2 days agoIt didn't take long for Michael McDowell's new home to be announced once he let the cat out of the bag that he would be leaving Front Row Motorsports. It what is being described as a "multi-year contract," McDowell will head over to Spire Motorsports starting in 2025 to drive the No. 71 Chevrolet for that organization. That car is currently being ran by rookie Zane Smith. While this is somewhat of a downgrade in equipment for McDowell, he has proven to be capable of building up an organization and making it better (like we saw him do with Front Row). Overall, this could end up being a positive move for both McDowell and Spire in the end.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Spire Motorsports
2 days agoThe first domino in NASCAR's 2024 silly season has dropped, as Michael McDowell made the announcement on Wednesday that he will be leaving Front Row Motorsports at the conclusion of the 2024 season. McDowell has collected two wins thus far during his time with Front Row, the organization he has been with since the start of the 2018 season. It is speculated that McDowell could fill in a seat at Spire Motorsports next season, although nothing official has been announced.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Bob Pockrass
4 days agoMove over, Kentucky Derby. NASCAR had to one-up your finish with a photo finish of their own. Kyle Larson was declared the winner of the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway on Sunday evening, with NASCAR officials needing to go to their high-speed camera photo to determine whether Larson or Chris Buescher got to the finish line first. It was determined that Larson's No. 5 Chevrolet narrowly edged Buescher's No 17 Ford to the line by a mere 0.001 seconds, the closest finish in NASCAR history. Larson now has two wins on the year and remains the points leader after 12 races on the season. "It was just wild," Larson said after the race.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: FOX Sports
4 days agoAfter Sunday evening's AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway, Chris Buescher had one thing to say: "That sucks to be that close." And boy was he right. Buescher finished runner-up to race-winner, Kyle Larson, in the closest finish in NASCAR history, clocking in at 0.001 seconds. NASCAR officials had to go to their high-speed camera at the start-finish line to determine a winner. After the race, Buescher added, "We had good strategy to get us back up there and I tried to cover what I could but I gave him half a lane too much I suppose. That was a good hard race there down to the line. It hurts." It was Buescher's best race of the season and his first top-five finish since Phoenix back in March. He now sits 11th in the points standings after 12 races.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Catchfence
4 days agoAfter winning the previous race at Kansas Speedway (historically 23XI Racing's best track), Tyler Reddick had the most disappointing run relative to expectations in this past weekend's AdventHealth 400. While the 23XI Toyotas seemed just as fast as the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas in the earlier Next Gen races at Kansas, Reddick and his teammate, Bubba Wallace, unexpectedly ran mid-pack for most of yesterday's race. Reddick ran slightly outside the top ten for the entirety of Stage 1 and most of Stage 2, but stayed out eight laps longer than the other contenders on a pit cycle and utilized his fresh tires to finish 8th in Stage 2. He made it up to 5th early in Stage 3, but like many drivers, he was burned on pit strategy, as his lap 203 pit stop came at an inopportune time and he only made it back to 10th before fading to 20th at the finish.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
4 days agoTy Gibbs had a strong run for most of yesterday's AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway, as he ran inside the top 10 for the entirety of Stages 1 and 2 except for pit sequences and he finished sixth in both stages. However, Gibbs was one of the race's biggest victims when the rash of cautions occurred at the start of Stage 3 and his team chose the wrong strategy, which dropped him out of the top ten on lap 203; he would never return there for the rest of the race. Gibbs was unable to make the finish on fuel and had to pit shortly before Kyle Busch spun out, which triggered the race's overtime finish. Gibbs ended up finishing 32nd, far worse than he had run when considering he ranked ninthth in speed (although he was still the slowest Joe Gibbs Racing driver in the race).
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
4 days agoWilliam Byron had an unusually mediocre run at Kansas Speedway this past weekend despite his teammate, Kyle Larson, winning the race. Byron started in the back after a qualifying crash but struggled to move up through the pack even though passing was not very difficult, especially on restarts. He managed to break into the top 10 at the start of Stage 3, running as high as seventh from laps 191 to 196, but he pitted on a caution on lap 202, which wasn't the optimal strategy and he never made it back higher than 14th, eventually falling to 22nd-place by the end. Byron ranked only 15th-fastest in speed and was the slowest of the four Hendrick Motorsports drivers in the race, an unusual occurrence. Perhaps the damage from his qualifying crash continued to affect him in the race, but since he already has three regular season wins, it really doesn't matter much.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
4 days agoAfter a string of mediocre runs (particularly on short tracks), Kyle Busch has returned to form in the past two weeks. In last evening's AdventHealth 400 at Kansas, Busch passed eventual winner Kyle Larson for the lead and led 14 laps before Larson retook the lead immediately before the caution for Joey Logano's spin. Busch ran in the top 10 for nearly the entire race until he spun out with six laps remaining, setting up the overtime finish that culminated in the closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history. After taking four tires on the caution for his spinout, Busch made a miraculous charge from 21st to 8th on the last two laps of green. Coupled with the previous race at Dover, Busch has now had his two highest driver ratings of the season in back-to-back weeks, which likely ended most speculation about him missing the Playoffs this year.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
4 days agoMartin Truex Jr. would end up finishing fourth in exciting fashion during the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway. Truex would start the race at Kansas from the 13th position and throughout the day, would steadily make his way closer to the front. By the end of the first
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4 days agoDuring Sunday's AdventHealth 400, Chase Elliott fought hard and ended with a finish of third. After starting ninth, Elliott would ride near his starting position for much of the first stage before ending 10th. In the second stage of the race, Elliott would continue to hold firm racing
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4 days agoAt Kansas Speedway on Sunday evening, it appeared as though Denny Hamlin was going to win his second straight NASCAR Cup Series race, as he was cruising to victory in the final stages of the AdventHealth 400 before an untimely caution came out due to Kyle Busch spinning. During the caution, the field pitted, and although Hamlin came out of the pits as the leader, he got taken over on the restart and ultimately wound up with a fifth-place finish. Hamlin led a race-high 71 laps in the event. In an interview after the race, Denny stated, "I don't think there was any dispute that we were the fastest car." He added, "I really wanted to get another one there, and had we not had that caution, it was going to happen."
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Frontstretch
4 days agoNoah Gragson, who started third in Sunday's AdventHealth 400, finished in ninth place, marking his first top-10 finish at Kansas in the Cup Series. Despite having a strong weekend from the racing side, in fantasy, he was a disappointment. While a ninth-place finish sounds great, it comes with a consequence when you start the race so high and offer little in terms of laps led and fastest laps to offset the loss of place differential. This is what happened with Gragson in this weekend's race, as he only managed to record two fastest laps on the day, finishing with a score of 29.90 on DraftKings, but at a salary of $7,400. Nevertheless, the big takeaway from this race is that the Stewart-Haas Racing star has now finished in the top 10 in three consecutive races, making him a driver that we will want to continue to take notice of moving forward, perhaps even as soon as this weekend when the Cup Series returns to Darlington Raceway for the Goodyear 400 on Sunday afternoon.
--Adam Erhardt - RotoBallerSource: Jayski.com
4 days agoOn Sunday evening, Alex Bowman finished seventh in the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway. Heading into the weekend, there was a lot of hype surrounding Bowman as he had averaged 54.17 DraftKings in his three previous starts in the Next Gen car at this track, the third most in the Cup Series. While the 48.90 DraftKings points that he scored on Sunday did fall below his previous average, it was still enough to deliver value on his $8,000 salary for the 22.48% that rostered him. Although he did not do anything spectacular in the race, the consistency that he continues to show at this track makes him a driver we will want to keep our eye on when NASCAR returns to The Sunflower State in the fall. Up next for the Hendrick Motorsports star is a trip to Darlington, a track he crashed out at in two of his last three starts.
--Adam Erhardt - RotoBallerSource: Jayski.com
4 days agoChristopher Bell knew his car was losing speed and grip on Sunday night at Kansas Speedway. The Joe Gibbs Racing car took the pole on Saturday but never truly had that late-run speed needed to win on Sunday. Bell only led five laps but did net seven stage points when he finished fourth in Stage 1. The No. 20 Toyota slipped to 12th after Stage 2. Late in the race, Bell was losing huge chunks of time before the caution came out. That final caution preserved a sixth-place result ultimately. Bell heads to Darlington on Sunday where he ran well early but faded out of the top 10 in last year's Spring race.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
4 days agoMichael McDowell endured an up and down night in the Front Row Motorsports Ford. However, he ended up tenth when all was said and done on Sunday night. The AdventHealth 400 needed to go into overtime which caused McDowell to lose a few positions. It did seem like the Toyota cars had more on the throttle. However, the No. 34 car kept it together long enough for a nice result. McDowell started eighth but missed out on any stage points (11th in Stage 1, 15th in Stage 2). Darlington looms this upcoming weekend where McDowell had accidents in both races last year.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
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