NASCAR Wire Service Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service In the most challenging year in a history that has spanned more than seven decades, NASCAR racing has emerged stronger in the face of a coronavirus pandemic that interrupted the 2020 season, according to NASCAR president Steve Phelps. “What I would say is that, on March 8th, we were a sport that was coming back, right?” Phelps said on Friday during a Zoom video conference with reporters. “Our ratings had stabilized last year. Our attendance was going in the correct direction. “If you thinkRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Championship finalist Sheldon Creed had already apologized to his race team as his No. 2 GMS Racing Chevrolet Silverado began to fall back in the closing laps of Friday night’s Lucas Oil 150 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series championship race at Phoenix Raceway. And then a yellow flag came out – with three laps remaining. Creed gambled on a pit stop for fresh tires even as the race leaders – fellow championship contenders Brett Moffitt and Grant Enfinger stayed on track. CreedRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service No divided loyalty in Championship 4: It’s all about the team at Team Penske Team Penske owner Roger Penske has two drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 race for the first time. Both drivers are former Cup champions. Brad Keselowski won his title in 2012 under the 10-race Chase format. Joey Logano won the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway to secure the 2018 championship. So how does a team owner allocate his loyalties between his two drivers as they head for Sunday’sRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Joey Logano enters NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 race brimming with confidence Chase Elliott may have the illusory “momentum” — thanks to his 11th-hour victory at Martinsville Speedway — but Joey Logano considers himself the favorite to win a second NASCAR Cup Series title in Sunday’s Season Finale 500 at Phoenix Raceway (3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Logano’s confidence is founded on facts. The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford was the winner at Phoenix in March,Read More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Chase Elliott cruised to an impressive 6.577-second victory over Ryan Blaney Sunday in the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway for the most clutch victory of the 24-year old’s young career – earning a position in next week’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 season finale. Equally as dramatic was a failed last lap pass for position that has eliminated the regular season champion and nine-race winner Kevin Harvick from advancing to that final round. Harvick had to pass 2019 series champ Kyle Busch forRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 will be decided by Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway (2 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) and expectations are high that positions in this championship foursome are still very much up for grabs. Team Penske’s Joey Logano is the only driver locked-in to a position in the Championship 4 with his victory at Kansas two weeks ago. Regular season champion Kevin Harvick leads the points standings by 15 points over Denny HamlinRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Harrison Burton may have fallen out of championship contention weeks ago, but the 20-year old is driving every bit like one right now earning his second consecutive NASCAR Xfinity Series victory Saturday afternoon in the Draft Top 250 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota held off veteran and NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff contender Justin Allgaier by a mere .355-seconds and led the final 53 laps of the race to become the youngest winner (20 years, 22Read More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Although last week’s thrilling race at Texas Motor Speedway had all the makings and feel of an elimination race, it’s actually Saturday afternoon’s Draft Top 250 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) that will officially decide which four of the eight current NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff drivers will contend for the 2020 title. A last lap, last corner pass for the victory at Texas dramatically affected the outlook for this weekend’s race. Harrison Burton – whoRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service There was no mistaking the raised intensity level in Friday night’s NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 – the final race to set the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Championship 4. And ultimately, veteran Grant Enfinger rallied when he needed to holding off his ThorSport Racing teammate Ben Rhodes for the victory necessary to punch his ticket into next week’s championship finale. Enfinger, 35, of Fairhope, Ala., earned this win managing two restarts in a frantic final 10 laps of racing on theRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service In what’s been a fast and furious, no-holds bar final run toward the 2020 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series championship, several of the season’s most accomplished drivers find themselves in must-win situations for Friday night’s NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 (8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). A rough-and-tumble race last week on the Texas Motor Speedway high banks left reigning series champion Matt Crafton in fifth place in the standings, 12-points below the cutoff line, with only theRead More