Posted on by Press Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – NASCAR announced today its 22nd NASCAR Diversity Internship Program (NDIP) class welcoming undergraduate and graduate students to NASCAR.

The class of 37 students completed orientation during the Coca-Cola 600 race weekend in Charlotte. Many in the group had the opportunity to experience their first NASCAR race, visit the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Hendrick Motorsports and the Motor Racing Network facilities.

The NASCAR Diversity Internship Program is a 10-week program that offers hands-on experience across various roles in the motorsports industry. NDIP provides practical, unique, hands-on experience in a variety of fields vital to the sport and business operations. Throughout the summer interns will receive mentorship, network with industry leaders and engage in a case study competition.

“This year we’re welcoming another exceptional class of college students eager to learn about our sport,” said Brandon Thompson, NASCAR’s Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion. “As a graduate of NDIP, I know firsthand how crucial it is for students to have exposure to professional sports opportunities. We’re excited to welcome this year’s class and look forward to seeing them grow this summer.”

The industry’s longest-running diversity initiative, NDIP has played an important role in NASCAR as the sport celebrates its 75th year. Launched in 2000, the highly competitive career development program has introduced over 500 college students to the NASCAR industry, and has grown to include several industry partners, providing a variety of career exposure opportunities. 2023 partners include Rev Racing, World Wide Express, 23XI Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing, Sonoma Raceway, Team Penske, Hendrick Motorsports and Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing.

NDIP is open to college students who are sophomores or above with a minimum 3.0 GPA representing the following races/ethnic minority classifications: Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Latino or Hispanic, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander.

The 2023 NASCAR Diversity Internship Class includes:

Intern DepartmentSchool
Abhishek Cherukara NASCAR Aerodynamics Cranfield University
Alexandria Samuel Sonoma Raceway Columbia University
Angelina Davila NASCAR Communications DePaul University
Aniya Misher Joe Gibbs Racing North Carolina A&T State University
Ava Hartsell Hendrick Motorsports Virginia Tech
Brisia Briones NASCAR Sourcing and Procurement University of Houston
Chandler Love NASCAR Human Resource University of Miami
Daniel Zakhary NASCAR Public & Govt. Affairs University of Florida
Darren Henderson NASCAR Multicultural & MarketingTemple University
DeNashia Robinson NASCAR Legal Howard University School of Law
Didier Attipou NASCAR Corporate Accounting Morehouse College
D'Vante Siler NASCAR Sales Academy Fort Valley State University
Elijah PattersonNASCAR Marketing ServicesJohnson C. Smith University
Elizabeth Yaboni NASCAR Social Responsibility Columbia University
Ester Ferreira NASCAR International Nova Southeastern University
Gift Pendleton Chicago Street Race University of Central Florida
Haley KingWorldwide Express Prairie View A&M University
India Martin NASCAR Consumer Strategy Oglethorpe University
Jayden Carrillo NASCAR Brand Marketing University of South Carolina
Juliana Ashrifeh NASCAR Social Media Wayne State University
Juliet Campbell NASCAR Productions The Ohio State University
Lauren Allsbrook 23XI Racing University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Lauryn CarltonNASCAR Partnership Marketing Elon University
Leticia De Freitas Rev Racing Savannah College of Art & Design
Maya Ellison Motor Racing Network Florida A&M University
Meg Cabras NASCAR Licensing & Consumer ProductsFlorida State University
Miranda Romero The NASCAR Foundation New Mexico State University
Nicolas Caldwell NASCAR National Sales West Virginia University
Niraj Panthi NASCAR Media and Event Technology Wingate University
Oscar Casasola NASCAR Gaming and Esports University of Maryland
Phalgunmihir Eyunni Hendrick Motorsports Florida State University
Phillip Hall NASCAR Weekly Racing Operations St. John's University
Salaah Khan NASCAR Sports Betting The George Washington University
Sidney Brown Team Penske Bethune-Cookman University
Syeda Ghazal Qadri NASCAR Research and Insights Boston University
Tyra BlueNASCAR Diversity & Inclusion Briar Cliff University
Victor Jackson Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Florida State College at Jacksonville
Posted on by Cara Cooper
The defending Modifieds champion at Adams County Speedway has picked up right where he left off last season.
In five Modifieds features so far this year at Adams County, a NASCAR-sanctioned, half-mile dirt track in Corning, Iowa, Jesse Dennis has three wins and five top-five finishes. He has a 40-point lead over second-place Jeff Wiggins in the current standings.

“I’ve done pretty good,” Dennis said. “My chassis builder, he’s got a new deal going, and we kind of went with that. He had a pretty good set-up going, so I tried to stick with what he’s got going. It’s kind of a different deal than what I was running last year. Just completely different from what I was running last year… Hasn’t been too bad. The car has been driving good.”

RELATED: Adams County Speedway on MyRacePass

Jesse Dennis
(Photo: Adams County Speedway/Facebook)

Last season’s championship marked Dennis’ sixth NASCAR title at Adams County, where he started driving in 2004. He finished with six wins and 15 top fives in 17 features.

Four of his championships have come since 2018, and he finished second in 2021.

Dennis started racing a go-kart when he was 18 and just out of high school. He didn’t stay in the starter car long before jumping straight into a modified.

“I was just being a fan in the stands, watching them, and kind of wanted to do it,” he said. “I bought my first go-kart and started racing and kind of got old enough to do it. I was 18, out of high school, and I had enough money to buy a modified, so I bought a modified and have been racing that for 19 years.

“It’s changed a lot. It’s getting pretty technical now. It’s changed quite a bit. It’s getting more technical, kind of more in depth to what you need to do.”

When Dennis started racing, he had his dad, Frank, helping him. Frank still works on the car with his son every week, but now there’s also a third generation in the shop and pits, too. Dennis’s 13-year-old son, Jayden, began helping the team this season.

“It’s pretty good having him around,” Dennis said. “He listens a little better now. … He just really likes racing; he runs a go-kart. Our other track closed down, so he’s just kind of helping me out now this year, just learning the ropes on it.”

Jayden hopes to start racing himself next year.

“I think he enjoys it,” Dennis added. “He’s in a lot of the pictures, and he enjoys doing it. Learning more, that the biggest thing. I don’t really want him to think he’s going to have it given to him. He’s going to have to earn it. He’s going to have to show he wants to do it, so that’s probably the main thing.”

Dennis came into this season with the same goal he always has: “Win a championship; that’s the main goal.”

With three wins in five races, the key, he said, is continuing to be consistent.

“Try to make sure the car just doesn’t break,” he added. “I know you’re going to have stuff like that happen, but just try to save as many as you can.

“Try to win as many features as we can and maybe gain some friends, maybe travel some more.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Corey LaJoie will drive the No. 9 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports in this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway, the team announced Tuesday.

LaJoie replaces Chase Elliott for Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Elliott was suspended by NASCAR on Tuesday after intentionally wrecking Denny Hamlin in Monday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

MORE: Full penalty report from Charlotte | Cup standings

Driving the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet full time, LaJoie sits 20th in points with one top-five finish this season, a fourth-place effort at Atlanta Motor Speedway. LaJoie is having a career year in 2023, boasting a 19.1 average finish through 14 races, tracking to beat his previous best of 24.3 by more than five positions per race.

Carson Hocevar will fill in for LaJoie at Gateway in the No. 7 Chevrolet.

LaJoie becomes the fourth driver this season in the No. 9 Chevrolet, a car that has finished second twice this year — once with Elliott in February at Auto Club Speedway and again with Josh Berry behind the wheel in April at Richmond Raceway.

Elliott missed six races earlier this season after suffering a broken leg in a snowboarding accident in March. Berry competed in the five oval races Elliott missed while Jordan Taylor piloted the machine at Circuit of The Americas to a 24th-place finish.

LaJoie’s nearest brush with victory came in July 2022 at Atlanta, when his No. 7 car was running second on the final lap. His move to the outside was blocked by race leader Elliott, who went onto win the event.

WATCH: Relive thrilling Atlanta finish

Elliott is set to return to the No. 9 Chevrolet for the NASCAR Cup Series race on June 11 at Sonoma Raceway.

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR suspended Chase Elliott through the next Cup Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway, officials announced Tuesday.

In this week’s penalty report, officials ruled Elliott intentionally crashed Denny Hamlin on Lap 186 of Monday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, turning left into Hamlin’s right-rear quarter panel and sending the No. 11 Toyota head-on into the outside SAFER barrier on the front straightaway after a squeeze from Hamlin led Elliott to brushing the wall at the exit of Turn 4.

RELATED: Full details of Monday’s crash 

Officials cited Sections 4.3.A and 4.4.C & D of the NASCAR Member Code of Conduct laid out in the NASCAR Rule Book in Elliott’s suspension. Section 4.3.A cites NASCAR member conduct and states “correct and proper conduct, both on and off the race track, is part of a member’s responsibilities.” Section 4.4.C lists “removing another competitor from championship contention in a dangerous manner when not racing for position based on the available evidence and specific circumstances of the incident” as one of two actions that could result in a penalty, including race suspension(s). Listed as an example in the rule book is “clearly forcing another competitor into the wall in an abrupt and unambiguous manner,” while Section 4.4.D lists “actions by a NASCAR member that NASCAR finds to be detrimental to stock car racing or NASCAR” as an action that could result in a fine and/or indefinite suspension.

“We take this very seriously,” Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition, said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “The incident that happened off Turn 4, after looking at all the available resources … it was an intentional act by Chase, in our opinion, after reviewing all the available resources there.

“In the heat of the battle, things happen, but drivers needs to understand you have to handle that in a completely different way than hooking someone in the right rear and putting them in harm’s way.”

Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, is set to miss his seventh race of the 2023 season. The 2020 Cup champion suffered a broken left leg in a snowboarding accident in March, sidelining him for six races until his return on April 16 at Martinsville Speedway. Josh Berry filled in for the five oval events Elliott missed, scoring a career-best second-place finish on April 2 at Richmond Raceway. Jordan Taylor made his Cup debut as Elliott’s substitute at Circuit of The Americas, where he qualified fourth and finished 24th.

Hendrick Motorsports released the following statement regarding the suspension:

“We understand NASCAR’s need to maintain consistency in its officiating. The penalty will not be appealed, and we will submit a formal request for a playoff waiver. Corey LaJoie, 31, will drive the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 this weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway. We are grateful to Corey for stepping in and to the team at Spire Motorsports for making him available.”

NASCAR confirmed Thursday that Elliott’s waiver request has been granted.

Front Row Motorsports’ No. 34 team was also penalized after Monday’s race when the right-front tire detached from the vehicle at Lap 344, a violation detailed in Sections 8.8.10.4.C in the NASCAR Rule Book, pertaining to loss or separation of an improperly installed tire/wheel from the vehicle. NASCAR suspended front-tire changer Scott Brzozowski and jackman Adam Lewis for the next two races.

In the Xfinity Series, Joe Gibbs Racing crew chief Jeff Meendering was fined $5,000 after the No. 18 Toyota was found with one lug nut not securely fastened following Monday’s Alsco Uniforms 300. The penalty falls under Sections 8.8.10.4a in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Rule Book, which states, “all tire(s)/wheel(s) and all five lug nuts must be installed in a safe and secure manner during the event.”

Additionally, the No. 74 CHK Racing team was docked 10 owners points while driver Dawson Cram was docked 10 driver points. Officials cited Sections 14.4.12.1.G & H of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Rule Book for the penalty, addressing the quarter window and NASCAR-mandated NACA duct and outlet hose that must be used at all ovals 1.33 miles and longer.

Derek Hartnagel, truck chief for the No. 43 GMS Racing team, was issued an indefinite suspension. The penalty report references Sections 4.1 and 10.1.A of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Rule Book, which addresses NASCAR’s substance abuse policy and actions detrimental to stock car racing or NASCAR, respectively.

Posted on by Staff Report

The National Motorsports Appeals Panel ruled Tuesday to uphold penalties issued to four Craftsman Truck Series teams earlier this month for violating a safety rule in the NASCAR Rule Book.

Each of the four teams was discovered to have violated NASCAR Rule Book Sections 14.2.3.3.1 B&C: Driver’s Window Net, a safety penalty.

A driver’s window net must meet the SFI 27.1 specification and display a valid SFI 27.1 label. This SFI specification means that the window net has been tested to meet the minimum standards for safety.

Additionally, window nets must not be used beyond two years from the date it was manufactured.

The three-person panel of Dale Pinilis, Shawna Robinson and Kevin Whitaker ruled to affirm and upheld the original penalty, which was:

• A loss of 25 championship owner points the Nos. 46 and 47 Toyotas of G2G Racing and the Nos. 12 and 20 Young’s Motorsports Chevrolets.

• A fine of $5,000 to the respective crew chiefs: Timothy Silva (No. 46), Daniel Killius (No. 47), Bradley Means (No. 12) and Joseph Lax (No. 20).

In reaching the above decision, the panel provided the following explanation: “Whether the race team knew or did not know the window nets were illegal, according to the NASCAR Rule Book, each race team is responsible for ensuring that their equipment is both legal and safe.”

Posted on by John Crane

CONCORD, N.C. — To most, eternity can mean forever. To Ryan Blaney, the saying took a simpler — albeit dredging — tone. Or in this case, number.

59.

After all, the No. 12 Team Penske driver had failed to find Victory Lane for 59 consecutive points-paying races. A full 36-race season — plus an extra 23, just to drive the message home — certainly illustrated the drought at hand.

No longer.

Electric speed, intense maneuvering and clutch performances during a multitude of restarts erased the streak for good Monday evening, following the 29-year-old’s victory on Memorial Day. Eternity was now a memory as opposed to a current actuality.

“I might shed a tear,” Blaney said following the win. “This has been a cool weekend. Obviously, Memorial Day Weekend means a lot, growing up here watching Dad (Dave Blaney) run this race for a long time. It’s so cool just to be a part of it, let alone win it.”

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos 

Of course, the sweet thrill of victory didn’t come without the souring taste of defeat. Throughout Blaney’s 59-race spell, there were certainly close calls that very well could have netted a win. Leading 143 laps, in addition to starting on the pole during the 2022 spring race at Phoenix Raceway, certainly could have qualified. So could a 128-lap-led effort at Richmond Raceway (also coincidentally in spring 2022), where Blaney, once again, started on the pole but finished seventh. And so on and so forth.

Even still, the result was all the same. A winning opportunity without a winning result to show for it. From his last win in August 2021 at Daytona International Speedway to his Coca-Cola 600 win in 2023, Blaney finished inside the top five and top 10 18 and 30 times, respectively. And to make matters even gloomier, Blaney led 822 total laps during the timeframe.

For any driver with that much success without a win, it could have been the breaking point. Eternity could have prevailed. But to Blaney, the remedy came in the form of patience, even if the self-doubt was prevalent on more than one occasion.

“I just don’t try to think about that as much. We try to win every week,” Blaney said of the streak. “It’s hard to do. It’s hard to win these races, and sometimes, you just get these streaks of things aren’t going right, but then you feel like you’re doing everything right, maybe your cars aren’t fast enough to win races, or you’re making too many mistakes. It can definitely be frustrating. It’s easy to get down on yourself that you gotta think to yourself, ‘Can I still do it? Can I still compete at a winning level?’ So, it’s easy to kind of doubt yourself.

“At the end of the day, we all pull up together, and everyone did a good job working on things that we could get better, and yeah, it does feel like an eternity, but I told (crew chief) Jonathan (Hassler) and all those guys. I said, ‘What a cool first one to get together, I mean, winning the 600.’ That’s a super cool one to win.”

WATCH: Blaney ends winless drought with checkered flag finish 

With a win now under his belt in 2023, Blaney can look toward the postseason with a chance to do even more damage in a way all similar to the Blaney of old, including the same rendition who finished with three wins and a seventh-place points finish in 2021. But perhaps this year’s Blaney — with a 59-race drought now permanently in the rearview mirror — can take it a step further. Sometimes, it only takes one race, and with a fresh dose of confidence to build upon, perhaps the sky is the limit.

“When I do get in doubt, your abilities to do something is really hard to pull yourself out of it, at least for me, personally, just because I don’t have that self-confidence that some guys have, and it takes me a little more convincing,” Blaney said. “I don’t really have anything for it. It’s just trying to look forward to the next week and just trying to reassure yourself, like, you’re here for a reason. If you try to work on these things and try to perfect what you do, that’s all you can do. That’s kind of how I’ve approached it. It’s easy to get down, that’s for sure.

“It’s how you dig out of that stuff and kind of makes you, but yeah. The moments aren’t good, but it’s nice to be back. Hopefully, we can make it a more common thing.”

And perhaps eternity will permanently be no more.

Posted on by Staff Report

CONCORD, N.C. — Saving fuel throughout a 66-lap green-flag run to the finish, Justin Allgaier collected his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the season — and the first this year for JR Motorsports — in Monday’s twice-rain-delayed Alsco Uniforms 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Allgaier, the pole winner, beat runner-up John Hunter Nemechek to the finish line by 7.829 seconds, as the top three finishers — including third-place Cole Custer — stretched their fuel mileage from a Lap 135 restart to the end of the race.

MORE: Official results | At-track photos: Charlotte

Austin Hill and Ty Gibbs, both of whom pitted for fuel in the closing stages, claimed the fourth and fifth positions, respectively.

“I’m speechless, man,” said Allgaier, who led a race-high 83 laps. “I didn’t know how much to save. Just lucky we had enough … I just cannot say enough about (crew chief) Jim Pohlman, everybody on the No. 7 team.

“It’s not been for lack of speed this year. We’ve battled. Tonight, was kind of the opposite. We had to go slow to go fast.”

Nemechek led 57 laps, but Allgaier built a substantial lead at the end while conserving enough fuel to finish the race — and to do a celebratory burnout.

“We were racing each other pretty hard, and I burned my stuff up trying to get to him — and get around him,” Nemechek said. “I should have been a little more patient, I guess. But overall, really solid day. Good points day for us. I think that extends our points lead.”

In fact, Nemechek collected his fifth top-two finish of the season (with wins at Fontana and Martinsville) and holds a 10-point lead over Hill in the series standings.

But Allgaier and Nemechek might not have been left to battle for the win, had a radio issue not adversely affected Gibbs’ winning chances.

The driver of the No. 19 Toyota, who won last year’s Xfinity championship before graduating to the NASCAR Cup Series, led 52 laps and swept the first two stages of the race. But an extended pit stop, during which Gibbs’ crew changed his steering wheel (which housed a faulty radio button) dropped him to the rear of the field for a restart on Lap 98. That ended Gibbs’ challenge for the win.

Parker Retzlaff ran sixth, followed by Jeb Burton, Carson Hocevar, Jeb Burton and Sammy Smith.

The race was delayed from Saturday by rain and restarted at 11 a.m. ET Monday. But rain intervened again after the completion of the first stage, delaying the finish until after the running of the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR Cup Series race, won by Ryan Blaney. After resuming at 10 p.m. ET, the checkered flag waved over Allgaier’s No. 7 Chevrolet at 11:27 p.m. ET.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series now shifts to Portland International Raceway for its 13th race of the season on Saturday, June 3 (4:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Note: Inspection is complete in the Xfinity Series garage with no issues, confirming the No. 7 of Allgaier as the winner.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on by Cameron Richardson

CONCORD, N.C. — Bent fenders and hurt feelings.

A five-hour thriller in Monday’s Coca-Cola 600 had its fair share of drivers not getting along on the track and of a smattering of run-ins through the day-to-night event — peaking when two drivers had a heated exchange on pit road.

Bubba Wallace and Aric Almirola ran each other hard throughout the first portion of the race before a short rain delay paused activities around the 1.5-mile North Carolina track. However, the rain didn’t halt the frustrations between the pair as the two met on pit road, leading to an exchange of words and a shove from the driver of the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford.

RELATED: Almirola shoves Wallace on pit road | Ful Coca-Cola 600 race recap

When it came to what happened on the track, Almirola said he was frustrated with how he was being raced by Wallace.

“Just early in the race, I felt like I was running him pretty clean and I felt like he was racing me pretty dirty,” Almirola said of their Stage 2 entanglements. “He ran me all over the race track and then he got by me and he shot me the bird so I just went to ask him ‘why are you throwing me the bird,’ like I gave him a lot of room and gave him a lot of respect and he started mouthing off and just saying a lot of bad things and cussing.

“I got my point across. I let him know that it’s not acceptable. He’s not gonna cuss at me and shoot me the bird.”

While Wallace was less explanatory of what occurred between Almirola and himself, he did provide a short reason for the conversation.

“Yeah. Passionate, man.”

Wallace added that he and Almirola “were racing hard for the second stage and we finished fourth;” a nod to Wallace’s finish in the race, which marked a career-high third straight top-five finish for the 29-year-old.

The incident with Wallace wasn’t the only adversity Almirola faced throughout the 600 miles as the No. 10 was caught up in a late-race, multicar wreck that began with Kyle Larson spinning from inside the top five and collecting Ty Gibbs, Christopher Bell and Joey Logano along with Almirola.

MORE: Larson spins, leading to multicar wreck

Almirola went on to finish 25th after the checkered flag.

Meanwhile, Wallace’s day was full of ups and downs. The No. 23 started inside the top 10 but faded to outside the top 20 in Stage 1 as the 23XI Racing team tried to make the proper adjustments to get the car in the right direction. Wallace also suffered issues on pit road, including the final stop that saw him have to stop and back up in his stall to get around Alex Bowman.

On the final restart with 20 laps to go, Wallace appeared to have one of the fastest cars in the field, moving from outside the top 10 to a fourth-place run to close an eventful day.

Neither Wallace nor Almirola were willing to go into specific detail on what was said and why the shove occurred but both finished their thoughts on the incident with slight jabs at one another.

“Just typical Bubba. He just runs his mouth. He’s got a chip on his shoulder so it’s all part of it,” Almirola said.

“When you walk around with two faces, that’s what you get,” Wallace said.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

CONCORD, N.C. — Finally.

Breaking a 59-race drought in Monday’s rain-delayed Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Ryan Blaney gave team owner Roger Penske his first same-year sweep of IndyCar’s biggest race and NASCAR’s longest.

With a dominant No. 12 Team Penske Ford that gained long-run speed as the race progressed, Blaney led a race-high and career-best 163 of 400 laps and held off polesitter William Byron for his first victory on the 1.5-mile Charlotte oval and the eighth of his career.

MORE: Official results | At-track photos: Charlotte

A day after Josef Newgarden delivered Penske’s 19th Indianapolis 500 victory with a last-lap pass, Blaney won for the first time since taking the checkered flag at Daytona on Aug. 28, 2021.

“I might shed a tear,” said Blaney, clearly emotional during his post-race interview on the frontstretch. “I just was able to get the lead, and that car was so good that I could kind of bide my time a little bit and then we were able to drive off. I was hoping no caution, just because you never know.

“I know we had the car to do it, but restarts can be crazy… You start to get to feel like you can’t win anymore when you don’t win in a while. It kind of gets hard. So just super thankful to the 12 guys for believing in me…

“It’s just so cool. What a weekend with Newgarden and Roger winning at Indy and us winning the 600. I mean that’s just so cool. That kind of snaps our winless streak right there, and that’s even better.”

After a spate of cautions late in the race, Blaney led the field to green with 20 laps left and built a one-second lead over Byron before winning by .663 seconds. Martin Truex Jr. ran third ahead of 23XI Racing teammates Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick.

Blaney won the race’s third stage and is second in the NASCAR Cup Series standings, one point behind Ross Chastain, who finished 22nd.

Byron, who collected his eighth top-10 finish this season, pursued Blaney for the final 20 laps, but to no avail.

“We just needed a little bit,” said Byron, who led 91 laps and repeatedly regained the top spot from the No. 1 pit stall in a race that featured 16 cautions for 83 laps. “Really happy for Ryan. He really deserves it. He’s a good dude. Cool to see him get a win…

“The car was great tonight. Just not quite good enough. Really proud of the effort. Pit crew was phenomenal on pit road. Those guys are just high energy, and that pit stall helps… Just proud of where our team is at. Just needed a little bit more.”

The wreck that set up the final 20-lap green-flag run was one of the race’s most severe. Kyle Larson slid sideways and after a restart on Lap 375 and bounced off other front-running cars like a pinball. Collected in the wreck were Christopher Bell, who had shown early speed; Ty Gibbs; Joey Logano and Aric Almirola.

WATCH: Larson gets loose, triggers late wreck

Just as significant was an accident on Lap 185 that knocked defending race winner Denny Hamlin and five-time most popular driver Chase Elliott out of the race.

After Hamlin crowded Elliott’s No. 9 Chevrolet into the outside wall, Elliott hooked Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota on the frontstretch. Hamlin’s car bounced off the wall after a brutal impact and collected Elliott’s Camaro on the rebound.

Both cars were damaged too severely to continue.

RELATED: Full details on Elliott, Hamlin incident

Hamlin and crew chief Chris Gabehart were convinced Elliott turned Hamlin’s Camry in retaliation.

“It’s a tantrum and he shouldn’t be racing next week,” Hamlin said after exiting the infield care center. “Right-rear hooks are absolutely unacceptable. I don’t care. It is the same thing that Bubba Wallace did with Kyle Larson. Exact same. He shouldn’t be racing. It’s a tantrum.”

Elliott denied the incident was intentional on his part.

“No, like I said, once you hit the wall in these things, you can’t drive them anymore,” Elliott said. “So, no, just unfortunate circumstances.”

Postponed from Sunday due to inclement weather, Monday’s 400-lapper was red-flagged at Lap 159 for additional rainfall. During the delay, Bubba Wallace and Aric Almirola had a discussion that briefly turned physical when Almirola shoved Wallace. The two were separated with no further incidents.

MORE: See Wallace, Almirola altercation

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on by Staff Report

CONCORD, N.C. — Denny Hamlin crashed out of the Coca-Cola 600 at Lap 185 on Monday evening after contact from Chase Elliott’s No. 9 Chevrolet at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Exiting Turn 4, Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota slid high, forcing Elliott into the outside SAFER barrier. Elliott then contacted Hamlin’s right-rear quarter panel entering the dogleg of the Charlotte frontstretch, sending Hamlin nose-first into the wall.

CHARLOTTE: Race results | Best photos from the weekend

After exiting the infield care center, Hamlin was blunt about what he thought happened.

“He right-rear hooked me down the straightaway,” Hamlin said. “The same thing that happened with Bubba [Wallace] and Kyle [Larson] last year.”

Wallace hooked Larson during the Las Vegas Motor Speedway fall race and sent both into a spin, culminating in hard collisions into the outside SAFER barrier.

Wallace was suspended from the following race at Homestead-Miami Speedway for violating Sections 4.3.A and 4.4.C & E of the NASCAR Member Code of Conduct laid out in the NASCAR Rule Book. Rule 4.4.C lists “intentionally wrecking or spinning another vehicle, whether or not that vehicle is removed from Competition as a result” as one of five member actions that could result in a penalty.

Hamlin said he believes the driver of the No. 9 should face the same discipline.

“It’s a tantrum and he [Elliott] shouldn’t be racing next week,” Hamlin said. “Right rear hooks are absolutely unacceptable. I don’t care. Exact same. He shouldn’t be racing. It’s a tantrum.”

Elliott denied intentionally crashing Hamlin but expressed his displeasure with their on-track interactions.

“The 11 ran us up in the fence there, and once you tear the right sides off these things, it’s kind of over,” Elliott said after his release from the care center.

Asked specifically whether he retaliated against Hamlin, who won the 2022 edition of the Coca-Cola 600, Elliott attributed the contact as a result of the damage to his No. 9 Chevrolet.

“Once you hit the wall in these things, you can’t drive them anymore,” Elliott said. “So unfortunately not, no, just an unfortunate circumstance.”

RELATED: Hamlin’s interview | Elliott’s interview

A NASCAR spokesperson confirmed the sanctioning body would investigate the incident between the cars.