Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images By Adam Carabine The StatChat Power Rankings return in 2026! While finishing position is important, it’s not always indicative of the full picture. StatChat rankings are determined using a large number of statistical inputs. Let's look at the Top 10: Ty Gibbs – This week: 10 – Last week: 10 It was a solid day at the track for Ty Gibbs at Watkins Glen. Unfortunately, no one was a match for SVG and his road course prowess, but Gibbs led a bunch of laps (17), ran up front most of the day, and earned some stage points. He stays in the Top 10 this week. Shane Van Gisbergen – This week: 9 – Last week: 20 One of this week’s biggest movers, SVG put on an absolute clinic at Watkins Glen. He was in 26th place at one point after his final pit stop, and drove back to the front to win in a very convincing fashion. He led 74 of 100 laps, and earned points in both stages. Watch for SVG to make his way back into the Top 10 of the Power Rankings after road courses. Can he make The Chase though? Ryan Preece – This week: 8 – Last week: 8 A solid day for Ryan Preece at Watkins Glen – a driver not necessarily noted for his road course performance. He started pretty far back in 30th, but managed to battle all day and finished with a very respectable 14th. Nothing flashy, but enough to keep him in the Top 10 of the Power Rankings this week. Kyle Larson – This week: 7 – Last week: 6 It wasn’t Larson’s best week at the track, as he both started and finished in 23rd place. He ran most of the day around that position, and had 0 quality passes by the end of the race. He falls a spot in the Power Rankings, but had enough cache to stay within the Top 10 for now. Carson Hocevar – This week: 6 – Last week: 5 Hocevar has been on a bit of a hot streak as of late, but this weekend at Watkins Glen wasn’t his finest outing. He qualified just outside of the Top 10, which isn’t bad at all, but he lost 29 more spots than he gained all race, and wound up finishing 28th. His first career win at Talladega is still within the more heavily weighted previous five races, so he stays in the Top 5 for now. Chris Buescher – This week: 5 – Last week: 7 Chris Buescher’s most recent Cup Series win was when he held off SVG at Watkins Glen two years ago (well, okay – a year and a half ago, since Watkins Glen moved to the spring this year). He’s great at this track, and while his P12 finish didn’t necessarily show it, he was solid all day long. He scored stage points, had top-five numbers in Quality Passes, and stayed out of trouble all day. Chase Elliott – This week: 4 – Last week: 3 It seemed like Hendrick Motorsports had an issue at Watkins Glen, as most of their drivers had rough days. Elliott, once noted as a road course specialist, was underwhelming. He finished P24, ran most of the day outside of the Top 25, and did not live up to his road course reputation – though that has been suffering since the introduction of the next-gen car. He’s fresh off a win last week in Texas, and he’s still third in the Points Standings, so he still is in the Top 5 of the Power Rankings, but this one will hurt. Ryan Blaney – This week: 3 – Last week: 4 Ryan Blaney is putting together a fairly consistent season this year, showcased by a very respectable P11 finish at Watkins Glen. He earned an additional 8 stage points, and had the highest Pass Differential (+31) of any driver on the track. His underlying numbers are always solid, even if his pit crew doesn’t tend to do him many favours. Denny Hamlin – This week: 2 – Last week: 1 Once again we have a tight battle for the top spot in our Power Rankings. Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick have been trading it back and forth for weeks now – and again Hamlin dropped after just a week on top. Hamlin isn’t the most amazing at road courses, though he’s not terrible. He finished P16 at Watkins Glen, and didn’t have much flash. Not awful, but Reddick was better this week. Tyler Reddick – This week: 1 – Last week: 2 Tyler Reddick was on a similar strategy to SVG, though not so much by choice. He and his team took a gamble and pitted thinking a caution was about to come out when there was some contact between two backmarkers. The race stayed green, and suddenly Reddick was forced to fight his way back through the field – like SVG did. He made a valiant effort, finishing Watkins Glen in P5 – enough to send him back into the top spot of our Power Rankings. Biggest Movers Joey Logano – This week: 30 – Last week: 19 Falls 11 places William Byron – This week: 22 – Last week: 11 Falls 11 places SVG – This week: 9 – Last week: 20 Gains 11 places Rest of the List 11. Austin Cindric LW: 13 +2 12. Brad Keselowski LW: 9 -3 13. Chase Briscoe LW: 14 +1 14. Bubba Wallace LW: 16 +2 15. Christopher Bell LW: 12 -3 16. Daniel Suarez LW: 15 -1 17. Austin Dillon LW: 22 +5 18. Ross Chastain LW: 18 -- 19. AJ Allmendinger LW: 25 +6 20. Todd Gilliland LW: 17 -3 21. Kyle Busch LW: 24 +3 22. William Byron LW: 11 -11 23. Erik Jones LW: 21 -2 24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. LW: 23 -1 25. Zane Smith LW: 26 +1 26. Riley Herbst LW: 28 +2 27. Noah Gragson LW: 29 +2 28. Michael McDowell LW: 30 +2 29. Alex Bowman LW: 27 -2 30. Joey Logano LW: 19 -11 31. Connor Zilisch LW: 32 +1 32. Ty Dillon LW: 33 +1 33. JH Nemechek LW: 34 +1 34. Cody Ware LW: 35 +1 35. Josh Berry LW: 31 -4 36. Cole Custer LW: 36 --

Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images By Adam Carabine Shane Van Gisbergen showed why he is the absolute road course GOAT, and made up a 29-second gap to win for the second year in a row! Let’s have a look at how it all shook down! Lap 1: Shane Van Gisbergen starts on the pole, with Michael McDowell next to him. SVG takes the lead off the start, though McDowell keeps pace pretty well. Lap 9: SVG’s lead over McDowell is now up to 2 seconds, Connor Zilisch is in third, 5.8 seconds back. Lap 16: Austin Dillon comes to pit road – a little earlier than expected for those who were going to jump the stage end, but he was complaining of tire wear. Lap 17: Tyler Reddick and some others start pitting as well. Lap 18: McDowell and Zilisch pit from P2 and P3, among many others. Lap 19: SVG pits from the lead, just as the pits close with 2 to go. Lap 20: Ross Chastain takes over the lead and wins Stage One. SVG came back out and got stage points in 8th, McDowell finished 10th. Lap 22: Chastain wins the race off pit road, for the cars that stayed out for stage points. John Hunter Nemechek gets a penalty for crew over the wall too soon. Lap 25: Green flag for Stage Two – SVG and McDowell again on the front row. Lap 27: Connor Zilisch takes P2 from McDowell. Lap 40: CAUTION – A wild windstorm picked up a spectator’s tent and threw it onto the track. Caution is officially for debris. Lap 41: Leader SVG pits with most everyone else. Six stay out, including McDowell who will be the new leader. Lap 44: Back to green, 7 to go in the stage. Riley Herbst spins at Turn One, but it stays green. Then some big carnage at the bus stop involving William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Todd Gilliland and a few others, but again it stays green! Lap 45: Byron limps his car to pit road with a broken toe link. Lap 46: Christopher Bell blows the entrance to the bus stop and must come to a complete stop before resuming racing. Lap 47: SVG retakes the lead from Michael McDowell at the bus stop – a place on the track where SVG seems to really excel and make up time. Lap 48: McDowell’s tires are much older, as he stayed out at the previous caution, and he starts fading. Reddick takes over P2. Lap 49: McDowell’s backwards slide continues, and he’s already at P7 by the time he makes it back to the bus stop. Lap 50: SVG stays out to win Stage Two. McDowell ends up finishing P12, and doesn’t score any stage points. Lap 52: Pit road opens, the front runners stay out as it’s too early to get enough fuel to the end of the race. Lap 55: Final stage is green! SVG leads Tyler Reddick. Lap 60: CAUTION – Joey Logano has a tire go down, and then through some contact ends up losing the tire carcass. No penalty, but it brings out the caution. Lap 61: SVG and Reddick stay out again, most others pit. Lap 62: Speeding penalty for Riley Herbst. Meanwhile Kyle Busch is requesting medical attention for after the race, as he reportedly is dealing with a bad head cold in the car. He says he’ll finish the race, though. Lap 64: Back to green – SVG and Reddick who both didn’t pit. Lap 69: Tyler Reddick is starting to fade now, falls back to P5. Ty Gibbs up to 4th. Lap 71: There’s some contact with Josh Bilicki and Katherine Legge. Tyler Reddick’s team believes a caution is coming and so he ducks to pit road immediately – but it stays green. Lap 74: Ty Gibbs is up to P3 now. Lap 76: Michael McDowell pits from P2. Lap 77: SVG pits, Ty Gibbs takes the lead. SVG comes back out in 26th place. Lap 83: Connor Zilisch has gained on Ty Gibbs, the gap is now only half a second. Lap 86: Bubba Wallace spins, but gets it back up and rolling again – no caution. Lap 87: SVG has worked his way through the field with fresher tires, he’s now up to P7. Lap 89: SVG now up to 6th, only 10 seconds back. Lap 90: 10 to go, SVG gained 5 seconds in that last lap alone, up to P5. Lap 91: SVG is now up to P3, just absolutely flying. Only three seconds off of leader Ty Gibbs. Lap 92: Connor Zilisch appears to have a tire go down from P2, SVG takes it from him and now the gap to the leader is only 1.3 seconds. Lap 93: SVG gets the lead at the bus stop! And he’s got fresher tires than most anyone else on the track, and enough fuel to the end. Lap 94: Cody Ware super slow on the track, but it stays green. Lap 95: SVG has stretched his lead over Ty Gibbs to 5 seconds. McDowell moves to P2. Lap 100: SVG WINS in convincing fashion! McDowell finishes P2, 7 seconds behind SVG. Ty Gibbs is in third, 16.5 seconds behind the lead. An absolute road course clinic by Shane Van Gisbergen, he wins again on the lefts and rights. Initially the broadcast thought he was in trouble pitting when he did, but he made quick work of the rest of the field. Next week is the All-Star race at Dover!

By Adam Carabine Welcome to the StatChat NASCAR Games! If you’re new here, this year I thought it might be fun to share some of the silly little games I play on my NASCAR Excel Sheet throughout the season as we follow along. BRACKET GAMES These games are similar to NASCAR’s In-Season Tournament, as created by Denny Hamlin, but my version lasts all season long. Drivers are originally seeded by a mixture of performance from last year, with some creative discretion from myself. Each week, whichever driver finishes better in each matchup moves on to the next round. Winning also gives you points which grow with each round. Round 1 win: 1 pt Round 2 win: 2 pts Round 3 win: 3 pts Round 4 win: 4 pts Finals win: 5 pts Those points then determine the seeding for the next round of the Bracket Games, and they continue until the end of the season. Whichever driver has the highest points at the end of the season wins the Bracket Game! There is a bracket for each of the three NASCAR Series – let’s see how things look in Week 11: Cup Series O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Craftsman Truck Series ELIMINATION GAMES These games are just another fun way I like to keep things interesting throughout the grind of the long NASCAR season. These games only follow the NASCAR Cup Series, though that could change in the future. Because there are 36 races, and 36 full-time drivers in the Cup Series, this works out very nicely. The first elimination happens after Race #2, and continues through the season, so there will be a final two head-to-head matchup at the final race. Each week, a new driver is eliminated in each game. The criteria for each game is different, so it’s not always the same driver being eliminated in each game. Power Rankings Elimination Whichever driver has the worst score in the StatChat Power Rankings gets eliminated. After Week 2, Josh Berry was eliminated. After Week 3, Erik Jones was eliminated. After Week 4, Cole Custer was eliminated. After Week 5, Alex Bowman was eliminated. After Week 6, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was eliminated. After Week 7, Cody Ware was eliminated. After Week 8, Noah Gragson was eliminated. After Week 9, Ty Dillon was eliminated. After Week 10, JH Nemechek was eliminated. This week, Connor Zilisch was eliminated. Last Place Elimination Whichever driver finishes the worst out of all the remaining drivers is eliminated. After Week 2, Josh Berry was eliminated After Week 3, Chase Briscoe was eliminated After Week 4, Noah Gragson was eliminated After Week 5, SVG was eliminated After Week 6, Cody Ware was eliminated After Week 7, Ty Dillon was eliminated After Week 8, Alex Bowman was eliminated After Week 9, Kyle Busch was eliminated After Week 10, Kyle Larson was eliminated This week, Christopher Bell was eliminated Average Finish Elimination Whichever driver has the worst average finish out of all the remaining drivers at the end of each week is eliminated. After Week 2, Austin Dillon was eliminated After Week 3, Alex Bowman was eliminated After Week 4, Austin Cindric was eliminated After Week 5, Connor Zilisch was eliminated After Week 6, Cody Ware was eliminated After Week 7, Cole Custer was eliminated After Week 8, Ty Dillon was eliminated After Week 9, Josh Berry was eliminated After Week 10, JH Nemechek was eliminated This week, Noah Gragson was eliminated Stay tuned each week to see who is winning the StatChat NASCAR Games!

Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images By Adam Carabine The StatChat Power Rankings return in 2026! While finishing position is important, it’s not always indicative of the full picture. StatChat rankings are determined using a large number of statistical inputs. Let's look at the Top 10: Ty Gibbs – This week: 10 – Last week: 6 It was a rough week at the track for Ty Gibbs in Texas. While the driver is still buoyed up into the Top 10 by his first career win a few weeks ago, he had a race to forget this past weekend. He spun on his own and got into the wall, causing him to earn his third DNF of the year. Brad Keselowski – This week: 9 – Last week: 5 Keselowski had a solid day in Texas, in what has been a fairly successful season for the veteran driver/owner. The P13 finish wasn’t indicative of how well he ran during the race, and with an emphasis on the most recent five races, this was the first week that his P2 finish at Darlington wasn’t weighted as heavily, which is why he falls four spots this week. Ryan Preece – This week: 8 – Last week: 11 Ryan Preece wasn’t a major factor in Texas this past weekend, but he still manages to claw his way up into the Power Rankings Top 10. He has been very consistently in the Top 15 all season, and has a very real shot at getting into The Chase this year if he can keep it up. He’s currently +63 to the cutline. Chris Buescher – This week: 7 – Last week: 8 We may be a few years removed from Chris Buescher’s breakout 3-win season, but he’s shown up pretty consistently this season. The fact that all three RFK cars are in the Power Rankings Top 10 is impressive, as they’re not necessarily seen as the premiere Ford team in the stable. A P5 finish for Buescher at Texas put a nice bow on a good day, and he continues to move slowly up the chart. Kyle Larson – This week: 6 – Last week: 4 As usual, it appears that Kyle Larson’s worst enemy is, in fact, Kyle Larson. Larson spun on his own, losing control of his car, and it cost him his day. He did make his way back out on track much later in the race to try and gain some positions, but there wasn’t much to get, and he finished P34, over 80 laps down. Carson Hocevar – This week: 5 – Last week: 7 It was another solid outing for the polarizing driver at Texas. Hocevar, fresh off his win the previous week in Talladega, won the pole at Texas, earned points in both stages, led 40 laps, and was a threat at certain points of the race. He wasn’t in the mix at the very end, but still finished a respectable P7. Ryan Blaney – This week: 4 – Last week: 3 It seemed like Team Penske didn’t bring the right stuff to Texas this weekend, as all three of their cars weren’t as good as we’re accustomed to seeing. Blaney finished the best of all of them, P10. Not a bad finish considering his hesitant qualifying session had him starting 31st, but we’re accustomed to more from the 12 team. Chase Elliott – This week: 3 – Last week: 9 One of this week’s biggest movers, Chase Elliott makes his way into the Top 3 in our Power Rankings with his second win of the season. He also scored the most stage points of anyone, had the fastest lap of the race, earning himself a whopping 69 points on the day, and moving him up to third in the points standings. He’s a lock to make The Chase, with a 174-point gap to the cutline. Tyler Reddick – This week: 2 – Last week: 1 Tyler Reddick gives up the top spot in the Power Rankings once again to his team owner, Denny Hamlin. The two have been back and forth for weeks now, and seemingly just barely edging out the other. Both drivers had great days at Texas, though Reddick’s was maybe less flashy. Reddick didn’t lead any laps, and only got points in the second stage, but is still looking like a threat week-in and week-out. Denny Hamlin – This week: 1 – Last week: 2 Hamlin does take the top spot away from his driver at 23XI. He has been very consistent, and racking up a lot of the stats in the underlying categories. He leads the field in laps led, as well as number of fastest laps on the track, and in number of stage points earned. Both drivers are worthy of the top spot in our Power Rankings, but this week it goes to Denny. Biggest Movers Brad Keselowski – This week: 9 – Last week: 5 Falls 4 places Ty Gibbs – This week: 10 – Last week: 6 Falls 4 places Chase Elliott – This week: 3 – Last week: 9 Gains 6 places Alex Bowman – This week: 27 – Last week: 33 Gains 6 places Rest of the List 11. William Byron LW: 13 +2 12. Austin Cindric LW: 12 -- 13. Christopher Bell LW: 10 -3 14. Chase Briscoe LW: 14 -- 15. Daniel Suarez LW: 15 -- 16. Bubba Wallace LW: 19 +3 17. Todd Gilliland LW: 18 +1 18. Ross Chastain LW: 16 -2 19. Erik Jones LW: 21 +2 20. Joey Logano LW: 17 -3 21. SVG LW: 20 -1 22. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. LW: 24 +2 23. Austin Dillon LW: 26 +3 24. Kyle Busch LW: 25 +1 25. AJ Allmendinger LW: 22 -3 26. Zane Smith LW: 23 -1 27. Alex Bowman LW: 33 +6 28. Riley Herbst LW: 30 +2 29. Noah Gragson LW: 28 -1 30. Michael McDowell LW: 27 -3 31. Josh Berry LW: 29 -2 32. Connor Zilisch LW: 31 -1 33. Ty Dillon LW: 32 -1 34. JH Nemechek LW: 34 -- 35. Cody Ware LW: 35 -- 36. Cole Custer LW: 36 --

Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images By Adam Carabine It wasn’t exactly the cleanest day at the track on Sunday in Texas, but you won’t hear many complaints from Chase Elliott, as he scooped up his second win of this 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season. Let’s have a look at how it all shook down! Lap 1: Last week’s winner, Carson Hocevar, is on the pole. He’s next to his Spire Motorsports teammate Daniel Suarez. Lap 10: Hocevar’s lead is already up to 1.6 seconds. Lap 19: Suarez has fallen back to 8th. Meanwhile, Denny Hamlin gets past Chase Briscoe for P2. Lap 20: Now Hamlin takes the lead from Carson Hocevar! Lap 21: Hocevar falls another spot to P3 as Briscoe passes him. Lap 22: Kyle Busch is running in 4th after starting in 6th – his first race with new crew chief Andy Street. Lap 24: Both Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace have charged forward after starting in the rear of the field. They’re both up 10 spots. Lap 34: With the halfway point of Stage One being 40 laps, Christopher Bell pits early to try and get the jump on everyone. This kickstarts a bunch of knee-jerk reaction pits by many others too. Lap 36: Denny Hamlin pits from the lead. Lap 38: While cycling through pit stops, Briscoe gets ahead of Hamlin. Lap 41: Carson Hocevar has held the lead since the other leaders pit, and is finally now coming down pit road. Lap 43: Keselowski is the last one to pit, making Chase Briscoe your new leader. Lap 49: A hard-charging Christopher Bell takes the lead. Lap 56: Hamlin and Briscoe into a hard battle for P2, with eventually Hamlin winning it. Lap 69: CAUTION – Todd Gilliland spins on his own, but then takes out Christopher Bell who was just about to lap him. Bell spins and hits the wall hard – this ends his day and continues his bad luck in Texas. Lap 71: Hocevar takes only 2 tires and wins the race off pit road. Five others stayed out and didn’t pit. Lap 75: Green flag, with 6 to go in the Stage. Erik Jones is in the lead, with Stenhouse beside him on the restart. Lap 80: Erik Jones wins Stage One – his first ever stage win! Lap 88: Stage Two is green! Carson Hocevar and Ty Gibbs are on the front row to start together. Lap 92: After Hocevar held the lead on the restart, Briscoe passes Ty Gibbs for P2. Lap 93: CAUTION – William Byron goes for a solo spin. Seems no worse for wear. Lap 95: Some majorly dramatic pit stops under this caution. Briscoe and Larson collide with each other. Joey Logano slams into the back of Cole Custer very hard and earns himself a DNF. Lap 99: Green flag flies again. Corey Heim and Zane Smith lead the field to green as they stayed out under this caution. Lap 102: CAUTION – Ty Gibbs gets into the wall pretty hard and will end his day at Texas as well. Lap 106: Back to green, Corey Heim and Brad Keselowski on the front row. Lap 152: Heim pits from the lead, and Elliott moves to P1. Lap 160: CAUTION – Kyle Larson loses control of his car and spins. Lap 165: We go green with one lap to go in the stage. Keselowski stayed out under caution and leads the field to green, but his older tires are no match for Chase Elliott and Tyler Reddick who each pass him. Elliott wins Stage Two, then Reddick, then Keselowski. Lap 173: Green flag for the Final Stage. Elliott and Reddick on the front row. Lap 212: Green flag pit stops start up – in theory this could be the last round of pit stops for this race. Lap 216: Leaders start pitting, Elliott and Reddick are in. Lap 217: The new leader Denny Hamlin comes in to pit road. The cycle is really starting up now. Lap 228: Corey Heim retakes the lead on a different strategy. He’s staying out as long as he can hoping for a caution to help regain some track position. Lap 239: Heim finally pits under green, no luck on the strategy call. Elliott takes the lead, Chase Briscoe is the lone holdout who hasn’t pitted yet. Lap 257: CAUTION – Corey Heim spins and gets some rough damage to the back of his car. Lap 263: Green flag with 5 to go! Lap 265: John Hunter Nemechek spins, but it’s so close to the white flag/just after the white flag gets thrown. He gets down to the apron and NASCAR lets it run green. Lap 267: Chase Elliott hangs on and wins the race! Next week we visit Watkins Glen!

Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images By Adam Carabine It was a dominant day on the track for Denny Hamlin, but some major late-race drama (including a crazy final caution) led to Tyler Reddick earning his 5 th  win of the season!    Let’s have a look at how it all shook down!   Lap 1: Pole-sitter Tyler Reddick takes the green flag alongside Denny Hamlin.  As they fight back and forth all lap long, it’s a drag race back to the start-finish line.  Hamlin edges out in front and takes the lead.   Lap 20: Austin Cindric has worked his way forward quite a bit, already up 15 spots to P20.  Christopher Bell has some big debris on his front grille, and his team is worried about it.  He faded back early but is trying to claw his way back forward.   Lap 25: Hamlin’s lead is up to 1.5s over Reddick, though Reddick says over the radio that he’s focused on managing tires, rather than chasing at this point.   Lap 27: Hamlin laps Cody Ware, putting him as the first car a lap down.   Lap 29:  Connor Zilisch now goes a lap down too.   Lap 33:  Pit stops start under green.  Lap 40 would be halfway through this stage, but some teams try to short-pit.   Lap 37:  P3 Kyle Larson comes to pit road, the first of the leaders.   Lap 39:  Hamlin pits from the lead.  Meanwhile on pit road, Ryan Blaney gets into AJ Allmendinger, spinning him around and forcing him to pit backwards in his box.    Lap 40: The cycle essentially finishes, and Hamlin retakes the lead from Carson Hocevar, who stayed out longer.    Lap 54: Hamlin passes Kyle Busch to put him a lap down.  Despite some big talk earlier, Busch lets him by with no incident.   Lap 69: Kyle Busch reports tire issues, is not sure whether he can make it to the end of the stage on his tires.   Lap 79:  One lap left in the stage, there’s a big battle for the lucky dog position.    Lap 80:  Denny Hamlin wins Stage One.  Gilliland somehow got by Hamlin at the last second and got his lap back – Stenhouse becomes the Lucky Dog.    Lap 85: Pits open, Hamlin wins the race off pit road.   Lap 86: Blaney comes back down pit road again for more repairs on a broken splitter from the Allmendinger incident earlier.  They incur a penalty for too many men over the wall, but they did it on purpose knowing they’d be in the back anyway.   Lap 89: Stage Two is Green, with Hamlin the control car over Kyle Larson beside him.   Lap 90: Both Larson and Chase Elliott pass Hamlin shortly after the restart, Reddick even tries but doesn’t get past him.  Larson is the new leader.   Lap 96:  Tyler Reddick now passes Chase Elliott and gets P2.   Lap 97:  Hamlin passes Elliott now for P3, as Elliott is fading.    Lap 120: Ty Gibbs is the first taker on pit road, starting the green flag pit cycle.   Lap 121:  Chase Briscoe and Christopher Bell now pit, it has begun.   Lap 124:  Leaders Larson, Reddick and Hamlin all come to pit road.  Slow stop for Reddick, he comes out P3.  He reported some contact with the wall in Turn One.   Lap 129: Elliott made some good work during the pit cycle, he’s now up to P2.  Larson still leads.   Lap 165: Larson holds on and wins Stage Two.  Daniel Suarez gets the free pass.   Lap 170: Pits open, Hamlin wins the race off pit road.  Bell gains three spots, Larson in 3 rd .    Lap 174: Final Stage is Green – Hamlin and Bell on the front row.   Lap 175: Christopher Bell quickly gets the lead from Denny Hamlin.   Lap 209:  Tyler Reddick gets by Hamlin for P2.   Lap 216:  Trying to get the jump on the field, Hamlin and Chase Briscoe hit pit road a little earlier.   Lap 220: Reddick pits ahead of leader Christopher Bell.   Lap 221:  Bell reacts and pits a lap later.   Lap 222:  Reddick gets out ahead of Bell, but they’re both still behind Hamlin, who short-pitted.   Lap 223:  Daniel Suarez is leading, still awaiting a pit stop.  Initially the plan seemed to be to stay out a little while longer, but he has a tire going down, so he limps to pit road, and Hamlin retakes the lead.  Cycle complete.   Lap 239:  Hamlin’s lead over Reddick is now 3 seconds.   Lap 255: Hamlin’s tires are starting to really fall off.  Reddick has gained a bunch of time, and is now only 0.5 seconds behind Hamlin.   Lap 257:  Now Reddick is on Hamlin’s bumper.   Lap 258: Reddick takes the lead, in rather easy fashion.   Lap 261: Reddick’s pace is slowing, is Hamlin going to come back and catch him?   Lap 262:  Going a lap down, Austin Dillon gives a little trouble to both Hamlin and Reddick as they try to pass him.   Lap 265: Reddick runs out of FUEL! Hit’s the reserve switch to get a little extra but it costs him the lead.  Hamlin back out front! 3 to go!   Lap 266: Just ahead of the White Flag, Cody Ware spins on his own, bringing out a Caution.  We’re going to Overtime!   Lap 268:  Pits open, both Hamlin and Reddick take two tires (and obviously some fuel for Reddick).    Lap 272:  Green flag on OT Attempt One.   Lap 273:  Larson goes three-wide and takes the lead! However, somehow Tyler Reddick gets a huge run from 4 th  place, and comes charging back and takes the lead from Larson.   Lap 274:  Reddick WINS.  This is his 5 th  win this season, and does it in dramatic fashion!   Next weekend we visit Talladega!

By Adam Carabine Happy weekend everyone, it’s time for another edition of Stats Saturday. This weekend the Cup Series travels to Kansas City, Kansas for the Advent Health 400 at Kansas Speedway.   Kansas is a 1.5-mile tri-oval speedway, built in 2001.  Jeff Gordon won the first Cup Series race there that same year.  Kyle Larson won this race in the spring last year, and Chase Elliott won it in the fall.   Tomorrow’s race will be 267 laps long (for a total of 400.5 miles), with stage breaks occurring at 80 – 165 – 267.  Pit road speed is 45 mph, and the caution vehicle runs at 55 mph.  The fuel window is approximately 62-67 laps.   This year, the NASCAR Cup Series has run 2,343 laps, for 2,733.46 miles so far this season.  Four drivers have completed 100% of them so far (Keselowski, Elliott, Reddick, and Preece).   Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Kansas: Chase Elliott 9.90 over 20 races (2 wins) Christopher Bell 11.58 over 12 races Kyle Larson 12.14 over 22 races (3 wins) Denny Hamlin 12.57 over 35 races (4 wins) Brad Keselowski 13.16 over 32 races (2 wins)       Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Kansas: Cody Ware 33.57 over 7 races Riley Herbst 28.00 over 3 races Michael McDowell 26.31 over 29 races Carson Hocevar 26.20 over 5 races Ty Gibbs 24.57 over 7 races   Kansas is an Intermediate Track   Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Intermediate Tracks: Denny Hamlin 11.85 over 352 races (31 wins) Kyle Larson 12.25 over 190 races (18 wins) Chase Elliott 12.28 over 171 races (8 wins) Kyle Busch 12.53 over 368 races (29 races) Joey Logano 12.64 over 298 races (19 wins)   Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Intermediate Tracks: Cody Ware 27.94 over 64 races Michael McDowell 25.92 over 255 races Riley Herbst 24.96 over 20 races Ty Dillon 22.48 over 138 races JH Nemechek 22.42 over 138 races   Denny Hamlin is the winningest driver at Kansas, he has 4 wins there.  Five drivers share second-place, with three wins each.  Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, as well as current drivers Joey Logano and Kyle Larson.   Drivers who ran their first Cup Series race at Kansas: Austin Dillon 2011 – P26 Ryan Blaney 2014 – P27 Denny Hamlin 2005 – P32 Erik Jones 2015 – P40   Drivers who earned their first Cup Series win at Kansas: No one --   Drivers whose most recent Cup Series Victory was at Kansas: Kyle Larson 2025       Notable drivers who have not won at Kansas: Ryan Blaney (has won at 12 other tracks) William Byron (has won at 11 other tracks) Christopher Bell (has won at 10 other tracks) Alex Bowman (has won at 8 other tracks) Chris Buescher (has won at 6 other tracks)   Based on average finish, no driver lists Kansas as their BEST or WORST track.   Based on their point pace, let’s have a look at how this season is comparing to last season for drivers:   Drivers Faring Better than in 2025 Tyler Reddick +704 pts Ty Gibbs +473 pts Daniel Suarez +287 pts Brad Keselowski +237 pts Ryan Blaney +210 pts   Drivers Faring Worse than in 2025 Alex Bowman -692 pts (missed 4 races with vertigo) Chase Briscoe -332 pts Christopher Bell -209 pts Ross Chastain -209 pts JH Nemechek -192 pts   Next, let’s look at who’s having their best and worst career year by Average Finish:   Best Career Year Tyler Reddick 5.50 Ryan Blaney 9.13 Ty Gibbs 10.50 Chase Elliott 10.63 Ryan Preece 13.63 Carson Hocevar 15.75 SVG 18.00 Riley Herbst 24.50   Worst Career Year Cole Custer 28.00 Josh Berry 24.38 Austin Dillon 22.63 Kyle Busch 22.00 Austin Cindric 21.75   The Manufacturer Standings are calculated by awarding points to the highest finisher for each manufacturer according to their finishing position.  (55 for 1 st , 35 for 2 nd , 34 for 3 rd , etc.)  No stage points or playoff points count.   Manufacturer Standings Toyota 400 Chevrolet 295 Ford 283   Here is the same formula, but used on a team-vs-team basis:   Chartered Team Standings 23XI 334 Joe Gibbs 294 Hendrick 277 Penske 270 RFK 223 Spire 216 Trackhouse 198 Front Row 185 Legacy MC 155 RCR 149 Kaulig 146 Hyak 103 Wood Bros 103 Haas Factory 73 Rick Ware 64   At each stage break, the Top 10 drivers are awarded points based on their finishing positions.  Here are the leaders this year:   Stage Point Leaders Ryan Blaney 72 Kyle Larson 64 Bubba Wallace 64 Denny Hamlin 63 Tyler Reddick 58 William Byron 55 Austin Cindric 49 Ty Gibbs 47 Christopher Bell 46 Chris Buescher 41   Milestone Watch Ross Chastain Looking for his 40 th  Career Top 5 Bubba Wallace This will be his 300 th  Career Cup Series Start Denny Hamlin Looking for his 100 th  Career Top 5 Kyle Larson Looking for his 210 th  Career Top 10 Austin Cindric Looking for his 30 th  Career Top 10 Brad Keselowski Looking for his 280 th  Career Top 10 Chris Buescher Looking for his 90 th  Career Top 10 Ty Gibbs Looking for his 40 th  Career Top 10   Scorigami Update Bristol was the first time that: Riley Herbst finished 21 st   Ty Gibbs finished 1 st     Here are the top 10 longest active winless streaks:   Winless Streaks Cole Custer 141 races Erik Jones 125 races Kyle Busch 101 races Michael McDowell 92 races Daniel Suarez 78 races Brad Keselowski 67 races AJ Allmendinger 64 races Alex Bowman 52 races Chris Buescher 52 races Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 49 races   The race begins Sunday, April 19 th   at 2:00 pm EST (11:00 am PST) – Enjoy the race everyone!   Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter  @RacingRefresh   Is there an error? Is there a stat missing that you’d like to see? Let us know!

By Adam Carabine Happy weekend everyone, it’s time for another edition of O’Reilly Stats Friday. This weekend the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series travels to Kansas City, Kansas for the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway.   Kansas is a 1.5-mile tri-oval speedway, built in 2001.  Jeff Green won the first O’Reilly Series race there that same year.  Brandon Jones won the most recent race at Kansas last year.   Tomorrow’s race will be 200 laps long (for a total of 300 miles), with stage breaks occurring at 45 – 90 – 200.  Pit road speed is 45 mph, and the caution vehicle runs at 55 mph.  The fuel window is 59-64 laps.   This year, the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series has run 1,695 laps, for 1,931.36 miles so far.  No driver has completed 100% of all laps, but Jesse Love and Brennan Poole are each 2 laps down.   Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Kansas: Sheldon Creed 6.00 over 4 races Austin Hill 6.40 over 5 races Jesse Love 8.00 over 2 races Nick Sanchez 8.00 over 1 race Brandon Jones 8.18 over 11 races (3 wins)   Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Kansas: Blaine Perkins 32.33 over 3 races William Sawalich 31.00 over 1 race Austin Green 29.00 over 1 race Ryan Ellis 26.40 over 5 races Dean Thompson 26.00 over 1 race   Kansas is an Intermediate Track.   Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Intermediate Tracks: Corey Day 7.17 over 6 races Austin Hill 9.95 over 67 races (8 wins) Jesse Love 10.34 over 29 races Justin Allgaier 11.31 over 233 races (14 wins) Harrison Burton 11.73 over 47 races (3 wins)   Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Intermediate Tracks: Blaine Perkins 27.60 over 46 races Josh Bilicki 26.43 over 46 races Ryan Ellis 25.66 over 73 races William Sawalich 23.21 over 16 races Austin Green 22.94 over 7 races   Kyle Busch is the winningest driver in this series at Kansas, having scored 4 wins.  Brandon Jones is next with 3 wins, then you have Joey Logano and John Hunter Nemechek who each have 2.   Drivers who ran their first O’Reilly’s Series race at Kansas: No one --   Drivers who earned their first O’Reilly’s Series win at Kansas: Brandon Jones 133 rd  Career O’Reilly’s Start   Drivers whose most recent O’Reilly Series Victory was at Kansas: Brandon Jones 2025   Notable drivers who have not won at Kansas: Justin Allgaier (has won at 20 other tracks) Austin Hill (has won at 7 other tracks) Sam Mayer (has won at 6 other tracks) Harrison Burton (has won at 4 other tracks) Sammy Smith (has won at 3 other tracks)   Based on average finish, no driver lists Kansas as their BEST or WORST track.   Based on their point pace, let’s have a look at how this season is comparing to last season for drivers:   Drivers Faring Better than in 2025 Justin Allgaier +459 pts Sheldon Creed +363 pts William Sawalich +254 pts Sammy Smith +145 pts Jesse Love +75 pts   Drivers Faring Worse than in 2025 Nick Sanchez -485 pts Sam Mayer -372 pts Harrison Burton -346 pts Dean Thompson -232 pts Kyle Sieg -136 pts   Next, let’s look at who’s having their best and worst career year by Average Finish:   Best Career Year Justin Allgaier 6.33 Sheldon Creed 7.33 Sammy Smith 9.56 Jesse Love 9.78 Parker Retzlaff 12.00 William Sawalich 16.33 Blaine Perkins 22.56 Dean Thompson 23.11   Worst Career Year Ryan Ellis 27.78 Kyle Sieg 27.56 Nick Sanchez 26.57 Jeremy Clements 24.89 Harrison Burton 23.44 Sam Mayer 20.33   Rookie of the Year Battle Patrick Staropoli 129 Lavar Scott 103   The Manufacturer Standings are calculated by awarding points to the highest finisher for each manufacturer according to their finishing position.  (40 for 1 st , 35 for 2 nd , 34 for 3 rd , etc.)  No stage points or playoff points count.   Manufacturer Standings Chevrolet 474 Toyota 281 Ford 131   Here is the same formula, but used on a team-vs-team basis:   Chartered Team Standings JR Motorsports 428 RCR 296 Haas Factory 286 Joe Gibbs 278 Hendrick 254 Viking 236 Jordan Anderson 217 RSS Racing 205 Alpha Prime 181 Sam Hunt 167 SS-Green Light 143 Big Machine 129 DGM 127 Young’s 116 Jeremy Clements 110 Hettinger 89 Peterson 85 AM Racing 75 Barrett-Cope 50 Joey Gase 16   At each stage break, the Top 10 drivers are awarded points based on their finishing positions.  Here are the leaders this year:   Stage Point Leaders Justin Allgaier 135 #88 Car 112 #1 Car 81 Jesse Love 78 Brandon Jones 69 Sheldon Creed 54 Austin Hill 51 Corey Day 50 William Sawalich 43 Brent Crews 43   Milestone Watch Sheldon Creed Looking for his 40 th  Career Top 5 Jesse Love Looking for his 20 th  Career Top 5 Taylor Gray Looking for his 10 th  Career Top 5 Jeb Burton Looking for his 50 th  Career Top 10 Harrison Burton Looking for his 60 th  Career Top 10 Brennan Poole This will be his 200 th  Career Start in this series   Here are the top 10 longest active winless streaks:   Winless Streaks Jeremy Clements 118 races Jeb Burton 99 races Harrison Burton 76 races Sammy Smith 32 races Nick Sanchez 23 races Sam Mayer 20 races Brandon Jones 14 races Taylor Gray 10 races Jesse Love 9 races Austin Hill 8 races   The race begins Saturday, April 18 th  at 7:00 pm EST (4:00 pm PST) – Enjoy the race everyone!   Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter  @RacingRefresh   Is there an error? Is there a stat missing that you’d like to see? Let us know!

By Adam Carabine Welcome to the StatChat NASCAR Games!   If you’re new here, this year I thought it might be fun to share some of the silly little games I play on my NASCAR Excel Sheet throughout the season as we follow along.   BRACKET GAMES These games are similar to NASCAR’s In-Season Tournament, as created by Denny Hamlin, but my version lasts all season long.    Drivers are originally seeded by a mixture of performance from last year, with some creative discretion from myself.  Each week, whichever driver finishes better in each matchup moves on to the next round.    Winning also gives you points which grow with each round. Round 1 win: 1 pt Round 2 win: 2 pts Round 3 win: 3 pts Round 4 win: 4 pts Finals win: 5 pts   Those points then determine the seeding for the next round of the Bracket Games, and they continue until the end of the season.  Whichever driver has the highest points at the end of the season wins the Bracket Game!   There is a bracket for each of the three NASCAR Series – let’s see how things look in Week 8:   Cup Series   O’Reilly Auto Parts Series We have a final matchup set for next week at Kansas! Sheldon Creed vs. Justin Allgaier!   Craftsman Truck Series As there are less full-time regular Truck drivers, Round 1 has a few 'Byes' into the next round, but still some important matchups here. ELIMINATION GAMES These games are just another fun way I like to keep things interesting throughout the grind of the long NASCAR season.  These games only follow the NASCAR Cup Series, though that could change in the future.    Because there are 36 races, and 36 full-time drivers in the Cup Series, this works out very nicely.  The first elimination happens after Race #2, and continues through the season, so there will be a final two head-to-head matchup at the final race.    Each week, a new driver is eliminated in each game.  The criteria for each game is different, so it’s not always the same driver being eliminated in each game.    Power Rankings Elimination Whichever driver has the worst score in the StatChat Power Rankings gets eliminated.    After Week 2, Josh Berry was eliminated.   After Week 3, Erik Jones was eliminated.   After Week 4, Cole Custer was eliminated.   After Week 5, Alex Bowman was eliminated.   After Week 6, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was eliminated.   After Week 7, Cody Ware was eliminated   This week, Noah Gragson was eliminated.   Last Place Elimination Whichever driver finishes the worst out of all the remaining drivers is eliminated.   After Week 2, Josh Berry was eliminated   After Week 3, Chase Briscoe was eliminated   After Week 4, Noah Gragson was eliminated   After Week 5, SVG was eliminated   After Week 6, Cody Ware was eliminated   After Week 7, Ty Dillon was eliminated   This week, Alex Bowman was eliminated   Average Finish Elimination Whichever driver has the worst average finish out of all the remaining drivers at the end of each week is eliminated.   After Week 2, Austin Dillon was eliminated   After Week 3, Alex Bowman was eliminated   After Week 4, Austin Cindric was eliminated   After Week 5, Connor Zilisch was eliminated   After Week 6, Cody Ware was eliminated   After Week 7, Cole Custer was eliminated   This week, Ty Dillon was eliminated   Stay tuned each week to see who is winning the StatChat NASCAR Games!

Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images By Adam Carabine The StatChat Power Rankings return in 2026! While finishing position is important, it’s not always indicative of the full picture.  StatChat rankings are determined using a large number of statistical inputs. Let's look at the Top 10:   Bubba Wallace – This week: 10 – Last week: 9 Despite losing another spot in the Power Rankings, this was a nice bounce-back race for Bubba Wallace after a bad one in Martinsville a few weeks ago.  Tempers maybe got the best of him, and he got into it with Carson Hocevar.  He ran a clean race at Bristol this week, and finished P11.   Chase Elliott – This week: 9 – Last week: 7 Elliott was actually running a decent race at Bristol until a late caution where he spun out.  To make matters worse, he then sped on pit road, and wound up finishing the day P22, down a lap.  This gave him the worst pass differential of any driver in the field, but a solid average running position.     Brad Keselowski – This week: 8 – Last week: 8 Keselowski holds serve again at Bristol, he’s been remarkably consistent for a guy recovering from a broken leg.  P14, but he was in the conversation for good parts of the day.    William Byron – This week: 7 – Last week: 5 A week to forget for Byron at Bristol.  After a change in the steering that sent him back to the rear at the start of the race, things just continued to get worse from there.  It wasn’t long before he was laps down, and wound up finishing the day 5 laps down total.  He’ll look to bounce back in Kansas next week.   Christopher Bell – This week: 6 – Last week: 4 Bell was also a victim of his own bad circumstances this weekend in Bristol.  He got a speeding violation on pit road, and then due to being farther back in the pack, he wound up getting into the wall, which really derailed his day.  He finished 4 laps down at the end of the day.   Kyle Larson – This week: 5 – Last week: 10 Larson seems to (unfortunately for him) be the king of dominating races and not winning them.  He led 284 laps at Bristol, had a field-best average running position of 2 nd , and also swept both stages.  Thwarted by both Ryan Blaney and eventual winner Ty Gibbs, he had to settle for 3 rd , but the underlying stats gave him a big boost in the Power Rankings.   Ty Gibbs – This week: 4 – Last week: 6 It seems almost a shame that a win doesn’t push Ty Gibbs further up the Power Rankings, but he’ll have to settle with the Top 5 for now.  Because there are many other underlying stats that factor into Power Rankings, and Gibbs didn’t necessarily dominate the race like Blaney or Larson did.  However, I’m sure he doesn’t care, as he’s celebrating his first win in the Cup Series.  He held on when it mattered and got it done!  Also, check out what I said in last week’s Power Rankings , where I said I’d stop predicting a win for Gibbs.  Should’ve waited one more week!   Ryan Blaney – This week: 3 – Last week: 3 It’s harder to stay at the top of the Power Rankings because it requires a ton of consistency.  Blaney manages to keep fighting despite his pit crew seemingly messing him up week-in and week-out.  He was probably the fastest car at Bristol, but couldn’t get past Ty Gibbs in the final moments of the race. P2 is still good enough, along with 190 laps led, and an extra 17 stage points to boot.   Tyler Reddick – This week: 2   – Last week: 1 Reddick falls from the top spot in the Power Rankings for the first time this season!  He had a nice rebound coming off of his worst finish of the season in Martinsville (which was still P15), and finished 4 th  at Bristol.  There was talk on the TV broadcast that there has been an increased focus on Reddick and his short track program, as that was a weak point of the team.  P4 is certainly an improvement, and that’s including an early speeding penalty which put him to the rear.   Denny Hamlin – This week: 1 – Last week: 2 It’s been a consistent few weeks for Hamlin, and after a dominant performance at Martinsville last week, and a solid P9 at Bristol, he takes the top spot in our Power Rankings!  He earned points in both stages, ran inside the Top 10 nearly all day, and scored 70 quality passes, fourth-best of any driver in the field.  He now sits third in the Points Standings as well.   Biggest Movers   SVG – This week: 17 – Last week: 12 Falls 5 places   Kyle Larson – This week: 5 – Last week: 10 Gains 5 places   Chase Briscoe – This week: 16 – Last week: 21 Gains 5 places   Rest of the List 11. Chris Buescher LW: 11 -- 12. Ryan Preece LW: 13 +1 13. Joey Logano LW: 14 +1 14. Carson Hocevar LW: 15 +1 15. Austin Cindric LW: 16 +1 16. Chase Briscoe LW: 21 +5 17. SVG LW: 12 -5 18. Daniel Suarez LW: 19 +1 19. Ross Chastain LW: 17 -2 20. AJ Allmendinger LW: 20 -- 21. Todd Gilliland LW: 25 +4 22. Michael McDowell LW: 18 -4 23. Erik Jones LW: 24 +1 24. Zane Smith LW: 23 -1 25. Kyle Busch LW: 22 -3 26. Austin Dillon LW: 26 -- 27. Josh Berry LW: 28 +1 28. Riley Herbst LW: 31 +3 29. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. LW: 33 +4 30. Ty Dillon LW: 27 -3 31. Connor Zilisch LW: 30 -1 32. JH Nemechek LW: 29 -3 33. Noah Gragson LW: 32 -1 34. Cody Ware LW: 34 -- 35. Cole Custer LW: 35 -- 36. Alex Bowman LW: INJ --

Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images By Adam Carabine We’ve got a new first-time winner in the NASCAR Cup Series! After a fairly intense day at Bristol, the young grandson of JGR owner Joe Gibbs, Ty Gibbs came away with his first victory in the Cup Series.  He wasn’t dominant, but maximized a late-race strategy call to get the win, stymieing Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson along the way.   Let’s have a look at how it all shook down!   Lap 1: Pole-sitter Ryan Blaney takes the green flag, alongside Tyler Reddick on the front row.   Lap 37: After having a poor qualifying effort, and then getting sent to the back for post-inspection repairs to his steering, William Byron goes a lap down already.   Lap 44: Kyle Larson takes the lead from Ryan Blaney as they navigate lapped traffic.   Lap 57: Christopher Bell has worked his way up 11 spots since the start, now in P3.   Lap 62: CAUTION – Brad Keselowski gets a bump from Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and goes around.  Minimal damage for both drivers, but it brings out the first caution of the race.   Lap 64: With pit road opening, everyone on the lead lap pits other than Chase Elliott and Josh Berry.  Tyler Reddick speeds on pit road and will restart in the back.   Lap 71: Back to green, with Elliott and Berry on old tires.  Kyle Larson quickly retakes the lead on fresh tires.   Lap 86: While Chase Elliott has fallen back on the older tires, Josh Berry has held his own, and is still P2.   Lap 125: Kyle Larson wins Stage One!   Lap 131: Pit road opens, Larson and Bell are the first two off of pit road.  Speeding penalties for Christopher Bell, John Hunter Nemechek, and Michael McDowell.   Lap 137: Stage Two is green, with Larson and Denny Hamlin on the front row.   Lap 145: CAUTION – Christopher Bell is a victim of being farther back in the field after his speeding penalty, and ends up tagging the wall and spinning.    Lap 151:  Back to green.   Lap 160: CAUTION – SVG, Alex Bowman, Nemechek, and Todd Gilliland all get into a scuffle after SVG gets loose and spins.  This ends Bowman’s day in his first race back after vertigo symptoms kept him out of the last four races.   Lap 168: Back to green.   Lap 250: Larson wins Stage Two.  Daniel Suarez fights hard at the end and stays on the lead lap, passing Larson just before the line.    Lap 255: Pit road opens, Larson wins the race off pit road.  Blaney again has some pit crew woes, and loses 5 spots on a slow stop.   Lap 261: Final Stage is green!   Lap 290:  Blaney, who had to restart 7 th  after a slow pit stop, is now up to P2, about 2s back from leader Larson.  He looks fast.   Lap 313: CAUTION – Riley Herbst gets into the rear of Kyle Busch, sending him spinning.  Erik Jones gets caught in no-man’s-land and has some contact with the spinning Busch.  Some collateral damage for Michael McDowell and Christopher Bell too.   Lap 315: Pits open, most everyone comes down for fresh tires.  Ty Gibbs makes up 2 spots and will be on the front row with Larson leading.   Lap 320: Back to green.   Lap 322: After starting 4 th , Blaney is back up to P2.   Lap 323:  Denny Hamlin gets hung out to dry, stuck in the middle of a three-wide situation with Ty Gibbs and Joey Logano.   Lap 338:  Blaney, who is clearly the fastest car on track, takes the lead back from Larson again – this time with a little love tap on the rear bumper.   Lap 363:  Blaney’s lead has stretched to 2.3 seconds.   Lap 383: CAUTION – Connor Zilisch spins.   Lap 386: Pits open, Brad Keselowski gets busted for speeding.  Suarez gets the free pass.  Todd Gilliland takes just two tires and restarts much closer to the front.   Lap 391: Back to green.   Lap 392:  Larson gets P2 from Ty Gibbs right away.   Lap 393:  Issues for Josh Berry – after some contact from Noah Gragson, he tags the wall.  It stays green, but he’s off the pace.   Lap 396:  Gilliland is still riding around in P4 with only two tires.   Lap 435:  Ryan Blaney’s lead has grown to 2.5 seconds now.   Lap 444:  Ty Gibbs gains some speed and passes Larson for P2 – sights set on Ryan Blaney.   Lap 446:  As Blaney gets into some heavy lapped traffic, Gibbs is able to bring the gap down to about a second.   Lap 455:  Blaney gets loose and almost wrecks on his own.  Great save, but again another opportunity for Ty Gibbs to catch up.   Lap 478: CAUTION – Chase Elliott spins in Turn 2.   Lap 481:  Pit road opens, and of the front leaders, only Larson and Blaney come down pit road.  Ty Gibbs stays out and will battle on old tires.  Blaney takes four tires, Larson takes just two.  (Also a speeding penalty for Chase Elliott).   Lap 486: Back to green.  Amazing restart by Tyler Reddick as he makes his way up to P2 immediately.   Lap 491:  Gibbs manages to hold the lead.  Larson and Blaney pass Reddick for P2 and 3, as Reddick is also on older tires.   Lap 495:  Blaney passes Larson for P2.  Can he catch Ty Gibbs?   Lap 497:  CAUTION – Riley Herbst spins after some payback from Kyle Busch.  Going to Overtime!   Lap 503:  Back to green for OT Attempt 1.  Ty Gibbs is still on old tires, Blaney and Larson are right behind him with four and two tires, respectively.   Lap 504: Gibbs runs his preferred line and gets the lead off the restart.  Can he hold it for the final lap?   Lap 505: Ty Gibbs hangs on, gets his first Cup Series win by just 0.055 seconds over Ryan Blaney!  This is his first win in his 131 st  career start.    Solid effort by Ryan Blaney at the end to take the lower line and make his newer tires work, but Gibbs held strong on the preferred groove, and took it to victory lane!   Next weekend we head to Kansas!