Round of 8 Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Hendrick Motorsports and Martinsville Speedway have gone together like glue over the past 40 years. A lot of highs and lows have happened, and Sunday’s Xfinity 500 was no different. While one Hendrick car will fight for a championship at Phoenix Raceway, the other two who were in the Round of 8 will not. Those who ended up with the short straw were Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson. Neither former champion will be a part of the Arizona pageantry after their Championship 4 bids were dashedRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Another night of tempers flaring at Martinsville Speedway featuring one driver’s bid of advancing into the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship 4 evaporate. Last night, it was a verbal confrontation between Taylor Gray and race winner Christian Eckes. Fast forward to Saturday night, it was a verbal confrontation with an attempted punch from Chandler Smith to Cole Custer after the National Debt Relief 250 concluded. Without a NASCAR ride in 2025, Chandler’s mission was simple — win and advance for a shot at an Xfinity Series championshipRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Denny Hamlin’s bid of capturing that elusive Bill France Cup Trophy in 2024 has reached a massive roadblock at Martinsville Speedway. During Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series practice leading up to qualifying for Sunday’s Xfinity 500, a puff of smoke on the left front of Hamlin’s No. 11 FedEx Toyota as he entered Turn 3 spelled impending doom. With little time to react, his car lost control and slid into the outside wall, causing major damage to the back end of his car. Hamlin, who was thirdRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Short track tempers flared in Friday night’s Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 200 at Martinsville Speedway after Christian Eckes moved Taylor Gray out of the way to punch his ticket into the Championship 4 at Phoenix next Friday. The particular move left Gray raging in heartbreak as a race win was his only guaranteed option to fight for a championship. Coming to a restart with five laps remaining, race leader Eckes chose the bottom while Gray chose the outside line to be alongside him. Once theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer For the second year in a row, Kyle Larson endured an unfortunate event at Homestead-Miami Speedway while chasing down Ryan Blaney. Only this time, Larson was able to take the checkered flag in Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 400, finishing 13th and still on the outside looking in as far as the Championship 4 is concerned. Larson’s all-around agonizing day sees him sitting fifth in points, trailing teammate William Byron by seven points heading to the cutoff race at Martinsville Speedway next Sunday. With the day LarsonRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The pro wrestling sponsorship curse lives on after Cole Custer brought the No. 00 NXT on The CW Ford Mustang home in second during Saturday’s Credit One NASCAR AMEX Credit Card 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Custer led 67 of 200 laps before Austin Hill, who led a race-high 82 laps, out ran the defending series champion during the final stretch of green flag competition. With 12 laps remaining, Hill passed Custer before entering the final corner and never looked back as he scored a career equalRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Ryan Blaney’s disastrous weekend in “Sin City” is now in the books after finishing 32nd in Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The defending NASCAR Cup Series champion’s setback started during Saturday’s practice session where he only logged in a single lap before a flat tire sent him careening into the Turn 1 wall, making contact on the driver’s side. Blaney was able to exit out of his car before being checked and released from the infield care center. Consequently, Blaney had toRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer On an afternoon where several Round of 8 drivers endured a plethora of drama, William Byron was one of the very few who left Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a trouble-free Sunday. An outcome any driver pines in having. Although Byron’s No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevrolet was among the quickest cars on the grid, he was no match for the likes of Christopher Bell and race winner Joey Logano in terms of raw pace and fuel strategy respectively. In the end, Byron began this Playoff round withRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Joey Logano’s 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season has been a rollercoaster ride with last Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte being the latest episode of the whirlwind saga for the No. 22 Team Penske group. When the checkered flag was waved, it appeared Logano had just seen his title aspirations go by the wayside after missing the Round of 8 by four points with Tyler Reddick taking the eighth and final transfer spot. An angry Logano rehashed the bitter memories of being taken outRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The often treacherous pit entry at Homestead-Miami Speedway proved to be the turning point of Sunday’s 4EVER 400 presented by Mobil 1. Both Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson, who were the main front runners all day, were entering pit road to make their final scheduled pit stops where things went haywire. As Blaney slowly blended down to pit entry, Larson was still going fast and on the verge of colliding into him. It lead to a mistimed accordion effect where Larson had to slow down, lockRead More