Ryan Blaney Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After a thrilling race in Southern California last weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series will make the trip up Interstate 15 to Las Vegas Motor Speedway this week, with Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 marking the second leg of the West Coast swing. Las Vegas began its life on the NASCAR circuit as a 1.5-mile oval with 12 degrees of banking in 1998, but following the 2006 running of the race, the track underwent a massive reconfiguration that saw progressive banking put in place with the new banking rangingRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Brad Keselowski is no stranger to the top of the leaderboard on a superspeedway and that’s exactly where he found himself in Saturday’s final practice session for the 65th running of the Daytona 500. Piloting his No. 6 RFK Racing Ford around the 2.5-mile track in 47.071 seconds, 191.201 mph, the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion staked his place at the top and would not be moved for the remainder of the 50-minute session. “We made some really good improvements,” Keselowski said.Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – As the grizzled veteran of the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4, Joey Logano showed his fellow title contenders how it was done Saturday at Phoenix, scoring the pole for Sunday’s championship deciding race. The 2018 series champion posted a lap of 26.788 seconds, 134.389 mph to jump to the top of the board ahead of his Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney to put himself in the best position possible when the green flag drops. “It keeps the pressure on them,” Logano said. “That’sRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Christopher Bell had another miracle in his pocket, but Ross Chastain stole the show with a scarcely believable video-game move in the final corners of the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway. For the second time in as many rounds in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, Bell won a race he had to win. After beating pole winner Kyle Larson to the finish line by .869 seconds, Bell will race for the series title next Sunday at Phoenix Raceway. “Mom and dad,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. _ 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. – Tyler Reddick earned his third pole position of the season Saturday morning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. His Richard Childress Racing No. 8 Chevrolet will lead the field to the green flag in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series South Point 400 Playoff race (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The 26-year old Californian’s lap of 184.603 mph knocked fellow Chevy driver William Byron from the pole position and then Team Penske rookie Austin Cindric finished the session by grabbingRead More