Chase Elliott ended a week of miserable finishes with an overdue Cup victory. Elliott, won his first race of the season in Thursday night’s rain scheduled race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway to close a frantic 12 days for NASCAR. The event marked the fourth Cup race since the series resumed racing on May 17 and Elliott suffered two heartbreaking losses in that span.
After getting spun out by Kyle Busch last Wednesday night while running second and likely staring down a win, he was leading in the closing laps in Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600. Unfortunately, his teammate William Byron brought out a late race caution, which forced Elliott and a few others to have to pit. That decision cost him a win in one of NASCAR’s crown jewels.
There was little suspense in this one for Elliott, who reeled in Kevin Harvick with 27 laps remaining and then closed out the victory, the seventh of his career. He also won the Truck Series race on Tuesday night on the same 1.5-mile race track in winning a $100k bounty from Harvick and Marcus Lemonis for beating Kyle Busch.
The victory was also Elliott’s fourth top four finish in his last five Charlotte starts too.
Denny Hamlin came from 29th, without his car chief, crew chief and top engineer to bring his No. 11 Toyota home runner-up. It was Hamlin’s’ fourth top five finish in his last six Charlotte starts.
Ryan Blaney finished third in his No. 12 Ford for his second straight top five in Charlotte while Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kurt Busch rounded out the top five.
Alsco 500 Results
- 9 Elliott
- 11 Hamlin
- 12 Blaney
- 47 Stenhouse Jr.
- 1 KuBusch
- 22 Logano
- 2 Keselowski
- 3 ADillon
- 19 Truex Jr.
- 4 Harvick
- 48 Johnson
- 24 Byron
- 38 Nemechek R
- 8 Reddick R
- 21 DiBenedetto
- 14 Bowyer
- 6 Newman
- 41 Custer R
- 32 LaJoie
- 10 Almirola
- 95 Bell R
- 17 Buescher
- 42 Kenseth -1
- 37 Preece -1
- 34 McDowell -1
- 20 Jones -1
- 13 TDillon -1
- 96 Suarez -1
- 18 KyBusch -1
- 27 Gaulding -2
- 88 Bowman -2
- 00 Houff R -3
- 66 Hill -3
- 77 Yeley -4
- 78 Mcleod -5
- 7 Bilicki -8
- 43 Wallace Jr. OUT
- 15 Poole R OUT
- 51 Gase OUT
- 53 Smithley R OUT
Bowman’s Mistake Costs Him A Win
Alex Bowman should have had at the very least two top five finishes in as many tries at the Charlotte Motor Speedway this past week. On Sunday, he led a race-high 164 laps in the Coca-Cola 600 but crossed the finish line 20th in the end. Despite winning the first two stages that night and being second in the third one, he had got loose on the final restart and dropped like an anchor.
During Thursday night’s Alsco 500, Bowman started on the front row and yet again ran well all night. The Hendrick Motorsports driver finished fifth in Stage 1 but won the second stage for his third stage win in the last five stages. But, on Lap 135, Bowman got loose in Turn 4 and slapped the outside SAFER barrier as a result. He was running in second at the time.
He’d fall a lap down as he had to pit for repairs and would finish in his No. 88 Chevrolet.
It’s frustrating for him as he should have honestly had a top two or three finish in three of the first four races back since the COVID-19 break.
Harvick’s Car Fades At The End
Kevin Harvick first took over the lead of Thursday night’s Alsco 500 on Lap 66. He’d lead the next nine laps before hitting pit road during a pit sequence under caution. Harvick would take the top spot again on Lap 126 and not give it back up until Chase Elliott passed him for what would end up being the win with 27 laps remaining.
Harvick, had a really fast race car and saw his lead grow to a big advantage. But, the race only had one caution in the final stage and for Harvick, his car was set up for short run speed, not long run. The final green flag sequence went around 60 laps, which hurt his performance.
The Stewart-Haas Racing driver not only faded out of the top two, he nearly dropped out of the top 10 as well. Instead, Harvick brought his No. 4 Ford home 10th.
“It just falls off on Lap 30,” said Harvick of why he faded in the end. “We just knew what we had with our Busch Lite Ford and we went 60 laps. They did a really good job of turning the car around — total opposite of what we raced last Sunday. It was a great test session for us but we just didn’t need a long run.”
Harvick though, has three straight top 10’s at Charlotte and a top 10 in literally all eight races run this season, but he’s not had a top five at Charlotte since the 2017 Fall race.
Blaney Shows He’s Here To Stay Now
It’s no secret, prior to the COVID-19 break, Ryan Blaney was arguably one of the fastest drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series. While the finishes didn’t show it, the speed in his No. 12 Ford did. Blaney, finished second in the season opening Daytona 500 and was a few laps away over the next two weeks from top two finishes. A late race caution while running second in Vegas and a tire problem at Fontana derailed those efforts. Phoenix saw him get collected in a crash early on.
Then, a 70 day hiatus. In the return, well NASCAR picked four races over 10 days at Darlington and Charlotte. Those are two tracks statistically not very good for Blaney. Darlington showed that with him finishing 16th and 21st respectively there. In Charlotte, a place he never scored a top five at in eight prior starts, he leaves 2-for-2 this past week.
Blaney, finished fourth in Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600 and was third in Thursday night’s Alsco 500. The Team Penske driver was second in both stages tonight and nearly completed the sweep of that position when he passed Kevin Harvick with 20 laps left, but he was later passed by Denny Hamlin for second with three laps-to-go which dropped Blaney to third at the checkers.
“We got to second but I just got tight,” Blaney said. “We were free all night and we tightened it up just a bit on that last stop and the longest run we had and we just burnt the right front off of it. We couldn’t stay with the 9 at the end and the 11 got by us for second.”
The speed is there again and he’s showing he’s here to stay.
Hamlin Overcomes Loss Of Key Personnel For Top 5 Finish In Charlotte
Denny Hamlin was hit with a stiff penalty on Monday. See, a piece of tungsten fell off his No. 11 Toyota as he exited pit road for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 which cost him a win before the race even began. As a result of that, a stiff penalty ensues. There’s no avoiding the four race suspension to the crew chief, car chief and top engineer. That’s like losing your second best player, your coach and top assistant coach for a sporting team.
On top of all of that, Hamlin had to start 29th for Thursday night’s Alsco 500. Coming from the back with backups in a shortened race.
That didn’t faze him. Hamlin, would finish a shocking runner-up in the race for his fourth top five finish in his last six Charlotte starts.
“Eventually the air pressure built up enough where it got off the race track,” Hamlin said of his early race handling issues. “The pit crew did a great job of helping us pick up spots on pit road too. They just did a great job with the car. Every time we come back to a race track for a second time are results are really, really good. We’re making good adjustments. I had a really good car. We just needed to be a little bit better on the short run there.”
Austin Dillon Shines On Hometrack
Austin Dillon always looks forward to racing at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. After all, this is his hometrack. His last win in fact came at Charlotte in the 2017 Coca-Cola 600. While he didn’t win either race at Charlotte this year, he did shine.
Dillon qualified in Row 3 for Sunday’s Coke 600 and ran up front literally all night. He was seventh, eighth and ninth respectively in the three stages in that race. Unfortunately, despite restarting in the top five on the final restart, he faded to 14th.
On Thursday, he made up for that. Dillon, started seventh and finished seventh in both stages. He’d even bring his No. 3 Chevrolet home eighth.
Kyle Busch Leaves Charlotte Frustrated
Heading into the two races at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch was the odds on favorite to do some damage. Busch, had three top three finishes in his last four Charlotte starts including two top three top three’s in his last four races on the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season as well.
Furthermore, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver led 377 of 400 laps in his Coke 600 win in 2018 and 79 more laps in his third place run in the race last year. In the two races run this past week, Busch’s No. 18 Toyota failed to lead a single lap. But, he’s led just 14 laps all season, none since the season opening Daytona 500.
This is starting to become a problem for him. Yes, he has four top four finishes in his last six starts on the season, but none of them saw him lead a lap. Pretty much everyone of those results, Busch said was a fluke and was lucky to be there.
On Thursday, he only made it up to 11th at the end of the first stage but had a left rear go down on the restart of the second stage when he and Aric Almirola made contact in Turn 3. That put him two laps down in 38th as he struggled to make up any ground as the race went on. He’d finish 29th when it was all said and done.
Long Run Cars Succeed In The End
Most of the cars were set up for short run pace. See, with a vastly shorter race than what we saw on in comparison to Sunday’s (312 miles vs. 600 miles), plus the chance of a late race caution, a majority of the crews elected for short run speed.
That bit them in the end.
We’d go caution free for the final 60 or so laps, which saw the cars setup for the opposite trim levels shine. Kevin Harvick and Ryan Blaney were set up for short run pace. They ran 1-2 for a while but faded. Chase Elliott was set up for quick run burst, hence him catching and passing Harvick for the win with 27 laps-to-go. Harvick, went from first to 10th in 27 laps.
Blaney, said his car got tight and went from second to third.
Denny Hamlin rose from around 10th to finish second. Martin Truex Jr. went from well outside of the top 10 all night to being in ninth, his highest running position all evening.
Ford’s Turn Heads At Charlotte
We didn’t put much stock into the Ford program over these two races at Charlotte. Rightfully so too. They haven’t won on the Charlotte oval since 2002. Meanwhile, the Toyota’s have dominated on this race track lately in taking three straight wins and four of the last six on the 1.5-mile track.
Instead, it was the Ford camp getting the last laugh.
Brad Keselowski gave them their first Charlotte win in 18 years on Sunday. They’d grab two of the top three spots and three in the top five when it was all said and done for the Coca-Cola 600.
On Thursday night, they didn’t win, but they had three cars in the top seven including Kevin Harvick leading the most laps of the race at 63 and Joey Logano pacing the field for 42 circuits as well.
Team Penske May Be 2nd Best Team Right Now
There’s no question, the Hendrick Motorsports camp is the top organization in NASCAR’s premiere series right now from top to bottom. They could have arguably won six of the eight races run this year. That’s how fast that their cars are. Instead, they do have two wins and Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott look like legitimate championship contenders.
No. 2 though, well I think it belongs to Team Penske.
Charlotte was never a good track for them in the past. They had one win in the history of their organization in the Coca-Cola 600, then Brad Keselowski gives them No. 2 on Sunday night. But, it wasn’t just one race, it was both races at Charlotte that gives me reason to believe Penske is right there with HMS.
Penske has won three of the eight races run in 2020 and if you count HMS’s victory total with theirs and you get them winning five of eight.
At Charlotte, Keselowski finished first and seventh respectively in his No. 2 Ford. He cut a left rear tire in the first stage but battled back from 25th and 27th respectively in both stages to earn his third top seven in his last four Charlotte starts.
Joey Logano led 26 laps on Sunday and 42 more on Thursday. He brought his No. 22 Ford home sixth for just his second top 10 in his last seven tries at Charlotte.
Then you have Ryan Blaney. In his previous eight Charlotte starts, his best finish was eighth. Five of those eight finishes prior to this year on the Charlotte oval were 20th or worse. He’d bring his No. 12 Ford home fourth and third respectively over the last two races now.
Penske went 3-6-7 on Thursday and showed that they have speed still.
Weeknight Races, Inverted Fields Here To Stay
While NASCAR’s ratings could have been better in my opinion for the second Darlington race and the first Charlotte race, I do think that they’ve hit a home run in their return to their season following a 70 day hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nothing that we knew of NASCAR in March is around today.
No fans, limited media, 16 members of personnel per car, no practice, no qualifying, inverted fields, weeknight races, one-day shows, this is all new. As we’re through the first wave of the scheduling, it’s clear that they came out on top of this.
Everything went off without a hitch and the drivers are even raving about how things have been conducted.
“NASCAR in my opinion has hit gold with this format, Brad Keselowski said on Thursday night following the Alsco 500 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. “The limited practice, show up and race and the time window benefits both east and west coast. No qualifying, inversion is really good because it mixes the field up and creates some good storylines there.”
This praise comes almost two weeks after Keselowski said that NASCAR’s return and how smooth it went was a “Christmas Miracle.”
He’s right too. I mean, Thursday’s race was half the distance of Sunday’s, had an invert when Sunday’s had qualifying, and the shorter race was infinitely more action packed than 600 miles worth this past weekend.
Denny Hamlin agreed, saying the weeknight races are similar in lengths to stick and ball sports.
“I mean, I think it’s right around the length of an NBA or football game, somewhere in that range,” Hamlin said who’s earned a top two finish in both weeknight races run. “NBA is about two and a half hours, football is three plus. I mean, I think it’s good. Obviously we’re really getting stung by the weather right now. All these races have got delays and stoppages in the middle of it, so it makes it really, really tough. It makes the nights and days really long. But certainly you can look back on my quotes from two years ago; heck with tradition; you’ve got to advance with the times. I think that keeping people’s attention span for three hours is a good thing. It’s a very good thing. These cars are different now than what they used to be. It used to be a battle of machine, you’re going to wear out your tires and your brakes and whatnot. They just don’t wear out anymore, so essentially it just becomes a long race after that.
“I certainly like the change, and on a weeknight time slot that we have, it’s got to be tightened up anyway, so I think this was a good taste of it, and they’ll gather the data and figure out what’s best for them in the future. Maybe it’s keeping them long, I’m not sure. Let the people that know a lot more about it speak on it.”
NASCARs President Steve Phelps spoke earlier this week about how some of these changes may become part of the new norm.
“There are some things that we’ll look at both this year and the offseason,” said Phelps on Tuesday. “Typically, we practice three times. Do we need to practice three times? I don’t know. That is something we, as an industry, will determine.
“Having cars on racetracks, is that something that’s important with respect to a practice? Or isn’t it? Or frankly, do you have a better show when you don’t practice? And those are some of the things we need to look at.”
Phelps cautioned that he didn’t want to oversaturate the schedule with a bunch of weeknight races, but did leave the door open for more in the future still.
“Do I think we’ll have some one-day shows where you come in and race on a Wednesday night? Yeah, I think we’ll probably see some of that moving forward.”
Surprise Showing Of The Night
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. started this return to racing for NASCAR “embarrassed.” Stenhouse, crashed out on the opening lap of the May 17 race at the Darlington Raceway in Turn 2. After a 70 day break for COVID-19, he wrecked just two turn into resuming.
He finished 27th in the second race at Darlington last Wednesday night and 24th in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. But, on Thursday night, the speed showed in his No. 47 Chevrolet.
Stenhouse, finished in the top five when it was all said and done in coming home fourth. It was actually his third top 10 in his last four Charlotte oval starts as he was fifth in last year’s Coke 600 with Roush/Fenway Racing.
This makes up for a rough last few months for him in terms of racing. After earning the pole for the season opening Daytona 500, the JTG Daugherty Racing driver was penalized in the race itself for passing below the yellow line. He’d finish 20th as a result of that. He was third in the second race of the year in Vegas, but 20th, 22nd, 40th, 25th and 24th respectively after.
Now, he gets another top five for the team and some much needed momentum heading to arguably his best track on the circuit at Bristol on Sunday.
Key Stats
The win by Elliott was the 60th win by Hendrick Motorsports on 1.5-mile tracks. Next best is Joe Gibbs Racing with 50 while Roush Fenway Racing (41) and Team Penske (29) are third and fourth respectively. The victory was also the 20th trip to victory lane by HMS at Charlotte, eight of which coming from different drivers which also is a NASCAR record. The Wood Brothers have taken seven different drivers to victory lane at Daytona while HMS has also had seven different drivers win at Pocono and Talladega.
Also, Elliott’s victory is the ninth straight different winner on 1.5-mile tracks. It all started last year on June 30 when his teammate Alex Bowman won at the Chicagoland Speedway. Kurt Busch would then win at the Kentucky Speedway a couple of weeks later, followed by Martin Truex Jr. (Las Vegas), Denny Hamlin (Kansas), Kevin Harvick (Texas), Kyle Busch (Homestead), Joey Logano (Las Vegas), Brad Keselowski (Charlotte 1) and now Elliott.
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