Ryan Blaney Tag

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service With a career record of 0-for-21 coming into Sunday night’s South Point 400 at his hometown Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Kurt Busch may have felt like a “long shot.” But with fortunate track position late in the race and some sure-bet restarts at the front of the field, Busch can now count himself a Vegas winner. The victory was a high stakes haul, automatically earning a position for Busch in the next round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs – moving the 2004 series champion fromRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The second round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs gets underway with a trip out west to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the running of the South Point 400. While the Cup Series has already run on the 1.5-mile track earlier this year, it will be a vastly different environment the 12 championship contenders are walking into on Sunday, not only weather-wise, but also with the absence of fans due to the ongoing COVID-19 precautions. The 267-lap race will be crucial to the second round ofRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Bristol Motor Speedway hosted the first elimination race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs on Saturday night, marking the end of the road for four drivers and their championship aspirations. Several drivers entered the night within striking distance of the top-12 in points, but when the checkered flag fell Cole Custer, William Byron, Matt DiBenedetto, and Ryan Blaney would be the unlucky drivers to get the axe. All four came into the Bristol Night Race with ground to make up in the points battle, butRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Thunder Valley this weekend for the annual Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, a showdown under the lights on the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile” that is sure to leave sheet metal twisted and tempers flaring once these drivers get done battling for 500 laps. Racing at Bristol is always intense, but when the lights go down for the night race, the intensity gets cranked to 11. The aggressiveness that the drivers will show on the high-banked bullringRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Two races down, one to go. With the conclusion of Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond, the first round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is nearly complete, with Bristol Motor Speedway and the first elimination race looming large next weekend for those drivers who have yet to lock themselves into the next round. Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, and Denny Hamlin are safe from whatever carnage may lie ahead at the Last Great Colusseum as the Playoff field is cut from 16 to 12.Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Race No. 2 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is here as the championship contenders get set to take on the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway. After a barn burner in last weekend’s Southern 500 at Darlington to kick off the first round of the Playoffs, the traveling circus moves north to Virginia for its first visit to Richmond this season after the first race, originally scheduled for this spring, was moved elsewhere due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, this year’s raceRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Kevin Harvick was in the right place at the right time to take the lead, then put on an impressive show of tenacity to hold off a hard-charging Austin Dillon to earn his second career Cook Out Southern 500 win at Darlington Raceway in Sunday night’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoff opener. It may have been his series best eighth victory of the season, but the veteran Harvick was emotional on the team radio, letting out a loud congratulatory yell as he crossed the finish lineRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service With his NASCAR Cup Series Playoff hopes on the line, Hendrick Motorsports’ driver William Byron earned his first career victory Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 regular season finale. The victory was an automatic berth into the Playoffs for the 22-year old Byron – a hard-fought trophy in a typically full-contact, high-emotion contest on NASCAR’s famed Daytona high-banks to settle the Playoff field. The only two Playoff positions still up for grabs on the night were filled byRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The NASCAR Cup Series regular season comes to an end right where it all began back in February as Daytona International Speedway is set to host Saturday night’s running of the Coke Zero Sugar 400. With three spots in the Playoffs still up for grabs, those drivers who have yet to lock themselves in will have to make it through the gauntlet at the World Center of Racing to punch their ticket into the postseason. Of the drivers still looking to race their way in, ClintRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer For the first time in his entire NASCAR Cup Series career, Brad Keselowski finished last following a Lap 96 tangle with teammate Ryan Blaney in Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway. During the final stage, Keselowski got a push from Kevin Harvick going into Turn 1, allowing him to get by Denny Hamlin for the runner-up spot. This allowed Keselowski to quickly gain ground on his Team Penske teammate, who was leading the 156-lap event. Keselowski was on the bottom groove before his No.Read More