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Ryan Truex dominates at Dover winning all 3 Stages for Joe Gibbs Racing.  Ryan Truex celebrates his first career win at Dover. Image: Joe Gibbs Racing Ryan Truex ran his first NASCAR National Series race way way back in October of 2010 at Gateway International Raceway while running the #00 for Diamond-Waltrip Racing. Fast forward 13 years and 184 races later, Ryan Truex has only ever run 3 full season in any of NASCAR's National Series. He has run for some big names in the sport over the years, Richard Petty Motorsports, Kaulig Racing, JR Motorsports, Hattori, Niece and now Joe Gibbs Racing.
On a gloomy Saturday at Dover, Truex finally broke his 13 year winless streak to score his first career victory in NASCAR's National Series in the Xfinity Series. Ryan dominated the A-Game 200 at Dover Motor Speedway winning both Stages while leading 4 time for 124 of the 200 laps. This added up to the most dominant NASCAR race run by any part time driver in recent memory. RCR driver Sheldon Creed led the second most laps at 41. Ryan said in his finish line interview, “Most people didn’t believe in me, and I still did – my girlfriend, my family, my parents, my brother did. I’m just so thankful to be here." “I felt like with 20 to go, I was just waiting for something to happen,’’ he continued, ‘just praying, please God keep everything straight and let’s get to the end of this. What a car, what an amazing Toyota Supra. I’m speechless." On his way to Victory Lane, Ryan was intercepted by his older brother Marin Truex Jr who congratulated the 31 year old on his first victory at the same track where Martin scored his first Cup win. Dover just so happens to the brother's home track as they come from Mayetta, New Jersey.
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 Josh Berry prepping for Talladega. IMAGE: JR Motorsports Josh Berry was beyond impressive in his Next Gen Cup Debut in the Hendrick #9 car for several weeks. Berry scored a runner-up finish at Richmond and was good for 2 Top-10s in his 5 races. Unfortunately with a fractured vertebra in his lower back, Alex Bowman will miss the next 3-4 races in his #48 ALLY Chevrolet and that will allow Berry yet another opportunity.
Super-sub Josh Berry will compete in the #48 Hendrick Chevrolet at Dover, Kansas, Darlington and possibly even the Coke 600 at Charlotte and maybe even beyond that. So let's look at what we can expect from Josh at these 4 race tracks. Dover- Berry has a win at Dover in his JR Motorsports Xfinity ride and he got it last season. He knows how to run this track with 1-2 finishes in his only 2 starts. It's not a short track, but we can likely expect to see him perform well there. Bowman won at Dover in 2021 and finished 5th in 2022 at the Monster Mile, so expect to see the 48 team do well this weekend. Kansas- Josh has only 2 starts in the heartlands of Kansas, a 34th place finish in 2017 with NextGen Motorsports and Top-10 with JRM last season. A lack of experience in the new car and lack of runs overall leaves expectation up to the imagination, but expect to see the 48 team Top-15 or better with Berry. The team finished Top-10 & Top-5 respectively in both races last season. Darlington- Berry has been decent at the Lady in Black, but so far in his short career, the tracks has been too tough for him to tame with finishes of 2nd, 8th and 18th. The 48 team has had some decent finishes at the track too tough to tame, so time will tell. I expect a Top-15 run. Charlotte- The longest race in NASCAR, the Coke 600. Berry has never run a race like this so this one is clearly open to the imagination. I personally have the confidence that Berry and the 48 team can perform... Quite well here.. Top-10 in my books By: Tom Luttermoser "If you're the 23 car in Bubba, you've got to make those moves. You don't have a choice, you're trying to win that race"- Tony Stewart The dynamic best friend duo of Bubba Wallace and Ryan Blaney led a combined 82 of 196 laps at Talladega this past weekend with 2 of the strongest cars all race long.  Pack racing at Talladega. Image: Twitter, original unknown Bubba Wallace and the 23XI team brought a lead car, the 23 was the only car that could pull the 3rd lane up top and to the lead. The big problem with the 23 all afternoon was that the car got too light when being pushed. The 12 of Blaney on the other had got to the lead 9 different times for a race high 47 laps led.
So it was only fitting that two of the best superspeedway racers in the field got together to push each other to a potential win at the very end. But when Wallace took the the white flag with his best friend behind him, one of them was going to win that race. Going through 1 & 2, Blaney went low to pass Wallace and was blocked. Wallace's car got into the apron and lose, Blaney came up, blocked again but it made the 23 too light and Wallace went around and it was all over. Lots of fans all over social media have criticized Bubba for making the moves that he made and many to Blaney as well, but guest broadcaster 3x Champion Tony Stewart called the incident on a replay. "If you're the 23 car in Bubba, you've got to make those moves. You don't have a choice, you're trying to win that race." "This is just of those no fault scenarios where everybody did exactly what they had to to give themselves the best opportunity to win this race."0 Clint Bowyer in the booth backed him up agreeing also adding on behalf of Blaney, "Absolutely, and in the flip side of that if you're Blaney, you have to make that. It's the last lap, you have to go." Post race, Wallace received more criticism while showing understandable visual frustration after throwing his Hans device to the ground. Blaney showed his displeasure in post race interviews "In my mind... You can't block three times... I'm not blaming anybody." Blaney was credited with 2nd and Wallace with 28th. By: Tom Luttermoser Kyle Busch's Talladega win once again proves NASCAR sponsorship works.  Family Celebration in Victory Lane for the Busch’s. IMAGE: Samantha Busch Twitter Rowdy's fanbase proves time and time again that if a brand supports their driver, they will support their brand. That became very evident after Kyle Busch told the world "If you ain't got a custom grill yet, these McLarens are pretty bomb so you gotta check em out."
I was on their website within a few minutes after the end of the race and their site was crashed. You saw posts and screenshots all over Twitter and a few on Facebook talking about it. As I write this at 9:15am Monday morning, their site is still down. As I said, it just goes to show that NASCAR fans will support those who support their sport and their drivers. Edit: Since 9:35am the site is up! By: Tom Luttermoser When we think of Kyle Busch, we don't think of tracks he has bad luck on. Before the addition of the ROVAL in Charlotte, he had won on every single track in the sport. Kyle Busch only had 2 superspeedway wins, both coming in 2008.  Kyle Busch celebrates his second win of the season at Talladega. Image:RCR Kyle Busch's win at Talladega in NASCAR overtime was a shot of good luck. When the leaders came together. The 3rd place running car of Kyle Busch was of no factor throughout the entirety of the race held the line at the bottom of the track and made it passed the 12 of Ryan Blaney after the drop of the yellow flag. Busch only led 3 laps all race long, but as we know, it only takes 1.
Busch was overly critical of his previous team in JGR and their superspeedway cars over the last few years as well as his luck at these tracks. Busch won on both Daytona and Talladega in the same year WAY back in 2008, both in his first year at Joe Gibbs Racing. That mean you have to go back to Daytona on July 5, 2008 to find the last win for Rowdy at a SS track. By: Tom Luttermoser NASCAR's first 50 Greatest Drivers list was presented to the fandom in 1998 to celebrate the sport's 50th anniversary. With the 75th anniversary of the sport coming this season, NASCAR will be announcing the next 25 over a period of 5 weeks running up to Darlington where all 75 will be honored. As of Friday the 21st of April, the first 10 have been announced by NASCAR. Here they are with many of their accomplishments. Randy LaJoie 1985-2006 Randy LaJoie celebrating his 1996 Busch Series Title. Image: FB Randy LaJoie is a 2x NASCAR Busch Series (Now Xfinity Series) champion in both 1996 & 1997 racing for BACE Motorsports. Randy competed in all 3 NASCAR National Series winning 15 times in the Busch Series. LaJoie also won 19 Pole awards in the Series. He ran a total of 401 races in NASCAR. Tony Stewart 1996-2016 Climbing the fence. A tradition of Stewart's. After winning the 2005 Pepsi 400 at Daytona. Image: Nick Layham As a driver, Tony Stewart accomplished an incredible amount in our sport. He won the NASCAR Cup title 3x in 2002, 2005 & 2011. He became the first driver/owner to win the Cup Series title since Alan Kulwicki in 1992 In that timeframe he won 62 combined National Series races, 49 in Cup. in his tenure in NASCAR he won 21 Pole Awards and was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2020. Chase Elliott 2013- Elliott won the 2023 Nashville race. Image: Chase Elliott Fb Chase Elliott joins his father Bill on this list making them the 6th father/son duo to make it. Elliott is the 2014 Nationwide Series Champion and 2020 Cup Series Champion. In his 10 years in NASCAR, Elliott has 26 Combined wins with 17 Pole Awards. Sterling Marlin 1976-2009 Sterling Marlin waves the American Flag after he won the UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowes Motor Speedway in Oct. 2001. Image: AP Photo/Rusty Burroughs Sterling Marlin is likely best known as the driver who got out of his #40 Coors Dodge during a red flag while leading the 2002 Daytona 500 to pull his right fender from the wheel. He is a 2x 500 champ in 1994 & 1995. Over his long career, Marlin scored 12 Pole Awards with 12 National Series wins. Mike Stefanik 1985-2014 Mike Stefanik after winning the TitanRoof 150 at Bristol in 2013. Image: John Harrelson. NASCAR HoF Most of you younger fans may have never heard of Mike Stefanik and this comes because he never ran a Cup Series race and he only had 52 National Series starts to his name. But what solidifies him to this list is the lower of the NASCAR sanctioned series, Busch North Series & the Whelen Modifieds. He is a 9x NASCAR Champion as he won the Whelen Modified Series title in 1989, 1991, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002 and again in 2006. He also won the Busch North title in 1997 & 1998. He was the 1999 Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year. He only scored 11 Top-10s in the National Series, but Mike would go on to score 74 combined wins and 48 Pole Awards. He was inducted into the NASCAR HoF in 2022 Denny Hamlin 2004- Denny Celebrating his 3rd Daytona 500 victory. Image: Denny Hamlin FB Denny Hamlin is arguably the greatest driver to never win a championship (so far). But his 3 Daytona 500 wins, 3 Southern 500 wins and Coke 600 win make him the Crown Jewel King. But a combined 67 Combined wins and 58 Pole Awards bring him toward the top in the entirety of the sport's history being 5th all-time. Greg Biffle 1996-2022 2013 Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan, Greg Biffle won for the last time in the Irish Hills. Image: Biffle FB Greg Biffle got his big break in 1998 racing the Roush Racing F-150 in the Craftsman Truck Series. He stayed loyal to the Cat in the Hat, Jack Roush until he left full-time competition in 2016. In that time, Greg cracked off 55 National Series victories and 39 Pole Awards. He came back to racing in NASCAR in 2019 and won in a truck for Kyle Busch Motorsports giving him a grand total of 56 wins. That was his first truck win since 2001. Ryan Newman 2001-2021 Ryan Newman at the 2021 FireKeepers Casino at MIS. Image: Ryan Newman FB Rocket Man Ryan Newman won an amazing 51 Cup Series Pole Awards with a combined 64 in the National Series. The 2002 Rookie of the Year, he won 2008 Daytona 500, the 2013 Brickyard 400 and the 2002 Winston. A combined 26 National Series wins and the stigma of being the hardest driver in the series to pass, Newman is firmly on this list.
In celebration of Kyle Larson's 21st career victory at Martinsville. We take a look at every track Larson has taken the checkered flag!  Kyle Larson's first win at Michigan 2016. Image: Team Chevy Here are all of Larson's wins in order from single wins to his most at a single track.
 Derek Kraus's #10 at Martinsville Image: Derek Kraus FB 2019 K&N Pro Series West champion Derek Krause is without a doubt a very talented racer. 10 wins in K&N West and 3 in the East showed that for sure. In his first Craftsman Truck Series race at Phoenix in 2018 Derek ran the #19 Bill McAnally Racing Toyota Tundra netting an 8th place finish and he followed that up the following year matching that finish in Dover in his 3rd career start. 2020 Kraus got his first full-time ride in the Series, he remained in the 19 truck for the rebranded McAnally-Hilgemann Racing and their switch to Chevrolet. Kraus scored his first Top-5 in the season opener at Daytona. He then followed that up netting a season total 13 Top-10s and 3 Top-5s finishing 11th in the standings. 2021 saw 4 Top-10s including a single Top-5 at the Knoxville Dirt race and finishing 13th in the standings. 2022 Kraus returned for his 3rd full-time season at MHR netting yet again another 11th standing with 7 Top-10s to his name. So again, he is clearly a talented driver. Going into the 2023 season, MHR announced that they would be adding Christian Eckes to the 19 truck with Jake Garcia part time in the 35. That left Derek out in the breeze. He did however get a start at Daytona with Young's Motorsports where he finished P18 and that was the last we heard from him for the next few weeks. Kaulig's 10 CarWith last year's full-time driver of the #10 Kaulig Xfinity car Landon Cassill losing his sponsorship pre-Daytona. Kaulig needed some fill-in drivers. They of course have AJ Allmendinger and Justin Haley in their Cup Series entries to fill-in some, but also added Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon to their roster. In the first 6 races, the #10 had finished in the Top-10 all 6 times including a win at COTA. Going into Richmond it was announced that Derek Krause would get his Xfinity Series debut for the team.
Derek would fit in perfectly scoring the team their 7th consecutive Top-10. Once again, Kraus would back that up with another Top-10 keeping the 10 at Martinsville and even scored the 10 a Stage Point in the second Stage of the race. Draus's consistency on the short tracks kept the Kaulig Racing #10 as the only car all season long to finish Top-10 all season thus far. Per NASCAR's preliminary entry list for the Xfinity Series, Kraus is getting his 3rd opportunity in the #10 this weekend at Talladega with Leaf Home Water Solutions on board. By: Tom Luttermoser  Austin Dillon's #3 Camaro at Martinsville Image: Dillon's Facebook After NASCAR brought the #3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet of Austin Dillon back to the R&D center in Charlotte post-Martinsville, the car failed the inspection. The team used illegal underwing mountings and assembly hardware. The underwing is the entire under panel (from under the splitter up front to the rear diffuser).
Dillon is hit with a 60 point penalty and a 5 Playoff Point penalty with crew chief Keith Rodman is fined $75,000 and is suspended from the next 2 points paying races. No official word as of this being published on RCR's plans to appeal the penalty. By: Tom Luttermoser  Credit: SEBRING, FLORIDA - APRIL 17: Jenson Button and Jordan Taylor change drivers in a live pit stop during testing for NASCAR's Garage 56 program at Sebring International Raceway on April 17, 2023 in Sebring, Florida. (Photo provided by NASCAR.Media Image by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) Tuesday's Garage 56 test at Sebring International was the final test of the NASCAR/Hendrick/Goodyear/ IMSA program before the ultra-demanding 24 Hours of Le Mans race this upcoming June 10-11. The #24 NASCAR entry driven by Mike Rockenfeller, Jenson Button and Jimmie Johnson is in the single car "Innovative Class" known as Garage 56. "I feel really good about it" -Jimmie Johnson Even Hendrick Motorsports team owner Rick Hendrick flew into Sebring to be in attendance for the last test to take photos with the 50 crew members in attendance and see the car on track. Driver Jimmie Johnson, one of three 7x NASCAR Cup Series champions will compete in NASCAR's endurance race, the Coke 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday May 28th and fly directly to Paris to be present for the day-long driver orientation meeting for the 24hr race at Le Mans the next day.
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