Aric Almirola Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service There was no drama in Kevin Harvick’s victory in the Drydene 311 at Dover International Speedway, an old-fashioned thrashing in the back end of a Saturday/Sunday NASCAR Cup Series doubleheader. There was more than enough suspense, however, in the battle between Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and William Byron for the final position in the Cup Playoffs. After winning the first stage at the high-banked concrete Monster Mile, Harvick had already clinched the regular-season Cup championship and the 15-Playoff-point bonus that goes with it,Read More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Kevin Harvick’s victory in Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway gave the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford team a weekend race sweep and a whole lot of momentum as the NASCAR Cup Series closes out its regular season schedule at the end of this month. Harvick’s win is a series-best sixth of the season and 55th of his career – placing the 44-year old Californian 10th on the NASCAR Cup Series all-time wins list tied with NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace.Read More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service With two wins in his pocket heading into Sunday’s Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Brad Keselowski was already in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, but it was this third win of 2020 that came in the sort of dominating style the championship contender hoped would show his team’s readiness to challenge for the season title. Keselowski, 36, led a race best 184 of the 301 laps around the “Magic Mile” and held off runner-up Denny Hamlin by 1.647-seconds to hoistRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service In what could be a sneak preview of the Championship 4 race later this year, Denny Hamlin outdueled Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. to win the Super Start Batteries 400 presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts Thursday night at Kansas Speedway. After a wild restart on Lap 246, Hamlin passed Harvick for the lead on Lap 255 of 267 and held off a late charge from Keselowski to score his NASCAR Cup Series-best fifth victory of the season, his third at KansasRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Austin Dillon held a hard-charging field off three times on restarts in the closing laps to earn his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2020 season in Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. It was a 1-2 finish for the Richard Childress Racing team with Dillon’s rookie teammate Tyler Reddick finishing a mere .149-seconds behind. Before the Texas green flag, Dillon was 24 points outside the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff top-16 and now the Texas winner has an automatic berth.Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer A multi-car crash on the 219th lap of Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway brought out the 14th red flag this season. The race had just restarted a lap before with Brad Keselowski, who was running on a two-tire strategy, leading the way. Things got wild once his Team Penske teammates Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano came into the picture. Keselowski and Blaney had a tremendous battle for the lead, but Blaney got very loose in Turn 3, giving Keselowski the clear advantage.Read More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service The sport’s reigning Most Popular Driver, Chase Elliott earned his first NASCAR All-Star Race win Wednesday night at Bristol Motor Speedway – holding off the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch in the closing laps. Elliott led 60 of the 140 laps en route to the $1.1 million paycheck. He and his father Bill Elliott join father/son combination of Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. to have won the sport’s midseason All-Star exhibition. Interestingly, Bill Elliott won the race when it was heldRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service NASCAR Cup Series rookie Cole Custer pulled off a daring four-wide pass for the lead on the final lap to earn the victory in Sunday’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway – the first rookie to win in NASCAR’s premier series in four years. Custer, who restarted fifth on a restart with two laps to go, made his way forward – daring to go high on track to the outside of a three-wide challenge for the lead among Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney andRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer It was a banner day for Stewart-Haas Racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Sunday as three out of its four cars finished in the top-five with Kevin Harvick scoring his third Brickyard 400 victory. Aric Almirola crossed the line in third while Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Cole Custer finished a career-high fifth. SHR’s trio survived the 161-lap madness Indy provided as tire issues eliminated several top contenders, including Denny Hamlin who was leading with 8 to go. When the dust finally settled, it was HarvickRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service In an action-filled afternoon of NASCAR Cup Series racing in Sunday’s Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 Powered by Big Machine Records, Kevin Harvick held off the field in a overtime sprint to the finish line to earn his fourth victory of the season, and his second consecutive and third overall win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. To celebrate the big victory, Harvick and his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford team climbed the front grandstand fence – reminiscent of the fence celebration his team owner, IndianaRead More