Clint Bowyer blasts NASCAR after new group qualifying at Daytona begins with multicar wreck

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The debut of Daytona 500 group qualifying endured an inauspicious start Sunday with a five-car crash that involved the Toyotas of Clint Bowyer and Denny Hamlin.

The wreck began when Reed Sorenson tried to block Bowyer. Sorenson’s Chevrolet collided with Bowyer in a pileup that also collected J.J. Yeley, Bobby Labonte and Hamlin (who had posted the fastest lap in the session so far).

Bowyer was upset after the incident, scrambling from his No. 15 Camry and running to Sorenson’s car. As Sorenson unbuckled inside the cockpit, Bowyer screamed and gestured wildly through the window.

He later absolved Sorenson of blame and excoriated NASCAR for the new format.

“It’s idiotic to be out here doing this anyway,” the Michael Waltrip Racing driver said. “There’s no sense of trying to be put on some cute show for whatever the hell this is. Then you’ve got a guy out there in desperation doing this crap. There’s no reason to be out here. These (teams) have spent six months busting their ass on these cars to have some guy out of desperation do that crap.

“But it ain’t (Sorenson’s) fault. It’s NASCAR’s fault for putting us out here in the middle of this crap for nothing. We used to come down here and worry about who was going to sit on the pole for the biggest race of the year. Now all we do is come down here and worry about how a start and park like this out of desperation is going to knock us out of the Daytona 500. We’ve been in meetings for 45 minutes just trying to figure out what everybody has to do to make the race. It’s stupid to be doing this.”

Bowyer isn’t locked into the field of the Great American Race and will need to qualify through Thursday’s Budweiser Duel or risk missing the season opener.

Sorenson, who doesn’t have a backup car for Daytona, apologized for hitting Bowyer.

“I was just trying to block,” Sorenson said. “That’s what got Matt Kenseth the win (in Saturday night’s Sprint Unlimited). I was doing everything I could to stay in front of Clint. Just a product of this qualifying. We’ll try to get a car and get in the race Thursday.”

Qualifying for the Great American Race previously had been determined by single-car qualifying laps. Last season, NASCAR moved to group qualifying. Sprint Cup teams complained last October after a similar debacle in the most recent restrictor-plate qualifying session at Talladega Superspeedway resulted in full-time drivers Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Justin Allgaier missing the race.

“It’s hard to stand behind NASCAR when everybody I talk to up and down pit road doesn’t understand why we’re doing this,” Newman said. “Maybe I need to get sit down and educated about this.

“Not what we wanted for our Caterpillar Chevrolet, no doubt, but we also avoided the next two crashes that come in qualifying, which should never occur.”

Kurt Busch, who finished sixth in the 2014 Indianapolis 500, suggested NASCAR adopt a qualifying format akin to IndyCar’s biggest race.

“We’ve got to find a better system,” Busch said. “So much hard work goes into these cars. Then you have a roulette wheel for qualifying, and it doesn’t seem it’s the proper system.

“We should just (qualify) one car at a time (with a) four-lap average. That would give a sense of pride instead of just shaking up bingo balls.”

Defending series champion Kevin Harvick also failed to advance and expressed his displeasure via Twitter.

As did his teammate Tony Stewart:

Hamlin, whose team managed to fix its damage and advanced to the final session, said group qualifying was “Mayhem. There’s no other word to describe it. Everybody’s on so many different agendas.  This stuff can happen. I don’t know, it’s the format we got to go by.  We’re going to try to do the best we can to play the system, make it work.”

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NASCAR suspends Chase Elliott one race for incident with Denny Hamlin

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NASCAR suspended Chase Elliott one Cup race for wrecking Denny Hamlin in Monday’s Coca-Cola 600, the sanctioning body announced Tuesday.

“We take this very seriously,” Elton Sawyer, senior vice president of competition, said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “The incident that happened off Turn 4, again after looking at all the available resources — in-car camera, data, SMT, which basically gives us (a car’s) steering, throttle, gives us braking — it was an intentional act by Chase in our opinion.”

Hendrick Motorsports stated that it would not appeal the penalty. Corey LaJoie will drive the No. 9 car for Hendrick Motorsports this weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway. Carson Hocevar will drive LaJoie’s car this weekend.

Hendrick Motorsports also stated that it would submit a waiver request for Elliott to remain eligible for the playoffs. Sawyer said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that “I don’t see any reason at this point in time why wouldn’t (grant the waiver) when that request comes across our desk.”

This weekend will mark the seventh race in the first 15 that Elliott will have missed. He missed six races after breaking his leg in a snowboarding accident in early March. Elliott, who is winless this season, is 29th in points.

Elliott and Hamlin got together shortly before the halfway mark in Monday’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

As they ran together, Elliott’s car slapped the outside wall. Elliott’s car then made contact with the right rear of Hamlin’s car, sending Hamlin into the wall.

“I got right-rear hooked in the middle of the straightway,” Hamlin said after the incident. “Yes, it was a tantrum. He shouldn’t be racing next week. Right-rear hooks are absolutely unacceptable. He shouldn’t be racing.”

Said Sawyer on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio: “In the heat of the battle, things happen, but they have to learn to react in a different way. … Our drivers need to understand that you have to handle that in a completely different way than hooking someone in the right rear and putting them in harm’s way, not only with just a major head-on collision like Denny had, but also other competitors.”

Sawyer also said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that “nothing gave us the indication that on that particular contact with the fourth-turn wall … that anything was broke” on Elliott’s car and could have caused him to come down and hit Hamlin’s car in the right rear.

NASCAR also announced that Scott Brzozowski and Adam Lewis, crew members on Michael McDowell‘s team, had each been suspended two races after McDowell’s car lost a tire in Monday’s race.

Winners and losers at Charlotte Motor Speedway

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A look at winners and losers from Monday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway:

WINNERS

Ryan Blaney — Blaney stopped his winless streak at 59 races and gave team owner Roger Penske his second major race victory in two days. Blaney had the best car but had to fight through restarts late in the race to win.

William Byron — Byron, the winningest driver this season, barely missed getting victory No. 4. He finished second and scored his fifth straight top 10.

Martin Truex Jr. — Truex logged his third top five of the season.

23XI RacingBubba Wallace was fourth and Tyler Reddick fifth, giving 23XI Racing a pair of top-five finishes for the first time in a points race.

LOSERS

Jimmie Johnson — The seven-time champion admitted having problems adjusting to the Next Gen car on a 1.5-mile track. He crashed early and finished last.

Legacy Motor Club — It was a bad night for Jimmie Johnson and his team’s drivers. Johnson finished last in the 37-car field. Noah Gragson was 36th. Erik Jones placed 32nd.

Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin — Two drivers who had strong cars didn’t make it to the finish after crashing near the halfway point. Hamlin said Elliott “shouldn’t be racing next week. Right-rear hooks are absolutely unacceptable. He shouldn’t be racing.”

NASCAR Xfinity Series results: Justin Allgaier wins at Charlotte

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CONCORD, N.C. — Justin Allgaier finally broke through for his first win of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season Monday night.

Allgaier stretched his last fuel load over the final laps to finish in front of John Hunter Nemechek. Cole Custer was third, Austin Hill fourth and Ty Gibbs fifth. Gibbs ran both races Monday, completing 900 miles.

The win also was the first of the season for JR Motorsports.

Charlotte Xfinity results

Xfinity points after Charlotte

Justin Allgaier wins NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway

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CONCORD, N.C. — Justin Allgaier won a fuel-mileage gamble to win Monday night’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Allgaier stretched his fuel to outlast second-place John Hunter Nemechek. Following in the top five were Cole Custer, Austin Hill and Ty Gibbs.

The victory was Allgaier’s first of the year and the first of the season for JR Motorsports. He has 20 career wins.

MORE: Charlotte Xfinity results

After a long day at CMS, the race ended at 11:25 p.m. The race started Monday morning but was stopped twice because of weather before it was halted with 48 of 200 laps completed so that the Coca-Cola 600 Cup Series race could be run.

When the race was stopped, Gibbs, Nemechek and Allgaier were in the top three positions.

Gibbs won the first two stages.

Stage 1 winner: Ty Gibbs

Stage 2 winner: Ty Gibbs

Who had a good race: Justin Allgaier has had good cars in previous races but finally cashed in with a win Monday. He led 83 laps. … John Hunter Nemechek, in second, scored his fifth top-two run of the season. … Cole Custer scored his sixth straight top-10 finish. … Ty Gibbs lasted 900 miles for the day and led 52 laps in the Xfinity race.

Who had a bad race: Sam Mayer was running 10th when he spun off Turn 2. He finished 35th. … Sheldon Creed finished three laps down in 28th.

Next: The series moves on to Portland International Raceway in Oregon for a 4:30 p.m. ET race June 3.