Alex Bowman parked the No. 48 Chevrolet in its familiar spot in victory lane at Dover International Speedway, leading a dominant outing for Hendrick Motorsports on Sunday. Bowman led Hendrick Motorsports to a sensational 1-2-3-4 finish in the NASCAR Cup Series races. Kyle Larson was second, Chase Elliott third and William Byron fourth.
Vaccines have been available since early April to almost everyone in North Carolina, where most NASCAR teams are based, and it allowed NASCAR to put a plan in place for a reopening. There is no vaccine requirement for competitors, but NASCAR permitted teams, drivers and manufacturers to admit a total of 350 fully vaccinated guests and sponsors Sunday at Darlington.
Alex Bowman came from nowhere with 10 laps to go at Richmond Raceway to put the No. 48 Chevrolet in victory lane for the first time in nearly four years. Bowman won for the third time in his career Sunday and denied Denny Hamlin a win in a race he had dominated to become the eighth winner in nine Cup races this season.
The sport the fans have come back to is hardly the same. There are now reminders at nearly every turn of how the world has changed over the past year, none more noticeable than the health and safety protocols in place to prevent the tailgating that was once a pre-race staple of any event. Then there are the cultural shifts.
Somewhere under the thick red haze floating over Bristol Motor Speedway, Joey Logano took the checkered flag for NASCAR’s first Cup Series race at a dirt track in 50 years.
NASCAR’s hyped return to dirt is instead a muddy mess on hold at least until Monday. Torrential rains flooded campgrounds and parking lots surrounding Bristol Motor Speedway and created a rut for NASCAR far deeper than anything the Cup Series drivers encountered on the track.
On Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Larson raced to his first NASCAR victory since he was reinstated from a nearly yearlong suspension. He ran just the first four races last season, then lost his job for using a racial slur while playing a video game early in the pandemic.
William Byron was the third surprise winner through three races this season with his victory Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Byron joined Michael McDowell and Christopher Bell as unlikely winners to start this season.
At a race track in Salisbury, North Carolina, the grandfather gave some advice to his grandson ahead of the boy's first go-kart race: Just focus on making laps. Feel out the track. Don't -- do not -- get too aggressive.
NASCAR was serious this time, even if meant alienating a portion of its fan base. Steve Phelps, who in 2018 became NASCAR's fifth president and its most progressive, only saw upside in social consciousness -- for every fan who complained about lost heritage, someone new would discover a sport far more inclusive than initially perceived.
NASCAR has suspended team owner Chip Ganassi for one race and issued him a $30,000 fine for violating the sport's coronavirus protocols.
Bell won in his second race driving for Joe Gibbs Racing to give the team a pair of surprising victories at Daytona International Speedway. Ty Gibbs, the 18-year-old grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs, won the Xfinity Series race Saturday night in his first career national series start.
