Connect with us
https://yoursportsnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/call-to-1.png

Motorsports

Dale Earnhardt Jr. reflects on ‘fun’ experience as a race-winning crew chief

When regular crew chief Mardy Lindley was suspended one week for the (rather common) issue of loose lug nuts, JR Motorsports team co-owner and NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. stepped up to the plate to lead the No. 88 team this weekend. Well, with Dale Jr. calling the shots and rising star Connor […]

Published

on


When regular crew chief Mardy Lindley was suspended one week for the (rather common) issue of loose lug nuts, JR Motorsports team co-owner and NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. stepped up to the plate to lead the No. 88 team this weekend. Well, with Dale Jr. calling the shots and rising star Connor Zilisch behind the wheel, they captured the checkered flag at Pocono Raceway.

It was actually Lindley’s idea, texting Dale Jr. to ask if he was up for the challenge. The Lindleys and Earnhardts have quite the history as well. Dale Sr. and Butch Lindley (Mardy’s father) raced against each other back in the 1970s and sadly, both Mardy and Dale Jr. lost their fathers to the sport of auto racing. Earnhardt said on Saturday that the shared tragedy of losing their fathers connected them.

Getting back into the competitive spirit

Connor Zilisch and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Connor Zilisch and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Connor Zilisch and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

And at Pocono, it was big shoes to fill for Earnhardt, as Lindley had won nine Xfinity races since 2023 with three different JRM drivers. As for Dale, it was great for him to get back into such a high-pressure environment after spending most of his time watching from afar as a owner/broadcaster.

Advertisement

“I love owning race cars, and I love racking up statistics and championships, but it does not have the competitive sort of skin in the game, if you will, that (today) does,” said Earnhardt in the winner’s press conference.

“If you’re in the car, it’s on you to make sure you’re doing everything right. And when you’re the crew chief, you’re under a ton of pressure. I understand that I did not come in here and handle all of the layers that Mardy usually handles or any given crew chief manages. They certainly were putting me in a position to do some light lifting, but as the race went on, we got more comfortable and more aggressive.

“It was fun. I felt like I really had some involvement, some input in the energy that the crew and team had. Keeping them pumped up, everybody executing, and keeping Connor aware of what are goals were and what our expectations were on the restarts. He wanted to deliver.”

How much of a crew chief was he…really?

Connor Zilisch, JR Motorsports Chevrolet

Connor Zilisch, JR Motorsports Chevrolet

Connor Zilisch, JR Motorsports Chevrolet

As for how much say Earnhardt actually had, he admits that anything significant involving the set-up and adjustments was already being handled by the engineering team. Dale Jr.’s influence was more with in-race strategy and advising Zilisch as a driver coach.

Advertisement

“I’m not a fool to think — I didn’t have control of all the buttons and levers and stuff,” said Earnhardt. “But mid-way through the race, I was feeling it. Me and the engineers on the box we’re in a great conversations around what we should do, how far we could make it, whether we were going to have enough for the green-white-checkered…all those things.”

After his experience, would he be up to do it all again? “I would not ever walk in the shop and say I’d be up for doing but if we find ourselves unfortunately where somebody gets suspended, if they want me to do it, I would happily do it,” added Earnhardt.

Earnhardt added that the thing he was most nervous about wasn’t actually being the crew chief, but when he came off the box to prepare and set the right-front tire on the wall before handing it off to the pit crew during the stop. He was worried about messing up the flow of things or slowing down the stop unnecessarily, even visiting with the Trackhouse earlier in the week to practice.

He also praised Zilisch as a “young man going on 35,” but he was happy to advise the 18-year-old and keep him focused on the task at hand as he went on to earn his first oval win. “It was fun to help him understand what I thought would be the best scenario on some of those restarts.”

Advertisement

Read Also:

Connor Zilisch and crew chief Dale Earnhardt Jr. win Pocono NASCAR Xfinity race

Chase Elliott “really bummed” by Pocono Xfinity loss after restart run-in

 

To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.



Link

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Motorsports

Chase Briscoe finishes runner-up at Dover

For the second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series weekend, Chase Briscoe started and finished in second-place, this time at Dover Motor Speedway Sunday to teammate Denny Hamlin. Briscoe found himself in a familiar position in the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400, side-by-side on the final restart on the front row. Despite having fresher tires, Hamlin’s No. 11 […]

Published

on


For the second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series weekend, Chase Briscoe started and finished in second-place, this time at Dover Motor Speedway Sunday to teammate Denny Hamlin.

Briscoe found himself in a familiar position in the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400, side-by-side on the final restart on the front row.

Despite having fresher tires, Hamlin’s No. 11 proved the victor in their side-by-side battle for the lead in NASCAR Overtime.

“I thought I was going to win the race,” Briscoe said. “I was able to stay just beside him into (Turn) 1. I thought we were going to have a good shot coming into (Turns) 1 and 2. I didn’t think he was going to be able to do that.

“I almost cleared him off of (Turn) 2. I thought I timed it right, so I was going to clear him going into (Turn) 3, just because I had the lane you typically want to be in. He was able to hang right there – another two or three inches and I thought I was going to win the race.”

Through the first 21 races of the year, Briscoe has set personal bests in the Cup Series with four poles and eight Top-5 finishes.

Briscoe’s Dover run tied the Joe Gibbs Racing driver for his career-high of Top-10 finishes in a single season at 10.

“Glad that we were able to have a good finish,” Briscoe said. “Obviously would have loved to win the race, but we had a fifth-to-10th place car and we ended up second, so a lot to be proud of with our Bass Pro Shops Toyota. I’m looking forward to going home next week.”

With five races before the start of the playoffs in the Cup Series, Briscoe is ranked eighth in points and has earned six playoff points (five from his Pocono victory and one from a stage win at Pocono).

Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.

From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book “All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story” with racer Geoff Bodine.

Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.

You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.



Link

Continue Reading

Motorsports

Rick Ware Racing: AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 from Dover – Speedway Digest

Race Winner:  Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) Stage 1 Winner:  Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) Stage 2 Winner:  Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) RWR Finish:      ●  Cody Ware (Started 35th, Finished 36th / Handling, completed 232 of 407 laps) RWR Points: ●  Cody Ware (36th with 148 points) Race Notes:        ●  Denny Hamlin […]

Published

on


Race Winner:  Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Winner:  Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 2 Winner:  Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

RWR Finish:     

●  Cody Ware (Started 35th, Finished 36th / Handling, completed 232 of 407 laps)

RWR Points:

●  Cody Ware (36th with 148 points)

Race Notes:       

●  Denny Hamlin won the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 to score his 58th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his series-leading fourth of the season, and his third at Dover. His margin over second-place Chase Briscoe was .310 of a second.

●  There were eight caution periods for a total of 50 laps.

●  Only 20 of the 37 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

●  Chase Elliott leaves Dover as the new championship leader with a 16-point advantage over second-place William Byron.

Sound Bites:

“A long day for us at Dover. We did everything we could to work on our car and get it fixed but, unfortunately, after a trip to the garage, we just couldn’t fix it and had to end our day. Ready to head to Indianapolis and reset.” Cody Ware, driver of the No. 51 Mighty Fire Breaker Ford Mustang Dark Horse

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Brickyard 400 on Sunday, July 27 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race begins at 2 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by TNT and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. 

RWR PR



Link

Continue Reading

Motorsports

Bell “disappointed in myself” after spinout from lead fight

Christopher Bell led 67 laps at Dover on Sunday, scoring 19 stage points and winning Stage 2. But that doesn’t mean he had it easy — as Bell ultimately finished 18th after spinning twice during the race. Starting the final stage while leading the race, Bell’s No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota spun out. Somehow, […]

Published

on


Christopher Bell led 67 laps at Dover on Sunday, scoring 19 stage points and winning Stage 2. But that doesn’t mean he had it easy — as Bell ultimately finished 18th after spinning twice during the race.

Starting the final stage while leading the race, Bell’s No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota spun out. Somehow, the entire field avoided him and he was able to rejoin at the back of the cars still on the lead lap.

While Bell did a great job slicing back through the pack, he gained a lot of track position by staying out longer than most other drivers and catching a well-times caution.

After an hour-long rain delay, he found himself restarting on the front row with teammate and eventual race winner Denny Hamlin. Neither driver gave an inch, but Bell got loose on the bottom and ended up spinning wildly out of Turn 4. Again, no one hit the No. 20 as he spun in front of the field, but his chances of winning at the ‘Monster Mile’ were officially over.

Nobody was lifting

Christopher Bell spins, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Christopher Bell spins, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images

“I definitely wasn’t going to lift and I knew he wasn’t going to lift either,” Bell told NASCAR on TNT. “We were gonna race really hard, and I just spun out. Dover and spinning out — I’ve got a problem with that. It’s a bummer.

“The guys did a really good job. I’m honestly proud of the effort that this team has put into trying to improve. The intermediate stuff has been a little hard for us, and the guys on this #20 team did a really good job bringing really good pace this weekend. I felt like we were as strong as any of them. We restarted on the front row with under 10 to go and had a shot at it. It didn’t work out, but we got a playoff point. Hopefully, we can keep bringing that speed and I can be in contention more often.”

In the end, Bell was happy to see another JGR driver win, but he was obviously furstrated with himself over what could have been.

Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Photo by: Meg Oliphant / Getty Images

“I’m glad that JGR still won the race,” said Bell. “Denny did a great job, obviously. He always does, closing these things out. Chase [Briscoe] got a good finish, and yeah, great day for company. Disappointed in myself for making so many mistake, but our speed was really good.”

Along with a 1-2 finish by Hamlin and Briscoe, Ty Gibbs also managed to advance into the finals for the $1 million bracket challenge, where he will face Ty Dillon.

Photos from Dover – Race

Read Also:

In this article

Be the first to know and subscribe for real-time news email updates on these topics



Link

Continue Reading

Motorsports

Exclusive Video From Tommy Baldwin Racing/Catalano Motorsports Confrontation Sunday At Monadnock

Exclusive Video From Tommy Baldwin Racing/Catalano Motorsports Confrontation Sunday At Monadnock – RaceDayCT.com We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Manage consent Copyright 2018 E-Media Sports Website Designed […]

Published

on






Exclusive Video From Tommy Baldwin Racing/Catalano Motorsports Confrontation Sunday At Monadnock – RaceDayCT.com























Manage consent


Copyright 2018 E-Media Sports


Website Designed by Thirty Marketing





Link

Continue Reading

Motorsports

AUTO RACING ROUNDUP: Denny Hamlin picks up Cup Series high fourth win of season at Dover

AUTO RACING ROUNDUP: Denny Hamlin picks up Cup Series high fourth win of season at Dover Published 2:18 am Monday, July 21, 2025 Denny Hamlin won Sunday’s rain-interrupted AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway in Dover, Del. (Matthew O’Haren-Imagn Images) DOVER, Del. — Denny Hamlin waited out a one-hour red-flag delay, won three […]

Published

on


AUTO RACING ROUNDUP: Denny Hamlin picks up Cup Series high fourth win of season at Dover

Published 2:18 am Monday, July 21, 2025

Denny Hamlin won Sunday’s rain-interrupted AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway in Dover, Del. (Matthew O’Haren-Imagn Images)

DOVER, Del. — Denny Hamlin waited out a one-hour red-flag delay, won three restarts on older tires inside of 10 laps to go, and took the overtime checkers in Sunday’s rain-interrupted AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway.

In the second overtime, Hamlin lined up beside Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe, who was on much fresher tires. The Toyotas made contact coming to the white, allowing Hamlin’s No. 11 to nose ahead and beat Briscoe’s No. 19 by 0.31 seconds for his series-leading fourth victory.

Hamlin, who led 67 laps, also fended off teammate Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson in late restarts — in regulation with eight laps left and the first overtime, respectively — to help him repeat at Dover and give Toyota its third straight win there.

Alex Bowman, Larson and Ty Gibbs completed the top five.

In the In-Season Challenge semifinal, NASCAR’s version of the Final Four, Gibbs (fifth place) beat Tyler Reddick (12th), while Ty Dillon (20th) topped John Hunter Nemechek (21st).

Gibbs and Dillon will square off Sunday at Indianapolis for the $1 million top prize given to the winner of the 32-car tournament.

The first stage, a 120-lapper around the one-mile concrete track, was all about Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott, who managed to beat Bell as the segment ended and hold on to the point.

Following that pair were Hamlin, William Byron and a fast-moving Bowman, who sliced through the top 10 in Stage 1’s late laps.

Elliott’s day turned sour when his Chevy fell off the jacks while being serviced under green on Lap 186. After the stops cycled, Bell was out front with Hamlin over three seconds in arrears.

In his No. 20 Toyota, Bell won Stage 2 and told his JGR team to leave the car as it was as he headed to pit road. Bowman and Hamlin crossed under the checkers for second and third in bonus points, respectively.

However, Bell spun on his own while leading on the Lap 260 restart and racing with Elliott, hitting nothing and forcing the field to split as his JGR ride slid down the high banks.

NASCAR puts brakes on

2026 Chicago Street Race

The Chicago Street Race will not be on the NASCAR calendar in 2026, officials announced Friday.

NASCAR and city officials are working toward a return to the Windy City in 2027.

“Following the success of the first three years, the Chicago Street Race will hit pause in 2026 to afford us the time necessary to work collaboratively with the City of Chicago to explore a new potential date and to develop a plan that further optimizes operational efficiencies, with a goal to return to the streets of Chicago in 2027,” the event’s social media account posted on X.

“Together, we have built and grown an expanded community of fans that consists of longtime NASCAR enthusiasts and first-time racegoers from around the globe, and for that, we are immensely grateful.”

From 2023-25, drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series raced along a 12-turn, 2.2 mile course from Columbus Drive to DuSable Lake Shore Drive and Michigan Avenue.

Shane van Gisbergen of New Zealand dominated the Chicago streets, winning the Cup Series races in 2023 and 2025 and the Xfinity races in 2024 and 2025.

DOVER, Del. — Denny Hamlin waited out a one-hour red-flag delay, won three restarts on older tires inside of 10 laps to go, and took the overtime checkers in Sunday’s rain-interrupted AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway.

In the second overtime, Hamlin lined up beside Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe, who was on much fresher tires. The Toyotas made contact coming to the white, allowing Hamlin’s No. 11 to nose ahead and beat Briscoe’s No. 19 by 0.31 seconds for his series-leading fourth victory.

Hamlin, who led 67 laps, also fended off teammate Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson in late restarts — in regulation with eight laps left and the first overtime, respectively — to help him repeat at Dover and give Toyota its third straight win there.

Alex Bowman, Larson and Ty Gibbs completed the top five.

In the In-Season Challenge semifinal, NASCAR’s version of the Final Four, Gibbs (fifth place) beat Tyler Reddick (12th), while Ty Dillon (20th) topped John Hunter Nemechek (21st).

Gibbs and Dillon will square off Sunday at Indianapolis for the $1 million top prize given to the winner of the 32-car tournament.

The first stage, a 120-lapper around the one-mile concrete track, was all about Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott, who managed to beat Bell as the segment ended and hold on to the point.

Following that pair were Hamlin, William Byron and a fast-moving Bowman, who sliced through the top 10 in Stage 1’s late laps.

Elliott’s day turned sour when his Chevy fell off the jacks while being serviced under green on Lap 186. After the stops cycled, Bell was out front with Hamlin over three seconds in arrears.

In his No. 20 Toyota, Bell won Stage 2 and told his JGR team to leave the car as it was as he headed to pit road. Bowman and Hamlin crossed under the checkers for second and third in bonus points, respectively.

However, Bell spun on his own while leading on the Lap 260 restart and racing with Elliott, hitting nothing and forcing the field to split as his JGR ride slid down the high banks.

NASCAR puts brakes on

2026 Chicago Street Race

The Chicago Street Race will not be on the NASCAR calendar in 2026, officials announced Friday.

NASCAR and city officials are working toward a return to the Windy City in 2027.

“Following the success of the first three years, the Chicago Street Race will hit pause in 2026 to afford us the time necessary to work collaboratively with the City of Chicago to explore a new potential date and to develop a plan that further optimizes operational efficiencies, with a goal to return to the streets of Chicago in 2027,” the event’s social media account posted on X.

“Together, we have built and grown an expanded community of fans that consists of longtime NASCAR enthusiasts and first-time racegoers from around the globe, and for that, we are immensely grateful.”

From 2023-25, drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series raced along a 12-turn, 2.2 mile course from Columbus Drive to DuSable Lake Shore Drive and Michigan Avenue.

Shane van Gisbergen of New Zealand dominated the Chicago streets, winning the Cup Series races in 2023 and 2025 and the Xfinity races in 2024 and 2025.

Pato O’Ward wins in Toronto,

inches toward Alex Palou in season race

TORONTO — Mexico’s Pato O’Ward eked out his second win in three weeks on Sunday at the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto, keeping alive his underdog chances to win the season championship.

Alex Palou rode a dominant start to the season to a 129-point lead in the points race, the largest margin this deep in a season since IndyCar began using the scoring system. After the Spaniard finished 12th in Toronto, O’Ward sliced that deficit to 99 with four races to go.

O’Ward started back in 10th but led 30 out of 90 laps in his No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet and beat the Netherlands’ Rinus VeeKay by 0.4843 seconds. Kyffin Simpson of the Cayman Islands was third, his first podium finish in two IndyCar seasons.

“I knew I had a great car under me to race with and the guys nailed it on the strategy,” O’Ward said in his post-race interview.

That strategy was for O’Ward to start the race on his alternate set of tires before moving to his primary tires early on Lap 3.

“I was feeling so good on the (primary) tires all weekend really. We were just struggling to get the alternates to work in qualifying. Sadly, that’s the one you need to transfer,” O’Ward said.

Palou, conversely, started on his primary tires from the No. 2 position. The seven-time winner this year led 37 laps but faded down the stretch.

“Well, I chose the strategy, so that’s what we did wrong today,” Palou said. “I was pushing for that strategy. I thought it was going to give us the best opportunity to win. I wanted to be up front trying to avoid being trapped in traffic.”

Simpson was the biggest mover of the day after starting the race 13th.

“It was a crazy race,” Simpson said. “So many ups and downs. At one point we thought we were in the worst position, and then very quickly it turned into one of the best positions.”

 



Link

Continue Reading

Motorsports

Denny Hamlin survives rain delay, overtime finish to win for 2nd straight year at Dover – Las Vegas Sun News

Published Sunday, July 20, 2025 | 4:19 p.m. DOVER, Del. (AP) — Denny Hamlin balked when a surfboard he was asked to sign for charity was placed on the floor. At his age, Hamlin cracked, he might not be able to get back up. The 44-year-old driver had similar aging concerns a night earlier when […]

Published

on


DOVER, Del. (AP) — Denny Hamlin balked when a surfboard he was asked to sign for charity was placed on the floor. At his age, Hamlin cracked, he might not be able to get back up. The 44-year-old driver had similar aging concerns a night earlier when the picture on the TV he watched as he started to doze off seemed a bit fuzzy.

“I’m not losing my eyesight am I?” Hamlin said.

Hamlin’s vision was on point Sunday at Dover — his sights set firmly on victory lane.

Hamlin can eliminate distractions and succeed like few drivers in the series can can do: He shook off a setback in his court battle with NASCAR, shrugged off old tire concerns once he took a late lead ahead of a rain delay, and survived a late charge from his teammate to go back-to-back at Dover Motor Speedway for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver’s series-best fourth victory of the season.

“I just love that I’m able to still do it at a high level,” Hamlin said. “Every morning when I wake up, I just hope I still got what I had yesterday.”

Hamlin won in the No. 11 Toyota for the second straight time at Dover to add to wins this season at Martinsville, Darlington and Michigan.

Hamlin has 58 NASCAR Cup Series victories, leaving him two short of Kevin Harvick for 10th on the career list. The veteran Virginia driver might hit that mark this season as he chases his first career Cup championship.

Hamlin is on NASCAR’s short list of greatest drivers to never win a championship. He won’t let the void on an otherwise stellar resume full of Hall of Fame credentials define how he feels about his career.

Hamlin says, it’s trophies, not titles, not he celebrates the most

“If we do, we do. If we don’t, we don’t,” Hamlin said. “I care about wins. I want more trophies, more trophies, more trophies. When I’m done, I want to be in the list of that top-10 all-time winners. That will mean more than any other accomplishment.”

Hamlin took the checkered flag days after he suffered a setback in court with his own 23XI Racing team’s federal antitrust suit against NASCAR.

On Thursday, a federal judge rejected a request from 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports to continue racing with charters while they battle NASCAR in court, meaning their six cars will race as open entries this weekend at Dover, next week at Indianapolis and perhaps longer than that in a move the teams say would put them at risk of going out of business.

Hamlin vowed this weekend “all will be exposed” if the case goes to its scheduled Dec. 1 trial date.

The courtroom drama hasn’t affected Hamlin’s performance on the track. Hamlin held off JGR teammate Chase Briscoe for the victory. Hendrick Motorsports drivers took the next two spots, with Alex Bowman third and Kyle Larson fourth.

“I thought I did everything I needed to,” Briscoe said. “I thought I had him there for a second. I wish the Camry, the back, was about 3 inches shorter. I was so close to clearing him. I just couldn’t do it. Obviously, racing a teammate, I wanted to make sure at least a JGR car won.”

Hamlin held off Kyle Larson down the stretch last season to earn the second of his three career wins at the Monster Mile.

The first July Cup race at Dover since 1969 started with steamy weather and drivers battled the conditions inside the car during a relatively clean race until rain fell late and red-flagged the race with 14 laps left. Hamlin said the during the break changed his firesuit — temperatures inside the car soared to 140 degrees, and sweat kept dripping inside his visor.

He also returned to the car after the 56-minute delay with old tires. Hamlin — who was the betting favorite to win, per BETMGM Sportsbook —- had enough to win on cool tires at Dover and park the Toyota in victory lane.

There was never any real consideration to pit with the lead for fresh tires.

“We need wins,” crew chief Chris Gayle said. “How can we manufacture some way to give ourselves more opportunity for that to happen? Might not pan out, but we definitely weren’t going to do it doing the same thing as everybody else. That was our train of thought there and thankfully it worked out and we held on.”

He became the 19th Cup driver to win three times at Dover and the 13th driver to win consecutive races on the mile concrete track.

“I just studied some of the greats here,” Hamlin said. “I was very fortunate to have Martin Truex as a teammate. Jimmie Johnson, watching him win (11) times here. You learn from the greats and you change your game to match it, you have success like this.”

In-season challenge

The Tys have it in NASCAR.

It’s Ty Gibbs vs. Ty Dillon next week at Indianapolis to decide the first winner in NASCAR’s $1 million mid-season tournament.

NASCAR seeded 32 drivers for the first In-season Challenge, a five-race, bracket-style tournament that mirrors the NCAA basketball tournaments.

Both drivers are winless and Dillon made it as the No. 32 seed. Gibbs finished fifth Sunday for JGR.

John Hunter Nemechek and Tyler Reddick were eliminated.

Logano’s 600th

Joey Logano finished 14th for Team Penske in his 600th career start.

Logano has made every start since the 2009, 597 straight, putting him within striking distance of Jeff Gordon’s Cup record of 797 straight starts.

Logano was 35 years, 1 month, 26 days old when he hits No. 600 on Sunday, making him the youngest driver to reach that milestone. He topped seven-time NASCAR champion and Hall of Famer Richard Petty by six months.

Petty is the only driver to have won his 600th start.

Up next

It’s off to Indianapolis Motor Speedway where
Kyle Larson won last season
on the oval after a four-year break on the road course.

___

AP auto racing:
https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing





Link

Continue Reading

Most Viewed Posts

Trending