Chris Buescher was the talk of the afternoon in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, advancing to the point early and leading 57 laps – including winning the opening stage – before going on to finish 19th in his No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang.
“It was a good run for our Fastenal group,” Buescher said. “I’m really proud of the effort through the offseason. I think we made a lot of improvements and a lot of really good things, but still working to close the deal. We’ll keep digging and take what we learned and get ready to go for Las Vegas and beyond.”
The stellar afternoon produced a number of highlights for the Texas native. Buescher’s 57 laps led marked a new career best for the driver, and was the most laps a Roush Fenway driver has paced in a single race since Greg Biffle led 58 laps in the 2014 spring Talladega event. The opening stage win also marked the second of Buescher’s career, following last year’s first stage in the fall Talladega race.
Buescher rolled off the grid in 12th and quickly broke into the top-10, running eighth by the time the competition caution waved at lap 25. After a quick pit stop for service, the team gained three positions on pit road to restart fifth. Twenty-one laps later, Buescher took the lead and held it all the way until the caution flag waved at lap 64.
With just 24 laps to the stage break, pit strategy came into play. The driver reported a tight-handling Ford on corner entry and the team elected to pit for service and more adjustments. With another fast pit stop effort, Buescher was able to maintain his lead and restarted first with eight to go. With the choose cone back in play, the Prosper, Texas native opted to restart on the bottom lane. Buescher held strong on the restart and led the field all the way to the green-white checkered flag to win stage one, earning a playoff point and 10 stage points.
After pitting for fresh tires and fuel, Buescher chose to restart in the bottom lane and once again led the field to green. Ten laps into the stage, the driver toggled between the first and second position, but regained the lead at lap 109. Green flag pit stops soon began to cycle through and the team visited pit road at lap 121 for an air pressure adjustment, tires and fuel.
Buescher settled into the second position after the cycle finished up. When a late stage caution flag waved at lap 156, the team pitted for an air pressure adjustment, more tires and fuel. Back on track in fifth for a one-lap shootout to end the stage, the driver finished stage two in sixth and earned five stage points.
The No. 17 team opted to stay out for track position during the stage break and restarted sixth with 100 laps to go in the race. During a chaotic restart, the driver got shuffled back through the pack, settling into 14th by lap 170. When the caution flag waved at lap 199, the team made another small adjustment and gave Buescher a fresh set of tires.
Buescher lined up 17th on the bottom lane for the final restart of the race and worked to maintain track position. Toggling as far back as 23rd, he was able to work his way back up to 19th before the checkered flag waved on 400 miles in south Florida.
Buescher and the No. 17 team head out west to Las Vegas Motor Speedway next weekend for 400 miles. Race coverage is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM Channel 90.
RFR PR
Newman Muscles to 7th-Place Run at Homestead
In a race that saw Roush Fenway shine in more than one way, Ryan Newman was in the thick of the action early and often, ultimately finishing seventh in the 400-mile race in his Oscar Mayer Ford.
“More than anything I’m glad and excited for a good run, it’s what we needed,” Newman said. “Our guys have been working extra hard all offseason, and to come down here and collectively show what we were able to do says a lot about the progress we’ve made. We still have work to do yet, but I’m happy with a top-10 in our Oscar Mayer Ford.”
Newman, a prior winner at Homestead in the Xfinity Series, rolled off 23rd on the grid but quickly inserted himself into the conversation, jumping inside the top-10 by lap 54. For much of the first stage he and teammate Chris Buescher – who went on to lead 57 laps – were well inside the top-10 simultaneously. Following a pair of opening-stage pit stops, Newman finished just one position shy of earning a stage point in 11th.
After starting 13th for the second 80-lap segment, Newman worked his way back to 11th before hitting pit road under the green flag at lap 117. He was one of the first to hit pit road in that sequence and the strategy paid off as he maintained the ninth spot when the yellow came out at lap 153, seven laps prior to the stage end. Newman restarted eighth for the one-lap shootout, but got shuffled back to finish 17th in the second segment.
Following another stop in the stage break, Newman restarted 21st for the final 100 laps, and from there began his march forward. He worked his way back to 15th by lap 199, when the race’s final caution flew. Following another stop, he restarted 13th, and continued charging to the end, ultimately finishing seventh.
After three-straight races in Florida to start the season, NASCAR heads west next weekend to Las Vegas, where the Cup Series runs Sunday afternoon. Coverage is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, and can also be heard on PRN and SiriusXM Channel 90.
RFR PR
DiBenedetto Finishes 28th at Homestead
A frustrating start to the 2021 season for Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Menards/Moen team continued on Sunday with a 28th-place finish in the Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Poor finishes in the first two races of the season – both at Daytona International Speedway – relegated DiBenedetto to a starting position of 37th on Sunday, as the field was set based on results of the first two races.
For a time early in the race, it appeared that DiBenedetto and the Menards/Moen team were on their way to putting the disappointments of February behind them. After just five laps, he had driven into the top 20, gaining a few of those spots when drivers scheduled to start ahead of him had to drop to the rear and motoring by the rest.
By Lap 16 of 167 he broke into the top 15 but lost three spots by the time the Competition Caution flew at Lap 25.
DiBenedetto finished the first 80-lap Stage in 14th place. Stage Two was more of a challenge. Although crew chief Greg Erwin and the Menards/Moen crew made adjustments intended to improve the handling of the car, the changes didn’t produce the intended results, and the No. 21 Mustang was outside the top 20 at the end of the second Stage.
The third and final segment of the race saw DiBenedetto and the team continue their search for speed, and while he was able to gain spots just after restarts, as the runs went on he fell back.
An incident with the No. 42 of Ross Chastain left the Menards/Moen Mustang with what appeared to be minor damage, but when the team made repairs on a subsequent pit stop, DiBenedetto reported the repairs made his car drive better.
As the laps wound down, DiBenedetto was poised to finish just outside the top 20 but a tire problem with six laps remaining led to an unscheduled pit stop, a lost lap and a drop to 28th place at the finish.
“We were just off all night,” DiBenedetto said. “Then we got damage in the nose from the 42, and that set us back more.
“We have some work to do.”
Eddie Wood said his team did its best to make the most of a difficult situation.
“The car was too tight for much of the race,” he said. “The crew made adjustments, but the changes made the car worse instead of better, which meant they had to go back the other way on the next stop just to get back to where they were to start with.
“That was frustrating.”
Wood said that while the Menards/Moen team is off to a rough start to the season, he’s not overly concerned at this point.
“I’ve been through stretches like this many times in my years in racing,” he said. “You just have to keep working hard, and eventually things will turn around.
“And your competitors who have had things going good for them will have their fortunes go the other way.
“It’s racing.”
The No. 21 team will be looking for that change of fortune next Sunday in the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where DiBenedetto and the team scored runner-up finishes in both Cup Series races hosted by the track in 2020.
WBR PR
Disappointing 23rd for Custer at Homestead
Race Winner: William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Chris Buescher of Roush-Fenway Racing (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-80):
● Cole Custer started 10th and finished 17th.
● The HaasTooling.com Ford held position in the top-10 during the opening laps but began losing ground on lap five. Custer said two simple words on the radio – “Really loose” – as he drifted back to 16th place by lap 10.
● By lap 20, Custer was in 23rd and said his HaasTooling.com Ford was still free on corner entry. He picked up a position to 22nd by the time the competition caution flag waved on lap 25 and said his racecar was just starting to come to him. Custer pitted for four tires, fuel, a right-rear track-bar adjustment and packer removed from the left front, and he restarted 20th when the race went back to green on lap 30.
● Custer dropped a pair of positions by lap 37 and said his racecar was “a little too tight.”
● The caution flag flew for fluid on the backstretch on lap 64 with Custer running 25th. He said the previous changes fixed “about 75% of my problem on exit,” but that he was still too tight on corner entry. He pitted for four tires, fuel and a right-rear track-bar adjustment, and restarted 26th on lap 72.
● The short run to the end of Stage 1 was Custer’s best of the stage, as he picked up nine positions. He said his HaasTooling.com Ford was good on entry and exit, but was just too tight through the center of the corner. He pitted during the break for four tires and fuel and adjustments focused on the front end.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 81-160):
● Custer started 15th and finished 14th.
● The HaasTooling.com Ford made a forward surge in the opening laps of the stage, jumping into the top-10 before settling in 12th place for eight laps.
● Custer was up to eighth on lap 120 as the field began its round of scheduled green-flag pit stops. He came down pit road on lap 121 for four tires and fuel. He asked the crew for help remedying a tight condition and a lack of rear grip, and was in 20th when the round of green-flag stops was complete.
● The caution flag flew on lap 153 for fluid on the backstretch with Custer running 19th. He said this latest run started out tight but then the handling became decent. He still asked for help turning through the center of the corner. He pitted for four tires, fuel and a left-rear track-bar adjustment. He restarted 17th on lap 159, picked up three positions during that lap of the stage and then stayed on track during the break.
Final Stage Recap (Laps 161-267):
● Custer started ninth and finished 23rd.
● The No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang had a strong restart, flirting with the top-five during the opening lap before settling in seventh. Custer said he was still dealing with a tight condition.
● Custer said the tight condition got markedly better but wasn’t completely resolved by the time the caution flag flew on lap 199 for a two-car incident in turn three while he was still running in seventh place. He pitted for four tires, fuel and another left-rear track-bar adjustment and restarted fifth on lap 207.
● The HaasTooling.com driver held onto fourth place for almost the entire run to the finish before he lost the position to Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kevin Harvick with 30 laps go, then fell to sixth when Tyler Reddick got by him with 18 to go.
● Custer radioed that he had a tire going down while running eighth with two laps to go. He carefully made his way around the track for those final two laps and took the checkered flag in 23rd.
Notes:
● William Byron won the Dixie Vodka 400 to score his second career NASCAR Cup Series victory and his first at Homestead. His margin over second-place Tyler Reddick was 2.777 seconds.
● There were six caution periods for a total of 36 laps.
● Twenty-five of the 40 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● Denny Hamlin remains the championship leader after Homestead with a 20-point advantage over second-place Harvick.
Cole Custer, driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“Well, that really stings. Mike (Shiplett, crew chief) and the guys did everything they could to help fix our ability to turn through the center of the corner, and we knew that when the sun went down we would have the rear grip we were struggling with early in the race. It was looking like it might be a top-five day, but then we needed to make sure we had fuel enough to get to the end. At worst we had our first top-10 of the season, and then the tire started coming apart with three to go. It’s a shame for the HaasTooling.com team, but we are looking forward to heading out West to Vegas and Phoenix.”
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Las Vegas 400 on Sunday, March 7, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The race begins at 3:30 p.m. EST with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
TSC PR
Harvick Earns Fifth at Homestead
Race Winner: William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Chris Buescher of Roush-Fenway Racing (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-80):
● Kevin Harvick started fourth and finished 13th.
● Harvick pushed his No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang into the second spot after the first lap.
● But by lap nine, Harvick radioed that he was “out of control” with “no rear grip” as he ran fourth.
● After the competition caution on lap 27, Harvick pitted for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment.
● The pit stop was quick, as the Busch Light crew gained Harvick three positions. He restarted in fourth place on lap 31.
● The car’s ill-handling ways continued, however, as Harvick dropped out of the top-10 on lap 57.
● When the caution flag waved on lap 65, Harvick radioed that he was “light on rear grip.”
● Another track bar adjustment, along with four new tires and fuel, was made during a pit stop on lap 68.
● Harvick fell to 13th by the end of the stage and said, “Every time you touch the throttle, it wants to spin out.”
● Harvick pitted for four tires, fuel and wedge and tire pressure adjustments at the conclusion of the stage.
● Another fast pit stop allowed Harvick to pick up four spots to restart ninth for the second stage.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 81-160):
● Harvick started ninth and finished seventh, collecting four bonus points.
● Handling continued to plague the No. 4 machine as Harvick was 17th by lap 92.
● “Still too tight,” said Harvick while running 18th on lap 100.
● Harvick climbed back to 15th on lap 117 and said, “I’m a little bit too tight.”
● A scheduled, green flag pit stop was made on lap 120 for four tires and fuel.
● By lap 125, Harvick was up to 13th and by lap 137 he was up to 11th, just behind his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate, Aric Almirola.
● A caution on lap 155 allowed Harvick to pit for four tires and fuel. Only adjustment was to tire pressures.
● Harvick was 10th for the lap-160 restart. He shot the middle going into turn one to pick up three spots and finish the stage in seventh.
● Crew chief Rodney Childers kept Harvick and the No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang on the racetrack at the end of the stage to maintain track position.
Final Stage Recap (Laps 161-267):
● Harvick started seventh and finished fifth.
● Harvick grabbed sixth place on the lap-168 restart and stayed there until a caution on lap 201.
● “I just need a tweak. Nothing major,” said Harvick about his racecar during the caution period.
● Pitted for four tires and fuel with a track bar adjustment on lap 202.
● Lined up fourth for the lap-208 restart, but settled back into sixth place as the race wore on.
● “It’s getting too loose on me when I touch the throttle,” said Harvick on lap 225 while running sixth.
● Picked up fifth place on lap 228 when the No. 1 car of Kurt Busch, who was in fifth, made an unscheduled pit stop.
● Grabbed fourth place from Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Cole Custer on lap 237.
● Tyler Reddick took fourth from Harvick on lap 254. “It got tight for some reason,” said Harvick.
● Harvick was unchallenged in fifth place through the checkered flag.
Notes:
● Harvick earned his second top-five and third top-10 of the season. It was also his 12th top-five and 18th top-10 in 21 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Homestead.
● This was Harvick’s third straight top-10. He finished fourth in the season-opening Daytona 500 and sixth in last week’s race on the road course at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. He is one of only two drivers to open the 2021 season with three straight top-10s. The other driver is Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell.
● Since joining SHR in 2014, Harvick has only finished outside the top-five once at Homestead.
● Of the 5,613 laps available to Harvick in his 21 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Homestead, he has completed all but two of those laps.
● William Byron won the Dixie Vodka 400 to score his second career NASCAR Cup Series victory and his first at Homestead. His margin over second-place Tyler Reddick was 2.777 seconds.
● There were six caution periods for a total of 36 laps.
● Twenty-five of the 40 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● Denny Hamlin remains the championship leader after Homestead with a 20-point advantage over second-place Harvick.
Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“We actually had a good car the second half of the race. We were just way too loose in the first third of the race. The Busch Light Ford team did a great job of getting the car better and a great job on pit road keeping our track position, so I’m just really proud of the way that everybody is battling right now. I would consider these three tracks that we’ve gone to so far kind of hit or miss for me as far as my likeability as far as driving and the things we have going on. To have the finishes that we’ve had in the first three races says a lot about our team.”
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Las Vegas 400 on Sunday, March 7 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The race begins at 3:30 p.m. EST with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
TSC PR
Almirola 30th at Homestead
Race Winner: William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Chris Buescher of Roush Fenway Racing (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-80):
● Aric Almirola started 17th and finished 21st.
● The No. 10 Smithfield driver said the car was extremely tight throughout the turns and needed adjustments.
● He pitted twice during the first stage for four fresh tires and adjustments to loosen the car.
● The Smithfield Ford team continued to work on the car during a pit stop at the conclusion of the stage.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 81-160):
● Almirola started 21st and finished 19th.
● Almirola radioed crew chief Mike Bugarewicz to “keep making adjustments in that direction” as he raced to 12th by lap 109.
● He pitted on lap 121 for four fresh tires, fuel and more chassis and air pressure adjustments to loosen up his Smithfield Ford.
● Almirola raced his way to the top-10 by lap 13.
● He pitted under caution on lap 155 for four tires, fuel and adjustments. He came off pit road in 11th.
● Almirola was contacted on the one-lap shootout and fell from 11th to 19th.
● The No. 10 team pitted at the end of the stage for four fresh tires and fuel.
Final Stage Recap (Laps 161-267):
● Almirola started 24th and finished 30th.
● Almirola and the No. 12 car made contact on lap 201, bringing out the caution.
● He pitted to repair damage three times and resumed in the 30th position, one lap down.
● Almirola finished the race three laps down.
Notes:
● William Byron won the Dixie Vodka 400 to score his second career NASCAR Cup Series victory and his first at Homestead. His margin over second-place Tyler Reddick was 2.777 seconds.
● There were six caution periods for a total of 36 laps.
● Twenty-five of the 40 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● Denny Hamlin remains the championship leader after Homestead with a 20-point advantage over second-place Harvick.
Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“We fought hard all day to get our Smithfield Ford where we needed it. We found some speed there in the second stage and were headed in the right direction on the balance of the car. I got tight there and slid up the track into the 12. That put us back. On to Vegas.”
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Las Vegas 400 on Sunday, March 7, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The race begins at 3:30 p.m. EST with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
TSC PR
Race Winner: William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Chris Buescher of Roush Fenway Racing (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-80):
● Kyle Busch started 24th and finished 15th.
● The M&M’S Fudge Brownie driver started 24th but moved up to 15th by lap five, and he stayed there until the competition yellow waved on lap 25.
● Busch came down pit road on lap 27 with the No. 18 over-the-wall team making quick work to gain him two positions on pit road and restart 13th.
● The two-time Cup Series champion dropped to 15th by the time the next caution waved on lap 65, telling crew chief Ben Beshore he was still too loose.
● Busch came down pit road on lap 68 to take on four tires, fuel and both trackbar and wedge adjustments as he restarted in the 18th spot.
● The M&M’S Fudge Brownie driver moved up to 15th by the end of Stage 1.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 81-160):
● Busch started ninth and finished 16th.
● The M&M’S Fudge Brownie driver came down pit road on lap 83 to take on tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment, and the No. 18 team performed a strong stop to help Busch restart in the ninth spot.
● Busch continued to struggle with the handling of his No. 18 Toyota, as he and Beshore went back and forth to diagnose the ill-handling racecar.
Final Stage Recap (Laps 161-267):
● Busch started 19th and finished 10th.
● Despite pitting under caution with four laps to go in Stage 2, Beshore called Busch back down pit road for four tires during the stage break. With Busch running in 16th, there wasn’t much track position to lose in order to gain a few laps with fresher tires, which matter at Homestead.
● The M&M’S Fudge Brownie driver restarted the final stage in the 19th position.
● The Las Vegas native was able to move up quickly and was in 12th by lap 175.
● Busch came to pit road on lap 201, and the No. 18 team gained three spots off pit road to restart ninth. The M&M’S Fudge Brownie driver gained two quick spots on the restart to get back into the top-10.
● Busch radioed to tell Beshore the car just didn’t hold on during the long run, but he battled the last 60 laps of the race to bring home his first top-10 finish of the season.
Notes:
● This marks Busch’s 10th top-10 in 17 career starts at Homestead.
Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’S Fudge Brownie Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing:
“We struggled a bit tonight with our M&M’S Fudge Brownie Camry. We finally got the handling back in the right direction there closer to the end, but we just didn’t quite have the longevity we were looking for. We’ll take what we learned today and hopefully get better for Las Vegas next weekend.”
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Pennzoil 400 on Sunday, March 7, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The race begins at 3:30 p.m. EST with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
TSC PR
RCR Post Race Report - Dixie Vodka 400
| Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops / TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE Team Show Speed at Homstead-Miami Speedway |
|
| "All-in-all not a bad night for the Bass Pro Shops / TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. We really had a strong car early. We drove to the front and we were going to finish fifth in Stage 2 but the caution came out. We restarted on the bottom and just made the wrong move going into Turn 1 and lost a bunch of spots. We lost some Stage Points there, so that was disappointing. We were able to get a Stage Point at the end of Stage 1. I thought we were going to be pretty good. We just never got going again like we needed to. We kind of got jumbled on some restarts. Man, Homestead-Miami Speedway is such a fun track. I got a little too tight in and loose off at the end. We just missed it when it got darker outside. We were really good early. We were doing a good job of keeping up with the track, but it changed drastically. It was really cool to see Tyler Reddick drive up to second and show us what we've got. It's on to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for us." -Austin Dillon |
| |
| Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen Team Impress With Second-Place Finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway |
| |
|
| "Well, finishing second is a good night considering how the first two weekends of the season have gone, but I hate that I didn't get this Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen Chevy into Victory Lane because if I would have then I would have gotten a lot of people in America free chicken tenders on Monday night. Once I really saw how fast we were in clean air at the end of the race, and I saw how fast we were catching everybody it became beyond frustrating because I know just two or three different decisions on a restart would have put me miles ahead. I knew that we were going to have to have a well-executed restart. We didn't do that, and it takes time to get around all of those cars who pass you on a restart because they are all really good drivers. That's the difference. I thought we would be better in the day and everyone would catch up at night, but it was the opposite of that. We tried to work on our Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen Chevy throughout the night. We learned a lot. You have to win these races by being very consistent and making the right calls as a driver and as a team. I'm proud of how fast we were at the end of the race." -Tyler Reddick |
RCR PR
Briscoe Finishes 18th at Homestead
Race Winner: William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Chris Buescher of Roush-Fenway Racing (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-80):
● Chase Briscoe started 30th and finished 27th.
● The Ford Performance Racing School driver advanced to the 25th position prior to the competition caution on lap 27. Under yellow, he pitted for four tires, fuel and adjustments to help tighten up his No. 14 Mustang in the center of turns three and four. Then he lined up 28th for the lap-30 restart.
● Briscoe was running 26th when the second caution of the race occurred on lap 65. He radioed that he couldn’t hustle at the start of a run and was lacking grip. With less than 15 laps remaining in Stage 1, the No. 14 crew gave him four fresh tires and fuel.
● The race returned to green on lap 72 with Briscoe restarting 23rd. He quickly dropped to 30th but moved back to 27th before the end of the stage on lap 80.
● Crew chief Johnny Klausmeier elected to pit for four tires and fuel, but no adjustments were made to the Ford Performance Racing School Mustang after Briscoe said the track came to him on the previous run.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 81-160):
● Briscoe started 23rd and finished 30th.
● On lap 91, Briscoe fell back to the 31st position and reported that he was “wrecking loose” following contact with the 23 that resulted in damage to his left-rear quarter panel.
● Briscoe made a scheduled green-flag pit stop on lap 126, getting four tires, fuel and adjustments. The No. 14 team also made repairs to the damaged quarter panel during the stop, but Briscoe returned to the track two laps down to the leaders.
● The yellow flag was shown for the fourth time on lap 155, and Briscoe remained on track to get back one lap. He restarted 30th on lap 159, one lap down, with just one lap remaining in the second stage.
● The No. 14 was the beneficiary of the stage-ending caution, allowing Briscoe to rejoin the lead-lap cars. He pitted under caution on lap 165 for four tires, fuel and additional repairs.
Final Stage Recap (Laps 161-267):
● Briscoe started 30th and finished 18th.
● The Ford Performance Racing School driver began the final stage in the 26th position and was 24th when caution came out on lap 201. Briscoe pitted for four tires and fuel on lap 202 and lined up 22nd for the restart.
● Briscoe entered the top-20 for the first time when the race resumed on lap 208 and advanced to 18th before the end of the race to earn his second top-20 finish in three Cup Series starts.
Notes:
● The Dixie Vodka 400 marked Briscoe’s third NASCAR Cup Series start.
● Briscoe was the highest finishing NASCAR Cup Series rookie.
● William Byron won the Dixie Vodka 400 to score his second career NASCAR Cup Series victory and his first at Homestead. His margin over second-place Tyler Reddick was 2.777 seconds.
● There were six caution periods for a total of 36 laps.
● Twenty-five of the 40 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● Denny Hamlin remains the championship leader after Homestead with a 20-point advantage over second-place Harvick.
Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Ford Performance Racing School Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“I felt like for all the things we went through, finishing 18th was good recovery from being two laps down. I’m still learning so much. It took me until halfway through the race to understand what I needed to do. I definitely got schooled on restarts in the beginning, and that’s everything in this deal. It’s going to take time and experience and learning the hard way, but I’ll continue to build on it. This was our first real race of the season in a sense, so we’ll go to Vegas and finally be able to start a little closer to the front. Hopefully that will pay dividends for our Ford Performance Racing School team.”
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Las Vegas 400 on Sunday, March 7, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The race begins at 3:30 p.m. EST with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
TSC PR