Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M’S Toyota Camry
Race Recap for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race

Date: Sept. 18, 2021
Event: Bass Pro Shops Night Race (Round 29 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (.533-mile oval)
Format: 500 laps, broken into three stages (125 laps/125 laps/250 laps)
Start/Finish: 9th/21st (Running, completed 499 of 500 laps)
Point Standing: 5th with 3,022 points (Advances to the Round of 12)
Race Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-125):

● Kyle Busch started ninth and finished seventh, earning four bonus points.
● The M&M’S driver started ninth and moved up to eighth by the lap-40 competition yellow. He told crew chief Ben Beshore his racecar was tight from the center through the exit of the corner.
● Busch moved up to seventh by lap 100 and brought home his M&M’S Toyota in that spot to end the first stage, earning valuable points in his quest to move to the next round of the playoffs.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 126-250):

● Busch started eighth and finished 10th, earning one bonus point.
● The two-time Cup Series champion came to pit road on lap 130, where Beshore used air pressure and wedge adjustments in an attempt to loosen up Busch’s tight racecar.
● Busch moved up to sixth by lap 170, and the No. 18 team decided to stay out under the next caution. He restarted fourth with 18 laps to go in Stage 2.
● However, Busch could not hold off several cars behind him on fresh tires. He brought home a 10th-place finish in Stage 2.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 251-500):

● Busch started 15th and finished 21st.
● The M&M’S driver came to pit road following the stage on lap 253. Beshore again made significant adjustments to the No. 18 Toyota in hopes of helping the racecar’s tight condition and lack of overall grip.
● Busch moved up into the top-10 by lap 320.
● The Las Vegas native pitted under caution and off sequence from many of the leaders on lap 391 and then restarted 11th.
● Busch made quick work of the drivers ahead of him on older tires, as he moved all the way up to fourth by lap 411.
● The M&M’s driver fell to sixth by lap 450 but looked like he would end the race with a 22-point cushion above the playoff cutoff.
● Busch’s fortunes took a turn for the worse on lap 455 when his right-front tire went down, necessitating a green-flag pit stop.
● When Busch exited the pits, he was two laps down in 25th and only one point above the top-12 cutline. Not to be outdone, Busch went back to work and gained several spots. Eventually he was able to add enough cushion to make it into the Round of 12.

Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’S Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing:

“Just lack of speed really with our M&M’S Camry. We just weren’t very good at being able to make up time on the leaders there. Was only going to be about fifth there. We fought hard there all day long and had a flat there at the end and got way behind. I guess we made it (into the Round of 12), so that’s all that matters. We’ll go to Vegas with a clean slate and get back after it again.”

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the South Point 400 on Sunday, Sept. 26, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It is the fourth race of the 10-race playoffs and the first race in the Round of 12. It starts at 7 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBCSN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

A Bittersweet Second for Harvick at Bristol
Driver of No. 4 Subway Delivery Ford Mustang Leads 71 Laps;
Advances to Round of 12 for Eighth Straight Time

Date: Sept. 18, 2021
Event: Bass Pro Shops Night Race (Round 29 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (.533-mile, concrete oval)
Format: 500 laps, broken into three stages (125 laps/125 laps/250 laps)
Start/Finish: 8th / 2nd (Running, completed 500 of 500 laps)
Point Standing: 5th (2,123 points, 48 points ahead of top-12 cutoff… advances to Round of 12)
Race Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-125):

● Kevin Harvick started eighth and finished sixth, earning five bonus points.
● By the time the competition caution flag waved on lap 40, Harvick had his No. 4 Subway Delivery Ford Mustang comfortably in fifth.
● “Need a little rear grip all the way through the corner,” said Harvick during the competition caution.
● Pitted for four tires and fuel on lap 44 during the caution. Crew chief Rodney Childers elected not to make any changes as history told him the car would tighten up as the race wore on.
● Harvick settled into sixth place for the remainder of the stage.
● “Loose on entry and exit,” said Harvick at the end of the stage, “but I slide through the middle of the corner. I can’t roll it like I need to.”
● Pitted at the conclusion of the stage for four tires and fuel with a track bar adjustment.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 126-250):

● Harvick started fifth and finished sixth, earning five bonus points.
● “Still need to roll through the center and still need rear grip,” said Harvick while running fifth during a caution on lap 167.
● Pitted for four tires and fuel with tire pressure adjustments during the caution period on lap 172.
● Lined up third for lap-182 restart, but Ryan Blaney took over third on lap 189, sending Harvick to fourth.
● Harvick took third place back from Blaney on lap 215 and then set his sights on second-place Denny Hamlin.
● “It feels pretty good right there,” said Harvick during a caution period on lap 219.
● Pitted for four tires and fuel while under caution on lap 226, but eight other cars stayed out.
● Lined up ninth for lap-233 restart and climbed to sixth by the end of the stage.
● “My car was loose,” said Harvick after the stage concluded.
● Since Harvick pitted on lap 226, Childers opted to keep Harvick on the racetrack following the stage.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 251-500):

● Harvick started first and finished second.
● The No. 4 Subway Delivery Ford Mustang paced the field for 10 laps before Blaney took the top spot.
● After staying in Blaney’s tire tracks, Harvick re-took the lead on lap 308.
● By lap 332, Kyle Larson was challenging Harvick for the lead, and he finally got the spot from Harvick on lap 337.
● During a caution on lap 364, Harvick said, “Struggling in the middle – tight both corners. Can’t put the throttle down like I need to.”
● Pitted for four tires and fuel with a right-rear wedge adjustment on lap 365.
● Lined up third for lap-371 restart and held that positon until lap 400 when second-place Denny Hamlin hit the wall, bringing out the caution and elevating Harvick to second.
● Chase Elliott grabbed second on lap-408 restart, displacing Harvick to third.
● Harvick got by Larson for second on lap 434 while Elliott led.
● Harvick and Elliott battled for the lead amid lapped traffic and, on lap 465, Harvick emerged the leader after slight contact with Elliott, who ended up with a punctured a left-front tire and had to pit.
● Harvick led until lap 497 when Larson overtook him for the lead. Prior to that, Harvick was slowed by the now lapped car of Elliott, who despite being three laps down, was running competitive lap times with the leaders because he had fresh tires.
● Larson held the top spot for the final four laps and held off Harvick, crossing the stripe .227 of a second ahead of the No. 4 Subway Delivery Ford Mustang.

Notes:

● Harvick’s second-place finish tied his best result so far this season. He finished second May 2 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City.
● This was Harvick’s second straight top-two at Bristol. He won the series’ prior race on the concrete last August.
● Harvick earned his eighth top-five and 19th top-10 of the season, and his series-leading 14th top-five and 21st top-10 in 41 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Bristol.
● This was Harvick’s third straight top-10. He finished fifth Sept. 4 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway and eighth in the series’ prior race at Richmond (Va.) Raceway.
● This was Harvick’s ninth straight top-15, a streak that began July 11 with an 11th-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
● Harvick led three times for 71 laps, increasing his laps led total at Bristol to 1,209.
● Harvick has now led 11,339 laps since joining SHR in 2014. He has led 15,765 laps in his entire NASCAR Cup Series career.
● Harvick has now advanced out of the Round of 16 in all eight editions of the current playoff format. Coming into this season, he had advanced all the way to the Round of 8 since 2014, and five times he’s competed in the Championship 4, winning the NASCAR Cup Series title in 2014.
● In winning the Bass Pro Shops Night Race, Larson scored his 12th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his series-leading sixth of the season and his first at Bristol.
● There were eight caution periods for a total of 71 laps.
● Only 19 of the 38 drivers in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race finished on the lead lap.

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Subway Delivery Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“I told him (Elliott) it was kind of a chicken-$#!& move that he did there at the end. We’re racing for the frickin’ win at Bristol. We’re three-wide in the middle and he throws a temper tantrum, like I was just trying to get the lead and race him hard. Then he pulls up in front of me and just sits there until I lose the whole lead, so I just hate it for our Subway Ford Mustang team to be able to lose a race like that. I watched him let the 24 (teammate William Byron) go by and then anytime you run into him it’s a problem. They can boo all they want. I don’t care. I lost so much there and then when I got behind the car I kept getting tight off the corner and I couldn’t run my line. I’m ready to rip somebody’s freaking head off.”

Playoff Standings (to begin Round of 12):

1. Kyle Larson (3,059 points)
2. Martin Truex Jr. (3,029 points) -30
3. Ryan Blaney (3,024 points) -35
4. Denny Hamlin (3,024 points) -35
5. Kyle Busch (3,022 points) -37
6. Chase Elliott (3,021 points) -38
7. Alex Bowman (3,015 points) -44
8. William Byron (3,014 points) -45
9. Joey Logano (3,013 points) -46
10. Brad Keselowski (3,008 points) -51
11. Christopher Bell (3,005 points) -54
12. Kevin Harvick (3,002 points) -57

Failed to Advance to Round of 12:

13. Aric Almirola (2,075 points)
14. Tyler Reddick (2,075 points)
15. Kurt Busch (2,071 points)
16. Michael McDowell (2,028 points)

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the South Point 400 on Sunday, Sept. 26 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It is the fourth race of the 10-race playoffs and the first race in the Round of 12. It starts at 7 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBCSN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet Team Navigate Twists and Turns En Route to Top-15 Finish at Bristol Motor Speedway

Finish: 15th
Start: 18th
Points: 17th

“Good job by everyone tonight on this Richard Childress Racing team. We fell behind a little in the middle of the race and went a lap down, but Justin (Alexander) came through clutch with a strategy call to get us back on the lead lap. After that, we were able to climb back into the top 15 in the final stage. We were just too tight to really make anything happen. Everyone on this Bass Pro Shops / TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet team hung in there through all of the twists and turns tonight. And now, its on to Las Vegas.” -Austin Dillon

Tyler Reddick and the Food City/Childress Vineyards Team Finish 12th at Bristol, Miss the Round of 12 by Two Points

Finish: 12th
Start: 13th
Points: 14th

“Our Food City/Childress Vineyards team came up just a little short – two points to be exact – from advancing to the Round of 12. Our Chevrolet Camaro was tight at the start, Randall (Burnett) made the handling better, then we started to adjust to keep up with the racetrack. At the end of Stage 2, after having to pit a second time to fix a lug nut issue, we were a lap down and found ourselves trying to dig out of a hole. Winners never quit though, and our team certainly didn’t tonight. We kept clawing and ended up with a 12th place finish. One day a break will come our way but until then, we will continue to learn as a group. We may not be racing for a championship now, but there is still a lot of fight left in this team and we will make the most of these final races. Unfortunately, what stings the most is that we certainly gave up more than two spots over the course of this first round. At Darlington or being stuck a lap down at Richmond, there were a number of key opportunities that would have made the difference. It stings right now, missing the second round, but we still get to race for the next seven weeks. There are some good tracks coming up for our No. 8 team, so we will make the most out of those races and look to bring home a checkered flag before Phoenix.” -Tyler Reddick

Almirola Finishes 18th at Bristol
Smithfield Ford Driver Endures Early Mechanical Issues; Misses Playoff Cutoff

Date: Sept. 18, 2021
Event: Bass Pro Shops Night Race (Round 29 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway(.533-mile, concrete oval)
Format: 500 laps, broken into three stages (125 laps/125 laps/250 laps)
Start/Finish: 12th / 18th (Running, completed 500 of 500 laps)
Point Standing: 13th with 2,075 points (two points below top-12 cutoff)
Race Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-125):

● Aric Almirola started 12th and finished 12th.
● The Smithfield Ford driver started the race with loose-handling conditions and fell to 14th place.
● Almirola pitted during the competition caution for four fresh tires, fuel and air pressure adjustments.
● He restarted 13th and fell back to 15th, but on lap 90 he started to gain momentum and drove back to 12th by lap 106.
● Almirola pitted at the end of the stage for four tires, fuel and chassis and air pressure adjustments.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 126-250):

● Almirola started 10th and finished 23rd.
● He raced his way to eighth on the restart but radioed tight-handling conditions.
● The No. 10 Smithfield Ford had smoke coming from the rear of the car right before a lap-160 caution was called.
● Almirola pitted from 10th place for four fresh tires, fuel and adjustments. The team assessed the issues and found a leak in the oil line.
● The No. 10 Ford crew swapped the oil line during the next pit stop and pitted once more to secure the hood.
● Thanks to the quick repair, Almirola started at the tail of the field and stayed on the lead lap for the remainder of the stage.
● Crew chief Mike Bugarewicz made the call to stay out of the pits to gain track position at the end of the stage.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 251-500):

● Almirola started seventh and finished 18th.
● The No. 10 Smithfield Ford driver raced to fifth on the restart.
● He held his position for 28 laps.
● Due to older tires, Almirola fell back to 10th before the caution was called on lap 364.
● Almirola pitted for four fresh tires and fuel during that caution and restarted eighth.
● He fell back to 13th before another caution was called on lap 388.
● Almirola stayed out of the pits during the caution period to restart ninth, but another caution was called on lap 400.
● Almirola restarted 12th and lost four positions on the restart. The team opted to stay out of the pits again.
● Due to older tires, Almirola’s handling conditions suffered and demoted him to 18th, ultimately knocking him out of the playoffs.

Notes:

● Kyle Larson won the Bass Pro Shops Night Race to score his 12th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his series-leading sixth of the season and his first at Bristol. His margin over second-place Kevin Harvick was .227 of a second.● There were eight caution periods for a total of 71 laps.
● Only 19 of the 38 drivers in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race finished on the lead lap.

Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“I’m disappointed to have it end like that just because we had battled so much adversity throughout the night and got ourselves in position to where we were running top-10 and doing what we needed to do. And then that caution came out there at the end where we had 18 laps on our tires, and we stayed out. For whatever reason, when we refired on those tires the car was up on top of the racetrack and wouldn’t turn. I didn’t have any side bite and just struggled. Hats off to our Smithfield team for fixing those mechanical issues early in the race and keeping us in contention. That’s not the way we wanted it to end, but we’ll keep going and battle it out the rest of the year and see if we can’t finish inside the top-10 in points.”

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the South Point 400 on Sunday, Sept. 26, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It is the fourth race of the 10-race playoffs and the first race in the Round of 12. It starts at 7 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBCSN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Briscoe Finishes 13th at Bristol
Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Driver Earns Eighth Top-15

Date: Sept. 18, 2021
Event: Bass Pro Shops Night Race (Round 29 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (.533-mile, concrete oval)
Format: 500 laps, broken into three stages (125 laps/125 laps/250 laps)
Start/Finish: 20th / 13th (Running, completed 500 of 500 laps)
Point Standing: 23rd (529 points)
Race Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-125):

● Chase Briscoe started 20th and finished 17th.
● The Rush Truck Centers/Cummins driver gained three spots on the initial green flag and was sitting 15th when the yellow flag was displayed for the competition caution on lap 40. He asked for a slight air pressure adjustment to help with being loose on entry to the corner. He restarted 15th on lap 49.
● Briscoe radioed to the crew on lap 54 that he was too tight following the air pressure adjustments, but he lost only two positions to finish 17th in the first stage.
● At the break, he pitted for fresh tires and a chassis adjustment.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 126-250):

● Briscoe started 17th and finished 20th.
● Briscoe began the second stage in 17th and was running in the same position when a caution occurred on lap 169. The rookie driver pitted for tires on lap 171 but was happy with the handling of his No. 14 Ford Mustang and asked for no adjustments. He restarted 17th on lap 182.
● The Rush Truck Centers/Cummins driver was running 19th when caution was displayed on lap 221 for a multicar accident resulting in a nearly eight-minute red flag delay. Once cars were refired, Briscoe pitted for a chassis adjustment and restarted 24th for the final 17 laps of the stage.
● Briscoe advanced to the 20th position by the end of the stage on lap 250.

Stage 3 Recap (Laps 251-500):

● Briscoe started fifth and finished 13th.
● After staying out during the stage break, the Rush Truck Centers/Cummins team restarted fifth for the final stage. Briscoe made contact with the No. 37 on the lap-260 restart and began to quickly drop back through the field. By lap 273 he was running in the 15th position.
● On lap 305, Briscoe reported his Ford Mustang had no drove off the corner. He slipped back to 20th and went down a lap to the leader on lap 360.
● Four laps later, the sixth caution of the night occurred with Briscoe being called as the Lucky Dog and regaining his spot on the lead lap. He restarted 19th on lap 371.
● Briscoe was given one last chance to pit for adjustments under caution on lap 389 after reporting the Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Mustang was tight in the center of the turn. He restarted 15th on lap 397.
● The Cup Series rookie drove up to the 11th position on lap 467, but he lost momentum while avoiding a slower car that had made contact with the wall.
● Ultimately, Briscoe crossed the finish line in 13th.

Notes:

● Briscoe earned his eighth top-15 of the season in his first career start on the concrete at Bristol.
● Briscoe was the highest finishing NASCAR Cup Series rookie for the 25th time this season.
● Kyle Larson won the Bass Pro Shops Night Race to score his 12th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his series-leading sixth of the season and his first at Bristol. His margin over second-place Kevin Harvick was .227 of a second.
● There were eight caution periods for a total of 71 laps.
● Only 19 of the 38 drivers in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race finished on the lead lap.

Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“I’d say we had a good night overall. We were definitely working in the right direction in terms of adjustments and just doing what we needed to do to get the best finish we could. We had a really good Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford, but it would get a little tight later in the long runs, and that would hurt us a little. I’m just glad we were able to stay out of trouble and come out with a good finish.”

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the South Point 400 on Sunday, Sept. 26, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It is the fourth race of the 10-race playoffs and the first race in the Round of 12. It starts at 7 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBCSN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Custer Finishes 28th at Bristol
Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com Ford Can’t Regain Ground After Getting Caught Up in Early Incident

Date: Sept. 18, 2021
Event: Bass Pro Shops Night Race (Round 29 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway(.533-mile, concrete oval)
Format: 500 laps, broken into three stages (125 laps/125 laps/250 laps)
Start/Finish: 26th / 28th (Running, completed 494 of 500 laps)
Point Standing: 28th with 445 points
Race Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-125):

● Cole Custer started 26th and finished 25th.
● The Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com Ford driver picked up one position during the 40-lap run to the competition caution. He said his racecar had “really good” drive off the corner. He was concerned that it was “too tight” at the very start, predicting that conditions were only going to get tighter through the course of the race. He pitted for four tires, fuel and adjustments and restarted 24th when the race went back to green on lap 48.
● Custer dropped a position to 25th before the end of the stage, saying his racecar was still too tight on the restart, then saying it was still on the tight side, that “it won’t finish the corner.” He pitted during the break for four tires, fuel, an air-pressure adjustment and a spring rubber added to the right rear.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 126-250):

● Custer started 25th and finished 30th.
● The Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com Ford was holding down 25th place when, on lap 167, Custer was unable to avoid a multicar accident in front of him in turn two. He incurred front-end damage and came down pit road twice during the caution to make repairs. He restarted 35th on lap 181.
● Another multicar accident brought out the caution flag on lap 220, by which time Custer had moved up to 32nd place. The race then went red for seven minutes and 53 seconds for track cleanup. Custer pitted when the race went back to yellow for fuel and to remove a spring rubber from the left rear. He restarted 30th on lap 232.
● In the 18-lap run to the stage’s end, Custer said the most recent changes “unhooked the back too much on the restart, but then it got tighter.” He asked for more help with the car’s ability to turn over the long run, which he felt would help his forward drive. He pitted for four tires, fuel and an air-pressure adjustment during the break.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 251-500):

● Custer started 30th and finished 28th.
● The Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com Ford driver picked up a position when a spinning car in turn four brought out the caution flag on lap 364. He reported his racecar restarted better, overall, “but then got tight after about 10 laps.” He pitted for four tires, fuel and air-pressure adjustments and restarted 29th on lap 370.
● The caution flag flew once again for a single-car incident in turn three. Custer, still running 29th, said the most recent changes did not improve the car’s ability to turn. He pitted for four tires, fuel and a track-bar adjustment in the left rear, and restarted 29th on lap 396.
● Custer reported he was pleased with that restart, but it was a brief run to the next caution flag for a single-car incident in turn one on lap 400. He stayed on track and restarted 29th on lap 407.
● The Ladera Ranch, California, native picked up one position the rest of the way and took the checkered flag 28th.

Notes:

● Kyle Larson won the Bass Pro Shops Night Race to score his 12th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his sixth of the season and his first at Bristol. His margin over second-place Kevin Harvick was .227 of a second.
● There were eight caution periods for a total of 71 laps.
● Only 19 of the 38 drivers in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race finished on the lead lap.

Cole Custer, driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Demo Day Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“Man, I never thought we’d have this much bad luck in a season, but here we are. I can say I do feel good about getting the car solid at the end of the race tonight, but that getting caught up in that wreck in the second stage just set us back too far. It’s on to the next one.”

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the South Point 400 on Sunday, Sept. 26, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It is the fourth race of the 10-race playoffs and the first race in the Round of 12. It starts at 7 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBCSN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
BASS PRO SHOPS NIGHT RACE
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
SEPTEMBER 18, 2021

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 VALVOLINE CAMARO ZL1 1LE
3rd WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE
5th ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE
8th ERIK JONES, NO. 43 US AIR FORCE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN CAMARO ZL1 1LE
12th TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 FOOD CITY/CHILDRESS VINEYARDS CAMARO ZL1 1LE
14th ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 42 MOOSE FRATERNITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE
15th AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1 1LE

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Kyle Larson (Chevrolet)
2nd Kevin Harvick (Ford)
3rd William Byron (Chevrolet)
4th Ryan Blaney (Ford)
5th Alex Bowman (Chevrolet)

The NASCAR Cup Series season continues next weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the South Point 400 on Sunday, September 26, at 7 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on NBCSN, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:

KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 VALVOLINE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Race Winner
KYLE MAKES IT HAPPEN WITH A PASS ON KEVIN HARVICK. A BRISTOL WIN IS IMPORTANT TO YOU, BUT HOW DID YOU GET THAT DONE?
“Yeah, that was an awesome race. It was so cool to be able to race there for the win. Obviously Harvick and Chase got together. Chase was upset. Kind of held him up. It got Harvick having to move around and use his tires up off the bottom.”

“I started to get some dive-ins working off of two, got a big run, decided to pull the trigger, slide him, squeeze him a little bit. Then he had me jacked up down the frontstretch. It was wild.”

“But had my hands full. Thanks to Valvoline, everybody that helps on this Hendrick Motorsports car. Beautiful paint scheme. Two wins with it. Thanks to Valvoline. Thanks, Mr. H. Wish you were here. So cool.”

HOW ABOUT WINNING ONE IN FRONT OF THE BRISTOL FANS?
“I love this place. This is by far my favorite track. This is why. You guys are amazing, loud. We feel the energy while we’re out there racing. Thanks, everyone, for spending your hard-earned money to come watch us putting on a show. I look forward to the rest of the year.”

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 3rd
YOU ARE INTO THE NEXT ROUND BY 2 POINTS. YOU HAD THE PERFORMANCE YOU NEEDED TODAY, BUT WOW, TALK ABOUT THOSE CLOSING LAPS.
“Honestly, I don’t think I breathed for 100 laps. I was honestly just trying to go as hard as I could. I mean, I don’t know. I had the best seat in the house for the leaders getting together. I was just trying to make as much speed as I could. I felt like that was what our car had, and we were just trying to hold off the No. 12 (Ryan Blaney) and just drive it as hard as I could. It was a pretty awesome moment that we could pull through being 18 points out and come into this race and advance is pretty amazing.”

WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO TO GET THROUGH THESE NEXT ROUNDS AND IMPROVE ON?
“I think we’re going to some really good tracks. We won on a 1.5-mile earlier this year. The ROVAL, we’ve been really fast there and have had a number of poles on road courses, so I feel like we just had to get through this round. We had a really unfortunate start to it and we made up for it tonight. Thanks to Axalta, Chevrolet, and Mr. Hendrick, and everybody back at the shop. It’s pretty awesome.”

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 5th
THE FIRST PART OF THE RACE DIDN’T LOOK THAT GOOD, BUT THE SECOND PART WAS REALLY GOOD. YOU ADVANCED PLUS 10. TALK ABOUT THE EVENING.
“It was an interesting night, for sure. We were pretty awful at the start of the race. Greg (Ives, crew chief) threw everything, including a laptop at it, I think. I heard there was a laptop casualty there during the race, it was so bad (laughs).”

“I just started really out of the race track and it took a lot of adjusting on it to get it where we needed it; and it was obviously really fast there at the end. I’m just proud of everybody on this No. 48 team for not giving up. My mistake at Darlington kind of put us in this box; us and the No. 24 (William Byron). I’m really glad the No. 24 made it because if they wouldn’t have, that would have been on me, too.”

“I’m just appreciative to make it through this round. It’s Ally’s first time in the Playoffs and we want to get them as far as we can and try to go chase a championship. There are some good tracks coming up for us this round and I’ve just got to go do my job and not make any more mistakes and have a good rest of the Playoffs.”

ERIK JONES, NO. 43 US AIR FORCE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 8th
“Solid day for the Air Force Chevy. Glad we could get them a top ten run there. We had some damage on the right side and the balance was just a bit tight to run further forward than we did. But proud of the effort and hope we can keep the good runs going.”

TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 FOOD CITY/CHILDRESS VINEYARDS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 12th
TYLER, TWO POINTS SHORT OF MAKING IT INTO THE ROUND OF 12. WHAT A FIGHT. DOWN A LAP AT ONE POINT. I CAN’T IMAGINE HOW FRUSTRATING IT MUST BE TO KNOW ALL YOU NEED ARE TWO MORE SPOTS AND YOU’RE IN.
“Yeah, unfortunately we certainly gave up more than two spots over the course of this first round. Darlington, getting stuck down a lap at Richmond. Not just one key opportunity, but there was a number that was the difference.”

“One situation, the situation tonight, doesn’t really stick out as the one that makes it sting. It was just unfortunate getting to the Playoffs, we don’t really have the pace that we had to just point our way into the Playoffs leaderboard.”

“Missed it by two. Have the races we did. It kind of all adds up. For us to miss it by two and run the way we did isn’t a surprise.”

“Yeah, it stinks, but we still get to go race the last, I don’t know, six or seven races we have on the schedule. Good tracks for us. Our starting spot and pit stall won’t be as good, but everything else on the racetrack will be. We’ll make the most out of those races.”

YOU NEVER GAVE UP AND ALMOST STILL MADE IT IN.
“Yeah, well, I mean, winners never quit. Hopefully one day the right break will come our way. We continue to learn and get better even though we didn’t make it through to the Round of 12.”

“We feel as a team we were able to pick up on some things that are going to help us when we come back here next year or go to another track, short track.”

“We’ll see where it goes from here. Yeah, we’re not racing for a championship anymore, but we still have a lot to race for with this team. Make the most with the rest of the races we have.”

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 15th
“Good job by everyone tonight on this Richard Childress Racing team. We fell behind a little in the middle of the race, but Justin Alexander came through clutch with a strategy to get us back on the lead lap, and we were able to climb back into the top-15 in the final stage. We were just too tight to really make anything happen. Everyone on this Bass Pro Shops / TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet team hung in there through all of the twists and turns tonight.”

KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 19th
“Really disappointing effort today. That was not a championship-type effort. We missed it big time. We had bad luck last week and we have no shot at a championship this year. We have to race for pride, dignity and honor for the next few weeks. The team is shutting down and we’re eliminated early. That’s not the way we wanted this to go. Maybe we can crawl our way back up to a fifth to tenth-range in points. But tonight was not a night to miss the setup.”

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 HOOTERS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 25th
YOU DON’T FEEL YOU WERE RACED VERY WELL BY KEVIN HARVICK.
“Well, it’s something he does all the time. He runs into your left side constantly at other tracks. Sometimes it does cut down your left side. Other times it doesn’t. He did it to me at Darlington a few weeks ago because he was tired of racing with me. Whether he did it on purpose, it doesn’t matter. At some point, you’ve got to draw the line. I don’t care who he is or how long he’s been doing it. I’m going to stand up for myself and my team and we’ll go on down the road.”

THIS HAPPENED AT A LOT OF PLACES YOU SAID. THINGS LIKE THIS TYPICALLY HAPPEN AT BRISTOL.
“I just ran my line. I’m super happy for Kyle (Larson, race winner). He’s had a heck of a year. He’s a good dude and a great race car driver. He deserves the accomplishments and deserves the success. I’m happy for him and happy for Team Hendrick. I wish I could have gotten our Hooters Chevrolet in Victory Lane, but we’ll try again next week.”

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.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series — Bass Pro Shops Night Race
Bristol Motor Speedway | Saturday, September 18, 2021

FORD FINISHING RESULTS
2nd — Kevin Harvick
4th — Ryan Blaney
6th — Brad Keselowski
10th — Matt DiBenedetto
11th — Joey Logano
13th — Chase Briscoe
18th — Aric Almirola
23rd — Chris Buescher
24th — Michael McDowell
28th — Cole Custer
31st — Josh Bilicki
35th — Anthony Alfredo
37th — B.J. McLeod
38th — Ryan Newman

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Subway Delivery Ford Mustang — WHAT WAS YOUR CONVERSATION WITH CHASE AFTER THE RACE? “I told him it was kind of a chicken @#@# move that he did there at the end. We’re racing for the frickin win at Bristol. We’re three-wide in the middle and he throws a temper tantrum, like I was just trying to get the lead and race him hard. Then he pulls up in front of me and just sits there until I lose the whole lead, so I just hate it for our Subway Ford Mustang team to be able to lose a race like that. I watched him let the 24 go by and then anytime you run into him it’s a problem. They can boo all they want. I don’t care.”

HOW MUCH OF THIS IS COMPOUNDED BY THE FACT YOU WERE SO CLOSE TO WINNING? “I lost so much there and then when I got behind the car I kept getting tight off the corner and I couldn’t run my line. I’m ready to rip somebody’s freaking head off.”

WHAT WAS YOUR DISCUSSION LIKE WITH CHASE? “I just told him it was chicken @#@# what he did. Instead of racing hard, he just sat out there and rode around like he did in the first stage for his teammate instead of racing hard. I mean, the guy hangs on my right-rear fender every week and we’re racing for the lead at Bristol and you throw a temper tantrum like that? I just hate it for my Subway Ford Mustang team.”

WHAT HAPPENED WITH CHASE? “What else do you say? You throw a temper tantrum like you’re two years old because you got passed for the lead and got a flat tire. We barely even rubbed. It’s all Chase’s way or it’s no way and if he doesn’t get his way, then he throws a fit. He did the same thing earlier. He let the 24 go by in the middle of the stage and then just rode around until the 5 caught me, and I was tight behind him, and we wound up getting passed by the 5, so I just hate it for our guys.”

WHAT DID HE SAY TO YOU POST-RACE? “Who cares?”

WHAT DID YOU SAY TO HIM? “I told him I wanted to rip his freaking head off.”

ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang — CAN YOU BELIEVE HOW IT ENDED? “No. It was frustrating. I’m disappointed to have it end like that just because we had battled so much adversity throughout the night and got ourselves in position to where we were running top 10 and doing what we needed to do, and then that caution came out there at the end where we had 18 laps on our tires and we stayed out, and for whatever reason when we re-fired on those tires the car was up on top of the racetrack, skating, wouldn’t turn, I didn’t have any side bite and just struggling. I don’t know. That’s not the way we wanted it to end, but we’ll keep going and battle it out the rest of the playoffs and see if we can’t finish inside the top 10 in points.”

WAS IT JUST WHAT IT HAD WHEN IT WAS ON LAPPED TIRES BECAUSE BEFORE THAT YOU WERE TOP FOUR LAP TIMES EVERY LAP? “Yeah, our car was best on sticker tires. That one time we re-fired on cycled tires and I got a good restart and was able to kind of get some clean track and I could kind of manage. A few of the guys on new tires got back by me, but I could kind of hold my own. That last time there with all the new tires lining up right behind me I just got eaten alive and just lost too many spots. The more spots I lost, the worse my car drove further back in traffic, so just frustrating. I don’t even know how much we missed it by. I know it was a few.”

HOW WILL YOU LOOK BACK ON THIS PLAYOFFS? “Just frustrated. I mean, our season as a whole was not what we wanted. We went to Loudon and pulled out a win, which was awesome, and then just kind of had a renewed sense of energy going into the playoffs and thought we were gonna do everything we needed to do in this first round to transfer to the next round and unfortunately it didn’t pan out. I can’t blame it on tonight. There were plenty of opportunities throughout the first two races where we gave up some points as well, so I can find two points in a lot of different places, so just frustrated.”

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang — HOW WOULD YOU ASSESS YOUR TEAM’S PERFORMANCE? “I thought tonight we did a good job of just staying kind of in the hunt all night. I felt like we kind of ran top five most of the night. It wasn’t the best car. I’d take off really good, but I couldn’t keep the long run speed as good as other guys, like the 4 was crazy fast on the long run and we just didn’t quite have that speed, but I thought we were a little better that last run and were kind of able to keep pace with the leaders, but just not quite enough. I’m proud of the effort. It’s nice to move onto the next round, that’s for sure, and look forward to Vegas.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT ROUND TWO? “Vegas has been good to us in the past. Talladega, you never know what could happen. We’ve had fast cars there. You’ve just got to stay in the race all day and then the Roval you just try to put a smooth race together again. I think they’re good tracks for us. We just have to do our job like I know the team can and see where we shake out.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang — A SOLID NIGHT FOR YOU. ARE YOU HAPPY WITH HOW IT TURNED OUT? “Yeah. That’s the most speed we’ve shown in quite some time and I’m super proud of that. It’s awesome. That’s the best we’ve been. I’m thrilled to death with that and trying to move on and advance and find more speed for next week.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS NEXT ROUND? “Talladega is real good for us. We’ll see about the others.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang — “It was just a struggle. We tried some things and didn’t really get anywhere with it. The car was just very disconnected, very free in, tight landing — tight two-thirds especially and never were able to fix it with the adjustments we got in the race. It just eventually wears the front tires off and back up lights come on. I thought we might finish in the top 10 and get that out of it, but fell off pretty hard the last 15.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE THREE TRACKS IN ROUND TWO? “I feel good. Vegas is probably a good one. Talladega is a wild card and I feel like our road course stuff has been top five material, so we’re gonna try to maximize it again just like we did this round.”

RYAN NEWMAN, No. 6 Kohler Generators Ford Mustang – “I don’t know. I got turned into the fence. I’m not sure if it was my fault or if I got hooked or what, but it ended our day for our Kohler Generators Ford.”

FOUR CAMRYS ADVANCE TO ROUND OF 12 IN PLAYOFFS
Truex Claims Top-10 Finish at Bristol Motor Speedway

BRISTOL, Tenn. (September 18, 2021) – In the first cutoff race of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, all four Toyota Camrys advanced into the Round of 12. Martin Truex Jr. (seventh) scored the top-finish for Toyota at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night and was joined in the top-10 by his fellow Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin (ninth).

Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Bristol Motor Speedway
Race 29 of 36 – 500 laps, 266.5 miles

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Kyle Larson*
2nd, Kevin Harvick*
3rd, William Byron*
4th, Ryan Blaney*
5th, Alex Bowman*
7th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
9th, DENNY HAMLIN
16th, BUBBA WALLACE
21st, KYLE BUSCH
29th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
32nd, DAVID STARR
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 7th

How would you sum up your race tonight?

“Just a battle. We battled with our Bass Pro Shops Toyota all night long and had a decent night for Bristol. No problems, no wrecks, no drama. We got some stage points that first stage and then struggled a little bit with the car, but got a bit better in the end, but came home seventh. Not a great night, but for us at Bristol it was uneventful and not a terrible night by any means.”

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 9th

How do you feel about your race tonight?

“Really disappointed about today. We were racing to to try to win and cut a tire there. We were fast, we were so fast. We got under Kyle (Larson) there on that run and cut a tire then didn’t have a caution there at the end to try to catch back up. Overall, I think we’re doing a great job. Our cars are fast every week.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 21st

What were you battling in the race to contend for the win?

“Just lack of speed really. We just weren’t very good at being able to make up time on the leaders there. Was only going to be about fifth quick. We fought hard there all day long and had a flat there at the end and got way behind. I guess we made it (into the Round of 12) so that’s all that matters.”

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