Kyle Busch announces he’ll make his return at Sprint All-Star race

By Dustin LongMay 12, 2015, 10:05 AM EDT

Kyle Busch announced Tuesday morning on Twitter “I’m back” and included a short video that showed him suiting up and walking out of a hauler in full uniform. The video ended with “#Rowdy Returns May 16th.”

May 16th is the date of the Sprint All-Star race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Busch is already qualified for that event.

Joe Gibbs Racing announced Tuesday morning that Busch has received medical clearance to resume racing.

Busch missed the first 11 Sprint Cup races of the season after he suffered a broken right leg and fractured left foot when his car struck an unprotected concrete barrier during the Feb. 21 Xfinity race at Daytona International Speedway.

Matt Crafton drove Busch’s car in the Daytona 500. David Ragan drove the car for the next nine races, and Erik Jones drove the car last weekend at Kansas Speedway.

Busch and the team never provided a timetable for his return, but he tested a Late Model car last week.

NASCAR and tracks have responded to Busch’s accident by placing temporary barriers in front of concrete barriers and by adding energy-absorbing SAFER barriers at other tracks.

Busch ranks second in the series in average running position over the past 10 All-Star races at 7.3 (Jimmie Johnson ranks No. 1 at 7.0). Busch’s average finish in the race is 12.3. He’s led 212 laps in the event, more than any other active driver over the past 10 All-Star races (Jimmie Johnson is next at 172). But in nine All-Star Race starts, Busch has yet to win, posting a best finish of second in 2011.

Here’s the video: https://amp.twimg.com/v/de388e32-9e8c-43e0-b487-d80af3ebf1c6

Drivers to watch at World Wide Technology Raceway

By Dustin LongMay 31, 2023, 7:00 AM EDT

After the fireworks from the Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR heads to World Wide Technology Raceway, a 1.25-mile speedway just outside of St. Louis. Sunday’s race (3:30 p.m. ET on FS1) marks the second time the Cup Series has raced at this track.

Much is at stake. The race to win the regular season championship has intensified. Tempers are high. The pressure to make the playoffs builds. Ten drivers have wins this season. Twelve races remain in the regular season.

FRONTRUNNERS

Kyle Larson

Points position: 11th
Best finish this season: 1st (Richmond, Martinsville)
Past at WWTR: 12th last year

While a driver coming off back-to-back finishes of 20th or worse might not seem like a frontrunner, it actually does make Larson one. His topsy-turvy season has seen him place outside the top 10 in back-to-back races four times. In the three previous times he had consecutive finishes outside the top 10, he came back to finish second, first and second. Can he keep that streak going this weekend?

Bubba Wallace

Points position: 15th
Best finish this season: 4th (Las Vegas I, Kansas I, Coca-Cola 600)
Past at WWTR: 26th last year

Wallace has scored three consecutive top-five finishes, his best streak in his Cup career. He has climbed from 21st to 15th in the standings during this run.

William Byron

Points position: 3rd
Best finish this season: 1st (Las Vegas I, Phoenix I, Darlington I)
Past at WWTR: 19th last year

Byron has finished no worse than seventh in the last five races. He’s led nearly 20% of the laps run during that time. Byron has averaged nearly 47 points a race during that streak.

QUESTIONS TO ANSWER

Corey LaJoie

Points position: 20th
Best finish this season: 4th (Atlanta I)
Past at WWTR: 36th last season

NASCAR’s one-race suspension to Chase Elliott gives LaJoie the chance to drive a Hendrick Motorsports car for the first time. This will be the best car LaJoie has driven in his career. Many eyes will be on him to see how he does.

Ross Chastain

Points position: 1st
Best finish this season: 2nd (Dover)
Past at WWTR: Finished 8th last year after angering Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott in separate incidents

Chastain has finished 29th and 22nd in the last two points races. He’s not gone more than three races without a top-10 finish this season. After his struggles last weekend at Charlotte, Chastain saw his lead cut to one point over Coca-Cola 600 winner Ryan Blaney in the standings. Five drivers are within 17 points of Chastain in the season standings.

Aric Almirola

Points position: 26th
Best finish this season: 6th (Martinsville I)
Past at WWTR: 5th last year

Almirola has finished 13th or worse in all but one race this season for Stewart-Haas Racing. In the five races since placing sixth at Martinsville, Almirola has finished an average of 21.0.

NASCAR suspends Chase Elliott one race for incident with Denny Hamlin

By Dustin LongMay 30, 2023, 5:39 PM EDT

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, Hamlin forced Elliott toward the wall. Elliott’s car slapped the wall. Elliott 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

By Mike HembreeMay 30, 2023, 7:00 AM EDT

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 Racing — Bubba 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

By Mike HembreeMay 29, 2023, 11:56 PM EDT

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.

Kyle Busch announces he’ll make his return at Sprint All-Star race