Alex Bowman earns best result of career while dealing with ‘stomach bug’

The best finish of Alex Bowman‘s Sprint Cup career took a lot out of him.

The replacement driver for Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway with what Earnhardt called a “stomach bug,” and managed put the No. 88 in seventh place.

Afterward, Bowman had to be taken to the infield medical center.

The seventh-place finish is Bowman’s best in 77 career Sprint Cup starts. He has two top 10s in his six races in the No. 88 as Earnhardt recovers from a concussion.

Bowman was one of three non-Chase drivers in the top 10. A.J. Allmendingerfinished eighth. It’s his sixth of the year and his first since the August Bristol race.

“It felt like the best 1.5-mile race we put together there” Allmendinger said. “Good solid top-10 car all day. I made a mistake and sped on pit road (on Lap 117) and got us behind a little bit. Just kind of tough call there at the end. You don’t know how many people are going to pit and good track position and everybody behind me came. I was pretty happy to hold most of them off. I felt like we had about a fifth or sixth-place car and we finished eighth with it. Just a solid day. We need to keep doing work like this.”

Allmendinger has 44 top 10s in 294 Sprint Cup starts, with nine in the last two seasons.

Kasey Kahne finished 10th for his sixth top 10 in seven races. He has 12 top 10s this year, his most since 2013.

Kevin Harvick outruns Carl Edwards to win Hollywood Casino 400

Kevin Harvick took advantage of Carl Edwards dueling with a teammate to lead the final 30 laps and win the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.

Harvick clinches a spot in the third round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup with the win.

The No. 4 was followed by Edwards, Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch.

Harvick, who led 74 laps, has won the second race in both rounds of the Chase so far. He won at New Hampshire in the first round.

“These races are hard to win and these guys are so good at the details,” Harvick told NBC Sports. “You put their backs against the wall and they get better.”

Harvick first took the lead on Lap 126 from Matt Kenseth, who led 116 laps before the halfway point before fading to finish ninth. Harvick then led 43 laps. In the middle of the race, a slow pit stop sent Harvick deep into the top 10, but Harvick returned to the point on the final restart. Edwards got into a tense battle with Busch, allowing Harvick to jump out to a 2.5-second lead.

Since the elimination format of the Chase debuted in 2014, Harvick has never been eliminated from a round.

“It’s hard to keep yourself motivated and perform at a high level, so to be able to come out and do it for three years says a lot about the character of this team and the things that they do,” Harvick said. “I’ve done a poor job (on restarts) the first half of the year. We struggled with some ratios and timing. We came up with some good ratios and things that really fit what we are doing.”

Harvick’s fourth win of the year gives him 35 Sprint Cup victories.

MORE: Race results

MORE: Point standings

HOW KEVIN HARVICK WON: Harvick overtook Carl Edwards on the final restart with 30 to go and led the rest of the way unchallenged.

WHO HAD A GOOD DAY: Carl Edwards led 61 laps and earned his first top five since Kentucky in July … Joey Logano finished third a week after placing 36th at Charlotte … Jimmie Johnson followed up his Charlotte win with a fourth-place finish … Alex Bowman bounced back from early contact with Jamie McMurray and an unscheduled pit stop to finish seventh for his career-best finish and his second top 10 … A.J. Allmendinger finished eighth for his sixth top 10 of the season and his first since Bristol in August …Kasey Kahne‘s 10th-place finish gives him six top 10s in the last seven races.

WHO HAD A BAD DAY: Aric Almirola andDavid Ragan caused a caution on Lap 37 when they got together. Almirola finished 40th, Ragan in 36th … Jamie McMurray hit the wall on Lap 44 after making contact with Alex Bowman. McMurray finished 37th … Kyle Larson hit the outside wall on Lap 177 to bring out the caution. Larson finished 30th … Brad Keselowski was turned by Denny Hamlinas they exited Turn 4 on Lap 190. Keselowski went sliding through the frontstretch grass, receiving significant damage. Keselowski finished 38th, earning his first DNF since the 2015 Daytona 500 … Denny Hamlin finished 15th after having to pit three times under one caution for splitter damage and being called for three pit road penalties late.

Notable: The last four Kansas races have been won by a different driver … Chevrolet has won 11 of the 22 Sprint Cup races held at Kansas.

Quote of the Day: “With this format I had a big points gap coming in. With this format it is probably the smart thing to do but I don’t want to race like that. I want to race my guts out and go for wins. I don’t want to points race. I don’t care what the damn format is, I am going to give it my best.” – Brad Keselowski after finishing 38th

NEXT: Alabama 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Oct. 23 at 2 p.m. ET on NBCSN

NASCAR suspends Kyle Larson’s crew chief for lug nut violation at Pocono

For the third time in the past four Sprint Cup points races, a crew chief has been suspended for a lug nut violation.

Chad Johnston, who helms Kyle Larson’s No. 42 Chevrolet, was suspended through June 15 by NASCAR for a missing lug nut after Monday’s Axalta 400 at Pocono Raceway. That will sideline Johnston this weekend at Michigan International Speedway, where the Sprint Cup Series will race Sunday.

A spokesman for Chip Ganassi Racing said the team won’t appeal the penalty. The team hasn’t announced an interim crew chief.

Johnston also was placed on probation through Dec. 31 and fined $20,000. He became the fourth crew chief suspended under the new lug nut policy that was implemented for the May 1 race at Talladega Superspeedway.

Adam Stevens, crew chief for Kyle Busch, missed the Dover International Speedway weekend after Busch’s winning Toyota at Kansas Speedway was ruled to have violated the rule. Last week at Pocono Raceway, Tony Gibson (Kurt Busch) and Randall Burnett (A.J. Allmendinger) were absent for violations discovered after the Coca-Cola 600. Busch won at Pocono with interim crew chief Johnny Klausmeier in place of Gibson.

Crew chiefs for Kurt Busch, A.J. Allmendinger suspended for lug nut violations

Tony Gibson (Kurt Busch) and Randall Burnett (A.J. Allmendinger) were suspended from this weekend at Pocono Raceway after their teams failed lug nut inspections after Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600.

Gibson and Burnett each were fined $20,000 and placed on probation through Dec. 31. There was no immediate word from their teams Wednesday on whether they’d appeal.

Both teams were found in violation of Section 10.11.3.4.a (WHEELS & TIRES: All tires, wheels, and all five lug nuts must be installed in a safe and secure manner at all times during the event). But the lug nut violations for each team were slightly different.

Allmendinger’s team also was found in violation of rule 12.5.3.4.1 p, which is an identification of a missing lug nut. Busch’s team didn’t violate that rule, meaning its wheel had five lug nuts but was judged to be improperly secured.

The new lug nut rule was implemented before the May 1 race at Talladega.

Adam Stevens, crew chief for Kyle Busch, was suspended for one race, along with tire changer Josh Leslie for violating the revised lug nut policy after Busch won May 7 at Kansas Speedway. Unlike the teams of Kurt Busch and Allmendinger, Kyle Busch‘s team was deemed to have “parts that are designed to fail their intended use” as part of its violation, making it a stiffer punishment that apparently resulted in Leslie’s suspension.

Upon Further Review: Coca-Cola 600

So how to explain why a week after the Sprint All-Star Race was praised for its racing could the Coca-Cola 600 not have similar racing at the front?

Kevin Harvick, who finished second to Martin Truex Jr. in Sunday’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, suggests that one shouldn’t be quick to judgement.

“The All‑Star Race is just so much different,’’ Harvick said. “I don’t know if it’s a fair assessment of was it better or was it worse. I think both nights we’ve seen good racing.

“We were able to pass tonight with our car once we got the handling better and make up ground, so I don’t know what the racing was like with the rest of the pack, but I think as you look at what’s coming down the road, I think that the cars were already sliding around a fair amount. They seemed like they slid around more (Sunday) than they did actually at the All‑Star Race. But my car had some different balance characteristics tonight than it had at the All‑Star Race.

“I think compared to last year, we’re light years ahead of where we were, and I think we’re headed in a great direction with the new package.’’

Two of the next five Sprint Cup races — Michigan on June 12 and Kentucky on July 9 — will feature rule changes NASCAR is looking to incorporate next season. The changes are intended to reduce downforce and sideforce, lowering corner speeds and making it easier for drivers to run closer together.

One of those changes is a rear-toe alignment change that reduces the amount of “skew,” or how much the car can be slanted at speed. That change was in place at the All-Star Race but not in the Coke 600, and some drivers said the return of skew seemed to increase their cars’ stability, making it easier to keep competitors at bay and fend off passes.

Sunday, few got close enough to Truex, who led a record 392 of the 400 laps. Truex and Jimmie Johnson briefly dueled for the lead with less than 60 laps to go, but Truex quickly pulled away.

“He wasn’t going to be denied, there was no way around that,’’ Johnson said.

— Each race, NASCAR takes at least two Sprint Cup cars back to its R&D Center for further inspection.

The winner of each races goes except for the Daytona 500 winner  (inspection is completed at the track because the winning car remains in Daytona for a year after that race). The runner-up also goes to the R&D Center. At times, NASCAR selects a random car as well.

Here’s how many times each car has gone to the R&D Center.

Kyle Busch — 5 times (Kansas, Talladega, Richmond, Texas, Martinsville)

Kevin Harvick — 5 times (Coke 600, Kansas, Auto Club, Phoenix, Daytona 500

Joey Logano — 3 times (All-Star, Las Vegas, Daytona 500)

Brad Keselowski — 3 times (All-Star, Talladega, Las Vegas)

Carl Edwards — 3 times (Richmond, Bristol, Phoenix)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. — 3 times (Bristol, Texas, Atlanta)

Martin Truex Jr. — 2 times (Coke 600, Daytona 500)

Jimmie Johnson — 2 times (Auto Club, Atlanta)

Kasey Kahne — 2 times (Dover, Las Vegas)

Greg Biffle — 1 time (Coke 600)

A.J. Allmendinger — 1 time (Martinsville)

Matt Kenseth — 1 time (Dover)

Kyle Larson — 1 time (Dover)

So that’s a tally of 14 Chevrolets, 11 Toyotas and 8 Fords since the Daytona 500.

— All five cars in the Joe Gibbs Racing/Furniture Row Racing alliance now have won a race, all but putting each in the Chase.

— The last Sprint Cup victory by a Chevrolet team was by Jimmie Johnson on March 20 at Auto Club Speedway.

Long: Thank God they walked away

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Thank God Dale Earnhardt Jr. walked away. Thank God Danica Patrick walked away. Thank God Chris Buescher walked away.

Now they and the NASCAR industry need to ask, “What the hell are we doing?”

Another Talladega Superspeedway demolition derby has ended, and more questions remain about restrictor-plate racing after seeing cars upside down, slamming into walls and careening out of control.

Now that there is a Sprint Cup Drivers Council, the Race Team Alliance and more collaboration in the sport than ever before, it’s time for action. Everybody has a voice and there no longer needs to be a sense of resignation that days like Sundays are acceptable. Races like Sunday are not entertaining so much as ridiculous.

How much money did car owners see destroyed? Think more than $5 million – a conservative estimate. That’s not good business.

Even more so, the clock is ticking on the human toll. The next restrictor-plate race is in two months at Daytona International Speedway. A year ago, Austin Dillon’s car sailed into the catch fence after the finish there. He was uninjured.

Credit NASCAR for the safety devices that allowed each driver to walk away Sunday and also from the incidents in Saturday’s Xfinity race. Let’s be honest, there also was some luck involved.

Also understand there aren’t any easy answers. If there were, NASCAR would have enacted them. Go ahead and call for the banking to be knocked down at Talladega, but that’s not going to happen. Taking the restrictor plates off the cars will reduce pack racing but increase the speeds and significantly raise the odds that cars get airborne.

Questions must be asked, and all areas examined. Yes, Buescher was clipped, and that sent his car tumbling down the backstretch, but Kenseth’s car was turned sideways and picked up by the air.

“I hate it,’’ reigning series champ Kyle Busch said. “I’d much rather sit at home. I got a win. I don’t need to be here.’’

But he has to be with a rule that states a driver must start each race. Sponsors also expect these drivers to compete each weekend, along with the fans who pay to see these drivers perform.

Thank God Michael Annett walked away. Thank God Ricky Stenhouse Jr. walked away. Thank God Matt Kenseth walked away.

That the description of Sunday’s carnage — 35 of the 40 cars were involved in accidents — is “typical Talladega’’ is sadly true and gut-wrenching.

Of course, that is how drivers have to look at it, or they never could get in the car.

When is enough enough with this type of racing?

“I’m a capitalist,’’ winner Brad Keselowski said. “There’s people still paying to sit in the stands, there’s sponsors still on the cars, drivers still willing to get in them. Kind of sounds like it’s self-policing, and there’s enough interest to keep going, so we’ll keep going.’’

They will.

Not everyone, understandably, was as enthused.

After his second crash of the day, Earnhardt said: “Hell, I’m going home. I’m done.’’

Buescher added his name Sunday to the list of those who have gone airborne in a Cup race at a restrictor-plate track.

“I am pretty sick and tired of speedway racing at this point,’’ he said.

Dillon knows that feeling too well. His Daytona crash last year wasn’t the only time he’s been airborne. His car got up in the air in 2013 at Talladega when he was subbing for Tony Stewart.

“It’s just not a fun thing to be a part of,’’ Dillon said. “I think as a group, all of us want it to be where we’re not leaving the ground. We’ll get some smart people on it. I have total faith in NASCAR that they’ll do their job and work on that. But, man, wild day.’’

How many times do we have to leave Talladega more grateful than enthused about a race that had 37 lead changes and saw both two sets of brothers in the top 10 (Austin Dillon was third, Ty Dillon was sixth in relief of Stewart, while Kyle Busch was second and Kurt Busch was eighth) and saw two rookies in the top 10 (Chase Elliott was fifth and Ryan Blaney was ninth)?

“Sitting in cars for a lot of years, the line is hard to describe,’’ six-time champion Jimmie Johnson said of this type of racing. “We have some races that seems pretty mellow and others that don’t. Plate racing is plate racing. The thing I don’t like to see is cars upside down and we saw a couple today.

“That’s the part that I really don’t like and hopefully we can try to keep them on the ground.’’

Sooner than later.

Thank God A.J. Allmendinger walked away. Thank God Joey Logano walked away. Thank God Kevin Harvick walked away.