MARTIN TRUEX JR.

LOS ANGELES — (AP) — Martin Truex Jr. won NASCAR's return to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for its season-opening exhibition race — a sloppy Sunday night extravaganza in which the Wiz Khalifa halftime show might have been the most entertaining part of the event. Truex, who contemplated retirement during last year’s winless season, won for the first time since Sept. 11, 2021. “Last year’s show I felt like was relatively clean and good racing, some bumping, some banging, but we could run long stretches of green flag action,” said Kyle Busch. Maybe this was just normal.”Truex put Joe Gibbs Racing in victory lane to start 2023 after a horrible close to last year. Coy Gibbs' death came just hours after his son, Ty, won NASCAR's second-tier Xfinity Series championship.

Martin Truex Jr. won NASCAR’s return to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for its season-opening exhibition race.

Martin Truex Jr found himself in first place at the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum in Los Angeles on Sunday night, gaining momentum ahead of the Daytona 500.

Martin Truex Jr. and his brother, Ryan Truex, have carved different paths in their respective careers. What does 2023 hold in store for the duo?

Ty Gibbs was promoted to NASCAR’s top Cup series on Tuesday in an expected announcement that was void of any celebration as Joe Gibbs Racing continues to mourn the loss of Gibbs’ father.

Kyle Larson found his way into NASCAR’s headlines for yet another week.

Larson won Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway after Martin Truex Jr. went spinning off his bumper on pit road during the race’s final caution. He led the field onto pit road and Larson unintentionally bumped Truex as Truex slowed down to get into his pit. Larson emerged from pit road in first place and held on for the final 22 laps to win the race. Larson was eliminated in the second round of the driver playoffs at the Charlotte Roval. Busch wasn’t in the driver playoffs after backing out in August.

Tyler Reddick got his third win of the season in a race at Texas Motor Speedway that NASCAR wants to forget as soon as possible. While numerous drivers had tire problems throughout the course of the race, three drivers crashed out from the lead because of tire problems. NASCAR said that Hamlin didn’t maintain minimum speed and made him line back up outside the top 10. NASCAR was forced to throw scheduled cautions during that race because the tire didn’t have any durability. NASCAR didn’t schedule any tire cautions on Sunday, but you couldn’t have blamed them if they did.

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

After jettisoning four drivers from the chase, the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs starts the Round of 12 at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. Yahoo Sports' Nick Bromberg is still fading Chastain in the playoffs but suggests finding value in Tyler Reddick at +1400 or Elliott's and Larson's Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman at +2000. Weather forecast for the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500It will be blisteringly hot for both Saturday's practice and qualifying as well as Sunday's race. Temperatures are forecast for the mid-90s both days the Cup Series is on track, so count on tire degradation being as much a concern as fuel economy for Sunday's race. NASCAR Cup Series playoff standingsChase Elliott - 3,040Joey Logano - 3,025Ross Chastain - 3,020Kyle Larson - 3,019William Byron - 3,015Denny Hamlin - 3,013Christopher Bell - 3,013Ryan Blaney - 3,013Chase Briscoe - 3,009Alex Bowman - 3,007Daniel Suarez - 3,007Austin Cindric - 3,006

But at least Busch knows what happened to end his night at Bristol Motor Speedway and leave him “flabbergasted” at being eliminated from the playoff field. He could only laugh as he stood in the garage alongside his disabled car as fellow Toyota driver Bubba Wallace came in for repairs. Truex also referred back to Kevin Harvick's words after his car caught fire in the opening playoff race at Darlington three weeks ago. There’s probably some car owners that don’t want to hear it because it costs money to change the cars. “There’s the ‘everything is wrong with this car’ camp and there’s the ‘nothing is wrong with this car’ camp," Keselowski added.

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

Kyle Busch deserved better than two failed Toyota engines in the first round of NASCAR's playoffs. Truex also referred back to Kevin Harvick's words after his car caught fire in the opening playoff race at Darlington three weeks ago.

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.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — (AP) — 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 Sunday. Blaney finished seven spots behind Truex in the race but three points ahead in the standings. That allowed Austin Dillon, who started the day 19th in points, to essentially steal a playoff spot. Blaney started the day third in points and had the best chance of landing one of the two postseason spots up for grabs. That created a second open spot at Daytona, where 15 guys entered the day with postseason hopes.

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.

The NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway was rained out Saturday night and rescheduled for Sunday.

Keselowski has crashed eight times in his last 11 starts at the superspeedway and finished worse than 30th six times. So maybe Keselowski should feel confident heading into Saturday night’s regular-season finale, where the 2012 Cup Series champion and 14 others are vying for the final two playoff spots. We just need everything to align to make it happen.”In his first year as a driver/owner at Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, Keselowski needs a victory to make the postseason for the 10th consecutive year. Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr. are the only drivers who haven't yet locked up playoff spots and can make it without winning at Daytona. It’d be quite a story.”Blaney needs 31 points to clinch a playoff spot and could do it during the race.

Brad Keselowski likes his chances at Daytona International Speedway.

23XI Racing on Thursday withdrew the medical waiver that was holding Busch's spot in the playoffs. "In addition to not being cleared to return to racing, I know that I am not ready to be back in the car." Ty Gibbs, the 19-year-old grandson of Joe Gibbs, has replaced Busch since he was injured. Busch earned his spot in the playoffs with a win at Kansas Speedway in May and, had he not been injured, NASCAR's 2004 champion would have participated in the playoffs for a 10th consecutive season. “Toyota’s priority for Kurt Busch since the moment the accident took place at Pocono has been his health and recovery.

Kurt Busch will miss the start of NASCAR’s playoffs with concussion-like symptoms that have sidelined him six weeks.

Kyle Larson beat Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott on a restart with five laps to go and won the weather-delayed NASCAR Cup race at Watkins Glen International on Sunday.

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

NASCAR has a record seven different countries represented in Sunday's race at Watkins Glen International, and the headliner is 2007 Formula One champion Kimi Raikkonen.

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.

Blaney is second in points, just 19 points ahead of fourth-place Truex, but neither has won a race — the virtual automatic ticket to a spot in the postseason. Two more unique winners could leave a race winner out of the field for the first time under the playoff format. After Richmond, the series moves to the road course at Watkins Glen and finishes the regular season at the superspeedway that is Daytona. He's won just once this year. Denny Hamlin has four, Harvick and Truex three each and Keselowski, Joey Logano and Kurt Busch each have two.

Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr. are the favorites as they battle for position to make NASCAR’s playoffs.

NASCAR just got more interesting down the stretch.

LONG POND, Pa. — (AP) — Denny Hamlin turned the fastest lap at Pocono Raceway and will lead the field to green Sunday at Pocono Raceway. Hamlin is joined on the front row by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch. Hamlin went 169.991 mph on the 2½-mile tri-oval track Saturday to win his second pole in the last five races and second straight overall for JGR. Chris Buescher, whose only career Cup win was at Pocono, starts fifth. The back end of the top 10 is as interesting as the start of the field.

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.

The wild capper to another eventful Atlanta race denied LaJoie the first victory of his career, which would've been a huge upset for the small-budget Spire Motorsports team. Chase Elliott joined his father as the only Georgia-born drivers to win at Atlanta. “To win at your home track is a really big deal for any race car driver,” Elliott said. LaJoie led the field from the inside lane, but he couldn't hold off Elliott, who surged to the front before taking the white flag. LaJoie got a good run on the leader going into the first turn, but Elliott slid up the banking to cut him off.

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.

Chase Elliott salvaged a crummy day for Hendrick Motorsports and interrupted a potential Toyota rout by winning the rain-drenched race at Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday night.

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

This is the short course version of a road course, so it's tough.”Road course proficiency is more important than ever in the Cup Series, which has six such circuits on its schedule this season. “It's really tight and narrow for a road course,” Chase Briscoe said of Sonoma Raceway. Defending champion and five-time pole sitter Kyle Larson claimed he didn't notice a huge difference between the road course challenges of COTA and Sonoma, other than deeper braking zones. “I think the new car changes everything (on road courses),” said Truex, who has won on both course layouts at Sonoma. “He can take my opinion or not, and I'm fine with it.”ODDS AND ENDSElliott unsurprisingly is FanDuel Sportbook's 11-to-2 favorite at Sonoma, given his road course acumen.

Joey Logano jockeyed for the lead with Kyle Busch in overtime, got around him for good just before the white flag flew and cruised to the victory Sunday in the NASCAR Cup Series debut at World Wide Technology Raceway.

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

NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 was many things.

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

Kurt Busch pinched his way past Kyle Larson for the lead with eight laps to go, then drove his gaudy Jordan Brand-styled car away from the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion to win Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway.

Larry and Dannielynn Birkhead on their Kentucky Derby Red Carpet

NASCAR Cup Series Dover Auto Racing Chase Elliott (9) races in the NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Dover Motor Speedway, Sunday, May 1, 2022, in Dover, Del. — (AP) — Chase Elliott snapped a 26-race winless streak when the 2020 NASCAR champion pulled away down the stretch to win the Cup Series race on Monday at Dover Motor Speedway. Speedway Motorsports bought the track (Dover Motorsports) late last year. UP NEXTThe Cup Series races next Sunday at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina. Toyota is set to celebrate its 1,500th NASCAR race during Darlington’s annual Throwback Weekend.

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 Cup Series Dover Auto Racing Ryan Blaney (12) races toward Turn 1 during a restart at the NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Dover Motor Speedway, Sunday, May 1, 2022, in Dover, Del. Truex raced to his first NASCAR Cup win June 4, 2007, at Dover and 12 years later used another rainout to take the checkered flag on May 6, 2019. It's the fourth time out of 104 career Dover races it will run on a Monday. Buescher won his only career Cup race in a weather-shortened race in 2016 — yes, on a Monday — at Pocono Raceway. Successes have been rare for Buescher since that checkered but he took the pole at Dover - his first in more than 230 career Cup races and 74 Xfinity starts.

Rain postponed Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover Motor Speedway to Monday.

Ross Chastain surged into the lead as he closed in on the checkered flag Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway to steal his second career Cup Series win.

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.

William Byron is making the guy that made the No. 24 Chevrolet famous proud.

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.

NASCAR's top drivers expect some beating and banging to be on the menu when they race at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday night.

RICHMOND, Va. — (AP) — Denny Hamlin ran down William Byron with five laps to go Sunday and ended the slowest start to his career with a victory in the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway. He then held off a challenge from Kevin Harvick, a three-time winner at Richmond. Just drove as hard as I could,” Hamlin said after climbing from his car, crediting his team for not giving up. “There was no doubt in my mind, maybe just a little, but they got this car right there towards the end. Harvick was second, followed by Byron, Truex and Kyle Larson.

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.

RICHMOND, Va. — (AP) — Denny Hamlin would love to think that a visit to his home track will produce a finish that finally gets his season heading in the right direction. Hamlin stands 22nd in points after six races and has failed to finish three races. With trying the figure out the new car, every week is like starting over. We are trying to find that point where we are good, and we can build off of that,” he said. Hamlin, who had 25 top-10 runs in 36 races last year, has yet to record any.

Martin Truex Jr. left Richmond Raceway a winner in his last visit to the Virginia short track, a playofff victory last September that helped him get into NASCAR's championship round and showed the veteran has plenty left in his tank. The 41-year-old Truex is in the final year of his contract with Joe Gibbs Racing and hasn't decided how long he wants to continue his career. There is no wait-and-see going on with Truex, who in his 17th full Cup Series season is grappling with NASCAR's new Next Gen car.

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.

Chase Briscoe raced to his first NASCAR Cup Series victory, executing two great restarts over the final 20 laps to pull away from Ross Chastain and Tyler Reddick on Sunday at Phoenix Raceway.

Tyler Reddick is enjoying his status among NASCAR’s fastest drivers through the season’s first three races.

LAS VEGAS — (AP) — Alex Bowman beat NASCAR champion Kyle Larson in a door-to-door overtime battle at Las Vegas Motor Speedway that sent Hendrick Motorsports to victory lane for the second consecutive week. Las Vegas native Kyle Busch and teammate Martin Truex Jr. were in a lap-by-lap chess match for the win until the 12th caution ended the stirring duel. The Hendrick trio of Bowman, Larson and William Byron all changed just two tires to get off pit road first through third. Larson, the defending Las Vegas winner and winner last week in California, chose the outside line for the restart with Bowman on his inside. Hendrick snuffed out any drama, evidenced by the clean overtime racing for the win between Bowman and Larson.

Alex Bowman beat NASCAR champion Kyle Larson in a door-to-door overtime battle at Las Vegas Motor Speedway that sent Hendrick Motorsports to victory lane for the second consecutive week.

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

NASCAR was long overdue to revamp its aging, arguably outdated race car.

NASCAR is in Los Angeles a week ahead of the Super Bowl with its wildest idea yet.

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.

NASCAR Phoenix Auto Racing Kyle Larson is introduced to the fans before a NASCAR Cup Series auto race on Sunday, Nov. 7, 2021, in Avondale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) (Rick Scuteri)AVONDALE, Ariz. — (AP) — Kyle Larson won. That was the expected result of NASCAR's season-ending championship race, right? Larson closed his comeback season in NASCAR with his first championship Sunday, where he capped his return from a nearly yearlong suspension with a title-winning victory at Phoenix Raceway. It was Rick Hendrick who decided to give him another chance and he hired Larson once NASCAR lifted his suspension. Larson watched last year's championship race from the competition compound on the Hendrick Mototsports' campus in North Carolina.

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.

Always a threat on the track, Truex is the most unassuming championship contender in Cup. But last season, Truex stumbled in the first season he was paired with crew chief James Small. He has 28 of his 31 career wins since 2016 and is a perennial championship contender. JGR teammate Hamlin has two wins and time is running short for the veteran to win his first Cup championship. With a win, Truex would join Kyle Busch as the only active drivers with two championships.

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.

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.

FORT WORTH, Texas — (AP) — Kyle Larson claimed the first of four championship-contending spots in NASCAR's season finale with a dominating victory at Texas on Sunday to start the round of eight in the playoffs. There were two laps remaining on the final restart, and Larson was able to stay out in front of teammate William Byron. The seven remaining playoff contenders leave Texas with two more chances to get into the championship four, with Kansas and Martinsville left before the finale. Texas had always been the eighth of the final 10 races, and the middle race of the third and final elimination round, before this season. He also won at Texas in the $1 million, non-points All-Star race in June.

NASCAR Texas Preview Auto Racing FILE - In this Sept. 11, 2021, file photo, Martin Truex Jr., celebrates winning the NASCAR Cup series auto race in Richmond, Va. Truex is in third place in the NASCAR playoff standings heading into Sunday's race at Fort Worth, Texas. “The round of eight is really as tough as it gets,” said Truex, the 2017 Cup champ who finished second in both 2018 and 2019. But there’s a lot of guys with that in mind as well.”Kyle Larson, who won the NASCAR All-Star race at Texas four months ago, is the points leader. Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch round out the top five. A four-time winner at Texas, Busch will be without crew chief Ben Beshore after his suspension for two loose lug nuts on the No.

NASCAR Richmond Auto Racing Denny Hamlin (11) and Martin Truex Jr., (19) lead the field st the start of the NASCAR Cup series auto race in Richmond, Va., Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021. Homestead was given a second chance for 2022 with an Oct. 23 race date that makes it the middle race of the third round of the playoffs. The 1.25-mile oval has held NASCAR national series races since 1997 and IndyCar the past six seasons. It is the only new track added to the 2022 Cup schedule. The Cup Series will be 36 races as always, but Pocono Raceway lost one of its two dates to get the race near St. Louis.

Mackenzie Salmon 'overreacts' to the biggest storylines from the NFL's Week One action in the AFC.

RICHMOND, Va. — (AP) — Two races into the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, regular-season champion Kyle Larson is still the points leader, but the stable of contenders at Joe Gibbs Racing is making the most noise with victories in the last two races. It was during that winless spell that Larson really asserted himself, winning four times. “We had a lot of tough luck and a lot of crashes and got caught in the rain a few times. “In general, I think we felt good coming into the playoffs. He led 197 laps on Saturday and won both stages, just as he had in April when he led 207 laps.

NASCAR Richmond Auto Racing William Byron (24) and Kyle Busch (18) race into turn one during the NASCAR Cup series auto race in Richmond, Va., Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) (Steve Helber)RICHMOND, Va, — (AP) — Martin Truex Jr. assumed the lead when Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch was penalized for speeding with about 50 laps to go and won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway on Saturday night. The victory was the third for Truex in the last five races at Richmond. Truex led a 1-2-3 finish for JGR, with Denny Hamlin finishing second and Christopher Bell. McDowell finish 37th — last — last week and had three speeding penalties and finished 29th at Richmond.

Martin Truex Jr. assumed the lead when Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch was penalized for speeding with about 50 laps to go and won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway on Saturday night. The victory was the third for Truex in the last five races at Richmond. Truex led a 1-2-3 finish for JGR — the sixth in its history — with Denny Hamlin finishing second and Christopher Bell third.

There was still a buzz over Venus Williams beating little sister Serena in prime time for the U.S. Open tennis singles title. 1 college football team in all the land, coming off a 61-0 thrashing of Rutgers. In some ways, so was life as Truex and the rest of us knew it. Instead of a salve, sports has become a mirror on our angry divisions in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. “I’ll play for free this year to live life how I’ve lived it from day one,” Beasley added in a rant this summer.

DARLINGTON, S.C. — (AP) — 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. But Hamlin held firm up near the wall to take the checkered flag“He was going to have to go through me,” Hamlin said. Hamlin broke out ahead of Larson on the restart 36 laps from the end. Earlier, Daytona 500 winner Mike McDowell hit the wall on the backstretch on lap 30 and was done for the day. UP NEXTThe NASCAR Cup series playoffs continue at Richmond, Virginia, on Saturday.

The now half-over, two-week hiatus is something Harvick wishes would become a regular thing. “I’d take it off the front end because everybody’s fresh and energized," he said of moving the break to the summer months. “I think having this two-week break really allows these guys in the shop and on the road to be able to actually have two, for-sure weeks off that they can plan around. That’s something very important to the families of those individuals.”Harvick, though, wasn't planning on getting too far away from racing. Harvick won a series-high nine races last year, but like points leader Denny Hamlin, has only visited Victory Lane this season to congratulate other winning drivers.

(AP Photo/Nell Redmond) (Nell Redmond)The Hendrick Motorsports train rolls into Sonoma Raceway on a three-race winning streak that pushed it past Petty Enterprises as NASCAR's winningest organization. “I think we all look at them as being a really strong team and having really strong race cars consistently,” Truex said. Since then it has been all Hendrick Motorsports, starting with an Alex Bowman 1-2-3-4 sweep at Dover. Out in wine country, Elliott will be seeking his first career victory at Sonoma. Those six wins tie him for third on NASCAR's all-time road course win list with Bobby Allison, Richard Petty, Ricky Rudd and Rusty Wallace.

NASCAR Austin Auto Racing Martin Truex Jr. (19) slides through Turn 12 after a crash as Chris Buescher (17) and Garrett Smithley (53) drive around during the NASCAR Cup Series auto race at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, Sunday, May 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton) (Chuck Burton)AUSTIN, Texas — (AP) — Chase Elliott raced to a short and slippery victory Sunday as rain spoiled the end of NASCAR’s debut at the Circuit of the Americas, where drivers struggled to navigate the winding course in the first rain race in Cup Series history. Elliott, the defending series champion, won for the first time this year and the sixth time on a road course. The rain started on the opening lap and several drivers complained about treacherous conditions that limited visibility, and caused a pair of violent crashes. UP NEXTNASCAR heads to North Carolina for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway next Sunday before a return to road racing at Sonoma Raceway___More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

All the information you need to get ready for Sunday's Drydene 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover International Speedway.

NASCAR Dover Preview Auto Racing FILE - In this Sunday, May 9, 2021, file photo, Kyle Larson uses his cell phone before the NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, S.C. Larson took time out from his NASCAR schedule to Zoom in with the class at Philadelphia’s Urban Youth Racing School. The school has served more than 7,500 students from ages 8 to 18 over the last 22 years and teaches all aspects of auto racing, including driving and Black racing history. The Joe Gibbs Racing star and 2017 Cup champion has been the runner-up finisher in three straight Dover races. For the lottery's current fiscal year of July 1, 2020 through May 13, 2021, auto racing comprised $196,000 or 0.18% of the wager handle. _____More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

NASCAR last weekend had a soft re-opening of the garage area and allowed 350 fully vaccinated sponsors and guests into the competition footprint at Darlington Raceway. NASCAR is not requiring its competitors be vaccinated, only guests and media who enter the garage area. ___The Milwaukee Brewers will begin allowing fans to fill all the seats at American Family Field for home games on June 25. They announced Tuesday they would start filling up to half the seats at American Family Field beginning with Saturday’s game against the Atlanta Braves. American Family Field has a seating capacity of 41,900.

NASCAR Darlington Auto Racing Martin Truex Jr. drives into Turn 1 during the NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Darlington Raceway, Sunday, May 9, 2021, in Darlington, S.C. (AP Photo/Terry Renna) (Terry Renna)DARLINGTON, S.C. — (AP) — Martin Truex Jr. powered his way around Darlington Raceway, sweeping both stages and leading the final 105 laps Sunday. Kyle Larson cut into Truex's often large lead over the final 30 laps, coming as close as two car-lengths down the stretch. The victory gave Truex some payback at Darlington from the last time here last September, when he led 196 laps, yet finished 22nd after tangling for the lead late with Chase Elliott. WHO’S HOTKyle Busch followed up his first win of the season at Kansas last week with a solid third place at Darlington. But Busch hasn’t come that close to a Darlington victory in 22 races since.

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.