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Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kurt Busch Grabs 3rd Place Finish At Auto Club 400

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Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images

FONTANA, CA (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kurt Busch grabbed a third place finish in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.

“Really happy,” exclaimed Busch after the race in pit road.  “All weekend the car just had a good vibe to it, the way it unloaded and the way we made small changes on our Monster Energy Chevy. I was really proud of this effort.”

Busch started fourth in the No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro and stayed in the Top 5 from the drop of the green to the end of the race’s first stage, where Busch finished fifth.

A pit-road miscue relegated Busch deep in the field to start the race’s second stage, but that’s where the 2004 NASCAR Cup Champion put his experience and a good race to work.

“I messed up on a pit cue,” said Busch.  “To race and to do different things in the draft and to be able to gain speed with cars on the straightaway and then once you get all by yourself you actually lose speed, it’s a whole type of different racing.”

Busch was back in the top 10 by the start of the race’s final stage, battling with his brother Kyle and Chase Elliott by the end of the race, finishing behind his brother but ahead of Elliott.

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“I’m glad that I had a good car to do it all with, and just thanks to my guys,” said Busch.  To have a third-place run right here in Monster Energy’s back yard, this was a solid run for our Chevy.”

It was a tough day for Busch’s teammate Kyle Larson.  Larson, a California native, started ninth and was having a solid run when Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin attempted to bump-draft the No. 42 McDonald’s Chevrolet.  The attempt was too hard, sending Larson into the outside wall.

Larson pitted to fix the damage and lost two laps in the process.  The remainder of the race Larson and the No. 42 team played catch-up, getting one of their two-laps back to finish 21st.

Hendrick Motorsport Alex Bowman took home the win, his second career Cup Series victory.

Auto Club 400 Results

NASCAR

Bubba Wallace, Austin Cindric win Duels; Allgaier puts JRM Chevrolet in the show

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Photo: Meg Oliphant/Getty Images

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

DAYTONA, FL (February 13, 2025) — With a push from teammate Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace surged ahead of 2024 DAYTONA 500 winner William Byron to win Thursday night’s first Duel at Daytona 150-mile qualifying race and earn the third starting position for the Sunday’s 67th running of the Great American Race (2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Driving the No. 23XI Racing Toyota, Wallace edged Byron by 0.082 seconds, as intense drama unfolded behind the two frontrunners.

With a determined charge over the final two laps, Justin Allgaier finished highest among the unchartered cars in the first Duel, ensuring that a JR Motorsports Chevrolet would compete in a NASCAR Cup Series race for the first time in company history.

With a massive wreck littering the asphalt behind them, polesitter Austin Cindric edged Erik Jones for the victory in the second Duel. Though Jones was first to the finish line, Cindric held a lead by inches when the caution lights illuminated as the cars approached the stripe.

In an unchartered No. 01 Rick Ware Racing Ford, Corey LaJoie raced his way into the DAYTONA 500 with a sixth-place finish in Duel 2.

“Thanks to Tyler (Reddick),” Wallace said after the first Duel. “That was awesome to see two team cars work together that well and learn a lot for Sunday. Did a great job pushing me. Our McDonald’s Toyota Camry was really fast. Two different balances from being in the pack to being out front. Have some work to do there.

“I’ve wanted one of these Duel wins for so long. All my buddies got one. Tyler got one last year. I was pissed off. I got one now. I’m good.”

With the unchartered car of J.J. Yeley boxed in on the bottom, Allgaier made a three-wide move to the top on the next-to-last lap and surged forward to earn the transfer spot into the DAYTONA 500.

With a ninth-place finish to Yeley’s 17th, Allgaier earned the 17th starting position in Sunday’s race.

“He got up to the top on that last lap, and I didn’t think that was possible, but he got to the top and made it work,” said team co-owner and two-time DAYTONA 500 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr., who couldn’t hide his elation at making the race for the first time as a car owner.

“This was rough emotionally, but damn it, it worked out.”

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“This means a lot to our team, this little team of JR Motorsports,” Allgaier added. “Dale Jr. is an amazing race car driver. He’s an amazing dad, car owner. You can tell how much he wanted this and our whole shop wanted this.”

A wild multicar wreck on Lap 14 eliminated the unchartered cars of Chandler Smith and Helio Castroneves in the first Duel. Smith was running third but moved down the track into the Chevrolet of Justin Haley, triggering a crash that damaged eight cars.

Smith’s Ford shot up into the outside wall, as did Castroneves’ Chevrolet. Out of control, Castroneves’ car bounced on the apron before climbing the track into the wall a second time.

“I got hit and ended up hitting the wall in Turn 2 pretty hard and broke a toe link,” said Castroneves, who nevertheless will start Sunday’s race on an open exemption provisional.

“It’s disappointing because the No. 91 Wendy’s Chevrolet was really good. The boys on the PROJECT91 team did an amazing job. They have a little bit of work to do, unfortunately. It wasn’t the night that we wanted, but we’ll take the provisional. So many people have been talking about it, but we will take it, and we will learn more for the race.”

At the end of the second Duel, Cindric had to wait until NASCAR reviewed the finish and confirmed him as the winner. With Cindric taking the checkered flag, Jones will start fourth on Sunday.

“I honestly thought I got him, but I wasn’t going to sit there and argue about anything,” said Cindric, who locked himself into the second starting position for the DAYTONA 500 during Wednesday night’s time trials. “But, yeah, it’s awesome. Glad to put on a great show for the fans here.”

Without a full-time ride in 2025, LaJoie underscored the significance of the Great American Race.

“You forget how special this race is, right, (until) you have to race for it, when you have to earn it, because when you’re racing full-time, it’s just the first one of 36. But when it’s the one that you think about for months, it means that much more.”

Ty Dillon finished third in Duel 1, followed by Ross Chastain, Reddick, AJ Allmendinger, Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott, Allgaier and Kyle Busch.

In Duel 2, Chris Buescher ran third, followed by Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, LaJoie, Todd Gilliland, Ryan Blaney, John Hunter Nemechek and Christopher Bell.

The open cars of Anthony Alfredo and BJ McLeod failed to make the DAYTONA 500 field.

Daytona 500 Starting Lineup

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NASCAR

Chevrolet Blazer EV SS set to pace Sunday’s 67th Daytona 500

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Chevrolet Newsroom

DAYTONA, FL (February 11, 2024) – The 2025 Chevrolet Blazer EV SS is going to lead the NASCAR Cup Series field to the green flag in Sunday’s 67th running of the Daytona 500.

“Chevrolet has a long history with racing – it’s in our DNA – and the Blazer EV SS is a testament to that,” said Scott Bell, Vice President of Chevrolet.  “We’re excited for customers to watch the Blazer EV SS, the quickest SS we’ve ever produced, pace such an iconic race this weekend.”

The Blazer EV SS produces 615-horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque, which launches the vehicle from 0-to-60 in just 3.4-seconds.

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“We’re honored to have Chevrolet as a founding partner of Daytona International Speedway, and that the iconic brand chose to feature the all-new Blazer EV SS at the Daytona 500,” said Frank Kelleher, President of Daytona International Speedway.

This marks the first time a Blazer has paced the ‘Great American Race’ and the first time an EV has paced the race.  Sunday marks the 16th time a Chevrolet Bowtie will lead the Daytona 500 field to green.

Chevrolet will also pay the NASCAR Xfinity and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races as well:

  • A Corvette Stingray will be the pace car for the United Rentals 300 Xfinity Series race on Saturday, February 15.
  • A Silverado RST will be the pace vehicle for the Craftsman Truck Series Fresh From Florida 250 on Friday, February 14.

Chevrolet also plans to debut its Blazer EV.R NASCAR Prototype ahead of the Daytona 500. The prototype represents a joint effort between NASCAR and OEM partners with the intent of exploring new and emerging automotive technologies.

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NASCAR

Chase Elliott wins Cook Out Clash at historic Bowman Gray Stadium

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Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (February 2, 2025) — Pole winner Chase Elliott held off a dramatic charge from Ryan Blaney to win Sunday night’s Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium in front of a teeming, vociferous sellout crowd at the historic quarter-mile.

Adroitly working lapped traffic in the closing stages of the 200-lap season-opening exhibition race, Elliott crossed the finish line 1.333 seconds ahead of Blaney, who started last among the 23 competitors on a driver points provisional.

Elliott claimed his first victory in the Clash, which came to Bowman Gray after a three-year stint in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet reveled in the NASCAR Cup Series’ return to the iconic short track after an absence of 54 years.

“This environment is special,” said Elliott, who led 171 laps, including the first 96 before surrendering the lead to eventual third-place finisher Denny Hamlin. “This is a place that has a deep history in NASCAR. I think they deserve this event, truthfully.

“I hope we didn’t disappoint. It was fun for me at least, and we’ll hopefully come back here one day.”

Hamlin led twice for 28 laps, but faded after Elliott retook the top spot from him on Lap 126. And when Blaney slipped past Hamlin’s Toyota on Lap 147, it became a two-driver race.

But Blaney’s car tightened up in the late going, preventing the driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford from challenging for the win. Blaney thought better of making an overly aggressive move on the series’ seven-time most popular driver.

“I’m not going to bulldog into him and get chased out of here with pitchforks,” Blaney quipped… “I just didn’t quite have enough right rear at the end to make a move on him.”

Joey Logano finished fourth, followed by Bubba Wallace, who advanced from his 14th-place starting position. Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Tyler Reddick, Shane van Gisbergen and Chris Buescher completed the top 10.

Hamlin rued the final restart on Lap 121, after the seventh caution for Brad Keselowski’s spin off Wallace’s bumper.

Three Rivers Karting

“I just didn’t do very well on that restart there, and kind of lost the bottom, and Chase took advantage of it,” Hamlin said. “Once you get the lead, it’s a lot easier to hang on to it.

“I thought that they were just a little better that second half than we were, along with the 12 (Blaney) was as well. We just have to get a little bit better, but overall, a good day for our Sport Clips Toyota.”

In the last chance qualifier that determined positions 21 and 22 in the main event, Kyle Larson charged from the 10th starting position and survived nine cautions to win the 75-lap event and advance to the Clash.

On Lap 72, Larson grabbed the lead from Josh Berry, who was making his first competitive start for Wood Brothers Racing at the track where team patriarch and NASCAR Hall of Famer Glen Wood secured all four of his Cup Series victories.

Larson took the top spot for the first time on Lap 30 and led a race-high 36 circuits en route to the win. However, Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet sustained damage after he surrendered the lead to Erik Jones for a restart on Lap 65.

In a melee moments after racing resumed, Jones spun in a three-wide mishap with Berry and Larson and dropped out of contention.

“My car was way better than it was yesterday,” said Larson, whose eighth-place finish in his Saturday heat relegated him to the last chance qualifier. “That was fun. I was able to get to the front without really getting into too many people.

“But then after that long break (for local champion Burt Myers hard wreck on Lap 61), I cycled really tight for that restart and allowed Erik to get in front of me and just kind of lost control of the race at that point. Then, the next restart, it got crazy, and I got a bunch of damage.”

Berry, who started 13th, held second to secure the 22nd spot in the Clash. Berry and Larson finished 13th and 17th, respectively, in the main event.

“It got pretty rough,” Berry said. “You hate that it comes to that, but it is what it is—it’s the Madhouse, it’s Bowman Gray Stadium, it’s a tight race track, and you’re going to run into each other.”

Notes: Elliott is the 26th different driver to win the Clash and the eighth different driver to win the event in the last eight years. He’s the first driver to win in a Chevrolet since Jimmie Johnson did so in 2019… This was the sixth time the Clash has been won from the pole position.

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