Logano Moves Byron to Win at Darlington

 Joey Logano won the Goodyear 400 from Darlington Raceway on Sunday afternoon to pick up his first win of the season.

Logano started on pole for Sunday’s race and ran up front for most of the day. In the closing laps, Logano started to reel in William Byron for the lead after giving up the top spot on the final restart.

Coming to the white flag, Logano made contact with Byron, moving Byron from the lead with a move reminiscent of Dale Earnhardt on NASCAR’s throwback weekend.

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Logano said the bump-and-run was payback for earlier contact from Byron.

“You’re not going to put me in the wall and not get anything back,” Logano said.  “That’s how that works.”

Logano said his team kept him up front throughout the race and helped him snap a 40-race winless streak.

“Super proud of this Shell-Pennzoil team,” Logano said.  “Great execution all day long. I never won here in a Cup race before.”

Byron fell from third to 13th on the final lap after his right-front tire went flat following the contact with Logano.

Byron said he didn’t do anything to Logano that warranted payback coming to the white flag.

“We were really close off of two and I think I spooked him and got him tight,” Byron said. “He was right against the wall and I got the lead. It was close racing at the restart, but we were faster than him. Obviously at the end the right-rear started to go away and he didn’t even make it a contest.”

“He’s just an idiot. He does this stuff all the time, I’ve seen it with other guys. He’s just a moron. He can’t win a race so he does it that way.”

Unofficial results:

1. Joey Logano

2. Tyler Reddick

3. Justin Haley

4. Kevin Harvick

5. Chase Elliott

6. Christopher Bell

7. Michael McDowell

8. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

9. Austin Dillon

10. Daniel Suarez

11. Aric Almirola

12. Ty Dillon

13. William Byron

14. Harrison Burton

15. Todd Gilliland

16. Chris Buescher

17. Ryan Blaney

18. Austin Cindric

19. Cody Ware

20. Chase Briscoe

21. Denny Hamlin

22. Landon Cassill

23. JJ Yeley

24. Martin Truex Jr.

25. Erik Jones

26. Cole Custer

27. Bubba Wallace

28. Kurt Busch

29. Alex Bowman

30. Ross Chastain

31. Daniel Hemric

32. BJ McLeod

33. Kyle Busch

34. Brad Keselowski

35. Corey LaJoie

36. Kyle Larson

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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.

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“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

Byron Wins at New-Look Atlanta

William Byron won the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 from the newly-reconfigured Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Byron led a race-high 111 laps on Sunday, but had to defend against big runs throughout numerous restarts in the final 10 laps.

Mike Mulholland/Getty Images

Atlanta Motor Speedway was reconfigured over the offseason, with higher banking that made the racing resemble a superspeedway.

Byron said he had to manage the closing laps as if it were Daytona or Talladega.

“It was so different,” Byron said.  “The last few laps just trying to manage the gap to Bubba [Wallace] and trying to not get too far out front. Had an intermediate style with a little bit of a speedway into it.”

Byron struggled with the car’s handling during Saturday’s practice session, but said that his team worked hard overnight to give him a car capable of winning.

“This whole team...they’ve done a great job this year,” Byron said.  “Had a pretty rough practice. Worked hard overnight…and it handled well.”

Ross Chastain ran up front early, but a flat tire caused him to hit the wall while leading midway through the race. After making repairs that kept him on track, Chastain was able to recover to finish second for the second-consecutive week.

Chastain said the team worked hard to keep him running following the accident.

“Slammed the wall and thought our day was over,” Chastain said.  “Our guys went underneath the car and got the toe closer, and we got the balance back to drive it. That’s the fight in Trackhouse.”

Unofficial results:

1. William Byron

2. Ross Chastain

3. Kurt Busch

4. Daniel Suarez

5. Corey LaJoie

6. Chase Elliott

7. Chris Buescher

8. Martin Truex Jr.

9. Joey Logano

10. Alex Bowman

11. Justin Haley

12. Brad Keselowski

13. Bubba Wallace

14. Erik Jones

15. Chase Briscoe

16. Josh Bilicki

17. Ryan Blaney

18. David Ragan

19. BJ McLeod

20. Greg Biffle

21. Kevin Harvick

22. Aric Almirola

23. Christopher Bell

24. Michael McDowell

25. Harrison Burton

26. Cody Ware

27. Todd Gilliland

28. Tyler Reddick

29. Denny Hamlin

30. Kyle Larson

31. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

32. Austin Cindric

33. Kyle Busch

34. Cole Custer

35. Austin Dillon

36. Ty Dillon

37. Noah Gragson

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Larson Dominates in Texas, Clinches Spot for Championship Finale

Kyle Larson won the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500 on Sunday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway to lock himself into the Championship Round of the Playoffs.

Larson was dominant on Sunday, and led a race-high 256 laps after starting from the pole.

In his first race back at Texas after a dominant All-Star Race victory earlier in the summer, Larson said this was one of the best cars he’s ever had using NASCAR’s 550 HP package.

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

“I knew we’d have a good shot to win today, our car was amazing,” Larson said.  “That was probably the best 550-package intermediate car we’ve had all year.”

While dominant throughout the race, Larson had to hold onto the lead over numerous restarts in the race’s final 50 laps.  Brad Keselowski, Tyler Reddick and William Byron all challenged for the lead over the final restarts, but Larson was able to hold off all challengers on his way to victory lane.

Larson said the pushes from those restarting behind him helped him hold onto the lead restart after restart.

“I really tried to stay patient on the throttle and keep them to my back bumper,” Larson said.  “Thankfully I was able to just barely clear them every time into 1 and not have to worry about having to fight off of 2.”

Larson will now have three weeks to prepare for the Championship Round at Phoenix, and he said his team can put more resources towards their car to fight for a Cup Series title.

“I definitely think we can shift a little more to our Phoenix car,” Larson said.  “I think we should have a good shot; our team’s been so strong all year long, might as well close it out now.”

Byron finished second to his teammate on Sunday and was the highest-finishing non-Playoff driver; he was also one of the few drivers who could hang with Larson throughout most of the race.

Byron said he and his team will continue to fight for wins even after they were eliminated from Playoff contention.

“This week we had a pretty good run and had a shot at a win,” Byron said.  “We just never quite got control.  I think [Larson] was definitely better than us the first stage, and then I was right there with him the rest of the time.”

“We’re here to stay. We’ve got a got a good…young team, myself included.  I think we’re building something there for years to come.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Larson

2. William Byron

3. Christopher Bell

4. Brad Keselowski

5. Kevin Harvick

6. Ryan Blaney

7. Chase Elliott

8. Kyle Busch

9. Tyler Reddick

10. Daniel Suarez

11. Denny Hamlin

12. Erik Jones

13. Matt DiBenedetto

14. Austin Dillon

15. Chase Briscoe

16. Kurt Busch

17. Michael McDowell

18. Aric Almirola

19. Cole Custer

20. Corey LaJoie

21. Chris Buescher

22. BJ McLeod

23. David Starr

24. Garrett Smithley

25. Martin Truex Jr.

26. Josh Bilicki

27. Timmy Hill

28. Ross Chastain

29. Anthony Alfredo

30. Joey Logano

31. Quin Houff

32. Bubba Wallace

33. Alex Bowman

34. Ricky Stenhouse

35. Ryan Newman

36. Ryan Preece

37. Justin Haley

38. Cody Ware

39. Joey Gase

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

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

Blaney Holds off Byron to Win at Michigan

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Ryan Blaney won the FireKeepers Casino 400 from Michigan International Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Blaney chose the bottom lane ahead of the final restart, and a big push from Kyle Busch got him ahead of William Byron coming out of Turn 2.  Blaney was able to hold off the hard-charging Hendrick Motorsports duo of Byron and Kyle Larson to pick up his second victory of the season.

Blaney started toward the front of the field on Sunday, but fell back at the drop of the green flag after he struggled with his car’s handling.

Logan Riely/Getty Images

Blaney said his team worked on the car all day to get it ready for the finish.

“We weren’t great to start the day off,” Blaney said.  “Kept working and working and got a lot better.”

Blaney said the race came down to the final restart where a push from Busch got him to the lead.

“Picked a good lane on the restart there and was able to get the push we needed,” Blaney said.  “Michigan’s a matter of…holding it wide open and pretty much playing the air game.  We got a great push by the 18 [of Busch] on the restart and was able to get clear.”

Byron finished second on Sunday after he couldn’t overcome NASCAR’s 550 horsepower package that keeps racing close but sometimes makes it difficult to pass.

Byron said he was a victim of the superspeedway-like racing that left him without a true partner on the restart.

“Needed [Denny Hamlin] to stay with us,” Byron said.  “I gave up the lead trying to protect the top and just didn’t have the loyalty there to kind of push me into the lead.”

“It was kind of like a speedway race.  I was trying to back up to [Larson] off of four to get a run with about two laps to go.  Unfortunately, he ran the bottom so he didn’t have any momentum to push me.”

Unofficial results:

1. Ryan Blaney

2. William Byron

3. Kyle Larson

4. Kurt Busch

5. Denny Hamlin

6. Matt DiBenedetto

7. Kyle Busch

8. Chase Elliott

9. Brad Keselowski

10. Martin Truex Jr.

11. Chase Briscoe

12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

13. Christopher Bell

14. Kevin Harvick

15. Chris Buescher

16. Alex Bowman

17. Aric Almirola

18. Erik Jones

19. Bubba Wallace

20. Michael McDowell

21. Ryan Preece

22. Daniel Suarez

23. Cole Custer

24. Ryan Newman

25. Justin Haley

26. Josh Berry

27. Cody Ware

28. BJ McLeod

29. Tyler Reddick

30. Quin Houff

31. Josh Bilicki

32. Garrett Smithley

33. Joey Logano

34. Anthony Alfredo

35. Ross Chastain

36. Austin Dillon

37. Joey Gase

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Byron Wins in Homestead

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

William Byron won the Dixie Vodka 400 from Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday to pick up his first victory of the season.

Byron led over 100 laps on Sunday, and he was able to pull away from Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr. over the final run to claim his second-career victory.

Byron said his team worked hard in the offseason to make their cars faster at Homestead.

“We worked hard in the winter on this track,” Byron said.  “This car was just awesome.  I think we went to the sim four or five times this offseason, and it just pays off.”

Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Byron picked up the victory in just his third start with new crew chief Rudy Fugle.  Fugle had been a crew chief for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Camping World Truck Series, and led Byron to seven victories in 2016.

“That guy has been huge for my career,” Byron said.  “He’s the reason I’m here and I’m glad I could get him.  He’s just awesome and this whole team did a phenomenal job.”

Tyler Reddick finished second after charging through the field on the high side over the final run.  Reddick had the fastest car in the closing laps, but didn’t have enough time to chase down Byron to fight for the win.

Reddick said he was disappointed to finish second with such a fast car.

“Second place is a good night considering how the first few weekends have went,” Reddick said.  “Once I really saw how fast we were in clean air at the end there and I saw how fast we were catching everybody, it’s beyond frustrating.”

“Just two or three decisions on a restart would have put me miles ahead, and I would have been within reach.”

Unofficial results:

1. William Byron

2. Tyler Reddick

3. Martin Truex Jr.

4. Kyle Larson

5. Kevin Harvick

6. Michael McDowell

7. Ryan Newman

8. Kurt Busch

9. Alex Bowman

10. Kyle Busch

11. Denny Hamlin

12. Austin Dillon

13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

14. Chase Elliott

15. Daniel Suarez

16. Brad Keselowski

17. Ross Chastain

18. Chase Briscoe

19. Chris Buescher

20. Christopher Bell

21. Ryan Preece

22. Bubba Wallace

23. Cole Custer

24. Anthony Alfredo

25. Joey Logano

26. Justin Haley

27. Erik Jones

28. Matt DiBenedetto

29. Ryan Blaney

30. Aric Almirola

31. Garrett Smithley

32. Cody Ware

33. Josh Bilicki

34. BJ McLeod

35. Quin Houff

36. Corey LaJoie

37. James Davison

38. Timmy Hill

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Byron Wins at Daytona as the Playoff Field is Set

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

William Byron won the Coke Zero Sugar 400 from Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night during the regular season finale.

Byron came into the weekend needing a strong finish as he was on the bubble with Matt DiBenedetto and Jimmie Johnson for the final two spots in the Playoffs.  After Johnson was caught up in a late wreck, Byron and DiBenedetto were all but locked in, allowing Byron to focus on the winning moves needed at the end of the race.

Byron found his way to the lead on the final restart, and his teammate Chase Elliott was able to push Byron to the victory and into the Playoffs.

Byron said he was focused on points throughout the race after struggling to pick up stage points early.

“Probably the hardest track to points race,” Byron said.  “We didn’t have a great Stage 2, kind of got back in the pack and got shuffled when everyone went single-file.”

Byron used a late push from Bubba Wallace to get to the front right as Joey Logano got sideways, sparking the accident that collected Johnson.

Byron said he was going for his first career win and a Playoff berth no matter what.

“[Logano and Wallace] made some contact and opened up a hole for me,” Byron said.  “I wasn’t going to lift.  It’s awesome.”

DiBenedetto was the final driver to transfer into the Playoffs, and beat Johnson by six points for the final spot.

DiBenedetto said he was excited to move on and have a shot at the Cup Series Championship.

“We made it, I don’t care how we did it,” DiBenedetto said.  “My goal was to come in here and make it and we had some pretty good competitors, obviously.”

“We’ll celebrate tomorrow and have a good day, then it’s going to be time to get to work.”

DiBenedetto, in his first season with Wood Brothers Racing, said his previous seasons of driving for under-funded teams helped prepare him for the pressure this weekend.

“That was the most stressful situation inside a race car I’ve ever been in my life, hands down,” DiBenedetto said.  “I was calm going into the week, and I really think I have to thank my career path for kind of grooming me for this type of situation.”

“It’s been a tough fight, and it makes me so appreciative of these situations.”

Johnson’s team was able to get his car back on track following his accident, but he fell six points shy of making the Playoffs in his final season.

Johnson said the focus now turns trying to get one final win in the 10 remaining races.

“There’s 10 races left; 10 races to go chase and we’ll have to focus our efforts there,” Johnson said.  “Last three years have been tough, we all know that.  I think we’ve shown some bright spots…Cliff Daniels and these guys on this team have poured their guts out for me.”

“We did all that we could this year; I am so thankful for Hendrick Motorsports and the career that I’ve had here.  I’m not going to dwell on it too much, I don’t know what I could have done differently.”

Unofficial results:

1. William Byron

2. Chase Elliott

3. Denny Hamlin

4. Martin Truex Jr.

5. Bubba Wallace

6. Ryan Blaney

7. Alex Bowman

8. Brendan Gaughan

9. Chris Buescher

10. Brad Keselowski

11. John Hunter Nemechek

12. Matt DiBenedetto

13. Christopher Bell

14. Michael McDowell

15. Brennan Poole

16. Ross Chastain

17. Jimmie Johnson

18. Aric Almirola

19. Clint Bowyer

20. Kevin Harvick

21. Corey LaJoie

22. Ty Dillon

23. Quin Houff

24. Timmy Hill

25. Austin Dillon

26. Daniel Suarez

27. Joey Logano

28. Matt Kenseth

29. Tyler Reddick

30. Cole Custer

31. Joey Gase

32. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

33. Kyle Busch

34. Kurt Busch

35. Erik Jones

37. Ryan Preece

38. Josh Bilicki

39. James Davison

40. JJ Yeley

 Photos courtesy Chris Graythen (Getty Images)