2020 Alsco Uniforms 500

NASCAR Cup Series raceTemplate:SHORTDESC:NASCAR Cup Series race

The **2020 Alsco Uniforms 500** was a NASCAR Cup Series race scheduled to be held on May 27, 2020, but run on May 28, 2020 due to Tropical Depression Bertha at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, replacing Sonoma Raceway event. Contested over 208 laps on the 1.5 mile (2.42 km) asphalt speedway, it was the eighth race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season.

## Report

### Background

The race was held at Charlotte Motor Speedway, which is located in Concord, North Carolina. The speedway complex includes a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) quad-oval track that will be utilized for the race, as well as a dragstrip and a dirt track. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams based in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI) with Marcus G. Smith serving as track president.

#### Entry list

* **(R)** denotes rookie driver.
* **(i)** denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.

## Qualifying

William Byron was awarded the pole for the race as determined by the top 20 from Sunday's lineup inverted.

## Race

### First stage

William Byron led the field to the green at 7:24 p.m. The first caution of the race flew on lap 2 when Garrett Smithley hit the wall rounding Turn 4 before completing the first lap, involving Joey Gase. Meanwhile, Matt DiBenedetto quickly moved inside pole-sitter William Byron to take the lead position. He is running in first, followed by Byron and Alex Bowman in third.

Byron takes the inside line coming to the green flag on lap 9. He runs side-by-side with Matt DiBenedetto briefly but is able to break away. DiBenedetto fall back to third and is also passed by Bowman. They ran in the top-three by lap 15. Meanwhile, the sky is darkening over Turn 2.

Byron led at the mandatory caution, on lap 22 but gets bumped by Corey LaJoie on pit road as most of the race leaders pit. Byron’s car suffers damage on the right side. Clint Bowyer and Denny Hamlin both receive a penalty are forced to the rear on restart for speeding on pit road.

Joey Logano led the field on the restart on lap 24 after he stays out during the caution. The field briefly runs three-wide in the top-20. Joey Logano quickly separates from teammate Ryan Blaney and Matt DiBenedetto in second and third, respectively.

Matt Kenseth spins out around Turn 4 after the No. 42 driver blows a left-rear tire. Brad Keselowski also blows a right front tire. The order is Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, and Matt DiBenedetto, The incident brought out the third caution of the race, on lap 29.

The red flag was displayed one lap later for lightning in the area, and the ensuing downpour, for over 60 minutes (1:14.02), Light rain touched down around 8:16 p.m. and eleven Air Titans moved onto the track to begin drying as the rain passed through. Scattered rain continued for about 30 minutes, and the red flag was lifted and teams return to their cars to uncover them and prepare to race. The Air Titans move back into the infield and jet dryers are brought out to finish the job.

Drivers re-fired their engines and begin rolling off pit road. Joey Logano remains leading the field on lap 30 after three cautions. Teams say they are dealing with loose race cars, per FOX Sports. Two laps before the green flag. A couple drivers, including Jimmie Johnson, pit for tires as the field takes laps under caution.

Logano jumped to the lead on the restart, ahead of Matt DiBenedetto and Kurt Busch, who briefly moved into 3rd. Ryan Blaney follows closely behind in P4. Brad Keselowski pitted before the red flag and started at the rear on the restart.

Logano led second-place runner than Matt DiBenedetto by 1.8 seconds. They are followed by Ryan Blaney in third. Kevin Harvick, who started in 16th, has moved up to fourth place after changing all four tires.

Joey Logano won Stage 1. He is followed by Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney and Wood Brothers Racing, Penske affiliate, Matt DiBenedetto. Kevin Harvick and Alex Bowman, who finished fourth and fifth. Rounding out the top-10 were Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Austin Dillon, Kurt Busch, Chase Elliott and Chris Buescher, and the fourth caution flew the same lap for the conclusion of the stage.

### Second stage

Joey Logano got the superior restart and was able to separate from Kevin Harvick in 2nd for a few laps around the turns, but Harvick chases him down and passes Logano heading into lap 66. Kyle Busch got loose around Turn 3 as the field runs three- and four- wide, forcing Ryan Preece to drive into the infield briefly. Busch pits and returns to the field two laps down.

The fourth caution was thrown on lap 74 for Quinn Houff who hit the wall rounding Turn 2. Brennan Poole also suffered light damage, Matt Kenseth got the free pass.

The race resumed on lap 78, After Kevin Harvick pitted for tires on the last caution, Alex Bowman, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney stayed out to lead the field off the restart. They easily fell into running the top three. Kurt Busch and Tyler Reddick also move into the top five before Chase Elliott, who re-entered the field in 20, moves all the way up to fourth place. Kevin Harvick went back up to fifth after he restarted in 19th.

Alex Bowman continued to lead the field 2.5 seconds ahead of Ryan Blaney in second. Then it was Chase Elliott and Joey Logano vying for 3rd, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Austin Dillon, Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace, and John Hunter Nemechek was in the top-10, Bowman easily secured the Stage 2 win. The others who didn’t pit on the last caution in top-three, Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano, finished in second and third, respectively. Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick finish in fourth and fifth after pitting for tires, proving both strategies can payoff. Kurt Busch, Austin Dillon, John Hunter Nemechek, Christopher Bell and Bubba Wallace rounded out the top-10. Wallace has also been a big mover of the evening after starting in 38th, The race went back under caution for the end of the stage at lap 117.

### Final stage

Alex Bowman led the field as the race resumed on lap 123, but lost the lead to Kevin Harvick and then bumped the wall, causing damage on the right rear. He pitted for damage repair. Ryan Blaney is worth keeping an eye on, though, constantly ran in the top five (currently fourth). He keeps bouncing around the top 5 but can’t capture the lead -- yet. Ryan Blaney finished third in the Coca-Cola 600 and was the only Team Penske driver without a win this season.

Leader Kevin Harvick and most of the field pitted on Timmy Hill’s caution with 62 laps to go. Kevin Harvick and his team planned to not pit again the rest of the night and should have enough fuel to do just that. Denny Hamlin, who won at Darlington last week, is less than a half second behind.

Kevin Harvick remained in the lead, followed by Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. then Denny Hamlin, Again, Ryan Blaney kept hanging around, but Kevin Harvick’s Ford remained superior.

Chase Elliott passed Kevin Harvick with 28 laps to go. Elliott had slowly been creeping up, and now is pushing his lead to almost a full second. Elliott almost won here Sunday in the Coca-Cola 600 until a caution with 2 laps to go. Elliott also won Tuesday’s NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race, and scored his first NASCAR Cup Series victory.

### Post-race

#### Driver comments

"We've had some tough losses, but that deal on Sunday night was a heartbreaker," Elliott said after the race. "It's not the Coke 600, but every race in the Cup series is a tough one to get."

### Stage Results

**Stage One**
*Laps:* 55

**Stage Two**
*Laps:* 60

### Final Stage Results

**Stage Three**
*Laps:* 93

### Race statistics

* Lead changes: 15 among 8 different drivers
* Cautions/Laps: 7 for 37
* Red flags: 1 for 1 hour, 14 minutes and 2 seconds
* Time of race: 2 hours, 29 minutes and 23 seconds
* Average speed: 125.315 miles per hour (201.675 km/h)

## Media

### Television

The Alsco Uniforms 500 will be carried by FS1 in the United States. Mike Joy and five-time Charlotte winner Jeff Gordon will cover the race from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte. Vince Welch handled the pit road duties. Larry McReynolds provided insight from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte.

### Radio

Radio coverage of the race was broadcast by the Performance Racing Network (PRN), and was simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice and Mark Garrow called the race in the booth when the field raced through the quad-oval. Rob Albright reported the race from a billboard in turn 2 when the field was racing through turns 1 and 2 and halfway down the backstretch. Pat Patterson called the race from a billboard outside of turn 3 when the field raced through the other half of the backstretch and through turns 3 and 4. Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan and Wendy Venturini were the pit reporters during the broadcast.

## References

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