Corey Lajoie Tag

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service In a thrilling final qualifying round, Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron was able to hold on to the pole position despite a 94.685 mph run by Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs, whose slight bobble in the final turns – in the final seconds of the session – at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) road course was just off the mark. This is the 13th career pole for Byron, driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet – and the fifth on a road course, which isRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor It had been a long wait for Hendrick Motorsports to return to Daytona 500 victory lane, but at the end of Monday’s rain-delayed running of the Great American Race, it was a 1-2 finish for one of the winningest organizations in NASCAR Cup Series history. Not since Dale Earnhardt Jr’s 2014 victory had a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet captured a win in the season opening spectacle, but 26-year-old William Byron was the driver to get it done at the World Center of Racing – capturing his firstRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – As has become tradition in the NASCAR Truck Series season opener at Daytona, yellow was the primary color of the evening, with a record 12 cautions and an overtime finish that ended with a melee on the backstretch and an airborne truck. In the end, it was Nick Sanchez, the 22-year-old from Miami that was out front when it mattered the most, capturing his first career win in NASCAR’s third-tier series. “It was definitely a pretty wild race, obviously, what happened toRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Riley Herbst proved his worth among NASCAR’s elite racers with a ninth-place finish in Sunday’s YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Throughout the 188-lap contest, the Xfinity Series regular led five times for 10 laps which also marked Herbst’s first Cup race he’s ever led. As the laps were winding down, Herbst’s No. 36 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang was in the mix for the win, but also became an assistance for Ford in order to keep the Hendrick Motorsports train from running away with the topRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service TALLADEGA, Ala. – Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 Team Penske Ford crossed the finish line about a foot ahead of Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick to claim victory in a thrilling final 10-lap push to the YellaWood 500 checkered flag at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on Sunday. With the crucial Playoff win – Blaney’s third on the famed 2.66-mile high-banks – the driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford punched his ticket to the next round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs after being points awayRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – For Christopher Bell, Friday’s NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session brought an unprecedented accomplishment.  For Martin Truex Jr., Bell’s teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, it brought a sense of relief—if that’s possible for a driver trying to climb above the cut line in the series Playoffs.  In the final round of time trials at the 0.533-mile short track, Bell turned a lap in 15.109 seconds (126.997 mph), edging another teammate, Denny Hamlin, by 0.008 seconds (126.930 mph) for the top starting spotRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The RFK Racing duo of Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski were up to their old superspeedway tricks again Saturday night at Daytona, with Buescher capturing his third win of the season in the Coke Zero Sugar 400. Both Buescher and Keselowski were in the mix throughout the night, but when the race was pushed into overtime after a violent crash by Ryan Preece, it was go time for the two Ford drivers with Buescher lining up just ahead of his team ownerRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MADISON, Ill. — Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at World Wide Technology Raceway broke a long dry spell for two-time series champion Kyle Busch. Rocketing around the 1.25-mile irregularly shaped speedway in 32.802 seconds (137.187 mph), Busch won his first Cup pole position since Nov. 10, 2019, when he was first on the grid at Phoenix Raceway. Earning his first Busch Light Pole Award for Richard Childress Racing, Busch edged Monday’s Coca-Cola 600 winner Ryan Blaney for the top starting spot by .008Read More

By Matt Weaver, Special Contributor NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — It’s been a long time since the NASCAR Cup Series has raced on a surface this old. “Never,” says Corey Lajoie. Yeah, that’s probably true, but certainly true from a modern standpoint where the highest levels generally compete on the most pristine surfaces and still state-of-the-art facilities. With all due credit to Marcus Smith and Steve Swift, North Wilkesboro Speedway looks incredible all things considered, but this place is neither state-of-the-art nor pristine. That’s generally a good thing in advance of theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – It appears the days of just riding around at superspeedways and biding your time until the end of the race are over. In the Next Gen era, track position has become even more important at the majority of the tracks on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule, especially on superspeedways, where it now takes an aggressive, concerted team-based effort to move forward in the pack instead of a driver being able to take the race into his own hands and power to the frontRead More