Tag: 23XI Racing

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Toyota triumph in duels: Johnson races into Daytona 500, Reddick and Bell victorious

After Toyota’s mediocre single car qualifying performance on Wednesday, the new Camry XSE triumphed in Thursday night’s duels with Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell each taking wins in each duel respectively while Jimmie Johnson secured his spot in a nail-biting finish, passing open challenger J.J. Yeley coming off turn four on the final lap.

5 min read

  • Jimmie Johnson
  • Duel 1
  • Duel 2
  • Full race results

Jimmie Johnson races his way into the Daytona 500

Seven-time Cup series champion Jimmie Johnson started off his first Daytona race in his Legacy Motor Club Toyota strong by racing inside the top 10 in duel one, aggressively pushing the top line to the front, but following pit stops on lap 47 fellow Toyota driver Ty Gibbs went three-wide around Johnson seeing him go to the back of the pack to only have Daniel Hemric wreck in front of him as a result of an accordion effect that had started much further up the pack with Chase Elliott, sending Johnson spinning down onto the apron in turn three.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the No. 47 Boost by Kroger/Cottonelle Chevrolet, Austin Dillon, driver of the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 84 Carvana Toyota, and Daniel Hemric, driver of the No. 31 Cirkul Chevrolet, spin after an on-track incident during the NASCAR Cup Series Bluegreen Vacations Duel 1 at Daytona International Speedway (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images).

Johnson miraculously came away with no damage while others who were caught up in the wreck like Austin Dillon received bodywork damage while Hemric was out. After his inspection pit stop, Johnson started at the rear with six laps to go to catch NY Racing’s J.J. Yeley, who was starting 14th, to Johnson’s 18th, who was also trying to race his way into the 500, of who Johnson had to beat to get himself into the Great American Race.

When Ross Chastain slowed in turn three on the final lap in front of both Yeley and Johnson, Yeley took his momentum to the top but stalled out while Johnson filled the gap and the middle lane carried him past Yeley who was left out to hang on the top, taking the two-time Daytona 500 champion to the finish line ahead, locking him into Sunday’s Daytona 500.

Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #84 Carvana Toyota, and JJ Yeley, driver of the #44 100 Coconut Water Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Bluegreen Vacations Duel #1 at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2024 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

Johnson said: “It’s very stressful. I’m very thankful we got this Carvana Toyota into this race. I knew the first half of the race was going too easy. I knew there’d be a challenge thrown at us, and we got it just in time. Hats off to J.J. Yeley. He put up a heck of a fight in a very competitive car.”

Duel 1

In what would set rows 2-20 for the Daytona 500, Tyler Reddick’s 23XI Racing Toyota took the chequered flag in duel one but his day nearly ended early during green flag pit stops. A miscommunication between the Toyota drivers saw Martin Truex Jr. tag Reddick as he slowed down to enter pit road seeing him tank slap Ty Gibbs before straightening out and was able to carry on without cause for concern.

Post-race Reddick said: “Great way to start off the weekend. This thing is a beast.”

Tyler Reddick, driver of the #45 Nasty Beast Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Bluegreen Vacations Duel #1 at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2024 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Truex had been at the front with Reddick before pit stops but a slow stop due to running out of fuel and stalling saw him lose the draft until the yellow came out for the four-car wreck with Hemric.

Duel 2

Duel two saw young guns Riley Herbst and Noah Gragson lead the pack for the opening few laps until the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Bell and the 23XI Racing Toyota of Bubba Wallace went on the dominate the rest of the first green flag run.

An 11-car crash brought out a yellow on lap 48, a few laps after pit stops when William Byron blocked reigning Cup champion Ryan Blaney in the tri-oval causing Byron to slow as he drove up into the top lane. With Keselowski unaware of the move ahead, he pushed Kyle Busch into Byron sending the Hendrick Motorsports driver down into Blaney who was sent head on into the outside wall, with the incident collecting half the field in the process, and ending Blaney’s and Busch’s race.

Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 12 Menards/PEAK Ford, in flames after an on-track incident with Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 8 Zone Chevrolet, and Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 6 Castrol Edge Ford, during the NASCAR Cup Series Bluegreen Vacations Duel 2 at Daytona International Speedway (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images).

Bell’s teammate Denny Hamlin pole-vaulted from the back to the front though the green flag pit stop exchange but on the last lap Bell took a run to the outside of Hamlin on the and was able to fend of the Ford’s of Cindric and Burton to win the duel.

Bell said: “Me and Adam Stevens, my crew chief, we have a running joke: I say these races are 100-percent luck. I know that’s not true, but it seems like we’ve been struggling to get to the end of it. I know I’ve been a common denominator in a lot of the wrecks. Feels good to do everything well today.”

Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 DEWALT/Interstate Batteries Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Bluegreen Vacations Duel #2 at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2024 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Kaz Grala came out on top in what was another last lap duel to the flag between him and B.J. McLeod for the last spot in Sunday’s Daytona 500 seeing Grala take it by 0.067 seconds over McLeod who suffered minor damage from being caught in the11-car wreck.

McLeod had spent the first half of the race inside the top five, as high as third, but the unsponsored entry got caught out and dropped to the tail of the field shortly before pit stops, where he was unable to recover enough to beat Grala.

Grala had his own set of hurdles to overcome, having blown an engine when accidentally downshifting when starting his single car qualifying run the night before, and a slow pit stop in the duel saw him lose the draft entirely before being saved by the yellow coming out for the 11-car wreck with less than 15 to go. A restack was enough to see him through.

Grala said: “Just really proud of everybody at Front Row Motorsports. They worked so hard the last 24 hours to get the car ready to race today. Really cool to be able to get it in the show for them. Real big opportunity for me.”

Kaz Grala, driver of the #36 Ruedebusch Ford, and David Ragan, driver of the #60 BuildSubmarines.com Ford, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Bluegreen Vacations Duel #2 at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2024 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

As a result of winning the duels, Reddick will start third, on the inside second-row, while Bell will start fourth, on the outside second row. Both front row cars including 2024 Daytona 500 pole-winner Joey Logano and front row starter Michael McDowell survived the duels, with McDowell having a close shave on lap 56, meaning they will lead the field to green on Sunday. The top 10 drivers from each duel received championship points with the winner receiving 10 all the way down to one point for 10th.

Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Toyota, Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 DEWALT/Interstate Batteries Toyota, and Michael McDowell, driver of the #34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Bluegreen Vacations Duel #2 at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2024 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

Full race results below. Catch the 66th running of the Daytona 500 this Sunday at 2:30pm ET.

Full race results 

Duel 1 

  1. Tyler Reddick
  2. Chase Elliott
  3. Alex Bowman
  4. Carson Hocevar
  5. Erik Jones
  6. Daniel Suárez
  7. Joey Logano
  8. Ty Gibbs
  9. Kyle Larson
  10. Chris Buescher
  11. Ross Chastain
  12. Jimmie Johnson
  13. Ryan Preece
  14. Martin Truex Jr.
  15. Corey LaJoie
  16. J.J. Yeley
  17. Todd Gilliland
  18. Austin Dillon
  19. Anthony Alfredo
  20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
  21. Daniel Hemric

Duel 2  

  1. Christopher Bell
  2. Austin Cindric
  3. Denny Hamlin
  4. John Hunter Nemechek
  5. Harrison Burton
  6. Zane Smith
  7. Brad Keselowski
  8. William Byron
  9. Chase Briscoe
  10. Justin Haley
  11. Bubba Wallace
  12. Kaz Grala
  13. AJ Allmendinger
  14. B.J. McLeod
  15. David Ragan
  16. Michael McDowell
  17. Josh Berry
  18. Ryan Blaney
  19. Kyle Busch
  20. Riley Herbst
  21. Noah Gragson

Featured image: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #84 Carvana Toyota, and JJ Yeley, driver of the #44 100 Coconut Water Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Bluegreen Vacations Duel #1 at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2024 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

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Sweet Home Chicago: Grant Park 220 preview, lineup, drivers to watch

The NASCAR Cup Series will make history today by racing around the 12-turn 2.2-mile street course around and in Grant Park in downtown Chicago in what will be NASCAR’s first ever street course race, the Grant Park 220, with the Chicago city skyline and Lake Michigan as the backdrop.

  • Preview
  • Qualifying report
  • Drivers to watch
  • Starting lineup 
Bubba Wallace, driver of the No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota, drives during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 220 at the Chicago Street Course (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

The Grant Park 220 will consist of 100 laps (220 miles), and will have three stages of 20, 25, and 55 laps but like road course races this season, there will be no stage ending cautions, giving crew chiefs more options with strategy.

The green flag has been moved up from 5:30pm ET to 5pm due to downtown Chicago receiving a month’s worth of rainfall in the last 24 hours with the intention of avoiding further weather however it will be a very wet start to the race at least.

Drivers on Saturday prior to qualifying did get some practice in light rain conditions but will possibly have to relearn the track in the anticipated tricky conditions.

Check NASCAR and the @PitCrew_Online on Twitter for updates.

Qualifying

Denny Hamlin knocked three-time Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen off provisional pole, to secure his third pole of the season with a 1.28.435.

Hamlin said: “The course is actually very very good and raceable. I think there will be a ton of passing zones [in Sunday’s race].”

Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Yahoo! Toyota, drives during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 220 at the Chicago Street Course on July 01, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Shane van Gisbergen, who is making his NASCAR Cup Series debut with the Trackhouse Racing Project 91 team, ended up third fastest in the top-10 shootout with a 1.28.588.

Shane van Gisbergen, driver of the No. 91 Enhance Health Chevrolet, looks on during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 220 at the Chicago Street Course (Photo by Alejandro Alvarez/NASCAR Studios)

23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, who Hamlin is the team co-owner of, qualified second with a 1.28.479.

Jenson Button, in his second Cup Series start with Rick Ware Racing, also made the top-10 shootout, qualifying eighth with a 1.29.571.

Mexico’s Daniel Suarez topped the Round 1 Group A qualifying session with a 1.28.755, with Larson, Button, Reddick, and Allmendinger joining him for the top-10 shootout.

Group B’s qualifying session was not so smooth with Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick crashing and bringing out two red flags in the session.

Elliott, while following Shane van Gisbergen, clipped the right hand wall going into turn eight and the hit the wall opposite head on. Harvick made the same mistake in turn one, hitting the wall hard.

Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 Ford took on damage during practice on the Chicago Street Course (Photo by Taylor Robbins/Race Service)

Polesitter Hamlin topped Group B with a 1.28.369, while van Gisbergen was second with a 1.28.509. Bell, McDowell, and Logano also joined them for the top-10 shootout.

Drivers to watch

In terms of one-lap pace, Hamlin, Reddick, and van Gisbergen were nearly a whole second quicker than the rest of the top-10 shootout contenders.

Van Gisbergen is a three-time and reigning Supercars champion in Australia and topped the practice charts on Saturday in what has been a mighty impressive performance so far from the New Zealander.

With the Gen 3 Supercars sharing many similarities with NASCAR’s Gen 7 car, Gisbergen who drives for the Red Bull Ampol Racing Chevrolet Camaro team in the series, is accustomed to racing heavy V8-powered muscle cars around street courses, with the Supercars series competing on several street courses each season such as in Newcastle, and Townsville, Australia.

Shane van Gisbergen, driver of the No. 91 Enhance Health Chevrolet, drives during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 220 at the Chicago Street Course (Photo by Alejandro Alvarez/NASCAR Studios)

Shane van Gisbergen could very well take the chequered flag today, if he can carry over his experience, patience, and sensational car control and placement that he has shown in the Supercars series.

The NASCAR Cup Series regulars could come out on top by the end in Hamlin or Reddick, with Hamlin having one road course win at Watkins Glen, and Reddick winning three of the last six road course races, at Indianapolis Road Course, COTA, and Road America.

Martin Truex Jr. has been on fire lately, including winning the Sonoma road course race three weeks ago for a second consecutive year and has five road course wins to his name.

Chase Elliott, while not having been at his best this weekend, should not be dismissed, as he holds the highest number of road course wins amongst active drivers with seven, coming at five different road courses.

2009 F1 World Champion Jenson Button finished 18th at NASCAR’s Cup Series race at COTA earlier this year. With improved pace on the field this weekend, and extensive experience driving in the wet, we could see Button dueling it out for a top-five finish or better today.

Jenson Button, driver of the No. 15 Mobil 1 Ford, drives during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 220 at the Chicago Street Course (Photo by Alejandro Alvarez/NASCAR Studios)

Starting lineup 

  1. Denny Hamlin
  2. Tyler Reddick
  3. Shane van Gisbergen
  4. Christopher Bell
  5. Daniel Suarez
  6. Michael McDowell
  7. Kyle Larson
  8. Jenson Button
  9. Joey Logano
  10. AJ Allmendinger
  11. Martin Truex Jr.
  12. Ty Gibbs
  13. Alex Bowman
  14. Bubba Wallace
  15. Chris Buescher
  16. Chase Briscoe
  17. Ryan Blaney
  18. Kyle Busch
  19. Corey LaJoie
  20. Brad Keselowski
  21. Erik Jones
  22. William Byron
  23. Noah Gragson
  24. Aric Almirola
  25. Todd Gilliland
  26. Chase Elliott
  27. Josh Bilicki
  28. Ryan Preece
  29. Austin Dillon
  30. Andy Lally
  31. Austin Cindric
  32. Harrison Burton
  33. Ty Dillon
  34. Ross Chastain
  35. Kevin Harvick
  36. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
  37. Justin Haley

 

Featured Image: A general view of the setup for the Chicago Street Race frontstretch (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

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Larson in class of his own in North Wilkesboro All-Star Race

Larson gave the 23 other Cup drivers in what he described as an “old-school ass whipping” by comfortably winning his third All-Star Race in Sunday night’s 200-lap race around the revived North Wilkesboro Speedway, leading 145 laps, and taking home $1 million dollars.

  • Kyle Larson
  • Bubba Wallace
  • Rest of race recap
  • Coca-Cola 600
  • Full race results

Larson’s strategy winning move came on lap 18 when crew chief Cliff Daniels had him pit for fresh tyres while the top half of the field stayed out including leaders Suarez and Hamlin, and despite receiving a speeding penalty for speeding on pit road that sent him to restart the race in the rear in 24th place, by lap 55 he was overtaking Daniel Suarez for the lead and pulled a 12-second lead by the time the 100-lap competition break came around.

Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet (1st), and Daniel Suarez, driver of the #99 Trackhouse Motorplex Chevrolet (2nd), lead the field during the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway on May 21, 2023 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Bubba Wallace attempted to match Larson’s pace in the final 100 laps but Larson maintained a four-second lead over the 23XI Racing driver to take himself with his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to a third All-Star Race win at a third different track, the first two coming at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2019 and Texas Motor Speedway in 2021.

Larson said: “So much fun there. That was an old-school ass whipping, for sure. We had a great car on the long run there and was just thinking for sure there was going to be a caution. I got out to a big lead, and I could see everybody’s cars were driving like crap in front of me, but I cannot thank this 5 team enough.”

Larson was able to hook the bottom of the track including the apron in turns three and four while most of the other cars’ handling difficulties meant they lacked the capability to replicate his line with Wallace coming close, running a lane higher out of turn four.

While there was a lack of traditional short-track bumper banging, it was a real drivers race, with most only using seventy percent throttle at most around the track and having to control the amount of slipping and sliding, making it a real test of car control and tyre management.

A general view of racing during the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

Larson swept the weekend by also winning Saturday’s Truck Series 250-lap race, where he had to pass Bubba Wallace inside of 20 laps to go and hold him off in an overtime finish to take the chequered flag.

Larson equals Jeff Gordon, now Vice Chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, and Dale Earnhardt Sr. with three All-Star wins. It’s Hendrick Motorsports 11th All-Star win, the most all-time.

Bubba Wallace adds to a string of recent strong performances by coming up deservingly in the runner-up spot.

Wallace was also on the same strategy as Larson, having pitted on lap 18 and found himself in eighth by lap 75 before a phenomenal charge up to second passing cars on older tyres except Larson in the closing laps before the competition break at lap 100.

Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet (front), and Bubba Wallace, the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota (behind), pits during qualifying heat #2 for the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway on May 20, 2023 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Wallace was unable to match Larson’s pace in the final 100 laps but was able to keep the rest of the field at bay including his 23XI Racing teammate Tyler Reddick who finished 3rd, making it a Toyota 23XI two-three finish.

Wallace said: “If this was any other race, I’d be excited, but for a million dollars to come up short and walk home with nothing. Tail tucked between our legs, but all in all, just continuing to ride the momentum train. Just have to keep it going. Now we show back up to home turf (for next Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway) and really got to keep the momentum going there and get ourselves deeper into the Playoffs.”

Bubba Wallace, driver of the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota, drives during the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway (Photo by Alejandro Alvarez/NASCAR Studios)

Rest of race recap

The inside groove at North Wilkesboro was king during the race. Chris Buescher who started outside pole, was unable to find a gap to fall into the inside lane of cars at the start of the race, and fell back to 11th as a result of being trapped on the outside.

A caution came out on lap 16, when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. boldly came down the race track in front of a faster Erik Jones who spun him around as a result.

Erik Jones, driver of the No. 43 STP Chevrolet, drives during the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

Polesitter Daniel Suarez, who won heat race one on Saturday to secure the pole for Sunday’s All-Star Race, led the opening 55 laps of the race but chose not to pit on lap 18 for tyres, which saw Larson pass him easily on lap 55 on fresher tyres.

William Byron and Kyle Busch had such poor handling race cars, that both were forced to pit under green during the opening 100 laps to make adjustments, and went down a lap and two laps to the leader respectively as a result.

Despite everyone pitting for tyres and fuel during the competition break on lap 100, now that Larson had taken the lead, there was no looking back for the Californian, who led the rest of the race in dominating fashion.

Coca-Cola 600

This Sunday as part of Memorial Day Weekend in the United States, the NASCAR Cup Series will race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in one of it’s crown jewel events following IndyCar’s Indy 500, the Coca-Cola 600; a 400 lap (600 mile) race around the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The green flag flies at 6pm ET. Follow ThePitCrewOnline’s twitter @PitCrew_Online for live updates and reporting of the Coca-Cola 600.

Featured Image: Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, celebrates with the one million dollar check in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Full race results

  1. Kyle Larson
  2. Bubba Wallace
  3. Tyler Reddick
  4. Chase Briscoe
  5. Chase Elliott
  6. Ryan Blaney
  7. Daniel Suarez
  8. Erik Jones
  9. Ty Gibbs
  10. Joey Logano
  11. Ross Chastain
  12. Christopher Bell
  13. Denny Hamlin
  14. Martin Truex Jr.
  15. Josh Berry
  16. Chris Buescher
  17. Austin Dillon
  18. Kevin Harvick
  19. Brad Keselowski
  20. William Byron
  21. Austin Cindric
  22. Kyle Busch
  23. Noah Gragson
  24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

 

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Hendrick déjà vu: Byron beats Larson in overtime finish again to win Phoenix Cup race

Sunday saw William Byron, for two-weeks in a row, beat Kyle Larson in a overtime restart to win the Cup Series race, this time at Phoenix Raceway in the United Rentals Work United 500. Kevin Harvick had overtaken Larson for the lead with 43 laps to go but a caution with 11 laps to go for Harrison Burton blowing a tyre, saw Harvick lose the lead on pit road and fall back to seventh, having taken four tyres, while Larson and Byron came off pit road first and second on just two tyres. 

  • Race summary
  • Rest of race recap
  • Full race results
  • Point standings

William Byron had taken the lead away from pole-sitter Kyle Larson on lap two and went on to win stage one but Kyle Larson took the lead back on pit road during the stage break and won stage two.

Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet, Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Shingrix Toyota, and Christopher Bell, driver of the No. 20 Rheem Toyota, race during the NASCAR Cup Series United Rentals Work United 500 at Phoenix Raceway (Photo by Chris Graythen | Getty Images)

Heading towards the white flag, Tyler Reddick gave a helpful push to Byron coming down the backstretch heading, as Blaney, Larson and Byron were three-wide for the lead with Byron on the outside, helping Byron clear Larson and Blaney going into turn four to take the white flag and the checkered flag.

It’s Byron sixth career win and his first at Phoenix in the Cup Series.

William Byron celebrates his 6th career win by burning it down at the start finish line at Phoenix Raceway, March 12 2023 (Photo by Meg Oliphant | Getty Images)

Byron thanked crew chief Rudy Fugle for the win saying: “Owe the last couple weeks to him. He’s done a really good job strategy-wise, and execution-wise we’ve done a good job to put ourselves in those positions on the front row with a shot at the end.”

AVONDALE, ARIZONA – MARCH 12: William Byron, driver of the #24 Valvoline Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series United Rentals Work United 500 at Phoenix Raceway on March 12, 2023 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)

Kyle Larson led 201 of the 312 laps so was not too pleased to come in fourth after losing the win to Byron in the same fashion for two-weeks running, being beat in last week’s overtime restart in Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s 400-mile race, saying: “Restarts are just tough. [Byron] did a really good job of holding it to my outside, clearing me down the back. Yeah, I’m pissed off.”

Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, reacts after finishing fourth in the NASCAR Cup Series United Rentals Work United 500 at Phoenix Raceway (Photo by Susan Wong | NASCAR Studios)

Kevin Harvick aka “The Closer” was looking to become a 10-time Phoenix Cup Series winner. Having started 15th, he finished eighth and third in stages one and two respectively before in the final stage on a long green flag run passed Larson for the lead with 43 laps to go.

Harvick was clear sailing prior to the caution with 11 laps to go and was not able to gain any positions when the field went back to green with three laps to go before Noah Gragson, AJ Allmendinger, and Ty Gibbs wrecked in turns one and two sending the race into overtime.

Harvick said: “That’s the way it goes. Just smoked ’em up until the caution. They did a great job with our Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang. Didn’t need the caution at the end.”

It was Harvick’s 20th straight top-10 finish at Phoenix Raceway in the Cup Series.

Ryan Blaney had a strong race from start to finish coming home in the runner up spot. Blaney finished sixth and eighth in stage one and two respectively. The Team Penske driver was running sixth at the time of Burton blowing his tyre.

Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 12 Dent Wizard Ford, races during the the NASCAR Cup Series United Rentals Work United 500 at Phoenix Raceway (Photo by Cameron Richardson | NASCAR Studios)

Ford and former Penske teammate Brad Keselowski also had a strong race prior to the overtime finish, being ninth and fourth in stages one and two respectively before finishing eighteenth.

Josh Berry, subbing for the injured Chase Elliott, drove the No. 9 Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet to an impressive 10th place finish. Berry was getting used up in stage one struggling to get inside the top 25. The full-time JR Motorsports Xfinity driver worked his way into the top 15 in the final stage before finishing one place behind Hendrick teammate Alex Bowman, placing all four Hendrick Chevrolet’s in the top-10.

Rest of race recap

The United Rentals 500 marked the debut of the new short track package, seeing a 30% reduction in downforce compared to last year’s short track package, due in part to halving the spoiler from four inches to two.

The cars were permitted to race in wet conditions  if they occurred during the race as part of NASCAR’s expansion to allow wet-weather racing at one mile or less sized oval tracks in addition to the road course races.

2021 Phoenix winner Kyle Larson led the field to green flag before Byron released Larson of the lead getting by on the inside of turn one on lap two.

Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, leads the field to the green flag to start the NASCAR Cup Series United Rentals Work United 500 at Phoenix Raceway on March 12, 2023 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

With under ten to go in stage one, BJ McLeod retired with a fuel pump issue before Ricky Stenhouse Jr. tagged the turn one wall running 25th but was able to continue. Byron led the rest of the laps to win stage one.

During the stage one caution break, Kyle Larson was able to win back the lead on pit road in part to having the number one pit stall at the end of pit road.

Aric Almirola brought out the caution on lap 139 after his wheel hub and tyre broke free. Larson was first off pit road again and went on to win stage two.

Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 GoBowling.com Ford, breaks a right-front wheel during the NASCAR Cup Series United Rentals Work United 500 at Phoenix Raceway (Photo by Susan Wong | NASCAR Studios)

Harvick started the final stage side-by-side with Larson on the restart but Larson quickly pulled away to a 2.5 second gap by lap 207.

Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, drives during the NASCAR Cup Series United Rentals Work United 500 at Phoenix Raceway, with Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Hunt Brothers Ford Mustang behind, on March 12, 2023 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

During the rest of the final stage, the whole field split the 127-lap stage in half except Erik Jones who stayed out in the lead on old tyres until Kyle Larson caught and passed him for the lead on much fresher tyres with 52 laps to go. Jones was hoping for a caution to force everybody else down pit road again while with the lead but one didn’t come before having to pit. Jones finished 21st.

As the run went on Harvick closed back down the gap to Larson to just 0.3 seconds and cleared him coming out of turn three with 43 laps to go.

The crash that led to the overtime finish came from Gragson and AJ Allmendinger colliding into the turn two wall together, while Gibbs piled into the back of them after getting tangled with Corey Lajoie on the high lane in turn one.

Ty Gibbs, driver of the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota, drives his damaged car back to pit road during the NASCAR Cup Series United Rentals Work United 500 at Phoenix Raceway (Photo by Susan Wong | NASCAR Studios)

The 2022 Hamlin-Chastain clash was revived on the final lap when Denny Hamlin washed up the race track in turn two dragging Chastain into the wall. Hamlin had spent most of the day in the top five but would only come home 23rd in the end, with Chastain 24th. Both had a long conversation with each other on pit road post-race.

The next race for the NASCAR Cup Series is the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway this Sunday, with the race starting at 3pm ET.

Featured image: William Byron, driver of the #24 Valvoline Chevrolet, drives during the NASCAR Cup Series United Rentals Work United 500 at Phoenix Raceway on March 12, 2023 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)

Full race results 

  1. William Byron
  2. Ryan Blaney
  3. Tyler Reddick
  4. Kyle Larson
  5. Kevin Harvick
  6. Christopher Bell
  7. Chase Briscoe
  8. Kyle Busch
  9. Alex Bowman
  10. Josh Berry
  11. Joey Logano
  12. Ryan Preece
  13. Michael McDowell
  14. Bubba Wallace
  15. Chris Buescher
  16. Austin Dillon
  17. Martin Truex Jr.
  18. Brad Keselowski
  19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
  20. AJ Allmendinger
  21. Erik Jones
  22. Daniel Suarez
  23. Denny Hamlin
  24. Ross Chastain
  25. Austin Cindric
  26. Corey LaJoie
  27. Justin Haley
  28. Ty Gibbs
  29. Noah Gragson
  30. Ty Dillon
  31. Zane Smith
  32. Todd Gilliland
  33. Aric Almirola
  34. Cody Ware
  35. Harrison Burton
  36. BJ McLeod

Stage one 

  1. William Byron
  2. Kyle Larson
  3. Christopher Bell
  4. Denny Hamlin
  5. Tyler Reddick
  6. Ryan Blaney
  7. Ross Chastain
  8. Kevin Harvick
  9. Brad Keselowski
  10. Kyle Busch

Stage two 

  1. Kyle Larson
  2. William Byron
  3. Kevin Harvick
  4. Brad Keselowski
  5. Tyler Reddick
  6. Denny Hamlin
  7. Christopher Bell
  8. Ryan Blaney
  9. Ross Chastain
  10. Chase Briscoe

Points standings after 4 of 36 races 

  1. Alex Bowman – 154
  2. Kevin Harvick – 151
  3. Ross Chastain – 148
  4. William Byron* – 144
  5. Kyle Larson – 137
  6. Christopher Bell – 137
  7. Denny Hamlin – 125
  8. Ryan Blaney – 124
  9. Kyle Busch* – 122
  10. Martin Truex Jr. – 122
  11. Daniel Suarez – 119
  12. Joey Logano – 118
  13. Brad Keselowski – 115
  14. Chris Buescher – 112
  15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.* – 104
  16. Bubba Wallace – 92
  17. Austin Cindric – 81
  18. Corey Lajoie – 79
  19. Michael McDowell – 76
  20. Tyler Reddick – 72
  21. AJ Allmendinger – 71
  22. Austin Dillon – 63
  23. Ty Gibbs – 62
  24. Justin Haley – 60
  25. Chase Briscoe – 59
  26. Aric Almirola – 56
  27. Ryan Preece – 54
  28. Erik Jones – 53
  29. Chase Elliott – 49
  30. Harrison Burton – 48
  31. Todd Gilliland – 46
  32. Noah Gragson – 43
  33. Cody Ware – 38
  34. Travis Pastrana – 26
  35. BJ McLeod – 26
  36. Ty Dillon – 17
  37. Jimmie Johnson – 10
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Mississippi Ricky wins 65th Daytona 500 in double overtime finish

Sunday saw JTG Daugherty Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. win the 65th Daytona 500 in a double overtime finish beating Team Penske’s Joey Logano to the caution flag as the field wrecked behind them. It was the longest Daytona 500 being 212 laps (530 miles) compared with 2020’s 209 lap race. The two Kyle’s of Busch and Larson missed out again while Travis Pastrana came home 11th in his first Daytona 500.  

  • Key moments
  • Rest of race recap
  • Full results
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the #47 Kroger/Cottonelle Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series 65th Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 19, 2023 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

After starting 31st with 20 laps to go after receiving a penalty for speeding exiting pit road, Stenhouse Jr. methodically worked his way back through the field to take the lead away from Kyle Busch during the first of two overtimes.

In the final overtime, he held off Kyle Larson and inched in front of Joey Logano on the white flag lap at the time of caution as nearly the entire field wrecked behind them after Almirola turned Pastrana down into the pack.

Two minutes later, NASCAR declared Ricky Stenhouse Jr., of Olive Branch, Mississippi, the winner of the 65th running of the Daytona 500; his 12th attempt at winning the Great American Race.

It ends a 199-winless streak and earned the Mississippi native his third career win, all coming at restrictor plate tracks, including the 2017 summer Daytona race. This was Stenhouse’s first season back with his old crew chief Mike Kelly, who he won the 2011 and 2012 Xfinity Championships together with.

Stenhouse Jr. said: “everything played out perfectly for us at the end of that. It’s the Daytona 500. It’s a long race. You’re going to have good parts and bad parts, but we just kept pushing through.”

For most of the race the pack was tightly strung together two-wide 15-plus rows deep. While any aggressive maneuvers and sudden movements often came close to causing the big one, there was perpetual energy changes in the two lanes leading to 52 lead changes in the race shared amongst 21 drivers. Prior to overtime, there was only four cautions for cause.

Joey Logano had been upfront throughout the race including leading the pack for most of the final 18 laps of stage two. Logano retook the lead with 13 laps to go before losing it to AJ Allmendinger two laps later.

Logano circled around the top five for all of overtime including in the first before the big one happened when William Byron and Austin Dillon spun back into the pack in turn three after Byron had sent Dillon into a spin.

The first overtime pile-up- Todd Gilliland, driver of the No. 38 gener8tor Skills Ford, Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 84 Carvana Chevrolet, Noah Gragson, driver of the No. 42 Wendy’s Chevrolet, Austin Dillon, driver of the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Club Chevrolet, Harrison Burton, driver of the No. 21 Motorcraft/DEX Imaging Ford and William Byron, driver of the No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevrolet, during the NASCAR Cup Series 65th Annual Daytona 500 (Photo by Mike Ehrmann | Getty Images)

In the final overtime finish Logano was ahead of Stenhouse Jr. when the field began wrecking behind them but by the time the caution was thrown five seconds later, Stenhouse Jr. had surged back ahead.

Logano, speaking about his decisions afterwards said: “Second is the worst, man. You’re so close. Leading the white flag lap there, I was up front. Kyle gave me a good push. I knew if I went to the bottom my car didn’t handle good enough. I already got pushed off the bottom once and I thought, if I go down there, I’m probably going to get wrecked, and I don’t know if I can get down there in time to throw the block [on Stenhouse] and so I didn’t want to wreck my car either.”

Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch had taken over the lead with teammate Austin Dillon in tandem inside of three laps to go, slingshotting around the Roush Fenway Keselowski Ford’s of Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher.

Kyle Busch, driver of the #8 3CHI Chevrolet, Austin Dillon, driver of the #3 Bass Pro Shops Club Chevrolet, and William Byron, driver of the #24 RaptorTough.com Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Cup Series 65th Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 19, 2023 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

The RCR camp offered Stenhouse an olive branch on the restart when a drop to the bottom lane from the top by Busch to allow Dillon in to push saw Logano’s and Stenhouse Jr.’s outside led lane out-drag them down the backstretch. Busch would be collected in the final wreck sending him tumbling down the finishing order to 19th.

Busch had a stereotypically rowdy race. In his 18th attempt to win the Daytona 500, he had to start in the rear due to going to a backup car after Thursday night’s duel crash but worked his way up to the top-10 after the first green flag pit stops. Busch was caught speeding on pit road on lap 107 and served his drive through penalty under green, consequently being caught by the pack laps later.

After being the lucky dog on lap 132, putting himself back on the lead lap, Busch worked his way up to inside the top five with 15 laps to go, only to wreck out of the Daytona 500 again when Kyle Busch spun off of Bubba Wallace’s nose in the final wreck.

Rest of race recap

Kyle Larson led the opening lap of the race, pipping polesitter Alex Bowman to the line. Larson, while staying in contention, would only be at the front again in the second overtime, lining up alongside Stenhouse Jr. for the restart. Larson would finish 18th after being taken out in the final crash.

Alex Bowman, driver of the #48 Ally Chevrolet, and Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, lead the field to start the NASCAR Cup Series 65th Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 19, 2023 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

The first stint of the race was smooth sailing apart from a spinning Riley Herbst in the infield grass on lap 38, but the race stayed caution free. After the first green flag pit stops were complete on lap 45, the four Toyota’s found themselves in the top-five in 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace leading with teammate Tyler Reddick followed by Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell. Wallace had to come to pit road from the lead after a light bump from Truex Jr. sent him into the wall and would go down a lap. 

With six to go in stage one it was a JGR one-two-three in Martin Truex Jr, Hamlin and Ty Gibbs but were sitting ducks to the RFK and Stewart-Haas Racing Ford’s of Brad Keselowski, Ryan Preece, Chris Buescher and Kevin Harvick. The blue ovals pounced on the final lap with Keselowski winning the stage.

Keselowski also led much of the halfway part of the race. At lap 100 Erik Jones, in his striking Guns N’ Roses sponsored No. 43, was up to fifth, and Jimmie Johnson, the two-time Daytona 500 winner who finished eighth in stage one, was up to sixth.

Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 6 Nexlizet Ford, Chris Buescher, driver of the No. 17 Fastenal Ford, Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 8 3CHI Chevrolet and Austin Dillon, driver of the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Club Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Cup Series 65th Annual Daytona 500 (Photo by Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images)

Lap 118 saw the first major incident of the race when Harvick gently pushed outside leader Reddick into a spin down into Blaney and Truex Jr. before careering into the turn four wall causing the field to check up behind. Blaney would whack the outside wall also but would continue after repairs while Jones would spin into Chase Elliott taking both, along with Reddick, out of the race. Wallace ironically would get the free pass following his teammate’s crash.

A six-lap shootout to end stage two saw Ross Chastain drag-race Alex Bowman to the green chequered flag to take the stage win.

Wallace would lead the start of the final stage after staying out under yellow. Wallace had no top-end pace on the restart and quickly fell back through the pack as Aric Almirola took over the lead.

A seven-car crash came just after the final scheduled green flag pit stop’s with 19 laps to go when part of the mid-field stacked up behind Keselowski leading to 14th place running Preece, the fifth car in line, spinning out from Michael McDowell’s rear contact, taking out himself and SHR teammate Chase Briscoe from the race.

Harrison Burton and Logano briefly led at the front before Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger took over the lead from Logano while Burton squeezed Busch into the frontstretch wall. The RFK Ford’s of Keselowski and Buescher took back the lead with 10 to go before an eight-car breakaway developed inside of five to go, with Busch and Dillon tucked in behind the RFK Ford’s.

A spinning Daniel Suarez coming off turn four into the infield grass helped lead to the double-overtime finish that saw Ricky Stenhouse Jr. win his first Cup race since 2017 and Chevrolet win their first Daytona 500 since RCR’s win with Austin Dillon in 2018.

The mayhem at the end and good incident avoidance led Rick Ware Racing’s Riley Herbst to come home in 10th in his first Daytona 500 start, despite being a part of the first overtime crash, and X-Games gold medallist Travis Pastrana finish 11th in his first Daytona 500. Jimmie Johnson was forced to retire from the race after being caught up the first overtime pile-up and would finish 31st.

This Sunday sees the NASCAR Cup Series travel to Fontana, California for the second race of the season, the Pala Casino 400 at Auto Club Speedway starting 3:30pm ET.

Featured Image: Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the #47 Kroger/Cottonelle Chevrolet, and crew celebrate in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series 65th Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 19, 2023 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Full race results 

  1. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 212.
  2. Joey Logano, Ford, 212.
  3. Christopher Bell, Toyota, 212.
  4. Chris Buescher, Ford, 212.
  5. Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 212.
  6. AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 212.
  7. Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 212.
  8. Ryan Blaney, Ford, 212.
  9. Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 212.
  10. Riley Herbst, Ford, 212.
  11. Travis Pastrana, Toyota, 212.
  12. Kevin Harvick, Ford, 212.
  13. Zane Smith(i), Ford, 212.
  14. Cody Ware, Ford, 212.
  15. Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 212.
  16. Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 212.
  17. Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 212.
  18. Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, Accident, 211.
  19. Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, Accident, 211.
  20. Bubba Wallace, Toyota, Accident, 211.
  21. Aric Almirola, Ford, Accident, 211.
  22. Brad Keselowski, Ford, Accident, 211.
  23. Austin Cindric, Ford, Accident, 210.
  24. Noah Gragson, Chevrolet, 210.
  25. Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 210.
  26. Harrison Burton, Ford, 210.
  27. Todd Gilliland, Ford, Accident, 208.
  28. Michael McDowell, Ford, 208.
  29. Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 206.
  30. BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, 204.
  31. Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, Accident, 203.
  32. Justin Haley, Chevrolet, Accident, 203.
  33. Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 202.
  34. William Byron, Chevrolet, Accident, 202.
  35. Chase Briscoe, Ford, Accident, 182.
  36. Ryan Preece, Ford, Accident, 182.
  37. Erik Jones, Chevrolet, Accident, 118.
  38. Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, Accident, 118.
  39. Tyler Reddick, Toyota, Accident, 117.
  40. Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, Engine, 26.

Stage results 

Stage 1 –

  1. Brad Keselowski
  2. Ryan Preece
  3. Chris Buescher
  4. Kevin Harvick
  5. Michael McDowell
  6. Ty Gibbs
  7. Aric Almirola
  8. Jimmie Johnson
  9. Martin Truex Jr.
  10. Todd Gilliland

Stage 2 –

  1. Ross Chastain
  2. Alex Bowman
  3. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
  4. Joey Logano
  5. Austin Cindric
  6. Martin Truex Jr.
  7. William Byron
  8. AJ Allmendinger
  9. Chris Buescher
  10. Christopher Bell
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Alex Bowman secures third Daytona 500 pole, Johnson and Pastrana lock themselves in

Alex Bowman set a blistering lap speed of 181.686mph to secure his third career Daytona 500 pole. Jimmie Johnson and Travis Pastrana locked themselves into Sunday’s race.

Bowman was the last car to go out in single- car qualifying’s final round and had to beat Hendrick Motorsport teammate Kyle Larson’s lap speed of 181.057mph. Both Bowman and Larson make up the front row for the Great American Race for two years in a row except it was Larson on pole for last year’s race.

Bowman, who announced a contract extension earlier in the day that sees him through to 2026 with Hendrick said: “This Ally 48 Camaro is obviously really fast. I don’t really have a lot to do with qualifying here, so just fortunate to qualify some really fast race cars.”

Hendrick drivers have won eight of the last nine Daytona 500 poles, and Chevrolet drivers have won the last 11.

Pole Award winner, Alex Bowman, driver of the #48 Ally Chevrolet, (L) and Front Row winner, Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, pose for photos after the the Busch Light Pole at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2023 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

It was a Hendrick one-two-three at the end of qualifying with William Byron coming in third with a lap speed of 180.727mph. Unlike his teammates, his starting position for the Daytona 500 will be decided in the duel races as only the front row is locked in for the Daytona 500 ahead of the duels.

It was all Ford’s from fourth to ninth in Almirola, Logano, Briscoe, Blaney, Cindric and Burton. Kyle Busch had his initial top-five time disallowed for dipping his Richard Childress Chevrolet below the double yellow lines on the frontstretch, having to settle for 10th out of the 10 cars in the final round.

Jimmie Johnson and Travis Pastrana were the top two non-chartered cars, qualifying 23rd and 25th with near equal lap speeds; 179.276mph and 179.254mph respectively. There’d been no practice prior to qualifying so it was all the more impressive to see Johnson, the seven-time Cup champions’ first qualifying session with the New Gen Car and Pastrana, making his first Daytona 500 run, lay down competitive lap speeds.

Pastrana said: I just can’t say enough about this 23XI team. And this TRD motor and being able to get on the [simulator], that was everything. Can’t give them enough credit for this opportunity.”

Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #84 Carvana Chevrolet, (R) and Travis Pastrana, driver of the #67 Black Rifle Coffee Toyota, speak during the NASCAR Cup Series 65th Annual Daytona 500 Media Day at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2023 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

It means that Conor Daly, Chandler Smith, Zane Smith and Austin Hill will have to race their way into the Daytona 500. Daly, who led laps in last year’s Indy 500, was unable to go out to qualify due to a broken oil line. The Money Team Racing car was completely disassembled during qualifying while they awaited the arrival of a replacement oil heater. He consequently qualified 42nd.

Front Row Motorsport’s Zane Smith was the best of the rest of the non-chartered cars qualifying 29th with a lap speed of 178.862mph. Austin Hill and Chandler Smith qualified 32nd and 41st.

The single-car qualifying results decide where each driver will start in the Blue Vacations Duel 60-lap qualifying races to determine the starting positions for the Great American Race. The qualifying field will be split into two duels, with the odd numbered qualified cars racing in duel one and even numbered qualified cars in duel two.

The highest finishing non-chartered car from each duel that isn’t locked in from single-car qualifying will lock themselves into Sunday’s race.

The Blue Vacation Duels begin 7pm ET time Thursday night.

Full qualifying results

  1. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 181.686 mph.
  2. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 181.057 mph.
  3. (24) William Byron, Chevrolet, 180.727 mph.
  4. (10) Aric Almirola, Ford, 180.723 mph.
  5. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 180.712 mph.
  6. (14) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 180.661 mph.
  7. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 180.054 mph.
  8. (2) Austin Cindric, Ford, 180.014 mph.
  9. (21) Harrison Burton, Ford, 179.748 mph.
  10. (8) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
  11. (23) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 180.011 mph.
  12. (99) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 179.921 mph.
  13. (17) Chris Buescher, Ford, 179.888 mph.
  14. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 179.881 mph.
  15. (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 179.863 mph.
  16. (41) Ryan Preece, Ford, 179.849 mph.
  17. (4) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 179.684 mph.
  18. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 179.673 mph.
  19. (54) Ty Gibbs #, Toyota, 179.616 mph.
  20. (45) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 179.612 mph.
  21. (20) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 179.497 mph.
  22. (19) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 179.347 mph.
  23. (84) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 179.276 mph.
  24. (34) Michael McDowell, Ford, 179.265 mph.
  25. (67) Travis Pastrana, Toyota, 179.254 mph.
  26. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 179.154 mph.
  27. (43) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 178.998 mph.
  28. (42) Noah Gragson #, Chevrolet, 178.941 mph.
  29. (36) Zane Smith(i), Ford, 178.862 mph.
  30. (16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 178.813 mph.
  31. (31) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 178.763 mph.
  32. (62) Austin Hill(i), Chevrolet, 178.660 mph.
  33. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 178.525 mph.
  34. (38) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 178.204 mph.
  35. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 177.925 mph.
  36. (78) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, 177.834 mph.
  37. (51) Cody Ware, Ford, 177.169 mph.
  38. (15) Riley Herbst(i), Ford, 176.849 mph.
  39. (77) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 176.315 mph.
  40. (7) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 176.287 mph.
  41. (13) Chandler Smith(i), Chevrolet, 175.022 mph.
  42. (50) Conor Daly(i), Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

Featured Image: Alex Bowman, driver of the #48 Ally Chevrolet, poses on the track during qualifying for the Busch Light Pole at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2023 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

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2023 Daytona 500 Preview

This Sunday the NASCAR Cup Series’ regular season gets underway at Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida, for the 65th running of the Daytona 500 on its 75th anniversary. 40 cars will compete in the Great American Race in front of a sold out crowd at speeds over 200mph, inches apart from each other for 200 laps, in a bid to win one of NASCAR’s most prestigious prizes, the Harley J. Earl Trophy and forever immortalise themselves in the history books on stock car racing’s biggest day. 

  • Schedule
  • Drivers to watch 
  • Schedule summary
Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion celebrating with the Harley J. Earl Trophy after winning the 2015 Daytona 500 on February 22nd, 2015, at Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images)

42 drivers have entered  into the 500-mile 200 lap race around the 2.5-mile superspeedway with seven part-time entries including seven-time Cup Series champion and Legacy Motor Club co-owner Jimmie Johnson and X Games gold medallist and Hoonigan driver Travis Pastrana.

Last year saw Team Penske rookie Austin Cindric win the Daytona 500 on his full-time debut. It was the first time a rookie has won the Daytona 500 since Trevor Bayne in 2011, driving for Wood Brothers Racing.

Schedule  

There are 36 chartered cars in this year’s Daytona 500 meaning they are guaranteed a spot in the race regardless of where they qualify. There are four spots available for non-chartered cars to claim with six entering meaning two will fail to qualify for this year’s race. Two cars will able to secure their spot from single car qualifying while the remaining two spots will be decided in the duels.

The NASCAR Cup Cars will run single car qualifying on Wednesday at 8pm ET where in round one they will run a single timed lap attempting to lay down a top-10 lap to get through to the final round where they will set another single timed lap in an attempt to secure the pole for the Great American Race.

The top two from single car qualifying will keep their starting positions on the front row for the Daytona 500 regardless of where they finish in their duel race. Hendrick Motorsport’s Kyle Larson scored the pole in last year’s event with teammate Alex Bowman qualifying second.

16: Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet, and Alex Bowman, driver of the #48 Ally Chevrolet, pose in Ruoff Victory Lane after qualifying on the front row for the NASCAR Cup Series 64th Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 16, 2022 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

The Bluegreen Vacations Duels, the two qualifying 60-lap races, will be run on Thursday starting at 7pm ET. The finishing positions determine where the drivers will start the Daytona 500, and which two non-chartered cars will go home. Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher won last year’s duels.

As and added incentive, the top 10 in each duel race will receive points; 10 for finishing first, nine for second and so on all the way down to receiving one point for finishing 10th.

Brad Keselowski, driver of the #6 Kohler Generators Ford, Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Menards/Blue DEF/PEAK Ford, and Austin Cindric, driver of the #2 Discount Tire Ford, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Bluegreen Vacations Duel #1 at Daytona at Daytona International Speedway on February 17, 2022 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

On Friday the Cup Series will have the first of two 50-minute practice sessions starting at 5:35pm ET before the NextEra Energy 250, the Craftsman Truck Series 100-lap night race, starting at 7:30pm ET.

18: John Hunter Nemechek, driver of the #4 Pye-Barker Fire & Safety Toyota, Tyler Ankrum, driver of the #16 LiUNA! Toyota, andDerek Kraus, driver of the #19 Shockwave Chevrolet, spins after an on-track incident as Zane Smith, driver of the #38 Love’s Travel Stops Ford, Christian Eckes, driver of the #98 AHI Facility Services/Curb Records Toyota, and Ben Rhodes, driver of the #99 EXT Extreme Hair Therapy Toyota, lead the field during the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series NextEra Energy 250 at Daytona International Speedway on February 18, 2022 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

Saturday sees the Cup Series have its final 50-minute practice session starting at 10:30am ET before the Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner 300, the Xfinity Series 120-lap race, starting at 5pm ET.

Daniel Hemric, driver of the #11 AG1 Athletic Greens Chevrolet, leads the field during the NASCAR Xfinity Series Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. 300 at Daytona International Speedway on February 19, 2022 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

Sunday sees the biggest day in stock car racing with the 65th running of the Daytona 500 starting at 2:30pm ET in front of a sold out crowd for the eighth year running. The 200-lap race will be broken down into three stages of 65,65 and 70 laps respectively.

Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Toyota, leads the field during the NASCAR Cup Series 63rd Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 14, 2021 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)

Drivers to watch

Jimmie Johnson

Two-time Daytona 500 champion Jimmie Johnson will attempt to win the Daytona 500 for a third time to join the likes of three-time Daytona 500 champions Denny Hamlin and old Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon in the history books. He will drive the No. 84 Carvana Chevrolet for Legacy Motor Club. He has to qualify his way into the race due to having an non-chartered car.

Travis Pastrana

Travis Pastrana, the legendary Hoonigan stunt performer and Nitro RallyCross series founder will attempt to qualify for his first Daytona 500 as a third entry for 23XI Racing driving the No. 67 Black Rifle Coffee Toyota.

Pastrana said: “I’m thrilled at the chance to race in the Daytona 500. It’s the one event every year that all my friends and family come together to watch at our buddy Dale’s house and it’s an event I’ve wanted to race my entire life.”

He has competed in five Craftsman Truck Series races and 42 Xfinity Series races and has raced at Daytona three times before in NACAR’s national series including finishing 10th in the 2013 Xfinity Series Daytona season-opener.

Conor Daly

Conor Daly, who competes full-time in the NTT IndyCar Series, will also attempt to qualify for his first Daytona 500 with The Money Team Racing which is co-owned by boxing legend Floyd Mayweather, sporting the No. 50 BitNile.com Chevrolet. Daly has one Cup start to his name, competing in last year’s Charlotte Roval race where he finished 34th.

Ty Gibbs

Rookie Ty Gibbs will make his first start for his grandfather’s team Joe Gibbs Racing competing full-time, replacing two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch. The reigning Xfinity Series champion will be driving the No. 54 Monster Energy/Interstates Batteries Toyota.

Ty Gibbs is racing with a heavy heart after his dad, a member of the Joe Gibbs Racing family, Coy Gibbs, suddenly passed away the day after he won the Xfinity Series title last November. Ty made 15 Cup starts last year after subbing for Kurt Busch where he earned one top-10 at Michigan.

Noah Gragson

Rookie Noah Gragson will drive the No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Wendy’s Chevrolet in what will be his second Daytona 500 start. Gragson is in his first full-time Cup season, after 18 Cup races last year with the majority being with Kaulig Racing. The 13-times Xfinity Series winner was runner up to Ty Gibbs last season championship finale in Phoenix.

Denny Hamlin

Denny Hamlin will be going for a fourth Daytona 500 victory with Joe Gibbs Racing, sporting the FedEx 50 Toyota. Hamlin won the 2016, ’19, and 2020 Daytona 500’s with JGR.

Bubba Wallace

Bubba Wallace will compete in his sixth Daytona 500, racing the No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota for Denny Hamlin’s and Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing. The Alabama native will hope to finish one place better after being the 2018 and 2022 runner-up. If Wallace wins this year’s race, he would become the first African-American to have done so.

Austin Cindric, driver of the #2 Discount Tire Ford, and Bubba Wallace, driver of the #23 McDonald’s Toyota, race to the finish of the NASCAR Cup Series 64th Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 20, 2022 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Kevin Harvick

This will be Kevin Harvick’s final Daytona 500 driver as a full-time Cup driver after announcing his retirement in the off-season. Harvick won the 2007 Daytona 500 when he pipped fan-favourite Mark Martin at the finish line. Harvick will drive No. 4 Busch Light Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing.

Kevin Harvick beats Mark Martin by two-hundreths of a second to win the Daytona 500 (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

Austin Hill

Austin Hill, the 2022 Daytona Xfinity Series race winner, will attempt to qualify for his first Daytona 500 for Beard Motorsports and will pilot the No. 62 Bennett Transportation and Logistics Chevrolet. He made his Cup debut at last August’s Michigan race in the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Bennett Transportation and Logistics sponsored Chevrolet where he impressively finished 18th.

Zane Smith

23-year-old Zane Smith, the 2022 Craftsman Truck Series champion, will attempt to qualify for his first Daytona 500 with Front Row Motorsports driving the No. 36 Wellcare Ford. Smith impressed the NASCAR garage when he subbed for RFK’s Chris Buescher last season, finishing 17th on his Cup debut at World Wide Technology Raceway.

Chandler Smith

Rookie Chandler Smith, the five-time Craftsman Truck Series winner, will attempt to qualify for his first Daytona 500 with Kaulig Racing driving the No. 13 Quick Tie Inc. Chevrolet. The 20-year-old is racing full-time in the Xfinity Series for Kaulig Racing this season.

Austin Cindric

Austin Cindric will hope to go back to back in this year’s edition of the Great American race, joining Denny Hamlin and Sterling Marlin who did it in 2019 and 2020, and 1994 and ’95 respectively. Cindric will drive the No. 2 Discount Tire Team Penske Ford.

Austin Cindric, driver of the #2 Discount Tire Ford, celebrates in the Ruoff Mortgage victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series 64th Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 20, 2022 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Riley Herbst

Rookie Riley Herbst will race in his first Daytona 500 and first Cup start with Rick Ware Racing, sporting the No. 15 Sunny D Ford. The Las Vegas native has competed in 109 Xfinity races, bagging 54 top-10 finishes.

Herbst said: “It’s such a big event and for it be my first Cup start will be a crazy experience. I’m looking forward to seeing what I can do behind the wheel.”

Catch the 65th running of the Daytona 500 this Sunday at 2:30pm ET!

Schedule summary 

Wednesday 8:15pm ET – Cup Series single car qualifying

Thursday 7pm ET –  Bluegreen Vacations Duels (Cup Series two 60-lap qualifying races)

Friday 5:35pm ET – 1st Cup Series 50 minute practice session

Friday 7pm ET – NextEra Energy 250 (Craftsman Truck Series 100-lap race) 

Saturday 10:30am ET – 2nd Cup Series 50 minute practice session 

Saturday 5pm ET – Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. 300 (Xfinity Series 120-lap race) 

Sunday 2:30pm ET – 65th running of the Daytona 500 (Cup Series 200-lap race)

2023 Daytona 500 logo (Provided by NASCAR)

 

Featured Image: 20: Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, leads the field to the green flag to start the NASCAR Cup Series 64th Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 20, 2022 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

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Martin Truex Jr. wins caution-filled Clash at the Coliseum

Martin Truex Jr. led the final 25 laps holding off the chasing Richard Childress Racing duo of Austin Dillon and former teammate Kyle Busch to win the 150-lap Clash at the LA Coliseum under the lights.

Truex Jr. spent most of the race up front alongside Toyota teammate Bubba Wallace who led 40 laps including leading going into the halftime break after a two-lap shootout holding off Dillon. With seven laps to go Dillon dumped Wallace in turn one fighting over second place as Truex pulled away. Wallace ended up finishing 22nd.

 

Truex stated that there was a “lot of fire in my belly to change what we did last year” in reference to going winless in the 2022 season and just missing making the playoffs.

Martin Truex Jr., driver of the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, celebrates after winning the Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum  (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

It’s a complete reversal of last year’s inaugural clash at the LA Coliseum where the 2017 Cup champion barely made the main event, was unable to pass and spun on his own on the final lap. Truex said Sunday’s race day from winning heat two before the main race onwards has been “a huge confidence booster” now going into Daytona.

A new and unexpected addition for NASCAR fans to this year’s Clash at the LA Coliseum was the top three drivers receiving honorary “Clash” medals post-race, in what was a nod to the 1932 and 1984 Olympic Games previously held at the Coliseum, as opposed to just the race winner receiving a trophy. Truex additionally was awarded with a separate Clash trophy.

Martin Truex Jr., driver of the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, (centre) winner, Austin Dillon, driver of the No. 3 Get Bioethanol Chevrolet, (right) second place and Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 8 BetMGM Chevrolet, (left) third place pose for photos on the podium after the Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Dillon’s new teammate and two-time champion Kyle Busch experienced getting moved himself when with 65 laps to go, reigning champion Joey Logano drove deep into turn three and tagging Busch, spinning him around. Not at all pleased with the Team Penske driver’s actions Busch said post-race “Logano didn’t get hit by nobody. He just flat-out drove through me, so he’s got another one coming. I owe him a few.” Busch then impressively drove back up through the field from 25th to second before relinquishing the position to Dillon with four laps to go.

Kyle Busch, driver of the #8 BetMGM Chevrolet, spins after an on-track incident as Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, and Ross Chastain, driver of the #1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, pass during the NASCAR Clash at the Coliseum at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

Busch’s climb back through the field was all the more impressive given that this year’s race at the Coliseum dealt out 16 cautions, over three times as many compared with last year’s five, including being bombarded with yellows during the middle third of the race with many cars spinning out including AJ Allmendinger, Denny Hamlin, Ty Gibbs, and Kevin Harvick after being tagged, attempting to race around the extremely tight quarters arena.

Busch post-race said “we were spoiled” by last year’s race with Dillon adding there was “much more parody” this time around with the teams and drivers being more familiar with the track. Most of the race was also ran under the lights increasing the overall grip for the drivers compared to last year’s daytime running of the event.

A general view of confetti after the conclusion of the NASCAR Clash at the Coliseum at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on February 05, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Busch went on to say that if they had used the old generation car in Sunday’s race, half of the radiators would have been knocked out with Hendrick Motorsport’s Kyle Larson adding that the current generation car is much stiffer and stronger in comparison.

It was actually New England’s Ryan Preece “Lightning” who led the most laps with 43 but shortly after getting bumped out of the way for the lead by Truex Jr. with 25 to go, his car experienced a temporary electrical problem and quickly fell back to fifth; Preece finished seventh. Preece had been Stewart-Haas Racing’s reserve driver in 2022 after competing full-time for three seasons for JTG Daugherty Racing.

Ryan Preece, driver of the #41 United Rentals Ford, drives during the NASCAR Clash at the Coliseum at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Preece climbed through the stock car ranks by dominating on the short tracks in the New England region so Truex was “not shocked at all” to see him leading at the quarter-mile mile track despite being out of a full-time Cup ride last year.

Pole-sitter Aric Almirola led the opening 16 laps before being overtaken by Denny Hamlin. By lap 67 however he found himself being lapped by then leader Bubba Wallace.

It was a short lived race for Legacy Motor Club’s Erik Jones, previously known as Petty GMS Racing in 2022, after he made contact with Kevin Harvick, damaging the toe link, forcing him to retire.

Martin Truex Jr., driver of the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, and Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford, race during the Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (Photo by Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images)

Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney had a rough ride of a race after being spun out twice, the first time in turn one in the opening stage of the race, with the second incident seeing him end up backwards in the turn two wall while running ninth.

Ty Gibbs and Todd Gilliland crossed swords for several laps knocking into each other’s fenders before on lap 43 AJ Allmendinger, an innocent bystander, would get wiped out by Gilliland after Gibbs ran into the back of him. Gilliland would then spin out Harvick on lap 72 before having the favour returned with 69 laps to go. Gibbs would retire with suspension damage.

Another draw for fans attending the Clash was the pre-race entertainment as well as the Clash’s halftime show. Cypress Hill performed ahead of pre-race ceremonies that had many bobbing their heads to the multi-platinum hip hop group.

The halftime show lived up to expectations with Wiz Khalifa performing a selection of his best hits including “Black and Yellow.”

As NASCAR celebrates its 75th anniversary, the biggest race of the season, the 65th running of the Daytona 500 is less than two weeks away, with the Daytona Duels taking place on February 16th starting at 7pm ET and the green flag for the Daytona 500 flying on February 19th at 2:30pm ET. You don’t wanna miss it!

Full race results  

  1. Martin Truex Jr.
  2. Austin Dillon
  3. Kyle Busch
  4. Alex Bowman
  5. Kyle Larson
  6. Tyler Reddick
  7. Ryan Preece
  8. Ross Chastain
  9. Denny Hamlin
  10. William Byron
  11. Justin Haley
  12. Kevin Harvick
  13. Christopher Bell
  14. Noah Gragson
  15. Chase Briscoe
  16. Joey Logano
  17. Ryan Blaney
  18. Aric Almirola
  19. Daniel Suárez
  20. AJ Allmendinger
  21. Chase Elliott
  22. Bubba Wallace
  23. Todd Gilliland
  24. Michael McDowell
  25. Austin Cindric
  26. Ty Gibbs
  27. Erik Jones

Heat Winners

Heat 1 winner – Aric Almirola

Heat 2 winner – Martin Truex Jr.

Heat 3 winner – Denny Hamlin

Heat 4 winner – William Byron

First last chance qualifying race – Michael McDowell

Second last chance qualifying race – Chase Elliott

Featured Image: Martin Truex Jr., driver of the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, celebrates with the Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum trophy in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Clash at The Coliseum at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

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Kurt Busch slam dunks his way to first Kansas victory!

Kurt Busch battled hard with Kyle Larson and younger brother Kyle Busch in the final half of stage three going from third to first, passing Kyle Larson in turn two with eight to go, to slam dunk his way to his first ever win at Kansas Speedway after 33 tries and score his first win with 23XI Racing.

Kurt Busch, the No. 45 Jordan Brand Toyota, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Cup Series AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Kurt Busch would lead the most laps, 116 in total, and win stage two before earning his 34th NASCAR Cup Series career victory.

Kurt Busch was appropriately sporting a sharp looking Jordan brand primary paint scheme for the race, winning for the first time for co-team owners NBA legend Michael Jordan and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin.

Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 45 Jordan Brand Toyota, racing in the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

Speaking to FOX’s Jamie Little Kurt Busch said: “With the Jordan brand on the hood, I felt like I had to play like the goat, race like the goat, and I had to beat the Kyles, I had to beat both.” Busch said he was sporting Michael Jordan’s colours, when Jordan won the Slam Dunk Contest in 1988.

With 86 laps to go, Larson had attempted the slide job on Kurt Busch for the lead but after getting by on the inside he got loose and began spinning sideways and slid into the wall before saving it as Kurt Busch got back around him.

On the next restart, after a caution came out for Chase Elliott losing a tyre and wildly spinning down the race track, Kurt Busch and Larson battled side by side for the lead for two laps before Larson tagged the turn four wall, allowing Kurt Busch to hold the lead.

Kurt Busch, the No. 45 Jordan Brand Toyota, and Kyle Larson, the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, race side by side during the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Kyle Busch, after a speeding penalty at the start of stage three that had sent him to the rear, had worked all his way up to second and was three seconds behind his older brother. Another caution with less than 40 to go, this time for what NASCAR said was fluid on the front straightaway, saw the field bunch up again and the following laps saw a three-way battle for the lead with Kurt Busch and Larson leading the charge with Kyle Busch closely following the pair.

Larson and Kyle Busch would both get past Kurt Busch but with 22 laps to go, with Kyle Busch unable to find a way past Larson, Kurt Busch would sail past on the back straightaway and quickly close down Larson.

Kyle Larson (front), the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, Kyle Busch (middle), the No. 18 M&M’s Crunchy Cookie Toyota, and Kurt Busch (back), the No. 45 Jordan Brand Toyota, racing in the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

With eight to go, Kurt Busch would run Larson tight but fair up against the turn two wall. Larson slid briefly into the wall allowing Kurt Busch to take back the lead and win.

Kyle Larson would finish second and Kyle Busch would finish third. After having an up and down day, Denny Hamlin would finish fourth. Kurt Busch’s 23XI teammate Bubba Wallace would finish 10th.

It was a very successful day for Toyota overall, with four Toyota’s making up the top five finishing positions with Bell finishing fifth and six Toyota’s making up the top-10 with Martin Truex Jr. finishing sixth.

Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch would both congratulate Kurt Busch on pit road as he drove to victory lane.

This was also Kurt Busch’s first win with Toyota in the Cup Series, now making him a NASCAR Cup driver to have won with four different manufacturers; them being Ford, Dodge, Chevrolet and now Toyota.

Kansas week also marked the 22nd anniversary of the tragic passing of NASCAR driver Adam Petty, who was just 19. Before the start of the 2022 season, Adam Petty’s father Kyle Petty had given his blessing to 23XI Racing for the use the No. 45 number, the number that Adam Petty raced with. After the race Kurt Busch said: “It’s a small spiritual connection.”

The start of the race saw a green race track due to rain the previous night and that morning, with pole sitter Christopher Bell leading the opening nine laps before Tyler Reddick would get by on the next restart as Bell slid up the race track.

Christopher Bell, the No. 20 Rheem Toyota, leads the field to green in the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

As the track rubbered in, the top lane became the preferred lane as the bottom and middle lanes lost grip due to the rubber build up.

Larson took the lead away from Reddick on lap 34 but on the next restart after losing positions on pit road, Larson got fender damage in traffic and fell outside the top 10. Bell led the middle half of stage one before discovering under caution that he had a flat left rear tyre.

Bell was not the only driver to have flat left rear tyre issues, as B. J. McLeod and Daniel Suárez would bring out cautions for spinning out with flats. Suárez was running fourth on lap 62 at the time when he hit the turn four wall and spun.

Daniel Suárez hits the turn four wall and spins onto the infield during stage 1 of the race at Kansas Speedway (Photo by Jennifer Fisher/NASCAR Digital Media)

With 13 laps to go, Kyle Busch would take the lead and fend off Ross Chastain for the final seven laps to win stage one.

Kyle Busch, the No. 18 M&M’s Crunchy Cookie Toyota, racing in AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

The start of stage two saw the No. 43 Petty GMS Racing team relentlessly try to get Erik Jones’s right rear tyre off. Saws, hammers and drills were used to try to get the tyre off with FOX’s Mike Joy saying: “That’s truck stop torture right there.” They settled on cutting away the wheel to get access to the lug nut which they eventually did and free the tyre from the car. Jones would return to the track seven laps down.

Stage two continued the theme of flat right rear tyres, as now leader William Byron who had recently taken the lead over from Chastain and Truex Jr. at the start of stage two, had to take to the apron and give up the lead due to one. Tyler Reddick got a flat after slapping the wall too many times. Truex Jr. would also get a flat left rear tyre at the end of stage two and be forced to give up fourth position.

Bubba Wallace (right), the No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota, and Tyler Reddick (left), the No. 8 BetMGM Chevrolet, race side by side in the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

Chastain would lead the following laps until Kurt Busch, who had only managed 12th in stage one, would take the lead for the final 50 laps to win stage two. Kurt Busch was the first driver this season to win both stage two and the race, ending the curse.

The Busch brothers continue their recent dominance at Kansas Speedway. Kyle Busch appropriately won last spring’s fan named “Buschy McBusch 400” at Kansas despite the race being named after the Busch beer company that primarily sponsor Kevin Harvick. Kyle Larson nearly went back to back as he won last fall’s Kansas race.

Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Mix Toyota, celebrates with a burnout after winning the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Buschy McBusch Race 400 at Kansas Speedway on May 02,(Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

It was special race week all around for the Busch family as Kyle and Samantha Busch welcomed their second child, Lennix Key Busch into their life on May 10th.

Full race results: (1st) Kurt Busch, (2nd) Kyle Larson, (3rd) Kyle Busch, (4th) Denny Hamlin, (5th) Christopher Bell, (6th) Martin Truex Jr., (7th) Ross Chastain, (8th) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., (9th) Alex Bowman, (10th) Bubba Wallace, (11th) Austin Cindric, (12th) Ryan Blaney, (13th) Austin Dillon, (14th) Brad Keselowski, (15th) Kevin Harvick, (16th) William Byron, (17th) Joey Logano, (18th) Noah Gragson, (19th) Corey Lajoie, (20th) Ty Dillon, (21st) Harrison Burton, (22nd) Cole Custer, (23rd) Michael McDowell, (24th) Chase Briscoe, (25th) Todd Gilliland, (26th) Aric Almirola, (27th) Chris Buescher, (28th) Josh Bilicki, (29th) Chase Elliott, (30th) Tyler Reddick, (31st) JJ Yeley, (32nd) Erik Jones, (33rd) Daniel Suárez, (34th) Cody Ware, (35th) Justin Haley, (36th) B. J. McLeod.

Top 10 in stage 1: (1st) Kyle Busch, (2nd) Ross Chastain, (3rd) Chase Elliott, (4th) Tyler Reddick, (5th) William Byron, (6th) Martin Truex Jr., (7th) Bubba Wallace, (8th) Erik Jones, (9th) Ryan Blaney, (10th) Alex Bowman.

Top 10 in stage  2: (1st) Kurt Busch, (2nd) Kyle Busch, (3rd) Ryan Blaney, (4th) Austin Cindric, (5th) Chase Elliott, (6th) Kyle Larson, (7th) Ross Chastain, (8th) Denny Hamlin, (9th) Joey Logano, (10th) Bubba Wallace.

Top 10 in points standings: 1st Chase Elliott (475), 2nd Ryan Blaney (423), 3rd Kyle Busch (417), 4th William Byron (415), 5th Ross Chastain (407), 6th Martin Truex Jr, (400), 7th Joey Logano (396), 8th Alex Bowman (386), 9th Kyle Larson (376), 10th Christopher Bell (359).

Featured Image: Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 45 Jordan Brand Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway( Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

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