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By David Morgan, Associate Editor LEBANON, Tenn. – Count Mother Nature as a Denny Hamlin fan. After Hamlin posted the fastest time in the first round of qualifying with a lap of 29.848 seconds, 160.413 mph, heavy rain moved in over the 1.333-mile concrete oval, forcing NASCAR to cancel the second round of qualifying. As a result, Hamlin’s first round speed was enough to deliver him the pole – his second of the season. “We didn’t start off practice that stellar, but with every run we made, we just kept gettingRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor LEBANON, Tenn. – Will he stay or will he go? That has been the question of late for Martin Truex Jr’s tenure in the NASCAR Cup Series. After being noncommittal on his future behind the wheel of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, the 2017 series champion announced his decision Friday at Nashville Superspeedway with three simple words. “I’ll be back.” Truex explained that over the course of the past six months, he had taken a lot of time to look back over his careerRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor LEBANON, Tenn. – Bubba Wallace has gotten his weekend in Music City off on the right foot, putting up the fastest time in the lone practice session ahead of Sunday’s Ally 400 at Nashville. While Ross Chastain put up the fast time early, it was Wallace who would come out as the fastest driver at the end of the session, taking his No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota to the top of the board with a lap of 29.609 seconds, 161.708 mph. In addition to the fastestRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The second half of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season rolls on as the West Coast comes calling this weekend, with Sonoma Raceway playing host to Sunday’s running of the Toyota/Save Mart 350. A 12-turn technical road course situated about 30 miles north of San Francisco, Sonoma is one of six road courses on the 2022 schedule, with Sonoma first joining the circuit back in 1989. Over the years, the course at Sonoma Raceway has gone through a few configuration changes. When the track was firstRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MADISON, Ill. – In front of packed grandstands at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, Joey Logano beat Kyle Busch in an intense overtime battle, and Ross Chastain ate a gigantic piece of humble pie. After a brake rotor failure sent Kevin Harvick’s Ford rocketing into the Turn 3 wall on Lap 236 of a scheduled 240 in Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300, Busch, as the leader, picked the outside lane. Logano lined up beside Busch to the inside, with teammate Ryan Blaney behind him. Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Kyle Busch has reason to be optimistic about Coca-Cola 600 Kyle Busch has shown consistent strength on 1.5-mile intermediate speedways this year, and that’s a source of confidence entering NASCAR’s Memorial Day weekend marathon at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Busch won the 2018 Coca-Cola 600 from the pole, and he’ll try for a repeat performance in the 63rd running of the event on Sunday evening (6 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Though Busch claimed his only victory of the season inRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor For the second year in a row, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Texas Motor Speedway for the annual NASCAR All-Star Race, where a $1 million payday awaits the winner of Sunday night’s non-points exhibition race. A total of 24 drivers will compete in the four-round, 100 lap event, with eligible drivers including those who won a points-paying racing in 2021 or 2022, full-time drivers that have previously won an All-Star Race, and former Cup Series champions who still race full time. Drivers that met theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan. – In an event fraught with pit road mistakes and mechanical issues, Kurt Busch ran an impeccable race. In an intensely competitive run to the finish of Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway, Busch nosed past leader Kyle Larson at the finish line on Lap 259 of 267 and completed the pass two corners later off Turn 2, as Larson scraped the outside wall.  Seven laps later, Busch’s No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota crossed the finish line 1.413 seconds ahead ofRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Christopher Bell became his own self-fulfilling prophecy in winning the pole position for Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway (3 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).  “I think it’s a great track for me,” Bell said in a question-and-answer session with reporters before NASCAR Cup Series qualifying. “I got my first Xfinity win here. Cup cars haven’t been great to me here, but I’ve ran really well.  “The top is going to be the place to be.Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After a thrilling end to last weekend’s throwback race at Darlington, the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season rolls on as Kansas Speedway and Sunday’s running of the AdventHealth 400 is next up on the docket. Kansas has come into its own in recent years, following a repave and reconfiguration back in 2012. The track first joined the circuit in 2001 as a relatively tame 1.5-mile track with 15-degree banking in the turns, but the reconfiguration transformed it into the track we know today with variable bankingRead More