Category: Cup Series

Keselowski close but no cigar, still pleased with pace at Atlanta

Brad Keselowski came the closest he’s been in nearly two years of winning a NASCAR Cup Series race Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway until Joey Logano left him in the dust on the last lap. And yet, the former series champion was pretty content with …

Brad Keselowski came the closest he’s been in nearly two years of winning a NASCAR Cup Series race Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway until Joey Logano left him in the dust on the last lap.

And yet, the former series champion was pretty content with how it all went down afterward. Keselowski led 47 laps, including 29 of the last 30, en route to earning his first top-five finish of the season.

“Disappointed is a strong word,” Keselowski said. “I’m really proud of how we ran. Glad we’re leading laps. Glad we’re in position to win races. We’re controlling the things we can control.

“I’m disappointed that Joey got such a great run; I’ve got to take a look and see how…he pulled that off. But I’m not disappointed with my team.”

Keselowski and Logano engaged in a back-and-forth battle over the last 15 laps. After initially getting clear of the field with 29 laps to go, the No. 6 controlled the lanes while Logano kept trying to find a run, eventually getting a nose under Keselowski off Turn 2 with 13 laps to go. It pulled the lanes back even, and both fought for the edge.

The two stayed side-by-side until Keselowski got clear of the field again with five laps to go. But again, the run didn’t last. Coming to the white flag, Keselowski ran clear in the lead, Christopher Bell with Logano still charging on the bottom. Logano’s run came into Turns 1 and 2, and he jumped to the outside and around Keselowski.

The RFK driver had yet to see a replay when dissecting the end of the race but didn’t feel he could have done anything differently. It wasn’t that he thought he lost the race, but Logano won it on a great move. The only other move Keselowski had in his arsenal wasn’t one he wanted to pull.

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“He made a great move. He deserves credit for it,” he said. “I don’t really think there was any way I was going to stop that without wrecking us all.”

Former teammates at Team Penske, Keselowski and Logano were not unfamiliar with each others’ superspeedway prowess. But they were just two of the drivers in the main pack who put on a show as the race wound down, as the third and final stage saw the field run side-by-side more than it had in the first two stages — still a much cleaner race than the ones seen Saturday.

“This is actually one of the best races here, I think, you’re ever going to see,” Keselowski said. “I was really impressed that we were able to run the last 40, 50-something laps without everybody just wrecking each other.

“I think it was a good mix of drivers up front that ran smart races and showed you can run side by side and do this without wrecking each other. It really is the drivers that make the decision. I ran next to Joey, I think side-by-side, for 10 to 20 laps, and we were racing really hard, but we didn’t wreck each other. Tyler (Reddick) was behind me and gave great pushes, and he didn’t get crazy on them and cause us all to wreck. I really appreciate that.”

In addition to the laps led and the runner-up finish, Keselowski earned points in both stages. While it’s his first top-five finish of the season, Atlanta now makes two top-10 finishes, and he is fifth in the championship standings after five races.

“It was a good day; really solid,” Keselowski said. “I’m proud of our team, we’re just continuing to improve, and you need days like this. You just wish they were wins, but we were right there.

“It just didn’t come together there at the end. Joey got such a huge run down the frontstretch there was nothing I could do to stop it — other than wreck all of us — and that wasn’t going to do us any favors. Good day for our team overall; just one spot short.”

Including Atlanta, it’s been the best four weeks Keselowski could ask for. There is still speed to be found in his No. 6 Ford and execution that could be better, but the confidence is growing inside his team as they’ve made gains in the right direction from where they were this time a year ago.

“This is exactly the type of days we need,” Keselowski said. “Days where we score lots of points, we show people we can win races and we build our program.”

Logano uses last lap draft to snatch first Atlanta victory

Deftly maneuvering his No. 22 Ford through the final two laps of Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400, Joey Logano finished the NASCAR Cup Series race where he started-at the front of the field. With a push from Christopher Bell on the backstretch on the …

Deftly maneuvering his No. 22 Ford through the final two laps of Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400, Joey Logano finished the NASCAR Cup Series race where he started—at the front of the field.

With a push from Christopher Bell on the backstretch on the final lap, Logano moved to the outside of leader Brad Keselowski with huge momentum and charged past Keselowski’s No. 6 Ford into the lead.

Logano pulled down to the inside lane through the final two corners and crossed the finish line 0.193s ahead of Keselowski and 0.194s ahead of third-place Bell.

“Yeah, first off so special to win Atlanta for me,” said Logano, a Connecticut native who began to refine his talent racing Legends cars at Atlanta. “So many memories of me and my dad racing right here on the quarter mile. This is the full circle for us. So many memories gritting over there with the Legends car, racing, having a big time.

“Dreaming of going straight at the quarter mile and going onto the big track. That was always the dream to do it. To finally win here means so much to me here personally, but the team (too).

“The Auto Trader Mustang—this thing was an animal. Very, very fast. Able to lead a ton of laps, race really hard there at the end, get a good push from the No. 20 (Bell) to clear myself. Huge victory. Nice to get one early in the season. Always feels better, but what a great day for us.”

Logano’s first victory of the season and first at Atlanta was no surprise. On Saturday, the reigning series champion led eight Ford drivers into the top eight starting positions for Sunday’s race.

Logano won the first stage wire-to-wire, leading the first 63 laps. In Stage 2, he finished second to Team Penske teammate Austin Cindric. All told, Logano led 140 of the 260 laps. Keselowski was second with 47 laps led.

The victory was Ford’s first of the season after Chevrolet drivers claimed trophies in the first four events. Logano is the second straight driver to win from the pole at Atlanta, following Chase Elliott last summer.

Disappointed with second place, Keselowski was nevertheless elated with the quality of racing in the closing laps.

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“The coolest thing about this race is two veterans showed you can run a race here side-by-side, bump-drafting, and not wreck the field,” Keselowski said. “It can happen if you race respectfully. I thought everybody did a great job.

“We were right there. Proud of my team and the effort. Nothing much we could do there at the end.”

Not that there wasn’t plenty of action before the final laps ended with Logano’s 32nd career victory.

After two relatively placid stages where single-file racing predominated, the intensity increased exponentially as the end of the race approached.

On lap 190, one lap after Kevin Harvick had taken the lead for the first time, Chastain pulled up close behind Harvick in the draft. Harvick’s No. 4 Ford broke loose and triggered a massive wreck on the backstretch that involved 14 cars.

Harvick was eliminated, along with William Byron, Chris Buescher, Harrison Burton and BJ McLeod. The defending race winner, Byron was seeking his third straight Cup victory of the season.

“It looked like the No. 1 (Chastain) and the No. 4 just got connected there into Turn 1 and got the No. 4 loose,” Byron said after a mandatory visit to the infield care center. “It’s just part of racing. That’s the way it goes—not really in our control. We were up there running in the top-five and doing what we needed to do.”

Harvick’s assessment of the wreck was essentially the same.

“I think he just caught me so quick right there in the middle of the corner, and then he kind of was up on the right rear part of the (car) and he came back down, and when he came back down it just spun the thing out,” Harvick said. “I don’t think he actually even hit me, but it started chattering the rear tires, and then I was just along for the ride.”

Nineteen laps later, a five-car accident off Turn 4—triggered when one of then-leader Aric Almirola’s tires went flat—knocked Almirola, Kyle Larson and Daniel Suárez out of the race.

“There was nowhere to go,” Larson said ruefully. “Nobody had been having tire issues, so I wasn’t even expecting the No. 10 (Almirola) to have a tire issue in front of me. Even if I did, I didn’t have time to react.

“It’s a bummer. Just frustrating… I was finally up front on this style of race track and still end up with a DNF. I don’t know—just frustrating.”

Corey LaJoie finished a career-best fourth, followed by Tyler Reddick, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Erik Jones, Ty Gibbs and Kyle Busch. LaJoie also gave Logano a push as the winner worked his way back to the front.

“I hope he gives me a shout-out for pushing him,” LaJoie said. “Gave him a good shot there at the end.”

RESULTS

One year on, Keselowski understands NASCAR’s penalty predicaments

As the first driver hit with an L2 penalty for modifications made to a single-source supplied part on the Next Gen car, Brad Keselowski understands the situation NASCAR and Hendrick Motorsports are in this week. Keselowski, admittedly, is not …

As the first driver hit with an L2 penalty for modifications made to a single-source supplied part on the Next Gen car, Brad Keselowski understands the situation NASCAR and Hendrick Motorsports are in this week.

Keselowski, admittedly, is not educated enough to speak to the specific issue with the Hendrick Motorsports louvers, not having seen the ones confiscated last weekend at Phoenix Raceway. NASCAR officials deemed they were modified and hit the team with 100-point deductions, playoff point deductions and fines.

A year ago, Keselowski’s No. 6 Ford was under scrutiny after the spring race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. His car was one of the random cars taken by NASCAR post-race for further evaluation at the R&D Center. It was found that a tail panel had been modified, which Keselowski later explained was a repair job that could have been better, forcing NASCAR’s hand when it came to issuing a penalty and showing the pieces were not to be touched.

“It was tough,” Keselowski said. “Immediate emotions are to be frustrated and angry, but I don’t feel that way today. In fact, when I saw NASCAR a couple of weeks ago, we had a car get inspected after Daytona, I made a comment to them. Honestly, I told them, ‘Thank you. It’s one of the best things to ever happen to us.’ We came out of it better. It was good for the industry.

“From our perspective, it changed our culture inside of the company to where we had better behaviors. I thought it set a tone for the industry — again, I can’t speak for Hendrick, but with our issues.”

He was forthcoming with information after the process played out with RFK Racing losing its appeal. Not only did Keselowski say he understood the penalty (and later in the year said NASCAR has been too lenient and can control the garage by issuing penalties like candy), but he found the appeals process to be fair and different from what he anticipated. The co-owner continued to share those same sentiments Saturday.

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“I think I made a few comments a month later about the importance of penalties in the garage. They serve a purpose,” Keselowski said. “I think it’s really easy, and I’ve fallen victim to this as well – to look at NASCAR as the boogieman. In a lot of ways, they’re trying to help us and trying to help the sport and make sure that it can be healthy. Whether or not NASCAR is right or Hendrick is right with their penalty, I don’t know to that specific situation, but as a whole, I do understand the inclination and the emotion behind the teams and maybe the fans getting fired up over a penalty.

“But in the end, penalties are there for a reason. They’re there to make this circus somewhat manageable and sustainable, so as to what ends up happening with Hendrick, I can’t speak to it again, not knowing enough, but from my perspective and kind of having lived it, I’m probably 180 from where I was a year ago on it, and I understand it at a high degree.”

Hendrick Motorsports is arguing the parts are not being provided to the teams to the specifications they should be. The organization also said there’s been a lot of dialogue between the teams, manufacturers and NASCAR, but it changes weekly on whether the parts can be cleaned up if they don’t fit properly.

Both a driver and owner, Keselowski acknowledges there are issues with the parts. It comes down to ensuring teams have cleared any work with NASCAR.

“Yeah, there’s always a part somewhere that’s not what you want it to be, and there’s a portal that NASCAR has to submit those parts to, and there’s usually some dialogue and communication around that,” Keselowski said. “Generally speaking, I feel like NASCAR has been amenable to work through those and has gotten significantly better over the last year.

“We have parts, here and there, that are issues, and NASCAR has come up and said, ‘Hey, you can do this,’ or, ‘You can’t do it.’ It’s really more or less about the communication with them.”

‘We’ve got more to prove’ – Byron

William Byron not only seemed unfazed by the L2 level penalty his Hendrick Motorsports team incurred this week but said he was looking forward to the appeal process. “I can’t say the details of the penalty, of what goes on there, but certainly, I’m …

William Byron not only seemed unfazed by the L2 level penalty his Hendrick Motorsports team incurred this week but said he was looking forward to the appeal process.

“I can’t say the details of the penalty, of what goes on there, but certainly, I’m excited for the appeal and everything that comes with that,” Byron said Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. “(We’re) just ready for this weekend. We’ve got more to prove and we’ll just keep going.

“It’s good to get two (wins) in a row the last couple of weeks. I feel like we’re on a good roll and this is a really good racetrack for us. We won here last year. I was looking forward to hearing Chad’s (Knaus) comments yesterday, and all that was good. So, looking forward to the appeal.”

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All four Hendrick Motorsports teams were docked 100 points and 10 playoff points after NASCAR officials confiscated the louvers off their Chevrolets after Friday practice last weekend at Phoenix Raceway. Earlier this week, officials deemed the louvers had been modified beyond the level of trying to make the parts fit correctly.

Byron, Alex Bowman, and Kyle Larson also lost 100 driver points. The four Hendrick Motorsports crew chiefs were suspended for the next four NASCAR Cup Series races and also fined $100,000 each.

Friday at Atlanta, Knaus said teams are not receiving parts to the correct specifications, and it’s a terrible position for the organization and the industry. Knaus also noted while the teams are being held accountable to present legal cars for competition, no one is holding the suppliers of the parts to that same level.

“When we started to get parts at the beginning of the 2023 season, we didn’t have the parts we thought we were going to have,” Knaus said. “Through a tremendous amount of back and forth with NASCAR and the OEM and the teams, there’s been conversations about whether we can clean up the parts, not clean up the parts and it’s changed, quite honestly, every couple of weeks. So, it’s been challenging for us to navigate, and we’re going to have to see what happens when we get through the appeal.”

Byron enters Atlanta as the defending race winner, coming off back-to-back wins at Las Vegas and Phoenix. Byron and his teammates were dominant during the Western swing, with over 500 laps led between the four of them.

All four Hendrick Motorsports drivers are outside the top 20 in points. Byron and Larson have negative playoff points after the penalty. But Byron said it’s early in the season, and depending on the appeal plays out, his team will adjust. He anticipates the same speed and pace in their race cars and said the No. 24 team would continue to push hard each weekend toward the playoffs.

If anything, Byron is more motivated to succeed after the penalties.

“Absolutely,” Byron said. “I really get excited about coming to the racetrack right now. I was excited in the offseason with the group I know we have. So if anything, it just shows that we’re not there yet. We have more to prove, and we have more to go out there and accomplish. I think that’s a dangerous thing, right? We’re going out there with a goal in mind; a specific goal to win every week. We’re going to keep pushing for that every single week.

While drawing strength from his back-to-back wins, Byron is keeping the focus on how his 24 team can improve, noting that Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 actually looked more hooked up at Phoenix. Matt Thacker/Motorsport Images

“It starts during the week. A lot of the weekend stuff is a result of what we do and our processes back at the shop and communicating with one another. I think that process started on Monday as soon as we got back from Phoenix — what could we have done better at Phoenix? Because that’s a really important racetrack. There were certainly things we could have done better there. I thought the 4 car (Kevin Harvick) was the best car. I thought we were second or third-best, kind of right there with the 5 (Larson). So, I think there were things last week that we could have done better.

“We addressed all of that Monday and Tuesday and Tuesday night, turned the page to focus on Atlanta. Obviously, this place has been good for us in the past, but July wasn’t quite as good. So we looked at a lot of the things that Chase (Elliott) and the 9 team were doing really well here in July and tried to apply that to this weekend for us.”

Hamlin will appeal penalty over Chastain incident

Denny Hamlin has changed his mind and will appeal the penalty NASCAR levied against him earlier this week for fencing Ross Chastain on the last lap at Phoenix Raceway. But Hamlin isn’t talking about the decision or what happened last weekend. “I …

Denny Hamlin has changed his mind and will appeal the penalty NASCAR levied against him earlier this week for fencing Ross Chastain on the last lap at Phoenix Raceway.

But Hamlin isn’t talking about the decision or what happened last weekend.

“I think you should get your Shingrix shingle vaccination, is what I think,” Hamlin said Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway when asked why he decided to appeal.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver used the same response to two other questions about the appeal during his media availability. When asked if that would be his response all day to avoid getting in trouble again, Hamlin said, “Can’t wait for Atlanta.”

Hamlin was fined $50,000 and docked 25 points Wednesday afternoon. NASCAR officials reviewed Hamlin’s comments on his podcast, “Actions Detrimental,” where he admitted he intentionally fenced Chastain.

“I’ve said for a while you’ve got to do something to get these guys’ attention,” Hamlin said on the podcast. “Ross doesn’t like it when I speak his name in the media and when I have this microphone. But I told him, ‘Well, I have a microphone, and I’m going to call it like I see it, and until you get a microphone, you can then say whatever you want about me.’

“But the fact is, while I’m sitting here talking, I’m going to call things the way I see it, and sometimes I’m going to have to call myself out, which I’m the (expletive) who lost just as many spots as he did. But at the time, I said, well, I’m going to finish (expletive) anyway, and I’m just going to make sure he finishes (expletive) right here with me.”

Initially, NASCAR viewed it as a racing incident until being made aware of Hamlin’s comments.

“The way we look at these situations, they are all individual and unique to themselves,” NASCAR senior vice president of competition Elton Sawyer said. “When you look at this one this past weekend, we would have viewed that as a racing incident, but then 24 hours later have a competitor that has gone on a podcast — which I will say, we’re delighted Denny has a podcast. We think that’s great; he interacts with the fans.

“But when you start admitting you have intentionally done something that would comprise the result of the end of the race, then that rises to the level that we’re going to get involved. There’s no other way to look at that. We’re going to get involved in those situations. We’ve been consistent in the past with that, and we will be consistent going forward.”

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Hamlin had “nothing to say” about his reaction to the penalty. He also politely declined to share whether he understood where NASCAR officials draw the line between what’s hard racing and what’s intentional.

In the tweet posted Friday evening announcing he is appealing the penalty, Hamlin said what happened at Phoenix was not race manipulation or actions detrimental to the sport. Both of those were the rule NASCAR cited in its penalty to Hamlin.

“I don’t have a definition,” Hamlin said when asked for his definition of race manipulation. “I think it’s in the rule book.”

Hamlin and Chastain talked on pit road at Phoenix after the incident. According to Hamlin, they’ve called a truce.

“Just taking each others’ word for it,” Hamlin said.

Chastain did not listen to Hamlin’s podcast and didn’t have a reaction to the penalty. However, Chastain and Hamlin agreed they would judge each other on their actions going forward.

“Initially, when I’m hitting the wall and realizing we finished last of the lead lap cars, yeah, I’m mad,” Chastain said. “I’m human and we worked really hard to finish good, and we were going to. Yeah, definitely mad.

“On the cool-down lap, still mad, I just had a lot of self-talk and weighing out all of my options. I felt like getting out of the car and talking to him was going to be the best way I could go about it.”

Logano leads Ford dominance in NASCAR Cup qualifying at Atlanta

Joey Logano added another memory at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, and seven other Ford drivers followed behind him. Covering the 1.540-mile distance in 31.256s (177.374 mph), Logano won the pole for Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 (3 p.m. ET on …

Joey Logano added another memory at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, and seven other Ford drivers followed behind him.

Covering the 1.540-mile distance in 31.256s (177.374 mph), Logano won the pole for Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 (3 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) and led a parade of eight Ford drivers into the top eight starting positions.

That’s the first time since 1965 at Beltsville (Md.) that Fords have qualified for the top eight spots on the grid. Saturday’s result is even more impressive, given that no Chevrolets attempted to qualify for the Beltsville race, where Fords took positions one through 10.

Logano’s pole-winning run was 0.006s faster than that of Team Penske teammate Austin Cindric (177.340 mph). Ryan Blaney qualified third at 177.215 mph, giving Penske the second 1-2-3 qualifying effort in the organization’s history.

Brad Keselowski was fourth fastest, followed by Aric Almirola, Kevin Harvick, Chris Buescher and Chase Briscoe. Kyle Larson (176.213 mph) was ninth in the fastest Chevrolet.

Christopher Bell was the only Toyota driver to qualify for the final round, but he spun during his money lap and failed to post a time.

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The Busch Light Pole Award was Logano’s second of the season, second at Atlanta (but first with NASCAR’s superspeedway competition package) and 28th of his career. Inevitably, Logano’s success on the big track brought back memories of his early days in racing, when he competed in Legends cars at Atlanta.

“I’ve never been on the front row at a superspeedway — forget a pole,” Logano said. “Doing it here at Atlanta for me is special. So many memories here. I lived up in one of those condos for five years and raced Legends cars out here for six years.

“Just the memories of walking into victory lane a minute ago to get the pole award and thinking about driving my Legend car in there, with my dad and how cool that was, and always dreaming about being on the big track when I was running the quarter-mile all the time…

“I guess I try to keep those thoughts up front in my mind.”

RESULTS

Knaus explains Hendrick position on hood louver dispute

Chad Knaus was adamant Friday at Atlanta Motor Speedway that teams are not being given single-sourced supplied parts with correct specifications and Hendrick Motorsports only made the modifications to the hood louvers that resulted in penalties for …

Chad Knaus was adamant Friday at Atlanta Motor Speedway that teams are not being given single-sourced supplied parts with correct specifications and Hendrick Motorsports only made the modifications to the hood louvers that resulted in penalties for the team in order to make them fit.

“We made sure our parts fit the hood, and the hood closed and did all the stuff that it needed to do,” said Knaus, Hendrick Motorsports’ vice president of competition (pictured at left, above, with team owner Rick Hendrick).

NASCAR confiscated the hood louvers from all four cars the Friday of Phoenix weekend. Although issues were found beforehand, all four teams were allowed to participate in practice before the louvers were taken.

The teams were penalized earlier this week. In addition to $100,000 fines to all four crew chiefs and suspensions, the Nos. 5, 24, and 48 teams were docked 100 driver points, and all four teams were docked 100 owner points. There was also the loss of 10 playoff points.

“When we started to get parts at the beginning of the 2023 season, we didn’t have the parts we thought we were going to have,” Knaus said. “Through a tremendous amount of back and forth with NASCAR and the OEM and the teams, there’s been conversations about whether we can clean up the parts, not clean up the parts and it’s changed, quite honestly, every couple of weeks. So, it’s been challenging for us to navigate, and we’re going to have to see what happens when we get through the appeal.”

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Hendrick Motorsports did not request a deferral of the suspensions, and all four crew chiefs are not at the track this weekend. Without an appeal date, no decision has been made on whether the organization will continue to have Cliff Daniels, Alan Gustafson, Rudy Fugle, and Blake Harris serve those suspensions going forward.

In a statement issued after the penalty, Hendrick Motorsports said the louvers were taken four hours after the inspection without prior communication.

“It’s really confusing,” said Knaus. “We knew that there was some attention to the area when we first went through technical inspection, and that’s what’s really disappointing to me, quite honestly. We had plenty of time to get those parts off the part if we felt like there was something wrong. I can assure you if we knew there was going to be a four-hour lag and we thought there was something wrong, they would have been in a trash can being burned with fuel somewhere where nobody would ever see them. We had no idea we’d been sitting in this position. So, once again, really disappointing we are in the position we’re in right now.”

NASCAR expects cars to be legal when they show up at the racetrack. However, Knaus said for a voluntary inspection, he doesn’t understand the severity of a penalty seen post-race, such as with RFK Racing and Front Row Motorsports last year.

“Again, from my perspective, I think it’s different,” Knaus said. “A voluntary inspection, I don’t understand why you’d be hung and quartered for a voluntary inspection that typically you’d be told, ‘Hey, you need to go work on that,’ or, ‘Hey, we need to discuss what’s going on here.’”

Elton Sawyer, NASCAR senior vice president of competition, said officials work with the teams to ensure parts and pieces fit correctly. However, Sawyer said the louvers from Hendrick Motorsports were modified beyond that level.

Even with all the back and forth, the Hendrick Motorsports statement said there had been inconsistent and unclear communication from NASCAR.

“We submitted a part through the OEM to NASCAR and NASCAR chose a single-source provider for those components,” Knaus said. “The components haven’t been coming the way we expected them to be for a couple of the OEMs, as far as I know, in the garage, and definitely all of the Chevrolet teams.

“We started to have a dialogue with them in early February about those problems. So, it was us through our aerodynamic departments, through our OEM, back through NASCAR, back to us and back through our OEMs. So, there is a significant amount of communication that’s been had and it’s definitely confusing. The timelines are curious, but they’re there.”

Asked if he thought the parts were faulty or if they modified the parts to be acceptable by NASCAR’s standards, Knaus said, “I can tell you this, we’ve got a brand-new set of these parts that we can go pull off the shelf right now that NASCAR deemed illegal and inappropriate to race.”

Knaus denied Hendrick Motorsports learned something from the Garage 56 program to apply to its Cup Series cars. With a different engine and cooling package, Knaus said nothing translates.

Alex Bowman dropped from the point lead to 23rd in the standings with negative playoff 10 playoff points. William Byron dropped to 29th and has three playoff points, losing the 10 from his Las Vegas and Phoenix Raceway wins. Kyle Larson is 32nd in the standings with negative nine playoff points.

Knaus said every part of the penalty is harsh.

“I think it’s a terrible situation not only for us but the industry, to be quite honest with you. I think that’s what I dislike the most. It’s ugly. We shouldn’t be in this situation and it’s really unfortunate we are because it doesn’t help anybody.

“We as a company and we in the garage, every one of these teams here are being held accountable to put their car out there to go through inspection and perform at the level they need to. The teams are being held accountable for doing that. Nobody is holding the single-source suppliers accountable at the level they need to be to give us the parts that we need. Now that goes through NASCAR’s distribution center and NASCAR’s approval process to get those parts, and we’re not getting the right parts.”

SHR reveals Harvick throwback livery for North Wilkesboro

Kevin Harvick’s retirement tour will get another dose of nostalgia in the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro with a throwback number and paint scheme. Harvick’s Busch Light Ford will sport a paint scheme design similar to the one he used throughout …

Kevin Harvick’s retirement tour will get another dose of nostalgia in the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro with a throwback number and paint scheme.

Harvick’s Busch Light Ford will sport a paint scheme design similar to the one he used throughout the 2001 season and won his first NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It was Harvick’s third career start at the sport’s highest level after he reluctantly inherited the car after the death of Dale Earnhardt.

Along with the scheme will be the same number from the Atlanta race. Harvick will not run the No. 4 as he traditionally does with Stewart-Haas Racing, but instead, in a non-points event, sport the No. 29. Harvick used the number for 13 seasons at Richard Childress Racing.

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“When I sat in the 29 for the first time, it really wasn’t by choice, but I definitely wouldn’t have done it any differently,” Harvick said. “Dale’s passing changed our sport forever, and it changed my life forever and the direction it took. Looking back on it now, I realize the importance of getting in the Cup car, and then I wound up winning my first race at Atlanta in the 29 car after Dale’s death. The significance and the importance of keeping that car on the racetrack and winning that race early at Atlanta — knowing now what it meant to the sport, and just that moment in general of being able to carry on — was so important. I had a great 13 years at RCR and really learned a lot through the process because of being thrown into Dale’s car, where my first press conference as a Cup Series driver was the biggest press conference I would ever have in my career, where my first moments were my biggest moments.

“With this being my last year as a Cup Series driver, we wanted to highlight a lot of these moments, and many were made at RCR in that 29 car. So, with the All-Star Race going to North Wilkesboro — a place with a ton of history — we thought it made sense in a year full of milestones and moments to highlight where it all started.”

The Busch Light logos on Harvick’s car for the All-Star Race will be from the 2001 timeframe.

“As a proud sponsor, Busch Light has been along for the ride throughout Kevin Harvick’s celebrated career in NASCAR,” said Krystyn Stowe, head of marketing for Busch Family Brands at Anheuser-Busch. “Kevin’s final All-Star Race is the perfect time for us to revisit a bit of history and bring back the iconic No. 29 paint scheme with our 2001 logo as the ultimate ‘cheers’ to one of Kevin’s most memorable wins. We’re looking forward to seeing some nostalgia on the track come race day.”

Harvick is a two-time winner of the All-Star Race, having captured the $1 million prize in 2007 with Childress and in 2018 with Stewart-Haas. He has competed in every All-Star Race since his Cup Series career began.

The May 21st event will be the first time the All-Star Race is held at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

“I don’t know the last time the All-Star Race was the most anticipated event of the season,” Harvick said. “Fans are going to show up in droves. North Wilkesboro is a great short track, the asphalt’s worn out, and I think it’s going to be a fantastic event.”

Hendrick to appeal hood louver penalties

Hendrick Motorsports issued a statement Wednesday expressing disappointment over the penalties handed down to its four NASCAR Cup Series teams and announcing its intention to appeal them. “On Friday at Phoenix Raceway, NASCAR identified louvers on …

Hendrick Motorsports issued a statement Wednesday expressing disappointment over the penalties handed down to its four NASCAR Cup Series teams and announcing its intention to appeal them.

“On Friday at Phoenix Raceway, NASCAR identified louvers on our race cars during a voluntary inspection 35 minutes after the opening of the garage and prior to on-track activity,” the statement began. “NASCAR took possession of the parts approximately four hours later with no prior communication. The situation had no bearing on Saturday’s qualifying session or Sunday’s race.”

Kyle Larson won the pole at Phoenix Raceway and led a race-high 201 laps. William Byron won the race, his second victory in as many weeks. Hendrick Motorsports drivers combined to lead 265 of 317 laps at Phoenix.

Hendrick Motorsports said they would appeal the L2-level penalty based on facts that include:

• Louvers provided to teams through NASCAR’s mandated single-source supplier do not match the design submitted by the manufacturer and approved by NASCAR

• Documented inconsistent and unclear communication by the sanctioning body specifically related to louvers

• Recent comparable penalties issued by NASCAR have been related to issues discovered during a post-race inspection

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Despite the appeal, Hendrick Motorsports officials have not asked for a deferral of the four-race suspensions of its four crew chiefs. Those will begin this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

NASCAR officials fined Hendrick Motorsports a total of $400,000 (a $100,000 fine to each crew chief) for the confiscated louvers from its cars. All four teams were docked 100 points and 10 playoff points, and three of its drivers (excluding the injured Chase Elliott) were docked 100 driver points.

Hamlin fined over run-in with Chastain

Denny Hamlin has been fined $50,000 and docked points for intentionally fencing Ross Chastain on the last lap Sunday at Phoenix Raceway. NASCAR penalized Hamlin under section 4.4 of the NASCAR rule book and member code of conduct. The penalty covers …

Denny Hamlin has been fined $50,000 and docked points for intentionally fencing Ross Chastain on the last lap Sunday at Phoenix Raceway.

NASCAR penalized Hamlin under section 4.4 of the NASCAR rule book and member code of conduct. The penalty covers “attempting to manipulate the outcome of the race of championship” and “wrecking or spinning another vehicle, whether or not that vehicle is removed from the competition as a result.”

Ironically, part of the penalty also includes actions “detrimental to stock car racing or NASCAR,” and Hamlin admitted Monday his move was intentional on his “Actions Detrimental” podcast.

Hamlin has been docked 25 driver points. There was no owner points penalty.

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“The way we look at these situations, they are all individual and unique to themselves,” NASCAR senior vice president of competition Elton Sawyer said. “When you look at this one this past weekend, we would have viewed that as a racing incident, but then 24 hours later have a competitor that has gone on a podcast — which I will say, we’re delighted Denny has a podcast. We think that’s great; he interacts with the fans.

“But when you start admitting you have intentionally done something that would comprise the result of the end of the race, then that rises to the level that we’re going to get involved. There’s no other way to look at that. We’re going to get involved in those situations. We’ve been consistent in the past with that, and we will be consistent going forward.”

Hamlin was on older tires as Sunday’s race went into overtime. Going into the restart, Hamlin, who was fifth, said he intended to get the best finish he could, but once the drivers on fresher tires started to charge forward, Hamlin knew he would finish outside the top 10 and decided to take Chastain with him.

“I’ve said for a while you’ve got to do something to get these guys’ attention,” said Hamlin. “Ross doesn’t like it when I speak his name in the media and when I have this microphone. But I told him, ‘Well, I have a microphone, and I’m going to call it like I see it, and until you get a microphone, you can then say whatever you want about me.’

“But the fact is, while I’m sitting here talking, I’m going to call things the way I see it, and sometimes I’m going to have to call myself out, which I’m the (expletive) who lost just as many spots as he did. But at the time, I said, well, I’m going to finish (expletive) anyway, and I’m just going to make sure he finishes (expletive) right here with me.”

Hamlin further went on to explain, “So, I said, ‘I’m going to send him in the fence and door him,’” said Hamlin. “Now, my dumb (expletive) got caught up in it because I got pinned. He was between me and the wall, and so I got all screwed up and lost a bunch of positions for my team, which was stupid as (expletive). But at the time, I said, I’m going to finish in the mid-teens anyway because my car is just plowing here. I’m about to get eaten up by all these new tires.

“I was just like, if I’m going to give this car a hard time, it’s going to be here.”

The two drivers have a history dating back to last season. Hamlin felt he still owed Chastain after Chastain spun him in Feb. in the Busch Light Clash at the L.A. Coliseum.

Hamlin and Chastain had a conversation on pit road after the race, and Hamlin said the two can now move forward with better respect between them.

Sawyer said the sanctioning body encourages drivers to settle incidents among themselves but viewed Hamlin and Chastain as a different situation.

“We want them to show their personalities. We want them to settle this. We don’t want to be in the middle of it,” Sawyer said. “But this one has gone on for a little while. It went on last year. We felt like maybe we were in a good spot, it looked like it was rearing its head again, and then the comments that were made afterward put us in a position that we had no choice but to react.”