Headline News Category

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Austin Cindric “just happy” for a shot at a second straight NASCAR Xfinity title PHOENIX, Ariz. – In the NASCAR Cup Series, drivers seldom win consecutive titles. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the feat is almost commonplace. Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are the only two Cup drivers in the last 25 years to earn consecutive championships—Gordon with titles in 1997-1998 and Johnson with a record five straight from 2006 through 2010. In the Xfinity Series, on the other hand, championshipsRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor PHOENIX – Embrace the chaos. Denny Hamlin has found himself wrapped up in a social media firestorm after his actions following last weekend’s race at Martinsville, but as he heads into the NASCAR Cup Series championship weekend in Phoenix, the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota is enjoying being the bad guy, turning the hate into motivation. “I live in chaos,” Hamlin said. “My life is chaos and I thrive under chaos. I mean, honestly, you can probably ask Kyle (Busch), the moreRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer PHOENIX – “Usually a lot of times JGR might be the favorite going into a championship race. I think we’re definitely the underdogs,” said Joe Gibbs Racing Team Executive Wally Brown said on Monday. “We have to beat the guy, Kyle Larson, that has won so many races, been so dominant this year. Then you have Chase (Elliott), the reigning champion at this track. We’re definitely the underdog.” Don’t consider Martin Truex, Jr. as a dark horse nor an underdog for Sunday’s championship deciding race at PhoenixRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport announced Thursday morning that Indy Lights competitor Devlin DeFrancesco will pilot the No. 29 Honda in the NTT IndyCar Series next season. The Italian-Canadian racer will replace veteran James Hinchcliffe, who scored a single podium at Nashville and finished 20th in the championship standings. In just one season in Indy Lights, the 21-year-old scored two podiums en route to a sixth-place points finish. Despite not reaching the top step of the podium, the team highly touts DeFrancesco, including co-owner Michael Andretti. “We’re thrilledRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Kyle Busch will be required to attend sensitivity training before the start of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series campaign. NASCAR announced Monday the 2015 champion must complete this after using the r-word which violated NASCAR’s conduct guidelines. After failing to make the Championship 4 during Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway, an irate Busch vented his frustrations on Brad Keselowski to the media bullpen. Busch slammed Keselowski for racing him hard when he didn’t have a shot of fighting for the championship this Sunday at PhoenixRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Denny Hamlin may be moving on to the Championship 4 to fight for a NASCAR Cup Series championship next week, but after Sunday’s race at Martinsville, it’s clear his focus is currently on Alex Bowman and the late race contact between the two. As the two drivers battled for the lead with less than 10 laps to go, Bowman got into Turn 3 too hot, moving up the track into Hamlin’s left-rear quarter panel, sending him for a spin into the outside wall. While Hamlin wasRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Denny Hamlin provided the perfect capstone to a day of banged-up stock cars, hurt feelings and crushed dreams. Alex Bowman took the checkered flag in Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway after sliding up into Hamlin’s race-leading Toyota on Lap 494 of 501 and knocking Hamlin’s car up the track and into the outside wall. As Bowman tried to start a burnout to celebrate his fourth NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season and his first at the .526-mile short track,Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – To get to the Championship 4, you have to drive like a champion. That’s what Noah Gragson did on Saturday night in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff race Dead On Tools 250 at Martinsville Speedway. Faced with the necessity of winning the race to keep his NASCAR Xfinity Series title hopes alive, Gragson did just that, pulling off a dramatic pass of Daniel Hemric from the outside lane in the first attempt at overtime and holding off series leader Austin CindricRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – On a track strewn with spinning trucks and broken hearts, Zane Smith catapulted into the Championship 4 with a thrilling overtime victory in Saturday’s United Rentals 200 at Martinsville Speedway. In a no-holds-barred race that featured 14 cautions for 89 laps, Smith won under yellow after he, Stewart Friesen and Todd Gilliland raced three-wide—yes, three-wide at Martinsville—off Turn 4 on the first lap of overtime. Contact from Friesen’s Toyota sent Gilliland’s Ford spinning across the start/finish line to start the finalRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Seven drivers enter Martinsville Speedway with a shot at moving on to next week’s NASCAR Cup Series championship race, but only three will leave Sunday’s Xfinity 500 with those title hopes still intact. The Round of 8 in the Cup Series Playoffs all comes down to the half-mile bullring in southern Virginia, where bent sheet metal and hurt feelings are all but inevitable. A mainstay on the schedule since 1949, the historic track, which is also the smallest on the circuit, will test both man andRead More