NASCAR Category

By David Morgan, Associate Editor FORT WORTH, Texas – The Lone Star State comes calling this weekend when the NASCAR Cup Series rolls into Texas Motor Speedway to kick off the second round of the Playoffs with Sunday’s running of the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500. Texas first joined the circuit in 1997, but back in 2017 went through a reconfiguration, dropping the banking in Turns 1 and 2 from 24 degrees to 20 degrees, as well as widening the racing surface from 60 feet to 80 feet. Meanwhile, Turns 3 andRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Bristol Motor Speedway hosted the first elimination race of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, marking the end of the road for four drivers and their championship aspirations. Several drivers entered the night within striking distance of the top-12 in points, but when Saturday night’s wild outing in Thunder Valley ended, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, and Kevin Harvick were the unlucky drivers to be on the outside looking in. For all four, it would be a combination of mechanical issues, on-track incidents, and justRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – With Chase Elliott pursuing him relentlessly for the final 50 laps, Chris Buescher held on to win Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motors Speedway, becoming the 19th different NASCAR Cup Series winner this season. After the event that set the field for the Round of 12 in the series Playoffs—and eliminated superstars Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick from the postseason—a dozen drivers were breathing sighs of relief and hoping fervently for a return to stock car sanity inRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn.— Make it three in a row for Noah Gragson, who has built enormous momentum as the NASCAR Xfinity Series moves into its seven-race Playoff. On 90-lap older tires, Gragson held off Brandon Jones, the driver who will take his seat in the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet next year, in a 20-lap green-flag run to the finish of Friday night’s Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway. The victory was Gragson’s third straight in the series, his sixth of the season andRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn.— A Ford driver hadn’t won a pole position at Bristol Motor Speedway in more than 10 years, but that changed radically on Friday afternoon when Aric Almirola snagged the top starting position for Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race (7:30 p.m. ET on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). In the final round of time trials, Almirola covered the .533-mile distance in 14.946 seconds (128.382 mph) to become the first NASCAR Cup Series pole winner at Thunder Valley since Greg Biffle claimedRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After running on the dirt at Bristol earlier this year, the NASCAR Cup Series returns to the track we all know and love this weekend for Saturday night’s running of the Bass Pro Shops Night Race and the first elimination race of the Playoffs. Racing at Bristol is always intense, but when the lights go down for the night race, the intensity gets cranked to 11. The aggressiveness that the drivers will show on the high-banked bullring that is called “The Last Great Colosseum” to takeRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Ty Majeski downplayed his final run in Thursday night’s UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics at Bristol Motor Speedway as “just another restart.” In reality, it was the most important moment to date in Majeski’s hardscrabble career. Streaking away from Zane Smith after a restart with 12 laps left in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ Round of 8 Playoff race, Majeski scored the first NASCAR national series victory of his career and claimed the first berth in the Nov. 4 Championship 4 finaleRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A return engagement to the famed Los Angeles Coliseum for the preseason Busch Light Clash, a highly anticipated move to the iconic North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway for the All-Star race and an inaugural street race in downtown Chicago highlight the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule released Wednesday. Add to those prime venues, equally exciting moves on the NASCAR Xfinity Series and Craftsman Truck Series schedules for 2023 and the sport’s 75th Anniversary Season has taken shape to be one of theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Kyle Busch wanted to drive for a racer’s racer. Richard Childress saw a gleam in Busch’s eye that reminded him of the late Dale Earnhardt. At the end of a long exploration process during which Busch weighed his options for 2023 and beyond, the two men put aside past differences and arrived at a multiyear deal that will have Busch driving the No. 8 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, starting next season. Busch will end his 15-year tenure in the No. 18 Joe GibbsRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor With the conclusion of Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas, the first round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is nearly complete, as the first elimination race looms large next weekend. Here’s how the points standings look heading to Bristol Motor Speedway. Only Christopher Bell is safe from whatever carnage may lie ahead at Bristol as the Playoff field is cut from 16 to 12, with the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota accumulating enough points to secure his passage into the nextRead More