NASCAR Power Rankings: Denny Hamlin moves into first

By Mike HembreeOct 25, 2022, 12:00 PM EDT

The top spot in the NBC Sports NASCAR Power Rankings has become like the ugliest horse on the merry-go-round. No one wants to climb on board.

Joey Logano is the latest to depart. He was No. 1 last week but had a less-than-spectacular day at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, finishing 18th. He’s already locked into the championship round at Phoenix, of course, so he didn’t leave Homestead thoroughly miserable, but he does fall from the lead in the NBC Power Rankings.

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Rising to No. 1 is Denny Hamlin, who was seventh Sunday and has had seven top-10 runs in the past eight races. He’s five points below the playoff cutline entering Martinsville this weekend.

NBC Sports NASCAR Power Rankings

1. Denny Hamlin (No. 2 last week) — Despite whacking the wall twice, Hamlin came home seventh at Homestead. He’s dancing along the cutline heading with Martinsville Speedway, where he has won five times, next on the list.

2. Ross Chastain (No. 4 last week) — Chastain has the lead among the seven playoff drivers still looking to make the final four at Phoenix (Joey Logano nailed down a spot with his win at Las Vegas). Chastain has finished second two weeks in a row and is plus-19 to the cutline.

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3. Joey Logano (No. 1 last week) — Logano can be forgiven for maybe resting a bit on his laurels at Homestead. But he failed to lead a lap and finished 18th. These are numbers that don’t impress the Power Rankings.

4. Chase Elliott (No. 3 last week) — The former Power Rankings leader had another mediocre race at Homestead, finishing 14th and failing to lead a lap. He’s plus-11 to the cutline.

5. Kyle Larson (No. 8 last week) — Larson jumps three spots to fifth after a splendid run at Homestead, where he led 199 laps and won relatively easily. He’s no longer in the playoffs, but he remains a force.

6. Christopher Bell (No. 7 last week) — Bell, still trying to recover from a tough day at Las Vegas two weeks ago, ran up front at Homestead and finished 11th. He faces a climb to make the Phoenix four.

7. Ryan Blaney (No. 6 last week) — Blaney keeps hanging on despite various troubles. He has three consecutive finishes of 17th or worse but retains a shot at the final four.

8. Chase Briscoe (No. 5 last week) — A meeting with the wall ended Briscoe’s race early Sunday. That last-place run puts him in trouble rolling into Martinsville this weekend.

9. William Byron (No. 9 last week) — Byron won the pole at Homestead and led 32 laps but couldn’t muster a top-10 finish (he was 12th).

10. Martin Truex Jr. (unranked last week) — Truex returns to the rankings with a sixth-place run at Homestead. He led 28 laps and had a shot at his first seasonal win.

Dropped out: Tyler Reddick (No. 10 last week).

Texas Truck race results: Carson Hocevar scores first series win

By Dustin LongApr 1, 2023, 8:35 PM EDT

Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Carson Hocevar was in front after the leaders crashed in overtime and scored his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway.

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Rookie Nick Sanchez, who led 168 of the 172-lap race, dueled reigning series champion Zane Smith on the last lap when Sanchez’s truck hit Smith’s. As Sanchez tried to regain control of his vehicle, he was hit from behind by Hocevar. That contact sent Sanchez into Smith. Christian Eckes also was collected.

Hocevar’s first win came in his 59th series start.

Chase Purdy placed second. Stewart Friesen finished third. Ty Majeski was fourth. Jake Garcia completed the top five.

Richmond Xfinity results, driver points

By Dustin LongApr 1, 2023, 5:05 PM EDT

RICHMOND, Va. — Chandler Smith won a stage, led a race-high 83 laps and rallied late to score his first career Xfinity win Saturday at Richmond Raceway.

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John Hunter Nemechek placed second. The rest of the top five featured Josh Berry, Kaz Grala and Cole Custer. Austin Hill, who had won three of the first six races of the season, placed ninth.

Hill continues to lead the points. He has a 12-point advantage on Riley Herbst and an 18-point lead on Nemechek heading into the next series race in two weeks at Martinsville.

Chandler Smith scores first career Xfinity win with Richmond victory

By Dustin LongApr 1, 2023, 4:07 PM EDT

RICHMOND, Va. — Chandler Smith held off John Hunter Nemechek to win his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series race Saturday at Richmond Raceway.

The 20-year-old Smith took the lead with 12 laps to go and withstood a restart with six laps to go to earn the victory for Kaulig Racing.

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His victory came about a month after being passed for the lead with two laps to go at Las Vegas and finishing third day.

“It obviously wasn’t in God’s works for me that and I was fine with that, I was good with that,” said Smith, who will make his Cup debut Sunday. “I knew there was something bigger and better that He was playing it out for me and I just had to be faithful and keep on trucking. Here’s proof of it.”

Nemechek was second. Josh Berry placed third and was followed by Kaz Grala and Cole Custer.

Justin Allgaier finished 13th to win the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus.

“Today was weird because of how we finished,” Allgaier said. “Given the same circumstances a year ago, two years ago, three years ago, 13th wasn’t going to win the Dash 4 Cash but today it did.”

Stage 1 winner: Chandler Smith

Stage 2 winner: Josh Berry

Who had a good race: A caution caught Justin Allgaier a lap down, ending his chances for a top-five finish but he was able to bounce back and win the Dash 4 Cash for a fifth time. … Derek Kraus finished 10th in his Xfinity debut. … Chris Hacker placed 14th in his Xfinity debut.

Who had a bad race: Riley Herbst had his career-long streak of top-10 finishes snapped after nine races. He placed 23rd after he was hit and spun late in the race.

Notable: This is the second time in the last four races that there has been a first-time series winner. Sammy Smith scored his first series win last month at Phoenix.

Next: The series is off until April 15 at Martinsville Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET on FS1).

Daniel Suarez, Ross Chastain move on from COTA incident

By Dustin LongApr 1, 2023, 1:22 PM EDT

RICHMOND, Va. — Daniel Suarez says he’s been trying to “work on myself” after conflicts with teammate Ross Chastain and Alex Bowman last weekend at COTA but noted that if NASCAR doesn’t make adjustments with restarts on road courses, he’ll change his driving style.

NASCAR fined Suarez $50,000 on Wednesday for hitting another vehicle on pit road after the race. Suarez hit Chastain’s car at pit entrance and hit the back of Bowman’s car while they were both on pit road.

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“I’ve been trying to work on myself mostly during the week, trying to clear my mind and reset,” Suarez said Saturday at Richmond Raceway. “My team, we’re good. I think the issue wasn’t really with one driver. I feel like it’s more as an industry, how we are allowing to have those kind of bump-and-run restarts at the end of the races at road courses.

“I don’t think that’s right.”

Suarez restarted fifth in the second overtime restart. Alex Bowman, with Ross Chastain and Chase Briscoe aligned behind, charged and got beside Suarez as they approached Turn 1.

As Bowman slowed to make the tight turn, he was hit from behind and that sent him into Suarez, who clipped the left rear of Martin Truex Jr.’s car. Truex spun in front of Suarez and blocked his path, allowing the rest of the field to go by. Suarez finished 27th.

Chastain said he and Suarez have moved on from last week’s incident after talking this week.

“Every household on this earth has their moments of arguments and we had ours,” Chastain said Saturday.

“We’re family. We’re in the same house, right. It’s in our name. It’s Trackhouse. No matter what, we all think we have to put that behind and know that moving forward we’re brothers. … We’re brothers at Trackhouse and we’re going to be stronger together.”

#NASCAR … Daniel Suárez explains what type of contact is OK on tracks and what isn’t and how he may have to adjust his driving style. pic.twitter.com/0dap6Y8TPN

— Dustin Long (@dustinlong) April 1, 2023

Suarez is among the number of drivers who have raised concerns about the rough driving in the series. The Next Gen car is more durable and can take more hits — as evident in the Clash at the Coliseum to start the year when drivers barreled into the back of cars in the corners to slow down.

Add the emphasis of winning, less respect for one another and the result is the type of racing on display at the end of the race at Circuit of the Americas, as drivers charged down a long straightaway before braking hard for a tight turn and making contact with one another.

So, what can be done?

“I don’t have the answers to that,” Suarez said. “All I know is that NASCAR is working toward trying to make a better solution for some of these restarts. It doesn’t look right. This sport looks embarrassing.

“That’s not real. Just go into the corner and bump three cars to push people out of that way, that’s not real. We know that. That’s how some people got top fives and top 10s last week and some of the guys that were fast, like myself, finished 27th.

“If NASCAR does something about it, that’s amazing. If they don’t I’ll just join the party.”

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