Posted on by Sponsored Content

JOHNSTON, Iowa (Sept. 21, 2024) – Twelve lottery players are one step closer to winning a VIP trip for two to NASCAR Championship Weekend™ at Phoenix Raceway® and entry into a nationally televised drawing to win $1 million!

Powerball® and NASCAR® announced today, during the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on USA Network, the 12 lottery players who survived the latest elimination drawing in the NASCAR Powerball Playoff™. The 12 lottery players advancing in the national Powerball promotion, include:

  • Myisha Clark – Birdsboro, PA
  • Christopher Goggins – Greenbelt, MD
  • Anthony Lawrence – Magnolia, DE
  • Meagan Lewis – New Orleans, LA
  • Beverly Lipford – Goldsboro, NC
  • Edward Oechsli – Louisville, KY
  • Thelma Price – Portland, ME
  • Noriko Puckett – Nashville, TN
  • Kathy Sullivan – Albuquerque, NM
  • Tosha Tomlinson – Anderson, IN
  • Kevin Weber – Bradenton, FL
  • Michael Wells – Columbia, SC

The four lottery players eliminated from the NASCAR Powerball Playoff have each won $2,500, they include:

  • Shunda Davis – Magnolia, MS
  • Marilyn Elkie – St. Michael, MN
  • Mary Mauro – Denver, CO
  • Fawn Senn – Fox Lake, WI

The 16 lottery players entered the national Powerball promotion through one of 27 participating state lotteries. Participating lotteries held in-state contests and second-chance drawings throughout the 2024 NASCAR regular season to form a national pool of entrants. The 16 lottery players were randomly selected from the national pool in a preliminary drawing to advance to a series of Playoff drawings.

RELATED: Learn more about the NASCAR Powerball Playoff

The next drawing in the NASCAR Powerball Playoff will be for the Round of 8. The eight lottery players advancing in the playoff will be announced during the Bank of America ROVAL™ 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday, Oct. 13. The four players eliminated from the Playoff at that time will win $5,000 each. The race will air live on NBC, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio at 2 p.m. ET.

The four lottery players still in the Playoff after the Championship 4 drawing will win a VIP trip for two to NASCAR Championship Weekend™ at Phoenix Raceway®, Nov. 8-10, plus entry into the drawing for the $1 million prize.

The $1 million drawing will be broadcast live during NBC’s pre-race coverage of the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race™ on Sunday, Nov. 10. Cash prizes will be awarded to all 16 lottery players based on their elimination position.

Playoff drawingsDateRace announcementsNotes
Round of 16Sept. 1Cook Out Southern 500, Darlington Raceway16 semi-finalists advance
Round of 12Sept. 21Bass Pro Shops Night Race, Bristol Motor Speedway12 semi-finalists advance, 4 eliminated win $2,500
Round of 8Oct. 13Bank of America Roval 400, Charlotte Motor Speedway8 semi-finalists advance, 4 eliminated win $5,000
Championship 4Nov. 3Xfinity 500, Martinsville Speedway4 semi-finalists advance & win VIP trip, 4 eliminated win $7,500
$1 Million ChampionshipNov. 10NASCAR Cup Series Championship, Phoenix Raceway1 $1 million winner, 3 $10,000 winners

The VIP trip experience includes roundtrip airfare for two to Phoenix, Ariz., three nights hotel accommodations – double occupancy, two Ally Curve Hospitality Club passes for both the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race on Nov. 9 and the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race on Nov. 10, two passes for VIP experiences at Phoenix Raceway during the NASCAR Championship Weekend including Cup Series™ VIP access, NASCAR team hauler tour, MRN radio booth tour, pace car rides, Victory Lane access, welcome dinner and all meals, and ground transportation to scheduled events and activities.

Players can follow the NASCAR Powerball Playoff on Facebook, Instagram, and online at Powerball.com.

NASCAR® is a registered trademark of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC. Copyright ©2024 National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC. All Rights Reserved. NASCAR®, LLC is not a sponsor of this promotion.

powerball round of 12

Posted on by Staff Report

Winchester Fair pres. by USNE

Monadnock Speedway

  • Race results
Pos No. Name Sponsor Laps
 Diff
1 1 Patrick Emerling Fleetworks Inc 200
2 17 Anthony Nocella Xtreme Racing/Sekor Machine/Zilinski Heating & Cooling 200 0.366
3 60 Matt Hirschman Elite 200 0.517
4 46 Craig Lutz Riverhead Building Supply 200 0.884
5 82 Woody Pitkat Horton Avenue Materials/Gunsmoke Stables Racing 200 1.13
6 43 Matthew Kimball J&M Towing and Recovery/Poodlack Wealth Mgmt 200 1.366
7 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine/Future Homes 200 1.722
8 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications, Inc. 200 2.11
9 54 Tommy Catalano Catalano Motorsports 200 2.323
10 64 Austin Beers G&G Electrical Supply/Dell Electric/Lumiere Electrical 200 2.643
11 21 Stephen Kopcik* Newtown Pools/Karchner Warehousing 200 4.808
12 56 Trevor Catalano* Catalano Motorsports 200 4.926
13 3 Tyler Rypkema USNE/Northeast Drilling 199 1 Lap
14 15 Joey Cipriano III* Dependable Energy & Bass Plating 199 1 Lap
15 22 Kyle Bonsignore Chalew Performance/MTT/Munns Auto 198 2 Laps
16 81 Nathan Wenzel* 1812 Paint & Auto Body/Gene’s Ford & Chev Serv 197 3 Laps
17 19 Anthony Sesely Franzosa Trucking Co/Karchner Warehousing 196 4 Laps
18 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood & Restaurant 196 4 Laps
19 84 Tyler Catalano* Catalano Motorsports 191 9 Laps
20 10 Bob Reis* IronListing.com/B.R. Machineworks 190 10 Laps
21 79 Jonathan McKennedy McKennedy Racing 94 106 Laps

 

Posted on by Steve Luvender

We’re bringing you live updates covering Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race from Bristol Motor Speedway, the Bass Pro Shops Night Race (7 ET, USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App). Bookmark this page and check back often as we chronicle the action from ‘The Last Great Colosseum.’

Overview: 

• Iconic NASCAR short track Bristol Motor Speedway hosts the 500-lap Round of 16 playoff elimination race Saturday night. 

• Among the 16 playoff contenders, four drivers will leave Bristol eliminated from the championship fight. And, considering Bristol is famously known for its full-contact short-track racing action, expect some flared tempers and hurt feelings. Bristol, baby!

If it helps to get you in the mood, you can check out past Bristol races ad-free on NASCAR Classics. 

All times listed are Eastern.

Saturday, September 21 

11:00 p.m., checkered flag: That’s it for tonight’s live blog coverage. Thanks for joining us! Race recap | Race results

10:47 p.m., checkered flag: Perhaps unsurprisingly, Kyle Larson will enter the Round of 12 as the top-seeded driver.

10:40 p.m., checkered flag: How about some non-playoff drivers in the top 10? Bubba Wallace finished third, finishing off a top-five run for most of the night. Ryan Preece picked up a seventh-place finish for back-to-back top 10s, following a ninth-place effort at Watkins Glen last week. Ross Chastain came home 10th.

10:38 p.m., checkered flag: Chase Briscoe keeps Stewart-Haas Racing’s championship hopes alive in the team’s final season.

10:36 p.m., checkered flag: Brad Keselowski won’t add a second championship trophy to his collection this year.

10:34 p.m., checkered flag: Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin will carry the banner for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Round of 12, with Ty Gibbs and Martin Truex Jr. eliminated.

10:32 p.m., checkered flag: Despite finishing 31st tonight, Daniel Suárez will advance to the Round of 12. A runner-up finish at Atlanta and a solid outing last week at Watkins Glen saved his playoffs.

10:29 p.m., checkered flag: This is Kyle Larson’s series-leading fifth win of 2024, and the 28th of his career.

10:26 p.m., checkered flag: See the unofficial results from tonight’s race.

10:23 p.m., checkered flag: The Round of 12 is set, kicking off next Sunday at Kansas Speedway (3 p.m., USA Network).

10:21 p.m., checkered flag: Larson’s performance tonight, leading 462 laps, eclipsed Jeff Gordon’s performance at Martinsville in 1997 (431 laps led) for the most laps led in a single race for a Hendrick Motorsports driver.

10:20 p.m., checkered flag: Kyle Larson’s son Owen has joined Dad for a victory celebration.

10:18 p.m., checkered flag: Ty Gibbs, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski and Harrison Burton will not advance to the Round of 12.

10:17 p.m., Lap 500: 🏁 Checkered flag! Kyle Larson has walloped ‘em, leading 462 of 500 laps.

10:16 p.m., Lap 499: ⚪️ Final lap for Kyle Larson and the Round of 16.

10:15 p.m., Lap 491: A single-digit lap count remains for Kyle Larson, who has a 5.6-second lead.

10:13 p.m., Lap 487: Chase Briscoe is in position to advance despite numerous issues tonight — a failing rear-view camera, cockpit smoke caused from brake fans, and a bad pit stop late. He’s running sixth, 11 points ahead of elimination.

10:09 p.m., Lap 474: Meanwhile up front, Kyle Larson has stretched his lead to nearly four seconds over Chase Elliott.

10:08 p.m., Lap 469: The No. 54 is going the wrong way as the lap count dwindles. Ty Gibbs has fallen to 12th.

10:06 p.m., Lap 462: Ty Gibbs needs six points in order to advance; he’s running ninth and falling backward. He’ll need to find some speed — fast — or hope for misfortune from Denny Hamlin (+10), Chase Briscoe (+8) or Daniel Suárez (+6).

10:03 p.m., Lap 450: Brad Keselowski, who’d hoped for a caution on a Hail Mary strategy play, has now pitted under green. That will likely end his playoff hopes.

10:02 p.m., Lap 445: Kyle Larson has now led over 400 laps tonight. A total butt-kicking so far — but this one’s not over yet.

10:01 p.m., Lap 444: Here’s the playoff picture with 56 laps to go.

1. Joey Logano, advanced to Round of 12
2. Kyle Larson, advanced to Round of 12
3. Christopher Bell, advanced to Round of 12
4. Alex Bowman, advanced to Round of 12
5. Chase Elliott, +30
6. Austin Cindric, +26
7. Ryan Blaney, +24
8. William Byron, +17
9. Tyler Reddick, +16
10. Denny Hamlin, +8
11. Chase Briscoe, +7
12. Daniel Suárez, +4
— Top 12 drivers after Bristol advance — 
13. Ty Gibbs, -4
14. Martin Truex Jr., -21
15. Brad Keselowski, -36
16. Harrison Burton, -54

9:51 p.m., Lap 405: We’re within the final 100 laps of the Bristol Night Race now — notoriously some of the most intense laps of racing in NASCAR. Hang on, folks.

9:48 p.m., Lap 393: Martin Truex Jr. has not moved from 24th place following his pit penalty. He’s 21 points below the elimination line. That penalty might have cost Truex a shot at a second championship; the 2017 champ announced he’s retiring from full-time competition at the end of the year.

9:42 p.m., Lap 372: Tonight now marks the most laps led for Kyle Larson in a single race — and there are still over 125 laps remaining. Larson led 327 laps in the 2021 Coca-Cola 600.

9:39 p.m., Lap 359: Corey LaJoie is officially done for the day, ending his Spire Motorsports tenure prematurely.

9:39 p.m., Lap 359: Chase Briscoe is digging. He’s already up to fifth, up eight spots since the restart. Similarly, Ty Gibbs restarted 15th and he’s up to eighth.

9:33 p.m., Lap 338: 🟢 Green flag again for Kyle Larson, who’s now led 300 laps tonight. Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott has come to life in the final stage; he now runs second.

9:32 p.m., Lap 336: Look away, No. 19 fans. Martin Truex Jr. will give up second place and go to the end of the line for the restart after speeding on pit road. This puts him below the elimination line as they run.

9:30 p.m., Lap 333: Time for more pit stops. Kyle Larson again led the field off pit road after a speedy four-tire stop, while Chase Briscoe lost a considerable amount of track position after an equipment issue. It seems Briscoe will restart 14th.

9:26 p.m., Lap 329: 🟡 Caution No. 5. Corey LaJoie has crashed in his final race driving for Spire Motorsports. LaJoie was having a solid run in the top dozen for most of the night. It seemed LaJoie’s No. 7 broke loose, and Josh Berry made contact while LaJoie tried to gather up the car. Justin Haley moves from the No. 51 to the No. 7 next week, while LaJoie takes over Haley’s ride at Rick Ware Racing.

9:24 p.m., Lap 324: There’s an intense three-wide battle happening for second between Martin Truex Jr., Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin. Chase Elliott’s ready to pounce in fifth. Hamlin backed out, leaving Truex and Briscoe to battle for second.

9:22 p.m., Lap 316: Harrison Burton re-entered the race 77 laps off pace.

9:19 p.m., Lap 303: Ty Gibbs is putting in work in 16th place after his penalty on the first pit stop of the night. He’s passed Chris Buescher and Carson Hocevar since the restart, and there are still 200 laps for the sophomore driver to continue moving forward.

9:14 p.m., Lap 287: The difficult night for Daniel Suárez continues. Since the restart, he’s lost four positions, now running 33rd. He’s three points below the elimination line as they run.

9:10 p.m., Lap 271: Bubba Wallace has moved up to third. Could he play playoff spoiler?

9:07 p.m., Lap 260: 🟢 Back to green for the final stage — the longest one of the night. Kyle Larson leads Martin Truex Jr.

9:06 p.m., Lap 258: Alex Bowman has clinched his spot in the Round of 12 thanks to the stage points he’s earned tonight.

9:03 p.m., Lap 255: Holding steady in fifth, Bubba Wallace remains the only non-playoff driver in the top 10.

9:00 p.m., Lap 251: 🟡 Caution No. 4 for the end of Stage 2, the halfway point of the night. Kyle Larson picked up the stage win, just ahead of Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin. On old tires, Tyler Reddick picked up seven stage points by finishing fourth — that’s a success for the No. 45, though he’ll now need to pit and will likely restart outside the top 20.

8:58 p.m., Lap 248: 🟢 Tyler Reddick leads the field to green on old tires, but Kyle Larson quickly pounces and retakes the top spot.

8:56 p.m., Lap 246: Tyler Reddick opted to stay out and inherit the race lead; he’d been running around 18th place all night, so stage points here could benefit his race. Reddick’s decision to stay out also traps some cars a lap down who might have otherwise stayed out and taken the wave around at the stage break.

8:55 p.m., Lap 245: Cars are again on pit road. This stage ends in five laps, which will make for an interesting strategy decision — stay out to try to go for stage points, or set up for the best position in the final stage?

8:54 p.m., Lap 243: 🟡 Caution No. 3. Joey Logano has crashed from 12th place after a stack-up while negotiating lapped traffic. Luckily for Logano, he’s already locked into the Round of 12 thanks to his Atlanta win.

8:53 p.m., Lap 240: Harrison Burton has gone behind the wall with power steering issues. That will likely end the playoff hopes for the No. 21 team, even if they can get Burton’s car back on track.

8:51 p.m., Lap 234: Kyle Larson has eclipsed the 200-laps-led mark tonight.

8:42 p.m., Lap 200: It’s been a miserable night for Daniel Suárez. At the 200-lap mark, he’s two laps down running 32nd, and his 36-point advantage entering tonight has virtually vanished.

8:37 p.m., Lap 183: Keep an eye on Denny Hamlin in third. The defending race winner has moved up three spots since the restart and it seems his car gets better over a run. Teammate Christopher Bell is in his sights.

8:36 p.m., Lap 178: Ty Gibbs has only moved up one position after his penalty. He’s running 23rd, and the leaders are coming quickly.

8:27 p.m., Lap 144: William Byron has already lost three spots after the restart. Byron’s never led a lap at Bristol.

8:25 p.m., Lap 136: 🟢 The green flag is back out for Stage 2!

8:24 p.m., Lap 134: Well, scratch that note about Ty Gibbs; he’s been penalized for speeding on pit road. He’ll restart 24th instead of sixth.

8:22 p.m., Lap 131: Kyle Larson keeps his lead after a four-tire pit stop. Christopher Bell exited pit road second, moving past Alex Bowman. Ty Gibbs jumped from eighth up to sixth, while Chase Briscoe slipped from seventh to ninth.

8:22 p.m., Lap 131: After earning stage points in Stage 1, Christopher Bell now has enough points to advance to the Round of 12. That’s a sigh of relief for the No. 20.

8:19 p.m., Lap 129: Time for the first pit stops of the night.

8:15 p.m., Lap 126: 🟡 Caution No. 2. Kyle Larson has won Stage 1, his 11th of the year — that’s a playoff point and 10 stage points for the No. 5. Alex Bowman, Christopher Bell, Martin Truex Jr., William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, Ty Gibbs, Chase Elliott and Bubba Wallace collect stage points, too. Wallace is the only non-playoff driver in the top 10.

8:10 p.m., Lap 104: Tough going for Brad Keselowski, running 27th, the second playoff driver to lose a lap to leader Kyle Larson.

8:08 p.m., Lap 93: Chase Briscoe has told his team his rear-view camera — the equivalent of a mirror — isn’t functioning. He’s running sixth but will need to rely on his spotter and team to defend his position.

8:06 p.m., Lap 87: Running 28th, Harrison Burton has gone a lap down. He’s 47 points below the cut line and will need some help to keep his season alive.

8:05 p.m., Lap 85: The No. 5 car is getting bigger and bigger in the mirror for playoff drivers Harrison Burton and Brad Keselowski. Leader Kyle Larson will fight to put them a lap down next.

7:59 p.m., Lap 63: The Joe Gibbs Racing cars seem to have solid long-run speed. Christopher Bell has moved up to fifth past Chase Briscoe; behind them, Denny Hamlin and Ty Gibbs are picking off cars one at a time and closing.

7:51 p.m., Lap 34: Kyle Larson has passed teammate Alex Bowman for the top spot, the first lead change of the night.

7:50 p.m., Lap 27: On the other hand, Brad Keselowski is struggling. He started 23rd and has already fallen to 27th. Driver No. 6 started this one below the elimination line, so look for some adjustments over time for the three-time Bristol winner.

7:48 p.m., Lap 20: Daniel Suárez started deep in the field — 35th — after a disappointing qualifying run, but he’s up to 29th. He entered tonight with a healthy points cushion.

7:45 p.m., Lap 11: 🟢 Back to green! Alex Bowman is still in command. Follow along with our Race Center Live Leaderboard.

7:42 p.m., Lap 7: It’s not immediately clear what went wrong for Nemechek, who’s not in playoff contention, but a damaged car will make for a long night at Bristol. 

7:40 p.m., Lap 4: 🟡 Caution No. 1. It didn’t take long for the first yellow flag of the night. John Hunter Nemechek has gone for a spin at the back of the pack, damaging the rear of his No. 42.

7:39 p.m., Lap 2: Pole-sitter Alex Bowman cleared teammate Kyle Larson and he’s set sail.

7:39 p.m., Lap 1: 🟢 Green flag! Let’s go racing for 500 laps under the lights.

7:35 p.m.: Cars are rolling and it’s time to get this one underway.

7:20 p.m.: The Motor Racing Outreach kids — children of NASCAR drivers and crews — are kicking things off with a wonderful performance of the national anthem. Great singing, kids!

7:12 p.m.: This 500-lapper has stage breaks at Lap 125 and 250. Stage points will play a factor tonight.

7:05 p.m.: Here’s my Fantasy Live lineup for this evening. It’s heavy on Hendrick Motorsports, and I selected William Byron in my NASCAR.com 36 for 36 pick, too. We’ll see if qualifying speed translates to results.

7:01 p.m.: Last night in the Xfinity Series, we watched Justin Allgaier’s seemingly-insurmountable 43-point lead vanish after a crash, handing the regular-season title to race winner Cole Custer. In other words, nobody’s safe from elimination — other than Joey Logano, who’s headed to the Round of 12 thanks to his Atlanta win two weeks ago.

7 p.m.: It’s almost time to end the Round of 16! Let’s take a look at playoff standings heading into tonight’s race while we fire up USA Network, shall we?

1. Joey Logano, advanced to Round of 12
2. Christopher Bell, +46
3. Austin Cindric, +43
4. Alex Bowman, +41
5. Daniel Suárez, +36
6. Tyler Reddick, +30
7. Chase Elliott, +30
8. Ryan Blaney, +29
9. Kyle Larson, +26
10. William Byron, +25
11. Chase Briscoe, +6
12. Ty Gibbs, +6
— Top 12 drivers after Bristol advance — 
13. Denny Hamlin, -6
14. Brad Keselowski, -12
15. Martin Truex Jr., -14
16. Harrison Burton, -20

 

Posted on by Staff Report

Winchester Fair pres. by USNE

Monadnock Speedway

  • Qualifying results
Pos. No. Driver Sponsor Best Time Best Speed In Lap Laps Diff.
1 64 Austin Beers G&G Electrical Supply/Dell Electric/Lumiere Electrical 11.723 76.772 2 2
2 46 Craig Lutz Riverhead Building Supply 11.882 75.745 2 2 0.159
3 17 Anthony Nocella Xtreme Racing/Sekor Machine/Zilinski Heating & Cooling 11.898 75.643 2 2 0.175
4 54 Tommy Catalano Catalano Motorsports 11.911 75.56 2 2 0.188
5 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications, Inc. 11.931 75.434 2 2 0.208
6 60 Matt Hirschman Elite 11.948 75.326 1 2 0.225
7 21 Stephen  Kopcik* Newtown Pools/Karchner Warehousing 11.996 75.025 1 2 0.273
8 1 Patrick Emerling Fleetworks Inc 12.028 74.825 2 2 0.305
9 56 Trevor Catalano* Catalano Motorsports 12.03 74.813 1 2 0.307
10 22 Kyle Bonsignore Chalew Performance/MTT/Munns Auto 12.05 74.689 1 2 0.327
11 15 Joey Cipriano III* Dependable Energy & Bass Plating 12.094 74.417 2 2 0.371
12 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine/Future Homes 12.102 74.368 2 2 0.379
13 84 Tyler Catalano* Catalano Motorsports 12.105 74.349 2 2 0.382
14 43 Matthew Kimball J&M Towing and Recovery/Poodlack Wealth Mgmt 12.166 73.977 2 2 0.443
15 79 Jonathan McKennedy McKennedy Racing 12.179 73.898 2 2 0.456
16 3 Tyler Rypkema USNE/Northeast Drilling 12.301 73.165 2 2 0.578
17 19 Anthony Sesely Franzosa Trucking Co/Karchner Warehousing 12.304 73.147 2 2 0.581
18 82 Woody Pitkat Horton Avenue Materials/Gunsmoke Stables Racing 12.327 73.01 2 2 0.604
19 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood & Restaurant 12.415 72.493 2 2 0.692
20 81 Nathan Wenzel* 1812 Paint & Auto Body/Gene’s Ford & Chev Serv 12.878 69.887 1 2 1.155
21 10 Bob Reis* IronListing.com/B.R. Machineworks 12.943 69.536 1 2 1.22

 

Posted on by Staff Report

Winchester Fair pres. by USNE

Monadnock Speedway

  • Practice results
Pos. No. Driver Sponsor Best Time Best Speed In Lap Laps Diff.
1 54 Tommy Catalano Catalano Motorsports 11.635 77.353 33 34
2 1 Patrick Emerling Fleetworks Inc 11.656 77.213 49 50 0.021
3 64 Austin Beers G&G Electrical Supply/Dell Electric/Lumiere Electrical 11.662 77.174 49 52 0.027
4 46 Craig Lutz Riverhead Building Supply 11.698 76.936 39 50 0.063
5 21 Stephen  Kopcik* Newtown Pools/Karchner Warehousing 11.735 76.694 40 42 0.1
6 22 Kyle Bonsignore Chalew Performance/MTT/Munns Auto 11.764 76.505 32 34 0.129
7 17 Anthony Nocella Xtreme Racing/Sekor Machine/Zilinski Heating & Cooling 11.766 76.492 30 42 0.131
8 79 Jonathan McKennedy McKennedy Racing 11.775 76.433 32 37 0.14
9 60 Matt Hirschmann Elite 11.785 76.368 24 25 0.15
10 56 Trevor Catalano* Catalano Motorsports 11.799 76.278 50 50 0.164
11 84 Tyler Catalano* Catalano Motorsports 11.824 76.116 61 62 0.189
12 15 Joey Cipriano III* Dependable Energy & Bass Plating 11.831 76.071 37 40 0.196
13 43 Matthew Kimball J&M Towing and Recovery/Poodlack Wealth Mgmt 11.853 75.93 38 40 0.218
14 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine/Future Homes 11.855 75.917 40 42 0.22
15 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications, Inc. 11.881 75.751 29 66 0.246
16 19 Anthony Sesely Franzosa Trucking Co/Karchner Warehousing 11.904 75.605 43 47 0.269
17 3 Tyler Rypkema USNE/Northeast Drilling 11.947 75.333 43 47 0.312
18 82 Woody Pitkat Horton Avenue Materials/Gunsmoke Stables Racing 12.022 74.863 29 30 0.387
19 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood & Restaurant 12.157 74.031 26 28 0.522
20 81 Nathan Wenzel* 1812 Paint & Auto Body/Gene’s Ford & Chev Serv 12.181 73.886 27 51 0.546
21 10 Bob Reis* IronListing.com/B.R. Machineworks 12.514 71.919 18 21 0.879

 

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Ty Gibbs has led 503 laps in his still-budding NASCAR Cup Series career. A whopping 239 of those — 47.5% — have been led at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The 21-year-old sophomore pilot of the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota is looking to add more to that total in Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs elimination race in the Round of 16.

MORE: Starting lineup | Playoff standings before Bristol

Gibbs enters 12th in the standings, six points above the elimination line that will see four of the 16 postseason drivers’ chances to win a championship come to an end. In fact, Gibbs is tied with future teammate Chase Briscoe for the final spots above the pivotal separator. And what better track for Gibbs to defend a margin and advance than Bristol? He led a career-high 137 laps in the spring at the 0.533-mile short track, backing up a performance under the lights last year in which he led 102 circuits.

“This place is so much fun, so I always look forward to coming here and racing,” Gibbs said Friday afternoon. “Just such a fun track, so unique. I feel like it’s a driver’s track in a way, kind of I feel like I put in the (category of) Darlington and Homestead. It’s just a fun place.”

Despite leading the second-most laps in April’s 500-lap race, Gibbs wasn’t sure what exactly he learned. Severe tire wear threw the field for a loop, leaving the Charlotte, North Carolina native more perplexed than anything else with a ninth-place finish.

“The one time I went the hardest, I drove all the way to the lead, had no tire issues and won the stage,” Gibbs said. “And then the last part of the race, I saved and had tire problems. So I don’t know. We’ll see.”

Ty Gibbs drives during NASCAR Cup Series practice at Bristol.
Brittney Wilbur | NASCAR Digital Media

What we saw Friday was another fast No. 54 Toyota. Gibbs set the fastest single lap during the extended 45-minute session at 124.719 mph (15.385 seconds), besting defending Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney, 2021 champ Kyle Larson, 2023 Championship 4 finalist William Byron and 2020 title winner Chase Elliott. He was also eighth-fastest in 30-lap averages, meaning there may be some long-run speed in his vehicle to boot.

His Cup experience is limited, but Gibbs knows what feel he is looking for behind the wheel.

“You have to be, I think, a little bit free to roll the center, but you can’t be too free, so I think it’s a pretty fine balance,” he said. “But if you’re too free, you can just run the top. Usually, you can make up for it. So that’s what’s fun here is you can move around.”

Gibbs has playoff experience thanks to his 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship campaign, but this is his debut year in the NASCAR Cup Series postseason. On the precipice of his first experience in a Cup elimination race on the bubble, Gibbs said he is not intimidated by the task ahead Saturday.

“I mean, it’s, of course, it’s hard, and going to the Cup Series is always a big jump,” Gibbs said. “But I feel like we’re working the hardest we can and go try to make it happen. And if we make it happen, we do; if we don’t, we don’t. But we just try to give 100% effort the whole time, and same with me on the track, same with my pit crew, and try to make it happen.”

Gibbs will fire off 13th in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race (7 ET, USA, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

Posted on by Alex Cadavid

The Round of 16 delivered yet another dose of mayhem, with Chris Buescher playing spoiler and doing so in an all-time fashion at Watkins Glen. Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race (7 p.m. ET, USA, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) at Bristol Motor Speedway is shaping up to be an exciting wrap-up of a wild-card round with a handful of big names on the bubble and one last chance to advance.

RELATED: Set your Fantasy Live lineup | Weekend schedule

After practice and qualifying, Racing Insights expects the gladiators of Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin and Ty Gibbs to battle their way into the Round of 12 with projected top-five efforts. Other bubble drivers like Brad Keselowski and William Byron are predicted to be in the mix, with solid metrics pointing them to seventh- and ninth-place finishes, respectively.

Underdogs like Daniel Suárez and Austin Cindric have been riding momentum waves, rocketing up the standings the last two weeks with solid performances. However, coming in with projected results well outside of the top 15 is something to watch, especially if all the top dogs show up as Racing Insights expects. Still, with how they are seeded, it would take more than one herculean effort to knock one of them out.

As if tensions weren’t already high for an elimination race, because so many playoff drivers found trouble last week, there is more pressure for title hopefuls to have a clean day. One thing is for sure: The 12 drivers who move on will have mastered one chaotic round and be one step closer to championship glory.

MORE: Full starting lineup | Top Bristol story lines to watch

DRIVERS TO WATCH

DENNY HAMLIN: The 2024 playoffs started slowly and got worse for Hamlin last week at Watkins Glen after a Lap 1 wreck. The positive? Hamlin’s won the last two races at Bristol and owns top-10 finishes in six of the last eight Bristol races. Plus, out of the last eight short-track races, Hamlin has finished in the top three in six of them.

RYAN BLANEY: The reigning champ entered 45 markers to the good at The Glen; he left only 29 points above. His best finish in the Next Gen car on the high banks of Bristol is 16th and he has a career average finish of 19.5 at the track. It would still take a lot for Blaney to get bounced out, but someone has to fall if the advance metric expects drivers on the bubble to rise.

TY GIBBS: Gibbs will be making his 80th Cup start and is very much lurking toward a win. He’s finished in the top 10 in the last two Bristol races and also led north of 100 laps in each contest. The sophomore driver has also been able to stay clean and finish races with only two DNFs this year.

MARTIN TRUEX JR.: Bristol isn’t one of Truex’s best tracks, with only three top fives in 34 starts. However, in the Bristol race last year, he picked himself up and got out of a seven-point deficit in the Round of 16 closer. He will need a similar clutch factor again or lean on his veteran experience like he did in the spring to finish second.

JOSH BERRY: There are more playoff story lines and drivers to watch, but how about another spoiler? Berry came out the gates hot in the spring race, he started second and led 25 laps before finishing 12th with the wild tire fall-off that became a factor late in the race. The second reason Berry is strong at short tracks is crew chief Rodney Childers, a man who knows something about winning around this time of year.

RACING INSIGHTS’ PROJECTIONS FOR THE BASS PRO SHOPS NIGHT RACE

Racing Insights’ advanced statistical formula includes current track, current track type, recent performance, team data and pit-crew data to arrive at a projected winner and full race results. 

FinishCar NumberDriver
15Kyle Larson
29Chase Elliott
320Christopher Bell
411Denny Hamlin
554Ty Gibbs
612Ryan Blaney
76Brad Keselowski
845Tyler Reddick
924William Byron
1017Chris Buescher
1148 Alex Bowman
1223Bubba Wallace
131Ross Chastain
1419Martin Truex Jr.
158Kyle Busch
1622Joey Logano
1777Carson Hocevar
184Josh Berry
1934Michael McDowell
2043Erik Jones
2114 Chase Briscoe
2241Ryan Preece
2342John Hunter Nemechek
247Corey LaJoie
2599Daniel Suárez
263Austin Dillon
272Austin Cindric
2838Todd Gilliland
2947Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
3051Justin Haley
3116AJ Allmendinger
3210Noah Gragson
3371Zane Smith
3421Harrison Burton
3531Daniel Hemric
3615Kaz Grala
3766Josh Bilicki
Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. opened his Friday noting the evening’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway may be his final foray in a NASCAR national series race.

The course of the 300-lap event threw him about everything imaginable: ongoing radio issues, a helmet change, a swap of wiring harnesses and glasses gone missing. And yet, as he stood on pit road on the frontstretch of Bristol after the checkered flag, nothing in the world could wipe the smile off the face of the 49-year-old Earnhardt.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Despite myriad issues, Earnhardt wheeled the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet all the way to a seventh-place finish in his first start since Homestead-Miami Speedway in October 2023.

“We had a radio harness or something went out under the pace laps and didn’t have a radio for about 50 laps,” Earnhardt explained. “Swapped out the earplugs, still didn’t work. Swapped out the helmet, still didn’t work. So probably ran about 120 laps without really much communication with TJ. And finally, they stuck a radio with a short harness in it and a button I could clip to my chest, and I could hear them and talk back under caution, but it worked out, and we didn’t lose any lap or anything.

“So just as frustrating as that is, it was important not to give up and lose a lap or anything and try to salvage what we could because we had a top-10, top-five car. And I’m glad we were able to get a good result with those issues.”

Named the sport’s most popular driver for 15 consecutive years during his successful Cup career, Earnhardt was welcomed back by not just the fans but the drivers racing against him, too. Dale Jr. wasn’t even halfway out of his car when Shane van Gisbergen swung by to greet him and share a handshake and laugh. Ryan Truex wandered over to do the same after a spirited on-track battle.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Ryan Truex shake hands after a NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Bristol.
Brittney Wilbur | NASCAR Digital Media

For much of the final 93-lap run to the checkered flag, Earnhardt was in the midst of a four-car battle for the fifth position, hounding Truex’s No. 20 Toyota while trying to fend off his own JRM teammates Brandon Jones and Sam Mayer. And every time Earnhardt seemed to have a run on the No. 20 car, Truex, the younger brother of Cup champion Martin Truex Jr., inched forward and negated Earnhardt’s advances.

“I needed him to slow down a little bit,” Earnhardt said with a wry smile. “I don’t know. He was loose, and I was tight, and I almost could get to his right rear in Turn 4, but I was worried about jumping the cushion, hitting the fence. But I was getting tight. We dropped the track bar and didn’t really need to on that last run. Fun racing him. I was trying to pass him because I knew Martin was watching, and I was like, ‘I bet Martin’s pulling for him.’ So I wanted to beat him so I could rub it into (Martin) Truex. We’re going hunting in a couple weeks.”

Truex, laughingly, was having none of it and upon reaching Earnhardt after the race, told him straight up: “I wasn’t just gonna give it to you.”

“He made me work for it, and I made him work for it,” Truex said. “I knew when he was behind me, he was probably just like, ‘Damn it, this 20 car will not get out of my way,’ and I was thinking to myself, ‘I’m not just going to give it to you. I know everybody loves you, and I love you, too,’ but it was fun to race him hard, and obviously, he races with respect.”

That Earnhardt was contending for a top-five finish regardless of all his issues Friday night in part emphasized why the 26-time Cup winner, 24-time Xfinity winner and two-time Xfinity Series champion was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2021.

“It’s so freaking hard to do this part-time,” Truex said. “So for him to come here — and he hasn’t raced all year. At least I race a couple times here. He races once a year. He races Late Models and stuff, but it shows the caliber of driver he is when he can jump off the couch and battle for a top five right away. So that was fun.”

NASCAR REGIONAL: Earnhardt makes Late Model debut at Langley

Early Friday afternoon, Earnhardt intimated that this could be the last race he runs in the Xfinity Series. After making at least one series start per season since 2001, he has no plans to compete in 2025, with no sponsor obligations to pilot a car and incoming broadcast duties as he joins both Prime Video and TNT Sports for its debut NASCAR coverage. If Friday truly marks the end of Earnhardt’s NASCAR racing career, he walks away satisfied with his performance.

“I mean, if I don’t ever run again, I’m happy at 50 years old to jump in once and run top 10,” Earnhardt said. “I know there was some guys named (Harry) Gant and (Bobby) Allison that were winning races in their 50s. So I know it’s damn doable. It’s not anything too crazy. But not doing it every week, man, you certainly come in here feeling like you’re handicapped, and you’ve gotta drink from the fire hose trying to figure out what’s going on and getting up to speed.”

But he left the door open for more fun down the road — and Dale Jr., set to turn 50 years old on Oct. 10, made sure to relish his experience Friday through the chaos.

“I loved every lap. It was great,” Earnhardt said. “I mean, I got everything I wanted out of this, and I’ll miss it next year. I’m certain I’ll probably sign up for somewhere else. Trying not to already start thinking about, where would I run? Where do I want to run? But I definitely do want to take next year off, focus on my broadcasting and get my boots on and get back to work there, make sure I’m doing a good job for that. That’s my priority, that and my family.”

Posted on by Nate Ryan

Editor’s note: The NASCAR Cup Series Round of 16 ends Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway. Watch at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network or NBC Sports App, and listen on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. | Details on Saturday’s race

Forgive Martin Truex Jr. if he came off as NASCAR’s grumpiest old man after getting body-slammed and brake-checked to the brink of playoff oblivion in his final season.

“I don’t really understand how guys can call themselves the best in the world when they just drive through everyone on restarts at the end of these races,” Truex said after a 20th-place finish at Watkins Glen International dropped him to 14 points below the elimination line. “It’s very frustrating. Just it is what it is these days. I’m out of here. This racing is just ridiculous.”

That loosely translates to, “You kids get off of my road course!”

RELATED: The playoff bubble with Bristol looming

But the exasperation is understandable from Truex, who literally is the elder statesman of the Cup circuit at 44 years old.

Against a new generation that he has labeled as “hard-nosed,” Truex truly might be remembered as the last of a breed from an era before double-file restarts and overtime dive-bombs. The term “gentlemen’s agreement” still was in heavy rotation of NASCAR vernacular when Truex made his national series debut in 2001.

Before the playoffs started, the 2017 Cup Series champion was in an unusually introspective and reflective mood during a media day interview. When asked about his legacy, he listed being remembered as “fast, smart, clean and very fair.”

Now he must feel as if those same values might cost him a last shot at an elusive second title for the three-time series runner-up.

As the younger set often has been rewarded for playing rough in 2024, this season has been a slow-motion slide toward elimination for Truex. He has gone 16 consecutive races without a top five (worst among playoff drivers) and has averaged only 15.5 points over the past 10 races – the worst 10-race stretch in his career.

And next up is Bristol Motor Speedway, the outlier in his short-track magic.

MORE: Bristol lineup

A multiple-time winner at Richmond Raceway and Martinsville Speedway, Bristol curiously has been right alongside Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway as the winless bane of Truex’s existence. Among tracks with at least 30 Cup starts, those are his three worst for average finish — all outside the top 20.

But Truex also is coming off a Bristol runner-up six months ago, and if tire management matters as much again Saturday night, the stage could be set for a breakthrough.

Imagine the ultimate heel turn of Truex knocking a rising Gen Z from the lead on an overtime restart, reaching the Round of 12 with his first victory at Bristol.

A story line for the ages indeed.

Martin Truex Jr. waits on the Cup Series qualifying grid at Richmond Raceway
Logan Whitton | Getty Images

Here are other fast takes heading into Saturday night’s first-round cutoff race at Bristol Motor Speedway (watch at 7 p.m. ET on USA Network or NBC Sports App, and listen on PRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.):

Payback in pennies

With all the late-race chaos, it was easy to overlook that a contentious feud might have been reignited during the first yellow at The Glen.

But Corey LaJoie was well aware after starting the Lap 1 wreck that collected Kyle Busch. On his “Stacking Pennies” podcast this week, LaJoie said he was waiting for payback from Busch, who vowed retribution against LaJoie (whom he called a liar) two months ago after their wreck at Pocono Raceway.

Bristol might be the best chance for Busch to settle the score. With LaJoie headed to a new team (Rick Ware Racing) starting next week, it’s logical for Busch to contain his retribution to this race, and Bristol is also the last short track until the Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway (when title implications will be sky high for setting the championship four). The 0.533-mile oval already is the site of several hit-and-runs for Busch (who has a career-best eight wins there), so keep an eye for when the Nos. 7 and 8 Chevrolets are around each other Saturday.

The feel-good story

Inside a building where the talk had been all about when everything will go dark, Chase Briscoe says, “It literally feels like the lights are brighter” in the halls of Stewart-Haas Racing. That started with Briscoe’s miracle win in the Southern 500 that delivered a final playoff entry at SHR, which will close after the season. It continued after Briscoe overcame a 38th in the playoff opener at Atlanta with a sixth at Watkins Glen to jump six points above the cutline.

“The shop’s been just super energetic,” Briscoe said. “Just us winning was a huge change in our whole demeanor as a race team. If we don’t win the Darlington race, guys were literally counting down the days to the end of the season. Now it just feels a lot like when Kevin (Harvick) was winning nine, 10 races a year. Just the entire atmosphere and the energy and the air is totally different than prior to Darlington. These last two weeks have been really, really fun at Stewart-Haas. It honestly feels just like the heyday.”

Can the team’s surprising momentum continue at Bristol, where Briscoe has no top 10s in Cup but said the track is among SHR’s five best? If it does, it could result in the awkward scenario of Briscoe advancing possibly at the expense of Truex, the driver he will replace at Joe Gibbs Racing next year.

“The stories kind of write themselves at this point,” Briscoe said.

The No. 20 of Christopher Bell drives at Bristol
Ethan Smith | NASCAR Digital Media

Proceed with caution

There were no signs of massive falloff in practice lap times before the previous race at Bristol, so teams probably won’t know until after the green flag Saturday whether tire wear will be a significant factor.

Christopher Bell, though, is hoping for pre-race clarity on what will constitute a caution. He’d like NASCAR to hold the yellow flag for any tire problem, provided that the car avoids the wall. Though several drivers’ tires expired roughly 30 to 40 laps into a run, the caution flew only twice in the final two stages on March 17.

Bell believes that’s the right approach for two reasons: It puts an emphasis on driver skill with an incentive for saving tires, and it could allow for some unusually creative tactics. How about watching a furious strategy unfold in which the winner makes an extra pit stop and essentially passes the field twice to win the race?

“That really changes your mindset driving the car and the strategy that the crew chief is trying to play, and it really opens up the playbook,” Bell said. “Stage three in the spring ended up being an amazing show just for the fact that NASCAR let the drivers and the teams self-police itself.”

MORE: Cup standings | Cup schedule

Blue oval burst

After starting the year with no wins in the first 12 races, Ford has won the past four races in what has become a patented late-season surge for the manufacturer, particularly Team Penske.

During the first two seasons of the Next Gen, champions Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney both peaked at the perfect time in the playoffs.

But there is a danger of history repeating. Blaney enters Bristol as the third-ranked Penske driver and is likely very mindful that Logano was eliminated as the series’ defending champion by a first-round crash at the track last year.

It all comes around

Because Bristol is “his house,” Denny Hamlin has exuded confidence about erasing a 6-point gap to remain in the playoffs. But if the Greatest Driver Never To Have Won a Championship comes up short yet again in a first-round elimination, he might be lamenting a win at Bristol as being the deciding factor.

It was the engine in his No. 11 Toyota that won March 17 at Bristol … and then was declared illegal in late August because of mistakes in postrace procedures that left it unavailable for inspection. That cost Hamlin 10 playoff points and a 75-point deduction from his regular-season total (which further eroded his playoff cushion).

Of all the ways in which Hamlin has lost titles (a faulty master switch, an oversized piece of tape, a malfunctioning roof hatch), it looms as being remembered as the most bizarre.

Nate Ryan has written about NASCAR since 1996 while working at the San Bernardino Sun, Richmond Times-Dispatch, USA TODAY and for the past 10 years at NBC Sports Digital. He is the host of the NASCAR on NBC Podcast and also has covered various other motorsports, including the IndyCar and IMSA series.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Cole Custer recovered from an early brush with the outside wall to win Friday’s Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway, the race that set the field for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs.

Custer’s second victory of the season, combined with a litany of trouble that befell Justin Allgaier, gave the driver of the No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford an unlikely come-from-behind victory in the battle for the regular-season title and an accompanying 15 playoff-point bonus.

Custer, who led a race-high 104 laps, took the top spot for good with a pass of Sheldon Creed on Lap 209 of 300. In winning for the first time at Bristol and the 15th time in his career, Custer crossed the finish line 0.896-seconds ahead of Creed, who now has 13 runner-up finishes to his credit without an Xfinity win.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

“This is huge, because our confidence was going down there the last month,” said Custer, the reigning series champion who will begin his title defense Sept. 28 at Kansas Speedway (4 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). “To get this win really means a lot…

“It’s unbelievable. These guys never give up. It’s been a tough month, but to be able to lead into the playoffs like this, we’re going to really bring it to them.”

The race also secured playoff spots for the final two drivers on the postseason grid. Sammy Smith and Parker Kligerman finished 15th and 16th, respectively, to earn their playoff berths.

Chandler Smith ran third and Jesse Love fourth on Friday, both having already secured playoff spots. Ryan Truex was fifth, followed by Brandon Jones, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ryan Sieg (who missed the final playoff spot by 36 points), playoff-bound Sam Mayer and AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top 10.

The battle for the regular-season championship took more twists and turns than a game of Dungeons and Dragons. Custer hit the outside wall on Lap 2 and cut a tire, temporarily jeopardizing his second-place position in the standings.

But Justin Allgaier, the driver Custer was chasing for the regular-season title, had his own share of ill fortune on Lap 52. Having led every lap to that point, Allgaier was cruising toward what would have been his 15th stage win of the season when the Chevrolet of Austin Green bounced off the outside wall into Allgaier’s path.

Contact between the Camaros sheared the rear bumper cover off Allgaier’s No. 7 Chevy. After a pit stop to repair the car’s right-rear quarter panel, Allgaier continued. Allgaier pitted on Lap 60 and stayed on the track during the stage break after Lap 85, putting him fifth for a restart on Lap 96.

He was second for a restart on Lap 127 but his sojourn in the top five didn’t last. On Lap 153, contact between Creed’s Toyota and Allgaier’s Chevy sent the No. 7 down the track nose-first into the inside wall.

During repairs, Allgaier’s car dragged a saw out of the pits, incurring a penalty. From that point on, the JR Motorsports driver ran roughly three seconds off the pace, rapidly losing laps and positions.

When Custer took the race lead from Creed on Lap 209, he had the regular-season lead, having erased the 43-point advantage Allgaier carried into the race. With his victory, Custer secured the regular-season crown by three points over Allgaier, who nevertheless will enter the postseason as the top seed with 34 playoff points to Custer’s 28.

“I don’t really have any words for tonight,” said Allgaier, who finished 30th, 10 laps down. “It started with getting the damage from the wreck in front of us. There was nothing we could do. And then, just racing, trying to get as many stage points as we could, and I think the 18 (Creed) came off the wall a little bit.

“I’m really bummed about tonight. We’ll go back and talk about it … We had the best car tonight. It was very obvious from the beginning of the race that it was the best car, and nothing to show for it.”

NOTE: Post-race inspection was completed without issue in the Xfinity Series garage, confirming Cole Custer as the winner.