Alex Bowman Tag

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service The second round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs begins with Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (7 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) and already the championship battle has proven to be both intense and unpredictable. Regular Season Champion, Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson continues to hold on to the points lead and returns to Las Vegas as the most recent race winner there, taking the victory handily in the March race by more than 3-seconds over Brad Keselowski. Larson isRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – Kyle Larson celebrated victory in Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race with a burnout on the frontstretch at Bristol Motor Speedway, as tempers flared between Kevin Harvick and Chase Elliott on pit road. With an assist from Elliott, who took Harvick’s line at the .533-mile concrete track and slowed his progress, Larson made the winning pass on Lap 397 of 400 and sealed his sixth NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season. At the other end of the spectrum, Aric Almirola,Read 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 NRA 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” toRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Two races down, one to go. With the conclusion of Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond, the first round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is nearly complete, with Bristol Motor Speedway and the first elimination race looming large next weekend for those drivers who have yet to lock themselves into the next round. Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., and Kyle Larson are safe from whatever carnage may lie ahead at Bristol as the Playoff field is cut from 16 to 12. Following thatRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Race No. 2 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is here as the championship contenders get set to take on the Federated Auto Parts 400 Salute to First Responders at Richmond Raceway. After a barn burner in last weekend’s Southern 500 at Darlington to kick off the first round of the Playoffs, the traveling circus moves north to Virginia to take on the 0.75-mile oval, which will go a long way in determining which drivers move on to the Round of 12, especially as the BristolRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After a wild weekend in Daytona to wrap up the regular season and set the 16-driver field for the Playoffs, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to one of the crown jewels on the circuit, Darlington Raceway, for this weekend’s running of the Cook Out Southern 500. A staple of the Cup Series since 1950, there are many elements to Darlington that make it a special track. From the egg-shape of the track that features one end narrower than the other as a result of building theRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. –  The Coke Zero Sugar 400 NASCAR Cup Series’ regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway unfolded as billed with dramatic action all Saturday night that included 45 lead changes, a 14-minute Red Flag period and a wild final lap of overtime to decide the championship Playoff picture. Ultimately, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney managed it all and took his second NASCAR Cup Series victory in as many weeks as a huge multi-car accident happened behind him in the last corners ofRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor INDIANAPOLIS – Throughout Sunday’s Verizon 200 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, the curbing in Turn 6 was a point of concern, but when a debris caution set up a late race restart, those concerns took a drastic turn for the worse. After taking a pounding from the heavy stock cars and undergoing repairs during every caution, it was only a matter of time before the compromised curbing caused a major issue and a restart with five laps remaining in regulation became the tipping point.Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service With a stunning victory in Sunday’s Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Aric Almirola sent shock waves through the NASCAR Cup Series’ Playoff standings. With hard-charging Christopher Bell closing behind him, Almirola crossed the finish line at the 1.058-mile track .657 seconds ahead of the Joe Gibbs Racing driver to win the third race of his career and give Stewart-Haas Racing its first ostensible Playoff berth of the 2021 campaign. After battling Team Penske teammates Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney—who wagedRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Kurt Busch out-dueled his younger brother Kyle Busch in the pair’s fourth career 1-2 finish to secure his 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs position and take his 33rd career victory in Sunday’s Quaker State 400 Presented by Walmart. Busch, 42, has been particularly good at the 1.5-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway. Sunday’s win was his fourth there, most among the current field, and the last trophy given before the historic NASCAR track is repaved and reconfigured going forward. More importantly Sunday’s work was a bigRead More