Alex Bowman Could Be One To Watch Sunday

Alex Bowman had one of the most if not, the most dominant car at Kansas last September. He led 107 laps in all and yet had to settle for fourth place last Fall. Bowman starts 23rd this year from the Hollywood Casino 400. Every time he starts beyond the top ten, Bowman finishes better than […]

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Falls In The Fall At Kansas

The last two Spring races have gone pretty well for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. His JTG Daugherty Racing Chevy has finished 8th and 12th respectively. The No. 47 car finds the going much rougher as September approaches. He has had a host of problems from tires to electrical to an accident. Stenhouse Jr. finds himself four […]

Joey Logano Barely Misses Top Ten In Qualifying

Joey Logano came so close to the top ten in qualifying but came up just short. The Team Penske Ford settled for 11th. Logano won the Fall race three years ago after leading 47 laps. In 2021, he managed to end up ninth but fell to 17th last September. He looked several tenths faster in […]

Brad Keselowski Begins 12th At Kansas On Sunday

Brad Keselowski could use a good result at Kansas Speedway. Unfortunately, the results have not been that kind over the past two seasons for the RFK Racing driver. The No. 6 Ford has not finished better than 14th over that span. He has only led two laps since the Fall of 2021 on the intermediate […]

Christopher Bell Qualifies Number One At Kansas

Christopher Bell nabs the pole position at Kansas for the Hollywood Casino 400. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver edged Kyle Larson by 0.075 seconds. Bell has not finished inside the top ten four times despite starting first in 2023. Last week was another rough race as the No. 20 Toyota ended up 23rd at Darlington. […]

Kyle Larson Almost Wins Pole At Kansas

Kyle Larson was the fastest car in practice on Saturday with a 15-lap average that was almost a tenth of a second quicker than Martin Truex Jr. However, he came up a hair short of winning the pole for Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400. Now, second is not bad for the Hendrick Motorsports Racing driver. A […]

Chris Buescher Right Behind Brad Keselowski To Start Sunday

Chris Buescher starts 13th from Kansas on Sunday afternoon. The RFK Racing driver has been hot lately and netted another top five last week at Darlington. Kansas has been a different story for the Ford, however. The last top ten finish from Buescher in the "Fall" was back in 2017. Buescher was in the top […]

Denny Hamlin Tries To Shed Bad Luck In Kansas

Denny Hamlin has had some bad luck the past few weeks. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has an average finish of 5.7 at Kansas Speedway. This goes along with two wins. The No. 11 car has had two top five finishes during the second Kansas race. Hamlin did not lead a lap in either of […]

Carson Hocevar Should Overachieve at Kansas

Carson Hocevar has had one of the most remarkable NASCAR ascents in recent years. At Gateway, he outran Corey LaJoie in his regular car on his debut while LaJoie was driving the Hendrick #9 car. Last week, the 20-year-old wunderkind outqualified veteran teammate and Darlington master Erik Jones in his first start for Legacy Motor […]

Ross Chastain Winds Up In Top Five At Darlington

Ross Chastain began the Cook Out Southern 500 in 27th place. Toss in some attrition and a little bit of late-run speed and the Trackhouse Racing driver ended fifth after 367 laps. Now, the No. 1 car did not lead a single lap but the fifth-place result was important. It boosts the confidence of Chastain […]

William Byron Ends Up Fourth Sunday At Darlington

For William Byron, the race did not go quite as planned but it was not all bad. The Hendrick Motorsports Racing driver finished fourth after starting 23rd. Although, the No. 24 car never led a single lap, the +19 place differential combined with other results helped Byron. Now, he is 45 points above the cutoff […]

Chris Buescher Stays Hot With Third At Darlington

Chris Buescher seemed to lose some speed late and then he found enough to finish third at Darlington on Sunday night. Buescher and his RFK Racing car even managed to lead 36 laps which is encouraging heading to Kansas. Surprisingly both RFK Racing cars fared pretty well during the final long run of 55 laps. […]

Tyler Reddick Finishes Second At Darlington On Sunday

Tyler Reddick led 90 laps in his 23XI Racing Toyota but lost the lead on a pit stop. That stop with 55 laps to go was the difference between first and second place. He came up less than a half second short of Kyle Larson in the end at Darlington. The good news for the […]

Kyle Larson Wins Cook Out Southern 500

Kyle Larson started from the middle of the pack on Sunday evening. After 367 laps, the Hendrick Motorsports Racing driver ended up at the top. Larson's No. 5 Chevy was able to hold off Tyler Reddick and Chris Buescher to win at Darlington. With the victory, Larson automatically advances to the Round of 12. He […]

Austin Cindric Stuck In The Middle At Darlington

Austin Cindric ends at Darlington consistently. Cindric starts his fourth race on the track from the 14th position for Team Penske. Sunday figures to see the No. 2 Ford right around 15th to 20th. Why? Cindric has finished 19th, 16th, and 18th on the 1.366-mile track. It does not seem to matter what happens around […]

Chase Briscoe Likely To Struggle At Darlington

Chase Briscoe has now tried to qualify six times at Darlington on the NASCAR Cup level. He still has not cracked into the top-ten. Briscoe will start 12th on Sunday which is his best ever start. However, the Stewart-Haas Racing Ford loses so much speed in long runs. That is the big concern. The No. […]

Ryan Preece Great To Be Back At Darlington

After what happened to Ryan Preece at Daytona last week, few expected him back this week at Darlington. Preece and his Stewart-Haas Ford did not qualify well and will start 34th. That is not the real story. After his car flipped more than 11 times last week, the real win was seeing Preece at Darlington […]

Chase Elliott Hoping For Better Fall Darlington Result

Septembers have not been kind to Chase Elliott at Darlington. The last three races have seen the Hendrick Motorsports Racing driver start well and then a variety of issues cropped up. He was a DVP victim last year. An accident ended a promising late run in 2021 where he looked heading into the top five […]

Erik Jones Starts 20th At Darlington On Sunday

Erik Jones and the Legacy Motor Club have had a season to forget. However, the No. 42 Chevy did come out on top at Darlington last September. He started 15th and roared his way to the win late. Jones also has a win and five other top-ten results on the 1.366-mile track. Questions from the […]

Bubba Wallace Has Some Work To Do At Darlington

Bubba Wallace has raced well at Darlington lately. His two previous trips saw him finish fifth and ninth respectively. There is one nagging concern for the 23XI Racing driver. That is negative place differential. Wallace has been in the red there four straight times. One consistent lately is that Wallace and his No. 23 car […]

Tyler Reddick Completes Podium In Qualifying For Toyota Saturday

Tyler Reddick will begin third from Darlington on Sunday evening. Now comes the hard part. Can Reddick stay near the front? The No. 45 from 23XI Racing ran well early in the Spring but slipped from ninth down to 22nd late. Last Fall, Reddick in the Richard Childress Racing Chevy ended up third (was 2nd […]

Ross Chastain Feels The Heat At Darlington

Ross Chastain has struggled for awhile this 2023 season. The win at Nashville only masked those problems a bit for the Trackhouse Racing driver. Since then, he has the one top-ten result at Michigan. Other than that, the car has mostly qualified in the 20's. Naturally, Chastain starts the Cook Out Southern 500 from the […]

Chris Buescher Hot Heading Into The Playoffs

Did Chris Buescher peak too soon? It will be asked often. The answer is no, of course. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver won three of his last five races to vault up to fourth in the playoff standings. Now, what can he do at Darlington? Buescher qualified well and will begin eighth on Sunday evening. The […]

William Byron A Mixed Bag At Darlington

William Byron can be great or average at Darlington. He starts 23rd for the Cook Out Southern 500 on Sunday evening. Byron's laps were not overly bad, but made a few technical mistakes causing him to be 0.391 seconds off Christopher Bell's pole-setting time on Saturday. Byron only led seven laps in May but won […]

Denny Hamlin Starts Second At Darlington On Sunday

Denny Hamlin felt a little heat yesterday for winning the Xfinity race. However, the heat he generated in qualifying for Darlington on Sunday was just as noticeable. The Joe Gibbs Racing car set the second quickest lap just behind Christopher Bell. Hamlin has two wins on the track "too tough to tame" since 2020. He […]

Kyle Busch Wants To Start Chase Off Right

Kyle Busch took it to the limit then exceeded it. The Richard Childress Racing driver looked primed for a top spot in qualifying. However, he smacked the wall pretty hard on Saturday afternoon. Changing a toe link prior to qualifying may be something to monitor. Usually, that results in starting from the rear. No matter […]

Martin Truex Jr. Starts From Near Back On Sunday

Martin Truex Jr. qualified 31st for Sunday's Cook Out Southern 500. It is not exactly the ideal way to start the playoff chase. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver will have his work cut out for him. Toyota cars were fast in qualifying going first, second, and third. Maybe Truex Jr. was too fast as he […]

Chase Elliott Settles For Owners Playoff Chase Instead

Chase Elliott needed to win at Daytona to get into the playoffs. He missed it by that much and settled for fourth. The Hendrick Motorsports Racing driver could not get by the RFK Racing drivers. He did get close a few times but Chris Buescher shut the door during lap 162. Elliott did manage to […]

Aric Almirola Comes Up Short In Playoff Bid

Aric Almirola tried a little of everything to steal a win on Saturday night from Daytona International Speedway. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver ended up third ahead of teammate Kevin Harvick. He led three laps but never could get the momentum to pass Buescher or Brad Keselowski over the final lap and a half. The No. […]

Brad Keselowski Helps Teammate Over Himself On Saturday

Brad Keselowski could have ended his winless streak but instead gave a helping hand to Chris Buescher. Saturday night at Daytona was far more interesting than usual. Keselowski still finished second in his best performance of the season. The RFK Racing driver led six laps after starting in 12th (ironically right behind Buescher). Keselowski will […]