DARLINGTON, S.C. (Sept. 6, 2020) — After overcoming two incidents that damaged the right side of the No. 17 Fastenal Ford, Chris Buescher finished 26th at Darlington Raceway on Sunday evening.
Buescher rolled off the grid 20th, and was running 19th when the competition caution came out on lap 25. The team pitted for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. At lap 71, the team pitted for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. Back on track 25th, the driver wasted no time getting caught back up and was back in 17th just a few laps later. He took the green-white checkered flag for stage one in 16th.
The team visited pit road at the stage break for fuel, fresh tires and another air pressure adjustment. After a quick stop, Buescher got back on track to restart 14th. When the green flag waved, Buescher gave it all he had but was shuffled back to 21st. At lap 133, the No. 17 machine tapped the wall, resulting in some damage and tire rub on the right rear side. Before the right rear tire would expire, Buescher brought his Ford down pit road at lap 167. The team was able to fix the damage on pit road and give the driver four fresh tires, an adjustment and fuel. Timing worked to the 17 team’s advantage as the caution flag waved at lap 179, allowing time to make further changes. The team pitted for a few minor adjustments, fuel and tires to get back on track in 17th. With about 20 to go in the stage, Buescher ran into the wall and sustained damage to the right side. He was able to maintain track position with the damage for a while until the right rear tire went down at lap 224. Buescher made an emergency pit stop for right side tires and finished the stage in 30th and two laps down.
After a long pit stop to fix damage to the right side of the No. 17 Ford, the team restarted 30th and two laps down. The Prosper, Texas native did what he could to gain track position and was up to 29th when a caution flag waved at lap 245. The team did not pit and took the wave around, restarting 27th and only one lap down. The laps continued to wind down and soon it became time for another round of green flag pit stops. Buescher pitted at lap 287 for fuel, tires and a small adjustment to help the car’s handling. The driver got back on track in 26th and two laps down. At lap 320, a caution flag waved for debris on track but the team elected to stay out, saving fuel and taking the wave around to restart 25th and one lap down. Strategy came into play as the team hoped for a quick caution in order to gain another lap back and not run out of fuel. Unfortunately, luck was not on the No. 17 team’s side as the race remained green which forced them to pit for tires and fuel at lap 254. Without enough laps to rectify the situation, the team was able to only maintain position and finish the race 26th and four laps down.
Buescher and the No. 17 team return to track at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, September 12 at 7:30 p.m. EST on NBC Sports Network, MRN and SiriusXM Channel 90.
DARLINGTON, S.C. (Sept. 6, 2020) – Ryan Newman and his team appeared to have played the strategy in Sunday night’s Southern 500 to perfection, until a late caution for debris on the track threw a figurative wrench into their plans. The team persevered through the setback and tuned up the No. 6 Oscar Mayer Ford for a late-lap dash to the checkered flag and a solid 15th-place finish.
Newman started the race from the 31st position based on NASCAR’s new formula to set the starting order. Unfazed, the veteran driver immediately began picking up spots on the track and was up to 25th by the scheduled lap 25 competition caution. The break in the action gave the team an opportunity to tighten up the handling of the Mustang. Newman reported the changes made helped his drive and he would finish the first stage of the race 21st.
The second segment of the race would run mostly green, save one caution on lap 179 just after the team hit pit road for a green flag stop. The handling on the No. 6 Ford continued to improve, and Newman would work his way up to 14th by the end of the second stage.
During the stage break, Newman was forced to hit pit road a second time for the team to make sure all five lugnuts on each tire were secure. A caution came out just after the start of the final stage, with Newman in 23rd, giving the team an opportunity to split the stage and only pit one more time with a majority of the field electing to pit twice. The driver patiently worked his way through the field on the strategy, finally pitting from 7th on lap 301.
Unfortunately for the team, a caution flag for debris on the race track flew just 19 laps later, upending their plans. Newman hit pit road with the rest of the field for a final fill up and adjustments, and took the green flag from 21st with 40 laps to go. He reported that the car drove the best it had all night, and he systematically worked his way through competitors to finish 15th.
Newman and the No. 6 team return to track at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, September 12 at 7:30 p.m. EST on NBC Sports Network, MRN and SiriusXM Channel 90.
NASCAR CUP SERIES
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2020
COOK OUT SOUTHERN 500 – DARLINGTON RACEWAY
FORD PERFORMANCE DRIVER – POST RACE QUOTES
HARVICK KICKS OFF PLAYOFF RUN WITH SOUTHERN 500 VICTORY
Kevin Harvick won his eighth race of the season and 57th of his Cup career by winning today’s race.
All eight of Harvick’s wins have come since NASCAR returned to action on May 17..
The win is Mustang’s 15th of the season.
Harvick is now in sole possession of 9th on the all-time Cup win list with his 57 victories.
Harvick now has 22 Ford Cup wins, which puts him one win away from moving into a tie for 10th on the all-time Ford list. What makes that accomplishment so impressive is Harvick has done it in only three-plus seasons.
This marks the 28th win for Stewart-Haas Racing since joining Ford (Harvick has won 22).
Today’s win is Ford’s 701st all-time in NASCAR Cup Series competition.
FORD FINISHING RESULTS
1st — Kevin Harvick
3rd – Joey Logano
9th – Aric Almirola
10th – Clint Bowyer
11th – Brad Keselowski
12th – Cole Custer
15th – Ryan Newman
16th – Michael McDowell
21st – Matt DiBenedetto
24th – Ryan Blaney
26th – Chris Buescher
30th – JJ Yeley
36th – John Hunter Nemechek
37th – Coey LaJoie
KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Busch Beer Throwback Ford Mustang — VICTORY LANE INTERVIEW — WAS THIS ONE OF THOSE NIGHTS YOU DIDN’T HAVE THE BEST CAR AND SHOWED WHAT THIS TEAM IS MADE OF? “First thing I want to say is welcome back, fans. This interview is a hell of a lot more fun with you guys up there. I just want to say thank you to everybody from NASCAR, all of you fans here in South Carolina. I’ve got to thank Busch Beer, Mobil 1, Hunt Brothers Pizza, Jimmy John’s, Ford Mustang, everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing. We just wound up fighting all night long. This Busch Beer Ford Mustang wasn’t where we wanted it to be, but the leaders got tangled up there and the next thing you know we were racing for the win.”
HOW SIGNIFICANT IS THIS WIN FOR THE 4 TEAM? “Anytime you can win the Southern 500 is a good day. This is one of the most prestigious races in our sport and this is one the most prestigious racetracks in our sport, so anytime you can win at Darlington it’s a big deal, but, man, Southern 500!”
WHAT DID YOU SEE WITH TRUEX AND ELLIOTT? “Obviously, those guys had trouble. I didn’t see what happened. I just heard my spotter tell me that something had happened. I’ve just got to thank everybody on our Busch Beer Ford Mustang. They did a heck of a job tonight just keeping us in the game. Our car wasn’t very good, but we just kept fighting and kept ourselves up in the front with some great pit strategy and were able to stay up there and fight and wound up in the right spot.”
YOU SHORT-PITTED SEVERAL TIMES. WAS THAT WHAT YOU HAD TO DO? “We kept having a lot of trouble with the right-rear tire cording. The car was really loose all night long for whatever reason and would cord the right-rear tire, so I think that was probably about as far as they felt like we were comfortable of going and wound up being the right strategy in the end.”
AUSTIN DILLON WAS ABLE TO GET SO CLOSE TO YOU. WHAT HAPPENED IN THREE AND FOUR? “I just drove in there and wanted to hit my marks and hit the bottom. I knew I had a cushion and just wanted to maintain the best that I could. I just had to get back to the start-finish line, so I just didn’t want to miss my marks.”
YOU’VE WON BEFORE HERE, BUT THIS IS THE SOUTHERN 500. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU? “This is one of the most prestigious races in our sport and obviously everybody in our sport knows the history that Darlington has for our sport, so anytime you can win here is pretty special.”
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang — “We fought hard. You’ve got to do it for Bobby Allison. You’ve got the coolest paint scheme on the racetrack you’ve got to do the best you can to try to get a victory. Man, hard fought. We kind of were decent, it’s just so hard to pass with these big spoilers on the car at this racetrack. That makes it challenging. We had a right-front go down the last lap of the second stage, hit the wall and we did a good job fixing the car and then strategy worked well, so Paul did great there, and then they had an amazing pit stop the last stop, had a good restart and all of a sudden I was like, ‘Shoot, we could win this thing.’ To see what the left-rear looks like after that I was pretty impressed to get whatever we got. It’s funny how the team always tells you, ‘How does the damage look?’ ‘It looks great. It looks great.’ You get out and you’re like, ‘Whoa!’ Overall, that’s what we needed to do. We need to come out of these playoffs running hard and having a solid top three finish to start the playoffs with a couple stage points is a good way to start.”
POST-RACE CONFERENCE CALL
CLINT BOWYER, No. 14 PEAK Throwback Ford Mustang — WAS THIS THE SAME CAR YOU RAN EARLIER IN THE YEAR AT DARLINGTON? “To be honest with you, I don’t even know. I think that car got tore up pretty bad. I don’t think it was. I mean, all these cars by this time really got new bodies and everything on them anyway, so it’s kind of a moot point anymore. Honestly, things evolve so much with what’s going on in this sport about every car that we’re gonna run in the playoffs is at least a new addition with some enhancements or things you’ve learned over the course of the year. It’s almost evolved to where if you bring what you had last week it’s probably not good enough, so it certainly is a new batch for us.”
HOW IS YOUR CONFIDENCE GOING TO RICHMOND? “I love the racetrack. I love to compete there. I love the challenge of it, but we’ve got to hit it. We’ve been so-so on the short tracks. That’s certainly one of my best tracks, so we’ve got to nail the setup and if we can do that we’ll get us a good run and go a long ways to getting into Bristol where we need to be.”
HOW DO YOU FEEL WHERE YOU ARE IN THE POINTS NOW LEAVING DARLINGTON? “I certainly was hoping for more. Frustrated to be honest with you. I have to go back and look at the race to see what happened with the debris. By the time that they picked it up I’d say it was way off the racetrack, so that kind of set us up to not have a not very good day. That put us in a hole. We were gonna be in the single digits for sure there, looking pretty good, but just had a lot of trouble. Right-rear — threw the rubber off the right-rear and had to pit there. It could have been catastrophic. At the end the left-rear was about to fall off of it, so we’ve got to clean some things up. I told you going into this we’ve got to put 10 races together. We’ve got to put whole races together. We can’t make these mistakes. If we can clean those up, we’re going to some good tracks for us — for us all, Aric, Kevin and all of us, we enjoy these short tracks. We’ve got a good short track program, so looking forward to what’s to come.”
WHAT AFFECT DID THE RULES PACKAGE HAVE ON THIS RACE? “It was definitely different than what we had the first time around here. Everything has evolved. Everybody gets better and we used that as a practice session. We had two good practice sessions, so everybody is gonna come back and be better, which is gonna tighten the field up, which is gonna make the race, I mean, from a fan’s perspective not as entertaining as it could be. When you come in and you’re just stabbing at these things and don’t have practices or qualifying or anything else to line it up, it makes a difference. When we’ve got to go out there and we have practice sessions and things like that, it tightens the field up and then it becomes about track position and some strategy and things like that.”
ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Go Bowling Ford Mustang — WHAT EFFECT DID THE RULES PACKAGE HAVE ON THIS RACE? “I think the downforce package has been a little bit different, for sure. I enjoy slipping and sliding around. Tires still seemed like they mattered, for sure. I think tires were a second-and-a-half to two seconds faster, so I’m excited about Richmond — going back to a short track package with low downforce and that’s been a good place for us, so I’m looking forward to there and Bristol and we’ll go from there.”
HOW HAS THE DYNAMIC OF THIS FIRST ROUND WITH DARLINGTON AS THE FIRST RACE AND BRISTOL AS THE LAST RACE? “For me, I don’t think it’s that much different. As far as Darlington compared to Las Vegas, I felt like I ran about the same as I would have at Las Vegas. I’ve been about a sixth to tenth place car at both places and that’s about what we ran tonight. We got in a little bit of a hole early in the race with some left-rear quarter panel damage that we had to fix on pit road and really put us in a spot to where we couldn’t capitalize on stage points, so that hurt us a little bit just not scoring any stage points, but we were able to battle back from that and get back to the top 10, which is where we felt like we were capable of running. I felt like we were a seventh to tenth place car and we finished ninth.”
DID ANYTHING SURPRISE YOU TONIGHT ABOUT THE PLAYOFF DRIVERS GOOD OR BAD? “Not really. Anytime you show up for a playoff race you expect to race against all the guys that are in the playoffs. Everybody just brings everything they’ve got for the playoffs and we see it time and time again — you line 16 cars up in the playoffs and they’re all gonna run right next to each other. It ebbs and flows from race to race and I expect to see more of the same in the weeks to come. You have to plan on racing all the guys in the playoff and it doesn’t matter who it is.”
CLINT BOWYER CONTINUED –DID ANYTHING SURPRISE YOU TONIGHT ABOUT THE PLAYOFF DRIVERS GOOD OR BAD? “I think the only one who stands out obviously is the 3. You’ve got to give credit where credit is due. I mean, they had a good finish. If you put the 3 car in 10th, he runs 10th. If you put him up front, he’s gonna run up front. It’s kind of that same adage for everybody, though, so it’s just tonight it was all about how you fell off the debris caution. That’s what shook the race up in a big way and, like the 11 car is a prime example. He ran up front all night long and wasn’t there after that.”
ARIC ALMIROLA CONTINUED — HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT RICHMOND AND BRISTOL TO FINISH OUT THIS ROUND. YOU’VE BEEN CALLED A DARKHORSE, SO WHY SHOULD PEOPLE NOT BE SLEEPING ON YOU? “That question I don’t really care to answer. I don’t really care what anybody else thinks about me or whether or not we’re good enough or not good enough or a darkhorse. I’m just focused on my race team. I said that on media day. And then as far as the stats, at least you said 2018 were good runs for us at those places and that was a low downforce package, so I expect to run good at Richmond. That’s one of my favorite racetracks and I expect to run good at Bristol. We had a really good car there in the spring, ran in the top five a lot, and then got caught up in a wreck on a restart later in the race, but scored a lot of stage points and ran in the top five quite a bit in the spring race at Bristol, and then for the All-Star Race at Bristol felt like we were a fifth to seventh-place car there, so I think we can have success at both those racetracks and I don’t really want to speculate too much I’m just ready to go race.”
COLE CUSTER, No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang — WHAT WAS IT LIKE YOUR FIRST PLAYOFF RACE? “It was a persevering night. We didn’t have the night we wanted. We definitely fought hard the whole night just to try to keep ourselves in the game. We had to go to the back with a speeding penalty and just overall fought as hard as we could all night and ended up 12th. Overall, I mean, we wanted to run better, but that’s something that can keep us in the game and keep us in the game for the next two races. Hopefully, we can put together better, but Darlington definitely hasn’t been our team’s strong suit, so it’s just a matter of figuring out what I can do better and what we can get better with the car.”
DID YOU FEEL ANY DIFFERENT? “There were definitely some nerves. I mean, obviously it’s your first time in the playoffs in the Cup Series, but, overall, I learned at the XFINITY level in the playoffs that you just have to go out there and focus on one step at a time, what’s coming up next. You try and knock the nerves down by having a good game plan and knowing what you’ve got to do while you’re out there. Overall, you just try to take it one step at a time.”
YOU HAVEN’T RACED AT RICHMOND YET THIS YEAR. YOU HAVE ONE CUP START A COUPLE YEARS AGO, SO WILL THAT HELP? “It gets you a basic idea of things, but at the same time that was a long time ago. I feel like I’m a better driver than I was then. There’s a little bit that I can pull a little bit from, but it’s gonna be a lot different. It’s a different package. Our cars are different probably than what they were before, so I can pull a little bit, but it’s gonna be trying to learn all over again. I think we’re kind of used to that this year, trying to adapt as fast as we can.”
ANY CHANCE YOU LOOK AT DATA AND FOOTAGE FROM WINNING IN THE XFINITY RACE AT RICHMOND LAST YEAR? “That’s every weekend, trying to figure it out as best I can. I try and talk with Kevin every weekend to try and get an idea of what he’s looking for. He’s been a huge help this year and all my teammates — Clint and Aric and everybody at the shop — but it’s tough. Obviously, you can look at as much film and data as you want, but you don’t really get the experience until you’re actually out there. You can have those things in the back of your head on what you really need to work on, but until you’re out there you don’t really know what you’re gonna fight.”
WERE TIRES NEGATED BY THE RACE PACKAGE? “Looking at it from my perspective, I love the XFINITY package when I ran it. I think it’s fun. You can move around and do a lot of different things and the aero is not too bad in traffic. You have a lot of motor where there is tire fall off and you can make passes and it’s fun. I thought it was a really fun package to run. This package, I think we’ve just gotten used to trying to, it’s just a different style of racing. You’ve got to try and get track position. You’ve got to fight as hard as you can. Tire falloff probably isn’t the biggest thing we think about. It’s more about trying to get up front on pit road or on restarts and trying to get yourself established in a good spot, but, overall, it’s a little bit different, but I think we still see some good racing. People are able to race hard and make bigger moves probably than before, but it definitely gets tough at times on long runs.”
Brett Moffitt and Sheldon Creed lead the field to start the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series South Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Darlington Raceway on September 06, 2020. Photo by Chris Keane/Getty Images.
Darlington Raceway marked race No. 15 of the 2020 Truck Series season. The race certainly had some storylines, both going into and coming out of the event.
It looked as though GMS Racing was once again going to dominate with drivers Sheldon Creed and Brett Moffitt. But a late yellow and a pit stop took these two drivers out of contention for the win. After that, Ben Rhodes found an opportunity after staying out to assume the race lead. Eventually, the Kentucky native brought home the No. 99 Ford to victory lane, giving ThorSport Racing their second win of the year.
While Rhodes enjoyed victory lane once again after a two-year drought. There was somewhat of a Roush reunion with drivers Trevor Bayne, Greg Biffle, and David Ragan all returning to the cockpit for their one-off start. Biffle finished the highest of the bunch with a 19th place effort.
However, there were some other interesting stories that you may have missed. We’ll analyze them in this week’s Four Takeaways following the Truck Series race at Darlington.
Matt Noyce Gains First Win – After 49 starts in the Truck Series, crew chief Matt Noyce finally picked himself up a victory with assistance from Rhodes. The first time Noyce and Rhodes worked with each other was at Daytona last year. Since then, the duo has enjoyed some success, scoring solid finishes. Their first second-place finish together came at Martinsville last year. Before Sunday afternoon, the duo had three second-place finishes. Now that Rhodes has a win in the bank and is locked in the Playoffs, we will have to see if the driver and crew chief combination can continue to work well together and advance through the rounds.
Kyle Busch Motorsports Sees Successful Day – Both Kyle Busch Motorsports drivers. Christian Eckes and Raphael Lessard, had quiet outings finishing fifth and sixth, respectively, in the running order. At times, it looked as though the Canadian Lessard was going to have a chance to win and potentially finish ahead of his teammate Eckes. He ran as high as third in some portions of the race but after the checkers flew, it was Eckes who placed one spot higher than Lessard after the 152-lap event. Nonetheless, it was a good outing for the KBM team, especially for Eckes, as he was able to clinch a playoff spot due to his result on Sunday.
Timmy Hill Scores Top 10 Finish – Timmy Hill, in his dad’s inspired throwback No. 56 machine, enjoyed his third career top-10 outing following the Darlington race. It’s rare these days to see a small team finish inside the top 10 while competing against the larger teams. But Hill continues to work hard with limited resources and brought home a ninth-place finish after leading two laps. The top 10 result marked his first since Martinsville of last year, where he finished fifth. His other top 10 finish came seven years ago at Talladega, where Hill claimed sixth place.
Johnny Sauter in a Must-Win Situation – The Darlington return for veteran Johnny Sauter wasn’t one to remember. Engines woes made it a forgettable race for the Wisconsin native as he was unable to finish and was credited with 31st place. Now, with just one race to go before the Playoffs start, Sauter, like many others outside the 10th position, is in a must-win situation in order to be a part of the playoff grid. Though only one driver can win you have to make it into the Playoffs to contend.
While Kevin Harvick emerged with the upper hand over his fellow Playoff contenders by winning the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff opener in the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron and Alex Bowman produced strong results for themselves after finishing in fifth and sixth place under the lights and in their pursuit for this year’s Cup title.
For Byron, he started the race in third place and with momentum fresh off of his first Cup career victory at Daytona International Speedway, a victory that locked himself and his No. 24 Chevrolet team into the Playoffs. When the race started, Byron raced inside the top five and was scored in fourth place when the competition caution flew on Lap 25. In the ensuing restart past the Lap 30 mark, he slipped back to sixth place, but was able to work his way back to fourth place following the first round of green flag pit stops around Lap 70. When the race restarted on Lap 86, Byron was back in eighth place. For the remainder of the first stage, he remained in eighth place and he collected a handful of stage points.
Restarting in the top 10 to start the second stage, he dropped back and was battling inside the top 15. Struggling to keep pace with the leaders under dark conditions than earlier, Byron was forced to settle in 12th place when the second stage concluded. During the final stage that started with approximately 130 laps remaining, he methodically worked his way back into the top 10 and was poised for a top-10 result in the final laps. Following an incident involving teammate Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr., however, Byron gained a few more spots on the track and was scored in fifth place when he crossed the line and took the checkered flag.
The fifth-place result marked Byron’s third consecutive top-five result in recent weeks as the Charlotte native is in ninth place in the standings and nine points above the top-12 cutline.
“It was a struggle [early],” Byron said on NBCSN. “We just kind of kept slowly losing track position whether it was the restart or pit stop. After we got some of it back, I felt like we gotten our car just good enough that prior run to kind of run higher than most guys and that worked out pretty good for us on the final two runs. We just kind of have to find that lane and get our car in the track a little bit more. The combination of those two and some track position kind of got us up towards the top 10 and we were able to get a top five, so that’s nice. It’s good. We rallied [tonight]. It wasn’t pretty all 500 miles, but this really isn’t a track that we have a ton of notes on. We wrecked out early in the spring, so we had to get some of those spots back. Hopefully, we can go on to Richmond and have a pretty good run there.”
For Bowman, he started his run in the Playoffs in fourth place, but he was up into second place in the opening laps behind teammate Chase Elliott. Though he lost a spot as the early run under green progressed, Bowman was able to stabilize himself in third place when the competition caution flew on Lap 25. Restarting in second place in the ensuing restart, the Arizona native started to lose spots on the track and as the run progressed. Falling out of the top five, he was able to stabilize himself in the top 10 following a pit stop under green with the lead lap competitors and retain sixth place when the first stage concluded.
Throughout the second stage, Bowman contended well inside the top 10 and was able to work his way up to fourth place when the second stage concluded, thus collecting more stage points. Starting in the top five for the final stage, Bowman was poised to continue his charge back to the front. During the early portions of the final stage, however, he dropped all the way back inside the top 20 due to a pit road miscue, where the jack dropped during service to his No. 88 Chevrolet. Through most of the final stage, he worked his way back into the top 15 and then, the top 10. He was poised for a top-10 run in the final laps when contact between teammate Elliott and Truex while battling for the lead allowed Bowman to gain a few more spots on the track. When the checkered flag flew, Bowman crossed the line in sixth place.
With his ninth top-10 result of this season, Bowman is in fifth place in the Playoff standings and is 19 points above the top-12 cutline.
“I think we were definitely a little better on the long runs,” Bowman said on NBCSN. “[I] Came in fourth and went out like 18th. The jack had one job and it didn’t do its job, but my pit crew nails it every week. They’re one of the fastest crews on pit road. That stuff will happen. That’s part of this sport, but really pumped for everybody at [Hendrick Motorsports]. Obviously, [Byron] had a good run, [Chase Elliott] had a good run going and [teammate Jimmie Johnson] was really fast, too. Four really fast race cars. My cars looks so cool tonight. It’s so cool to be able to drive a Jimmie Johnson paint scheme. Man, that was pretty crazy. Big thanks to ChevyGoods and Truck Hero. [I] Had a good race car. Just hard to recover from that [pit road miscue], but we’ll move on to Richmond next week.”
With Byron and Bowman leading the way out of the four-car lineup from Hendrick Motorsports at Darlington Raceway, Elliott, a title contender, dropped all the way back to 20th place following his late incident while Jimmie Johnson, a non-title contender, settled in 18th place in his 24th and final run at Darlington.
Teammates Byron and Bowman, along with their fellow Playoff contenders, will return for the next NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, September 12, at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
While Kevin Harvick came out on top and celebrated a thrilling win in the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, Austin Dillon and Joey Logano rallied from their share of challenges throughout Sunday night’s race to record second- and third-place results as they kicked off the 2020 Cup Playoffs on a strong note.
For Austin Dillon, his race started off at the rear of the field when unapproved adjustments to his No. 3 American Ethanol Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE forced Dillon to surrender his 12th-place starting spot on the grid and take the green flag behind the leaders.
Following the first 25 laps of the race, Dillon, who was battling a tight-handling race car, managed to crack the top 30 as he was scored in 29th place. Dillon’s progression throughout the race continued as he was able to complete a smooth green flag pit stop during the stage and settle in 15th place, two spots behind teammate Tyler Reddick, when the first stage concluded on Lap 115.
Throughout the second stage, Dillon continued to make his way to the front and he was able to rack up a handful of stage points following the stage’s conclusion on Lap 230, where he was posted in eighth place.
Under 50 laps remaining, Dillon and the No. 3 Chevrolet made its way into the top five and appeared to have a fourth-place run settled to open this year’s Playoffs. With 15 laps remaining and following an incident involving leaders Martin Truex Jr. and Chase Elliott, Dillon moved up to second place and had an opportunity to strike for the lead as he was catching race leader Kevin Harvick in the closing laps.
On the final lap, Dillon cut Harvick’s advantage down to six-tenths of a second and he continued to narrow his deficit through Turn 2. Entering Turns 3 and 4, Dillon went high and gained a huge run through the turns in an attempt to draw even with Harvick coming to the finish line. The run, however, was not enough for Dillon to challenge Harvick for the win as Dillon came up three-tenths of a second short to Harvick for the win.
The runner-up result marked Dillon’s third top-five result of the season, his best result since winning at Texas Motor Speedway in July and his best start to the Playoffs as a title contender (fourth season making the postseason). With his second-place finish, Austin Dillon is ranked in eighth place in the Playoff standings and is 10 points above the top-12 cutline.
“I was just trying all I could,” Dillon said on NBCSN. “I can’t thank American Ethanol enough. We’ve had E15 in these cars, have made a million miles on it and they’ve been a great partner of mine. Man, it would’ve been nice to get that win and lock ourselves into the next round, but heck of a finish for our whole No. 3 team. We had a really good long run car and Harvick was getting tighter and tighter. I’d caught him earlier in the run and he’d kind of take my low line down there in [Turn] 1 and 2. That was where I was really good. What a fun race, really happy that I got a great run for [late NASCAR Hall of Famer] Junior Johnson. He’s one of my heroes. We’re really tight with our family…Man, so close! It’s been fun. We just gotta keep on pluggin’. Richmond’s next week and we’ve got another short-track car for’em. We showed up when it mattered. I mean, a lot of people count you out, but I don’t count myself out or this team. I feel like we’ve brought good race cars all year, really progressed throughout races and made good changes. Sometimes, it just don’t fall your way, but we got that win at Texas and it was some momentum that we needed. We’re just gonna keep continuing doing our thing.”
Logano’s run, on the other hand, was more eventful throughout the race. Starting in 13th place, Logano was able to work his way and settle into the top 10 through the first 25 laps and when the competition caution flew. Following a four-tire pit stop with air adjustments to his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang, Logano proceeded to running inside the top 10 throughout the first stage while his teammates and title contenders, Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney, battled early issues of their own. When the first stage concluded on Lap 115, Logano was scored in seventh place as he collected a handful of stage points.
The second stage was where Logano’s struggles along with his teammates occurred as all three Penske competitors struggled to keep pace with the leaders. When the second stage concluded on Lap 230, Logano was the highest-running Penske competitor on the track in 17th place while Keselowski and Blaney were in 18th and 20th.
At the start of the final stage, a stack up on a restart resulted with Logano sustaining rear end damage to his car after he was hit by Corey LaJoie. Not long after, the caution flew and Logano pitted along with his teammates to have the damage assessed. From there, Logano started to charge his way back to the front. Following a restart with 41 laps remaining, Logano found himself back inside the top five and as the lone Penske competitor to be running inside the top five.
With the laps winding down, it appeared that Logano was content for a fifth-place run. When leaders Martin Truex Jr. and Chase Elliott got tangled up in Turn 1 and both dropped out of race-winning contention, however, Logano was able to gain a couple more spots on the track as he was in third place behind Kevin Harvick and Austin Dillon. For the final 15 laps, however, Logano was unable to close the gap between himself and the two leaders as he settled in third place, two seconds behind, when he crossed the finish line under the checkered flag.
With his seventh top-five result of this season and his fourth at Darlington in the Cup Series, Logano is ranked in third place in the Playoff standings and is 27 points above the top-12 cutline.
“Man, hard fought,” Logano said. “We kind of were decent, it’s just so hard to pass with these big spoilers on the car at this racetrack. That makes it challenging. We had a right-front go down the last lap of the second stage, hit the wall and we did a good job fixing the car and then strategy worked well, so [crew chief] Paul [Wolfe] did great there, and then they had an amazing pit stop the last stop, had a good restart and all of a sudden I was like, ‘Shoot, we could win this thing.’ To see what the left-rear looks like after that I was pretty impressed to get whatever we got. It’s funny how the team always tells you, ‘How does the damage look?’ ‘It looks great. It looks great.’ You get out and you’re like, ‘Whoa!’ Overall, that’s what we needed to do. We need to come out of these playoffs running hard and having a solid top three finish to start the playoffs with a couple stage points is a good way to start.”
Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images.
Dillon and Logano, along with their fellow Playoff contenders, will return for the second Cup Playoff race at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, September 12, at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
Fifteen laps prior to Kevin Harvick winning the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, the battle for the win of the first 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff event was shaping up between Martin Truex Jr. and Chase Elliott. Then, the tables turned when contact between both competitors knocked them both out of race-winning contention with 15 laps remaining. When the checkered flag flew, both finished outside the top 15 on the track and were left with damaged race cars.
Throughout the main event at Darlington on Sunday, September 6, Elliott and Truex were the class of the field, with both leading a combined 310 of the event’s 367-scheduled laps. At the start of the race, Elliott, who started on pole position, rocketed out of the gate by leading the first 71 laps. Leading nine more laps, Truex, who started sixth, took his turn to the front following a restart past the Lap 80 mark. He went on to lead 32 laps and claim the Stage 1 victory. His strong pace on the track continued throughout the second stage, where he led 103 laps and went on to claim the second stage.
Under 120 laps remaining, Truex was back atop the leaderboard, where he led 59 laps before Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick took turns at the front. Following a late debris caution and a restart with less than 50 laps remaining, Elliott received a push from Harvick to reassume the lead, though Truex kept Elliott’s rear bumper within his sights.
Coming to 15 laps remaining and after stalking Elliott for several laps, Truex gained a run in Turn 3 and was able to utilize his momentum to pull his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry beneath Elliott’s No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE past the start/finish line. Emerging out in front entering Turn 1 and with a faster car, Truex attempted to slide in front of Elliott’s nose to clear him for the lead and the win. Instead, they came into contact with one another and both scrubbed the outside wall, with Truex out in front.
Following the incident, Truex was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop the following lap due to a flat tire. Elliott, however, remained on track, though his chances of winning evaporated as Harvick took the lead. For the remaining 15 laps, Elliott continued to fade towards the rear of the field as competitor after competitor passed him for position. When the checkered flag flew, Elliott dropped back to 20th place on the lead lap while Truex limped home in 22nd place, a lap down.
With their results and stage points collected throughout the race, Truex is ranked in sixth place in the Playoff standings and is 16 points above the top-12 cutline to advance to the second round of the Playoffs. Elliott is in seventh place and is 12 points above the cutline.
“[Truex] had a run on me there off of [Turn] 4 and he just kind of cleared himself into [Turn] 1,” Elliott said on NBCSN. “He was close, but he wasn’t all the way clear, obviously. I hate it. Obviously, we had a fast NAPA Camaro, fast enough to contend. We needed a little pace there to extend our lead instead of playing defense, but regardless I thought we were in a good spot. I ran the bottom in [Turn] 3 and 4 to see if there was anything left down there, that’s what kind of gave him the run and then he just slid up in to my left front, I felt like and on we went.”
“Just not enough room there for both of us,” Truex, who won the first Playoff race the previous three of four seasons, said on NBCSN. “[I] Thought I had enough of a run to clear [Elliott]. I think it was close, obviously. I thought I had enough of a momentum and distance on him that he was gonna let me in there. I didn’t expect him to be on my right rear and I was committed. Once I figured he was still there, nothing I could do. Really unfortunate for our Bass Pro Toyota. Unbelievable job by the guys. A smokin’ fast race car, obviously. Lot to be proud of. I hate it for the No. 9 team. There was nothing intentional. Just two guys going for the win. Not enough room for both of us there. If it was my fault, I apologize. I really felt like I had the position to get him into [Turn] 1. It’s how it goes. We’ll see what goes on from here…It looked like we were gonna get the lead there and that would’ve been big. Sometimes, things just don’t work out. We gave it our all and come up short.”
Both Elliott and Truex, along with their fellow Playoff contenders, will return for the next NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Richmond Raceway, which will occur on Saturday, September 12, at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA - SEPTEMBER 06: Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Busch Beer Throwback Ford, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on September 06, 2020 in Darlington, South Carolina (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images).
Kevin Harvick capped off a thrilling triple-header Labor Day weekend of racing at Darlington Raceway and opened the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs by winning the Cook Out Southern 500. Harvick’s opportunity of winning came with 15 laps remaining following a late incident involving leaders Martin Truex Jr. and Chase Elliott while Harvick was back in third place. With Truex pitting and Elliott falling off the pace, Harvick was able to snatch the lead and fend off a late charge from Austin Dillon to notch another victory of this season and continue his quest for a second Cup championship.
The starting lineup was based on four statistical categories: current owner standings, the driver’s result from a previous Cup race, the team owner’s result from a previous Cup race and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Chase Elliott started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Denny Hamlin.
Prior to the race, Playoff contender Ryan Blaney dropped to the rear of the field and his crew chief Todd Gordon was suspended for the main event due to an improperly mounted ballast discovered on Blaney’s No. 12 Menards/Maytag Ford Mustang during pre-race inspection. Blaney’s team was also docked 10 driver/owner points as a result of the ballast, leaving him with a one-point deficit to start this year’s Playoffs. With Gordon out, Travis Geisler, Team Penske’s competition director, served as an interim crew chief for Blaney at Darlington. In addition, Playoff contender Austin Dillon and Joey Gase dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments along with Ross Chastain due to a driver change.
When the green flag waved and the 2020 Cup Playoffs commenced, Elliott and Hamlin battled dead even through Turns 1 and 2 before Elliott managed to clear Hamlin entering Turn 3 and come back around to lead the first lap.
With Elliott in the lead, teammate Alex Bowman moved into second place followed by Martin Truex Jr. while Hamlin fell back to fourth in front of William Byron and Kevin Harvick.
Five laps into the race, 14 of the 16 Playoff contenders were running in the top-14 positions on the track led by teammates Elliott and Bowman. Behind, Jimmie Johnson was the highest-running non-title contender in 15th place. Way behind, Blaney was in 26th while Austin Dillon was in 31st.
Five laps later and following the first 10 laps of the race, Elliott was still leading by nearly a second over teammate Bowman while Truex, Hamlin and Byron were in the top five. Harvick was settled in sixth place followed by teammate Aric Almirola, Brad Keselowski, Clint Bowyer and Joey Logano. The Busch brothers were in 11th and 12th while Johnson moved up to 13th ahead of Matt DiBenedetto and Cole Custer. Behind, Bubba Wallace was in 17th behind Tyler Reddick, Erik Jones was in 18th, Matt Kenseth was in 20th behind Chris Buescher, John Hunter Nemechek was in 22nd, Christopher Bell was in 25th and Ryan Newman was in 27th. Blaney was in 21st while Austin Dillon made his way into the top 30.
By Lap 20, Elliott extended his advantage to more than a second over Truex, who passed Bowman to move into second place. Behind, Harvick and Hamlin battled for fifth place while Keselowski moved up to seventh place.
On Lap 25, the competition caution flew with Elliott and his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at the front of the pack ahead of Truex, Bowman, Byron and Hamlin while Harvick, Keselowski, Almirola, Logano and Bowyer were in the top 10. By then, Blaney was scored in 21st while Austin Dillon was in 29th.
Under the competition caution, the lead lap competitors pitted and Elliott retained the lead after exiting pit road first by a nose over Truex followed by Bowman, Hamlin, Harvick and Byron. Prior to the restart and under the Choose Rule lane effect, Truex elected to restart in fourth place and in the second row on the outside lane while teammates Bowman and Byron moved up to restart in second and third. Logano and Hamlin restarted on the third row while teammates Bowyer and Harvick restarted on the fourth row
When the race restarted under green on Lap 31, Elliott retained the lead after clearing Bowman’s No. 88 ChevyGoods.com/Truck Hero Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE in Turn 3. Behind, Truex charged his way back to second place followed by teammate Hamlin while Bowman settled in fourth place in front of Harvick. Byron fell back to sixth ahead of Keselowski while Johnson and Logano battled for eighth.
By Lap 35, Elliott and his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet were ahead by nearly three-tenths of a second over Truex. Behind, Harvick moved up to fourth and Johnson was gaining ground on Keselowski for seventh place. A few laps later, Byron passed teammate Bowman for fifth place.
With the first 40 laps of the race complete, Elliott was still leading by half a second over Truex and after leading every lap thus far. In addition, all 16 Playoff contenders were scored in the top 20 on track with nine in the top 10.
A few laps later, Playoff contenders Kyle Busch and Clint Bowyer made contact, where Busch ran into the back of Bowyer’s rear bumper and loosened him up in Turn 1 before passing him for 10th place. With Kyle up to 10th, Kurt Busch was in 12th place in between Bowyer and Erik Jones.
Following the first 50 laps of the race, Elliott extended his advantage by more than a second over Truex. Elliott’s three teammates from Hendrick Motorsports (Byron, Bowman and Johnson) were running in fifth, sixth and seventh while Harvick and Hamlin were in fourth and fifth.
By Lap 60 and with the leaders catching and making their way past lapped traffic, it was still Elliott with the lead by more than a second over Truex followed by Harvick and Hamlin, both of whom continued to battle intensely for position. Johnson, meanwhile, continued to march towards the front as he was in sixth place ahead of Bowman and reeling in on teammate Byron for more while Keselowski and Logano battled for eighth place. Behind, Kurt Busch and Bowyer overtook Kyle Busch for 10th and 11th. Blaney and Austin Dillon were in 16th and 18th while Almirola, DiBenedetto and Custer were back in 15th, 19th and 21st.
Not long after, Austin Dillon made a pit stop under green due to a flat right rear tire. When the race surpassed the Lap 70 mark and with Elliott still ahead of Truex with the lead, a few competitors like Nemechek and Newman pitted. In addition, Kyle Busch pulled his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry to pit road for a pit stop. Shortly after, pit stops under green for the leaders continued as Bowman pitted. When the pit stops concluded, Elliott retained the lead ahead of Truex.
The second caution flew past the Lap 80 mark due to debris on the track that started when Keselowski cut a right-front tire following contact with Almirola before he made contact with the outside wall near Turn 3, thus sustaining damage to the right side of his No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang.
Under caution, nearly the entire field led by Elliott pitted for service, fresh tires and fuel. Following the stops, Truex emerged with the lead after exiting pit road in first place followed by teammate Hamlin and Elliott. By then, Keselowski lost a lap to the leaders while his No. 2 crew went to work to repair the damage to the car. Back on the track, Kurt Busch and Wallace moved up to first and second when both opted to remain on track on old tires.
With the race restarting on Lap 86, Kurt Busch and Truex battled dead even through the first three turns before Truex and his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry cleared Busch’s No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE entering Turn 4 to take the lead. While Wallace dropped out of the top five and was clinging inside the top 10, Kurt Busch retained second place followed by Elliott, Johnson, Hamlin, Bowman, Logano and Byron.
When the race reached its 100-lap mark, Truex was leading by more than two seconds over Elliott and Johnson. Kurt Busch was back in fifth in between Hamlin and Bowman while Byron was in eighth behind Logano. Harvick was in ninth ahead of Kyle Busch and Jones while Blaney was in 13th in between Bowyer and Reddick. Bowyer, Austin Dillon and Custer were in 12th, 16th and 17th while DiBenedetto was back in 26th. Keselowski was back in 31st place and a lap behind following his incident.
Five laps later and with 10 laps remaining in the first stage, Johnson and his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, muscled his way into second place after passing teammate Elliott a lap earlier in Turn 4.
Though Johnson had a fast race car and started to reel in Truex for the lead, Truex was able to stabilize his advantage by four seconds and win the first stage on Lap 115 for his third stage victory of the season. Johnson settled in second followed by Elliott, Hamlin and Kurt Busch while Bowman, Logano, Byron, Kyle Busch and Harvick were scored in the top 10.
Under the stage break and with the skies setting into darkness, the leaders pitted for service and adjustments with Truex retaining the lead after exiting pit road in first place. Following the pit stops, Elliott moved up to second followed by Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Logano and Kyle Busch while Johnson fell all the way back to eighth place following a slow pit stop.
The second stage started on Lap 121 with Truex and Hamlin on the front row followed by Logano, Elliott, Johnson and Kurt Busch while Blaney made an unscheduled pit stop prior to the restart to address a flat left-rear tire. At the front, Truex managed to clear Hamlin entering Turn 2 to retain the lead while Elliott moved up to second place.
By Lap 130, Truex was ahead by nearly eight-tenths of a second over Elliott with Hamlin trailing by more than a second. Johnson was in seventh behind Kyle Busch while Harvick was in ninth in between Bowman and Jones. Kurt Busch and Logano were in fourth and fifth while Byron was in 12th in between Reddick and Bowyer. Way behind the leaders, Blaney was in 31st and two laps behind.
Ten laps later and on Lap 140, Truex was still ahead by more than two seconds over Elliott, who had made contact with the wall a few laps earlier but continued to run on the track in second place. Hamlin, Kurt Busch and Logano were in the top five while Johnson was in sixth place ahead of Kyle Busch.
Another eight laps later, Hamlin and Kurt Busch overtook Elliott to move into second and third. By then Truex’s advantage grew to more than three seconds.
Just past the Lap 155 mark, Harvick made a pit stop under green. Nearly 15 laps later and on Lap 170, Truex was still ahead by more than four seconds over Kurt Busch followed by Hamlin while Elliott and Logano battled for fourth place ahead of Johnson.
By then, pit stops under green started to commence as DiBenedetto pitted along with Corey LaJoie, Ryan Preece, Johnson, Newman, Christopher Bell, Bowman, Jones, Custer, Bowyer, Hamlin and Kyle Busch. When the pit stops under green cycled through, Harvick emerged with the lead by eight seconds over Truex with Johnson back up to third place.
Just shy of the Lap 180 mark, the caution returned when Wallace got loose and spun entering Turn 4. Under caution, the leaders led by Harvick pitted, but Truex emerged with the lead after exiting ahead of Harvick on pit road in first place. Following the pit stops, Custer was sent to the rear for speeding on pit road.
With the race reaching Lap 185 and past its halfway mark, the race restarted under green. At the front, Truex muscled his way back to the lead after passing Hamlin in Turn 2 while Harvick moved up to second place by Turns 3 and 4. With Hamlin in third, Johnson was in fourth followed by Bowman, Kyle Busch, Jones and Austin Dillon. Byron was in 11th behind Kurt Busch while Elliott was back in 14th behind Logano and Matt Kenseth.
Nearly five laps later and on Lap 190, Truex was ahead by half a second over Harvick with Hamlin trailing by less than a second. By then, 12 of the 16 Playoff contenders were running inside the top 15, with eight being scored in the top 10. In addition, Penske teammates Keselowski and Blaney, both of whom raced their way back on the lead lap under the last caution involving Wallace, were in 19th and 24th.
Ten laps later and on Lap 200, Truex stabilized his lead by seven-tenths of a second over Harvick with Hamlin trailing by less than two seconds. By then, Wallace took his No. 43 Cash App Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to the garage due to mechanical issues.
Another 20 laps later and on Lap 220, Truex was still ahead by more than four seconds over teammate Hamlin with Harvick, Johnson, Bowman and Kyle Busch trailing by six or more seconds.
For the remainder of the second stage, Truex was able to extend his advantage by more than five seconds to claim the stage victory on Lap 230 as he claimed his fourth stage win of the season. Hamlin settled in second followed by Harvick, Bowman and Johnson, who made late contact with the outside wall, while Kyle Busch, Jones, Austin Dillon, Bowyer and Kurt Busch were scored in the top 10. By then, 24 of the 39-car field were running on the lead lap. In addition, DiBenedetto was pinned a lap behind the leaders in 27th place while Custer was in 24th, the final car on the lead lap.
Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Hamlin emerged the lead over teammate Truex following his pit stop. Harvick exited in third place followed by Bowman, Kyle Busch, Jones, Austin Dillon, Johnson and Elliott.
With 132 laps remaining and the lights shining around the track, the race restarted under green with Hamlin and Bowman on the front row. At the start, a stack-up behind occurred that left Logano with damage to the rear end of his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang, where he was hit by Corey LaJoie.
Following an intense battle for the lead, Hamlin and his No. 11 Federal Express Toyota Camry cleared the field with the lead in Turn 3 followed by teammate Truex. Harvick also moved up to third place while Bowman fell back to fourth. While Joe Gibbs Racing’s Jones and Kyle Busch moved up to fifth and sixth, Johnson was stuck in a battle with Kurt Busch for seventh place. In addition, Bowyer was starting to battle Austin Dillon for ninth place with teammate Almirola joining the party.
With 123 laps remaining, the caution returned when John Hunter Nemechek cut a right-front tire and made contact with the outside wall in Turn 1 with sparks flying out from his No. 38 Citgard Ford Mustang. Under cautions, the leaders returned to pit road for service and Truex reassumed the lead following his pit stop ahead of teammate Hamlin with Kyle Busch, Harvick and Johnson scored in the top five. During the stops, Bowman dropped from fourth to 14th due to a jack issue during his pit stop. In addition, Logano and Blaney pitted to have the damage on their respective Fords addressed. Under caution, Bell took his No. 95 Rheem Toyota Camry to the garage due to a mechanical issue.
The race restarted under green with 117 laps remaining and with teammates Truex and Kyle Busch on the front row. At the start, Truex launched ahead with the lead through Turn 1 before Busch initiated a challenge in Turn 2. Truex, however, was able to clear Busch through Turns 3 and 4 with the lead while Hamlin pulled a crossover move in an attempt to pass Busch for second place.
Behind the three Joe Gibbs Racing competitors, Harvick and Kurt Busch started to reel in Hamlin for third place while Bowyer was in sixth and Elliott moved up to seventh ahead of teammate Johnson. Jones was in ninth, Almirola was in 10th ahead of teammate Custer and Keselowski rallied his way back into 12th place.
With 100 laps remaining, Truex was out in front by more than a second over teammate Kyle Busch with teammate Hamlin trailing by three seconds. By then 12 of the 16 Playoff contenders were running no lower than 14th, with eight scored in the top 10. Meanwhile, Logano was back in 17th while teammate Blaney was back in 24th. In addition, Byron was in 18th while DiBenedetto was in 20th.
Ten laps later and with 90 laps remaining, Truex’s lead grew to nearly two seconds over teammate Kyle Busch with teammate Hamlin still lurking behind by less than four seconds. Harvick and Kurt Busch stabilized their spots in the top five followed by Bowyer, who reported voltage issues to his No. 14 PEAK Ford Mustang. Elliott was in seventh ahead of Jones while Johnson was in ninth ahead of Almirola, Austin Dillon, Keselowski, Custer and Bowman.
With approximately 85 laps remaining, Johnson made a pit stop under green. Shortly after, Austin Dillon pitted. Then, pit stops under green for most of the lead lap competitors commenced as Bowman, Blaney, Logano and Harvick pitted. During the stops, Ty Dillon was assessed a pass-through penalty for speeding on pit road.
With 70 laps remaining, Truex was still out in front by more than two seconds over teammate Kyle Busch and more than three seconds over teammate Hamlin. By then, the top-six competitors led by Truex had yet to pit.
Four laps later, Bowyer pitted under green. Shortly after, Keselowski pitted. With 60 laps remaining, Truex and teammate Kyle Busch pitted while Hamlin assumed the lead. Another lap later, Hamlin missed the pit road entrance when he struggled to turn his car below the apron in Turn 3 towards the entrance, was hit by Johnson and was unable to slow his car in time to make the turn to the pit road entrance. As a result, he had to cycle around the track for another circuit before he could enter pit road successfully and pit for service. The late misfortune dropped Hamlin out of race-winning contention.
Following the stops from the Joe Gibbs Racing competitors, Harvick was back at the front by less than a second over Elliott and coming to 55 laps remaining. Nearly eight laps later, just as Elliott passed Harvick for the lead, the caution flew due to debris on the backstretch. Under caution, the competitors on the lead lap pitted and Elliott retained the lead after beating Harvick by a nose off of pit road.
With 41 laps remaining, the race restarted under green with Elliott and Truex on the front row followed by Harvick, Austin Dillon, Jones and Almirola. At the start, Elliott and Truex duked for the lead through Turn 1 before Elliott cleared Truex for the lead following a push from Harvick. Truex and Harvick went to work in battling one another for position and closing in on Elliott for the lead while Logano made his way up to fifth place with a damaged rear end and behind Austin Dillon’s No. 3 American Ethanol Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.
With Elliott maintaining a three-tenths of a second advantage over Truex, Jones was back in sixth place in front of Almirola and Byron while Kyle Busch was in ninth place ahead of Bowman. Hamlin was in 14th behind Kurt Busch, Custer and Bowyer while Johnson was in 16th behind Keselowski.
Under 30 laps remaining, Elliott’s advantage grew to less than a second over Truex with Harvick trailing by less than two seconds. Behind, Bowman made his way into ninth place after passing Almirola while Byron and Kyle Busch were in seventh and eighth. Jones was the highest-running non-title contender in sixth place while Johnson was in 15th.
With 20 laps remaining, the battle for the lead started to ignite with Truex trailing Elliott by less than two-tenths of a second and continuing to close to the rear bumper of Elliott’s No. 9 Chevrolet. Behind, Harvick and his No. 4 Busch Beer Ford Mustang trailed the two leaders by more than five seconds with Austin Dillon and Logano continuing to run in the top five.
With 15 laps remaining, Truex gained a huge run on Elliott entering Turn 4 as he crossed beneath him past the start/finish line to take the lead. In Turn 1, however, Truex tried to slide up in front of Elliott, but they made contact and both made contact against the outside wall. Despite the damage, Truex continued with the lead while Elliott continued to run in second place, trailing by less than two seconds.
Shortly after, Truex pitted due to sustaining a flat right-rear tire. Back on the track, Harvick assumed the lead and was followed by Austin Dillon while Elliott started to fade out of race-winning contention.
With 10 laps remaining, Harvick was ahead by six-tenths of a second over Austin Dillon followed by Logano, Jones and Byron while Elliott dropped back to eighth place after being passed by teammate Bowman and Kyle Busch. Elliott would continue to lose more positions as he was off the pace with the field.
With the laps winding down and the leaders approaching lapped traffic, Harvick was still out in front while Austin Dillon continued to keep Harvick in his sights for the lead. However, with five laps remaining, Harvick started to extend his advantage to a second over Austin Dillon with Logano trailing by less than two seconds.
When Harvick started the final lap, he was still ahead by six-tenths of a second over Austin Dillon. For one final circuit, Austin Dillon got the deficit down to less than three-tenths of a second, but it was not enough through Turns 3 and 4 as Harvick managed to streak across the finish line in first place and add a second Southern 500 title to his racing resume.
The victory was Harvick’s eighth of this season, his fourth win since August and the 57th of his Cup career, which he surpassed fellow competitor Kyle Busch and moved into ninth place on the NASCAR Cup Series all-time wins list. In addition, Harvick’s win was the 15th of the season for Ford and the ninth of the season for Stewart-Haas Racing. With the victory, Harvick clinched his spot to the Round of 12 in the Playoffs.
Ironically, Darlington Raceway served as the track where NASCAR made its return to on-track racing back in May amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and where the race was also won by Harvick. Compared to May, where the grandstands were empty, Harvick’s victory on Sunday evening at Darlington was met by a chorus of cheers from the fans with up to 8,000 spectators allowed to attend the race from the grandstands, something that delighted Harvick upon saluting the fans with his win.
“The first thing I wanna say is, ‘Welcome back, fans!’ Woo!” Harvick exclaimed on the frontstretch on NBCSN. “This interview’s a hell of a lot more fun with you guys up there. [I] Just wanna say thank you to everybody from NASCAR, all of you fans here in South Carolina…Just wound up fighting all night long. This Busch Beer Ford Mustang wasn’t where we wanted it to be, but the leaders got tangled up there and the next thing you know, we were racing for the win. Anytime you can win the Southern 500, it’s a good day. This is one of the most prestigious races in our sport and this is one of the most prestigious race tracks in our sport. Anytime you can win at Darlington, it’s a big deal. Man, Southern 500!”
Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
Austin Dillon rallied from starting at the rear of the field to post a strong runner-up result while Logano made a nice rally from his incident at the start of the final stage to finish in third place. Jones, the reigning Southern 500 winner, finished in fourth place as he emerged as the highest-finishing non-title contender in the field while Byron rallied to finish in fifth place and record his third consecutive top-five result.
Playoff contenders Bowman, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Almirola and Bowyer finished inside the top 10 on the track. Keselowski finished 11th ahead of Custer, Hamlin finished 13th, Elliott faded back to 20th and Truex ended his night in 22nd, a lap behind the leaders. DiBenedetto finished 21st, a lap down, while Blaney finished 24th, the lowest-finishing Playoff contender in the field.
There were 18 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 34 laps.
Results.
1. Kevin Harvick, 32 laps led
2. Austin Dillon
3. Joey Logano
4. Erik Jones
5. William Byron
6. Alex Bowman, one lap led
7. Kyle Busch
8. Kurt Busch, five laps led
9. Aric Almirola
10. Clint Bowyer
11. Brad Keselowski
12. Cole Custer
13. Denny Hamlin, 19 laps led
14. Matt Kenseth
15. Ryan Newman
16. Michael McDowell
17. Ryan Preece
18. Jimmie Johnson
19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
20. Chase Elliott, 114 laps led
21. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap down
22. Martin Truex Jr., one lap down, 196 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner
23. Tyler Reddick, one lap down
24. Ryan Blaney, one lap down
25. Daniel Suarez, three laps down
26. Chris Buescher, three laps down
27. Ty Dillon, four laps down
28. Brennan Poole, five laps down
29. Ross Chastain, seven laps down
30. J.J. Yeley, seven laps down
31. Quin Houff, 10 laps down
32. Josh Bilicki, 11 laps down
33. Joey Gase, 16 laps down
34. Christopher Bell, 18 laps down
35. Timmy Hill – OUT, Overheating
36. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident
37. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Accident
38. Bubba Wallace – OUT, Transmission
39. James Davison – OUT, Engine
*Bold indicates Playoff contenders
Playoff standings
1. Kevin Harvick – Advanced
2. Denny Hamlin +54
3. Joey Logano +27
4. Brad Keselowski +22
5. Alex Bowman +19
6. Martin Truex Jr. +16
7. Chase Elliott +12
8. Austin Dillon +10
9. William Byron +9
10. Kyle Busch +7
11. Kurt Busch +4
12. Aric Almirola +0
13. Clint Bowyer -0
14. Cole Custer -3
15. Matt DiBenedetto -17
16. Ryan Blaney -17
Next on the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is Richmond Raceway for the Federated Auto Parts 400 and the second Playoff race of the season. The race will occur on Saturday, September 12, at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA - SEPTEMBER 06: Ben Rhodes, driver of the #99 Tenda Ford, celebrates in Victory Lane after wining the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series South Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Darlington Raceway on September 06, 2020 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Ben Rhodes and the No. 99 ThorSport Racing team broke through at Darlington Raceway on Sunday afternoon after taking advantage of an overtime restart with two laps to go. Rhodes lined up alongside rookie Derek Kraus, who was the control truck coming to the restart line. However, Kraus got loose off Turn 2 and couldn’t block Rhodes due to the looseness of the No. 19 Truck. From there, the Kentucky native used the high side and held on to snap a two-year winless drought dating back to 2018 at Kentucky.
“Gosh, that was such a tough win,” Rhodes said. “We weren’t the best truck all day. I was actually really disappointed when the [final] caution flag came out because I thought fourth place is a good finish for us, we’ll get in the Playoffs.
“But I’m not letting this checkered flag go,” he said grinning at the turn of events. “It’s been a long time coming.”
For the first time in nine years, the Truck Series returned to the famed Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Most of the drivers have never raced at the track “Too Tough To Tame” with the exception of veterans Matt Crafton and Johnny Sauter. Additionally, Trevor Bayne, Greg Biffle, and David Ragan returned to the Truck Series as well and were among the few who had experience by racing in the Cup or Xfinity Series. Stages 45-45-57 made up the 147-lap event.
Stage 1: Lap 1 – Lap 45
The caution flew early on Lap 6 when the No. 33 of Bryant Barnhill slammed the Turn 3 wall and came to a stop. Unfortunately for Barnhill, he would be credited with a last-place finish.
A few other notable incidents occurred in the early laps of Stage 1, especially for 2016 Truck Series champion Johnny Sauter. He had smoke coming out of the back end of his truck but he was able to keep on going well past the Lap 20 competition caution that was scheduled for Lap 15.
After the competition caution, 21 laps of green-flag racing ensued and GMS Racing was once again back out front to continue their recent dominance of the Truck Series. However, just five laps before the stage ended, returning competitor Trevor Bayne had suspension issues on his No. 40 Niece Motorsports entry. The handling of the truck continued to get worse throughout the day and he was never able to rebound.
When the green-checkers flew on Lap 45 for the completion of Stage 1, it was all Brett Moffitt in his Bobby Allison inspired throwback scheme who claimed the stage victory. Austin Hill, Sheldon Creed, Rhodes, Ragan, Crafton, Tyler Ankrum, Raphael Lessard, Christian Eckes, and Zane Smith rounded out the top 10. By winning the stage, Moffitt was able to clinch a playoff spot ahead of the final race of the regular season at Richmond.
Stage 2: Lap 50 – Lap 90
Only one minor incident occurred during the second stage when the No. 41 of Dawson Cram bounced off the backstretch wall, causing damage to the right-side of his Chevrolet.
Miraculously, no yellows were seen for Stage 2, which saw a 40-lap green-flag run with Sheldon Creed collecting the stage win. Moffitt, Austin Hill, Rhodes, Ragan, Lessard, Ankrum, Crafton, Gilliland, and Zane Smith completed the top 10 stage finishers.
Stage 3: Lap 97 – Lap 152 (Overtime Finish)
The third and final stage saw numerous cautions on the final run to the checkered flag. In fact, there were three cautions that occurred when the laps began to wind down.
The fifth yellow was flown on Lap 124 after Tyler Ankrum went spinning sideways through Turn(s) 1 and 2 immediately after he made contact with his teammate Zane Smith. Fortunately for Ankrum, he saved his truck from further contact, but Smith received minimal damage to the No. 21 machine.
Bad luck continued for rookie Smith as he was involved in the sixth caution when the No. 15 of Tanner Gray made contact with him in Turn 1.
Despite the two cautions slowing down the action, there was a 16-lap run from Laps 130 – 145. Before the final yellow flew, it looked as though Sheldon Creed was on pace for another dominating victory. However, a wreck on the backstretch that involved Josh Reaume, Matt Crafton, and David Ragan changed the entire complexion of the race for the front runners, Creed and Moffitt.
When the yellow flew with two laps to go, Creed and Moffitt were left with a tough choice of whether to pit. The two teams eventually made the decision to pit for fresh rubber and fuel, as their tires were worn out. Unfortunately, Creed’s day went from bad to worse, as he was caught with a penalty for too fast entering which ended any chances of him pulling off a consecutive win.
With Creed and Moffitt out of the picture, there was an overtime restart with Rhodes and Kraus making up the front row. Despite the last attempt with Kraus trying to hold Rhodes off, Rhodes eventually claimed the checkered flag for the third time of his Truck Series career with the rookie Kraus finishing runner up.
“[Crew chief] Kevin [Bellicourt] up on top of the box made a really good call at the end and I got a good restart and did everything I needed to do, and off of [Turn] two got really loose,” Kraus said about being passed by Rhodes.
“You’ve got to be aggressive to make the Top 10 and the Playoffs,” Kraus added of his door-to-door racing with Gilliland throughout the day.”
There were seven cautions for 35 laps with 11 lead changes among five different leaders.
Official Results following the South Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Darlington Raceway.
Ben Rhodes, led four laps
Derek Kraus, led one lap
Austin Hill
Grant Enfinger
Christian Eckes
Raphael Lessard
Todd Gilliland
Stewart Friesen
Timmy Hill
Brett Moffitt, won Stage 1, led 63 laps
Tyler Ankrum
Bayley Currey
Ty Majeski
Matt Crafton
Tate Fogleman
Zane Smith
Austin Wayne Self
Sheldon Creed, won Stage 1, led 82 laps
Greg Biffle
Danny Bohn
Clay Greenfield
David Ragan
Chandler Smith, 1 lap down
Jordan Anderson, 1 lap down
Codie Rohrbaugh, 2 laps down
Spencer Boyd, 2 laps down
Trevor Bayne, 3 laps down
Josh Reaume, 3 laps down
Tanner Gray, 4 laps down
Jennifer Jo Cobb, 5 laps down
Johnny Sauter, OUT, Engine
Norm Benning, OUT, Handling
Dawson Cram, OUT, Crash
Bryant Barnhill, OUT, Crash
Playoff Standings with 1 race to go
Sheldon Creed (3 wins), 20 playoff points
Zane Smith (2 wins), 14 playoff points
Grant Enfinger (2 wins), 11 playoff points
Austin Hill (1 win), 7 playoff points
Ben Rhodes (1 win), 5 playoff points
Matt Crafton (1 win), 5 playoff points
Brett Moffitt (Clinched with virtue of Stage 1 victory), 5 playoff points
Christian Eckes (Clinched with virtue of Darlington finish), No playoff playoff points
Tyler Ankrum, +14 above the cut line
Todd Gilliland, +10 above the cut line
Below the cut line
Derek Kraus, -10
Raphael Lessard, -66
Tanner Gray, -93
Stewart Friesen, -100
Any driver below the cut line will have to win in order to make the playoffs.
Up Next: The NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series will head to Richmond International Raceway for a Thursday night event on September 10th live on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio. The Richmond event will be the last race of the Truck Series season, before the playoffs begin at Bristol Motor Speedway on Thursday, September 17th.
KRAUS DRIVES TO RUNNER-UP FINISH IN DARLINGTON
Rookie of the Year contender Derek Kraus earns career-best finish
DARLINGTON, South Carolina (September 6, 2020) – Derek Kraus drove to a career-best second-place finish drove to lead Toyota at the South Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday afternoon. Truck Series points Leader Austin Hill (third), Christian Eckes (fifth), Raphael Lessard (sixth) and Stewart Friesen (eighth) joined Kraus inside the top-10.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series
Darlington Raceway
Race 15 of 23 – 147 Laps, 200.8 Miles
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Ben Rhodes *
2nd, DEREK KRAUS
3rd, AUSTIN HILL
4th, Grant Enfinger*
5th, CHRISTIAN ECKES
6th, RAPHAEL LESSARD
8th, STEWART FRIESEN
20th, DANNY BOHN
21st, CLAY GREENFIELD
23rd, CHANDLER SMITH
28th, JOSH REAUME
34th, BRYANT BARNHILL
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
DEREK KRAUS, No. 19 Ron Hornaday Throwback/NAPA Toyota Tundra, McAnally Hilgemann Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
What did you think of the pit call to stay on the race track when the leaders pitted?
“Kevin (Bellicourt, crew chief) up on top of the box made a really good call there at the end. Got a good restart and did everything I needed to, but there off of two – I got really loose off of two. It was my mistake, but overall I felt like it was a great day. We struggled some in the beginning, but Kevin got this NAPA Filters Toyota Tundra tuned up for the end of the race.”
How aggressive was the racing between yourself and Todd Gilliland?
“That was really fun racing with Todd (Gilliland). I got into him a little bit, but you have to do that, you have to be there and be aggressive to make the top-10 in the Playoffs.”
Can you take us through the last few laps?
“Kind of struggled all day and couldn’t get very good track position. Then at the end, we finally got a little bit of track position. Kevin (Bellicourt, crew chief) and the guys worked on the truck really good. We got a good restart and did everything we needed to do. Then I just got really loose off of two and it was kind of my fault, but we’ll move onto Richmond.”
How much momentum does this finish give you for Richmond?
“It definitely helps, that’s for sure. I feel like Richmond will fall into our hands a little bit. I feel like we’ll be able to adapt to the track quick and how it wears out. Have to be there at the end of those things so I’m really looking forward to it.”
Did you base the strategy at the end on what your fellow Playoff bubble competitors did?
“They were behind us so if they pitted and I didn’t, we wouldn’t really have had an idea because they were two spots behind us at the time. We just had our game plan right away and we were going to stay out. It worked out good and I was able to get a good restart.”
How do you feel going into Richmond being 10 points out of the Playoffs?
“I’ve never been there before, but I feel like I can kind of base it off of Kern County, it kind of has that same D-shaped oval and just grip-wise, it wears out like today at Darlington and also at Atlanta. I kind of grew up racing at those kind of race tracks where the tires fall off and you have to be able to save your tires for the end of the race. I enjoy going to those type of race tracks. Hopefully at Richmond we’ll have a good truck and be there and have a good points day.”
Do you think you could have held off Ben Rhodes if not for the slip in turn two?
“I feel like it definitely would have been harder for him to pass me. I got loose and kind of just gave it to him. I feel like if I would have been able to get a good run off of two and make no mistakes, it would have definitely been harder for him to pass me. I feel like his truck was probably a little bit better than mine, but with clean air, my truck definitely handled better.”
Are you very calm in the current situation heading to Richmond?
“It’s definitely going to be nerve-wracking going into the last race being 10 points out. I feel like we just have to do everything in our power and if we end up winning or end up getting in, that’s just going to happen. I feel like we had a really good run there today at the end and it’s a really good finish and we can carry this momentum into Richmond.”
How aggressive will you be at Richmond to try to get into the Playoffs?
“I’m definitely going to have to be aggressive just from being where we are in the points. It’s kind of going to have to be cautiously aggressive until the end if we have a chance to win. Definitely going to have to be smart and make the right choices if I need to move somebody out of the way. If I do, I need to make the right choice and do it good enough that I don’t damage my truck or damage the other person. It’s definitely going to be a fun race and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Do you have more confidence with Kevin Bellicourt as your crew chief?
“Kevin (Bellicourt, crew chief) knows what he’s doing. He’s really good at adjusting on my truck and making the right changes. He’s got the experience in the Playoffs and he’s definitely been in spots like this where we have to go in and run really well. I really have a lot of faith in him and my team, they’ll bring me a really good Toyota Tundra next weekend to Richmond.”
AUSTIN HILL, No. 16 Gunma Toyopet Toyota Tundra, Hattori Racing Enterprises
Finishing Position: 3rd
Can you sum up your race today?
“Our Gunma Toyopet Tundra was really good on the long runs. The 2 (Sheldon Creed) and the 23 (Brett Moffitt) were a little bit better than us on short runs for a good 15 or so laps and then we’d start reeling them in a little it. All in all, it was a good effort for us today. We did what we had to do. We just wanted to keep this points lead and keep stacking up points. We also wanted this win really bad. We thought we would drag more people down knowing that the 2, me and Moffitt, we were the top-three guys and we came down pit road. We thought we would have drug more people. Restarting 11th like we did and coming back to third was good, but it’s frustrating. Especially when we felt like we had a really good truck. We felt like we were just as good as the 2 and the 23. Felt like one of us three should have won the race today. I thought we had a shot at it, we made a call and we stuck with it. It didn’t pan out, but you can’t say that all these guys at HRE (Hattori Racing Enterprises) aren’t trying to win these races and trying to do some different strategy from other guys to get the job done. It just shows how good we are and we were good all day, we just didn’t close it out.”
How many other trucks did you expect to come to pit road?
“We figured if the 2 (Sheldon Creed) and the 23 (Brett Moffitt) pitted with us that it would bring some other guys down pit road and we kind of figured that the guys that are on the bubble for the Playoffs would probably stay out. The three or four guys that are fighting for that last spot, we figured they would stay out or guys that need a win would definitely stay out. We were kind of surprised that 10 or 11 of them stayed out and we restarted there in 11th. It’s one of those things, damed if you do, damed if you don’t type deals. It’s one of those calls that you have to make and they left it up to me. When I saw the 2 and the 23 going with me, I knew those were the two guys I was racing all day. Us three were kind of the class of the field. I figured that I needed to pit with them. All it took was having a caution, if we would have had a caution after we got through turn one and two really good and we got to stack them back up, it would have been a totally different outcome. We would have definitely won the race just because of how much faster new tires were. Then I got bottled up on that green flag start coming off of two and then actually entry into three, I got bottled up behind somebody so that kind of hurt my speed a little bit coming to the white. It’s one of those things that you look back on, we feel like we made the right call, but we needed a few more guys. Even if we had two or three more guys come down pit road with us, that would have changed the whole outcome.”
Should Darlington be a regular race on the Truck Series schedule?
“I’m going to say for sure, 100 percent. I’m not just saying that because we ran really well today, it’s just a really cool race track. It’s very unique. There’s no other race track like this. Tire wear is big. Turn one and two is totally different than any other race track you go to. You’re entry to one, you’re rolling out of the throttle a little bit and then you get back wide open and then you kind of reset again past center to get off turn two really good and there’s a lot of patches through there. It’s a very challenging and technical race track. There’s a lot of lanes you can run in three and four. We were really good for a few laps on the top and then we’d be good on the bottom. It’s just one of those race tracks where you can move around. Clean air was big, that was obviously a big thing was clean air. I still thought the race was really good just the way it played out and the way we could battle there. I think it should definitely be a race track that we keep coming to and maybe even a race track you start putting in the Playoffs.”
Are there any tracks you’re nervous about in the Playoffs that make you really want to get those 15 bonus points for regular season champion?
“You look at the schedule and you look at the Playoffs, short tracks have not always been great to us. We had a decent showing at Gateway and we feel like that’s a pretty difficult short track to get around. Really tight corners in turn one and two then totally different in three and four. We had a good showing there and we persevered. We didn’t start off good there and then we got good by the end of the race and that was a brand new package that we’re trying and we’re experimenting with. We don’t have practice so we’re just experimenting with some things. Hopefully the short tracks we can be better at. Bristol is kind of one of those race tracks that if you look at my track record, it hasn’t always been great. That’s obviously one of the race tracks and then when you go to Talladega, that’s always a place that you don’t know what’s going to happen. Just one of those crazy races that you just try to get to the end of. Then you have your Martinsville and all that. I just think those short tracks are just tracks that you never know what’s going to happen and it’s really tight-quartered racing and a lot of bumping and banging going on. It’s always nice just to have some extra bonus points to lean on in case you have a bad race that you can look back on and at least you have some points to lean on.”
CHRISTIAN ECKES, No. 18 Safelite Toyota Tundra Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 5th
It was your first race here. How was your run today at Darlington Raceway?
“Yeah, we had an okay race. We exectued really well from the last few weeks and how we haven’t had a good result, so it’s definitely a lot better than where we were. So, fifth-place is a still okay, but not good enough. We need to be a little bit better, but overall it was a good day for execution for this Safelite Toyota team.”
You clinched a Playoff spot with your performance today. What is your focus for Richmond knowing that you have a locked in spot?
“At the end of the day, we can’t really move any further ahead unless we win a race. Our full intent is to go and contend as hard as we can and be as aggressive as we can to go get a win, so we can get some Playoff points. Definitely makes it a little bit less stressful going into Richmond, and definitely gracious for that. We will just go and race the hell out of them.”
RAPHAEL LESSARD, No. 4 Mobil1 Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 6th
Four top-10 finishes in the last five races. How was your race?
“We had a really good truck. I was just learning the race track the first few laps. I feel like I picked up the race track really good. The TRD simulator helped me a ton for that. It was just like I had already been there before. We were really good at the beginning, running the top-five. I think we just lost the end a little bit and we were fighting a little bit too loose most of the race, but we got it pretty good at the end. I was pretty conservative with my line, not running too close to the wall most of the day. At the end, I just started going right around as close as I could get to the fence. I found a lot of speed there. I should have done that before, but oh well. Overall, we gambled on the last caution by pitting. We didn’t gain nothing, because we were p6, and then we came out p16, and we ended up p6. Really close to a shot at winning the race I feel like with our strategy, we just needed a little bit more left, but overall, we are getting really good. We are getting better every week, and the goal is to go win at Richmond next week to be able to be in the Playoffs. I just can’t thank everyone at Mobil1, Canac, Kyle Busch Motorsports, Toyota and TRD for everything they do. We are getting there. It’s fun to see that we are running some good races.”
STEWART FRIESEN, No. 52 Halmar ‘Racing To Beat Hunger’ Toyota Tundra, Halmar Friesen Racing
Finishing Position: 8th
You had a beautiful paint scheme today, and you did it proud driving it to your fourth straight top-10 finish. How was your finish?
“It was cool to run my Pops’ 52 Coupe scheme from the early 70’s. It was really special, but that was about the most fun I had today. We were just really bad. We struggled with handling all day. Thank God for the choose rule, because the last couple weeks it’s got us at least into the top-10. We just have to be better.”
About Toyota
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