Posted on by Data Skrive

Erik Jones placed 40th in the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, adding one point to his season total.

Jones now sits at No. 16 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff standings with 2009 points. He’s collected nine top-five finishes in 2019.

Chase Elliott took the checkered flag in the race, with Alex Bowman taking second, and Kevin Harvick placing third. Clint Bowyer took fourth place, followed by Brad Keselowski to round out the top five.

Kyle Larson came away victorious in Stage 1, and Elliott won Stage 2.

Jones qualified in 15th position at 101.887 mph. The fourth-year driver has tallied two career victories, 23 top-five finishes and has placed in the top 10 in 45 races.

Jones battled 39 other cars in the field and the race endured 10 cautions and 23 caution laps. There were 13 lead changes before the checkered flag.

Chevrolet added 40 points to its season totals with Elliott’s victory. Overall, Toyota ranks No. 1 with 1058 points, followed by Ford in the No. 2 spot with 1025. Chevrolet sits at No. 3 with 987 points on the season.

Erik Jones Driver Page | Get Erik Jones Gear | Race Center

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Daniel Suarez finished 34th in the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, adding seven points to his season total.

Suarez now sits at 707 points on the season. He’s collected three top-five finishes in 2019.

Chase Elliott brought home the win in the race, with Alex Bowman taking second, and Kevin Harvick placing third. Clint Bowyer took fourth place, followed by Brad Keselowski in the No. 5 spot.

Kyle Larson came away victorious in Stage 1, and Elliott won Stage 2.

Suarez qualified in 13th position at 101.953 mph. Suarez still is looking for career victory No. 1, but owns seven top-five finishes and 31 finishes in the top 10.

Suarez battled 39 other cars in the field and the race saw 10 cautions and 23 caution laps. There were 13 lead changes before the checkered flag.

Chevrolet added 40 points to its season totals with Elliott’s victory. Overall, Toyota ranks No. 1 with 1058 points, followed by Ford in the No. 2 spot with 1025. Chevrolet sits at No. 3 with 987 points on the season.

Daniel Suarez Driver Page | Get Daniel Suarez Gear | Race Center

Posted on by Data Skrive

Ryan Newman placed 32nd in the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, adding five points to his season total.

Newman now sits at No. 14 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff standings with 2070 points. He’s posted two top-five finishes in 2019.

Chase Elliott came away with the victory in the race, with Alex Bowman finishing second, and Kevin Harvick placing third. Clint Bowyer took fourth place, followed by Brad Keselowski in the No. 5 spot.

Kyle Larson came away victorious in Stage 1, and Elliott won Stage 2.

Newman qualified in 24th position at 101.148 mph. The 20th-year driver has piled up 18 career victories, 114 top-five finishes and has placed in the top 10 in 258 races.

There were 40 cars in the field, and the race endured 10 cautions and 23 caution laps. Prior to the checkered flag there were 13 lead changes.

Chevrolet added 40 points to its season totals with Elliott’s victory. Overall, Toyota ranks No. 1 with 1058 points, followed by Ford in the No. 2 spot with 1025. Chevrolet sits at No. 3 with 987 points on the season.

Ryan Newman Driver Page | Get Ryan Newman Gear | Race Center

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Bubba Wallace finished 24th in the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, adding 13 points to his season total.

Wallace now sits at 403 points on the season.

Chase Elliott brought home the win in the race, with Alex Bowman following in second, and Kevin Harvick crossing the finish line third. Clint Bowyer took fourth place, followed by Brad Keselowski in the No. 5 spot.

Kyle Larson came away victorious in Stage 1, and Elliott won Stage 2.

Wallace qualified in 25th position at 101.136 mph. Wallace still is looking for career victory No. 1, but boasts two top-five finishes and four finishes in the top 10.

Wallace battled 39 other cars in the field and the race saw 10 cautions and 23 caution laps. There were 13 lead changes before the checkered flag.

Chevrolet added 40 points to its season totals with Elliott’s victory. Overall, Toyota ranks No. 1 with 1058 points, followed by Ford in the No. 2 spot with 1025. Chevrolet sits at No. 3 with 987 points on the season.

Bubba Wallace Driver Page | Get Bubba Wallace Gear | Race Center

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Alex Bowman finished second in the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, adding 35 points to his season total.

Bowman now sits at No. 9 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff standings with 3005 points. He’s collected five top-five finishes in 2019.

Chase Elliott brought home the win in the race, with Kevin Harvick crossing the finish line third. Clint Bowyer took fourth place, followed by Brad Keselowski in the No. 5 spot.

Bowman has advanced to the next round of the Cup Series playoffs.

Kyle Larson came away victorious in Stage 1, and Elliott won Stage 2.

Bowman qualified in second position at 103.078 mph. The sixth-year driver has piled up one career victory, eight top-five finishes and has placed in the top 10 in 23 races.

There were 40 cars in the field, and the race endured 10 cautions and 23 caution laps. There were 13 lead changes.

Chevrolet added 40 points to its season totals with Elliott’s victory. Overall, Toyota ranks No. 1 with 1058 points, followed by Ford in the No. 2 spot with 1025. Chevrolet sits at No. 3 with 987 points on the season.

Alex Bowman Driver Page | Get Alex Bowman Gear | Race Center

Posted on by Zack Albert

NASCAR officials plan to speak with Bubba Wallace after his post-race altercation with Alex Bowman following Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer, indicated Monday morning on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that the competition department would intervene before this weekend’s events at Dover International Speedway.

“I would say I will be having a conversation with Bubba Wallace. That was really not classy whatsoever,” O’Donnell told SiriusXM. “I understand that drivers have issues with each other during the race. We totally get that, but with drivers on the ground being tended to by medical personnel, you need to be smarter than that, and we’ll have that conversation with Bubba and we’ll see how that goes, obviously prior to Dover.”

RELATED: Bubba confronts Bowman | Race results

After a pair of incidents in the first half of Sunday’s race, Wallace was still fuming after the checkered flag and marched to Bowman’s parked car. Bowman, who had carried an illness through the weekend, was being treated by medical personnel as Wallace approached. Wallace splashed Bowman with a drink before storming off.

In other remarks from O’Donnell’s appearance on SiriusXM’s “The Morning Drive:”

• O’Donnell indicated he was generally pleased with the second year of racing on Charlotte’s combination oval and road course, hinting that the event had a long-term future on the schedule.

“I thought it was as good as Roval, Round 1, and glad it’s on the schedule and here to stay,” O’Donnell said. “I think it’s an exciting weekend for the fans and presents a huge challenge for the entire industry.”

• O’Donnell provided an update on the aftermath of an unusual rash of engine failures during the Sept. 13 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

After an investigation revealed that extreme temperatures and engine load caused reliability issues for Ilmor Engineering’s power plants, ThorSport Racing — which was hit particularly hard by the failures — petitioned NASCAR to restore championship eligibility for ThorSport drivers Grant Enfinger and Johnny Sauter, who were eliminated from the postseason by early engine-related exits at Las Vegas.

MORE: Findings from Las Vegas engine issues

“We’re going to follow up with the race team. Our intent is not to do that,” O’Donnell said. “We understand that it was a really, really tough circumstance, and we’ve got to do everything in our power and we are to avoid that going forward. Ilmor has certainly gone to work to figure out exactly what happened there. Unfortunately, it’s one of these things where parts and pieces break at times on vehicles. That happens. That’s not something that’s acceptable in this case. We’ve got to get that fixed and we will. I think there’s a good plan in place to go forward.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

CONCORD, N.C. — Defending race winner Ryan Blaney didn’t have a smooth afternoon in Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, but he salvaged an eighth-place finish with the help of two timely cautions and advanced to the second round of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

Blaney made hard contact with the wall on Lap 58, and crew chief Jeremy Bullins contemplated bringing the No. 12 Team Penske Ford to pit road immediately, but opted against that course of action.

Daniel Hemric’s spin on the banking on Lap 62, gave Blaney a chance to come to pit road under yellow, and the team went to work on the rear suspension. Another caution, for eventual  winner Chase Elliott’s collision with the Turn 1 tire barrier on Lap 65, provided a chance for more repairs, and Blaney was able to improve his track position throughout the closing stages of the race, after restarting 36th on Lap 67.

RELATED: Race results | Elliott wins at Roval | Round of 12 field set

He was ninth for the final restart on Lap 104 and moved up one position before the finish, earning a trip to the Round of 12.

“We definitely had a lot of ups and downs,” Blaney said. “I thought we did a pretty decent job most of the day finding ourselves towards the front. There were a lot of mixed strategies with the way the cautions fell.

“I messed up really bad and hit the fence and really set us back, but I’m really proud of the whole group for fighting and getting it fixed to where we could make some ground.”

Posted on by Staff Report

The race-winning No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 driven by Chase Elliott passed post-race technical inspection Sunday evening at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course with no issues.

The No. 9 Chevrolet was found to be compliant with the 2019 NASCAR Rule Book after Elliott won the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 16 elimination race at the Roval.

Additionally, all cars were found to be compliant with the post-race lug-nut policy. The No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of William Byron will go back to the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina for further evaluation.

With post-race teardown complete, the race results are official.

RELATED: Full race results

The post-race process is part of a new, more timely approach to inspection for all three NASCAR national series. Competition officials announced in February thorough post-race inspections would take place shortly after the checkered flag at the track instead of midweek at the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina.

Those inspections come with a stiffer deterrence structure that includes disqualification for significant rules infractions — “a total culture change,” said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer. In the past, race-winning teams found in violation of the rules were penalized with post-race fines, points deductions and/or suspensions, but victories were allowed to stand.

Competition officials introduced the quicker post-race inspection timetable in an effort to make the results official on race day, aiming for a 90-minute target time frame to complete their scrutineering. The new post-race inspection process was also designed to deal with potential violations more promptly, avoiding any midweek news that might cloud the previous week’s results or the build-up to the following week’s event.

NASCAR will still inspect cars and parts at the R&D Center as needed, but the more comprehensive at-track inspection will take priority.

According to NASCAR statistical archives, the last time a premier-series driver was disqualified occurred in 1973, when early retiree Buddy Baker was demoted to last place in the National 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The last time an apparent race winner in NASCAR’s top division was disqualified came on April 17, 1960, when Emanuel Zervakis’ victory at Wilson (N.C.) Speedway was thrown out because of an oversized fuel tank on his No. 85 Chevrolet.

Posted on by Zack Albert

CONCORD, N.C. — Alex Bowman’s roundabout path to the next round of the NASCAR Playoffs on Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway was capped by a trip to the infield care center and an abrupt post-race confrontation by new rival Bubba Wallace.

Wallace walked from his No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet after the race and leaned down to confront the ailing Bowman before splashing a drink in his face. Wallace stormed off as Bowman continued to receive medical attention after gutting out a season-saving second-place finish in the Bank of America Roval 400.

The tensions boiled over after two on-track incidents, including one on the first lap and another caused by an intentional bump by Bowman on Lap 42. Wallace was still fuming, some 60-plus laps after their final clash.

“He don’t like to race. He just runs over everybody,” Wallace told NASCAR.com as he left the track. “He gets to Lap 1 and he runs over me and the 3 (Austin Dillon) into the back chicane. We’re back there in the trunk, man. Just take it easy for a lap. He had a fast car and he just run over us. Shoot us through the chicane and then we get a penalty for it. Every time he gets to me, he just runs over me.

“Smooth move of playing the sick card so I couldn’t bust him in his mouth.”

Bowman started at the rear of the field after an incident in final practice, and he had trouble shortly after the green flag, overcooking the backstretch chicane and making contact with Wallace’s car as he spun. Both cars drew penalties for missing the chicane.

The latter issue stemmed from Wallace making a middle finger gesture on multiple laps, with Bowman reaching a tipping point again in the backstretch chicane. After several corners of close-quarters racing, Bowman nudged Wallace’s car into a spin that placed him backward into the outside retaining wall.

After Bowman was released from the infield care center, he tried to explain their back-and-forth.

“I don’t know if he was mad about the first lap or what but obviously, that was just a mistake,” Bowman said. “Then I got flipped over for every single straightaway for three laps. I got flipped off by him for three or four laps in Richmond so I was just over it. I gotta stand up for myself at some point, right? Probably wouldn’t have gotten wrecked if he had his finger back in the car.”

Bowman also responded to Wallace’s post-race splash: “I probably shouldn’t repeat what he said to me, but nothing classy by any means. I mean, I get it, I’d be mad, too, but he put himself in that spot.”

Bowman’s crew chief, Greg Ives, told NASCAR.com that the high range of emotions was understandable.

“I mean, that’s what racing does,” Ives said. “It’s unfortunate that we got into Bubba there at the start. Definitely wasn’t intentional and then some other altercation happened off the chicane. That’s emotions for you. Last week, we got wrecked by the 3 and had a bad week. You know, we’ve got to put that behind us. That’s not usually how we race and it’s unfortunate that it had to happen. I know those race teams are trying as hard as they can, and it’s unfortunate we got into him.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

CONCORD, N.C. — Alex Bowman was the pinball that didn’t tilt Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s oval-road course circuit

An illness, a confrontation and three incidents before the halfway mark didn’t derail the driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, who avoided elimination by a scant five points with a resilient runner-up finish in the Bank of America Roval 400. Knocked out of the playoff picture were (in order) Aric Almirola, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch and Erik Jones.

Bowman fought through a lingering ailment that had dogged him since the middle of last week. He was at another deficit before the green flag after a crash in Saturday’s final Monster Energy Series practice that forced the team to break out a backup car. Top that with a first-lap incident that threatened to halt his playoff march early, and he stood in last place with plenty of ground to make up.

“Yeah, I mean probably about Lap 10 of the race, I was pretty done and out of it just from a physical standpoint,” Bowman said. “I just tried to keep digging and obviously, I tried to give it away on Lap 1. As soon as I touched the brake pedal it started wheel-hopping and turned around on me. I apologize to those that got collected in that. I feel like I hurt myself more than anybody on that one. But I’m glad we were able to rebound and the guys obviously gave me a really strong car to get back through the field.”

That rebound came after further incidents that did halt Bowman’s progress, including a Lap 23 restart led to a six-car stack-up in Turn 1 and a Lap 42 battle of bumpers with Bubba Wallace. Later, a well-timed call for fresh tires by crew chief Greg Ives and accident avoidance in a chaotic final stage gave Bowman the boost he needed to beat back the adversity.

“That’s what this team does, you know,” Ives told NASCAR.com. “There’s several instances where we don’t qualify well or we have an issue. I feel like our issues today were self-inflicted a little bit. Some of my speech and words of advice didn’t really go as planned, taking it easy and making sure there’s a clean race car at the end. Just proud of the way the team kept on fighting.”

Among those on the other side of the playoff bubble was Almirola, who lined up 23rd with fresher tires on the final restart with six laps left. His No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford made it up to 14th by the checkered flag, but a brush with the backstretch chicane wall left him five points shy of catching Bowman.

“I’m disappointed it didn’t work out the way I wanted it to but I’m still really blessed and fortunate to have this opportunity,” Almirola said. “So many people put a lot behind me, everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing and Smithfield, Ford Motor Company. So, it stings but the sun is going to come up tomorrow. I’m still going to be Aric Almirola, I’m still going to be a husband and a father and they’re not going to take my birthday away. As disappointing as it is, it’s not the end of the world. We’ll move on to Dover (International Speedway) next week and we’ll continue to fight and battle and it’s still really achievable to go finish fifth in the points. We did that last year.”

RELATED: Full results | See the Round of 12 playoff field

Newman was in line for a 17th-place result that would have left him with a closer margin on the minus side, but an adventurous day ended with a late-race stall on pit road, a missed chicane and a collision with Daniel Suarez’s No. 41. The chicane punishment came in the form of a 30-second post-race penalty that dropped his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford to 32nd on the score sheet.

“Yeah, we just didn’t have it,” Newman said. “I screwed up several times. We didn’t have a great race car, struggled all weekend, didn’t qualify good, just nothing went our way, but that’s racing and those other guys did a better job. Obviously, the Hendrick (Motorsports) guys had a great road-course package and we didn’t and we just didn’t do a good enough job, period.”

Busch wound up 20th in the No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet and failed to score any stage points in his quest to stave off elimination. He was 15th in the points standings, just ahead of Jones, who finished last for the second straight week after radiator damage from a crash sidelined his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with just 23 of the 109 laps completed.