Posted on by Adam Fenwick

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour has been an important part of Danny Watts Jr.’s life for a long time.

His involvement in the series started in the late 1980s as a driver, which saw him make 43 starts spread across 11 seasons through 2015. He then shifted to the ownership side of the sport, fielding cars for familiar faces like Ron Silk, Ted Christopher, Woody Pitkat, Anthony Nocella and, most recently, Craig Lutz.

Now, with one race left in the 2023 season, Watts is preparing to say his goodbyes. He is set to retire from full-time team ownership in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour following Thursday’s Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 at Martinsville Speedway.

“I can’t keep that pace up anymore. I’m 62 years old and it’s a little rough doing that,” said Watts, who has called Long Island home his entire life. “It’s definitely time to back it down a little bit.”

RELATED: Entry list for the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 at Martinsville

Watts was raised around racing. When he was a child, his father raced figure 8s and bombers, and he would help him prepare his race cars. Once he was old enough, Watts began his own racing career with an old Chevelle that he turned into a Street Stock.

“I raced Street Stocks all over the place,” Watts recalled. “Jersey, Riverhead, Islip, Thompson, Stafford; wherever I could go, I raced. When Bob Park had one of his first Troyer cars for sale, I bought it. I turned it into an SK (Modified) car, me and a friend of mine, and I went SK racing when that first started.

“Making those trips from Long Island to Stafford and Thompson with an old 1960 Chevy pickup truck was kind of rough. I got wrecked a few times, and I said to myself, ‘If I’m going to be spending this kind of money and time going up here and getting wrecked, I may as well just stay home and buy a Modified motor.’ That’s how that happened. That’s where it started.”

Watts spent two seasons as a full-time competitor at Riverhead Raceway, where he earned two wins in a Modified during his career. However, as things changed at Riverhead, Watts decided he wanted to venture out.

Craig Lutz, driver of the No. 82 Horton Avenue Materials Modified, qualifies for the Jersey Shore 150 at New Jersey’s Wall Stadium Speedway on July 8, 2023. (Kostas Lymperopoulos/NASCAR)

That meant hitting the road to race with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour whenever his work schedule allowed.

“I just figured I’d go out there wherever I could go to race,” Watts said. “I liked it because it was organized. Riverhead was a bullring. I will admit I did get tore up there a few times. I finally decided that I can travel whenever my work would allow me to. I grabbed a couple of guys, a couple of my friends, we did whatever we could do.”

As a driver, Watts’ best effort with the Modified Tour came in 1997 at Jennerstown Speedway, when he finished 10th in a field that included drivers like Tom Baldwin, Tony Hirschman, Rick Fuller, Reggie Ruggiero, Junior Miller, Jan Leaty and Jamie Tomaino.

After making a single Modified Tour start in 1998, Watts stepped away from racing to spend more time with his family. However, as it so often does, the alure of racing proved too strong. Watts eventually returned to competition.

He made two Modified Tour starts in 2014. At that point, Watts was in his early 50s, and he quickly realized that maybe it was time to let someone else do the driving.

“I realized I’m not young anymore,” Watts explained. “I had a motorcycle accident while I was racing, and that kind of set me back a lot. I went to New Hampshire and I got caught up in a real bad wreck with Ron Yuhas. His car went up on its nose and I ended up in the hospital, too, just to get checked out because I got my bell rung pretty good.

“After that, I went to Thompson and blew a right-front and hit the wall again, and after that I said, ‘You know what, I can’t keep doing this.’”

He made three more Modified Tour starts one season later. He finished the 2015 season by competing at North Carolina’s Concord Speedway during the annual North-South Shootout, but a near-miss during the event directly led to his decision to stop driving race cars.

“I had gotten around there pretty good and things were working good,” Watts said. “It had rained the night before and there were weepers coming out of the track. They all told me don’t hit the weeper. Well I got up a little high and I hit those weepers. I missed the pit wall by probably two inches.

“I said to myself, ‘You know what, I don’t need to be doing this anymore. I’ve got too many people depending on me.’”

Danny Watts Jr. (82) races alongside Brandon Ward in 2015 at Concord Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, during the North-South Shootout. The event was Watts’ final race as a driver. (Photo: Adam Fenwick)

By this point, Watts had lots of new equipment and race cars, and he wasn’t ready to totally leave racing. He decided to hit the ground running in 2016 by going full-time as an owner with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.

He hired Ron Silk, who at that point hadn’t won since 2012, to drive his No. 82 for the full Whelen Modified Tour season. In their third race together, Silk won at Connecticut’s New London-Waterford Speedbowl.

After parting ways with Silk early in 2017, Watts hired Ted Christopher to drive his race cars. He did so until Christopher died in a plane crash on Sept. 16, 2017. Woody Pitkat took over the No. 82 and drove for the team through the 2019 season, which included earning Watts’ second win as a team owner at New Jersey’s Wall Stadium Speedway.

Chase Dowling briefly drove for Watts in late 2019 and early 2020 before Anthony Nocella took over the car for the majority of 2020 and 2021. Craig Lutz became the full-time driver of the No. 82 starting in 2022, a role he has held since. Lutz delivered Watts’ third Modified Tour win last year at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.

RELATED: Watch the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 on FloRacing

Fast forward to 2023, and Watts admitted he’s starting to run out of gas. Between making sure his Modified Tour team makes it to the track each week and managing his businesses, it’s become a lot for Watts to handle.

When Lutz came to him and told him he’d signed a deal to drive for Russell Goodale during the 2024 Modified Tour season, Watts decided now was as good a time as ever to retire.

“I’d been dropping hints all year that I’m probably gonna not be doing it like I’ve been doing it,” Watts said. “I’ve got things I have to finish. I have things I want to do. I thought this would be perfect timing. Craig got hooked back up with the No. 46 team (owned by Goodale), and I said, ‘Here’s my chance.’”

While Watts is retiring from full-time ownership, that doesn’t mean he’s done with racing entirely. He said he plans to keep one car and just enough equipment to field that car just in case the right driver and opportunity present themselves.

“It’s like if you jones for something and you really want it, I have it if I still want to do it,” Watts said. “If somebody comes along with the right offer to run a show here or there, I’ll do it. But I’m giving it one year. Then I’m totally done.”

When the checkered flag waves at Martinsville and the track is silent Thursday night, Watts’ career as a full-time Modified Tour team owner will be over.

Sure, he’ll miss the racing, but what he’ll miss more is all the friends he’s made along the way.

“All my friends are at the race track,” Watts said. “All I know is work and racing. When I go to the race track, it’s a chance to breathe. It’s a chance to talk to people. I’ve grown up doing this. I have some friends outside of racing, but not like at the race track.”

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — The elimination-style format of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs often sparks dramatic moments throughout the postseason. Sunday’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway delivered plenty packed into just more than a single hour.

Christopher Bell won to rocket himself back to the Championship 4 for the second consecutive season after a late pass on William Byron, but the final 66 minutes that preceded the checkered flag in the 4EVER 400 flipped a steady playoff run of show on its head.

MORE: Race results | Playoff standings after Homestead

How did Bell rally to another clutch victory? What happened to the day’s dominant driver? And wait, two Joe Gibbs Racing cars had mechanical failures all within the same 120 seconds?

With timestamps provided by Racing Insights, let’s break down the minutes that led to Sunday’s finale and how they altered the championship picture:

All times Eastern.

4:56 p.m.

After leading 38 consecutive laps, Ryan Blaney peels to pit road with 57 circuits remaining. His team’s decision draws second-place runner Kyle Larson in as well.

In an attempt to close the gap on pit entry, Larson overcooks his approach and is forced to slam on the brakes. He veers right, colliding with sand barrels at the pit-wall attenuator, spewing sand upon the track after also making slight contact with Blaney’s back bumper.

Playoff impact —  Larson’s Las Vegas victory one week ago means the No. 5 Chevrolet is locked into the Championship 4 and will fight for the 2023 title despite Sunday’s DNF — his eighth of the year. The ensuing caution period benefits Blaney’s No. 12 team as he cycles back to the lead on fresh tires, but the red flag allows the track to cool ahead of a shorter run to the checkered flag — both suboptimal conditions for Blaney to excel. Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell and William Byron line up behind him for the subsequent restart.

5:37 p.m.

Denny Hamlin slams the wall at Lap 236 with a mechanical failure moments after restarting alongside Blaney on the front row. Fierce racing between the two allowed Bell and Byron to surpass both of them in separate three-wide moves. But an apparent issue on the No. 11 Toyota sent Hamlin into the SAFER barrier in Turns 1 and 2, ending his day.

Playoff impact — Hamlin was relegated to a 30th-place finish, his second DNF in the past three races. After long appearing as a preemptive lock for the Championship 4, Hamlin now enters this week’s Round of 8 finale 17 points beneath the provisional elimination line. Blaney capitalizes on a 25-plus-point advantage as Hamlin slides down the leaderboard.

Martin Truex Jr.'s car has its hood up in the garage, with crew member standing around it
Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR

5:38 p.m.

Within the next minute, Martin Truex Jr.’s engine goes up in smoke, sending the Regular Season Champion to the garage and ending his race in an instant.

Playoff impact — Truex entered Homestead tied with Hamlin, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, tied two points above the elimination line. With a 29th-place result after qualifying on the pole position, Truex and Hamlin are tied again — this time, both beneath the elimination line. Blaney and Tyler Reddick pounce on the points and begin to work their way closer to the Championship 4.

5:43 p.m.

While his teammates’ days fall apart, Christopher Bell leads the field down pit road under caution with 29 laps remaining. The No. 20 team’s 10.4-second stop costs Bell two spots as Byron — a 9.3-second pit — and Blaney — 9.4 seconds — capitalize on quicker service to pass Bell on pit road. Bell lines up for the restart in third place. Tyler Reddick picks up one spot to restart seventh.

Playoff impact — Byron catapults back into position to lock his way into the Championship 4 if able to hold onto the lead to win while Blaney has one less car to pass on the track now that he’s in front of Bell. Reddick, who lingered quietly all day with a third-best 6.88 average running position, inches closer toward the front.

5:53 p.m.

It takes Bell a mere 10 minutes to go from losing the lead on pit road to passing Byron for the race win. Bell hounds Byron for eight laps before pulling alongside Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet with 15 to go. He positions his No. 20 Toyota to Byron’s left, runs down the frontstretch door-to-door before using the bottom lane in Turns 1 and 2 to clear Byron and charge forward.

In the meantime, Reddick works from seventh up to fourth place.

Playoff impact — All momentum shifts to Bell’s favor as he takes control of the race’s late stages. Byron’s slide to second isn’t an ultimate detriment as he maintains above the elimination line, but the No. 24 team knows that win would erase any doubts. Reddick chips away at the deficit to Blaney.

Christopher Bell and William Byron coming to the start/finish line side by side
Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR

6:02 p.m.

The checkered flag waves over Christopher Bell, who mounts a stellar rally after falling to 22nd at the end of Stage 2, losing the lead again late, all to secure his spot in the Championship 4 for the second straight season. Ryan Blaney charges back to second place and Reddick to third as Byron drops to fourth. Playoff drivers sweep the top four positions, but none of the other four Round of 8 contenders finish better than 21st (Chris Buescher).

Playoff impact — Bell puts any doubt to rest as he scores another dramatic and clutch victory at one of the season’s most critical points. Blaney maximizes a strong day that includes a Stage 2 victory, leaving him fourth in the standings, 20 points behind Byron but 10 above the provisional elimination line. Reddick walks away 10 points beneath the elimination line, closest of those below. Hamlin and Truex leave 17 points behind Blaney while a tough day for Chris Buescher puts him 43 points to the negative.

Posted on by Staff Report

Las Vegas is no stranger to weddings hosted in unorthodox locations. From extravagant scenery to an average drive-thru wedding, the city has many places to get married.

However, what better location to tie the knot than at the track?

That’s exactly what lucky couple Tori Lindsay and Nick Brendel got to do during the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Busch Light hosted the 10-second “Pit Stop Wedding” after putting out a call to all couples back in August who wished to get married in one of the fastest ceremonies possible, hosted by the Busch Guy himself.

Dressed in fire suits, Tori and Nick said their “I do’s” at Kevin Harvick’s pit stall as the No. 4 team completed their first stop of the race.

“Nick surprised me by proposing during our own pit stop at the NASCAR Hall of Fame while road tripping over the summer, and we could have never imagined that Busch Light would soon be helping us get married at Kevin Harvick’s pit stop in the wedding capital of the world,” Tori said. “This has been a dream come true. The race was one of the best days of our lives, and we are eager to see what the future holds!”

Cheers to the happy couple, who toasted the special occasion with Busch Light.

Posted on by Brandon White

An eventful 2023 season for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour ends on Thursday night at the historic Martinsville Speedway with the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200.

Modifieds have long been intertwined with Martinsville’s proud history since the track first opened its doors to competitive auto racing in 1947. Among those who claimed victories in the early days of Martinsville include many of the discipline’s all-time greats, such as Ray Hendrick, Jerry Cook, Bugs Stevens, Satch Worley and Richie Evans.

When the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour was created in 1985, Martinsville frequently served as a season finale for the division during the 1980s and early 1990s. After being removed and rotated on the schedule several times during the past two decades, Martinsville became the terminus for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour once again last year.

A talented group of drivers are making the trip to Martinsville on Thursday evening for one last opportunity at claiming a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory in 2023, all while the title gets settled between two series mainstays.

Tickets to the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 are available here. Below is everything you need to know for Thursday’s championship race.

Ron Silk leads Justin Bonsignore by 13 points heading into the season-ending Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 at Martinsville Speedway. (Photo: Dakota Moyer/NASCAR)

Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 at Martinsville Speedway

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What to watch for:

Since the first green flag waved at New Smyrna Speedway, the two most dominant drivers in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour this year have been Ron Silk and Justin Bonsignore.

The two series veterans have matched one another in nearly every category. Both have five victories, nearly the same amount of Top 5s and have led more than 625 laps this season.

Silk finds himself leading the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour standings by 13 points ahead of Bonsignore heading into Martinsville Speedway. The gap between the two would have been closer if not for a poor restart by Bonsignore late into the penultimate event at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park that relegated him to a 13th-place finish.

Should Silk hold onto the points lead at Martinsville, he would claim his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour title since the 2011 season. For Bonsignore, he is attempting to claim his fourth championship after last accomplishing that feat in 2021.

MORE MARTINSVILLE: Watch the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 on FloRacing

There will be a plethora of drivers standing in the way of both Silk and Bonsignore as they look to close out potential title runs with a victory. Among the regulars on the star-studded entry list include Matt Hirschman, Austin Beers, and Kyle Bonsignore, all of whom have tallied at least one win in 2023.

Long-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour car owner Danny Watts Jr. is set to retire following the conclusion of Thursday’s Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200. Watts has found success with drivers like Silk, Ted Christopher and Woody Pitkat while in the series and will look to add one more victory with current driver Craig Lutz at Martinsville.

Two members of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers list, NASCAR Cup Series veterans Ryan Newman and Bobby Labonte, are also competing at Martinsville on Thursday. Other notable names set to take the green flag include 2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion and current Cup Series driver Ryan Preece, Patrick Emerling, Burt Myers, Bobby Santos III, Andy Jankowiak and many more.

The complete entry list for the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 can be found here.

The garage area will be crowded at Martinsville Speedway on Thursday with an entry list currently featuring 39 cars. (Photo: Veasey Conway/NASCAR)

RACE FACTS

Race Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200
Date Oct. 26, 2023
Track Martinsville Speedway
Layout 0.526-mile paved oval
Location Martinsville, Virginia
Start time 8 p.m. ET
Laps 200
Posted awards $109,345
Live stream FloRacing (Live)

Schedule: Thursday, Oct. 26 … Final practice from 3 to 4 p.m. ET … Qualifying at 5:30 p.m. ET … Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 at 8 p.m. ET (FloRacing)

Qualifying: Two consecutive qualifying laps. Faster lap determines qualifying position. Adjustments or repairs may not be made on the vehicle after the vehicle has taken the green flag at the start/finish line. NASCAR reserves the right to have more than one vehicle engage in qualifying runs at the same time. Starting field for the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 is limited to 32 starters including Provisional Positions.

Tire allotment: The maximum tire allotment available for this event is twelve (12) tires per team. All tires used for qualifying and the race must be purchased at the track and scanned by Hoosier, unless otherwise approved in advance by the Series Director. Four (4) tires myst be used for qualifying and to begin the race. All qualifying tires must remain in impound until released by NASCAR Officials. The remaining tire allotment may be used for practice and/or change tires during the event. The tire change rule is four (4) tires, any position.

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Ryan Blaney put himself in position to earn the most critical win of his career to date. Those efforts ultimately fell short, but the driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford left Homestead-Miami Speedway in steady shape heading into the final race of the Round of 8.

Blaney led 53 laps in Sunday’s 4EVER 400 and at times appeared set for victory, which would have locked him into his first Championship 4 appearance.

His race changed, however, at Lap 214 coming to pit road under green-flag conditions.

MORE: Race results | At-track photos: Homestead

Blaney was leading Kyle Larson to the pits when Larson tried to carry too much speed behind him. Larson lost control, contacted Blaney’s right-rear bumper and slammed into the sand barrels attenuating the pit wall. That brought out the red flag for cleanup, allowing track conditions to change out of Blaney’s best favor.

“I really didn’t want to see that red flag,” Blaney said. “I would have liked to have just raced it there with Larson because it was hot and a long run to the end and just see who kinda came out of pit road ahead of each other honestly. Proud of the effort. Good day. I thought we had a good shot, just didn’t really work out for us at the end.”

The damage from Larson’s contact was an afterthought for Blaney, who was unaware of Larson’s charge to pit road until much after the fact. He hadn’t seen the damage upon exiting his No. 12 Ford but didn’t notice any change in the car’s handling.

His strength was the long run, he said, proven multiple times as he worked to pick up positions as green-flag laps ticked away.

On the restart that followed Larson’s Miami beach vacation, Blaney restarted from the lead left of Denny Hamlin. Hamlin got the better run through Turns 1 and 2 to snag the lead and a quick caution put Hamlin in control of the next resumption.

The duo lined up inverted from the previous green flag and Hamlin leaned hard on Blaney’s left-side door for multiple laps. That allowed Christopher Bell to power past for the lead before William Byron came through for second. Not long later, a mechanical failure sent Hamlin into the SAFER barrier and ended his day. Blaney was less than pleased with how the veteran 51-time Cup race winner ran him.

“He tried to slide me two or three times and failed miserably and then just decided to use me up,” Blaney said. “I mean if you’re gonna slide somebody, slide somebody and commit. Don’t halfway do it and use me up. So what did he say? Hack? I think he was that today.”

Through frustrating moments and lost track position, Blaney and Co. persevered to a runner-up finish, holding the fourth and final spot above the provisional elimination line with a 10-point buffer to fifth-place Tyler Reddick. Next week’s round finale is set for Martinsville Speedway on Oct. 29 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) — one of Blaney’s best tracks on the Cup Series circuit.

Blaney has yet to win at the 0.526-mile oval, but he owns a 9.5 average finish — his best on any track with three or more starts — with seven top fives and nine top 10s in 15 starts. Still, he’s not willing to write his name into the Championship 4 in pen quite yet.

“You never know,” Blaney said. “I mean it’s nice to go back to a place where you feel like you have somewhat of a clue of how to get around there and kind of know what you need. But at the end of the day, you never know what’s gonna happen. So we had a pretty good run there in the spring and hopefully we can replicate it.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Joe Gibbs Racing teammates and playoff contenders Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. exited Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race within a lap of each other, falling out with separate issues in the late going at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Hamlin’s JGR No. 11 Toyota crashed into the outside retaining wall in Turn 1 with 32 laps left in the 4EVER 400, with the veteran driver telling his crew on the radio that he had encountered a steering issue before the wall contact. Hamlin limped the battered No. 11 back to pit road, and he exited the car unhurt.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos

“We really battled back well today,” Hamlin said after a check at the infield care center. “Just a tough break.”

During the caution period for Hamlin’s wreck, Truex’s No. 19 Toyota showed signs of smoke as it circulated behind the pace car. Truex told his crew that he felt the engine was failing, and he also headed to the pits to end his day.

Hamlin finished 30th in the 36-car field, retiring 31 laps shy of the full 267-lap distance. Truex completed just one more lap than Hamlin and was credited with 29th.

Both drivers sit 17 points below the provisional elimination line in the Cup Series Playoffs picture, heading to Sunday’s Xfinity 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM, NBC Sports App) at Martinsville Speedway. The 500-lapper is the final race in the Round of 8, and the title-eligible field will be whittled from eight drivers to the four who will race for the Cup Series crown in the Nov. 5 finale at Phoenix Raceway.

Two spots remain in the Championship 4 field. Kyle Larson clinched his title-race berth with a win Oct. 15 at Las Vegas, and Christopher Bell — a teammate to Hamlin and Truex at JGR — snapped up another spot by winning Sunday’s race at Homestead.

Hamlin has reached the Championship 4 in four of the last five seasons. Truex, the Regular Season Champion this year, has made the final four on five occasions.

Posted on by Alex Cadavid

After the eighth race of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs concluded at Homestead-Miami Speedway, here’s a quick look at the playoff picture.

WINNER

Christopher Bell took the checkered flag to win at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Bell was almost out of contention for the win before a red flag caused by Kyle Larson’s crash eventually brought him into the top three with 38 laps to go. After struggling with handling all day, the short-run speed paid off for Bell as he was able to make a crucial pass on William Byron for the win.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos

WHO’S HOT?

Ryan Blaney. After a mix of emotions last week, Blaney was rejuvenated and quick at Homestead. After going top-three fastest in practice, Blaney continued to ride the wall, grabbing a stage win and finished second. He has some newfound momentum heading into Martinsville above the elimination line. 

William Byron. After a quiet weekend in Las Vegas, Byron roared back to the front in Homestead. Byron steadily improved all weekend at Homestead. He was a threat to win all race long but managed to net a fourth-place finish, keeping him red-hot in the playoffs.

RELATED: Full playoff standings

WHO’S NOT?

Denny Hamlin. Hamlin ran strong all weekend and even looked like a threat to win in Miami. However, a late race run-in with the wall due to an apparent mechanical issue in his car took him out of the lead. He would finish 30th. There is hope in next week’s race at Martinsville, a track where Hamlin has three top-five finishes in his last five starts and five career wins overall. He may need a sixth win there to advance to the Championship 4.

Martin Truex Jr. Truex and the No. 19 team continue to face major challenges in these playoffs. A late engine issue took him out of the race after he ran most of the day inside the top 10. Like Hamlin, Truex is 17 points below the elimination line with one race to go before the Championship 4 is set. 

NEXT RACE

The Round of 8 concludes at Martinsville Speedway for the Xfinity 500 on Oct. 29 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

BUBBLE WATCH

RankDriverCutoff
1Kyle LarsonWIN
2Christopher BellWIN
3William Byron30
4Ryan Blaney10
ELIMINATION LINE
5Tyler Reddick-10
6Martin Truex Jr-17
7Denny Hamlin-17
8Chris Buescher-43

Posted on by Holly Cain

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — In one of the most thrilling NASCAR Cup Series Playoff races of the season, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell rallied from a frustrating race start to lead the final 16 laps of Sunday’s 4EVER 400 presented by Mobil 1 at Homestead-Miami Speedway to earn a second straight appearance in the Championship 4.

Bell, who only made his first appearance inside the top five with less than 50 laps remaining, got around a pair of the day’s front-runners in the final laps to blaze to the lead in the No. 20 JGR Toyota and claim that automatic championship admission ticket. It’s the 28-year-old Oklahoma native’s second win of the season — sixth of his career — and the first of the season’s eight playoff races to date.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Last year Bell famously pulled off a walk-off victory in the regular-season finale at Martinsville Speedway to claim his first NASCAR Cup Series championship bid, ultimately finishing third in the title run. His win Sunday had that same rally feel and he now joins last week’s winner, Kyle Larson, as the only two playoff drivers set for the title run with one race remaining to decide the other two.

Bell led fellow playoff driver Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney to the Homestead checkered flag by 1.651 seconds, just ahead of two more playoff drivers — 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick and Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron. Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top five.

“I’ve got the best team behind me, honestly I don’t know (how we did it), that race was a whirlwind,” Bell said. “I was about ready to throw the towel in during that second stage, I got really frustrated. But (crew chief) Adam Stevens kept after it and gave me what I needed. Whenever we got some clean air, this thing was really good.

“I cannot say how proud I am to be here with our partners, driving these Toyota Camrys. Thank you to everyone who supported me. This is better than a dream come true.”

SHOP: Winner’s gear

Although disappointed to not secure the win after leading 53 laps, Blaney said, “We were trying, we just needed laps. The long-run car was really good. I just couldn’t fire off for 10 laps or so. I think the track cooling off (during the red flag) helped those guys. I think we were better in the hotter, slicker conditions when fire-off speed didn’t matter as much and it fell off quicker. That played into our benefit.

“We ran out of laps a little bit,” he added. “I am proud of the effort. It was a really good day, we just got beat a little bit there at the end.”

It was certainly the cap to a thrilling final 40 laps of competition to cap off the sunny South Florida afternoon.

In a matter of five minutes during those closing laps, Bell took the race lead and two of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates also in the playoffs — Denny Hamlin and Regular Season Champion Martin Truex Jr. — fell out the race with major problems. Hamlin’s No. 11 JGR Toyota slammed into the Turn 1 wall. And as the field slowed for that caution period, Truex turned down pit road and told the team his car “might be blowing up.”

As Hamlin sat on pit wall, disappointed and speaking with his crew, Truex turned the engine off and the crew pushed his No. 19 JGR Toyota into the garage. Both playoff drivers were done for the day and dropped below the crucial top-four threshold that will advance to the Nov. 5 Championship 4 race in Phoenix. Truex was scored 29th and Hamlin 30th.

All of it making for an even more intense race at the 0.526-mile Martinsville Speedway next week that will formally set the four-driver NASCAR Cup Series championship field.

“We tried and it just didn’t work out,” an obviously disappointed Hamlin said.

“It shows you how hard our sport is, that’s two cars and we had been up front,” JGR team owner Joe Gibbs said. “It also shows you in sports — particularly in ours with that 20 car (Bell) — it shows never to stop fighting.”

Christopher Bell's No. 20 Toyota in the high groove at Homestead-Miami Speedway
Sean Gardner | Getty Images

With only Martinsville remaining, Byron now sits 30 points ahead of the championship elimination line with Blaney in fourth place — 10 points up on Reddick. Bell’s JGR teammates Truex and Hamlin are now both 17 points below the line.

Among the eight playoff drivers, RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher — a three-race winner this season — struggled the most, going two laps down midway through the second stage and never cracking the top 20. He’s now in eighth place, 43 points back with a 21st-place finish Sunday and will need to win the Martinsville race to advance to his first Championship 4.

One of the more unusual incidents of the entire season — let alone the playoffs — happened during a green-flag pit stop and involved Blaney and Larson, who were running first and second at the time with 53 laps remaining.

As their two cars approached pit road, Blaney slowed significantly, and Larson was still going faster directly behind him. While trying to avoid ramming into the back of Blaney’s Ford, Larson turned his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy to the right and went full-on into the sand-filled protective barriers at pit entrance causing them to explode with sand.

MORE: Larson out after pit-wall hit | Cup Series Playoffs standings

It caused enough damage on Larson’s car that he drove to the garage and the team retired it. Blaney was able to finish his pit stop and make his way back on track. He reassumed the lead when the rest of the cars stopped after a nearly 13-minute red-flag period.

“I need to look at data,” said an apologetic Larson, who finished 34th despite leading a race-best 96 of the 267 laps. “I knew where the yellow line was but on the replay it looked like I missed it by a lot. So I need to look at data. I knew where the yellow line was and I was under control getting there and then he just slowed down, I locked the brakes, clipped him and hit the barrels.

“I’m upset with myself more than anything. Whether he got to pit-road speed sooner than the yellow line or not, I could have just done a little better job. I hope they’re able to recover and he can get a good finish or the win and get the finish he (Blaney) deserves. Just a bummer. I thought we had a great car today and just made a mistake.”

23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace, Joe Gibbs Racing rookie Ty Gibbs, Team Penske’s Joey Logano, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola and Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon rounded out the top 10.

The NASCAR Cup Series moves to the famed Martinsville Speedway half-miler for next Sunday’s Xfinity 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) to close out this round of competition and determine the Championship 4 competitors for the Nov. 5 Phoenix season finale. Larson won the Cup Series’ most recent race at Martinsville in April.

NOTE: Post-race inspection was completed without issue in the Cup Series garage, confirming Christopher Bell as the winner. The Nos. 8 and 23 will go back to the R&D Center for further inspection.

Posted on by Staff Report

Kyle Larson found trouble in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs race, crashing into the pit-road entrance wall in the final stage at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet smacked the sand barrels protecting the pit-wall abutment in the 213th of a scheduled 267 laps in the 4EVER 400 presented by Mobil 1, the eighth event of the 10-race playoffs. Larson was in second place, following race leader Ryan Blaney onto pit road at the time of the wreck, but he carried too much speed on his approach and skidded into the barrier.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos

“I’m sorry,” Larson told his crew on the radio. “I did not expect him to slow down that much.”

After repairs, Larson continued for a handful of laps before driving the No. 5 Chevy to the Cup Series garage, ending his race. The incident forced the race to be red-flagged for track workers to replace the protective barrels.

Larson was checked and released from the infield care center. He led three times for a race-high 96 laps and was credited with 34th place in the 36-car field.

“I was just trying to push it as much as I could,” Larson said. “He (Blaney) had a great car and I felt like if he was to come off pit road the leader, he was going to end up winning the race or beating me. I was just trying to maximize my pit-in, and honestly I felt like I was doing a really good job. I just didn’t anticipate him slowing down as much as he did. But on the replay, it looks like I just missed it by a lot. I need to look at data. I knew where the yellow line was and thought I was going to be under control getting there, and then yeah, he just slowed down – I locked the brakes up, slid to the right and clipped him and the barrels.

“I’m pretty upset at myself, more than anything. Whether he got to pit-road speed sooner than the yellow line or not, I could have just done a little bit better job judging it. I hope they are able to recover. I hope he can get a good finish or get a win and get the finish that he deserves. Just a bummer, but we had a great No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevy today.”

Sunday’s race is the second of three events in the Round of 8, and the postseason field will be trimmed from eight championship-eligible drivers to four after next weekend’s round finale at Martinsville Speedway. Those four will race for the Cup Series title in the Nov. 5 season finale at Phoenix Raceway.

Larson entered the event as the only driver clinched in the Championship 4 round. He will be joined in the title-eligible field at Phoenix by Christopher Bell, who prevailed in Sunday’s race at Homestead-Miami by holding off eventual runner-up Blaney for the championship-race berth.

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — The unique teal walls of Homestead-Miami Speedway are usually dotted with black paint scrapes by the end of a NASCAR race weekend.

Don’t expect anything different after Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at the 1.5-mile South Floridian oval.

The highest racing line up against the SAFER barrier is a tool drivers have found to build significant speed, most times inches away from contact — and sometimes those drivers overstep it.

MORE: Homestead schedule | Starting lineup

Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick have built quite the reputations for themselves as elite wall riders, most notably with Larson dominating the 2022 event to lead 199 of 267 laps en route to his first Homestead victory. Reddick ripped the fence on his way to two championships in the NASCAR Xfinity Series when the title was decided in Homestead.

“It seems to be how I’ve figured out how to go fast here,” Larson said Saturday. “You have to be comfortable against the wall and I know there’s a lot of drivers that aren’t that comfortable against it. So that gives guys like myself and (Tyler) Reddick an advantage when we come here.”

Reddick got the edge on Larson in qualifying, placing his No. 45 Toyota third on the starting grid ahead of Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet in fifth. In a Tuesday teleconference, Reddick explained that test sessions around the track, when he was competing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, offered more learning moments, helping him excel at the asphalt’s outer limits.

“Obviously, I ran trucks a couple of years and always ran good at Homestead in a truck. So it already seemed like we were in a pretty good spot,” Reddick said. “I could kind of run the fence, but certainly when I was a rookie in the Xfinity Series and you would get that one or two tests, I think I got to test there and it was a big deal. It made me a lot better as a driver. Especially with the composite body coming in, I just got to go up there and wear the wall out and get a good read on what it can handle and what it can’t.”

Tyler Reddick runs near the wall during NASCAR Cup Series practice at Homestead-Miami Speedway
Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Studios

That experience has paid off at the Cup level. He has two top-five finishes in three Cup starts but crashed out of last year’s event, the first in a Next Gen car.

“I think we were probably going to run fourth or fifth. But I could not run the wall very good,” Reddick said. “I think that was more of just product of where our car was on that day. Unfortunately, the closer I got to the wall, the worse it handled.”

Like Reddick, lessons learned from early Homestead-Miami visits guided Larson to the high ground — and some of those lessons were taught from a competitor.

“I remember when I ran the truck race here in 2012, that was my first time here,” Larson recalled. “We had a really good race and led some of it. I got to battle with Kyle Busch for a while. I was running fairly high and then he passed me and stuck his hand out the window and told me to get higher, so I just started running as high as I could.

“There were points in the corner where I’d get really close to the wall and once you do that a few times, you can feel the effect that the right side of the car has against the wall. So then over time, you start pushing it — entering higher and you start getting to the wall at an earlier point in the corner and eventually, you just end up running up next to the wall the whole lap.”

Needless to say, their modern-day opponents have taken note of what Larson and Reddick have been able to do around the top of the race track. Ryan Blaney, a fellow competitor in the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Playoffs, admires their capabilities but also cautioned the wall may not be the end-all, be-all toward checkered-flag glory.

“This is a place where you are going to have two or three guys that are super good at it,” Blaney said. “Larson is ridiculous here at it. Reddick runs really good here at it. Then you will have one or two other guys that kind of pop in and can rip the fence pretty good right on it. But you have to make it work off the fence too. I think it depends on what your car is doing and a lot of it is confidence in how well you can run it.

“I think Larson runs it no matter what his car is doing just because he is really good at doing it. I like to think that I am pretty decent at it. I am not Larson level — not even close. Nobody is. I am fairly confident, though, and I am more about getting my car working to what I need it to do to run up on that fence.”

Reddick drives for 23XI Racing, co-owned by fellow competitor Denny Hamlin, who is also a good friend of Larson’s. Hamlin has found his fair share of success against the wall with three Homestead wins and four at Darlington Raceway.

“Certainly, the closer you can get with a certain amount of speed is advantageous,” Hamlin said. “There’s a little bit of a buffer there with the amount of air between the car and wall to stay there, but then that bubble can burst, and it can go wrong, going into the wall. It’s a very fine line and a lot of the time, it’s also dependent on the body of the car. Some bodies are better off doing that than others because of how aerodynamics wrap around the car.”

Larson is already locked into the Championship 4 via last week’s victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. But Reddick and the six other Round of 8 competitors will look to ride the Homestead high line into the title race on Sunday afternoon (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).