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

Harvick Dominates in Dover

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kevin Harvick won the Drydene 311 from Dover International Speedway on Sunday afternoon in the second half of a doubleheader weekend.

Harvick was strong throughout the day, and led the most laps and won both stages on his way to a series-leading seventh victory.

Jimmie Johnson took the lead using pit strategy following a late caution, but he was not a match for Harvick on the restart.  When they took the green flag for the final time with 17 laps to go, Harvick was able to get around Johnson and pull away on his way to the checkered flag.

Harvick said his team worked overnight to help make the adjustments needed to win on Sunday.

“Really got to thank everybody on this team,” Harvick said.  “[Crew Chief] Rodney Childers and everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing for overcoming what happened yesterday with the trackbar and being able to nail the balance today.”

After he won the first stage, Harvick clinched the regular season championship, which awards him an additional 15 Playoff Points.  With the Playoffs set to begin in two weeks, Harvick will now have 57 bonus points when it begins.

Harvick said his team must continue to push forward, especially after Denny Hamlin picked up his sixth win on Saturday.

“With Denny winning yesterday, we needed to win today and we’re going to need all the points we can get,” Harvick said.  “As you look at these Playoffs, you just never know what to expect.”

For the second day in a row, Martin Truex Jr. finished second.  With the finish, Truex extended his streak to seven-consecutive races finished inside the Top 3.

Truex said the car was worse Sunday than it was on Saturday, but his team worked hard to challenge for the win.

“We tried some things overnight; definitely didn’t do what we hoped it would do,” Truex said.  “We fought hard…we executed well and came home with a good result.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Martin Truex Jr.

3. Jimmie Johnson

4. William Byron

5. Alex Bowman

6. Joey Logano

7. Aric Almirola

8. Brad Keselowski

9. Austin Dillon

10. Cole Custer

11. Kyle Busch

12. Ryan Blaney

13. Kurt Busch

14. Chris Buescher

15. Matt Kenseth

16. Clint Bowyer

17. Matt DiBenedetto

18. Tyler Reddick

19. Denny Hamlin

20. John Hunter Nemechek

21. Bubba Wallace

22. Erik Jones

23. Corey LaJoie

24. Ryan Newman

25. Michael McDowell

26. Ryan Preece

27. Christopher Bell

28. Daniel Suarez

29. Ty Dillon

30. Brennan Poole

31. BJ McLeod

32. Josh Bilicki

33. Reed Sorenson

34. Quin Houff

35. Garrett Smithley

36. Timmy Hill

37. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

38. JJ Yeley

39. Chase Elliott

40. Joey Gase

Photos courtesy Jared C. Tilton (Getty Images)

Hamlin Dominant in First Half of Dover Doubleheader

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Denny Hamlin dominated the Drydene 311 in the first half of NASCAR’s doubleheader from Dover International Speedway on Saturday afternoon.

Hamlin led a race-high 115 laps throughout the race, but had to fight his way back to the lead in the closing laps.  Hamlin was second as his teammate Martin Truex Jr. struggled in lapped traffic.

Hamlin took the lead with less than 10 laps to go, and he pulled away from Truex over the final eight laps.

After winning his sixth race of the season, Hamlin said he was happy to get back to victory lane after falling short the past few weeks.

“I’ve been running down the leaders these last few weeks but I haven’t been able to get there,” Hamlin said.  “Proud of this whole FedEx team; this Camry was fast today.  Just unbelievable at how good it was.”

The victory was Hamlin’s first at Dover, and he said his team is locked in as the Playoffs are set to begin in two weeks.

“Working as hard as I ever have, and I can’t complain about anything right now,” Hamlin said.  “I’ve just got faith when it comes down to it.  On that last run, when he says ‘go get it,’ I go get it.”

Truex inherited the lead after pit stops cycled around, but he was unable to hold off Hamlin after getting hung up in lapped traffic.

Truex said the combination of lapped traffic and his car’s poor handling made it hard to race Hamlin at the end of the race.

“I think if the 10 [of Aric Almirola] wasn’t pinning it on the bottom in front of me I’d have been fine,” Truex said.  “In the end, we just weren’t good enough.  Nothing I could do, just out-of-control sideways.”

Unofficial results:

1. Denny Hamlin

2. Martin Truex Jr.

3. Kyle Busch

4. Kevin Harvick

5. Chase Elliott

6. Clint Bowyer

7. Jimmie Johnson

8. Joey Logano

9. Brad Keselowski

10. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

11. Cole Custer

12. Erik Jones

13. Tyler Reddick

14. Ryan Blaney

15. Austin Dillon

16. Chris Buescher

17. Aric Almirola

18. Ty Dillon

19. Ryan Newman

20. Matt DiBenedetto

21. Alex Bowman

22. Christopher Bell

23. Matt Kenseth

24. John Hunter Nemechek

25. Ryan Preece

26. Michael McDowell

27. Bubba Wallace

28. William Byron

29. Corey LaJoie

30. Daniel Suarez

31. JJ Yeley

32. Josh Bilicki

33. Quin Houff

34. Timmy Hill

35. Joey Gase

36. Brennan Poole

37. Garrett Smithley

38. BJ McLeod

39. Reed Sorenson

40. Kurt Busch

Photos courtesy Hunter Martin & Jared C. Tilton (Getty Images)

Larson Snaps Winless Streak with Dover Victory

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kyle Larson won the Drydene 400 from Dover International Speedway on Sunday afternoon to snap a 75-race winless streak.

Chris Trotman/Getty Images

Larson had a strong car throughout the entire weekend, and ran up front for most of the race after qualifying second.  After taking the lead following a pit stop in the final stage, Larson was able to work his way through lapped traffic on his way to victory lane.

Larson said this win was big for his team after going winless in 2018.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve won a points-paying race,” Larson said.  “We won the All-Star Race earlier this year…but we wanted to win a points race and we did it when it mattered.”

With the wild card of the Playoffs at Talladega next weekend, the victory locked Larson into the third round.

Larson said he was happy he won’t have to stress about Talladega next weekend.

“Everybody in the Playoff field is going to be stressing next week at Talladega, except for me,” Larson said.  “Last time I was at Talladega, I was on my lid…I could still end up on my lid next week but it’s not going to matter.”

Martin Truex Jr. finished second on Sunday.  Truex won Stage 2, but a pit road mistake by his crew cost him the lead to Larson. 

Truex said lapped traffic played a part in his ability to catch the leader.

“We were catching him at the end; we got close, but just unfortunate,” Truex said.  “Lost track position and just the whole third stage we were behind.”

“Good job by all the guys, good rebound by the pit crew, and just a solid day at Dover.  We had a shot at the win come up short; would have been nice to have that win and a free pass.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Larson

2. Martin Truex Jr.

3. Alex Bowman

4. Kevin Harvick

5. Denny Hamlin

6. Kyle Busch

7. Matt DiBenedetto

8. Jimmie Johnson

9. Kurt Busch

10. Clint Bowyer

11. Brad Keselowski

12. Paul Menard

13. William Byron

14. Daniel Suarez

15. Erik Jones

16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

17. Aric Almirola

18. Austin Dillon

19. Ryan Preece

20. Bubba Wallace

21. Daniel Hemric

22. Ryan Newman

23. Ty Dillon

24. Michael McDowell

25. Matt Tifft

26. Landon Cassill

27. David Ragan

28. Corey LaJoie

29. BJ McLeod

30. Joe Nemechek

31. Ross Chastain

32. JJ Yeley

33. Garrett Smithley

34. Joey Logano

35. Ryan Blaney

36. Chris Buescher

37. Reed Sorenson

38. Chase Elliott

Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

Truex Wins at Dover

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Martin Truex Jr. won the Gander RV 400 from Dover International Speedway on Monday afternoon.

Originally scheduled for Sunday, the race was postponed due to rain after cars began their pace laps on Sunday afternoon.

Chris Trotman/Getty Images

Truex started in the back after failing pre-race inspection, but he was able to work his way through the field on a track that is notoriously hard to pass.

Truex said his team brought a new setup that allowed them to work his way through traffic.

“We came here with a new setup this time, because we had kind of an older setup that we won with in 2016,” Truex said.  “We’ve been good but not good enough.”

Truex switched teams in the offseason, and he believes they are finally getting comfortable with each other, leading to two wins in the last three races.

“So thankful for this team…it feels incredible,” Truex said.  “Without Talladega, we’d have two in a row.”

Alex Bowman was also penalized and started in the rear, and had a fast enough to drive up to the front during the race.  Bowman picked up his second-consecutive runner-up finish on Monday.

Bowman said his team has started to turn a corner and seems to be headed in the right direction.

“We had a miserable start to the season; we did a really good job resetting over the off-week, and we’ve been strong since then,” Bowman said.  “It’d be better if we had a trophy, but we needed this for sure.”

Unofficial results:

1. Martin Truex Jr.

2. Alex Bowman

3. Kyle Larson

4. Kevin Harvick

5. Chase Elliott

6. Erik Jones

7. Joey Logano

8. William Byron

9. Clint Bowyer

10. Kyle Busch

11. Daniel Suarez

12. Brad Keselowski

13. Kurt Busch

14. Jimmie Johnson

15. Ryan Blaney

16. Aric Almirola

17. Paul Menard

18. Ryan Newman

19. Austin Dillon

20. Matt DiBenedetto

21. Denny Hamlin

22. Ty Dillon

23. Chris Buescher

24. Michael McDowell

25. Daniel Hemric

26. David Ragan

27. Bubba Wallace

28. Ryan Preece

29. Corey LaJoie

30. Ross Chastain

31. Landon Cassill

32. Matt Tifft

33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

34. Cody Ware

35. Reed Sorenson

36. Quin Houff

37. BJ McLeod

Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

Elliott Wins at Dover, Locks Himself into Next Round of Playoffs

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Chase Elliott won the Gander Outdoors 400 from Dover International Speedway on Sunday afternoon to lock himself into the next round of the Playoffs.

Chris Trotman/Getty Images

Elliott inherited the lead late in the race after a wreck took out some of the frontrunners with five laps to go.  After he stayed out on a previous caution, Elliott found himself on much older tires than Denny Hamlin when they took the green flag with two laps to go.

Elliott said the restart was his redemption for all the times he failed to win while leading on a late restart.

“I feel like I’ve messed it up enough times, and I thought, ‘man, here’s your opportunity to make it right and to do it right,’” Elliott said.  “Today just felt different; I felt more confident and I just felt excited about the opportunity instead of unsure what was going to happen.”

Elliott had to fight through the field all day after a tire penalty sent him to the back of the pack early in the race.

Elliott said his team worked on the car throughout the race and he had the speed when it mattered.

“We had a penalty there early, and fell behind,” Elliott said.  “Luckily had a fast enough car and a good strategy to get back.”

“To come back here and have the day we had and move on to the next round…we don’t have to worry about Talladega next week; it’s a hell of a day.”

Hamlin had two fresher tires than Elliott on the final restart, but wasn’t able to catch him in the final laps.

Hamlin said he was surprised Elliott’s car was so fast on much older tires.

“That old of tires…that’s amazing,” Hamlin said.  “I ran as hard as I could…and just couldn’t get beside him there.”

“Glad to see me and Chase can finish 1-2 here in a Playoff race and not have any controversy, so happy for those guys.”

Unofficial results:

1. Chase Elliott

2. Denny Hamlin

3. Joey Logano

4. Erik Jones

5. Kurt Busch

6. Kevin Harvick

7. Austin Dillon

8. Kyle Busch

9. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

10. Daniel Suarez

11. Ryan Blaney

12. Kyle Larson

13. Aric Almirola

14. Brad Keselowski

15. Martin Truex Jr.

16. Paul Menard

17. Ryan Newman

18. Jamie McMurray

19. William Byron

20. Matt Kenseth

21. Regan Smith

22. AJ Allmendinger

23. Darrell Wallace Jr.

24. David Ragan

25. Chris Buescher

26. Michael McDowell

27. Matt DiBenedetto

28. Alex Bowman

29. Ty Dillon

30. Corey LaJoie

31. Jeffrey Earnhardt

32. JJ Yeley

33. Landon Cassill

34. BJ McLeod

35. Clint Bowyer

36. Jimmie Johnson

37. Ross Chastain

38. Harrison Rhodes

39. Timmy Hill

Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

Harvick Dominates at Dover

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kevin Harvick won the AAA 400 from Dover International Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Harvick led a race-high 201 laps on his way to a dominant victory on Sunday.  After two of Harvick’s Stewart-Haas teammates finished in the top five, Harvick said the finishes were a testament to the organization’s strength.

Robert Laberge/Getty Images

“The first thing I had to do was just thank everybody on my team…for just continuing to put the effort that they put into these cars,” Harvick said.  “Three cars in the top five says a lot about where we are as a company.”

Rain halted the race with 80 laps to go, but the race restarted after NASCAR was able to dry the track.  When the race resumed, Harvick raced Clint Bowyer for the lead before pulling away by seven seconds.

Harvick said he enjoyed racing for the lead with his teammate.

“It’s fun racing your teammate; that says a lot about our company,” Harvick said.

Bowyer said he didn’t know how his car would handle in clean air over the final run after running in traffic for the most of the day.

“The biggest thing was if we had a chance to adjust our car in clean air like [Harvick] did; he had that luxury all day,” Bowyer said.  “It’s fun to be running like this again and be competitive.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Clint Bowyer

3. Daniel Suarez

4. Martin Truex Jr.

5. Kurt Busch

6. Brad Keselowski

7. Denny Hamlin

8. Ryan Blaney

9. Jimmie Johnson

10. Kyle Larson

11. Aric Almirola

12. Chase Elliott

13. Joey Logano

14. William Byron

15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

16. Jamie McMurray

17. Kasey Kahne

18. Erik Jones

19. Trevor Bayne

20. Chris Buescher

21. AJ Allmendinger

22. Michael McDowell

23. Alex Bowman

24. Ty Dillon

25. Darrell Wallace Jr.

26. Austin Dillon

27. David Ragan

28. Ross Chastain

29. Matt DiBenedetto

30. Gray Gaulding

31. Landon Cassill

32. Reed Sorenson

33. Ryan Newman

34. Paul Menard

35. Kyle Busch

36. Cody Ware

37. Derrike Cope

38. Corey LaJoie

Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

Busch Wins at Dover in Round 1 Finale

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kyle Busch won the Apache Warrior 400 from Dover International Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Busch capped off the first round of the Playoffs with his second victory of the round, after passing Chase Elliott for the lead with two laps to go.

Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

Busch said he gave his everything in the final run to try and run down Elliott.

“That was hard fought…that was everything I had,” Busch said.  “I was trying to get there, and I got stuck for a few laps.  I wasn’t sure if I would make it all the way, and then I had to try the top.”

Elliott, who is still looking for his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory, dominated the final stage of the race, but lost the lead after getting slowed down by lapped traffic.

Busch said he could understand Elliott’s frustration with the runner-up finish.

“I know Chase is hungry…he’s been trying a couple years to get his first Cup Series win,” Busch said.  “Fortunately we had a little bit fresher tires than he did and it drug us right to him.”

“I saw that carrot hanging out there, and I wanted to go get it.”

Elliott led a race-high 138 laps, but he was visibly disappointed after coming so close to his first victory.  Elliott said it was his fault that he couldn’t get to victory lane.

“I’m so disappointed in myself; couldn’t have had it any easier,” Elliott said.  “Appreciate our team and their efforts today; our pit stops were great and it kept us in the ballgame, and I didn’t.”

“When you look back, I obviously would have done something different, but I didn’t.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Busch

2. Chase Elliott

3. Jimmie Johnson

4. Martin Truex Jr.

5. Kyle Larson

6. Clint Bowyer

7. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

8. Daniel Suarez

9. Jamie McMurray

10. Brad Keselowski

11. Matt Kenseth

12. Erik Jones

13. Ryan Newman

14. Kasey Kahne

15. Joey Logano

16. Austin Dillon

17. Kevin Harvick

18. Danica Patrick

19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

20. Kurt Busch

21. David Ragan

22. Ty Dillon

23. Ryan Blaney

24. Trevor Bayne

25. Aric Almirola

26. Paul Menard

27. Michael McDowell

28. AJ Allmendinger

29. Landon Cassill

30. Chris Buescher

31. Matt DiBenedetto

32. Cole Whitt

33. Brett Moffitt

34. Corey LaJoie

35. Denny Hamlin

36. BJ McLeod

37. Jeffrey Earnhardt

38. Ross Chastain

39. Reed Sorenson

40. Timmy Hill

Sean Gardner/Getty Images