Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Bowyer punches; Newman gets in jab
NASCAR All-Star Race gets testy; Larson wins
CONCORD, N.C. — Clint Bowyer had a lot more to say to Ryan Newman after the checkered flag flew at the NASCAR All-Star Race. He made sure his fists sent that message.
Bowyer rushed Newman’s car after the cool-down lap, frantically trying to land blows through the window while Newman had his helmet on after the race ended before crew members separated them.
The two had tangled on the track several times and were both angry and frustrated when NASCAR’s prime-time spectacle, which for more than three decades has showcased the series’ very best, ended.
Kyle Larson won the nonpoints race. Bowyer was upset that Newman turned him in Turn 4 late in the race. “Where I come from,” Bowyer said, “you get punched in the nose for that, and that’s what he got.”
Newman laughed off his rival’s actions, mocking him for throwing punches at someone in a racing helmet. “I think he should be embarrassed for himself,” Newman said.
Look for round two at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the Coca-Cola 600 next week.
Both drivers were called to the NASCAR hauler to talk with series officials.
Bowyer started from the pole and finished 12th. He was a spot ahead of Newman in the 19-car field.
Larson, meanwhile, got a push to the front from Kevin Harvick in the final stage, then held off the defending champion to win the race.
Larson wasn’t part of the elite field when the day began, racing his way in by winning the Monster Energy Open earlier at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Now, he’s got $1 million for the win and plenty to celebrate in a season where he’s had only three top 10s and his biggest highlight was a frightening, airborne crash at Talladega Superspeedway last month.
“It feels amazing,” Larson said. “I came close to winning a couple of years ago. It feels good to close it out.”
Larson did it with a decisive shove through the pack by Harvick, a twotime All-Star champion who was eager for a third. Larson was sixth in the next-to-last restart with 12 laps left when he found enough space to squeeze between Las Vegas native Kyle Busch and Joey Logano. Harvick jumped on Larson’s bumper and powered him into the lead.
Harvick didn’t count on Larson keeping it, though. Larson, a Chip Ganassi Racing driver, often had Busch and Harvick side-by-side in his rearview mirror but held them off to take the victory.
Harvick was second, Busch was third and Logano was fourth.
■ At Indianapolis, McLaren’s return neared a total collapse after Fernando Alonso failed to lock himself into the field on the first day of qualifying.
The two-day qualifying process guaranteed a spot in the May 26 race for the fastest 30 cars in Saturday qualifying. It took Alonso four attempts just to crack the benchmark, but he was knocked out by Graham Rahal, the final driver to make his run as the pistol was fired to signal the end of the session.
The two-time Formula One world champion watched Rahal knock him into Sunday’s last-gasp group, hopped from his car and briskly walked down pit lane.
He will be racing against James Hinchcliffe, who last year was bumped out of the race when qualifying was just one day. Hinchcliffe crashed on his first qualifying attempt Saturday and couldn’t get his backup to the speed needed.
Indianapolis 500:
From staff and wire reports