busch

14. Cole Custer

15. Christopher Bell

16. Matt Kenseth

17. Matt DiBenedetto

18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

19. Ryan Blaney

20. Ryan Preece

21. William Byron

22. Erik Jones

23. Ryan Newman

24. Chris Buescher

25. Michael McDowell

26. Bubba Wallace

27. Corey LaJoie

28. Ty Dillon

29. Daniel Suarez

30. John Hunter Nemechek

31. Jimmie Johnson

32. Quin Houff

33. Brennan Poole

34. JJ Yeley

35. Joey Gase

36. Reed Sorenson

37. James Davison

38. Timmy Hill

Photos courtesy Jared C. Tilton and Sean Gardner (Getty Images)

Harvick Holds off Dillon to Win Southern 500

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kevin Harvick won the Cook Out Southern 500 from Darlington Raceway on Sunday night to win the first race of NASCAR’s Playoffs.

Harvick inherited the lead late in the race after the two front-runners made contact racing for the lead.  With the laps winding down, Chase Elliott was doing his best to hold off Martin Truex Jr.  When Truex drove hard into the corner, the two made contact and slammed into the wall.

Truex pitted with a flat tire as Elliott limped around trying to nurse the car to the finish, and Harvick was able to take the lead.

Harvick said he was excited to start off the Playoffs with a victory without having the fastest car.

“Wound up fighting all night long,” Harvick said.  “This Busch Beer Ford Mustang wasn’t where we wanted it to be, but leaders got tangled up there.  Next thing you know, we’re racing for the win.”

Harvick had to hold off a charge from Austin Dillon in the closing laps.  As Harvick’s car got tighter over the final 10 laps, Dillon was able to pull within a half-second but couldn’t make the pass.

Dillon drove the car hard into the final corner, but came up just short on getting to Harvick’s back bumper.

Dillon said he was trying everything he could do to win and lock himself into the next round of the Playoffs.

“I was just trying all I could,” Dillon said.  “It’d have been nice to get that win and lock ourselves in the next round.  Heck of a finish for our whole Number 3 team.”

Dillon started the Playoffs as an underdog, and started the race below the cutoff line.  Leaving Darlington, Dillon now sits eighth in the standings, 10 points above the cutoff with two races remaining.

Dillon said his team has worked all season to perform when it mattered most.

“We showed up when it mattered,” Dillon said.  “A lot of people count you out, but I don’t count myself out or this team.  We’re just going to keep doing our thing.”

“We’ve just got to keep plugging.  Richmond’s next week and we’ve got another good short track car for them.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Austin Dillon

3. Joey Logano

4. Erik Jones

5. William Byron

6. Alex Bowman

7. Kyle Busch

8. Kurt Busch

9. Aric Almirola

10. Clint Bowyer

11. Brad Keselowski

12. Cole Custer

13. Denny Hamlin

14. Matt Kenseth

15. Ryan Newman

16. Michael McDowell

17. Ryan Preece

18. Jimmie Johnson

19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

20. Chase Elliott

21. Matt DiBenedetto

22. Martin Truex Jr.

23. Tyler Reddick

24. Ryan Blaney

25. Daniel Suarez

26. Chris Buescher

27. Ty Dillon

28. Brennan Poole

29. Ross Chastain

30. JJ Yeley

31. Quin Houff

32. Josh Bilicki

33. Joey Gase

34. Christopher Bell

35. Timmy Hill

36. John Hunter Nemechek

37. Corey LaJoie

38. Bubba Wallace

39. James Davison

Photos courtesy Chris Keane and Jared C. Tilton (Getty Images)

Austin Dillon Wins at Texas

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Austin Dillon won the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 from Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Dillon was able to use pit strategy to get to the front late in the race, and he took the lead from teammate Tyler Reddick on a late restart with 22 laps to go.  Dillon continued to lead over two following restarts, and held off Reddick, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch to win his first race of 2020.

Dillon said he was able to change up his restarts to keep the competition behind him in the closing laps.

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

“I had to change it up a couple times,” Dillon said.  “Definitely had to earn it; I changed it up.  Waited the second one and went on the last one, so it worked out for me.”

One week after Cole Custer won to lock himself into the Playoffs, and knock Dillon out in the process, Dillon was able to lock himself into the Playoffs. 

Dillon said the victory was the result of his team’s fast cars they’ve been bringing to the track all season.

“This has been coming; we’ve had good cars all year,” Dillon said.  “It means a lot for the family and for our partners.”

Reddick finished second on Sunday for Richard Childress Racing’s first 1-2 finish since 2011.

After getting burned by a mid-race tire strategy call, Reddick said his team worked hard to get back into contention.

“We just couldn’t get our Camaro back in contention after we took right sides,” Reddick said.  “It really shifted the balance of our Camaro and that just put us behind.”

Reddick said he wanted to make sure the battle for the lead was between teammates in the closing laps and didn’t want Logano or Busch to get involved.

“I just wanted it to be between us,” Reddick said.  “I didn’t want to bring other cars into it; make sure we could fight it out.  There was one restart I probably could have…went to his inside.  Unfortunately, we just couldn’t get it done today.”

“Hats off to the 3, all those guys.  Gets one RCR Chevrolet to the Playoffs and now we’re below the cutline.  If we keep running like this, we won’t have to worry about points.”

Unofficial results:

1. Austin Dillon

2. Tyler Reddick

3. Joey Logano

4. Kyle Busch

5. Kevin Harvick

6. Erik Jones

7. Ryan Blaney

8. Kurt Busch

9. Brad Keselowski

10. Aric Almirola

11. Clint Bowyer

12. Chase Elliott

13. Ryan Newman

14. Buba Wallace

15. Michael McDowell

16. Corey LaJoie

17. Matt DiBenedetto

18. Matt Kenseth

19. Chris Buescher

20. Denny Hamlin

21. Christopher Bell

22. John Hunter Nemechek

23. Daniel Suarez

24. JJ Yeley

25. Gray Gaulding

26. Jimmie Johnson

27. Brennan Poole

28. Reed Sorenson

29. Martin Truex Jr.

30. Alex Bowman

31. Josh Bilicki

32. Joey Gase

33. BJ McLeod

34. Quin Houff

35. Ty Dillon

36. Timmy Hill

37. William Byron

38. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

39. Cole Custer

40. Ryan Preece

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Harvick Cruises to Victory in Michigan

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kevin Harvick won the Consumers Energy 400 from Michigan International Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Harvick dominated on Sunday, and earned his seventh victory after leading 108 laps.  After winning both stages, Harvick pulled away from Austin Dillon over the final 60-lap run to get to victory lane.

Harvick said he and his team were only focused on winning this weekend.

“The most important thing is winning races right now,” Harvick said.  “That’s what we’ve been trying to do all year is win races…and get all the points you can get to position yourself well to get to Homestead.”

“We don’t want to learn anything, we don’t want to try anything different; we want to go out and we want to win.”

Dillon was running second with two laps to go, but he dropped to fourth after suffering a tire issue coming to the white flag.

Dillon said he was disappointed that he wasn’t able to fight Harvick for the win.

“We were in a position where, if something happened to [Harvick], we could win the race,” Dillon said.  “I came down the straightaway and it was just shaking like either the tire was unravelling or a loose wheel.”

“Didn’t want to lose this great finish.  We have this capability when we put our best days together, and we’ve got to keep doing it…this year being in the playoffs.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Brad Keselowski

3. Kyle Busch

4. Austin Dillon

5. Ryan Blaney

6. Kurt Busch

7. Aric Almirola

8. Denny Hamlin

9. Chase Elliott

10. Joey Logano

11. Daniel Suarez

12. Clint Bowyer

13. Erik Jones

14. Martin Truex Jr.

15. Ryan Newman

16. Paul Menard

17. Kyle Larson

18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

19. Alex Bowman

20. Chris Buescher

21. Jamie McMurray

22. AJ Allmendinger

23. Darrell Wallace Jr.

24. Matt DiBenedetto

25. Michael McDowell

26. Kasey Kahne

27. David Ragan

28. Jimmie Johnson

29. Landon Cassill

30. Blake Jones

31. BJ McLeod

32. Garrett Smithley

33. Gray Gaulding

34. Trevor Bayne

35. Ross Chastain

36. William Byron

37. Timmy Hill

38. Ty Dillon

39. Jeffrey Earnhardt

40. Corey LaJoie

Sarah Crabill/Getty Images