Posted on by Reid Spencer

SONOMA, Calif. – Aric Almirola knew Sonoma Raceway was a track that wouldn’t make him look like a “wanker.”

Far from it. Holding off the dominant car of Kyle Larson—until Larson made a critical mistake—and then outrunning road course ace AJ Allmendinger over the final laps, Almirola won Saturday’s DoorDash 250 at the 1.99-mile road course.

Ty Gibbs ran fourth as full-time NASCAR Cup Series drivers claimed the top four finishing positions. Parker Kligerman led the Xfinity regulars in fifth, followed by Cole Custer, Justin Allgaier, Austin Hill, Sammy Smith and Sam Mayer.

The victory was Almirola’s fourth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and his first since 2017 when he won at Talladega Superspeedway for owner Fred Biagi.

RELATED: Full results | At-track photos 

The win also was the first-ever for Georgia-based RSS Racing, which fields cars for brothers Ryan and Kyle Sieg. The Stewart-Haas Racing shop prepared the car for Almirola.

Driving the No. 28 Ford, Almirola took the checkered flag 1.868 seconds ahead of runner-up Allmendinger, with Larson running third 3.329 seconds back. Almirola had taken the lead from the fifth position on a Lap 65 restart, an advantage he held the rest of the way.

“Oh, man, this is so special,” said Almirola, who was making his second Xfinity start of the season after a 24th-place finish at Circuit of The Americas in April. “It’s hard to explain. I know it’s an Xfinity win — it’s not a Cup win, but after COTA, (I said) I don’t think I should run any more road course races in an Xfinity car.

“It makes me look like a wanker, and I lose self-confidence going into Sunday. But I knew that this race track, this is one that I can run good at. I’ve run good here my whole career. I don’t know what it is about this place, but I love racing here.”

WATCH: Almirola celebrates win with burnout | Almirola rehashes Sonoma win

Larson swept the first two stages and held a lead of more than 13 seconds over Allmendinger when Jeffrey Earnhardt backed into the barrier in Turn 10 on Lap 60 and caused the race’s second caution.

If the subsequent restart on Lap 65 was crucial to Almirola’s victory, Larson’s mistake on Lap 72 was even more so. On Lap 72 of 79, Larson drove hard into the Turn 11 hairpin within inches of Almirola’s back bumper and clipped one of the stacks of tires defining the corner.

Larson’s Chevrolet shot to the left of the racing line, and by the time he had righted the car, Allmendinger had passed him for second.

“I just got too greedy,” said Larson, who led a race-high 53 laps to Almirola’s 17. “I was kind of tucked up right behind him, clipped the tires, and it knocked the wheel out of my hands. After that, the toe was off. I was really tight in the left and really loose in the right, so I couldn’t make runs at it…

“I’m really mad at myself right now, but I’m really proud of the car they (Hendrick Motorsports) brought. Congrats to Aric, too. He did a really good job out in front of me, hitting his marks. He could kind of get away from me in a couple of important areas and would make me have to work hard behind him. So hats off to him and that team.”

The Xfinity Series will return to action on June 24 at Nashville Superspeedway to race in the Tennessee Lottery 250 (USA, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

Note: Inspection in the Xfinity Series garage is complete with no issues, confirming Almirola as the race winner. The No. 21 of Austin Hill had one lug nut loose, resulting in a monetary fine.

Posted on by Brandon White

HICKORY, N.C. — Winning a big race at Hickory Motor Speedway was a milestone Tyler Matthews had long been eager to cross off his bucket list.

Coming up short in a drag race against Bobby McCarty in 2021 was the closest Matthews had come to that goal prior to Saturday’s Jack Ingram Memorial, but the Richlands, North Carolina native felt confident about his chances in the crown jewel event after claiming three victories at Hickory earlier this year.

In a race that did not see one caution flag, Matthews methodically chased down pole-sitter Kade Brown and pulled away from the field to score what he considered to be the most prestigious win of his Late Model Stock career to date.

“It’s pretty cool to win one of these deals,” Matthews said. “We’ve run decent [at Hickory] in past before doing these weekly shows. Kade is always fast, and it’s fun to battle him week after week. We’ve got the speed, but to dominate in [the Jack Ingram Memorial 100] is pretty darn cool.”

RELATED: Career NASCAR stats for Tyler Matthews

After previously spending time in both the NASCAR Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series during the late 2010s, Matthews considers himself fortunate to call Hickory home.

Matthews admitted Late Model Stock races have provided him some of the toughest competition he has ever faced as a driver, with Hickory helping him emphasize the importance of saving tires on abrasive surfaces.

Those lessons were crucial toward Matthews’ strategy in the Jack Ingram Memorial. Once he felt enough of his tires had been saved, Matthews drove past Brown at the halfway point and went uncontested for the rest of the 111-lap feature.

The closest competition Matthews received in the second half came from another Late Model Stock veteran and former Xfinity Series competitor in Ronnie Bassett Jr., whose past accomplishments at Hickory include wins in the Dwight Huffman Memorial and Bobby Isaac Memorial.

Bassett was confident his car was strong enough to add a Jack Ingram Memorial victory to his Late Model Stock resume, but he ran out of time to catch Matthews with the race ultimate going green the entire distance.

“We were hoping for a caution toward the end of the race but didn’t get one,” Bassett said. “We had to go a little sooner after dropping back quite a bit, but that was the wrong decision with no cautions. The car was great, and this was a nice momentum-booster after struggling lately.”

RELATED: Follow Hickory Motor Speedway on FloRacing

Like Bassett, Matthews believes his victory Saturday will provide him a jolt as he tackles the rest of Hickory’s 2023 season.

Already boasting a 34-point lead in the track’s weekly standings entering the race, Matthews took immense pride in being able to win one of Hickory’s most cherished events, which he credits to all of the hard work that goes into making him competitive at such a tough facility.

“This is awesome,” Matthews said. “[Ingram] was so big for short tracks, especially at Hickory. To come out here, run a clean race and win the Memorial says a lot about this team and the cars we’re brining. All in all, a fun weekend.”

Now that he has a crown jewel victory at Hickory, Matthews is shifting his focus over to next milestone on his list: becoming a Hickory track champion.

Brown ended up fending off Michael Bumgarner to come home in third, with 2011 Bobby Isaac Memorial winner Austin McDaniel completing the top five.

Posted on by Tadd Haislop

SEEKONK, Mass. — Matt Hirschman sports his “Big Money” nickname in part because of the success he’s experienced racing Modifieds at Massachusetts’ Seekonk Speedway. Yet entering the 2023 Seekonk 150, the 40-year-old had never won a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race in five such starts at the third-mile bullring.

That changed emphatically Saturday night.

Hirschman led all 150 laps at Seekonk and left just five cars on the lead lap en route to the victory. Having also won the Granite State Derby at New Hampshire’s Lee USA Speedway a couple weeks prior, Hirschman’s win at Seekonk made him the Modified Tour’s first multi-time victor this season.

RELATED: Complete results from Seekonk Speedway

Hirschman earned the Mayhew Tools Dominator Pole Award with the best lap in qualifying Saturday. He left no doubt in the main event, driving away from outside pole-sitter Austin Beers at the drop of the green flag and proceeding to lap, at one point, all but two cars.

“Pretty dominant performance, doing it from the pole,” Hirschman said. “It’s not a pit-stop race, so as long as you have a car that’s going to handle and stay with you, you can keep it out front.

“I believe this [race] was a big unknown for a lot of teams because of the [new] pavement and the characteristics of the track changed. I think I’m going to like it. This has always been a good track for me, not a great track. But now winning a Whelen Tour race here — we’ve kind of won it all here.”

Six-time Whelen Modified Tour champion Doug Coby was the only driver who could keep Hirschman in his sights Saturday, but even Coby finished more than a second behind the race winner.

Ron Silk finished third behind Hirschman and Coby. Justin Bonsignore and Anthony Sesely rounded out the top five, the only five drivers who finished on the lead lap.

J.B. Fortin, Jon McKennedy, Austin Beers, Kyle Bonsignore and Anthony Nocella completed the top 10.

Saturday’s Seekonk 150 featured three cautions, two of which were the products of Jake Johnson spins. The third and final caution of the race came when Nocella spun with just 16 laps remaining.

A replay of the Seekonk 150 will broadcast on CNBC on Sunday, June 18 starting at 12:30 p.m. ET.

The NASCAR Whelen Modifed Tour will return to action on Saturday, June 24, for its second visit to New York’s Riverhead Raceway this season. The Miller Lite Salutes Mike Ewanitsko 200 will be shown live on FloRacing starting at 8 p.m. ET.

Posted on by Tadd Haislop

Seekonk 150

Seekonk Speedway

  • Race results
Pos. Car No. Driver Sponsor Laps Diff.
1 60 Matt Hirschman Pee Dee Motorsports 150  –
2 7 Doug Coby Mayhew Tools 150 1.262
3 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine & Future Homes 150 1.765
4 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications Inc. 150 2.347
5 19 Anthony Sesely* Wanick Construction, Inc. 150 7.063
6 34 J.B. Fortin A&R Materials/CYA Screen Printing/Queens Concrete 149 1 Lap
7 79 Jon McKennedy Middlesex Industries 149 1 Lap
8 64 Austin Beers AP Marquadt & Sons/Andrew James Interiors 149 1 Lap
9 22 Kyle Bonsignore Chalew Performance/MTT/Munns Auto 149 1 Lap
10 92 Anthony Nocella Nocella Paving/K and D Associates/Airgas 149 1 Lap
11 82 Craig Lutz Horton Ave Materials 148 2 Laps
12 36 Dave Sapienza Sapienza Enterprises 148 2 Laps
13 32 Tyler Rypkema Northeast Driling/MUSCO Lighting 148 2 Laps
14 46 Justin Brown* Riverhead Building Supply 148 2 Laps
15 25 Brian Robie* Maurice Enterprises 148 2 Laps
16 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant 147 3 Laps
17 01 Melissa Fifield Pine Knoll Auto Sales 144 6 Laps
18 26 Max Zachem Lakeland Ave Landscape Supply/L.I. Wood Heat 141 9 Laps
19 3 Jake Johnson* Propane Plus/Lin’s Propane Trucks 114 36 Laps
20 6 Woody Pitkat Koopman Lumbar 59 91 Laps
Posted on by Reid Spencer

SONOMA, Calif. – Denny Hamlin made the most of a second lap in the final round of Saturday’s qualifying to edge Tyler Reddick for the pole position for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Running the fastest lap of the day, Hamlin toured the 1.99-mile road course in 77.719 seconds (92.178 mph) to earn his second Busch Light Pole Award of the season, his first at Sonoma and the 38th of his career.

Reddick had covered the distance in 77.812 seconds (92.068 mph) before Hamlin knocked him off the provisional pole late in the session.

Michael McDowell, who posted the fastest lap in Round 1, qualified third at 92.060 mph, followed by Christopher Bell (91.308 mph) and road-course ace AJ Allmendinger (91.873 mph). Sunoco rookie Ty Gibbs was sixth fastest, and Chris Buescher, the 2022 Sonoma runner-up, was seventh.

RELATED: Sunday’s starting lineup | Weekend schedule

Interestingly, crew chief Chris Gabehart suggested to Hamlin that he settle for his first lap in the final round. At the time, Hamlin was second fastest.

“Chris was trying to get me to unbuckle after our first lap in the final round,” Hamlin said. “He was like, ‘That’s a great day, that’s a good starting spot,’ and I just asked like ‘You don’t want me to try again — I feel like maybe I could do it.’

“And so I’m glad that we did try again.’”

Seeking his first career Cup Series pole, McDowell was frustrated with his third-place result, which matched his finishing position in last year’s race.

“I think we had the car to beat today, so that’s what stinks about qualifying third,” McDowell said. “I feel good about our race trim. The cars I out-qualified there, I felt like we were way better in race trim. The only one I felt that was better than us was maybe the 5 (Kyle Larson), so we’ve got a good car for (Sunday) and we’ll get after it.

“It’s good to be disappointed with third. I haven’t had a career pole here in the Cup Series, so I was hoping today would be it. I gave it all I had and just a little bit too much and over-stepped it.”

The surprise of the session was Larson, who failed to advance to the second round after topping the speed chart in final NASCAR Cup Series practice by .558 seconds over Martin Truex Jr., who claimed the eighth starting position for Sunday’s race, the 16th of the season.

Larson had started from the pole for the last five Sonoma races, winning once, in 2021. Earlier in the day, he won the pole for Saturday night’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race.

Chase Elliott, returning from a one-race suspension for wrecking Hamlin in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, made one attempt during Saturday’s final round but slid sideways in Turn 4 before regaining control.

MORE: Rick Hendrick on Elliott’s suspension

The bobble cost Elliott precious time and dropped him to 10th on the grid next to defending race winner Daniel Suarez, who qualified ninth.

PRACTICE

Kyle Larson topped the leaderboard in Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series practice at Sonoma Raceway at 91.730 mph in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Right behind him was Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota at 91.079 mph. AJ Allmendinger, Tyler Reddick and Michael McDowell completed the top five.

Ryan Blaney, the series points leader, was 16th fastest, clocking in at 90.280 mph.

RELATED: Practice Results

Posted on by Reid Spencer

SONOMA, Calif. – Martin Truex Jr. has three NASCAR Cup Series victories to his credit at Sonoma Raceway, but the driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota hasn’t been prominent in discussions of possible winners in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Admittedly, Truex struggled mightily at Sonoma in the 2022 debut year of the Next Gen car, starting 28th and finishing 26th. Truex was winless last year, but his cars have shown much more consistent speed this season, as his triumph at Dover and six top-10 finishes in the last eight races indicate.

MORE: Fantasy: Is Tyler Reddick the new road-course king?

When it comes to road courses, Truex has an additional resource this season. No driver has been as successful on road courses as Tyler Reddick, who won at Road America and the Indianapolis Grand Prix Course last year and at Circuit of The Americas in April.

Reddick switched from Chevrolet to Toyota with his move to 23XI Racing this year, and that gives Truex another set of useful information to absorb.

“Yeah, for sure it is (a resource),” Truex said. “Especially the simulator stuff and then looking at his data. Everybody was looking at his data at COTA. I guess the benefit for us is that we get to ask him questions and hear about it — ‘Why did you do this, and why did you do that?’

“I think there is a lot of benefit to that these days. Definitely, the simulator time as well. We’ve only raced the one road course this year, so we still have a lot to go and a lot to do here, but for sure, it was crazy impressive what he did at COTA.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Seekonk 150

Seekonk Speedway

  • Qualifying Results
Pos No. Name Sponsor Best Tm Best Speed
1 60 Matt Hirschman Pee Dee Motorsports 11.757 101.046
2 64 Austin Beers AP Marquadt & Sons/Andrew James Interiors 11.811 100.584
3 19 Anthony Sesely* Wanick Construction, Inc. 11.876 100.034
4 7 Doug Coby Mayhew Tools 11.904 99.798
5 79 Jon McKennedy Middlesex Industries 11.916 99.698
6 92 Anthony Nocella Nocella Paving/K and D Associates/Airgas 11.922 99.648
7 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine & Future Homes 11.923 99.639
8 25 Brian Robie* Maurice Enterprises 11.942 99.481
9 32 Tyler Rypkema Northeast Driling/MUSCO Lighting 11.951 99.406
10 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications Inc. 11.968 99.265
11 22 Kyle Bonsignore Chalew Performance/MTT/Munns Auto 11.993 99.058
12 3 Jake Johnson* Propane Plus/Lin’s Propane Trucks 12.005 98.959
13 36 Dave Sapienza Sapienza Enterprises 12.011 98.909
14 34 J.B. Fortin A&R Materials/CYA Screen Printing/Queens Concrete 12.045 98.63
15 82 Craig Lutz Horton Ave Materials 12.072 98.41
16 46 Justin Brown* Riverhead Building Supply 12.146 97.81
17 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant 12.17 97.617
18 6 Woody Pitkat Koopman Lumbar 12.226 97.17
19 26 Max Zachem Lakeland Ave Landscape Supply/L.I. Wood Heat 12.424 95.621
20 01 Melissa Fifield Pine Knoll Auto Sales 12.819 92.675
Posted on by Staff Report

Seekonk 150

Seekonk Speedway

  • Practice Results
Pos No. Name Sponsor Best Tm Best Speed In Lap Laps Diff
1 60 Matt Hirschman Pee Dee Motorsports 11.715 101.408 36 50  —
2 19 Anthony Sesely* Wanick Construction, Inc. 11.782 100.832 35 35 0.067
3 64 Austin Beers AP Marquadt & Sons/Andrew James Interiors 11.813 100.567 65 69 0.098
4 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine & Future Homes 11.848 100.27 25 46 0.133
5 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications Inc. 11.885 99.958 46 52 0.17
6 7 Doug Coby Mayhew Tools 11.898 99.849 46 61 0.183
7 3 Jake Johnson* Propane Plus/Lin’s Propane Trucks 11.949 99.423 18 57 0.234
8 36 Dave Sapienza Sapienza Enterprises 11.951 99.406 60 69 0.236
9 22 Kyle Bonsignore Chalew Performance/MTT/Munns Auto 11.953 99.389 30 37 0.238
10 92 Anthony Nocella Nocella Paving/K and D Associates/Airgas 11.953 99.389 25 49 0.238
11 79 Jon McKennedy Middlesex Industries 11.956 99.364 50 62 0.241
12 25 Brian Robie* Maurice Enterprises 11.959 99.339 45 47 0.244
13 34 J.B. Fortin A&R Materials/CYA Screen Printing/Queens Concrete 12.02 98.835 41 56 0.305
14 82 Craig Lutz Horton Ave Materials 12.029 98.761 43 45 0.314
15 32 Tyler Rypkema Northeast Driling/MUSCO Lighting 12.07 98.426 53 62 0.355
16 46 Justin Brown* Riverhead Building Supply 12.11 98.101 56 93 0.395
17 6 Woody Pitkat Koopman Lumbar 12.132 97.923 17 30 0.417
18 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant 12.27 96.822 28 30 0.555
19 26 Max Zachem Lakeland Ave Landscape Supply/L.I. Wood Heat 12.407 95.752 18 18 0.692
20 01 Melissa Fifield Pine Knoll Auto Sales 12.456 95.376 45 53 0.741
Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

SONOMA, Calif. — On Saturday, NASCAR officials displayed the counterfeit part found on the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford that led to an L3-level penalty after the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

RELATED: Sonoma schedule | Point standings

Brad Moran, managing director of the NASCAR Cup Series, met with media members at Sonoma Raceway to show the air duct that was illegally counterfeited and installed on Chase Briscoe’s car. The part was found during teardown at the NASCAR Research and Development Center and led to a $250,000 fine and six-race suspension for crew chief Johnny Klausmeier, a 100-point owner and driver penalty and the deduction of 25 playoff points.

NASCAR officials show counterfeit part found on No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Zach Sturniolo | NASCAR Studios

The duct sits at the bottom of the car under the engine panel to help move heat out of the engine compartment and is 3D-printed at the R&D Center and sold and installed for each team by Fibreworks Composites. Each piece is made to include particular markings that make it identifiable. As Moran displayed the part to media members, he explained the textures were “clearly” different.

The penalty is the latest example of officials ensuring a level playing field in the NASCAR Cup Series with the Next Gen vehicle, which relies on teams building cars with commonly sourced parts.

“We’ve got to change the culture in the Cup Series, and that’s what we intend on doing,” Moran said.

This is the second time this season NASCAR officials have shown an illegal part found on a Cup Series entrant, mirroring the transparency shown at Kansas Speedway where an illegally modified part from the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing team was displayed.

“Our message is we’re not going to back down,” Moran said Saturday. “It’s been a culture in this garage (to modify parts) for decades. And for us all to be strong and have the racing that we had last year to continue on, we just need to break that habit and start using the parts as they were designed for.”

The part found on Briscoe’s car was visibly errant before officials confirmed its lack of distinct markings and improper template fit, Moran said.

“There’s some defects that are built into it that are built into each one as it’s a 3D part,” he said. “So we know what they are and there’s certain little characteristics that are in it. But again, that was after we scanned it and everything. It was a visual that doesn’t look like this (real) part, and then the more we examined it, the more we realized it’s not a part they bought.”

In Klausmeier’s absence, Mike Bugarewicz has been the interim crew chief for Briscoe. Bugarewicz, now the performance director at SHR, served as a crew chief for the No. 14 Ford for four seasons with drivers Tony Stewart and Clint Bowyer before spending the 2020-21 seasons atop the No. 10 pit box with driver Aric Almirola. Bugarewicz has four career wins as a crew chief, collecting two with Bowyer and one each with Stewart and Almirola.