Posted on by Brandon White

When the 2022 ValleyStar Credit Union 300 concluded, one driver had everyone in the United States motorsports industry talking.

It was not the race winner Peyton Sellers.

Attention had been centered on Kinston, North Carolina native Andrew Grady all day after he confronted fellow driver Davey Callihan with a barrage of punches while the latter sat in his car. Contact between the two late in their heat race prevented Grady from racing in his first ValleyStar Credit Union 300.

Grady initially dismissed his actions as nothing more than typical frustrations that boil over at short tracks, but it did not take long for him to realize just how many people saw him express his post-heat frustrations.

“I was standing on pit road, and [fellow driver] Jonathan Findley came up to me 15 minutes later to say [former NFL wide receiver] Chad Johnson tweeted me,” Grady said. “I asked if it was Ochocinco Chad Johnson and he said yes. About an hour later, Mike Tyson retweeted [the fight].

“That’s when I realized we might have a problem.”

The catalyst for Grady’s viral moment took place the night before his heat race.

Grady had plenty of confidence in his chances of a strong Martinsville debut following a fifth-place qualifying run. By being up at the front for his heat race, Grady knew a solid starting position for the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 was inevitable as long as kept his car out of trouble.

Optimism for Grady was mostly shattered when NASCAR notified him that he did not pass post-qualifying inspection. Grady’s stellar time was subsequently disallowed, putting him at the rear of the field with only 25 laps to climb inside the top 10 and earn a transfer spot.

With the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 heat races having a historically chaotic nature, Grady knew starting at the back presented astronomical odds against making the big race. Despite this, Grady was not going to let an infraction in inspection cost him an opportunity he had dreamed about since watching his father Tony make laps around the track during his childhood.

Through perseverance and a little bit of luck, Grady methodically fought his way to the top 10. He found himself in a heated-but-clean battle with fellow veteran Brandon Pierce for the final transfer spot by the time the white flag was displayed.

As the two leaned on each other, Grady noticed Callihan sail his car into Turns 1-2 to take them three-wide. Callihan hit the curb and ended up sending both Grady and Pierce into the wall, causing significant damage to their cars while Callihan earned the last guaranteed starting position from the heat into the ValleyStar Credit Union 300.

Andrew Grady brings his damaged car back to pit road after getting caught up in a crash with Davey Callihan during a heat race for the 2022 ValleyStar Credit Union 300. (Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)

Grady anticipated some bold decisions from other drivers on the verge of missing the cut, yet he was puzzled by what he thought was a “banzai move” from Callihan when he was several car lengths behind him and Pierce.

“I’ve been going to Martinsville for this race since I was 2 years old, so I’ve seen all the crazy stuff happen,” Grady said. “Moving a guy for a transfer spot is one thing, but a kamikaze move that tears up $60,000 in race cars is not something I’d be proud of.”

Although Grady was furious, he had planned to have a cordial-but-firm conversation with Callihan once the two made it back to the garage area.

That was until Grady saw Callihan make a hand gesture toward him as he drove by, which enraged him. As Grady rushed to Callihan’s car and started throwing punches, only one thought crossed his mind.

“Please God, do not let one of these sheriffs tase me,” Grady recalled. “At first, I expected somebody to break it up immediately. I’m punching and looking over my shoulders, but nobody’s coming. It kept going and going until my guys dragged me off.”

Infuriated but also slightly embarrassed knowing the scuffle was caught on video, Grady kept a low profile for the rest of the ValleyStar Credit Union 300. Watching Callihan get a lead lap finish only hastened Grady’s desire to put a disappointing weekend at Martinsville behind him.

By the time Grady returned home from the track, his fight with Callihan had garnered 9.5 million views on Twitter. The next day, Grady saw the clip on SportsCenter before he was contacted by CNN, NBC, Fox and other news outlets, all eager to know more about what happened leading up to the fight.

Grady has seen more outlandish events at short tracks during his career and remains confused as to why his confrontation with Callihan ended up going viral. He was enamored by all the attention but admitted to being remorseful about his actions.

“It wasn’t a good look,” Grady said. “NASCAR has always been considered a redneck sport, and we’ve done a good job over the past 15 years trying to change that image, so I kind of set us back. My kids are going to see that, not that I really care because I hope they have the same passion for racing as I do.

“It also opened the door for a lot of trolls.”

Grady’s euphoria from the viral moment wore off once and he his wife became the subject of relentless cyberbullying. The abuse gradually declined over the following weeks, but it made Grady realize how that one decision could have easily ruined his career or enhanced it.

Although he was anticipating a suspension from NASCAR, no disciplinary action was passed down to Grady after the ValleyStar Credit Union 300. Not having to worry about long-term consequences from that day has allowed Grady more time to focus on building up a successful Late Model Stock program with Mike Darne Racing.

With last year behind him, Andrew Grady is determined to make his first ValleyStar Credit Union 300 this weekend. (Photo: Jacob Kupferman/NASCAR)

The 2023 season has seen Grady work rigorously to find efficient speed in both qualifying and race conditions. He emphasized how important time trials are in Late Model Stocks today, especially with the top 20 usually being separated by a couple tenths.

With more than 80 cars expected for this year’s ValleyStar Credit Union 300, Grady said every driver understands that one mistake in qualifying could be the difference between starting at the front or the rear of a respective heat.

“You do not drop the ball in qualifying,” Grady said. “You can feel the tension in the air when we get ready to qualify on Friday night. Usually, all the drivers are joking around and talking, but nobody was talking last year. Everyone was laser focused and it was honestly cool to see.

“Last year, people saw just how seriously we take this race.”

The passion Grady has for Late Model Stock racing was on display for the motorsports to see in last year’s ValleyStar Credit Union 300, but he is hoping for a less eventful weekend while trying to make the 40-car starting grid on Saturday night.

In four attempts from 1999-02, Grady’s dad Tony never qualified for the ValleyStar Credit Union 300. The younger Grady intends to fulfill a lifelong dream of finally getting his family name into the Late Model Stock equivalent of the Daytona 500 on Saturday evening.

“It would truly mean everything not just for me, but my entire family,” Grady said. “My dad blew motor while leading a heat race and got wrecked leading a heat race. Crazy stuff happened to him, so hopefully we can get in. All the wins I have are cool, but making Martinsville is something I’ve literally always wanted to do.

“If I can race my way in, it would be one of the highest points of my career.”

Even though he wants to avoid any confrontations with other drivers, Grady would not mind having all eyes centered on him once again in the ValleyStar Credit Union 300.

This time as both a fighter and a winner.

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

BRISTOL, Tenn. — It’s Denny Hamlin’s world, and we’re just living in it.

Such is the case after a dominant opening round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs by Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 11 team. Yes, Hamlin left the Round of 16 with just one win in those three races, but the three-time Daytona 500 champion led at least 63 laps in each of those postseason events — 177 at Darlington Raceway, 63 at Kansas Speedway and 142 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night, when he finally broke back into Victory Lane to capitalize on all that speed.

MORE: Hamlin speaks to the Bristol crowd | All of Hamlin’s Cup victories

Climbing from his purple and white Toyota to claim the checkered flag at the World’s Fastest Half-Mile, Hamlin was welcomed by plenty more jeers than cheers. All in a day’s work, even — and maybe especially — after win No. 51 for Hamlin.

“Everybody likes a winner, right?” Hamlin smirked in his frontstretch interview as boos rumbled around him in Thunder Valley.

Hamlin has never shied away from voicing opinions on any NASCAR topic, no matter how well those thoughts are received. Whether he’s asked about his competitors, the car, the track or the business — the last of which he sees more of these days as co-owner of 23XI Racing — Hamlin speaks. So when the fans talk back, it comes as no surprise that Hamlin is leaning into the role of NASCAR’s “heel” — the guy you love to hate.

“Hey, I beat your favorite driver,” Hamlin told the stadium-like crowd at Bristol. “All of them.”

Hamlin wasn’t always so brash — in part because he wasn’t always so jeered. The inaugural vocal displeasure was most noticeable nearly six years ago, when contact for the lead from Hamlin to Chase Elliott’s rear bumper sent Elliott spinning with less than three laps to go at Martinsville Speedway — one of Hamlin’s home-state tracks. Elliott, these days a five-time recipient of the Most Popular Driver Award, was cheered as he confronted Hamlin — while Hamlin was hammered by boos when his interview hit the public-address system.

The banter with fans has gotten louder in recent years, and Bristol was certainly no exception. When Hamlin was victorious for a record-breaking seventh time at Pocono Raceway this summer, he told spectators they could boo the commemorative rock the track will almost certainly display with Hamlin’s name and number once the veteran racer retires.

“I mean, at some point I’ve got to realize 18 years in that I’m probably not going to win the Most Popular Driver Award,” Hamlin said at Bristol. “I’ve come to the conclusion of that. I understand it. They think they bother me. But clearly, it’s having an opposite effect. I welcome any fan to want to come to the dark side. All five of my fans are still out there chanting my name. They’re over in Turn 3 right now.

“But yeah, as Katt Williams said: A hater can’t stand a winner.”

Denny Hamlin hoists the sword awarded to him for winning at Bristol in Victory Lane
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

The center of attention can be intimidating for anybody, let alone an athlete who spends three-plus hours inside a metal cage wearing a fire suit, helmet and gloves while temperatures ratchet to 125-plus degrees Fahrenheit. But Saturday night, inside the 0.533-mile bullring arena that is Bristol Motor Speedway, Hamlin seemed perfectly comfortable.

“That’s why I love this track, right?” Hamlin said. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s cheers or boos, you’ve earned the right to be on that stage for that given moment, for that interview or whatever it might be. It’s gratifying.

“I mean, I’m a person that feeds off of that because I know my hard work has paid off, right? As tough as it is, it’s like Deion (Sanders, University of Colorado head football coach) says: What in me thinks I care about what you think about me? Because it’s not the same opinion I have of myself, right?

“I know who I am. I know how I treat people. It’s OK, right? It’s OK to have fandom one way or another. But to have just electricity, that’s fun. This is a really fun moment in sports. It’s really fun in NASCAR to have that many fans passionate one way or another, right? That’s good for our sport.”

The way Hamlin is running these days, don’t expect that chatter to start dissipating. The No. 11 Toyota led 382 laps — 33.7% of all circuits completed — over the first three races of the 2023 postseason and netted a third Cup win this season, his most since 2020 when he went to Victory Lane seven times.

Still missing from his resume, though, is a NASCAR Cup Series championship. He’s been close numerous times before, most painfully in 2010 when he fell runner-up to eventual title winner Jimmie Johnson, Johnson’s fifth of seven total. Hamlin’s Bristol win officially marked him the winningest Cup driver of all time without a championship, breaking a short-lived tie with legend and NASCAR Hall of Famer Junior Johnson.

RELATED: Full list of NASCAR’s all-time winners

“For me, I feel very blessed and honored to have the amount of wins that we’ve had in this era of NASCAR racing,” Hamlin said. “I’ve been blessed to be with (team owner) Joe Gibbs, honestly. I didn’t have to go with an up-and-coming team; I went straight to Cup in a race-winning car. Wasn’t race winning when I got in it, but the team was, right? I never really had to cut my teeth for years with a lesser organization. That’s carried me.”

And while he has yet to hoist the Bill France Cup at season’s end, Hamlin has qualified for the Championship 4 in three of the last four years and four total times since the elimination-style format was introduced in 2014.

“Certainly, nights like tonight are certainly pleasing after having a couple weeks of, like, ‘Darn, we should have got ’em,’ ” Hamlin said. “Keep knocking on the door, keep showing up, keep making the final four, eventually your number will be called. Hopefully this is the year for it to be called.”

Meanwhile, be careful around Hamlin, who may or may not have the Bristol sword with him next time you see him.

“Anybody talks (expletive),” he joked, “come bring it.”

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR announced on Sunday during FOX’s NFL coverage that the Busch Light Clash will return to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to start the 2024 season, with the addition of a NASCAR Mexico Series race preceding the event scheduled for Feb. 4. This marks the third straight year that NASCAR will transform the famous stadium into a racing venue for the annual exhibition opener for Cup Series drivers.

“This is a tremendous win for our fans and our sport,” said Ben Kennedy, NASCAR’s senior vice president, racing development and strategy. “Not only will the fans see the stars of the NASCAR Cup Series in action, they will also bear witness to the talent and skill that is found within the NASCAR Mexico Series. I can’t think of a better way to begin our 2024 season.”

RELATED: Buy tickets for the 2024 Clash

Joey Logano won the inaugural Busch Light Clash in the Coliseum in 2022, with Martin Truex Jr. taking top honors in 2023. Now fans will get to witness another first as a Mexico Series competitor will get to raise a trophy in a stadium known for hosting the Olympics, USC football games and other top events.

“This is an incredible honor for the NASCAR Mexico Series and its drivers,” said Jimmy Morales, president and general manager of the NASCAR Mexico Series. “The competition in our series is always intense, but I know our drivers will want nothing more than to become the first Mexican driver to win inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. This is going to be a race we will not soon forget.”

The list of NASCAR Mexico drivers competing in the event will be announced at a later date.

A single ticket purchased is good for both races, and prices begin at $65 with kids 12-and-under at $10.

Posted on by Zack Albert

Sherry Pollex, who rallied the NASCAR community with her philanthropic efforts to fight cancer, has died. She was 44.

Pollex’s passing was announced Sunday by her family. The cause was cancer, which she had fought since her initial diagnosis in 2014.

Pollex was instrumental in founding Catwalk for a Cause, a charity fashion gala that brought the NASCAR industry together in the fight against childhood cancer. The event was founded in 2010 and has raised more than $4 million to fund initiatives to combat the disease.

That project launch came four years before her own diagnosis with Stage 3 ovarian cancer at age 35. Her charitable works expanded to fund research to help battle ovarian cancer, a form of the disease for which she said treatment and care protocols had made relatively few advancements in the last 30 years. In 2020, her foundation partnered with Novant Health in Charlotte to open the Sherry Strong Integrative Medicine Oncology Clinic.

Pollex and former partner Martin Truex Jr. were named recipients of the National Motorsports Press Association’s Myers Brothers Award for outstanding contributions to the sport of stock-car racing in 2017. Pollex was also a finalist for the Comcast Community Champion of the Year Award in 2022.

Click here to donate to SherryStrong

The 2023 edition of the Catwalk was held just last Wednesday, with Pollex unable to attend. The event’s co-hosts acknowledged Pollex in introductory remarks, lauding her as “an absolute hero” as the crowd gave her a standing ovation.

NASCAR released the following statement: NASCAR is saddened to learn of the passing of Sherry Pollex, whose fight against cancer and determination to help others through the Sherry Strong Foundation was an inspiration to all who knew her. NASCAR and the NASCAR Foundation’s thoughts and prayers are with Sherry’s family and friends.

Sherry Pollex was born in Marshall, Michigan, on May 10, 1979. She later moved with her family to Brighton, Michigan. Both towns were nearly an hour from Michigan International Speedway, where she watched NASCAR races with her family in her youth, sporting a Rusty Wallace T-shirt along with her older sister, Jill.

“The smell of the pines, the lakes — people just don’t know how good it is here,” Pollex said of her home state in a 2015 interview with the Detroit Free Press. She said she grew up as “a hockey kid” who favored the Detroit Red Wings, well before her family’s involvement with racing. When she was first diagnosed with cancer years later, the Red Wings sent her a care package along with a get-well letter.

Pollex’s father, Greg, raced Late Models at dirt tracks in Michigan before branching into team ownership in NASCAR’s national ranks. His ppc Racing operation competed primarily in what is now called the Xfinity Series, claiming the 2000 championship with Jeff Green.

The family moved to Florida during Sherry Pollex’s middle school years, and she later attended Florida State University, where she earned a degree in Sports Marketing. She landed with a marketing firm that had accounts in NASCAR, which strengthened her bond with the sport.

Pollex was introduced to Truex during his climb to prominence in the Xfinity Series, and the two later used their platform for philanthropic works. The driver’s foundation launched in 2007 and focused on assisting children and families affected by pediatric cancer. The couple ended their partnership in January after 18 years together.

Pollex’s own diagnosis came in 2014 after she fell ill that summer. A CT scan revealed advanced Stage 3 ovarian cancer (Stage 4 is the most dire), and on Aug. 15, she underwent an emergency surgery where doctors removed her ovaries, fallopian tubes, spleen, appendix and part of her stomach in a procedure that lasted several hours. Pollex began chemotherapy treatment four weeks later.

Doctors, she said, had given her a 30% chance of survival over the five years that followed. On Jan. 11, 2016, she rang the bell to signal an end to 17 months of chemotherapy, heartening others with her positive outlook through treatment.

“I wake up every day and just have so much gratitude and joy for this life that I’m living, even though I have a chronic illness,” Pollex told Jeff Gluck in 2019. “And it’s so hard. People ask me all the time: ‘I don’t get it. How do you stay so positive and how are you happy all the time when you have Stage 3C ovarian cancer?’ And I wake up every day and just think this life is amazing. If you look around you, there’s so much positivity and there’s so much beauty in this earth. The people who want to make a difference and want to inspire each other — there is a lot of us if you look for us.”

Doctors determined that Pollex’s cancer had returned in September 2021, finding the disease had spread to one of her lungs. Subsequent scans revealed further progression and that her aggressive strain of cancer was especially resistant to treatment.

Her legacy is a powerful, lasting one as a champion of good causes and a resilient ambassador in the fight against the disease.

“I often wonder if that’s my purpose here,” Pollex told The Athletic in 2022. “It’s maybe not what I would have chosen for myself — nobody really wants to be the poster child for any type of cancer — but maybe I’m supposed to go through all this so I can pave the way for other women. On some days, that can be a really hard pill to swallow. But on other days, it’s like, ‘You know, I’ve been given this really important role in this life, and if I’m going to leave a legacy behind and help other people, then I need to do it 100 percent.’ “

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Martin Truex Jr. entered Saturday’s Round of 16 elimination race seven points to the outside looking in. Bubba Wallace was 19 points shy. Both left Bristol Motor Speedway having done enough to advance to the Round of 12.

The Regular Season Champion, Truex advanced by a scant five points with a 19th-place finish, one lap down. Wallace, competing in his first postseason venture, nabbed the final of 12 available spots by four points over former NASCAR Cup Series champions Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick.

MORE: Race results | At-track photos: Bristol

A Regular Season Champion had never been eliminated from the opening round of the playoffs. Finishes of 18th at Darlington and 36th – last – at Kansas put the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team in a hole entering Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Bristol Night Race.

Truex’s record at the high-banked, 0.533-mile bullring is far from stellar, but the 2017 Cup champion did enough on Saturday to advance to the next round and keep his title hopes alive.

“I think tonight was kind of a typical Bristol race for us,” Truex said.” You know, we were pretty decent early when we were up front, and then we lost track position, and it was a battle and a struggle from there. So, luckily, it was enough. It wasn’t pretty, but you know, after the last two weeks, to come out here in a good spot is good. And hopefully, the bad luck’s out of the way from here on out.”

James Small, crew chief of the No. 19 car, said post-race that he and the crew came into Bristol “really worried” because of Truex’s poor stats. But average was enough Saturday as Logano crashed out and Harvick was off-pace, leaving points on the table for Truex to nab.

“It’s statistically our worst track outside of superspeedways,” Small told NASCAR. “We just pounded along all night long, and we worked on the car and got a little better, and luckily, that last run, it came to life a little more, and other guys had problems, and we managed to survive.

“It’s been a hell of a round, and we’ll put it behind us and reset.”

A punctured tire at Lap 4 at Kansas was the team’s ultimate setback in this first round, sending Truex into the outside SAFER barrier. That contact, Small said, resulted in a potential sprained wrist for Truex to nurse through 500 laps at Bristol.

“He’s like the Iron Man – but in true Martin fashion, he didn’t go and get help,” Small laughed. “He’s a hard-ass. I’m glad he got through it. Last week was a killer, and to rebound from that scrape through was a big relief for everyone.”

Indeed, Truex muscled through a grueling race that ended on a green-flag stretch of 131 laps.

“It hurts pretty bad,” Truex said, “but it didn’t slow me down any. Just had to grit my teeth, and I probably needed a mouthguard tonight. We got through it. I should be good to go next week.”

Martin Truex Jr. drives his black and orange No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota at Bristol
Meg Oliphant | Getty Images

Truex has plenty of playoff experience to carry into the Round of 12. Wallace, on the other hand, had never faced elimination quite like he did Saturday. The driver of the No. 23 Toyota for 23XI Racing did his part through the opening round, though, by finishing seventh at Darlington and overcoming a Kansas crash due to a flat tire while running second, an issue that left him 32nd in Kansas before a 14th-place result at Bristol.

MORE: Champs Logano, Harvick ousted

“Trying to gather my thoughts and man, just emotional,” Wallace said. “I said to myself out loud – not on the radio – ‘Proud of you, kid.’ And we all know I rarely do that. Just, way to stick with it. Tried to throw it away a couple of times. Got frustrated with myself, frustrated with others, but it all worked out. What you need to do is execute.

“This is a special day and gotta cherish it, but can’t get complacent. We know Texas is up. We’re OK there. But we’ve gotta come out swinging and come out on the right end of it.”

That Wallace overcame a 19-point deficit to advance without winning was significant, a display of the grind it took to advance through Bristol. Opting not to pit during the race’s first caution at Lap 69 was, in Wallace’s mind, a turning point.

“I think the strategy at the beginning was a game-changer, staying out there,” Wallace said. “We watched last year’s race and had seen that tires were not that big of an advantage. So I thought that was key and gave us our buffer.”

During a pre-race press conference, Kurt Busch – 23XI Racing’s self-coined CFD (Captain of the Fun Department) – said the tiger-striped Air Jordan 1 Low OG “Chinese New Years – Year of the Tiger” sneakers he was wearing were symbolic of what Wallace needed Saturday night – the eye of the tiger. Busch beamed with pride after the race as Wallace earned his spot into the next round.

“This is huge,” Busch, the 2004 champion, told NASCAR.com. “This is something that takes a team all the way through – whether it’s simulator work, whether it’s our owner (and race winner Denny Hamlin) that’s doing burnouts as I’m speaking. There’s a strategy call. There’s a driver duty. There’s a pit-crew duty.

“This is all the teamwork that I’ve talked about for years on how I’ve lost races and won races. I’m so happy to see all of this.”

Crew chief Bootie Barker was behind the strategy call that helped keep Wallace in the picture. But after the call was made, Wallace had to execute on track. And he did.

That didn’t come as a surprise to Barker, who has been with 23XI Racing since its inception – as has Wallace.

“I’ve seen the progression with all of us for two years now,” Barker said. “I knew tonight was going to be hard. Last week, we were lights out; it just didn’t work out. But no, I expect us to be this good.”

Hamlin, the team’s co-owner, celebrated the win at Bristol after leading 142 laps. Now, his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team and his two 23XI Racing entries – piloted by Wallace and Kansas winner Tyler Reddick – make up 25% of the remaining playoff contenders.

“I’m really happy with where that team is progressing to and really happy for Bubba,” Hamlin said. “I think the highest he’s ever finished is 20-something points. So he’s doing well. He’s really working on his craft, and he’s doing all the right things, and he’s studying the right things, and he’s really working with the team well.

“(He) and Tyler are working really well together. And yeah, I’m very happy with the trajectory that that whole organization’s on. I mean, not three years complete, to have two cars now in the Round of 12, it’s very, very humbling. And certainly, our goal was going into the year to have two cars in the playoffs. Now, to have two in the next round, this is just icing on the cake. The key this is nothing but bonus from here on out.”

Posted on by Brandon White

RIVERHEAD, New York — For all 256 laps of Saturday’s Eddie Partridge 256 at Riverhead Raceway, Justin Bonsignore and Ron Silk never lost sight of one another.

The tension gradually built between the two frontrunners in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour point standings as the checkered flag drew closer. Neither driver gave the other any breathing room, with Bonsignore and Silk trading bumps numerous times as the finish neared.

RELATED: Complete results from the Eddie Partridge 256

By the time the two champions settled their duel, Bonsignore was the one who emerged as the victor. The resilient effort during the final laps earned Bonsignore his 11th career Riverhead victory while simultaneously putting him back on top of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour point standings.

“It was a heavyweight fight for sure,” Bonsignore said. “It was going to be whoever [bumped the other] last, but we timed it perfect tonight. Sometimes you just have to be aggressive in this deal, but I was going to get wrecked if I let [Silk] get back behind me.”

Bonsignore has been more motivated than ever to claim his fourth NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship following a hard crash at Oswego Speedway that caused him to lose significant ground to Silk in the standings.

When the Ken Massa Motorsports team convened the following week, Bonsignore jokingly remarked to his team owner that he was going to win the final five races on the schedule.

Bonsignore kicked off his quest to run the table by leading every lap from the pole in last weekend’s Winchester Fair 150 at Monadnock Speedway. He carried over that speed into the Eddie Partridge 256 by putting his No. 51 on the pole with a time of 11.561 seconds.

Silk, who was eliminated from contention at Monadnock following two early crashes, ensured that the Eddie Partridge 256 would not go as smoothly for Bonsignore.

Despite the two mostly engaging in a clean fight for the championship through 14 races, both Bonsignore and Silk were not afraid to be assertive at Riverhead. Nearly every lead change came because of shots to the rear bumper, which only intensified in frequency as the laps dwindled.

Silk fought valiantly to keep control of the top spot even as the rear brakes on his No. 16 glowed bright red as he entered each corner, but one last bump from Bonsignore coming to the white flag was enough to give him the lead for the final time. Silk attempted to return the favor in Turns 1 and 2, but ended up falling to third as a result.

As Silk decompressed after a heartbreaking defeat, Bonsignore celebrated two major milestones in Victory Lane.

Not only did Bonsignore become the fourth driver to reach 40 wins in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour alongside Mike Stefanik, Reggie Ruggiero and Ted Christopher, he also tied Mike Ewanitsko for the all-time Whelen Modified Tour win record at Riverhead.

An exhausted Bonsignore was elated when he was informed he matched Ewanitsko’s Riverhead win total. He has long considered the Modified veteran to be one of his heroes and felt honored to celebrate that moment after having to exert so much energy to defeat Silk.

“With all that went on there, I forgot about tying Mike,” Bonsignore said. “That was a goal of mine since I was fortunate enough to start winning a few [at Riverhead]. I’m sure he’ll voice text me something extremely funny.

“Momentum has been going pretty good so far, but I’m ready for a week off.”

Bonsignore now has five victories during the 2023 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season compared to Silk’s four. Although he triumphed in another battle on Saturday, Bonsignore’s war for the championship with Silk is far from over.

Riverhead regular Mark Stewart took advantage of the chaos to finish second in front of the home crowd. Following Silk in fourth was Austin Beers, with J.R. Bertuccio completing the top-five a lap behind Bonsignore.

CNBC will broadcast a replay of the Eddie Partridge 256 at Riverhead Raceway on Sunday, Oct. 1 at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Up next for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour is the series’ inaugural visit to one of the Southeast’s most cherished facilities, North Wilkesboro Speedway. The Brushy Mountain Powersports 150 at North Wilkesboro is set to take place on Sept. 30 at 7:30 p.m. ET, with FloRacing providing live coverage.

Posted on by Brandon White

Eddie Partridge 256

Riverhead Raceway

  • Race results
Pos Car No. Name Sponsor Laps Diff
1 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications Inc. 256 —
2 81 Mark Stewart Cromers Market/Truck & Auto Works 256 0.514
3 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine & Future Homes 256 1.283
4 64 Austin Beers AP Marquadt & Sons/Lumiere Electrical/Andrew James Interiors 256 1.468
5 2 J.R. Bertuccio Gershow Recycling 255 1 Lap
6 66 Timmy Solomito Natural Design/USNEPOWER/Kennedy Realty 255 1 Lap
7 88 Roger Turbush Rheem 255 1 Lap
8 82 Craig Lutz Horton Avenue Materials 254 2 Laps
9 32 Tyler Rypkema Northeast Drilling/MUSCO Lighting 254 2 Laps
10 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant 251 5 Laps
11 22 Kyle Bonsignore Chalew Performance/MTT/Munns Auto 236 20 Laps
12 01 Melissa Fifield Pine Knoll Auto Sales 235 21 Laps
13 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Ave Landscape Supply/L.I. Wood Heat 223 33 Laps
14 3 Jake Johnson* Propane Plus/Lin’s Propane Trucks 198 58 Laps
15 5 John Beatty Jr. MSM Elite Motorsports Inc. 197 59 Laps
16 58 Eric Goodale GAF Roofing 197 59 Laps
17 34 JB Fortin A&R Materials/John’s Fuel Oil 98 158 Laps
18 96 Matthew Brode* Peter Clark Motorsports 90 166 Laps
Posted on by Staff Report

Four championship hopefuls were eliminated from title contention following the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs elimination race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night, resetting the standings board and setting the Round of 12.

WINNER

After finishing second at Kansas Speedway a week prior, Denny Hamlin continued the upward trajectory with a convincing win at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race. Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell and Chris Buescher were a trio of additional drivers to make up the top five.

RELATED: Race results | Full playoff grid 

ELIMINATED DRIVERS

Joey Logano, Team Penske
Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., JTG Daugherty Racing
Michael McDowell, Front Row Motorsports

ADVANCING TO THE ROUND OF 12

William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports, 3,036 points
Martin Truex Jr., Joe Gibbs Racing, 3,036 points
Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing, 3,032 points
Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports, 3,023 points
Chris Buescher, RFK Racing, 3,021 points
Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing, 3,019 points
Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing, 3,016 points
Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing, 3,014 points
Brad Keselowski, RFK Racing, 3,011 points
Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing, 3,011 points
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske, 3,008 points
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing, 3,000 points

WHO’S HOT? 

Kyle Larson. Starting at the rear of the field to begin the Bristol finale didn’t dissuade the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet from working up toward the front of the field and contesting the lead with Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin. With Saturday’s finish, Larson finished the Round of 16 with results of first, fourth and second. Momentum-wise, that’s not too shabby.

Christopher Bell. Starting from the pole position for three consecutive races is definitely a jolt for the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, and for Bell, this jolt helped net two top-10 finishes in the Round of 16, with both coming in back-to-back contests. Bell very well could be finding the speedy touch at the right time.

WHO’S NOT? 

Ryan Blaney. The No. 12 Team Penske Ford finished several laps down and snapped a two-race stretch of finishing inside the top 15. Although Blaney has advanced to the Round of 12, there will be work to do.

Ross Chastain. Similar to Blaney, the playoff driver in Chastain will likely wish to flush his Bristol performance, with the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet finishing outside the top 20. The Round of 12 will be a fresh slate to regain early momentum found during the Round of 16.

NEXT RACE

The Round of 12 opens at Texas Motor Speedway for the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 on Sept. 24 (3:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

WHO IT FAVORS

Tyler Reddick. In four career Cup races at Texas, Reddick’s worst finish was 15th (2020). His three other finishes? Second, ninth and first, with the Victory Lane appearance coming last year. Reddick’s 6.8 average finish ranks first among all active drivers with a minimum of two Cup races at the track. Couple the fact that Reddick has shown blistering speed up to this point of the postseason, and this seems like an easy layup for the No. 45.

WHO IT HURTS

Chris Buescher. RFK has taken a monumental leap forward in 2023, especially for Buescher, who has put together a career year behind the wheel of the No. 17 Ford. Texas, however, has proven to be a tough cookie in the past, with the Prosper, Texas native failing to crack the top 10 in any of his 13 career Cup races at the track. To make matters worse, Buescher has failed to lead a single lap, and his only finish inside the top 15 came in April of 2018. This year’s Buescher is admittedly a different version, but even still, Texas could prove to be a playoff roadblock for the title contender.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Denny Hamlin landed a knockout punch in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

NASCAR Cup Series regular-season champion Martin Truex Jr. survived to fight another round.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Bristol

Bubba Wallace rescued himself from the brink of playoff elimination and advanced to the Round of 12 by four points.

Kevin Harvick, winner of the first elimination playoff in 2014, won’t be around to fight for the title in his final season of Cup racing. He joins defending champion Joey Logano on the outside looking in for the final seven Playoff races.

Despite a strong run on Saturday night, Michael McDowell didn’t get the win he needed to advance, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. likewise fell by the wayside in a car that couldn’t compete for a top-five position.

Taking the lead off pit road on Lap 366 of 500, Hamlin beat Kyle Larson to the finish line by 2.462 seconds. Hamlin led the final 135 laps in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, 142 overall, and second only to the 187 circuits led by pole winner and third-place finisher Christopher Bell.

Led by Hamlin, all five playoff Toyota drivers advanced to the next round.

WATCH: Hamlin reacts to Bristol victory

“Can’t thank this whole FedEx team enough,” said Hamlin, who won for the third time this season, the third time at Bristol and the 51st time in his career. “They’ve really kicked ass this whole first round. Really amazing how our team has been. So happy about the way we’re running. Can’t wait to keep going.

“It’s our year. I just feel like we’ve got it all put together. We’ve got the speed (at) every single type of race track. Nothing to stop us at this point.”

Chris Buescher followed Bell to the stripe as the top four finishers all will race in the Round of 12. Brad Keselowski and William Byron (eighth and ninth, respectively) also advanced, as did 23XI Racing teammates Wallace and Tyler Reddick (13th and 14th), Truex (19th), Kyle Busch (20th), Ryan Blaney (22nd) and Ross Chastain (23rd).

Wallace finished 14th, a lap down, but the eight points he gained by running third in Stage 1 proved decisive. Only 10 cars finished on the lead lap, the last of whom was Stenhouse, who ended the Round of 16 in 15th, seven points behind Wallace.

MORE: Playoff Pulse: Round of 12 set | Playoff standings

Wallace was greeted with a chorus of boos when he climbed from his car, as was Hamlin.

“Like Coco Gauff said, all they’re doing is adding fuel to the fire—I love it,” said Wallace, who drives for Hamlin and co-owner Michael Jordan at 23XI. “I love where I’m at with this team. Wish my mom, dad, sister were here to celebrate with me.”

“I’m mentally exhausted. I’m wore out. Gave it our all there. Battled hard and executed. That’s what you got to do. We know next week’s a reset. We just got to go out and have some fun, work our asses off. Thank you to the ones that believe in me. Keep it going. Yeah, on to next week.”

A vicious wreck on the backstretch cost Joey Logano a chance to advance to the Round of 12, the first time under the elimination format that a defending championship has exited the postseason in the opening round.

Logano was a lap down, running toward the back of the pack, when Corey LaJoie went three-wide underneath the Chevrolet of Erik Jones and lost control of his No. 7 Chevrolet. LaJoie’s car swept up the track into the path of Logano, Justin Haley and Ryan Newman, all of whom were knocked out of the race in the accident.

“Yeah, I saw the smoke,” said Logano, who was credited with a 34th-place finish and missed the Round of 12 by four points. “I saw the 7 spinning. (Spotter) Coleman (Pressley) was saying, ‘He’s coming up. He’s coming up as I was on the brakes to try to pull onto the bottom.

“I think it was Newman behind me, but I think someone hit him behind him, and it was just kind of a chain reaction into it. Once I got hit, I was like, ‘Shoot, I’ve got to go up now,’ because I couldn’t make the bottom, so I committed to that, and the hole closed up.

“Obviously, it’s a real bummer. You get out of the race like that, and you’re behind the wall, and you’re in denial for a minute. You don’t want to believe that it happened, and you want to think that it’s fixable, but the car was tore up too bad.”

Harvick fought an ill-handling car from the outset and finished 29th, five laps down. Like Logano, he finished four points behind Wallace in the battle for the final spot in the Round of 12.

“We’ve been like that all year,” Harvick said. “We’ve been hit-or-miss. Tonight, we just missed by a mile. I’ve had some good days and bad days, but that’s definitely the worst one I’ve had with fenders on it.”

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Ty Gibbs finished fifth after leading 102 laps. McDowell ran sixth, followed by Chase Elliott, Keselowski, Byron and Stenhouse.

The Cup Series will open the Round of 12 at Texas Motor Speedway for the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 on Sept. 24 (3:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

Note: Post-race inspection in the Cup Series garage concluded without issue, confirming Hamlin as the race winner at Bristol.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano and 2014 title winner Kevin Harvick were eliminated from the NASCAR Playoffs following Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Bristol Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Logano, the two-time series title winner, was ousted from the 500-lap contest just past halfway when Corey LaJoie spun sideways at Lap 262. LaJoie lost control of his No. 7 Chevrolet on corner exit and slid into the inside SAFER barrier. He careened back into traffic, leading him into the path of Logano and others.

Logano went to pit road for further assessment before officially exiting the race. Unable to gain any more points, Logano was forced to watch the race from the sidelines and hope. But with his 34th-place finish, he became the first reigning champion to be eliminated in the postseason’s opening round. Heading into Saturday’s race, Logano was 11th in the playoff standings, 12 points above the elimination line.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Bristol

“I saw the smoke. I saw 7 (LaJoie) spinning,” Logano told reporters at the infield care center. “And Coleman (Pressley, spotter) was saying he’s coming up, he’s coming up. As I was on the brakes to try to pull onto the bottom, I think it was Newman behind me, but I think someone hit him behind him and just kind of chain reaction to it. And so once he got hit, I said oh shoot, I gotta go up now. I couldn’t make the bottom, so I committed to that. And the hole closed up.”

Logano finished 12th in the postseason opener at Darlington Raceway and fifth at Kansas Speedway. A late caution at Kansas allowed crew chief Paul Wolfe to execute a two-tire pit strategy when the No. 22 team was only one point above the provisional elimination line – rocketing Logano to a 12-point cushion instead by the checkered flag in Kansas.

In the end, that margin simply wasn’t enough. Logano, who netted an Atlanta win in addition to nine top fives and 14 top 10s in the opening 29 races, was four points short of advancing to the Round of 12.

“Not as good as we needed to be,” Logano said of his season to date. “Inconsistent. Not fast enough, not scoring stage points. When you don’t score stage points, that just says you’re not fast enough. We’ve been able to manufacture finishes like we did last week and Paul does a great job at giving me a chance to finish good. If this was a few years ago and it wasn’t stage racing, we would be sitting in a lot better shape because we figure out a way to close races. But we don’t score the points during the race because we’re just not fast enough.”

Also ousted by four points was Harvick. While Logano was collected in an on-track incident, Harvick was simply unable to find the balance in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford at Bristol. The sport’s longest-tenured full-time driver is now out of title contention in his final season, a 29th-place finish five laps off the pace; the exclamation point on a difficult round that featured results of 19th at Darlington and 11th at Kansas.

“There wasn’t a flash of brilliance from the time we took it off the truck,” Harvick said.

Harvick’s 23-year Cup Series career comes to a close at the conclusion of November’s championship race. Six top fives and 12 top 10s in 29 races in uncharacteristic of the success he and crew chief Rodney Childers have parsed together in their nine prior seasons – a resume stacked with 37 wins and a memorable title run in addition to the 23 victories Harvick collected at Richard Childress Racing.

He was firmly in contention to win the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington to open the playoffs until an untimely caution – Ryan Newman spun as leader Tyler Reddick attempted to pit in a late reaction to Harvick’s strategy – took Harvick out of contention.

“We could have won Darlington. We were off at Kansas and terrible here,” Harvick said.

“We’ve been hit or miss all year,” he added. “Off and on.”

The NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs continue at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, Sept. 24 at Texas Motor Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET, USA, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) but without the wealth of experience Logano and Harvick bring to the postseason.