JGR’s paint scheme commemorates the candy’s 80th anniversary with vintage branding as part of its design. Busch will drive the throwback car as he vies for his second career Darlington victory in the NASCAR Cup Series on May 9 in the Goodyear 400 (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
🚨 THROWBACK UNVEIL 🚨
Check out @KyleBusch's @mmschocolate throwback design for @TooToughToTame, which celebrates M&M’S 80th anniversary. The design includes an old-school Yellow and Red, alongside the iconic M&M’S lentils and a special 80th anniversary message. pic.twitter.com/P8ewTcUW51
JGR and Busch also paid tribute to an M&M’s milestone in May 2016, switching from No. 18 to No. 75 in the NASCAR All-Star Race to coincide with its diamond anniversary.
Darlington has two dates on this year’s Cup Series schedule. The annual throwback weekend tradition shifts to a springtime tripleheader this year, with all three NASCAR national series competing May 7-9. The Cook Out Southern 500 retains its customary Labor Day weekend slot, opening the Cup Series’ 10-race playoffs Sept. 5.
Jimmie Johnson offered Monday morning congratulations to Alex Bowman, his successor in the No. 48 Chevrolet, for his Sunday victory at Richmond Raceway. The triumph marked the No. 48 car’s first win since 2017, adding another measure of success to the number’s legacy at Hendrick Motorsports.
Johnson was occupied with his own racing efforts Sunday, making his IndyCar debut at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama. The seven-time champion was gracious in his warm salute to his former teammate from the NASCAR world.
Bowman paid his own tribute to Johnson in acknowledgment of his tweet. The No. 48’s current driver made a fashion statement with a T-shirt reading “I’m far from done JA,” referring to a 2018 social-media clapback to critics that became a Johnson catchphrase and rallying cry.
Alex Bowman’s understated summation of his team’s season so far said so much with so little. “It’s been a lot,” Bowman said, shortly after sealing his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the year Sunday at Richmond Raceway.
A lot, meaning: His first triumph in the No. 48 Chevrolet that seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson had made famous, putting that car number back in Victory Lane for the first time since 2017; his win that coincided with a big day for his predecessor, who made his IndyCar debut Sunday in Birmingham, Alabama; his contribution to Hendrick Motorsports’ winning efforts this year, joining teammates William Byron and Kyle Larson among the victors and acquitting the team for a measure of its early season inconsistency.
The occurrence that added the most emotional weight is what caused Bowman to break down in interviews shortly after his triumphant burnout. The 27-year-old driver dedicated the victory to former crew member William “Rowdy” Harrell, who died last November in a traffic accident that also claimed the life of his wife, Blakley, on the couple’s honeymoon in Florida.
Nearly five months later, Harrell’s impact on the organization remains strong. Greg Ives, the No. 48 team’s crew chief, called Harrell “the heart and soul of our team” in his tribute. Bowman recalled that Harrell was among those who made him feel comfortable in his first stint with Hendrick Motorsports, when he subbed in for an injured Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Harrell’s influence went beyond his eight years of over-the-wall duty with Hendrick Motorsports. Instead it’s a legacy best illustrated by the fond recollections of his former teammates.
Sean Gardner | Getty Images
“I mean, our group has a lot of personalities, a lot of awkward people, I guess. Greg and myself are a bit awkward,” Bowman said post-race. “We have some normal personalities. Rowdy was that big, outgoing personality that really kept the group pumped up in any situation, really held us all together. He was always happy, no matter what the circumstance was.
“He meant a ton to our race team. He’s probably the first guy when I filled in in the 88 (car) back in the day to really make me feel super welcome, feel like he had my back. He was just a huge part of our team.”
Harrell came to Hendrick Motorsports as a small-town transplant who used his tireless work ethic to earn a walk-on spot with the University of Alabama football team. He won three national championship rings as a non-scholarship standout on the Crimson Tide defense, bucking the notion that a kid from a one-stoplight hometown — Moundville, Alabama, in his case, not far from the Tuscaloosa campus — was somehow less of a prospect.
When Harrell went from big-time college athletics to NASCAR’s big leagues, Hendrick Motorsports did its own scouting report. The feedback from Alabama’s staff was glowing: big motor, strong build, natural leader, punctual, detail-oriented. One other trait carried over from sport to sport — his desire to excel, which in turn pushed those around him to do the same.
“I mean, at this level, motivation is never necessarily needed any more than anywhere else,” Ives said. “All the guys are motivated to win, motivated to do their best, to do their jobs. The offseason added some definitely unneeded motivation in the loss of Rowdy and Blakley. It’s been hard. Every morning we wake up, we’re reminded of the energy that he brought to the team. We just try to bring part of that, that will to never give up.
“I think you saw in Victory Lane how emotional Alex was about it. I think every lap he runs, that’s on his mind, to drive him, to motivate him, to never give up as Rowdy was, give 100%. It’s a special win for us to be able to do that. Yeah, we don’t need the added motivation. We’re already right there, trying to get everything we can. That’s a tribute to Rowdy. Just happy we were able to get it done.”
This year’s edition of the No. 48 team has the former No. 88 team’s pairing of Bowman and Ives as its core. The car was renumbered after Johnson’s retirement from full-time driving, but the No. 88 personnel remained largely intact.
While operationally a different unit, Bowman and Co. still inherited the magnitude of Johnson’s legacy when the torch was passed in the offseason, both with his new car number and sponsorship from Ally, which has thrown its support behind Seven-Time’s successor. Sunday’s victory at Richmond fulfilled at least the first step in that transition, restoring the No. 48 to the ranks of winners for the first time in nearly four years and putting the number back on the postseason grid for the first time since 2018.
The No. 48 Chevy’s awakening for the final green-flag run at Richmond makes Bowman’s return to the playoffs a virtual lock, meaning he can breathe a little easier for next weekend’s race at Talladega Superspeedway and the balance of the regular season. But the incentive remains high to honor Harrell’s spirit again at Talladega, just a couple of hours away from his rural hometown.
“That would be pretty special. Not really for any reason aside from the fact that it’s Rowdy’s home track,” Bowman said. “Winning means a lot to get our car in Victory Lane, we miss him and Blakley a lot. Going to his home track, we’re able to win there, I know that would mean the world to him. We’re going to try our best to make it happen.”
It’s an entirely different half-mile format for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour this weekend.
After opening the season at Martinsville Speedway, and being subjected to the long straightaways and tight turns of the Virginia track, the tour returns to one of its most hallowed venues for the 49th Annual NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler (5 p.m. ET, TrackPass) at Stafford Motor Speedway.
NOTE: Impending inclement weather postponed the race from Sunday, April 25, to Friday, April 30.
It will be one of three stops the tour makes at the Connecticut track.
You may have heard this before: Justin Bonsignore hasn’t won a tour race at Stafford.
Since 2011, he’s 0-for-34 with 12 top fives and 23 top 10s.
Bonsignore is certainly tired of hearing about it.
The 33-year-old from Holtsville, New York, is a two-time tour champion thanks to his success at Thompson Speedway (12 wins in 36 starts since 2011, 33% winning percentage) but also EVERY other track not named Stafford (17 wins in 77 starts, 22% winning percentage).
He hasn’t been bad at Stafford- three top 10s with two Mayhew Tools Pole Awards in four starts in his 2018 championship season and a third-place finish in the lone event there last year. and he’ll get a chance to add a 10th track to his win resume with Sunday’s 150-lap event.
The flip side of that, the drivers looking to challenge Bonsignore for the 2021 title have been very good at Stafford.
Six-time champion Doug Coby has a dozen wins at his home track, while Ron Silk has three wins — including two of the last three races — and Eric Goodale and Craig Lutz each have one.
Max McLaughlin, who was fourth at Martinsville in the opener, returns in the No. 77 and was fourth at Stafford in last year’s Fall Final. And 2018 Fall Final winner, Kyle Bonsignore, is coming off a fifth-place run at Martinsville. Tyler Rypkema, the 2020 Sunoco Rookie of the Year, closed out the season with four straight 10th-place finishes (including Stafford) before starting 2021 with a runner-up finish in Virginia.
CREW CHIEF HANDOUT: The starting field for the NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler is limited to limited to 32 starters including provisionals. The field will be set by qualifying (1-26) and provisional process per the entry blank (27-32) for the NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler. In the event that qualifying as stated on the entry blank does not take place for any unforeseen circumstance, the field will be set in accordance with the 2021 NASCAR Touring Series Rule Book.
QUALIFYING: Two consecutive qualifying laps. Faster lap determines qualifying position. Adjustments or repairs may not be made on the vehicle after the vehicle has taken the green flag at the start/finish line. NASCAR reserves the right to have more than one vehicle engage in qualifying runs at the same time.
RACE PIT STOP: Live pit stop procedure – Teams may not take tires and fuel in the same stop. Maximum five crew members over the wall.
The maximum tire allotment available for this event is as follows: The maximum tire allotment available for this event is eleven (11) tires per team. All tires used for qualifying and the race must be purchased at the track and scanned by Hoosier, unless otherwise approved in advance by the Series Director. Four (4) tires must be used for qualifying and to begin the race. All qualifying tires must remain in impound until released by NASCAR Officials. The remaining tire allotment may be used for practice and/or change tires during the event.
The tire change rule is four (4) tires, any position.
QUALIFYING AND SPECIAL AWARDS
$400 Phil Kurze Halfway Leader Award presented by Josten’s per event award to the race leader at the halfway point of the event, regardless if the race is running under green or yellow.
$600 Hoosier Tire “Lap Leader” per event award to the eligible car owner whose driver leads the most laps in each event. In the event of a tie, the award will go to the highest finishing car in the event.
$500 Hoosier Tire “Hard Charger” per event award to the highest finishing eligible driver who advances the most positions during the course of the race. In the case of a tie, the highest finishing driver will receive the award.
$500 Hoosier Tire “Most Improved” per event award to the eligible new team/organization whose driver improves the most positions during the course of the race. In the event of a tie, the award will go to the highest finishing car in the event. If money is not awarded during this event, funds will rollover to the next event and will continue to rollover until an eligible new team/organization claims the money.
$1,000 Mayhew Tools Dominator Pole per event award to the driver with the fastest qualifying time eligible to participate under the Manufacturers’ Prize Money Conditions.
$550 Sunoco Spec Fuel award divided: 1st-$300 5th-$150 10th-$100.
$3,500 Whelen Engineering “Winner of the Race” award to the winning driver.
Whelen Non-Starter award will be paid to the first 15 competitors throughout the season who pass inspection, practice, attempt to qualify, but fail to make the feature event.
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Last five races for Active Drivers prior to 2021 Race – Ordered by Average Finish
With one notable performance exception, Denny Hamlin made the absolute most of back-to-back short-track races in his home state, leading the most laps at each Martinsville Speedway last week and in Sunday’s stop at Richmond Raceway. In both instances, though, his dominance was not rewarded with his first checkered flag of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.
The circuit’s points leader ended the afternoon as the runner-up in Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400, surrendering the lead for the final 10 laps to a suddenly surging Alex Bowman. The outcome marked Hamlin’s eighth top-five finish in nine races this season, but his remarkable consistency hasn’t yielded a victory.
“Yeah, we should have won,” Hamlin said post-race. “Certainly the 48 (Bowman) wasn’t better than us all day. Just got to lead the last lap. You’ve got to figure out how to lead the last lap, that’s pretty much all that matters. Today, I don’t know if we had a dominant car. It was definitely top two.”
Hamlin established the strength in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota early, sweeping both stages and trading the lead with another contending teammate in Martin Truex Jr. But his control of the race began to slip down the stretch as Joey Logano briefly took command on a long green-flag run in Stage 3.
Hamlin regained the top spot with speedy pit service in the No. 11 team’s final stop, edging Logano’s No. 22 Team Penske Ford to the pit exit by half a car-length. But shortly after the green flag flew for the final restart, Bowman bolted on by and stretched his lead to the finish.
“We just didn’t take off very good there,” Hamlin said of the final stint. “Definitely was worse when our car took off after the restart. The 48 had his tires pumped up, he was able to take off there, get the lead, build a lead big enough I didn’t have enough time to get back to him.”
Hamlin led 207 laps Sunday at Richmond, one week after pacing 276 of the 500 laps and fading to third at another friendly venue in Martinsville. He has led more than half the laps at Richmond on five occasions but prevailed on only two of those dominant days.
With the sting from Sunday still fresh, the irritation was evident post-race from a driver who won seven times in 2020 and six times the year before.
“Yeah, I mean, there’s frustration, for sure,” Hamlin said. “But it doesn’t change my attitude or work ethic. I’m going to work just as hard to win next week and the week after that. You’re a competitor, you want to win. Especially when you have a great opportunity to win. It just didn’t happen. I just got to digest it, look at it and see where we could have been a little bit better. But ultimately there’s nothing I can do. My effort was as high as it could be. There’s nothing that’s glaring that I feel like I could have or should have done different.”
Even with the losses starting to mount and Bowman hoisting the trophy in Victory Lane, Hamlin was able to take some solace in his current lot, leading the tour by a whopping 81 points more than second-place Truex. In fact, he suggested he wouldn’t trade places with Bowman, who has scratched the win column but hasn’t demonstrated the week-in, week-out performance JGR’s No. 11 bunch has produced so far.
“I don’t care that he’s got a win,” Hamlin said. “We’re smashing everyone. I’d still rather be where I’m at.”
An emotional Alex Bowman could only shake his head and give kudos to the crew of his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet following a dramatic victory over Denny Hamlin Sunday in the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway.
Bowman took the lead for the first time all race on a restart with 10 laps remaining and easily pulled away from Hamlin, who had been the day’s most dominant driver. Bowman’s .381-second winning margin earned the 27-year old his first victory of the season, third of his career and first ever on a short track. He is the eighth different race winner in nine NASCAR Cup Series races this season.
“To be honest with you, we were terrible on short runs,” said Bowman, who had to overcome a pit-road speeding penalty as well. “We restarted third and I’m like, if we get out of here with a solid top-five we’ll be good. We overcame a lot today.
“I don’t know if [crew chief] Greg [Ives] pumped the pressures way up or what he did, but that’s more grip than I’ve ever had in a race car at Richmond and it worked out really well.”
It was an especially tough runner-up finish for Hamlin, considering how strong he’d been all day, and all season. Hamlin, who swept the two stages wins and led a race high 207 of the 400 laps, had to be thinking he may have finally secured his first victory of 2021. He held the race lead taking the green flag for that last restart, only to be passed easily by Bowman.
The second-place finish is the eighth top-five finish in the opening nine races for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver Hamlin – an all-time record for top fives to start the season without a win.
“We just didn’t take off quite as good there at the end,” an obviously disappointed Hamlin said. “I tried to warm it up and do everything that I could – just the 48 (Alex Bowman) had a little more on those last few laps and I couldn’t hold the bottom.
“Once he got the position, we were just shut down there. Great job by this FedEx Ground team. First and foremost, we want to think of all of the families in Indy right now. Awful tragedy to happen there. Our thoughts and prayers are with these names. We will get them. We will keep digging. We are dominating – just have to finish it.”
Team Penske’s Joey Logano, who led 49 laps and for much of the closing portion of the race looked as he would settle the trophy with Hamlin, instead finished third, followed by Hamlin’s JGR teammates Christopher Bell and Martin Truex Jr., who led 108 laps.
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola finished sixth – his best effort of the season, followed by Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron, JGR’s Kyle Busch, Wood Brothers Racing’s Matt DiBenedetto and Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon to round out the top 10.
The late-race caution – and the drama it created – was especially ironic considering most of the event had gone caution free.
Early on it was a duel between the Gibbs teammates and then Logano, who took the battle to Hamlin late.
“The adjustments they made on that final pit stop definitely made it start firing off really well,” Logano said of Bowman. “He started to pay the penalty the last couple laps but he was so far out, it didn’t matter.
“We were just so close with the Shell Pennzoil Mustang and wanted to get our Ford in victory lane here. We led some laps, made the pass on Denny Hamlin. He and I had a lot of fun with it going back and forth.
“I just hate being that close,” Logano added.
With his runner-up effort Hamlin holds a commanding 81-point lead over Truex and 82-point advantage over Logano in the championship standings.
The series’ next race is the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday (2 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
NOTE: The race winning No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of Alex Bowman passed NASCAR’s post-race inspection and the race results are official. The No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet driven by William Byron and the No. 51 Petty Ware Racing Chevrolet driven by Cody Ware were each found to have one lugnut not safe and secure.
Kevin Harvick has hit an impressive milestone this weekend as he tied Joe Nemechek atop the all-time list for NASCAR national series starts with the green flag waving for Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway, according to Racing Insights.
Nemechek and Harvick are now tied with a mark of 1,197 national series starts — a mark which Harvick stands to surpass next weekend at Talladega Superspeedway in the GEICO 500 on April 25 (2 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Harvick also stands as NASCAR’s Iron Man — having not missed a Cup Series start since 2002 when he missed the spring Martinsville race. His consecutive starts streak stands at 685 with the start of today’s race.
Check out the list below of the top 10 drivers with the most national series starts (provided by Racing Insights).
Hickory Motor Speedway is dubbed “Birthplace of the NASCAR Stars.”
Rajah Caruth, an 18-year-old from Washington, D.C., is looking to continue the tradition of stars who have used success at the historic venue as a launching pad up the NASCAR ladder. He got a fast start Saturday night as the NASCAR Drive for Diversity development program driver put the No. 6 Sunoco Chevrolet for Rev Racing in Victory Lane.
Twice.
Caruth started fifth and took advantage of a mechanical issue with teammate Isabella Robusto under a late caution to earn a trip to Victory Lane. After starting eighth in the second feature, he completed the sweep.
“It’s pretty awesome,” Caruth said. “The first one, we were kind of right place at the right time. The second one, I feel like we out drove them. It was pretty fun.”
Won the first feature at Hickory tonight, got another twin to try to make it 2! Starting 8th in the second so we’ve got some work to do. 👊🏾👊🏾 pic.twitter.com/MHiZmRwDA2
In the second feature, Gracie Trotter finished second, followed by Caruth’s Rev Racing teammates Robusto and Lavar Scott. Trotter, who became the first female to win in one of the ARCA Menards Series’ top series last year, is also a former NASCAR Drive for Diversity Development driver.
“There was definitely a little bit of confidence there,” Caruth said. “We started next to Gracie (on the final restart with 25 laps to go). We went into Turn 1, and I don’t think I’ve ever drove it deeper into one. And it stuck. That’s a testament to this team. They’re the best.”
According to Hickory, it’s the first time the track had two women finish in the top three in its Late Model Stock Car division.
In the first feature, Scott finished sixth, while Rev Racing’s Regina Sirvent was ninth and Robusto 11th.
Caruth comes from an iRacing background. A NASCAR fan growing up, he first earned attention through the eNASCAR Ignite Series – a grassroots youth racing platform that identifies drivers without access to traditional race tracks around the world.
Caruth is one of 10 drivers in the iRacing Pro Invitational Series Fan Vote to round out the field in next week’s virtual race at Talladega Superspeedway.
After earning a spot in the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Youth Driver Development Program in 2019 — the first driver from a majority iRacing background to be picked for the program — he drove in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series last year. Caruth won his first career Late Model race last October at another historic NASCAR track: South Carolina’s Greenville-Pickens Speedway.
“Growing up, I was really a student of the sport and a fan,” Caruth said. “To put my name in the books, not only winning at Greenville, but twice here, it means a lot.
“It means the world.”
This season, Caruth is driving in both the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series and the ARCA Menards Series. He finished fourth in the most recent ARCA Menards Series East race at 5 Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida, in February.
