N/A
There was a scary scene near the end of Stage 1 in Sunday's Daytona 500.
As Chris Estrada of NBC Sports noted, Brad Keselowski pushed Harrison Burton and ended up sending the NASCAR Cup Series rookie into William Byron and Kyle Busch. Burton went airborne and went upside down in the multicar pileup:
Three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin was eliminated from the race as part of the crash. So was Burton, Byron and Ross Chastain.
Burton spoke with Jamie Little after the wreck and said, "It's hard for me to tell what happened."
He also added, "Frustrating deal, obviously. Just wanted to get stage points there, try to be smart about it, and just got turned around there."
Martin Truex Jr. was in first place when Stage 1 ended under caution.
Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing swept the NASCAR Duels at Daytona on Thursday, the first time an organization has swept the duels since 2015.
Brad Keselowski took the checkered flag in the first race, his first with RFK Racing, while Chris Buescher, also of RFK Racing, won the second race after Joey Logano wrecked on the last lap.
The two 60-lap races unsurprisingly brought the energy to Daytona International Speedway as the days to Sunday's Daytona 500 inch closer.
Here's how thing went during Thursday's races.
Race 1 Unofficial Results
Keselowski held off pushes from Austin Cindric, Ryan Blaney and Chase Briscoe to capture his first career duel race. He passed Blaney for the lead in Duel 1 with just four laps remaining, and now the driver of the No. 6 Ford Mustang for Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing will start the Daytona 500 in the third slot.
“I felt pretty good about our car. I give credit to the other Fords – Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric – we had great strategy," Keselowski said after Thursday's race. "We stuck together and drove away and put ourselves in position to control this race.”
He added: "It was great to see all those Fords up front. Good job to all those guys. This is special."
Thursday's win marked Keselowski's first with RFK Racing. He left Team Penske after the 2021 season to join RFK Racing, with whom he now has a minority stake in.
The 38-year-old has never won the Daytona 500 in 12 tries. It is the only race among NASCAR's most prestigious that he has yet to win.
A nice surprise from Thursday's first race came from Kaz Grala, who races for Floyd Mayweather's new NASCAR team. The 23-year-old passed JJ Yeley on the final lap to clinch a spot in the Daytona 500 starting lineup.
Sunday's Daytona 500 will mark Grala's second and the first for Mayweather's "The Money Team Racing."
Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman had already locked up the first and second positions, respectively, for the Daytona 500 entering Thursday's race. Larson locked up the first spot with the fastest time in qualifying and Bowman captured the second slot with the second-fastest time in qualifying.
Race 2 Unofficial Results
Buescher was in a tight race for the top spot in the second race with Logano, McDowell and Burton. Logano was leading, and it appeared he was going to be the winner, but Buescher went down low trying to make a move around the No. 22 Ford driver. Logano then made a late block, and that's when he got hit by Harrison Burton and wrecked.
When the caution came out, Buescher was slightly ahead of McDowell, giving him the win to help RFK Racing sweep Thursday's NASCAR Duels.
Logano told FS1 after the race that his late block was "just a dumb move" and that he shouldn't have done it.
Buescher will start the Daytona 500 in the fourth spot thanks to his win on Thursday.
Greg Biffle was also impressive Thursday, finishing 13th to earn a spot in Sunday's race. The 19-time Cup Series race winner will make his first start at NASCAR's Cup Series level since 2016.
Kyle Larson is heading to the Championship 4.
The veteran driver won Sunday's Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway, topping William Byron.
Christopher Bell finished third, with Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick rounding out the top five.
"I knew we had a good shot to win today and our car was amazing," Larson told NBC Sports post-race. "That's probably the best 550 (horsepower) package/intermediate car we've had all year. We get to go race for a championship in a few weeks. This is crazy."
Larson is now the first driver to advance to the championship after his Round of 8 win. The seven other eligible drivers—Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott and Joey Logano—will now have two more chances to clinch a berth.
The first will come at next Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400 at the Kansas Speedway (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN). The second will be at the Xfinity 500 at the Martinsville Speedway on Oct. 31.
The NASCAR Series Cup Championship will be run Nov. 7 at the Phoenix Raceway.
Larson is having an incredible year. He's now won eight races, though Sunday's dominant win—he led for 256 laps—came amid a choppy race that saw a number of crashes and five restarts in the final 30 laps.
That included a massive 15-car crash on Lap 31 that eliminated eight drivers from the race:
But Larson managed to avoid any such pitfalls Sunday, and now NASCAR's best driver this season is guaranteed his berth in the championship race.
The second race of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs' Round of 12 will take place Sunday at the Talladega Superspeedway.
Drivers hoping to advance to the next round will take on the largest oval on the circuit for 188 laps of steep banking in the always competitive and challenging YellaWood 500.
Denny Hamlin will be on the pole after his win last time out at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but the Joe Gibbs Racing stalwart is already in the third round of the playoffs, so this race isn't as important to his title hopes as it is to those of Joey Logano (3,045 points), who is in seventh place and a whopping 51 points behind leader Kyle Larson (3,096 points).
Brad Keselowski (3,043 points) and Kevin Harvick (3,036 points) are in eighth and 10th place, respectively, so they should have vastly different strategies heading into Sunday, hoping to close the gap in the standings.
Here's a quick look at the lineup of top drivers, schedule and odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.
Geico 500 Information
Date: Sunday, October 3
Start Time: 2 p.m. ET
TV: NBC
Live Stream: NBC Sports App
Starting Lineup
Odds
Denny Hamlin: +900 (bet $100 to win $900)
Joey Logano: +1000
Chase Elliott: +1000
Ryan Blaney: +1,000
William Byron: +1100
Brad Keselowski: +1,200
Kyle Larson: +1,200
Kevin Harvick: +1,500
Kyle Busch: +1,500
Alex Bowman: +1,800
Preview
Not all drivers are best suited for the superspeedway, so Talladega can be a bit tricky, but it's always entertaining because it's downright Darwinian on the track.
Hamlin is the favorite going into Sunday's race, but he's got some stiff competition from drivers who like to shine in Alabama.
Of all the drivers taking the track, Keselowski has the most wins at Talladega (six), followed by teammate Logano, who has three. The Team Penske duo are both trying to remain in the top eight, so they will be pushing hard to cross the finish line first.
The third member of the Penske trio, Ryan Blaney, is in fifth place in the standings (3,063 points) and oddsmakers have him as the fourth-favorite.
And even though Keselowski has one foot out of the door with Team Penske, bettors still aren't counting him out this Sunday.
"Maybe [you would overlook him] if he wasn't racing for a championship or [was] leaving on bad terms. Or if the team was folding," professional sports bettor Zack White told Marcus DiNitto of NASCAR.com. "Everyone still wants to win in this case, so no change for me."
Looking to shake things up is Hendrick Motorsports driver and reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott. Sitting in sixth place with 3,061 points, Elliott will try to draw on his first and only win at Talladega (April 2019) to make good on his third-ranked odds and race to victory.
No matter what, it's going to be an unpredictable but must-see race Sunday.
Kyle Larson held off Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr. to win for the fifth time during the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.
The points leader collected the checkered flag in Sunday's Go Bowling at the Glen at Watkins Glen International in New York.
Larson cruised to the finish line with nearly three seconds separating him from Elliott in second place. It was a story fans already saw play out at Sonoma Raceway in the Toyota/Save Mart 350.
Go Bowling at the Glen Leaderboard
1. Kyle Larson
2. Chase Elliott
3. Martin Truex Jr.
4. Kyle Busch
5. Denny Hamlin
6. William Byron
7. Christopher Bell
8. Kevin Harvick
9. Chase Briscoe
10. Tyler Reddick
Full leaderboard available at NASCAR.com
Larson was basically racing against himself in the final 10 laps given his comfortable lead, while Elliott and Truex were locked in a tight battle for second place.
Despite overtaking Truex, Elliott had a substantial gap to close and wasn't making up much ground.
Lapped traffic presented a minor hindrance to the No. 5 car and allowed Elliott a bit of a lifeline. At one point, Larson's lead dwindled to under two seconds, but his team cautioned that Elliott was due to encounter the same problems.
"There's nothing to worry about, Chase still has all that s--t to get through," crew chief Cliff Daniels said over the radio.
After the race, Larson said he felt a more serious threat from Elliott in the moment.
"Chase was already catching me pretty quick," he told NBC Sports. "When I caught those four cars, I thought I would look in my mirror and he'd be right on me."
Elliott was circumspect about a strong day overshadowed by Larson's dominant performance:
The championship playoff structure can quickly nullify whatever happened earlier in the year. A driver can look like the clear title favorite and all of a sudden be on the bubble with a couple of bad showings.
Having said that, Larson has been in a class by himself for much of 2021, transforming under the guidance of Hendrick Motorsports.
Only three more races remain before the playoffs get underway, so every little bit counts in terms of jockeying for position. Truex and Joey Logano were the two stage winners to earn one playoff point apiece.
Logano's fortunes shifted significantly later in the race when he caught friendly fire from Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski.
Logano wound up in 22nd place, with Keselowski only managing a 35th-place showing.
One of NASCAR's signature events lies ahead on Aug. 15. Drivers will make the trip to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for Verizon 200 at the Brickyard.
This will be the first year NASCAR runs the road course in Indianapolis, which adds a different dimension to the 2021 installment in the legendary race.
Kevin Harvick is the two-time defending champion at the Brickyard, but his back-to-back victories may not count for much on a new track configuration.
The NASCAR Cup Series' trip to New Hampshire Motor Speedway comes in the middle of the "Silly Season" drama for next year's seats.
Brad Keselowski and Matt DiBenedetto will move on from their current rides in 2022. Keselowski is expected to sign a deal with Roush Yates Racing from Penske Racing, while DiBenedetto does not have a car yet for next year.
That news came a few weeks after Chip Ganassi Racing was bought out by Trackhouse Racing. That sale left either Kurt Busch or Ross Chastain out of a ride for 2022.
DiBenedetto and Chastain reside on the wrong side of the playoff bubble going into Sunday. A win would cure some of the issues both racers are going through.
Busch is coming off a victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway that secured his position in the 16-man playoff field.
Twelve drivers have locked in playoff spots through victories, while Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick are certainties to qualify on points.
That leaves drivers, like DiBenedetto and Chastain, to look for wins to avoid being on the outside looking in at the end of August.
Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 Info
Date: Sunday, July 18
Start Time: 3 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
Live Stream: NBCSports.com and NBC Sports app
Odds
Denny Hamlin (+475; bet $100 to win $475)
Martin Truex Jr. (+500)
Kyle Larson (+550)
Brad Keselowski (+650)
Kyle Busch (+650)
Chase Elliott (+800)
Joey Logano (+1000)
William Byron (+1500)
Kevin Harvick (+1500)
Alex Bowman (+1600)
Ryan Blaney (+1800)
Christopher Bell (+2000)
Starting Lineup
Preview
There will be a handful of different motivators for drivers across the grid on Sunday.
Plenty of focus will be on DiBenedetto to turn in a strong run to bolster his case to find a seat for 2022.
The good news for the current No. 21 car driver is he finished sixth at New Hampshire in 2020 in a race won by Keselowski.
DiBenedetto comes into New Hampshire with 425 points, which is 138 points off Tyler Reddick's total on the bubble.
Winning one of the last five regular-season races is the easiest way for DiBenedetto, or any driver under the projected bubble, to enter the postseason field.
Chris Buescher is 96 points back of Reddick, DiBenedetto is 138 off the pace and Chastain is seven points back of the No. 21 car.
DiBenedetto appears to have the best chance of the three to steal a win at New Hampshire since the Penske-powered cars finished first, third and sixth there last year. DiBenedetto drives for Wood Brothers Racing, who have an alliance with Penske.
Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick could solidify their positions in the playoff grid if either of them come out on top on Sunday.
Hamlin is the pre-race favorite, which is a title that has been hard to snag away from the Hendrick Motorsports cars in 2021.
Prior to Busch's win at Atlanta, Hendrick cars won seven of eight Cup Series points races dating back to the middle of May.
Chase Elliott was the only Hendrick driver to finish inside the top 10 at New Hampshire in 2020 with a ninth-place finish.
Hamlin and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. took second and third, respectively, behind Keselowski.
Truex starts on the front row alongside Kyle Busch. Elliott and Kurt Busch follow on the grid in the second row.
Starting position mattered a bit in last year's New Hampshire race, as the top five finishers came from the first 11 positions on the grid.
Harvick could be the best betting play since he owns three victories at the track since 2016 and landed inside the top five in 2020.
The No. 4 car driver will have to do some work to get to the front from his 12th starting spot, but his comfort level on the track may help him finally reach the winner's circle for the first time in 2021.
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL).
Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ/WV/PA), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), or call or text the TN REDLINE: 800-889-9789 (TN).
21+. NJ/PA/WV/IN/IA/CO/IL/TN only. In partnership with Meadows Racetrack & Casino. Eligibility restrictions apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.
The NASCAR Cup Series makes its debut at Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday.
The new stop on the circuit provides a different type of challenge for the drivers than other tracks because few racers have a history there. The 1.333-mile track has not hosted a NASCAR-sanctioned event since an Xfinity Series race in 2011.
Kyle Larson is the overwhelming favorite to take first place for the Ally 400. The No. 5 car driver is on a remarkable hot streak, and he typically thrives at tracks of this length.
Larson and the other competitors in the field have to wait until Sunday to set the starting grid. Qualifying is set to take place at 11:05 a.m. ET.
Ally 400 Information
Date: Sunday, June 20
Start Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
Live Stream: NBCSports.com and NBC Sports app
Odds
Kyle Larson: +275 (bet $100 to win $275)
Martin Truex Jr.: +650
Chase Elliott: +700
Denny Hamlin: +850
Kyle Busch: +900
William Byron: +1200
Brad Keselowski: +1200
Kevin Harvick: +1300
Joey Logano: +1300
Alex Bowman: +1400
Ryan Blaney: +1600
Preview
There is no stopping Larson at the moment.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver added the NASCAR All-Star Race to his rapidly expanding trophy case last weekend and is on a three-race winning streak. He also took the checkered flag first at the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte and the Toyota Save Mart 350 on the Sonoma road course.
Larson's first victory of the season came in early March at Las Vegas, which has a similar-length track to Nashville.
The 28-year-old is known as an ace on 1.5-mile tracks, and he has become the driver to beat for the Cup Series championship. Larson is 47 points behind leader Denny Hamlin the standings entering Nashville, but he has an advantage over Hamlin with three victories to none.
Even though Hamlin is without a victory in 2021, he is in a good position to qualifying for the postseason.
There have been 11 race winners on the Cup Series circuit this season, which leaves five open playoff spots. Every first-place finisher qualifies for the 16-car postseason as long as more than 16 drivers do not win one competition.
With the second half of the season getting underway at Nashville, the playoff focus will become more intense. Hamlin and Kevin Harvick appear to be locks for the field of 16 based off points, but they would feel more secure with a victory.
Austin Dillon, Tyler Reddick and Chris Buescher headline the collection of drivers who need victories to get into the postseason. Those three are 12th, 13th and 14th in the points standings, respectively, but if a few more new race winners emerge, their spots could come under threat.
Dillon produced a pair of top-10 finishes at Nashville when the Xfinity Series last visited in 2011. That history, however short, at the track could help Dillon get into a high position on the track Sunday and contend for a victory.
Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano are the active Cup Series drivers with Xfinity Series wins at Nashville. Although it's been 10 years since any of them raced at the track, that might be enough of an advantage for them to succeed Sunday.
Keselowski, Busch and Logano all have victories this season, so if any of them cross the finish line first, it would make life feel a bit safer at the back end of the points standings.
If Harvick finally breaks through, it would give him the security of a playoff spot while putting much more pressure on Dillon, Reddick, Buescher and others to come up with a win before the playoffs begins.
Statistics obtained from NASCAR.com.
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL).
Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ/WV/PA), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), or call or text the TN REDLINE: 800-889-9789 (TN).
21+. NJ/PA/WV/IN/IA/CO/IL/TN only. In partnership with Meadows Racetrack & Casino. Eligibility restrictions apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.
Kyle Larson's hot streak continues as he held off Brad Keselowski and Chase Elliott to win the NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.
He's also $1 million richer after cashing in on the lucrative purse.
Larson's three victories are tied for most in the NASCAR Cup Series, and he was riding a two-race winning streak into Fort Worth. The 28-year-old also won the All-Star Race in 2019 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, so he was one of the top drivers to watch.
Larson justified the hype by running near the top of the pack for the bulk of the race.
Here are the winners from the first five stages:
The All-Star Race was devised almost explicitly to create as much drama and intrigue as possible. The stage breaks not only offered the drivers a chance to reset a bit but also reshuffled the running order to varying degrees.
Larson, for example, took the first round and got bumped back to 12th for his efforts after the leaderboard was inverted from Nos. 1-12 for the next round.
The order for the start of the fifth round was determined by how the drivers had finished the preceding four rounds, thus requiring some math on the fly.
Elliott's pit crew collected a $100,000 prize with the fastest pit stop between the fifth and sixth rounds. All 21 drivers were required to pit and receive four tires, and the No. 9 car got back out before anyone else.
The event culminated in a 10-lap sprint to Victory Lane.
Ryan Blaney came firing out of the gates on the inside and briefly led after the sixth round started. But Elliott surged past him on the outside with a little help from Larson drafting behind.
Like Blaney, Keselowski took the inside line to move past Elliott and Larson and into first.
And as with Blaney, Keselowski struggled to get clear of Larson and quickly handed the lead back to the No. 5 car. As the race got into the last few laps, the outcome wasn't much in doubt. Larson remained glued to the inside line, providing Keselowski with no path forward.
"Finishing second to the Hendrick cars right now is kind of an accomplishment," Keselowski said in his post-race interview. "They're just stupid fast."
Because of the race's structure, it's difficult for any one driver to dominate from start to finish. Having said that, Larson was the strongest in the field and more than earned the checkered flag.
With the All-Star Race in the books, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Nashville Superspeedway for the Ally 400. This is the series' first trip to Nashville since 1984, which was long before the construction of the superspeedway in 2001.
Larson has to lose at some point, so going four in a row will be difficult. On Sunday, he at least demonstrated why he might be the man to unseat Elliott as the series champion.
The NASCAR Cup Series' longest race of the season takes place in its traditional spot on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend.
The Coca-Cola 600 has been won by some of the most prestigious drivers in the sport, and recently it has been dominated by Joe Gibbs Racing.
Joe Gibbs Racing has won three of the last six May races at Charlotte Motor Speedway. One of its drivers, Martin Truex Jr., won in 2016 before he joined Gibbs.
Truex and the other 39 drivers in the field will determine their starting positions through a qualifying session on Saturday morning.
That marks the second week in a row the NASCAR Cup Series race will have its starting grid determined by a weekend session.
In previous weeks, the grid was made up by a pre-determined formula that took into account points and recent results.
Coca-Cola 600 Info
Date: Sunday, May 30
Start Time: 6 p.m. ET
TV: Fox
Live Stream: FoxSports.com or Fox Sports app
Odds
Kyle Larson (+500; bet $100 to win $500)
Chase Elliott (+600)
Martin Truex Jr. (+600)
Kyle Busch (+650)
Denny Hamlin (+900)
Kevin Harvick (+1100)
Brad Keselowski (+1200)
Joey Logano (+1200)
Ryan Blaney (+1400)
Alex Bowman (+1400)
William Byron (+1400)
Preview
Even though the Gibbs cars have had recent success at Charlotte, it is the Hendrick Motorsports drivers on top of the odds chart.
Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott are the two favorites on top of the grid entering Sunday. Elliott won the rain-shortened race at the Circuit of the Americas last Sunday.
Hendrick has two straight victories, with the other coming from Alex Bowman at Dover International Speedway. All four Hendrick cars placed in the top four in that event.
If the team extends its dominance into Charlotte, it can pick up its first Coca-Cola 600 victory since Jimmie Johnson in 2014.
Elliott has the most-recent win on the circuit at Charlotte, but that occurred on the road course in October.
Elliott was second to Brad Keselowski last May. Bowman led 164 laps in that event, but he finished in 19th.
Keselowski comes into the 400-lap race with speculation building about his seat for the 2022 season. The No. 2 car driver is being rumored with a move away from Penske Racing to Roush Fenway Racing, per Motorsport.com's Jim Utter.
The reigning Coca-Cola 600 champion did not add much to the speculation when asked about it in the Charlotte garage, per NASCAR.com's Chase Wilhelm.
"I can't talk about that, but I appreciate you asking," Keselowski said. "When I can, I'll tell you."
When he won last May, Keselowski led just 21 laps and started in ninth position. Because of the length of the race, starting position is not as important as it is at other tracks.
As the sun sets, the track conditions will change, and the crews must make adjustments and adapt their pit strategies to deal with the changing conditions on the track.
For example, four of the top 10 drivers last May started 15th or worse, with Ryan Blaney's third-place finish from 26th the best of the lot.
Saturday's qualifying session will be more of a turn back to a normal race weekend than a tone-setter for Sunday. There has not been a qualifying session or race on an oval since the Daytona 500.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
Statistics obtained from NASCAR.com.
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL).
Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ/WV/PA), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), or call or text the TN REDLINE: 800-889-9789 (TN).
21+. NJ/PA/WV/IN/IA/CO/IL/TN only. In partnership with Meadows Racetrack & Casino. Eligibility restrictions apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.
