Bubba Wallace Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Martin Truex, Jr. entered the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs riding high on the regular season championship, but after a dismal start to the postseason, his hopes of staying alive in his chase for a second title come down to next week’s elimination race at Bristol. After entering the Playoffs with a surplus of 36 playoff points, Truex and his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team stumbled out of the gate at Darlington with an 18th place finish, which dropped him to sixth in the standingsRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Christopher Bell earned a second chance on Saturday. For the second straight NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race, Bell will start from the pole position after a blistering lap at 180.276 mph (29.954 seconds) in the final round of qualifying for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway (3 p.m. ET on USA, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Bell beat last Sunday’s Darlington winner Kyle Larson (179.826 mph) by 0.075 seconds to win his fourth Busch Light Pole Award of theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Denny Hamlin’s commitment to drive for Joe Gibbs Racing featured a lot more moving parts than a run-of-the-mill driver contract. First, Hamlin had to renew the agreement of 23XI Racing, the team he owns with former NBA superstar Michael Jordan, with Toyota. Hamlin also had to cement the deal with JGR as a supplier for 23XI. As of NASCAR Cup Series Playoff media day in Charlotte—four days before the Playoff opener at Darlington Raceway—Hamlin had not signed his deal withRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DARLINGTON, S.C. — Welcome back, Kyle Larson.  The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion held off a desperate charge from fellow Playoff driver Tyler Reddick at sold-out Darlington Raceway to claim victory in Sunday night’s Cook Out Southern 500 and earn an automatic berth in the Round of 12.  Larson entered the Playoff opener with an undistinguished average finish of 17.5 in his previous six races, but he weathered a transmission momentary stuck in neutral and a disconcerting brush with the wall to register hisRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Bubba Wallace came to Daytona holding on to the final spot available in the 2023 edition of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs and for him to be able to walk out of the World Center of Racing with that still in his possession, he would need one of two things to happen. Either he would need to park his No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota in Victory Lane at the end of the night and firmly secure the last Playoff berth, or heRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – This is it. One final race to decide which driver will capture the final spot for the 2023 edition of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Heading into Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400, Bubba Wallace holds onto the final spot with a 32-point advantage over the cut-off line just ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing driver Ty Gibbs. Along with Gibbs, there are numerous other drivers that are in must-win positions to be able to overtake Wallace in the standings and claim theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Chase Briscoe enters the weekend in a must-win situation to stay alive in the battle for the final spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs and decidedly struck the first blow on Friday by winning the pole for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona. With a lap of 49.499 seconds, 181.822 mph, Briscoe scored his first pole of the season and first ever on a superspeedway ahead of his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Aric Almirola, who is also in a must-win positionRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The NASCAR Cup Series regular season comes to an end right where it all began back in February as Daytona International Speedway is set to host Saturday night’s running of the Coke Zero Sugar 400. While there is the battle for the race trophy, a much bigger prize is on the line for those that have yet to lock themselves into the Playoffs. Just one spot remains up for grabs, with Bubba Wallace currently holding onto the 16th and final Playoff berthRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. – Tyler Reddick earned his first Busch Light Pole Award of the season – and first with his new team, 23XI Racing, Saturday afternoon with a lap of 113.669 mph in the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota at Richmond Raceway. He outpaced Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch – the track’s winningest active driver – in the No. RCR Chevrolet by a slight .011-second. “Really excited to be on the pole for the first time this year with 23XI and nice to finallyRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron earned his series best fourth pole position of the year Saturday at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway and will lead the NASCAR Cup Series field to green in Sunday’s HighPoint.com 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Byron’s time of 57.746 (170.235 mph) in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was .122-second quicker than his championship rival Martin Truex Jr. in Busch Light Pole Qualifying at the unique three-turn, 2.5-mile Pocono track and places the current two title leadersRead More