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.
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.”
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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
With an abundance of late battles, drama and tempers flaring around every corner, Kyle Larson took advantage of a late dust-up between teammate Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick to overtake Harvick with three laps remaining and drive away to win the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 18.
Larson, who had clinched his spot to the Round of 12 in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs coming into the event, claimed his sixth victory of the season as he is one of 12 competitors who will continue to pursue the 2021 Cup title in the following Playoff round.
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, Martin Truex Jr., winner of last weekend’s Playoff event at Richmond Raceway, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with teammate Denny Hamlin.
When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Truex flew away with the lead on the outside lane and proceeded to lead the first lap. Behind, Chase Elliott moved into second while Joey Logano battled Hamlin for third.
Through the first five laps of the event, Truex was out in front by a tenth of a second over Elliott while Hamlin, Logano and Christopher Bell were in the top five. Behind, Kyle Busch retained 10th ahead of Alex Bowman, Aric Almirola and William Byron.
A lap later, Elliott muscled his No. 9 Hooters Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to the lead over Truex’s No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry.
By Lap 10, Elliott stretched ahead with the lead by half a second over Truex while Hamlin, Logano and Kyle Larson were in the top five. Brad Keselowski was in sixth followed by Kevin Harvick, Bell, Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney. By then, all 16 Playoff competitors were in the top 20, with Kurt Busch mired in mid-pack.
Ten laps later, Elliott continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over runner-up Hamlin and by two seconds over third-place Logano. Larson and Keselowski were in fourth and fifth followed by Harvick while Truex fell back to seventh. Blaney, Kyle Busch and Bell were in the top 10 while Alex Bowman, teammate William Byron, Aric Almirola and Michael McDowell were in the top 15. Tyler Reddick and Kurt Busch were in 17th and 22nd.
Another 10 laps later, Elliott stabilized his advantage to four-tenths of a second over Hamlin while Larson trailed by nearly two seconds in third. Meanwhile, Logano fell back to sixth behind Harvick and Truex continued to fall back in 10th in between teammate Bell and Bowman.
When the competition caution flew on Lap 40, Elliott remained in the lead over Hamlin and Larson.
Under the competition caution, the leaders pitted and Elliott retained the lead ahead of Hamlin, Larson, Keselowski, Harvick and Truex.
When the race restarted on Lap 48, Elliott retained the lead following a strong start on the outside lane while teammate Larson also retained the runner-up spot ahead of Hamlin, Keselowski and Harvick. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch muscled his way to sixth followed by Ryan Blaney and the field.
Through the first 60 laps of the event, Elliott was leading by nearly half a second over Hamlin, who managed to overtake Larson earlier for the runner-up spot. Keselowski and Harvick were in the top five followed by Blaney, Byron, Kyle Busch, Truex and Bowman while Bell, Reddick, Aric Almirola, McDowell, Kurt Busch and Logano were in 12th, 13th, 15th, 17th, 21st and 23rd. Meanwhile, Austin Dillon was the highest non-title contender in 11th while Erik Jones was in 14th and rookie Chase Briscoe was in 16th. In addition, Ross Chastain, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Matt DiBenedetto were in the top 20 while Ryan Newman was in 22nd.
Fifteen laps later, Elliott continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over teammate Larson, who overtook Hamlin earlier and was slowly pursuing his Hendrick Motorsports’ teammate for the top spot.
Another nine laps later, Larson used the lapped car of David Starr to overtake teammate Elliott and take the lead. Shortly after, Hamlin moved his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry into the runner-up spot. Behind, Keselowski retained fourth ahead of Harvick, Blaney, Byron, Kyle Busch, Truex and Austin Dillon.
On Lap 91, Hamlin emerged as the fourth different leader of the event after overtaking Larson.
At the Lap 100 mark, Hamlin was leading by three-tenths of a second over Larson while Elliott, Keselowski and Blaney were in the top five. Harvick was in sixth followed by Byron, Kyle Busch, Truex and Bell while Bowman, Almirola, Reddick, McDowell, Kurt Busch and Logano were in 12th, 13th, 14th, 18th, 21st and 22nd.
Five laps later, Hamlin, the leader, nearly got turned by Cole Custer while trying to lap him, rookie Anthony Alfredo and a bevy of competitors. Despite the contact, Hamlin continued to lead by a decent margin over Larson and Elliott.
By Lap 120, the battle for the lead ignited between Hamlin and Larson, both of whom were trapped behind Logano and Bubba Wallace as both were trying to remain on the lead lap. Two laps later, Larson took the lead. Another lap later, however, Hamlin returned the favor and overtook Larson while also lapping Wallace.
Following his late battle with Larson amid lapped traffic, Hamlin was able to retain the top spot and claim the first stage victory on Lap 125, thus claiming his ninth stage victory of the season. Larson ended up in second followed by Elliott, Keselowski, Blaney, Harvick, Kyle Busch, Bell, Truex and Byron. By then, 22 competitors were scored on the lead lap as Kurt Busch and Logano were spared from being lapped while Wallace received the free pass. On the other hand, names like Ryan Newman, Cole Custer, Daniel Suarez, Chris Buescher, Ryan Preece and Corey LaJoie were lapped.
Under the stage break, the leaders made the turn to pit road and Larson emerged as the leader followed by Elliott, Keselowski, Hamlin, Harvick and Blaney. Following the pit stops, however, Elliott was penalized for speeding on pit road.
The second stage started on Lap 135 and Larson rocketed away with a strong start followed by Keselowski while Hamlin spun the tires on the inside lane, though he settled in third ahead of Harvick, Bell, Blaney and Kyle Busch.
On Lap 138, the No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang piloted by Brad Keselowski moved into the lead beneath Larson’s No. 5 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. At the same time, Hamlin overtook Larson for second while Harvick and Blaney kept Larson in their sights.
Seven laps later, Hamlin reassumed the lead while Larson challenged Keselowski for the runner-up spot. Behind, Blaney moved his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang up to fourth and closed in on the three leaders while Harvick, sporting the Subway Restaurants colors on his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang, was in fifth ahead of Kyle Busch.
By Lap 150, Hamlin extended his advantage to a second over Larson while Keselowski, Blaney and Harvick were in the top five. Kyle Busch, Bell, Byron, Almirola and Reddick were in the top 10 while Larson was mired in 21st behind Kurt Busch. Logano, meanwhile, was in 18th.
On Lap 167, the caution flew when Newman made contact with Cole Custer in the outside wall in Turn 4 and proceeded to smack the outside wall in Turn 2, collecting Custer again. Behind, Suarez was hit by Wallace while he checked up to avoid the incident while Chris Buescher barely avoided the carnage.
Under caution, the leaders returned to pit road and Larson returned to the lead followed by Hamlin, Keselowski, Harvick, Blaney and Kyle Busch. During the pit stops, Almirola, who had reported smoke earlier, returned to his pit stall after being told that fluid was discovered inside the left-front tire. His pit crew then popped the hood up and diagnosed the issue before sending him back on the track in 28th place, the final car on the lead lap. Shortly after, Almirola pitted again for mechanical repairs as fuel from his car was reported on the track.
On Lap 181, the race restarted under green. At the start, Larson retained the lead on the outside lane while Hamlin moved up to second and Harvick battled Keselowski for third. Behind, Blaney and Kyle Busch battled for fifth ahead of Reddick and Bell.
By Lap 190, Larson was leading by half a second over Hamlin while Blaney, Harvick and Keselowski were in the top five. Kyle Busch retained sixth ahead of Reddick, Bell, Logano and Elliott. Meanwhile, Byron was in 11th, Truex was in 15th, McDowell and Kurt Busch were in 17th and 18th behind Bowman and Almirola, following his fluid and mechanical issue, was in 24th, still on the lead lap but now below the top-12 cutline to the Playoffs.
Through the first 200 laps of the event, Larson continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Hamlin while Blaney, Harvick and Keselowski remained in the top five. By then, Elliott was up in eighth in between Bell and Byron while Logano battled Erik Jones for 11th.
On Lap 220, the caution flew when rookie Anthony Alfredo got sideways in Turn 3 with help from Corey LaJoie and made contact with the outside wall in Turn 4, where his No. 38 Dude Wipes Ford Mustang was hit by an oncoming BJ McLeod and Justin Haley. The incident was enough for NASCAR to red-flag the event.
When the red flag was lifted, some led by Blaney pitted while the rest led by Larson remained on the track.
On Lap 232, the race restarted under green. At the start, Larson fended off Keselowski to remain as the leader while Hamlin battled Keselowski for the runner-up spot. Behind, Elliott was in fourth ahead of Kyle Busch and Bubba Wallace while Byron battled Harvick for seventh.
A few laps later, Byron, a competitor trying to remain in the Playoffs, engaged in a battle with Kyle Busch for sixth place while Wallace and Elliott moved up to fourth and fifth.
With less than 10 laps remaining in the second stage, Larson continued to lead by a narrow margin over Hamlin and Keselowski while teammates Elliott and Byron were scored in the top five ahead of Harvick, Wallace and the field. Soon after, Alfredo scrapped the outside wall, but managed to pit without drawing a caution.
When the second stage concluded on Lap 250, the halfway mark, Larson captured his 14th stage victory of the season. Hamlin and Keselowski settled in second and third followed by Byron, who managed to overtake teammate Elliott. Harvick settled in sixth ahead of Blaney, Bell, Reddick and Kyle Busch. By then, Logano, Blaney and Harvick secured their spots for the Round of 12 in the Playoffs.
Under the stage break, some led by Larson pitted while the rest led by Harvick and Blaney remained on the track. During the pit stops, Reddick, a Playoff competitor, pitted a second time to have a lug nut on the right rear of his car tightened.
With 241 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Harvick took off with the lead on the outside lane followed by Blaney, who battled Bell as Truex joined the battle. Behind, the field fanned out to three lanes as Hamlin and Larson, both racing on fresh tires, bolted their way back to the front.
Six laps later, Blaney emerged as the new leader of the event. Behind, Hamlin was battling Almirola for fifth while Larson was in eighth behind Logano. Elliott was in 10th ahead of Chase Briscoe while Byron was in 12th ahead of Wallace and Keselowski.
With 220 laps remaining, Blaney was leading by half a second over Harvick while Bell, Hamlin and Larson were in the top five. Almirola was riding strong in sixth followed by Logano, Elliott, Byron and Truex while Bowman was in 11th ahead of Kyle Busch, and Keselowski. Meanwhile, Kurt Busch was mired in 22nd, McDowell was in 25th and Reddick was back in 26th.
Down to the final 200 laps of the event and while the leaders were mired behind lapped traffic, Blaney retained the lead over Harvick by a narrow margin. Bell was in third followed by Hamlin and Larson while Almirola, Logano, Elliott, Byron and Bowman were in the top 10. By then, McDowell, who was in 26th, was trying to remain on the lead lap.
Eight laps later, Harvick made his way into the lead over Blaney. By then, Bell, Larson and Hamlin were slowly catching the two leaders. Meanwhile, Elliott and Byron remained in seventh and eighth behind Almirola while Logano battled with Bowman, Kyle Busch and Keselowski for ninth place. By then, McDowell was lapped.
With 175 laps remaining, Harvick continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Larson while Blaney, Bell and Hamlin were in the top five ahead of Elliott, Byron, Bowman, Almirola and Kyle Busch.
Twelve laps later, Larson returned to the lead after overtaking Harvick. He then went to work to lap Playoff contender Kurt Busch, though Busch refused to give in. As Busch remained on the lead lap, Harvick closed back in on Larson’s rear bumper while Hamlin attempted to catch the two leaders.
Another eight laps later, Larson succeeded in lapping Kurt Busch as he went to work to lap Tyler Reddick, another Playoff contender.
With 150 laps remaining, Larson’s advantage was nearly a second over Harvick while Hamlin, Blaney and Bell were in the top five. By then, Larson lapped Austin Dillon as Dillon’s teammate, Reddick, was next on his radar.
Thirteen laps remaining, the caution returned for Quin Houff, who spun and wrecked in Turn 4 after cutting a left-rear tire. By then, Playoff contenders McDowell, Kurt Busch and Reddick were lapped while Larson was still leading ahead of Harvick.
Under caution, the leaders pitted and Larson retained the lead ahead of Hamlin, Harvick, Kyle Busch, Blaney and Elliott.
With 130 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Larson powered away with another strong start on the outside lane while Hamlin overtook Harvick for second. With the field shuffling and fanning out to three lanes behind, Kyle Busch battled Blaney for fourth ahead of Elliott, Byron was in eighth behind Bowman and Almirola was shuffled out of the top 10. By then, Bubba Wallace and Matt DiBenedetto, two non-Playoff contenders, were in ninth and 10th ahead of Truex.
Fifteen laps later, Larson was leading by three-tenths of a second over Hamlin while Harvick, Elliott and Blaney were in the top five. Teammates Bowman and Byron battled for seventh behind Kyle Busch while Wallace and DiBenedetto were in the top 10.
A few laps later, the caution returned for another incident involving Quin Houff, who cut the left-front tire this time. The incident was enough to terminate the remainder of his night race.
Under caution, some led by Blaney pitted while the rest led by Larson remained on the track.
With 104 laps remaining, the race restarted. At the start, Larson retained the lead entering the first turn while Hamlin issued a challenge on Harvick for the runner-up spot.
Then, with 101 laps remaining, Hamlin, who challenged Larson for the lead, made contact with Larson in Turn 4, which resulted with Hamlin going dead straight into the outside wall in Turn 1 with a flat right-front tire and drew the caution.
Down to the final 93 laps of the event, the race restarted. At the start, Larson cleared teammate Elliott with a push from Harvick to retain the lead. While teammates Larson and Elliott battled for the lead, Kyle Busch used the high lane to move up to fourth in between Harvick and Bowman. Meanwhile, Erik Jones was up in eighth behind Truex and Byron while DiBenedetto and Wallace continued to run in the top 10.
Six laps later, Elliott returned to the lead after overtaking teammate Larson on the inside lane.
With 75 laps remaining, Elliott was leading by four-tenths of a second over teammate Larson while Harvick, Kyle Busch and Byron were in the top five. By then, Byron was scored a single point outside of the top-12 cutline behind Almirola, who was in 17th in between Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick, who also remained in the hunt for a transfer spot.
Under the final 60 laps of the event, the battle for the lead intensified as Harvick challenged Elliott for the top spot. By then, Byron overtook Kyle Busch for fourth and was scored a single point inside the top-12 cutline over Almirola, who was back in 18th.
Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Elliott was still leading by two-tenths of a second over Harvick while Larson trailed by nearly six-tenths of a second. Byron, currently scored inside the top-12 cutline, was in fourth in front of Blaney, Kyle Busch, Bowman, Bell, Keselowski and Erik Jones. Truex and Logano were in 11th and 12th while Reddick was in 16th, Hamlin was in 18th ahead of Almirola and Kurt Busch was in 22nd.
Nearing the final 40 laps of the event, Kyle Busch pitted under green after suffering a flat tire. By the time he returned to the track, he was two laps behind and was placed on the verge of missing the top-12 cutline.
With 35 laps remaining, Harvick used several lapped cars, including Kyle Busch, to take the lead following several attempts to intimidate Elliott. Shortly after, Elliott, who was hit by Harvick after Harvick got loose, cut a left-front tire and pitted under green.
Not long after, Bell, who was having a strong run in the making, pitted under green after cutting a tire and damaging the right-front side of his car. The incident also placed Bell in jeopardy of not advancing in the Playoffs.
Back on track, Harvick continued to lead by a narrow margin over Larson, who continued to close in for the top spot. Meanwhile, Byron was up in third followed by Blaney and Bowman. Reddick was in 13th, Almirola was in 17th behind Wallace and Ross Chastain, Kurt Busch was in 19th and Kyle Busch was in 21st.
Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Harvick remained as the leader by nearly a second over Larson while teammate Byron was in third.
Then in the closing laps, Larson started to close back in on Harvick, who was being mired and slowed behind the lapped car of Elliott. Earlier, Elliott, who had returned to the track, ran into the side of Harvick to express his displeasure for the contact that cut Elliott’s tire and knocked him out of contention for the win. Now, Harvick, who had an advantage of more than a second over Larson near the final 10 laps, was losing ground behind Elliott as Larson closed in.
After trying to establish a run on Harvick during the previous laps, Larson seized an opportunity through the backstretch with four laps remaining as he went below Harvick and pulled off a daring, sliding move in front of Harvick entering Turn 4 to take the lead. Harvick then tried to crossover, which nearly turned Larson, but Larson withstood his ground and assumed command of the race with three laps remaining.
With Larson out in front, Byron joined the battle as he went to work on Harvick for second.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson was out in front by four-tenths of a second over Harvick and Byron. By then, Elliott yielded to teammate Larson. With time running out for Harvick, who was again held up by Elliott, Larson thundered his way to the victory at Bristol for the first time in his career.
With his sixth checkered flag of the season, first at Bristol and his 12th NASCAR Cup Series career win, Larson took another step closer in contending for his first Cup championship. In addition, he achieved the 275th NASCAR Cup win for Hendrick Motorsports.
“That was an awesome race!” Larson said on the frontstretch on NBCSN. “It was so cool to be able to race there for the win. Obviously, Harvick and Chase got together and Chase was upset and 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 dives-in working off of [Turns] 1 and 2 and just got a big run, decided to pull the trigger, slide him and squeeze him a little bit. Then he had me jacked up through the frontstretch. It was wild. Had my hands full. Thanks to Valvoline and everybody who helps on this Hendrick Motorsports car. So cool. I love this place. This is, by far, my favorite track and this is why. You guys [fans] are amazing, loud. We feel the energy while we’re out there racing…I look forward to the rest of the year.”
While Larson celebrated on the frontstretch, tempers flared on pit road as Harvick and Elliott, both of whom pulled up together on pit road, climbed out of their cars and engaged in a heated face-to-face conversation. With NASCAR officials and crew members surrounding both competitors, the conversation turned heated as both competitors had to be separated by the officials and crew members, with Harvick tossing his glove towards Elliott and slamming his helmet on top of his own car.
Photo by Christian Gardner for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“I told [Elliott] it was kind of a chicken [expletive] move that he did there at the end,” Harvick, who received a chorus of boos from the crowd, said. “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 [Byron] go by and then anytime you run into him, it’s a problem. [The fans] can boo all they want. I don’t care…I’m ready to rip somebody’s freaking head off.”
“Well, it’s something [Harvick] does all the time,” Elliott said. “He runs into your left side constantly at other tracks. Sometimes it does cut down your left side, other times it doesn’t. Did it to me in Darlington a few weeks ago because he was tired of racing me. Whether he did it on purpose doesn’t matter. At some point, you have to draw a 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’re going down the road…I’m happy for Team Hendrick. Wish I could have got our Hooters Chevrolet in Victory Lane. But we’ll try again next week.”
The heated conversation between both competitors continued as Harvick and Elliott went inside Elliott’s hauler to further review and discuss the incident in private.
Meanwhile, Byron’s third-place result was enough for him to clinch the 12th and final transfer spot to the Round of 12 by two points over both Tyler Reddick and Aric Almirola, both of whom were eliminated from the Playoffs.
“Honestly, I don’t think I breathed for 100 laps,” Byron said. “It was, honestly, just trying to go as hard as you could. 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 and felt like that was what our car had. We’re just trying to hold off [Blaney]. Just driving it as hard as you can. That’s a pretty awesome moment that we could pull through, being 18 points out coming into this race and finish third and advance is pretty amazing…I feel like we just had to get through this round. We had a really unfortunate start to it and made up for it tonight. Thanks to AXALTA, Chevrolet, Mr. Hendrick, everybody back at the shop. It’s pretty awesome.”
“Frustrating,” Almirola said. “Disappointed to have [our Playoff run] end like that just because we battled so much adversity throughout the night and got ourselves in position to where we’re running top 10 and doing what we needed to do. That caution came out there at the end where we had 18 laps on our tires. We stayed out and for whatever reason, when we re-fired on those tires, the car was on top of the race track, scathing, wouldn’t turn, 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 finish inside the top 10 in points.”
“Unfortunately, we certainly gave up more than two spots over the course this first round,” Reddick added. “Darlington or 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 that, getting in the Playoffs, we don’t have the pace that we had to just point our way into the Playoff leaderboard. To miss it by two [points]…Had the races that we did, it kind of adds up and for us to miss it by two and run the way we did, it isn’t a surprise. It stings, but we still get to go race the last six, seven races that we have on the schedule. Good tracks for us…Everything else on the race track will be the same, so we’ll go make the most out of those races.”
Despite their late on-track incidents, teammates Kyle Busch and Christopher Bell, both of whom finished 21st and 29th, managed to transfer to the Round of 12 in the Playoffs along with Alex Bowman, who achieved a strong fifth-place result.
“That was disappointing,” Bell said. “Overall, we still accomplished what we wanted to accomplish today. We were on our way to a nice finish and then, the flat tire really cost a lot of panic. Thankfully, we did our job. Got some stage points, performed well at Richmond last week, gave us a little bit of a buffer, and moving on…Take some momentum and move on to Vegas.”
“We just weren’t very good at being able to make up time on the leaders there,” Busch said. “[I] 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.”
“It was an interesting night, for sure,” Bowman said. “We were pretty awful to start the race and [crew chief] Greg [Ives] threw everything, including his laptop at it. I just started really at the race track and took a lot of adjusting on [the car] to get where we needed it. Obviously, it was really fast there at the end. 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 [Byron]. Really glad that [Byron] made it because I feel like, if they wouldn’t have, that would’ve been on me too. Just appreciative to make it through to this next round. Good track’s coming up for us this round. Just got to go do my job, not make any more mistakes and have a good rest of the Playoffs.”
Blaney finished fourth on the track while Keselowski, Truex, Erik Jones, Hamlin and Matt DiBenedetto completed the top-10 results.
There were 23 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 71 laps.
Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Alex Bowman, Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch and William Byron have transferred to the Round of 12 in the Playoffs. Tyler Reddick, Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch and Michael McDowell have been eliminated from title contention.
Results.
1. Kyle Larson, 175 laps led, Stage 2 winner
2. Kevin Harvick, 71 laps led
3. William Byron
4. Ryan Blaney, 45 laps led
5. Alex Bowman
6. Brad Keselowski, 10 laps led
7. Martin Truex Jr., five laps led
8. Erik Jones
9. Denny Hamlin, 65 laps led, Stage 1 winner
10. Matt DiBenedetto
11. Joey Logano
12. Tyler Reddick
13. Chase Briscoe
14. Ross Chastain
15. Austin Dillon
16. Bubba Wallace
17. Ryan Preece
18. Aric Almirola
19. Kurt Busch
20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap down
21. Kyle Busch, one lap down
22. Daniel Suarez, two laps down
23. Chris Buescher, two laps down
24. Michael McDowell, two laps down
25. Chase Elliott, three laps down, 129 laps led
26. Corey LaJoie, three laps down
27. JJ Yeley, five laps down
28. Cole Custer, six laps down
29. Christopher Bell, seven laps down
30. Garrett Smithley, 13 laps down
31. Josh Bilicki, 18 laps down
32. David Starr, 18 laps down
33. James Davison, 26 laps down
34. Quin Houff – OUT, Accident
35. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident
36. Justin Haley – OUT, Accident
37. BJ McLeod – OUT, Accident
38. Ryan Newman – OUT, Dvp
Bold indicates Playoff contenders.
Playoff standings.
1. Kyle Larson – Advanced
2. Denny Hamlin – Advanced
3. Martin Truex Jr. – Advanced
4. Ryan Blaney – Advanced
5. Kevin Harvick – Advanced
6. Joey Logano – Advanced
7. Chase Elliott – Advanced
8. Brad Keselowski – Advanced
9. Alex Bowman – Advanced
10. Christopher Bell – Advanced
11. Kyle Busch – Advanced
12. William Byron – Advanced
13. Tyler Reddick – Eliminated
14. Aric Almirola – Eliminated
15. Kurt Busch – Eliminated
16. Michael McDowell – Eliminated
The Round of 12 in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will commence next weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the South Point 400. The event will occur on Sunday, September 26, at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
MONTEREY, Calif. (Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021) – Colton Herta won the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey from the pole in 2019, the last time this NTT INDYCAR SERIES event took place at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
He’s halfway toward that dominant equation again at the track that could be nicknamed “Herta House.”
Herta earned the NTT P1 Award on Saturday with a top lap of 1 minute, 10.7994 seconds during the Firestone Fast Six in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda fielded by Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian. It was his seventh career pole and series high-tying third top spot of the season.
“I’m glad we ended up doing three (laps in final stint of qualifying) because I guess two wasn’t enough,” Herta said. “I really got to nail that third lap. The Gainbridge car was awesome, awesome being powered by Honda. What an amazing track. I love this place so much. Two for two for poles here.”
Herta has two poles and one victory at the 11-turn, 2.238-mile circuit that features the famous “Corkscrew” turn complex. His father, Bryan, who serves as his strategist, won INDYCAR SERIES races in 1998 and 1999 at this track, both also from the pole. Bryan Herta also won the pole here in 1997.
Live coverage of the 95-lap race starts at 3 p.m. (ET) Sunday on NBC and the INDYCAR Radio Network. A 30-minute warmup session will precede the race at noon (ET), live on Peacock Premium.
Andretti Autosport found a silver lining in a challenging season by seizing the front row, as Herta’s teammate Alexander Rossi qualified second at 1:10.9951 in the No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS/AutoNation Honda.
2014 series champion Will Power will start third after a top qualifying lap of 1:11.1317 in the No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske Chevrolet. Power appeared to qualify second, but his quickest lap was nullified after race officials deemed he didn’t slow during a local yellow triggered near the end of the session when Pato O’Ward spun in the Corkscrew turn.
Championship leader Alex Palou will start fourth in the No. 10 NTT Data Honda after a best lap of 1:11.3317. Palou leads second-place O’Ward by 25 points with two races remaining in the season.
Oliver Askew burnished his credentials while auditioning for a full-time ride in 2022 by qualifying fifth – tying his career best – at 1:11.8937 in the No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda.
O’Ward will start sixth. His best lap in the Firestone Fast Six was nullified due to a penalty for his spin at the Corkscrew, with his second-best lap of 1:24.2715 standing up. But it still marked a significant recovery for the Mexican as he fights for the Astor Challenge Cup. O’Ward was 14th-quickest in the first practice Friday and dropped to 20th in pre-qualifying practice Saturday morning.
Among the other three drivers still mathematically eligible for the season championship, Chip Ganassi teammates Marcus Ericsson and Scott Dixon will start seventh and eighth, respectively. Ericsson is 75 points behind Palou in fifth in the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, while six-time series champion Dixon is fourth, 49 points behind Palou, in the No. 9 PNC Bank Grow Up Great Honda.
Qualifying struggles continued for the second straight race for two-time series champion Josef Newgarden. He will start 17th in the No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet, failing to advance from the first round of qualifying after leading practice Friday and registering the 10th-quickest time in practice this morning.
Newgarden was fast in practice last weekend at Portland but struggled in qualifying, rallying to a fifth-place finish after starting 18th. He is third in the standings, 34 points behind Palou.
Any driver 55 points or more behind the leader after this race will be eliminated from championship contention entering the season-ending Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday, Sept. 26 at Long Beach, California.
John Force (Funny Car), Brittany Force (Top Fuel), Aaron Stanfield (Pro Stock) and Steve Johnson (Pro Stock Motorcycle) recorded the quickest times in Friday’s qualifying session for the DEWALT NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway
Tickets to Saturday’s and Sunday’s action are available at www.zmaxdragway.com
CONCORD, N.C. (Sept. 17, 2021) – Friday’s nitro-fueled festivities at zMAX Dragway saw the NHRA’s all-time winningest driver add another feather to his cap. Funny Car legend John Force scorched 1,000 feet of pavement to the tune of a 3.86-second, 331.18-mile-per-hour run to earn provisional pole for the DEWALT NHRA Carolina Nationals.
Force returns to the Bellagio of drag strips as its defending winner, having captured the Wally in May’s NGK NTK NHRA Four-Wide Nationals – his 152nd career victory.
“We were in the back (of the qualifying line), so we could see how everyone went, but it felt good,” said Force, who will go for the zMAX Dragway season sweep on Sunday. “I’m excited to be back here at Charlotte. I like to at least be in the hunt, and I’m in the hunt. (Saturday) is a new day. I’ve got to thank Bruton Smith, Marcus Smith, everybody here at zMAX Dragway. This is an amazing race track. Everybody’s running well on it.”
He wasn’t the only Force to be reckoned with on Friday.
Brittany Force continued the family dominance with a phenomenal 3.662-second, 331.85-mph pass to put the Top Fuel title contender in position for her eighth consecutive No. 1 qualifier result. Force tied her zMAX Dragway-record elapsed time with her first run of the weekend.
“It always feels good to come out with the first run of the night and be No. 1,” she said. “To be able to run like that was pretty impressive for the entire Monster Energy team. There’s a lot on the line in this Countdown and we really want to win, but right now we’re focusing on one run at a time, one win at a time. Eventually, we’ll get there.”
Aaron Stanfield stormed to the provisional top spot in Pro Stock qualifying by a scant .003 seconds over Erica Enders. Stanfield’s 6.575-second pass averaged 208.59 miles per hour, giving the third-generation driver the inside line on his first career No. 1 qualifier honor.
“I got on the radio afterward and said, ‘That was a really nice run,’” Stanfield said. “And, it was. I was a bit surprised it held up, because there are some great cars out there. I can’t say that it will or that it won’t hold up, but I hope it does.”
Steve Johnson’s 6.807-second, 196.47-mph run set the pace in Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying. Johnson will chase his third victory of the year and second in a row on Sunday.
“(Being provisional No. 1 qualifier) makes us feel really good,” Johnson said. “Our team is just growing. We have people helping us in all sorts of different areas and we’ve got our sponsors here as well. As the team grows, you get confidence in that.”
The forecast for Saturday’s action features plenty of sunshine, as the NHRA’s best drivers in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle duel for the top seed before Sunday’s all-important eliminations.
SCHEDULE: NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series qualifying continues on Saturday at 1:30 and 5:15 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on Sunday.
TICKETS: To purchase tickets, camping and upgrades to this weekend’s DEWALT NHRA Carolina Nationals, visit www.zmaxdragway.com or call 800-455-FANS (3267). For more information about the NHRA, visit www.NHRA.com.
FOLLOW ALONG: Keep track of all of the latest news and information from zMAX Dragway by following on Twitter and Instagram or become a Facebook fan. Keep up with all the latest news and information with the Charlotte Motor Speedway mobile app.
Herbst Snares Third in Wild Finish at Bristol Monster Energy Driver Secures Second Straight Playoff Berth
Date: Sept. 17, 2021 Event: Food City 300 (Round 26 of 33) Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series Location: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (.533-mile, concrete oval) Format: 300 laps, broken into three stages (85 laps/85 laps/130 laps) Start/Finish: 8th / 3rd (Running, completed 306 of 306 laps) Point Standing: 10th (624 points, 419 out of first – IN THE PLAYOFFS) Note: Race extended six laps past its scheduled 300-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.
Race Winner: AJ Allmendinger of Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet) Stage 1 Winner: Justin Allgaier of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet) Stage 2 Winner: Daniel Hemric of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Overview: Riley Herbst delivered a strong third-place drive in the Food City 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race Friday night at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. It was his second straight top-five finish, as the driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang finished fifth in the series’ prior race at Richmond (Va.) Raceway. The string of strong runs punched Herbst’s ticket to the NASCAR Playoffs, as he finished 10th in the regular-season point standings to earn a spot in the 12-driver playoffs, which kick off Sept. 25 at Herbst’s hometown track – Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The third-place finish at Bristol was Herbst’s best result so far this season. It didn’t come easy. Herbst started eighth, but he got caught on the high-side of the .533-mile oval in the opening laps. This relegated him to 15th. But Herbst’s tenacity combined with savvy pit calls from crew chief Richard Boswell enabled the Monster Energy machine to line up first for a restart on lap 180. The resulting dogfight displaced Herbst to third, and despite a tight-handling racecar, he only fell back to sixth. As the race wound down toward its finish, Herbst kept his head while others lost theirs. A caution on lap 298 set up a green-white-checkered finish. The leaders beat and banged on each other in the final two laps, but Herbst kept his cool, pointing his Monster Energy Ford Mustang into the gaps left wide open as the leaders slammed doors and the wall. Herbst took third place from Justin Allgaier off turn four of the final lap while the race’s top protagonists– AJ Allmendinger and Austin Cindric – crashed and spun across the finish line, with Allmendinger nipping Cindric for the win and the regular-season championship.
Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing: “That was fun. A lot of people using their bumpers out here tonight and kind of what I expected just because it’s the regular-season cutoff and playoff points are on the line. It got aggressive, but it was cool. We kept ourselves in position. Richard Boswell and the 98 team gave us a really good strategy and a really good car. Once the caution came and the overtime happened, I knew it was gonna be kind of hectic. It’s just a product of Bristol. People got aggressive. Everybody wants to win at this place. This place is awesome. It was ten tenths there the last few laps and all hell kind of broke loose, but we were able to come away third and we’ll take it headed to Las Vegas. Thank you to Monster Energy and Ford Performance. Man, I’m so excited to go home next week and try to go race for a championship. It’s gonna be fun. I’ve been looking forward to going home for a long time and I think we can win at home next week and move to the Round of 8. We’re very capable of winning and we’re ready to go do it.”
Notes: ● This is Herbst’s second straight playoff appearance. He qualified for the 2020 postseason as an Xfinity Series rookie. ● Herbst’s third-place result bettered his previous best finish at Bristol – 10th, earned last August. ● Allmendinger’s victory in the Food City 300 was his ninth career Xfinity Series victory, his fourth of the season and his first at Bristol. His margin over second-place Cindric was .082 of a second. ● There were 10 caution periods for a total of 72 laps. ● Only 14 of the 40 drivers in the Food City 300 finished on the lead lap. ● Allmendinger and Cindric both lead the playoff standings as each hold a 24-point advantage over Allgaier, their nearest pursuer. ● Herbst is 11th in the playoff standings, 43 points behind the leaders.
Next Up: The next event on the Xfinity Series schedule is the Alsco Uniforms 302 on Saturday, Sept. 25 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It is the first race of the seven-race playoffs and the first race in the Round of 12. It starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBCSN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
