NASCAR Category

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 will be remembered as the one that got away for William Byron. After owning the competition throughout Stage 3, Byron led 122 of 400 laps. However, the No. 24 Chevrolet began regressing once the race reached its final 15 laps. That’s when the long-time veterans hunted the 24-year-old down with Martin Truex, Jr. being the first one attempting to conquer him. Once Truex began cutting the gap, both Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick also took a crack at Byron’s race lead.Read More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Perhaps there was no better place for Denny Hamlin to finally notch his first win of 2022. Much to the pleasure of the fans at Richmond Raceway, the hometown favorite from Chesterfield, Virginia took the lead of the Toyota Owners 400 from William Byron with five laps remaining and held off the field for a .552-second victory over Kevin Harvick and Byron. It was amazingly Hamlin’s first top 10 of the 2022 season, though it marked his fourth NASCAR Cup Series victory at theRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Ty Gibbs bumped his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate John Hunter Nemechek out of the lead on the final lap to claim his third NASCAR Xfinity Series race win of the season – by a mere .116-seconds over Nemechek in the ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway. The two JGR drivers dominated the afternoon – combining to lead all but one of the 250 laps on the .075-mile track – the first short track test of the season. Nemechek paced the field for a race highRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service For the second consecutive race and third time of the seven-race old season, Penske Racing’s Ryan Blaney will start from the Busch Light Pole – earning the top position Saturday in qualifying for Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Blaney’s No. 12 Penske Racing Racing Ford Mustang turned in a lap of 119.782 mph to take the top position by only .20 over William Byron in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Blaney – who,Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Fresh off a thrilling race at the Circuit of the Americas and the road course debut of the Next Gen car, the NASCAR Cup Series heads back to the short tracks starting with Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway. Often described as the perfectly designed race track by drivers, the 0.75-mile track lends itself to not only short track characteristics of beating and banging, but also the characteristics of a larger track with the side-by-side racing that will take place throughout the event. Richmond kicksRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Toyota haven’t had many positives to start off the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series campaign. Although the Busch Brothers (Kurt and Kyle) and Bubba Wallace have scored top-fives, the rest of the drivers from the camp have struggled. Whether it’s luck, shortcomings, pure pace or all of the above, Toyota remain winless after six races. For Christopher Bell, just finishing third in Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas was rewarding. More so when he drove without power steering for most of theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AUSTIN, Texas – The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Once again, the old adage rang true at the end of a NASCAR Cup Series race as Ross Chastain scored his first career win at NASCAR’s highest level on Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas while AJ Allmendinger was left to wonder what if after getting spun on the last lap of the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. A day before Sunday’s main event, Chastain and Allmendinger went to battle in the NASCAR XfinityRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service AUSTIN, Texas – In exactly the kind of thrilling final lap, final-turn high-action finish NASCAR has so often provided on road courses, Ross Chastain persevered in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix to win his first career NASCAR Cup Series race at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas – the sixth different winner this season. Chastain really had to earn this one – coming out on the right end of a frantic, four lead-change, two-lap final overtime. And he did – moving veteranRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AUSTIN, Texas – Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas marks the road course debut of the NASCAR Cup Series Next Gen car. With limited track time ahead of the race, much of how the new car will race on the 20-turn, 3.41-mile road course remains a mystery. Despite the unknowns, a number of drivers explained how they think the car will race when the green flag drops on Sunday. Chase Briscoe – No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford “I think you’re going toRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AUSTIN, Texas – With limited track time ahead of Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas, a number of NASCAR Cup Series drivers took the opportunity to climb behind the wheel in the lower series to get some additional laps around the 20-turn, 3.41-mile road course. Saturday’s first race, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series XPEL 225, would feature Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman, and Kaz Grala trying to gather valuable intel on the tricky track. Bowman started highest among the Cup regulars fromRead More