Posted on by Staff Report

The No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Denny Hamlin passed post-race technical inspection early Monday after winning Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series’ Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

RELATED: Official race results

Hamlin’s race-winning car was found to be compliant with the 2020 NASCAR Rule Book after the 400.5-mile event at the 1.5-mile Florida intermediate track.

With post-race teardown complete, the race results are official. The No. 42 of Matt Kenseth and the No. 19 of Martin Truex Jr. each had one lug nut not safe and secure in post-race inspection. Those safety violations will result in a $10,000 fine for each crew chief, in accordance with the NASCAR Rule Book.

This is the second year of a post-race process to bring a more timely approach to inspection for all three NASCAR national series. Competition officials announced before the 2019 season that thorough post-race inspections would take place shortly after the checkered flag at the track instead of midweek at the NASCAR Research & Development Center. Those inspections come with a stiffer deterrence structure that includes disqualification for significant rules infractions.

NASCAR will still inspect cars at the R&D Center as needed to monitor trends and parts compliance.

Posted on by Holly Cain

The race statistics will show that Denny Hamlin led a dominant 138 of the 267 laps in Sunday’s Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but the truth is he had to earn every fraction of a second that he paced the field. It was a thrilling chase for the checkered flag, lap-after-lap among the front-running cars.

Hamlin ultimately took the lead for good — passing Chase Elliott with 29 laps remaining after a series of green-flag pit stops swapped the two cars’ positions in front of the field. Elliott had to pit a lap earlier than Hamlin and held a 1.5-second lead in the dozen or so laps after the green-flag stops. But Hamlin was able to catch up with Elliott as they tried to get around the race’s early leader Joey Logano, who was running two laps down at the time.

RELATED: Official race results | SHOP for Denny Hamlin gear

With his .895-second victory over Hendrick Motorsports’ Elliott and Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, Hamlin became the NASCAR Cup Series’ first three-race winner on the season. It was Hamlin’s 40th NASCAR Cup Series career win and third career victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway, tying him with NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart and Greg Biffle for most wins all-time on the 1.5-mile oval.

“Our car was just really good,” Hamlin told FOX Sports after climbing out of his race-winning No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. “This is the car kinda based off what we had here in the fall last year going for the (2019) championship. We had a strong car all day, obviously, with the laps led and able to get around Chase there at the end. This whole FedEx team has just done a phenomenal job and this Camry, this one is real special.

“I didn’t know. It seemed like the end of these races seem to be Chase’s best suit, but I knew that if I was just patient and ran the pace I wanted and the pace I was comfortable with we were going to be hard to beat in the long run.”

RELATED: Denny Hamlin does Michael Jordan shrug after victory

Rookie Tyler Reddick, who won the 2018 and 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series races at Homestead, finished in fourth place. Aric Almirola, a Florida native, was a season-best fifth place. Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, rookie Christopher Bell, William Byron and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top 10.

The last rookie to earn a top-10 finish at Homestead was David Ragan, 13 years ago. On Sunday night there were two rookies in the top 10 and it was a career-best NASCAR Cup Series finish for both — Reddick and Bell.

Hamlin’s Toyota was so strong it won both the first and second stages — only the fifth time a driver has swept the opening two stages this season. And he is the first driver in 2020 to sweep both stages and win the race.

RELATED: Denny Hamlin sweeps the first two stages at Homestead-Miami

That last round of green-flag pit stops proved to be a challenge for Hamlin. Elliott, who pit one lap sooner than Hamlin, returned to the track and held a 1.5-second advantage over Hamlin with 45 laps remaining. Hamlin got around him as they approached Logano who fought hard not to go another lap down.

“Just need to get through lapped traffic better,” Elliott said. “I thought our Hooters Camaro really was good enough to win and I thought we executed a really nice race and kept it off the wall almost the whole race, kinda got it there at the end. But I’m proud of the effort and we’re bringing fast cars right now.”

From 2002-2019 this Homestead stop on the schedule was the November championship finale. And before the COVID-19 break in racing this year, it was originally scheduled for March. Lightning in the area — as is common in South Florida in June — however, parked the cars for nearly three hours under red-flag conditions on Sunday.

The break ended up being a game-changer for Team Penske driver Logano, who jumped out to the early lead — showing the way in the afternoon between the two red-flag periods for lightning but was involved in a pit road collision that changed his race fate and left him playing catch-up.

RELATED: Joey Logano involved in pit-road collision at Homestead-Miami

Kevin Harvick, who was also involved in the pit mishap with Logano, finished 26th. He still remains atop the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings, however, by eight points over Elliott as the series moves to Talladega Superspeedway for the GEICO 500 next Sunday, June 21.

Posted on by Staff Report

Which channels have NASCAR programming this week? We answer that and give the weekly NASCAR television listings here in the NASCAR TV schedule.

Note: All times are ET.

MORE: How to find NBCSN | Get the NBC Sports App | How to find FS1 | Get FOX Sports App

RELATED: How to follow races on NASCAR.com | NASCAR Live Stream

Monday, June 15
1:30 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series Contender Boats 250 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
3:30 a.m., NASCAR Auto Racing Classics: 1999 Pennzoil 400 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
6:30 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series Contender Boats 250 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App
7 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Dixie Vodka 400 (re-air), FS2/FOX Sports App
10 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series Contender Boats 250 (re-air), FS2/FOX Sports App

Tuesday, June 16
12:30 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Dixie Vodka 400 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
5 p.m., NASCAR America: Class of 2021 Hall of Fame announcement, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN
7 p.m., NASCAR Live

Wednesday, June 17
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App
6 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
7 p.m., NASCAR Auto Racing Classics: 2011 Aaron’s 499 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App

Thursday, June 18
3 p.m., ARCA Menards Series East: Herr’s Potato Chips 200 (tape delay), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

Saturday, June 20
2 p.m., ARCA Menards Series: General Tire 200, FS1/FOX Sports App
4:30 p.m., Unrivaled: Earnhardt vs. Gordon (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
5 p.m., NASCAR Race Classic: The 1987 Winston 500 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
5:30 p.m. NASCAR Xfinity Series: Unhinged 300, FS1/FOX Sports App
9 p.m., ARCA Menards Series: General Tire 200 (re-air), FS2/FOX Sports App
11 p.m. NASCAR Xfinity Series: Unhinged 300 (re-air), FS2/FOX Sports App

On MRN
2 p.m., ARCA Menards Series: General Tire 200
5 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Unhinged 300

Sunday, June 21
7 a.m., 100,000 Cameras: Talladega (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
7:30 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Unhinged 300 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
2:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FOX/FOX Sports App
3 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: GEICO 500, FOX/FOX Sports App –POSTPONED
8 p.m., NASCAR Auto Racing Classics: 1994 Brickyard 400 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
10 p.m., Dale Jr. Download: Bubba Wallace (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
11 p.m., Dale Jr. Download: Josh Berry (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App

On MRN
2 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: GEICO 500 — POSTPONED

Posted on by Staff Report

Completing the stage sweep, Denny Hamlin won Stage 2 of Sunday’s Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota led from Lap 123 to 160 to take the mini victory.

Rookie Tyler Reddick, who won two NASCAR Xfinity Series championships at Miami, finished runner-up to Hamlin in the second stage. He’s even credited now with two laps led at the 1.5-mile Florida track in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney and William Byron rounded out the top five. Alex Bowman, Martin Truex Jr., Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch and Aric Almirola completed the top 10.

RELATED: Stage 2 results

Through the first two stages, Hamlin led 51 laps. Blaney led a race-high 69 laps. Hamlin actually took the lead from Blaney during some green-flag pit stops. Hamlin pitted a lap sooner than the No. 12 Team Penske Ford driver and reclaimed the front spot when he returned to the track.

After two red flags and three cautions, not including stage conclusions, there was not a single yellow flag thrown throughout Stage 2.

The third and final stage was set for 107 laps.

Finish Driver Team Points
1 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing 10
2 Tyler Reddick Richard Childress Racing 9
3 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports 8
4 Ryan Blaney Team Penske 7
5 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports 6
6 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports 5
7 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing 4
8 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing 3
9 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing 2
10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing 1

 

STAGE 1 RECAP

With four laps to go in the opening stage of Sunday’s Dixie Vodka 400, Denny Hamlin took the lead from Ryan Blaney and kept it to win Stage 1 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The mini victory marked Hamlin’s second stage win of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season. He led eight laps of the 80-lap opener in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, starting from the pole position after a random draw set the starting lineup earlier this week.

Blaney, who led a race-high 39 laps, finished second, followed by rookie Tyler Reddick. Chase Elliott and Aric Almirola made up the rest of the top five, while Brad Keselowski, Alex Bowman, William Byron, Clint Bowyer and Chris Buescher completed the top 10.

RELATED: Stage 1 results

Joey Logano took the lead from Hamlin on the first go-around and led 27 laps in the early going. He ultimately finished 20th in the first stage.

It took a while for action to truly get going. A light shower paired with a lightning delay pushed the start back nearly an hour. Five laps were then completed before a red flag came out due to lightning in the area again. That red flag lasted 2 hours, 8 minutes and 5 seconds. Another 28 laps were turned before a second red flag flew. That pause lasted 38 minutes and 43 seconds.

Cars remained on track from then on out for Stage 1.

Finish Driver Team Points
1 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing 10
2 Ryan Blaney Team Penske 9
3 Tyler Reddick Richard Childress Racing 8
4 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports 7
5 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing 6
6 Brad Keselowski Team Penske 5
7 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports 4
8 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports 3
9 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing 2
10 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing 1
Posted on by Staff Report

Midway through last week, NASCAR made national headlines by announcing Wednesday the display of the confederate flag would be prohibited from all NASCAR events and properties moving forward.

People took notice, including New Orleans Saints three-time Pro Bowl running back Alvin Kamara.

Kamara tuned in to watch that night’s NASCAR Cup Series race, an entertaining showdown at Martinsville Speedway under the lights for the first time in the storied history of the legendary track. He was hooked.

Luckily for Kamara — who conveniently trains in Miami, close to Sunday’s action at Homestead-Miami Speedway — he didn’t need to wait long to check out NASCAR racing in person. The 24-year-old was a guest of the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet, driven by Bubba Wallace.

MORE: Wallace picking up speed on, off track amid social-injustice discussions

It sure seemed like he enjoyed himself.

https://twitter.com/A_kamara6/status/1271816063408373761

https://twitter.com/A_kamara6/status/1272225558622023682

https://twitter.com/odsteve/status/1272233059753041920

https://twitter.com/A_kamara6/status/1272240118896766978

https://twitter.com/A_kamara6/status/1272258290421039104

 

Posted on by Staff Report

Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series’ Dixie Vodka 400 has been hampered by four delays for lightning in the early going at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

The field was stopped around 7:30 p.m. ET with 33 of a scheduled 267 laps complete and Chase Elliott’s No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in the lead. He led just four laps before the race was red-flagged.

Five laps were run before a stoppage of 2 hours, 8 minutes and 5 seconds. The race was initially delayed by rain and lightning in the area, but the race went green at 4:50 p.m. ET, nearly an hour after the originally scheduled green flag time.

A brief shower in Turns 3 and 4 put a hold on engines being fired after the command was given. Lightning in the area placed the event in a 30-minute hold right around 4 p.m. ET.

RELATED: Miami schedule | Briscoe wins in double OT finish in Xfinity | Lineup for Cup race

Drivers were called back to their cars at roughly 6:10 p.m. ET, with hopes of resuming and completing the full distance, but about 10 minutes after that — with drivers buckled in and engines freshly fired — another strike of lightning forced another hold.

Teams completed 28 more laps before the next stoppage. Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate Tyler Reddick was second to Elliott in the running order. Joey Logano, who led a race-high 27 laps in the early going, was third.

The Dixie Vodka 400 is a 267-lap race with Stage 1 ending at Lap 80, Stage 2 concluding at Lap 160 and the Final Stage scheduled to end at Lap 267. The Cup Series race comes after the second of two Xfinity Series races in two days at the 1.5-mile track.

This race marks the first event with fans in the stands as 1,000 guests from local military bases were invited. This is the 12th Cup Series event of the season and the eighth since the season resumed after a stoppage due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Posted on by Staff Report

AJ Allmendinger scrambled to a $100,000 payday in a pair of overtime restarts Sunday, claiming the Xfinity Series Dash 4 Cash bonus at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

RELATED: Official race results

Allmendinger finished fourth in the Contender Boats 250, besting the three other eligible drivers — Noah Gragson, Justin Haley and Daniel Hemric. Allmendinger earned his eligibility with his first oval-track victory June 6 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Gragson’s shot at a second straight payout ended in heartache with another late-race fade at Homestead. Saturday, he led a race-high 83 laps and wound up third after a late caution period created a lineup-shuffling restart. Sunday was a near-repeat as Gragson led 81 laps but dipped to a fifth-place finish in double overtime — just behind Allmendinger.

Gragson clinched the $100,000 prize in the opening Dash 4 Cash event, finishing second at Atlanta.

RELATED: Everything to know about the Dash 4 Cash program

Haley — Allmendinger’s teammate with Kaulig Racing — finished sixth. Hemric dropped from contention on the first overtime attempt as a multicar crash with Riley Herbst and Michael Annett sent his No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet into the inside retaining wall, ending his day in 31st place. Allmendinger was also involved as Herbst veered in front of his No. 16 Chevrolet on the backstretch.

Two more Xfinity Series races remain in the Dash 4 Cash bonus program: Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway and June 28 at Pocono Raceway. Allmendinger, Chase Briscoe, Brandon Jones and Ross Chastain are the four drivers eligible for the $100,00 prize at Talladega.

Posted on by Holly Cain

Chase Briscoe delivered a clutch restart in double overtime to hold off a hard-charging Brandon Jones at the finish line and earn the victory in Sunday’s Contender Boats 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

It was a feel-good ending to a challenging weekend for Briscoe, who had to make up six laps in Saturday’s Xfinity race to score a seventh-place finish, and then had to race without his fulltime crew chief and car chief on Sunday as they served a penalty from infractions on Saturday.

RELATED: Race results | 2020 Xfinity schedule

Stewart-Haas Racing executive Greg Zipadelli, who led team owner Tony Stewart to a pair of NASCAR Cup Series championships, manned the pit box in their absence, earning his first career Xfinity Series victory atop the pit box. Zipadelli stepped in for crew chief Richard Boswell, who was one of three SHR crew members suspended for a ballast violation in pace laps before Saturday’s race.

“That was a team win for sure,” said Briscoe, who led 11 laps to earn his fifth career victory and third of the season. “Yesterday we were so good and then today, I don’t know if it was the heat or what, we just weren’t very good. We were decent on the long run, but the 9 (Noah Gragson) was definitely better. Just a testament to all the guys at Stewart-Haas Racing.”

It was a wild ending to a day that mostly featured a master class by the JR Motorsports driver Gragson, who led the most laps (83 on Saturday, 81 on Sunday) both days and was meters from taking the white flag in regulation — with a nearly 2-second lead on the field — when third-place Austin Cindric spun out, bringing out a caution.

Briscoe’s No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford beat Gragson’s Chevrolet out of the pits during the ensuing stop and was able to hold off the weekend’s most dominant driver on the first restart when another caution came out for a wreck just a couple rows behind the leader.

Briscoe jumped out to the lead on the next restart, too, having to get by Jones this time and hold off the Joe Gibbs Racing driver at the line by a mere .072-seconds.

Ross Chastain finished third, just in front of his Kaulig Racing teammate AJ Allmendinger, who earned the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus money. Allmendinger outran three other drivers — fifth-place Gragson, teammate Haley in sixth and 31st-place Daniel Hemric — eligible for the bonus. Gragson had claimed the six-figure payday the previous weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

MORE: Allmendinger scurries to Dash 4 Cash prize

The incentive program moves to Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway next week and drivers Briscoe, Jones, Chastain and Allmendinger will be eligible to win the next $100,000 bonus there.

Gragson, who dominated both races of the NASCAR Xfinity Series weekend doubleheader, settled for fifth after falling back on the second restart. He was silent on his team radio on the cool-down lap, clearly disappointed and frustrated.

“I don’t know what to tell you, you worked extremely hard and I’m proud of our effort,” his crew chief David Elenz told him as the field came back into the garage after the race.

Haley, Myatt Snider, Harrison Burton, Riley Herbst and Cindric rounded out the top 10. Harrison Burton, who rallied from a flat tire with seven laps left in regulation, has finished in the top 10 in every race this season. He becomes the first rookie in Xfinity history to start his first full season with 10 consecutive top 10s, breaking the mark of nine set by Carl Edwards in 2005.

Ryan Sieg won the opening stage – the second straight day he won a stage – and Gragson won the second stage – his series-leading fifth stage win of the season.

Gragson, who has top-five finishes in the last four races, holds an 18-point edge over Briscoe in the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship standings.

The Xfinity Series’ next race is the Unhinged 300, scheduled Saturday (5:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, Sirius) at Talladega Superspeedway. It will mark the third of four races in the 2020 Dash 4 Cash program.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR Cup Series driver Austin Dillon and wife Whitney welcomed their first child, the couple revealed on social media Sunday. The baby’s name is Ace RC Dillon.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBa0uV9noD2/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Dillon, who drives the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, explained the meaning behind his son’s name after he and Whitney picked it back in February.

“‘RC’ obviously is for my grandfather,” Dillon said. “My logo has always been the Ace of Spades and my grandfather always said ‘ace in the hole.’ So, I was like this is a good time to make my kid the ace in the hole and hopefully he’s better than me.”

RELATED: Austin Dillon through the years 

Married in 2017, the two announced they were expecting late last year in December with a photoshoot at Charlotte Motor Speedway, site of Dillon’s first career NASCAR Cup Series victory in the 2017 Coca-Cola 600. He has two Cup victories to date with the second coming in the 2018 Daytona 500.

As Dillon mentioned in the post, he still planned to race Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on by PJ Walsh

The Action Network specializes in providing sports betting insights/analytics and is a content partner with NASCAR. Check out more NASCAR betting analysis here.

After 500 laps around the half-mile Martinsville Speedway on Wednesday night, the NASCAR Cup Series is back in action at the Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday.

Not having practice since NASCAR’s return from the COVID-19 pandemic has made handicapping race winners more difficult than normal, but the return to a 1.5-mile racetrack provides us more recent data to lean on.

Last weekend, the Cup Series raced at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a high tire-wear 1.5-mile circuit just like Miami, so this is an important race to analyze.

In addition, we’ll also look at performances in The Real Heroes 500 at Darlington Raceway back on May 17 because that track also wears out tires quickly and, more importantly, the tire combination used in that event will be the same combination used on Sunday at Miami.

I’m specifically interested in data from The Real Heroes 500 as opposed to the Toyota 500, which took place three days later at Darlington, as the first event was run in the heat of the day, while the Wednesday race ran at night on a cooler racetrack.

Sunday’s Dixie Vodka 400 is also a day race, so I want to know which cars were best on a hot, slick track at Darlington as that will be much more similar to what the drivers experience at Miami.

After looking at historical Miami data, as well as recent results from Atlanta and Darlington, here are two drivers I’m betting for the Dixie Vodka 400.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter (@PJWalsh24) for any additional bets I make for Miami.

NASCAR at Miami Odds, Betting Picks

Odds as of Sunday at 7:30 a.m. ET and via DraftKings. Get up to a $1,000 sign-up bonus at DraftKings today or see more offers and reviews for the best online sportsbooks.

Kevin Harvick (+500) to win at Miami

With Tyler Reddick already in tow at 70-1, I’m passing on the mid-tier and going right for my two favorites to win the race — the first of which is Kevin Harvick.

Here are Harvick’s stats from the two day races run at high tire-wear tracks since NASCAR’s return: two wins, best driver rating, best average running position, most laps led and most fast laps run.

And here are Harvick’s finishes at Miami since joining Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014: first, second, third, fourth, third and fourth.

Martin Truex Jr. (+500) to win at Miami

While Harvick was the best driver in the heat of the day at Darlington and Atlanta, Truex was clearly the second-best performer.

Over those two races, Truex is tied for the second-best average finish, has run the second-most fast laps, has led the third-most laps and posted the second-best driver rating.

Just like Harvick, Truex has also been a rocket ship at Miami, including finishes of first, second and second over his last three races with the most fast laps run in last year’s event, which is significant because it’s the same aero package the Cup Series will run Sunday.

And finally, since Truex won Wednesday night at Martinsville he’ll have the best pit stall at Miami, which will only help his cause.