Cup Category

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – It has been a long wait for Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. to make his return to Victory Lane in a NASCAR Cup Series race, but he’ll have to wait no longer after Sunday’s YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Despite starting back in 32nd place, Stenhouse channeled his previous superspeedway luck in working his way forward, finishing the first stage in second-place and hanging around in the lead pack for much of the day until it came down to go time. After battling with AustinRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – Déjà vu. Michael McDowell continued his reign as king of superspeedway qualifying in 2024, blasting around the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway in his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford in 52.310 seconds, 183.063 mph to capture his fifth straight superspeedway pole and sixth overall this season. “Talladega qualifying there’s not a tremendous amount to it, but we knew coming here that we would have a shot at the pole. It was a priority for us,” McDowell said.  “A lot of effort went into it, soRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – All in. Denny Hamlin took his seat behind the desk in the Talladega Superspeedway media center on Saturday morning ready to face the music following the news of 23XI Racing filing a lawsuit against NASCAR earlier in the week amid the ongoing battle between the teams and the sanctioning body regarding the new charter agreement. Despite the chaos off-track, Hamlin remains focused on the task at hand this weekend in Sunday’s YellaWood 500 where he and his 23XI Racing drivers will look toRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – The second round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs enters the gauntlet. Following the opening race of the Round of 12 last weekend at Kansas that saw Ross Chastain play spoiler, keeping victory out of the hands of any of the championship contenders, Talladega looms large as the postseason hits the halfway mark with Sunday’s running of the Yellawood 500. Since opening its doors in 1969, the 2.66-mile track just off Interstate 20 in Alabama has been a wild card on the scheduleRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The battle between NASCAR and the remaining teams that have yet to sign the new charter agreement took a drastic turn on Wednesday when 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports filed an antitrust suit against the sanctioning body in U.S. District Court. “We share a passion for racing, the thrill of competition, and winning. Off the racetrack, we share a belief that change is necessary for the sport we love. Together, we brought this antitrust case so that racing can thrive and become a more competitiveRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kansas — Enter the Great Disrupter. Ross Chastain’s No 1. Trackhouse Chevrolet came to life in the second half of Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 and beat William Byron’s Chevrolet to the finish line in a hotly contested Round of 12 opener in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Chastain grabbed the lead from Martin Truex Jr. moments after the final restart on Lap 248 at Kansas Speedway and held off a charging Byron by 0.388 seconds to thwart the Playoff driver’s bid forRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan.—For once, Christopher Bell thinks he has a car that’s race-worthy as well as lightning fast in qualifying at Kansas Speedway. Navigating the 1.5-mile track in 30.111 seconds (179.336 mph) in the final round of Saturday’s time trials, Bell edged Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ty Gibbs (179.099 mph) by 0.040 seconds for the top starting spot in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by ESPN BET (3 p.m. ET on USA, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Bell will start the first race ofRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan.—The pit crew servicing Chase Biscoe’s car this weekend won’t be the same group that helped propel him into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs with an 11th-hour win at Darlington and subsequently into the Round of 12. Briscoe learned Monday of a swap that will bring the crew of the No. 4 Ford of Josh Berry to his No. 14 Mustang. Briscoe is the only Stewart-Haas Racing driver to have qualified for the Playoffs this season. “The pit crew thing is tough,Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BRISTOL, Tenn. – Speeding penalties, handling issues, and mechanical problems. The four drivers that saw their NASCAR Cup Series Playoff hopes dashed Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway had it all. Ty Gibbs was the first driver to end the night on the outside looking in, having watched his six-point advantage that he came into the weekend with erased early on with a pit road speeding penalty on Lap 133. The penalty dropped him to the tail end of the field and with track position beingRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BRISTOL, Tenn. – Just Kyle Larson doing Kyle Larson things. It was just utter dominance for the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway as he led an astounding 462 of 500 laps en route to his fifth win of the 2024 season and second overall on the high-banked half-mile. Larson rolled off from second-place to start the night behind his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman, but on lap 33, he vaulted to the lead and the rest isRead More