Posted on by Zack Albert

Fast friends Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney have had run-ins before, an eventuality that’s been bound to happen given their competitive nature in the NASCAR Cup Series. After a collision that sidelined both drivers in 2016 at Kentucky, Blaney made his buddy dinner as a way to make amends.

RELATED: Busch Clash results | Daytona Speedweeks schedule

Elliott might need to locate his own chef’s apron after Tuesday night’s lid-lifting Busch Clash on the Daytona International Speedway Road Course, where the two chums crunched together in a final-lap, final-chicane tangle. That coming-together allowed Kyle Busch to squirt through for the exhibition victory while Elliott salvaged second place. Blaney took the worst of it, walloping the outside retaining wall with his Team Penske No. 12 Ford finishing an unlucky 13th.

Both drivers showed strength in search of their first Clash win, especially in the late stages where they each swapped the lead in the final eight laps. Their duel bubbled over in the final kink before the start-finish line, with Elliott forcing his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with an inside-line squeeze that cost his friend dearly.

Elliott briefly spoke to Blaney post-race, and later indicated that he wasn’t necessarily afraid to initiate contact but that the severity of the outcome wasn’t his intent.

“Obviously, I’m thinking that I can pass him and win the race or I wouldn’t do it,” said Elliott, the defending Cup Series champion. “Coming into a tight corner there, I drove in so hard and I was to the right — my angle was really bad, I just had to stop to try to make the corner, and at that point, we’re side by side, trying to stay off the curb. We both know that the curb, you don’t want to hit it any more than you have to. Yeah, I hate it. Like I said on TV there, I certainly don’t want to wreck him out of anybody, and more than anything I hate neither one of us won. I hate to hand it to somebody else like that.”

MORE: Frame-by-frame of contact and finish | All-time Busch Clash winners

Interestingly, Blaney notched his only road-course win in 2018 at the Charlotte Road Course in a similar manner, capitalizing when Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex Jr. crashed in a last-lap contest for the lead on that track’s final chicane. This time, he was on the losing end in the front-two mix.

Blaney said that this year’s road-race twist on the Clash was likely a fun watch for fans. His own participation, he said, was a little less fun.

“Obviously, he didn’t mean to wreck me,” Blaney said. “Of course he didn’t mean to do that, but I ended up wrecked. It’s kind of just what it is. Of course you never mean to wreck anybody, usually. And I know he didn’t mean to, but he drove off in there pretty deep and I don’t think, personally, he was going to make the corner. It was going to be very hard for him to do it. So just a shame that we ended up getting turned around.

“Am I going to make the same move if we’re in the same position two weeks from now? Hell, yeah. I mean, why not. But I told him, if you’re going to make a move like that, make sure at least you win the race. Don’t hand it to the third-place guy. Granted, it’s very ironic me saying that because I won the Roval that way being the third-place guy. To answer the question, yes, I would make the same move he did, but maybe do it a little bit differently if I was in the same spot in a couple weeks.”

WHAT THEY SAID AFTER THE RACE: Chase Elliott | Ryan Blaney

The “couple weeks” reference is a nod to the Cup Series’ return to the Daytona road course for Race No. 2 of the points-paying schedule on Feb. 21. Time will tell if a make-good dinner occurs between now and then.

“Listen, hey, we’re really good friends off the race track, but we’re both really hard competitors and we race each other really hard,” Blaney said. “So I know he’s going to make a big move. Any competitor would. If you don’t go in there trying to win the race, what are you there for?”

Posted on by Staff Report

Kyle Busch scored a dramatic preseason victory Tuesday night in the Busch Clash, avoiding a crash between front-runners Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott, to kick off the NASCAR Cup Series season with the annual exhibition held for the first time on the Daytona International Speedway road course.

Busch led only the last of 35 laps in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, winning the Clash for the second time. The exhibition race marked the first victory with new crew chief Ben Beshore.

RELATED: Official race results | Daytona Speedweeks schedule

Defending Cup Series champion Elliott placed second, driving away from contact with Blaney in the final chicane. Joey Logano finished third with Tyler Reddick and William Byron rounding out the top five in order.

“I kinda felt like there was an interesting opportunity that was developing there,” Busch said of the Blaney-Elliott situation. “When that started happening I was hoping they would wreck long enough I could get up there and get by them and win the thing. It’s never over until it’s over in these kind of things.”

Elliott had dropped to the rear for the start because of unapproved adjustments to his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. He prevailed in the series’ only other appearance on the 3.61-mile Daytona circuit, winning a points-paying race at the track last August as part of his current four-win streak on road courses.

Elliott was strong again, leading four laps and hounding Blaney for the victory during the final circuit. But the two cars made contact, and Blaney took the worst of the damage in the outside retaining wall.

The race was not segmented into stages, but a competition caution after the 15th lap split the race into two portions. Kevin Harvick spun twice in that opening part, first looping his No. 4 Ford in the bus-stop chicane after a measure of dirt had been kicked up on the racing surface. His second off-course excursion came after a jumbled restart, complicated by Blaney’s attempt to rejoin the racing line after overshooting Turn 1.

Martin Truex Jr. led on two occasions but found trouble each time, shortly after going to the front. He was the leader at the competition-caution break, but he skipped the track’s final chicane during the caution period while looking for the pace car to pick up the field. His No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota restarted the race at the rear of the pack after the penalty. “I don’t know why I did that,” Truex said. “Terrible job, sorry.”

RELATED: Martin Truex Jr. spins, hits wall while leading

He was apologetic again after crashing into the outside retaining wall, spinning while exiting the other chicane and sustaining heavy damage. He finished 20th in the 21-car field.

All previous 42 editions of the non-points event had been run on Daytona’s 2.5-mile oval.

NOTE: The No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Kyle Busch passed post-race technical inspection Tuesday after winning the NASCAR Cup Series’ Busch Clash at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course. The No. 2 Team Penske Ford of Brad Keselowski, who finished 17th, had one lug nut not safe and secure.

Contributing: NASCAR Wire Service

Posted on by Staff Report

Chase Elliott will start from the rear of the field for the 2021 Busch Clash (7 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) because of unapproved adjustments on the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

RELATED: Starting lineup for Busch Clash

NASCAR officials made the announcement about an hour before the exhibition’s start. The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion was slated to start in the seventh position after Monday night’s virtual random draw by the drivers’ respective crew chiefs.

Tuesday night’s non-points race on the Daytona International Speedway Road Course kicks off the 2021 season as 21 drivers will race for 35 laps, with one scheduled caution at Lap 15. This will be the first time the Busch Clash has been run on the road course.

Elliott has prevailed in the past four consecutive Cup Series road-course events, including the series’ inaugural race on the 3.61-mile course.

Posted on by RJ Kraft

NASCAR Fantasy Live is back in action for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season. Players can sign up right now to jump in on the action.

Mobile Roster Screen
A view of the roster screen on the NASCAR Mobile App. (NASCAR Digital Media)

Accessing the game to set your roster can be done by logging into your account and going to the Fantasy page (NASCAR.com/Fantasy). You also can access the game by opening the NASCAR Mobile App, logging into your account and clicking the Fantasy icon on the bottom of the app. Mobile users can also opt in to receive fantasy alerts to help stay on top of their roster each week.

What is the roster composition?
The roster will consist of five starting drivers as well as a garage driver in reserve (more below on that). Driver and garage selections lock five minutes before the race start time.

How does the garage driver work?
Players can substitute their one garage driver for any starting driver up until the start of the Final Stage. Once the Final Stage starts, no more switches are allowed.

So which drivers end up scoring points?
The drivers ending the race in your main roster will comprise the drivers that make up your total score. These are also the drivers who will be counted as being used for that particular race. A driver who ends the race in the garage would not count as being used nor would his or her results count toward your score.

Are there any limits to how much a driver can be used?
Yes, players can only use a particular driver up to 10 times over the 26 regular-season races. A usage tracker will be displayed on your roster screen, showing the number of remaining driver uses you have during the season.

For the playoffs, driver uses will reset and you can only use a particular driver up to five times over the 10 postseason races. Playoff rosters will consist of five starters and one garage driver. There will be no restrictions on how many playoff or non-playoff drivers you can or can’t use, but you will only be able to use drivers five times during the scheduled playoff portion of the season (slated to be Darlington Raceway on Sept. 5 to Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 7). There will be no playoff-specific bonus picks.

What is the scoring system?
The scoring will reflect NASCAR’s scoring system. For example, if Chase Elliott wins Stage 1 and Stage 2 and wins the race, he will earn players 60 fantasy points for that particular race, just as he would earn 60 points for himself in the season standings.

Drivers running in the top 10 at the end of Stage 1 and Stage 2 receive points, starting with 10 points for first, nine for second, etc. The race winner receives 40 points, while second place receives 35 points, third receives 34 points and all the way down to 1 point for drivers who finish 36th through 40th.

Will the at-track post-race inspection model have an impact on scoring?
The results won’t be official until the at-track post-race inspection is complete — that should be about 90-120 minutes after the race. Since scoring mirrors that of the drivers in real life, it means if a driver in your lineup fails post-race inspection, your lineup would be subject to the same impact as the driver — last-place points. On the positive side, if you didn’t have a penalized driver in your lineup, the rest of the finishing order moves up, meaning you could potentially pick up points.

What are the bonus picks?
NEW THIS YEAR!!! The bonus picks are changing for the 2021 season with bonus selections to be made for each race for the race winner, winning organization (Team Penske, Hendrick Motorsports, etc), manufacturer winner, top Chevrolet driver, top Ford driver and the top Toyota driver. Bonus picks lock five minutes before the race start time and DO NOT count against driver usage.

What is the value of each bonus pick?
Race winner (15 points for correct pick)
Winning organization (10 points for correct pick)
Winning manufacturer (10 points for correct pick)
Top Chevrolet driver (5 points for correct pick)
Top Ford driver (5 points for correct pick)
Top Toyota driver (5 points for correct pick)

Will my leagues and teams from last year be available?
Yes, any team or league that was active at the end of last season will be available once you log in.

Can I copy my roster for multiple leagues?
Yes, you can copy your picks from one entry to another by using the copy icon located next to your entry name.

What are the prizes I can win in Fantasy Live?
Ah, yes, let’s wrap up with the winnings breakdown. The top scorer for the season-opening Daytona 500 will win $10,000. The overall season winner (that’s the regular season plus playoffs) will win $25,000, while second place will receive $10,000 and third will get $5,000. The top scorer from the 10-race playoffs will win $10,000.

Posted on by Staff Report

The Daytona 500 Fancam is back for the 63rd running of The Great American Race on Sunday (2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The Fancam’s photo technology transforms a high-definition, 360-degree megapixel image of Daytona International Speedway into a social-media fan experience. Race fans will be able to virtually “Fill The 500” and claim a seat of their choice.

RELATED: 2021 Daytona Speedweeks schedule

To add a personal cutout, visit Daytona500.com/FillThe500. Fans will then be able to tag themselves and share the post on Facebook, Twitter and email.

The fun doesn’t stop there. Surprise guests — perhaps your favorite driver? — will be scattered throughout the stands. There will also be hidden messages for fans to discover and a scavenger hunt where YOU could win a pair of tickets to the 2022 DAYTONA 500.

With limited fans allowed for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season opener due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Daytona International Speedway is doing all it can to engage with those who cannot attend the race and make it feel as if they were a part of the crown-jewel event.

 

Posted on by Staff Report

Corey LaJoie is much more than an up-and-coming talent in the NASCAR Cup Series. He knows his way around a race car itself just as well as he knows his way around a race track, and he isn’t shy about offering his opinions.

LaJoie will share his passion of all things racing in the form of a new podcast on NASCAR.com, Stacking Pennies.

BOOKMARK: Podcast page

What is ‘stacking pennies?’ It’s about the tiny details, the small things that may seem unimportant but add up to the sum of something bigger. This podcast will be from LaJoie’s unfiltered perspective. What did he see behind the visor? What are his hot takes?

LaJoie won’t go at this alone. He will be joined by active NASCAR Cup Series pit crew member Skip Flores, who will go deep inside the pit-road world, as well as NASCAR.com’s Jonathan Merryman, who will join weekly to break down news and notes. Expect additional guests throughout the season as well.

Stacking Pennies will publish Wednesdays and can be found at NASCAR.com/stacking-pennies and your favorite podcast provider.

Posted on by Staff Report

With Cars Week kicking off on Feb. 8, a new series of Disney and Pixar’s Cars NASCAR die-casts will be released starting next month.

Several of NASCAR’s top drivers will be featured in a new line of Cars die-casts. The first ones available will include 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon and William Byron. The rest of the line is slated to include Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez, Aric Almirola and Kyle Busch.

In addition, there will be a new NASCAR-inspired die-cast car characters from Cars featuring Lightning McQueen, Jackson Storm, Mater, Luigi and Guido.

Each single NASCAR die-cast will be available for $4.99 at Walmart with waves coming out between now and next spring.

The three Cars films have held a special place in kids’ and parents hearts since the first film was released 15 years ago. All three films are currently streaming on Disney+.

Posted on by Staff Report

The Daytona 500 will kick off the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season and feature a mix of new teams like Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing along with more established units such as Hendrick Motorsports, home to defending series champion Chase Elliott.

This year’s Daytona 500, the 63rd running of The Great American Race, is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 14, with a start time of 2:30 p.m. ET. TV coverage will be on FOX, with live streaming on FOX Sports Go and the radio call on MRN.

The Daytona 500 culminates Speedweeks, a full schedule of practice, qualifying and racing that includes action from all three NASCAR national series, as well as the ARCA Menards Series. Below is all you need to know for watching the Daytona 500, NASCAR’s crown jewel race:

When is the Daytona 500 in 2021?

  • Date: Sunday, Feb. 14
  • Start time: 2:30 p.m. ET
  • TV channel: FOX
  • Live stream: Fox Sports Go
  • Radio: MRN

The FOX broadcast will feature a new voice in the booth as former Cup Series driver Clint Bowyer joins NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon and veteran play-by-play announcer Mike Joy. FOX is returning to a three-person booth after one year with a two-man setup following the retirement of Darrell Waltrip.

Bowyer and Gordon developed a rapport during broadcasts of the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series last season when NASCAR paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic. FOX is looking to bring that banter over to NASCAR broadcasts as anticipation builds for the unpredictable Bowyer’s booth debut.

Larry McReynolds, America’s favorite crew chief, will continue to provide analysis for the FOX Sports booth from the network’s Charlotte studios.

Daytona 500 2021 TV schedule

The Daytona 500 culminates Daytona Speedweeks presented by Advent Health, six days of NASCAR action that starts on Tuesday, Feb. 9 with the Busch Clash at Daytona. The 43rd annual exhibition race will run on the 14-turn, 3.61-mile Daytona Road Course for the first time, and it will start under the lights at 7 p.m. ET on FS1. NASCAR drivers can qualify for the Busch Clash in a number of different ways.

Practices and qualifying sessions will return at Daytona. Last season, practices were canceled and lineups were set first by draw and then by a mathematical formula during the COVID-19 pandemic. This season, there will be practice and qualifying at select events, including the Daytona 500, as NASCAR continues to work with state, local and federal officials to ensure the safety of its competitors and spectators.

Here’s a look at the full Cup Series schedule of events for Speedweeks:

  • Tuesday, Feb. 9

Event Start time TV channel Live stream Radio
Busch Clash at Daytona 7 p.m. ET FS1 Fox Sports Go MRN

  • Wednesday, Feb. 10

Event Start time TV channel Live stream Radio
First practice 12:05 p.m. ET FS1 Fox Sports Go N/A
Qualifying 7 p.m. ET FS1 Fox Sports Go MRN

  • Thursday, Feb. 11

Event  Start time TV channel Live stream Radio
Duels at Daytona 7 p.m. ET FS1 Fox Sports Go MRN

  • Saturday, Feb. 13

Event Start time TV channel Live stream Radio
Second practice 9:30 a.m. ET FS2 Fox Sports Go N/A
Final practice 12:05 p.m. ET FS1 Fox Sports Go N/A

  • Sunday, Feb. 14

Event Start time TV channel Live stream Radio
Daytona 500 2:30 p.m. ET FOX Fox Sports Go MRN

Daytona 500 2021 qualifying

Setting the lineup is different for the Daytona 500 than any other NASCAR national series event. Busch Pole Qualifying, set for 7 p.m. ET Wednesday, Feb. 10, on FS1, will determine the front row for the main event. The two fastest times from single-car qualifying will line up on Row 1 on Sunday for the Daytona 500.

The rest of the lineup will mostly be determined by results of Thursday’s Bluegreen Vacations Duels, starting at 7 p.m. ET on FS1. The winner of Duel 1 will line up in Row 2 behind the polesitter, with subsequent finishers in Duel 1 filling the odd-numbered slots throughout the 40-car field.

Meanwhile, the winner of Duel 2 will line up in Row 2 behind the second-fastest car in qualifying, with subsequent Duel 2 finishers filling out the rest of the even-numbered slots. The top Open (non-chartered) cars in Duel 1 and Duel 2 will fill the next slots, with any remaining open spots being filled by the best qualifiers.

All of this will lead to a full lineup for Sunday’s Daytona 500 at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

Daytona 500 2021 entry list

This Daytona 500 entry list is unofficial and subject to change:

No. Driver Team
00 Quin Houff StarCom Racing
1 Kurt Busch Chip Gannasi Racing
2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske
3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing
4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing
5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports
6 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing
7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports
8 Tyler Reddick Richard Childress Racing
9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports
10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing
11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing
12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske
14 Chase Briscoe Stewart-Haas Racing
15 Derrike Cope Rick Ware Racing
16* Kaz Grala Kaulig Racing
17 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing
18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing
19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing
20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing
21 Matt DiBenedetto Wood Brothers Racing
22 Joey Logano Team Penske
23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing
24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports
33* Austin Cindric Team Penske
34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports
36* David Ragan Front Row Motorsports
37* Ryan Preece JTG Daugherty Racing
38 Anthony Alfredo Front Row Motorsports
41 Cole Custer Stewart-Haas Racing
42 Ross Chastain Chip Ganassi Racing
43 Erik Jones Richard Petty Motorsports
47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing
48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports
49* Chad Finchum MBM Motorsports
51 Cody Ware Rick Ware Racing
52 Josh Bilicki Rick Ware Racing
53 TBD Rick Ware Racing
62* Noah Gragson Beard Oil Motorsports
66* Timmy Hill MBM Motorsports
77 Jamie McMurray Spire Motorsports
78 B.J. McLeod Live Fast Motorsports
96* Ty Dillon Gaunt Brothers Racing
99 Daniel Suarez Trackhouse Racing Team

* = Will likely need to race way into Daytona 500

Posted on by Staff Report

Fans should prepare to get even closer to the action starting this Sunday with the Daytona 500 when several new interactive elements are added to the NASCAR Mobile app. This season, fans will be able to enjoy features such as polls, predictions, a cheer meter, emoji sliders, and special alerts, all built to make the at home viewing experience even more social.

NASCAR has built this experience using LiveLike’s audience engagement platform, which brings a new level of interactivity to fans of live sports and entertainment. NASCAR is a leader among sports leagues in bringing immersive and innovative digital experiences for fans — and its new partnership with LiveLike is another great way that it is helping fans engage even deeper with the sport they love.

LiveLike’s platform works by being directly integrated into an existing application, powering further engagement and communication with fans, and retention, as well as monetization via brand sponsorships and increased conversion from free to premium/registered users. NASCAR joins other premier LiveLike partners that include Canal+, FloSports, FOX, La Liga North America, nugs.net (live music), Sky Sports (English Premier League soccer), Turner Sports (NBA Playoffs), and more.