Latest news with #BuschLightPoleQualifying
Reuters
06-04-2025
- Automotive
- Reuters
William Byron sets blazing pace to win Darlington pole
April 6 - DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron won pole position for Sunday's Goodyear 400 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) -- yet another supreme performance for his NASCAR Cup Series championship-leading No. 24 team. Byron's lap of 170.904 mph around the iconic 1.366-mile oval set fast lap early in Busch Light Pole Qualifying on Saturday afternoon and set up a front row that will also include Ryan Preece in the No. 60 Roush Fenway Keselowski Ford -- Preece's best start since winning his only career pole position at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in Spring, 2023. It's the 15th pole position of the 27-year old Byron's eight-year career, his second of the season (also Phoenix in March) and second at the notoriously tough Darlington track. "I felt good about it today, felt like we had a good plan going into practice and that we are always strong here,'' said this year's Daytona 500 winner Byron, who won at Darlington in 2023 and said it may well be his "best track." "Tried to find a decent balance there, worked on it and got better and finished practice pretty strong so I felt like I had some confidence going into practice. Was just nervous going early. Having an earlier draw was not ideal, but it seemed like the track temp was going up so it wasn't the worst thing. ... Proud of our team, we had a really good week of prep.'' Although Chevy and Ford split the front row. Toyotas filled out the rest of the top-five on the grid. Last week's Martinsville winner Denny Hamlin -- Darlington's winningest active driver (four wins) -- was third fastest in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. His teammate, Daytona 500 polesitter Chase Briscoe, was fourth quickest in the No. 19 JGR Toyota followed by 23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace, who will roll off fifth in the No. 23 Toyota that Hamlin co-owns. Austin Cindric will start sixth in the No. 2 Team Penske Ford, followed by 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick (Toyota), Richard Childress Racing's Kyle Busch (Chevrolet), Penske's Ryan Blaney (Ford) and Spire Motorsports' Michael McDowell (Chevrolet). Although the Hendrick team is ranked first, second (Kyle Larson), third (Chase Elliott) and fifth (Alex Bowman) in the championship points, his teammates did not fare as well in Saturday's time trials. Elliott will start 19th. Larson, who won at Darlington in 2023 will start 19th and Bowman will roll off 33rd. "It may be tricky strategy-wise and you can get stuck back there, so (qualifying) matters maybe just a tick more than other places," Byron said, noting of his teammates, "These cars are really finicky so hitting the balance and just hitting the lap the way you want it to be can be really difficult. So I'm not surprised because there's a lot of parity in the Next Gen era and especially in qualifying so you can be just that little bit off. "I feel like our team has really good notes from qualifying though and that will really help.'' Defending race winner Brad Keselowski, co-owner and driver of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing's No. 6 Ford will start 20th. NASCAR HOLDS COMPETITION MEETING WITH XFINITY SERIES DRIVERS *NASCAR officials met with the entire field of Xfinity Series drivers early Friday morning before any track activity at Darlington Raceway - a meeting triggered by an especially aggressive showing for the series at the Martinsville (Va.) Speedway short track a week ago - a race so chaotic that Chase Elliott - a former Xfinity Series and NASCAR Cup Series champ - called it "embarrassing" for the sport. Although aggressive moves characterized much of the second half of the race, a big wreck on the final lap started up front with then leaders -- Joe Gibbs Racing's Taylor Gray and JR Motorsports' Sammy Smith -- precipitated some angry confrontations post-race. Gray (off track) and Smith (on track) were both penalized for their actions. Veteran Austin Hill was the big beneficiary of the on-track situation between the two, driving through the melee up front to claim his second win of the year - credited with only leading that last lap. Hill shared that the meeting went well and that he expects his fellow drivers to be more mindful of the way they race going forward, calling NASCAR very "firm" in its morning message. "I think it's going to calm down a lot more than you think today," Hill said of Saturday afternoon's Sports Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 at Darlington. "We'll have to wait and see but I think we're all going to still be aggressive and trying to win the race but it's going to be a very respectful race." The series' next trip to Martinsville in late October determines which four Playoff drivers advance to the Championship 4 with a shot to win the 2025 title. "NASCAR made it very clear they don't want to be in the ball-and-strike business, they don't want to be making all these calls so they said for us to help them with that,'' Hill said. "They (NASCAR) also said if they have to step in and start making calls and black-flagging people and parking people and all those things, they'll do it. I agree with where NASCAR stands with that but I also think we in the Xfinity Series need to do a better job going forward and not putting it in NASCAR's hands.'' KESELOWSKI OPTIMISTIC DESPITE CHALLENGING EARLY SEASON *The last Spring weekend Brad Keselowski spent in Darlington, S.C., he left South Carolina with a big trophy. It was the first victory the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion had earned as co-team owner at Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing. As importantly it marked a highlight in a challenging new role as owner and driver. Darlington, in particular, has been a recent highlight reel for Keselowski whose average finish (6.4) in the last five races in best in the field. He has plenty of reason to be optimistic about this Spring run of races -- at Darlington, Bristol, Tenn., and Talladega, Ala. -- venues where he is a multi-time winner. He comes to South Carolina without a single lap led and is still looking to claim his first top-10 finish of the eight-race season. His best showing in the No. 6 RFK Ford is 11th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He's finished 26th in the two races (at Homestead,Fla. and Martinsville, Va.) leading into Darlington. "I feel like we're doing all the right things and get to where we need to be, we just haven't gotten the results,'' said Keselowski, who qualified 20th for Sunday's race, "We haven't qualified as well as we liked to have. "In the race we haven't been able to put together for a number of reasons some of it in our control, a lot of it not in our control, so it's been frustrating. But kind of have the feeling we're getting the bad luck out of the way early in the season, that's kind of the overwhelming sentiment and if we stay the course, it will come back to us.'' VETERANS HAVE THE DARLINGTON EDGE *Darlington Raceway is known as the track "Too Tough to Tame" -- and perhaps too that end, its long and distinguished list of winners includes a noticeable group of veterans. Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin leads all active drivers with four victories, another four runner-up finishes and also bests the grid in top-fives (13), top-10s (18) and overall average finish (8.2). NASCAR Hall of Famers such as Jimmie Johnson (three wins), Bill Elliott (five wins) Jeff Gordon (seven wins) and the late Dale Earnhardt (nine wins) were all so good at the 1.366-mile oblong oval. "This sport is so week-to-week it's hard to say (the track favors veterans) but you can't argue with results,'' said Hamlin, who has led laps in the last 10 consecutive Darlington races -- and has led more than 100 laps five different times in his career. "It lends itself to the best drivers and the best teams. I think it's a great combination of, you've got to have everything. ... the driver has to just be really good at his craft and know when to push and when not to. "It's going to be mentally taxing knowing you've got to hit your marks just perfectly,'' he continued. "And just the mental side of it, with 35 other guys that aren't there to let you win. It's really hard to navigate that. .. it just takes its toll, it has for me on my body and mind every time I race here. As far as the veteran side of it, I think certainly it seems that those that have lots of experience on this track and more than likely the guys have been successful because they know that feel they need to be fast here and continue to replicate it." AN EVERYDAY EARNHARDT THROWBACK *There is no question that NASCAR Cup Series driver Carson Hocevar is a huge fan of late seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt. The driver of the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet recently purchased online a Chevrolet pick-up truck with a paint scheme identical to one of Earnhardt's iconic No. 3 Goodwrench Chevrolets. He says it's his "daily drive" and actually drove the truck from his Charlotte-area home to Darlington for the race this weekend. "Basically I wanted something old-school car-wise,'' said Hocevar, who posted a photo of the truck parked at Darlington on his social media. "I just thought it would be fun and interesting to have. So I got it.'' ZILISCH TO MAKE 2ND CUP START *On Thursday, Trackhouse Racing announced that 18-year-old driver Connor Zilisch will make his second NASCAR Cup Series start for the team in the sport's longest race, the May 25 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The North Carolinian Zilisch is in his first full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series season driving the No. 88 Chevrolet as a development driver for JR Motorsports and has already won an Xfinity race this year -- from the pole position -- claiming the trophy at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) road course in March. He's currently sixth in the Xfinity Series championship standings. "It's awesome to have the opportunity to race in one of NASCAR's coolest events," said Zilisch, who has shown great talent competing in endurance races - winning in his class in both the Rolex 24 at Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring IMSA races last year. "The Charlotte 600 is one of the most prestigious races in NASCAR. It's going to be a physical and mental challenge because that race is so tough." --By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media.
Miami Herald
24-03-2025
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
Alex Bowman wins the pole for Cup race at Miami
HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman provided a dramatic final few minutes of Busch Light Pole Qualifying on Saturday afternoon -- claiming the pole position for Sunday's Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). With only four cars remaining in the session, Bowman's No. 48 Chevrolet set fast lap of 168.845 mph around the 1.5-mile track, knocking Front Frow Motorsports' Noah Gragson from the lead position that he had held for the majority of the qualifying session. Last week's Las Vegas race winner, Wood Brothers Racing's Josh Berry took the track immediately after and nearly equaled Bowman's lap -- instead his No. 21 Ford coming a mere .073-second off the pole-winning pace but earning a front row position alongside the Hendrick driver. This is Bowman's sixth career pole position and first at Homestead, a place the 32-year-old Arizona-native doesn't necessarily consider one of his historically better tracks. He has only a pair of top-10 finishes, but his best outcome -- seventh place -- came in the series most recent Homestead visit last October. "There were some cars not so great on the short run and really fast on the long run and we were kind of the opposite of that practice, we were really faster in the short run and not great on the long run stuff so I knew qualifying was going to be really important because of that and that we had some work to do for tomorrow," Bowman said, "But for me, I had a pretty clear cut plan for qualifying and I thought I was able to execute that pretty well and my race car gave me what I needed to do that." Gragson will start third, followed by Daytona 500 polesitter, Joe Gibbs Racing's Chase Briscoe in the No. 19 Toyota and current NASCAR Cup Series championship leader William Byron in the No. 24 Hendrick Chevrolet. "We're still really fast, but I've never gotten a pole in the Cup Series, but our Beef A Roo Mustang is pretty quick on the short run," said Gragson, driver of the No. 4 FRM Ford. "We just need to get a little better for the long run and we're up in the hunt, so that's good." Intermittent clouds cooled the 74-degree afternoon and as Bowman alluded to, several of the fastest cars in practice did not necessarily fare as well in actual qualifying. 23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace set top pace in Group B practice, for example, but was only ninth quickest in qualifying. Fellow Toyota driver, Legacy Motor Club's Erik Jones was second -- just behind Wallace -- in that practice session but ended up only 28th quickest on the starting grid. Conversely, Kaulig Racing's A.J. Allmendinger, who was 25th fastest in that Group 2 practice session will start the race from 10th position. Berry, still basking in his first career win last week at Las Vegas, was 31st in practice but will start from the front row. Defending race winner Tyler Reddick was 20th in qualifying. Kyle Larson, who is attempting to win in all three national series races this weekend will roll off 14th in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. And the season's winningest driver, Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell was 16th in qualifying. A three-time winner already, he is trying to become only the third driver in NASCAR history -- joining Hall of Famers Bill Elliott (1992) and Dale Earnhardt (1987) as the only competitors in the modern era to win four of the opening six races. NOTEBOOK ITEMS: *BERRY INSISTS SUCCESS NOT A FLUKE *First-time NASCAR Cup Series winner Josh Berry and the Wood Brothers Racing team come into Homestead race week still enjoying the legendary team's 101st victory at Las Vegas last Sunday -- a huge career achievement for Berry, personally, and only the second win for the team in the last nine years. Only five races into his tenure, Berry has already delivered an early-season Playoff berth for the team and by the looks of the strong showing may well win again in the months before the championship march starts. He was adamant that the Vegas win wasn't a "fluke' and is one of only four drivers with multiple top-five finishes on the year. "Without a doubt I feel like I had things to prove," said the 34-year-old Berry, who is beginning only his second fulltime season in the Cup ranks. "Obviously, coming off of last year and everything we went through, I think people were still looking at all four of us that were part of that program with a lot of question marks, so, to me, I wanted to go out and prove myself all over again in the Cup Series. "I felt like this was probably the opportunity for me. I think if I fail at this one, I don't think there's probably another one lined up for me, so most definitely there was pressure to go out and perform. During the offseason we just really buckled down and obviously getting to know and working with my new crew chief, Miles. "We put in a lot of work over the offseason to be prepared when the season started and I feel like that obviously paid off. Honestly, our results and performance has exceeded our expectations, so I'm super happy with that and winning a race in the Cup Series is a big deal." Berry's second place qualifying lap marks the fourth time in the past five races he's secured a top-10 start. *LARSON'S TRIPLE QUEST No driver is busier than Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson this weekend and the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion is already batting a thousand in his quest to win trophies in all three national series races at Homestead. He earned his first trophy with a dramatic comeback victory in Friday's NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race making the pass for the lead with only two laps remaining. It adds to an already-impressive resume here for Larson, who is a former winner in both Saturday's Xfinity Series 300-miler (2015) and Sunday's NACAR Cup Series race (2022) at the South Florida 1.5-miler. He comes into Sunday's race ranked sixth in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings, with three top-10s and a pair of third place finishes through the opening five races. "I felt like the Truck race was probably going to be the toughest to win, I don't have much experience in them and the runs are typically shorter," Larson said. "I feel better about Xfinity and Cup but the competition keeps getting tough and tougher as you get on with the weekend, but we'll see. Off to a good start." *HOMESTEAD A FINALE FAVORITE NASCAR just raced at the Homestead-Miami Speedway 1.5-miler during the October 2024 Playoff run and this weekend marks the first time it has been a Spring event since 2021. Ask the drivers where they'd like to see the former, longtime season finale venue on the schedule and the consensus is, they'd love to see it return as the championship race one day. "I certainly would like to see it play a bigger factor in our championship, whether it's in the Playoffs or part of the championship race round or whatever it might be," said the Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin, whose three wins are most among active drivers. "I'd just like to see it a part of that because we just talked about how the driver makes a bigger difference at the is race track than the car." Team Penske's Ryan Blaney took it a step further. "All the above, really," Blaney responded with a grin when asked if he preferred the spring or fall Homestead placement on the calendar. "I'll be honest, it doesn't matter to me when we come here, spring all, in the playoffs, championship race, as long as we're coming here. I think if you asked, some guys would love to come here twice, once in the spring and once in the fall, where that race in the fall lays, I don't care. Do I think the championship race should rotate between a few tracks? Yeah. And this should be one of them. This place puts on a great show no matter what." *THE WINNING Bs The five NASCAR Cup Series races have all been won by drivers whose last names begin with the letter "B." Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron won the Daytona 500. Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell won the next three races -- at Atlanta, Circuit of The Americas and Phoenix -- and Berry picked up his first career win at Las Vegas last weekend. Saturday's Homestead pole winner? Alex Bowman. Several drivers conceded that B letter trend could likely continue this weekend at Homestead with 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champ Ryan Blaney considered a favorite. He started the season with a pair of top-10 finishes and won the pole position at Atlanta but has back-to-back showings of 28th and 35th in the two races heading to South Florida -- suffering an engine failure at Phoenix and crashing last weekend at Las Vegas. "I thought our car was really good last week until I wrecked all of us on the back stretch so just hope to keep that same pace but I feel good with where our program is at right now," said Blaney, who has finished runner-up in the last two Homestead races. "Just a matter of trying to get some stuff to go our way." *SEASON OF LEARNING One of the more heralded rookies this season is former Australian SuperCars champion Shane Van Gisbergen, who turned heads and earned high praise for his historic victory at the Chicago Street Course two years ago in his first ever NASCAR Cup Series start. With a strong background in road and street courses before coming to America as a fulltime NASCAR Competitor, the 34-year-old New Zealand-native said it has been a legitimate learning curve in the NASCAR Cup Series on the ovals. His lone top-10 result of the year in the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet came at the Circuit of The Americas road course. He says it has been an education on the assortment of long and short ovals in this first full NASCAR Cup Series schedule. Twice -- in the last two races at Phoenix and Las Vegas -- he's been collected in crashes not of his own doing. "I feel like we've showed a lot of promise but we have nothing to show for it, really," Van Gisbergen said. "COTA was a good day, but on the ovals we've really struggled and we've had a lot of accidents and they haven't really been our fault. "It's really tough results-wise but I see a lot of potential and speed. Just got to put it together and get to the end of the races and things will start clicking for us, I think." "It has been hard because I'm not really known for crashing too much and not finishing, so it's been a bit of a pain really," Van Gisbergen added. "Just have to stay out of trouble and get through it. The first stage we're always going good and improving and thinking the rest of the race is going to be good then something seems to happen, so hopefully we stop that this weekend." --By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media. Field Level Media 2025 - All Rights Reserved
Reuters
22-03-2025
- Automotive
- Reuters
Alex Bowman wins the pole for Cup race at Miami
March 22 - HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman provided a dramatic final few minutes of Busch Light Pole Qualifying on Saturday afternoon -- claiming the pole position for Sunday's Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). With only four cars remaining in the session, Bowman's No. 48 Chevrolet set fast lap of 168.845 mph around the 1.5-mile track, knocking Front Frow Motorsports' Noah Gragson from the lead position that he had held for the majority of the qualifying session. Last week's Las Vegas race winner, Wood Brothers Racing's Josh Berry took the track immediately after and nearly equaled Bowman's lap -- instead his No. 21 Ford coming a mere .073-second off the pole-winning pace but earning a front row position alongside the Hendrick driver. This is Bowman's sixth career pole position and first at Homestead, a place the 32-year-old Arizona-native doesn't necessarily consider one of his historically better tracks. He has only a pair of top-10 finishes, but his best outcome -- seventh place -- came in the series most recent Homestead visit last October. "There were some cars not so great on the short run and really fast on the long run and we were kind of the opposite of that practice, we were really faster in the short run and not great on the long run stuff so I knew qualifying was going to be really important because of that and that we had some work to do for tomorrow," Bowman said, "But for me, I had a pretty clear cut plan for qualifying and I thought I was able to execute that pretty well and my race car gave me what I needed to do that." Gragson will start third, followed by Daytona 500 polesitter, Joe Gibbs Racing's Chase Briscoe in the No. 19 Toyota and current NASCAR Cup Series championship leader William Byron in the No. 24 Hendrick Chevrolet. "We're still really fast, but I've never gotten a pole in the Cup Series, but our Beef A Roo Mustang is pretty quick on the short run," said Gragson, driver of the No. 4 FRM Ford. "We just need to get a little better for the long run and we're up in the hunt, so that's good." Intermittent clouds cooled the 74-degree afternoon and as Bowman alluded to, several of the fastest cars in practice did not necessarily fare as well in actual qualifying. 23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace set top pace in Group B practice, for example, but was only ninth quickest in qualifying. Fellow Toyota driver, Legacy Motor Club's Erik Jones was second -- just behind Wallace -- in that practice session but ended up only 28th quickest on the starting grid. Conversely, Kaulig Racing's A.J. Allmendinger, who was 25th fastest in that Group 2 practice session will start the race from 10th position. Berry, still basking in his first career win last week at Las Vegas, was 31st in practice but will start from the front row. Defending race winner Tyler Reddick was 20th in qualifying. Kyle Larson, who is attempting to win in all three national series races this weekend will roll off 14th in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. And the season's winningest driver, Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell was 16th in qualifying. A three-time winner already, he is trying to become only the third driver in NASCAR history -- joining Hall of Famers Bill Elliott (1992) and Dale Earnhardt (1987) as the only competitors in the modern era to win four of the opening six races. NOTEBOOK ITEMS: *BERRY INSISTS SUCCESS NOT A FLUKE *First-time NASCAR Cup Series winner Josh Berry and the Wood Brothers Racing team come into Homestead race week still enjoying the legendary team's 101st victory at Las Vegas last Sunday -- a huge career achievement for Berry, personally, and only the second win for the team in the last nine years. Only five races into his tenure, Berry has already delivered an early-season Playoff berth for the team and by the looks of the strong showing may well win again in the months before the championship march starts. He was adamant that the Vegas win wasn't a "fluke' and is one of only four drivers with multiple top-five finishes on the year. "Without a doubt I feel like I had things to prove," said the 34-year-old Berry, who is beginning only his second fulltime season in the Cup ranks. "Obviously, coming off of last year and everything we went through, I think people were still looking at all four of us that were part of that program with a lot of question marks, so, to me, I wanted to go out and prove myself all over again in the Cup Series. "I felt like this was probably the opportunity for me. I think if I fail at this one, I don't think there's probably another one lined up for me, so most definitely there was pressure to go out and perform. During the offseason we just really buckled down and obviously getting to know and working with my new crew chief, Miles. "We put in a lot of work over the offseason to be prepared when the season started and I feel like that obviously paid off. Honestly, our results and performance has exceeded our expectations, so I'm super happy with that and winning a race in the Cup Series is a big deal." Berry's second place qualifying lap marks the fourth time in the past five races he's secured a top-10 start. *LARSON'S TRIPLE QUEST No driver is busier than Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson this weekend and the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion is already batting a thousand in his quest to win trophies in all three national series races at Homestead. He earned his first trophy with a dramatic comeback victory in Friday's NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race making the pass for the lead with only two laps remaining. It adds to an already-impressive resume here for Larson, who is a former winner in both Saturday's Xfinity Series 300-miler (2015) and Sunday's NACAR Cup Series race (2022) at the South Florida 1.5-miler. He comes into Sunday's race ranked sixth in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings, with three top-10s and a pair of third place finishes through the opening five races. "I felt like the Truck race was probably going to be the toughest to win, I don't have much experience in them and the runs are typically shorter," Larson said. "I feel better about Xfinity and Cup but the competition keeps getting tough and tougher as you get on with the weekend, but we'll see. Off to a good start." *HOMESTEAD A FINALE FAVORITE NASCAR just raced at the Homestead-Miami Speedway 1.5-miler during the October 2024 Playoff run and this weekend marks the first time it has been a Spring event since 2021. Ask the drivers where they'd like to see the former, longtime season finale venue on the schedule and the consensus is, they'd love to see it return as the championship race one day. "I certainly would like to see it play a bigger factor in our championship, whether it's in the Playoffs or part of the championship race round or whatever it might be," said the Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin, whose three wins are most among active drivers. "I'd just like to see it a part of that because we just talked about how the driver makes a bigger difference at the is race track than the car." Team Penske's Ryan Blaney took it a step further. "All the above, really," Blaney responded with a grin when asked if he preferred the spring or fall Homestead placement on the calendar. "I'll be honest, it doesn't matter to me when we come here, spring all, in the playoffs, championship race, as long as we're coming here. I think if you asked, some guys would love to come here twice, once in the spring and once in the fall, where that race in the fall lays, I don't care. Do I think the championship race should rotate between a few tracks? Yeah. And this should be one of them. This place puts on a great show no matter what." *THE WINNING Bs The five NASCAR Cup Series races have all been won by drivers whose last names begin with the letter "B." Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron won the Daytona 500. Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell won the next three races -- at Atlanta, Circuit of The Americas and Phoenix -- and Berry picked up his first career win at Las Vegas last weekend. Saturday's Homestead pole winner? Alex Bowman. Several drivers conceded that B letter trend could likely continue this weekend at Homestead with 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champ Ryan Blaney considered a favorite. He started the season with a pair of top-10 finishes and won the pole position at Atlanta but has back-to-back showings of 28th and 35th in the two races heading to South Florida -- suffering an engine failure at Phoenix and crashing last weekend at Las Vegas. "I thought our car was really good last week until I wrecked all of us on the back stretch so just hope to keep that same pace but I feel good with where our program is at right now," said Blaney, who has finished runner-up in the last two Homestead races. "Just a matter of trying to get some stuff to go our way." *SEASON OF LEARNING One of the more heralded rookies this season is former Australian SuperCars champion Shane Van Gisbergen, who turned heads and earned high praise for his historic victory at the Chicago Street Course two years ago in his first ever NASCAR Cup Series start. With a strong background in road and street courses before coming to America as a fulltime NASCAR Competitor, the 34-year-old New Zealand-native said it has been a legitimate learning curve in the NASCAR Cup Series on the ovals. His lone top-10 result of the year in the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet came at the Circuit of The Americas road course. He says it has been an education on the assortment of long and short ovals in this first full NASCAR Cup Series schedule. Twice -- in the last two races at Phoenix and Las Vegas -- he's been collected in crashes not of his own doing. "I feel like we've showed a lot of promise but we have nothing to show for it, really," Van Gisbergen said. "COTA was a good day, but on the ovals we've really struggled and we've had a lot of accidents and they haven't really been our fault. "It's really tough results-wise but I see a lot of potential and speed. Just got to put it together and get to the end of the races and things will start clicking for us, I think." "It has been hard because I'm not really known for crashing too much and not finishing, so it's been a bit of a pain really," Van Gisbergen added. "Just have to stay out of trouble and get through it. The first stage we're always going good and improving and thinking the rest of the race is going to be good then something seems to happen, so hopefully we stop that this weekend." --By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media.
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Ryan Blaney speeds to Busch Light Pole Award at Atlanta
Ryan Blaney posted the fastest lap in Saturday's Busch Light Pole Qualifying at Atlanta Motor Speedway at 179.371 mph in the No. 12 Team Penske Ford. Right behind him was a trio of Team Penske-affiliated teammates in Austin Cindric (179.359 mph), Josh Berry (179.139 mph) and Joey Logano (178.827 mph). MORE: Best Atlanta photos | Full weekend schedule Rounding out the top five was another Ford in Todd Gilliland's No. 34 Front Row Motorsports machine. The Cup Series will race Sunday in the Ambetter Health 400 (3 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) in the second race of the 2025 season. This story will be updated.
