Posted on by Zack Albert

LAS VEGAS — Kevin Harvick’s runner-up finish in Sunday’s NASCAR Playoffs opener wasn’t quite the dominant show of strength he flexed in the previous week’s victory at Indianapolis. Instead, the hard-fought outcome was part of a weekend-long recovery effort.

Harvick’s No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford led three times for 47 laps in Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, holding the top spot until eventual winner Martin Truex Jr. scooted past with 20 laps remaining. The work that went into turning the tide was nearly Herculean, based on wholesale changes to improve the No. 4 car’s handling and balance.

RELATED: Las Vegas results | Playoff ins and outs

“If you’d have told me at the end of Friday night that we were going to be in contention to win the race with 25 laps to go, I’d have laughed at you,” Harvick said. “I’d have told you we were nowhere even close, and the guys did a great job scrambling and doing everything that they could to keep changing stuff and keep making the car better. We made our car better throughout the race.”

Harvick’s comeback story has origins dating back to Friday’s two practices, when the team improved from 18th on the speed chart in first practice to seventh in the final session. By the time Saturday’s Busch Pole Qualifying rolled around, Harvick claimed the third starting spot as part of a top-four sweep by Stewart-Haas drivers after major alterations to get the No. 4 entry in proper form.

Shortly after the green flag fell Sunday, Harvick drove away from a fairly benign brush with the outside wall on Lap 17. By Lap 84 of 267, the veteran driver was in the lead for the first time.

Though Harvick nearly converted for his second straight Monster Energy Series win, crew chief Rodney Childers indicated there was plenty to take away from the first weekend in the 10-race playoffs.

RELATED: Complete at-track gallery from Las Vegas

“We didn’t build the right cars for here, and it was horrible when we unloaded,” Childers told NASCAR.com. “That’s something we’ve got to do better as a company. Fortunately, the 4 team is strong enough to work hard all weekend and do the right things to make the car better and have a good race, but the only way we’re going to hold (Truex) off is to have a caution at the right time and have clean race tracks and not have to pass lapped cars.

“Their cars just had way more grip than ours all weekend and that’s something that we struggled with at Darlington also, and we turned around and did the same thing there, fought through it and got a top five out of it. So honestly to finish second from where we unloaded is huge.”

Harvick carried the torch for the rest of the SHR bunch — teammate Aric Almirola secured 13th, with Daniel Suarez 20th and pole-starter Clint Bowyer fading to a 25th-place result. But it was the No. 4 team’s ability to claw through adversity — a valuable asset for championship-ready teams — that seemed to stick with Harvick the most.

“We were a 20th-place car on Friday and today we ground one out,” said Harvick, who logged his third straight top-five result. “So that’s what you have to do on the weekends where you’re not where you need to be. You’ve got to figure out how to make something out of it and we did.”

Posted on by Staff Report

The race-winning No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driven by Martin Truex Jr. passed post-race technical inspection Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with no issues.

The No. 19 Toyota was found to be compliant with the 2019 NASCAR Rule Book after Truex Jr. won the NASCAR Playoffs opener, the South Point 400. Additionally, no cars are headed back to the R&D Center after the race.

Three cars were found to have one lug nut missing: The No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford of Aric Almirola (finished 13th), the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Kyle Busch (finished 19th) and the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of Alex Bowman (finished sixth). Those will result in fines to the respective team’s crew chiefs.

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

RELATED: Race recap | Full 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 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 in Concord, North Carolina.

Those inspections come with a stiffer deterrence structure that includes disqualification for significant rules infractions — “a total culture change,” according to 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 Chase Wilhelm

LAS VEGAS – Joey Logano knows the contact with Daniel Suarez wasn’t malicious, but that doesn’t make him feel any better.

Logano’s night took a turn Sunday in Stage 2 when contact with Suarez in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway caused significant damage to the right side and front bumper of his No. 22 Team Penske Ford.

“He crashed me,” Logano said. “I wasn’t too excited about it. It wasn’t on purpose; he just made a mistake. It’s unfortunate that we were the ones that paid the penalty for his mistake.”

RELATED: Race results | Playoff Pulse

Prior to the incident, Logano rocketed from a 22nd-place starting spot to lead in time to win Stage 1. In all, he led a race-high 105 laps during the 267-lap event.

After the contact with Suarez, Logano’s No. 22 team made repairs under caution from a Lap 189 incident involving playoff driver Kurt Busch. That allowed Logano to rally back for a ninth-place finish and helped him to keep his fifth-place position in the playoff standings.

“We were really good,” Logano said. “We had a car that drove all the way to the lead and led a bunch of laps. We need to be proud of that. We’re not going to let our heads get down on that.”

Although initially hesitant to point fingers, Suarez indicated he had no knowledge Logano was in his vicinity leading to the contact.

“I hate to blame people, but that was my spotter, just didn’t say anything,” Suarez said. “And I apologized to Joey. He’s one of the last guys I’d really want to be in his way. But I don’t know. It’s my bad, though.”

Logano also showed his frustration in-race immediately after the contact, displaying the middle finger to Suarez and forcing the No. 41 car down onto the apron in Turns 1 and 2. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver took no offense to the actions.

“I know I’ve got one from him and he’s going to be good, but I don’t blame him,” Suarez said. “I would do the same thing.”

Posted on by Staff Report

After the first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs race, here’s a brief look at the playoffs picture. There are two races remaining in the Round of 16 before the field is whittled to 12, with four drivers eliminated from the postseason following Charlotte (Sept. 29).

Winner

Martin Truex Jr. won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, clinching a spot in the Round of 12. The win also gives him five playoff points to add to his total, which now sits at 35. Those playoff points can transferred round to round, up to the Championship 4.

RELATED: Race results 

Who’s hot

Kevin Harvick. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver led a strong 47 laps en route to a second-place finish coming off a dominant win at The Brickyard. He’s rounding nicely into championship form and he’s due for more trips to Victory Lane the rest of the way.

Brad Keselowski. Though he crashed at Indianapolis, the Team Penske driver notched a third top-five finish in the past four races via a third-place run at Vegas. He got hot at this time last year but couldn’t make it all the way to Homestead — this could be the year he once again does.

Who’s not

Erik Jones. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver was forced to make a mid-race trip to the garage, putting him several laps down. He finished a dismal 36th and is last place in the playoff standings.

Kurt Busch. A popular sleeper pick, Busch has a hole to dig out of following hard contact with the wall after a blown tire ended his race early for a last-place finish. He’s on the wrong side of the bubble, too.

BUBBLE WATCH

Rank Driver Points to cutoff
9. William Byron +13
10. Ryan Blaney +12
11. Alex Bowman +10
12. Aric Almirola +6
————— CUT-OFF LINE —————
13. Ryan Newman -6
14. Kurt Busch -14
15. Clint Bowyer -21
16. Erik Jones -26

Next race

The Monster Energy Series travels to Richmond Raceway for a Saturday night race on Sept. 21 (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Who it favors

Kyle Busch. If there’s any respite for Busch after a frustrating day at Vegas, it’s that he’s exceptional at Richmond. The track’s active leader with six wins has a sterling 7.0 average finish at the Virginia track, winning two of the last three.

Who it hurts

Ryan Blaney. The Team Penske driver is plus-12 to the good for now, but his Richmond history is, to put it bluntly, abysmal. Blaney could find himself on the wrong end of the line after Saturday night if he doesn’t better his previous best (18th, with a 26.7 average finish in seven starts) at the short track.

Posted on by Holly Cain

LAS VEGAS — It had been almost three months since Martin Truex Jr. last raised a trophy, and while others may have wondered about his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team’s playoff potential, its members never wavered in confidence or pursuit.

And sure enough, they were the ones celebrating in Victory Lane at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after Sunday night’s South Point 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs opener.

RELATED: Race results
SHOP: Truex gear

“Welcome back,’’ an ecstatic Truex screamed to his team on the radio after taking the checkered flag an impressive 4.173-seconds ahead of a fellow playoff competitor, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick.

It was Truex’s fifth victory of the year – best in the field – and an automatic ticket to the next round of the playoffs.

“We took a gamble, qualified 24th,’’ said Truex, who led 32 laps. “For a while, it wasn’t looking too smart with the 4 (Harvick) out front. Got the right adjustments in the end. Had a great car all day long.

“Hell of a way to make a championship run. Get some good bonus points, move on to the next round, see what we can do there.’’

As strong as Harvick’s Ford had been – leading 47 laps – he said afterward he really didn’t have much for Truex in the end.

“I knew the Gibbs cars would be tough,’’ the 2014 Cup champ said. “Martin was just so much better on the second half of the run. He made up that ground there, was able to stay close enough to us. My car started to get loose and push the front. It was just in kind of a four-wheel drift.

“We did some things this weekend that we probably will have to undo going forward. I think we can do a little bit better going forward.’’

The top 10 drivers were all playoff competitors. Three-time Vegas winner Brad Keselowski was third in the No. 2 Team Penske Ford. Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott brought his No. 9 Chevrolet home fourth, and Harvick’s Penske teammate, Ryan Blaney, was fifth.

Hendrick Motorsports teammates Alex Bowman and William Byron were sixth and seventh, respectively, followed by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson in eighth, reigning series champion Joey Logano in ninth and Roush Fenway Racing’s Ryan Newman in 10th.

While the final laps came down to a battle between Harvick and Busch, it was actually Logano who led the most laps overall – 105 of the 267.

“We got shuffled out the back and then got to the outside of the 41 (Daniel Suarez) and didn’t know I was there and he crashed our car,’’ said Logano, whose No. 22 Ford suffered a lot of right side damage after it was squeezed into the wall avoiding Suarez. “We just didn’t have a chance to fix it as good as it needed to be and as good as it was before that. They fixed it as good as they could to recover with a top 10.

“Our car was so fast and I feel like we had a chance of winning it, but we just kind of got shuffled into everything.’’

Logano won Stage 1 and fell second to Truex in Stage 2.

It was a frustrating evening for many of the other playoff drivers as well. Several worked through various obstacles, from a flat tire for polesitter Clint Bowyer (finished 25th) to a crash for Ganassi driver Kurt Busch (39th) to an early race mechanical issue for JGR’s Erik Jones (36th).

First-time playoffs participant and 21-year-old Byron rallied to that seventh-place finish but actually brought out one of the race’s four caution flags on lap 182 after spinning.

Regular-season champion and Las Vegas native Kyle Busch also had a busy day. He went two laps down early after brushing the wall. He made up enough positions on track and earned a spot back on the lead lap, only to have problems with lapped cars as he raced forward.

The frustration was clear after he climbed out of his No. 18 JGR car on pit road, relegated with a 19th-place finish even after he rallied back inside the top 10 at one point in the waning laps.

“Should have run fourth probably, instead of 19th,” Busch said on pit road, his disappointment obvious as he called out the driving technique from slower cars.

The upside for Busch is the bonus points he received for winning the season title will carry over and balance some of the bad luck.

“It’s pathetic to have to lean on insurance,” Busch said. “My premiums are going to go up.’’

The Cup Series moves to Richmond Raceway next week for the second race of the opening playoff round. With the victory at Vegas, Truex has taken a three-point lead on Harvick in the championship standings. Logano is third, seven points behind Truex. Busch is fourth, 19 points off the lead.

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

Monday, Sept. 16
12:30 a.m., Racing Roots: Ricky Stenhouse Jr., NBCSN/NBC Sports App (re-air)
noon, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

Tuesday, Sept. 17
5 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN:
7 p.m., NASCAR Live

Wednesday, Sept. 18
1 a.m., Proving Grounds: It’s a Good Car, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (re-air)
1 p.m., IMSA Racing: Michelin Pilot Challenge, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
5 p.m., NASCAR America: Motormouths Call In, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., Wood Brothers, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (re-air)
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN:
noon, NASCAR Coast to Coast

Thursday, Sept. 19
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

Friday, Sept. 20
9:30 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series final practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
11 a.m., Racing Roots: Ricky Stenhouse Jr., NBCSN/NBC Sports App (re-air)
11:30 a.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series opening practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN3)
1:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN3)
5 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
5:30 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Busch Pole Qualifying, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN2)
7 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series Countdown to Green: Richmond, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
7:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series GoBowling 250, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN2)
9:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series Post-Race Show, NBCSN/NBC Sports App

On MRN:
11:30 a.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series opening practice
1:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice
6 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Busch Pole Qualifying
7 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series GoBowling 250

Saturday, Sept. 21
6 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
7 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Countdown to Green, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
7:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN3)
11 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Post-Race Show, NBCSN/NBC Sports App

On MRN:
6:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400

Sunday, Sept. 22
Midnight, Proving Grounds: The Under $40k Special, NBCSN/NBC Sports App

Posted on by Staff Report

Mike Stefanik, one of two drivers in NASCAR history to win nine national series or touring championships, died Sunday in a small single-seat plane crash.

He was 61.

The winningest driver in the history of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, Stefanik’s career stretched nearly 30 years. He won the tour championship seven times, and in 1997 and ’98 completed the remarkable feat of winning the Whelen Modified Tour and Busch North – now NASCAR K&N Pro Series East – titles simultaneously.

“Mike Stefanik was one of the most successful drivers in NASCAR history, but even more so, he was a true representative of our sport,” NASCAR Chairman and CEO Jim France said. “His tough, competitive nature and excellence on the race track won him the respect and admiration of fans and competitors alike. His career stretched more than 30 years, bridging the generations between Jerry Cook and Richie Evans to our current drivers. He recorded achievements in this sport that are likely untouchable, and his legacy as a champion will endure. We will keep his wife Julie and his family and friends in our prayers.”

RELATED: More from Home Tracks

Stefanik’s nine overall NASCAR championships tied him with NASCAR Hall of Famer Richie Evans for most in NASCAR history.

Stefanik also won rookie of the year honors at age 41 in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series in 1999, finishing 13th in points in his only full season in the series.

He was a six-time nominee for the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Stefanik had 12 wins and 65 top fives in 164 East starts, finishing second in the championship points in 2005 in his last season in the stock-car series.

RACING-REFERENCE: Mike Stefanik Career

It was the Modifieds where he really made his legacy.

He competed on a limited schedule in tour’s inaugural season in 1985, finishing fifth in his debut at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway. He capped his storied career with four starts in 2014, finishing with a 10th at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

He holds the record for most tour wins with 74, nearly 30 more than the second winningest driver. Stefanik set the record for most wins in a season (13 in 1998) and holds the tour record for poles won at 48. He also shares the record with Evans for most consecutive tour races won at five.

Posted on by Staff Report

Erik Jones’ hopes of advancing past the Round of 16 in the NASCAR Playoffs took a hit Sunday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Jones’ No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota slowed on the restart for Stage 2, forcing the driver to bring the car down pit road.

RELATED: Las Vegas results

Jones reported over the radio at the time the car’s throttle was stuck in second gear, and after his crew worked on the car in the pits, he was forced to take it to the garage. By the time Jones returned to the race, he was 16 laps down and in last place. He ultimately finished the South Point 400 in 36th, completing 254 of the 267 laps at the 1.5-mile track in Nevada, as teammate Martin Truex Jr. took the checkered flag and solidified his spot in the Round of 12.

“It’s unfortunate … I definitely think we could have run top five,” Jones told NBCSN after the race. “Just go to Richmond and go to work. … We were fast there in spring. Just have to bring a fast car and put it into contention.”

Jones entered the playoffs seeded 10th with 2,005 points, the five bonus points coming from his recent win at Darlington Raceway. He added just two overall points thanks to his 10th-place finish in Stage 1. That puts him at 2,007 points, which lands him 26 points below the cutline in 16th with two races left in the Round of 16.

The Federated Auto Parts 400 is next Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET (NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Richmond Raceway.

Posted on by Staff Report

Martin Truex Jr. took the lead with two laps remaining in Stage 2 of the South Point 400 as Joey Logano got caught up in lapped traffic, and the driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota went on to collect his fourth stage win of the season on Sunday.

Logano, who had led 72 laps of the 80-lap stage, finished second in the stage.

RELATED: Stage 2 results

Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick and Chase Elliott rounded out the top five in the stage as the top 11 finishers were playoff drivers.

Erik Jones had trouble with his throttle on the Stage 2 restart, and his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota reportedly was stuck in second gear. He came to pit road on Lap 87 for repairs, and then went to the garage.

He returned to the track on Lap 102, but was 15 laps down — last in the 39-car field. He finished the stage 14 laps down.

Kyle Busch attempted to better his position on track after his early race incident knocked him a lap down, but his strategy to delay his pit stop was foiled when no cautions came during the stage. He finished Stage 2 in 28th place, two laps down.

Polesitter Clint Bowyer also slowed during Stage 2, dropping to 20th and one lap down.

The race is scheduled to end on Lap 267.

Place Driver Team Pts
1  Martin Truex Jr.  Joe Gibbs Racing 10
2  Joey Logano  Team Penske 9
3  Kyle Larson  Chip Ganassi Racing 8
4  Kevin Harvick  Stewart-Haas Racing 7
5  Chase Elliott  Hendrick Motorsports 6
6  William Byron  Hendrick Motorsports 5
7  Denny Hamlin  Joe Gibbs Racing 4
8  Ryan Blaney  Team Penske 3
9  Kurt Busch  Chip Ganassi Racing 2
10  Alex Bowman  Hendrick Motorsports 1

 

STAGE 1
Joey Logano started the South Point 400 in 22nd but quickly zoomed to the front of the pack and retook the lead for good on Lap 59 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to win Stage 1 for his ninth stage victory of the season.

RELATED: Stage 1 results

Logano, the defending Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion, is also the most recent winner at Las Vegas, having won at the 1.5-mile track in March.

Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola and Daniel Suarez finished 2-3-4 behind Logano in the stage. Suarez and Austin Dillon were the lone non-playoff drivers to score stage points.

Regular season champion Kyle Busch encountered early trouble when he got loose on Lap 5 and his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota scraped the outside wall. He made an unscheduled pit stop on Lap 11 for his crew to make repairs and change right-side tires, and went down a lap early. Though he exited pit road 39th out of 39 cars, he finished Stage 1 in 29th and two laps down — lowest among the 16 drivers in the playoffs.

Place Driver Team Pts
1  Joey Logano  Team Penske 10
2  Kevin Harvick  Stewart-Haas Racing 9
3  Aric Almirola  Stewart-Haas Racing 8
4  Daniel Suarez  Stewart-Haas Racing 7
5  Austin Dillon  Richard Childress Racing 6
6  Kurt Busch  Chip Ganassi Racing 5
7  William Byron  Hendrick Motorsports 4
8  Martin Truex Jr.  Joe Gibbs Racing 3
9  Kyle Larson  Chip Ganassi Racing 2
10  Erik Jones  Joe Gibbs Racing 1
Posted on by Zack Albert

LAS VEGAS — Kyle Busch had rallied into contention for a top-five result in Sunday’s NASCAR Playoffs opener until two late-race encounters with lapped drivers Joey Gase and Garrett Smithley thwarted his momentum at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Busch’s impassioned post-race criticism was met with grumbles in return from Gase and Smithley in a disagreement involving drivers for teams at opposite ends of the Monster Energy Series garage.

Busch, the regular-season champion, opened the playoffs with a 19th-place finish in Sunday’s South Point 400, an outcome that chopped into his playoff-point buffer in the Round of 16. Post-race, he lashed out at the two drivers’ credentials and their difficulties in yielding to his faster No. 18 Toyota.

RELATED: Race results

“I don’t know. I was told he was going to go high. I thought he was going to go high, he went middle because I thought he was going to go high, and killed our day,” Busch told NBC Sports. He was scored one lap down at the finish. “I don’t know. I should’ve run fourth probably, but instead 19th. I don’t know. We’re the top echelon of motorsports and we’ve got guys that have never won Late Model races running out here on the race track. It’s pathetic. They don’t know where to go. So, what else do you do?”

As Busch stormed off, Gase and Smithley gave their views after debriefing with their smaller-budget teams. Smithley placed 35th, 12 laps off the pace in the Rick Ware Racing No. 52 Ford. Gase wound up 38th in the 39-car field, 18 laps down in the MBM Motorsports No. 66 Toyota.

Smithley’s No. 52 was the first to find Busch’s bumper.

“The spotter said that the leaders were coming and he said go to the top side, so we went to the top side and I was committed to that lane,” Smithley told NASCAR.com. “I mean, they’re supposed to go around us. I should’ve just stayed on the bottom, really. I shouldn’t have listened to the spotter, honestly. He did a good job all day long until he told us to go up there, so I don’t know. It is what it is.”

Gase’s encounter came a handful of laps later, as his car and Busch’s squeezed together exiting the fourth turn.

“I mean, as a lapped car you’ve just got to pick which groove you’re going to stay in because you can’t constantly switch for everybody, and I was just staying on high side the whole time and then he just decided to run in the back of me,” Gase told NASCAR.com. “I don’t know. Everyone else figured it out.”

Gase and Smithley are both Xfinity Series veterans. The 26-year-old Gase has made 38 premier-series starts, including eight this season, and has 233 Xfinity starts since 2011. Smithley, 27, made his 11th Cup Series start Sunday and has competed full-time in the Xfinity Series since 2016.

Their two teams were parked next to each other in the Las Vegas garage, at the far opposite end of Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing hauler in the parking pecking order. Asked to respond to Busch’s critiques, both drivers acknowledged they were doing all they could with their equipment.

“He’s never been in the position we’ve been in, so he doesn’t know how that goes,” Smithley said. “That’s the way I see it.”

Said Gase: “Any day if he wants to switch cars, I’d be happy to.”