20 hours agoStewart-Haas Racing is exiting NASCAR. In a joint statement on Tuesday from co-owners, Tony Stewart and Gene Haas, the duo stated, "The commitment needed to extract maximum performance while providing sustainability is incredibly demanding, and we've reached a point in our respective personal and business lives where it's time to pass the torch." This definitely heats up NASCAR's Silly Season, as Stewart-Haas Racing currently has four full-time drivers in the Cup Series (Chase Briscoe, Josh Berry, Noah Gragson, and Ryan Preece) that will be searching for a ride for next season. As far as SHR's charters go, it is rumored that 23XI Racing, Trackhouse Racing, and Front Row Motorsports will all obtain one of them, with the fourth's landing spot currently unclear.Source: Stewart-Haas Racing
2 days agoChristopher Bell was declared the 2024 Coca-Cola 600 race winner on Sunday evening at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but fans weren't too happy about it. NASCAR decided to call the race because of rain after just 249 of the scheduled 400 laps were ran. Fans were not pleased with that decision, and took it out on Christopher Bell, as boos were heard all around when Bell was announced as the winner. Still, though, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver is still the official winner of the race, his second victory of the 2024 season.Source: Bob Pockrass
2 days agoBrad Keselowski finished second in this year's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, which was impressive considering he qualified back in 30th for it. Additionally, the race was shortened because of rain, with only 249 of the 400 scheduled laps being ran. When speaking to the media after the race, Keselowski stated, "I felt like we had a car to win the race. We kind of ran down the [eventual race winner Christopher Bell's] No. 20 car twice, and just didn't get to see it play out." With his runner-up result at Charlotte, Keselowski has now finished first or second in four of the last six races. Source: Bob Pockrass
2 days agoAfter his team made an unapproved adjustment after pre-qualifying inspection, Tyler Reddick was forced to start last and make a drive-through penalty at the start of Sunday night's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He came out of the pits directly in front of Ty Gibbs and was able to stay in front of him longer than many people expected, but he eventually fell a lap down before taking a wave-around just before the conclusion of Stage 1. Reddick eventually salvaged a fourth-place finish, and in general, he seems to have mostly overcome his Achilles' heel of inconsistency in previous seasons, as he has never been as consistent as he has been this year. Reddick's teammate, Bubba Wallace, outran him for most of the race because of where Reddick started, but Reddick did have a pass differential of 38, the third-best in the race. He remains one of the best passers this season.Source: Racing Reference
2 days agoIn his second season, Ty Gibbs remains very fast, as he ranks fifth in Cup Series speed with a speed percentile of 71.96, and he backed that up at Charlotte with his first-ever pole and his second-fastest lap this year. However, he ultimately finished sixth, both in the race and in his speed ranking. Although Gibbs already has consistent speed, he doesn't seem to be good at holding the lead for an entire run, which is why he'll probably take longer to win his first race than most fans expect. Sunday night's race is a case in point. Despite winning the pole, he lost the lead on the track (twice to William Byron and once to Ross Chastain) three times without making any passes for the lead. Gibbs will likely be a prolific winner, but he will likely need to take another step up in to reach that point.Source: Racing Reference
2 days agoDespite all of William Byron's recent strengths, one of his weaknesses has been passing on long runs. Although he is usually electrifying on short runs, particularly late in races, he often struggled to dominate entire stints last year, and in 2023's Coca-Cola 600, he had a dismal 2-7 lead change record as he kept retaking the lead in the pits due to having the first pit stall before losing it on track (usually to Ryan Blaney). However, this year, Byron leads the Cup Series with an overall 10-5 lead change record and he was 4-2 in this weekend's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, as he passed Ty Gibbs twice en route to winning Stage 1, then passed Chase Elliott and swapped the lead with Christopher Bell twice before ultimately losing to Bell in the end. Despite fading to third, it's very promising that Byron has turned one of his weaknesses from last year into a strength.Source: Racing Reference
2 days agoAfter the rain delay at Indianapolis meant Kyle Larson couldn't make the start of the Coca-Cola 600, Justin Allgaier got the opportunity of a lifetime to drive Larson's No. 5 Chevrolet, only the second time the prolific Xfinity Series winner drove a competitive NASCAR Cup Series car. In his only other Hendrick start at the 2020 Brickyard 400, Allgaier was taken out in an unavoidable pileup on his first pit stop, so he was unable to show what he could do for an entire race. Since the 600 ended before Larson could take over the No. 5 car, Allgaier ran the complete distance and drove from the back to 13th, but was outrun by the other Hendrick cars all day and only ranked 26th in speed. It was a decent run, but not one that suggests that Allgaier would be significantly competitive in the Cup Series.Source: Racing Reference
2 days agoOn Sunday night, Chase Elliott finished seventh in the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Sunday's race marked the sixth top-10 finish in the last eight races for the second-generation Cup star, which ties him for the most over this span in the Cup Series. While we will never know what could have been given that the race ended with 151 laps remaining, it did not look as if the No. 9 had enough speed to rival Christopher Bell, who led a race-high 90 laps. Although you can never count a driver the caliber of Chase Elliott out, given that he led just two of the 249 laps that were completed and that he only managed to record four fastest laps on the night, it seems unlikely that he was going to do enough to return value on his $9,300 DraftKings salary even if the race would have been run in full. Up next for the Chase Elliott and the entire Cup Series is a trip to World Wide Technology Raceway (Gateway) for Sunday's Enjoy Illinois 300. Source: Jayski.com
2 days agoAlex Bowman finished ninth in Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Overall, Sunday was a solid outing for the Hendrick Motorsports star as he recorded seven fastest laps, spent 96% of the race in the top 15, and earned his ninth top-10 finish of the season. Unfortunatelyread more...
2 days agoJosh Berry figured prominently into the first two stages at Charlotte. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver even taking five stage points along the way. The No. 4 Ford car even led seven laps of the 249. However, as the laps ticked down during the third stage (which became the final), Berry began to start to lose track position. He was down to tenth before the rain and storms came. Thankfully, the race never continued and Berry was able to secure his second Top 10 result of 2024. It was his second race where he accumulated 30 or more points as Berry starts to gain momentum. Source: NASCAR.com
2 days agoDenny Hamlin may have not led a lap on Sunday. However, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver was fast enough to squeeze out a fifth-place result. The rain and thunderstorms put a damper on the race. Ultimately, NASCAR called the Coca-Cola 600 at 249 laps. Hamlin qualified 11th but had one of the faster times in early qualifying. Also, the No. 11 car racked up seven stage points from Stage 2. Gateway could be another good track for Hamlin who finished second there in 2023 after starting third. Source: NASCAR.com
3 days agoThe Indianapolis 500 is currently under rain delay, but it looks likely that the race will get started around 4:30 pm ET. It has been announced that NASCAR Cup Series star, Kyle Larson, will be staying in Indianapolis to run the Indianapolis 500 and will likely miss the start of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Justin Allgaier has been on standby to fill in just in case this scenario happened. Do not pick Kyle Larson in DFS this weekend, as he will not earn any points for the race if he does not start it.Source: Dustin Long
3 days agoWilliam Byron should be a contender in this weekend's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Hendrick Motorsports driver looked very fast in practice here on Saturday before spinning out, and he didn't get any damage when he wrecked so that's a good thing. Byron also went on to qualify second, so he has a great starting position to work with. As far as DFS potential goes, Byron is a legitimate contender for the win and is also a strong candidate to lead a bunch of laps on Sunday evening. At just $10,000 on DraftKings, he looks to be one of the value plays on the slate when it comes to the high-priced drivers. Be sure not to overlook William Byron in Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 race.Source: ifantasyrace
3 days agoWe're 13 races into the 2024 season and Martin Truex Jr is still winless despite being one of the fastest cars all year long. Will that change this weekend at Charlotte? Nighttime is when Truex tends to be the fastest, and the ending of this weekend's Coca-Cola 600 race will be at night. Truex qualified fourth for the big race so he definitely has a competitive advantage heading in. As far as DraftKings potential goes, Truex is moderately priced this weekend at just $9,500 and has good dominator upside. If he leads a good chunk of laps and finishes where he should (top five), he's definitely going to be worth the DFS price tag. In this Next Gen car, Truex has the third-best average running position of all drivers at Charlotte, Kansas, and Las Vegas.Source: Win The Race
3 days agoDenny Hamlin should be a contender for the win at Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has been the fastest on the 1.5-mile intermediates this season, walking away with an eighth-place finish at Las Vegas and a fifth-place finish at Kansas. At Charlotte specifically, Hamlin won from the pole here back in 2022 and was a legitimate top-five contender last season before his run-in with Chase Elliott, relegating Hamlin to a 35th-place finish. Most sportsbooks have Hamlin firmly as the second-favorite behind Kyle Larson heading into the Coca-Cola 600 race. In DraftKings, Denny is priced at $10,700 and is projected to be one of the highest-scoring drivers on the slate. Make sure you have a good dose of Hamlin exposure on Sunday, as his 11th-place starting spot offers Place Differential upside.Source: ifantasyrace