The cars driven by Kurt Busch and BJ McLeod will drop to the rear of the field for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM) because of unapproved adjustments.
Busch’s Chip Ganassi Racing No. 1 Chevrolet lines up in the 12th starting spot, and McLeod’s Live Fast Motorsports No. 78 Ford will leave the starting grid in 33rd. Both cars will fall to the back of the 38-car field in pace laps at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Busch has one Coca-Cola 600 win, achieved in 2010 during his time with Team Penske.
Bonsignore won his 15th career Mayhew Tools Pole Award and led nearly the entire event. A slip off Turn 2 of the white flag lap nearly sent him for a spin. But he righted it and fended off the fiece challenge from Doug Coby to drive the No. 51 Coastal Fiber LLC Chevrolet across the finish line .112 seconds ahead of his rival.
Dirt-track worthy slide job & save by @JBonsignore on the final lap 😱
Coby, who passed Bonsignore late to steal the win last time out at Riverhead Raceway, settled for second. Craig Lutz, the winner in the tour’s second race at Jennerstown last year, finished third.
Woody Pitkat was fourth and Patrick Emerling fifth.
Emerling’s finish, along with a short night by Eric Goodale (18th after a lap 103 wreck), allowed him to build a xx point lead in the championship standings after four races. The two entered the night tied for first.
Jon McKennedy was sixth, followed by Kyle Bonsignore, JB Fortin, Tommy Catalano and Dave Sapienza.
The Jennerstown Salutes 150 presented by DGV streamed live on TrackPass on NBC Gold, and will re-air on NBCSN on Thursday, June 3 at 5 p.m. ET. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will return to action with the Steel Palace 150 at New York’s Oswego Speedway on Saturday, June 12.
Justin Bonsignore held off Doug Coby (10) to win the Jennerstown Salutes 150 presented by DGV at Pennsylvania’s Jennerstown Speedway on Saturday, May 29. (Nate Smallwood/NASCAR)
JENNERSTOWN, PA. — Practice was limited because of wet conditions Saturday, but Justin Bonsignore and Craig Lutz showed they still have the speed at Jennerstown Speedway that made them winners there last year.
Bonsignore piloted the No. 51 Phoenix Communications Inc. Chevrolet around the half-mile in 17.951 seconds (104.685 mph).
Lutz was on top of the speed charts when the session was briefly interrupted by weather. He finished second quick at 18.061 (104.047).
CONCORD, N.C. – A gamble paid off for Brandon Brown on a steamy Saturday afternoon, earning a fourth-place finish in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
After starting 32nd in the 36-car field, the No. 68 Brandonbilt Motorsports team elected to save a set of fresh Goodyear tires in case a caution flag flew late in the 200-lap race. The team got its wish on Lap 182 when race leader Chase Briscoe spun off Turn 2 while battling with eventual winner Ty Gibbs.
Brown brought his Chevrolet in for service to put on the sticker-tire set during the caution period. On the ensuing restart, three drivers ahead of him — Noah Gragson, Justin Haley and Daniel Hemric — crashed at the entrance of Turn 1. The incident meant Brown would restart 10th, working his way up into the top five when the checkered flag flew.
“My mindset going into this was control your own destiny,” Brown said. “… A lot of this racing is just circumstantial where you’ve gotta make the best with what’s going on. I’d like to say we would have gotten a top five even if they didn’t wreck over there, but I don’t know. It’s one of those things where you’re grateful for the opportunity, but we know we needed at least one more restart with fresher tires because we’re down in the other areas.”
It was the second top-five effort of the 2021 season for Brown. The first came at Phoenix Raceway when he scored a career-best third-place result. It was also his sixth top 10, which matches his career high.
Brown acknowledged these are the runs he needs to make the Xfinity Series playoffs once again after doing so in 2020. He sits 13th in the current standings, just outside the provisional 12-driver cutoff for the postseason.
“We’re not here to just play,” Brown said. “Given the right opportunity and the right circumstance, we’re going to pounce on it. I think they all saw that, and I think we’re earning a lot of these teams’ respect, which is definitely what’s needed.”
Brown noted he didn’t feel too confident a top-10 run was in the cards when he started the day. Driving for a smaller team, Brown hopes to take advantage of the result and show potential sponsors the team is capable of running up front on a more consistent basis.
“When we have a great day, we’re getting some media coverage out of it,” Brown said. “It’s up to us now to really take it and run it, blow it up, show it to sponsors, show it to everybody.
“With the right circumstances, we have the car to be there. But a lot of it is playing the cards right.”
Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (⏰ 6 p.m. ET | 📺 FOX | 📻 PRN, SiriusXM)
Everything you need to know for Sunday’s race, the 15th points-paying NASCAR Cup Series event of the 2021 season.
Where: Charlotte Motor Speedway, 1.5-mile oval located in Concord, North Carolina Practice: 7 p.m. ET (Friday, FS1) | Results Qualifying: 11:05 a.m. ET (Saturday, FS1) | Lineup Green flag: 6:23 p.m. ET TV/Radio: FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Forecast: Sunday night is predicted to be partly cloudy, with a low around 52, according to NOAA.gov. Grand Marshal: Kevin Eubanks and Jay Leno Race Distance: 400 laps, 600 miles Stages: 100 | 200 | 300 | 400 Pit-road speed: 45 mph Caution car speed: 55 mph Charlotte 101: Get the full lowdown
Entry list: See who’s in the field Pit-stall assignments: See who is pitting where| Expert breaks down pit selections
Five to watch
Here are five big story lines we’ll be following at Circuit of The Americas.
1. Through 14 races, there are only two repeat winners — Alex Bowman (two wins) and Martin Truex Jr. (three wins). Chase Elliott is the most recent driver to join the rather large group of one-race winners, after being proclaimed victor of the rain-shortened race at Circuit of The Americas. Kevin Harvick, last season’s winningest driver, and Denny Hamlin, the series’ points leader, both have yet to reach Victory Lane.
2. Three of the last five Coca-Cola 600 races have been won by current Joe Gibbs Racing drivers. Truex won in 2016 and 2019. Kyle Busch won in 2018. To complete the team’s four-car garage, neither Hamlin (in 29 career starts) nor Christopher Bell (in two career starts) have won at Charlotte in the NASCAR Cup Series.
3. Sunday’s race will be the fifth of nine races on a 1.5-mile track this season — and it’ll be the last until July at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The four others were won by four different drivers — William Byron at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kyle Larson at Last Vegas Motor Speedway, Ryan Blaney at Atlanta and Kyle Busch at Kansas Speedway. It is worth noting: Larson led the most laps in the last three 1.5-mile races and was passed for the final lead change in the two he did not win.
4. Ten drivers scored their first career win at Charlotte, and seven of those first-time winners did so in the Coca-Cola 600. Those crown-jewel winners were David Pearson (1961), Jeff Gordon (1994), Bobby Labonte (1995), Matt Kenseth (2000), Casey Mears (2007), David Reutimann (2009) and Austin Dillon (2017). There are still plenty active drivers looking for their first win, such as Tyler Reddick, Matt DiBenedetto, Ross Chastain, Bubba Wallace, Daniel Suarez and Chase Briscoe.
5. No one has been able to win both the Coca-Cola 600 and the NASCAR Cup Series title in the same year since Gordon in 1998. He did so in 1997, too.Byron now pilots that same No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. BetMGM has Bryon at 16-1 odds to win Sunday and 12-1 odds to with the championship in November.
Race-day staples
Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.
•Power Rankings: Hendrick dominates top five |Scope the ranks •Paint Scheme Preview: Check out the patriotic designs for Memorial Day weekend | See the schemes •Fantasy Fastlane: See which drivers to use, avoid | Full Fantasy advice |Set your roster •Preview Show: Jonathan Merryman and Alex Weaver preview the race | Watch the show
Get in on the action
Think you know NASCAR? Put your mettle to the test with gaming, fantasy.
• Betting odds for Coca-Cola 600 race | See the odds
• Rare to win Coca-Cola 600, title in same year | Analyze the stats
• Which driver is most likely to score first Coca-Cola 600 | Judge the debate • Take a shot at winning cash prizes with the free-to-play Jackpot Races app | Hit the jackpot
• Full guide to 2021 NASCAR Fantasy Live game | Get the FAQ
Crown-jewel gems
Learn all about the history of the Coca-Cola 600 — one of NASCAR’s four crown-jewel events.
• How the Coca-Cola 600 rose to storied status | Learn the path • All-time Coca-Cola 600 winners | See the drivers
• Who has crown-jewel wins among active drivers? | See the drivers
• 600 Miles of Remembrance honors the fallen | Learn their stories
• Jeff Gordon won his first Coca-Cola 600 in 1994 | Relive the race
Fast facts
Hard-hitting, race-relevant statistics, brought to you by the experts at Racing Insights.
Matt Sullivan | Getty Images
• The eventual race winner did not lead until after halfway in both Charlotte races last year.
• The driver who led the most laps won only twice in the last six Charlotte races.
• The final lead change came with five laps to go in two of the last three races at Charlotte.
• Nine different drivers won the last 10 races on 1.5-mile tracks; Kyle Busch is the only repeat winner.
• Brad Keselowski won the 2020 Coca-Cola 600; it was the first Coca-Cola 600 win for Ford since Mark Martin in 2002.
Catch the pack
Read up on all the headlines from the week leading up to Sunday’s race.
• No. 9 team: NASCAR suspends spotter Eddie D’Hondt indefinitely | Read more
• Pick your favorite: Top five drivers in All-Star Race Fan Vote revealed | Read more
• Gaming world: eNASCAR, ASUS renew partnership for 2021 | Read more
• More races: TrackPass to broadcast U.S. Legend Car Series live | Read more
• ‘Tiniest Gator:’ Allgaiers welcome second baby girl, Willow |Read more
• ‘The car doesn’t know gender:’ Toni Breidinger joins ‘I Am Athlete’ podcast | Read more • Venue change: NASCAR shifts Camping World Trucks playoff race to Darlington | Read more
Say what?
Notable quotes from the stars of the sport heading into Sunday’s race.
“It would mean a lot to be the driver who breaks the all-time Cup Series win record for Hendrick Motorsports, especially if it happened at Charlotte. Not only is this race huge for me being my hometown, but it’s really where I became a fan of Hendrick Motorsports. I used to watch Jeff (Gordon) and Jimmie (Johnson) be so successful at Charlotte. To then be able to get win No. 269 would be historic for everyone involved but just a whole extra meaning at my hometown track. Charlotte is what gave me my love of racing and Hendrick Motorsports.” — William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Chris Graythen | Getty Images
“Love-hate (relationship), I guess. I haven’t won it yet, so I think I’d love it more if we were able to win. I’ve been able to run really well at Charlotte over the years. It’s been a really good racetrack for us, whether it’s been the Roval or the All-Star Race, BOA 500. Whatever it is, those have been some good ones. I just haven’t won the Coke 600 yet, which is the one that stands out for me. Every time I look at a bucket list race, probably Southern 500 and Coca-Cola 600 and Brickyard are the ones that stand out that I really want next.” — Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
“This is always a big weekend for our sport and what the industry does as a whole to recognize Memorial Day. We’re excited about the opportunity to honor the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country and to learn their stories. For us, we’re also looking forward to the race because Charlotte has been a great track for us the last few years and we’ve been fortunate to have had some strong runs and a few wins going back to the 78 days. I approach this as another opportunity to win and hopefully work our way back up the points standings after last week.” — Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
“Your neck is tired, your lower back is tired, legs are tired and you’re just fatigued. You definitely feel it the next morning after a 600-mile race. You feel like you worked out a lot the day before, and you did inside the car. Two-and-a-half of these 600-mile races and I could be home in Monterrey, Mexico. It’s crazy to think of it that way.” — Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet
Ty Gibbs won his second NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in the sixth start of his career, recovering from a spin off Turn 4 to take the checkered flag in Saturday’s Alsco Uniforms 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs led the final 20 laps, surviving two eventful restarts during that stretch to beat series leader Austin Cindric to the finish line by .437 seconds.
Gibbs, who won’t turn 19 until Oct. 4, is the youngest winner at Charlotte in any of NASCAR’s top three national divisions.
The race came down to a battle for the lead between Gibbs and Chase Briscoe, who led 30 laps before spinning off Turn 2 as Gibbs closed near his bumper and packed the air on the left rear of Briscoe’s Ford.
Gibbs apologized immediately on his team radio for putting Briscoe in a precarious position.
“I wasn’t trying to wreck him — I was trying to race him,” Gibbs said. “That was never my intention.”
After taking the checkered flag and climbing from his car, Gibbs was still apologizing, even though there was clearly no contact between his No. 54 Toyota and Briscoe’s No. 99 Ford.
“First off, I just want to say sorry to the 99 and Chase and his crew,” said Gibbs, who spun through the artificial turf in the tri-oval at the end of Stage 2. “I didn’t hit him, but I definitely helped him out with him getting loose there, and it was not my intention. Already wrecked myself so, I just want to say sorry to them more importantly than this entire win.’”
But the victory nevertheless assuaged whatever guilty feelings he might have had.
“It’s just awesome,” Gibbs said. “I’ll take it. This is a good day — we got one more (race) to go. So, I just want to say thank you all the fans out there and hell, yeah!”
Briscoe conceded his spin was simply the product of hard racing between two quality cars. Gibbs had closed on Briscoe in traffic and had actually led the previous lap as the drivers raced side-by-side across the start-finish line.
“It felt like there at the end we just made the wrong adjustment, and I was too tight,” Briscoe said. “But truthfully, Ty was probably going to get me either way… After leading that many laps, it’s frustrating for sure.”
Seeking his first victory in his 99th start in the series, Daniel Hemric swept the first two stages, but a pit-road mistake cost him dearly. During a pit stop under the sixth caution on Lap 121 of 200, Hemric was blocked by the Toyota of Chad Finchum and had to back up to escape his pit stall.
That was the least of Hemric’s problems. A tire rolled away from the car and impeded the pit stop of Landon Cassill, who was pitting behind Hemric. The resulting penalty sent Hemric to the back of the field, and though he recovered to run as high as seventh, he couldn’t avoid a seven-car wreck after a restart on Lap 187.
That accident knocked Hemric and Noah Gragson out of the race. After the subsequent restart on Lap 194, Gibbs pulled away from Cindric and sealed the victory, lowering his average finish in his six starts to 5.17 — from an average starting position of 18.2.
Harrison Burton finished third, followed by Brandon Brown, whose crew chief, Doug Randolph, made the call of the race by saving a set of tires for the final 20 laps. Fighting for a playoff spot and currently 13th in the series standings, Brown was outside the top 15 for the penultimate restart on Lap 187 but took advantage of his fresh rubber to charge to fourth.
Tyler Reddick came home fifth, followed by Briscoe, Ty Dillon, Brandon Jones, Jeb Burton and Jeremy Clements.
Cindric, the reigning series champion, now leads the standings by 84 points over second-place Harrison Burton.
Riley Herbst won the pole position in Saturday morning qualifying but faded to a 12th-place finish, a result further hampered by a pit-road penalty for removing equipment during the Stage 2 break.
The Xfinity Series’ next race is scheduled Saturday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (1 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM).
Note: No issues were reported in post-race inspection in the Xfinity Series garage. NASCAR officials indicated three cars — the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet driven by Jeb Burton, the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driven by Harrison Burton and the No. 99 BJ McLeod Motorsports Ford driven by Chase Briscoe — would be taken to the NASCAR R&D Center for further inspection.
NASCAR’s longest race is here, folks. The original intention in 1960 was to have the Coca-Cola 600 run on Memorial Day weekend, and by Year 2 (1961) that tradition was in place — giving racing fans a stock-car alternative to the Indy 500 each May.
Some of the all-time greats have raced well at the Charlotte track — also known as The Beast of the Southeast. Jimmie Johnson won eight NASCAR Cup Series races there, and Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip each won six times.
Who will be the most dominant this time around? Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex, Jr. each have three Cup wins at Charlotte, and Brad Keselowski has two.
While the veterans will be there, it could be a young upstart who nabs the checkered flag late Sunday night. That seems to be a 2021 trend, where the young guns are slowly beginning to supplant the old guard as the top consistent drivers.
Whoever gets to hold the Bruton Smith Trophy, they’ll have earned it after the marathon of all races — 400 laps for 600 miles. And that’s if they don’t go to overtime for some bonus restarts.
THE FAVORITE
Kyle Larson (+350)
Larson has led the most laps in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series with 778, and he is second with seven top-five finishes. He’s currently third in the season standings, right behind William Byron (by 12 points) and Denny Hamlin (who is 110 points ahead but has no wins yet).
For his career on intermediate-length tracks like Charlotte, Larson has reached the top 10 more than half the time (65 of 118 career starts) and the top five in more than a third of the races (43 of 118).
Couple all of the above with the fact that he’s won at Charlotte in the Xfinity Series and in the 2019 All-Star Race, and there are plenty of reasons why he tops the odds this week.
OTHERS: Kyle Busch (+700) has won 18 Charlotte races in the top three circuits of NASCAR, and he has the most top-five finishes there among current Cup Series drivers (14). Oh, and he won the 2017 All-Star Race, too. … Martin Truex, Jr. (+650) has three career wins in the Cup Series at Charlotte, and he has three wins this year (Phoenix Raceway, Martinsville Speedway and Darlington Raceway).
THE DARK-HORSE THREAT
Brad Keselowski (+1200)
The defending Coca-Cola 600 champion, Keselowski has two career Cup Series wins and four Xfinity Series victories at the track. Also, 10 of his 21 career Cup starts here have resulted in top-10 finishes.
He has two top-five finishes on intermediate tracks this year. One can imagine he’d like to reach up and snag a certain flag and do some burnouts late Sunday. It would give a spark to a season in which he’d love to run better. (He’s ninth in the standings.)
OTHERS: Ryan Blaney (+1000) is intriguing. He’s a past winner at Charlotte in the Xfinity Series (2017), and last year he posted two third-place finishes when racing here. A win at Atlanta earlier this year shows he can win on an intermediate track, and he’s currently seventh in the season standings.
THE INTRIGUING LONG SHOT
Tyler Reddick (+5000)
Between the Xfinity Series and Cup Series, this young up-and-coming driver has five career starts, one win and three top-10 finishes at Charlotte. Aside from that, he’s posted six top 10s in the past eight races and his best finish this year (second) came at a 1.5-mile track (Homestead-Miami Speedway).
See where your favorite driver will pit for the NASCAR Cup Series’ annual Coca-Cola 600 race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina on Sunday (6 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Kyle Larson topped the NASCAR Cup Series qualifying leaderboard Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, snagging the first starting position for the annual Coca-Cola 600.
The No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet posted a 180.282-mph lap around the 1.5-mile track in Concord, North Carolina. Larson knocked teammate Chase Elliott off the top spot, and then Ricky Stenhouse Jr. from JTG Daugherty Racing pushed Elliott down another peg.
“It definitely helps confidence,” said Larson, who seeks his second Cup Series victory of the season. “I feel like we were pretty fast in race trim yesterday and now getting the pole and starting up front is going to be really important. It looked like a pretty tough track to pass on last year. And too, with an added stage, there’s more opportunity to gain points and gain another Playoff point for the end of the season. So, starting from the front is definitely important. I hope we can have a great day and tomorrow night and keep up with the race track and how it’s changing and lead the whole race is my goal.”
Stenhouse’s No. 47 Chevy clocked a 180.24-mph circuit for second best. Elliott’s No. 9 came in at 180.186 mph for third.
William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports) and Kevin Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing) were fourth and fifth, respectively. The top four spots were swept by Chevrolet drivers.
Austin Dillon, whose No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet topped Friday’s practice leaderboard, qualified sixth. Alex Bowman, Martin Truex Jr., Daniel Suarez and Ross Chastain rounded out the top 10 in order.
The Coca-Cola 600 is Sunday at 6 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
CONCORD, N.C. — New spotter, no sweat for Chase Elliott.
After Eddie D’Hondt’s indefinite suspension from NASCAR earlier this week, Elliott and the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports team were tasked with a quick-turn find for the open position in time for the Charlotte Motor Speedway race weekend.
Elliott chose to keep it in the family, picking cousin Trey Poole to fill the role for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“He’s been around our team for a long time,” Elliott said Friday night after NASCAR Cup Series practice. “Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) likes how he goes about spotting in the road-course races that he’s done. Having some history racing I think is a good thing in a spotter to have. It’s just different being in the car versus just watching, so he has some experience. He’s been watching this stuff forever, so he knows how it works.”
Poole has raced Legend cars in his past driving days and helped the team for several years on road courses where more than one spotter is a necessity. Elliott has won all five races Poole has assisted as an additional set of eyes.
Elliott noted asking his father, NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Bill Elliott, to fill the void was a passing thought. But between other obligations and doubts he would even want to accept the job, Elliott chose to go the Poole route.
Poole already has one race under his belt this weekend after spotting for NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Austin Hill and the No. 16 Hattori Racing team Friday night. Hill earned a ninth-place finish.
Elliott was happy to see Poole get a full race at Charlotte in the books before he takes over the reins Sunday night and had planned on talking to Poole after the Truck Series race to prepare.
“The biggest things are helping me with the things I can’t see,” Elliott said. “That I’m not hearing or I can’t figure out on my own. A lot of a spotting job is just keeping the logistics in order throughout a race. When pit road opens. When we’re coming to one to go. The timing of all that stuff is important.”
Although it’s not Poole’s first go-around in the Cup Series, Elliott acknowledges it’ll be a different ball game for him. But the relationship they have puts them a step ahead.
“Obviously, he knows me very well,” Elliott said. “He just fits into our group and he knows everybody. That goes a long way when you’re trying to fill a role quickly like that.
“He doesn’t have to talk much to do a good job and I think that’s the bottom line.”
Power Rankings: Hendrick dominates top five | 
