Circle Tracks

NASCAR's championship format has just undergone its latest change, but it's far from the first time the Sanctioning Body has tweaked the way it crowns a champion. At some point, stock car racing was awarding points based on prize money, race lengths, or even laps completed. In the modern age, the Chase or the playoffs have existed in some form since 2004, breaking the season up into parts and ...Keep readingView the full article

For the first time ever, the NASCAR Cup Series got to experience a full episode of The Ryan Preece Show because Wednesday night in the Cookout Clash was exactly that. It was also the unedited, unfiltered ‘fuck yeah’ version of the show, too. This was Preece Lightning, the 2013 Whelen Modified Tour champion, and a racer who was the man to beat every time he unloaded across the eastern ...Keep readingView the full article

NASCAR has a new championship format for 2026, and the overwhelming reaction has been positive. But what exactly has changed with this latest iteration and why is it such a good thing? Let's take a look: Looking over the format, it is much better in regards to rewarding the best driver during each particular season. The eliminations and multiple rounds/resets are completely gone, replaced by a ...Keep readingView the full article

Sam Mayer started Saturday's NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race from pole position, but fell back after a flat tire forced him onto pit road. He rallied back to finish seventh with a fairly clean car, but it didn't stay that way. Mayer's Haas teammate Sheldon Creed was victorious for the very first time in his 138th career start, and so he decided to go and congratulate him.  After ...Keep readingView the full article

Rockingham Speedway has a new owner, again. This time, it's the IHRA that has stepped in to acquire 'The Rock' with plans to preserving the once-abandoned facility.  The IHRA is bankrolled by owner Darryl H. Cuttel, who also owns the Ohio-based Darana Hybrid electrical-mechanical contractor, which does work for Elon Musk companies such as xAI, Tesla, and SpaceX. Over the past year, Cuttel ...Keep readingView the full article

Kyle Larson is ready to go back to Daytona for the Rolex 24 Hours.  The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion has three starts in IMSA’s season-opening crown jewel event, but none since 2016. He took overall victory with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2015, co-driving with Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, and Jamie McMurray.  On a recently-released episode of Dinner with Racers, a podcast co-hosted by ...Keep readingView the full article

There has been a constant theme over the past week as it pertains to the testimony of senior NASCAR officials under examination from 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports lead attorney Jeffrey Kessler. The official is asked a series of specific questions about their knowledge of something that should fall under their authority. The official then deflects with a ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I ...Keep readingView the full article

On the whole, the 2025 NASCAR season was a memorable one for a lot of reasons. There was pretty good competition on the big tracks during the summer months, continued progress on short tracks with the fourth year NextGen and the culmination of a 15-month legal process that made it all the way to trial. Kyle Larson emerged the champion for the second time in his career, while the entire ...Keep readingView the full article

Legacy Motor Club has made some personnel changes ahead of the 2026 NASCAR Cup season. They have named Justin Alexander as the new crew chief for Erik Jones and the No. 43 LMC Toyota Camry XSE, replacing Ben Beshore in the role. Alexander has plenty of experience atop the pit box, winning five races with Austin Dillon at Richard Childress Racing, including the 2017 Coca Cola 600 and the 2018 ...Keep readingView the full article

NASCAR legend Greg Biffle, his wife Cristina, their son Ryder and his daughter Emma were among seven killed in a tragic plane crash on December 18th in Statesville, North Carolina. Dennis Dutton, son Jack Dutton, and Craig Wadsworth were also killed in the the accident, which remains under investigation from the NTSB. Weeks later, WCNC Charlotte and other local outlets report that the ...Keep readingView the full article

In a field of 18 desperate drivers, only the top two finishers + the points provisional (Alex Bowman) were going to transfer from the last-chance-qualifier (LCQ) into the main event. Bowman was happy to take the points provisional on offer to him (as the highest driver from the 2025 championship not yet locked in) instead of racing for it and risking his car, so the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports ...Keep readingView the full article

Defending NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series champion Jesse Love was taking part in the Chili Bowl Nationals this past week, and he was impressive in a car prepared by Hendrick Motorsports Cup Series crew chief Blake Harris. On Friday night, he started 17th and drove all the way  up to fourth at one point. After passing 10+ cars, he ultimately finished sixth in the A-Main prelim. However ...Keep readingView the full article

The next Cup Series star in the making is already waiting in the wings, and in stock car racing, the final two steps before the big show on Sunday are the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series (NOAPS) and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) Last year, we named Connor Zilisch as our No. 1 prospect, and it should surprise no one that he went on to dominate the season as an Xfinity Series driver ...Keep readingView the full article

19-year-old Connor Zilisch will be racing at Daytona next year a few weeks before his Daytona 500 debut. The Trackhouse star will take part in the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona for the third time in his young career, Zilisch will drive the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R as a co-drier to Jack Aitken, Earl Bamber, and Frederik Vesti. The teenager won in his very first Rolex 24 ...Keep readingView the full article

After eight days of a bitter trial, NASCAR leadership finally settled and the lawsuit filed by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports was settled. It was a highly contentious legal battle, and several eyebrow-raising comments were unsealed as a result of it. The result of the settlement will grant better terms for the race teams, and will lead to the introduction of permanent ...Keep readingView the full article

The home of Dennis Hamlin and Mary Lou Hamlin -- the parents of NASCAR Cup Series veteran driver Denny Hamlin -- caught fire on Sunday night. According to a report from WCNC in Charlotte, two people were hospitalized. Gaston County officials have not released the names of the occupants but Lucia-Riverbend Fire Department Chief David Toomey told the station that the Hamlins were residents and ...Keep readingView the full article

Garrett Mitchell, a popular YouTuber more commonly referred to as Cleetus McFarland, had only known Greg Biffle for about 1.5 years, but they had quickly become close friends, and they were planning to spend the day together when the fatal plane crash occurred.  Biffle, his wife Cristinia, their son Ryder, and his son Emma were among seven killed in a tragic plane crash last week. The accident ...Keep readingView the full article

YouTuber Cleetus McFarland, aka Garett Mitchell, is showing just how serious he is about the dream to compete in NASCAR’s Daytona 500 one day. Carrying on despite the tragic death of his mentor and NASCAR legend Greg Biffle, Mitchell now plans to run double duty at Daytona. Along with running the ARCA Menard’s Series season-opener at Daytona, he also plans to make his NASCAR Craftsman Truck ...Keep readingView the full article

ThorSport has signed Cole Butcher to be the new full-time driver of the No. 13 Ford F-150 for the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season. The 29-year-old is a native of Nova Scotia, Canada, and is a standout in the late model tour. “I’m incredibly grateful to Duke, Rhonda, and Allison Thorson for giving me this opportunity in 2026,” said Butcher. “This team has a long history of ...Keep readingView the full article

Three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart is back, at least for one race at the national level of NASCAR. Stewart, who is now 54 years old but still actively racing, will pilot the 'free agent' truck for Kaulig Racing and Ram in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season-opener at Daytona International Speedway. 'Smoke' hasn't started a NASCAR race since retiring from the Cup Series at ...Keep readingView the full article

In a late move coming just weeks before the start of the 2026 season, NASCAR and Charlotte Motor Speedway have decided to take the Charlotte Roval off the calendar, replacing the sixth race of The Chase with a traditional oval race. Marcus Smith, president of Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI), confirmed the news first reported by The Athletic in an appearance on the Dale Jr. Download. He joined ...Keep readingView the full article

After shaking down their cars in practice and cleaning up some ‘weepers’ of water caused by melting snow, qualifying got underway for the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray. In this format, the 20 fastest drivers advance directly into the main event, while positions 21-38 will transfer to the last-chance qualifier. Only the top two finishers from the LCQ will get to take part in the pre-season ...Keep readingView the full article

Garett Mitchell, better known as the popular YouTuber Cleetus McFarland, began his stock car racing career last year in the ARCA Menard's Series. He did so under the guidance of NASCAR legend Greg Biffle, who became close friends with Mitchell over the past 1.5 years. However, Biffle was among seven who lost their lives in December plane crash in Statesville, North Carolina. They were planning ...Keep readingView the full article

Scott Woodruff doesn’t have a title at the nascent International Hot Rod Association but if you have to call him something, ‘Woody’ probably wouldn’t balk at ‘director of fun’ because that is generally the mandate Darryl Cuttell has provided him. For over two decades, he was the brand and media manager at JEGS Performance, just as a point of reference. However, he preferred the ...Keep readingView the full article

In hindsight, the Cookout Clash could have been run on Tuesday but when the decision was made on Sunday to run the preseason exhibition on Wednesday, there were so many variables for numerous decision-makers to sort through. It’s objectively true that the snowstorm that passed through North Carolina was one of the five most impactful in the history of the state. In Winston-Salem, where the ...Keep readingView the full article