NASCAR Category

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DARLINGTON, S.C. – Denny Hamlin resumed his NASCAR Xfinity Series mastery of Darlington Raceway on Saturday, winning the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 to raise his victory total at the track to six.  Hamlin passed series leader Austin Hill after a Lap 147 restart that pushed the race one circuit into overtime. Parker Kligerman’s consequential spin off Sam Mayer’s bumper on Lap 141 brought out the seventh caution of the race and set up the final two-lap shootout. “I really neededRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DARLINGTON, S.C. – After edging Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin by .026 seconds in Saturday’s time trials, Christopher Bell will lead the field to green in the first NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race of 2023—Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway (6 p.m. ET on USA, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).  Bell navigated the venerable 1.366-mile speedway in 29.065 seconds (169.193 mph) to claim his third Busch Light Pole Award in the last eight races and first at the Track Too ToughRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Lack of 2024 contract doesn’t dismay Denny Hamlin as NASCAR Cup Playoffs begin CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Denny Hamlin enters the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs without a contract to drive next season, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have job security. Though Hamlin expressed emphatically his desire to return to No. 11 Toyota at Joe Gibbs Racing, he does have other options—namely the 23XI Racing team he owns with NBA superstar Michael Jordan. “I have a race team—I always have options,” Hamlin bantered on ThursdayRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service After Carson Hocevar crashed a two-driver party, pole winner Grant Enfinger rallied for victory in Sunday’s Clean Harbors 175 at the Milwaukee Mile and clinched a spot in the Round of 8 of the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoffs. Enfinger, who led 95 of 175 laps, passed Hocevar for the top spot on Lap 159 and pulled away to win his third race of the season by 1.553 seconds. Hocevar was gambling on older tires and led the field to green for the finalRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Bubba Wallace came to Daytona holding on to the final spot available in the 2023 edition of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs and for him to be able to walk out of the World Center of Racing with that still in his possession, he would need one of two things to happen. Either he would need to park his No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota in Victory Lane at the end of the night and firmly secure the last Playoff berth, or heRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The RFK Racing duo of Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski were up to their old superspeedway tricks again Saturday night at Daytona, with Buescher capturing his third win of the season in the Coke Zero Sugar 400. Both Buescher and Keselowski were in the mix throughout the night, but when the race was pushed into overtime after a violent crash by Ryan Preece, it was go time for the two Ford drivers with Buescher lining up just ahead of his team ownerRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – After 23 years of being a NASCAR Cup Series competitor, Kurt Busch is officially hanging up the helmet from full-time racing at NASCAR’s highest level. Since his July 2022 crash at Pocono that has left him sidelined with concussion-like symptoms, Busch has been working toward a full recovery from his injury, but the tough path back has led to Saturday’s emotional announcement that he would be stepping away. “Racing at NASCAR’s highest level requires every last bit of focus, heart, stamina, andRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – This is it. One final race to decide which driver will capture the final spot for the 2023 edition of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Heading into Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400, Bubba Wallace holds onto the final spot with a 32-point advantage over the cut-off line just ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing driver Ty Gibbs. Along with Gibbs, there are numerous other drivers that are in must-win positions to be able to overtake Wallace in the standings and claim theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Justin Allgaier survived a trip to the rear of the field, a pass-through penalty after the initial start and a war of attrition to win Friday night’s Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway in overtime.  Allgaier didn’t win by much. On the final lap of the two-circuit overtime, Allgaier bumped side-to-side with Sheldon Creed coming to the finish line and beat Creed to the stripe by .005 seconds—approximately 12 inches at the 2.5-mileRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Chase Briscoe enters the weekend in a must-win situation to stay alive in the battle for the final spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs and decidedly struck the first blow on Friday by winning the pole for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona. With a lap of 49.499 seconds, 181.822 mph, Briscoe scored his first pole of the season and first ever on a superspeedway ahead of his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Aric Almirola, who is also in a must-win positionRead More