Cup Category

By David Morgan, Associate Editor With the laps winding down in Sunday’s Wise Power 400 at Auto Club Speedway, Daniel Suarez found himself in the catbird seat, with his No. 99 Chevrolet at the front of the field. Unfortunately, defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson had other plans, powering past Suarez with two laps to go, causing him to fade to fourth place by the time the checkered flag flew and leaving the Trackhouse Racing team wondering what could have been. Starting the day in 15th, Suarez found himself allRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson waited until late in Sunday’s Wise Power 400 to flex his muscles. But in the end, the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet held off a charging Austin Dillon by .195 seconds at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., to notch his first victory of the season, his second at the 2-mile track and the 17th of his career. In a race that featured 12 cautions for 59 laps, Larson, who started from the rearRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric stays on top with Fontana pole In a qualifying session that should have merited hazard pay for the 10 final-round drivers, Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric backed up his victory in the Great American Race with a pole-winning run on Saturday at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. Cindric will start where he finished the 500 in Sunday’s Wise Power 400 NASCAR Cup Series event at the 2-mile track (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor For the first time in two years, NASCAR is back at Auto Club Speedway. After missing out on racing in 2021 due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sunday’s Wise Power 400 marks the Cup Series return to the two-mile D-shaped oval and the kick-off to NASCAR’s West Coast swing. Built on the site of an old steel mill featured in the movie “Terminator”, the two-mile oval has been a part of the NASCAR schedule since opening in 1997. During its 20+ years on theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The future is indeed now in the NASCAR Cup Series. Not because it’s the first-ever regular season race with the current car (known as NextGen), but it also saw another first-time winner in the Daytona 500. In just his eighth career Cup start, Austin Cindric brought Team Penske its third win in “The Great American Race.” While the No. 2 team celebrated, other drivers were either heartbroken or collected in wrecks that’ll prove costly to team’s due to the supply shortage of the current car. DespiteRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Austin Cindric once asked Mario Andretti if he had any advice for the Team Penske rookie and the legendary driver had just six words for him. “Whatever you do, stand on it.” If Cindric’s performance in the 2022 running of the Daytona 500 is any indication, the newest driver to climb behind the wheel of the No. 2 Ford took those words to heart, streaking across the finish line first Sunday night to claim not only his first NASCAR Cup Series win,Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat. For the second time in his NASCAR Cup Series career, Bubba Wallace came agonizingly close to winning the biggest prize in stock car racing, finishing second to Austin Cindric in Sunday’s 64th running of the Daytona 500. With proven equipment from 23XI Racing underneath him and a Cup win under his belt, having won at Talladega last fall, Wallace came into the season looking to build on last season’s performance in his secondRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Chase Briscoe had an adventurous second crack at the Daytona 500 where he ultimately finished third. At one point towards Stage 1, a shot of being towards the front went south after being involved in the opening caution on Lap 42. Kaz Grala had lost a wheel on the backstretch with Briscoe trying to avoid the carnage. Suddenly, Briscoe was hit from behind by eventual Daytona 500 champion Austin Cindric sendng him for a spin. Over the radio, Briscoe asked “who ARCA-brakedRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Days before the 64th running of the Daytona 500, rookie Harrison Burton was put through the paces during a flight with the Air Force Thunderbirds. On Sunday afternoon, he was airborne again. This time it wasn’t an Air Force F-16 that was taking flight, it was his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang. As the field powered its way through Turn 2 on lap 64, a bump from Brad Keselowski turned Burton’s car sideways, causing him to slide down the bankingRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Chase Elliott has been a fixture at Hendrick Motorsports for the duration of his NASCAR career and now will be sticking around for the foreseeable future. On Sunday morning, ahead of the 64th running of the Daytona 500, the team announced that Elliott had signed a five-year contract extension, keeping him behind the wheel of the No. 9 Chevrolet through the 2027 season. “Chase is a champion on and off the track,” said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. “His talent insideRead More