NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Tag

By Holly Cain and Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Chastain still can’t believe he pulled-off the move at Martinsville PHOENIX, Ariz. – Ross Chastain has spent much of his young career overcoming obstacles and exceeding expectations. However, the 29-year-old Floridian’s singular clutch move to qualify for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race (3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Phoenix Raceway wasn’t even an expectation, it was a once-an-era moment that will undoubtedly go down in NASCAR lore. And Chastain himself, still can’t help but smileRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service PHOENIX, Ariz. – Ben Rhodes is superstitious about being in the same room as the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series trophy. The Kentuckian has an Old Fashioned named after him in The Barn at Phoenix Raceway. Rhodes mentioned both Seneca and Pythagoras in his Championship 4 Media Day interview at the Phoenix Convention Center. And—oh, yes—he’s the defending series champion—without much credit in the eyes of handicappers for winning the title last year. Among the Championship 4 drivers, Rhodes is the clear long shot.Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Don’t tell Ross Chastain that playing video games doesn’t pay off. Using a move that multitudes of NASCAR video game players have used over the years, Chastain kept his foot to the floor on the final lap of Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville, purposefully driving his No. 1 Chevrolet into the Turn 3 wall and keeping it there to advance past Denny Hamlin and take the final transfer spot into the Championship 4. Chastain came into the day with a 19-point advantage over the cut-off line,Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Kyle Larson speeds to pole position for Martinsville elimination race MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Kyle Larson backed up last Sunday’s victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a pole-winning run at Martinsville Speedway. Though Larson has been eliminated from the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, he’ll lead the field to green in the race to decide which three drivers will join Joey Logano in the November 6 Championship 4 event at Phoenix Raceway—Sunday’s Xfinity 500 (2 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). After locking upRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Seven drivers. Three transfer spots into the Championship 4. One race. The Round of 8 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs all comes down to Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway, a half-mile bullring in southern Virginia where bent sheet metal and hurt feelings are all but inevitable. A mainstay on the schedule since 1949, the historic track, which is also the smallest on the circuit, will test both man and machine over 500 grueling laps. The track has basically one groove, meaning the only wayRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor It all comes down to Martinsville. Leaving Sunday’s Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead, three spots remain to be claimed in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 among the seven drivers still eligible for the title. Only Joey Logano has punched his ticket to the season finale at Phoenix, with the remaining title contenders will have varying plans of attack heading into the final elimination race of the Playoffs. Here’s how they all stack up with one race to go. Ross Chastain – No. 1 Trackhouse RacingRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Kyle Larson has led a lot of laps and come awfully close to hoisting a trophy at Homestead-Miami Speedway. On Sunday he finally did both, winning the Dixie Vodka 400 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race in dominant form. Larson swept both Stage wins and led 199 of the race’s 267 laps in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to pull away to a 1.261-second victory over Florida native Ross Chastain in the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevy. Kaulig Racing’s A.J. AllmendingerRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service HOMESTEAD, Fla. _ Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron won the pole position for Sunday’s Dixie Vodka 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a lap of 166.389 mph in the No. 24 Chevrolet – his first pole position of the 2022 season and eighth of his career. “It’s not like a guaranteed point gain,’’ Byron said, “The pit stall is good, I’m happy with that part of it. And just the momentum for the team. We’ve tried toRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After spending the past two seasons bouncing around to different dates on the schedule, Homestead-Miami Speedway is back in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs with Sunday’s running of the Dixie Vodka 400. From 2002 to 2019, Homestead served as the season finale and once again this season, it will serve a pivotal role in the championship as the midway point of the Round of 8. Should any of the seven drivers not yet locked into the Championship 4 win on Sunday, they will claim their chanceRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Team Penske’s Joey Logano became the first driver to secure a position in the Championship 4 with a shot at the NASCAR Cup Series 2022 Championship thanks to a valiant surge to victory in the final laps of Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Logano, on fresh Goodyear tires, rallied back through the field following a late race pit stop, passing Trackhouse Racing driver Ross Chastain for the lead with three laps remaining and driving off toRead More