Trackhouse Racing unveiled its retro-styled Nos. 1 and 99 Chevrolets on Tuesday for NASCAR Throwback Weekend at Darlington Raceway, paying tribute to the Earnhardt family legacy.
The organization will field matching Coca-Cola liveries for Ross Chastain (No. 1) and Daniel Suárez (No. 99) in Sunday’s Goodyear 400 (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM), honoring the cars Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Jr. drove in NASCAR’s 1998 exhibition race at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan. That event marked the first time that father and son had raced against each other.
“We wanted to do something that honors the legacy of the sport, recognizes our valued partners at Trackhouse Racing and something that fans can get behind,” Trackhouse owner Justin Marks said in a team release. “We think this is the right combination marrying the history of the Earnhardts who are both Hall of Famers, acknowledging our support from Coke and Chevrolet, plus supporting the fans excitement for Throwback Weekend in Darlington.”
Marks also plans to pay tribute to NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee Harry Gant, driving his No. 33 Oldsmobile during pre-race ceremonies. Marks owns the car, which Gant drove to four consecutive Cup Series victories in September 1991. Gant kicked off that historic streak at Darlington Raceway.
Tim Brewer will never forget April 4 of this year, when he received one of the most important and humbling texts he ever has.
“The text said, ‘Hey, Brewer, we’d like you to be on Sirius (NASCAR) Radio at 4:15 this afternoon, we want to talk about the nominees for the NASCAR Hall of Fame,” Brewer told NASCAR.com. “My question was, ‘Well, who are we going to talk about?’ And they said, ‘Brewer, you!’”
He still was a bit mystified until less than five minutes before he was about to go on-air. He received a call from the NASCAR Hall of Fame, informing him that he was one of 15 former NASCAR greats who were nominated for the Hall’s Class of 2023.
“You could have knocked me over with a feather because I never expected it, never, not in my lifetime,” Brewer said. “But since then, I mean, the phones and texts, you would not believe the list I have of people who’ve reached out to me.”
Brewer will find out if he is one of the newest members of the Hall when the voting panel convenes Wednesday to make its final selections.
If Brewer is fortunate to be a first-ballot pick — one of four first-time nominees who are up for selection — it will cap off a career as one of the most successful crew chiefs in NASCAR Cup Series competition, who then became popular as a broadcaster with his “cut-away car” from his “Tech Garage” from 2007-14 on ESPN.
Not in a bragging way, but Brewer takes as much pride with what he did on TV as he did as a crew chief (53 wins and two Cup championships).
“There ain’t no driver, no owner, no other crew chief that’s got an Emmy except me,” he said with a smile.
Oh yes, and Brewer — who almost always refers to himself in the third-person as simply “Brewer” — is also one of the best storytellers in the business, with some great recollections of NASCAR greats, including Bill France Sr. and Bill France Jr., Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip, Junior Johnson, Cale Yarborough and countless more.
Here are a few of his favorite stories, both humorous and poignant:
* Bill France Jr.: “We were in a Hilton hotel in Elmira, New York, in the bar, and Bill said he’d buy me a drink and I said I’d buy him one. Then he said to me, ‘OK, here we go. Tell me how screwed up NASCAR is.’ I said, ‘You ain’t got that much time and they ain’t got enough liquor.’”
But all kidding aside, France was one of the individuals Brewer respected most in the business: “How he came up with all the right decisions, I have no clue. But I don’t recall him making a bad one. … He was all-time one of the best.”
* Dale Earnhardt: “Earnhardt and me are sitting in the front row at a driver’s meeting in Atlanta, cutting up as usual. And here comes (golfing great) Arnold Palmer, he’s going to start the race. After the meeting, Mr. Palmer comes down to talk to Earnhardt, and I’m thinking that’s pretty cool. When they had a break, I said, ‘Mr. Palmer, I’ve been watching your golf career ever since I can remember. Man, you’re awesome.’ He said, ‘Tim Brewer, I’ve seen a lot of your race cars win a lot of races.’ And I went, ‘Arnold Palmer knows who the hell Tim Brewer is?’ That was impressive to me.”
* “The four easiest weeks I’ve ever had in my life were in 1981 when we sat on the pole for four weeks in a row with Darrell Waltrip at Martinsville, North Wilkesboro, Charlotte and Rockingham and we won (all) four races. Then we came back again in 1992 with Bill Elliott, when he won four in a row. Winning four in a row twice, go back and do your research and you’ll find out how many guys have done that.”
* “The old guys, they were men, they were tough,” Brewer said. “I saw Harry Gant get out of the car after winning the Southern 500 at Darlington and some guy said, ‘Hey, Harry, great win. What are you gonna do tomorrow?’ Harry said, ‘Well, I’m gonna go put a roof on the chicken house.’ Or when I’d call Cale (Yarborough), his daughter would say he’s out putting up fence posts, digging them by hand with a fence-post puller, not an auger, and he did that from early in the morning until 6 p.m. at night, all by himself.”
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Brewer spent nearly 50 years in racing, starting as a 14-year-old at legendary Bowman Gray Stadium, just a few miles from his Winston-Salem, North Carolina, home.
His first big break came at the age of 18 when he was tabbed to be crew chief by a then relatively unknown driver who also grew up in the Winston-Salem area by the name of Richard Childress. Brewer would remain with Childress for five years before the latter ultimately climbed out of a race car and became a full-time team owner.
NASCAR Research & Archives Center | Getty Images
Brewer served as a crew chief for several eventual members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, including Childress, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Terry and Bobby Labonte, Davey Allison and Bill Elliott — as well as Tim Richmond, Neil Bonnett, Geoffrey Bodine, John Andretti, Sterling Marlin, Steve Grissom, Mike Wallace, Kevin Lepage, Johnny Sauter and Jimmy Spencer.
His greatest success came while shepherding Yarborough and Waltrip for team owner Junior Johnson, yet another Hall of Famer and for whom Brewer would ultimately work 12 years for from atop the pit box.
In 1978, Yarborough won 10 times in 30 starts to capture one of his three Cup championships. (He’d also win 13 more races in three of the next four seasons with Brewer as crew chief.)
In 1981, Brewer shifted to Darrell Waltrip’s team and led him to 12 wins and one of his three Cup championships, as well.
All told, Brewer commanded teams that won 53 races (in 708 Cup starts), plus 188 top-five and 308 top-10 finishes, paired with 55 poles.
Brewer has done and seen a lot, from under the hood to atop the pit box to in front of the TV camera. But there’s one constant that has marked his entire time in NASCAR:
“Back in the day, it was fun,” he said. “From the time you’d get out of bed, if you was on my crew, you’d put them little old feet on the floor till the time you went to bed that evening, we always had something going on, always. And I just cherished the camaraderie that we went through.”
Brewer had such a fulfilling career he admits to just one regret.
“If I could go back and change one thing in my racing background,” he said, “I wouldn’t have left Junior Johnson in 1981.”
It’s not a surprising regret: From 1978-81, Brewer won 32 combined races and championships with Yarborough (1978) and Waltrip (1981), with neither driver finishing lower than fourth in that span.
Brewer left to join Yarborough with the M.C. Anderson team in 1982, then helped form Blue Max Racing with Raymond Beadle and driver Tim Richmond in 1983-84 before returning to Johnson’s team from 1985-92.
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Brewer is known for his good nature and sense of humor, but he admits the last 18 months have not been easy on him and his family. His longtime business partner and best friend, Nelson Crozier, died one day after Christmas 2020, following a six-year battle with cancer.
While he humbly doesn’t like to talk about it, Brewer was Crozier’s primary caregiver for that entire time, including having Crozier live with Brewer and his wife, Susan, for the last 3 ½ years of his life so they could take care of him.
Then Brewer’s brother, Glenn, lost his wife to COVID-19, while Glenn’s son and Tim’s nephew, Robby, lost his wife, as well.
“I’ve lost several family members, lost a lot of good friends,” Brewer said. “I’ve been going to a lot of funerals. It hasn’t been too good.
“I’ve been taking care of a lot of people. If you’re my friend, you’re my friend, I’ll do anything in the world for you.”
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But even with all the tragedy and sadness he has gone through since 2020, Brewer remains thankful.
At the top of the list is his wife, Susan. They’ve been married 43 years and together 48 years.
Then there is their only child, Scott, who is the car chief for Corey LaJoie in the Cup Series, daughter-in-law Samantha and 8-year-old granddaughter Sloan Marie Brewer. Or as her grandpa likes to good-naturedly call her, “the heir to the throne.”
Brewer, who turned 67 on Feb. 4 (one day before Waltrip’s birthday, although the latter is eight years older), claims he’s semi-retired these days. He plays a lot of golf, travels the country with Susan in their new motorcoach and recently purchased an oceanfront summer home in South Carolina to go along with their longtime regular residence near Statesville, North Carolina.
“You asked me what is Tim Brewer doing these days?” he said. “Well, Tim Brewer’s living a great life and sharing time with Susan that he didn’t never do before. I was always working on race cars, or on an airplane going to a test or the wind tunnel, or going to wring some money out of somebody so we can have better race cars.
“These days, I stand on my deck or raise the blinds in my bedroom and see the Atlantic Ocean. It don’t get better than that. I’m at the point where I’m now 67 years old. When I was 35, I thought, ‘Well, if you’re 40, somebody needs to take you out and shoot you.’ I don’t think that anymore.
“Good moments, bad moments, you know, I’ve had a lot of them. But as long as I can see the ocean and walk in the sand with Susan and carry my dogs (shelties) or go ride in my golf cart, that’s what I do.”
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The Tim Brewer File:
* Age: 67
* Hometown: Winston-Salem, N.C.
* Wife: Married 43 years to Susan
* Children: Son Scott (42)
NASCAR Cup crew chief career highlights: 708 races, 53 wins, 188 top-five and 308 top-10 finishes. Also 55 poles. Best season finish: first in 1978 (driver: Cale Yarborough) and first in 1981 (driver: Darrell Waltrip).
The list of NASCAR drivers from Alaska is short, but one young driver in the state has big dreams of becoming the next.
Wyatt Flowers, an 11-year-old from Palmer, Alaska, first began chasing his NASCAR dreams while practicing on a small race track he built in his backyard. His dad would often tell Flowers stories of his own racing days, and Flowers also started collecting hot wheels, racing go karts at a local track, and watching the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, where he could see fellow Alaskan Keith McGee and his favorite driver, Hailie Deegan, both compete.
“In kind of early 2021 I started to really follow NASCAR, and some of the drivers, whenever they’d win and race, that motivated me to race a little bit,” Flowers said in a recent interview with NASCAR.com.
It was perfect timing for Flowers to get into racing, because last season was also the first year Alaska Raceway Park hosted a Bandolero class. Going from his small backyard track to the third-mile asphalt oval track at Alaska Raceway Park was scary at first, but Flowers caught on quickly.
“From my backyard, my small little race track I kind of made, it was small and for me the turns, they weren’t as good. But going onto the asphalt track, it was way bigger and more open,” Flowers said. “We also practiced a lot in my race car … it was different because in my racer it was open and in my race car, it’s not as open and there’s a lot more high speeds, so that was definitely fun.”
Alaska Raceway Park, located in Palmer, Alaska, is the only NASCAR-sanctioned track in the state.
In seven Bandolero races last season, Flowers only finished outside of the top-three once. He finished the year with two feature wins, two heat race wins, and four poles on the way to a championship in the Alaska Raceway Park Extreme Fun Center Bandolero class.
There weren’t enough cars to separate the Bandolero class into younger and older divisions, so Flowers was one of the youngest in a field that featured competitors up to 17 years old. He got training from his dad and advice from other drivers at the track.
The people at the track are the biggest reason Flowers really fell in love with racing.
“They’d help me and tell me how the track would be,” Flowers said. “All the drivers, the track officials, they would help me and whenever they’d go out they would say, ‘This is how the track is at some times and this is how the track is at another time.’
Wyatt Flowers (center) with his father John (right) and mother Amy (left). (Photo: John Flowers)
“One guy helped me. He used to actually race my car at a different track and he was asking me about how I felt in the car and then he would recommend a line for me to run and after I ran that line I was really good.
“Everybody is so nice. They’re all like a family to all of us. They’re super nice, they help out with you a lot. If something happens to a car you go over there and they’ll help you.”
Flowers said the biggest thing he learned was how to control his emotions on the track. He admits there was some fear the first couple times in the car.
“I think after the first race I understood that it doesn’t have to be that scary if you just go out there and you practice a lot and you get used to the car and how it drives,” he said. “So I would say I picked up pretty quickly.”
In addition to driving, Flowers got lessons from his dad on how to get the car ready for the race track every week. While his dad helps with “the harder stuff,” Flowers said, he would often help by painting, putting on stickers and changing tires.
“It’s pretty fun. I like putting it on because it makes me feel good,” he said. “I get into the race and can say, okay I’m at the track, I feel good doing this and stuff. And then sometimes we’ll take off a piece of the body panel, the back part, so we can take a look inside at the motor and oil and where all that is, so that’s fun.”
Flowers will race Bandoleros for at least three more seasons while he waits to become old enough to move up to Alaska Raceway Park’s next class – Baby Grands.
“That’s the class I want to be in,” Flowers said. “They’re kind of like the new Cup cars but a lot smaller.”
The young racer is excited to try all different styles of race car. He wants to eventually move up to Late Models and get to his ultimate dream of driving in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
McGee, who raced five times in the Truck Series last season and once so far this season, was the first Alaskan to race in one of NASCAR’s top three series. He also got his start racing at Alaska Raceway Park.
Now that Flowers knows that racing isn’t scary, he’s ready to go as far with it as he can, and maybe one day add his name to the list with McGee.
“At first I would say maybe I was a just maybe a little bit scared in racing because it was something new to me, but going into this season we gained up to about 10 cars and I learned that it’s not too scary and it became fun for me,” Flowers said. “I’m feeling good. I feel like after a while I’m going to have to get back on the track and get in the car again and get used to it again, but I’m sure that’ll come pretty quick because, like I said, this isn’t as scary and stuff.”
Alaska Raceway Park will host a NASCAR/INEX open practice on May 13 and open then season on May 14 with GCI Late Models, Baby Grands, The Legends of Classic Country 100.9/Pruhs Construction Thunder Stocks, Alaska Army National Guard Bomber Stocks and Extreme Fun Center Bandoleros, all starting at 6 p.m. local time.
The track is also one of one 21 tracks competing in the NASCAR Advance My Track Challenge. The challenge, presented by Advance Auto Parts, is a fan vote that awards the winning track a $50,000 prize. To vote, visit www.AdvanceMyTrack.com.
“I’m just looking forward to a little bit of racing, but one big thing I’m looking forward to is seeing all the other drivers and being with my family,” Flowers said.
Since 2014, the NASCAR Hall of Fame has invited the most recent Cup Series champion to participate in its Voting Day process. This year, there will be two.
Reigning Cup Series champion Kyle Larson will cast his ballot when the voting panel convenes Wednesday afternoon in uptown Charlotte, helping to select the three honorees for the Hall’s Class of 2023. He’ll be joined on the panel by Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott, the series’ 2020 champion. The newly elected class will be announced at the Hall of Fame at 5 p.m. ET.
The inclusion of both Larson and Elliott came after COVID-19 interrupted the yearly balloting. The Class of 2021 was chosen through a virtual voting process just three months after the pandemic’s outbreak in 2020. COVID-19 concerns postponed those induction ceremonies until January this year and forced the cancelation of voting for a potential Class of 2022.
To ensure that Elliott also received the perk that was intended to come with his first Cup Series title, the Hall of Fame’s directors added him to the list for this year’s voting panel.
“Yeah, I just appreciate them remembering me, letting me do it,” Elliott said during the Cup Series’ recent trip to Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt track. “So I’m excited. It’s a great honor to have, and I really think it’s one of the cooler honors that you have of being champion and that they let you be a part of.”
Jimmie Johnson was the first sitting Cup Series champion to have a hand in Hall of Fame Voting Day, adding his ballot for the Class of 2014 after claiming his sixth title. He rejoined the voting panel after securing his record-tying seventh championship in 2016. Kyle Busch is the only other driver to participate twice as defending Cup Series champ (2015, 2019).
Elliott and Larson are both newcomers as recent first-time champions, and both said they plan to study up on the accomplishments of this year’s 15 nominees, plus the lives of the five individuals who will be considered for the Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR.
“So I have a lot of homework to do and probably need to ask some questions to other panel members,” Elliott said, “because for me, you know, there’s a lot of names on the list that I’m not super familiar with their careers, and there’s some names that I am, just because I was old enough to watch them race. But just because I was old enough to watch them race doesn’t make them any more or less qualified to go in, just because of the time and the popularity of the sport shouldn’t be the only reason a guy gets voted in. So yeah, we’ll see, but I’m excited to be part of the process.”
Larson said he wasn’t aware he would be part of the process until he was notified last month, shortly after the nominees and the voting panel for the Class of 2023 were announced. Like Elliott, Larson said he plans to conduct his own research to be a better-informed voter when the ballots are handed out.
“Chase and I are both on it this year, so maybe get to bounce some notes off of each other, but either way, it’s just a cool honor and something that I look forward to,” Larson said. “I mean, there’s a lot of people I feel like I don’t even know about, so for me, I’ll do a lot of studying and it’d be cool to be a fan and trying to learn about some of the people’s histories and what they’ve done on the race track as well as off the race track that maybe deserves the right to get into the Hall of Fame.”
Hamlin’s latest bout with misfortune in his so-far surreal NASCAR Cup Series season left him with a 21st-place finish in Monday’s conclusion to the DuraMAX Drydene 400. It’s his sixth finish outside the top 20 in 11 races to date this year.
“I just can’t believe this, man,” Hamlin told his Joe Gibbs Racing team during the Stage 2 break as his crew repaired his No. 11 Toyota.
Hamlin led 55 of the 78 laps Sunday before rain pushed the 400-miler to a next-day finish. He added 12 more laps in front in taking the green-checkered flag at Lap 120 of 400, notching his second stage win of the season.
Hamlin’s advantage fizzled during the round of Stage 1 pit stops. His No. 11 Camry left pit road first, but did so without its left-front wheel, forcing him back to pit road for a replacement.
“A lug nut came out of the gun, and we did not know it until it was too late, obviously,” No. 11 crew chief Chris Gabehart told Hamlin over the radio after the incident. “It is what it is.”
Hamlin lined up 29th for the start of Stage 2. He had worked his way back up to fourth place near the stage’s end when collected by the spinning No. 51 Ford of Cody Ware, prompting a caution period on Lap 243.
Hamlin’s car sported a right-side gash that his crew taped up. He limped to the finish, one lap down.
“Everybody showed a lot of speed today,” Gabehart said on the No. 11 radio during the cool-down lap. “This is what we’re capable of. We’ve just gotta get hot when it matters. We know what we’ve got. Get ready to go at the next one.”
Hamlin has one victory this season, a triumph he posted April 3 at Richmond Raceway. But that remains his only top-10 finish, a nettlesome record that has him 23rd in the Cup Series points.
Hamlin actually gained a spot in the pecking order Monday, but further movement up the standings will likely come with a short-term shift in his No. 11 team’s personnel. The guidelines of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Rule Book require four-race suspensions for each the crew chief and two crew members (jack, tire changer). This week’s penalty report would formally confirm those suspensions.
Through the first 10 races of the Cup Series season, just about anything that could go wrong did go wrong for Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Entering Dover, Stenhouse was mired in 31st place in the championship standings, the lowest he’s ever been at this point of the season. The goal for Dover was simply to score a top-15 finish, something the No. 47 team had done just once through the opening 10 races of 2022.
Fortunately for the single-car JTG Daugherty Racing team, Stenhouse is solid on concrete tracks, having standout runs in the past at Bristol Motor Speedway, Nashville Superspeedway and Dover Motor Speedway.
“It’s always been fun coming to these tracks,” Stenhouse said. “The car is always on edge and you can push the front tires too far, overwork the rear tires. I feel like sliding around plays into my hands and not having a lot of grip.”
It sure looked like Stenhouse had a lot of grip in Monday’s DuraMAX Drydene 400, though. The speed started on Saturday, when the No. 47 Chevrolet laid down the 15th-quickest lap in qualifying, his second-best effort of the season. And he remained competitive from the drop of the flag, moving up to 12th by the end of the opening stage. The second stage was even better, as he charged the No. 47 car up to fifth, and would have fared better had a caution flag late in the stage not come out.
For the entire second half of the race, Stenhouse hovered around the top five. And when eventual race winner Chase Elliott took the lead on the final restart, it was the No. 47 Chevrolet that followed suit, passing Ross Chastain.
Over the final stint, Stenhouse remained second, coming up just shy of the victory.
“We needed it bad,” Stenhouse added after the race. “We’ve had good race cars and better race cars than what we’ve shown. It seems like all of our fast races we’ve had issues as far as getting crashed on the speedways, having some engine issues. It was a solid day to put all of this together.
“Our season, it feels worse than what it is because we’ve had three short tracks and have been really bad at those. We’re trying to come up with a new philosophy there, but we were excited to come to Dover.”
Brian Pattie, crew chief of the No. 47 car, saw the speed Stenhouse showed in practice on Saturday. But even with a perceived lack of time on the Chevrolet simulator, he said he was proud of the way his team executed the race.
In addition, the runner-up finish comes immediately after Stenhouse had finishes of 29th and 30th, respectively, at two of his better tracks in Bristol (dirt) and Talladega Superspeedway.
“This is what the team can do most of the time,” Pattie said. “We have good tracks, we have bad tracks just like everybody, but we need to perform better on our good ones and this is one of them. We don’t come here to suck.”
While Dover is Stenhouse’s best finish since also finishing runner-up at the inaugural Bristol Dirt Race last March (also run on a Monday), the result still carries a tad of disappointment to be the first bridesmaid. Without a doubt, he says it will take a win to make the playoffs — despite his Monday move up four positions in the championship standings, 93 points below the cutline.
“That’s why you’re a little frustrated finishing second, knowing that one spot could really flip your season completely upside-down in a good way,” he said. “We will still battle for that and Brian Pattie is calling races to try and get that win that we need.”
The Cup Series heads to Darlington next, where Stenhouse has a best finish of 12th in 12 starts. Last year, he had finishes of 17th and 20th on the track “Too Tough to Tame.”
NASCAR Cup Series standings leader Chase Elliott earned his first victory of the season in Monday’s weather-delayed DuraMAX Drydene 400 at Dover Motor Speedway.
Elliott led the final 53 laps of the 400-lapper and pulled away from Ricky Stenhouse Jr. at the end in an action-packed race that was slowed 12 times for caution periods – including a red-flag weather delay on Sunday that forced the restart to Monday.
It’s the 14th career win for the driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and a historic fifth win for the organization in 2022. It is the first time in NASCAR history a team has had all four of its drivers win races in the opening 11 races of a season.
The 26-year-old Georgia native had to work at this one for sure, with 17 lead changes among 10 drivers dicing up the leaderboard.
“Just had some good circumstances finally,” the sport’s reigning Most Popular Driver said of his first oval track win since he won the 2020 series championship at Phoenix Raceway. “Just really appreciate [crew chief] Alan [Gustafson] and our entire team for just sticking with it.
“We had some tough races over the last four or five months and just great to get NAPA back to Victory Lane and great to get Hendrick Motorsports in Victory Lane. So proud. This means a lot in a lot of different ways. Just appreciate all the effort.’’
Tim Nwachukwu | Getty Images
“It’s been a fun day and we’re certainly going to enjoy this,’’ Elliott continued, after thanking the fans that came out for the Monday race conclusion. “Like I told them after the race, those guys, they’ve been deserving of one for a while so glad we could get across the line first. We’ll enjoy it for a few days and then go to work next week.’’
He wound up just one position away from victory, but runner-up Stenhouse was nearly as happy as the winner after the race. It marked only the second top-10 of the season – second top-20 – for the driver of the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet and was his best showing since a runner-up finish on the Bristol Motor Speedway dirt back in March 2021.
Stenhouse finished fifth in Stage 2 and ran among the top 10 for the last 150 laps of the race, moving into second place behind Elliott with 51 laps remaining and pursuing Elliott’s No. 9 Chevrolet for the remainder of the race.
Last week’s race winner Ross Chastain finished third in the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet but had some contact with three-time Dover winner Martin Truex Jr. on the final lap fighting for position. The two touched and Truex’s No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota spun around. He recovered to finish 12th, and the two drivers exchanged words afterward on pit lane.
Asked about the last-lap incident and the encounter after the checkered flag with Truex, Chastain smiled and said, “We were talking about where we were going fishing next week.’’
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell was fourth followed by Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman, the race’s 2021 winner. Hendrick’s Kyle Larson was sixth followed by JGR driver Kyle Busch, who led the most laps (103) on the day and was a strong contender for the trophy before getting caught on pit road during a caution period.
Busch and Bowman – who were running first and second at the time – stopped on Lap 322 only to have a caution come out for AJ Allmendinger, whose No. 16 Chevy lost its wheel. The two drivers restarted toward the tail end of the lead lap and still managed to race forward to post top-10 finishes.
Dover pole-sitter Chris Buescher finished eighth – his third top-10 showing in the RFK Racing Ford on the year and first in six races. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick and Petty GMS Motorsports driver Erik Jones rounded out the top 10.
It was rough day for former Dover winner Denny Hamlin, who led 67 laps and won Stage 1, but had two major snafus derail what looked like a promising day.
While leading the race, Hamlin’s left-front tire came off as he exited pit road after a stop. It set him back to 29th place. He drove his JGR No. 11 Toyota all the way back into the top five only to be collected by a spinning No. 51 Ford driven by Cody Ware just after the race’s midpoint.
The damage to Hamlin’s Toyota took away any shot for the victory and he finished 21st. The perennial championship contender and three-time Daytona 500 winner has only one top-10 – a win at Richmond last month – on the season.
Elliott’s win gives him a 50-point lead on Ryan Blaney in the championship standings.
The Cup Series’ next race is the Goodyear 400, scheduled Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM) at Darlington Raceway. All three national series will be in action during the annual NASCAR Throwback Weekend festivities.
The start of the 2022 season at Bowman Gray Stadium has carried extra significance for Tommy Neal as opposed to previous years.
Not only did the long-time veteran get to start alongside his grandson Riley Neal on the front row in his debut at the quarter-mile bullring, but he also had the privilege of following him across the line for his first career victory in the opening 20-lap Sportsman feature on Saturday evening.
Tommy felt plenty of apprehension when Riley told him he wanted to race at Bowman Gray full-time but admitted that only a handful of moments in his storied career rivaled seeing Riley add to the Neal family’s long history of success inside the Madhouse at just 14 years old.
“It was a great deal,” Tommy said. “[Riley] ran a great race by being consistent and that’s what it takes to win at Bowman Gray. He’s got good equipment and a lot of great people backing him, so I’m proud of what he’s doing.”
Racing has long been a proud tradition for the Neal family, as Tommy passed down the passion to his nephew and Riley’s father in Kevin, who Tommy has raised as his own son after his brother Terry Neal passed away.
With a career that includes two Sportsman and two Stadium Stock championships at Bowman Gray, Tommy did everything possible to emphasize the right qualities that would guarantee Kevin success at any track before later doing the same with Riley once he began his own career.
Riley has patiently listened to both Kevin and Tommy discuss the fundamentals of racing to him repeatedly when it comes to braking points and executing on restarts. He said the one factor that’s been permanently etched into his mind by the two is the importance of constantly providing feedback to his crew on what the car is doing.
That knowledge proved to be valuable for Riley when he began branching out to several different tracks in the southeast last year. Although he enjoyed traveling, Riley was eager to make a name for himself at Bowman Gray just like his father and grandfather.
Drawing for the outside pole in Bowman Gray’s season-opener with Tommy to his inside was a surreal experience for Riley. That moment for Riley did not compare to becoming the youngest winner in Bowman Gray history with an energetic crowd cheering him on and Tommy pressuring him during the closing stages.
“That was such an amazing feeling,” Riley said. “I got to overcome my papa, who was beating my back bumper off the whole race and dad didn’t even tell me who was behind me. I thought it was someone else only to find out it was my papa, so that was a pretty cool moment.”
Riley Neal celebrates in victory lane with his family at Bowman Gray Stadium on April 30, 2022 (Erick Messer Photography)
While Tommy knew Riley would eventually find victory lane, he expected Bowman Gray to be a great learning experience for his grandson during his rookie campaign.
Along with Riley facing other talented drivers in the Sportsman division like Michael Adams and Zack Ore, Tommy said that Bowman Gray’s tight layout is requiring Riley to adjust his driving style and use patience so he can sustain the early success he has enjoyed.
“Riley is doing really good,” Tommy said. “He already has a Street Stock championship at Caraway, but that’s a much easier place to race. You have room to move around at Caraway, but Bowman Gray is more close-knit, and you have to make decisions real fast. He’ll learn that as he goes on.”
Tommy said that the patience Riley already shows is a quality that separates him from other drivers in his age group. He added that having the same amount of patience when he was in his youth would have prevented him from making several on-track mistakes early in his career.
It has not taken long for Riley to get acclimated to the tight corners of Bowman Gray in his first three Sportsman starts. He maintained solid track position during the opening stages in the season-opener before a late accident relegated him to 18th.
Riley quickly overcame that disappointing outcome by leading wire-to-wire in the first Sportsman feature last weekend. Holding onto the top spot was far from easy, as he had to make sure his granddad did not exploit an opening that would deny him that first victory.
“We had a really tight car,” Riley said. “We didn’t anticipate the track getting as cold as it did and gripping up so much. I had to do everything to keep my car on the bottom just so no one could stick their nose in there.”
Tommy was trying to avoid turning Riley around as he battled his car, but he had no intention of making Riley’s first victory an easy one.
“I was going to make Riley earn that one a little bit,” Tommy said. “I wasn’t quite as rough on him as I would be on a few other people I race with that could take those hits. Riley had to make a mistake but that didn’t happen.”
Tommy Neal celebrates after winning the Sportsman race at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on April 23, 2022. (Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)
Of everyone in attendance at Bowman Gray on Saturday, the most nervous person in the stands was Kevin, who was responsible for keeping Riley focused on the track as Tommy applied a relentless amount of pressure leading up to the checkered flag.
Kevin and Riley meticulously studied film and notes from their first race at Bowman Gray to ensure they were prepared for the two 20-lap sprints. Kevin knew Riley had a major advantage when he drew for the poll but was elated to see his son hold off his adopted father for the victory.
“I’m still on cloud nine right now,” Kevin said. “I can’t really sum everything up and haven’t realized what’s happened. The biggest thing was for Riley to keep his composure in the car and all four wheels straight. The 20-lappers can get rough, but you’ll run well if you keep the car straight.”
Now that his son has joined him and Tommy as a winner at Bowman Gray, Kevin is eager to find a ride of his own at some point during the 2022 season so that all three members of the Neal family can share the track together.
If a similar occasion to Saturday occurred with Kevin in second to Riley, he admitted that he would not be as conservative in his quest for the win. Kevin joked that Riley is going to get turned around at some point in a Bowman Gray race and said it would be appropriate if he was the first one to do it.
Despite this, Kevin remains committed to ensuring Riley’s car can win every weekend. While keeping Riley’s equipment up to par can be strenuous with Kevin and Adam Eaton being the sole members of the team, he said moments like Saturday night make that hard work all the more rewarding.
“This win means a lot to me,” Kevin said. “I expected a win to come this season, but I didn’t think it would happen this soon. The maturity of Riley as a driver and person has been great and we’ve got decent equipment to work with. It all added up on Saturday.”
Riley Neal (Erick Messer Photography)
Riley added that Saturday’s triumph only validated his capability of carrying on the family legacy at Bowman Gray and believes that his cars are strong enough to get at least a few more wins before the end of the year.
With track position being imperative at Bowman Gray, Riley knows that wins are often determined by luck from the post-qualifying draws and avoiding crashes. Riley anticipates plenty of challenging weekends ahead but is more ready than ever to embrace those obstacles and cement himself as a championship contender in the Sportsman division.
“They always say the first win is the hardest to get,” Riley said. “I have to get into a rhythm and hope to get some good draws. I want to finish up at the front but we’re going to take what we can get and see if we can start popping these wins off.”
For Tommy, he wants Riley to maintain the respect he has already developed with the other Sportsman veterans and resist the urge to move other drivers out of the way for positions no matter how far back he is in the field.
Tommy feels immense pride with just being able to share the track with Riley and is looking forward to watching Riley grow throughout the year and cherish the vibrant atmosphere that has always made Bowman Gray such a special place for him and his family.
“There’s no other feeling like racing at Bowman Gray Stadium,” Tommy said. “When I let Riley drive my car around after I won a race last year, he told me it was crazy to see so many people screaming and hollering, which got him hooked. Anything can happen at Bowman Gray but there’s no track around here like it.”
Tommy wants nothing more than to see himself and Riley end the year by finishing first and second in the Bowman Gray Sportsman standings regardless of which one ends up bringing home the title.
Even if that milestone does not occur, Tommy has every reason to believe that Riley will continue to carry on the proud tradition of efficiency he started at Bowman Gray over four decades ago.
Monday, May 2 Noon, NASCAR Cup Series DuraMAX Drydene 400 at Dover Motor Speedway (resumes), FS1 (Canada: TSN5)
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
6 p.m., Motormouths, Peacock
7 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: DuraMAX Drydene 400 at Dover Motor Speedway (re-air), FS1
On MRN:
Noon, NASCAR Cup Series DuraMAX Drydene 400 at Dover Motor Speedway (resumes)
Tuesday, May 3 6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
Wednesday, May 4 1:30 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series: DuraMAX Drydene 400 at Dover Motor Speedway (re-air), FS2
4:30 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: A-GAME 200 at Dover Motor Speedway (re-air), FS2
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
6 p.m., Motormouths, Peacock
Thursday, May 5 6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
Friday, May 6 3 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Qualifying at Darlington Raceway, FS1
4:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Weekend Edition — Darlington, FS1
5 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Qualifying at Darlington Raceway, FS1
6:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: NCWTS at Darlington, FS1
7:30 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Dead on Tools 200 at Darlington Raceway, FS1
On MRN:
7 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Dead on Tools 200 at Darlington Raceway
Saturday, May 7 3 a.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Dead on Tools 200 at Darlington Raceway (re-air), FS1
5 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Darlington, FS2
7 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Qualifying at Darlington Raceway (re-air), FS1
8:30 a.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Dead on Tools 200 at Darlington Raceway (re-air), FS1
10:30 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Qualifying at Darlington Raceway, FS1
12:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: NXS at Darlington, FS1
1:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Mahindra ROXOR 200 at Darlington Raceway, FS1 (Canada: TSN3)
On MRN:
10:30 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Qualifying at Darlington Raceway
1 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Mahindra ROXOR 200 at Darlington Raceway
Sunday, May 8 1 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Mahindra ROXOR 200 at Darlington Raceway (re-air), FS1
6 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Mahindra ROXOR 200 at Darlington Raceway (re-air), FS2
9 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Mahindra ROXOR 200 at Darlington Raceway (re-air), FS1
11 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Qualifying at Darlington Raceway (re-air), FS1
2 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: NCS at Darlington, FS1
3:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, FS1 (Canada: TSN5)
On MRN:
2:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway
Mother Nature struck after 68 laps in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover Motor Speedway, pushing the conclusion to the 400-miler to Monday.
The field ran 10 laps under caution prior to bringing the 36 cars to pit road for the red flag on Lap 78. Kyle Larson is the race leader, with Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr. and William Byron rounding out the top five.
Though not even one-quarter of the race is complete, there were still some key takeaways on Sunday.
Editor’s note: The race will resume Monday at noon ET on FS1 (MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Denny Hamlin pacing the field
After starting second, it took Hamlin 19 laps to get the lead from Chris Buescher. But once the No. 11 car got out front, he set sail.
Sean Gardner | Getty Images
Hamlin went on to lead the next 55 laps, which is more than he’d led in the first 10 races of the season combined (49). Thus far in 2022, the No. 11 Toyota has just one top-10 finish, coming via his win at Richmond.
Throughout Hamlin’s career, he’s struggled at Dover, at one point being among his worst tracks on the schedule. In recent years, however, the Virginia native has eight top-10 finishes in the last 11 races at the Monster Mile, including his lone win at Dover in 2020.
When the race restarts on Monday, Hamlin will be listed eighth, having pitted for four tires under the caution for rain.
Chris Buescher staying up front after winning pole
After winning his first career NASCAR Busch Light Pole Award on Saturday, Buescher’s stock rose. That continued into the beginning of the race Sunday, as the No. 17 Ford paced the field for the opening 18 laps. In 233 Cup starts (including Sunday), it’s the second-most laps the Texan has ever led in a Cup race, trailing only Homestead-Miami from last year (57).
When Buescher lost the lead to Hamlin on Lap 19, he quickly dropped to fourth, behind Larson and Elliott, but stayed in the top five. Like the No. 11 car, the No. 17 team also brought the pole sitter to pit road under the caution for rain.
On Monday, Buescher will restart from 13th position, losing a few spots on pit road from the first pit stall. Buescher’s best Dover finish is 14th in 2020, though he won an Xfinity Series race at the Monster Mile in 2015. Keep an eye on him.
Big teams struggling early
Saturday’s group practice sessions were eventful, to say the least. Many drivers, including Byron and Tyler Reddick, went for wild rides.
Some of the series’ big teams continued to struggle in the opening stint of Sunday’s race. With a competition caution at Lap 40, Stewart-Haas Racing drivers Chase Briscoe and Cole Custer had already lost a lap to the leader. As the yellow flag flew, Austin Dillon was next to go one lap down, with Joey Logano and Byron just ahead of the No. 3 car.
During the competition caution, Logano came over the radio and said his No. 22 Ford was out of control and felt like he was going to wreck. Fortunately for Briscoe, he was the free pass recipient.
Making a strategy call to get track position, Byron will restart fifth on Monday, with Dillon and Logano mired down in 26th and 27th, respectively. Briscoe made his way up to 24th.
We’ll see if these drivers, and others, can turn it around on Monday.
