Posted on by Staff Report

Justin Allgaier started Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in place of Kyle Larson, who remained in Indianapolis to compete in the weather-delayed Indy 500.

Allgaier, who drives full-time for JR Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, was with the Hendrick team in the garage Sunday afternoon going through final systems check.

Heavy rain and severe weather in Indianapolis forced a lengthy delay to the start of the Indianapolis 500, the first race Larson planned to run as part of his attempt at the “Double.” With that race slated to start at approximately 4:45 p.m. ET, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion didn’t make it back in Charlotte in time for the green flag of today’s Cup Series event.

Because Larson qualified the No. 5 Chevrolet car Saturday, the driver change meant Allgaier started from the rear of the field.

“Which makes it even more difficult,” Allgaier told reporters with a laugh. “It does give me some time to get acclimated to the car. … This car is still really, really different (than the Xfinity Series car). We’re going to have challenges.

“The goal obviously is to start and go as hard as we can. If you lay up at all at the beginning of the race, you’ll go a lap down early. I have to get acclimated within the first few laps to do my job well.”

A few more notes on today:

• Larson will need a waiver from NASCAR to qualify for the 2024 Playoffs. The Rule Book states all playoff drivers must start every race, but NASCAR can award a waiver for extenuating circumstances.

• With Allgaier starting the race, he is the official driver of record. That means if Larson joins the race in progress and puts the No. 5 in Victory Lane, it would be a win for Allgaier.

• Because he will not start the race, Larson will not receive points — even if he finishes the race in the No. 5 car.

“No matter what time Kyle gets here, I want to give him the best opportunity to win the race,” Allgaier said. “There is no doubt in my mind he’s got the opportunity to win both races. My goal is to keep him get as far forward as we possibly can.”

Posted on by Alex Cadavid

Editor’s note: Original projections have been updated after Saturday practice and qualifying.

After a wild All-Star Race Weekend that saw tempers flare and $1 million paid out to Joey Logano, the Cup Series regular season is back in full swing this weekend with a crown-jewel race on tap in the Queen City.

RELATED: Set your Fantasy Live roster | Weekend schedule

The advance metrics once again have sights set on Kyle Larson to end up in Victory Lane, despite there being a chance he might not make it to the race because of delays in Indianapolis. Larson, of course, is attempting the Memorial Day double, which is a challenge unto itself, but if Larson makes it to race in Charlotte, he will be on a 1.5-mile track where he has dominated.

In 2021, when Larson won the Coca-Cola 600, he swept each stage and led 327 laps. He also has 21 stage wins on 1.5-mile tracks since ’21 and has the most top-five finishes in night races in the Next Gen era with seven.

Following Larson in the projections are Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. (up two spots since the original projection), 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick and Hendrick’s Chase Elliott.

William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Christopher Bell and Ross Chastain round out the projected top 10.

OTHER DRIVERS TO WATCH

TYLER REDDICK: Reddick has impressively finished in the top 10 in each of his four Coca-Cola 600 starts, giving him an average finish of 7.0 in NASCAR’s longest race and ranking second-best all-time among drivers with more than two starts. Reddick also has scored the second most points on 1.5-mile tracks (113) this season.

MARTIN TRUEX JR.: Truex has remained consistent all year. He currently sits second in the driver standings and is the only one without a trip to Victory Lane in the top six, but that could change soon. Truex has led the most laps in four of the last nine Coca-Cola 600s, including his remarkable 2016 win where he led 392 laps.

CHASE ELLIOTT: Elliott’s 9.85 average finish is currently the best in the Cup field. He already has an intermediate win this year at Texas. At Charlotte, he has finished top five in four of the last six oval races, including a pair of runner-up finishes in the last five events and Hendrick has won 12 Coca-Cola 600s.

CHRIS BUESCHER: The Buescher camp has suffered heartbreak in the last two points-paying races. Despite that, the No. 17 team has been hitting its stride and has been in contention to win in a handful of races this year. Charlotte could be the weekend they finally put it all together and get a breakthrough win.

KYLE BUSCH: It’s been an up-and-down year for Rowdy, but across the last seven Coca-Cola 600s, he’s finished sixth or better. His 1,061 laps led in the 600 ranks third best all-time. Not to mention Busch has 16 career wins on 1.5-mile tracks. Plus, two of Busch’s five top-10 finishes came on intermediates this year.

RACING INSIGHTS’ PROJECTIONS FOR THE COCA-COLA 600

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
211Denny Hamlin
319Martin Truex Jr.
445Tyler Reddick
59Chase Elliott
624William Byron
712Ryan Blaney
848Alex Bowman
920Christopher Bell
101Ross Chastain
1154Ty Gibbs
128Kyle Busch
136Brad Keselowski
1423Bubba Wallace
1514Chase Briscoe
1622Joey Logano
1710Noah Gragson
1899Daniel Suárez
1934Michael McDowell
2017Chris Buescher
214Josh Berry
223Austin Dillon
2347Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2443Erik Jones
2541Ryan Preece
2642John Hunter Nemechek
2751Justin Haley
287Corey LaJoie
2977Carson Hocevar
3071Zane Smith
312Austin Cindric
3221Harrison Burton
3338Todd Gilliland
3431Daniel Hemric
3584Jimmie Johnson
3615Kaz Grala
3716Shane van Gisbergen
3850Ty Dillon
3944J.J. Yeley
4066BJ McLeod

Posted on by Staff Report

Severe weather in the greater Indianapolis area created a string of uncertainties and, ultimately, a worst-case scenario for Kyle Larson’s attempt to run “The Double” on Sunday. In the end, the Hendrick Motorsports driver stayed in Indianapolis to race in the Indy 500 and missed the start of the Coca-Cola 600.

Persistent rain and lightning put the Indy 500 in line for a 4:45 p.m. ET start, meaning Larson was not able to run both the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in full as planned.

Hendrick Motorsports confirmed Sunday afternoon that Larson would stay in Indianapolis, and he took the green flag from the fifth position before ultimately finishing 18th. After an early miscue on a restart, Larson appeared comfortable on the track in an open-wheel machine. He methodically worked his way up and was running as high as sixth place before a late pit-road speeding penalty dashed his day.

Larson led a handful of laps late during pit cycles, but had to pit from the lead for fuel with less than 20 laps remaining. His plan now: Board a plane and fly to Charlotte to join the in-progress Cup Series race.

“I would definitely love to be back next year,” Larson said after the race. “I feel like I learned a lot throughout the race. I made a couple of mistakes early on the restart, but felt like I did a really good job on the restarts. … Obviously, I smoked a left-front or something on the green-flag stop and killed our opportunity. I’m proud to finish, but I’m pretty upset at myself. I just could have executed a better race. You never know what could have happened.”

RELATED: NASCAR garage eager to watch Larson attempt ‘Double’

On standby for Larson in Charlotte was Justin Allgaier, a longtime veteran of the NASCAR Xfinity Series with 24 victories, 146 top fives and 267 top 10s, tied for the series record.

Allgaier started the Coca-Cola 600, meaning Larson — the current regular-season points leader — will need a waiver from NASCAR to be eligible for the 2024 NASCAR Playoffs. According to the NASCAR Rule Book, drivers must start all points races to be eligible for the postseason. The sanctioning body could grant a waiver to that rule for extenuating circumstances.

In last week’s time trials, Larson qualified fifth in his No. 17 Arrow McLaren Dallara-Chevrolet for his inaugural Indy 500 appearance. Back in his weekly wheelhouse on Saturday, Larson drove the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to a 10th-place qualifying effort around the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“It’s not just my decision,” Larson said of his Sunday plans. “I think it’s everyone within Hendrick — Rick Hendrick, Hendrick Automotive Group, Hendrick Motorsports, I think we’re all part of the decision. … There’s just been so much time and investment to make this Indy 500 happen. It’s been a build-up for over a year, so we need to run it, and I want to. I feel like I’ve got a really good shot to have a good run and potentially win. I want to be here, but I just wish it would all work out. I just want to be able to race both races the full distance.”

Weather forecasts over the past week warned of Sunday trouble as Larson, 31, attempted to become just the fifth driver to compete in both historic events on the same day. By Thursday, Larson admitted stress from the inclement conditions predicted to interfere, “but you just can’t really do anything or react until it’s kind of the moment,” he said.

Kurt Busch, the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion and 2017 Daytona 500 winner, was the last NASCAR racer to attempt the double back in 2014. Busch collected the Indy 500 Rookie of the Year honors with a sixth-place finish in Indianapolis before finishing 40th at Charlotte due to a mid-race engine failure.

Posted on by Chris Murdock

CONCORD, N.C. — Perhaps the busiest driver in the Cup Series garage, Kyle Larson has had no shortage of air time — literally in terms of flying to and from Charlotte, North Carolina and Indianapolis, Indiana, and figuratively relating to the coverage around his anticipated attempt at the double.

On Sunday, Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion, will race both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) in the same day.

RELATED: Cup Series lineup | At-track photos: Charlotte

Although NASCAR’s best are preparing for their own war of attrition as they prepare to strap in for a 600-mile endurance race, most of them have their eyes on the Elk Grove, California, native as he shines as stock-car racing’s Indy example at the Brickyard.

“I’m interested just like all you guys are,” Denny Hamlin said Saturday. “I’m a fan of his tomorrow, at least until 6 p.m., and then I’ll switch to being his rival. We’re rooting for him. Certainly, it would be hard-pressed for any of these Cup Series drivers not to be rooting for him. He’s representing us and NASCAR tomorrow, so hopefully, he has a great run tomorrow.”

Team Penske driver Austin Cindric looks at Larson’s attempt in a different light as he has experience with the IndyCar operation within his own team’s race shop. He ultimately wishes nothing but the best for his typical Sunday competition.

“I think he’s living the racer’s dream in a lot of ways, to go run the Indy 500 but also do it two environments with running the double in two well-oiled programs,” Cindric said. “Obviously, even with an additional entry to McLaren, they’ve been on their game, Kyle’s been on his game. He’s, in my opinion, a generational talent, so not necessarily surprised but definitely intrigued to see him running so well. Hopefully, Penske can keep it one-two-three; I think it suits my narrative the best if he finishes fourth.”

Kyle Larson looks on from the NASCAR Cup Series qualifying grid at Charlotte ahead of the Coca-Cola 600.
Alex Daus | NASCAR Digital Media

Indiana native Chase Briscoe is no stranger to the Indianapolis 500, attending a span of six straight Indy 500s a decade ago and is excited to be represented on a different stage — not only to put NASCAR on display but to bring back the representation of sprint car drivers.

“I think for me, the sprint car side of things is what’s the coolest, knowing that he is a sprint car guy and tying it back to the Indy 500,” Briscoe said. “We haven’t had a sprint car guy at the Indy 500 since Bryan Clauson, so it’s pretty cool to have the sprint car world kind of behind Kyle.

“I mean, I think now, we all know him as this NASCAR guy, but to me, he’s still just a sprint car guy, and it’s cool to have a sprint car guy represented in the Indy 500.”

MORE: Cup Series standings

Hendrick Motorsports drivers Chase Elliott and William Byron, Larson’s NASCAR teammates, have tried their best to keep up with their fellow teammate as he makes this 1,100-mile endurance run on Sunday both while Larson makes laps around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the work that the 2021 Cup Series champion puts into his No. 5 car back at the Concord, North Carolina race shop.

“I’ve tried to keep up for sure,” said Elliott. “It’s been fun to watch what I have been able to keep up with, and it seems like they’re doing a great job at Indy. Obviously, I work closely with Cliff (Daniels), and I hear a lot from him, way more than the IndyCar side.

“(Cliff) is a really well-prepared guy, so I know he’s gonna do what it takes to make sure his side of the picture goes really well. So, I wouldn’t be concerned if I was Kyle or anybody else, but I think they seem to be handling it all really well.”

“I love it,” William Byron said. “I’m just admiring what he’s been able to do, obviously not surprised. I think Dale Jr. said this: ‘Not surprised but impressed.’ I feel like he picks it up so naturally, and I would love to pursue that one day.”

Larson is already off to a hot start for the big day with a fifth-place starting position for the Indianapolis 500 and a 10th-place grid spot when he arrives for the Coca-Cola 600.

Posted on by Dustin Albino

It’s no secret that the first half of the regular season belonged to Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing. The two teams have combined to win all but three races, with two of those coming at drafting-style venues. The two organizations claimed the top six spots in qualifying for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, it appears that the second crown-jewel event in 2024 will go through those two powerhouses.

RELATED: Set your Fantasy Live lineups

Dustin Albino’s race-day lineup:

Starter 1: William Byron
Starter 2: Chase Elliott
Starter 3: Martin Truex Jr.
Starter 4: Ty Gibbs
Starter 5: Kyle Busch
Garage pick: Christopher Bell

NEXT IN LINE: Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Alex Bowman, Tyler Reddick

RISING: For the first time in Gibbs’ young career, he will lead the field to the green flag at the Cup level. Many advantages come with that, including the coveted first pit stall. The No. 54 team had tremendous speed on short and long runs, too, so he’s a lock for my lineup.

Another week, another opportunity where Bell can end his two-month skid of mediocre finishes. The No. 20 team has unlimited potential, as it’s the only team to qualify for the Championship 4 in the past two seasons. But Bell has only one top-10 finish since the end of March. Bell had a stout qualifying effort in third but was the slowest of the 30 cars to make a 10-lap run in practice. That would usually be a cause for concern, but it’s highly doubtful the JGR team fades like that in the race.

FALLING: With Chris Buscher being my 36 for 36 pick this weekend, this one stings. The No. 17 car blew a left-rear wheel entering Turn 1 after running the seventh-fastest lap time in practice and ranking third on 10-lap averages. Though moving to a backup car, he has no doubt that RFK Racing will prepare another fast hot rod for NASCAR’s longest race. The good news for Buescher is he has 600 miles to overcome the deficit and adjust the backup car, it just might cost him valuable stage points throughout the race.

So much can happen in a four-hour plus endurance race, but the defending Coca-Cola 600 champion Ryan Blaney was average at best during practice and qualifying. The No. 12 car qualified 16th, eight spots lower than last year. He was in the mid-teens in practice as well. The good news, however, is that he does look to be the sportiest entry from Team Penske.

FEATURED MATCHUPS:

Kyle Larson vs. William Byron: The unknowns of whether or not the Indianapolis 500 will be affected by Mother Nature can really affect this battle. Both cars were blistering fast in practice — despite a spin from Byron — and made the final round of qualifying. My mindset hasn’t changed from earlier this week, though, and I’ll stick with the No. 24 car. Side note: Larson isn’t in my lineup strictly because of limited uses remaining in the regular season.

Jimmie Johnson vs. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: Nothing changed here, either. Stenhouse has put the All-Star Race shenanigans behind him and is focused on Charlotte, a track he’s excelled at the past two seasons with top 10 finishes. Johnson struggled once again trying to find the balance of the Next Gen car, so Stenhouse is an easy choice.

Kyle Busch vs. Ryan Blaney: Intermediate tracks are where Busch has shined thus far in 2024. His results don’t tell the full story, as he had a late-race penalty at Las Vegas and a late-race spin at Kansas. Blaney has something to work with, but Busch looked to have one of the best cars in the field over the long haul.

Joey Logano vs. Tyler Reddick: This one is interesting, but when you think about it, it is not too difficult of a choice. Reddick’s No. 45 team made an adjustment to his car after going through pre-race inspection, resulting in an ejected car chief, loss of pit-stall selection, will have to start from the rear and serve a pass-through penalty when the race begins. He can overcome that with a fast racecar. It will be more of a challenge for the No. 22 team to overhaul its car, which Logano called undriveable and the loosest he’s ever been at a race track. Reddick is the way to go.

Posted on by Alex Cadavid

Coca-Cola 600

(⏰ Sunday, 6 p.m. ET | FOX | PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Weekend schedule | TV schedule | Weather tracker | NASCAR 101

Location: Concord, North Carolina
Track length: 1.5 miles
Race purse: $9,874,821
Race distance: 400 laps | 600 miles
Segments: 100 | 200 | 300 | 400
—
Starting lineup: Ty Gibbs will lead the field to green for 600 miles
Pit stall assignments: See where drivers will pit
Defending winner: Ryan Blaney, May 2023

Key things to watch

Saturday sessions

Ty Gibbs set the fast lap to claim the Cup Series pole for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway with a speed of 183.995 mph, the first pole award of his career. William Byron was second (183.580 mph) after an earlier harmless spin early in practice; Christopher Bell (183.461 mph), Martin Truex Jr. (182.871 mph), and Chase Elliott (182.704 mph) rounded out the top five for the 600-mile endurance race.

Tyler Reddick advanced to the final round for Cup Series qualifying and posted a speed of 182.137 to slot him eighth, but due to a pre-practice penalty for unapproved adjustments, the No. 45 will start Sunday’s race from the rear.  | Full Saturday recap

Big story line

Does Ford find Victory Lane for the third consecutive week?

After a rough start to the 2024 campaign, Ford has landed in Victory Lane in the last two weeks, with Brad Keselowski (Darlington) and Joey Logano breaking into the Winner’s Circle in the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro. Despite Logano’s win not counting for any points, the blue ovals have shown race pace the last few weeks, with the manufacturer netting six top fives and 14 top 10s over the last four races. If Ford does find itself in Victory Lane, there are a host of drivers who are more than capable of making it a three-peat on Sunday.

Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney enters the weekend eighth in the Cup Series standings, and he dominated this event a year ago, snapping a 59-race winless streak. While he’s had some uneven results in the first half of the season, Blaney opened his title defense by being tremendously consistent, securing three top-five finishes and the points lead through the first four races — not to mention he had one of the fastest cars at Darlington until an on-track incident took him out of contention in Stage 2.

Blaney isn’t the only Ford driver to watch this weekend. There’s the RFK duo of Keselowski and Chris Buescher, who have excelled on intermediate tracks in the Next Gen era, in addition to Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe and Noah Gragson, who have both taken turns carrying the SHR banner and turned in strong top-10 runs on intermediates this season. Logano, coming off a dominant All-Star win, stands as the top contender below the elimination line who could shake up the current playoff picture.

History tells us…

Toyota continues to bring the speed at Charlotte Motor Speedway, placing three cars in the top five. In the last two Coke 600s in the Next Gen era, Toyota has occupied three of the top five spots. The manufacturer also won the pole at both Kansas and Darlington this season, proving its speed has been top-tier in the thick of the season.

That speed has translated to five wins already this year, only two behind Chevrolet through the first half of the season. If we peel back even further, Toyota has won five of the last nine Coke 600s, with their most recent win coming in 2022, when Denny Hamlin led a 1-2 finish for the manufacturer.

He may not be the betting favorite to win, but watch out for…

Chase Elliott. After finding Victory Lane in Texas, the 2020 champ already has a 1.5-mile win under his belt. Elliott would be the eighth driver to win in his 300th Cup Series start, and Charlotte has proved to be a great track for him in recent years. He’s led laps in the last six oval races at Charlotte and finished runner-up in two of the last four Coke 600s and won the Xfinity race on Saturday. Plus, with two of his Hendrick Motorsports teammates locked into the playoffs with multiple victories, Elliott may be primed to tally the win column again. | Charlotte odds

Speed reads

Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles. 

• Race-day updates: Indy forecast creates questions for Larson | Read article 
• Turning Point: Is Joey Logano back? Has Rowdy been awoken? | Read article
• Up to Speed: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. fined $75K for All-Star brawl | Read article 
• NASCAR Salutes: See the fallen heroes being honored this weekend | Photo gallery
• Charlotte memories: Take a trip through iconic moments | Photo gallery
• NASCAR Classics: Classic 600-milers to watch before Sunday | Read article
• Hall of Fame: Ricky Rudd, Carl Edwards, Ralph Moody elected to 2025 class | Read article
• Field of 16: See the projected playoff picture before Charlotte | Read article
• Brink of history?: Kyle Larson projected to win after Indy 500 debut | Read article
• 36 for 36: Check this week’s survivor pool picks | Read article
• Fantasy Fastlane: Look for Ford to make up your race day lineup | Photo gallery
• Paint Scheme Preview: Patriotic paint schemes for Memorial Day Weekend | Pick your favorite
• Midseason superlatives: From fiery feuds to photo finishes | Photo gallery

Fast facts ⏩

Race-relevant statistics, brought to you by the experts at Racing Insights.

• 2024 is the third straight season there were at least seven passes for the win in the final 10 laps of the races through 13 events, the longest streak ever
• Only twice in the last 25 seasons has the Coke 600 winner gone on to win the Cup Series championship; both were in the last three years (Kyle Larson 2021, Ryan Blaney 2023)
• Hendrick Motorsports has the most Coca-Cola 600 wins of any organization with 12; next-best on the team win list in the 600 is Richard Childress Racing with six.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

CONCORD, N.C. — Ty Gibbs saved the strongest performance of the day for the money lap in time trials for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Streaking around 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway in the final round of Saturday’s qualifying session for NASCAR’s longest race, Gibbs covered the distance in 29.355 seconds (183.955 mph) to claim the first Busch Light Pole Award of his career.

RELATED: Sunday’s starting lineup | At-track photos: Charlotte

Gibbs edged William Byron (183.580 mph) by 0.060 seconds to become the second youngest Coca-Cola 600 pole winner at 21 years old. Byron was roughly a month younger than Gibbs is now when he won the pole for the Memorial Day weekend race at age 21 in 2019.

“I’m really excited for it,” said Gibbs, who a day earlier won the pole for Saturday’s BetMGM 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race. “And hopefully, I can go out there and get my first win tomorrow.

“It really helps to start up front in clean air — it’s really nice. And having that first pit stall as well is great also.”

Two of Gibbs’ Joe Gibbs Racing teammates qualified third and fourth, respectively, behind Byron — Christopher Bell (183.461 mph) and Martin Truex Jr. (182.871 mph). Truex had the fastest lap in the opening round at 182.902 mph but couldn’t improve in the second round.

Gibbs, on the other hand, cut 0.266 seconds off his first-round time when the pole was at stake.

Byron had three teammates in the top 10 — Chase Elliott (fifth fastest), Alex Bowman (sixth) and Kyle Larson (10th). Larson planned to leave for Indianapolis after Charlotte time trials in anticipation of running the Indianapolis 500/Coca-Cola 600 double.

Larson was fifth fastest in Indy 500 qualifying last Sunday.

Ross Chastain was seventh fastest in Coke 600 qualifying, followed by Tyler Reddick, Michael McDowell (the only Ford to make the final round) and Larson.

Reddick, however, will not start in the spot he earned. His 23XI Racing team made unapproved adjustments to the underwing of the No. 45 Toyota after passing pre-race inspection.

NASCAR penalized the team with the ejection of car chief Michael Hobson, loss of pit selection and a pass-through penalty after starting from the rear of the field on Sunday.

Reddick still had to qualify so as not to have a tire advantage in the race. All cars must start the event on their scuffed qualifying tires.

Byron fastest in practice

Despite spinning in Turn 4 during the opening minutes of practice, Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron topped the leaderboard at 181.318 mph.

Tyler Reddick (180.114 mph), Bubba Wallace (180.060 mph), Carson Hocevar (179.336 mph) and Ty Gibbs (179.063 mph) rounded out the top five.

MORE: Practice results

Kyle Larson (179.027 mph), Chris Buescher (178.974 mph), Martin Truex Jr. (178.790 mph), Ross Chastain (178.761 mph) and Daniel Suárez (178.761 mph) completed the top 10.

Although he had a quick car in practice, Buescher suffered damage to the left side of his No. 17 RFK Racing Ford after spinning into the Turn 2 wall. Buescher drove his car back to the garage for his team to assess the damage and did not make a qualifying run.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on by Staff Report

Richard Childress Racing driver Kyle Busch said his view of the on-track incident that led to a post-race fight with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. hadn’t changed over the course of a week — and was demure when asked if he agreed with the penalties handed down to Stenhouse as result.

Busch spoke briefly at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday following the NASCAR Xfinity Series race, his first public comments since he and Stenhouse tussled near the haulers at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

Of the penalty: “It doesn’t matter whether I agree or not, NASCAR makes the penalties.”

Of the post-race fight: “I walked into the situation and … it was calm to start and then escalated from there.”

Of the initial on-track incident: “I gave extra room, and when I was dragging the fence he smashed my door.”

Of any potential lingering fallout this weekend for the Coca-Cola 600: “I don’t need a fight with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. I need a fight with the top three guys so I can start winning some races.”

MORE: Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kyle Busch throw punches post All-Star Race

Busch had not spoken publicly to members of the NASCAR media since the incident at North Wilkesboro.

To recap: The No. 47 JTG Daugherty Chevrolet of Stenhouse Jr. made it just two laps in the event before exiting the race due to damage sustained from a shot against the wall, which was initiated by the bumper of Busch’s No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

The two cars had been dueling for position the lap prior, with Busch losing a spot to Stenhouse before he initiated contact the next lap.

Stenhouse Jr. parked his damaged vehicle on Busch’s pit stall, then climbed up the team pit box to share some words with crew chief Randall Burnett.

When the race ended, Stenhouse Jr. was waiting at the No. 8 hauler. Following an intense face-to-face discussion, Stenhouse Jr. threw and connected with a punch before the two were separated.

NASCAR conducted a review of the incident and issued a $75,000 fine to Stenhouse for violating the Code of Conduct policy.

Additionally, team mechanic Clint Myrick was suspended for the next eight Cup Series races (through events at Pocono Raceway on July 14) for his role, and tuner Keith Matthews was suspended for the next four Cup Series events (through Iowa Speedway on June 16).

Neither Busch nor anyone on his team were penalized.

Posted on by Alex Cadavid

CONCORD, N.C. —  JR Motorsports looked to be the class of the field at Charlotte Motor Speedway, with three of the four full-time drivers finishing in the top five. Spearheaded by Brandon Jones, who finished second, the Xfinity team had one of its best results of the season, with Sammy Smith and Sam Mayer close behind in third and fourth.

Jones netted his first top-five finish of the season after dealing with a braking issue and fighting his way from the back to the front. The strong recovery to a runner-up finish gives the No. 9 team much-needed momentum for the second half of the season after a lackluster start to 2024.

“It was a testament to mental strength,” Jones said. “I think today, you know, I had to basically just stop racing at one point because I couldn’t. The brake pedal just completely got into the floor. So, it was giving me a false sense of security of balance. So I just had to make it to the end of the stage, I was super proud of Philip (Bell, crew chief) for kind of realizing what the deal was and what the issue was and then getting on that quickly and fixing it.”

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Charlotte

Jones has put together solid runs since winning the pole at Dover Motor Speedway a few weeks back. He earned a top 10 at Darlington Raceway and followed the act with a stellar showing at Charlotte. He believes that the organization as a whole can only improve off of this weekend.

“Having days like this, that’s what’s going to win you races in the long term,” Jones said. “Great momentum for the company. Not only that, I think that we now we go back to the shop, we’ve all had good race cars all day long so we can go in and kind of dissect that ride, and now everybody has some speed so we can pick apart setups and pick apart pieces.”

The team looked to be on course for a win after its veteran driver, Justin Allgaier, swept the opening stages of the Xfinity race and led 40 laps, but made contact with Ty Gibbs on Lap 177 and crashed out in the final stage. Taking him out of contention for what could’ve been his second triumph of the season and being scored with a 33rd-place finish.

“Justin had a really good car, and if you’re gonna crash out like that, you got to look at the bright side of it and how fast he was,” team co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. told NASCAR.com.

Sam Mayer, JRM’s No. 1 driver, was in control of the race for short spurts and led 44 laps battling with the likes of Kyle Busch, Gibbs and Chase Elliott for the lead. Although a choice for scuff tires on the final pit stop couldn’t give Mayer the race win, he did maintain a fourth-place run.

“Good day, super proud,” Mayer said. “Obviously, we needed a good points day after what happened last week and what the start of the year has been, so looking forward to keeping it going.”

Sammy Smith, who is in his first year driving for the No. 8 JRM team, earned his first top-five finish of the year, providing a shot in the arm to his team’s season after a frustrating run of races of not seeing the top 20 the last three races.

“Yeah, I think just build confidence and know we can do it,” Smith said. “It’s kind of an expectation we are top five every week, and like I told those guys before, we’ve had a lot of mechanical issues, a lot of just issues this year. And to come in and have a good day is really what we need.”

A terrific team showing is a spark that could ignite more solid showings from JR Motorsports on a race-to-race basis.

“This is hometown man, Charlotte. It’s always good to come here and run good,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “Yeah, we’ll see if we can continue to put together some good cars, and we got to improve some things and improve some cars and work on our guys a little bit. Keep on working hard by the end of this deal, maybe we’ll be sitting at the head table at the end of the year.”