Posted on by Staff Report

A chunk of the 2024 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season will operate with a wrinkle in how some of the fastest cars line up to start races.

A re-draw process will be implemented for select Modified Tour races, beginning with the May 4 event at New Hampshire’s Monadnock Speedway.

At events where the re-draw procedure is implemented, the following policy/procedure will be used:

  1. The fastest qualifier will draw a pill to determine the number of drivers that will re-draw for their starting positions.
    a. 4, 6, 8 or 10 positions will re-draw.
  2. Once the fastest qualifier draws the initial pill, NASCAR will have the various buckets ready to immediately start the re-draw procedure. Drivers will re-draw in their qualifying order (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 – however many are applicable).
  3. The pole position and any bonus will be awarded to the fastest qualifier and will be the pole of record.
  4. Driver introductions will be done by qualifying order.
  5. When the field rolls off for pace laps, the cars will re-align themselves by how they re-drew their starting positions as the cars roll off.
  6. If qualifying is rained out, the field will be set by the rule book. The re-draw procedure will still take place based on the rain lineup. Pole awards are not paid on rain lineups.
Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

LOS ANGELES — On Saturday night, the NASCAR Mexico Series raced on American soil for the first time in its history.

Under the brightest lights in one of the United States’ most iconic, historic venues, Santiago Tovar, Andrés Peréz de Lara, Regina Sirvent and other stars of Mexican stock-car racing shined at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in the exhibition King Taco La Batalla en el Coliseo.

Daniel Suárez, driver of the No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series, is unquestionably the highest-profile driver to emerge from the Mexico Series, entering his eighth full-time season at the sport’s highest level in Cup. The Monterrey, Mexico, native returned to his roots by competing with — and winning in — the Mexico Series again on Saturday night and emphasized how enormous an opportunity this platform was for him and today’s series regulars.

MORE: Recap Saturday night’s Mexico Series thriller | Best photos from LA

“To have the NASCAR Mexico Series race the same day, the same weekend, with the same fans, the same event as the Cup Series in Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, I don’t really know if it gets any better than this,” said Suárez, a 10-time winner in the Mexico Series before transcending into American competition. “To me, this race for NASCAR Mexico is as important as winning the championship for the NASCAR Mexico Series. And you can ask this question to any driver that races full-time. It’s a big deal to race here.”

This year marked the third consecutive season NASCAR kicked off its campaign in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, bringing stock-car racing to the home of a city swelled with Hispanic pride less than 150 miles from the Mexican border. That natural bridge to the Mexican population opened the door for new fans to discover the sport — and allowed Suárez to better soak in the significance of winning in front of that crowd Saturday night.

“Yeah, it’s super special,” Suárez said. “I knew a lot of fans were gonna stay on after the Cup race, and I wasn’t surprised. But when I got out of the car and I saw all the Daniel Suárez flags and 99 flags, it gave me goosebumps, you know? It gave me that happiness, that reason why I do this. You know, I do this because I love competing. I love racing. I love it so much.

“And you know, racing — this is something that happens in many sports — but racing, you lose way more races than when you win because you are competing against 40 drivers. Sometimes you have to be very tough mentally to be able to overcome so many different challenges. And when you are able to achieve the ultimate goal, which is winning that race, and you have a crowd, a fan base like that cheering you on — I mean, there were at least a handful of 1,000 people out there with Mexican flags and Daniel Suárez flags — is something that is very hard to describe and is very special.”

Sirvent, a member of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity for the Class of 2024, earned entry into Saturday’s festivities after winning the fan vote, opened exclusively to residents of Mexico. The 20-year-old grew up with her heart on rally racing as her grandfather, José Sirvent, won the Campeonato Mexicano de Rally — Mexican Rally Championship — back in 1974. But as she entered the racing world herself, NASCAR hit her radar as a teenager, just as Suárez cracked into the NASCAR Cup Series while Danica Patrick was in the midst of her stock-car career.

RELATED: Visit NASCAR Mexico Series website

“When I started getting into motorsports when I was 14, like into NASCAR, I was like I love Daniel Suárez — oh and I love Danica Patrick,” said Sirvent, who drove a pink No. 10 car sponsored by the popular Mexican band Grupo Firme. “I want to be like the combo of them because, I mean, I was like he’s Hispanic and she’s female, so I can be the combo of both of them. So I started understanding more about their history, and now I mean, I am still a fan, and hopefully, I will get to the level that got to at some point.”

Salvador de Alba is the defending champion of the NASCAR Mexico Series, earning his second title in the past three seasons. NASCAR leadership has been vocal in recent years about looking to expand the top levels of the sport internationally. As a two-time champion of the series, de Alba has witnessed that commitment firsthand. The Mexico Series was put on hiatus in 2016 but returned in 2017 — right when de Alba was entering the sport.

“I was 17 years old, so I’ve been there since the second time for NASCAR Mexico, and it’s been growing — everything, things like crowds, the cars on track,” de Alba said. “And for sure the support we’ve got from NASCAR and here in the US. Like people coming up, bigger (organizations) every year from international series. And everything is growing, getting bigger.”

De Alba is exploring open-wheel racing in the United States this season but still plans a full season in the NASCAR Mexico Series.

“As long as I can race in Mexico, for sure I want to keep up with the NASCAR Mexico (growth) and I want to race as many races as I can to to get in the playoffs,” de Alba said.

What’s critical to note is exposure not only to new fans who may find enjoyment is viewing the series but those who enjoy working on the vehicles themselves. José Blasco served as crew chief for Suárez’s entry in the Mexico Series in Los Angeles and regularly works as an engineer for Trackhouse Racing. With drivers often the focus of fans’ eyes, opportunities in the garage area may be more hidden.

“It’s difficult for a series like NASCAR Mexico to showcase what they can do because not that many people follow it in the US, right?” Blasco said. “So the opportunity for them is to show up with their cars. You can show your craftsmanship, right? That’s what they’re showing. It’s very difficult to see what they do because you see on track the cars, right? You see a good car, but also okay, you see the drivers of the car, right? So when you see that, I hope they think about it and say, ‘OK, that’s a good car and a good driver. Who’s building that car?’ And when they’re pushing the cars, you can see how well they’re built right, and then you can see some others are not that well. So you pay attention to that. So hopefully, the other guys will notice.”

Some drivers, meanwhile, are already getting noticed. Peréz de Lara just concluded his first full-time season in the ARCA Menards Series with a runner-up finish in the championship standings while Max Gutiérrez has made five NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts, proving Suárez isn’t alone in his American breakthrough any longer.

What was evident Saturday night was a passion for racing within the Hispanic community. From the garage behind West Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to the asphalt centered inside the Coliseum to the fans adoring from the grandstands, all that mattered was the joy of stock-car competition — all with no borders.

Posted on by Adam Fenwick

Racing at Daytona International Speedway was not something Justin Bonsignore had on his 2024 bingo card.

The three-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion will get the chance to do just that when the ARCA Menards Series opens its 2024 season on Feb. 17 with the Daytona ARCA 200.

Bonsignore will make his ARCA and Daytona debut driving the No. 30 entry for Rette Jones Racing. He never would have reached this point if not for the Road to Daytona program, which gives NASCAR touring and regional champions the chance to turn laps at the legendary superspeedway during the annual ARCA pre-race practice.

Originally, the opportunity to take part in the pre-race practice was offered to 2023 Modified Tour champion Ron Silk. But when he was unable to fit the opportunity into his schedule, it was offered to Bonsignore, the 2023 runner-up.

“Obviously Ron Silk was unable to attend, and they reached out to me because I was next in line,” Bonsignore said. “I thought it was a really good opportunity to run laps at Daytona. I think that happened on a Thursday.

“On Friday and Saturday, I started thinking, ‘If I enjoy the test as much as I think I’m going to, we should probably try looking into seeing if we could put together a deal with a team.’”

Before he even made it to the pre-race practice, Bonsignore started making phone calls. One of the first he made was to fellow Modified racer Andy Seuss, who is a regular face in the ARCA garage as part of KLAS Motorsports.

“He gave me a lot of insight on what to look for at the pre-race practice and teams and this and that,” Bonsignore said. “He said, ‘You should call Mark Rette. I think he’s in need of a driver.’ I made a call to David Lewis at Roush Yates Racing Engines, my engine builder on the Modified Tour who does a lot of ARCA stuff. He reached out to Mark on my behalf immediately.”

Rette, the co-owner of Rette Jones Racing alongside partner Terry Jones, knew Bonsignore was big on the Modified Tour, but he didn’t know much more than that.

Justin Bonsignore celebrates winning the Thompson 150 for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Connecticut’s Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on Aug. 16, 2023. (Photo: Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)

When Lewis connected the two, Rette did a little research and quickly realized Bonsignore is a three-time series champion who ranks fourth on the all-time series win list.

In other words, Bosnignore knows how to drive.

“I’m from the Northeast. I’m New Jersey born and bred guy. The Modified Tour, those cars, I love them,” Rette said. “I’d always known Justin’s name. I obviously have tried to keep up with those guys and watch them. Those cars are near and dear to my heart from my childhood.

“I started googling. I’ve known the name, I’ve known the Bonsignore name and watched him race. I never realized he won three Modified Tour championships and is fourth on the all-time win list. The things that he has accomplished most recently in the last couple years … wow. It was way more than I thought.”

Initially, Rette wasn’t sure he would have space for Bonsignore in his program at Daytona. He had been working with Frankie Muniz, who raced for the team during the 2023 ARCA Menards Series season, about potentially competing at Daytona again.

However, in the weeks following the Daytona pre-race practice, Rette’s deal with Muniz fell apart. That opened the door for Bonsignore to fill the seat and make his ARCA Menards Series debut at Daytona.

“Up until two weeks ago, we were working on a program to put Frankie in the car for some ARCA races. Frankie was wanting to go to Daytona, and we couldn’t get the deal put together. Fortunately as one door closes, another door opens,” Rette said. “I picked up the phone and called Justin. We talked pretty much every other day, anyway. I said let’s put this deal together.”

From a logistical standpoint for Bonsignore, things really couldn’t have worked out any better.

He’ll first travel to Charlotte for a seat fitting in the Rette Jones Racing ARCA car on Wednesday, Feb. 7 before making his way to New Smyrna Beach, Florida, to compete in the Modified Tour opener on Saturday, Feb. 10.

Justin Bonsignore in axtion during the Miller Lite Salutes Mike Ewanitsko 200 for the Whelen Modified Tour at New York’s Riverhead Raceway on June 24, 2023. (Photo: Dakota Moyer/NASCAR)

He’ll then spend the next few days on vacation with his family, something that was planned long before the opportunity with Rette Jones Racing developed. Then, on Feb. 15-17 he’ll turn his attention to Daytona and the ARCA opener.

“For the last three or four years we’ve actually stayed and made a nice little vacation out of it,” Bonsignore said. “We’re going to spend the whole week there and then obviously the ARCA deal will pick up on Thursday and Friday with practice and qualifying.”

From an expectation standpoint, Rette believes Bonsignore can be a threat to win given his Modified experience combined with his maturity as a driver.

“My expectations are high. I think this guy can go compete,” Rette said. “Strength is in numbers with Venturini obviously having five cars, Rev Racing having two cars. Strength is in numbers when it comes to superspeedway racing. But I think if we put ourselves in the right position, I think we can go down there and compete and have a shot at it.

“It would be a storybook thing for Justin. Modified guy comes to Daytona, races at New Smyrna in a Modified Tour car on Saturday night, and a week later he’s competing for a win at Daytona. How cool is that story?

“I want to go win this thing.”

And to think, without the Road to Daytona program, none of this would have even been possible.

“Without the call from the NASCAR to be part of the Road to Daytona program, I never even would have considered pursing it any further,” Bonsignore said. “It’s something that came together last minute and very quickly, but it’s shaping up to be a very good opportunity in front of us.”

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

LOS ANGELES — Bent fenders, heated discussions and an impressive performance encompassed a thrilling Saturday night in Southern California for Ty Gibbs.

Gibbs, the 21-year-old sophomore driver for Joe Gibbs Racing, led a race-high 84 laps in the exhibition Busch Light Clash at the famed Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. An ill-fated restart from the lead with 10 laps to go resulted in him relinquishing the lead to teammate Denny Hamlin, however, running Joey Logano wide and ultimately spinning out before taking the checkered flag in 18th place, one lap down.

The 2023 Sunoco Rookie of the Year, Gibbs showed he still has some seasoning to do when it comes to racing the sport’s veterans. On the penultimate restart, his No. 54 Toyota lined up first on the inside row alongside Logano’s No. 22 Ford. Gibbs washed high from the center of Turns 1 and 2, though, nearly running Logano into the fence and allowing Hamlin, Gibbs’ teammate, to sneak low and snag the lead.

MORE: Recap the 2024 Busch Light Clash | Cup Series schedule

It was a disappointing end to an otherwise solid 2024 debut that saw him ahead of the field by nearly three seconds at times around the temporary 0.25-mile oval.

“It just was unfortunate,” Gibbs said. “I guess I’ve got to get better at restarts. My team brought me a great car as we saw and they did a great job. So it was a good showing.”

Logano, entering his 16th full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series, didn’t take kindly to Gibbs’ near brush. The two have had previous on-track encounters that have left Logano frustrated, coming to a head at the 0.526-mile Martinsville Speedway, where Logano spun Gibbs around last October. Saturday night, Logano stormed to the No. 54 team’s hauler and confronted Gibbs, leading to a fiery conversation in the garage area.

“He’s just mad that I ran him up,” Gibbs explained. “But if you go back and look at the replay, the 12 (Ryan Blaney, Logano’s teammate) kind of chucks him out of the way, too. So it’s just hard racing at the end. This place is really hard to get your tires warm once the caution comes out, as we all see with everybody sliding around. So I just got in there deep and washed up into him and then we just kind of got all tangled up after that.

“He just came over and said that to me in a bunch of different words, but I knew what happened.”

Logano began his career at Joe Gibbs Racing, making his first Cup start in 2008 when Gibbs, the grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs, was only 6 years old. Now a two-time champion, Logano often found himself frustrating the veterans as he settled into the sport’s top echelon. Saturday night showed him on the opposite end of that spectrum.

“He just used me up, all the way to the wall,” Logano told NASCAR.com. “There’s a fine line of kind of pushing each other up a little bit if you’re racing for the win, but using me up with the history that he has with me is not a good idea for him.”

A detailed look at the damaged front of Ty Gibbs' car.
Zach Sturniolo | NASCAR.com

Despite leaving Los Angeles with a not-so-new enemy, Gibbs’ performance ultimately proved his first win may be in the not-so-distant future. At Bristol Motor Speedway last fall, Gibbs led a career-best 102 laps on his way to a fifth-place finish. Those performances are becoming less surprising each week, with his growth evident to crew chief Chris Gayle.

“I think it just shows his determination this year,” Gayle told NASCAR.com. “We’ve talked about it a little bit. He really feels comfortable now after having a full year under his belt in these cars. And so, you know, I expect runs like this all the time. I mean, he does, too. So that’s what should happen.”

And as for a slight mistake that proved costly late? No worries inside the No. 54 team’s camp.

“I think right now he’s beating himself up probably from that last restart,” Gayle said. “So we’ll just wrap our arm around him, let him know that — go look at Chase Elliott and how many seconds he had before he finally broke through. I know Ty wants to be a perfectionist, and he wants to nail them all. So we won’t have to say much to him. He’ll be rough on himself and we’ll go to Daytona and try to win.”

And to Gayle’s point — for what it’s worth, Elliott notoriously had eight second-place finishes before his inaugural Cup win. Now a series champion, Elliott has visited Victory Lane 18 times in his career. Gibbs’ best career finish so far: fourth-place at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course.

For now.

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

LOS ANGELES — Fireworks. Racing. Beefing. The 2024 Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum went off without a hitch for the NASCAR Cup Series — 24 hours earlier than anticipated.

Imminent heavy rains forecasted to persist from Sunday through Tuesday put NASCAR’s plans in Southern California in question, with the main event scheduled for 8 p.m. ET, 5 p.m. PT, on Sunday night. Instead, the sanctioning body worked with television partners, teams and the Coliseum to swap plans midday on Saturday, resulting in the unprecedented decision to move the race one day early, all on a day when fans had free access to the historic venue.

The result? A thrilling exhibition race that delivered thrills, spills and even boiling tempers after the Cup Series’ event — plus a full 150-lap NASCAR Mexico Series race, marking a monumental day for the international series.

MORE: Best photos from LA Coliseum | Suárez steals show in return to Mexico Series

“I think it’s awesome,” said Chase Elliott, 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion and six-time most popular driver. “I think it’s one of the most logical decisions we’ve made as an industry, potentially ever. I appreciate it. I know a lot of the industry personnel really appreciate the willingness to make a change like that. To be honest with you, doing an event like this on a Saturday night is a better fit for it anyway. I think it’s a win-win for everybody.”

Denny Hamlin, a 51-race winner in Cup competition, co-owner of 23XI Racing and key player in the new Netflix docuseries NASCAR: Full Speed, echoed his support for the decision after holding off Kyle Busch to win The Clash for the fourth time in his career and first in Los Angeles.

“I think we should consider tonight a success only because if it didn’t happen tonight, I just don’t think it was going to happen at all,” Hamlin said. “And so while there will be some people that are upset about not being able to use their ticket for (Sunday), they weren’t gonna use it Monday either. And then Tuesday I’m not sure was an option. This thing was just gonna snowball into really straining the teams. All the people here at the Coliseum that have to get this thing converted back over. Tonight was the only option to get this thing in and I’m really happy that NASCAR made unprecedented changes to make sure that the fans at least saw a race.”

RELATED: Hamlin: ‘I beat your favorite driver again’ | Go ‘Full Speed’ with NASCAR on Netflix

Indeed, with Saturday admittance free for all goers, those Sunday ticketholders who purchased through Ticketmaster or NASCAR will be entitled to a refund and will be contacted by NASCAR in the coming days, per the race track, with pre-paid parking purchased for Sunday through Park Whiz to be refunded as well. NASCAR’s Chief Operating Officer Steve O’Donnell told NASCAR.com on Saturday afternoon that there were essentially “no good options” but vetted what was available to everybody.

“When we looked ahead of where we might be able to get this race in, you started looking at Monday, Tuesday and even possibly Wednesday,” O’Donnell said. “Challenges in terms of what might be available in terms of a public safety standpoint, and (we) realized this was our best option.”

Coordinating all the moving parts of a NASCAR event are logistically intensive — television, teams, fans, track workers and all others involved. Following a successful showing by all parties to handle such quick-moving alternatives, O’Donnell couldn’t help but smile afterward.

“I applaud the industry for pulling together and getting the race in, and it was actually really neat to see the number of fans that were able to come out,” O’Donnell told NASCAR.com. “We certainly would have liked to see the race start as scheduled on Sunday, but all in all, I think it was a good event. I think the drivers put on a really good show for the fans. We were able to get the Mexico race in too, which was big for us, and hopefully keep everybody safe as the weather comes in.”


“I think today is an unprecedented mark in our sport,” said two-time Cup champion Kyle Busch, “and one that I think all of us will applaud NASCAR, FOX and everybody on for giving us the chance to get a race in today. I don’t know that we would have been able to do it before Wednesday and would we have even been here on Wednesday? So this was the best chance that we had.”

The lower sections of the historic LA Coliseum were packed with race fans who got to experience a full day’s worth of events free of charge. While the circumstances were challenging to determine next steps given the uncharacteristically severe weather forecasted for the Los Angeles area, Saturday proved to be an endeavor that may pay off to be more fruitful in the long term than short term.

“I’m sure they took a huge financial hit, NASCAR does,” Kyle Larson, the 2021 Cup champion said, “but I think at the same point, the crowd is awesome out there for a spur-of-the-moment race and free admission and all that, so hopefully, a lot of these fans who’ve maybe never been to a race before will now fall in love with the sport and will venture out and kind of grow from there. So maybe this could accidentally work out really well for NASCAR.”

MORE: NASCAR Cup Series schedule | Gibbs, Logano heated after Busch Light Clash

With floods of complimentary responses from the driving core, O’Donnell highlighted the collaborative nature of all members of the sport to achieve what was accomplished Saturday.

“I think on our end, we’ve really stressed communication with all the stakeholders trying to make decisions based on the best interests of the fans but taking everybody’s input,” O’Donnell said. “And this one certainly was one of those where we were able to manage what was in the best interest of the industry, and that also matched up safety of the fans and getting the race in for them, so we didn’t have to ultimately postpone and they were able to see a race, which was great.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Daniel Suárez took home the checkered flag in Saturday night’s King Taco La Batalla en El Coliseo after missing out on the NASCAR Cup Series Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

RELATED: Busch Light Clash results | At-track photos: Los Angeles

“I have a bittersweet taste about what happened to me in the Cup Series, but I am happy to have crossed the finish line first in this race,” Suárez said. “I pushed at the end and with about 20 laps left I knew that if I didn’t make any mistakes, I was going to take the victory.”

Due to torrential weather forecasted for LA on Sunday, the race was moved from Sunday to Saturday night, where Suárez beat out Santiago Tovar to the finish line in the 150-lapper at the historic venue. 

Starting from third place, Suárez went back to his racing roots and won the NASCAR Mexico Series race by nailing the final restart with seven laps to go.

Alex de Alba, Rogelio López and Jake Cosío rounded out the top-five finishers. Eloy López, Xavi Razo, Andrés Peréz, Max Gutiérrez and Enrique Baca completed the top 10.

MORE: Visit NASCAR Mexico Series website

Posted on by Reid Spencer

LOS ANGELES — The final restart was the difference for Denny Hamlin.

A day earlier than planned, the result of a devastating weather forecast for the Los Angeles area, Hamlin got the jump he needed on an overtime restart and won Saturday night’s third edition of the Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum.

Smoking his tires in every corner after grabbing the lead on a restart on Lap 141 of a scheduled 150, Hamlin was a few yards away from the finish line when his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Ty Gibbs, spun off the bumper of Kyle Larson’s Chevrolet to bring out the seventh caution and force a two-lap shootout.

On the final restart, Hamlin stayed clear of runner-up Kyle Busch and crossed the stripe with a 0.610-second advantage, earning his fourth victory in the season-opening exhibition race—most among active drivers—with the first three coming at Daytona International Speedway.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Given the prediction of heavy rain and possible flooding from Sunday through Tuesday, NASCAR made the unprecedented and provident call to move the start of the race from 8 p.m. ET on Sunday to the same time on Saturday.

The decision allowed the NASCAR Cup Series competitors to complete the event without extreme disruption to the schedule.

“I got a really good run off Turn 2 and just got position and was able to hang on from there,” Hamlin said of his run to the lead after the Lap 141 restart. “It’s so chaotic on the restarts, with everyone bumping and banging, but it’s great to win here in L.A.

“It’s just a great momentum boost. It doesn’t do much more than that, but I clean off all the trophies every January 1 in the entryway to the house, and now we get to add one pretty quick, so I’m really happy about that.”

SHOP: Winner gear

Busch restarted behind Hamlin in the overtime, but Hamlin pulled away to a lead of nearly two car-lengths, and Busch couldn’t get to his bumper after that.

“I felt like the first half (of the race), I had a better car, better than the 11 (Hamlin), but some of the adjustments we made weren’t as good, some of the adjustments they made were better,” said Busch, who has finished second, third and second in the three events at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

“All in all, just glad to have a good night. Glad to come out of here in one piece with all the bumping and banging and everything else that happens.”

With a remarkable run from the rear of the field, 2023 Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney finished third after using a provisional just to make the field. Blaney started 23rd and made steady progress throughout the race.

Joey Logano came home fourth, with Kyle Larson claiming the fifth position. Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr. and William Byron completed the top 10.

Hamlin led 58 laps, second only to Gibbs, who was out front for 84 circuits and led by nearly three seconds before catching the back of the field in a green-flag run from Lap 78 to Lap 140. The yellow that ended the run—the result of Michael McDowell’s spin in Turn 3—bunched the field and gave Hamlin a shot at the victory.

Clearly, Hamlin took full advantage.

All eyes turn to Daytona now as the 2024 regular season kicks off with the 66th running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 18 (2:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NOTE: Post-race inspection was completed without issue in the Cup Series garage, confirming Hamlin’s victory.

MORE: Hamlin’s pursuit of elusive title back into focus in new Netflix series

Posted on by Reid Spencer

In racing parlance, you can now say Denny Hamlin has fresh rubber on all four corners.

Hamlin, who was playing hurt during last season’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, needed surgery in November to repair a condition in which his collar bone intruded into the rotator cuff in his right shoulder.

RELATED: Denny Hamlin driver page | Gear up for The Clash

Starting in 2010 with an operation to repair a torn ACL in his left knee, Hamlin now has had surgery on both knees and both shoulders.

“I feel like it’s progressing really well,” said Hamlin, who also got engaged to longtime girlfriend Jordan Fish during the offseason. “While not 100%, (it’s) certainly better than it ended last season. Ran enough laps in the sim (simulator) and other places to feel pretty good at it.

“Actually, I’m happy to start the season knowing that I don’t have any physical ailments ahead of me. I feel really good about that, for sure.”

Hamlin, 43, and Fish have two daughters together. They announced their engagement on New Year’s Day.

“It’s good,” Hamlin said. “Certainly, age is all a factor, right? Certainly, the relationship that you’ve got. … She’s a great mom, a great partner and glad to move forward.”

MORE: Hamlin’s pursuit of elusive title back into focus in new Netflix series

Posted on by Staff Report

Christopher Bell and Chris Buescher, two drivers from last year’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, did not qualify for Saturday night’s Busch Light Clash exhibition race at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

RELATED: Clash starting lineup | At-track photos: Los Angeles

With a change in the format, only the 22 fastest cars in Saturday’s practice sessions qualified for the feature race, with the 23rd provisional spot being locked up by reigning Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney.

Buescher and Bell posted times of 13.574 and 13.593 seconds, respectively. Buescher was 30th out of 36 drivers in final practice in his No. 17 RFK Racing Ford, and Bell just 33rd on the speed chart in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

“Practice was good,” said Bell, who reached the Championship 4 last season. “I felt like we were in a really good spot, and just didn’t have it in qualifying.”

Said Buescher: “Definitely made some decent improvement there for the last, third run. So yeah, I don’t understand why our group there was a lot slower than we were in practice. We needed some speed increase, and we were able to get a little bit but the cars that were really fast in our group slowed down. Ultimately just needed to turn a little better in the center.”

The Busch Light Clash was moved to Saturday night because of a severe weather forecast of torrential rain and potential flooding in the LA area for its originally scheduled Sunday evening start.

Thirteen drivers did not qualify for the 23-car field. Among them were all three Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidates: Carson Hocevar (25th in qualifying), Josh Berry (26th) and Zane Smith (36th).

Posted on by Staff Report

Denny Hamlin won the pole position for Saturday night’s Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum, topping the leaderboard in NASCAR Cup Series qualifying.

Hamlin posted a track-record lap of 68.498 mph on the temporary quarter-mile asphalt oval at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, putting his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in the first starting spot for the 150-lap main event (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Joey Logano will share the front row for the feature after registering the second-fastest lap (67.925 mph) in group qualifying in the Team Penske No. 22 Ford.

RELATED: Practice/qualifying results | Updated weekend schedule

The starting lineup for the 23-car field was determined by a revised time-trials format after a gloomy forecast for severe weather forced NASCAR officials to move the event from a Sunday evening start to Saturday night. The rescheduling prompted officials to shuffle Saturday’s schedule, eliminating qualifying heats and a last-chance qualifying race. Instead, 22 starting berths were decided by the fastest speeds in four-minute sessions for six groups of six cars each.

Ty Gibbs was third-fastest in qualifying with Alex Bowman fourth and Kyle Busch rounding out the top five starters. The 23rd and final starting berth went to defending Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney, who took a provisional spot as the highest-ranked driver in the 2023 standings not otherwise qualified.

MORE: At-track photos: Los Angeles

Austin Cindric forced the only caution period of practice with a solo spin in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford as he exited Turn 2 in the second session. He did not make the cut for the 23-car field, and was joined on the sidelines by Christopher Bell, Chris Buescher, Erik Jones and Daniel Suárez among the 13 drivers who did not qualify. Chase Briscoe claimed the last starting spot based on speed.

Saturday night’s event marks the third consecutive year that the non-points race has been held inside the historic Los Angeles venue. The official Cup Series kickoff begins with the first points-paying race of the year, the 66th running of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 18 (2:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

This story will be updated.