Ryan Blaney Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HAMPTON, Ga. – Michael McDowell and Joey Logano performed their own version of “Trading Places” during NASCAR Cup Series time trials on Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. After finishing second to Logano in qualifying for the season-opening DAYTONA 500, McDowell will start his 467th Cup race from a position he has never occupied before—first on the grid—with Logano beside him in second. Having won the first Busch Light Pole Award of his career, McDowell will lead the field to green in Sunday’s Ambetter HealthRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After a drenching weekend in Daytona, the NASCAR Cup Series sticks around on the East Coast as it heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the second superspeedway race of the season – Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400. Atlanta’s aging racing surface, which had been in place since 1997, held together as long as possible, but the 260 laps around the 1.5-mile track in July 2021 were the last on that particular surface as the track underwent a repave and reconfiguration for the 2022 season. The 24-degree bankingRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor It had been a long wait for Hendrick Motorsports to return to Daytona 500 victory lane, but at the end of Monday’s rain-delayed running of the Great American Race, it was a 1-2 finish for one of the winningest organizations in NASCAR Cup Series history. Not since Dale Earnhardt Jr’s 2014 victory had a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet captured a win in the season opening spectacle, but 26-year-old William Byron was the driver to get it done at the World Center of Racing – capturing his firstRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Their names are synonymous with reaching the pinnacle of NASCAR Cup Series racing as champions, but all of them have one glaring hole in their resume – a win in the Daytona 500. Like so many that have come before them in search of capturing a victory in the biggest race in all of stock car racing, it has been a journey for each and every one of them, with near misses and heartbreak all along the way in the search forRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. –The start of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series is officially here and with it comes the biggest race of the season – the Daytona 500. For 66 years, drivers have been making the pilgrimage to the Daytona high banks to win the sport’s most prestigious race and write themselves into the record book as Daytona 500 champion. Many have attempted it, but only a select few have been able to hoist the Harley J. Earl trophy in victory lane at the end ofRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LOS ANGELES — The final restart was the difference for Denny Hamlin. A day earlier than planned—the result of a devastating weather forecast for the Los Angeles area—Hamlin got the jump he needed on an overtime restart and won Saturday night’s third edition of the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum. Smoking his tires in every corner after grabbing the lead on a restart on Lap 141 of a scheduled 150, Hamlin was a few yards away from the finish line when his JoeRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer AVONDALE, Ariz. — Since the implementation of the current playoff format in 2014, every driver who has won the NASCAR Cup Series finale also hoisted the Bill France Trophy. In fact, the Cup Series was the only series that batted 1.000 in the category. Ross Chastain changed all of that as he was victorious in Sunday’s Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway. He did so in dominant fashion as the “Melon Man” led a race-high 157 of 312 laps to end a rather rough seasonRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – Ryan Blaney earned this one. When his NASCAR Cup Series championship contenders advanced past his No. 12 Team Penske Ford on the final pit stop, it could have been game over, but Blaney would not be deterred, taking the bull by the horns and chasing them back down to secure his first Cup title. While Blaney may have started the worst among the four drivers in the championship fight, he was on go from the drop of the green flag until the checkered,Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. — 35 races down, one to go. Sunday afternoon, the NASCAR Cup Series will hit the track at Phoenix Raceway for the 2023 season finale, bringing this season to a close and crowning a champion. Heading into this year’s championship race, it will be a battle between a former champion in Kyle Larson and three other drivers making their first appearance in the Championship 4 to see who will be hoisting the Bill France Cup when the checkered flag falls. Joining Larson in theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – The field is now set for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship race at Phoenix Raceway, with title contender William Byron on pole for Sunday’s season finale. The driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and most recent winner on the one-mile oval in the Arizona desert jumped to the top of the board with a lap of 27.150 seconds, 132.597 mph mid-way through the final round and held off the remaining drivers to bank a crucial championship pole. “We were right thereRead More