NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor CONCORD, N.C. – Coming into Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the four drivers below the cut line in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs stood as Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez, Austin Cindric, and Chase Briscoe.  Some were within striking distance in the points, while the others were in must-win territory, but when all was said and done, it appeared that those were the four that would be axed from title contention. That is until post-race inspection took place and Alex Bowman’s No.Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor CONCORD, N.C. – Game on. Seven spots in the next round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs are still up for grabs in Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the second elimination race of the postseason. When the checkered flag flies, four drivers will be going home with their title hopes having gone up in smoke. As it sits, William Byron is the lone driver that has already punched his ticket to the Round of 8 on points. Behind him, there areRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor CONCORD, N.C. – A clean sweep. Shane van Gisbergen lived up to expectations Saturday at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, sweeping the pole positions for both the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Cup Series races on the 2.28-mile, 17-turn road course. Piloting his No. 13 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet around the course in one minute, 22.704 seconds, the New Zealander jumped to the top of the board, but would have to wait out the threat from Tyler Reddick, who made a run at the top spot, butRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor CONCORD, N.C. – The Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs comes down to this. There are numerous adjectives that can be used to describe this weekend’s race on the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course: unpredictable, volatile, treacherous, chaotic, etc. One thing is for sure, Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 is going to be a hell of a ride, with four drivers getting cut from the Cup Series Playoffs when the checkered flag waves. In an effort to spice things up back inRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – The Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is coming down to the wire after a chaotic day Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway. Only a few of the 12 drivers still in the championship chase left the 2.66-mile superspeedway unscathed, and a half-dozen of them now head to the elimination race at Charlotte Motor Speedway next weekend either needing to protect a slim advantage in the points or climbing out of a hole. Here’s how the Playoff bubble currently stacks up: TylerRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – It has been a long wait for Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. to make his return to Victory Lane in a NASCAR Cup Series race, but he’ll have to wait no longer after Sunday’s YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Despite starting back in 32nd place, Stenhouse channeled his previous superspeedway luck in working his way forward, finishing the first stage in second-place and hanging around in the lead pack for much of the day until it came down to go time. After battling with AustinRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – Déjà vu. Michael McDowell continued his reign as king of superspeedway qualifying in 2024, blasting around the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway in his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford in 52.310 seconds, 183.063 mph to capture his fifth straight superspeedway pole and sixth overall this season. “Talladega qualifying there’s not a tremendous amount to it, but we knew coming here that we would have a shot at the pole. It was a priority for us,” McDowell said.  “A lot of effort went into it, soRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – All in. Denny Hamlin took his seat behind the desk in the Talladega Superspeedway media center on Saturday morning ready to face the music following the news of 23XI Racing filing a lawsuit against NASCAR earlier in the week amid the ongoing battle between the teams and the sanctioning body regarding the new charter agreement. Despite the chaos off-track, Hamlin remains focused on the task at hand this weekend in Sunday’s YellaWood 500 where he and his 23XI Racing drivers will look toRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – The second round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs enters the gauntlet. Following the opening race of the Round of 12 last weekend at Kansas that saw Ross Chastain play spoiler, keeping victory out of the hands of any of the championship contenders, Talladega looms large as the postseason hits the halfway mark with Sunday’s running of the Yellawood 500. Since opening its doors in 1969, the 2.66-mile track just off Interstate 20 in Alabama has been a wild card on the scheduleRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kansas — Enter the Great Disrupter. Ross Chastain’s No 1. Trackhouse Chevrolet came to life in the second half of Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 and beat William Byron’s Chevrolet to the finish line in a hotly contested Round of 12 opener in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Chastain grabbed the lead from Martin Truex Jr. moments after the final restart on Lap 248 at Kansas Speedway and held off a charging Byron by 0.388 seconds to thwart the Playoff driver’s bid forRead More