Carl Edwards clinches sweep of Bristol poles in 2016

By Daniel McFadinAug 19, 2016, 7:08 PM EDT

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After teammate Denny Hamlin was fastest in the first two rounds, Carl Edwards put down a lap of 131.407 mph to claim the pole for the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

It’s Edwards fifth pole of 2016, his second in as many races and gives him a sweep of the poles at the short track this season.

“A little bit surprised, we didn’t make a mock (qualifying) run (in practice),” Edwards told NBC Sports. “That tells you how great of teammates I have. They’re so fast. They helped us a lot.”

Edwards’ five poles are a career high. Before 2016, the most he had in a season was three in three different seasons.

Edwards was followed by Hamlin (131.200), Kyle Busch (130.931), Ryan Blaney (130.637) and Matt Kenseth (130.619).

“I can’t believe we’ve qualified as well as we have this year and not gotten a pole, ” Hamlin told NBC Sports. Hamlin has an average start of 6.4 through the first 22 races of this season. “The top (lane) will definitely come in, it’s just a matter of if it will be quicker than the bottom. I think the bottom wears out tires, so you have to be aware of that.”

Blaney, the rookie for Wood Brothers Racing, will make his career-best start on a non-restrictor-plate track (fourth, Talladega 2014). His previous best was fifth at Michigan in 2015 and earlier this year.

“It’s been one of the smoothest day I think we’ve had,” Blaney told NBC Sports. “Our qualifying trim was really good and I thought our race trim was really similar, too.”

Jeff Gordon, making his fourth substitute start for Dale Earnhardt Jr., will start 11th. He hadn’t started better than 21st in his previous three outings. After qualifying, Gordon said he would not drive the No. 88 next week at Michigan because of a prior commitment. If Dale Earnhardt Jr. is not cleared to race the race there, Hendrick Motorsports said Alex Bowman will be in the car.

Behind him is rookie Chris Buescher, who earned his best Sprint Cup start. The Front Row Motorsports car is part of an alliance with Roush Fenway Racing and is the only Roush related entry in the top 12. Buescher, who won at Pocono Raceway in a fog-shortened race, is three points out of the 30th spot, which he must be within to qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Kyle Larson will start 23rd, followed by Kevin Harvick in 24th, marking his third straight race without advancing to the third round.

Greg Biffle spun with 16 minutes left in the first round and suffered light damage to his right rear quarter panel, Biffle had spun in the final practice session earlier Friday. The No. 16 will start 34th Saturday.

Tony Stewart, Jamie McMurray, Danica Patrick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. failed to advance out of the third round. Stewart will start 27th in his final Sprint Cup start at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Ryan Blaney wins NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway

By Mike HembreeMay 29, 2023, 9:06 PM EDT

Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images

CONCORD, N.C. — It was the longest wait for the longest race, and it ended on a very long day. And it marked the end of a long winless streak.

Ryan Blaney sprinted away from William Byron in the closing laps of Monday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and ended a 59-race winless streak.

Byron finished second and was followed by Martin Truex Jr., Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick.

Blaney pushed through several late-race restarts and held on to finally write finish to a frustrating losing string.

“You start to get to feel like you can’t win any more when you don’t win for a while,” an emotional Blaney said after the race.

Following the lead of his Team Penske teammate Josef Newgarden, who won Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 and went into the stands to celebrate with fans, Blaney ran into the CMS frontstretch grandstands after grabbing the checkered flag.

Contender Kyle Larson lost control of his car on a restart with 26 laps to go, starting a crash that also involved Joey Logano, Ty Gibbs and Christopher Bell.

He had maneuvered his way through a web of crashes and outran Byron, whose team kept him in or near the front with a string of fast pit stops.

The race was postponed by rain Sunday and was delayed by showers Monday. Rain had soaked the track most of the weekend, postponing the Cup and Xfinity Series races and cancelling Saturday night’s Cup practice and qualifying. Monday’s forecast was better, but the weather refused to cooperate. Rain interrupted the Xfinity race, which started at 11 a.m., and another shower stopped the Cup race during the second stage.

Charlotte Motor Speedway, which advertises itself as “America’s Home for Racing,” had become America’s home for raining.

Blaney, 29, scored the eighth win of his career. He last won at Daytona International Speedway in August 2021 and had posted four runnerup finishes during that span.

A mid-race collision between Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin left their cars seriously damaged and their feelings hurt. They were racing in close quarters on lap 186 when extended contact between the two cars sent Hamlin hard into the wall, resulting in major front-end damage. Elliott’s car sustained serious rear damage.

Hamlin said Elliott had a “tantrum” and that he should be suspended for the next race for what Hamlin called “a right rear hook.” Elliott denied intentionally wrecking Hamlin.

A few laps earlier, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski crashed.

The third-stage win went to Blaney. Following were Reddick, Truex, Byron and Ty Gibbs.

Chris Buescher won the second stage, leading Kevin Harvick, Keselowski, Joey Logano and Gibbs.

Byron won the first stage, leading a three-way battle with Christopher Bell and Blaney on the 100th lap. Bell was second, Blaney third, Reddick fourth and Truex Jr. fifth.

A crash involving Bubba Wallace and Aric Almirola resulted in the drivers having a tense red-flag discussion. Almirola shoved Wallace before the altercation was broken up.

Stage 1 winner: William Byron

Stage 2 winner: Chris Buescher

Stage 3 winner: Ryan Blaney

Who had a good race: Ryan Blaney had the day’s fastest car and held off a following herd over the final miles. … William Byron was strong throughout the race but couldn’t challenge Blaney at the end.

Who had a bad race: Seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson had a tough day in his third race of the year. He lost control of his car in Turn 2 74 laps into the race and slapped the outside wall. He lost a lap in the pits and ultimately finished last. … Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin had top-10 cars but both left the race after a controversial collision near the halfway point.

Next: The series moves on to World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois for a June 4 race at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott involved in big crash at Charlotte

By Mike HembreeMay 29, 2023, 6:46 PM EDT

CONCORD, N.C. — Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott were involved in a big crash midway through Monday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and each blamed the other.

Elliott’s car slapped the outside wall near the start-finish line, and his car made contact with Hamlin’s Toyota, sending Hamlin slamming into the wall. The front end of Hamlin’s car was smashed. Elliott’s Chevrolet also was damaged.

Both drivers parked for the evening, and neither was happy.

Hamlin said Elliott had a “tantrum” and said he should be suspended from next week’s race.

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

Elliott had a different view.

“The 11 (Hamlin) put me in the fence, and once you take the right sides off these things it’s kind of over,” he said. “Once you hit the wall in these things, you can’t drive them any more.”

Elliott denied intentionally hitting Hamlin, saying the crash was “unfortunate circumstances.”

Brad Keselowski hit the rear of Elliott’s car after the initial contact between Hamlin and Elliott.

After the crash, Hamlin tweeted data in support of his contention that Elliott drove into him.

Removing all doubt. His steering came back to the exact same position it had previously after we came off the wall.
The higher the line on steering the further LEFT it’s going. pic.twitter.com/DKo7mrLz28

— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) May 29, 2023

Monday Charlotte Cup race: Start time, TV info, weather

By Mike HembreeMay 29, 2023, 10:50 AM EDT

After two days of soaking rains, the longest race on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is set for a 3 p.m. ET start Monday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The 600-mile marathon was scheduled for a 6:21 p.m. start Sunday, but persistent rain forced a postponement to Memorial Day.

A look at the Monday Cup schedule:

Details for Monday’s Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway

(All times Eastern)

START: The command to start engines will be given at 3:12 p.m. by USO official Barry Morris and retired drivers Jeff Burton, Dale Jarrett and Bobby Labonte. … The green flag is scheduled to be waved at 3:23 p.m.

PRERACE: Driver introductions are scheduled at 2:30 p.m. … The invocation will be given by retired Air Force Master Sergeant Monty Self at 3 p.m. … The national anthem will be performed by U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal Elizabeth Marino at 3:04 p.m.

DISTANCE: The race is 400 laps (600 miles) on the 1.5-mile track.

STAGES: Stage 1 ends at Lap 100. Stage 2 ends at Lap 200. Stage 3 ends at Lap 300.

STARTING LINEUP: Charlotte Cup starting lineup

TV/RADIO: Fox will broadcast the race at 3 p.m. … Performance Racing Network coverage begins at 3 p.m. and can be heard on goprn.com. … SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry the PRN broadcast.

STREAMING: Foxsports.com

FORECAST: Weather Underground — The forecast calls for overcast skies with a high of 71. There is a 15% chance of rain at the start of the race.

LAST TIME: Denny Hamlin won last year’s 600 as the race was extended to two overtimes, making it the longest race in distance in Cup history.

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Details for Monday’s Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway

(All times Eastern)

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