Larson Wins Amid Playoff Drama at the Roval

Kyle Larson won the Bank of America Roval 400 from the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in a wild Playoff cutoff race on Sunday afternoon.

Larson had to overcome a battery and alternator issue early in the race, and it seemed like he may even miss the cutoff for the next round of the Playoffs.  After getting the issues fixed, Larson was able to work his way back up through the field and he was at the front late in the race.

On the final restart, Larson was able to get around Denny Hamlin to get to the lead, and held off Tyler Reddick and William Byron over the final run to pick up his seventh victory of the season.

Larson said he was surprised to be standing in victory lane following his early battery issues that forced the team to go under the hood and replace the alternator belt.

Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

“It wasn’t looking too good, thankfully everybody on our 5 car did a great job of staying calm,” Larson said.  “I knew I was going to have some sketchy moments; just had to pick my way through traffic and stay calm.”

Byron came into the race in a must-win situation, and he was almost able to pull off the upset. 

After racing hard with Larson and Reddick over the final run, he spun out on the final lap, which relegated him to an 11th-place finish and knocked him out of the Playoffs.

Byron said he was just pushing too hard at the end with everything on the line.

“Everything was looking like it was definitely going to be a good day…looking like we were going to have a shot to win,” Byron said.  “I was just too mad there at the end and made a mistake.”

The Playoff cutoff line was chaotic halfway through the race after a handful of drivers had problems early in the race. 

Kevin Harvick got into Chase Elliott and sent him in the wall, heavily damaging the rear of Elliott’s car. The contact seemed to be payback for an incident last month at Bristol, when Elliott held up Harvick and cost Harvick a victory.

Elliott was able to recover from the incident and finished the race without a rear-bumper cover.  Headed into Turn 1, Harvick locked up his tires with Elliott behind him.  Harvick slammed into the wall, ending his Playoff hopes.

Harvick said the incident was a lesson that Elliott needed to learn.

“I felt like I needed to go get a couple spots back that I lost and I got the left-front locked up and couldn’t get it to turn,” Harvick said.  “Sometimes real life teaches you good lessons.”

Elliott said he isn’t worried about more retaliation from Harvick with four races remaining in the season.

“For us, we’re just eyes forward and just excited to be moving on,” Elliott said.  “[Harvick’s] certainly not changing…just want to wish them a merry offseason and a happy Christmas.”

Byron, Harvick, Alex Bowman and Christopher Bell were the four drivers eliminated following this round of the Playoffs.  The remaining eight drivers will begin to fight for a spot in the Final Four next Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Larson

2. Tyler Reddick

3. Chris Buescher

4. Kyle Busch

5. Denny Hamlin

6. Matt DiBenedetto

7. Joey Logano

8. Christopher Bell

9. Ryan Blaney

10. Alex Bowman

11. William Byron

12. Chase Elliott

13. Daniel Suarez

14. Bubba Wallace

15. Austin Dillon

16. Michael McDowell

17. Erik Jones

18. Cole Custer

19. Ryan Preece

20. Brad Keselowski

21. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

22. Chase Briscoe

23. Ross Chastain

24. Aric Almirola

25. Kurt Busch

26. Anthony Alfredo

27. Joey Hand

28. Josh Bilicki

29. Martin Truex Jr.

30. Quin Houff

31. Scott Heckert

32. Timmy Hill

33. Kevin Harvick

34. Garrett Smithley

35. Corey LaJoie

36. Cody Ware

37. Justin Haley

38. AJ Allmendinger

39. Ryan Newman

Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

Larson Dominates in Charlotte, Wins Coca-Cola 600

Kyle Larson won the Coca-Cola 600 from Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday night to pick up his second win of the season.

Larson continued his strong season with a dominant effort in NASCAR’s longest race.  Larson led 327 laps after starting on the pole, and was able to run at the front of the field for most of the race.

Even though he dominated the race, Larson said he had to fight his teammates Chase Elliott and William Byron for the victory throughout the night.

“It was not easy, I felt like I had to fight off William and Chase a lot,” Larson said.  “It kind of worked out that last run…[Erik Jones] had to pit and pulled out in front of me.  I just towed with him for awhile and stretched my lead out.”

Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

The victory was the 269th victory for Hendrick Motorsports, which broke a tie with Petty Enterprises for the most victories in Cup Series history.

Larson said it was an honor to be the driver to get the record-breaking win for HMS.

“Feels great to be the guy to help Mr. H break that record finally,” Larson said.  “Very lucky that Mr. H was able to put together a deal for me; I’m living a dream for sure.”

Elliott finished second to his teammate on Sunday, and said Larson was the class of the organization and the field.

“He did a good job tonight and ran a great race,” Elliott said.  “Made no mistakes and the best car won.  They’ve been kicking ass since February, so they deserve to win and rightfully so.”

“Proud of HMS; feel like everybody’s just pulling in the same direction and it’s really showing.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Larson

2. Chase Elliott

3. Kyle Busch

4. William Byron

5. Alex Bowman

6. Austin Dillon

7. Denny Hamlin

8. Chris Buescher

9. Tyler Reddick

10. Kevin Harvick

11. Brad Keselowski

12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

13. Ryan Blaney

14. Bubba Wallace

15. Daniel Suarez

16. Erik Jones

17. Joey Logano

18. Matt DiBenedetto

19. Corey LaJoie

20. Michael McDowell

21. Cole Custer

22. Aric Almirola

23. Chase Briscoe

24. Christopher Bell

25. Anthony Alfredo

26. Ryan Preece

27. Ryan Newman

28. Justin Haley

29. Martin Truex Jr.

30. Cody Ware

31. BJ McLeod

32. Quin Houff

33. James Davison

34. Garrett Smithley

35. Josh Bilicki

36. David Starr

37. Ross Chastain

38. Kurt Busch

Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

Elliott Ends Round of 12 with Roval Victory

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Chase Elliott won the Bank of America ROVAL 400 from the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course to win his fourth-straight road course race.

Elliott was a favorite going into the race after winning last year’s event at the Roval, and he was able to pull away from the field on a late restart to pick up his third victory of the year.

Already in a good position to make the next round of the Playoffs, Elliott was able to lock himself into the next round with the victory and pick up five additional Playoff Points for the next round.

Elliott said he wasn’t focused on his points position heading into the Round of 12 finale.

“I feel like you start playing the points game and you can get yourself in trouble,” Elliott said.  “Best way to get to the next round is to win, so hopefully we can do something with it.”

Elliott had a dominant car in 2019, and drove up through the field after an accident while leading. 

This year, Elliott said his team brought an even better car than the one he took to victory lane last year.

“I tweaked on some small things and got a little better than what I was here last year, which was good,” Elliott said.  “I feel like road courses have been fortunate to us the last few trips.”

The race saw the bottom four drivers eliminated from Playoff contention.  Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Clint Bowyer and Aric Almirola each saw their championship hopes come to an end.

Busch, the reigning Cup Series Champion, said his team just continued to be off throughout the Playoffs like they had been during the year.

“Nothing’s played out or has been on our side,” Busch said.  “Terrible year for me, but as other sports greats would say, there’s many other drivers that would love to have a year that we’re having.”

“I knew this round was going to be trouble with the year that we had, and I was right.”

Unofficial results:

1. Chase Elliott

2. Joey Logano

3. Erik Jones

4. Kurt Busch

5. Ryan Blaney

6. William Byron

7. Martin Truex Jr.

8. Alex Bowman

9. Cole Custer

10. Clint Bowyer

11. Kevin Harvick

12. Tyler Reddick

13. Jimmie Johnson

14. Ryan Preece

15. Denny Hamlin

16. Aric Almirola

17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

18. Brad Keselowski

19. Austin Dillon

20. Chris Buescher

21. Bubba Wallace

22. Matt DiBenedetto

23. Ty Dillon

24. Christopher Bell

25. Daniel Suarez

26. Gray Gaulding

27. Corey LaJoie

28. Quin Houff

29. James Davison

30. Kyle Busch

31. Ryan Newman

32. Michael McDowell

33. Josh Bilicki

34. Matt Kenseth

35. JJ Yeley

36. John Hunter Nemechek

37. Brennan Poole

38. Timmy Hill

Photos courtesy Jared C. Tilton (Getty Images)

 

Elliott Gets Redemption With Charlotte Win

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Chase Elliott won the Alsco Uniforms 500 from Charlotte Motor Speedway on Thursday night.

The victory was Elliott’s first of the season, coming after he’d been one of the fastest cars all year.

Thursday’s win was also redemption for a late-race pit call on Sunday night that cost him a victory in the Coca-Cola 600.

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Elliott said he was expecting the caution to come out in the last five laps and ruin another strong run.

“I was just waiting for the caution to come out, to be honest,” Elliott said.  “After the last couple weeks, I just didn’t think…it was going to go green to the end.”

Elliott started the night 19th – after the top 20 finishers from Sunday’s race were inverted – and he quickly worked his way to the front. 

After taking the lead from Kevin Harvick with 27 to go, Elliott said his crew chief Alan Gustafson made the right call during the final pit stop.

“Appreciate our team,” Elliott said.  “Alan made a good call at the end to get it tuned up, and luckily the run went long.  I think that fell into our favor.”

Harvick had a dominant car on Thursday, and led a race-high 63 laps, but his car fell off halfway through the final run.

Harvick said his car didn’t have a good setup if the race went green.

“It just falls off at lap 30,” Harvick said.  “It went straight 60-some laps…just didn’t need a long run.”

Denny Hamlin finished second after starting 29th.  He said his team made good adjustments to help him get to the front.

“Pit crew just did a phenomenal job picking up a bunch of spots,” Hamlin said.  “Our whole FedEx team prepared a good car.  Every time we come back to a racetrack for the second time our results are really good.”

Unofficial results:

1. Chase Elliott

2. Denny Hamlin

3. Ryan Blaney

4. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

5. Kurt Busch

6. Joey Logano

7. Brad Keselowski

8. Austin Dillon

9. Martin Truex Jr.

10. Kevin Harvick

11. Jimmie Johnson

12. William Byron

13. John Hunter Nemechek

14. Tyler Reddick

15. Matt DiBenedetto

16. Clint Bowyer

17. Ryan Newman

18. Cole Custer

19. Corey LaJoie

20. Aric Almirola

21. Christopher Bell

22. Chris Buescher

23. Matt Kenseth

24. Ryan Preece

25. Michael McDowell

26. Erik Jones

27. Ty Dillon

28. Daniel Suarez

29. Kyle Busch

30. Gray Gaulding

31. Alex Bowman

32. Quin Houff

33. Timmy Hill

34. JJ Yeley

35. BJ McLeod

36. Josh Bilicki

37. Bubba Wallace

38. Brennan Poole

39. Joey Gase

40. Garrett Smithley

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Keselowski Wins Coca-Cola 600

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Brad Keselowski won the Coca-Cola 600 from Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday night.

Keselowski inherited the lead when Chase Elliott pitted before an Overtime restart.  Keselowski held off Jimmie Johnson over the final two laps to pick up his first win in NASCAR’s longest race.

Keselowski said the victory knocked another one of NASCAR’s majors off his list.

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

“I know we’ve lost it the way Chase lost it and that really stinks, but today we finally won it that way,” Keselowski said.  “It’s a major; it’s the Coke 600 and this only leave one major left for me, the Daytona 500, so we’re checking them off.”

Keselowski said the victory was emotional because of what Memorial Day means and because he was able to take the name of a fallen soldier to victory lane.

“It means a lot to me, but I can’t help but think about the Reep family and Donovan [the fallen soldier’s name on Keselowski’s windshield],” Keselowski said.  “I know Memorial Day’s about a lot more than racing, but we’re glad to be able to do cool things like racing because of the freedoms provided by those that are willing to make those sacrifices.”

Elliott had a strong car throughout the race, and was leading when his teammate William Byron brought out the caution with three laps to go.  Elliott pitted while the other leaders stayed out, and he was only able to work his way back to third in the final two laps.

Elliott said the leader is always at a disadvantage when a late-race caution comes out.

“Those guys are going to do the opposite of whatever we do, but that’s just part of it,” Elliott said.  “You make those decisions and live with them.  Just trying to make the best decision you can.”

Elliott’s teammate Jimmie Johnson ran towards the front throughout the night, and he finished second on Sunday. 

Johnson, who has gone winless since June 2017, said his team is starting to put together stronger runs.

“Very proud of everyone on this Ally Chevrolet, second’s okay,” Johnson said.  “It’s tough being this close to victory lane, but we’re knocking on the door and we’ll get there.  Very proud of the effort we’re putting in, but second stinks.”

Unofficial results:

1. Brad Keselowski

2. Jimmie Johnson

3. Chase Elliott

4. Ryan Blaney

5. Kyle Busch

6. Kevin Harvick

7. Martin Truex Jr.

8. Kurt Busch

9. Tyler Reddick

10. Christopher Bell

11. Chris Buescher

12. Erik Jones

13. Cole Custer

14. Joey Logano

15. Austin Dillon

16. Aric Almirola

17. John Hunter Nemechek

18. Matt DiBenedetto

19. Michael McDowell

20. Alex Bowman

21. William Byron

22. Ross Chastain

23. Ryan Preece

24. Corey LaJoie

25. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

26. Ty Dillon

27. Matt Kenseth

28. Ryan Newman

29. Daniel Suarez

30. Denny Hamlin

31. Brennan Poole

32. Gray Gaulding

33. BJ McLeod

34. Garrett Smithley

35. Timmy Hill

36. Quin Houff

37. Joey Gase

38. JJ Yeley

39. Bubba Wallace

40. Clint Bowyer

Chris Graythen/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

Kyle Larson Wins All-Star Race

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kyle Larson won the Monster Energy All-Star Race from Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday night.

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Larson did not have an easy trip to the main event on Saturday, as he had to race his way in from the Monster Energy Open.  The Open is a “last chance” race for all the drivers not already qualified for the All-Star Race.  Larson won the final stage in the Open to secure his spot in the All-Star Race.

Larson said his crew had to work hard before the All-Star Race to get the car ready after winning the Open.

“This whole day was up and down,” Larson said.  “From the B-Main we were in, to getting a little bit of damage we had to repair.”

Larson took the lead on the final restart, and was able to hold off Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch over the final 10-lap run to win the race and $1 Million.

Larson said he used a push from Harvick on the final restart to clear the leaders.

“Harvick gave me a heck of a push to get to the lead from the third row, and that was huge,” Larson said.  “To get by the 18 [of Busch] that final restart…just had to guess what he was going to do behind me and try to take his air away.”

Harvick had the fastest car throughout the race, but miscues on pit road forced him to restart back in the pack late in the race.

Harvick said he was disappointed he couldn’t come up with the victory on Saturday.

“It was just unfortunate the way that pit road went tonight, because it wasn’t even close to anybody having a good car like we had tonight,” Harvick said.  “Just a great night for performance; just a bad night for pit road.”

“That’s how you take the fastest car and don’t win the race with it; you spot them the whole field.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Larson

2. Kevin Harvick

3. Kyle Busch

4. Joey Logano

5. Bubba Wallace

6. Aric Almirola

7. Austin Dillon

8. Alex Bowman

9. William Byron

10. Martin Truex Jr.

11. Brad Keselowski

12. Clint Bowyer

13. Ryan Newman

14. Chase Elliott

15. Jimmie Johnson

16. Ryan Blaney

17. Kurt Busch

18. Denny Hamlin

19. Erik Jones

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Blaney Wins Thrilling Roval Debut

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Ryan Blaney won the Bank of America Roval 400 on Sunday afternoon from the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course.

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

The race was the first at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Road Course, named the “Roval,” and the buildup to the race promised that the first elimination race of the Playoffs would be exciting on the tight track.

On the final lap, Jimmie Johnson caught leader Martin Truex Jr., and the two made contact in the chicane before the finish line.  Blaney was able to take advantage to win his first race of the season and lock himself into the next round of the Playoffs.

Blaney said he wasn’t expecting the two former champions to wreck coming to the finish.

“Sometimes it’s better to have a little bit of luck on your side,” Blaney said.  “You hate to see two guys get into there and tear up two of the best cars all day, but that’s racing sometimes.”

Johnson failed to make the next round of the Playoffs after wrecking coming to the checkered flag.  After driving through the chicane, Johnson had to come to a complete stop to avoid a penalty, which cost him just enough positions to end in a tie with Kyle Larson and Aric Almirola for the final spot in the next round.

After losing the tiebreaker to Larson and Almirola, Johnson said he wasn’t thinking about the Playoffs and wanted to get to victory lane.

“These wins are so important and the veteran would have taken the safe route,” Johnson said.  “Ultimately we were in a transfer position and didn’t get it.”

Larson drove a heavily-damaged car for the last five laps, and passed Jeffrey Earnhardt coming to the checkered flag to force the three-way tie.

Larson said he pushed his car to the limit to get the final point he needed.

“I could see the 96 [of Earnhardt] was still stopped, and I knew I needed that point to get to the tiebreaker,” Larson said.  “I knew I was screwed, then I saw they were all crashing [on the frontstretch] and it had to be 45 seconds before I got over there.”

The playoff field was cut from 16 to 12 drivers; Johnson, Austin Dillon, Erik Jones and Denny Hamlin were the four drivers eliminated from championship contention.

Unofficial results:

1. Ryan Blaney

2. Jamie McMurray

3. Clint Bowyer

4. Alex Bowman

5. Kurt Busch

6. Chase Elliott

7. AJ Allmendinger

8. Jimmie Johnson

9. Kevin Harvick

10. Joey Logano

11. Ryan Newman

12. Denny Hamlin

13. Matt DiBenedetto

14. Martin Truex Jr.

15. Regan Smith

16. David Ragan

17. Chris Buescher

18. Michael McDowell

19. Aric Almirola

20. Cole Whitt

21. Daniel Suarez

22. Ty Dillon

23. Daniel Hemric

24. Ross Chastain

25. Kyle Larson

26. Jeffrey Earnhardt

27. Justin Marks

28. JJ Yeley

29. Landon Cassill

30. Erik Jones

31. Brad Keselowski

32. Kyle Busch

33. Paul Menard

34. William Byron

35. Trevor Bayne

36. Darrell Wallace Jr.

37. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

38. Timmy Hill

39. Austin Dillon

40. Stanton Barrett

Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images