Martin Truex Jr. On Outside Looking In After Homestead

Martin Truex Jr. did not have the greatest car on Sunday afternoon. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver saw his Championship Four chances take a major hit. This was right after Denny Hamlin hit the wall on the first turn. Truex Jr. reported that it felt like his engine was blowing up. Sure enough, after 237... Read More

Ryan Newman Could Lag Behind Once Again On Sunday

Ryan Newman will begin Sunday's race in Homestead from the 34th position. Newman did have a seventh for Roush in February of 2021. However, that feels like a lifetime ago. Newman, now in the Rick Ware Racing Ford, was slow in practice. Not only was he 1.051 seconds slower than the fastest time, Newman also... Read More

Ty Dillon Rough Year Continues With 33rd At Saturday Qualifying

Ty Dillon has not qualified well at Homestead but even the 33rd on Saturday was a little surprising. This is only because the Spire Motorsports driver will start 13 positions below teammate Corey LaJoie. The No. 77 Chevy has lacked speed throughout the turns and the accelerations into the straightaways have been even worse. While... Read More

Ryan Preece Begins 29th For 4EVER 400 On Sunday

Ryan Preece ended up well back in qualifying on Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver was one spot (29th) ahead of teammate Aric Almirola. Preece mentioned the loss of speed later in runs and that was evident. His overall practice time was 34.151 seconds which was 34th. Even his 25 and 30-lap averages... Read More

Austin Cindric Drops To 26th In Qualifying on Saturday

Austin Cindric had the fourth overall best practice time on Saturday. However, it was a different story for the Team Penske driver when it came to qualifying. Cindric and his No. 2 Ford ended up 26th. That bodes poorly for his fortunes on Sunday. Also, he started 26th last year as well in the Ford.... Read More

Michael McDowell Starts 17th At Homestead On Sunday

Michael McDowell and his Front Row Motorsports car will begin the 4EVER 400 17th on Sunday afternoon. While McDowell will not be able to hang around the contenders, he should hang around his qualifying position. His 12.3 average finish is sandwiched by 16th and 15th place results during the Fall races on the 1.5-mile track.... Read More

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Consistent At Homestead-Miami

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has finished between 13th and 20th three straight years. He starts 23rd this time around for the 4EVER 400 on Sunday afternoon. The JTG Daugherty Racing driver has an average finish of 16.0 with an average start of 20.3. He never has been close enough to lead a lap and the chances... Read More

Brad Keselowski Begins Fourth At Homestead Sunday Afternoon

Track conditions held nicely as Brad Keselowski will start fourth from Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday afternoon. Keselowski and the RFK Racing team did start to lose speed late in practice. Again tenths of a second do not seem like much but late afternoon conditions on the 1.5-mile track figure to be different than Saturday morning.... Read More

Ross Chastain Not Quite As Fast As Expected For Sunday

Ross Chastain still managed to qualify eighth for the 4EVER 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Trackhouse Racing driver was still more than 0.3 seconds slower than Martin Truex Jr. However, the No. 1 car does have a solid 9.5 average finish on the track in two races. He does have a win on intermediate tracks... Read More

Kyle Larson Starts Fifth At Homestead On Sunday

Kyle Larson has zero pressure on him. The Hendrick Motorsports Racing driver won last week at Las Vegas. However, do not expect the No. 5 car to go easy right away. This is one of his best tracks. Larson has led 38.2% of the laps over the past three years. Yes, he has only raced... Read More

Martin Truex Jr. Takes Pole For 4EVER 400

Martin Truex Jr. turned in the fastest lap when it counted on Saturday. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver clocked in at 32.256 seconds which was 0.057 seconds faster than Bubba Wallace. Truex Jr. is only two points above the playoff cutline with teammate Christopher Bell right behind him. Naturally, conditions in the middle of the... Read More

Christopher Bell Nearly Wins At Las Vegas

Christopher Bell was a mere 0.082 seconds from winning at Las Vegas on Sunday afternoon. He had the second best car on the day and nearly got by Kyle Larson on the final lap. One of the more interesting wrinkles with the Joe Gibbs Racing driver is that he has potential at Homestead. However, Martinsville... Read More

Martin Truex Jr. Now On The Playoff Bubble

Martin Truex Jr. enjoyed his best result since the back-to-back road course races. His eighth-place result at Las Vegas keeps him on the right side of the playoff bubble. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver now holds a slim three point lead over teammate Christopher Bell for a spot in the Championship Four. The good news... Read More

Austin Cindric Has Much Work To Do Sunday At Vegas

Austin Cindric enjoyed a somewhat charmed life at Las Vegas. His first three races saw him qualify in the top ten each time. His sixth-place finish in March seems like a lifetime ago. However, he was running in the top ten late last October before disaster struck. Ultimately, the Team Penske Ford dropped all the... Read More

Michael McDowell Square In The Middle For Las Vegas

Michael McDowell begins the South Point 400 from the 18th position on Sunday afternoon. There is only one problem with the Front Row Motorsports driver. McDowell has never finished above 17th on the 1.5-mile intermediate track. Michigan and Kansas have seen McDowell finish outside the top 20 three times in a row. Place differential is... Read More

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Expected To Have Long Sunday

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Las Vegas have come up snake eyes the last several times. The JTG Daugherty Racing driver has finished 20th or worse in the previous three races. Now, there will be some temptation with him starting 30th for DFS purposes. However, the chances he finishes in the top 20 are about 15%.... Read More

Ryan Preece Did Not Enjoy Qualifying At Las Vegas Saturday

Ryan Preece could never get his Stewart-Haas Racing car going on Saturday afternoon. His practice times were slow enough. Worse, he qualified 32nd for the South Point 400 on Sunday afternoon. Ford cars have lost speed typically later in runs, especially the Stewart-Haas cars. When he was a full second off Christopher Bell's time, that... Read More

Austin Dillon Runs Solid Mostly At Las Vegas

If one throws out a few outliers, Austin Dillon runs pretty well at Las Vegas. He has finished in the top 15 eight of the past 11 races on the 1.5-mile intermediate track. The Richard Childress Racing driver does not typically contend. He has only led 12 laps during his entire career on the course.... Read More

Chase Briscoe Begins In Middle Of The Pack Sunday

Chase Briscoe qualified in 17th for the South Point 400 on Sunday afternoon. Briscoe has had a rough 2023 to say the least. His Ford has not led a lap in five appearances at Las Vegas. Worse, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver has seen his car lose more and more speed in longer runs. His practice... Read More

Brennan Poole Endures Rough Saturday At Las Vegas

Brennan Poole did not have the best of time at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday. Driving for Rick Ware Racing, Poole ended up only 34th in qualifying. He was the slowest among all cars that did not end up at the back. Poole wound up 1.712 seconds off the best lap set by Christopher... Read More

Aric Almirola Starts 13th On Sunday At Las Vegas

Aric Almirola had a solid qualifying effort on Saturday at Las Vegas. He starts 13th on Sunday. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver does have five top-2o finishes in his past six appearances on the intermediate track. Starting 13th hurts his place differential potential as most of the Ford cars have faded later in runs. That is... Read More

Kyle Busch Starts Sixth At Las Vegas

Kyle Busch keeps on running well at Las Vegas even at Richard Childress Racing. Busch will start sixth on Sunday afternoon. Even though he has been eliminated from the NASCAR playoffs, the No. 6 Chevy does have four top-five results in his past seven appearances on the 1.5-mile intermediate track. His 6.9 average finish is... Read More

Christopher Bell Nets Another Pole For Sunday

Christopher Bell has been running very fast and on Saturday, he secured his seventh pole of the 2023 season. Six of those have come in the second half for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver. Now, the only win Bell has on the season is at Bristol Dirt. However, the team itself runs better than any... Read More

Martin Truex Jr. Enjoys Good Qualifying Run Saturday

Martin Truex Jr. has survived an interesting two legs of the NASCAR playoffs. He finds himself fortunate to be in the Round Of 8. However, on Saturday, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver qualified fourth for the South Point 400. Truex Jr. is the only active driver with six top ten results in his last seven... Read More

Harrison Burton Starts 31st at Charlotte For Sunday

Harrison Burton's awful second half continued in qualifying on Saturday as he qualified 31st for the Charlotte ROVAL. Burton had one top-ten finish in the second half (8th at Pocono). However, his other finishes have all been outside the top 15. Indianapolis and Watkins Glen showed marginal place differential of +3 and -1 respectively. For... Read More

Ryan Preece Begins 18th At Charlotte

Ryan Preece has had a bumpy second half of the 2023 season to say the least. However, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver managed to qualify 18th at Charlotte for Sunday afternoon. That matches his 2020 qualifying effort. Speed has been a huge struggle for every Ford this season but Preece has still enjoyed a career-best season... Read More

Todd Gilliland Still Near Back For Sunday At Charlotte

Todd Gilliland got in another car on Saturday and wound up near the back for the Charlotte ROVAL anyway. Gilliland, driving for Rick Ware Racing, ended up 32nd. That was better than Andy Lally's 35th. However, the No. 51 car was almost as slow and still more than 1.1 seconds off the pole-setting time of... Read More

Erik Jones Has Place Differential Potential For Sunday

Erik Jones typically starts around 19th on the Charlotte ROVAL. Not surprisingly, the Legacy Motor Club driver qualified 23rd on Saturday. Jones usually builds up speed and momentum as the race moves along. That 59-lap longer run should be where he makes his move. The No. 43 Chevy has been pretty strong with an average... Read More

Austin Dillon Qualifies 15th For Charlotte On Sunday

Austin Dillon did not have a bad qualifying lap at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He ended up 15th, which was 0.397 seconds behind Tyler Reddick's best time. Dillon and his Richard Childress Racing Chevy have not had a good 2023. Since 2018, he has seemingly been up and down when it comes to results. His average... Read More

Chase Elliott Has Some Work To Do At Charlotte

Normally, an eighth-place qualifying effort would be cause for celebration, but not for Chase Elliott. The Hendrick Motorsports Racing driver wanted the pole. However, the No. 9 car did not have the closing speed on the oval portion Saturday at Charlotte. Elliott won the 2019 and 2020 editions of this race in dominating fashion. Last... Read More