Kyle Busch Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AUSTIN, Texas – One driver’s misfortune was another’s gain. William Byron will lead the field to green in Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas, but his pole-winning lap came at the expense of his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman. Bowman set the fast time in the opening minutes of the final round of qualifying, but the call came down from NASCAR that he had exceeded track limits in the esses during his lap, disallowing his time. That moved Byron’s lap of twoRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AUSTIN, Texas – A constant threat on the road courses, Tyler Reddick was back to form Friday at Circuit of the Americas, topping the lone NASCAR Cup Series practice of the weekend ahead of Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. Winner of two road course races last year, the driver of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota hasn’t missed a beat with his new team, jumping to the top of the board early on with teammate Bubba Wallace following closely behind. Though a number of other driversRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Serving as the United States home for Formula 1 since opening in 2012, the Circuit of The Americas plays host to some good ol’ American Muscle this weekend when the NASCAR Cup Series comes to town for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. The 20-turn, 3.41-mile road course sitting just outside of Austin, Texas is the first of six road courses for the Cup Series to visit in 2023 and will give drivers and teams their first look at some new rules for the road courses thisRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After a three-week stint out west, the NASCAR Cup Series is much closer to home this weekend as it heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the second superspeedway race of the season – Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400. Atlanta’s aging racing surface, which had been in place since 1997, held together as long as possible, but the 260 laps around the 1.5-mile track in July 2021 were the last on that particular surface as the track underwent a repave and reconfiguration for the 2022 season. The 24-degreeRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. — Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick hate late-race cautions.  William Byron loves them.  After a two-tire call under the fourth caution flag in Sunday’s United Rentals Work United 500 at Phoenix Raceway, Byron surged past Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson in overtime to win his second straight NASCAR Cup Series race.  Byron can thank Ford drivers Aric Almirola and Harrison Burton, who on successive weekends spun with a handful of laps left—at Las Vegas and Phoenix, respectively—and gave Byron a chance toRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service  AVONDALE, Ariz. — High school senior Sammy Smith made the most of the fastest car in Saturday’s United Rentals 200, becoming the youngest NASCAR Xfinity Series winner Phoenix Raceway at age 18.  In a race that featured 11 cautions for 69 laps, Smith held off teammate Ryan Truex after a restart with 15 of 200 laps left to give Joe Gibbs Racing its 16th victory at the 1.0-mile track.  Smith led a race-high 92 laps, including the last 52, taking the lead from KyleRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service  AVONDALE, Ariz. – Kyle Larson continued his dominance at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday with a pole-winning run for Sunday’s United Rentals Work United 500 (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).  Larson topped the speed chart in Friday’s 50-minute NASCAR Cup Series practice session and posted the fastest lap of the weekend in the first round of time trials, covering the 1.0-mile distance in 27.324 seconds (131.752 mph).  In the final round of qualifying, Larson was the only driver to topRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The West Coast Swing reaches its final leg this weekend in the Arizona desert as the NASCAR Cup Series rolls into Phoenix for Sunday’s running of the United Rentals Work United 500. Though the drivers and teams have two races with the Next Gen car under their belt at the one-mile oval, a new aerodynamic package that debuts this weekend will make Sunday a key race to help formulate a game plan for when the series returns in November with a title on the line. TheRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS — Austin Hill ran down rookie pole winner Chandler Smith from three seconds back, passed him as the cars approached the white flag and held on to win Saturday’s Alsco Uniforms 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.  The victory was the second of the year for Hill, who won the season opener at Daytona International Speedway. The driver of the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet won for the first time at Las Vegas and for the fourthRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS — Joey Logano, winner of three of the last eight NASCAR Cup Series races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, will start from the pole position in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 Presented by Jiffy Lube after topping 186 mph Saturday in the final round of qualifying.  Logano toured the 1.5-mile track in 29.024 seconds (186.053 mph) to earn his first Busch Pole Award of the season, his second at Las Vegas and the 27th of his career.  Logano’s No. 22 Team Penske Ford was .141Read More