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Kevin Harvick Opens NASCAR Playoffs With A Win As Truex Wrecks Elliott

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Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

DARLINGTON, SC (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Stewart Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick is off to a good start in the NASCAR Playoffs after winning Sunday’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

Harvick was in third place during the final laps of the race behind leader Chase Elliott and second-place Martin Truex Jr.  Truex got a run on Elliott through turns 3 and 4 and was alongside as they passed the flagstand with 15-laps to go.  Entering turn 1 Truex though he was clear of the No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet but he wasn’t and the No. 19 Toyota crashed into the No. 9 and both ended hitting the outside wall.

The pair attempted to continue but Truex had to pit due to a flat tire.  Elliott soldiered on but Harvick quickly passed the damaged machine and survived a late charge by Austin Dillon to win and automatically advance to the next round of the playoffs.

“I didn’t see anything,” said Harvick. “Timmy (Fedewa, Harvick’s spotter) came on the radio and told me that the leaders had just wrecked. At that point it was managing what I had behind me and trying to make sure that I didn’t make any big mistakes to give up big chunks of time. As we went through the next couple laps, obviously I could see the 9 and 19 getting progressively closer to me as we were making laps, and the 19 pitted there, and when I passed the 9, I saw that he was all tore up. So it was definitely a strange cycle of laps there over those four or five laps.”

Dillon came home second followed by Team Penske’s Joey Logano in third, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Erik Jones in fourth and Hendrick Motorsports William Byron rounded out the Top 5.

Three Rivers Karting

The contact between Elliott and Harvick was all anybody wanted to talk about immediately after the race.  Elliott and Truex had differing views of what happened.

“He (Martin Truex Jr.) had a run on me there off of four and he just kind of cleared himself into one,” said Elliott. “He was close, but he wasn’t all the way clear, obviously. I hate it, obviously we had a fast NAPA Camaro – fast enough to contend. We needed a little pace there to extend our lead instead of playing defense, but regardless I thought we were in a good spot.”

“It’s Darlington and typically you don’t want to go in side-by-side,” said Truex. “I felt like I had enough of a run and enough space there that the last foot or so he (Chase Elliott) was going to understand that if I was committed, we both weren’t going to make it. Typically, here that’s kind of how you race. If a guy gets a run on you and he’s just about got you cleared, you have to give that last little bit. Now obviously, the end of the race, probably the pass for the win, he wanted to drive it on in there and I was committed to being clear and there was no way we were both going to make the corners. Basically, when I made up my mind and I was driving it in there and then he drove in on my right-rear quarter, there was no possible way that we both weren’t crashing. That’s what happened.”

The were 18-lead changes among 6-drivers and the race was slowed by 7-caution flags for 34-laps.

Race 2 of the first round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is September 12 at Richmond Raceway.

Darlington Cup Results

NASCAR Cup Series Drivers Points

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.”

Three Rivers Karting

“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.

Three Rivers Karting

“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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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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