Tag: Richard Childress Racing

Hill roars to Xfinity Championship 4 with win at Homestead

An emotional Austin Hill climbed out of his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet on the Homestead-Miami Speedway frontstretch to celebrate one of the most significant race wins of his burgeoning career – claiming the Credit One NASCAR AMEX …

An emotional Austin Hill climbed out of his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet on the Homestead-Miami Speedway frontstretch to celebrate one of the most significant race wins of his burgeoning career – claiming the Credit One NASCAR AMEX Credit Card 300 trophy Saturday and securing one of four positions to race for a trophy in the Nov. 9 series championship finale.

Hill – who also swept both of the race’s stage wins — took the lead from Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer with 11 laps remaining Saturday evening at the 1.5-mile South Florida track and raced off to a healthy 3.045s win over the fellow Playoff driver and reigning series champion Custer.

It was the fourth win of the season for Hill and 10th of this career. But importantly, it is the first time the 30-year-old Georgia native will have a chance to race for the championship trophy after multi-win seasons the last three years.

 

“I worked so hard for this. A lot of people doubt me but I wake up every day to prove them wrong,” Hill said. “I deserve to be here and I deserve to race for a championship. This No. 21 team deserves it just as much as I do. They work their [butts] off each and every day just like I do. I’ve got to give it up to those guys. They gave me a hell of a car.

“I can honestly say I’ve never cried coming to the start-finish line, but I had to get my emotions together going into Turn 1 after the checkered. All the hard work and dedication that goes into this. I don’t think everyone’s going to understand what this means for me, for my family and for [sponsor] Bennett. … I had to be on it today.

Pausing to take it in, he added, “This is amazing. To be able to go the Final Four. I’ve worked so hard at this and my dreams came true.”

With his win and A.J. Allmendinger’s victory last week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, now only two positions remain for the title chase with one more race remaining – at the Martinsville (Va.) Speedway half-miler next week – to establish the championship foursome.

JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier – who only had three previous top-10 finishes at Homestead – took the checkered flag in eighth place which was good enough to keep the driver of the No. 7 JRM Chevrolet with the points lead in third place should he need that to advance to the championship race.

Custer, whose No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford led a race best 87 of the 200 laps, is now on that fourth-place cutoff line with a 28-point advantage over Saturday’s race pole-winner Chandler Smith. Smith, finished 13th and as with the bottom four ranked drivers is essentially in a must-win situation next weekend.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1428]

Hill’s rookie teammate Jesse Love ran up front much of the day and finished fourth. He’s now sixth in the points standings – 35 points below Custer.

“It just shows you how good you have to be to get in the Championship Four,” Love said, noting of the Phoenix finale, “I feel like if we could get there we have a shot to win.”

JR Motorsports teammates Sam Mayer and Sammy Smith finished ninth and 22nd, respectively and find themselves in a similar must-win situation to Chandler Smith and Love next week at Martinsville.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Aric Almirola finished third Saturday behind the Playoff drivers, with Love and JGR’s Sheldon Creed rounding out the top five. Custer’s SHR teammate Riley Herbst, RSS Racing’s Ryan Sieg, Allgaier, Mayer and last week’s race winner Allmendinger completed the top 10.

Of note, 18-year-old William Sawalich finished 24th in his much-anticipated Xfinity Series debut.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series moves to the Martinsville (Va.) Speedway half-miler next week for Saturday’s National Debt Relief 200 (4 p.m. ET on The CW, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Allgaier is the defending race winner. Almirola won at the track this Spring.

RESULTS

Busch ‘numb’ as yet another Cup win slips away in Kansas

Kyle Busch lost control of his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet and, with it, a chance to contend for the victory at Kansas Speedway. Busch led the Hollywood Casino 400 with 32 laps to go when he closed on NASCAR Cup Series playoff contender Chase …

Kyle Busch lost control of his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet and, with it, a chance to contend for the victory at Kansas Speedway.

Busch led the Hollywood Casino 400 with 32 laps to go when he closed on NASCAR Cup Series playoff contender Chase Briscoe through Turn 2. At the exit of the corner, Busch stayed with the high lane as his path to the outside of Briscoe but got loose, hit the wall, and then spun down the backstretch.

 

The No. 14 was running 26th and trying to stay on the lead lap. Busch lost the lead but stayed inside the top 10 at the time of the caution freezing the field, but he never led again and fell to a 19th-place finish.

“[I was] just running ten-tenths all the time, trying to make up speed and cover the [No.] 1 car and make sure I could stay ahead of him,” Busch said of the incident. “The [No.] 14 turned down the hill in order to get clear air from the guy in front of him, so I went to his outside and plugged a hole and then just air… For some reason, I just felt nothing off the corner, and I hadn’t really had that like that the whole time.

“Busted my butt. I hate it for my guys and everybody at RCR and ECR. They deserved to get the win today. We hung underneath the [No.] 1 car there for 15 laps trying to pass him, finally passed him, and could get away from him a little bit, would catch a lap car, would back up a little bit, and the gap just kept doing that. I guess I just got in too big a hurry.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1428]

Although Busch understood that Briscoe had his own race to run, the two-time series champion acknowledged there used to be days when lapped traffic would yield to the leader as the race wound down. Busch felt he wasn’t given a lane, which resulted in trying to force his hand into getting to the outside.

Briscoe finished 24th. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver was not a factor in Sunday’s race, earning an average running position of 22.5 and falling further behind on the playoff grid to 25 points out of a transfer spot.

There was no contact between the two in the incident, but Briscoe said, “These cars are so sensitive when you are off to the right.” He couldn’t run up against the wall like Busch and the leaders, so he tried to give Busch at least a car width of space.

“[I] saw him get loose as soon as he got to my right rear,” Briscoe said. “It didn’t feel like I was trying to do anything. I literally left him the top lane. These cars, as soon as you get off to the right, especially here when you are running the wall, they just get really loose. I hate it for him. He has been so close all year long and I am a Kyle Busch fan and wanted to see him win to keep the streak alive. I hate that we are a part of the conversation.”

Busch has won at least one race each season since becoming a full-time Cup Series driver in 2005. A victory before the end of the season would push the streak to 20 consecutive seasons.

“I’m numb,” Busch said. “I don’t know what to do.”

Hill seizes hometown Atlanta sweep in late-race Xfinity battle

Seizing the lead for the first time on lap 152 of 163 of Saturday’s Focused Health 250, Austin Hill stayed out front the rest of way to win his fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his home track. The 30-year-old driver from …

Seizing the lead for the first time on lap 152 of 163 of Saturday’s Focused Health 250, Austin Hill stayed out front the rest of way to win his fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his home track.

The 30-year-old driver from Winston, Ga., won for the third time this season and completed a sweep of the two Atlanta races. Seven of Hill’s nine career victories have come at race tracks using the superspeedway competition package.

“I’m speechless right now,” Hill said in Victory Lane. “Our Bennett Chevrolet had speed all day, but the handling just was not there the way that I would like. You come to these superspeedway-style events, and you want to have a car that’s trimmed-out. You don’t worry too much about handling.

“But I thought handling was going to be an issue, and it definitely played a part today. We made some right moves at the right time between my spotter, Derek Kneeland, and me. We got up to second and when we had that restart (on lap 150), I was contemplating, ‘Do I go top, or do I go bottom?’

“We both agreed that we have to go bottom and try to get to the lead, and if the bottom didn’t work out, then so be it.”

Hill got help from an unexpected source. He expressed surprise that he got a decisive push on the final lap from Toyota driver Corey Heim, who was making his first superspeedway start in the Xfinity Series.

 

Toyota driver Chandler Smith was equally surprised—and frustrated. Smith dropped to the bottom to attempt to pass Hill on the final circuit and briefly nosed past the front bumper of Hill’s No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Heim stayed with Hill on top.

“I expected my Toyota teammate to come with me, and he didn’t,” said Smith, who ultimately finished fourth in the No. 82 Joe Gibbs Racing Supra. “I’m kind of speechless.”

Heim, who finished fifth behind Smith, thought his best chance to win the race was to stay with Hill.
“He (Smith) had no run and no momentum, so why go to the bottom?” Heim explained.

After he pushed Hill clear of Smith, Heim tried a pass at the top of the track but brushed the outside wall and lost momentum. Parker Kligerman swept past Heim into second place, with AJ Allmendinger following.

Hill beat Kligerman to the finish line by 0.340s, with Allmendinger in third, just 0.004s behind Kligerman.

“Congrats to Austin Hill – he’s the master of this place,” said Kligerman, who matched his career-best finish in the series.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1428]

A multi-car crash on lap 145 dramatically altered the complexion of the race. Contact between the competitive cars of Justin Allgaier and Cole Custer ignited a six-car incident that collected the machines of Taylor Gray, Ryan Sieg, Riley Herbst and pole winner Jesse Love.

The wreck was particularly detrimental to Sieg, who is chasing Sammy Smith for the final spot in the 12-driver Xfinity Series Playoffs.

Sieg was running in the top 10 after making up a two-lap deficit—the result of an electrical issue in the opening laps—when the wreck occurred. He dropped from 10 to 44 points behind Smith, who overcame a pit road safety violation penalty to finish seventh.

The incident sidelined both Allgaier and Custer, who are battling for the regular-season championship. Allgaier maintains a 34-point margin over the reigning series champion, but both Smith (67 points behind) and Hill (71 points) now have outside chances to overtake the leader.

Note: Allmendinger, who led a race-high 40 laps, won the second 40-lap stage of Saturday’s race—his first stage win of the season. Love survived the last major wreck with the bumper cover of Herbst’s car stuck to the roof of his Chevrolet. He recovered to finish sixth. Five drivers led more laps than Hill, the race winner.

RESULTS

Busch satisfied with progress at RCR even as doors close on playoffs

Kyle Busch did not earn a berth in the NASCAR Cup Series postseason, but his Richard Childress Racing team took another step forward at Darlington Raceway on Sunday. Busch had an average running position of 14th but charged late in the Southern 500 …

Kyle Busch did not earn a berth in the NASCAR Cup Series postseason, but his Richard Childress Racing team took another step forward at Darlington Raceway on Sunday.

Busch had an average running position of 14th but charged late in the Southern 500 to get to second place behind Chase Briscoe. The two-time Cup Series champion had a tire advantage on Briscoe, having pitted during a rash of late cautions, but he was unable to mount a serious challenge for the lead.

It was his second consecutive runner-up effort, and fifth top-five on the season. Busch needed a win to get a place in the postseason.

“When I made it through a few of those guys on the start, I thought we’d have a shot to get there,” said Busch of believing he had the right strategy at the end. “I think we needed [Briscoe] to have maybe three or four more laps older tires for me to be able to break through the wake once I got within his air. I really didn’t have enough to power through that to get closer; I was kind of sliding already.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1428]

“I hate it for our guys and everybody on our team, everybody at RCR.”

Busch fell behind with a rocky season that saw him earn just three top-10 finishes in the first 10 races. During the summer stretch, he had five DNFs in seven races. But in the five races to end the regular season, Busch and the No. 8 team finished 12th or better in four of them, including stringing together three consecutive top-four finishes. He also led 37 laps in those five races.

“They’ve turned it around the last four or five weeks and we’ve run a lot better, and that’s been much improved and beneficial to our team and organization,” Busch said. “Something to build on and get better for. We just missed a lot in the early part of the year and through the middle part of the year to put ourselves in this spot to be outside looking in. So, to come in here for a last-ditch effort and have a shot – early in the race, I wouldn’t have thought we’d have a shot – it felt like we really overachieved there toward the end, and got a really good finish for what we had or what I thought we had.

“We’ll take it and keep building on it.”

Busch has not won since the first weekend in June 2023, but there have been close calls. He finished third in a three-wide photo finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway at the start of the season, and was passed for the lead on the last lap in Daytona.

“We just came up short,” Busch said. “Maybe I am a washed-up old dog, but hopefully, I can find a few more trophies.”

A victory before the end of the season would give Busch at least one win in 20 consecutive seasons.

Busch lacked last-lap energy for Daytona win charge

Kyle Busch lost his drafting help on the final lap Saturday night in Daytona and, besides wrecking Harrison Burton, had no other card to play. Busch led the field at the white flag but lost the momentum from Christopher Bell through Turns 1 and 2 – …

Kyle Busch lost his drafting help on the final lap Saturday night in Daytona and, besides wrecking Harrison Burton, had no other card to play.

Busch led the field at the white flag but lost the momentum from Christopher Bell through Turns 1 and 2 — a push that gave the Richard Childress Racing driver a few car lengths clear in the lead. But without momentum behind him, Busch fell into the clutches of the field off Turn 2 as Harrison Burton and Parker Retzlaff took a run on the outside to go to the front of the field. Burton was pushed clear of the No. 8 into Turn 3 and blocked Busch’s last-ditch efforts coming to the finish line.

“Unfortunately, [Bell], something happened off of Turn 2,” Busch said. “Or he got squirreled up and wasn’t to my rear bumper and then he was below the yellow line and I don’t know what was going on. It completely killed the bottom lane and the outside just rolled.

“Once we got to Turn 4, there just wasn’t enough energy with enough cars from behind me. I was relying on my own draft to try and pass [Burton], and that happened so slow that Ray Charles could block that. Besides wrecking him, there was nothing I could do.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1428]

A wreck with two laps to go in regulation gave Busch the race lead in the Coke Zero Sugar 400. He was the second car on the inside lane when there was contact at the front of the field. Austin Cindric spun from in front of Busch and Josh Berry was collected from the outside lane.

Busch chose the inside lane for the overtime attempt.

“I could have jumped up in front of [Burton] and probably taken that, but I don’t know that he would have kept straight on me,” he said. “I had more trust in [Bell] there, being a better ally, but didn’t work out.”

The two-time series champion remains winless on the season and without a spot in the postseason. Saturday night was his second consecutive top-five finish and fourth on the year.

“We did a lot of things right, had a lot of luck on our side missing a lot of those wrecks, which was really cool,” Busch said. “I’m glad to not get torn up and beat up more than I have already this year. A good day for the Cheddar’s team, everybody on this Chevrolet Camaro — they did a great job. Randall [Burnett] and the guys brought a fast car, so I hate that I wasn’t able to get the job done, but it is what it is.”

Denny Hamlin responds to Richard Childress Racing’s statement after Richmond

Denny Hamlin responds to Richard Childress Racing’s statement after Richmond in 2024. You don’t want to miss Hamlin’s clever response!

[autotag]Denny Hamlin[/autotag]’s potential win at Richmond Raceway has been well-documented over the last few days. Hamlin exited Turn 4 with the lead on the final lap, only to be hooked across the front stretch by race winner Austin Dillon. On Wednesday, NASCAR stripped Dillon’s automatic playoff berth, and Richard Childress Racing was not pleased.

In a statement, [autotag]Richard Childress Racing[/autotag] said they are “very disappointed” in NASCAR’s penalty and plan to appeal. Well, Hamlin had a clever response to the NASCAR team’s post. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver quoted the post and said, “Not as disappointed as I was off Turn 4.” The post went viral, with 15,000 likes and 849,000 views in under 24 hours.

Following the event, Hamlin was not pleased with Dillon and urged NASCAR to penalize the No. 3 team. The sport did just that by stripping Dillon’s playoff berth, penalizing the driver and team 25 points apiece, and suspending the No. 3 team’s spotter for three races. Hamlin is still disappointed, but the penalty fits the crime, in his opinion.

[lawrence-related id=16168]

Dillon takes wild overtime win at Richmond

It took a controversial full-contact finish but Austin Dillon claimed his first NASCAR Cup Series victory in two seasons in Sunday night’s Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway – vaulting from a 32nd place in the points standings before the race to an …

It took a controversial full-contact finish but Austin Dillon claimed his first NASCAR Cup Series victory in two seasons in Sunday night’s Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway — vaulting from a 32nd place in the points standings before the race to an automatic playoff berth with the win.

Coming to the checkered flag during the final lap of overtime, Dillon’s No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevy hit the rear bumper of the race-leading No. 22 Team Penske driven by Joey Logano crashing Logano’s car into the catchfence. Then Dillon immediately moved low on track and hit Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota as he was driving by. It allowed Dillon to take the checkered flag only a few feet ahead and claim the all-important win by a slight 0.116s.

As Logano and Hamlin drove their dented, smoking cars to pit lane, the 34-year-old North Carolinian Dillon did victory donuts and spoke about the win and the move he used to gain it. He reminded reporters later that this was short track-style racing and that he’s seen both Logano and Hamlin make similarly aggressive moves to win a trophy.

“I don’t know man, it’s been two years and this is the first car I’ve had a shot to win with,’’ Dillon said when asked if he thought it was a fair move for the win.

“I felt like with two to go, we were the fastest car. Obviously we had to have a straightaway. Wrecked the guy. I hate to do that, but sometimes you just got to do it.

“I got to thank the good Lord above. It’s been tough for the last two years man. I care about RCR, these fans, my wife. This is my first [win] for my baby girl. It means a lot. I hate it, but I had to do it.’’

“When given that shot, you’ve got to take it,’’ Dillon added.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1428]

It’s Dillon’s first win in the last 68 races and fifth of his career. His last trophy came in the final regular season race of 2022 at Daytona International Speedway which earned a last chance position in that playoff run. He was ranked 32nd in points coming into this Richmond race — 258 points behind the playoff cutoff line — and now he becomes the 13th driver to win his way into championship contention.

Noted his grandfather, team owner and NASCAR Hall of Famer, Richard Childress, “He knew what he had to do and they (Logano and Hamlin) would have done it to him.’’

After speaking briefly with reporters alongside his car on pit road, an angry Logano went immediately to the NASCAR officials team hauler.

“It was chicken &*#! — there’s no doubt about it,’’ the two-time series champion Logano said of Dillon’s move. “He was four car-lengths back, not even close. Then he wrecks the 11 [Hamlin] to go along with it.

“I mean, I get it, bump and run,’’ Logano continued, “I’ve done that, but he just drove through me, it’s ridiculous.’’

Logano’s crew chief Paul Wolfe was frustrated as well.

“It’s just a joke to call that racing. … something like that, that’s not racing,’’ Wolfe said. “We all put too much in this … that’s not professional what happened tonight.’’

Hamlin, who led the most laps (124) on the night, was equally as frustrated.

“There are no penalties for rough driving so it opens up the opportunity for Austin to just do whatever he wants,’’ said Hamlin, who was scored second.

“I got hooked in the right rear again. I was just minding my own business and he hooked me in the right rear and put me in the fence. I don’t know. The record book won’t care about what happened, He’s going to be credited with a win but obviously he’s not going to go far [in the playoffs] because you got to pay your dues back on stuff like that.

“But it was worth it because he jumped 20 positions in points, I understand that and there’s no ill will there, but I just hate that I was a part of it. … I understand it but I don’t agree with it.’’

Finishing just behind Hamlin were 23XI Racing teammates Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace. Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain was fifth. These positions were important with only three races remaining now to set the 16-driver playoff field.

Playoff eligibility changed throughout the race — sometimes dramatically so.

Wallace’s top-five run was enough to move him from a seven-point deficit outside the playoff 16 to just inside the top 16. He has a three-point advantage in that final playoff position now over both Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Chris Buescher, who finished 18th Sunday night, and Chastain.

Martin Truex Jr. who led the championship standings for much of the early season and held a 102-point advantage inside the standings at the Richmond green flag, took a big hit in the points. His No. 19 JGR Toyota had to retire early with engine problems taking a last place finish in Sunday’s 37-car field and now the 2017 series champion holds only a 78-point advantage above the playoff cutoff — ranked 14th still the highest ranked driver without a win.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs is 15th with a 19-point cushion above the cutoff line, followed by Wallace, Buescher and Chastain.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Bell, who led 122 laps and won Stage 1 — a series best 10th stage win – finished sixth, followed by Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson, Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar, Hendrick’s Chase Elliott and Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suárez rounding out the Richmond top 10.

Larson continues to lead the standings — now with a five-point advantage over Reddick and a six-point lead on his teammate Elliott. Hamlin is fourth, only 21 points back.

Not only was the race noteworthy for its dramatic ending and the shake-up in the points standings, it was a test run of the new option tire that allowed teams to have a choice of Goodyear rubber in-race. It certainly created a new element of strategy and suspense.

Suárez who tried the new tires early, for example, made up 15 points and took the lead immediately after his pit stop to change them.

“The option tire worked exactly as it was intended,’’ said Goodyear’s Director of Racing Greg Stucker. “They fired off immediately and were more than a half-second faster than the prime, which is big on a short track. Also, the options gave up significantly more than the Primes over a long run, as intended.

“What was really exciting was how different teams used the option tire at different times to accomplish their own goals,’’ he added.

With all the storylines, dramatic finish, and important new tire element, Reddick offered the understatement of the evening, “Wild way to end the night.’’

The series moves to the Midwest next week for Sunday’s Firekeepers Casino 400 at the two-mile Michigan International Speedway (2:30pm ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Buescher is the defending race winner.

RESULTS

Busch competing at Richmond with sprained wrist from Indy crash

Kyle Busch arrived at Richmond Raceway with a wrapped left wrist after it was sprained during the most recent NASCAR Cup Series race. “These great Next Gen race cars snap the wheel and snap your wrists,” the Richard Childress Racing driver said. …

Kyle Busch arrived at Richmond Raceway with a wrapped left wrist after it was sprained during the most recent NASCAR Cup Series race.

“These great Next Gen race cars snap the wheel and snap your wrists,” the Richard Childress Racing driver said.

Signs of healing over the two-week Olympic break — a brace giving way to a simple wrap. Kelly Crandall

On the roof camera of his No. 8 Chevrolet, Busch could be seen looking at his wrist after climbing from his car and taking his glove off following the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (July 21). A few days later, Busch was wearing a brace in a picture posted on social media by his wife, Samantha, while on vacation during the two-week break for the Olympics.

Busch was running sixth when he bounced off Denny Hamlin and spun in Turn 3 with three laps left in regulation of the Brickyard 400. The car made a full spin before making contact (on the right side) with the outside wall.

His wrist has no broken bones, and Busch will race Sunday at Richmond. There are no plans for a backup driver and Busch is fine behind the wheel.

However, he did admit, “Without two weeks off, I would not have been able to race. I’m good.”

Dillon fastest in extended Cup Series practice at Richmond

Austin Dillon paced an extended NASCAR Cup Series practice at Richmond Raceway as teams worked through the addition of the option (soft) tire to their allotment. Dillon paced the way at 118.965mph (22.698s). Bubba Wallace was second fastest at …

Austin Dillon paced an extended NASCAR Cup Series practice at Richmond Raceway as teams worked through the addition of the option (soft) tire to their allotment.

Dillon paced the way at 118.965mph (22.698s). Bubba Wallace was second fastest at 118.859mph.

Christopher Bell was third fastest (118.760mph), Martin Truex Jr., fourth (118.707mph), Zane Smith, fifth (118.702mph), Carson Hocevar, sixth (118.530mph), Chris Buescher, seventh (118.457mph), Michael McDowell, eighth (118.229mph) and Daniel Suarez, ninth (118.203mph). Ty Gibbs completed the top 10 at 118.043mph.

The fastest lap by the drivers in the top 10 all came within their first three laps on the track.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who was 24th fastest, ran the most laps — 91.

Cup Series championship point leader Kyle Larson was just 32nd. There are 37 drivers entered in the Cook Out 400.

There were no incidents in the 45-minute session. NASCAR did not dictate when teams, who had one set of option tires for practice, had to use their sets. Cup Series teams will have two sets of option tires to use during Sunday’s race.

Ross Chastain was fastest in the best 10 consecutive lap average. Chastain paced Buescher, Suarez, Dillon, and Truex Jr.

NASCAR explains why Busch’s top-four spot was restored

NASCAR felt Kyle Busch was not involved in the first overtime incident Sunday night at Nashville Superspeedway, and that’s why he was given his top-five position back. Ross Chastain spun in Turn 1 off the bumper of Kyle Larson, which sent the …

NASCAR felt Kyle Busch was not involved in the first overtime incident Sunday night at Nashville Superspeedway, and that’s why he was given his top-five position back.

Ross Chastain spun in Turn 1 off the bumper of Kyle Larson, which sent the Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet toward the outside wall. Chastain led the outside lane on the restart, and Busch was lined up in the row behind him. As Chastain spun, Busch went high to avoid him and bounced off the wall.

Busch slowed to avoid Chastain, who continued to slide with his driver’s side door toward the field. Ty Gibbs ran into Chastain, which sent his car for another spin cycle. As the crash was unfolding, Busch stayed high near the wall.

NASCAR put the No. 8 back in fourth position for the second overtime attempt.

“It’s not so much getting his spot back; his spots weren’t taken away because our rule clearly states that you must maintain a reasonable speed and reasonable speed is for what track conditions [are] at the time,” NASCAR Cup Series managing director Brad Moran told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “We don’t want to encourage drivers to stay on the gas and just bang their way through. What he did was he avoided the incident. We deemed him not involved in that incident. He didn’t stop. If he had stopped, he probably would have ended up toward the back of the field.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1428]

“But he was scored in the fourth-place position when that caution came out, and he didn’t get into the No. 1 [Chastain] or the No. 5 [Larson] and made very slight contact with the wall. We would deem that as not being involved in that incident, and that’s why he was able to restart where he was scored.”

Moran said the scoring loop determined the lineup when the field was frozen. Busch did not blend back into the field until after Chastain slid down the racetrack, which, at that point, was when nearly the entire field had passed him.

“It was loop No. 4, and that was the last loop the leaders were scored on,” Moran said. “Really, it comes down to, ‘Do we determine him being involved in that wreck?’ and we did not determine being him involved in the wreck. We determined he avoided being in the wreck.”

Busch’s fortune didn’t last. On the following restart, where he again lined up fourth, he was spun from behind by Chase Elliott coming to the green flag when Larson stacked up the field from the outside of the front row. Busch hit the outside wall, which ended his race.