Rookie Austin Cindric wins 2022 Daytona 500

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – On the 85th birthday of his car owner, Roger Penske, 23-year-old NASCAR Cup Series rookie Austin Cindric beat Bubba Wallace to the finish line by .036 seconds in overtime to win Sunday’s 64th running of the Daytona 500.

 

In a thrilling run to the finish in NASCAR’s new Next Gen race car at Daytona International Speedway, Cindric held off Wallace and Chase Briscoe (.091 seconds behind) to notch his first Cup victory in his eighth start in the series.

 

Cindric got the win in chamber-of-commerce weather with a sold-out crowd jamming the grandstands.

 

“Oh, my God—do you know what makes this even better? A packed house,” Cindric exulted after climbing from his car. “A packed house at the Daytona 500. “Oh, my God, I’ve got so many people to thank. First and foremost, Roger Penske. Happy Birthday!

 

“Everyone has worked so hard on this Next Gen car and through the whole process. I am so excited. This makes up for losing a championship in the last race I was in (2021 Xfinity Series season finale at Phoenix Raceway).

 

“I’m surrounded by great people, that’s all there is to it. I know there’s going to be highs and lows, being a rookie. I’m just grateful for the opportunity and excited to climb the mountain ahead of us on the No. 2 team. We’re in the Playoffs—that’s one box checked. My gosh, what an awesome group of fans; what an awesome race car. I’m just really thankful.”

 

A three-car wreck in Turn 4 on Lap 195 of a scheduled 200 wiped out the No. 47 Chevrolet of Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who was leading for a restart on that same lap but was turned by a push from Brad Keselowski. The incident forced the race to overtime, requiring one extra lap for Cindric to claim victory.

 

An earlier six-car accident on Lap 190 had eliminated reigning series champion Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick, Todd Gilliland, Erik Jones and Noah Gragson, who was making his first start in NASCAR’s top division.

 

Cindric was the leader when the race restarted on Lap 200, and at the end of a wild two-lap scramble—after blocking a strong run from Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney—he arrived at the finish line roughly three feet ahead of Wallace, who was runner-up in the Great American Race for the second time.

 

“I thought our Toyota teammates did good work until they got picked off 1, 2, 3 throughout the race, so we just had to survive,” said Wallace, who finished .260 seconds behind race winner Austin Dillon in the 2018 Daytona 500.

 

“Great Speedweeks, though. We’ll come home second. I’m going to be pissed off about this one for a while. I was happy on the first second place we got a couple years ago. This one sucks when you’re that close, but all-in-all, happy for our team, happy for our partners, and on to California.”

 

Blaney came home fourth, followed by Aric Almirola, who will leave full-time racing at the end of the season. Kyle Busch, Michael McDowell, David Ragan, Keselowski and Chase Elliott completed the top 10.

 

Less than three laps from the end of the first stage, a push from Keselowski turned the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford of Harrison Burton sideways at the head of the outside lane. Burton’s Mustang nosed down the track into the No. 24 Chevrolet of William Byron, whose car slammed nose-first into the inside wall on the backstretch.

 

Kyle Busch spun sideways during the ensuing eight-car wreck. Denny Hamlin’s Toyota sustained terminal suspension damage, eliminating the field’s only multiple winner of the Daytona 500. The No. 1 Chevrolet of Ross Chastain was also knocked out of the race.

 

After the impact with Byron’s car and a jolt from the Toyota of Christopher Bell, Burton’s Ford turned upside down and landed on top of the Chevrolet of Alex Bowman, who had started the race on the outside of the front row. The impact righted Burton’s car, which a wrecker towed to the garage. Bowman lost four laps as his crew tried to return the No. 48 Camaro to raceable condition.

 

“I’m fine—I’ve hit a lot harder before, that’s for sure,” Burton said after a trip to the infield care center. “It’s just unfortunate. I hate it for the Wood Brothers group. They brought a really fast Ford Mustang down here and ended up on our lid, so that’s never good…

 

“I don’t know, I just got pushed and didn’t take it the right way—the car didn’t take it the right way or got pushed in the wrong spot. I’m not sure. I couldn’t really tell. I was looking out front to see what I had to do next to side draft the next guy that was on me, so just a bummer. I don’t really know what we could have done different, but we’ll move on and get better from it.”

 

From Hamlin’s standpoint, it was clear what happened.

 

“The 6 (Keselowski) was pushing the 21 (Burton) and you could see the 21 was kind of getting out of control there,” said Hamlin, who failed to finish a Daytona 500 for the first time in 17 starts and lost his chance for a fourth visit to Victory Lane. “So you know the mind-set was that you’ve got to back off, but I think the 6 was just insistent on pushing him at all costs and eventually turned the 21 around.

 

“Tough, you know, considering it was just for the stage. We were kind of boxed in there where I noticed that something was going to happen, but I was boxed in, I was behind a teammate (Kyle Busch), and I wanted to try to help. Again, just too aggressive pushing right there when they weren’t lined up and in control.”

 

Truex won the first stage under caution and then claimed victory in the second stage, which ran under green-flag conditions from the restart on Lap 72 to the conclusion on Lap 130. Truex came from third to first on the final lap to grab the stage win.

 

Keselowski, however, was first off pit road under caution for the stage break and led the field to green for a restart on Lap 138. Keselowski held the top spot until Tyler Reddick’s Chevrolet broke loose in Turn 4 on Lap 151 and started a wreck that damaged the contending cars of Truex, Joey Logano and Kurt Busch.

 

The NASCAR Cup Series returns to the track next week at Auto Club Speedway for the Wise Power 400 on February 27, 2022.

 

NASCAR Cup Series Race – 64th Annual DAYTONA 500

Daytona International Speedway

Daytona Beach, Florida

Sunday, February 20, 2022

 

1. (5)  Austin Cindric #, Ford, 201.
2. (16)  Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 201.
3. (9)  Chase Briscoe, Ford, 201.
4. (7)  Ryan Blaney, Ford, 201.
5. (38)  Aric Almirola, Ford, 201.
6. (10)  Kyle Busch, Toyota, 201.
7. (6)  Michael McDowell, Ford, 201.
8. (34)  David Ragan, Ford, 201.
9. (3)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, 201.
10. (11)  Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 201.
11. (26)  Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 201.
12. (33)  Daniel Hemric(i), Chevrolet, 201.
13. (14)  Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 201.
14. (24)  Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 201.
15. (27)  Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 201.
16. (4)  Chris Buescher, Ford, 200.
17. (32)  Cody Ware, Ford, 200.
18. (21)  Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 199.
19. (17)  Kurt Busch, Toyota, 199.
20. (31)  Cole Custer, Ford, 199.
21. (20)  Joey Logano, Ford, 198.
22. (40)  Jacques Villeneuve, Ford, 198.
23. (25)  Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 198.
24. (2)  Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 197.
25. (36)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 197.
26. (35)  Kaz Grala(i), Chevrolet, 196.
27. (37)  BJ McLeod, Ford, 196.
28. (18)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, Accident, 194.
29. (13)  Erik Jones, Chevrolet, Accident, 191.
30. (22)  Kevin Harvick, Ford, DVP, 191.
31. (39)  Noah Gragson(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 190.
32. (1)  Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, Accident, 190.
33. (29)  Todd Gilliland #, Ford, Accident, 190.
34. (12)  Christopher Bell, Toyota, Accident, 152.
35. (15)  Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, Accident, 151.
36. (28)  Greg Biffle(i), Chevrolet, 136.
37. (30)  Denny Hamlin, Toyota, Accident, 63.
38. (23)  William Byron Jr., Chevrolet, Accident, 62.
39. (8)  Harrison Burton #, Ford, Accident, 62.
40. (19)  Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, Accident, 62.

 

Average Speed of Race Winner:  142.295 mph.

Time of Race:  3 Hrs, 31 Mins, 53 Secs. Margin of Victory:  .036 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  7 for 37 laps.

Lead Changes:  35 among 13 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   K. Larson 0;B. Keselowski 1-6;K. Busch 7;B. Keselowski 8-26;K. Busch 27-31;B. Keselowski 32;K. Busch 33-37;R. Stenhouse Jr. 38;H. Burton # 39;J. Logano 40;K. Busch 41-57;W. Byron Jr. 58;H. Burton # 59-60;M. Truex Jr. 61-67;A. Dillon 68;E. Jones 69-71;R. Blaney 72-107;M. Truex Jr. 108;B. Wallace 109;B. Keselowski 110-124;K. Larson 125;B. Keselowski 126-129;M. Truex Jr. 130-132;B. Wallace 133;B. Keselowski 134-155;B. Wallace 156;A. Cindric # 157-162;B. Wallace 163-166;A. Cindric # 167-168;B. Wallace 169-170;A. Cindric # 171-175;B. Wallace 176-177;R. Stenhouse Jr. 178;B. Wallace 179;R. Stenhouse Jr. 180-193;A. Cindric # 194-201.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Brad Keselowski 6 times for 67 laps; Ryan Blaney 1 time for 36 laps; Kyle Busch 4 times for 28 laps; Austin Cindric # 4 times for 21 laps; Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 3 times for 16 laps; Bubba Wallace 7 times for 12 laps; Martin Truex Jr. 3 times for 11 laps; Harrison Burton # 2 times for 3 laps; Erik Jones 1 time for 3 laps; Joey Logano 1 time for 1 lap; William Byron Jr. 1 time for 1 lap; Austin Dillon 1 time for 1 lap; Kyle Larson 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 19,6,38,47,22,3,45,43,5,9

Stage #2 Top Ten: 19,22,23,6,47,2,17,4,5,38

 

Kevin Harvick holds off Denny Hamlin for first Pocono win

Kevin Harvick was the 9/2 favorite to win.

June 27, 2020

 

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

 

Benefiting from a two-tire pit stop with 36 laps left, Kevin Harvick held off charging Denny Hamlin over the final green-flag run to win for the first time at Pocono Raceway.

 

Harvick crossed the finish line in Saturday’s Pocono Organics 325 .761 seconds ahead of Hamlin to post his third victory of the season - tying Hamlin for the NASCAR Cup Series lead - and the 52nd of his career, 12th most all-time.

 

"We weren’t where we needed to be to start the race and lost a bunch of track position, but we came back and made some great strategy calls to get in clean air and get out front and make some good laps," said Harvick, who led the final 17 laps after pit stops were complete. "It’s great to finally check Pocono off the list.

 

On Lap 94, Harvick entered the pits behind Aric Almirola, but with a two-tire stop, he swapped positions with his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate, who needed four tires on the same stop. After pit stops cycled out, Harvick had the lead, Hamlin was second, and Almirola was far behind in third.

 

After the flip-flop of positions on pit road, Harvick was confident the two-tire strategy would pay dividends.

 

"I knew when we came out of the pits, and they told me how big of a lead we had (over Almirola)," Harvick said. "I saw the 11 (Hamlin) come out of the pits, and he was in second… He caught us a little in traffic, but I knew I could be pretty patient with the gap we had.

 

"As I started to see everything cycle out and see with the track position we had with the fresher tires, you could kind of start to put it together in your mind as we started to run through the last stage and cars started to have to pit. Just a great call by (crew chief) Rodney Childers and all the guys up on the pit box for having the right strategy and getting us to Victory Lane."

 

Though he led a race-high 61 laps and won the second stage, Almirola rolled across the stripe in third, 15.224 seconds behind Harvick’s No. 4 Ford.

"We opted to score a lot of points (in the stages), and that probably hurt us on strategy a little bit, but I’m really proud of Buga (crew chief Mike Bugarewicz) and these (crew) guys," said Almirola, who also finished third last Sunday at Talladega.

 

"They’ve been bringing some awesome race cars. I felt like we were tit-for-tat there with the 4 (Harvick) when we were on older tires and in clean air… We’re trying to keep the momentum going—three top fives in a row. I’m really proud of my race team."

 

Even though his car picked up a severe vibration in the late going, Hamlin whittled Harvick’s lead from more than two seconds to less than .3 seconds, as Harvick worked traffic late in the 130-lap event at the 2.5-mile triangular track.

 

"With about 15 or 20 (laps) to go, the vibration just got really, really bad," Hamlin said. "It still would have been tough to pass. Even though we got there, it would have been tough to get around him."

 

Sunoco rookie Christopher Bell posted a career-best fourth-place finish, followed by Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. Clint Bowyer, Michael McDowell, Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher completed the top 10.

 

Cup drivers will race 350 miles at Pocono on Sunday in the same cars they used on Saturday—with the exception of those needing backups because of damage. The Pocono 350 will be the final event in an unprecedented tripleheader, with the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series starting the action in the rain-postponed Pocono Organics 150 at 9:30 a.m. ET.

 

The Pocono Green 225 NASCAR Xfinity Series race will follow at 12:30 p.m., followed by the Cup event at 4 p.m. Never before have all three of NASCAR’s top touring series raced at the same track on the same day. All three races will be broadcast on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

 

With the starting order for Sunday’s Cup race determined by inverting the top 20 finishers from Saturday, Ryan Preece will start on the pole, and Harvick will take the green from 20th.

 

-30-

 

NASCAR Cup Series Race - 39th Annual Pocono Organics 325 in partnership with Rodale Institute

Pocono Raceway

Long Pond, Pennsylvania

Saturday, June 27, 2020

 

               1. (9)  Kevin Harvick, Ford, 130.

               2. (3)  Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 130.

               3. (1)  Aric Almirola, Ford, 130.

               4. (36)  Christopher Bell #, Toyota, 130.

               5. (4)  Kyle Busch, Toyota, 130.

               6. (11)  Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 130.

               7. (18)  Clint Bowyer, Ford, 130.

               8. (26)  Michael McDowell, Ford, 130.

               9. (8)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, 130.

               10. (24)  Chris Buescher, Ford, 130.

               11. (22)  Matt Kenseth, Chevrolet, 130.

               12. (2)  Ryan Blaney, Ford, 130.

               13. (21)  Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 130.

               14. (16)  William Byron, Chevrolet, 130.

               15. (13)  Ryan Newman, Ford, 130.

               16. (25)  Cole Custer #, Ford, 130.

               17. (14)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 130.

               18. (7)  Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 130.

               19. (17)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 130.

               20. (30)  Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, 130.

               21. (12)  Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 130.

               22. (23)  Bubba Wallace, Chevrolet, 129.

               23. (29)  Corey LaJoie, Ford, 129.

               24. (20)  John Hunter Nemechek #, Ford, 129.

               25. (5)  Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 129.

               26. (34)  Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 129.

               27. (10)  Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 129.

               28. (37)  Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 128.

               29. (27)  Brennan Poole #, Chevrolet, 127.

               30. (15)  Tyler Reddick #, Chevrolet, 126.

               31. (33)  JJ Yeley, Ford, 125.

               32. (40)  Josh Bilicki(i), Chevrolet, 125.

               33. (31)  Garrett Smithley(i), Chevrolet, 125.

               34. (35)  James Davison, Chevrolet, 125.

               35. (38)  Timmy Hill(i), Toyota, 125.

               36. (6)  Joey Logano, Ford, 124.

               37. (28)  Joey Gase(i), Ford, 121.

               38. (19)  Erik Jones, Toyota, Accident, 70.

               39. (39)  BJ McLeod(i), Chevrolet, Transmission, 36.

               40. (32)  Quin Houff #, Chevrolet, Accident, 19.

 

Average Speed of Race Winner:  134.467 mph.

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 25 Mins, 1 Secs. Margin of Victory:  .761 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  6 for 21 laps.

Lead Changes:  10 among 8 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   A. Almirola 1-19;J. Logano 20-30;A. Almirola 31-45;M. Truex Jr. 46-59;D. Hamlin 60-66;A. Almirola 67-93;D. Hamlin 94-96;R. Newman 97-109;M. McDowell 110;C. Buescher 111-113;K. Harvick 114-130.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Aric Almirola 3 times for 61 laps; Kevin Harvick 1 time for 17 laps; Martin Truex Jr. 1 time for 14 laps; Ryan Newman 1 time for 13 laps; Joey Logano 1 time for 11 laps; Denny Hamlin 2 times for 10 laps; Chris Buescher 1 time for 3 laps; Michael McDowell 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 22,10,12,18,9,1,21,2,88,20

Stage #2 Top Ten: 10,22,19,12,21,88,4,18,11,9

Keselowski grabs first Atlanta win; Harvick leads most laps again

Brad Keselowski's first of win of season, and Atlanta, paid out at 8-to-1 odds.

HAMPTON, GA. - Brad Keselowski, taking advantage of a pit-road error by a dominant Kevin Harvick, won Sunday’s Folds Of Honor QuikTrip 500 NASCAR Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Keselowski, who overcame an error of his own team’s on pit road earlier in the race, passed Kyle Larson for the lead with seven laps to go to win at Atlanta for the first time.

Pole-winner Harvick won the first two stages of the race and appeared to be headed for victory when he was caught for speeding on pit road with 11 laps remaining. That bumped Harvick to the rear of the field on the lead lap and he would eventually finish ninth.

Read More Here...Charlotte Observer

QuikTrip 500 Results

Matt Kenseth wins second straight New Hampshire Cup race

Matt Kenseth was 8-to-1 to win at New Hampshire on Sunday. It was his second win of the season, both on 1-mile tracks 

New Hampshire Fast Facts:
* Matt Kenseth won the 24th Annual New Hampshire 301, his 38th victory in 597 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.
* This is his second victory and eighth top-10 finish in 2016.
* This is his third victory and 18th top-10 finish in 33 races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
* Tony Stewart (second) posted his 19th top-10 finish in 34 races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. It is his fifth top-10 finish in 2016.
* Joey Logano (third) posted his eighth top-10 finish in 16 races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
* Ryan Blaney (11th) was the highest finishing rookie.
* Kevin Harvick leads the point standings by 14 points over Brad Keselowski.

New Hampshire 301 Results

Brad Keselowski wins series-leading fourth race of season at Kentucky

Brad Keselowski wins at Kentucky for third time in career.

SPARTA, Ky. — They can repave the surface. They can reconfigure the track. What can’t be altered when it comes to Kentucky Speedway is the fact that whenever Brad Keselowski arrives in Sparta, he acts like he owns the place.

The 1.5-mile tri-oval may be a different animal than in past seasons, but the sixth edition of the Quaker State 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup series yielded a result straight out of the same old, same old playbook. For the third time in the race’s history, it was Keselowski heading to victory lane, having milked his No. 2 Miller Lite Ford and its empty gas tank across the finish line 0.175 seconds ahead of Carl Edwards.

Read More Here..........

Quaker State 400 Results

Brad Keselowski finally captures elusive Daytona victory

Brad Keselowski paid out at 15/1 odds at Las Vegas sports books.

DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. – Brad Keselowski finally won at Daytona International Speedway, a track where victory had eluded him despite strong success in restrictor-plate races.

Keselowski has four career victories at Talladega Superspeedway, including a win there in May. But he could never pull it off at Daytona, at least not until Saturday night’s dominating run. He and his No. 2 Ford crew kept chipping away at it even after he had a disappointing run in the season-opening Daytona 500.

“I’ve doubted myself here,” said Keselowski, who had just three top-10 finishes in 14 previous starts at Daytona.

The win was the 100th for Team Penske.

“This is huge, I love this place,” Keselowski said.

The race was marred by a 22-car wreck that collected more than half the field. It really left only Kyle Busch as a legitimate contender, but he couldn’t make up ground after a restart for a two-lap shootout that sent it into overtime.

Read More Here......StarTribune.com

Coke Zero 400 results

Pocono win moves Kurt Busch into No. 25 all-time with 28th career win

Kurt Busch wins his third race at Pocono Raceway. His win paid out at 12/1 odds at Las Vegas sports books. 

Axalta 400 Final Results


Pocono Raceway - Axalta 400 Fast Facts:
* Kurt Busch won the 35th Annual Axalta We Paint Winners 400, his 28th victory in 554 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.
* With the win, Busch moves into a tie for 25th on the all-time series wins list with NASCAR Hall of Famer Rex White.
* This is his first victory and 12th top-10 finish in 2016. Busch's last win came at Michigan on June 14, 2015, 34 races ago.
* This is his third victory and 17th top-10 finish in 30 races at Pocono Raceway.
* Dale Earnhardt Jr (second) posted his 15th top-10 finish in 33 races at Pocono Raceway. It is his sixth top-10 finish in 2016.
* Brad Keselowski (third) posted his sixth top-10 finish in 13 races at Pocono Raceway.
* Chase Elliott (fourth) was the highest finishing rookie.
* Kevin Harvick leads the point standings by 25 points over Kurt Busch.

Martin Truex Jr. dominates Coca-Cola 600

Martin Truex Jr. led 392 of the 400 laps Sunday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway

Coca-Cola 600 results


Coca-Cola 600 Fast Facts 
* Martin Truex Jr. won the 57th Annual COCA-COLA 600, his fourth victory in 382 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.
* This is his first victory and sixth top-10 finish in 2016.
* This is his first victory and seventh top-10 finish in 22 races at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
* Kevin Harvick (second) posted his 14th top-10 finish in 31 races at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It is his 10th top-10 finish in 2016.
* Jimmie Johnson (third) posted his 18th top-10 finish in 30 races at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
* Chase Elliott (eighth) was the highest finishing rookie.
* Kevin Harvick leads the point standings by 36 points over Kurt Busch.
* Truex set the Charlotte Motor Speedway record with 392 laps led.
* Truex's 588 miles led were the most in any NASCAR race in history.
* The time of race was the shortest of any Coca-Cola 600 in history (3:44:08, 160.644 mph).

Brad Keselowski wins at Talladega for fourth time

Brad Keselowski's Talladega win paid 12/1 at Las Vegas sports books. 

Geico 500 Results

Talladega Race Notes
* Brad Keselowski won the 47th Annual GEICO 500 , his 19th victory in 243 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.
* This is his second victory and fifth top-10 finish in 2016.
* This is his fourth victory and ninth top-10 finish in 15 races at Talladega Superspeedway.
* Kyle Busch (second) posted his sixth top-10 finish in 22 races at Talladega Superspeedway. It is his eighth top-10 finish in 2016.
* Austin Dillon (third) posted his first top-10 finish in six races at Talladega Superspeedway.
* Chase Elliott (fifth) was the highest finishing rookie.
* Kevin Harvick leads the point standings by 9 points over Kyle Busch.

Carl Edwards avoids tire issues of Gibbs' teammates, wins at Bristol for fourth time

Carl Edwards won from the pole on Sunday. His win paid 8/1 at Las Vegas sports books. 

 
2016 Food City 500 Results

Jimmie Johnson really is Superman; wins at Fontana again

Jimmie Johnson passes Dale Earnhardt with 77 career wins for seventh-place on NASCAR's all-time wins list. 

Auto Club 400 Results

Keselowski grabs second win at Las Vegas

Brad Keselowski's win at a windy Las Vegas paid 10/1 at the sports books.

LAS VEGAS – Overcoming a pit road speeding penalty with daring late-race strategy, Brad Keselowski broke a 33-race drought with a victory in Sunday’s Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Keselowski passed Las Vegas native Kyle Busch with five laps left to win for the first time since the fifth race of 2015 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. The 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion beat Team Penske shopmate Joey Logano to the finish line by .675 seconds, as Busch lost ground over the closing laps.

Read More Here......Catchfence

Las Vegas Kobalt 400 Results

Kyle Busch wins Homestead race and Sprint Cup in brilliant fashion

Kyle Busch wins first title for Toyota and second for Las Vegas!

Nov. 22, 2015
By Reid Spencer

Finishing off one of the most remarkable comebacks in NASCAR history—indeed, in the annals of sport—Kyle Busch won Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway and, with it, his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.

Absent from the first 11 races of the season because of a broken right leg and left foot sustained in the NASCAR XFINITY Series opener at Daytona in February, Busch pulled away from fellow Championship Round driver Kevin Harvick after a restart with seven laps left and crossed the finish line 1.553 seconds ahead of the defending series champion.

"I don’t know if I understand life yet, but there’s something to be said about this year," a jubilant Busch said after crossing the finish line.

Indeed. The victory was Busch’s fifth of the season, his first at Homestead and the 34th of his career. The championship was the first by a Toyota driver at NASCAR’s highest level. It was the fourth for Joe Gibbs Racing with three different drivers, with Bobby Labonte (2000) and Tony Stewart (2002, 2005) preceding Busch in that achievement.

Kyle and Kurt Busch, who won the first Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in 2004, make up the second pair of brothers to win Sprint Cup titles, joining Terry (1984, 1996) and Bobby Labonte.

In his final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Jeff Gordon, who was seeking a fifth series crown, finished sixth behind Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Kyle Larson to secure third place in the series standings behind Kyle Busch and Harvick.

Martin Truex Jr., the fourth driver eligible for the title in the Championship Round of the Chase, finished 12th on Sunday.

"It’s pretty unbelievable!" Busch said. "A dream of a lifetime, a dream come true… I just can’t believe it, with everything that happened this year and all the turmoil, all the things that I went through, that my wife (Samantha) went through and the people that are around me went through.

"This championship is all for these guys, my wife, my family, everyone who has had to sacrifice so much to get me here to this place today, whether it was on my team right now, or on my teams in the past. It’s really awesome, awesome, awesome!"

Busch was running third, behind Keselowski and Larson—and roughly 10 seconds ahead of Harvick in fourth—when NASCAR called the seventh caution of the race because of debris on the frontstretch on lap 257 of 267.

After all contenders came to pit road for fresh tires, Busch restarted second beside Keselowski, who chose the inside lane, with Harvick immediately behind Busch in fourth.

Busch held his own through the first two corners, cleared Keselowski down the backstretch and began to pull away. Harvick also shot past Keselowski’s Ford on the restart lap, but the defending champ couldn’t match Busch’s pace over the last seven laps.

"On the restart, I just knew, ‘Don’t spin your tires,’" Busch said. "If you spin them a little bit, at least get them reattached – don’t matter if you lose a little bit of ground to who’s in front of you, just make sure you have a good run getting into Turn 1 and keep Harvick behind me.

"Did all of those things, got to Turn 1 side-by-side with (Brad) Keselowski and, man, I just put it on kill and held it wide open through there and was able to get by Keselowski there. And anybody that got out front, especially on new tires, they could drive away, and it felt so good to be out there at that moment."

The restart gave Harvick one last chance to defend his crown, but the driver of the No. 4 Chevrolet couldn’t capitalize.

"I thought there at the end at the restart, we might do a little better than that," Harvick said. "But, obviously, either the splitter was on the ground or the car was just tighter than it probably needed to be, and I just couldn't hustle it and got it tight and got it up the racetrack and got behind.

"The 18 car (Busch), he just had the speed all night, for the most part. As the night went, I just couldn't find anywhere that would make the car run better. The higher I would run, the looser it would get. I'd get on the seams, and then it would push the front and slide the back. Just never could find anything."

Harvick, who won the final two races of 2014 to secure his first title, finished second for the 13th time this season. With his three victories, he finished the year with 16 top-two results.

"It's been a great couple years, and I know we're disappointed about finishing second tonight, but it's kind of the theme of the year—finishing second," Harvick said.

"Unfortunately, it's just one short, but all in all, it's been a great couple years, and I couldn't be prouder of our bunch of guys."

Note: In the final race for Michael Waltrip Racing, Clint Bowyer wrecked on Lap 45 and finished 43rd. Bowyer will driver for owner Harry Scott next season before taking over the No. 14 car at Stewart-Haas Racing in 2017. David Ragan ran 27th in MWR’s swan song.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race - Ford EcoBoost 400
Homestead-Miami Speedway
Homestead, Florida
Sunday, November 22, 2015

1. (3) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 267, $351906.
2. (13) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 267, $290375.
3. (8) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 267, $232541.
4. (2) Joey Logano, Ford, 267, $184058.
5. (23) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 267, $162383.
6. (5) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 267, $153801.
7. (19) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 267, $139051.
8. (15) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 267, $111890.
9. (12) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 267, $129101.
10. (1) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 267, $109090.
11. (7) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 267, $82040.
12. (11) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 267, $107860.
13. (22) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 267, $111206.
14. (10) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 267, $117801.
15. (21) Greg Biffle, Ford, 267, $112573.
16. (4) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 267, $112315.
17. (6) Ryan Blaney(i), Ford, 267, $76040.
18. (26) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 267, $120415.
19. (18) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 267, $93615.
20. (20) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 266, $112048.
21. (17) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 266, $86940.
22. (16) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 266, $86590.
23. (25) Ty Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 266, $94448.
24. (35) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 266, $85990.
25. (28) Sam Hornish Jr., Ford, 266, $104010.
26. (33) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 265, $96498.
27. (38) David Ragan, Toyota, 265, $104254.
28. (40) Cole Whitt, Ford, 265, $88398.
29. (36) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 265, $103654.
30. (39) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 264, $77690.
31. (42) Brett Moffitt #, Ford, 264, $76990.
32. (41) David Gilliland, Ford, 264, $90312.
33. (29) Michael McDowell, Ford, 264, $72565.
34. (31) JJ Yeley(i), Toyota, 264, $72365.
35. (34) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 263, $72165.
36. (30) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 263, $79940.
37. (37) Matt DiBenedetto #, Toyota, 263, $71711.
38. (43) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, 262, $66730.
39. (32) Josh Wise, Ford, 247, $62730.
40. (9) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 241, $78130.
41. (14) Aric Almirola, Ford, 209, $91666.
42. (27) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, Accident, 104, $58730.
43. (24) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, Accident, 45, $81388.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 131.755 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 02 Mins, 23 Secs. Margin of Victory: 1.552 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 7 for 30 laps.
Lead Changes: 18 among 8 drivers.
Lap Leaders: 0; J. Logano 1-19; Kyle Busch 20-35; J. Gordon 36-44; K. Harvick 45-90; K. Larson 91-92; J. Logano 93-138; Kyle Busch 139; C. Edwards 140-144; J. Logano 145-151; C. Edwards 152-154; Kyle Busch 155-168; M. Truex Jr. 169-171; B. Keselowski 172-214; Kyle Busch 215-216; B. Keselowski 217-257; Kyle Busch 258; B. Keselowski 259-260; Kyle Busch 261-267.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): B. Keselowski 3 times for 86 laps; J. Logano 3 times for 72 laps; K. Harvick 1 time for 46 laps; Kyle Busch 6 times for 41 laps; J. Gordon 1 time for 9 laps; C. Edwards 2 times for 8 laps; M. Truex Jr. 1 time for 3 laps; K. Larson 1 time for 2 laps.
Top 16 in Points: Kyle Busch - 5,043; K. Harvick - 5,042; J. Gordon - 5,038; M. Truex Jr. - 5,032; C. Edwards - 2,368; J. Logano - 2,360; B. Keselowski - 2,347; Kurt Busch - 2,333; D. Hamlin - 2,327; J. Johnson - 2,315; R. Newman - 2,314; D. Earnhardt Jr. - 2,310; J. Mcmurray - 2,295; P. Menard - 2,262; M. Kenseth - 2,234; C. Bowyer - 2,175.