martin truex jr Tag

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

By David Morgan, Associate Editor FORT WORTH, Texas – The Lone Star State comes calling this weekend when the NASCAR Cup Series rolls into Texas Motor Speedway for Sunday’s running of the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400. Texas first joined the circuit in 1997, but back in 2017 went through a reconfiguration, dropping the banking in Turns 1 and 2 from 24 degrees to 20 degrees, as well as widening the racing surface from 60 feet to 80 feet. Meanwhile, Turns 3 and 4 remain banked at 24 degrees and 60 feetRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Kyle Larson and Bubba Wallace renewed their rivalry on Saturday at Martinsville Speedway—without contact between their cars. Six days after Wallace turned Larson with fewer than two laps left to cause the final caution at Richmond and take a likely win from Martin Truex Jr., Larson edged Wallace for the pole position for Sunday’s Cook Out 400 (3 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). With Hendrick Motorsports celebrating its 40th anniversary this weekend with special paint schemes, Larson—theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor With the laps ticking away in Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond, it appeared to be a foregone conclusion that Martin Truex, Jr. would be ending the night in victory lane, but in the NASCAR Cup Series, it’s never over until it’s over. The driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota had led a commanding 228 laps and carried a comfortable lead into the final laps of regulation when the caution flag flew for a spin by Kyle Larson with just two laps remaining,Read More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team gave him a clutch pit stop to emerge with the lead out of the pits and then he was able to hold the advantage on a two-lap overtime shootout to claim the Toyota Owners 400 victory Saturday night at his home track, Richmond (Va.) Raceway. It was Hamlin’s 53rd career NASCAR Cup Series win, second of the season and his fifth victory at the three-quarter mile Richmond oval – a .269-second margin of victory over TeamRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Kyle Larson claimed his first pole position of the 2024 season Saturday afternoon to lead an all Hendrick Motorsports front row for Sunday’s Toyota Owner’s 400 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway (7 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Larson’s time of 22.438-seconds (120.332 mph) just bettered his teammate Chase Elliott’s mark of 22.440-seconds (120.321) around the three-quarter mile Richmond oval – good enough to earn the 2021 series champion and defending Richmond race winner the 17th pole position of his career. “DefinitelyRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron turned in a steady and inspired drive to earn the NASCAR Cup Series victory from pole position in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Austin’s Circuit of The Americas road course Sunday, holding off the field by less than a second but dominating the field when he needed to. Answering his season-opening Daytona 500 win, the 26-year-old Charlotte native becomes the first driver to win multiple races this season. This is his 12th career NASCAR Cup Series victory and givesRead More

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 Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service   BRISTOL, Tenn. — How appropriate.  On a day where tire management was the essential element in a NASCAR Cup Series race, three veterans swept the podium positions, with Denny Hamlin winning Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.  In a race that produced 54 lead changes—a record for Cup Series short tracks—Hamlin lost the lead briefly to Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. in the closing laps but regained it in traffic and beat Truex to the finish line by 1.083 seconds. Read More