NASCAR Cup Series Championship

Kyle Larson won his second NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway by finishing third in a race that saw tire wear play a major factor. The pit strategy of taking two tires put him in position to hold off Denny Hamlin who dominated most of the race. Ryan Blaney was the race winner, passing Brad Keselowski just before the finish line. Last year’s champion, Joey Logano finished fourth and Kyle Busch came home fifth. Hamlin made a gallant effort but could only make it back up to sixth after leading the most laps. Chase Briscoe would finish 18th in the race, which put him third in the championship standings while William Byron placed fourth when he finished the race in the 33rd position. 

Denny Hamlin rolled off in the pole position with William Byron beside him. Hamlin took the lead with Byron a close second. Byron passed Hamlin for the lead with seven laps left in the stage. Byron would stay out front and win stage one with Hamlin third, Larson fifth and Briscoe tenth.

Ryan Blaney and Byron started stage two side-by-side, and it was Blaney who jumped to the lead. It did not take long before the caution came out for John Hunter Nemechek spinning on the backstretch. On the restart, Hamlin moved to the front and Larson moved up to second. The caution came out for a spin involving Shane Van Gisbergen and Chase Brisco blew a tire during the caution. Briscoe was able to get a new tire and not lose a lap, but his car was damaged and suffered a bad vibration. Hamlin remained at the front of the field when they restarted with Larson and Byron close behind. AJ Allmendinger blew a tire and hit the outside wall with 37 laps remaining in the stage, putting him out of the race and bringing out a caution. As the green flag fell, Hamlin once again took the lead and stayed there for the remainder of the stage. Stage two ended under caution as Ty Dillon blew a tire with just three laps remaining in the stage. 

Hamlin had a slow pit stop as his left rear tire was going flat, therefore the jack man struggled with jacking up the left side, dropping him to the eleventh spot. Kyle Larson also had an issue with his stop and restarted in the eighteenth position. Byron was able to take the lead at the restart with Briscoe in fourth. Larson had a right front tire go down with 98 laps to go in the race, having to make an unscheduled pit stop. Just two laps later, Briscoe had a right rear tire go down and he had to pit. The caution came out on lap 220 when Carson Hocevar hit the wall when his tire went flat. Briscoe was the first car one lap down, so he was able to get the free pass to move back on the lead lap. Larson took the wave around to get back to the lead lap. When they went back to green, Chase Elliott lead the field with his teammate Byron behind him. Byron passed Elliott for the lead with sixty laps left in the race. Austin Cindric brought out the caution with 54 laps left when he hit the wall hard. Byron was able to exit the pits in first place for the restart and Hamlin was beside him. After a spirited side-by-side battle, Hamlin got in front of Byron and started pulling away from the field. JJ Yeley brought out the next caution with 34 laps to go bringing the field in again for new tires. Both Briscoe and Larson took two tires and Hamlin and Byron put on four tires. The tire strategy put Briscoe first and Larson second with Hamlin and Byron behind them. It was a three-wide race between Briscoe, Larson and Hamlin, with Hamlin coming out on top of the battle. Byron was able to work his way around Briscoe and Larson as they both ran wide coming out of turn four. Byron had a flat tire and hit the wall with three laps remaining in the race, moving the finish to overtime. It was a mixture of people not pitting, Larson and others taking two tires, and Hamlin four tires. When the final restart happened, Brad Keselowski took the lead but coming to the finish line, Blaney passed him for the win. Larson finished third to win the championship with Hamlin coming up just short in sixth place.

William Byron won the Xfinity 500 at historic Martinsville Speedway to clinch his spot in the Championship 4 by dominating the weekend, from winning the pole, to both stages, leading a career high 304 laps, and ultimately the race itself. Byron was met with many cheers and a happy crew, saying “Things have a way of working out. God really tests your resilience a lot of times. We've been tested. Just unbelievable.” Ryan Blaney, who for the past two years won this race to clinch his spot in the playoffs, finished second after leading much of the final stage. With the second-place finish, Blaney was eliminated from this year’s Championship 4. Chase Elliott, who finished third, also fell short of moving on in the playoffs. Ross Chastain finished fourth and Kyle Larson fifth. With the fifth-place finish, Larson secured the last remaining spot in the Championship 4 on points, beating out Christopher Bell by seven points. Joey Logano was the other driver eliminated as he finished eight. 

William Byron was on the outside looking in on the Championship 4 NASCAR playoffs as Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe were locked in due to their wins in the past two weeks, while Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell both were well above the cut line in points. Therefore, Byron was in a must-win situation, along with his teammate Chase Elliott and Penske teammates Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano. Byron took the first step in his quest by securing the pole position while Ty Gibbs started beside him. Byron jumped out to the early lead while Larson was in second place. The first caution flag came out as Bubba Wallace turned Daniel Suarez in turn 2. Michael McDowell took two tires and got in front of Byron who took four tires, but Byron was able to pass McDowell on the outside when the green flag came back out. Byron would win the first stage by 3.5 seconds.

Byron started stage two just like stage one, out front and pulling away from the field. The next caution came out on lap 216 as Carson Hocevar spun out in turn two while he was in the 25thposition. The leaders chose to pit for new tires and Byron came out up front again. They would only run a few laps before Cole Custer was hit from behind by Josh Berry, spinning Custer out and bringing out another caution flag. Once again, they would only make a couple of laps before Cody Ware would lose his right rear tire and bring out a caution. Byron would not be phased by all the action on the track and would win stage two, sweeping the stages for the day. 

The final stage started with a jumbled-up field as pit strategy would put Byron back in the seventh spot and Reddick would lead the field to the restart. Blaney was able to pass Reddick for the lead. Josh Berry spun out on lap 279 when he was three wide in turn two, bringing out the next caution. Blaney would maintain the lead on the restart with Hamlin in second. On lap 379, Eric Jones spun out in the middle of green flag pit stops, leaving Ross Chastain out front as Blaney had previously pitted. After everyone else pitted under caution, it was Blaney in first and Byron in second. Hocevar spun out again on lap 398 as he slowed on the frontstretch and was hit from behind by Suarez. Once again, Blaney jumped to the lead with Byron right behind him. Byron was able to get beside Blaney going in to turn one with 44 laps remaining and Byron was able to come out of turn two with the lead. Hocevar once again spun out with 18 laps remaining when his teammate McDowell hit him in the rear. The leaders pitted for new tires, setting up an 11-lap shootout. Byron was able to pull away from Blaney coming out of turn two on the restart and never looked back, winning the race by .65 seconds over Blaney. 

Chase Briscoe punched his ticket to the Championship 4 with his win in the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Briscoe joins his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin who won last week in Las Vegas in the championship race. Todd Gilliland had a strong day, bringing his Dark Horse Mustang in second place. Briscoe’s teammate Ty Gibbs finished third, while fellow Toyota driver Bubba Wallace came home fourth. Cole Custer rounded out the top five in fifth place.

Spire Motorsports driver Michael McDowell started up front with Chase Briscoe beside him. The first half of stage one was a typical superspeedway race with three wide racing and multiple lead changes. With 18 laps remaining in the stage, multiple cars pitted for gas only and Chase Briscoe was hit with a pit road penalty. On the next lap, several other drivers made their stop, and Kyle Busch was penalized for speeding leaving the pits. The final groups make their pit stop with 14 and 13 laps remaining. Ross Chastain was the last of the group to have a penalty for speeding on pit road. With eight laps left in the stage, there was a multiple car wreck on the backstretch when Erik Jones hit the back of Noah Gragson. Ty Gibbs squeezed out the stage one win over fellow Toyota driver Tyler Reddick by about one foot.

Stage two was calm until the green flag pit stop cycle when Shane Van Gisbergen spun coming to pit road when he hit some water and got stuck in the grass, forcing a yellow flag. The green flag flew with five laps remaining in stage two. Chase Briscoe was able to block both lanes to stay out front and win stage two.

The final stage started out and John Hunter Nemechek led the field to the green flag. Cody Ware lost an engine with 23 laps remaining and brought out the next yellow flag. It came down to a shoot out with just over ten laps left. With two laps remaining, Chris Buescher was pushed a little too hard by William Byron who was being pushed by Carson Hocevar, bringing out the caution and sending the race into overtime. Teammates William Byron and Kyle Larson started in first and second, but Larson would run out of gas on the final lap on the backstretch and Byron was spun out coming to the checkered flag to hurt both of their standings for the Championship 4. Chase Briscoe was able to take the lead on the last lap and held on for the win. 

Denny Hamlin finished where he started the day, out front, to win his sixtieth career Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Kyle Larson had a strong car all day but, in the end, had to settle for second place. Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell came home third, with the third JGR car driven by Chase Brisco fourth. Another Toyota driver, Tyler Reddick, finished fifth.

Denny Hamlin led the field to the green flag to start the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with his teammate Chase Briscoe starting second. Hamlin jumped to the lead with teammates Brisco and Christopher Bell in second and third. Brisco quickly moved to the lead on lap two when Hamlin could not get his car into fifth gear. On lap 36, Carson Hocevar assumed the lead during the green flag pit stops and held it until he made his stop on lap 40. Michael McDowell led a lap before he made his pitstop and William Byron assumed the lead after all the green flag pit stops cycled through. Ryan Blaney hit the outside wall with nine laps remaining in stage one, bringing out the first caution flag of the day. Byron kept the lead to win the first stage, making it his eight stage wins this year. 

Byron was out front for the start of stage two, but it was his teammate Kyle Larson who got out front to lead the field. Larson gave up the lead to make his green flag pitstop on lap 120, handing the lead to Bubba Wallace. Wallace led five laps before coming in for his pit stop and Cole Custer led one lap before Larson cycled back up front. Larson remained out front winning stage two for his tenth stage win of the year. 

Larson started the final stage the same way he finished the previous stage, leading the field. Larson pitted on lap 215, giving the lead to Hamlin. Hamlin led four laps before making his pit stop, handing the lead over to Hocevar. Hocevar led one lap and turned the lead over to Brad Keselowski, who also led a lap. When the green flag pit stops cycled through again, Byron led Larson by just under one second. Byron lost the rear end of his car on lap 235, allowing Larson to pass him on the backstretch. With 31 laps left, Byron ran into the back of Ty Dillon, who was trying to make a pit stop, ending Byron’s day and bringing out the caution flag. After the pit stops, several teams chose to go with two tires, putting Brisco out front. When the green flag flew, Shane Van Gisbergen and Ty Gibbs got together in turn one, collecting several other cars. Brisco was still out front with just two new tires, and it worked well until Hamlin was able to get by him with four laps remaining. Hamlin was able to keep the lead for the win.

Shane Van Gisbergen came into the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway looking for his fifth road course win in a row, and he did just that but not before a hard battle with Kyle Larson. Larson would challenge Van Gisbergen in the closing laps, but would have to settle for second place. Christopher Bell had a strong car and was the highest finishing Toyota in third. Chris Buescher was fourth and Michael McDowell fifth.

Tyler Reddick started from the pole position with Shane Van Gisbergen beside him. Reddick jumped out front on the start until Van Gisbergen passed him on lap four. On the first lap, Kyle Busch had trouble getting out of the first turn and hit the wall, but he was able to get going on his own, therefore the caution was not needed. On lap ten, Austin Cindric spun out, greatly hurting his chance of making it to the round of eight. Chris Buescher took the lead with eleven laps remaining in stage one when Van Gisbergen made a green flag pit stop. Van Gisbergen got back by Buescher with six laps left in the stage and held on for the stage one win. 

Stage two started with A J Allmendinger in the lead and Buescher beside him. Allmendinger took the lead and stayed there until Van Gisbergen made the pass to take the lead with ten laps remaining in the second stage. Ryan Blaney passed Van Gisbergen in the closing laps of the stage and stayed out front for the stage two win.

The final stage started with Van Gisbergen back out front. The yellow flag came out for Austin Dillon as he hit the tire barrier on lap 58 but continued in the race. Kyle Larson made a bold move to get by Van Gisbergen on lap 63 to take the lead for the first time. Larson gave up the lead on lap 72 to make a green flag pit stop, handing the lead back to Van Gisbergen who led one lap before he made his green flag stop. Chase Elliott assumed the lead for the first time of the day and led a lap before Larson passed him to once again assume the lead. With 23 laps remaining, Van Gisbergen passed Larson by late-breaking into the hairpin turn. During the green flag pit stops, Larson retook the lead with 18 laps remaining. With 14 laps to go, things heated up between Larson and Van Gisbergen, and after a couple of hard driving laps, Van Gisbergen finally got by Larson. He would hold on in the final laps to pick up the win. 

Chase Elliott punched his ticket for the Round of Eight by winning the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway in a dramatic finish. Elliott passed Denny Hamlin coming to the checkered flag, after Hamlin had the dominant car all day. Hamlin’s teammates, Christopher Bell finished third and Chase Briscoe fourth. Bubba Wallace, who was leading the last lap, finished fifth. 

Joe Gibbs Racing held the top two starting positions with Chase Briscoe on the pole and Denny Hamlin beside him. Briscoe held the lead early in the race with teammate Hamlin following close behind. Hamlin was able to get by Briscoe on lap 20. After the green flag pit stops cycled through, Hamlin was back out front with Kyle Larson in second. Cody Ware brought out caution with 25 laps left in stage one when he hit the wall, knocking him out of the race. Although Hamlin chose to just put two new tires on during the caution, he was able to jump back up front and stayed there until the end of the stage for his fifth stage win of the year.

To start stage two, Christopher Bell led everyone to the green flag and stayed out front until John Hunter Nemechek and Ryan Preece got together when Preece faded up and made contact with Nemechek. After the green flag pit stops, Hamlin found himself in the lead once again with 35 laps remaining in the stage. Hamlin looked dominate in the second half of the stage and won stage two over teammate Bell, sweeping both stages of the race.

The final stage started with Hamlin in first place, but Chase Elliott passed him for the lead on the first green flag lap. Hamlin retook the lead on lap 196 until another caution came out on lap 211 when J.J. Yeley spun out when Carson Hocevar made contact with Yeley, sending Yeley spinning into the infield. When the green flag flew again, the field got stacked up on the restart, damaging eleven cars in the incident, including playoff contenders Austin Cindric, Joey Logano and Ross Chastain. Debris on the track brought out the next caution with 15 laps remaining. Hamlin experience power steering issues and had a slow pit stop, handing the lead over to Bell. Elliott chose four tires while everyone in front of him took two. Another caution occurred with eight laps remaining when Hocevar spun out while running in the top ten. It did not stay green long before the ninth caution flag flew as Zane Smith flipped his car when Nemechek contacted him and sent him into the wall. Ty Gibbs and Josh Berry were also involved in the incident. Wallace found himself in the lead when the white flag flew, but he and Hamlin made contact, opening the door for Elliott to slip by at the finish line for the win.