Noah Gragson wins Bristol Xfinity race for third consecutive victory

By Dustin LongSep 16, 2022, 9:53 PM EDT

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Noah Gragson held off Brandon Jones to win his third consecutive Xfinity Series race, AJ Allmendinger won the regular season title and Ryan Sieg raced his way into the playoffs Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Gragson was the only car not to pit with 25 laps to go and inherited the lead. He held off a furious challenge by Jones, who will take over Gragson’s car next year JR Motorsports.

The victory is Gragson’s sixth of the year.

MORE: Xfinity race results, driver points

Austin Hill placed third and was followed by Sam Mayer and Riley Herbst. Justin Allgaier, who led a race-high 148 laps, finished ninth after a speeding penalty on the final pit stop.

Sieg, who entered the race 19 points behind Landon Cassill for the final playoff spot, finished 10th to advance.

Sheldon Creed saw his chances to make the playoffs end with a crash on Lap 129. He was racing side-by-side with Ty Gibbs for the lead when Gibbs was hit from behind by Noah Gragson. The contact sent Gibbs up the track into Creed’s car. Both went into the wall and were eliminated.

“Man, that’s the way my year has gone,” Creed told NBC Sports’ Dave Burns. “We have speed at times and then stuff like that happens.

Not sure the score between the 9-54 is but eye test says it’s heavy on one end.

— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) September 17, 2022

That incident happened less than 20 laps after Landon Cassill, who entered the race holding the final playoff spot, went behind pit road for repairs after a mechanical issue. Cassill returned to the race 112 laps behind the leaders and moved ahead of Creed and Gibbs but could not gain on any other drivers. Cassill finished 35th.

STAGE 1 WINNER: Ty Gibbs

STAGE 2 WINNER: Justin Allgaier

WHO HAD A GOOD RACE: Brandon Jones’ runner-up finish is his best result in 13 starts at Bristol. … Riley Herbst’s fifth-place finish is his first top five since Nashville in June. … Stefan Parsons finished a career-best eighth.

WHO HAD A BAD RACE: Sheldon Creed, who entered the race 32 points out of the final playoff spot, was battling for the lead and the automatic transfer to the second round when he was collected in an incident. … A mechanical issue sent Landon Cassill behind pit wall for repairs and cost him a shot at making the playoffs.

NEXT: The Xfinity playoffs begin Sept. 24 at Texas (3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network)

#NASCAR … Ryan Sieg made the playoffs at Bristol. He talks about the stress of this race … pic.twitter.com/Kj9yEJhXpD

— Dustin Long (@dustinlong) September 17, 2022

#NASCAR … Justin Allgaier called his pit road speeding penalty late in the race a “rookie mistake” … he explains pic.twitter.com/xCaxv5fyDT

— Dustin Long (@dustinlong) September 17, 2022

NASCAR Cup Series results: Ryan Blaney wins at Charlotte

By Mike HembreeMay 29, 2023, 9:32 PM EDT

Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images

CONCORD, N.C. — Ryan Blaney outran William Byron over the final miles and through several restarts to win Monday’s 600-mile NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Blaney thus ended a 59-race winless streak and qualified for the Cup playoffs.

Following in the top five were Byron, Martin Truex Jr., Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick.

Charlotte Cup results

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.

MORE: Charlotte Cup results

Blaney pushed through several late-race restarts and held on to finally write finish to a frustrating losing string. The win marked the first time long-time team owner Roger Penske has won both the Indy 500 and Coke 600 in the same year.

“You start to get to feel like you can’t win any more when you don’t win for a while,” an emotional Blaney told Fox Sports 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

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