CHRISTOPHER BELL

There was also a 56-minute red flag for lightning, and a record 36 lead changes among 19 drivers. Logano was concerned about the vibration in the right rear of his car throughout the closing laps. None of the four playoff races so far have been won by a driver still eligible for the title. Hamlin stayed alongside with Byron during the caution period, livid because of the position he was losing on the track. I wouldn’t blame Goodyear.”Goodyear and NASCAR officials said there were several teams that didn’t have tire issues.

The 334 laps at Texas Motor Speedway provided quite a tumultuous start to the NASCAR playoff round of 12.

FORT WORTH, Texas — (AP) — Tyler Reddick opened the round of 12 in NASCAR's playoff with a victory at Texas on Sunday, winning a week after being one of the first four Cup drivers knocked out of title contention. After none of the contenders won the first three races of the playoffs — a first in any round in this postseason format — the trend continued with the eliminated Reddick leading 53 of the final 54 laps on a long race day that went into the night. Non-playoff drivers Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. also had tire issues when leading the race at the 1 1/2-mile track. Bell, the Oklahoma native who considers Texas his home track, couldn’t recover from a second tire issue that led to his race-ending crash after finishing only 136 laps. He was the only driver to finish in the top five in all three races in the first round of this postseason.

Tyler Reddick opened the round of 12 in NASCAR’s playoff with a victory at Texas.

Chris Buescher's win at Bristol last week marked the first time in this version of NASCAR's playoffs that drivers who are not racing for the championship swept the three races of the first round.

At least a dozen of the playoff drivers had some sort of problem with NASCAR’s new Next Gen car Saturday night at Bristol.

Ross Chastain heads into the first elimination race of NASCAR’s playoffs in a pretty comfortable position above the cutline.

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to its “Last Great Colosseum” in northeast Tennessee to trim its playoff field from 16 to 12 this weekend. NASCAR brass know exactly what they’re doing, placing Bristol as a playoff cut-down race. Here is everything you need to know for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race. ET (USA, MRN, SiriusXM)Saturday, Sept. 17Bass Pro Shops Night Race: 7:30 - 11 p.m. Weather forecast for the Bass Pro Shops Night RaceWarm and clear.

ET, USA) is the second race at Bristol this year. That means we’re all flying blind a bit when it comes to betting Saturday night’s race. Only the top nine drivers in this year’s points standings seem safe entering Saturday night’s race. Before we get to the odds from BetMGM, here’s a quick refresher on the points standings. Byron has two top-10 finishes in seven Bristol starts.

Bubba Wallace won his second career NASCAR Cup Series race and denied the playoff field of an automatic spot in the next round for the second straight week when he held off championship contenders Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell to win at Kansas Speedway.

It didn’t seem much could still go wrong this year for Kyle Busch until his engine blew with 22 laps remaining in NASCAR’s opening playoff race.

Erik Jones took the lead when Kyle Busch’s engine blew up, then pulled away from Denny Hamlin after a final restart 20 laps from the end to win the opening NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Darlington Raceway on Sunday night.

Austin Dillon avoided a massive wreck in the rain to win at Daytona International Speedway and snag a playoff spot in the Cup Series’ regular-season finale.

Chase Elliott has won the NASCAR Cup pole at Watkins Glen International, edging Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson for the top spot.

Harvick's victory also kept alive the intriguing battle for the final playoff position with two races remaining in the regular season. The 15 winners this year have all likely claimed playoff berths unless there are new winners when the series moves to Watkins Glen and then Daytona. Joey Logano, who led for 221 of the 400 laps, faded to sixth, followed by Martin Truex Jr. Ryan Blaney was 10th. Blaney and Truex are the top two drivers in points hoping to make the 16-driver playoffs without a victory. Thanks to stage points, Blaney increased his lead from 19 points to 26 over Truex for the final playoff spot, assuming there is not a 16th different winner.

Kevin Harvick took the lead from Joey Logano with 66 laps to go and held off Christopher Bell at Richmond Raceway on Sunday for his second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series victory.

Kevin Harvick may be stamping himself as the man to beat in NASCAR. The 2014 series champion took the lead from Joey Logano with 66 laps to go and held off Christopher Bell at Richmond Raceway on Sunday for his second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series victory. Harvick, who ended a 65-race drought last week at Michigan, won for the 60th time, the fourth time at Richmond and first time on the 0.75-mile oval since 2013.

Tyler Reddick closed the best month of his NASCAR career with a victory in overtime on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Bell mastered the track where he won Xfinity Series races in 2018, 2019 and 2021, holding off Chase Elliott, last week’s winner at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Bell is the 14th driver to earn a spot in the 16-driver playoff field. His only other Cup win came in the second race of the 2021 season in the Daytona road course race. UP NEXTNASCAR’s Cup Series heads to Pocono Raceway for its only stop of the year. The track long held two Cup races each year and Alex Bowman and Kyle Busch won the races in a doubleheader weekend last year.

Christopher Bell crashed the NASCAR playoffs, winning Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to become the 14th Cup Series winner this season.

Christopher Bell's crew chief tried to give him a little bit of coaching — some encouragement with about 40 laps left in the race and a victory and playoff spot at stake — and was promptly told, well, basically to shush. Bell explained later there so many laps left in the race, that he didn't need a reminder of how far the No. 20 Toyota had to go to reach the finish line. Plus, Bell already knew the way to reach victory lane at his favorite track.

Chase Elliott got by Corey LaJoie with just under two laps to go and crossed the finish line under yellow after a block sent LaJoie crashing into the wall.

Denny Hamlin was awarded the pole at Nashville Superspeedway when a surprise rain shower washed out the second round of qualifying.

And he won a Truck Series race in 2010, just before the track was shuttered amid an economic downturn. It was resurrected by local businessman Curtis Francois and has grown and evolved over the past decade, leading to the return not only of the Truck Series but IndyCar and, for the first time Sunday, NASCAR's premier series. While two dozen drivers in the field have experience at Gateway, Harvick is among nine that have won at the track in the Xfinity or Truck series. Thousands of fans came out for the first practice session Friday night, and they were out early Saturday for Cup qualifying with 30,000-plus expected for the afternoon Truck race. “It just helped me in finding my way to the track,” Tyler Reddick said of his own experience in three Truck Series races at Gateway.

NASCAR is bringing its top series to World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis for the first time this weekend.

NASCAR All Star Race Texas Auto Racing Kyle Busch, front, and his crew show off their pole position rings after qualifications for the NASCAR All-Star auto race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, Saturday, May 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Larry Papke) (Larry Papke)FORT WORTH, Texas — (AP) — The NASCAR All-Stars during qualifying Saturday night were the pit crew members for Kyle Busch, who earned the pole for the annual $1 million non-points exhibition race. Busch won the final round of an unusual elimination bracket involving the pit crews doing a four-tire pit stop when he beat Ryan Blaney to the finish line. All 20 drivers locked into Sunday night's 24-car All-Star race field went through a normal one-lap qualifying. The remaining four spots for the All-Star race will be determined in a three-segment race earlier Sunday.

The All-Stars during qualifying Saturday night were the pit crew members for Kyle Busch.

Joey Logano bumped leader William Byron from behind and into the wall on the next to last lap to win the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday.

DARLINGTON, S.C. — (AP) — Former NASCAR Cup Series champions Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick will start at the rear of the field Sunday at Darlington Raceway. Elliott and Harvick had Saturday in practice. Logano reached 170.720 mph and turned a fast lap of 28.805 seconds to clinch the top spot in qualifying, edging Kyle Larson. Elliott, Harvick and Hamlin couldn't say the same. Harvick blew a left-rear tire in practice and did enough damage that he was unable to make a qualifying attempt.

Chase Elliott snapped a 26-race winless streak when the 2020 NASCAR champion pulled away down the stretch to win the rain-delayed Cup Series race at Dover Motor Speedway.

NASCAR Talladega Auto Racing NASCAR Cup Series driver Christopher Bell (20) sits on the pole for the Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, Saturday, April 23, 2022, in Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill) (Butch Dill)TALLADEGA, Ala. — (AP) — Christopher Bell won the pole at Talladega Superspeedway by turning the fastest lap as the final driver to qualify on Saturday. Bell bumped his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. from the top spot with a lap at 180.928 mph in his Toyota. Truex qualified second at 180.652 mph to give JGR the front row for Sunday's race. Denny Hamlin, co-owner of 23XI but driver for JGR, qualified seventh as Toyota grabbed four of the top seven starting spots. For Bell, it was the second pole of his Cup career and gave JGR its first lockout of the front row at Talladega.

Christopher Bell won the pole at Talladega Superspeedway by turning the fastest lap as the final driver to qualify.

Kyle Busch is uncertain about his future with both Joe Gibbs Racing and in NASCAR.

Cole Custer won the first pole of his career Saturday through a formula designed for qualifying via heat races at dirt-covered Bristol Motor Speedway.

William Byron took the lead on pit road after Stage 2 pit stops and held it pretty much the rest of the way at Martinsville Speedway to become the first repeat winner this season in NASCAR’s Cup Series.

Denny Hamlin ran down William Byron with five laps to go and ended the slowest start to a season of his career with a victory in the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway.

Ross Chastain bumped and banged his way around the final overtime lap at Circuit of the Americas on Sunday for first career Cup win and upstart NASCAR team Trackhouse Racing’s first trip to victory lane.

Ryan Blaney recovered from a spin in practice to win the pole for Sunday’s race at Circuit of the Americas.

Wallace still seemed to be in the most enviable position, especially if he could get a helpful push for a slingshot on the final lap. But everyone behind Byron started jostling for position, all of them wanting to put themselves in position to make the winning move. Kyle Busch gave Austin Dillon a slight bump from behind entering the quad-oval, sending Dillon into the wall. “I was in the gas wide open and the 18 (Busch) pushed us and got me loose,” Austin Dillon said. That’s the second week in a row I've been taken out.”At Phoenix, Daniel Suarez made contact with Dillon on the final lap and sent the No.

William Byron has managed to hold off the freight train behind him, taking the checkered flag for his third NASCAR Cup victory at Atlnta Motor Speedway.

William Byron had a freight train in his rearview mirror. While Byron cruised to the checkered flag for the third victory of his NASCAR Cup career, one last crash unfolded behind him Sunday in an appropriate finish to a chaotic, thrilling race at remodeled Atlanta Motor Speedway. “Pretty wild,” the 24-year-old Byron said.

Rick Hendrick spoke and his drivers heard the boss loud and clear. Hendrick intervened on a competition matter for the first time since Kyle Larson joined the team when he squashed any potential beef between his stars following their run-in last week in California. Larson, the reigning Cup champion, caused Chase Elliott, NASCAR's most popular driver, to wreck last week as the two raced for the win.

It was only the eighth Cup Series start for Cindric.

Denny Hamlin crashed out of the Daytona 500 on Sunday, ending his bid for a fourth victory in NASCAR’s premier event.

Ty Gibbs is stepping into arguably the top ride in NASCAR’s second-tier Xfinity Series.

Rick Hendrick wants NASCAR to intervene in the ongoing feud between reigning Cup champion Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick after another on-track incident between the two.

Kyle Larson rallied from early electrical issues Sunday to win for the seventh time this season and storm into the third round of NASCAR’s playoffs.

Kevin Harvick has never been knocked out of the playoffs in the second round since NASCAR introduced the format in 2014.

NASCAR's playoffs shift to Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday for the middle race of the second round.

Two races into the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, regular-season champion Kyle Larson is still the points leader.

Martin Truex Jr. assumed the lead when Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch was penalized with about 50 laps to go and won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway.

Ryan Blaney took the lead from William Byron on a late restart and bobbed and weaved his way across the final seven laps to win at Michigan International Speedway.

NASCAR drivers got their first laps on Indianapolis Motor Speedway's road course in practice — and it opened to mixed reviews.

Kyle Larson won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International, building a big lead in the final stage and keeping Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott at bay over the final laps.

With darkness closing in, Aric Almirola sprung to life late Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and pulled off a surprise for Stewart-Haas Racing’s first victory of the year.

Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott are looking for redemption at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Chase Elliott won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Road America on Sunday to continue his uncanny success on road courses and wrap up a playoff spot.

Kurt Busch has welcomed the uncertainty of this season as he chases a playoff berth while pondering his future in NASCAR.

Kyle Busch celebrated his 36th birthday by winning a two-lap sprint to the finish at Kansas Speedway.

Brad Keselowski did it exactly right this time and finally got that last-lap victory, winning in overtime Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway.

Alex Bowman passed Denny Hamlin on a restart with 10 laps to go and drove away at Richmond Raceway for his third career victory in the NASCAR Cup Series.

LAS VEGAS – Kyle Larson wasn't sure he'd ever race again in NASCAR, and if he could, he didn't know who would even hire him. On Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Larson raced to his first NASCAR victory since he was reinstated from a nearly yearlong suspension. “Thanks Mr. H. for believing in me,” Larson radioed to boss Rick Hendrick after crossing the finish line. Larson is considered one of the top talents in NASCAR but won just six times in six seasons with Chip Ganassi Racing. “He got in a great car, he's a great driver and he's going to make things happen,” runner-up Brad Keselowski said.

William Byron was the third surprise winner through three races this season with his victory Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Byron controlled most of the final two stages at Homestead to win for the second time in 111 Cup starts. Byron entered the weekend as a 28-1 shot to win a race many expected would provide a return to normal for the racing series. The Roush Fenway Racing driver led five times for a total of 57 laps, but he started to fade "when as sunset neared. He ended up getting X-rays, which were negative, and was cleared to work the Cup Series event.

Christopher Bell celebrates at the finish line after winning the NASCAR Cup Series road course auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Sunday, Feb. 21, 2021, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)HOMESTEAD, Fla. – NASCAR’s postseason landscape has been altered after just two Cup Series races. “The number of unique winners is really going to change how many cars get in on points, right? Although Bell drives for powerhouse Joe Gibbs Racing, he was a rookie for that top team and in his second full season in the Cup series. The Cup Series opened on a superspeedway, then raced on a road course, and now heads to an intermediate track. Whether that’s different markets, different racetracks, it has to be different from year to year.

Bell won in his second race driving for Joe Gibbs Racing to give the team a pair of surprising victories at Daytona International Speedway. Ty Gibbs, the 18-year-old grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs, won the Xfinity Series race Saturday night in his first career national series start. “I've prepared my whole life for this moment to race in the Cup Series, last year was such a learning curve for me. Kevin Harvick finished sixth and AJ Allmendinger, in his first Cup race since the 2018 season finale, finished seventh. It was the highest finish in three Cup races for Kaulig Racing, an Xfinity Series team formed in 2016 that wants to be full-time Cup next season.