NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CHARLOTTE, N.C. – In a turn of events that bordered on the unbelievable, Christopher Bell found his only path to the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. On fresh tires, thanks to a strategic pit stop under caution on Lap 105, Bell passed Kevin Harvick to the outside through Turns 1 and 2 after a restart on Lap 111 and pulled away to win Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course. With the victory, BellRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Joey Logano wins pole position for Charlotte ROVAL elimination race CONCORD, N.C. – Joey Logano wasn’t pleased with the way he negotiated the final chicane at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course. The good news was that the final section of the 17-turn track—which is actually the opening chicane of the alternative qualifying configuration—didn’t hurt his effort significantly in Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series time trials. Turning a lap in 120.755 seconds (103.424 mph), Logano secured the pole position for Sunday’s Round of 12 eliminationRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor CONCORD, N.C. – 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 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs when the checkered flag waves. In an effort to spice things up back in 2018, Charlotte officials elected to switch from running another race on the 1.5-mileRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – Two wild card races down, one to go. The finish line of the second round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is in sight now that the Yellawood 500 at Talladega is complete and only the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL remains to determine which eight drivers will be moving on to the next round with their title hopes still intact. Chase Elliott is the only driver that is truly safe in the Queen City next weekend, having won Sunday at Talladega to secureRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service TALLADEGA, Ala. – Always the unquestionable fan favorite at NASCAR’s famed Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, Georgia-native Chase Elliott made a last-lap pass to claim the NASCAR Cup Series YellaWood 500 victory Sunday afternoon – having to better one of his best friends, Ryan Blaney, to earn the first automatic bid into the next round of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. With a lap to go, Elliott pulled his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet from the bottom lane to the top lane and got aRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – Since the Next Gen car made its debut in the NASCAR Cup Series earlier this year, drivers have been concerned with the severity of the impacts they have been feeling in the cockpit. This week, those concerns were amplified even further when it was announced that Alex Bowman would have to sit out of Sunday’s Yellawood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway while he recovers from concussion-like symptoms following a crash last weekend at Texas. Bowman’s absence marks the second driver in the last 10Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – It appears the second round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will be full of wild card races. Following a chaotic race at Texas last week, the gauntlet continues this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway 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 schedule with the unpredictable nature of superspeedway racing on full display over the past half-century, leading to some of theRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service FORT WORTH, Texas — They say everything is “bigger” in Texas and certainly NASCAR’s Round of 12 Playoff opener at Texas Motor Speedway lived up to the billing. From Playoff consequences to a red flag delay to bumper-banging aggression, tire fall-off and record statistical marks, there was no shortage of competitive drama in Sunday’s AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500. Ultimately Richard Childress Racing’s Tyler Reddick prevailed as race winner – taking the green flag by 1.190-seconds over Penske Racing’s Joey Logano in a final 24-lap green flagRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor FORT WORTH, Texas – Out of the three races in the second round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, Texas Motor Speedway was supposed to be the least chaotic, but it was anything but for those still in the title fight. Drivers had hoped to bank a good finish in Sunday’s Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 to kick off this stretch of races on a high note, but for some of them, they will have a hole to dig out of over the course of the nextRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor FORT WORTH, Texas – Daniel Suarez comes into the second round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs already at a points deficit, but that hasn’t tempered the expectations he has for himself and his No. 99 Trackhouse Racing team starting this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. Winning his way into the Playoffs via his first career Cup win at Sonoma earlier this season, the 30-year-old Mexican-born driver comes into Sunday’s Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 sitting 11th in points out of the 12 remaining Playoff drivers, sixRead More