Cup

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Michael McDowell has qualifying on superspeedways figured out this year. For the fourth time in 2024, the driver of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford will start at the front of the grid for Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 after a lap of 49.136 seconds, 183.165 mph, setting a new Next Gen track record at Daytona. McDowell is one of several drivers not yet locked into the Playoffs and counts Daytona as an opportunity race for both he and hisRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – In any other year, a return to Daytona International Speedway in the late summer would mark the end of the regular season and cement the field for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Not so much in 2024, as a quirk that comes with the Olympic break that was undertaken a few weeks back making Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 the penultimate race of the regular season, setting things up for a final showdown at Darlington over Labor Day weekend. But thatRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The chase for the NASCAR Cup Series regular season championship will have one less driver in the mix after a penalty handed down by the sanctioning body on Thursday. Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team, who have won three races on the year (Bristol, Richmond, and Dover) were among a four-some of drivers vying for the crucial 15 Playoff points that go to the driver that finishes Race No. 26 at the top of the standings. However, Hamlin now finds himself effectivelyRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Certainly, the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway was not lacking in action or drama. 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick claimed his second victory of the season – seventh of his career – while the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff standings shifted dramatically yet again in Monday’s weather-delayed double-overtime finish to the race. Reddick’s No. 45 Toyota pulled away from William Byron’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on the second overtime restart – holding off Byron and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs to claimRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service BROOKLYN, Mich. – Poor weather interrupted NASCAR Cup Series practice and forced a cancellation of qualifying on Saturday afternoon at Michigan International Speedway with Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin being awarded the pole position for Sunday’s Firekeepers Casino 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) based on a metric analyzed by NASCAR factoring in the previous race outcome among other factors. It’s the second pole position start in as many weeks for Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 JGR Toyota,Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Following Sunday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway, Austin Dillon appeared to be Playoff bound for the first time in two years. On Wednesday afternoon, that all changed. The factors of Dillon’s victory, which saw him intentionally spin out leader Joey Logano and then hook Denny Hamlin over the course of the final half a lap to take the victory for himself, has had the sport embroiled in controversy ever since, leading many to wonder if Dillon had stepped over the line with hisRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Congratulations, nobody won Sunday’s Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway. Austin Dillon might be declared the official race winner, but when the dust settles, it’ll go down as one of the more hollow and crass finishes of all-time. Worsened by the fact there’s evidence that dire ordeals like the need to wreck a driver are essential to saving an otherwise miserable season. Worsened by the fact that lives were endangered once again this season when you mix a damaged car and a defeated man seeking forRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Don’t count on Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin to be applying for membership in the Austin Dillon fan club. In Sunday’s Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway, Dillon was racing for his Playoff life, having gone from a near lock to win in the closing laps of regulation to having to battle it out amongst two of the best in overtime. For Dillon, it was win or bust, with his current points position making it that his only path to the Playoffs would have to comeRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. – It took a controversial full-contact finish but Austin Dillon claimed his first NASCAR Cup Series victory in two seasons in Sunday night’s Cook Out 400 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway – vaulting from a 32nd place in the points standings before the race to an automatic Playoff berth with the win. Coming to the checkered flag during the final lap of overtime, Dillon’s No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevy hit the rear bumper of the race-leading No. 22 Team Penske driven byRead More