By John Schutt
NASCAR Cup Series, Toyota Owners 400, Richmond Raceway, Richmond, Va., Easter, Sunday, March 31.
Denny Hamlin won the race by getting out of the pits first, and on last caution of the race. Following in second place was Joe Logano, Kyle Larson third, Martin Truex, Jr, fourth, and Chase Elliott fifth.
Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman earned the pole positions. The track was wet and the cars started with wet tires.
With 30 laps to go in stage 1, the track was finally dry enough to switch to regular slicks. However, the pits were too wet.
Stage 1 was won by Larson ahead of Bubba Wallace.
Stage 2 was won by Truex, Jr. ahead of Josh Berry.
First half of race was led by Larson and most of the second half was led by Truex, Jr..
A strange event occurred at the end of the race when Larson spun out with two laps to go. That set up a Green White Checker and Hamlin pulled off for the victory.
NASCAR Cup Series, EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas, Sunday, March 24.
The pole was won William Byron, who also won the race! Christopher Bell was second, Ty Gibbs in third, Alex Bowman in fourth, and Tyler Reddick in fifth.
The first stage was won by Bell ahead of Daniel Suarez.
Stage two was won by Hamlin, ahead of Ryan Blaney.
Ryan Preece spun out late in third stage with Brad Keselowski spinning out as well.
With 24 laps to go, Byron and Chastain went into the pits, while Ty Gibbs stayed out on the track and took over first place.
The race was a clean race up to this point and Bryon raced back to the front with Bell in the lead and 22 laps to go.
Byron pulled up to the lead to get the victory.
•One reason I enjoy the road course that Formula 1 races on, and other road races, is when the leaders go into the pit they lose approximately one-half a lap and have to drive through the field again to get to the lead.
NASCAR Cup Series, Food City 500, Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tenn., Sunday, March 17.
Pole was won by Ryan Blaney and Josh Berry, each in Fords. But it was the Toyota of Denny Hamlin, which won the race. Following in second was Truex, Jr., Keselowski in third, Alex Bowman in fourth, and Larson in fifth.
Everone was having tire wear problems throughout the race. A special compound was put down on the track to help traction, but apparently it caused extreme wear and blow-outs.
Hamlin won the race with teammate Truex, Jr. finishing second.
NASCAR Cup Series, Shriners Children’s 500, Phoenix Raceway Phoenix, Ariz, Sunday, March 10.
Chris Buecher won the pole, but Bell won stage two and the race! Following in second was Chris Buecher, Gibbs in third, Keselowski in fourth, and Blaney in fifth.
Up to stage three there was only one caution in the race, however with 95 laps to go in stage 3, Hamlin spun out. Just 10 laps later John Hunter Nemacheck collided with Logan, whose car was badly damaged.
At the finish, Bell came through with the victory.
NASCAR Cup Series, Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, Nev., Sunday, March 3.
Logano and Larson set the pole positions, but it was Larsen who won the race. Following in second was Reddick, Blaney in third, Chastain in fourth, and Gibbs in fifth.
Logano won the first stage, but Larson won the second stage and the race.