Ford Performance Notes and Quotes NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 | Sunday, July 9, 2023
Ford Finishing Results:
4th – Michael McDowell
6th – Brad Keselowski
7th – JJ Yeley
9th – Ryan Blaney
12th – Austin Cindric
15th – Chris Buescher
16th – Todd Gilliland
17th – Joey Logano
18th – Aric Almirola
22nd – Chase Briscoe
24th – Ryan Preece
28th – Harrison Burton
30th – Kevin Harvick
32nd – Cole Custer
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 6 Castrol Edge Ford Mustang – “It was a good day. We were right where we needed to be, but didn’t get the breaks we needed. I was really happy with our performance and quality of the cars we had. My teammate, Chris Buescher, did a good job, but just didn’t catch the breaks we needed at the end.”
YOU SIZED UP THE SCENARIO AFTER STAGE 2 WITH YOUR FUEL SITUATION. YOU DIDN’T ENVY YOUR CREW CHIEF’S SITUATION AT THAT MOMENT, DID YOU? “No, we had 12-14 laps left of fuel and that was not enough and we ended up running 15 laps or so. I think we made the right call, we just needed the rain to be 10 minutes earlier or 10 minutes later.”
WHAT IS THE EMOTION KNOWING YOU HAD A CAR TO WIN AND HAVE MOTHER NATURE TAKE IT OUT OF YOUR HANDS? “It’s just part of the deal. You win races you shouldn’t and you lose ones you probably should win and you have to take the punches as they come.”
MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 34 FR8 Auctions Ford Mustang – HOW WAS THE TRACK TONIGHT? “I think the start of the race it was less like a restrictor plate. We were all sliding around pretty good. You’d go in the corner, you’d slide from the bottom to the top, but as the sun went down and the track cooled off it had more of that superspeedway feel, where you were pretty much wide-open and just trying to time those runs. It still races different than Talladega and Daytona, but it’s pretty close to superspeedway.”
FOR THE SITUATION YOU WERE IN WITH VIRTUALLY NO GAS, THIS END WAS A BEST-CASE SCENARIO. “I think Travis did a great job of maximizing our track position when we needed to. Obviously, that pit road incident with Martin took us out of the track position we needed, so we had to get a little bit creative there. I’m thankful to be able to recover, but really wish I’d have held those guys off at the end. We had a shot on that restart, obviously, starting on the front row. I thought I executed the start pretty well, but just couldn’t quite get clear of AJ like I needed to, but it didn’t work out. We were close, though.”
HOW WAS YOUR NIGHT? “It was a bit of a wild race. We were able to get to the front early on there and get some stage points and then that first stop on pit road had contact with Martin Truex and had to fix the car. It had a little bit of damage and that really set us back, but Travis Peterson did a great job calling the race and getting us track position when we needed it before the rain came. Our FR8 Auctions Ford Mustang was pretty fast, even after that little bit of damage, so I think we maximized what we could right there, but we were pretty close to winning the race, too. I’m a little bit disappointed that we couldn’t hold those guys off for a couple more laps.”
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Wurth Ford Mustang – “I feel great with the race car, it’s just the weather that’s not cooperating. You say mixed strategies. Some guys played the game of it may be raining before stage 2 was over and that’s the chance we took and had to restart in the back, and then it looked like we might run the whole race and then this rain happened. I thought our car was super fast. The Wurth Ford Mustang was really good, just weird split strategy with rain kind of throws everything off and we just ran out of time.”
HAMLIN LEADS TOYOTA IN RAIN SHORTENED ATLANTA RACE
ATLANTA (July 9, 2023) – Denny Hamlin (14th) was the top-finishing Toyota Camry TRD in the rain-shortened race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday evening.
Toyota Post-Race Recap NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) Atlanta Motor Speedway Race 19 of 36 – 400.4 miles, 260 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, William Bryon*
2nd, Daniel Suarez*
3rd, AJ Allmendinger*
4th, Michael McDowell*
5th, Kyle Busch*
14th, DENNY HAMLIN
23rd, CHRISTOPHER BELL
25th, BUBBA WALLACE
27th, TYLER REDDICK
29th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
34th, TY GIBBS
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Coca-Cola Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 14th
How was your race?
“We were pretty loose to start the day. The more pit stops we had the better we kept getting our Coca-Cola Camry. I honestly was right where I wanted to be – towards the top-five – when we got spun there. I was trying to get stage points – I knew that it was going to be race to the end of the stage, which it turns out it pretty much was. We lost some stage points and finished somewhere in the mid-teens. We didn’t have enough time to get our way back up there, but luckily our car wasn’t damaged too much, and we were able to salvage something.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs more than 48,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 45 million cars and trucks at our 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 22 electrified options.
Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.
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Understanding PayID Payments
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Potential Drawbacks of PayID in Online Casinos and Betting
Without delving deep, PayID appears to offer a convenient solution for Aussies seeking seamless gambling. However, a closer examination reveals potential pitfalls. We would like to acknowledge John Gold from BetPokies for his extensive research, which assisted us in writing this article.
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Varies between casinos and can be significant
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Conclusion
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In one of the wildest events of his youthful racing career, William Byron defied the odds by rallying from his early issues both on pit road and on the track that pinned him a lap behind to methodically motor his way back towards the front and implement a strategic pit call that enabled him to contend and attain the lead before claiming a dramatic victory in the rain-shortened Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 9.
The 25-year-old Byron from Charlotte, North Carolina, led the final 20 of 185-shortened laps in an event where he started 18th and had a strong showing by finishing fifth in the first stage. Amid the stage break, however, Byron’s event quickly down spiraled after he was penalized for a safety violation during his pit stop that sent him to the rear of the field.
Then while trying to carve his way back to the front, Byron ran into more trouble on Lap 79 after a tap from Corey LaJoie sent the driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 spinning through the frontstretch. Despite nursing his car back to pit road in spite of flat-spotting his tires, Byron lost a lap to the leaders. By Lap 92, however, Byron received the free pass to return to the lead lap category amid a muti-car wreck that knocked his teammate Kyle Larson out of contention.
Then after pitting with a host of competitors amid a caution period due to a multi-car wreck that struck on Lap 122, an opportunity presented itself for Byron and the No. 24 team when the second stage concluded on Lap 160. With weather threats persisting and looming near the venue, Byron remained out on the track as he restarted the final stage inside the top five. Then with 93 laps remaining, Byron overtook AJ Allmendinger for the lead and retained the top spot until the event’s seventh caution period flew with 83 laps remaining for a two-car spin involving Ryan Preece and Bubba Wallace.
As the rain started to fall, Byron, who still retained the lead, led the field to pit road and the event was placed in a red flag period with 75 laps remaining. Not long after and with the rain increasing, NASCAR made the call to deem the event official as Byron was awarded his fourth NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2023 season.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, July 8, Aric Almirola notched his first Cup pole of the 2023 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 177.346 mph in 31.261 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ryan Blaney, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 177.266 mph in 31.275 seconds.
Prior to the event, Christopher Bell dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing entry.
When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Almirola and Blaney dueled for the lead through the first two turns. Entering the backstretch before Almirola, who started on the outside lane and with Joey Logano drafting him, Almirola muscled ahead in his No. 10 Smithfield/IHOP Ford Mustang. As the field made its way back to the frontstretch while running stacked in two lanes, Almirola led the first lap and then pulled ahead of the pack followed by Logano and Blaney while Chase Briscoe and Harrison Burton battled for fourth.
Through the second lap, the majority of the field migrated to the outside lane and in a long single-file line as Almirola retained the lead followed by his Ford teammates of Logano, Blaney, Briscoe and Harrison Burton while rookie Ty Gibbs occupied sixth in front of Kevin Harvick. As Harvick started to lose a handful of spots while being stuck on the inside lane by the fourth lap, where he slipped out of the top 10, Almirola was still leading the field.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Almirola was still leading by a tenth of a second over Logano as they were pursued by Blaney, Briscoe and Harrison Burton. Behind, Kyle Larson, Ty Gibbs, Austin Cindric, Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin were in the top 10 while Martin Truex Jr., Todd Gilliland, William Byron, Brad Keselowski and Michael McDowell were running in the top 15.
Six laps later, the first caution of the event flew when Harrison Burton, who was running in the top 10, slipped and spun sideways entering the backstretch from the middle to the bottom surface of the track as he was dodged by oncoming traffic while locking his tires and making light contact against the inside wall. During the first caution period, a host of names that included Harvick, Justin Haley, Ryan Preece, Kyle Busch, Chris Buescher, Daniel Suarez, Corey LaJoie, Alex Bowman, Ross Chastain, JJ Yeley, Erik Jones, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Austin Dillon, BJ McLeod, Austin Hill, Cole Custer, Ty Dillon and rookie Noah Gragson pitted while the rest led by Almirola remained on the track.
When the race restarted under green on Lap 23, Almirola and Blaney dueled for the lead through the first two turns and through the backstretch until Almirola managed to prevail from the outside lane again and retain the lead through Turns 3 and 4. During the following lap, he transitioned to the inside lane to gain control of the pack followed by Logano and Blaney as Larson was in fourth along with Truex, Cindric, Byron and Reddick.
At the Lap 30 mark and with the field running at speeds above 180+ mph amid the draft and in two-packed lanes, Almirola was leading ahead of Logano, Blaney, Truex and Larson while Cindric, Byron, Reddick, Briscoe and Ty Gibbs were running in the top 10. In addition, Todd Gilliland was in 11th ahead of teammate Michael McDowell, Christopher Bell, Hamlin and AJ Allmendinger while Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott, Bubba Wallace, Justin Haley and Chris Buescher were scored in the top 20 with all but one of 37 starters scored on the lead lap.
Fifteen laps later, Almirola, who briefly lost the lead from Logano on Lap 40 before reassuming it back, retained the top spot ahead of a long line of competitors that included Logano, Blaney, Larson and Truex while Byron, Reddick, Bell, Cindric and Briscoe were in the top 10.
Then on Lap 48, Logano made his move beneath Almirola in Turns 1 and 2 and moved back in front of Almirola to inherit the lead through the backstretch. Almirola, however, darted left and fought back on the inside lane entering Turns 3. But Logano received drafting help from teammate Blaney exiting the turns as he surged ahead in his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang with the lead while Almirola was trying to navigate his way back to the outside lane amid the pack.
Nearing the Lap 50 mark, Larson and Truex moved up into third and fourth along with Byron while Almirola was still trying to force his way in front of Reddick in getting back up to the outside lane. With more contact ensuing through the frontstretch as Reddick nearly got turned by Cindric while racing him and Bell within the top 10, the field fanned out to three lanes as Almirola continued to slip back to 10th in front of Reddick.
Back to the front of the pack on Lap 53, Truex tried to overtake Blaney for second, but he could not execute the run to claim the spot as Larson tried to join the battle. By then, Bell carved his way up into the top five while Logano was still out in front with the lead. Another four laps later and with the field still fanning out to three lanes amid the intensity increasing, Blaney moved his No. 12 Wurth Ford Mustang into the lead ahead of teammate Logano while Larson tried to challenge Logano for second on the inside lane.
During the final lap of the first stage mark, Logano launched a final side-by-side challenge on teammate Blaney for the stage victory as the field fanned out. Amid the field fanning out, Larson also launched his charge to the front as he overtook Logano for second entering Turns 3 and 4 while barely staying above the double-yellow line boundary zone. He then tried to edge Blaney for the stage victory entering the frontstretch, but Blaney pulled ahead on the outside lane and managed to edge Larson for the first stage victory on Lap 60 and for his third stage victory of the 2023 Cup season. Amid the field fanning out through the frontstretch, Larson settled in second while Truex, Logano, Byron, Bell, Cindric, McDowell, Reddick and Almirola were scored in the top 10.
Under the stage break, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Blaney pitted for service while BJ McLeod and Ty Dillon remained on the track. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategy, Larson exited first followed by Blaney, Byron, Suarez, Bell, Logano and Buescher. During the pit stops, Truex was hit by McDowell, who was trying to exit his pit stall, as Truex spun backward down pit road. Amid the pit stops, Hamlin was penalized for equipment interference. In addition, teammate Bell was also penalized for removing equipment from his pit box while Byron was penalized for a safety violation. McLeod and Ty Dillon, both of whom remained on the track, would pit after remaining on the track for a lap as Larson cycled to the lead followed by Blaney.
The second stage started on Lap 66 as Larson and Blaney occupied the front row. At the start, Blaney surged ahead on the inside lane with drafting help from teammate Logano through the first two turns and through the backstretch. With Larson fighting back on the outside lane, he would lead the proceeding lap before Blaney surged ahead and cleared the pack stacked up to two lanes during the following lap. Blaney would continue to lead at the Lap 70 mark as he had both of his Team Penske competitors, Logano and Cindric, running in the top three. In addition, Alex Bowman carved his way up to the front as he would overtake Cindric for third along with Haley, Bubba Wallace, Larson and Daniel Suarez.
Then on Lap 79, the third caution of the event flew when Corey LaJoie, who was racing within the top 25, turned and sent Byron for a spin just past the start/finish line towards the frontstretch as Byron managed to keep his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 spinning below the racetrack before he continued despite flat-spotting his tires. Despite continuing, Byron would lose a lap to the leaders.
During the caution period, select names that included Wallace, Ryan Preece, Truex, Elliott and McLeod remained on the track while the rest led by Blaney pitted. During the pit stops, Reddick was penalized due to a crew member jumping over the pit box too soon. Elliott would then pit prior to the restart and amid a miscommunication with his pit crew to pit earlier with the field
With the race restarting under green on Lap 85, Wallace and Truex, both of whom started on the front row, dueled for the lead as Wallace managed to lead the proceeding lap while running on the outside lane. With Truex fighting back on the inside lane, he then managed to surge ahead and move in front of Wallace to assume control of the field on Lap 87 as Bowman, Logano, Preece and Buescher followed in pursuit. Then on Lap 88, Ty Gibbs scraped the backstretch’s outside wall amid contact with Erik Jones, but the event remained under green flag conditions as the field led by Truex remained stacked in two fast-paced, tight-packed lanes.
On Lap 92 and just as Buescher carved his way to the front over Truex, the caution returned when Larson got loose and slipped sideways in front of Erik Jones as he then spun amid oncoming traffic in between Turns 3 and 4 while the field managed to dodge Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Chase Briscoe and Austin Hill both would spin below the track while trying to avoid Larson as Larson would damage the right-front end of his car after the right-front tire blew while he was trying to pit.
During the caution period, select names that included Truex, Wallace, Ty Dillon, Noah Gragson, Elliott, Almirola, Custer and McDowell pitted while the rest led by Buescher remained on the track.
By the proceeding restart on Lap 98, Buescher and Haley, both of whom restarted on the front row, dueled for the lead as Buescher managed to retain the top spot by a hair while running on the outside lane. As the field fanned out to three lanes just past the Lap 100 mark, Buescher cleared the field and assumed command of the field followed by Allmendinger, Logano and Blaney as Haley fell back to fifth. Bowman would then surge up into the top five by Lap 102, but he would be overtaken by Preece and Cindric amid the draft while Buescher retained the lead ahead of Allmendinger, Logano and Blaney.
By Lap 110 and with the field stilled fanned out towards the front, Buescher continued to lead ahead of Allmendinger, Logano, Blaney and Prece while Cindric, Bowman, Hamlin, Reddick and Corey LaJoie were in the top 10. By then, 34 of 37 starters were not only running on the lead lap but they were separated by four seconds as the top-eight competitors were separated by eight-tenths of a second.
Ten laps later and with the intensity of the competition igniting towards the front and around the venue, Buescher continued to lead by a tenth of a second over Allmendinger followed by Team Penske’s trio of Logano, Blaney and Cindric while Bowman, Hamlin, Keselowski, Bell and LaJoie followed pursuit in the top 10. By then, Larson retired in the garage.
Another two laps later and just as Team Penske’s trio of Logano, Blaney and Cindric overtook Allmendinger towards the front, the event’s fifth caution flew when LaJoie and Erik Jones made contact in between Turns 1 and 2 as LaJoie got loose and slipped up the track before he bounced off of Reddick, which sent Reddick’s No. 45 The Beast Unleashed Toyota TRD Camry scraping into the wall before he darted sideways. In the process, LaJoie would get hit by Ty Gibbs, who received a hard shot from Chastain as Chastain damaged the right front of his No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, while Truex had to slam on the brakes to avoid sustaining any damage to his car.
During the caution period, some led by Buescher and including Logano, Blaney, Cindric, Bowman, Keselowski, Haley, Elliott, Preece, Almirola, McDowell, McLeod, Briscoe, JJ Yeley, and Kevin Harvick remained on the track while the rest led by Allmendinger pitted.
When the race restarted under green on Lap 128, Buescher and Logano dueled for the lead through the first two turns as they had Ford teammates Blaney and Cindric drafting them. Buescher, however, would muscle ahead with drafting help from Cindric as the field fanned out to two stacked lanes. With the field reaching its halfway mark on Lap 130, Buescher retained the lead ahead of Cindric, Blaney and Logano while Keselowski carved his way into the top five. Cindric, however, would receive drafting help from teammate Blaney to shoot into the lead through Turns 3 and 4 during the following lap. Keselowski would then merge into the top three and challenge Cindric for the lead during the proceeding laps as Buescher was left to battle Blaney and Logano for third.
By Lap 140, Cindric was leading following a long duel against Keselowski as Keselowski settled in second while Blaney and Buescher battled for third. Behind, Truex battled Bowman for fifth while Haley, Allmendinger, Logano and Wallace battled and jostled against one another inside the top 10. Keselowski would then reassume the lead two laps later as he re-ignited his battle on Cindric for the lead. With Keselowski out in front, Blaney would then draw himself back towards the front and challenge Keselowski for the lead.
At the Lap 150 mark, Keselowski was leading the field while trying to fend off teammate Buescher, Blaney and Cindric amid the draft and in close-quarters racing.
Five laps later, the caution flew when Bowman, who was running towards the front, slipped up the track through Turns 3 and 4 and clipped Hamlin as he sent Hamlin’s No. 11 Coca-Cola Toyota TRD Camry sideways entering the frontstretch before both spun through the frontstretch while the rest of the field led by Keselowski dodged the incident. The caution period for the incident involving Hamlin and Bowman was enough for the second stage scheduled to conclude on Lap 160 to conclude under caution as Keselowski captured his second stage victory of the 2023 season. Blaney settled in second while Buescher, Cindric, Allmendinger, Wallace, Haley, McDowell, Bell and Preece were scored in the top 10.
Under the stage break and with weather threats looming, some led by new leader Allmendinger and including McDowell, Erik Jones, Byron, Suarez, Gilliland, JJ Yeley, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Cole Custer, Kyle Busch, McLeod, Ty Dillon and Reddick remained on the track while the rest led by Keselowski pitted amid mixed strategy.
With 96 laps remaining, the final stage started as Allmendinger and McDowell occupied the front row. At the start, McDowell tried to surge ahead on the inside lane through the first two turns. With both Allmendinger and McDowell remaining dead even for the lead, however, Allmendinger surged ahead on the outside lane as he led the proceeding lap. Allmendinger would then pull ahead of McDowell before Byron carved his way into the lead with 93 laps remaining. With Byron out in front and as the field fanned out to three tight-packed lanes, Allmendinger settled in second followed by Suarez, Gilliland and Yeley while McDowell, who was running low of fuel, battled Stenhouse and Kyle Busch for sixth.
With 88 laps remaining, Harvick spun his No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang just past the frontstretch amid contact from Hamlin, but he kept his car spinning below the track as the event remained under green. Back at the front, Byron retained the lead ahead of Allmendinger while Kyle Busch used the outside lane to try to bolt his way into the top five. By then, Keselowski was back into the top five and running in fifth while Suarez started to challenge Allmendinger for second.
Then with 83 laps remaining, the caution flew when Preece received a bump from Ricky Stenhouse Jr. entering Turn 3 that sent him sideways and spinning into the path of Wallace as both spun towards the bottom of Turn 3 after running in the top 10. At the moment of caution, Byron was scored the leader ahead of Suarez, Allmendinger, McDowell and Kyle Busch.
As the field continued to run under a cautious pace behind the pace with pit road closed and with less than 80 laps remaining, reports of rain and sprinkles were being reported in Turn 1 and through the backstretch as Byron retained the lead. Then with 75 laps remaining, the field led by Byron was directed to pit road and the event was placed under a red flag period due to the increase of rain around the venue.
Soon after and with the rain intensifying around the venue, NASCAR declared the event official 75 laps shy of its scheduled distance and William Byron was awarded his fourth victory of the 2023 Cup season.
With the victory, Byron became the first four-time winner of the 2023 Cup Series season as he also claimed his second victory at Atlanta and his eighth career victory in his 199th start in NASCAR’s premier series. He also recorded the sixth victory of the season for Hendrick Motorsports and the 12th for the Chevrolet nameplate.
Ironically, Byron’s victory occurred as Goodyear Racing tires celebrated its 2,000th Cup Series race victory at Atlanta. With Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 24 car achieving the victory thanks to Byron during Goodyear’s milestone mark, it marked another historic moment for the No. 24 car as NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon piloted the No. 24 car to victory at Bristol in 1995 during Goodyear’s 1,000th Cup race victory.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“Just teamwork,” Byron said on USA Network. “I don’t completely understand this one. It’s a really good feeling. I’ve never had a rain victory like this, but just thanks to AXALTA, Chevrolet. It’s cool, man. We went through so much throughout the night. Spinning through the infield, destroyed the bottom of the car, dragging it around the apron trying to stay on the lead lap. At that point, you just don’t have the grip, so I was real edgy back in traffic, but [crew chief] Rudy [Fugle] made a good call to pit there [on Lap 125 under caution] and then stay out [prior to Lap 165 restart]. Once we got towards the front, it was OK. We could make the right decisions, block OK and get the lead from AJ [Allmendinger] and was just able to manage the runs. Just a crazy night.”
“[This win]’s really important,” Byron added. “We’re just keeping our heads in it. Over the last few weeks, we finished in the top 15 when we don’t have good cars. The days we have really good cars, we finish in the top five. It’s just a matter of staying with it. Today was definitely a lucky break. I can’t overstate that. We were in the lead, but there’s certainly a lot of laps to go. Just thankful for a good team to make good decisions and to stay in the race when it’s easy to kind of give up and pack it in.”
With Byron being awarded the victory, Suarez concluded the rain-shortened event in the runner-up spot followed by Allmendinger while McDowell, who gambled late to remain on the track and towards the front while on low fuel, netted fourth place in the final running order and moved inside the top-16 cutline for the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs. Kyle Busch came home fifth while Keselowski, JJ Yeley, Haley, Blaney and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished in the top 10.
There were 18 lead changes for 12 different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 43 laps. In total, 27 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.
With eight regular-season events remaining of this year’s Cup Series schedule, William Byron leads the regular-season standings by 21 points over Martin Truex Jr., 36 over Kyle Busch, 37 over Christopher Bell and 53 over Ross Chastain.
William Byron, Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Joey Logano and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. are currently guaranteed spots for the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs based on winning at least once throughout the regular-season stretch. Kevin Harvick, Chris Buescher, Brad Keselowski, Daniel Suarez and Michael McDowell currently occupy the remaining vacant spots in the Playoffs based on points, with McDowell occupying the 16th and final vacant spot by three points over Bubba Wallace, 13 over AJ Allmendinger, 26 over rookie Ty Gibbs, 38 over Austin Cindric, 41 over Justin Haley, 44 over Alex Bowman and 60 over Chase Elliott.
Results.
1. William Byron, 20 laps led
2. Daniel Suarez
3. AJ Allmendinger, six laps led
4. Michael McDowell
5. Kyle Busch
6. Brad Keselowski, 19 laps led, Stage 2 winner
7. JJ Yeley
8. Justin Haley
9. Ryan Blaney, 20 laps led, Stage 1 winner
10. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
11. Erik Jones
12. Austin Cindric, 10 laps led
13. Chase Elliott
14. Denny Hamlin
15. Chris Buescher, 39 laps led
16. Todd Gilliland
17. Joey Logano, 11 laps led
18. Aric Almirola, 46 laps led
19. Ty Dillon
20. BJ McLeod, one lap led
21. Austin Dillon
22. Chase Briscoe
23. Christopher Bell
24. Ryan Preece
25. Bubba Wallace, five laps led
26. Alex Bowman
27. Tyler Reddick
28. Harrison Burton, one lap down
29. Martin Truex Jr., one lap down, five laps led
30. Kevin Harvick, four laps down
31. Corey LaJoie, six laps down
32. Cole Custer, seven laps down
33. Noah Gragson, 11 laps down
34. Ty Gibbs, 35 laps down
35. Ross Chastain – OUT, Dvp
36. Kyle Larson – OUT, Accident, four laps led
37. Austin Hill – OUT, Dvp
Next on the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ lone visit of this season to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, July 16, at 2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.
Corvette Racing clinched the GTE Am Drivers and Teams titles in the FIA World Endurance Championship on Sunday with a fourth-place finish at the Six Hours of Monza for the trio of Nicky Catsburg, Ben Keating and Nico Varrone. The No. 33 Corvette C8.R team finished ahead of its closest championship competitors to wrap up the program’s first title in WEC competition.
It’s been a dream season for Corvette Racing with three victories – the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 1000 Miles of Sebring and Six Hours Portimão – in addition to a runner-up finish at the Six Hours of Spa.
“Congratulations to Ben Keating, Nicky Catsburg and Nico Varrone on their championship in the first year for Corvette Racing in the World Endurance Championship’s GTE Am class,” said Mark Stielow, Director, Chevrolet Motorsports Competition Engineering. “This was not an easy accomplishment despite the results this season. The strategy and execution by the entire Corvette Racing team – the drivers, the crew and the engineers – has been excellent throughout the season. This was a deep and competitive class and we are grateful that Corvette Racing has come out on top. It gives us great momentum going into the end of the season and 2024 when the Corvette Z06 GT3.R customer program arrives in WEC.”
There were a number of scenarios in play to clinch the title. The most straight-forward options were to win or finish second Sunday, or place ahead of its two nearest challengers – the No. 25 TF Sport and No. 85 Iron Dames entries. The latter worked just fine.
Keating set the tone for the Corvette team early. He started sixth but picked up spots on consecutive laps to run third prior to a safety-car period at the 15-minute mark. The Corvette crew elected to bring the C8.R into pitlane for a fuel top-off. By the time Keating made his second stop at 80 minutes running, he had worked his way back up to second as the varying pit strategies came into view.
He gave way to Varrone just past the two-hour mark but a rare in-race mistake meant the C8.R was called in for a drive-through penalty due to speeding in the pitlane. Varrone slid back to sixth but steadily worked his way back to the lead with strong pace and the pit stop cycle. By the time his driving time was complete just prior to the four-hour mark, the C8.R ran third but less than four seconds from the leader.
Catsburg drove the final 92 minutes but was unable to make in-roads to the podium finishers – all of which were from the same manufacturer and ran more than 100 pounds lighter than the Corvette. The C8.R carried 40 additional kilograms of “success ballast” in accordance with GTE Am sporting rules. That is due to the victory in the previous race at Le Mans, 10 kilograms for taking the runner-up spot at Spa (the race prior to Le Mans) and another 15 for leading the championship. In addition, the C8.R received 10 additional kilograms of pre-event weight by the rules-makers, making the Corvette 50 kilograms (110 pounds) heavier than how it began the season at Sebring.
The next round for Corvette Racing in the FIA WEC is the Six Hours of Fuji on Sunday, September 10.
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FIA WEC GTE AM CHAMPION: “Honestly, this season might have been one of my nicest in motorsport. It has been so cool, right from the start. It was always very relaxed with not a lot of pressure. Somehow the results just kept coming. I cannot deny that we have a great car, a great team and we have an awesome lineup. But we still need to execute, and I feel like we did that really well. Today I feel like we should have come away with a podium. We got a little bit unlucky with some of the safety car situations, but we did great. It’s super, super cool to be able to call myself a World Champion. I think I had won it before with a team but not as a driver. So I’m really, really happy!”
BEN KEATING, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FIA WEC GTE AM CHAMPION: “I’ve said it over and over, but in this championship and in each one of the five races we’ve had, it has been a true team performance overall. You win as a team and you lose as a team, but we’ve also been lucky in quite a lot of places. It’s just been a magical season. Everyone kept talking about us needing to finish first or second in order to clinch the championship here. I kept saying it was more about where the 25 and 85 finished rather than where we finished. We weren’t really racing for that. We were racing to be as far up in the order as we possibly could be. We had a really good race. It’s been an amazing season. I keep on joking that because we’ve finished fourth, we get to lose 10 kilograms in success ballast! Now we can really start pushing hard because we don’t have to be conservative. Just kidding! It’s been a great season. I’m really proud of everyone on the Corvette Racing team.”
NICO VARRONE, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FIA WEC GTE AM CHAMPION:“This means quite a lot. It feels very weird at the moment but means so much. To say that we are World Champions is just an amazing feeling. I’ve been working for this since I was 8 years old and started driving karts. I didn’t imagine it was going to be so early. As Ben said, this was all teamwork all season. We’ve all done a great job – the three of us as teammates, the engineers and the pit crew has been amazing. We did a fantastic job. Today we weren’t racing for the win and couldn’t make it. But finishing fourth and sealing the title already with two rounds to go is just amazing.”
LAURA WONTROP KLAUSER, GM SPORTS CAR RACING PROGRAM MANAGER: “How cool is this? The Corvette Racing team joined the WEC full-time last year to learn the championship and had some great successes. We enjoyed it so much and had an opportunity this year with Ben, Nicky and Nico to have a Corvette in the GTE Am class. This group couldn’t say no! Now to be able to walk away champions and win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the final year of GTE and the C8.R is a dream come true.”
About Chevrolet Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in nearly 80 countries with nearly 2.7 million cars and trucks sold in 2021. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.
No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R finishes 10th overall, adds to championship points total
MONZA, Italy (July 9, 2023) – A promising start to the 6 Hours of Monza didn’t pay out with the desired result as the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R finished 10th overall Sunday in the FIA World Endurance Championship race.
Timing of a safety car period at the start of the third hour impacted the strategy of Cadillac Racing, which was among the handful of teams that pitted early in the race under the first safety car period.
For the fifth consecutive race on its maiden tour of the WEC schedule, the prototype powered by the all-new Cadillac 5.5-liter, DOHC V8 ran without mechanical issue.
Starting fifth in the 13-car Hypercar field on the 5.793-kilometer, 11-turn Autodromo Nazionale di Monza circuit, Alex Lynn took advantage of contact between two cars in the early minutes to advance his position. The team pitted behind the safety car with 31 minutes expired for 55 seconds of fuel/energy, joining four other Hypercars on the alternate strategy.
Richard Westbrook took over driving duties with 4 hours, 39 minutes left and was running third when the second safety car was deployed 46 minutes later. Westbrook inherited the lead through pit stop cycling but was called in for emergency fuel under yellow. Three minutes later, under green, the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R returned to pit lane for full fuel/energy, which dropped the hybrid racecar to 10th in class.
Earl Bamber, marking his 33rd birthday, relieved Westbrook with 3 hours, 24 minutes left and held track position during his stints. Lynn returned to the seat with 59 minutes left and brought the car home. Twelve Hypercars were running at the finish led to the checkered flag on Lap 200 by the No. 7 Toyota Gazoo Racing entry.
The WEC moves to Fuji, Japan, for the penultimate event in the championship. The six-hour race will be contested Sunday, Sept. 10, on the 4.563-kilometer, 16-turn course.
No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R
Richard Westbrook: “My stint in the car was really good. We were fighting at the front and on a different strategy to half the cars, so it was good, classic sports car racing with different strategies playing out. And it was working for us. Unfortunately, the timing of the safety car was bad for us and we had to pit for emergency fuel and once that happens you’re pretty much out of the game. It’s a real shame. We have a good racecar, good on tires and were looking forward to this race. But when stuff like the timing of the safety car happens, you’re in the lap of the gods and it didn’t quite work out for us today. But in the future it will.”
Earl Bamber: “Overall, a pretty tough day. I think we executed everything perfectly until qualifying and things in the race just didn’t go our way. From chassis, engine and everything like that I think we’ve made gains since Le Mans. We just needed to execute it better as drivers with a bit of strategy. But you have one of those days and we still scored points. I think we know where we can improve for Fuji. Huge congrats to Corvette Racing for winning the world championship.”
Alex Lynn: “The start was pretty chaotic, but we got through unscathed and had a good start. And then we were battling it out with the Peugeots, the Ferraris, the Porsches and the car was performing well. It hasn’t swung our way, but we’ll pick up points where we can.”
STEWART-HAAS RACING NASCAR Xfinity Series: Alsco Uniforms 250
Date: July 8, 2023 Event: Alsco Uniforms 250 (Round 17 of 33) Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series Location: Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia (1.54-mile oval) Format: 163 laps, broken into three stages (40 laps/40 laps/83 laps) Note: Race extended six laps past its scheduled 163-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish. Race Winner: John Hunter Nemechek of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) Stage 1 Winner: Riley Herbst of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford) Stage 2 Winner: Sheldon Creed of Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet)
● Cole Custer (3rd with 633 points, 45 out of first)
● Riley Herbst (11th with 440 points, 238 out of first)
SHR Notes:
● Custer earned his eighth top-five of the season and his second top-five in five career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Atlanta.
● This was Custer’s 11th straight top-10. He finished fifth April 1 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway, third April 15 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, fourth April 22 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, seventh April 29 at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway, third May 13 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, third May 29 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, won June 3 at Portland (Ore.) International Raceway, sixth June 10 at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway, ninth June 24 at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway, and won last weekend at the inaugural Chicago Street Race.
● This was Custer’s third straight top-12 at Atlanta.
● Custer finished sixth in Stage 2 to earn five bonus points.
● Herbst won Stage 1 to earn 10 bonus points and one playoff point.
● Herbst led once for three laps to increase his laps-led total at Atlanta to 14.
Race Notes:
● John Hunter Nemechek won the Alsco Uniforms 250 to score his fifth career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory, his third of the season and his first at Atlanta. His margin over second-place Daniel Hemric was .245 of a second.
● There were eight caution periods for a total of 50 laps.
● Only 17 of the 38 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● Nemechek remains the championship leader after Atlanta with a 16-point advantage over second-place Austin Hill.
Sound Bites:
“Man, those final laps were chaos. We were all just wondering if we were close on fuel, so we were all running around the apron. You’re just praying that no one runs out of gas. Half the field did though. The No. 00 Haas Automation team did a great job on fuel mileage today. We just didn’t have a ton of help there at the end. You know how it is here, once you try to make a move, you get shuffled back. It was fun though, and we had a great Ford Mustang. Things just didn’t happen to play out right. I thought the seas might part there at the end when everyone was running out of gas. We got it up to third though. It was a good run, and we’ll try to keep it rolling.” – Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang
“We had a pretty good night going, obviously. The No. 98 Monster Energy team won the first stage, and I thought our Ford Mustang was good enough to run in the top-three. Then, I just rolled it into Turn 1 on the restart and I knew my tire was down. I tried to save it and probably got out of the gas too soon. It just lost it on me. I’m sorry to everyone else who got involved. I hate this for my Stewart-Haas Racing guys. I just wish we hadn’t blown a tire.” – Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the Ambetter Health 200 on Saturday, July 15 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The race begins at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by USA and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
July 08, 2023: The NASCAR Cup Series races at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Atlanta, Georgia. (HHP/Andrew Coppley)
HAMPTON, Ga. (July 9, 2023) – John Hunter Nemechek took advantage of an overtime restart and pulled away from a trio of Kaulig Racing challengers to score a thrilling victory Saturday night in the Alsco Uniforms 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
As the laps counted down, Kaulig Racing’s Justin Haley, Chandler Smith, and Daniel Hemric appeared to be in position for a 1-2-3 finish, but hard-charging Austin Hill spun on lap 162 while attempting to break up the Kaulig party, bringing out the caution flag and setting the stage for the overtime finish.
Hill’s No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevy had picked up a ton of momentum and was making a move on the leaders when he went into a single car slide after nearly making contact with Parker Kligerman in the No. 48 Chevy.
In the overtime restart, Nemechek started on the front row and was able to pull away from the pack in his No. 20 Toyota. Kaulig’s Hemric finished second in his No. 11 Chevy and Haley, who led 80 laps and appeared to have the car to beat before the overtime session, finished fourth after running out of fuel. Cole Custer moved into third in his No. 00 Ford. JR Motorsports driver Sam Mayer rounded out the top five in his No. 1 Chevy.
The win was the third victory of the season for Nemecheck, the fifth of his Xfinity Series career, and first at the Hampton, Ga., track. Nemecheck increases his series points lead to 16 over Hill with the win.
Nemecheck says he doesn’t know how things would’ve played out without the extra laps, but he was glad he didn’t have to find out.
“I got a huge push from the 11 there so thanks to Daniel (Hemric) for giving me that push,” Nemechek said. “Thanks to the fans who came out tonight, I appreciate you guys.”
Nemecheck started the race in second and the only laps he led in the race were the three overtime laps.
“I don’t know if the track changed a ton but we had to keep making our car better all night,” Nemecheck said. “The guys made the right adjustments and got us to where we needed to be. It came down to an overtime finish and we were able to execute on the restart and got the win.”
Full-time Cup Series star Haley, who was making an Xfinity start in the No. 10 Kaulig Racing machine, was obviously frustrated with how the race ended.
“You think you have it won till the caution came out and then things don’t pan out,” Haley said. “We were just a little short on fuel there.”
Hemric rallied to finish second in his No. 11 Chevy after Haley’s car fell sharply off the pace in the overtime laps.
“I thought we put ourselves in position there to put our No. 11 Chevrolet in Victory Lane after pushing the 20 there,” Hemric said. “Everybody was kind of short on fuel or iffy on fuel and me running third the majority of last run, I thought that maybe allowed me to save enough.
“I thought we were in good shape,” Hemric continued. “I drove back and was expecting a big shot in the back and tandem up to the 20, and thought we would have a big run, but whatever happened, I guess maybe (Haley) lost fuel pressure, and when that happened he pulled out of line or got out of line. It put him in my left rear and just killed all the momentum at that point that just put us in a scramble to stay second. It’s disappointing for us to be coming down to take the trophy and then fall short like that.”
A massive crash on the backstretch on lap 89 collected 10 cars and shifted the outcome of the race, ultimately ending the night for early-race frontrunners Sheldon Creed, Ryan Sieg and Riley Herbst. Anthony Alfredo and Brandon Jones also were involved in the spark-flying melee. Creed won Stage 2 in his No. 2 Chevy and Sieg led 15 laps of the race in his No. 39 Ford.
Racing action continues Sunday night with the Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart NASCAR Cup Series race, which is scheduled to take the green flag at 7 p.m. ET (USA Network, PRN Radio and Sirius/XM NASCAR Radio). Tickets for Sunday night’s Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart are available online at www.AtlantaMotorSpeedway.com or by calling 877-9-AMS-TIX.
About the Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart:
The Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart headlines the summer slate of NASCAR racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 9. Featuring the first weekend of night racing at AMS since 2014, Atlanta’s summer NASCAR weekend comes with increased stakes with the NASCAR playoffs looming large.
More information on the July 7-9, 2023, Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart weekend and ticket availability can be found online at AtlantaMotorSpeedway.com.
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An overtime shootout amid a late on-track incident provided an opportunity for John Hunter Nemechek to capitalize against Kaulig Racing’s trio squad, which he did so as he motored his way to a thrilling victory in the Alsco Uniforms 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, July 8.
The 26-year-old Nemechek from Mooresville, North Carolina, led the final three of 169 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started on the front row and was running up front with the front-runners before he slipped and lost the draft in the closing laps of the first stage. In spite of not finishing in the top 10 during both stage periods, a multi-car wreck at the start of the final stage drew Nemechek and his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota crew back into contention.
He was left to contend against Kaulig Racing’s triple squad and a host of Xfinity Series regulars for the victory. Then after a caution period for Austin Hill’s wreck with three laps remaining that sent the field into overtime, Nemechek received a push from Daniel Hemric to overtake Justin Haley for the lead and fend off Hemric for two laps to capture his third checkered flag of the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, rookie Chandler Smith scored his second Xfinity career pole after posting a pole-winning lap at 172.565 mph in 32.127 seconds. Joining him on the front row was John Hunter Nemechek, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 171.971 mph in 32.238 seconds.
Prior to the event, the following names that included Sheldon Creed, Austin Hill, rookie Parker Retzlaff, Greg Van Alst and Mason Massey started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.
When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Chandler Smith and John Hunter Nemechek dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Smith launched ahead through the backstretch with drafting help from Josh Berry on the outside lane. Berry then veered left and drew himself alongside Smith through Turns 3 and 4. With both competitors remaining dead even entering the frontstretch, Smith managed to lead the first lap by a hair over Berry as rookie Sammy Smith, Nemechek and Riley Herbst pursued amid the draft.
During the second lap, Chandler Smith and Berry would continue to duel early for the lead in front of Sammy Smith and Nemechek as Smith managed to pull ahead and lead the proceeding laps while running on the outside lane.
Then on the fifth lap, Berry would manage to pull ahead on the inside lane in Turn 1 and emerge out in front of the stacked pack that fanned out through the backstretch. Berry would then lead by three-tenths of a second over a side-by-side duel between Chandler Smith and Nemechek as all 37 starters were separated within nine seconds. Berry would continue to lead as the event surpassed its Lap 10 mark. By then, Herbst moved up to third behind Chandler Smith while Nemechek was in fourth in front of teammate Ty Gibbs.
At the Lap 20 mark, Berry continued to lead by a tenth of a second over Chandler Smith, Herbst, Nemechek, Ty Gibbs, Justin Haley, Custer, Jeremy Clements, Daniel Hemric and Justin Allgaier. By then, Austin Hill, who started the event at the rear of the field, carved his way up to 11th ahead of Brandon Jones, Parker Kligerman, Sam Mayer and Anthony Alfredo while Jeffrey Earnhardt, Brett Moffitt, Sheldon Creed, Joe Graf Jr. and Sammy Smith occupied the top 20.
Seven laps later, the first caution of the event flew when Kligerman, who was running within the top 15, spun in Turn 2 after cutting a left-rear tire on his No. 48 Spiked Light Coolers Chevrolet Camaro. During the first caution period, some including Ty Gibbs, Custer, Moffitt, Mayer, Creed and Sammy Smith pitted while the rest led by Berry remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Ty Gibbs was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation.
When the race restarted on Lap 34, Berry, who restarted on the outside lane, muscled ahead with a push from Herbst as he retained the lead over Nemechek, who restarted on the inside lane before he pulled even through the backstretch. Berry and Nemechek would then duel for the lead amid a stacked pack trailing behind, with the former still emerging out in front. As the laps proceeded, Nemechek then slipped up the track in Turns 3 and 4, which allowed Herbst, Chandler Smith, Hill, Haley and Clements to move up while Berry retained the lead.
When the final lap of the first stage struck, Berry was still leading ahead of a side-by-side battle between Herbst and Chandler Smith. Then exiting the backstretch, Herbst gained a strong run to Berry’s outside amid a push from Haley. With Chandler Smith trying to draw against Berry entering the frontstretch, Herbst used the momentum from the outside lane to pull away with the lead and claim the first stage victory on Lap 40, which marked his first stage victory of the 2023 season. Berry, who led 34 of 40 laps, settled in second while Chandler Smith, Haley, Hill, Allgaier, Clements, Creed, Joe Graf Jr. and Retzlaff were scored in the top 10.
Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Herbst pitted while others led by Creed, who was among those who pitted during the first caution period, remained on the track. During the pit stops, Jeb Burton exited first after only opting for fuel in his car while Herbst, the first competitor who pitted for fresh tires, followed pursuit.
The second stage started on Lap 46 as Creed and Custer occupied the front row. At the start, Creed gained a brief advantage on the outside lane until Custer drew himself into a side-by-side challenge with Creed from the inside lane. As both continued to duel, Creed would manage to lead at the start/finish line when the field returned to the frontstretch.
By Lap 50 and with the field fanning out, Ryan Sieg made his move to the front as he battled Creed for the lead. Not long after, the caution returned for an incident involving Nemechek and Retzlaff in Turn 4. During the caution period, some including Moffitt and Daniel Hemric pitted while the rest led by Sieg remained on the track.
During the following restart on Lap 56, Sieg and Creed dueled for the lead as Creed attempted to take the lead while restarting on the inside lane. Sieg, however, fought back on the outside lane and despite gaining a strong run through Turns 3 and 4, Creed would return to the top of the leaderboard during the following lap. Creed would continue to lead by a hair through the Lap 60 mark as Hill was lurking in the top five behind Sieg, Custer and Chandler Smith.
Then two laps later and just as Sieg overtook Creed amid a tight battle at the front, the caution flew when Greg Van Alst, a newcomer to the Xfinity Series and winner of this year’s ARCA Menards Series opener at Daytona International Speedway, wrecked along with Mason Massey in Turn 4 as Van Alst’s No. 44 car burst into flames, with the driver able to exit uninjured. Amid an extensive caution period, some including Chandler Smith, Haley, Herbst, Mayer, Nemechek, Jeb Burton, Brandon Jones, Parker Retzlaff, Joe Graf Jr., Brennan Poole, Blaine Perkins, Garrett Smithley and David Starr pitted while the rest led by Sieg remained on the track.
When the race restarted on Lap 71, Creed managed to overtake Sieg to reassume the lead. As Creed continued to lead during the proceeding laps, Hill then commenced his attempt to take the lead as he tried to overtake Sieg, who blocked and briefly stalled his momentum. By Lap 75, however, Hill carved his way into second as he then battled dead even against teammate Creed for the lead. While Hill would lead a lap for himself on Lap 77, he would remain stuck in a dead-even battle with teammate Creed as Sieg, Custer, Berry, Allgaier and the rest of the field pursued in close-quarters racing.
When the second stage concluded on Lap 80, Creed fended off a last-lap charge from teammate Hill to claim his fourth stage victory of the 2023 season. Hill settled in second while Sieg, Berry, Allgaier, Custer, Hemric, Chandler Smith, Kligerman and Sammy Smith were scored in the top 10. By then, the top-12 competitors were separated by nine-tenths of a second while 36 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.
During the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Creed pitted for service while Joe Graf Jr., Akinori Ogata and Mason Massey remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Allgaier was the first competitor to exit pit road first followed by Clements, Haley, Mayer, Hemric and Custer. Both Allgaier and Clements, however, would return to pit road after both missed their respective pit boxes amid the pit stops with the majority of the field. This cycled Haley into second behind Graf, who remained on the track with the lead, while Mayer, Hemric and Custer were scored in the top five.
With 77 laps remaining, the final stage started as Graf and Haley occupied the front row. At the start, Graf briefly took off with the lead through Turns 1 and 2 until Haley rocketed to the lead followed by teammates Hemric and Chandler Smith on the inside lane.
Two laps later, the caution quickly returned for a multi-car wreck that started when Herbst, who was running within the top 12, dropped off the pace through the backstretch after losing a left-rear tire on his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang. Herbst’s tire issue ignited a stack-up and a chain-reaction wreck that involved Sieg, Mayer, Blaine Perkins, Poole, Weatherman, Alfredo, Josh Williams, Brandon Jones and Creed. The multi-car wreck on the backstretch occurred just as Ty Gibbs had also fallen off the pace and was running at the rear of the field due to a flat right-rear tire on his car.
During the caution period, names that included Mason Massey, Berry, Mayer, Garrett Smithley, Josh Bilicki, Clements, Allgaier, Poole, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Brandon Jones, Kyle Weatherman and Alfredo pitted for adjustments and repairs while the rest led by Kaulig Racing’s trio of Haley, Hemric and Chandler Smith remained on the track.
When the race restarted with 67 laps remaining, Haley, who restarted on the outside lane and in front of teammates Hemric and Chandler Smith, retained the lead ahead of Nemechek, who restarted on the inside lane. Haley would remain in front of teammates Hemric and Chandler Smith with the lead during the proceeding laps. The caution, however, would return with 63 laps remaining when Kyle Weatherman came to a stop at the entrance of pit road after he had made earlier contact with the wall.
During the proceeding restart with 55 laps remaining, Haley received the upper hand amid a side-by-side duel against Nemechek through the first two turns as Haley retained the lead through the backstretch. With Haley out in front, teammate Hemric settled in second while Nemechek, Hill and Graf were in the top five.
With 50 laps remaining, Haley was still leading by a tenth of a second over teammate Hemric as Hill motored past Nemechek for third place. By then, Graf retained fifth while Custer, Retzlaff, Sammy Smith, Kligerman and Chandler Smith were in the top 10. A few laps later, Hill navigated his way around Hemric for second place as he ignited his pursuit of Haley for the lead.
Down to the final 40 laps of the event, Haley continued to lead by a tenth of a second in his No. 10 Campers Inn RV Chevrolet Camaro over Hill while Chandler Smith made a bold, aggressive move from the inside to the outside lane to move up to third in front of teammate Hemric and Nemechek while Custer, Retzlaff, Kligerman, Moffitt and Graf were in the top 10. By then, the top-14 competitors were separated by two-and-a-half seconds with the top seven separated within a second.
Three laps later, Hill, who tried to make an early move on Haley for the lead, was unable to execute his move for the lead and lost the draft towards the front with no one electing to draft with him as Chandler Smith, Hemric, Nemechek and Custer all overtook him, which dropped Hill to sixth on the leaderboard.
Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Kaulig Racing’s trio led by Haley and followed by teammates Chandler Smith and Hemric were at the top of the leaderboard followed by Nemechek and Custer while Hill was still mired back in sixth. Meanwhile, Kligerman, who was a lap down following his early incident, was back up to seventh followed by Retzlaff, Moffitt and Allgaier while Sammy Smith, Ty Gibbs, Clements, Graf and Mayer were in the top 10.
With 15 laps remaining, Haley was still leading by a tenth of a second ahead of teammates Smith and Hemric while Hill carved his way back to fourth as he then tried to challenge Hemric for third. By then, the top-six competitors that included Hill, Nemechek and Allgaier were separated by seven-tenths of a second as the leaders were also starting to approach lapped traffic. With some of the lapped traffic that included Berry were lapped, Haley would retain the lead ahead of his Kaulig Racing teammates with 10 laps remaining.
Then with three laps remaining, Hill, who moved up to third as he along with Nemechek and Kligerman overtook Hemric, had his hopes of winning at his home track three consecutive times evaporate after the air off of Kligerman’s front nose of the car caused Hill’s No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet Camaro to get loose as he slipped sideways and made rear end contact with the outside wall in between Turns 3 and 4 with the caution flying and the event being sent into overtime.
With the field restarting in overtime, Chandler Smith and Kligerman both ran out of fuel, which caused the field to fan out and scatter as Nemechek rocketed his No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota Supra to the lead over Haley with Hemric pushing Nemechek out in front. Through the backstretch and with the field still being scattered, Nemechek led a four-car breakaway that involved Hemric, Haley and Custer, all of whom were separated by three-tenths of a second.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Nemechek remained the leader by a tenth of a second over Hemric as Haley tried to make a move beneath Hemric for second. With Nemechek retaining the lead in front of the field through Turns 1 and 2, Hemric retook the runner-up spot from teammate Haley entering the backstretch and tried to gain a run amid the draft on Nemechek with Custer following suit. Nemechek, however, blocked Hemric’s No. 11 Cirkul Chevrolet Camaro entering Turn 3, which stalled Hemric’s momentum and was the difference maker as Nemechek was able to muscle away entering the frontstretch and claim the checkered flag by two-tenths of a second.
With the victory, Nemechek, who last won at Martinsville Speedway in April, notched his third victory of the 2023 Xfinity season and the fifth of his career as he joined Austin Hill as three-time race winners of this season. He also achieved his second NASCAR national touring series victory at Atlanta after winning the Truck Series event at Atlanta in February 2016 and the fifth of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing.
“I got a huge push from [Hemric in overtime], so thanks to Daniel for giving me that huge push,” Nemechek said on USA Network. “Early on in the race, if you would’ve said that we would’ve won the race, I definitely would’ve told you that wasn’t going to be the case. We didn’t have the fastest car tonight. I’m really proud of this whole No. 20 team. We just had to keep making our Mobil 1 Toyota GR Supra better all night. [Crew chief] Ben [Beshore] and the guys did awesome. They made the right adjustments all night, got us to where we needed to be. It came down to an overtime finish and luckily, we were able to execute on that restart. Proud to be the one holding the wheel of this No. 20 car.”
Meanwhile, Hemric settled in second place for a second consecutive time at Atlanta after also finishing second at Atlanta earlier in March. In between his two runner-up results at Atlanta, he has finished in the top 10 six times in 11 events. Despite coming up one spot short of winning, he has moved up to 10th place in the Xfinity regular-season standings and is 41 points above the top-12 cutline to make the 2023 Xfinity Series Playoffs.
“I showed some super amount of frustration at the end when I got out of the car,” Hemric said. “I felt like I’d backed up to [Nemechek] there and thought I was gonna have the run down the front to at least give myself an opportunity to get [Nemechek] back. It’s frustrating. Obviously, we all want to bring back Kaulig [Racing] some trophies. For sure, [I] let one get away here tonight. I probably couldn’t be as aggressive as I wanted to there throughout the last 20 laps, even trying to hold [Hill] off there for our organization. When the dust started to settle, I thought we were gonna have an opportunity to do something special there. Hate it for [sponsor] Cirkul. I wanted to get them to Victory Lane, but fell short.”
Custer settled in third after edging Haley, who led a race-high 80 laps, in a photo finish while Sam Mayer came home in fifth.
“I think just leading all those laps, [I was] just short on fuel there,” Haley said. “I thought, obviously, we had [the race] won. Things just don’t work out sometimes.”
Ty Gibbs, Kyle Sieg, Kligerman, Josh Williams and Sammy Smith completed the top 10. Notably, pole-sitter Chandler Smith ended up 20th after running out of fuel during the overtime attempt and never recovering his pace.
There were 14 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 50 laps. In total, 17 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
With nine Xfinity regular-season events remaining on the schedule, John Hunter Nemechek leads the regular-season standings by 16 points over Austin Hill, 45 over Cole Custer and 54 over Justin Allgaier.
36. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident, three laps led, Stage 1 winner
37. Ryan Sieg – OUT, Accident, 15 laps led
38. Greg Van Alst – OUT, Accident
Next on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ lone visit of the season to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, July 15, at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.
NEMECHEK MASTERS FINAL RESTART, WINS IN ATLANTA John Hunter Nemechek completes stellar day for Toyota, earns third victory of the season
ATLANTA (July 8, 2023) – John Hunter Nemechek earned his third victory of the season with a strong overtime restart on Sunday evening at Atlanta Motor Speedway. With the win, Nemechek added to his Playoff points total. It was a stellar night for Joe Gibbs Racing with all three of their Toyota GR Supras finishing inside the top-10 as Ty Gibbs was scored sixth and Sammy Smith ran 10th. Sam Hunt Racing’s Kaz Grala (14th) also continued his strong performance with back-to-back top-15 finishes, and seventh top-20 finish in the last eight races. Toyota has now won the Xfinity (Nemechek), Truck (Corey Heim) and ARCA (Tyler Ankrum) races this weekend in NASCAR-owned competition.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap NASCAR Xfinity Series Atlanta Motor Speedway Race 17 of 33 – 251.02 miles, 163 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
2nd, Daniel Hemric*
3rd, Cole Custer*
4th, Justin Haley*
5th, Sam Mayer*
6th, TY GIBBS
10th, SAMMY SMITH
14th, KAZ GRALA
27th, PARKER CHASE
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK, No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
What a burnout and what a race. Can you take us through that last restart?
“I got a huge push from the 11 (Daniel Hemric), so thanks to Daniel for giving me that huge push. Hats off to this entire 20 team. Early on in the race, if you would have said that we were going to win the race, I would have told you that wasn’t going to be the case. We didn’t have the fastest car tonight. It wasn’t quite as fast as Xfinity 10G, but I’m really proud of this whole 20 team. First win for Mobil 1 with me at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) – won with them in the Truck Series. This is special. Glad Aspen (daughter) and Taylor (wife) are here, we get to go celebrate. Thank you to all of the fans that came out tonight. I appreciate you guys.”
How much did the track change?
“I don’t know if the track changed a ton. We just had to keep making our car better all night. We just had to keep making our Mobil 1 Toyota GR Supra better all night. Ben (Beshore, crew chief) and the guys did awesome. They made the right adjustments all night and got us where we needed to be. It came down to an overtime finish and luckily we were able to execute on that restart. Thank you to all of the men and women at Joe Gibbs Racing – proud to be the one holding the wheel of this 20 car. Man, Truck win for Toyota, Xfinity win for Toyota – the Toyota boys have some work to do tomorrow.”
Can you take me through this final restart today?
“I got a huge push from the 11 (Daniel Hemric), so thank you to Daniel. We definitely didn’t have the best car tonight, but we had the most perseverance. This team never gives up. Even when we are down, we continue to fight from the back to get to the front to go and win races. I feel like we have given a few away this year, but to come home with a win without the fastest car here means a lot. We were almost as fast as Xfinity 10 G, but we just needed to be a little bit faster. Thank you to Mobil 1, Toyota, TRD – all of these guys and girls at Joe Gibbs Racing. I’m so proud of this team.”
How satisfying is it to pick up a win like this?
“It is super satisfying. The never give up attitude is with this team – we’ve been through a lot this year. We’ve had to overcome a lot, but we are a really strong race team. We are consistent each week and we will get more wins and hopefully go race for the championship come Phoenix.”
About Toyota
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