Headline News Category

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – Day two at Phoenix Raceway will be highlighted by NASCAR’s second highest division, as the NASCAR Xfinity Series wraps up its 2023 campaign by crowning its newest champion – all of which would be a first-time champion. Twelve championship hopefuls started the six-week march to the Valley of the Sun, with only four drivers left standing to duel it out in the Arizona desert on Saturday night. It all comes down to a battle between the JR Motorsports duo of Justin Allgaier andRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – It may have taken four overtimes to get there, but for the second time in the last three years, Ben Rhodes is a champion in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. As the laps wound down in regulation, it was shaping up to be a race between Grant Enfinger and Rhodes to see which of the two would walk away with the title, but with three laps to go, everything changed. Corey Heim and Carson Hocevar, who had been involved in an incident earlierRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – Ryan Blaney has struck the first blow of the NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway by timing in the fastest of the four title contenders in the lone practice session of the weekend. The driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford put up a lap of 27.602 seconds, 130.425 mph early in the 50-minute session, putting him third on the overall leaderboard and he would not be moved for the remainder of evening. Christopher Bell followed Blaney in practice at fourth-fastestRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – In the annual state-of-the sport press conference on Friday at Phoenix Raceway, NASCAR president Steve Phelps anticipated the two questions of greatest interest to the broad range of NASCAR stakeholders and fans. Phelps gave an update on negotiations for media rights, with current agreements with FOX Sports and NBC ending after the 2024 season. NASCAR already has secured a stand-alone deal for its Xfinity Series broadcasts with the CW Network. “Our media rights, the amount of interest in attaining our mediaRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer AVONDALE, Ariz. — Track time is everything for a NASCAR driver and Carson Hocevar could have an advantage over his Championship 4 competitors heading into Friday’s Craftsman 150 at Phoenix Raceway. Not only Hocevar will have a shot of winning the Craftsman Truck Series championship, he’ll also run his ninth Cup Series race of the year with all but one being for Legacy Motor Club’s No. 42 squad. In fact, the Michigan racer will go from qualifying the No. 42 truck for Niece Motorsports to partakingRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will be the first title fight of the weekend to be settled, as the four remaining drivers in the Playoffs will duke it out Friday night at Phoenix Raceway for the right to hoist the championship trophy when the checkered flag falls. Eight drivers started the Playoffs with a berth in the championship race in mind, but half of them fell by the wayside, leaving Grant Enfinger, Corey Heim, Carson Hocevar and 2021 series champion Ben Rhodes asRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – In NASCAR, as in any sport, momentum is huge and Ryan Blaney has the momentum firmly on his side heading into the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Sunday at Phoenix Raceway. After making it to the Round of 8, but ultimately missing out on the Championship 4 for one reason or another over the last two seasons, the driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford arrives in Phoenix with a chance at racing for a championship for the first time in his CupRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – Sitting under the red flag in the waning laps of the penultimate race of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season last weekend at Martinsville, Justin Allgaier had resigned himself to the fact that racing for a championship this season may not be in the cards for him and his No. 7 JR Motorsports team. Giving himself only 5% odds of being able to get to the lead to punch his ticket to Phoenix, he overcame those staggering odds against him by beating Sheldon CreedRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – Friday night at Phoenix Raceway will mark the end of an era with GMS Racing closing its doors at season’s end and Grant Enfinger is looking toward giving the team the sendoff it deserves. After a nine-year run in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, GMS Racing announced in early August that it would be ceasing operations following the conclusion of the 2023 season and since that time, Enfinger, who drives the team’s No. 23 Chevrolet, has stayed alive in the championship fight andRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service  MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Ryan Blaney did what Denny Hamlin couldn’t do in Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway. As a result, Blaney will race for the NASCAR Cup Series championship next Sunday at Phoenix Raceway, and Hamlin exits the Playoffs after a hard-luck Round of 8. During a 168-lap green-flag run to the finish, Blaney tracked down Aric Almirola and passed him for the lead on Lap 478 of 500. Twenty-two laps later, Blaney took the checkered flag 0.899 seconds ahead of Almirola toRead More