NASCAR Wire Service Tag

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS – Austin Hill earned his third NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series win of the 2019 season Friday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – perhaps his most important victory as it advances him to the second round of the Playoffs with big momentum and raised expectations. Hill’s No. 16 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota finished an impressive 2.116 seconds ahead of fellow Playoff competitor Ross Chastain, whose No. 45 Chevrolet led a race-best 88-of-134 laps. Polesitter Christian Eckes finished third in the KyleRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service BUSCH NOT RELYING ON CUSHION LAS VEGAS – Kyle Busch looked simultaneously relaxed in his hometown of Las Vegas on Thursday afternoon and ready to get after it. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs begin with Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (7 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) and as the regular season champion, Busch starts the 10-race championship push as the top-seed among the 16 Playoff drivers. On-track action begins Friday with opening Cup practice. Busch’s onlyRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SPEEDWAY, Ind. – From the start of Sunday’s Big Machine Vodka 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Ryan Newman’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff chances were in jeopardy. He entered the final Monster Energy Series regular-season race tied with Daniel Suarez for the final berth in the postseason, and qualifying didn’t go as well as Newman had hoped. He was 22nd fastest in time trials, giving up two spots to Suarez at the outset. But with astute pit calls by crew chief Scott GravesRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SPEEDWAY, Ind. – It was a dominating victory for Kevin Harvick and a statement of superiority for his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford team as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads toward its 10-race Playoff. It was an ignominious end to Jimmie Johnson’s unique and unprecedented streak of qualifying for every Cup Series postseason. And it was heartbreak for Daniel Suarez, as he chased Ryan Newman over the final nine laps of the Big Machine Vodka 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SPEEDWAY, Ind. – It was more of the same for Kyle Busch in Saturday’s Indiana 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but “more of the same” was anything but easy. Busch held off Justin Allgaier by .132 seconds during a five-lap run to the finish at the 2.5-mile track, but only after a hard crash that took out frontrunners Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick with seven laps left. With a strong short-run car, combined with his unquestioned prowess on restarts, BuschRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service SPEEDWAY, Ind. – While fighting for the race win in the final laps of Saturday’s Indiana 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Xfinity Series championship leaders Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell collided – their cars hitting the wall and their trophy hopes at the historic venue halted as well. Both drivers were checked, cleared and immediately released by medical personnel, but it was an unusual checkered flag circumstance for the pair who have combined to win 10 races this season and were contending door-to-door forRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service SPEEDWAY, Ind. – Kyle Busch walked around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway garage Friday afternoon feeling equal parts ambitious and already highly accomplished. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver locked in the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regular season championship last Sunday at Darlington Raceway – his second regular season title in as many years. And the clinch comes a full week before the series’ regular season finale, Sunday’s Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard (2 p.m. ET on NBC, IMS Radio and SiriusXMRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DARLINGTON, S.C. – As the clock ticked toward 2 a.m. on Monday, in a race delayed by  rain for nearly four hours, Erik Jones claimed the most important victory of his career in the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. With his contract status at Joe Gibbs Racing a source of speculation throughout much of the current Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, Jones made an emphatic statement, holding off teammate Kyle Busch and charging Kyle Larson after taking the lead from Larson onRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DARLINGTON, S.C. – It looked like more of the same at Darlington Raceway for driver Denny Hamlin—until post-race inspection happened. A five-time NASCAR Xfinity Series winner at the 1.366-mile track, Hamlin was first across the finish line in Saturday’s Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200, but the disqualification of Hamlin’s No. 18 Toyota for a ride-height violation made a winner of Cole Custer, who trailed Hamlin by .602 seconds at the finish line. “It’s a really strange feeling, honestly—obviously,” Custer said after being notified heRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DARLINGTON, S.C. – In his sophomore season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series—and his first with veteran crew chief Chad Knaus—William Byron continues to make history. On Saturday at Darlington Raceway, Byron covered the 1.366-mile distance at the egg-shaped track in 28.510 seconds (172.487 mph), winning the pole position for Sunday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 (6 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Not only did Byron claim his first Busch Pole Award at Darlington and his fourth of the season, butRead More