Daytona proved to be the end of the line for 7-time champion Jimmie Johnson. Instead of transferring to the playoffs for his record-setting quest of 8 championships, he will be on the outside looking in. (more…)
william byron
Harvick and Hamlin Battle at the Monster Mile
Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick took home top honors this weekend at the Monster Mile. The two championship contenders battled it out, splitting the double header in dominant fashion. (more…)
DiBenedetto Finishes 15th at Charlotte
After a promising start to Thursday’s Alsco Uniforms 500-kilometer Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Menards/Richmond team struggled with a loose handing condition for the remainder of the race and wound up with a 15th-place finish.
DiBenedetto started fourth when the line-up was set using a modified inversion of the finish of Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600, where he finished 17th.
On the start of Thursday’s 208-lap race, he pushed pole-sitter William Byron into the lead going into Turns One and Two then passed him for the lead down the backstretch.
He led the next nine laps then retook the top spot on the 11th lap for a total of 10 laps led. It was the second-straight race he’s been out front, the first being the six circuits he led in the Coca-Cola 600.
After losing the top spot DiBenedetto continued to keep pace with the front-runners and ended the first 55-lap Stage in third place, collecting eight Stage points.
But from then on to the finish, the loose handling conditions persisted, hampering his progress in a race that ended with a 59-lap green-flag run to the finish.
“The car got really loose, and with it being a short race we never really got a handle on it,” DiBenedetto said. “We worked on the car, but it just wasn’t responding to the adjustments we made.
“But it was good to lead the race, and the Stage points helped make our day not too bad. They saved us a little.”
DiBenedetto remains 11th in the Cup Series standings as and the No. 21 team head to Bristol Motor Speedway, one of his best tracks and where he finished second last fall driving for another team.
“I’m ready to go to a short track and get away from these mile-and-a-half tracks for a weekend,” he said.
Sunday’s Food City presents the Supermarket Heroes 500, for which there will be no practice or qualifying, is set to start just after 3:30 p.m. with TV coverage on FOX Sports One.
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Menards
A family owned company started in 1958, Menards is headquartered in Eau Claire, WI. Menards has more than 300 retail stores located throughout the Midwest in the states of IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND, OH, SD, WI and WY. Menards is known throughout the home improvement industry as the low price leader. It’s famous slogan “Save Big Money at Menards” is widely known and easy to remember. For more information, visit Menards.com, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest.
Wood Brothers Racing
Wood Brothers Racing was formed in 1950 in Stuart, Va., by Hall of Famer Glen Wood. Wood Brothers Racing is the oldest active team and one of the winningest teams in NASCAR history. Since its founding, the team won 99 races (including at least one race in every decade for the last seven decades) and 120 poles in NASCAR’s top-tier series. Fielding only Ford products for its entire history, the Wood Brothers own the longest association of any motorsports team with a single manufacturer. Glen’s brother, Leonard, is known for inventing the modern pit stop. The team currently runs the Ford Mustang driven by Matt DiBenedetto in the famous No. 21 racer.
Kevin Harvick Alsco Uniforms 500k Advance and Team Report
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DiBenedetto Finishes 17th in the Coca-Cola 600
Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Menards/FVP team had an up-and-down day in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway before ending up 17th at the finish.
The day started on the down side as the Menards Mustang was super loose in the first qualifying session held since the Cup Series resumed racing following a 10-week halt due to the coronavirus. DiBenedetto lost control and bounced off the wall, forcing the team to pull out a back-up Mustang.
That meant he had to start the 600-mile marathon from the rear of the pack.
The drop of the green flag was the start of an upswing for DiBenedetto and the Menards/FVP team. He made up 16 positions before the caution flag flew at Lap 20.
By Lap 30 he was up to 15th place and was running there on Lap 49 when the race was halted for 68 minutes due to rain.
Back on the track, DiBenedetto continued to struggle with a loose handling condition and dropped to 20th place, so when the caution flag flew just after Lap 100 for the end of Stage One, he headed to pit road for a series of adjustments to the No. 21 Mustang.
He returned to the track and passed several cars, but at the end of Stage Two was running 23rd, one lap down.
Throughout most of the third 100-lap Stage, DiBenedetto ran in the free-pass position and finally was able to rejoin the lead lap when the caution flag flew at Lap 277 for a spin by Matt Kenseth.
Back on the move forward, he finished the third 100-lap Stage in 15th place.
A call to take just two tires on the pit stop at the end of the Stage propelled DiBenedetto into the lead, and he led Laps 304-306 under the caution flag and restarted as the leader.
He led three more laps once the green flag flew again before the drivers who took four tires overtook him.
DiBenedetto ran mostly in the top 10 over the final 100 laps. He was in 11th place when the caution flag flew with two of the scheduled 400 laps remaining for a blown tire by William Byron.
That sent the race into overtime.
DiBenedetto stayed on the track while other pitted for fresh tires, so he restarted seventh for the green-white-checkered-flag run to the finish.
But the final two laps didn’t work out in his favor, and he wound up 18th at the finish. He picked up one spot when the car of apparent runner-up Jimmie Johnson was disqualified for failing a post-race inspection.
Eddie Wood said he was proud of his team’s efforts throughout the day on Sunday.
“They never gave up,” he said. “We went from having to go to a back-up car to losing a lap to leading the race.
“We were able to honor Major Lucas Gruenther as part of the 600 Miles of Remembrance, and the sport as a whole did a nice job of honoring all the servicemembers who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
“And we congratulate Brad Keselowski, Jeremy Bullins and Team Penske on their well-deserved victory.”
DiBenedetto and the No. 21 team, now 11th in the Cup standings, return to Charlotte Motor Speedway on Wednesday night for a 500-kilometer (312-mile) race that will be broadcast on FOX Sports One.
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Menards
A family owned company started in 1958, Menards is headquartered in Eau Claire, WI. Menards has more than 300 retail stores located throughout the Midwest in the states of IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND, OH, SD, WI and WY. Menards is known throughout the home improvement industry as the low price leader. It’s famous slogan “Save Big Money at Menards” is widely known and easy to remember. For more information, visit Menards.com, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest.
Wood Brothers Racing
Wood Brothers Racing was formed in 1950 in Stuart, Va., by Hall of Famer Glen Wood. Wood Brothers Racing is the oldest active team and one of the winningest teams in NASCAR history. Since its founding, the team won 99 races (including at least one race in every decade for the last seven decades) and 120 poles in NASCAR’s top-tier series. Fielding only Ford products for its entire history, the Wood Brothers own the longest association of any motorsports team with a single manufacturer. Glen’s brother, Leonard, is known for inventing the modern pit stop. The team currently runs the Ford Mustang driven by Matt DiBenedetto in the famous No. 21 racer.
M&M’S Red, White, and Blue Racing: Kyle Busch Race Recap for the Coca-Cola 600 from Charlotte
Date: May 24, 2020
Event: Coca-Cola 600 (Round 7 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)
Format: 400 laps, broken into four stages (100 laps/100 laps/100 laps/100 laps)
Start/Finish: 11th/5th (Running, completed 405 of 405 laps)
Point Standing: 9th (207 points, 82 behind leader)
Note: Race extended five laps past its scheduled 400-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.
Race Winner: Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford) in overtime
Stage 1 Winner: Alex Bowman of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Alex Bowman of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 3 Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-100):
● Kyle Busch started 11th and finished sixth, earning five bonus points.
● The M&M’S Red, White and Blue driver qualified in 11th, but soon after the green flag flew, found he had a very loose racecar.
● Good news for Busch was a competition yellow on lap 20, as he came to pit road for tires and adjustments on lap 22. The M&M’S over-the-wall team did quick work, moving Busch up from 12th to 10th on the ensuing restart.
● Busch held his 10th position when green flag racing resumed, but on lap 48, rain made it to the track and the race was red flagged for over an hour while the track was dried.
● When the race restarted, crew chief Adam Stevens called Busch to pit road for four tires, fuel and adjustment as a strong stop by the M&M’S team vaulted him up to seventh exiting pit road.
● The race restarted on lap 57, and Busch moved up to sixth by lap 79. Busch radioed to Stevens that his M&M’S Red, White, and Blue Camry was a little free on entry and tight off the corner. Busch held the sixth spot and finished stage one in that spot.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 101-200):
● Busch started second and finished third, earning eight bonus points.
● Following the end of the stage, Busch came to pit road for four tires, fuel and adjustments. Yet again, the M&M’S Red, White, and Blue pit crew had a phenomenal pit stops, gaining four spots on pit road to restart stage 2 in the runner-up spot.
● The Las Vegas native settled into third-place and hung there for most of stage 2, as Busch radioed to Stevens that his car starts the run a little bit free but trends to the tighter side as the run goes on.
● Busch came to pit road to take on four tires, fuel, and adjustments on lap 157.
● The M&M’S Red, White, and Blue driver cycled out in third and ended the stage in that same spot.
Stage 3 Recap (Laps 201-300):
● Busch started 19th and finished sixth, earning five bonus points.
● Busch came to pit road following the end of the stage, taking on four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment, gaining one spot on pit road to second. However, Busch was penalized exiting pit road for speeding, sending him to the back of the lead lap in 19th on the lap 208 restart.
● The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion moved up to 15th by lap 275, as he came down pit road on lap 277 for four tires, fuel, and an adjustment to loosen up the M&M’S Red, White, and Blue Camry and restarted 13th on lap 282.
● Busch moved up quickly following the restart, as he made it into the top-10 by lap 285 and all the way up to sixth at the end of the stage.
Final Stage Recap (Laps 301-405):
● Busch started fifth and finished fifth.
● Busch came to pit road on lap 303, taking on four tires and fuel, as he gained one spot to restart in the top-five for the restart of the fourth and final stage.
● The M&M’S Red, White, and Blue driver dropped after the restart, as Busch reported that he couldn’t get back to the gas, but he couldn’t quote figure out what happened to the handling of his car, as he dropped to 11th by lap 337.
● When the caution waved on lap 348, Busch came to pit road on lap 350 for four tires and an air pressure adjustment back out from the previous stop. The M&M’S over-the-wall crew is one of the best on pit road, and they showed it yet again, gaining an incredible five spots on pit road to restart sixth on lap 353.
● On the next restart, Busch continued to struggle with the handling of his M&M’S Toyota, falling to eighth by lap 364 as it appeared he was going to end up in eighth as the laps wound down.
● However, a caution waved with two laps to go for a spin by William Byron. Stevens decided to bring Busch to pit road for two tires.
● Busch restarted in ninth, and over the course of the final two laps, gained four spots to secure what looked like an unlikely top-five finish.
Notes:
● Busch’s fifth-place finish was his fourth top-five finish of the season in seven starts.
● The top-five finish was Busch’s 14th top-five at Charlotte in 31 career starts at the 1.5-mile oval.
Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’S Red, White and Blue Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing:
“During the middle stages of the race, I thought we were really fast. I feel like we had a great M&M’S Red, White, and Blue Camry and ran up front and got back up front from having to go to the back. But we put tires on it and it was never the same after that from about lap 280 or 290 when we put tires on it and it wasn’t the same as it was before that. We were lucky to steal a fifth-place finish out of it today and we’ll have to go back to work and figure out some things to make our stuff better for when we come back on Wednesday and get back after it. I certainly want to give a huge shout out and a huge thanks to all the men and women who have served for our country her on Memorial Day weekend, we appreciate you. Everyone be safe tomorrow and have fun.”
Next Up: The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Alsco Uniforms 500k on Wednesday, May 27 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. The race starts at 8 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Kevin Harvick Socially Distances Himself From the Field in Darlington Return
I suppose it isn’t a surprise that Kevin Harvick, The Closer, sealed the deal on Sunday with a dominating final stage push that left everyone else in the dust. Harvick led 150 laps overall, essentially doubling the 80 laps led by Brad Keselowski.
DALE EARNHARDT JR., JEFF BURTON AND STEVE LETARTE DISCUSS NASCAR’S RETURN AT DARLINGTON ON NASCAR AMERICA AT HOME
“I feel like his leadership was really on display today.” – Earnhardt Jr. on Kevin Harvick’s victory
“When you get a star that’s in a slump, they almost try too hard. That was Jimmie Johnson trying too hard.” – Letarte on Jimmie Johnson’s wreck at end of Stage One
“If he can clean up those mental mistakes, he’ll not only win races, but have a real opportunity to play a role in the Playoffs later in the season.” – Earnhardt Jr. on Jimmie Johnson
“It really makes me question, how much practice do we really need?” – Burton on quality of racing at Darlington
Kevin Harvick Joins Mike Tirico on Lunch Talk Live Today at Noon ET on NBCSN
Weekday Episodes and Post-Race Analysis on NBCSports.com and Motorsports on NBC YouTube Page
STAMFORD, Conn. – May 18, 2020 – NBC Sports NASCAR analysts Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte discussed the major storylines and takeaways from NASCAR’s return at Darlington Raceway on the latest edition NASCAR America At Home on NBCSports.com and the Motorsports on NBC YouTube page.
Topics from Sunday night’s NASCAR America At Home included:
- Kevin Harvick’s performance en route to his 50th Cup Series win
- Dale Jr. and Letarte on Jimmie Johnson’s performance and prospects for this season
- Letarte and Burton on future of practices
- Top 10 finishes by rookies Tyler Reddick and John Hunter Nemecheck
The trio also interviewed Tyler Reddick to discuss his Top 10 performance. Click here to watch the interview.
Harvick will join Mike Tirico on Lunch Talk Live today at noon discuss his win at Darlington and NASCAR’s return. Following are excerpts from Sunday night’s edition of NASCAR America at Home:
Earnhardt Jr. on NASCAR’s return and Harvick’s win: “Rodney Childers and the no. 4 team prepared an incredible car…I feel like his leadership was really on display today…no way to lean on the driver to give him feedback on what direction to go with the car. It was an opportunity for him or any crew chief to step up, and that’s what (the No. 4 team) did.”
Burton on Jimmie Johnson: “This was a big race in the history of NASCAR … Jimmie Johnson ran really well. I know he’s heartbroken tonight. He had the lead with one to go at the end of the stage and just made a mistake in my eyes…it was good at the very least to see the no. 48 out front.”
Letarte on Johnson: “When you get a star that’s in a slump, they almost try too hard…that was Jimmie Johnson, trying too hard with one lap to go in a stage. He’s only won a handful of stages since stage racing has begun…Jimmie was the guy when we chased him that never made mistakes. You had to beat him. He didn’t beat himself. What Jimmie Johnson did was eliminate his chances in the first stage. That’s not very Jimmie Johnson-esque. What I saw up until that mistake is a team and a driver that can win a race. The question has been, can he win a race in this final year? From what I saw, it would be yes.”
Earnhardt Jr. on Johnson: “If he can clean up those mental mistakes, dial it back a little bit, have faith in his car for the duration for the race and put races together, he’ll not only win races but have a real opportunity to play a role in the Playoffs later in the season.”
Letarte on impact of less practice: “I’m always on team ‘no practice’ or ‘less practice.’ I realize we’re going to have some practice at some point this season…but can we all agree we don’t need two or three hours (of practice)? This was zero practice in 71 days and other than Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s mistake on the first lap, not only was the racing great, but there were some different names, different moves, different guys throughout the race.”
Burton on impact of less practice: “Even though there were so many things done differently to make this race happen, it didn’t show up…it really makes me question, how much practice do we really need? This has given NASCAR and the teams and opportunity to look at different ways to do different things and how can the sport be better for it…John Hunter Nemecheck is a great example. He got a Top 10 finish and that’s like a win for that team. If every team out there would have practice, could they have made that happen? I don’t know.”
Earnhardt Jr. on John Hunter Nemecheck and impact of iRacing: “I feel like what we did during the break where we were racing online with iRacing may have given some guys a little bit of confidence to be able to go out there and compete and run up front. I know that’s a crazy idea, but someone like John Hunter Nemecheck that has been honing his skills, doing well in the iRacing in the last couple of months…I think that carried over.”
Earnhardt Jr. on Tyler Reddick: “He continues to amaze me…he’s not making these rookie mistakes that are taking him out of the running, especially at a place like Darlington where it’s easy…he’s got the confidence. He doesn’t know any better. He’s just driving that thing as hard as he can go.”
Letarte on William Byron: “One flat tire – William Byron was going to show the world that he was going to go to victory lane…I think William Byron will be one to watch. Bad luck got him at Darlington, not a mistake.”
New post-race episodes of NASCAR America At Home will be posted following the checkered flag of each NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series as NASCAR makes its return, and new weekday editions of NASCAR America At Home will be posted during the week.
M&M’S Thank You Heroes Racing: Kyle Busch Race Recap for The Real Heroes 400 from Darlington
| Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M’S Thank You Heroes Toyota Camry Race Recap for the The Real Heroes 400 |
| Date: May 17, 2020 Event: The Real Heroes 400 (Round 5 of 36) Series: NASCAR Cup Series Location: Darlington (S.C.) Raceway (1.366-mile, egg-shaped oval) Format: 293 laps, broken into three stages (90 laps/95 laps/108 laps) Start/Finish: 4th/26th (Running, completed 292 of 293 laps) Point Standing: 14th (122 points, 96 behind leader)
Race Winner: Kevin Harvick of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford) Stage 1 Winner: William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) Stage 2 Winner: Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-90): ● Kyle Busch started 4th, finished 15th ● Busch drew the fourth starting position in Thursday night’s draw. However, the No. 18 team failed pre-race inspection twice and was forced to start the race at the rear of the field, despite officially being scored as starting in fourth. ● The M&M’S Thank you Heroes Toyota Camry didn’t stay in the rear of the field for long, moving up to 32nd by lap 1 and 25th by the time the competition caution waved on lap 30. ● The 2019 Cup Series champion told Crew Chief Adam Stevens that his splitter was dragging on the track for the first 20-25 laps of the race and still touching the surface in the bumps. He suggested to Stevens that he tighten up the car on their pit stops. ● With Darlington being the first race back and no on track activity prior to the race weekend, NASCAR gave teams the opportunity to make two pit stops under yellow without losing positions under the lap 30 competition caution only. ● Busch came down pit road on lap 33 for adjustments and then back down pit road on lap 35 to take on four tires and fuel. ● Busch restarted 25th when green flag racing resumed on lap 39. ● The M&M’S Thank You Heroes driver slowly worked his way up through the field, finding himself in 20th by lap 50, 18th by lap 56 and all the way up to 15th when the stage ended on lap 90. ●Busch radioed to Stevens that he was pretty good overall, but was lacking overall grip everywhere as the stage ended.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 91-185): ● Busch started ninth and finished 16th ● Busch came to pit road on lap 93 for four tires, fuel and tires pressure adjustments. The M&M’S team gained Busch five spots on pit road and Busch moved up one more spot as a car ahead of him was penalized for speeding on pit road, and he restarted in ninth for the start of stage 2. ● The M&M’S Thank You Heroes driver came to pit road under caution on lap 111 for four tires and fuel as Busch told Stevens that his car was just a little tight landing in the corner, and Busch restarted in ninth on lap 115. ● Busch restarted ninth, but fell several positions after the restart as he told Stevens that he couldn’t get going. Busch reported his car was really loose getting into turn three during the first two laps of the green flag run. Fortunately, Busch was saved by a caution on lap 123. ● Stevens called Busch down pit road on lap 125 to take on four tires, fuel, and an air pressure adjustment that they hoped would make Busch better on restarts. ● Busch restarted 20th on lap 129, and moved up to 17th by lap 134. However, on lap 143 Busch hit the outside SAFER barrier exiting turn 4, causing fairly significant right side damage to the M&M’S Thank You Heroes Toyota. ● Good news for Busch was the caution waved for debris on lap 155, and Busch pitted on lap 157 to fix significant damage and make sure the tires were not rubbing on the wheel well of the No. 18 Toyota. ● Even with lengthy time on pit road to fix damage, Busch did not lose a lap, but the repairs forced the M&M’S driver to start in 29th at the tail-end of the lead lap. ● Busch worked his way back into the top-20 by lap 167 and after a caution and another pit stop, Busch finished the second stage in 16th-place.
Stage 3 Recap (Laps 186-293): ● Started 17th and finished 26th. ● Busch pitted after stage 2, and took on four tires, fuel and more adjustments as the M&M’S driver restarted 17th for the third and final stage. ● Busch moved his way back up to 13th by the time the next caution waved on lap 212. Stevens called Busch to pit road two laps later for four tires, fuel and more chassis adjustments, as the M&M’S over-the-wall crew gained two spots on pit road and Busch restarted 11th on lap 218. ● The Las Vegas native moved up into the top 10 by lap 247 and sat in ninth when the caution waved on lap 252. Busch came to pit road for four tires and fuel on lap 255, and the M&M’S pit crew gave him another phenomenal stop, getting him off pit road in the fifth position. ● Busch dropped a few positions after the restart to seventh. Just five laps into the green flag run Busch radioed to the M&M’S team to get ready, as he had an apparent problem. ● On lap 266, Busch did indeed come to pit road for four tires with an apparent loose wheel. He returned to the track in 27th-place, one lap down. ● Busch and the M&M’S Thank You Heroes team got themselves into the free pass position over the final laps, but the caution they needed never came, and the No. 18 team finished a once promising race in 26th.
Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’S Thank You Heroes Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing:
“Really disappointing to have to start at the back when we had a fourth-place starting position. That was going to be a great day for us to just kind of be up front, ride up front, and hopefully stay up front all day and make our M&M’s Thank You Heroes Camry better. But we didn’t start where we thought we would. Instead, we had to make up the whole day. Finally we got to fifth and restarted there late in the race, but fell to eighth or ninth on a restart. Our car was so slow on restarts, but also I was too loose on that restart. Then got in the wall and had to go back to the back and worked our way back up to the front again. Then got back to fifth again for the final restart and had a loose wheel. My guys had a good pit stop, but obviously too good of a pit stop where we didn’t get all the lugnuts tight and it was a loose wheel. Ended up having to come down pit road and service the car again to make it to the end. Just didn’t get the result we wanted for the effort that was put out today.”
Next Up: The NASCAR Cup Series returns to Darlington on Wednesday, May 20 for the Toyota 500k. It starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. |
Today. Tomorrow. Toyota Racing: Daniel Suárez The Real Heroes 400 Race Report from Darlington
| Suárez 25th in NASCAR’s Return at Darlington Today. Tomorrow. Toyota Camry Driver Scores Second Consecutive Top-25 |
| Date: May 17, 2020 Event: The Real Heroes 400 Series: NASCAR Cup Series Location: Darlington (S.C.) Raceway (1.366-mile oval) Format: 293 laps, broken into three stages (90 laps/95 laps/108 laps) Start/Finish: 37th / 25th (Running, completed 292 of 293 laps) Point Standing: 31st with 44 points, 174 out of first
Race Winner: Kevin Harvick of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford) Stage 1 Winner: William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) Stage 2 Winner: Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-90): ● Started 37th, finished 30th. ● Suárez made steady forward progress during the stage with his Today. Tomorrow. Toyota Camry, particularly on restarts. He picked up three spots from his starting position of 37th on the opening lap, during which the caution flag appeared for a one-car accident. On the lap-six restart, he moved from 34th to 31st and was able to pick up another couple of positions to 29th before a competition caution appeared on lap 30. ● The ensuing pit stop on lap 34 enabled the team to make left-side air pressure adjustments and to add tape to the grille to help alleviate a tight condition entering turns three and four and overall grip issues in turns one and two. Suárez restarted 28th. ● A long, green run to the end of the stage saw Suárez’s Today. Tomorrow. Toyota Camry gradually get tighter on entry. He dropped a pair of spots and fell off the lead lap just before the end of the stage. ● Suárez pitted on lap 94 for right-rear tire pressure and track bar adjustments in an effort to free up the rear of the car. He was the beneficiary of the Lucky Dog back to the lead lap.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 91-185): ● Started 30th, finished 28. ● Made steady forward progressduring the early laps of the stage, running 28th when the caution flag flew on lap 109, then climbing to 26th before running over debris that flattened his right-rear tire approaching turn two. Suárez spun but was able to keep control of his racecar. He limped the car back to the pits for fresh tires and restarted 31st, the second car one lap down. ● Suárez was running 30th and the first car one lap down when the caution flag appeared for debris on lap 156. Again, he was the beneficiary of the Lucky Dog back to the lead lap and restarted 28th on lap 161. ● He held position to the end of the stage despite grip issues in the rear of the car. The stage break pit stop on lap 188 saw air pressure and wedge adjustments and added tape on the grill of the Today. Tomorrow. Toyota Camry.
Stage 3 Recap (Laps 186-293): ● Started 27th, finished 25th. ● For the first time in the race, Suárez was unable to generate forward momentum on a restart when, after the lap-192 restart, he fell to 30th by the time the caution flag flew once again on lap 212. Even though he said his racecar was the best it had been all day, it got extremely tight in traffic. ● On the next restart, on lap 218, Suárez was able to move from 29th to 26th by lap 237. ● The caution flag flew one final time on lap 253 with Suárez up to 26th but the first car one lap down. For the third time, he was the beneficiary of the Lucky Dog back to the lead lap. ● Suárez restarted 26th on lap 259 and moved into the top-25 with 20 laps to go, on lap 273. ● He held onto that position the rest of the way to take the checkered flag in the top-25 for the second race in a row, albeit 70 days removed from the previous finish of 21st at Phoenix Raceway.
Daniel Suárez, driver of the No. 96 Today. Tomorrow. Toyota Camry for Gaunt Brothers Racing: “The race was OK. At this point, something that is positive is that we are overachieving. The speed that we have really wasn’t good enough to finish (where we did), but the team did a good job making good calls. I felt like we were able to defend our positions well and fight hard on restarts. We were able to get a decent finish. We want to keep getting better, but we are a young team. We are still building in many different areas. We will keep getting better as time goes on. Tomorrow, we are going to go to the shop. The original plan is to bring this car back for Wednesday. We will have to make some adjustments to try to make it better. We will go back to the shop tomorrow and have meetings and make adjustments based on that and come back on Wednesday. Hopefully, we can come back stronger. That’s the goal. Otherwise, it’s always good when you can go back to a racetrack, especially when we’ve been out of racing for over two months. That’s definitely a good feeling. The other side – it was very weird, just to show up to a racetrack and not being able to talk to anyone, and just go race and leave. It’s a little bit different. It’s not something that we want to get used to, but that’s what we have to do, for now, to be able to stay safe and to be able to put on a show for all the fans.”
Race Notes: ● Kevin Harvick won Sunday’s The Real Heroes 400 for his milestone 50th career victory, his first of the season and his second in 24 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Darlington. ● Harvick’s margin of victory over second-place Alex Bowman was 2.154 seconds. ● There were 10 caution periods for a total of 57 laps. ● Only 24 of the 40 drivers in The Real Heroes 400 finished on the lead lap. ● Harvick remains the championship leader after Darlington with a 28-point advantage over second-place Bowman.
Next Up: The NASCAR Cup Series returns to Darlington on Wednesday, May 20, for the Toyota 500k. The race starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. |