CONCORD, N.C. (Oct. 10, 2021) – Chris Buescher put together an impressive afternoon at the ROVAL at Charlotte Motor Speedway, finishing third in the Fastenal Ford after spending much of the race inside the top-10 of the 400-mile event in a cutoff race for the NASCAR Playoffs.
“That was a fun time,” Buescher said of the finish. “I’m really appreciative of everybody on this Fastenal Ford Mustang group. We worked hard. We were able to stay on pace all day and had a gameplan and followed through and ultimately got us into the top five. I had a top three there, but it got a little rough there at the end and I made a mistake with probably five to go and unfortunately we didn’t have a shot to win because of that, but we were definitely in the hunt. That was a lot of fun, I enjoyed the day and I’m pretty thankful for everybody.”
Buescher began his march forward about midway through the afternoon, advancing into the top-10 late into stage two. He finished the opening 25-lap segment in 24th, but would quickly insert himself into the conversation with a bit of a strategy move from crew chief Scott Graves as stage two ended. He would finish it in 19th, but rolled seventh on the ensuing restart, and from there never left the top-10.
The Prosper, Texas, native jumped into fifth with 40 to go, and led a lap as a set of green-flag stops cycled through with under 35 to go. The first of three cautions over the final 22 laps flew for debris with Buescher in fourth, when he brought the car down pit road again as a host of cars stayed out in the sequence.
He restarted eighth with 20 to go, and was sixth by the next caution. Buescher lined up fourth for the final shootout to the finish, and finished it off in third for his first top-10 on the ROVAL, his second-straight top-10 overall and seventh of the season.
The No. 17 team is back in action next week at Texas Motor Speedway, where Sunday’s race is set for 2 p.m. ET on NBC. It can also be heard on PRN and SiriusXM Channel 90.
Not even an early electrical issue could prevent Kyle Larson from continuing his quest for his first NASCAR Cup Series championship after the Elk Grove, California, native rallied to lead the final eight laps and win the Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course on Sunday, October 10.
The victory gave Larson an automatic pass to the Round of 8 in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs as the penultimate round in the Playoffs was determined and left some big names out of the championship battle.
The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Playoff contender Denny Hamlin started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Brad Keselowski.
Prior to the event, Garrett Smithley dropped to the rear of the field due to his car failing pre-race inspection twice.
When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Hamlin and Keselowski dueled for the lead through the first four turns until Hamlin was able to break free and clear Keselowski. Exiting the infield turns, Hamlin continued to lead through the backstretch oval turns, the backstretch chicane and the frontstretch chicane as he led the first lap.
Behind Hamlin, Joey Logano started to challenge teammate Kesleowski for second while Ryan Blaney and Christopher Bell battled for fourth ahead of Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson.
The following lap, Hamlin continued to lead by more than two seconds while Logano muscled his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang into the runner-up spot over Keselowski’s No. 2 Wurth Ford Mustang. While Blaney settled in fourth, Elliott moved his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE into fifth over Bell entering Turns 5 and 6.
By the fifth lap, Hamlin was leading by more than two seconds over Logano while Blaney, Keselowski and Elliott were in the top five. Bell was in sixth followed by Larson, William Byron, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch while Martin Truex Jr. and Alex Bowman were in 11th and 12th, all of whom were in the Playoffs. Behind, Aric Almirola spun in the backstretch chicane following contact from Chris Buescher but continued under green.
Three laps later, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to more than two seconds over Logano as Blaney, Keselowski and Elliott remained in the top five. By then, Truex, who started fifth but was struggling with early pace, slipped back to 13th behind Kurt Busch. Meanwhile, Austin Dillon was in 14th ahead of teammate Tyler Reddick and Erik Jones, Bubba Wallace was in 18th behind rookie Chase Briscoe, Matt DiBenedetto was in 20th in between Buescher and Michael McDowell, AJ Allmendinger was in 24th behind Corey LaJoie, Ryan Newman was in 25th ahead of Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez and Cole Custer, and rookie Anthony Alfredo was in 31st ahead of Justin Haley.
A lap prior to the competition caution scheduled on Lap 10, the strategic game began as names like Harvick, Bell, Truex, Bell, Kyle Busch, Suarez, Corey LaJoie, Erik Jones, Briscoe, Buescher, Cole Custer, DiBenedetto and Almirola pitted under green. During the pit stops, Bell was penalized for speeding on pit road.
Just as Hamlin was returning to the frontstretch to complete the 10th lap, he directed his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry to pit road along with Byron, Kurt Busch, Austin Dillon and Ross Chastain. Hamlin’s move allowed Logano to inherit the lead as the competition caution flew.
Under the competition caution, some led by Bubba Wallace pitted while others led by Logano remained on the track.
When the race resumed on Lap 13, teammates Logano and Blaney dueled for the lead through the first three turns until Blaney emerged as the new leader exiting the infield turns and entering the oval turns.
In the backstretch chicane, Keselowski spun off the front bumper of Bowman, which moved Larson and Hamlin to fourth and fifth behind Elliott while Bowman fell back to 11th behind Harvick. Keselowski, meanwhile, was in 38th.
By Lap 15, Blaney was leading by nearly eight-tenths of a second over teammate Logano while Elliott, Larson and Hamlin, the first competitor on fresh tires, were in the top five. Allmendinger was in sixth ahead of Kyle Busch, Byron, Kurt Busch and Harvick while Truex, Bowman and Bell were in 12th, 15th and 16th.
Five laps later, the second caution of the event flew when Ryan Newman, who spun a lap earlier in the infield turns, lost a right-rear tire, spun again and wrecked in Turn 14, narrowly avoiding Keselowski.
Under caution, some led by Larson and Hamlin pitted while the rest led by Blaney remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Hamlin was assessed a speeding penalty.
With three laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted under green. At the start, Blaney jumped ahead on the outside lane before Allmendinger crossed over beneath Blaney and challenged him for the top spot through the first three turns. Shortly after, Allmendinger, winner of Saturday’s Xfinity event at the Roval, assumed command while Elliott challenged Blaney for the runner-up spot, which he succeeded exiting Turn 8.
The following lap, Allmendinger was ahead of nearly four-tenths of a second over Elliott while Blaney, Truex and Logano were in the top five. Behind, Matt DiBenedetto missed the backstretch chicane and was forced to come to a stop before continuing to serve his penalty. In addition, Ryan Preece got turned exiting the front stretch chicane following contact with Logano, but the race continued under green.
On the final lap of the first stage, Elliott issued a challenge on Allmendinger for the top spot exiting the infield turns. Behind, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made contact with Kyle Busch exiting the backstretch chicane, but Busch prevailed ninth.
Following a brief fight against Allmendinger exiting the infield turns and returning to the oval turns, Elliott prevailed through the backstretch chicane. Elliott’s late perseverance and charge allowed him to come back around through the frontstretch chicane and win the first stage on Lap 25, which marked his fourth stage victory of the season. Allmendinger settled in second followed by Blaney, Truex, Logano, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Byron, McDowell and Harvick. By then, Larson was in 11th, Bowman was in 14th, Hamlin was mired in 21st and Bell was back in 26th.
Under the stage break, some led by Elliott pitted while the rest led by Allmendinger remained on the track.
The second stage started on Lap 29 as Allmendinger and Kyle Busch occupied the front row ahead of Byron, McDowell, Harvick and Larson. At the start, Kyle Busch muscled his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry into the lead following a battle with Allmendinger from the second turn through Turn 5. Shortly after, Byron moved his No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to second place. Behind, Harvick and Larson battled for fourth.
Through the first 30 laps of the event, Kyle Busch was leading by half a second over Byron while Allmendinger, Larson, Harvick, Austin Dillon, McDowell, Bowman, Custer and Suarez were in the top 10. Hamlin was in 13th, Keselowski and Bell were in 15th and 16th, Elliott was in 19th and Blaney was in 24th ahead of Truex and Logano.
Three laps later, the fourth caution of the event flew when Stenhouse made contact and turned Chase Briscoe in a cloud of smoke across the frontstretch.
Under caution, some led by Larson and Allmendinger pitted while the rest led by Kyle Busch remained on the track. During the pit stops, Larson’s crew popped the hood of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE open to change the battery. Teammate Bowman’s crew also popped the hood open on the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to replace an alternator belt with plans on replacing the battery following the second stage.
When the race restarted on Lap 35, Kyle Busch launched ahead with the top spot entering the first turn while Harvick moved into second place ahead of Byron, Austin Dillon, McDowell and Suarez.
Two laps later, Kyle Busch was leading by one-and-a-half seconds over Harvick and Byron, both of whom were currently scored below the top-eight cutline to the Playoff’s Round of 8. Behind, Elliott was up in sixth behind McDowell, Hamlin was in eighth, teammate Bell was in 11th, Blaney was in 16th, Keselowski was in 20th behind Allmendinger, Logano was in 21st, Truex was in 23rd, Bowman was in 29th and Larson was in 30th.
Through the first 40 laps of the event, Kyle Busch continued to lead by a second over Harvick while Byron, Austin Dillon and Elliott were in the top five. Behind, LaJoie came to a full stop after missing the frontstretch chicane. In addition, Bell drove through the grass in Turns 5 and 6. Earlier, Wallace came to a stop after missing the frontstretch chicane.
By Lap 45, Custer spun entering the first turn, but the race proceeded under green. By then, Kyle Busch was out in front by more than a second over Harvick while Elliott was up in third ahead of Byron and Austin Dillon. By then, Larson was in 18th behind Logano, Keselowski and Truex while Bowman was in 22nd behind Bell.
A few laps later, Chastain, Wallace and LaJoie pitted under green. Not long after, Byron, Austin Dillon, Allmendinger, Hamlin, Almirola, Briscoe, Suarez, DiBenedetto, Bell, Buescher, Kurt Busch, Custer Tyler Reddick, McDowell and Alfredo pitted.
Back on course, Kyle Busch continued to lead ahead of Harvick, who had rival Elliott charging for the runner-up spot. Following a smooth lap around the 17-course turn, Kyle Busch was able to claim his sixth stage victory of the season with the second stage concluded on Lap 50. Elliott overtook Harvick to settle in second followed by Blaney, Logano, Larson, Keselowski, Truex, Bowman and Byron.
Under the stage break, Bowman pitted while pit road was closed to have a voltage regulator on his car changed, which resulted in a penalty for Bowman to start at the rear of the field. Once pit road opened for the field, a majority of the field led by Kyle Busch pitted while others led by Byron and Austin Dillon remained on the track. Meanwhile, Larson’s crew went to work to change the alternator belt while giving Larson four fresh tires and fuel to last to the end. As the field began to stack up for a restart, Larson’s crew was able to repair the mechanical issue and get the driver back out on the lead lap while behind the field.
With 56 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Byron was able to retain the lead over Austin Dillon entering the first turn and the infield turns as the field fanned out and jostled for positions.
At the halfway mark between Laps 54 and 55, Byron was leading by a mere margin over Austin Dillon while Hamlin, Suarez and Allmendinger were in the top five. Just then, the caution returned when Elliott, winner of the previous two Cup Roval events, got hit by Harvick and sent into the wall in between Turns 7 and 8, which damaged the rear end and deck lid of Elliott’s car. As Elliott tried to continue through Turn 8, he made contact with Custer and spun below the apron. Despite the damage and a reported broken track bar, Elliott managed to continue as he was slated in 37th. The incident, however, reignited Harvick and Elliott’s rivalry following their confrontation at Bristol Motor Speedway in September, where Elliott cost Harvick an opportunity to win.
With 52 laps remaining, the field restarted under green. At the start, Byron retained the lead while Hamlin battled Austin Dillon for the runner-up spot ahead of Suarez. Shortly after, Allmendinger, who was in fifth, fell off the pace due to an engine issue entering the backstretch chicane, which forced the field to scatter to avoid Allmendinger’s Kaulig Racing machine as the Californian took his car to the garage.
Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Byron, coming into the Roval in a “must-win” situation, was leading by more than a second over Austin Dillon while Hamlin, Reddick and Suarez were in the top five. By then, Harvick was in 13th in front of Blaney, Kyle Busch was in 20th in between Keselowski and Truex, Larson was in 23rd behind Wallace, Bowman was in 26th and Elliott was mired in 36th, the last car on the lead lap. By then, Larson and Kyle Busch were barely above the top-eight cutline while Harvick, Elliott, Bell and Bowman were the four competitors scored below the cutline.
Ten laps later, Hamlin missed the backstretch chicane while trying to overtake Austin Dillon for the runner-up spot and served his penalty by coming to a full stop on the frontstretch chicane.
When the field returned to the front stretch, Byron remained in the lead by over Austin Dillon while Reddick, Kurt Busch and Buescher were in the top five. Hamlin fell back to sixth ahead of Suarez, DiBenedetto, Blaney and Chastain. Harvick was in 11th ahead of Erik Jones, Bell was in 14th in front of Logano, Larson moved up to 16th ahead of Keselowski and Kyle Busch was back in 18th ahead of teammate Truex and Bowman. Elliott, meanwhile, was mired in 34th and gaining no ground on the leaders.
A few laps later, Reddick, who was one of the fastest cars on the circuit, overtook teammate Austin Dillon for second as he trailed Byron by less than three seconds.
With 35 laps remaining, Larson, who was in the top 15, ignited green flag pit stops as he pitted followed by Bell. A lap later, Harvick and Logano pitted along with Kyle Busch, Truex, LaJoie and Briscoe. Another lap later, Byron surrendered the lead to pit along with Reddick, teammate Austin Dillon, Keselowski, Blaney, Suarez and Erik Jones.
Soon after, Kurt Busch, who led a lap, pitted his No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, giving the lead to Buescher and Hamlin. By then, Wallace, Preece, Custer and Joey Hand also pitted.
With 30 laps remaining, Hamlin, who has yet to pit, was leading followed by DiBenedetto and Byron, who was trailing by more than 14 seconds.
Two laps later, Hamlin pitted and gave the lead back to Byron, who had Tyler Reddick closing in on him for the lead. By then, Elliott, whose rear bumper cover was loose, was 86 seconds behind and on the verge of being lapped by his Hendrick Motorsports’ teammate.
With 23 laps remaining, the caution flew when the rear bumper cover from Elliott’s car came off on the backstretch. Under caution, a majority of the field led by Byron pitted while the rest led by Hamlin and DiBenedetto remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Bowman was busted for speeding on pit road, which sent him to the rear of the field and negatively affect his hopes of advancing to the Round of 8.
Down to the final 20 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Hamlin retained the lead as the field fanned out and jostled for positions entering the first turn. Behind, Reddick moved up to second while Byron battled for third against DiBenedetto. Behind, Kurt Busch and Larson battled for fifth with the latter prevailing.
Through the backstretch chicane, Keselowski spun again and caused a stack up to the competitors running towards the back. With the race remaining under green, Byron ignited a battle on Reddick for second as Hamlin continued to lead by a narrow margin.
Just then, Byron missed the backstretch chicane after getting hit by Reddick while running in front of Reddick and Larson in second. Despite stopping on the backstretch, the penalty was costly for Byron, who needed to win to keep his title hopes alive.
Back at the front, Hamlin was leading by more than a second over Larson, Reddick, DiBenedetto and Kurt Busch. Logano was in seventh, Blaney was in ninth ahead of Kyle Busch, Byron was back in 12th ahead of Harvick and Truex. Bell was in 17th while Elliott was in 21st behind LaJoie. Bowman was mired back in 29th.
Shortly after, the eighth caution of the event flew when LaJoie smacked the Turn 2 wall following contact with Custer as Joey Hand also collided into the wall.
Under caution, some including Stenhouse, Alfredo, Preece, Keselowski, Almirola, Bowman, LaJoie and Hand pitted while the rest led by Hamlin remained on the track.
With 14 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Hamlin launched ahead with another strong start while Reddick battled Larson for second as the field fanned out entering the first turn. Shortly after, Larson issued a challenge for the lead over Hamlin. Through the infield turns, Larson squeaked ahead with the top spot, but Hamlin fought back through the backstretch chicane as Reddick also challenged Larson for the runner-up spot through Turn 13. Behind, Kurt Busch missed the frontstretch chicane after slipping.
Back at the front, Hamlin was leading by a narrow margin over Reddick, who prevailed over his late battle and contact with Larson as Buescher was in fourth. Behind Logano moved up to fifth over DiBenedetto while Harvick, Byron and Kyle Busch were in the top 10. Elliott, meanwhile, was in 17th while Keselowski was in 24th.
Then with 11 laps remaining, Kevin Harvick’s title hopes for 2021 evaporated after he locked up the front tires of his No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang and pounded against the barriers in Turn 1 while running in the top 15, thus damaging the front nose of his car. At the time of the incident, Elliott had caught Harvick, but Harvick’s incident involved no contact with Elliott.
“I just pushed [the car] in there too hard,” Harvick, who was released from the care center and deflected any comments over his incident with Elliott, said. “I got the tire locked up and I couldn’t stop it once I felt like I needed to go, to get a couple spots back that I’d lost and I got the left front locked up, but I couldn’t get it to turn. Sometime, real life teaches you good lessons.”
Under caution, some including Elliott, Truex and Keselowski pitted while the rest led by Hamlin remained on the track.
Down to the final eight laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Hamlin pulled ahead through the first turn, but Larson made his move and took over the lead exiting Turn 4. Behind, Reddick moved up to second while Byron battled Buescher for fourth.
Through the backstretch chicane, Byron muscled his way up to third, but he now had seven laps to return to the front and maintain his title hopes.
The following lap, Larson was ahead by nearly a second over runner-up Reddick and less than two seconds teammate Byron. Behind, Buescher maintained fourth while Hamlin was back in sixth behind teammate Kyle Busch. Meanwhile, Bell was in ninth, Bowman was in 14th, Elliott was in 20th and Keselowski was in 28th behind Truex.
With five laps remaining, Larson continued to lead by less than a second over Reddick, who had Byron trying to pressure him for the runner-up spot.
Down to the final two laps, Larson stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Reddick and Byron. Just then, Byron’s title hopes dwindled as he spun and damaged his No. 24 car in Turn 5. Despite the incident, Byron continued as the race remained under green. Earlier, Truex spun on the backstretch following contact with Joey Hand.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson remained in the lead by more than a second over Reddick. Behind, Buescher moved up to third followed by Kyle Busch and Hamlin. Byron, meanwhile, continued in 11th ahead of teammate Elliott.
Navigating his way through the 17-turn course smoothly, Larson, who was scored outside the cutline early, came back around and claimed the checkered flag for the first time on the Roval and for the seventh time in 2021.
With the victory, Larson became the third different winner at the Charlotte Roval as he achieved his third road course victory of 2021. In addition, he notched his 13th career win in the Cup Series and swept both Cup Charlotte events of the season.
“I wouldn’t have believed it, that’s for sure,” Larson said on NBC. “I don’t know. I didn’t even really feel that good early, started changing some things up. [The crew] were doing a good job, letting me know what to do inside the cockpit to get better. About that time, I noticed my battery was going low, so I was gonna stress out. I’m like, ‘Man, I’m not gonna get knocked out of the Playoffs like this.’ It wasn’t looking too good. Thankfully, everybody on our No. 5 car did a great job of staying calm. [Crew chief] Cliff [Daniels], as always, did a great job communicating with me with what was going on, getting the battery changed, alternator, whatever it takes to get our battery staying running. Just an awesome day for Hendrick Motorsports and glad to get another win. Looking forward to the next round a lot.”
Reddick settled in second place for the third time in his Cup career while Buescher, Kyle Busch and Hamlin finished in the top five. DiBenedetto, Logano, Bell, Blaney and Bowman ended up in the top 10 on the track.
After settling in 12th place and earning enough points to advance to the Round of 8, Elliott maintained his composure when expressing his side of the incident with Harvick.
“[I’m] Really proud of our team,” Elliott said. “Our NAPA team did a really, really good job of fixing this [car]. It is destroyed and I think we finished 12th. Our team has a lot of fight and I’m just super proud of that. As far as Kevin goes, just wanna wish them Merry Offseason and a happy Christmas. It’s all good. Just glad we’re moving on. Proud of our team. We’re just eyes forward and just excited to be moving on. That’s the big picture. That’s really all that matters to me and our group, so we’ll keep fighting and see where we end up.”
Photo by Ted Seminara for SpeedwayMedia.com.
Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski have transferred into the Round of 8 in the Playoffs. Kevin Harvick, William Byron, Christopher Bell and Alex Bowman have been eliminated from title contention.
“Glad to finally be able to finish one today,” Kyle Busch said. “Thanks to M&M’s, all the guys on the team. [They] Did a good job, brought a good car, got the most out of it. We won that [second] stage. That helped a little bit for the reset going into next week and gave us one more point. Overall, we got everything we could out of it today. I wished there was more, but it kind of seemed like once everybody got strung out, that was about it. There wasn’t a whole lot of comers and goers throughout the runs, so overall, that’s kind of where we stacked out.”
“We got the good out of [the car],” Logano said. “So much for keeping it clean. That was the plan. Just ended up having a rough day, but ended up finishing seventh or even a shot at a top-five or top three even towards the end of the race there. Proud of our Shell/Pennzoil team. I got into [Ryan] Preece and dumped him early in the race. That was just my mistake. Overall, hey, we’re moving on to the Round of 8. It’s a great accomplishment, we’re proud of that. On to the next three [races] and try to score a bunch of points, maybe, or get a win. That might be the easiest way doing it, but we’ll maximize our races and get every point we can.”
“I was behind two guys side-by-side getting into the bus stop, so we’re all checked up, just trying to not get run over when we get run over,” Truex said. “I don’t know what the hell [Hand] was thinking. Riding around the back all day and he drives through a Playoff car for no reason. Luckily, we were able to come through, make it, pulled out some stage points. Really, that was the difference. Good strategy, terrible race car. We sucked. It was awful…It was just absolute garbage. Glad we made it. That’s all I can say, I guess. Thanks to everybody for all the support this year. Go on to the next round, see what we can do. It’s all reset.”
“Just not a good day,” Keselowski said. “[I] Had some decent speed. I think we could’ve run about 10th all day. Had a couple of restarts where we just kind of got ran over. We fought back from that best we could with the Wurth Ford Mustang. Salvaged what we could with a 20th-place day, but nowhere near what we were hoping for. Enough to get on and go to Texas.”
“Ultimately, we just weren’t good enough,” Bell said. “Made a lot of mistakes out there. We just weren’t fast enough. Bummer, but we’ll have to move on and I think we’ve got opportunities to win races every time we go to the race tracks. Building a notebook between me and [crew chief] Adam [Stevens]. Really proud to be in this No. 20 group, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing. Got good race tracks coming up and we’re gonna go out there and give it our all, and end the season on a high note.”
“Unfortunate,” Bowman said. “It’s tough to make a car live long here without any brake fans and tire cooling. [Crew chief] Greg [Ives] and all the guys on this Ally No. 48 team did such a good job, I guess, letting me know what I needed to do, to get it to the finish line and what I could and couldn’t do with fans. We put a battery in it at one point and kind of went from there. I’m exhausted. I’m just mentally drained after the roller coaster that was, but good to get a top 10. Wished we had more. Congrats to [Larson]. The kid’s superhuman. Bummed we’re not in the next round.”
Following the event, Byron, who ended up in 11th, had a post-race conversation with Reddick to express his displeasure over being hit by Reddick late in the event while battling towards the front and caused Byron to miss the backstretch chicane.
“I just passed [Reddick] off of Turn 8 and I guess he had [Larson] inside of him,” Byron said. “Just lack of awareness, like hit me in the back bumper right as I was downshifting to first gear, so there was no way I was going to make the chicane. It’s the lightest the car can be right there, so I don’t get it. He and I and [Larson] racing for the win and [Hamlin] had old tires, and we were in a good position. Just stinks, but just not the round we wanted. Definitely tough finishes, tough results, but we had speed in two of the three races to definitely advance. Thanks to Valvoline and Chevrolet…It was definitely looking like it was gonna be a really good day, even after the caution, looking like we were gonna have a shot to win. I was just too bad at the end there. Made a mistake and could’ve finished third, but finished 11th. Just stinks.”
“Unfortunately pretty straightforward,” Reddick said. “Just made a mistake, one that meant a lot. Slight bump, maybe a press like this is all it really took to cause wheel-hop, for [Byron’s] car to go sliding off. I hate that, wasn’t in any way what I was trying to do. If I was trying to do that, I would’ve hit him a lot harder. I hate that it happened. I hate that it did what it did. He was racing for everything just like I was. Obviously, his stakes were higher, but just unfortunate.”
There were 15 lead changes for 10 different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 18 laps. Thirty-one of the 39 starters finished on the lead lap.
Results.
1. Kyle Larson, eight laps led
2. Tyler Reddick
3. Chris Buescher, one lap led
4. Kyle Busch, 22 laps led, Stage 2 winner
5. Denny Hamlin, 25 laps led
6. Matt DiBenedetto
7. Joey Logano, four laps led
8. Christopher Bell
9. Ryan Blaney, 10 laps led
10. Alex Bowman
11. William Byron, 30 laps led
12. Chase Elliott, two laps led, Stage 1 winner
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, two laps led
26. Anthony Alfredo
27. Joey Hand
28. Josh Bilicki
29. Martin Truex Jr.
30. Quin Houff
31. Scott Heckert
32. Timmy Hill, one lap down
33. Kevin Harvick – OUT, Accident
34. Garrett Smithley, 13 laps down
35. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Accident
36. Cody Ware – OUT, Accident
37. Justin Haley – OUT, Engine
38. AJ Allmendinger – OUT, Engine, five laps led
39. Ryan Newman – OUT, Accident
Bold indicates Playoff contenders.
Playoff standings.
1. Kyle Larson – Advanced
2. Denny Hamlin – Advanced
3. Martin Truex Jr. – Advanced
4. Ryan Blaney – Advanced
5. Kyle Busch – Advanced
6. Chase Elliott – Advanced
7. Joey Logano – Advanced
8. Brad Keselowski – Advanced
9. Kevin Harvick – Eliminated
10. Christopher Bell – Eliminated
11. William Byron – Eliminated
12. Alex Bowman – Eliminated
The Round of 8 in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will commence next weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. The event will occur on Sunday, October 17, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.
Harvick’s Playoff Road Ends at Roval Late-Race Crash Leaves Mobil 1 Driver 33rd and Out of Playoffs
Date: Oct. 10, 2021 Event: Bank of America Roval 400 (Round 32 of 36) Series: NASCAR Cup Series Location: Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval (2.28-mile, 17-turn road course) Format: 109 laps, broken into three stages (25 laps/25 laps/59 laps) Start/Finish: 7th / 33rd (Accident, completed 98 of 109 laps) Point Standing: 9th (3,088 points, 25 points below top-eight cutoff) Race Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) Stage 1 Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-25):
● Kevin Harvick started seventh and finished 10th, earning one bonus point.
● Made scheduled, green flag pit stop for four tires only on lap nine. Had been running ninth prior to pitting.
● Was 19th when competition caution came out on lap 12.
● “Wheel-hopped there in chicane,” said Harvick during the caution. “Having to kind of ‘baby’ it through there.”
● Harvick stayed out during the competition caution while others pitted. Lined up ninth for lap-14 restart.
● “When we fill it with fuel, we’re going to have to tighten the back up some,” said Harvick during a caution on lap 19 while running 10th.
● Took advantage of the caution and pitted for four tires and fuel with a track bar adjustment on lap 21.
● The No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang was 15th for lap-23 restart.
● Picked up five spots in the final laps of the stage to finish 10th.
● Harvick stayed out during the resulting caution period to gain track position.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 26-50):
● Harvick started fifth and finished third, earning eight bonus points.
● Harvick kept the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang steady in fifth after battling with AJ Allmendinger and Kyle Larson on the opening green flag lap.
● Picked up fourth place from Allmendinger on lap 33 shortly before the caution flag waved.
● Harvick stayed out during the caution and lined up third for lap-36 restart. He took second place from William Byron as the field barreled into turn one.
● Chase Elliott passed Harvick on the final lap of the stage, leaving Harvick third when the stage ended.
● “Totally lost the back of the car on entry and exit,” said Harvick at the conclusion of the stage.
● Pitted for four tires and fuel at the end of the stage. Made a track bar adjustment and tire pressure adjustments.
Final Stage Recap (Laps 51-109):
● Harvick started 21st and finished 33rd.
● On lap 56, Harvick made contact with Elliott coming off turn seven to bring out the caution.
● Lined up 17th for lap-58 restart and was 12th by lap 59.
● Harvick climbed to 11th on lap 65, passing his Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) teammate Chase Briscoe.
● Green flag pit stops began on lap 75, with Larson hitting pit road first.
● Harvick made scheduled, green flag stop on lap 76 for four tires and fuel with chassis adjustments.
● After pit stops cycled through, Harvick was 12th with 30 laps to go.
● By lap 81, the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang was back inside the top-10.
● Passed Alex Bowman for ninth on lap 85 as the duo raced through the frontstretch chicane (turns 15-16).
● “I can’t get the grip that I need off the back chicane and front chicane. Need more forward drive,” said Harvick while running ninth during a caution period on lap 87.
● Pitted for four tires and fuel with chassis adjustments while under caution on lap 88. A handful of other drivers opted to stay out.
● Lined up 12th for lap-90 restart and stayed in that spot as the caution came out again on lap 93.
● Returned to green on lap 96, but three laps later, Harvick’s race was over after heavy contact with the turn one wall.
● Harvick was subsequently evaluated and released from the infield care center before the race ended.
Notes:
● Harvick did not advance beyond the Round of 12 for the first time since the inception of the elimination-style NASCAR Playoff format in 2014. He was vying for his eighth appearance in the Round of 8.
● The Bank of America Roval 400 marked Harvick’s milestone 750th career NASCAR Cup Series start. He is one of just 13 drivers in series history to make 750 or more starts.
● Kyle Larson won the Bank of America Roval 400 to score his 13th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his series-leading seventh of the season and his first on the Roval. His margin over second-place Tyler Reddick was .782 of a second.
● There were nine caution periods for a total of 18 laps.
● Thirty-one of the 39 drivers in the Bank of America Roval 400 finished on the lead lap.
Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“I just pushed it in there too hard and I got the tire locked up and I couldn’t stop it once I felt like I needed to go to get a couple spots back that I had lost, and I got the left-front locked up and I couldn’t get it to turn.”
Playoff Standings (to begin Round of 8):
Kyle Larson (4,065 points)
Denny Hamlin (4,030 points) -35
Martin Truex Jr. (4,029 points) -36
Ryan Blaney (4,024 points) -41
Kyle Busch (4,023 points) -42
Chase Elliott (4,022 points) -43
Joey Logano (4,013 points) -52
Brad Keselowski (4,008 points) -57
Failed to Advance to Round of 8:
Kevin Harvick (3,088 points) -25
Christopher Bell (3,085 points) -28
William Byron (3,070 points) -43
Alex Bowman (3,061 points) -52
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 on Sunday, Oct. 17 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. It is the seventh race of the 10-race playoffs and the first race in the Round of 8. It starts at 2 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
NASCAR CUP SERIES BANK OF AMERICA ROVAL 400 CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY ROAD COURSE TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTES OCTOBER 10, 2021
TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS: POS. DRIVER 1st KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE 2nd TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 LENOVO CAMARO ZL1 1LE 10th ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY / CHARLOTTE FC CAMARO ZL1 1LE 11th WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 VALVOLINE CAMARO ZL1 1LE 12th CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE 13th DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 COMMSCOPE CAMARO ZL1 1LE 15th AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 WHELEN CAMARO ZL1 1LE
TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS: POS. DRIVER 1st Kyle Larson (Chevrolet) 2nd Tyler Reddick (Chevrolet) 3rd Chris Buescher (Ford) 4th Kyle Busch (Toyota) 5th Denny Hamlin (Toyota)
The NASCAR Cup Series season continues next weekend at Texas Motor Speedway for the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 on Sunday, October 17, at 2 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on NBC, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:
KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Race Winner THIS WAS A BATTLE-TESTED WIN FOR THIS RACE TEAM TODAY. IF I HAD TOLD YOU IN THE MIDDLE OF STAGE 2 WHEN THEY WERE CHANGING ALTERNATOR BELT, THAT YOU WOULD WIN THIS THING, WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE SAID? “I wouldn’t have believed it, that’s for sure. I don’t know. I didn’t even feel that good early. Started changing some things and they were doing a good job letting me know what to do inside the cockpit to get better. About that time, I noticed my battery was going low, so I was getting stressed out. Like man, I’m not going to get knocked out of the Playoffs like this. It wasn’t looking too good. Thankfully, everybody on our No. 5 car did a great job of staying calm. Cliff (Daniels, crew chief) as always, did a great job of communicating with me and what was going on and getting the battery changed and the alternator changed and whatever it takes to get our battery running. But man, my HendrickCars.com Chevy was good. William (Byron) was obviously really good. It’s a bummer to see that not work out for him. But I think the No. 9 (Chase Elliott) ended up making it, so that was some great perseverance by that team, too. So, it’s just awesome to be with Hendrick Motorsports and glad to get another win and I’m looking forward to the next round a lot.”
WERE YOU AWARE THAT AT TIMES TODAY, YOU WERE BELOW THE CUTLINE AND GOING TO MISS THE NEXT ROUND? “Yeah, I obviously had a pretty good idea. I’ve gone through it a few years ago in the No. 42 and when you think you’re good, then all of a sudden, you’re running like 40th. And you’re like well, I’m down below the cutline. I knew I was going to have some sketchy moments. I just had to pick my way through traffic and stay calm. We had some good restarts there at the end and I was able to kind of use my tire advantage to get under Denny (Hamlin) and kind of squeeze some real estate off of No. 4 (Kevin Harvick) there. It was fun racing with Tyler (Reddick). He’s one of the best there is. I don’t like racing him because he’s so good and so hard to race and pass. So, it was just a fun race there and a lot of craziness all day long.”
TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 LENOVO CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 2nd I KNOW YOU ARE EXCITED ABOUT YOUR FINISH TODAY, BUT YOU PROBABLY WISH YOU WERE IN THE PLAYOFFS? “I am fired up because we had a really good car today. We had to start 29th because of crashing at Talladega last week and didn’t have a great pit stall because of that as well. So, it really forced our hand to be off sequence and we were in a situation there pretty early in Stage 1 where we were on new tires and I thought I had established myself in the outside and got in the wall and knocked both sides in and that hurt me a little bit. As the race progressed and we were in that situation where we were trying to chase Kyle (Larson) down and I just knew we couldn’t change anything about what happened. It does leave a ‘what if’ in your mind. It’s like if I hadn’t crashed this car early in the race, and almost ended our day, it should have been a little bit faster.”
REGARDING CONTACT WITH WILLIAM BYRON: “I just flat out made a mistake and ran in the back of the 24. I am trying to stay as close as I can, and we are all trying to brake to the limit of the car and I got to the bumper trying to put myself back in position again to make a pass to the inside or outside. I got into the back of him ever so slightly and that is all it took to unhook the rear tires. Not on purpose. It’s just that small amount of contact that changed the trajectory that much. That was shocking to me and sure disappointing.”
DO YOU UNDERSTAND HIS FRUSTRATION? “Absolutely. He is racing for everything and second means nothing. He just broke through on the best tires and in position to make the pass and take the win away. And yeah, I took that from him. So, he handled it very well and I would probably have been a little more upset than he was. He was great at listening and hearing what I said, but I really understand his frustration.”
WITH YOU AND AUSTIN IN THE TOP FIVE MOST OF THE DAY, WHAT DOES THAT SAY ABOUT THE ROAD COURSE PROGRAM AT RCR? “It’s gone in the right direction really well and having AJ Allmendinger come in and be a part of Kaulig Racing and work on making our stuff better on the Xfinity side, and now on the Cup side, has really helped. Our team worked really hard in the off season to clean up and make better what was our worst type of racing. A year ago here, I was absolutely terrible and just dreading getting to it, but now with this car, we felt like we had the best shot to win. Its just a shame to not take advantage of it.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY / CHARLOTTE FC CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 10th WHEN DID YOU ISSUES WITH THE BATTERY AND ALTERNATOR COME UP? “Pretty early, I would assume. I probably don’t catch that until it’s been a bit, right? I’m not sitting thee staying at the volt gauge. But there pretty early, we knew we had a volt issue. It acted like it threw the belt, So, we came down and put a belt on it and it didn’t. Don’t know what we had going on, but it’s unfortunate. It’s tough to make a car live long here without any brake fans and tire cooling, but Greg (Ives, crew chief) and all the guys on the No. 48 Ally team did such a good job letting me know what I needed to do to get it to the finish line and what I could and couldn’t do with fans; and we put a battery in it at one point and kind of went from there. I hate it. I’m glad we got a top 10. I’m exhausted. I’m just mentally drained after the roler coaster that was. But it’s good to get a top 10. I wish we had more. Congrats to the No. 5 (Kyle Larson, race winner). The kid is super-human. It’s cool to see. I’m really happy for Kyle.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 VALVOLINE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 11th I KNOW YOU CAME UP A BIT SHORT, BUT WHAT CAN YOU TAKE FROM THIS PERFORMANCE TODAY? “It was great. We had a really good car in two of the three races in this Round and today we had an amazing car, probably capable of winning, but just didn’t have things go our way there. At that point when I got up to third, my tires were shot, and there were only two laps to go. I wasn’t going to win, and made a mistake to not finish third, but at that point I was just mad.”
ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH WHAT TYLER (REDDICK) SAID ABOUT IT BEING A MISTAKE IN HITTING YOU? “Yeah, I know it was a mistake, but it doesn’t make any difference. The awareness there in that situation where a guy is there in the Playoffs and the first guy on new tires is probably going to win the race. And there was just a lack of awareness there. I feel like if the roles were reversed, I would be aware.”
DID YOU TALK TO HIM ABOUT IT? “Yeah, I just first off wanted to hear it from him and not take it for granted that it was a mistake. And yeah, at that point, what do you do?”
YOU SAID YOU WERE MAD. WHAT WERE THE RANGE OF EMOTIONS TODAY? “At the end I was just at a full rage, so I didn’t really care about finishing third because that wasn’t going to do anything for me in the Playoffs. It sucks now that we didn’t finish third, but overall, we were in position to win. We were leading on the long run, the caution comes out, we pass all the guys on new tires, and we were the first guys on new tires. That’s all you can do.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 12th HOW DO YOU COMPARTMENTALIZE ALL THE STRESSFUL MOMENTS TODAY? “Yeah, our team did a great job of putting the car back together and that was really the bottom line. They just took the right amount of time to get it fixed and fixed properly so as to not have tire rubs and cut a tire down and end our day. Super excited about that and excited about three more weeks and another opportunity to win a championship.”
DID YOU SEE (KEVIN) HARVICK IN YOUR MIRROR AND DID YOU EXPECT WHAT YOU GOT? “I don’t have anything to say about him or anything. Just glad to be moving on and that is all that matters to me.”
HOW DID THE TEAM KEEP YOU CALM DURING THOSE MOMENTS? IT SEEMS YOU HAVE SOME VETERAN LEADERSHIP AROUND YOU? “Yeah, the good news is that we have been fighting together for a few years now so I think we all understand what is important to us. We are all looking forward to three more weeks.”
YOU MENTIONED YOUR TEAM. A DAY LIKE TODAY SEEMS TO GO A LONG WAY TOWARD BUILDING SOME MUSCLE FOR YOU AS A GROUP. WAS TODAY IMPORTANT TO COME BACK? “Absolutely. To overcome adversity; and fortunately, it was early enough in the race and we were able fix it and got a caution and was able to keep fighting. So, I’m just really proud of that. We could have easily given up or not fixed to the proper standard and have something break or had a tire rub, so everybody just did a really good job today and I’m super proud of that. Coming off of a really fast car, I thought we had a shot to win and obviously that didn’t happen. But in the grand scheme, moving on is the most important things and our season is still alive. So, I’m pumped.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 WHELEN CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 15th “It felt good to run in the top-five in our No. 3 Whelen Chevrolet today at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL. I just wish we could have finished up there at the end. Track position was so important, and crew chief Justin Alexander made great calls all day to keep us out front. We ran solidly in the top-five, and as high as second, throughout Stage 2 and for most of Stage 3. Unfortunately, the cautions didn’t fall our way. At the end of the race, we couldn’t turn in a lot of places where we needed to be able to turn. Still, I’m proud of this RCR team and our overall road course performance this year. We’ve improved so much as a team and have been able to put together solid road course performances all year. We’re headed to Texas Motor Speedway next, and we’re going to try our hardest to find Victory Lane.”
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.
About Chevrolet Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. 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.
Briscoe Finishes 22nd at Charlotte Roval Handling Issues Plague Ford Performance Racing School/HighPoint.com Team
Date: Oct. 10, 2021 Event: Bank of America Roval 400 (Round 32 of 36) Series: NASCAR Cup Series Location: Charlotte (N.C.) Motor SpeedwayRoval (2.28-mile, 17-turn road course) Format: 109 laps, broken into three stages (25 laps/25 laps/59 laps) Start/Finish: 22nd / 22nd (Running, completed 109 of 109 laps) Point Standing: 23rd with 590 points Race Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) Stage 1 Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-25):
● Chase Briscoe started 22nd and finished 12th.
● The Ford Performance Racing School/HighPoint.com driver gained four spots on the opening lap and was 16th by lap four.
● Briscoe made a scheduled pit stop under green on lap nine for tires and a chassis adjustment to give the No. 14 more grip. When the yellow flag was shown the next lap for the competition caution, he was scored 29th.
● He restarted 18th on lap 14 and was 17th when the next caution occurred on lap 21. He pitted again for tires, fuel and another adjustment to help with forward drive and resarted 17th on lap 23.
● When the stage ended on lap 25, Briscoe was scored 12th.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 26-50):
● Briscoe started 28th and finished 26th.
● Under caution, Briscoe reported the No. 14 Ford Mustang shut off when exiting the bus stop on the backstretch. Crew chief Johnny Klausmeier called him to pit road for tires and fuel. He restarted 28th for the second stage.
● Briscoe was making his way forward, but contact from the No. 47 in turn 17 sent his Ford Performance Racing School/HighPoint.com Mustang spinning. He made it to pit road for fresh tires and a track bar adjustment before the lap-36 restart.
● The Cup Series rookie drove from 31st to 25th on the first lap back green. He re-entered the top-20 on lap 41.
● Briscoe made a scheduled green-flag pit stop from 18th on lap 48 for tires, fuel and adjustments. He radioed prior to the stop that the No. 14 had become too tight. He rejoined the field in the 26th position and held there until the end of the stage.
Final Recap (Laps 51-109):
● Briscoe started 12th and finished 22nd.
● After starting the final stage in 12th, Briscoe entered the top-10 on lap 61.
● He began to lose ground as cars with newer tires caught up and was 21st before reporting that he needed more forward drive and front turn on lap 71.
● On lap 76, Briscoe made a scheduled stop under green for tires and an adjustment to help with left-hand turns. He was scored 28th after the visit to pit road.
● The Ford Performance Racing School/HighPoint.com driver battled a tight-handling Ford Mustang while running 28th before a caution with 11 laps remaining gave the team one last chance to make adjustments.
● With fresh tires, Briscoe restarted 29th with seven laps to go and took the checkered flag in the 22nd position on lap 109.
Notes:
● Briscoe was the highest finishing NASCAR Cup Series rookie for the 27th time this season.
● Kyle Larson won the Bank of America Roval 400 to score his 13th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his series-leading seventh of the season and his first on the Roval. His margin over second-place Tyler Reddick was .782 of a second.
● There were nine caution periods for a total of 18 laps.
● Thirty-one of the 39 drivers in the Bank of America Roval 400 finished on the lead lap.
Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Ford Performance Racing School/HighPoint.com Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“Our handling was so off today, and the team continued to make adjustments on it but it just wasn’t stable enough to outbrake guys and make up any ground. We finally got to a place where it was much better in the last 20 laps or so, but we’ll have to go back and look at what we can do to start off in a better place in the future.”
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 on Sunday, Oct. 17, at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. It is the seventh race of the 10-race playoffs and the first race in the Round of 8. It starts at 2 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Almirola Finishes 24th at Charlotte Roval Ford Warriors in Pink Driver Faces Handling Issues at Last Road Course of 2021
Date: Oct. 10, 2021 Event: Bank of America Roval 400 (Round 32 of 36) Series: NASCAR Cup Series Location: Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval (2.28-mile, 17-turn road course) Format: 109 laps, broken into three stages (25 laps/25 laps/59 laps) Start/Finish: 21st / 24th (Running, completed 109 of 109 laps) Point Standing: 15th with 2,117 points Race Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) Stage 1 Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-25):
● Aric Almirola started 21st and finished 16th.
● Almirola was running smoothly until he was contacted and spun by the No. 17 car on lap six.
● The No. 10 team pitted on lap nine right before the competition caution for four tires and a chassis adjustment.
● Almirola said his car was turning good but struggling in the braking zones.
● He pitted again during the competition caution for fuel, a tape adjustment and damage repair.
● Almirola pitted during a caution on lap 20 for four tires, fuel and more adjustments.
● The Ford Warriors in Pink driver restarted 22nd and opted not to pit at the end of the stage.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 26-50):
● Almirola started ninth and finished 30th.
● The caution was thrown on lap 34, with Almirola still inside the top-10. He said his car still needed help in the braking zones.
● He restarted 10th and raced inside the top-15 until lap 45.
● The No. 10 Ford driver pitted for four tires, fuel and adjustments under green on lap 47.
● Almirola stayed out at the end of the stage. He continued to radio handling issues in the braking zones.
Final Stage Recap (Laps 51-109):
● Almirola started 15th and finished 24th.
● The No. 10 Ford driver gained one position before the caution was thrown on lap 55.
● Almirola fell to 24th and pitted under green on lap 76 for four tires and fuel.
● Almirola pitted for four tires, fuel and adjustments during a lap-87 caution period.
● Another caution was called on lap 92. Almirola came to the pits after radioing extreme loose-handling conditions due to damage.
● He pitted one more time to repair damage and restarted at the rear of the field.
● Almirola made his way back to 20th after another caution was called on lap 99.
● The No. 10 Ford Warriors in Pink driver had to battle handling and braking zone issues for the remainder of the race and finished 24th.
Notes:
● Kyle Larson won the Bank of America Roval 400 to score his 13th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his series-leading seventh of the season and his first on the Roval. His margin over second-place Tyler Reddick was .782 of a second.
● There were nine caution periods for a total of 18 laps.
● Thirty-one of the 39 drivers in the Bank of America Roval 400 finished on the lead lap.
Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Ford Warriors in Pink Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“We just didn’t have the handling in the braking zones today. It’s tough because our turn in the corners were better, but the back was so loose when trying to out-brake someone. We’ll learn from it and move on. Looking forward to Texas next weekend. We almost won and had a good run this year in the All-Star race.”
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 on Sunday, Oct. 17, at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. It is the seventh race of the 10-race playoffs and the first race in the Round of 8. It starts at 2 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Custer Rallies for 18th at Charlotte Roval Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com Ford Driver Overcomes Spin To Earn 14th Top-20 Finish of Season
Date: Oct. 10, 2021 Event: Bank of America Roval 400 (Round 32 of 36) Series: NASCAR Cup Series Location: Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval (2.28-mile, 17-turn road course) Format: 109 laps, broken into three stages (25 laps/25 laps/59 laps) Start/Finish: 23rd / 18th (Running, completed 109 of 109 laps) Point Standing: 28th with 496 points Race Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) Stage 1 Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-25):
● Cole Custer started 23rd and finished 19th.
● The No. 41 Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com Ford driver reported early in the run that he needed more rear grip in his Ford Mustang.
● Crew chief Mike Shiplett made the call to bring his 23-year-old driver down pit road for four tires, fuel and a track-bar adjustment to combat his loose-handling racecar.
● When the competition caution came out on lap 10, Custer was able to stay out while the leaders came down pit road. He restarted 21st when the race went back green on lap 13.
● Custer continued to report that he needed more rear grip and drive off in his Ford Mustang. The team pitted under caution on lap 20 for another four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment. Custer restarted 21st on lap 22.
● The No. 41 Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com Ford driver worked his way up to finish 19th in the stage. During the break, Custer reported that the adjustments made by the team so far were great, but they still needed to work on his Ford Mustang throughout the race. The No. 41 Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com team opted to stay out and restart 12th.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 26-50):
● Custer started 12th and finished 31st.
● The Ladera Ranch, California, native jumped into the top-10 on the lap-29 restart and ran there until the caution came out on lap 33. During the yellow flag, Custer reported that the rear grip had gotten better but he still needed a little more help. The team kept him out, as the caution didn’t fall in their pit window, and he restarted seventh.
● Custer continued to run in the top-15 until contact with the No. 10 Ford Mustang of Aric Almirola on lap 44 caused Custer to spin going into turn one. With minimum damage, the No. 41 Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang got back up to speed and pitted on lap 46 for four fresh tires, fuel, an air-pressure adjustment and another track-bar adjustment.
● Custer reported that he needed more drive off and that long runs were a weak point. He finished Stage 2 in 31st and stayed out during the stage break to restart 16th.
Final Stage Recap (Laps 51-109):
● Custer started 16th and finished 18th.
● The No. 41 Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com Ford driver was running 17th when contact with the No. 9 car of Chase Elliott sent his Ford Mustang for a spin on lap 56, causing him to fall back to 32nd. He pitted under caution on lap 57 to fix the damage, put on a set of four fresh tires and fill up on fuel. Custer rejoined the field 31st, but on the lead lap.
● After working his way up to 26th, Custer reported that he thought he had a tire rub when going through the infield portion of the road course. The team assured him that he was fine and to keep going.
● Custer reported on lap 70 that his No. 41 Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang had no front turn and needed more rear drive on the long runs.
● He had worked his way up to 22nd before green-flag pit stops began on lap 75. He pitted from 14th a lap later for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment to combat a loose racecar.
● Custer worked his way up to 23rd before the caution came back out on lap 86. He reported that the car was the best it had been all day. The No. 41 team brought its driver down pit road for another four tires, fuel and a slight adjustment.
● Custer worked his way up to 18th in the laps that followed. He ran there until the final caution on lap 99.
● When the race restarted on lap 101, Custer was 15th. While struggling with a tight racecar on the short runs, he fell back to 18th, where he finished the race to earn his 14th top-20 of the 2021 season.
Notes:
● Kyle Larson won the Bank of America Roval 400 to score his 13th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his seventh of the season and his first on the Roval. His margin over second-place Tyler Reddick was .782 of a second.
● There were nine caution periods for a total of 18 laps.
● Thirty-one of the 39 drivers in the Bank of America Roval 400 finished on the lead lap.
Cole Custer, driver of the No. 41 Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.comFord Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“That was a rough one for us. We got caught up in two incidents on the track, but I’m proud of the No. 41 Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com team for never giving up and continuing to work to get our car better. The lap times we were putting down were fast, but we were just stuck in the back of the pack, where it’s harder to pass. We’ll take what we learned and head to Texas.”
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 on Sunday, Oct. 17, at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. It is the seventh race of the 10-race playoffs and the first race in the Round of 8. It starts at 2 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE Team Show Road Course Racing Prowess at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL
Finish: 15th Start: 14th Points: 17th
“It felt good to run in the top-five in our No. 3 Whelen Chevrolet today at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL. I just wish we could have finished up there at the end. Track position was so important, and crew chief Justin Alexander made great calls all day to keep us out front. We ran solidly in the top-five, and as high as second, throughout Stage 2 and for most of Stage 3. Unfortunately, the cautions didn’t fall our way. At the end of the race, we couldn’t turn in a lot of places where we needed to be able to turn. Still, I’m proud of this RCR team and our overall road course performance this year. We’ve improved so much as a team and have been able to put together solid road course performances all year. We’re headed to Texas Motor Speedway next, and we’re going to try our hardest to find Victory Lane.” -Austin Dillon
Spirited Battle By Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 Lenovo Chevrolet Team Results in Second-Place Finish at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL
Finish: 2nd Start: 29th Points: 12th
“The Richard Childress Racing team prepared one heck of a Lenovo Chevrolet for the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL today. We had a ton of speed right from the start of Stage 1 and quickly climbed forward from our 29th-place starting spot. We made an unscheduled pit stop early in the race, and once again were able to race our way back towards the front quickly. That shows just how fast of a car Randall Burnett and everyone at RCR and ECR built. Our Chevy had a lot of grip and a lot of power. We stuck to the track pretty good for the most part. Late in Stage 3 I got into the 24, and I just hate that it happened. It’s not something I meant to do. I’m proud we fought to a second-place finish. I wish we could’ve finished one position better, but we’ll keep fighting. It meant a lot today to drive a pink Lenovo Chevrolet for breast cancer awareness, so thank you to Lenovo for keeping survivors in mind.” -Tyler Reddick
Porsche customer racing team makes gains in GT3 and GT4 championships
ALTON, Vir., (October 10, 2021) – Wright Motorsports had a successful visit to VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) over the weekend, driving the pair of No. 16 Porsche race cars to strong finishes in each respective series and gaining valuable ground with one race weekend remaining in the 2021 season. The team gained one spot on Saturday in the 2021 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD class point standings following a fourth-place finish in the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR with Trent Hindman and Patrick Long. In Michelin Pilot Challenge, the team drove to victory with Ryan Hardwick and Jan Heylen, jumping to second-place the point standings.
“What a weekend,” said Team Owner John Wright. “We knew VIR would deliver some great racing, and we put up some strong fights to make sure we came out ahead, battling for every championship point. Our GT3 and GT4 programs made some great strides this weekend in the points, and we’re all looking forward to getting to Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta to give these championships one final push!”
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship An off-track excursion in qualifying potentially led to splitter damage, and the No. 16 Porsche 911GT3 R was disqualified for improper ride height. The penalty moved Trent Hindman to start from the 14th position in the GTD class instead of his original third-place qualifying position. At the drop of the green flag, Hindman charged forward, passing four cars in the first ten minutes to break into the top ten. Racing behind the No. 9 Pfaff Porsche, the pair moved their way up through the field, with Hindman closing the gap between the two with every lap. The battle for position went four-wide as Hindman and the Porsche came up on the No. 14 Lexus and No. 66 Acura, who were racing side by side. As the Lexus and Acura traded paint, the Pfaff Porsche went left and alongside the pair with Hindman close on its bumper. The pair made it through, gaining more track position in the opening stint. As Hindman pushed from fifth position, a lapped car exiting pit lane made contact with the Wright Porsche, sending Hindman off in turn one. He recovered and pitted in the next lap, allowing the team to inspect the car and give the driver from New Jersey the next round of service before rejoining.
He re-entered the race in ninth, determined to gain back the ground previously lost. He acquired two more positions before closing out his stint, giving the 1st Phorm Porsche 911 GT3 R to Patrick Long under full-course caution. He restarted from ninth, digging in to make the most of the final laps. He pitted for a quick splash of fuel to get the car to the finish, gaining some ground in pit lane over the competition. With 20 minutes to go, the Wright Motorsports Porsche had climbed up to fourth-place, reeling in Bryan Sellers in the No. 1 Lamborghini. In the final 15-minutes, the race-leading BMW had contact with a GTLM Corvette, sending the car spinning and eventually limping back to pit lane. With two laps to go, the No. 14 Lexus of Jack Hawksworth sat behind Long, attempting to find a place to pass before the checker flag. Long held the position, but interference from a GTLM car opened the door for the Lexus, passing the Porsche in the final lap. Wright finished in fourth-place, gaining a spot on the GTD driver and team championship standings. They are currently placed third with one race remaining.
Championships will be determined after ten hours of racing at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta’s Petit Le Mans, November 10-13. Wright Motorsports will enter the event with a three-driver lineup to be announced at a later date.
Driver Quotes | No. 16 Porsche 911 GT3 R
Patrick Long That was an extreme high and low sporting event. There was a great execution of strategy and pit stops by the Wright Motorsports team with a really tough starting scenario. There was a lot of traffic for Trent and myself. Two key events cost us a top-two finish today. First, getting taken out by a lap-down car coming out of the pits early in the race. We fought back and made it up to a podium position and on the last lap, unfortunately, as a GTLM car was coming through, opened the door to the car behind us and we got run over and had to settle in a battle to even hold onto fourth place. I am proud of the team but frustrated with the result. You can only control what is in your control.
Trent Hindman Once again this was one that got away from us, and it was completely out of our control. We had a great qualifying but unfortunately got moved to the back. That didn’t seem to affect us much. The car was super good in traffic, and we were able to move our way forward in the first stint. At the very end of the first stint, we had contact that set us back down the order. It was a big fight to move back forward from then on. A big thanks to the Wright team, 1st Phorm, Mountain Motorsports, obviously Ryan Hardwick for making everything happen, and Pat for his excellent drive. It stings a little bit because we have all the speed in the world, and we have the potential, but we just aren’t getting it done. I feel for the whole team. Michelin Pilot Challenge Feeling good after two strong practice sessions, the team of the No. 16 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport had high hopes for Sunday morning’s qualifying session. Ryan Hardwick was sitting in sixth-place, working on a flying lap when a competitor’s crash brought out a red flag, dashing all hopes of bettering his starting position. Still confident, the team rallied for the afternoon’s green flag for the Virginia is for Racing Lovers Grand Prix. Hardwick slid into seventh on the start, getting held up for the first half of his stint by a slower McLaren. As soon as he made the pass for sixth-place, he pulled away, eager to regain any lost ground by the end of his stint. With one hour, 17 minutes remaining, The No. 16 Porsche pitted for fuel, tires, and a driver change to Jan Heylen. Heylen rejoined in seventh, with two cars ahead who had yet to pit. A crash brought out a full-course caution, and the team made the call to have the Porsche pit for a quick splash of fuel with one hour to go.
With only a small selection of teams following suit while under caution, the name of the game for Wright Motorsports became fuel saving. Heylen restarted from eighth with 51 minutes remaining, making his way up to fifth before the next full course yellow. With every lap, the team’s radio was in constant communication, with Heylen reporting his latest fuel consumption numbers and the pit box telling him what his goals should be. Two more cars pitted under caution, moving Heylen up to third place behind Stevan McAleer and Tyler McQuarrie. Never content with a podium when more is possible, with the waving of the green flag, Heylen made a smooth pass on McQuarrie and immediately put pressure on McAleer, who was potentially short on fuel. The team’s main championship contender, the BMW of Bill Auberlen fell back early in the race, but was able to gain lost ground, joining the fight for the top-three positions. Heylen made the pass on McAleer for the lead, and ran to the checker flag, securing the team’s second Michelin Pilot Challenge victory in two races (the first coming at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca). With the BMW finishing fourth, Wright Motorsports eliminated 60 of the 80 point gap that separated the team from the GS class championship leaders. However, following the post-race technical inspection, the second-place car received a penalty, returning 20 points back to the BMW who was moved to the runner-up spot.
At the season finale at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, Wright Motorsports will need to secure victory or finish two spots ahead of the BMW in order to clinch the 2021 team and driver championships. The Fox Factory 120, a two-hour sprint race to the championship title, will take place Friday, November 12 at 1:00PM Eastern, airing live on NBC Sports Gold’s TRACKPASS app.
Driver Quotes | Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport
Ryan Hardwick You could never ask for more than to be able to come down to the final race and be competing with another great team for the championship. Nothing else has to come into play: the championship will come down to whichever team crosses the finish line first. There’s a ten-point difference with the Turner car in the lead. We don’t need any more cars between us, it’s just whichever car crosses the line at Road Atlanta will win. That’s an awesome position for both of us to be in. We’ve enjoyed racing against them, and I’m sure the feeling is mutual. This is my first year racing in this class, and all year, the racing has been so tight and so fun. There’s so much strategy involved and it’s cool to be in this position. With Road Atlanta being my home track, I’m pretty excited to close out the season in my backyard. The Porsche really came to us in the end, and I’m so glad we were able to celebrate back-to-back wins with the No. 16 1st Phorm Porsche.
Jan Heylen The pass for the lead was all about understanding the situation around us as far as fuel strategy, and which strategy each car was on. The key was to be patient. I didn’t think at the start of the stint that we had the pace to be up front, but then I went into fuel and tire save mode, and very quickly after that I could feel that we got stronger than the cars around us. From there, I tried to set up Stevan McAleer and fake a few passes. When I felt it was the right time, it was easy to get by him. It was a super fun race. I loved every minute of it. There was an amazing strategy by the team. We could never have made it without the call the Wright team made early on. Good job to the team and Ryan Hardwick for driving an excellent stint. I was nervous about the fuel, even though the team was telling me: ‘we’re good’. There was no need to risk everything to try to make a big gap, so I just continued to save to make it to the end. The Porsche had really good speed today, and it took us right there to the end to celebrate in victory circle. PORSCHE CARRERA CUP NORTH AMERICA Presented by The Cayman Islands The trio of Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race cars gained ample track time in various conditions at VIRginia International Raceway, dealing with vast amounts of traffic in both of the 45-minute races. While the congestion on track limited the progress of the three Wright Porsches in Race One, Max Root, John Goetz, and Hutton McKenna were able to set fast laps to better their starting positions for Race Two. Though Goetz and McKenna fought for track position and made gains in the second race of the weekend, Max Root closed out the weekend leading the team pack, with a fourth-place finish.
The Porsche Carrera Cup North America presented by the Cayman Islands checkers the 2021 season at Road Atlanta on Petit Le Mans weekend, finishing the year with a triple header, November 10-12.
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1st Phorm 1st Phorm is a sports nutrition company based in St. Louis, MO. In 2009, CEO Andy Frisella and his business partner Chris Klein started the brand, and since then, it has become the fastest growing supplement company in the world. 1st Phorm has set the standards in the industry for quality and helping people reach their goals. This new racing partnership is not their first time in the exotic car scene either. 1st Phorm has been the title sponsor for the Gold Rush Rally for six years running. With over a million followers across social media, 1st Phorm has amassed a huge cult-like following known as, “The Legion of Boom.” They stand for a movement in the fitness world. To turn it back to what it was meant to be. Helping others improve their lives, to be a good human… and to drop the excuses and do the work. 1st Phorm is a winning brand and they don’t expect anything less when it comes to their race team. For additional info: www.1stphorm.com
Mountain Motorsports Mountain Motorsports is a group of motorcycle and powersports dealerships with multiple locations in the southeastern United States. The company was founded by lifelong friends Ryan Hardwick and Justin Price when they opened their first location as a single-line Honda dealership in Sevierville, Tennessee in 1999. The company has since grown into one of the largest retailers of motorcycle and powersports vehicles in the nation, spanning nine dealership locations representing eleven of the industry’s most well-known brands. For additional info: www.mountainmotorsports.com
Una Vida Tequila Una Vida translates to One Life. That is how this brand started. By people who want to live their “One Life” to the absolute fullest and to their highest potential. A group of guys from the Midwest who love great quality tequila, and want their One Life to have meaning and impact others.
One Life, One Tequila is our CORE BELIEF. We’re building the only tequila brand you will ever need to drink. Una Vida is bigger than just tequila we’re also building a culture of people who want to live their life to their utmost potential.
Our story begins and continues to grow bottle by bottle. It’s a life mission for us to create a community of people who all raise a glass knowing they’re living their ONE LIFE! For more information, visit unavidatequila.com
Wright Motorsports Wright Motorsports is the premier Porsche race engineering facility in Ohio and a multi-series, international racing team known for superb car preparation, expert race strategy, and driver development. Located in Batavia, Ohio, it is owned and directed by John Wright, a certified Porsche factory-trained technician. As a crew chief John Wright has played a key role in winning eight driver and seven team championships in World Challenge, IMSA (ALMS) and the Grand-Am Rolex Series. Wright Motorsports won the team championship in Porsche GT3 Cup USA in 2012, 2013 and 2015, and went on to win the Pirelli World Challenge Overall, Sprint, Team and Manufacturer’s titles in 2017. In 2020, the team captured the GT World Challenge America Am championship.For more information, visit wrightmotorsports.com For more information, visit wrightmotorsports.com.
DENNY HAMLIN, KYLE BUSCH AND MARTIN TRUEX JR. ADVANCE IN CUP SERIES PLAYOFFS Busch led the way for Toyota with a fourth-place finish with teammate Hamlin in fifth
CHARLOTTE (October 10, 2021) – Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. will all advance in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs to the Round of 8. Kyle Busch (fourth) led the way for Team Toyota at The Charlotte Roval with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin in fifth. The Round of 8 will start next Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.
Toyota Post-Race Recap NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course Race 32 of 36 – 109 laps, 252.88 miles
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS 1st, Kyle Larson* 2nd, Tyler Reddick* 3rd, Chris Buescher* 4th, KYLE BUSCH 5th, DENNY HAMLIN 8th, CHRISTOPHER BELL 14th, BUBBA WALLACE 29th, MARTIN TRUEX JR. *non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
What does it mean to have a day that isn’t a horrible day at the Roval?
“We’ve run fair before here. Put the 9 (Chase Elliott) back in there and we’re fifth. Overall good day for the M&M’s Camry. We came here with a plan and we tried to execute it as best we could. We’re just okay, I wouldn’t call us stellar. We did lead that stage and get a point there so that was good. It was hard to pass and really hard to make up ground. Once everybody got spread out, everyone runs really equal. Not a lot of gain throughout the run it seemed.”
How confident do you feel going into the Round of 8 with Texas and Kansas being tracks you’ve won at in recent years?
“We won both of them within the last year so I feel like that’s a good omen for us. The mile-and-a-half programs have been really strong for us. We did not run so well at Texas with the All-Star race, but that was different, just everything. Have to keep ourselves up front and hopefully we get to start up front so that should be a pretty good starting spot for us. Looking forward to next week.”
What are your thoughts on today’s race?
“We got everything we could out of it today. If you were out front you could kind of set sail and get gone there, which is what we did in stage two. But it seemed like everyone was pretty equal in traffic. Once everyone got single-filed out, there really wasn’t anyone out there killing the field. I guess that’s prettu equal racing. Overall, pretty good day for our M&M’s Camry. Came here with a plan and we were able to execute that. We’ll go see what happens next week.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
How was your day and how do you feel about your team overall?
“I feel like we had a good day, just made a few mistakes with missing the chicane and speeding on pit road, but came back from that. Just kind of was in between trying to decide if we should pit or not and who knows, I’m not sure we had enough speed to beat the 5 (Kyle Larson) out right. We held those guys off as long as we could on the older tires. Just fell back to fifth.”
How do you feel about the reset to the Round of 8?
“We’re always ready, we always prepare to win every week. Not much changes, but I’m really excited about the way we’re running.”
Did you feel like a pinball on the final restart?
“We were just on older tires there. We chose to stay out and we went long on the previous green flag sequence. We were kind of between numbers there on if we were going to pit or stay out. We chose to stay out and take the track position to make them pass us and they passed us. Overall, a pretty good day for our FedEx Office Camry. We just didn’t have quite enough at the end.”
How do you feel about the tracks coming up in the Round of 8?
“Certainly I felt this round was statistically one of the toughest, but overall our mile-and-a-half program is very good and our short track program has been the best for us this year. We’ll see, you just never know. This thing is a three-race season. What we did for the first 32 races or whatever just doesn’t matter.”
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Irwin Trade Strong Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 8th
What were you missing to be able to compete for the win today?
“Two words, rear grip. I don’t know we just couldn’t quite hit it. We were struggled and I made a lot of mistakes driving too, but ultimately we weren’t fast enough to go up there and compete for the win. Came away with an eighth place finish, which is a lot better than it was looking like we were going to have today.”
How difficult is it to be eliminated from the Playoffs?
“It’s fine, but you have to be great every time you come to the race track. We have a lot of stuff we can clean up and our potential is a lot better that what we’re performing at right now. I have high hopes moving on in my NASCAR career and hopefully I get more opportunities at that.”
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 29th
What happened when you came to pit road on the final caution and then the contact with the 52 car?
“We had to pit for a tire run so we got in the back. I was following the 2 (Brad Keselowski) car back through traffic and they were two wide going into the backstretch chicane. They were two-wide and two-wide and there were four cars in front of me and all I could do was slow down and let them figure it out and go. We got in there and he (52 car) just drove into the back of me. I don’t know if he was out of brakes and missed the corner and didn’t expect us. I don’t know. His car was completely destroyed and he was running last all day and he completely ran me over with three of four laps to go. It was crazy, I can’t even believe it happened, but we’re through so it is what it is.”
How do you feel going into the Round of 8?
“Feel good. So hard to tell anymore. The 550 package, you just never know. You could be the best car all day long and finish 15th or 20th. Hard to say. We’ve done good there before at both of them. Won races at Kansas and Martinsville in our Bass Pro Shops Camry. Just go do what we can and figure it out.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 38 million cars and trucks in North America, where we have 14 manufacturing plants, 15 including our joint venture in Alabama (10 in the U.S.), and directly employ more than 47,000 people (over 36,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold 2.8 million cars and trucks (2.4 million in the U.S.) in 2018.
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 ToyotaNewsroom.com
