This past Sunday, 37 of the world’s best stock car racers in NASCAR took to the “Monster Mile” for the EchoPark Autotrader 400. This race was crucial for drivers who are looking to build momentum prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, whether it’s winning a race and locking themselves in or gaining extra points towards the Championship battle.
Stage 1
Chaser Elliott started alongside Chase Briscoe when the Green Flag dropped, but by Lap 14, Briscoe challenged Elliott on the inside line, but was unsuccessful taking the lead from the Georgia native. As Elliott was holding his own, the competition caution came out on Lap 35, since practice and qualifying was rained out. Elliott maintained the lead on the Lap 43 restart, surging far ahead of those behind him. Christopher Bell drove his way up to second, as he was looking for his first win since winning at Phoenix Raceway in March, as Denny Hamlin found himself in fourth. Joe Gibbs Racing proved early they’d be the team to beat. With one-to-go in Stage 1, Erik Jones found himself in the Turn 4 wall, but prompted no caution. Elliott was able to win the Stage, as the top-5 consisted of Bell, Hamlin, William Byron and Alex Bowman, respectively.
Stage 2
Elliott led the field to green once again, as Bell was not far behind, alongside Hamlin. On Lap 192, Bell and Hamlin went wheel-to-wheel, as Ty Dillon, who was fighting to stay alive in the Bracket Challenge and trying to maintain his position as the first car a lap down, got in the way of Hamlin, infuriating Hamlin over the radio. Dillon was racing for the $1,000,000 bonus, while Hamlin was fighting for a stage win. However, it was Christopher Bell who’d wind up winning Stage 2, as the top-5 behind him included Bowman, Hamlin, Elliott and Kyle Larson, respectively.
Final Stage
The green flag dropped on Lap 260 and the intensity ramped up from this point going forward, as it always does in the NASCAR Cup Series. Bell and Elliott both wanted another win to propel them ahead of the competition before the start of the Playoffs, but Bell would spin going into Turn 4, spinning while battling side-by-side with Elliott. He was able to avoid contact with the rest of the field, only having to change tires under yellow.
When the race resumed on Lap 266, Elliott kept his advantage, as Bowman drove up to second-place. With the in-season challenge heating up, John Hunter Nemechek fought to stay ahead of Ty Dillon, while Ty Gibbs held his own against Tyler Reddick in this semi-final race. The caution came out on Lap 337, due to weather, giving a big break to Christopher Bell. This also allowed Gibbs to get his lap back, putting him back in contention to advance in the bracket challenge.
On the Lap 343 restart, Hamlin surged ahead of Bell, and was able to prevail for the time being. During the last caution, there was a lot of discussion about the incoming weather, which was 20 minutes away from Dover Motor Speedway with 44-to-go. Hamlin and Bell battled for the duration of the last 40 laps of the race, and tire wear began to come into effect, just as Ross Chastain hit the wall and spun coming out of Turn 4. During the caution, the rain came down and this prompted a lengthy red flag.
Bell and Hamlin dueled side-by-side on the next restart with eight-to-go, as Bell once again spun while battling Hamlin on his inside, causing Byron and Noah Gragson to crash into the inside retaining wall, ending both Byron and Gragson’s days. Bell was able to continue, however.
On the final restart, Hamlin held off Briscoe in an overtime restart, as Zane Smith slammed the inside wall on the Backstretch, prompting more overtime. On the next restart, Brisoce attempted to hold off Hamlin, but it was too much, as Hamlin was able to win his fourth race of the season.
Exiting Dover, Elliott led his teammate, Byron by +16, while Ty Gibbs beat Tyler Reddick, and Ty Dillon beat John Hunter Nemechek, allowing them to compete for the $1,000,000 bracket challenge at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this Sunday. The Brickyard 400 will be a thriller and take place on July 27 at 2:00PM EST/11:00AM PST on TNT. This race will also be the final round of the TNT Bracket Challenge, where Kaulig Racing’s Ty Dillon will battle Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs for the cash prize and it’s going to be a classic.
Post-Race Notes
Various drivers had a lot to say after the race, both good and bad, regarding how their days went. Alex Bowman, who finished third and is still looking for his first win of the season, was happy with the outcome of his race.
“I feel like we were better than where we ended up, but with a poor day at Sonoma (Raceway), I had to start deep in the field. I couldn’t get clean air, and then we got shuffled around a little bit on some of the short runs. But overall, we had a really good No. 48 Ally Chevrolet all day. Proud of everyone at Hendrick Motorsports. I’ve been a little bit sick and my cool shirt decided it wanted a Sunday off, so I’m really hot and really tire, but certainly, it was a really good day for our team.”
Ryan Blaney, who already locked himself into the Playoffs in Nashville, finished fourth and looks to build into this momentum for today’s Brickyard 400.
“It was a fun day. I thought on long runs we were really good. I would have personally like to have seen it go to the end before the rain caution came out because we had a really good long run car and I thought I might have been able to get up to fifth. We came in and got two tires, and I didn’t pick a good lane on the restart and gave a lot of track position away, but, overall, it was a good day from where we started.”
Race winner, Denny Hamlin, was pleased with how the race played out, and that’d make sense after collecting his fourth win of the season.
“It is so hard. I had to hold off those tires from C. Bell (Christopher Bell) and others. We definitely had the oldest tires in the field on those last few restarts but got good restarts. The last one, Chase (Briscoe) actually did an amazing job, holding right there with me. Made me really nervous that he was going to clear me off of turn two, but man we fought back. I love that we didn’t let this one slip away. This one would have hurt.”
Every Man on Every Crew, LLC. 
Leave a comment