Another Road Course, Another Chase Elliott Victory

               The NASCAR Cup Series heads into the 4^th of July weekend with the hope of starting new traditions. For the longest time, it was always the Daytona summer race that marked the halfway point of the 36-race season. Last season, NASCAR attempted to try the Brickyard 400 as the 4th of July race, but unfortunately things didn’t go as planned due to the pandemic. Now this year, NASCAR is going road course racing and for the Cup Series, it’s a new track in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, Road America. The Cup Series did race here one time before, 65 years ago, but not in the modern era. It’s the third of three brand new facilities that the Cup Series will take a trip to this season. There was practice and qualifying this weekend and on the morning of the Cup race, William Byron scored the pole with teammate Kyle Larson qualifying second. A couple of underdogs that could be considered for this race are AJ Allmendinger, driving for Kaulig Racing, and Austin Cindric in a 4^th Team Penske Ford. A few drivers will head to the rear for the start of the race, those being Kyle Busch, Ryan Preece, Justin Haley, Bubba Wallace, Kyle Tilley, and Josh Bilicki. Ryan Eversley will make his Cup Series debut with Rick Ware Racing and will start in 31^st. The stages will be 14-15-33, giving a total of 62 laps for the race.

               In front of what is said to be the largest crowd for a motorsports event in the state of Wisconsin since the 1950’s, William Byron and Kyle Larson led the field to the green flag for the first Cup race at Road America in 65 years! Byron had the lead but AJ Allmendinger was there battling Larson for 2^nd on the first lap. Larson cleared Allmendinger and now was chasing down Byron. Coming back around, Byron would lead the first lap. Allmendinger’s helmet hose fell off in his car, which could cause some issues for a hot afternoon. On Lap 3, there was a situation for Daniel Suarez that caused his car to come to a halt with a transmission problem. This will send as a warning to other teams on how this track can be rough on equipment. The restart comes with 10 laps left in the first stage. On lap 6, Kyle Larson goes to make a diving move for the lead but he ended up overdriving the turn, but saved it from going into the grass and would drop to third. Larson’s crew chief, Cliff Daniels, would say to Larson, “The good news is we found the limit in turn five.” Ryan Preece then had an issue with his car that caused smoke to trail out of the car in turn five. Preece went to the garage area, joining Daniel Suarez. With three laps in stage one, Ty Dillon went spinning but would keep going with no caution. Then the 78 of Kyle Tilley ended up going off the track as some leaders went down pit road before the end of the stage. The caution would end up coming out the Tilley being stuck in the sand. This would mark the end of stage one that will be won by William Byron. Tilley was able to get out of the sand and get back to pit road. Michael McDowell and Chase Briscoe were hit with pit road penalties for driving through too many pit boxes.

Stage 1 Results:

1. William Byron
2. AJ Allmendinger
3. Kyle Larson
4. Tyler Reddick
5. Ross Chastain
6. Denny Hamlin
7. Christopher Bell
8. Alex Bowman
9. Kurt Busch
10. Chase Elliott

Christopher Bell also went to the rear for driving through too many pit boxes as well as Cole Custer who had too many crew members over the wall too soon. Martin Truex Jr and Matt DiBenedetto would lead the field to the green flag to begin stage two. Austin Cindric quickly took the lead from DiBenedetto by going three-wide, as he is chasing his first career Cup win. On lap 19, DiBenedetto put the bumper to Cindric and battle side-by-side for the lead as Kyle Busch approached them quickly. DiBenedetto took the lead from the guy that will take his ride next season later that lap. With seven laps left in stage two, Brad Keselowski made contact with Michael McDowell in turn one and then Keselowski would go spinning into the grass. Luckily he kept going and there was no caution. Then with six laps to go in the stage, Austin Cindric took the lead back and Kyle Busch moved into second because of it. Cindric then overdrove into a turn, causing Kyle Busch to make the pass for the lead. Cindric started losing ground then he goes spinning! From first place to a spin, Cindric might have a broken axel or drive plate. Corey Lajoie goes around with four laps left and worked his #7 machine to get back on the track, causing a lot of dirt to get on the track. DiBenedetto and Chase Elliott go to pit road before the end of the stage as DiBenedetto couldn’t make it on fuel. Many leaders end up pitting which could mean a massive loss of track position for the ones who stay out for stage points. Kyle Busch and Martin Truex, who were running first and second went to pit and Tyler Reddick now takes the lead. Truex was hit with a penalty for being too fast entering as the penalties stack up. Tyler Reddick would go on to win stage two at Road America.

Stage 2 Results:

1. Tyler Reddick
2. William Byron
3. Ross Chastain
4. Kyle Larson
5. Kurt Busch
6. Joey Logano
7. Kevin Harvick
8. Bubba Wallace
9. Justin Haley
10. Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott led the field to the green flag in the final stage and Busch would take off with the lead. Matt DiBenedetto moved into second and Chase Briscoe moved into the top five. With 30 laps to go, Matt DiBenedetto took the lead from Busch and he is fighting to get his first career win. At 27 laps to go, Chase Elliott, who is always a threat on a road course, moves up to second past Kyle Busch. Two laps later, Chase Elliott got by DiBenedetto for the lead and Kyle Busch also moved into second. Anthony Alfredo went spinning into the gravel with 20 laps to go and right before that, Ryan Blaney went into pit road before the caution, which will play to his advantage. Alfredo had run over a piece of debris and caused a tired to go flat, which sent him spinning into the gravel pit. Kyle Busch was told that they will have a fuel window to save after pitting, which could turn this into a fuel game. Kyle Busch comes off pit road first with Hamlin second and Elliott third. At the restart with 17 to go, Aric Almirola was leading since he did not pit but quickly Kyle Busch retakes the lead with Elliott moving into second. Elliott and Busch battled hard but Elliott would take the lead within the same lap. Elliott would pull away with a 4.5 second lead over Kyle Busch and Christopher Bell would eventually get up to third place. Trouble between teammates with six laps to go as Alex Bowman drove way too deep into the turn and turns Kyle Larson. Bowman came on the radio and said he was out of brakes. The result was Alex Bowman having a tire going down and trying to limp his car home without giving up all of the track position. Kevin Harvick pit with five to go hoping for a yellow flag. Bowman eventually had to come down pit road with four laps to go and apologized to the #5 team. Meanwhile, Christopher Bell moved into second. It was a physical, enduring race on a hot summer afternoon and in the end, all eyes were on the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet of Chase Elliott! The siren will be sounding in Dawsonville, Georgia tonight as Chase Elliott will win at Road America for his 2^nd win of 2021! Kurt Busch holds the final spot of the playoffs currently, being 23 points above the cutline. NASCAR heads next to the Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Quaker State 400.

Road America Final Results:

1. Chase Elliott
2. Christopher Bell
3. Kyle Busch
4. Kurt Busch
5. Denny Hamlin
6. Chase Briscoe
7. Ross Chastain
8. Tyler Reddick
9. Martin Truex Jr
10. Matt DiBendetto
11. Austin Dillon
12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
13. Brad Keselowski
14. Aric Almirola
15. Joey Logano
16. Kyle Larson
17. Cole Custer
18. Chris Buescher
19. Erik Jones
20. Ryan Blaney
21. Corey Lajoie
22. Alex Bowman
23. Josh Bilicki
24. Bubba Wallace
25. Justin Haley
26. Ty Dillon
27. Kevin Harvick
28. James Davison
29. AJ Allmendinger
30. Michael McDowell
31. Cody Ware
32. Ryan Newman
33. William Byron
34. Quin Houff
35. Kyle Tilley
36. Daniel Suarez
37. Anthony Alfredo (DNF)
38. Austin Cindric (DNF)
39. Ryan Eversley (DNF)
40. Ryan Preece (DNF)