NASCAR Cup Series Tag

By Holly Cain and Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DARLINGTON, S.C.— The margin between the last driver currently eligible for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs and the first driver out is a mere 21 points. But that could change as quickly as a Cup car can pick up a “Darlington stripe” in Sunday night’s regular-season finale, the Cook Out Southern 500 at historic Darlington Raceway (6 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). At the conclusion of Sunday’s race, 16 drivers will have claimed Playoff spots. Heading into the race, 13 have wonRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service DARLINGTON, S.C. – Offering up a fist pump and big smile, Bubba Wallace claimed perhaps the most consequential pole position of his young career – turning in the fastest lap in the final round of NASCAR Cup Series qualifying for Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway (6 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Wallace’s lap of 167.143 mph in the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota Saturday afternoon puts him out front to start the 500-miler at the historic 1.366-mile Darlington track. And it’sRead More

By NASCAR DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – NASCAR continues to set historic milestones with its national series schedules, as the 2025 slates were announced today for the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, which expands its schedule to 25 races for the first time since 2011. New venues will highlight the various series schedules, including Bowman Gray Stadium, Rockingham Speedway and Lime Rock Park. And, as announced earlier this week, NASCAR will etch another first into the record books in 2025 when the Cup Series goesRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service In one of the biggest NASCAR schedule developments in years, NASCAR confirmed Tuesday that it will bring its premier NASCAR Cup Series to Mexico City, Mexico next season to headline a triple-header weekend at the famed Autodromo Hermanos Rodriquez road course. The NASCAR Cup Series race is slated for June 15, 2025 with NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Mexico Series races during the weekend as well in what is a multi-year deal with the venue. This marks the first points-paying NASCAR Cup Series raceRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer NASCAR Xfinity Series regular Parker Retzlaff may have scored his first career top-10 finish in NASCAR’s premier division, but it’s his road to a seventh-place result that folks will be looking back fondly for years to come. During Saturday’s chaotic Coke Zero Sugar 400, the 21-year-old driver from Rhinelander, Wisconsin escaped all the big wrecks and blow overs to put himself in excellent position of bringing Beard Motorsports’ No. 62 team home with a strong result. “It was just really aggressive. Everyone was pushing as hardRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – It all comes down to Darlington. With Harrison Burton claiming a season and career defining win to punch his ticket into the 16-driver NASCAR Cup Series Playoff field, just three spots remain up for grabs to finalize the list of drivers that will be eligible to contend for the championship. As it stands after Daytona, Martin Truex, Jr. is in the best position of those still not locked in, carrying a 58-point advantage into the regular season finale even after getting collectedRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – This one has been a long time coming. Harrison Burton, driving the famous No. 21 Ford for the Wood Brothers, took matters into his own hands in overtime Saturday night at Daytona, powering his way into the lead on the final lap and holding off the charge of Kyle Busch to claim his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory and punch his ticket into the Playoffs. The win also marks the 100th career win for the legendary Wood Brothers team, which hasRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Shane Van Gisbergen has gotten the call. He’s moving to the NASCAR Cup Series full-time with Trackhouse Racing in 2025. The move completes the journey for the 35-year-old New Zealander, who burst onto the NASCAR scene with his win at Chicago in his first-ever start in 2023 before moving into the Xfinity Series on a full-time basis in 2024 and now going full-time at NASCAR’s top division next season. With Trackhouse obtaining a third charter for its efforts to field a carRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – What next? Denny Hamlin was flabbergasted with a penalty handed down by NASCAR on Thursday for an engine inspection violation that will have affects on he and his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team now and into the Playoffs. Hamlin’s race-winning engine from Bristol this spring was inadvertently torn down and rebuilt by Toyota Racing Development prior to NASCAR being able to inspect it and as such, the sanctioning body was left with no choice but to penalize them. Driver and teamRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Michael McDowell has qualifying on superspeedways figured out this year. For the fourth time in 2024, the driver of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford will start at the front of the grid for Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 after a lap of 49.136 seconds, 183.165 mph, setting a new Next Gen track record at Daytona. McDowell is one of several drivers not yet locked into the Playoffs and counts Daytona as an opportunity race for both he and hisRead More