Austin Cindric Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor SPEEDWAY, Ind. – NASCAR is back on the oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and all seems right with the world again. After a three-year experiment of running the Indianapolis road course that combines part of the oval and part of the infield road course that winds through the 2.5-mile circuit, the decision was made that when NASCAR returned in 2024, it would be back on the oval. And just in time for the 30th anniversary of the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994. Drivers got their firstRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service LONG POND, Pa. – Defending Pocono race winner Denny Hamlin conceded Saturday that securing NASCAR records do indeed matter to him and his legacy. The 43-old veteran holds an active driver’ series best mark of seven wins at Pocono Raceway – including his career first victories in the NASCAR Cup Series – a sweep of the 2006 season. Hamlin currently has 54 wins – one shy of NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace’s 55-victory total and second only to Kyle Busch’s mark of 63 wins among active drivers. “Where I’veRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor CHICAGO — Back to Chicago. After the NASCAR Cup Series stepped off into the unknown last year with the first ever street course race in series history, the drivers and teams are back for Round No. 2 with their eyes open wide to all of the pitfalls of racing on city streets. The 2.2-mile, 12-turn course that comprises the layout for the race will once again wind its way around Grant Park on the shores of Lake Michigan as the series hopes to continue capture theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor LEBANON, Tenn. – Denny Hamlin will lead the field to green in Sunday’s Ally 400 after scoring the pole in qualifying under the baking Tennessee sun on Saturday afternoon at Nashville Superspeedway. The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota posted the fast time of 29.859 seconds, 160.354 mph to claim the top spot over hometown hero Josh Berry as he looks to be the first non-Chevrolet driver to win on the 1.33-mile concrete oval. “Felt pretty good about it,” Hamlin said of hisRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor NEWTON, Iowa – Iowa’s partial repave was the talk of the NASCAR Cup Series garage area coming into Iowa Corn 350 weekend, but after Friday’s lone practice session, tires have become the main concern. By the time all was said and done, more than a handful of drivers had issues with their tires being unable to cope with the mix-and-match between the old and new Iowa pavement. Noah Gragson finished the 63-minute practice session at the top of the board with a lap of 22.828 seconds,Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MADISON, Ill. – Surprise and elation were the watchwords for Team Penske driver Austin Cindric, who won Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway at the expense of teammate Ryan Blaney. The race was Blaney’s to win—until the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion ran out of fuel on the next-to-last lap and handed the lead to his teammate. Cindric charged past Blaney at the start/finish line and completed the checkered-flag lap as Blaney rolled agonizingly slowly to a 24th-place result. The victoryRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MADISON, Ill. — It was with an obvious sense of pride that Michael McDowell reveled in his pole-winning run on Saturday at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. McDowell claimed his third Busch Light Pole Award of the season—and of his career—but this one came at a quirky flat track, not a superspeedway, where the driver of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford, a former DAYTONA 500 winner, is expected to excel. McDowell toured the 1.25-mile irregularly-shaped track in 32.468 seconds (138.598 mph)Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Christopher Bell lives for the thrill of qualifying on intermediate speedways. But at this point, he’d probably give his eye teeth just to finish a race on Sunday. Navigating Kansas Speedway in an impressive 29.491 seconds (183.107 mph) in the final round of NASCAR Cup Series time trials on Saturday afternoon, Bell won the pole position for Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 (3 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). He’ll share the front row with Chevrolet driver Ross ChastainRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – Michael McDowell has been a force to be reckoned with in qualifying on superspeedways this season and he was back at it again at Talladega, banking his second pole position of the season. With a lap of 52.609 seconds, 182.022 mph, McDowell put his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford on the front row for the third time on a superspeedway in 2024. For teams like Front Row and drivers like McDowell, Talladega is one race that they circle as an opportunity andRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor FORT WORTH, Texas – Kyle Larson has been the master of qualifying lately in the NASCAR Cup Series and Texas Motor Speedway was no different as he claimed his third straight pole. Larson hustled his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet around the 1.5-mile quad-oval in 28.366 seconds, 190.369 mph to rocket to the top of the scoring pylon to score the pole position for Sunday’s AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400. “It was a pretty intense qualifying session,” Larson said. “I felt like the track was really slickRead More