Tag: Richmond

Buescher, RFK dominate en route to sweltering Richmond victory

Chris Buescher capped Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s dominant day at Richmond (Va.) Raceway with a trophy, holding off the field on a restart with three laps remaining to win the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 Sunday afternoon – his and the RFK …

Chris Buescher capped Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s dominant day at Richmond (Va.) Raceway with a trophy, holding off the field on a restart with three laps remaining to win the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 Sunday afternoon – his and the RFK team’s first victory of the season.

Brad Keselowski (also a co-owner of RFK) and Buescher combined to lead a race-best 190-of-400 laps – Buescher’s 88 laps out front was the most laps he’s ever led in a race in his eight-year NASCAR Cup Series career. It all results in an important automatic bid into the 16-driver Playoff field with only four races remaining in the regular season.

The No. 17 RFK Ford ultimately held off last week’s race winner Denny Hamlin by a slight 0.549s although Buescher had held more than a 5s advantage on Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota up until that caution flag flew for an accident involving Noah Gragson and Daniel Suarez in the closing laps.

“It was smooth sailing trying to take care of this Fastenal Mustang. It was so good, and trying to take care of it there…about the time (crew chief) Scott (Graves) said over the radio, ‘It’s working perfect, keep it up,’ and then there’s a caution,’’ said Buescher with a smile.

“But we were so strong during the race, I had a good feeling there about it,’’ added Buescher who now has three career NASCAR Cup Series wins. “So awesome to pull it off. I’m proud of everybody. That was a long way from the back.’’

That late-race yellow flag was the only caution flag on the day other than the two stage breaks, with the afternoon racing at the Richmond three-quarter mile track being physically demanding under intense heat – over 130 degrees inside the race car. As seventh-place finisher Martin Truex Jr. said smiling after the race, “My cheek feels like it’s sunburned. It was like a hair dryer blowing on you.’’

The 30-year old Texas native Buescher, however, handled the heat and the field, starting 26th but steadily working his way forward. He first cracked into the top five by lap 160 of the 400-lap race, chasing down then-leaders Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, Keselowski and Hamlin.

For a race with so many green flag laps, it was actually issues on pit road that thwarted several winning efforts, not problems racing on the track.

Wallace’s 80 laps out front mid-race in the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota marked the most laps led in a single race in his career, but he ultimately had to play catch-up when his team had a slow tire change on green flag pit stop on lap 175. He finished 12th.

With 56 laps remaining, race polesitter and Wallace’s 23XI teammate Tyler Reddick got flagged for violating the commitment line coming to pit road for green flag stop, relegating him from running among the top three to desperately trying to remain on the lead lap with the laps counting down. He finished 16th after leading 81 laps early – every lap of stage one en route to claiming his fourth stage win.

Similarly, Keselowski suffered a misstep in the pits after his No. 6 RFK Ford led a race-best 102 laps. He made an awkward turn into his pit during a green flag stop with 115 laps remaining and it cost just enough time to allow his teammate Buescher to take the lead with under 100 laps remaining.

“We wanted to finish 1-2. That’s the ultimate goal, but we still had a heckuva day,’’ said Keselowski, who finished sixth and won stage two — his third stage win of the season.

Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch – the all-time active winner at Richmond – finished third, his best showing on a short track this season. Team Penske’s Joey Logano rallied in the late laps to finish fourth and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Ryan Preece turned in his best showing of the season with a fifth place run.

Keselowski and Truex finished sixth and seventh followed by SHR’s Aric Almirola, Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon and SHR’s Kevin Harvick. Chase Briscoe finished 11th giving SHR one of its best full team efforts of the season – all four cars inside the top 11.

Every car in the 36-car field finished the race, the first time the full field was running at the end since 2018.

Buescher is now the 12th driver to win a race in 2023, leaving four Playoff positions still available for a new winner or the top drivers in points. Harvick and Keselowski hold more than a 100-point advantage on the 16th place cutoff. Wallace is up 54 points and Front Row Motorsports driver Michael McDowell holds an 18-point buffer on Joe Gibbs Racing rookie Ty Gibbs for that 16th position. Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger is 22 points behind McDowell.

Four races now remain to settle the 2023 Playoff field. The series moves north next week for Sunday’s Firekeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Harvick is the defending race winner.

RESULTS

Hocevar uses tire gamble to win Truck Series regular season finale at Richmond

Carson Hocevar’s race started in the pits with a flat tire even before the green flag for Saturday night’s Worldwide Express 250 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway and ended with a celebration in Victory Lane. The 20-year-old driver of the No. 42 Niece …

Carson Hocevar’s race started in the pits with a flat tire even before the green flag for Saturday night’s Worldwide Express 250 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway and ended with a celebration in Victory Lane.

The 20-year-old driver of the No. 42 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet passed the night’s most dominant driver, Ty Majeski, with only three laps remaining thanks to pit road strategy and a fast Chevy Silverado to claim his third win of the season by 2.308s.

“We didn’t come here to run second,’’ Hocevar said, adding, “I knew we had to do something different and new tires prevailed.’’

Corey Heim officially secured the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series 2023 regular season championship with a third-place finish in the opening stage. The 21-year old driver of the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota will start the seven-race Playoff portion of the season with an important 15-point bonus thanks to an incredible run to the regular season title that included a pair of wins. He finished sixth on Saturday – his series best 13th top-10 finish in 16 races.

“It really means a lot,’’ Heim said. “With TRICON Garage and Toyota Racing coming such a long way from the beginning of the year, I really felt like we had a lot of progress to make in the first four or five weeks and we’ve really been improving ever since.

“Tonight, it was a rough night at Richmond. It is kind of a unique race track. On the normal tracks, we’ve been really consistent. Still a good finish for us, but definitely want to do better leading into the Playoffs.”

After earning his second pole position of the season, Majeski absolutely dominated much of the race, sweeping both stage wins for the first time in his career and leading a dominating 168 of the 250 laps in the No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford. His truck was so good Saturday that he even overcame a mid-race pit stop speeding penalty to regain the lead late race and try to hold off Hocevar. Majeski stayed out while Hocevar pitted for tires with 40 laps remaining, however, and was ultimately unable to hold off the fresh tires in the closing laps.

“Just didn’t have enough there,’’ a frustrated Majeski said. “Obviously made a mistake there, speeding on pit road, but we had a chance to win even with the penalty. It’s just so disappointing. I don’t know if I’ve ever had a dominant vehicle that much faster than the field and to not win with it is so hard.

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“But we have fast race trucks and we’ll make a run at the Playoffs,’’he added.

The Playoff field – in points order – includes Heim, the 2022 series champion Zane Smith, who finished third at Richmond, Hocevar, Christian Eckes, Grant Enfinger, Majeski, 2021 series champion Ben Rhodes, rookie Nick Sanchez, Matt DiBenedetto and three-time series champion Matt Crafton.

Stewart Friesen came into the race ranked 11th, trailing Crafton by nine points, but Friesen’s No. 52 Halmar Friesen Racing Chevrolet had a disappointing qualifying run – 23rd – and never really mounted a challenge forward on Saturday. He finished 27th.

“We brought a dull knife to a gunfight tonight,’’ a disappointed Friesen said.

Hocevar led 64 laps on the evening – moving into the lead position while Majeski was recovering from his pit road penalty.

“We passed every single truck here. The No. 98 (Majeski) was the class of the field but I thought we were second and won with the second best truck because I have the first best pit crew and first best crew chief on the box,’’ Hocevar said.

“I just love it,’’ he added.

Rookie Jake Garcia and Matt Mills rounded out the top five. Heim finished sixth, followed by Crafton, Sanchez, Enfinger and 16-year old William Sawalich making only his third series start.

The 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs begin on Aug. 11 with the TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (9 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Enfinger is the defending race winner.

RESULTS

Kraus bringing Kaulig sim experience to reality at Richmond

Derek Kraus was finally able to take all the virtual laps he’s made for Kaulig Racing to the real racetrack Saturday at Richmond Raceway. The Cup newcomer practiced and qualified in the No. 16 Chevrolet ahead of Sunday’s race. He did so for AJ …

Derek Kraus was finally able to take all the virtual laps he’s made for Kaulig Racing to the real racetrack Saturday at Richmond Raceway.

The Cup newcomer practiced and qualified in the No. 16 Chevrolet ahead of Sunday’s race. He did so for AJ Allmendinger, who is at Road America competing in the Xfinity Series race but will be back at Richmond to drive the car Sunday.

It was the first time Kraus has run a Cup Series car, at least outside the simulator.

“I thought today went pretty well,” Kraus said. “It was definitely a learning experience with how these cars drive compared to Xfinity and Trucks, but I had fun. I can’t thank Matt Kaulig and Chris Rice enough for trusting in me. Hopefully, I did my part and helped get AJ a good car for tomorrow.”

Although it was shared publicly earlier this week that Kraus was going to be in the car, the call-up was not a surprise to him, having been told a few months ago by Rice — the team president — he would be getting behind the wheel this weekend.

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The 21-year-old does a bulk of the simulator work for Kaulig Racing and ran four Xfinity Series races with the team earlier this year. Dover, in late April, was the last time the young driver was behind the wheel of a stock car in a competitive race.

Going into Saturday, part of the anticipation for Kraus was seeing how the simulator translated to real life. He’s run many sim laps for Kaulig, work that includes trying to get the right feel for the tire combination, but has been doing so without real-world experience.

“I feel like this will just help overall from my side to be able to take what I learn here to use it toward the sim with making sure things are right,” Kraus said. “Before, I really had no idea what they drove like. Now I’ll have an idea and be able to take that to the simulator.”

Kraus does not have a full-time ride this season. In addition to his limited races with Kaulig Racing in the Xfinity Series, he made one start in the Craftsman Truck Series (Daytona) after having been a full-time Truck Series driver for the last three seasons.

“I feel like it’s a big confidence booster for them to have faith in me and trust me to drive the No. 16 car for AJ,” Kraus said. “It’s a big confidence booster for me and hopefully we can put something together for them at the end of the year.”

Larson says Hamlin feud still frustrating one week after Pocono

Kyle Larson had a “brief” and “fine” text exchange with Denny Hamlin, but the Hendrick Motorsports driver is still frustrated by what happened last weekend at Pocono Raceway. “It was brief and fine,” Larson said Saturday about his conversation with …

Kyle Larson had a “brief” and “fine” text exchange with Denny Hamlin, but the Hendrick Motorsports driver is still frustrated by what happened last weekend at Pocono Raceway.

“It was brief and fine,” Larson said Saturday about his conversation with Hamlin. “[We] just text a little bit late last night. He wanted to meet up, but I didn’t really feel like there was a reason to meet up because we were just going to agree to disagree and probably get more frustrated with him and I’m sure vice versa. I’m sure he’d be frustrated with me afterward, so I thought just the brief texts that we had were good and, ultimately, I think it was probably the best.”

Neither Larson nor Hamlin wanted to share what the two discussed.

Hamlin ran Larson hard through Turn 1 at Pocono, putting the No. 5 in a position where he was going to stay in the throttle and hit the wall or back off. By choosing to stay in the throttle and race side-by-side with Hamlin, the two went up the track and Larson bounced off the wall.

Under caution, Larson ran up to Hamlin on the frontstretch and squeezed him into the outside wall. Afterward, the Hendrick driver didn’t hide being angry at his friend and the lack of respect he felt Hamlin gave him.

“I think I did all my interviews before I saw a replay and I knew exactly what happened, and after watching replays, it pretty much confirmed what had happened,” Larson said. “So, my opinion on the on-track stuff hasn’t changed.”

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The more Hamlin has shared on the subject, the more Larson has disagreed with what happened. Larson anticipated Hamlin would say something on his ‘Actions Detrimental’ podcast that wouldn’t help the situation.

“I think he said a handful of things that made me even more frustrated throughout the week than maybe I even was after the race,” Larson said. “But we’re trying to forget about all that and go race this weekend and see if we can get a good run.”

Larson said that “over time” he’ll get over what happened between the two. But while Hamlin said if roles were reversed in Pocono, the same thing would have happened with Hamlin on the receiving end, Larson disagreed.

Going back to St. Louis, Larson said he had four or five restarts to take a shot at Kyle Busch for the victory and didn’t do anything dirty. It’s how he said he would have raced at Pocono.

“I respect Kyle, and that’s why I raced him with respect at Gateway,” he said. “And I respect Denny every bit as much, if not more. Or I did, so I don’t think I would have raced any differently than I did at Gateway.”

‘You adapt or you die’ Hamlin says about uptick in on-track aggression

Denny Hamlin made a conscious decision at Pocono Raceway to force Kyle Larson into choosing between racing side-by-side through Turn 1 or hitting the wall. It was not the first time, nor will it be the last time that Hamlin chooses to race …

Denny Hamlin made a conscious decision at Pocono Raceway to force Kyle Larson into choosing between racing side-by-side through Turn 1 or hitting the wall. It was not the first time, nor will it be the last time that Hamlin chooses to race aggressively.

“Honestly, I think it was after the [Ross] Chastain thing for sure,” Hamlin said of changing his on-track approach. “I was very vocal that I need to do something. At the time, the scales were like three to nothing. I was very frustrated. My team was frustrated at me for not doing anything.

“The mindset just changed. You have to put it out there that you are going to be aggressive.”

Chastain and Hamlin had a running feud throughout last season. The move Hamlin made on Larson last weekend was no different from what he did to Chastain in the same corner at Pocono last season when the Joe Gibbs Racing driver took advantage of an opportunity to send a message.

At the Busch Light Clash in L.A. earlier this year, Chastain got into Hamlin again. It left Hamlin again seeing an opportunity to get back at the Trackhouse driver, doing so on the final lap at Phoenix Raceway that resulted in a penalty from NASCAR.

“I think if a guy is going to run into you, you’re going to run back into him,” Hamlin continued. “That’s the way I’ve got to change things from this point forward because, for the most part, it’s been tough results for us at the end of the races, especially the last three years.

“I’ve been spun out of the lead three times, so it’s really, really tough. I just said it’s time to be more aggressive. I certainly hate that it came at Kyle’s expense, for sure. If there is anyone that I probably should protect, it’s those guys and my teammates. The win just meant a lot to me at the time. I made an attempt to pass him, and it didn’t happen the way I intended.”

One incident dates back to 2019 with Kevin Harvick in New Hampshire, although Hamlin didn’t spin. He made a run to the outside of Harvick in Turns 3 and 4 on the final lap, which Harvick responded to by going right and running into Hamlin to break his momentum. Harvick admitted afterward to waiting for the No. 11 to get “to the outside of me and put a wheel on him.”

Chase Briscoe spun Hamlin from the lead on the Indianapolis road course in the summer of 2021. The contact happened on an overtime restart, which was made worse by Briscoe being under penalty at the time and not racing for the victory.

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Alex Bowman spun the No. 11 from the race lead into the Turn 3 wall with seven laps to go in the fall 2021 race at Martinsville Speedway. Bowman went on to win the race. Hamlin interrupted his burnout and called him a “hack” afterward.

The Joe Gibbs Racing veteran and 23XI team owner believes moves like his at Pocono have become more accepted over the years. With the championship format that was put in place in 2014 — a winner-take-all system — Hamlin thinks there has been more hard racing at the end of races with a win-at-all-costs mentality.

He’s just been adapting to the system and trying to be more selfish for the sake of the No. 11 team — vying for race wins and staying in the championship hunt.

“I think it’s just different now,” he said. “The cars are closer together. Passing is more difficult than it’s ever been. Even Mark Martin would have to adjust his style in this type of car because the days of the gentlemen letting the guy go and you will just go and get them later – it’s just a different game nowadays. I wish we could go back to those days, but that is not where we’re at. You have to adapt to where you’re at. You adapt or you die.

“I feel like over the last few years, I’ve decided to be more aggressive because I’ve got used up by aggressive [drivers] and it’s hard to blame them at the time, especially in a race-winning situation. You’re upset when someone just right-rear hooks you or runs right in the back of you in stage one and spins you out and puts you in the wall. That’s one thing. Racing for the win is certainly a lot different from what it has been in the past and if you have one person willing to be aggressive and one not, aggressive will win every time. It’s just the facts of it, and usually, you’re not going to find two guys that are the nice guy at the end of these races anymore.

“Someone has to take it to the next level to want it. And then if you have two guys who really want it, you see what happens at Darlington where this person is squeezed. Well, next restart, this person is squeezed. That’s just what happens. I’m adamant that’s when the race fans win. That’s when they get to see the action and the passion they want to see.”

Byron in a league of his own in Richmond Cup practice

William Byron was fastest overall in Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series practice at Richmond Raceway with a speed of 117.101mph (23.057s) – the only driver to crack 117mph. Chase Elliott was second fastest at 116.364mph, Chris Buescher third at …

William Byron was fastest overall in Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series practice at Richmond Raceway with a speed of 117.101mph (23.057s) — the only driver to crack 117mph.

Chase Elliott was second fastest at 116.364mph, Chris Buescher third at 116.134mph, Erik Jones fourth at 116.044mph and Aric Almirola completed the top five at 115.984mph.

Justin Haley was sixth at 115.974mph, Christopher Bell seventh at 115.870mph, Ty Dillon eighth at 115.835mph and Bubba Wallace ninth at 115.766mph. Daniel Suarez completed the top 10 at 115.711mph.

Defending race winner Kevin Harvick was 16th fastest in practice. He ran a lap of 113.608mph.

Martin Truex Jr., the regular season championship points leader, was 21st fastest with a best lap of 113.027mph.

Kaulig Racing has Derek Kraus in the No. 16 for the Saturday events at Richmond while AJ Allmendinger runs the Xfinity Series race at Road America. Kraus was 35th fastest in practice. It was his first time driving a Cup Series car.

There were three teams that failed inspection at Richmond. Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott, and Justin Haley had their crew chiefs ejected and lost pit stall selection for Sunday’s race.

There are 36 drivers entered in the Cook Out 400.

William Byron was fastest in the best 10 consecutive lap average. Aric Almirola was second in the category followed by Bubba Wallace, Chris Buescher, and Chase Elliott.

ChatGPT ranks top 10 running backs in Notre Dame history

How do you feel about this list?

We recently put AI writing tool ChatGPT to the test and had it list what it believed was Notre Dame’s top 10 quarterbacks. The list surely caused some debate for some readers, but guess what? We’re going to cause you to think again by having it generate its list of the top 10 running backs in program history.

Some of you might disagree with what ChatGPT says, and others might even say the list is too short. However, the point of this is to make you think and spark discussion. Also, even though ChatGPT has not been updated since September 2021, it’s a safe assumption that no one on the Irish since then has played well enough to have a place on this list with the possible exception of [autotag]Kyren Williams[/autotag]. Just out of curiosity though, would you include him?

Anyway, without further adieu, here’s the list with ChatGPT’s descriptions of each player. Some entries have been edited for clarity and updates:

Ted Lasso hid a touching tribute to late journalist Grant Wahl during the newest episode

“It ain’t no use to sit and wonder why, babe.”

Warning: DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED EPISODE 4 OF TED LASSO SEASON 3.

Ready?

Ok.

Welcome to our Ted Lasso Power Rankings! Each week of the 12-episode season, For The Win will chat about the latest episode to see who is thriving and who is straight up not having a good time in the Ted Lasso universe. Let’s dig into it.

“It ain’t no use to sit and wonder why, babe.”

Those were the Bob Dylan lyrics that fans heard during the end credits as the latest episode of Ted Lasso paid tribute to the late journalist Grant Wahl. It is a perfectly fitting way to memorialize Wahl, whose unexpected death in December shook the sports world.

Wahl died of an aortic aneurysm while covering the World Cup in Qatar.

Ted Lasso co-creator Brendan Hunt said he and the showrunners felt obligated to “carry on the train of salutes to his memory” during the new season.

But it wasn’t actually just a tribute during the end credits. In fact, midway through the episode, there is actually an Easter egg that you may have missed if you weren’t watching closely.

Coach Beard was holding a copy of Wahl’s book. Here is how it looked:

Apple TV+

Beyond his contributions to the game of soccer, Wahl was actually directly affiliated with this show. Hunt says that the writer’s room reached out to Wahl to ask about his book The Beckham Experiment.

They hoped to hear what it was like for Wahl to write a book while embedded within a team with a new superstar on the roster so that they could apply it to their characters Trent Crimm and Zava (via Rich Eisen Show):

“Grant Wahl came back with paragraphs of answers within two days. He was incredibly generous with his experiences and it was really, really great and pretty helpful. We have a little nod to him coming up in this next episode. This was when he was still with us. We did not know what was going to come to pass.”

Hunt and Jason Sudeikis also appeared on Wahl’s podcast; it was the second-most downloaded episode he ever had.

Wahl later visited the Ted Lasso set in England and wrote about the experience on his Substack.

“The show brought a lightness that I didn’t realize how much I needed. It was a little like the effect the show itself had on me when I started watching during the pandemic.”

The show continues to bring light to Wahl’s loved ones. Wahl’s wife, Dr. Céline Gounder, tweeted that the tributes in this episode “means so much” to her and her family.

REVIEW: Ted Lasso’s third season feels like the end — now we have to trust them to stick the landing

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Here is what else is happening:

Suarez opens up about COTA fine and the ’embarrassing circus’

Daniel Suarez did not expect NASCAR officials to fine him $50,000 earlier this week but understood their reaction while he also focused more on the actions of his fellow drivers that led to his frustration. On the cooldown lap at Circuit of The …

Daniel Suarez did not expect NASCAR officials to fine him $50,000 earlier this week but understood their reaction while he also focused more on the actions of his fellow drivers that led to his frustration.

On the cooldown lap at Circuit of The Americas, Suarez went on the hunt for Trackhouse Racing teammate Ross Chastain and Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman. Suarez first knocked Chastain out of the way coming to pit road to get to Bowman and then repeatedly ran into the back of Bowman as a NASCAR official was directing the field.

Suarez was fined but not docked championship points.

“No, I was not expecting that just because we were running – based on SMT and stuff I saw – below 20 miles per hour,” Suarez said Saturday at Richmond Raceway. “It was very, very slow. And also, the No. 48 car (Bowman) was brake-checking me, so we were not going quick. There was one official there and that was wrong.

“I was not expecting anything, but it is what it is. NASCAR wants to send a message and it’s OK. I’m OK with that. It’s not right what I did, but I don’t think that anything else was going to happen. I wasn’t going to kill somebody like a lot of people thought. But it is what it is; I’ve already moved on from that.”

Suarez restarted fifth on the inside lane and was tagged from behind by Bowman, who Chastain had hit. The contact from Bowman sent Suarez into Martin Truex Jr., which spun Truex.

Compounding matters, Truex came to a stop after the spin right in front of Suarez. Doing so forced Suarez to stop and have to back up before rejoining the race.

“It is what it is,” Suarez said. “I’ve been trying to work on myself mostly during the week, try to clear my mind and reset about my team. I think the issue wasn’t really with one driver; I feel like it’s more as an industry, how we are allowing to have those bump and run restarts at the end of races and road course stuff. I don’t think that’s right.

“Unfortunately, I’ve been affected twice, both times running in the top five. That’s the frustrating part for me because we always run well in road course racing and then we get taken out by dumb driving from no one driver, but a lot of drivers. It’s something NASCAR is working hard to figure out, and hopefully, they can come to a solution.”

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Suarez didn’t have an answer as to what NASCAR could do to avoid the carnage seen on late-race restarts at road courses. Some drivers spoke about single-file restarts, warning that if nothing changes, the same incidents will continue to happen at Indianapolis (where Turn 1 was an issue last year) as well as the Chicago street course, which drivers expect could see the course blocked during an incident because of how narrow it is.

“All I know is that NASCAR is working toward trying to make a better solution for some of these restarts because it doesn’t look right,” Suarez said. “The sport looks embarrassing in my mind and in the mind of many people. That’s not real to just go into the corner and bump three cars to push people out of the way. That’s not real, and we know that.

“But they do it because they know that’s how some people got top fives and top 10s last week and some of the guys that were fast, like me, we finished 27th. So, if NASCAR does something about it that’s amazing, and if they don’t, I just join the party, and I drive dumb into some of those restarts as well because that’s the way that it pays off better.”

Although frustrated and having made contact with Bowman and Chastain, there was no physical confrontation last weekend. Suarez hashed things out with Bowman on pit road and has mended fences with his teammate.

Chastain said the two are “brothers” at Trackhouse Racing but every family fights. Both seemed to have moved on from the incident.

“We worked it out on our way; we know what we did,” Suarez said. “It’s not the first time we’ve been in this position, and probably won’t be the last one. That’s part of racing. Both cars, on a consistent basis, we’re running in the top five, and we’re going to have situations like this. Sometimes I’m going to be unhappy with him, and sometimes he’s going to be unhappy with me. I don’t see it as a big deal when it comes to Trackhouse. There is not a story there.

“I think the big picture is the problem. What are we doing as a 40-driver group that is not right? Hopefully we can fix that. And like I said, if we don’t fix it, then the group of drivers that are not doing this kind of thing are just going to join the party, and we are going to make this embarrassing circus even bigger.”

With points penalty nullified, Bowman happy to lead again

Welcome back to the NASCAR Cup Series championship points lead, Alex Bowman. “Definitely glad to have the point lead,” Bowman said Saturday at Richmond Raceway. He jumped back atop the standings earlier this week when the National Motorsports …

Welcome back to the NASCAR Cup Series championship points lead, Alex Bowman.

“Definitely glad to have the point lead,” Bowman said Saturday at Richmond Raceway.

He jumped back atop the standings earlier this week when the National Motorsports Appeals Panel amended the L2 penalty NASCAR levied against Hendrick Motorsports last month. NASCAR officials confiscated the hood louvers off all four cars after practice at Phoenix Raceway, ruling the organization had modified the single-source supplied parts.

In addition to 100-point penalties and losing 10 playoff points, all four Hendrick Motorsports crew chiefs were suspended four races and fined $100,000. Bowman had taken the point lead after the Phoenix race, but it only lasted a few days before the penalty knocked him to 23rd place.

Before the appeal was heard Wednesday, Bowman sat 16th in the standings after the Atlanta Motor Speedway and Circuit of The Americas events. The points were the most critical variable of the penalty, NASCAR officials feeling that it is a “strong deterrent” to violations.

While the panel noted the organization “violated the Rule(s),” the points – championship and playoff – were given back to each Hendrick team. The suspensions and fines stood.

“For me, it’s just my job to drive the race car,” Bowman said when asked what his expectation of the appeal was. “I was just focused on doing the best I could every week and making up the points that we had lost. Happy to get them back, but for me, just trying to drive the race car the best I can and maximize each and every week.”

It is the first time Bowman has led the point standings in his Cup Series career.

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He currently leads the 2023 field in top-10 finishes (five) and is tied with three other drivers for the most top-five finishes (three). And even though Bowman and the No. 48 team haven’t won a race, his average finish of 7.0 is also series-leading over Kyle Busch’s 9.0. They are the only two Cup Series drivers with an average finish in the single digits.

“Execution” is what Bowman said his team is doing right through the early part of the season.

“We’ve maximized our bad days,” he said. “We struggled a little bit at Phoenix but still ended up in the top 10. At Atlanta, if the last lap goes a little different, then we finish in the top 10 there, too. I feel like just maximizing our bad days and maximizing each little part and piece of everything throughout the races.

“This is a small sample size. It feels good to be leading points and to have this season that we’re having so far. We’re six races in and so much can change. We’re trying to continue that each and every week to keep that going.”

Through the penalty, Bowman’s team has missed a beat. Although crew chief Blake Harris has missed the last two races and will miss Richmond and the Bristol dirt event, there has been a familiar voice in Bowman’s ear: Greg Ives, whom Bowman worked with for five years, is the interim crew chief.

“I think Greg’s done a great job,” said Bowman. “It’s kind of funny how it worked; he came back in a hurry. It’s been fun working with Greg. Obviously, I’ve enjoyed that for a long time, and I’m glad to be working with him.”

Bowman starts from the pole at Richmond (Sunday, 3:30 p.m. ET, FS1) after rain canceled qualifying. Being the point leader is a part of the metric that helped give Bowman the top spot.