Hamlin Breaks Winless Streak at Darlington in Playoff Opener

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Denny Hamlin won the Cook Out Southern 500 from Darlington Raceway on Sunday night to pick up his first victory of the season.

Hamlin came into the opening race of NASCAR’s Playoffs without a win on the season, but finished second in the regular season standings.  Hamlin ran up front for most of the evening, but he was challenged by Kyle Larson throughout the second and third stages.

Hamlin was able to use pit strategy and a well-timed caution flag to take the lead in the third stage and regain control of the race.  Over the final run, Hamlin had to hold off challenges from Larson and Ross Chastain.

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Hamlin said he was glad to return to victory lane at his favorite racetrack.

“I love this racetrack,” Hamlin said.  “Luckily the caution came when it did and the strategy worked out great with the team.”

Hamlin said the finish between he and Larson summed up their regular-season battle for the regular season points lead.

“It’s been kind of back-and-forth [with] me and him most of the year, he’s just been a little bit faster on these types of racetracks,” Hamlin said.  “It was a matter of time; we can’t just keep leading inside 10 laps to go every week and not get a win.”

Larson tried his best to get by Hamlin on the final lap and drove his car deep into the corner.  He was able to get to Hamlin’s bumper, but slammed the wall and couldn’t complete the pass coming out of Turn 4.

Larson said his best chance was a “video game” move coming to the checkered flag.

“We got to the white flag and I kind of thought that I hadn’t been able to gain on him, might as well try something,” Larson said.  “Honestly got to his bumper too quick.  I was hoping he would run that diamond to try and be safe and I could squirt to his outside.”

“It’s good to get a good start, I think everybody’s nervous getting ready for the final ten.  Good to get a good first weekend and build some momentum and some confidence within the team.”

Unofficial results:

1. Denny Hamlin

2. Kyle Larson

3. Ross Chastain

4. Martin Truex Jr.

5. Kevin Harvick

6. Kurt Busch

7. Brad Keselowski

8. Joey Logano

9. Chris Buescher

10. Austin Dillon

11. Cole Custer

12. Ryan Preece

13. Daniel Suarez

14. Ryan Newman

15. Corey LaJoie

16. Aric Almirola

17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

18. Tyler Reddick

19. Chase Briscoe

20. Christopher Bell

21. Bubba Wallace

22. Ryan Blaney

23. Matt DiBenedetto

24. Anthony Alfredo

25. Justin Haley

26. Alex Bowman

27. BJ McLeod

28. Josh Bilicki

29. Joey Gase

30. Quin Houff

31. Chase Elliott

32. Erik Jones

33. Cody Ware

34. William Byron

35. Kyle Busch

36. James Davison

37. Michael McDowell

Jared C. Tilton/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.

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“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

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.

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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

Larson Holds off Elliott at Watkins Glen

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kyle Larson won the Go Bowling at the Glen from Watkins Glen International on Sunday afternoon to pick up his fifth victory of the season.

In the first race out of NASCAR’s Olympic break, Larson ran up front and challenged for the lead most of the day.  Larson was able to get around Martin Truex Jr. for the lead under the final round of pit stops, and he pulled out to a lead that his teammate Chase Elliott could not overcome.

Larson said his team put a good car together for the weekend.

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

“Another amazing car,” Larson said.  “I could tell from about lap three after I stopped making a bunch of mistakes that we were going to have a car that could win today.”

With Elliott closing in on Larson in the closing laps, Larson ran into a pack of slower cars that allowed Elliott to cut seconds off the lead.

Larson said he was sure Elliott would catch him while stuck in traffic.

“Chase was already chasing me pretty quick, even with me being on open track,” Larson said.  “When I caught those four cars…thought I’d look in my mirror and the 9 would be right on me.  Think we had a comfortable enough gap to where I could make a mistake like that.”

Elliott was forced to start at the back of the field because of a pre-race penalty, but he was able to race his way up to second place. 

NASCAR’s winningest-active road course racer drove his way through the field, but a late mistake cost him what could have been his seventh-career road course victory.

Elliott made an unscheduled stop after flat-spotting his tires, and it was too much to overcome in such a short race.

Elliott said he was proud of his team’s effort throughout the day.

“I made too many mistakes to get the win, unfortunately,” Elliott said.  “Super proud of our team, kind of an uphill battle all day.  Everybody was super prepared coming into today, and our NAPA team just did a good job of fighting.”

“Try to clean some things up and make less mistakes next time, maybe it’ll work out.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Larson

2. Chase Elliott

3. Martin Truex Jr.

4. Kyle Busch

5. Denny Hamlin

6. William Byron

7. Christopher Bell

8. Kevin Harvick

9. Chase Briscoe

10. Tyler Reddick

11. Matt DiBenedetto

12. Ross Chastain

13. Kurt Busch

14. Ryan Blaney

15. Austin Dillon

16. Aric Almirola

17. Chris Buescher

18. Cole Custer

19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

20. Alex Bowman

21. Michael McDowell

22. Joey Logano

23. Bubba Wallace

24. Corey LaJoie

25. Ryan Newman

26. Anthony Alfredo

27. Erik Jones

28. Ryan Preece

29. Justin Haley

30. Kyle Tilley

31. Daniel Suarez

32. Quin Houff

33. Josh Bilicki

34. RC Enerson

35. Brad Keselowski

36. Garrett Smithley

37. James Davison

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Almirola Pops Playoff Bubble with New Hampshire Victory

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Aric Almirola won the darkness-shortened Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 on Sunday afternoon to lock himself into the Playoffs.

The race began in a mist, which turned into a hard rainfall just six laps into the race, causing the race to be red-flagged for almost two hours.  Without lights at the New Hampshire track, NASCAR decided to call the race official eight laps from the scheduled distance due to darkness.

Almirola was ahead of Christopher Bell when the race was called, and he picked up his first victory since 2018 in what has been a difficult year for the veteran driver.

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Almirola said it’s a testament to his team for continuing to fight through all the adversity that mired him outside the Top 20 in points.

“Everyone that works on this car…just keeps fighting,” Almirola said.  “There have been so many people who have continued to support us through the crappiest year ever.”

Almirola’s previous two career victories came at Daytona and Talladega, and he said he was glad to finally win on a non-superspeedway.

“I had this race won a couple years ago and I gave it away,” Almirola said.  “For so long we’ve been so close to winning at some of these racetracks…and I’ve let it slip away.”

“This feels so good to have something pay off for all the hard work.”

Bell was closing in on Almirola while the leader struggled with lapped traffic, but Bell ran out of time to get to the back of Almirola.

Bell said he hoped the race would go the scheduled distance and may have had something for Almirola with those extra eight laps.

“I didn’t know how many laps they cut it short but…saw that we were eight laps short, it stings,” Bell said.  “I feel like I probably had a little bit better pace than him and I was able to get to him.”

“Lapped cars were giving him a hard time.  It was going to be a heck of a race.”

Almirola’s victory locked him into the Playoffs, and that caused the cutline for the final spot to tighten up. Heading into the race, Richard Childress Racing teammates Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick were in the Playoffs by over 100 points, but they are now separated by just five points, with Dillon on the outside looking in. 

Teams on the bubble will use the upcoming two-week Olympic break to get ready for the final four races before the Playoffs begin.

Unofficial results:

1. Aric Almirola

2. Christopher Bell

3. Brad Keselowski

4. Joey Logano

5. Ryan Blaney

6. Kevin Harvick

7. Kyle Larson

8. Ross Chastain

9. Alex Bowman

10. Denny Hamlin

11. Matt DiBenedetto

12. Martin Truex Jr.

13. Tyler Reddick

14. Cole Custer

15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

16. Kurt Busch

17. Austin Dillon

18. Chase Elliott

19. Erik Jones

20. Daniel Suarez

21. William Byron

22. Ryan Preece

23. Corey LaJoie

24. Ryan Newman

25. Michael McDowell

26. Bubba Wallace

27. Chase Briscoe

28. Justin Haley

29. Chris Buescher

30. BJ McLeod

31. Cody Ware

32. Anthony Alfredo

33. Garrett Smithley

34. Josh Bilicki

35. Quin Houff

36. James Davison

37. Kyle Busch

James Gilbert/Getty Images

Kurt Busch Wins, Busch Brothers Duel in Atlanta

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kurt Busch won the Quaker State 400 from Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon to pick up his first win of the season and lock himself into the Playoffs.

It was a dominant performance by both Busch brothers, as Kurt and Kyle combined to lead 235 of 260 laps.

Kurt led a race-high 144 laps, but he found himself behind his brother following the final green-flag pit stop.  It looked as thought Kyle would run away with the victory, but he struggled to get through lapped traffic.

Ross Chastain, Kurt’s teammate, was able to hold Kyle up through Turn 4.  Kurt took the lead for good and was able to hold off Kyle to pick up the victory.

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Kurt said he enjoyed winning on Atlanta’s old surface one last time before a repave begins in the coming weeks.

“What a genuine, awesome, old-school racetrack,” Kurt said.  “I just asked the track today, ‘last time today on your old asphalt if I could have an old guy win.’”

The victory locks Kurt into the Playoffs and moves him off of the cutline.

Kurt said he was glad to get a victory during a season where they haven’t had the fastest car every weekend.

“This has been one of those years,” Kurt said.  “I knew we’d have our back up against the wall with trying to get above the cutoff line and race hard and race smart.”

Kyle said the handling went away on his car as the final run went on, and that allowed his brother to pull away.

“We just didn’t have enough front end with laps on tires,” Kyle said.  “Had everything I had there early, then just smoked it behind the 42 [of Chastain].”

“Had one valiant effort off of 2, but just didn’t have enough momentum to drag him down and make him go high in 3 and 4.  After that, the tires were smoked.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kurt Busch

2. Kyle Busch

3. Martin Truex Jr.

4. Alex Bowman

5. Ryan Blaney

6. Tyler Reddick

7. Chase Elliott

8. Christopher Bell

9. Matt DiBenedetto

10. Brad Keselowski

11. Kevin Harvick

12. Austin Dillon

13. Denny Hamlin

14. Bubba Wallace

15. Chase Briscoe

16. Chris Buescher

17. Cole Custer

18. Kyle Larson

19. Joey Logano

20. William Byron

21. Ross Chastain

22. Corey LaJoie

23. Aric Almirola

24. Erik Jones

25. Ryan Preece

26. Anthony Alfredo

27. Michael McDowell

28. Ryan Newman

29. Justin Haley

30. BJ McLeod

31. Garrett Smithley

32. Bayley Currey

33. Cody Ware

34. Josh Bilicki

35. Quin Houff

36. Daniel Suarez

37. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Elliott Wins at Road America, Continues Road Course Success

Chase Elliott won the Jockey Made in America 250 from Road America on Sunday afternoon to pick up his second win of the season.

Elliott once again showed his strong road course racing abilities as he started in the back of the pack and drove all the way to the front. 

After a late caution in Sunday’s morning qualifying session, Elliott was unable to get a complete lap in and had to start 32nd.

Throughout the difficult race, Elliott said tire conservation on a hot day was a key to getting to the front.

Logan Riely/Getty Images

“Really proud of our team for overcoming some adversity early and having to start in the back,” Elliott said.  “It was a hot day. I think conserving your tire was really a little bit of a thing today, which to be honest we don’t have a lot of anymore.”

Elliott was dominant on Sunday, and led a race-high 24 laps on his way to his seventh career road course victory.

Elliott said he found his rhythm halfway through the race at a track that hasn’t been on the Cup Series schedule in over 60 years.

“I just never felt like I got in a real good rhythm at all yesterday,” Elliott said.  “About halfway through the race I started finding some of that rhythm and was able to put it together.  Finally felt like I was able to piece most of it together.”

Christopher Bell finished second on Sunday, and he showed that his win at the Daytona Road Course early in the season was not a fluke.

Bell said he believed he could have gotten to Elliott if not for a penalty earlier in the race.

“I kind of buried ourselves there when I got a pit road penalty,” Bell said.  “I feel like we’re getting back on track. There’s not reason we can’t be running up front every week.”

Unofficial results:

1. Chase Elliott

2. Christopher Bell

3. Kyle Busch

4. Kurt Busch

5. Denny Hamlin

6. Chase Briscoe

7. Ross Chastain

8. Tyler Reddick

9. Martin Truex Jr.

10. Matt DiBenedetto

11. Austin Dillon

12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

13. Brad Keselowski

14. Aric Almirola

15. Joey Logano

16. Kyle Larson

17. Cole Custer

18. Chris Buescher

19. Erik Jones

20. Ryan Blaney

21. Corey LaJoie

22. Alex Bowman

23. Josh Bilicki

24. Bubba Wallace

25. Justin Haley

26. Ty Dillon

27. Kevin Harvick

28. James Davison

29. AJ Allmendinger

30. Michael McDowell

31. Cody Ware

32. Ryan Newman

33. William Byron

34. Quin Houff

35. Kyle Tilley

36. Daniel Suarez

37. Anthony Alfredo

38. Austin Cindric

39. Ryan Eversley

40. Ryan Preece

Logan Riely/Getty Images