NASCAR
Shot at history slips away for Elliott, Keselowski in Daytona 500 chaos
By Holly Cain
NASCAR Wire Service
DAYTONA BEACH, FL (February 16, 2026) – Two former NASCAR Cup Series champions took the white flag signaling one lap to-go in Sunday’s 68th Daytona 500 in position to perhaps at last add DAYTONA 500 champion to their already accomplished racing resumes.
And in a blink of an eye, both Chase Elliott and Brad Keselowski were instead collected in a multi-car crash and finished the day at the Daytona International Speedway AdventHealth Medical Center in the infield instead of the track’s famous Victory Lane. Both of them were okay physically but frustrated having to salvage top-five finishes in the biggest race of the season – the major Crown Jewel event that has “just” eluded them – 10 times for Elliott and now 17 times for Keselowski.
Elliott’s No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet patiently and methodically moved forward in the closing laps, avoiding several big multi-car accidents in the second half of the race to put himself in position to make a run at NASCAR’s most celebrated trophy.
While maintaining a spot in the lead pack of cars – even leading a lap with five laps to go – the 2020 series champ was collected in a multi-car accident about 100 yards from the checkered flag. Riley Herbst’s No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota barely clipped Elliott’s Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet but was enough to collect other cars and launch Elliott’s car across Daytona’s famed finish line.
It was good enough for a fourth-place finish, Elliott’s third top-10 and best work in the Daytona 500 since a runner-up effort in 2021.
“Obviously looking back, you could run it through your mind a thousand times, do you do something different — I feel like if I had thrown a double block on the 45 [race winner Tyler Reddick], probably would have just crashed us at that point in time,” Elliott said of the front pack’s frantic bob-and-weave toward the checkered flag.
“I felt like you had to pick your battles. I thought maybe if somebody would pick me up on the top, you might have one more run to the line, but unfortunately ended up getting turned around.
“Appreciate all the effort. …thought we had a good Speedweeks down here. Obviously hate to — this really sucks to be that close and come off Turn 4 with the lead and not finish it off.
“But that’s part of this event, and unfortunately we were on the bad end of it today.”
Keselowski came into the race already in recovery from a broken leg he suffered in an offseason incident at a ski resort. Sunday night he came out of the Infield Care Center leaning on the cane he’s used all weekend – and aggravated at the field’s aggression on that final run to the checkered as well.
Although he did not lead a lap Sunday, the 2012 series champion put himself in position to be in contention in the closing laps and was visibly frustrated by the turn of events and also being collected in the multi-accident triggered by Herbst.
“A lot of chaos,” Keselowski said of the final push.
“The 35 [Herbst] just wrecked me out of nowhere for no reason. That was one of the dumbest things I’ve seen. He had no chance of blocking my run. I had a huge run. I don’t know if I could have gotten the 45 (race winner Tyler Reddick) or the 47 (runner-up, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.) but I would have liked to have found out because my run was coming fast and the 35 just wrecked us and himself.
“Pretty stupid!” he added, noting that Herbst block wasn’t just one lane, but three lanes coming up from the bottom of the track. “To wreck yourself and everybody else is just stupid. Very, very stupid.”
“Tore up the 9 (Elliott), tore up the 22 (Logano), a bunch of cars that didn’t deserve to be wrecked, so that was a big bummer and really stupid,” Keselowski added of the finish. “Still a decent day for us to come home with a top-five and to be competitive and have a shot to win.”
As for his injury, Keselowski said, he felt “great” and “couldn’t feel it” while in the car and was actually – on some level – heartened that it was tested with the crash.
“I felt really good in the car and felt really good getting through the crash,” Keselowski said. “I’m proud to make it this far. A few weeks ago, I didn’t know if I’d be able to run this race. To get to run the race and have an opportunity to win it feels pretty good, just disappointed not to bring it home.”
The fifth-place showing for Keselowski was his third top-five in 17 career Daytona 500 starts and first since a third-place showing in 2014 after being collected in accidents in six of the last 10 Daytona 500s.
“I felt good about just being in position, for sure,” he said. “At the end it’s a roll of the dice and who’s going to making good moves or bad moves and the dice didn’t roll our way.”
By Holly Cain
NASCAR Wire Service
LONG POND, PA (June 13. 2026) It’s been a recurring theme in the NASCAR Cup Series in recent weeks. Denny Hamlin is out front.
The veteran driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota claimed his fourth Busch Light Pole position of the season Saturday afternoon at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway and will lead the field to green in Sunday’s Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISITPA (1 p.m. ET on Prime Video, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Of note, with poor weather expected later Sunday afternoon, the green flag start time (1 p.m.) has been moved up two hours earlier than its originally scheduled time.
This marks the 51st pole position of Hamlin’s career and comes as the popular veteran is attempting to win three consecutive races for the first time in his celebrated career after victories the last two weeks in Nashville and Michigan.
He was the last driver to take to the track in Saturday’s qualifying session and just nudged Hendrick Motorsports’ driver Kyle Larson from the top position in the final minutes – Hamlin’s lap of 173.250 mph around the 2.5-mile triangular-shaped Pocono track was .057-second quicker than Larson’s best.
“Certainly had the grip, this whole team just did a great job with adjustments, making it a little better from practice, I didn’t execute a very good lap there in Turn 2, but overall I thought I hit [turns] three and one pretty decent – just good enough,” Hamlin said.
He acknowledged he and the team are certainly on a hot streak at the moment with wins in the non-points paying All-Star Race four weeks ago plus the two victories in the last two weeks. The effort has helped Hamlin cut 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick’s 100-plus point advantage over him atop the standings to only 51 points heading into Pocono, a place Hamlin has won a record seven times.
“It’s certainly going well and confidence is up with these guys [on the team] that every time I enter a corner at about 200, I know they’ve built me a car that’s going to stick,” Hamlin said, acknowledging his three-in-a-row opportunity.
“This is the best shot for sure, we’ve got a little work to do on the car overnight to get it to be a race winner, but I feel like we’re in that box where we need to be and we’ll fine tune it from here.”
Starting behind Hamlin and Larson are Daniel Suarez in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet and Hamlin’s JGR teammates Ty Gibbs (No. 54 Toyota) and defending race winner Chase Briscoe (No. 19 Toyota).
Chris Buescher, who won his first career NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono in 2016, qualified sixth – his No. 17 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford the first Ford on the grid. Legacy Motor Club teammates Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek will start their Toyotas seventh and eighth. Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron (No. 24 Chevrolet) and Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney (No. 12 Ford) – who also earned his first career series win at Pocono in 2017 – round out the top-10 on the grid.
Of note, 23XI Racing’s Reddick will roll of 15th and his teammate, Bubba Wallace, will start from the rear of the field after a qualifying session accident. RFK owner-driver Brad Keselowski had engine trouble in the session and will start alongside Wallace on the last row.
By Holly Cain
NASCAR Wire Service
LONG POND, PA (June 13, 2026) – NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series’ MillerTech Battery 250 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway Saturday featured a record 18 lead changes and a record 10 cautions – including a seven-minute red flag period – but in the end, it was a very familiar scenario in Victory Lane: championship leader Justin Allgaier and the No. 7 JR Motorsports team celebrating an inspired drive.
Allgaier led a race best 35 of the 100 laps – ultimately taking the lead for good on a restart with two laps remaining. Haas Factory teammates Sam Mayer – who was Allgaier’s greatest challenge on the day – and Sheldon Creed created a three-wide push for the lead on the final restart but ultimately slid backwards as Allgaier’s JR Motorsports teammate William Byron was able to push Allgaier’s No. 7 Chevrolet forward to create a gap on the field.
The advantage was all Allgaier needed to race off to a .607-second win over Joe Gibbs Racing’s Brent Crews – who passed Byron on the last corner of the last lap for second place.
The victory was the 2024 series champion Allgaier’s first at the historic Pocono 2.5-mile triangle-shaped track giving him wins now at 21 different venues. And it marked the fifth win of the year for Allgaier, tying his previous high season win total.
“First of all, I’ve got to say thank you to William Byron because without his shove at the end of the race, it was probably game over,” Allgaier said before thanking the fans for filling the grandstands.
“This season has been special with [crew chief] Andrew Overstreet and this whole number seven team and this pit crew right here,” he said, adding with a grin, “We’re going to go celebrate this one for sure.”
Slowed by all the caution flags – four in the opening 25-lap stage alone – the early part of the race never allowed for one driver to establish a rhythm and truly set a pace among all the starting and stopping.
Polesitter Taylor Gray led 24 laps and won the opening stage and Crews claimed the stage two win. But the final half of the race was really a duel between Allgaier and Mayer, who led 14 laps and exchanged the lead with Allgaier frequently in the race’s closing laps – sometimes on the same lap. They started side-by-side out front on the three final restarts and Mayer looked like his No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet would at least keep Allgaier honest. In the end, Mayer and Creed finished fourth and fifth.
“It was either the double zero [Creed] was trying to make a block, or just a push gone wrong a little bit,” Mayer said, of the unsuccessful three-wide move on that last restart. “Just really unfortunate circumstance. We actually had a really good launch.
“At the end of these races, you’re not going to not take a run so I don’t blame my teammate for pulling out of line like that, but obviously it put me in a bad spot,” Mayer continued. “The middle [lane] was okay if I had people with me. … obviously today we executed really, really well, so lots to be proud about, but obviously I’m very devastated right now because I just want a shot at it and don’t feel like I haven’t gotten a really true shot at it when the white flag flew.
“We were close today executed really good and really proud of everybody. One day it’s going to be my turn, and I can’t wait.”
Incredibly, Allgaier’s effort – the 33rd victory of his career – now puts him an unbelievable 250 points up on second place, Richard Childress Racing driver Jesse Love in the series championship standings with seven regular season races remaining. Love only completed a single lap after being collected in the first of 10 yellow-flag incidents on the day.
“Just frustrated obviously, thought our Camaro was going to be good today,” Love said, adding, “Only got one lap to feel it out but I was happy with that one corner, wish we had gotten a few more.”
Anthony Alfredo, Rajah Caruth, Brandon Jones, the defending Pocono race winner Connor Zilisch and Carson Kvapil rounded out the top-10.
Jeremy Clements led a lap and finished 16th in a historical day for his career and the series. The 41-year-old South Carolinian tied Kenny Wallace for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series most all-time starts – 547 races. Wallace set the record in 2011 and last raced in 2015. Clements will claim the mark for himself when he takes next week’s green flag at San Diego.
The series heads to Southern California for next Saturday’s inaugural United Rentals Driven to Serve 250 (5:30 p.m. ET on The CW, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) on the Coronado Naval Base.
BROOKLYN, MI (June 6, 2026) – Kris Wright and the No. 81 McAnally Hilgemann Racing team a hoping for better days after a frustrating DQS Solutions & Staffing 250 powered by Precision Vehicle Logistics Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
Wright started 27th in the No. 81 iHeart Radio Silverado RST on the 2-mile oval. The race was only 7-laps old when Wright was involved in an accident, causing him to lose a lap while his team made repairs.
Wright was quickly back on pit road on Lap 18 after a left rear tire issue required additional work by his crew. Wright returned to the race three laps down at that point.
“Brutal day for our iHeartRadio team,” said Wright. “The No. 81 crew worked hard all weekend to get speed in the truck, and we never really had the opportunity to show what we were capable of.”
Fuel-only pit stops during the races final stage enabled Wright and his team to finish 31st. Corey Heim was the race winner.
Fan favorite Cleetus McFarland, in only his second series start, rallied from a late race spin that brought out one of seven yellow flags – and finished 25th on the lead lap.
The trucks are off next week and will return to action June 19 in the inaugural NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race in San Diego on the Naval Base Coronado (7 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“I’m looking forward to getting to San Diego in a couple of weeks,” said Wright. “Road courses have always suited my driving style, and it’ll be special to spend the weekend in Coronado celebrating the military members who will be in attendance.”
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