NASCAR

Daniel Hemric will pilot the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Supra full time and compete for the Xfinity Series championship in 2021, the team announced Thursday. “It‘s been quite a roller coaster ride for me over the last few years, but I can‘t say how thankful I am for the opportunity to drive for Joe Gibbs Racing,” said Hemric in a team release. “Their reputation speaks for itself. I know they have high expectations for me, as I do as well, and I could not be more excited to chase the Xfinity Series championship with them next season.” Hemric was behind the wheel of the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet for 21 of the series’ 33 races in 2020, compiling an average finish of 16.2 and scattering in seven top fives, 12 top 10 and a pair of runner-ups at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway. A season prior he earned Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors at the Cup Series level, running the full season for Richard Childress Racing in the No. 8 Chevrolet. The veteran also made back-to-back Xfinity Series Championship 4 appearances in ’17 and ’18 for RCR, with a third-place finish in the series standings coming in his career year in ’18. Sponsorship and team personnel details will be announced at a later date. Harrison Burton and Brandon Jones will also be competing for the organization in the Xfinity Series on a full-time basis in 2021.Riley Herbst, who piloted the ride in 2020, is leaving Joe Gibbs Racing to pursue other opportunities, according to the release and his Twitter account.

Due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, NASCAR will have one condensed awards show during the off-season to recognize its championships in the Cup, Xfinity and Trucks series.The 2020 Awards Show will be broadcast on Nov. 18 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network. The Cup Series awards were originally scheduled to be held in Nashville, Tenn., for the second consecutive year. The 90-minute show will celebrate and feature appearances from the sport’s 2020 national series champions – Chase Elliott in Cup, Austin Cindric in Xfinity and Sheldon Creed in Trucks and NBC Sports’ Kelli Stavast and Marty Snider will co-host the presentation. The show will also feature an opening performance by musician Chris Stapleton with the debut of his son, “Arkansas,” from his new album Starting Over, and a tribute to seven-time NASCAR Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, who completed his final fulltime season on Sunday at Phoenix Raceway. In addition, the show will include the announcement of the Bill France Award of Excellence recipient, name the 2020 Most Popular Drivers, highlight this year’s Betty Jane Humanitarian Award finalists, honor the rookie of the year in each series as well as recognize other award winners.

NASCAR driver Josh Reaume was indefinitely suspended Tuesday and will likely have to attend sensitivity training before reinstatement. The 30-year-old, a part-time driver in the Xfinity and Truck series this season, was suspended for a recent post on one of his social media channels, deemed to be in violation of NASCAR’s behavioral policy. NASCAR said Tuesday that Truck Series driver Josh Reaume had been suspended indefinitely. NASCAR did not reveal what Reaume posted that got him suspended. It simply said that Reaume had violated a provision of the series’ rule book that prohibits “public statement and/or communication that criticizes, ridicules, or otherwise disparages another person based upon that person’s race, color, creed, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, religion, age, or handicapping condition.” Reaume, a native of Redlands, Calif., most recently competed in last Friday’s Truck series season finale at Phoenix Raceway, starting 31st and finishing 33rd. He made a pair of starts in Xfinity and 12 in Trucks this season. In his NASCAR national series career, he has one top-10 finish in 87 combined starts. He finished sixth in the 2019 Trucks season opener at Daytona. Reaume joins Mike Wallace on the list of drivers suspended for social media posts. Wallace is still indefinitely suspended from NASCAR on Sept. 10 after an offensive social media post. Wallace attempted to appeal his suspension but those appeals were denied. Kyle Larson was reinstated by NASCAR this fall after an indefinite suspension for saying the N-word during a virtual race this spring. Larson had to complete sensitivity training to apply for reinstatement. He was fired from Chip Ganassi Racing after his NASCAR suspension and will drive for Hendrick Motorsports in the Cup Series in 2021.

Sheldon Creed captured his first NASCAR Truck championship with a wild two-lap dash to win Friday night’s season finale at Phoenix Raceway. Creed and fellow title contender Zane Smith pit for tires before the final restart in overtime while Brett Moffitt then the race leader and Grant Enfinger stayed out on older tires. As the overtime began, trucks fanned out five-wide with Moffitt getting swallowed up by the field and Chandler Smith briefly grabbed the lead before Creed passed him with one lap remaining. Creed held off Zane Smith on the final lap to claim the win – his fifth of the season and his career. Creed’s championship is his first in just his second fulltime season. It’s the second Trucks title for GMS Racing. “Good truck, I was just way too loose as the race went on. When the caution came out, we decided to put tires on it and I pride myself on my restarts week-in and week-out,” Creed said. “I just nailed it right there.” “They were racing really hard. I wanted this so bad. I almost spun out on the entry to Turn 1. I don’t know how I did it – I just drove as hard as I could. I knew if I did, I’d have a shot.” “My whole family we got like 20 camping spots out here. I’m going to drink some cold beer tonight.” Chandler Smith ended up third, Christian Eckes fourth and Raphael Lessard rounded out the top five. Rounding out the top-10 were Stewart Friesen, Ben Rhodes, Tyler Ankrum, Todd Gilliland and Moffitt ended up 10th. Zane Smith dominated the first stage, leading every lap on his way to the win and holding off Creed in the process. Moffitt was third, Enfinger fourth and Matt Crafton rounded out the top-five. Enfinger started on the pole but after a four-wide move, Zane Smith powered to the front to lead the first lap. After 15 laps, Zane Smith had built up a 2-second lead over Creed, with Moffitt close behind and challenging for the position. With 15 laps remaining in the first stage, Zane Smith maintained a 1.5-second lead over Creed. Moffitt was third and Enfinger was fourth. In the second stage, Moffitt held off a determined Zane Smith over the final 10 laps to claim the Stage 2 victory. Creed finished third, Rhodes fourth and Enfinger rounded out the top-five. Following the break between Stages 1 and 2, all the lead-lap trucks pit and Creed was the first off pit road. On the restart on Lap 54, Creed was followed by Moffitt and Zane Smith. With 30 laps remaining in the stage, Moffitt was running just off the rear bumper of Creed, desperately trying a pass for the lead. Zane Smith remained in third. Moffitt, with the help of lapped traffic, got around Creed exiting Turn 2 on Lap 75 to take the lead for the first time in the race. In the final stage, on Lap 99, Moffitt was followed by Zane Smith, Creed and Enfinger. Creed got a jump on Smith on the restart to move into the second spot behind Moffitt. On Lap 105, Carson Hocevar wrecked in Turns 1 and 2 to bring out the first caution of the race for an on-track incident. A handful of trucks elected to pit and Enfinger was the only title contender to do so. On the restart on Lap 113, Moffitt was followed by Creed and Zane Smith. By Lap 119, Enfinger had raced his way back up to sixth on his new tires. He moved into fifth on Lap 120. With 25 laps to go in the race, Moffitt had moved out to a 1.6-second lead over Creed with Rhodes third, Zane Smith fourth and Enfinger fifth. Enfinger passed Zane Smith to move into fourth with 20 laps remaining. Moffitt maintained a more than 2-second lead over Creed. Enfinger got to second but with 10 laps remaining, he was more than 4 seconds behind the leader. With five laps to go, Enfinger had cut the deficit to under 3 seconds but Moffitt remained on track for the win. On Lap 148, Dawson Cram wrecked in Turn 3 to bring out the caution, sending the race into a two-lap overtime. Several trucks pit including Enfinger and Zane Smith to take new tires. To start the overtime, Moffitt led the way followed by Enfinger, Rhodes and Mayer. Creed restarted eighth and Smith, ninth.

Austin Cindric, who won his first oval race in NASCAR this season, capped a magical season with a wild win in overtime at Phoenix Raceway that also handed him the Xfinity Series championship. The 22-year-old, was leading late in the race when a caution sent the 200-lap event into a two-lap overtime. Cindric elected to pit for new tires and lined up third on the restart. Justin Allgaier, who was out of new tires, inherited the lead on the restart. Cindric quickly got around Allgaier with one lap remaining and passed Noah Gragson in Turn 3 of the final lap and held on for the victory. The win is Cindric’s sixth of the 2020 season and eighth of his career. Cindric is the son of Team Penske President Tim Cindric. “Amazing effort by this No. 22 team. Everybody back at the shop, there was a lot of work put into this car,” Cindric said. “Roger Penske, John Menard, the Menard family to be a champion in NASCAR I’m speechless, I can’t believe it. “This thing came to life on Lap 1. Talk about a driver and crew chief relationship. We were terrible in the spring race, I told (Brian Wilson) exactly what I needed and he gave it to me.” Brandon Jones ended up third in the race, Michael Annett fourth and Allgaier rounded out the top-five (and second in the championship standings). Said Allgaier: “I knew they were going to be good on tires, I was just hoping there would be some more cars between us in my rearview mirror. “We just didn’t have the speed at the end, we were just a little bit off all night. The balance was good, just a little disappointing.” Completing the top-10 were Harrison Burton, Ross Chastain, Justin Haley, Briscoe, Jeremy Clements and Riley Herbst. Briscoe, who won a series-high nine races this season, finished fourth in the series standings. He is moving to the Cup Series in 2021, driving the No. 14 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing. “This is by far not my best race track. I was just too loose at the beginning and got looser and looser,” Briscoe said. “I’ve got to do a better job coming to this place. “Definitely frustrating to finish fourth after the year we had, but to win nine races, overall very happy.” in the first stage, Briscoe held off a last-lap challenge from Cindric to take the Stage 1 victory, his 13th stage win of the 2020 season. Allgaier was third, Gragson fourth and Chastain rounded out the top-five. Allgaier started on the pole and remained out front when a caution was displayed on Lap 3 for Jeffrey Earnhardt who hit the wall on the backstretch. On the restart on Lap 7, Allgaier was followed by Briscoe and Cindric. After cars fanned out four-wide on the restart, Briscoe powered into the lead as Cindric moved into second. NASCAR displayed a competition caution on Lap 22 to allow teams to check tire wear. Most of the lead-lap cars remained on the track. The race returned to green on Lap 27 with Briscoe still out front. On Lap 28, a four-car wreck erupted in Turn 2 which placed the race back under caution. Again, the majority of lead-lap cars remained on the track. The race returned to green on Lap 35 and Briscoe still the leader. In the second stage, On the restart on Lap 54, Tommy Joe Martins led the way as the only driver to remain on the track. Briscoe quickly moved into the lead on the restart only to see Allgaier get around him and reclaim the top spot one lap later. With 25 laps to go in the stage, Allgaier had built a nearly 1-second lead over Cindric as Gragson ran third, Briscoe fourth and Annett fifth. On Lap 75, Martins appeared to lose the engine in his No. 44 car and dropped fluid on the track which brought out a caution. Most of the lead-lap cars remained on the track and Allgaier led the way on the restart on Lap 81. Cindric went to the inside of Allgaier in Turn 3 and came away with the lead on Lap 84. With five laps remaining, Cindric maintained a small lead over Allgaier with Briscoe in third. Jones was fourth and Gragson fifth. in the final stage, On the restart on Lap 99, Jones was followed by Briscoe, Cindric and Allgaier. The final Championship 4 driver, Haley, restarted sixth.Allgaier quickly powered to the lead on the restart entering Turn 1. With 75 laps left in the race, Allgaier held on to a small lead over Cindric as Jones ran third, and Briscoe fourth. Cindric got to the inside of Allgaier off Turn 2 and moved ahead and into the lead entering Turn 3 on Lap 130. With 60 laps to go, Jones moved into the second spot as Allgaier dropped to third. With 45 laps remaining, Briscoe moved into third and Allgaier dropped to fourth. On Lap 161, Allgaier became the first of the Championship 4 contenders to make their final green-flag pit stop of the race. Haley was next on Lap 163. Both Cindric and Briscoe pit on Lap 164. Joe Graf Jr. wrecked in Turn 3 on Lap 170 to bring out a caution before green-flag stop were completed. Cindric stayed on the track and inherited the lead while Allgaier elected to pit for fresh tires. When the race restarted on Lap 178, Cindric led the way with Allgaier fifth, Briscoe sixth and Haley eighth. Chastain briefly grabbed the lead on the restart before Cindric got back around him to move into the top spot. With 10 laps remaining, Cindric had moved out to a more than 1-second lead over Allgaier as Chastain rain third, Annett fourth and Briscoe fifth. On Lap 198, Briscoe spun and wrecked in Turn 3 to bring out a caution and send the race into overtime. Cindric, who had a set of new tires left,…

Chase Elliot ran an undisputed race leading 153 out of the 312 laps at phoenix raceway as he held off Brad Keselowski who was also contending for the Championship title. Elliot led Keselowski by 2.7 seconds at the finish line. Chase Elliot is the son of former NASCAR champion, Bill Elliot. “I’m at a loss of words, this is unbelievable. We did it. I mean, we did it. That’s all I’ve got to tell you. Unreal,” Elliott said, “I just can’t say enough about our group. I feel like we took some really big strides this year, last week was a huge one. To come out of there with a win and have a shot to race for a championship is unbelievable. I don’t even know unreal.” Elliot also expressed his thoughts about the final stage which drew caution-free, he said, “Just waiting on the caution, as always. I saw Joey (Logano) was pretty loose there and felt like I needed to get to him while I could. I had been kind of tight on the long run, was afraid he’d get a little better. I just never thought this year would go like it has.” The 24-year-old has had three or more wins in three consecutive seasons and has advanced to the seasons’ playoffs every year he has been a fulltime driver in NASCAR Cup series. The Sunday’s win was his fifth in the 2020 NASCAR Cup season, the most and the 11th in his career. Elliot had a chance to compete in the Sunday’s race by winning last weekend’s race at Martinsville speedway in which he showed a great deal of talent. After Elliot crossed the finish line, seven-time NASCAR Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, who will be retiring from Fulltime NASCAR racing after this year, rode side-by-side with Elliot around the track. Johnson finished fifth which was his best finish since he completed third at Dover back in August. “I’ve learned so many lessons inside and out of the car. I’m full,” Johnsons said. “I’m ready to spend my time a little differently 38 weeks a year on the road racing Cup Series, I’m just ready for something else.” Brad Keselowski finished second in the race and also in the championship standings as Joey Logano finished third in the race and also in the championship, Denny Hamlin took the fourth spot in the race as well as in the championship as Johnson finished fifth. The other drivers who completed in the top 10 category were; Ryan Blaney, Kevin Harvick, Matt DiBenedetto, William Byron and Martin Truex Jr. In the first stage, Logano held off Hamlin to take a win for the stage as Elliot was third, Keselowski fourth and Blaney rounded out the top five. Logano started on the pole as Elliot was forced to start the race at the rear of the field after his No.9 Chevrolet failed the pre-race inspection twice. By lap 9, Elliot had gotten up to the top 20 and at lap 26 he moved up further to top 10. On lap 31 a caution was displayed by NASCAR to check tyre wear. By lap 42, Elliot was up in the fourth place as Logano maintained a nearly a second lead over Hamlin. Elliot later got to third as Keselowski took the fourth position. In stage two, Keselowski passed Elliot on the final turn of the lap and took victory for the stage, Logano was third, Hamlin fourth and Blaney rounded out the top five. On the restart on Lap 84, Logano was followed by Hamlin, Elliott and Keselowski. On Lap 106, Logano reported a vibration in his brake pedal while he was still leading the race. Elliott got around Hamlin on Lap 114 to move into the runner-up position as Logano remained out front. On Lap 120, Elliott moved past Logano off Turn 2 to take the lead for the first time in the race. Keselowski was the first of the Championship 4 to make his green-flag pit stop on Lap 128. Logano pit on Lap 137. Elliott and Hamlin followed on Lap 140. Once the cycle of stops was completed on Lap 151, Elliott moved into the lead followed by Hamlin, Aric Almirola and Keselowski. James Davison wrecked off Turn 2 on Lap 161 to bring out a caution. The lead-lap cars pit with Kurt Busch the first off pit road thanks to a two-tire pit stop. On the restart on Lap 168, Kurt Busch was followed by Elliott, Hamlin and Logano. After racing side-by-side with Kurt Busch, Elliott cleared for the lead entering Turn 3 after the restart. Keselowski got around Elliott on Lap 173 to move into the lead. With eight laps remaining in the stage, Elliott was able to get back by Keselowski to reclaim the lead. In the final stage, With only 90 laps to go in the race, Elliott maintained about a half-second lead over Logano, followed by Hamlin, Keselowski and Blaney. By Lap 225, Keselowski got around Hamlin and took over third. With 60 laps remaining, Elliott maintained almost a 1-second lead over Logano. Some teams had made their final green-flag pit stop but the title contenders stayed on the track. Logano was the first to pit among the title contenders on Lap 260. Hamlin was next. Elliott and Keselowski pit on Lap 261. Once the cycle of stops was completed on Lap 262, Logano came out the leader followed by Elliott, Hamlin and Keselowski. Elliott went to the inside of Logano off Turn 3, gave him a nudge and reclaimed the lead on Lap 270 as Hamlin remained in third, more than 3 seconds behind the leader. With 20 laps remaining, Elliott had moved out to a 2.7-second lead over Logano and appeared to be in excellent position to win his second consecutive race and first series title. Keselowski got around Logano to take the runner-up spot with 10 laps to go but he was still more than 3 seconds behind the leader.

Natalie Decker has been cleared to return to the NASCAR Truck Series after being declared fit to race, she will be set to make a return in NASCAR Truck Series at Texas Motor Speedway. Decker was set to complete the NASCAR Truck Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday September 25th but was withdrawn from the grid even before the race had started for medical reasons and took the last place(36th) in the race, but now she has been cleared to race after she was found to be medically fit. However, Decker will not be competing in this Friday’s Truck race at Kansas Speedway although she was not even set to be driving the No.44 Chevrolet in this event anyway. She will be making a comeback in October 25th in the Truck race that will be held at the Texas Motor Speedway and she will be concluding her 2020 Truck Season at Martinsville Speedway on Friday, October 30, in a race that was not originally on her schedule. In addition to the race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Decker also missed the race at Talladega Superspeedway the following Saturday, October 3 and was replaced by Kaz Grala, who finished in a respectable ninth place. She has not competed in a race since Thursday, September 17, when she finished in 29th at Bristol Motor Speedway. The race at Talladega Superspeedway was a race which Decker had been looking forward to as a result of her success in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway, the other superspeedway race on the schedule. She finished that race in a career-high fifth place, the best finish ever for a female driver at NASCAR’s third highest level of competition. Her previous career-best result was her 13th place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March of 2019. Decker has competed in 11 races of the 19 races that have been contested so far this season and has recorded an average finish of 25.8 with two DNFs and two lead-lap finishes. Aside from her fifth place finish to open up the season, her best finish is her 20th place finish at the Daytona International Speedway road course in mid-August, which is also her only other lead-lap finish of the season.

Brandon Jones, who is in the round 8 of the NASCAR Xfinity playoffs, will be returning to Joe Gibbs Racing for the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity series season as the team announced in a statement on Tuesday. The 23-year-old is experiencing his best NASCAR Xfinity Series season so far. This comes as a result of his three wins in the 2020 Xfinity season so far making it four wins in his NASCAR career. This started with the Kansas win earlier this year. The series will be making a return to Kansas this weekend. “It has been a real thrill to watch Brandon’s development over the past few years with us in the Xfinity Series,” said Joe Gibbs, owner of Joe Gibbs Racing, in a statement from the team. “He is a championship contender of course and his veteran leadership has been a real asset to our overall program. We’re excited about the opportunity he has the rest of this year and that he will return next season and continue to build upon that success.” Next season will be Jones’ fourth with Joe Gibbs Racing in the Xfinity Series. “This has been a dream season so far and I couldn’t be prouder of our 19 team,” stated Brandon Jones in a statement from the team. “It’s been great to have Jeff Meendering as my crew chief for the second consecutive year and his leadership along with the consistency is exactly what this team needed. I also realize how fortunate I am to have partners like Menards and Toyota; their support means the world to me.” “This has been a phenomenal year and I couldn’t be more excited about being back at Joe Gibbs Racing next season. Right now, I remain focused on our championship run and making it to Phoenix where I won earlier this year for a shot at the Xfinity Series title.”

Elliott navigated a wild race Sunday, that included nine cautions and starting on wet tires, and held off Joey Logano to win for the second consecutive season on the Charlotte Roval. The win is also Elliott’s fourth consecutive victory on a road course in the Cup Series, including his previous win this season at the Daytona Road Course. He now has three wins on the 2020 season and nine in his career. The win also locked Elliott into the Round of 8 of the series playoffs. “Had a really good car,” Elliott said. “Just appreciate everybody that makes this deal go. We were solid here last year and I felt we took what we had and made it a little better. I did a better job, didn’t piledrive the barrier, that was good. “It’s always the best way to get through to win. I hope we can do something in the next round. I wish we’d got more today but we’ll take those 5 (playoff points) and see what we can do. “I feel like Hendrick dominated Charlotte for a long, long time. I hope we can get back to that. It’s too hard to get picky about where we win so we’ll take it.” Erik Jones finished third in the race, Kurt Busch fourth and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top-five. Completing the top-10 finishers were William Byron, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, Cole Custer and Clint Bowyer. Four drivers were eliminated from further title contention this season following Sunday’s race including reigning series champion Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Bowyer and Aric Almirola. “Just trying to get everything we can get. You throw a couple of ‘Hail Mary’s’ and they don’t work. That 9 car (Elliott) is spectacular here,” Kyle Busch said. “I followed him a couple of laps and he got smaller and smaller driving away.” On stage 1, Ty Dillon was among the first drivers in the race to change from wet tires to slicks, held off Bell to claim the Stage 1, his third stage victory of the 2020 season. DiBenedetto finished third, Byron fourth and Timmy Hill rounded out the top-five. Denny Hamlin started on the pole but Keselowski got around him in the frontstretch chicane to lead the first lap of the race. With five laps until the competition caution, Keselowski remained out front followed by Elliott and Truex. Elliott went to the outside of Keselowski in Turn 2 on Lap 8 to take the lead for the first time. Truex remained in third and Bowyer moved to fourth. On Lap 11, NASCAR issued a competition caution to allow teams to check tire wear and teams were also debating whether to change from wet to dry tires as the track began to dry out more and more. About half the teams elected to pit for tires, but Elliott stayed out and remained in the lead. On the restart on Lap 13, Elliott was followed by Truex and Bowyer. Chris Buescher had to restart from the rear of the field as he had a crew member over the wall too soon during his pit stop. As the field went through Turns 1 and 2, Truex got around Elliott for the lead as Bowyer moved into second. Bowyer then got past Truex in the frontstretch chicane to grab the lead for the first time in the race. With 10 laps remaining in the first stage, Bowyer opened up a 1.4-second lead on Truex as Elliott remained in third. On Lap 18, both Johnson and Bell pit under green for dry tires as the track continued to dry out. Ty Dillon, who pit during the competition caution to take on dry tires, made his way to sixth by Lap 20 and up to second on Lap 21. Ty Dillon went to the inside of Bowyer on the backstretch to take the lead on Lap 21. On Lap 23, a caution was displayed as John Hunter Nemechek became stuck off Turn 6 in the grass. A handful cars who were still on wet tires pit under the caution, including Bowyer, Kyle Busch and Truex. The race restarted with one lap remaining in the stage and Ty Dillon still leading the way. Jones had to start the race from the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his No. 20 Toyota prior to the start. On stage 2, Blaney held off Elliott in a two-lap dash to collect the Stage 2 victory. Bell ended up third, Truex fourth and Logano rounded out the top-five. Following the break between Stages 1 and 2, several drivers elected to pit but Bell stayed out and inherited the lead. On the restart on Lap 29, Bell was followed by Matt DiBenedetto and Byron. Byron got by Bell entering Turn 1 on Lap 30 to take the lead for the first time as DiBenedetto remained third. On Lap 33, Ryan Newman spun on the frontstretch but was able to get back going without a caution. Keselowski, Jones and DiBenedetto all spun in Turn 4 on Lap 34 but were able to continue without further incident. With 15 laps remaining in the stage, Byron continued to lead the way with Blaney and Logano not far behind. Entering Turn 1 on Lap 40, Blaney went to the inside of Byron and came away with the lead for the first time in the race. With 8 laps remaining in the stage, Blaney had built up a more than 3-second lead over Byron as Logano ran third. Elliott was fourth and Bowman fifth. Caution was displayed on Lap 47 after J.J. Yeley’s No. 77 Chevrolet became stuck in the grass off Turn 6. The race returned to green with two laps to go and Blaney still leading the way. Kyle Busch, his playoff hopes already in danger, slowed dramatically in Turn 5 with a flat left-front tire and made his way to pit road. On the final stage, Following the break between Stages 2…

A.J Allmendiger was no fan of racing in wet conditions as rain poured on Saturday night at the Charlotte Roval but he made the best of it as he emerged victorious in the chaotic race. Chase Briscoe had led the way after the start of the two lap overtime but he experienced a spin as he was going around Turn 1 which allowed Allmendiger to take the lead. He was later forced to spend one and a half laps of the 2.28 mile of the 17-turn Charlotte Roval track holding off Noah Gragson who put on a fight to try and win the second consecutive Charlotte Xfinity Series season. This win was the second for Allmendiger in the season and the fifth in his career in a race that saw 10 cautions and a thirty nine minute red flag for standing water on the track, as the whole race was run nearly entirely in the rain. Earlier on in the race Allmendiger was complaining repeatedly over the team radio that NASCAR should stop the race due to the rain. “I don’t know what we just witnessed, Chris Rice (crew chief) stuck with me, I’m not going to lie, I was complaining the whole race. That was miserable, crazy,” Allmendinger said. “Chase Briscoe was doing a fantastic job. I didn’t really have anything for him after a couple laps but I knew that final restart, I was going to do whatever I could.” “IMSA has headlights, so it’s not as bad. But in the infield, with no lights in there, and the world’s biggest jumbotron blaring in, you couldn’t see anything. I was just guessing where the corners were, just praying that when you hit the puddle, you don’t go sliding off the race track.” Daniel Hemric was able to finish third as Alex Labbe followed closely in fourth. Ross Chastain followed rounding out the top five. Austin Cindric, Cody Ware, Jade Buford, Michael Annett and Brandon Jones rounded out the top ten as Chase Briscoe ended up a disappointing 18th. “The driver just made a mistake,” Briscoe said. “With conditions like these, you need to be 100 percent and I tried to go 110 and it bit me. I felt like I did my job for about 95 percent of the day right.” “I just hit a puddle and it spun me out.” Four drivers were eliminated from competing in the Xfinity series playoffs following the Saturday night race and they were; Harrison Burton, Brandon Brown, Riley Herbst and Annett. On lap 1, Gragson started on the pole, led the first lap as Brett Moffitt wrecked at Turn 4 on the second lap bringing out the first caution for the race. Before the race returned to green, light rain begun pouring down and NASCAR gave the drivers a chance to change into wet tires under the caution. The race turned to ggreen on lap 7 as Justin Haley took the lead. However the lead was shortlived after Gragson got around Haley and Chastain reclaiming the lead. Chase Briscoe spun off at the exit of Turn 4 on lap 11 but was quickly able to get back in the race without any caution, he was running 5th by the tym he spun out and dropped all the way down to 13th by the time he was recovering from the spin. On lap 14, Noah Gragson also spun out and so did Kyle Weatherman. Nascar later put out a caution as multiple cars run off track on lap 15 including Ross Chastain, Mclaughlin and Ryan Vargas. Chase Briscoe was able to hold off Chastain in the last lap run to claim the stage 2 victory in the rain as it was his 10th stage victory of the 2020 season. Labbe was third, Cindric fourth and Gragson fifth. In the break between stage 1 and 2, many cars pit but Kaz Grala stayed out and lead the race all the way to the restart. Gragson was however able to take him though turn 1 and reclaim the top spot. Later on lap 24 Herbst moved into the second place after Grala and Brown missed the frontstretch and at the start of lap 26, Herbst got into Gragson on Turn 2 and knocked him off the course leading to a caution. On lap 31 a red flag was out as there was too much standing water on the track and after alsmost 39-minute delay, the race was back on as the rain was still pouring. The race restarted on lap 34 but it was not long before Justin Allgaier and Herbst wrecked coming off Turn 2 as the incident also took on Justin Haley, Preston Pardus and Annett. Allmendiger took the chance and inherited the lead. Briscoe later grabbed the lead on the race restart at Turn 1 on lap 37 as Williams hit the wall but was able to continue with the race. On Stage 3, Gragson wrecked between Turn 1 and 2 as the race still remained in green. Allmendiger was in the fifth position on lap 45. Chastain decided to pit from the second position to take on enough gas to make it to the finish of the race. Briscoe remained on the track and in the lead on the restart on Lap Allmendinger got around Briscoe through Turn 5 to retake the lead as Snider moved into second. Coming off Turn 17, Myatt Snider got loose which allowed Briscoe to move back into second. On Lap 56, Briscoe ran down Allmendinger on the backstretch and got around him in the backstretch chicane to retake the lead. With 10 laps remaining, the rain had lightened up quite a bit and Briscoe maintained about a 1-second lead over Allmendinger as Hemric ran third. On Lap 60, C.J. McLaughlin spun in Turn 1 and while he was trying to get back on track, he nearly collided with race leader Briscoe as the race was placed under caution again. The race returned to…

Matt DiBenedetto will be remaining with the Wood Brothers for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series, but his position will be later taken by Austin Cindric for the 2022 season. The Wood Brothers team, in a two part announcement said that they had signed DiBenedetto for one-year contract extension to drive the #21 Ford Mustang in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Season. However, team Penske had also announced that it had signed Austin Cindric, whose father Tim is the organisation’s president, to a multi-year contract extension that would see him transition to the Wood Brothers Organisation in 2022 after another year in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Cindric is currently running second in the Xfinity series behind Chase Briscoe with only five races to go in the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series, Briscoe will also run in select NASCAR Cup races in 2021. The Wood Brothers and Team Penske formed a technical alliance back in 2015 and the two teams have been working side by side in driver development opportunities in the past and most recently with the current team Penske driver Ryan Blaney. “As we continue to position our team for future success, it is important to make sure Austin continues his development in the Xfinity Series with Team Penske,” said team owner Roger Penske. “Austin has made great strides in recent years and he has become a consistent winner and a true championship contender this season.” “He will continue his natural progression and get some Cup Series experience in 2021. That will help him prepare for a full season in 2022 with the new NextGen car, racing the #21 Ford Mustang for Wood Brothers Racing.” he added. Austin Cindric went ahead to label the move as a big step in his long-term career. “I am humbled and motivated by the opportunity and the confidence that Team Penske, Ford Performance, the Wood Brothers, and all of our partners have expressed in my abilities and my development as a driver,” he said. “Every race car driver wants to advance in his career, and I can’t think of a better way to do that than on a clear path with Team Penske that will eventually lead to a full-time opportunity in the NASCAR Cup Series.” “I’m really excited for this next chapter in my development to continue working towards competing and trying to win at the highest level.” DiBenedetto joined the Wood Brothers this year and has already earned three top five finishes and eight top ten finishes so far this season. He also qualified for the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs for the first time. “It’s such an honour to be able to continue to drive for Wood Brothers Racing and have another year to grow with this organisation,” he said. “I am excited to learn from our 2020 notebook and I’m confident that with a full season under our belt and working together as a team, we will produce even better results.”

Daniel Suarez will be competing in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series with the new team entry in the Cup series, Trackhouse Racing. This comes through an announcement made by the organisation on Thursday. The team will be giving Suarez the chance to race in the Chevrolet car No.99 ZL1 1LE in the NASCAR Cup Series, and the team will debut in the Daytona 500 on February 14, 2021, the team was formed by Justin Marks who was a former NASCAR driver and formerly co-owned K&N Pro Series West team. The trackhouse team will partner technically with Richard Childress racing and will be using the ECR power units. “The formation of a top-level NASCAR Cup Series team has been a dream of mine for a long time,” Justin Marks told NASCAR.com. “A lot of hard work has transpired to get us to this point and I don’t think we could’ve ended up with better partners in RCR and Chevrolet and with a more passionate and committed driver than Daniel Suárez.” “Daniel’s drive and hunger to get to the top of this sport is palpable every time I am in his presence. We are building a team of winners and Daniel has delivered just about every time he’s sat in race winning equipment,” he added. “It’s my job now to put a car underneath him that will carry him to the highest echelon of the sport.” Suarez joins the Marks team after one season with Gaunt Brothers Racing. The former Xfinity Series champion has competed with three different teams in four seasons at the Cup Series level, earning 32 top-10 finishes. “I see in Trackhouse a great opportunity for me with a very strong group of people that share the same vision, commitment, and goals that I have,” said Suarez. “Justin has been involved in the racing world for over 20 years and understands the ins and outs of the sport both as a driver and from the business side. I have learned a lot in the last few years and have been very fortunate to be a part of very good organizations. “I have learned that this sport is about people, and I know we are going to work very hard to put together a talented team. Furthermore, getting the support from a strong manufacturer like Chevrolet will be a key to our success. My goal is simple, I want to win races.” Ty Norris will serve as president of racing operations for Trackhouse. Additional team personnel will be announced in the future. “I believe deeply in the direction NASCAR’s executive group is taking the sport,” Marks said. “There is a disruptive and courageous vision for the future taking place that is displayed by the incredible 2021 racing schedule and new ways of looking at a sustainable economic model culminating in the debut of the 2022 Next Gen car that, in my opinion, will lay the groundwork for a dramatic value proposition for future owners, media partners, stakeholders and sponsors for decades to come. “Everything Trackhouse will be doing in 2021 from a business development standpoint will be in the context of positioning ourselves to win races and championships as NASCAR embarks on a new chapter in 2022 and beyond.”

Hendrick Motorsports has decided to choose one of its drivers to replace Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, Jimmie Johnson. Hendrick Motorsports made an announcement on Tuesday that Alex Bowman, who is currently driving No.88 Chevrolet for the team will move to the No.88 car for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Season. Bowman will be taking over Jimmie Johnson’s car and also his sponsor, Ally Financial. Johnson is set to retire completely from NASCAR at the end of 2020 season. Bowman will also be moving with Greg Ives, who is his current crew chief to the No.48 next year. Hendrick also mentioned that they will be naming the 2021 driver of the vacant No.88 Chevrolet seat at a later date. “We have tremendous faith in this team,” said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. “Every season Alex gets better. Not only do we see it in the statistics, but his confidence and leadership have truly blossomed. Today he’s a proven winner and playoff contender, and his best years are ahead.” “Greg has won championships and races, and he brings the No. 48 pedigree that’s invaluable. When you add in the amazing enthusiasm and support from Ally, it’s quite a combination. Their partnership makes it all possible, and we look forward to celebrating many successes together in the future.” 27-year-old Alex Bowman is enjoying his best season in the NASCAR Cup Series so far. There are only five races remaining in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Season at the Tucson and Arizona. Bowman is one of the 12 drivers remaining in the playoffs. He secured a victory earlier on in the season at the Auto Club speedway, and also by the help of his crew chief, Ives they have together qualified for the playoffs for three straight seasons. “I’ve worked my entire life to be in a situation like this,” Bowman said. “The opportunity to drive a legendary car like the ’48’ with incredible support from Ally, it truly can’t get any better. I’m excited to build on my relationship with Greg, who is a championship-caliber crew chief and knows first-hand what the No. 48 is all about.” “The pieces are in place, and I’m grateful to Mr. Hendrick and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports and Ally. We’re ready to do it right,” he continued. “I can’t put my respect for Jimmie into words. To me, the No. 48 team’s legacy is about winning, but also how you go about your business. It’s leadership, confidence, work ethic, being a professional and holding yourself to a higher standard.” “No one will ever be Jimmie, and he’s given us a championship blueprint to follow.” Bowman concluded.

Denny Hamlin survived a post-race investigation to win the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Talladega, edging out Matt DiBenedetto in a photo-finish during the third period of overtime. A big accident on 187 of a scheduled 188 involving points leader Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr and Alex Bowman brought out the second red flag period of the race and sent it to overtime. The second period was then abandoned after Bubba Wallace (RPM Ford) spun into the wall after contact with Ryan Preece (JTG Daugherty Chevrolet) and collected Ryan Blaney’s Penske Ford in the ensuing melee. A Talladega-record 13th caution period once again neutralised the race as DiBenedetto, Chris Buescher and Chase Elliott all desperately tried to save enough fuel until the pitlane was opened. When the race restarted for the final time with a two-lap shootout, Buescher’s Roush Fenway Racing Ford got in behind DiBenedetto’s Wood Brothers Racing machine, with the duo dropping the rest of the field on lap 199. However, William Byron’s Hendrick Chevrolet managed to get between the two at the start of the final tour of the 2.6-mile superspeedway, allowing Erik Jones (Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) to slot into second behind DiBenedetto, with Buescher, Byron and Hamlin (JGR) leading the pursuing pack. The leading pair were caught at Turn 3, where Jones moved up the track to block Buescher and was sent high into the wall. DiBenedetto then moved low to block Byron’s run, resulting in contact that forced the Hendrick driver sideways while behind, the fast-catching Hamlin was forced onto the apron below the track limits line by Buescher. Byron gathered his car together and ran side-by-side with Hamlin until a late run from the recovering DiBenedetto and Jones on the high line lost him momentum, as Hamlin took the flag first in a photo finish, just 0.023s ahead of DiBenedetto. Jones crossed the line third, with Ty Dillon (Germain Racing Chevrolet) fourth and Byron fifth. NASCAR investigated Hamlin for the incident in which he went below the yellow line, but cleared him of any wrongdoing, securing his place in the next segment of the Playoffs. However, it did hand penalties to DiBenedetto (for forcing Byron below the line) and sixth-place on the road finisher Elliott (for improving position while out of track limits on the run to the flag) – both dropping to the rear of the cars that finished on the lead lap. DiBenedetto’s penalty elevated Jones to second and Dillon to third from Byron, but Elliott’s team succeeded in having his penalty overturned and Buescher punished for forcing him out of track limits. Behind Elliott and Ryan Newman (RFR Ford), Tyler Reddick took a ninth top 10 of the campaign for Richard Childress Racing, ahead of John Hunter Nemechek Front Row Motorsports Ford. Brennan Poole took a maiden career top 10 finish with ninth for his Premium Motorsports #15 Chevrolet Camaro, ahead of Preece who rounded out the top 10. Brad Keselowski (Penske) was caught up in a spin on the final lap and dropped to 18th, while Harvick’s repaired Stewart-Haas Ford trailed home 20th – the worst result for the regular season champion since a 26th at Homestead. Blaney, Joey Logano (Penske) and reigning champion Kyle Busch (JGR) all failed to add decent points to their tallies by virtue of being caught up in accidents throughout the race, meaning Logano and Busch must win at Charlotte next week to be assured of their place in the next Playoff round. In his final superspeedway race before retirement from NASCAR, Jimmie Johnson helped to trigger a big crash on lap 109 after being tapped by Clint Bowyer, which led to the first red flag being waved. Superspeedway-only driver Brendan Gaughan was one of the victims of the lap 109 pile-up – the retiring #62 Beard Motorsports driver’s final Cup race ending prematurely as a result.

Justitin Haley earned himself the first playoff win of the season after completing a season sweep of the NASCAR Xfinity series at Talladega. Chase Briscoe who was appearing to take his 10th win of the 2020 season as he led 73 out of 113 laps, got knocked out of the race after a contact with Noah Gragson as they were trying to block the cars following them. Haley took the lead as two laps were remaining to end the race and held strong to his lead when a caution came out in the final lap after there was a wreck at the back. Haley will be advancing to the semi-final round of the playoffs regardless of his performance next weekend at Charlotte Roval, this win was his third consecutive win in the NASCAR Xfinity series this season. “We had that penalty there and we struggled to get back – just bunny-hopping. Thankfully Kevin Hamlin, my spotter, was able to guide me through the bunny-hops and be able to go from the bottom (lane),” Haley said. “We were so far back with 10 to go. Matt Kaulig (the team owner), we love you. Three in a row. I guess I told you earlier I wasn’t saying it’s luck but three in a row is pretty hard to do on luck. “Just super thankful. This is such a blessing.” “Told the last series driver to win three superspeedway wins in a row was Dale Earnhardt Jr, to be in that class is pretty special. This is my third Talladega win. I’m going to have to build a bigger trophy case.” Haley said. Michael Anett finished second as Ryan Sieg closely followed in the third place. Noah Gragson and Brandon Jones finished 4th and 5th respectively rounding out the top five drivers in the race. The rest of the drivers who made it to the top 10 were Daniel Hemrick, Ross Chastain, Josh Williams, Garett Smithley and Brandon Brtown. On the other hand, Chase briscoe did not put an impressive performance as he finished 20th. “At the end you are doing everything you can to protect the runs and (Gragson) is doing everything he can to make moves. It is just part of racing here,” Briscoe said. “It was exciting at least on my end.” “I about wrecked two or three times trying to block. It was cool. He had talked to Dale (Earnhardt Jr.) about how to run this place and I had talked to Dale about how to run this place and it was weird because I knew what he was trying to do every time so I was trying to protect it.” Michael Annett, Riley Herbst, Harrison Burton and Brown and another four drivers sitting below the cut-off, are in danger of being eliminated in the title chase at the next weekend’s playoffs in Charlotte. In the first stage, Chase Briscoe took the lead as he held off Cindric to end up on top at the end of the stage. Jones was third as Haley and Anthony Alfredo rounded out the top 5. Chase Briscoe started on top but Gragson led at the line for Lap 1 and Allgaier led at the line on Lap 2 before Briscoe moved back to the top spot on Lap 3 with a push from Cindric. With only 10 laps remaining in the first stage, Briscoe and Cindric ran nose-to-tail with Allgaier third and Haley fourth. With five laps to go, Briscoe and Cindric remained out front with Haley moving into the third position. Following the break between Stages 2 and 3, most of the lead-lap cars pit but several stayed out, including A.J. Allmendinger, who inherited the lead. Justin Allgaier was penalized for having too many crew members over the wall during his top and had to restart the race from the rear of the field. On the restart on Lap 56, Allmendinger led the way followed by Timmy Hill. Gragson, the first off pit road, restarted fifth. With 50 laps remaining, Allmendinger maintained a small advantage over Gragson while Annett ran third. On Lap 76, as several teams were getting ready to head down pit road for green flag stops and slowing, both Austin Hill and Austin Cindric got knocked out of line and both slammed into the inside retaining wall. Jeffrey Earnhardt also got collected in the incident. “I had no chance of even making it to pit road. Really unfortunate,” Cindric said. “I really wanted to have a great run. Ran up front all day, unfortunately, circumstances kept me and Briscoe from being up front there. “Really sucks, but it’s part of racing.” Annett, Ryan Vargas and Haley all were penalized for pitting too soon and will have to restart from the rear of the field. After the remainder of the field pit under the caution, Brown was the first off pit road thanks to a fuel-only stop. On the restart on Lap 84, Brown led the way followed by Allgaier, Jones, Chastain and Briscoe. Briscoe powered back into the lead on Lap 85. On Lap 92, NASCAR displayed a caution for debris on the frontstretch. Most drivers remained on the track and Briscoe still led the way on the restart with 18 laps remaining. With 10 laps to go, Briscoe remained out front followed by Gragson, Hermric and Chastain.

Canadian driver Raphael Lessard earned his first win in the NASCAR Trucks playoffs at Talladega superspeedway despite interrupting the race and having a very wild finish. Lessard and Stewart Friesen led the trucks on a restart with only two out of the 94 laps remaining and they raced side by side as only one lap was remaining to the end of the race. The two truck drivers took turns to block any advancing truck which led to Friesen getting turned, creating a crash that ignited in the backstretch as the race was put under caution. Just as the caution was being displayed, Lessard emerged to be the race winner as he was getting a pushe from the back by Ben Rhodes and a fraction of a second ahead of Trevor Bayne. This win emerged to be the 19-year-old’s first win in the NASCAR National Series while having 24 career starts. “Oh my gosh, that was awesome. First of all, I just want to thank everyone at home, my team Kyle Busch Motorsports, I can’t believe it. It’s just my second superspeedway race.” Lessard said. “To get my first Truck series win here is amazing. I don’t know who was behind me but he gave me a heck of a push. I can’t thank him enough. He pushed me as hard as I could and I was just along for the ride…The caution came out at the right time. I’m so happy. I got to do a burnout after the win. I’m hoping I can do some more.” Lessard also added by revealing his struggles since he moved to Mooresville N.C back in January, as it was very difficult for him to see his family much due to the Covid-19 restrictions. “It’s a crazy year to be the first time moving from home and my family’s in Quebec, Canada,” he said. “I haven’t seen them in a while and I want to say to everyone. I needed that. We’ve had a tough season but this one feels really good.” Trevor Bayne ended up being second in the race as Chandler Smith closely followed in third place. Ben Rhodes and Codie Rohrbaugh finished fourth and fifth respectively rounding out the top five drivers in the race. Christian Eckes and Todd Gilliland were out of luck as they were eliminated from further title competition in the playoffs. There was a break between stage 2 and 3 and several drivers headed to the pits but Brett Moffitt decided to remain on the track and took the lead. On the race restart on lap 45, Moffitt held on to the lead as Sheldon Creed, Derek Kraus, Johnny Sauter and Ankrum closely followed. Later on lap 47 Gilliland appeared to be experiencing issues with his truck as he was slowing down. Tanner Gray on the other hand lost control of his truck as the field was checking up and crashed onto the inside wall. After the caution was out, the race resumed on lap 54 with Moffitt leading the pack as Creed and Kraus followed. On lap 55 Ben Rhodes was able to take the top spot, but a lap later the lead was snatched by Sauter. As there were only 30 laps remaining, Austin Hill and Derek Kraus headed to the pits for their final stop of the race but Hill was penalised for speeding at the pitlane and had to serve a drive through penalty. When the stops were completed on lap 82, Sheldon Creed retook the lead as Brett Moffitt and Kaz Grala closely followed. As 10 laps were remaining to the conclusion of the race, Creed maintained a very small lead over Moffitt as Friesen followed being in the third position. NASCAR displayed a caution on lap 88 as Creed shredded a tyre and slowed down Friesen taking the lead even before the caution was out. He remained on the track even on the race restart as two laps were remaining, other trucks headed to the pits. Advancing to the semifinal round of the playoffs were Rhodes, Matt Crafton, Brett Moffitt, Sheldon Creed, Grant Enfinger, Tyler Ankrum, Austin Hill and Zane Smith.