JOE GIBBS

Before he headed onto the track for the biggest race of his career, Kyle Larson heard Mario Andretti praise him as one of the most well-rounded drivers in all of motorsports.

Kyle Larson closed out his comeback season in NASCAR with his first national title.

Phoenix Raceway will finally get to host championship weekend in front of a packed house.

Martin Truex Jr. is racing for his second career NASCAR Cup Series championship.

Alex Bowman spun Denny Hamlin from the lead with six laps remaining at Martinsville Speedway and then went on to win his fourth race of the season.

It's time to put up or shut up, Denny Hamlin. Long recognized alongside Mark Martin as the greatest NASCAR driver to never win a championship, Hamlin gets a fifth try Sunday to at long last grab that elusive Cup Series title. Johnson sliced Hamlin's points lead by more than half to 15 points that day, but more importantly he stripped Hamlin of his confidence headed into the finale.

The NASCAR championship will pit Rick Hendrick against Joe Gibbs as both team owners put a pair of drivers in the final four.

Alex Bowman spun Denny Hamlin out of the lead at Martinsville Speedway and then won in overtime as the field for NASCAR's championship race was set Sunday.

Brad Keselowski is in the final two races of his NASCAR career with Team Penske and would love nothing more than to close his 12-year run with another Cup championship.

The third round of NASCAR's playoffs are getting started in Texas.

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

Denny Hamlin will reach the third round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs next month having faced the make-or-break pressure of the postseason only twice.

Denny Hamlin earned his first career victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday night.

Kyle Larson returns to Las Vegas Motor Speedway looking for yet another victory.

Hendrick Motorsports is in a precarious position heading into first playoff elimination 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.

Denny Hamlin held off Kyle Larson after their cars hit nose to tail racing to the finish line Sunday night in the Southern 500 to open the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

The Jamaican producer worked with artists including Bob Marley, the Clash and the Beastie Boys.

Kurt Busch will drive next season for 23XI Racing, the NASCAR team owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan.

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.

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.

Chase Elliott is going for a three-peat at Watkins Glen International.

Kevin Harvick headed into NASCAR’s two-week break during the Tokyo Olympics delighted to be away from his own race car, but with plans to be wrapped up in his young son’s fledgling career behind the wheel.

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.

Matt DiBenedetto could be out of NASCAR Cup Series options for 2022 after losing his ride with Wood Brothers Racing.

Kyle Busch completed a 5-for-5 sweep of what might be his final season in the Xfinity Series with a late recovery 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.

Justin Marks is a former race car driver who just bought a seat at the table with NASCAR's biggest powerbrokers.

Kyle Busch won the NASCAR Cup Series race Sunday at Pocono Raceway.

Jeff Gordon is ready to assume a daily role at Hendrick Motorsports as vice chairman.

Jeff Gordon will leave the Fox Sports booth for a daily role at Hendrick Motorsports as vice chairman.

Kyle Busch raced to his 100th career Xfinity Series victory Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway, where he won for the fourth time.

NASCAR driver Kyle Larson made a virtual visit with students at the Urban Youth Racing School.

Martin Truex Jr. powered his way around Darlington Raceway, sweeping both stages and leading the final 105 laps Sunday.

NASCAR's first new car in seven years has finally arrived.

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.

Martin Truex Jr. won a stirring, laps-long duel for the lead with teammate Denny Hamlin in the delayed NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday night.

AVONDALE, Ariz. – Joey Logano has won a few times at Phoenix Raceway and knows a good restart when he feels one. Truex blew past Logano on the final restart and pulled away for his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season and 28th overall. Logano — who led 143 laps — won the second stage after leading the final 35 laps during a long stretch of green-flag racing. But he couldn't hold back Truex, who won his ninth race with JGR. Hamlin was fast early in the race, leading for 31 laps until the competition caution midway through the first stage.

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.

It was the very first NASCAR national series race for Ty Gibbs, who jumped two steps from ARCA to Xfinity for his debut. Ty Gibbs is the second-youngest winner in Xfinity Series history. But as his grandson crossed the finish line, his glasses fogged and he hugged a Joe Gibbs Racing team member. JGR has yet to announce a full 2021 schedule for Ty Gibbs, but his grandfather said the details are decided by Coy Gibbs. They picked the Daytona road course for his debut because Ty Gibbs finished second here in last year's ARCA race.

(AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A truce has yet to be called in the Team Penske camp amid friction following the last lap Daytona 500 crash between teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski. To me, the biggest heartbreak of this whole thing is that there are 400 people at Team Penske asking where their Daytona 500 bonus is and it’s up in a ball of flames up in turn three.”Three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin bristled at Logano's deflection. The Daytona crash belied Roger Penske's edict that his drivers are permitted to race one another hard so long as they don't wreck. That’s a great problem to have.”It remains to be seen how Keselowski chooses to work with Logano going forward. Logano, also a Cup champion and the 2015 Daytona 500 winner, doesn't have the same job security concerns.

Bubba Wallace checks his helmet before the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2021, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Bubba Wallace ran into trouble early and late in his first Daytona 500 driving for Michael Jordan. He still came out of NASCAR's marquee race with another milestone, becoming the first Black driver to lead a lap in the Daytona 500. Wallace dipped to the low line late in the second stage to grab the lead on lap 129 in the No. Wallace got caught up in a fiery, chaotic last lap and finished 17th in a race won by Michael McDowell. Wallace had a solid first two-thirds of the rain-delayed race at Daytona International Speedway after a tumultuous start in Jordan's debut race.

Jordan has been a pitchman, an NBA team owner and a tequila connoisseur — and on Sunday, with Wallace at the wheel, he makes his official debut as a NASCAR team owner with 23XI Racing in the Daytona 500. Jordan and team co-owner Denny Hamlin, a three-time Daytona 500 champion, might have more nerves than Wallace on the eve of NASCAR’s biggest race. AdIt was kind of hard to answer: Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Jordan and Wallace had never met. Jordan is the first Black principal owner of a full-time Cup team since Hall of Famer Wendell Scott in 1973. But this week he's here in Daytona watching from the suites.”Scott is still the only Black driver to win a Cup race.

Austin Cindric celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Austin Cindric launched his bid for a second consecutive Xfinity Series title with a victory in Saturday night's season opener at Daytona International Speedway. Cindric makes his Cup Series debut Sunday in the Daytona 500. “What a way to start the season,” Cindric said. Cindric won the Xfinity Series debut on Daytona’s road course last August as well as a rallycross event early in his career. The 22-year-old has this final season in Xfinity before moving next year to Cup to drive for Penske-supported Wood Brothers Racing.

Austin Dillon (3) takes the checkered flag to win the second NASCAR Daytona 500 duel qualifying auto race Friday, Feb. 12, 2021, at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The 40 drivers competing in the 2021 Daytona 500, in order of starting position:___No. This is his 20th Daytona 500; he was hired days after Earnhardt's death. Son of two-time Daytona 500 champion and Hall of Fame driver Bill Elliott. Finished a career-best seventh in the 2017 Daytona 500, but has been 27th, 28th and 19th since. McLeodBORN: Nov. 17, 1983AdHOMETOWN: Wauchula, FloridaCREW CHIEF: Frank KerrSPONSOR: NASCAR HeatsTWITTER: @bjmcleod78NOTEWORTHY: Owner-driver racing in his third Daytona 500.

Blaney had chased down Elliott on the road course at Daytona International Speedway to take the lead with two laps remaining in Tuesday night's 35-lap Speedweeks opener. Elliott, winner of NASCAR's last four road course races dating to 2019, didn't let Blaney pull away and set himself up for one final chance at the win. This year's running was the first time on Daytona's road course, a plan announced before the 2020 season began. Elliott won the inaugural Daytona road course race. NASCAR will run the road course again on Feb. 21 in a points-paying event.

The Kansas City Chiefs won their first NFL title since 1970 when they beat San Francisco in last year's Super Bowl. What we get Sunday is a matchup of dynamic offenses and overlooked defenses, the top two teams in the conference. Kansas City (15-2) has the confidence of a reigning champion and a charisma few NFL teams can match. That could provide an edge over Bills rookie Tyler Bass — except that Bass has been very reliable all season. Buffalo punter Corey Bojorquez and Kansas City rookie Johnny Townsend were two of the most dependable in the AFC.

Then a caution with two laps remaining at Charlotte Motor Speedway cluttered Elliott's clear path to the win and gave Keselowski an opening. Now Keselowski returns to Charlotte Motor Speedway for a Wednesday night race and a shot at consecutive victories. That was the situation we were put in.Both Keselowski and Busch could empathize with Elliott's heartbreak at Charlotte. Keselowski spoke with Elliott as the two switched spots in front of a laptop during the post-race Zoom media availability. But Elliott's team has been the most consistent late in races and Wednesday brings another chance for the driver to finally get his first win of the season.

The tungsten is required to meet minimum weight requirements on the car and the NASCAR rule book states if it is separated at any point it is an automatic four-race suspension for the crew chief, car chief and engineer. Chris Gabehart, the crew chief, was suspended along with car chief Brandon Griffeth and engineer Scott Simmons. Sam McAulay will be the crew chief, while Eric Phillips will be car chief and Scott Eldridge the engineer. NASCAR's next four races are at Charlotte, Bristol, Atlanta and Martinsville between Wednesday night and June 10, when the suspension ends. Hamlin won not only the season-opening Daytona 500 but also won last Wednesday night at Darlington Raceway.

The most celebrated day in motorsports has been whittled down to the third course, 600 miles around Charlotte Motor Speedway in NASCAR's longest race of the year. What began as the World 600 in 1959 became the nightcap to a spectacular day of automobile racing treasured annually by fans. It means NASCAR is alone in the spotlight Sunday night, just as NASCAR has been for the last week. Were right there and James is doing an awesome job.BUSCH VS. ELLIOTTChase Elliott flipped Busch the bird after Busch wrecked Elliott racing for the win Wednesday night. Busch went on to finish second in a 1-2 with Hamlin for Joe Gibbs Racing; Elliott was 38th.