BRISTOL, Tenn. — Multiple sets of championship-contending teammates collided in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs opened Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.
JR Motorsports housemates crashed in Turn 1 at Lap 167 after a flat right-front tire sent Josh Berry into Sam Mayer, eliminating both from the race. Brandon Jones, who missed the postseason by one spot in last week’s regular-season finale at Kansas Speedway, was just behind Berry and was collected in the melee before his vehicle’s eventual retirement.
Fifty laps later at Lap 217, Sheldon Creed contacted the left-rear quarter panel of Austin Hill, his teammate at Richard Childress Racing. That sent Hill spinning down the frontstretch, his No. 21 Chevrolet nosing into the inside wall before sliding back across the track into Turn 1.
The JRM collision erased three cars in one swoop, Berry’s flat tire the result of tight racing between the teammates. Tight, close-quarters racing led Berry’s right-front tire to rub against the left-side door of Mayer’s car, cutting the No. 8 Chevrolet’s tire and sending Berry into Mayer, the outside SAFER barrier and into the path of Jones, who had nowhere to go but under the rear of Berry’s car.
Mayer and Berry spoke briefly in the infield care center before speaking with reporters, allowing Berry to explain exactly what went wrong.
“I got to actually talk to Josh so I’m not gonna say anything stupid now,” Mayer said. “But obviously very frustrating and unfortunate way to end a solid day. We were getting better and better as we went. I think by the end of it, we were gonna be right there and able to make something happen. I don’t know if we had race-winning speed yet. We obviously didn’t survive long enough to tell but just unfortunate.
“Obviously, he said he cut a tire down so that’s just part of it. But I mean, racing that hard at the end of Stage 2 for no reason, I mean, it’s not really a veteran move in my opinion. But what do I know I guess?”
Mayer’s relationship with Berry dates back to his racing upbringing in late models, where Berry mentored Mayer through the years. That connection may help smooth over issues sooner than if they weren’t as close previously.
“I think because we have a relationship like that and we’ve known each other for so long, raced each other at different levels, I think that’s an excuse where I can be hard on him,” Mayer said. “And he can be hard on me. He’s been hard on me in the past and I’ve learned hard lessons because of it. And I think this isn’t really a lesson-learning accident; it’s just one of those deals that you’ve got to chalk up to unfortunate. I mean, I know Josh. He’s not malicious. So it’s not like he wanted to take all of us out of raw intent, but just unfortunate.”
Berry backed that up, noting the nature of racing around the high banks of Bristol.
“I mean, there’s no ill intent there, right?” Berry said. “I mean, we’re just racing. I was running the bottom. He’s running the top right. Like I said, without seeing if there was some prior contact or something that cut the tire down or what, right, but yeah, I didn’t just go in there and wipe him out.”
The team meeting at JRM will surely be tough, but so too will be that of RCR’s.
Creed washed up on corner exit of Turn 4 and simply clipped the left-rear corner of Hill’s car to send him sliding. Hill, the Regular Season Champion, declined to speak to the media after he was evaluated and released from the infield care center, but Creed explained what happened from his perspective.
“Obviously, it wasn’t my intention to come off the corner and get him in the left rear,” Creed said. “I didn’t think we were going to come together. I’d just seen the replay on a phone. I came up off the bottom onto the straightaway, but he also maybe had a couple feet to the wall. So I don’t know. It’s on me, right? I’m the one trying to make the pass and I’m the one on the bottom of the race track, so yeah, we’ll have to talk about it.
“He’s gonna be pissed. Austin doesn’t take things like this easy. So yeah, we’ll have to have a tough conversation and move forward.”
Zach Sturniolo | NASCAR Studios
Creed said he and Hill are “really good friends” but understands that won’t ease the frustrations of a DNF in the opening race of the postseason.
“He’s gonna be mad and he should be,” Creed said. “It sucks to spin him like that.”
By night’s end, Hill remains fourth in points, 17 points above Creed for the final spot above the provisional elimination line. Creed indeed holds that eighth spot for the provisional Round of 8, with Mayer 10th (-10 points) and Berry 12th (-24).
The NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs continue at Texas Motor Speedway on Sept. 23 at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and the NBC Sports App.
BRISTOL, Tenn. – On an ambivalent night for JR Motorsports, Justin Allgaier took advantage of a brilliant strategic call by crew chief Jim Pohlman to win Friday night’s Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway, the first event in the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs.
Charging from 13th after restart on Lap 257 of 300, Allgaier passed Daniel Hemric for the lead on Lap 288 and pulled away to win by 1.695 seconds, securing a spot in the Round of 8 of the Playoffs.
Allgaier also broke news in Victory Lane, announcing off the cuff that he had re-signed for another season with JR Motorsports.
That was the good news. In a rare appearance as a driver team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. led 47 laps before pulling off the track on lap 271 with a fireball in his car licking at his firesuit. Earnhardt made a quick exit and finished 30th.
And that was after three JR Motorsports cars were eliminated from the race in the same wreck.
Without hesitation, Pohlman called Allgaier to the pits when Josh Bilicki’s spin in Turn 1 caused the sixth and final caution on Lap 248. Allgaier rocketed through the field until he caught Hemric, harrying the driver of the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet until he slipped past with just over 12 laps left.
The victory was Allgaier’s second at the 0.533-mile short track and his first since his initial Xfinity Series win in 2010. Between victories, Allgaier led plenty of laps but couldn’t return to Victory Lane — until Friday night.
“This team has done an amazing job at this race track since I started at JR Motorsports,” Allgaier said. “We led a lot of laps, and the monkey was definitely on our back. The pit strategy there… coming down pit road by myself was nerve-wracking, right?
“I’m speechless, man. This place, Jim Pohlman and I circled this place on our calendar when we started the year, before we ever even took a green flag lap, we said we want to win Bristol. Man, we won Bristol! It’s Bristol, baby — let’s go!”
The victory was Allgaier’s third of the season and 22nd of his career.
Hemric floundered early in the race until the top lane came in. Then his car came to life.
“We had just enough race car there that once the top came in, I was going to live by it,” Hemric said. “I thought it would be OK. I thought if I could hold the 7 (Allgaier) off to get to that next group of traffic maybe I’d have a chance to at least race him down in the last five or 10 laps.
“Yeah, the tires were just too much there. Him and Dale Jr. had the best cars all night. So yeah, proud of this group. We definitely stole a finish tonight but came a long way through traffic.”
Playoff drivers John Hunter Nemechek, Cole Custer and Chandler Smith finished third through fifth, respectively. Custer led 109 laps, one fewer than Allgaier.
A four-car wreck in Turn 1 on Lap 167 sidelined three JR Motorsports cars, two of them driven by playoff contenders Josh Berry and Sam Mayer. After slight side-to-side contact with the No. 1 Chevrolet of Mayer, Berry’s No. 8 Chevy cut a right front tire and turned up the track into Mayer, knocking him into the outside wall.
As if that weren’t enough drama, Earnhardt ran in or near the lead until his car began to smoke with 30 laps left.
“The shifter tunnel column was on fire,” Earnhardt explained. “I saw some smoke in the car, and I felt that I was like, ‘Hopefully that’s not me,’ but it was. That last lap, I saw a big fireball down in the tunnel of the car and I felt it.
“Obviously, my uniform was burning up. I was like, ‘I can’t keep going. I got to stop.’ And usually when you stop the fire gets bigger.
“So I pulled over by the pit stall and some of the guys were pretty alert, and they helped me out. We were going to finish with a top 10, maybe top five. We had a shot at winning it, if the car was going to run good at the end.”
Mayer, Berry, Parker Kligerman (who lost 53 laps under repairs in the garage) and Jeb Burton (who started from the rear in a backup car and finished 13th) all dropped below the cut line for the Round of 8 as the series heads for the second Round of 12 playoff race on Sept. 23 at Texas Motor Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET, USA, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
NOTE: Post-race inspection concluded without issue in the Xfinity Series garage, confirming Justin Allgaier as the winner
See where drivers will pit for Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway (6:30 p.m. ET, USA, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
Christopher Bell won the pole for Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series Round of 16 playoff race at Bristol Motor Speedway (6:30 p.m. ET, USA, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) with a hot lap of 126.997 mph.
It’s the third consecutive pole for the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and he’s the first driver to sweep the pole awards in the opening round of the playoffs.
Bell’s JGR teammate Denny Hamlin just missed the pole by .008 seconds with a 126.93 mph and joins Bell on the front row.
“It doesn’t get much closer than that—that’s crazy tight,” Bell said of his margin over Hamlin. (But) 500 laps (on Saturday) is an awfully long time. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that qualifying means nothing for the race.”
Bell knows whereof he speaks. After winning poles at Darlington and Kansas in the first two playoff races, Bell finished 23rd and eighth, respectively. As a result, he has a 13-point margin over Truex, the first driver below the current cutoff for the Round of 12.
William Byron, Michael McDowell and Martin Truex Jr. completed the top five. Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott, rookie Ty Gibbs, Bubba Wallace and Corey LaJoie rounded out the top 10 in Friday night’s qualifying session.
Ryan Blaney was the quickest of drivers to miss the final round of qualifying and starts 11th on Saturday night. Tyler Reddick will start 12th. A handful of playoff drivers will have work to do in the race as Kyle Busch starts 15th, Chris Buescher rolls off 20th, Kevin Harvick starts 21st, Ross Chastain starts 23rd, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. starts 25th and Joey Logano starts 28th.
Kyle Larson, who was fast in practice, got loose during his first qualifying lap and didn’t have to momentum to improve on his second lap and will start last.
Practice
Larson put down the quickest time in Friday’s lone practice session with a 126.353 circuit around the Tennessee short track. Buescher (125.724 mph) and Wallace (125.142 mph) were top three while Gibbs and Bell rounded out the top five.
Gibbs backed up his fast lap by topping the board with the best 10 consecutive lap average along with Buescher, Byron, Bell and Wallace dropping top-five averages.
Harvick and Blaney did not have great practice sessions. Still seeking to clinch spots in the Round of 12, the two were at the bottom of the top 20 on single-lap speed and both were outside the top 20 in 10 consecutive lap average.
We’re bringing you live updates covering Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race from Bristol Motor Speedway, the Bass Pro Shops Night Race (6:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App). Bookmark this page and check back often as we chronicle the action from ‘The Last Great Colosseum.’
Overview:
Iconic NASCAR short track Bristol Motor Speedway hosts the 500-lap Round of 16 playoff elimination race Saturday night.
Among the 16 playoff contenders, four drivers will leave Bristol eliminated from the championship fight. And, considering Bristol is famously known for its full-contact short-track racing action, expect some flared tempers and hurt feelings. Bristol, baby!
By virtue of their Round of 16 race wins, Kyle Larson (Darlington) and Tyler Reddick (Kansas) are safe from elimination; the other 14 drivers will battle for the remaining 10 available spots. See our guide to clinch scenarios—or, to consider things more simply, winning the race would automatically advance a playoff driver to the next round, regardless of points. Just win at Bristol … easy enough, right?
This weekend marks the Cup Series’ lone stop on Bristol’s traditional concrete surface in 2023. Back in April, dirt-racing expert Christopher Bell won on the track’s dirt-covered surface; shortly afterward, cleanup began to return the track to its usual non-dirt format—the one that’ll set the Round of 12 Saturday.
Links to keep handy:
Bristol playoff race 101, an overview of all things Bristol, from NASCAR.com’s Cameron Richardson.
What to Watch: a guide breaking down what you can expect to see Saturday night, courtesy of our colleague Kobe Lambeth.
Keep up with the action on the go with NASCAR Mobile, watch live in-car cameras with NASCAR Drive, and follow along with live leaderboards and scanner audio with Race Center.
Live standings to answer the question of who’s in and who’s out all night long.
If it helps to get you in the mood, you can check out past Bristol races ad-free on NASCAR Classics.
All times listed are Eastern.
Saturday, September 16
10:45 p.m.: That’ll do it for our live blog this evening. Up next? Texas Motor Speedway kicks off the Round of 12 next Sunday (3:30 p.m., USA Network). Expect playoff drivers to bring their A-game in order to avoid the treachery of Talladega and the Charlotte Roval lying ahead.
10:38 p.m.: Eliminated, but he’s still got time for the fans.
10:27 p.m.: How about some strong runs from non-playoff drivers? Ty Gibbs picks up a career-best-tying fifth-place finish. Carson Hocevar came home 11th, his career-best result and the best finish for the No. 42 car in 2023. Ryan Preece finished 12th for his second-best run of the year.
10:23 p.m.: Your Round of 12: William Byron, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Chris Buescher, Kyle Busch, Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, Ross Chastain, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace.
10:19 p.m., checkered flag: Denny Hamlin’s out of the car after performing some smoky burnouts. “I beat your favorite driver,” he says to a crowd of mixed cheers and boos in his victory interview with NBC Sports.
10:18 p.m., checkered flag: Eliminated Ricky Stenhouse Jr. congratulates Bubba Wallace on advancing.
10:17 p.m., checkered flag: Martin Truex Jr. and Bubba Wallace narrowly advance to the Round of 12, which consists of Texas, Talladega, and the Charlotte Roval.
10:14 p.m., checkered flag: The playoffs are over for Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Michael McDowell, despite top-10 finishes tonight for the latter two. For Logano, a defending champ has never been eliminated in the Round of 16 until now.
10:13 p.m., Lap 500: Denny Hamlin has won the Bass Pro Shops Night Race, his 51st career victory. It’s his third win of 2023.
10:10 p.m., Lap 490: Just 10 laps to go for Denny Hamlin. He’s got a nearly two-second lead over Kyle Larson.
10:08 p.m., Lap 480: I think regardless of who wins tonight, it’s a win for the Vortex Theory. The cars definitely kept those raindrops away from the track this time. Science, baby!
10:07 p.m., Lap 475: With 25 laps to go, here’s the bubble picture. Time is running out.
10:03 p.m., Lap 463: Denny Hamlin has lapped up to 13th place. Playoff drivers off the lead lap include Bubba Wallace (-1), Tyler Reddick (-1), Martin Truex Jr. (-2), Kyle Busch (-2), Ryan Blaney (-2), Ross Chastain (-3), Kevin Harvick (-5), Joey Logano (out).
9:57 p.m., Lap 442: It’s still Denny’s show.
Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Studios
9:49 p.m., Lap 410: Now within the final 100 laps in the Round of 16, Christopher Bell and Brad Keselowski have clinched spots in the Round of 12. Regardless of what happens for the rest of the night, they’re safe. They join Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick.
9:45 p.m., Lap 395: Leader Denny Hamlin has reached quite a milestone: he’s now led 14,000 laps in his Cup Series career. That’s a lot of time spent out front.
9:41 p.m., Lap 379: It must be agonizing out there for Michael McDowell; he’s run in the top 10 most of the race—a more than solid night—but he’s still stuck double-digit points on the wrong side of the playoff bubble. He’ll almost certainly need to make his way from sixth to win in order to keep the underdog’s championship hopes alive.
9:37 p.m., Lap 368: Following a round of pit stops under caution, Denny Hamlin’s back up front with Kyle Larson. Ty Gibbs has fallen to fifth. Keep an eye on Chris Buescher restarting on the second row; remember, he’s the defending race winner and he’s visited Victory Lane three times this season.
9:32 p.m., Lap 361: Caution No. 6. Just after going a lap down, Martin Truex Jr. gets out of shape and tags the wall. That’ll cost him the free pass and there’s a bit of damage to the right-rear of his Toyota. Remember, MTJ needs a good run after poor runs at Darlington and Kansas.
9:32 p.m., Lap 360: Denny Hamlin and Ty Gibbs have been swapping the lead back and forth as the duo approaches their teammate Martin Truex Jr. to put the No. 19 a lap down.
9:29 p.m., Lap 350: Heading into tonight’s event, Ty Gibbs had led a total of 12 laps in his young NASCAR Cup Series career. So far in this race alone, he’s led 95 laps and counting.
9:25 p.m., Lap 335: Erik Jones has fallen from 12th on the restart to 29th and seems to be battling an issue with his No. 43 car.
9:24 p.m., Lap 332: You’re missing out if you’re not following along with live in-car cameras from NASCAR Drive. Here’s what Bubba Wallace is seeing out his window as he’s fighting to secure a spot in the Round of 12.
9:16 p.m., Lap 305: Ty Gibbs is still getting it done up front as he puts Ryan Blaney a lap down in 24th. It’s not a great night for Team Penske, but Blaney’s got a halfway-decent points cushion that should get him through Bristol barring a major issue in the next 200 laps.
9:12 p.m., Lap 288: We’ve reached that gritty part of the race. Bumpers, tempers, scrapes … that typical Bristol stuff. It doesn’t get any less frantic from here, folks, so buckle up.
9:08 p.m., Lap 272: We’re back to green with Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Ty Gibbs and Denny Hamlin up front.
9:03 p.m., Lap 266: It’s terminal for the No. 22. Joey Logano has driven his heavily-damaged Ford behind the wall, and he’s done for the night. He’ll need a miracle to defend his title.
Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Studios
9:01 p.m., Lap 262: Caution No. 5. Corey LaJoie goes for a spin and slides back up the track into Ryan Newman, Justin Haley, Ty Dillon and Joey Logano. This could have serious playoff implications for Logano.
8:58 p.m., Lap 259: Good news if you’re a fan of Denny Hamlin or William Byron: with Stage 2 points awarded, they’ve officially advanced to the Round of 12, regardless of finishing position tonight. That’s a nice sigh of relief for those two.
8:55 p.m., Lap 256: Ty Gibbs will pick up the lead after a lightning-fast stop by the No. 54 team.
8:51 p.m., Lap 251: Caution No. 4. Christopher Bell picks up the Stage 2 win. Kyle Busch fought tooth and nail to stay on the lead lap, and he’ll look to dig out of his current 23rd-place running position in the second half of the race.
8:44 p.m., Lap 225: How about Carson Hocevar? Bristol’s a tough, tough place, and the 20-year-old runs seventh in just his fourth Cup Series start. He’s punching well above his weight in the Legacy Motor Club No. 42; he just passed William Byron, who’s won five races this year.
8:42 p.m., Lap 220: Don’t forget to adjust your Fantasy Live garage picks if you need.
8:38 p.m., Lap 202: Christopher Bell has made his way back to the point with laps winding down in Stage 2. The No. 20 is going for all of the points tonight.
Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Studios
8:37 p.m., Lap 200: The playoff bubble battle is wild right now. With low-ranked drivers running well (McDowell in fourth and Stenhouse in 11th) and higher-ranked drivers running poorly (like Harvick in 32nd), nobody’s safe … and nobody’s out of it yet.
8:32 p.m., Lap 178: From the top groove of the track to the top of the leaderboard, Kyle Larson takes over the top spot from C-Bell. Larson’s already locked into the Round of 12 due to his win at Darlington earlier this month.
8:29 p.m., Lap 172: Defending series champ Joey Logano (32nd place) cedes his lead-lap position to Christopher Bell. Up next to lap for Bell? Kevin Harvick and Ross Chastain. Miserable nights for these playoff contenders so far.
8:25 p.m., Lap 155: I know the playoff battle is what everybody’s talking about tonight, but how about Ty Gibbs in second place? The rookie walked out to “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” by Simple Minds in driver introductions. Apt!
8:22 p.m., Lap 141: We’re back to green! Welcome to Stage 2. Christopher Bell leads.
8:19 p.m., Lap 138: Cars are again rolling off pit road. Nice work, track-drying team.
8:11 p.m., Lap 137: While we’ve got a moment, let’s take a peek at the current playoff picture after pit stops, shall we?
8:04 p.m., Lap 137: Cue the sad trombone. A small cell of precipitation has wet the track and forced cars to pit road, and we’re now under a red flag condition. But, never fear; the track-drying crew has already sprung into action.
Cars have been brought to pit road due to rain at @ItsBristolBaby.
7:55 p.m., Lap 128: It’s not a fun time if you’re Joey Logano (24th) or Kevin Harvick (29th), two playoff contenders who have their hands full with ill-handling cars. If you’re watching the live standings, you’ll notice these two have fallen below the cut line, while Martin Truex Jr. and Bubba Wallace are back in the top dozen … for now.
7:53 p.m., Lap 125: Caution No. 3. That’ll do it for Stage 1; it’s Christopher Bell’s stage win and playoff point. Corey LaJoie, Bubba Wallace, William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Ross Chastain, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr. and Ty Gibbs join Bell in picking up stage points.
7:51 p.m., Lap 119: Christopher Bell takes over the top spot, and he’s setting his sights on a stage win.
7:50 p.m., Lap 115: Those raindrops didn’t do much, and we’re back to green! Corey LaJoie’s still pacing the field.
7:46 p.m., Lap 109: Among those pitting under the caution is Kevin Harvick, who’s battling a tight car. The No. 4 fell all the way to 28th on the previous run after changing two tires. That won’t cut the Round of 12 mustard, so it’s time for Rodney Childers and team to make some adjustments.
7:43 p.m., Lap 106: Caution No. 2. Apparently, the Vortex Theory can’t stave off all the raindrops.
7:41 p.m., Lap 100: The no-tire call seems to be working out well for Corey LaJoie up front. He’s now led 29 laps. Can he pull off the stage win?
7:35 p.m., Lap 77: Green flag is back in the air. The top six—Corey LaJoie, Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano and Todd Gilliland—opted to stay out. It’ll be up to Michael McDowell and Christopher Bell to pick their way through to the front on fresh tires.
7:33 p.m., Lap 75: Busted! Denny Hamlin’s headed to the tail of the field for speeding on pit road under caution. That’s tough to swallow after running second.
7:30 p.m., Lap 70: Caution No. 1. AJ Allmendinger pounded the wall, and Austin Cindric, well, pounded Allmendinger.
7:28 p.m., Lap 65: As we pass the halfway point of Stage 1, how about Michael McDowell? He’s running third—still 10 points below the cut line—but it’s a great start for the No. 34.
7:23 p.m., Lap 50: Denny Hamlin’s following in teammate Christopher Bell’s tracks up front.
Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Studios
7:18 p.m., Lap 27: It didn’t take long for the leaders to catch lapped traffic, but that’ll happen at a half-mile bullring. Slower cars will cause headaches for the top cars all night long.
7:14 p.m., Lap 15: Before we get too far into this thing, you might want to pull up our live standings to keep an eye on the points situation this evening.
7:11 p.m., Lap 1: Green flag! Christopher Bell brings ‘em to the start, just like he’s done for every playoff race this season.
7:09 p.m.: Cars are rolling again! Let’s put Darrell Waltrip’s “Vortex Theory” to the test.
6:58 p.m.: After a few pace laps, the field has pulled onto pit road to wait out some precipitation.
6:45 p.m.: Drivers are seated in their cars. Can you imagine the nerves?
6:25 p.m.: Pre-race ceremonies are underway and it’s just about time to fire up those engines.
6:14 p.m.: You’ve set your Fantasy Live lineups, right? Here’s who I’ve got (Harvick, Byron, Larson, Gibbs, Elliott; Truex in the garage). Promise you won’t poke too much fun if this all goes south, OK? Anything can happen at Bristol.
6:00 p.m.: Good evening! It’s almost time to set the Round of 12. Tune in for some short-track action at 6:30 p.m. ET on USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio or the NBC Sports App. Or tune in on all of them, no judgment here.
Friday, September 15
6:50 p.m.: That’s it for the Cup Series on-track action this evening, but stick around for the Xfinity Series Playoffs opener from Bristol (7:30 p.m. ET, USA). (Dale Jr.’s racing, by the way!)
6:40 p.m.: Some playoff notables will have their work cut out Saturday. Defending race winner Chris Buescher will start 20th, just ahead of Kevin Harvick in 21st. Ross Chastain rolls off 23rd, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will come from 25th, and Joey Logano starts 28th. Kyle Larson, already locked into the Round of 12, qualified last after losing grip on his run.
6:35 p.m: He’s three-for-three! Christopher Bell will start from pole position tomorrow night after setting a quick lap of 15.109 seconds—his third consecutive pole in the third race of this year’s playoffs. That’s never been done before. Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin will start alongside Bell on the front row. Full results
6:15 p.m.: Denny Hamlin leads Group B in qualifying, advancing with Brad Keselowski, William Byron, Michael McDowell and Martin Truex Jr. Time to set fast laps for the pole!
5:55 p.m.: One notable omission from Group A’s top five: Kyle Larson. The No. 5 went for a slide that cost quite a bit of time; that means Larson will start deep in the field tomorrow night.
5:50 p.m.: Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs, Corey LaJoie, Bubba Wallace and Chase Elliott advance to the final round of qualifying from Group A to run for the pole against Group B’s fast five, on deck now.
5:20 p.m.: Practice is now history. Kyle Larson set the fastest lap overall with a 15.186-second trip around Bristol in Group A. William Byron paced Group B, good enough for eighth overall with a time of 15.390 (full results). On to qualifying!
4:30 p.m.: The lone practice session (4:35 p.m. ET) and qualifying (5:20 p.m. ET) takes place this afternoon. Catch the on-track action on USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, or the NBC Sports App, and stick around for the Xfinity Series playoffs opener shortly afterward — it’ll be a nice appetizer for tomorrow night’s main course.
DAYTONA BEACH, Florida – On Wednesday, the National Motorsports Final Appeal Officer Bill Mullis heard and considered an appeal of a behavioral penalty issued on July 13, 2023 to No. 34 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour driver John “J.B.” Fortin; team owner Nicole Fortin; and crew members John Fortin and Amber Fortin.
Upon hearing the testimony, the decisions of the National Motorsports Final Appeal Officer are:
That the Appellant violated the Rules set forth in the Penalty Notice.
That the FAO upholds the original Penalties assessed by NASCAR to Amber Fortin, John Fortin and Nicole Fortin. That the FAO amends the original Penalty assessed by NASCAR to John “JB” Fortin to read:
$2,500 fine, suspended from all NASCAR sanctioned events until fine is paid
Indefinitely suspended from all NASCAR sanctioned Events until successful completion of Anger Management Training, as determined by NASCAR.
Probation for one (1) year upon successful completion of Anger Management Training.
In coming to this decision, the FAO provided the following explanation:
“The $5,000 penalty listed for the driver penalty, JB Fortin, is incorrect. It would be correct if 12.8.1.D had been listed on the penalty notice. 12.8.1.B and 12.8.1.C has a maximum amount of $2,500.”
NASCAR has reinstated J.B. Fortin, Nicole Fortin and John Fortin. J.B. Fortin has filed an entry to compete in Saturday’s NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Eddie Partridge 256 at New York’s Riverhead Raceway.
Kaulig Racing announced Friday that Daniel Hemric is set to return to the NASCAR Cup Series to pilot the team’s No. 31 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in 2024.
Hemric, the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion, is currently finishing his second full-time Xfinity Series season with Kaulig Racing and in the playoffs to compete for the 2023 championship. Hemric previously competed in the Cup Series full time in 2019 with Richard Childress Racing, earning the Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors that same year.
“This is a big day, and it means so much to my family and me,” Hemric said in a team release. “It’s truly special to have an opportunity to do something big with a group of people that want it just as bad as you. It takes heart, and each and every person at Kaulig Racing has it. I’m looking forward to finishing out this season strong and getting right back to work in the offseason with everyone at Kaulig Racing.”
Hemric joined Kaulig Racing in 2022 to compete for back-to-back Xfinity titles and made select Cup Series starts for the team during the 2022 season. Across 47 total Cup Series starts, Hemric has earned one Busch Light Pole Award, one top five, three top-10 finishes and led a total of 22 laps.
The Kannapolis, North Carolina, native was a full-time Cup Series driver for Richard Childress Racing in 2019, then spent the 2020 season in Xfinity competition on a part-time basis with JR Motorsports before chasing and claiming the 2021 title with Joe Gibbs Racing.
The journey has been trying, but Hemric has been unrelenting.
“I appreciate these guys,” Hemric said Friday of team owner Matt Kaulig and president Chris Rice. “You know, they went to bat for me whenever I didn’t know what I had next in 2021. I said then whenever I got to sit down and actually hear them out, hear what their vision was not only for 2024, 2025 and beyond – back well before that was on the horizon –I knew after hearing what they had to say I wanted to be a part of it.”
“They say that tough times don’t last, but tough people do,” Rice said in a statement. “That rings true with Daniel Hemric. Throughout all the ups and downs the past couple of years, Daniel continues to believe in the Kaulig Racing culture. Over the last few months, we have been asking ourselves, ‘What can make us a better race team?’ We truly believe Daniel can and will continue to make Kaulig Racing better as an organization.”
Kaulig’s racing operations have grown in recent years, from a single-car Xfinity team in 2016 to a three-car outfit in that series. Kaulig made its first Cup Series appearance in 2020, and two years later went full-time with two chartered cars.
Hemric made nine Cup starts for Kaulig Racing in 2022, garnering experience not just at NASCAR’s upper-most echelon but in its newest vehicle, the Next Gen car. His best finish came at Auto Club Speedway – a ninth-place result – all after falling as many as six laps down due to a mechanical failure early in the contest.
“To come back, make those laps up and get a top-10 finish,” Hemric said, “I got out of that car right then and man for me, it was like all of 2019, the years trying to figure out how to even get back to a Cup seat, period – even though then it was only a part-time basis – felt like, ‘Yeah, you’re right. You can do this back at this level.’
“And for me, that was like ‘OK, how do we bridge this gap? How do I get back here full-time?’ ”
The answer was with belief from Kaulig and Rice, who have placed him in their No. 31 car for the full 2024 season.
Hemric will continue to compete for the 2023 NXS championship, as the Round of 12 kicks off at Bristol Motor Speedway. Team partnership information will be announced at a later date, according to Kaulig Racing.
Bristol Motor Speedway announced Friday that after three years of hosting competitive spring dirt races on the track’s half-mile high banks, the facility will see a return to the traditional concrete, paved short track for the spring in 2024.
One of the sport’s most beloved and historic race tracks, “The Last Great Colosseum” will once again hold a pair of races on the track’s unique concrete, .533-mile short track with the same beating and banging fans have grown accustomed to over the years.
Specific race dates and times will be announced at a later date, but track president and general manager Jerry Caldwell indicated the springtime Cup Series event will return as the Food City 500. That move, Caldwell said, will include a vintage feel and logos that date back to the early 1990s.
“I think NASCAR has done a great job the past several years of trying new things,” Caldwell said in a Friday afternoon appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “I think as a sport, we’ve really embraced that. People love our sport, they love tradition, but they also love trying some new things, and they love returning to some some old ways, whether that’s North Wilkesboro, whether that’s dirt, maybe it’s the road course in Chicago, all those things are great things. You know, sometimes you do that for a little while, and then you change things up and go back to the way it was, and that’s what we’re doing here. So, thrilled to be able to do that.
“I think dirt was great. I love dirt, but I think it’s time for us to go back to the concrete in the spring and see what these these drivers can do on concrete twice a year.”
Reigning champion Joey Logano won the dirt-track race’s inaugural running in 2021, followed by two-time champ Kyle Busch claiming the victory last season before dirt maven Christopher Bell secured his own win earlier this season.
Martin Truex Jr., Ben Rhodes and Logano were winners of the three Craftsman Truck Series events held on Bristol’s dirt configuration the last three seasons.
BRISTOL, Tenn. — In 2022, Zane Smith surged to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship while Ty Majeski stormed to the Championship 4 on the heels of two wins in the Round of 8.
After the opening stanza to the 2023 Round of 8 on Thursday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, both drivers sit beneath the provisional elimination line, with Smith 14 points back and Majeski out by 22 markers.
Smith led 43 laps in Thursday’s UNOH 200 after a strategy call by crew chief Chris Lawson to not pit after the first stage sent the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford to the front of the field. But when Smith finally hit pit road after Stage 2 at Lap 116, his truck sat over the lines of the pit box while he received service, incurring a penalty that sent him to the rear of the field for the impending restart.
In the end, Smith finished 24th, the lowest of the eight remaining drivers in the NASCAR Playoffs and one lap off the pace.
“They said I was pitted outside my box by just a little bit,” Smith said. “I had to start at tail-end and yeah. I mean just definitely a rough, rough night but I mean, you saw it. Wherever you were gonna restart is where you were gonna run. My truck was terrible in the second stage but I had clean air, so just can’t pass. Just sucks.”
Majeski’s misfortune struck at Lap 106 as Stage 2 wound down. Running fourth, Majeski was forced to the inside lane after Corey Heim sped to his outside to battle for position. The duo quickly approached the lapped truck of Spencer Boyd entering Turn 3 and Majeski tried to run the middle lane to split Boyd and Heim. But that was the lane Heim chose on corner entry, leading to contact between Majeski’s right-front tire and Heim’s left rear.
Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Studios
The contact flattened Majeski’s tire, leading the No. 98 ThorSport Ford to limp around the track for the closing circuits of the stage before the yellow flag was displayed. All things considered, Majeski and his team made the most of the situation — they fell off the lead lap before the end of the stage but remained the first truck one lap down, earning the free pass to get back on the lead lap to begin the final stage. Majeski eventually took the checkered flag in 19th place.
“Yeah, I mean, the situation could have been a lot worse,” Majeski said. “Obviously not ideal. I don’t think we’re quite in the must-win (situation) yet, but it’s close. We need to gain points at Talladega. There’s no doubt about it. So yeah, just got to have a short-term memory. Felt like we got the lucky dog and made our way back up to 19th. Had one of the fastest trucks there at the end of the race.”
Two races remain before the Truck Series’ Championship 4 is set — first at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, Sept. 30 (1 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) followed by Homestead-Miami Speedway on Oct. 21.
Smith has gone to the title round in each of the last three years, earning two runner-up finishes before last year’s championship triumph. Last year, he advanced to the Championship 4 by scoring two runner-up finishes in the Round of 8 in addition to a 17th-place finish at Talladega. Previous experience in managing these rounds would appear to be a significant benefit, but the looming uncertainty of superspeedway racing doesn’t add much comfort to the fourth-year Truck Series competitor.
“Yeah, I mean, I’ve experienced it. So I guess that’s maybe a little bit (of help),” Smith said, “but yeah, it’s still a lot of racing to go do.”
Majeski dominated the Round of 8 a season ago, winning Bristol and Homestead-Miami on the way to his first title-round appearance — besting Smith by one spot in each to do so. A 22-point deficit to Grant Enfinger for the fourth and final spot is significant, but Majeski is confident in his abilities and his team’s, especially after leading exactly half the laps at Homestead in 2022.
“I think we have to maximize the the next six stages, right?” Majeski said. “I don’t think we’re out. You know, it’s not out of the question to point our way in yet. You know, I think we’ll reassess that after Talladega. Obviously we want to go win Talladega. But if we can come out of there with stage points in all three stages and a solid top-five finish, that should put us in a good position to potentially point our way in depending on what happens into Phoenix. So we’ll just see what happens. We have really fast trucks right now. That’s one thing we can we can go back to the shop with (and) are working hard to make our race trucks better and keep our heads down and move on to Talladega.”
Majeski burst into the playoffs with significant momentum, leading 168 laps at Richmond in the regular-season finale before finishing second, then stomping the field at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park with a win after leading 179 of 200 circuits. The No. 98 team cooled in the two races leading into Bristol, however, with a seventh-place finish at the Milwaukee Mile and 18th at Kansas Speedway.
“We had a few off races here, know exactly why, so I feel good about where we’re at as a race team,” Majeski said. “I really do. Obviously a tough one tonight. I felt like we were plenty capable of winning. You know, we were right there with the 19 (Christian Eckes), 42 (Carson Hocevar) or the 11 (Heim) were probably the four best trucks. Didn’t end up that way but I thought we showed some good speed tonight.
“We found some issues with with the truck we had at Kansas. So you’ll have those things, right? It’s just part of racing but proud of my race team. We’re in good shape. We’re in a good spot. Just keep marching forward.”
