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.

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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

Hamlin Holds off Elliott at Las Vegas

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Denny Hamlin won the South Point 400 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday night to lock himself into the next round of the Playoffs.

Hamlin was strong throughout the race and ran up front for most of the night.  After a different strategy call by the Hendrick Motorsports drivers towards the end of stage 2, Hamlin was able to take command and pick up his second win of the season.

Hamlin said he was glad to get to victory lane in Las Vegas after running well there the last few races at the track.

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“It feels so good to win at Vegas,” Hamlin said.  “Last couple times I’ve been so close and just didn’t have the right breaks.”

The victory locked Hamlin into the third round of the Playoffs, which will allow him to avoid the stress of fighting for a Playoff spot at Talladega and the Charlotte Roval.

Hamlin said he is ready to fight for victories the next two weeks without the added stress of racing for his Playoff future.

“So happy I don’t have to worry about the next two weeks,” Hamlin said.  “I’m going to work just as hard each and every week to win.”

Chase Elliott was the lone Hendrick driver who was able to overcome the pit strategy call.  He was able to run Hamlin down over the final green flag run, but he ran out of time and was never able to challenge Hamlin for the lead.

Elliott said the race played out more in his favor than for his teammates.

“Circumstances went our way,” Elliott said.  “We were able to get back on the lead lap when that cycle of stops got weird there in the middle.  We got back on the lead and didn’t need to wave or get the lucky dog.”

“We were really close, just not close enough; Denny did a good job controlling the gap to me.  Excited for the next two, it’s going to be wild.”

Unofficial results:

1. Denny Hamlin

2. Chase Elliott

3. Kyle Busch

4. Martin Truex Jr.

5. Ryan Blaney

6. Tyler Reddick

7. Brad Keselowski

8. Kurt Busch

9. Kevin Harvick

10. Kyle Larson

11. Joey Logano

12. Matt DiBenedetto

13. Austin Dillon

14. Chase Briscoe

15. Daniel Suarez

16. Bubba Wallace

17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

18. William Byron

19. Aric Almirola

20. Ryan Newman

21. Michael McDowell

22. Alex Bowman

23. Ross Chastain

24. Christopher Bell

25. Chris Buescher

26. Erik Jones

27. Anthony Alfredo

28. Ryan Preece

29. Cole Custer

30. Corey LaJoie

31. Cody Ware

32. Justin Haley

33. BJ McLeod

34. Quin Houff

35. Garrett Smithley

36. Josh Bilicki

37. Joey Gase

38. JJ Yeley

Steph Chambers/Getty Images

Larson Returns to Victory Lane in Las Vegas

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kyle Larson won the Pennzoil 400 from the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon to pick up his first victory with Hendrick Motorsports.

Larson was dominant on Sunday and, along with his other Hendrick teammates Chase Elliott and William Byron, ran up front for most of the race.  Larson led a race-high 103 laps.

After winning in just his fourth start with Hendrick Motorsports, Larson said the victory was special.

“It was such an awesome race car,” Larson said.  “I could go wherever I wanted to; I knew we had a pretty good car once we got single-filed out.  Thank you so much Mr. Hendrick, Jeff Gordon, everybody at Hendrick Motorsports for the amazing opportunity I’ve been gifted.”

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Larson returned to the Cup Series in 2021 after being suspended for most of the 2020 season for uttering a racial slur during an iRacing event amidst the COVID shutdown.

Larson said he was thankful to get a win for Rick Hendrick while driving a paint scheme in honor of the team owner’s late son.

“I know this is Rick’s most special paint scheme, for obvious reason, and it’s just an honor for me to be able to drive it,” Larson said.  “Our first time out with this color scheme…this is definitely special.”

Brad Keselowski finished second on Sunday, but he wasn’t able to catch Larson over the final stage.  After closing in following a miscue by Larson before the final pit stop, Keselowski was unable to make the winning pass and saw Larson pull away over the final 30 laps.

Keselowski said Larson’s ability to put the car wherever it needed to go was the difference in the race.

“He was really fast,” Keselowski said.  “He had a lot of speed in all the lanes, which was really impressive.  Usually you have to make a compromise, but they were really good.”

“If Kyle Larson wasn’t here, it would have been a dominant day.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Larson

2. Brad Keselowski

3. Kyle Busch

4. Denny Hamlin

5. Ryan Blaney

6. Martin Truex Jr.

7. Christopher Bell

8. William Byron

9. Joey Logano

10. Erik Jones

11. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

12. Austin Dillon

13. Chase Elliott

14. Chris Buescher

15. Ryan Preece

16. Matt DiBenedetto

17. Michael McDowell

18. Ryan Newman

19. Kurt Busch

20. Kevin Harvick

21. Chase Briscoe

22. Tyler Reddick

23. Ross Chastain

24. Anthony Alfredo

25. Cole Custer

26. Daniel Suarez

27. Alex Bowman

28. Bubba Wallace

29. Justin Haley

30. BJ McLeod

31. Garrett Smithley

32. Cody Ware

33. Quin Houff

34. Joey Gase

35. Josh Bilicki

36. Timmy Hill

37. Corey LaJoie

38. Aric Almirola

Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

Kurt Busch Shocks Playoff Field with Las Vegas Win

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kurt Busch won the South Point 400 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday night for his first career victory at his hometown track.

A caution in the middle of green-flag pit stops late in the race caught most of the leaders -- and most of the Playoff drivers -- a lap down.  Busch stayed out longer than the others and was able to inherit the lead when the caution came out and the other leaders had to wave around.

Over the final 30 laps, Busch held off Matt DiBenedetto, Alex Bowman and Denny Hamlin over numerous restarts to claim his first victory of 2020 and lock himself into the next round of the Playoffs.

Busch said the victory was the culmination of two decades of frustration at his home track.

“You dream of winning at your hometown track, and for two decades it’s kicked my butt,” Busch said.  “I’m in awe, this is what kids dream of when they grow up racing.”

Busch said the victory was due to his crew chief’s pit strategy call finally working in their favor.

“One of those quirky Matt McCall pit sequences finally unfolded,” Busch said.  “We got lucky; I knew the race would come to us, we just needed to get to nightfall.”

Hamlin had one of the fastest cars throughout the race, but he couldn’t get to Busch’s bumper and challenge for the victory in the closing laps.

Hamlin said it was another example of late-race cautions costing his team a chance at the victory.

“Just the same thing as Darlington, untimely cautions,” Hamlin said.  “It’s what’s keeping us out of victory lane.  We obviously had a dominant car today.”

“Really encouraged with the way we ran.  Obviously disappointed we didn’t win and that’s just been the way the Playoffs have gone.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kurt Busch

2. Matt DiBenedetto

3. Denny Hamlin

4. Martin Truex Jr.

5. Alex Bowman

6. Kyle Busch

7. Ryan Blaney

8. Erik Jones

9. Chris Buescher

10. Kevin Harvick

11. Jimmie Johnson

12. Clint Bowyer

13. Brad Keselowski

14. Joey Logano

15. Ryan Newman

16. Cole Custer

17. Aric Almirola

18. Matt Kenseth

19. Ryan Preece

20. John Hunter Nemechek

21. Michael McDowell

22. Chase Elliott

23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

24. Christopher Bell

25. William Byron

26. Ty Dillon

27. Corey LaJoie

28. Bubba Wallace

29. Daniel Suarez

30. Brennan Poole

31. Gray Gaulding

32. Austin Dillon

33. JJ Yeley

34. Quin Houff

35. Joey Gase

36. Josh Bilicki

37. Timmy Hill

38. Tyler Reddick

39. Chad Finchum

Photos courtesy Chris Graythen (Getty Images)

Logano Wins in Las Vegas

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Joey Logano won the Pennzoil 400 from the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon to pick up his first win of the season.

Logano, who was in just his second race with new crew chief Paul Wolfe, used pit strategy to get to Victory Lane.

Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

When a late caution came out with just five laps to go, Logano stayed out on track while most of the leaders pitted.  Logano was able to keep the lead on the final restart, and was leading when John Hunter Nemechek spun to bring out the caution that ended the race.

Logano said the call was a miscommunication between him and his new crew chief.

“Not really sure if I was supposed to stay out or come in, wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do,” Logano said.  “This is a huge win, and nice to start out and kick off the season with a ‘W.’”

Logano used a push from Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to get to the lead on the final restart, and said that allowed him to use clean air to get the win.

“I watched him and he pushed me, and then he shoved me ahead which was great,” Logano said.  “That was the winning move.  Clean air was going to be king, especially on old tires…if I got swallowed up by a few cars I was going to go back real quick.”

Matt DiBenedetto finished second in just his second race with his new team Wood Brothers Racing. 

DiBenedetto stayed out under the final caution to get track position, and he said his team worked hard throughout the day to get his car to where it needed to be.

“This whole team…we were covered, and it wasn’t pretty at the start,” DiBenedetto said.  “They did an excellent job.  So happy to be working with this team, the journey’s been pretty cool.”

“Tough to be that close, but this is only the second race of the season.”

Unofficial results:

1. Joey Logano

2. Matt DiBenedetto

3. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

4. Austin Dillon

5. Jimmie Johnson

6. Bubba Wallace

7. Brad Keselowski

8. Kevin Harvick

9. Kyle Larson

10. Ty Dillon

11. Ryan Blaney

12. Clint Bowyer

13. Alex Bowman

14. Chris Buescher

15. Kyle Busch

16. Corey LaJoie

17. Denny Hamlin

18. Tyler Reddick

19. Cole Custer

20. Martin Truex Jr.

21. Aric Almirola

22. William Byron

23. Erik Jones

24. John Hunter Nemechek

25. Kurt Busch

26. Chase Elliott

27. Ross Chastain

28. JJ Yeley

29. Brennan Poole

30. Daniel Suarez

31. Joey Gase

32. Quin Houff

33. Christopher Bell

34. Reed Sorenson

35. Garrett Smithley

36. Michael McDowell

37. Ryan Preece

38. Timmy Hill

Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

Truex Wins Playoff Opener in Las Vegas

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Martin Truex Jr. won the South Point 400 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday night.

Truex won the opening race of the playoffs by chasing down Kevin Harvick over the final run.

Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

Truex said his team struggled with speed throughout the weekend, but a gamble in the setup by crew chief Cole Pearn helped propel them to victory.

“We took a gamble this weekend and qualified 24th, and for a while it wasn’t looking too smart,” Truex said.  “Got the right adjustments at the end…and at the end I was able to hustle all the way to the checkers.”

Truex was behind Harvick following the final green flag pit stops.  After Harvick struggled to get through lapped traffic, Truex was able to take the lead and run away to take the victory.

The win locked Truex into the next round of the playoffs, and he said his team can now focus on picking up stage points over the next two weeks.

“It takes the pressure off,” Truex said.  “Next two weeks we can just try to get more [playoff points], so that’s huge. Playoff points you can get will help you get to Homestead.”

Harvick settled for second after having a strong car for most of the race, but said the handling went away on his car the longer into the run it went.

“My car started to get loose and push the front, and it was just kind of in a four-wheel drift,” Harvick said.  “I knew the Gibbs cars would be tough, and Martin was just so much better on the second half of the run.”

Unofficial results:

1. Martin Truex Jr.

2. Kevin Harvick

3. Brad Keselowski

4. Chase Elliott

5. Ryan Blaney

6. Alex Bowman

7. William Byron

8. Kyle Larson

9. Joey Logano

10. Ryan Newman

11. Jimmie Johnson

12. Austin Dillon

13. Aric Almirola

14. Paul Menard

15. Denny Hamlin

16. Ty Dillon

17. Daniel Hemric

18. Chris Buescher

19. Kyle Busch

20. Daniel Suarez

21. Matt DiBenedetto

22. David Ragan

23. Bubba Wallace

24. Michael McDowell

25. Clint Bowyer

26. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

27. Ryan Preece

28. Corey LaJoie

29. Landon Cassill

30. Matt Tifft

31. Ross Chastain

32. JJ Yeley

33. BJ McLeod

34. Joe Nemechek

35. Garrett Smithley

36. Erik Jones

37. Reed Sorenson

38. Joey Gase

39. Kurt Busch

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Keselowski Wins Playoff Opener in Las Vegas

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Brad Keselowski won his third race in a row on Sunday at the South Point Hotel and Casinos 400 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

Keselowski was able to grab the lead late, but he had to hold off his teammate Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr. over numerous late restarts to get to victory lane.

Keselowski said his pit crew’s strong pit stops and their strong restarts got them to victory lane.

“It’s really a testament to this team; they’ve been so strong on pit road,” Keselowski said.  “We nailed the pit stops and the restarts when it counted and that put us in position.”

The victory was the 500th for team owner Roger Penske across all racing series, and Penske was seen watching the race from the IndyCar Series finale at Sonoma Raceway.

Keselowski said he was honored to pick up such an important win for “The Captain.”

“500 wins today; huge day for ‘the Captain,’” Keselowski said.  “To start off the playoffs with a win is…really strong.”

Unofficial results:

1. Brad Keselowski

2. Kyle Larson

3. Martin Truex Jr.

4. Joey Logano

5. Ryan Blaney

6. Aric Almirola

7. Kyle Busch

8. Daniel Suarez

9. Ryan Newman

10. Paul Menard

11. Austin Dillon

12. Regan Smith

13. Trevor Bayne

14. AJ Allmendinger

15. Chris Buescher

16. Corey LaJoie

17. JJ Yeley

18. Landon Cassill

19. Alex Bowman

20. Ross Chastain

21. Kurt Busch

22. Jimmie Johnson

23. Clint Bowyer

24. Matt DiBenedetto

25. Jeffrey Earnhardt

26. Kyle Weatherman

27. David Ragan

28. BJ McLoed

29. Michael McDowell

30. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

31. Reed Sorenson

32. Denny Hamlin

33. Timmy Hill

34. Ty Dillon

35. Jamie McMurray

36. Chase Elliott

37. William Byron

38. Darrell Wallace Jr.

39. Kevin Harvick

40. Erik Jones

Sam Wasson/Getty Images

Harvick Doubles Down With Victory in Las Vegas

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kevin Harvick won the Pennzoil 400 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday.

Harvick dominated the race for the second week in a row, and led a race-high 214 laps.  After winning both stages on Sunday, Harvick already has 13 playoff points to use when NASCAR’s playoffs begin in September.

Robert Laberge/Getty Images

Harvick said his team’s strong start actually began last season.

“These last two weeks we’ve just hit on what we needed to,” Harvick said.  “This stems back to when our 1.5 mile program got so much better at the end of the year.”

“They’ve done their homework when it comes to a number of things.”

The victory was also Harvick’s 100th across NASCAR’s three national touring series.  Harvick now joins Richard Petty, Kyle Busch and David Pearson as the only drivers with 100 NASCAR wins.

Harvick said the victories were a testament to the teams he’s been with throughout his NASCAR career.

“Winning 100 races is something I never thought I’d be able to do,” Harvick said.  “They’re hard to win…I’ve been fortunate to sit in a lot of good racecars.”

Busch finished second on Sunday, but he was never able to get close enough to Harvick to challenge for the victory.

Busch said no one could compete with Harvick throughout the weekend.

“Our M&M’s Camry was really strong the last 100 laps of the race,” Busch said.  “No catching that 4 [of Harvick]; they were just on rails today and lights out.”

“I don’t know what we have to do better to catch up to those guys, but obviously we’ve got some work to do to get a little bit better.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Kyle Busch

3. Kyle Larson

4. Martin Truex Jr.

5. Ryan Blaney

6. Brad Keselowski

7. Joey Logano

8. Erik Jones

9. Paul Menard

10. Aric Almirola

11. Ryan Newman

12. Jimmie Johnson

13. Austin Dillon

14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

15. Chris Buescher

16. Alex Bowman

17. Denny Hamlin

18. Clint Bowyer

19. Kasey Kahne

20. Trevor Bayne

21. Darrell Wallace Jr.

22. Matt DiBenedetto

23. David Ragan

24. Ty Dillon

25. Cole Custer

26. Daniel Suarez

27. William Byron

28. Cole Whitt

29. Ross Chastain

30. AJ Allmendinger

31. Jeffrey Earnhardt

32. Joey Gase

33. Gray Gaulding

34. Chase Elliott

35. Kurt Busch

36. Jamie McMurray

37. Michael McDowell

Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images