Denny Hamlin Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – If the Toyota teams had any doubts about its new NASCAR Cup Series body for the 2024 season, those fears appear to have been put to rest over the past two days at Daytona International Speedway. After an abysmal showing in qualifying Wednesday night that Toyota officials described as “disturbing,” things turned around in a big way once its teams got into the draft on Thursday night, sweeping both of the Bluegreen Duels qualifying races and then claiming the top eight spotsRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. –The start of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series is officially here and with it comes the biggest race of the season – the Daytona 500. For 66 years, drivers have been making the pilgrimage to the Daytona high banks to win the sport’s most prestigious race and write themselves into the record book as Daytona 500 champion. Many have attempted it, but only a select few have been able to hoist the Harley J. Earl trophy in victory lane at the end ofRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — As Denny Hamlin sat at the dais in the Daytona International Speedway media center, a photo recalling the history he hopes to achieve hung on the wall to his immediate left. It was a Victory Lane shot of NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough, holding the Harley J. Earl Award the earned by winning the 1977 DAYTONA 500. Yarborough, who died in December at age 84, won the Great American Race four times, second only to the seven victories achievedRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LOS ANGELES — The final restart was the difference for Denny Hamlin. A day earlier than planned—the result of a devastating weather forecast for the Los Angeles area—Hamlin got the jump he needed on an overtime restart and won Saturday night’s third edition of the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum. Smoking his tires in every corner after grabbing the lead on a restart on Lap 141 of a scheduled 150, Hamlin was a few yards away from the finish line when his JoeRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service  MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Ryan Blaney did what Denny Hamlin couldn’t do in Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway. As a result, Blaney will race for the NASCAR Cup Series championship next Sunday at Phoenix Raceway, and Hamlin exits the Playoffs after a hard-luck Round of 8. During a 168-lap green-flag run to the finish, Blaney tracked down Aric Almirola and passed him for the lead on Lap 478 of 500. Twenty-two laps later, Blaney took the checkered flag 0.899 seconds ahead of Almirola toRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Aric Almirola announces retirement from full-time NASCAR Cup racing MARTINSVILLE, Va. – At roughly 9 o’clock on Saturday morning, readers of the “X” app got the long-awaited answer to Aric Almirola’s plans for 2024—a partial answer, at least. Almirola announced his retirement from full-time NASCAR Cup Series racing, indicating he will not be back in the No. 10 Ford at Stewart-Haas Racing next year. “After much prayer, consideration and conversations with my family, I’m ready for the next adventure,” Almirola posted, along with expressionsRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service  MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Likely needing a victory in Sunday’s Xfinity 500 to qualify for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4, Martin Truex Jr. took the first step in the right direction on Saturday, winning the pole position for the Round of 8 elimination race (2 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).  Truex turned a lap in 20.112 seconds (94.153 mph) in the final round of time trials to edge Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ty Gibbs (94.115 mph) for the top startingRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Coming into this year’s version of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin were among the favorites to make it through to the Championship 4, but now that appears to be in doubt following late trouble in Sunday’s 4EVER 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Hamlin was fighting for the lead in the late stages of the race on the 1.5-mile oval, having amassed a 12-point gap over the cut-off line and looked to be in good shape heading toward the finish, but withRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS — Kyle Larson earned this trophy the old-fashioned way. The driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet led the most laps and swept both stage wins but still had to hold off a hard-charging, equally motivated Christopher Bell at the finish line to claim a dramatic victory in Sunday’s South Point 400 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The 31-year-old Larson blocked the final charge by fellow Playoff driver Bell’s No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota asRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor CONCORD, N.C. – Tyler Reddick will start Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway as he looks to race his way into the next round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Entering the weekend nine points below the cut-off to advance, the driver of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota showed off his road course prowess on Saturday by putting up the second-fastest time in practice and going one better in qualifying with a lap of one minute, 21.214 seconds at 102.839 mphRead More