Cup Category

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The last man standing. Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex, Jr. came into Sunday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona holding on to the final two NASCAR Cup Series Playoff spots, just hoping to survive the day and keep ahold of those positions in the points. However, a clean day is the exact opposite of what they got, with both drivers sustaining damage at various points of the race that threw the battle for the postseason into complete disarray. It took just 32Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – With a huge assist from Richard Childress Racing teammate Tyler Reddick after a rain delay of more than three hours, Austin Dillon forced his way into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff and broke Martin Truex Jr.’s heart. Dillon’s victory in Sunday’s rain-delayed Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway—his first of the season and his second at the track—needed the convergence of several different circumstances to fall into place.  After avoiding serious damage in a wreck off Turn 4Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Mother Nature won the day at Daytona International Speedway as persistent rain eventually forced NASCAR’s hand to postpone Saturday night’s scheduled Coke Zero Sugar 400 to Sunday. Though NASCAR waited out the rain for Friday night’s Xfinity Series race, which did not reach its conclusion until the early morning hours on Saturday, the sanctioning body pulled the plug on the Cup Series race shortly after the scheduled start time on Saturday night, rolling the dice on better weather during the day onRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona will solidify the 16-driver NASCAR Cup Series Playoff field with varying strategies for those drivers that have yet to lock themselves in. Currently, Ryan Blaney holds the 15th place position in points and has a 25-point advantage over Martin Truex, Jr. in 16th. For these two, the strategy will be two-fold on Saturday as they will be giving their best effort to win the race, but also will be trying to accumulate as manyRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – After announcing his retirement from the NASCAR Cup Series in January, Aric Almirola has decided against stepping away from the sport at season’s end and will return to Stewart-Haas Racing for at least the 2023 season. In a Friday press conference at Daytona International Speedway, the driver of the No. 10 Ford confirmed the rumors that have been swirling as of late by announcing his return to the cockpit. Almirola added that a phone call from long-time sponsor Smithfield was one ofRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The NASCAR Cup Series regular season comes to an end right where it all began back in February as Daytona International Speedway is set to host Saturday night’s running of the Coke Zero Sugar 400. While there is the battle for the race trophy, a much bigger prize is on the line for those that have yet to lock themselves into the Playoffs. Just two spots remain up for grabs after Kurt Busch dropped out of the running on Thursday. Of theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Since Kurt Busch has been on the sidelines recovering from concussion-like symptoms, he has had a medical waiver from NASCAR to remain eligible for the Playoffs should he be back behind the wheel when the postseason starts. However, as the weeks have gone on since his saga started after a crash during qualifying at Pocono, Busch’s status for the 16-driver chase for a championship has been up in the air. On Thursday, ahead of the regular season finale at Daytona, 23XI Racing provided some clarity onRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service For the second-consecutive day Kyle Larson took his first lead of the race with five laps remaining and held off road course ace and fellow Californian A.J. Allmendinger for a trophy. Larson completed the rare weekend sweep at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International Sunday afternoon with a clutch win in the NASCAR Cup Series’ Go Bowling at the Glen. Larson made a dramatic pass on his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott on a restart with five laps to go on the historic road course. As the race leader, Elliott gotRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Former F1 World Champion Kimi Räikkönen has accomplished much during his career overseas, but this weekend, he heads into uncharted waters as he makes his NASCAR Cup Series debut at Watkins Glen. The 21-time F1 grand prix winner and 2007 world champion will pilot the Trackhouse Racing “PROJECT91” car, with a short test day and Saturday’s limited track time under his belt when the green flag flies on the Go Bowling at The Glen. Despite not having much time behind the wheel of a Next GenRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service NASCAR Cup Series championship leader Chase Elliott won the pole position for Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen at Wakins Glen (N.Y.) International (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) making a strong statement for his championship chases as the regular season winds down. Elliott turned a lap of 125.147 mph around the 3.377-mile road course in the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet besting his teammate, reigning series champion Kyle Larson by a slight .015-seconds to claim his third pole position ofRead More