Circle Tracks

Hendrick Motorsports will put 2024 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series champion Justin Allgaier behind the wheel of the #48 Chevrolet for this weekend's race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Alex Bowman was forced out of the car mid-race at COTA with Myatt Snider finishing the event for him, and later in the week, he was diagnosed with vertigo. HMS sim driver Anthony Alfredo drove the car at Phoenix ...Keep readingView the full article

All told, the NASCAR and IndyCar Series combined event over the weekend at Phoenix Raceway was a television ratings victory for all involved. The Cup Series race on Sunday drew 1.841 million viewers on FS1. This is up from the 2.82 million that watched the same race in the same television window and network last year. The race peaked at 3,516,000 viewers during the 7:00-7:15 p.m. quarter hour ...Keep readingView the full article

Sunday's Cup race at Phoenix featured 12 cautions, matching a record for the series at the Arizona oval. The race featured plenty of drama, cut tires, blown rotors, and an impressive comeback from Ryan Blaney and the #12 Team Penske Ford. Reddick still leads the championship standings, even as his win streak comes to an end. Blaney is now second, 60 points adrift of the lead, with Bubba Wallace ...Keep readingView the full article

Ryan Blaney won the Straight Talk Wireless 500 at Phoenix Raceway but it was also a victory for the NASCAR industry at large. That was inarguably the best race in the five-year, nine-event history of the seventh-generation car at the one-mile track in Avondale, Arizona. Goodyear’s continued efforts combined with NASCAR’s first race using the 750-horsepower package with this car on an oval ...Keep readingView the full article

The fourth round of the 2026 NASCAR Cup season is complete in what many drivers are calling the start of the 'regular' season after two drafting tracks and a road course to open the year. Tyler Reddick, who entered this race with a 70-point lead in the championship standings, was attempting to become the first driver since Jimmie Johnson in 2007 to win four consecutive races at the Cup level ...Keep readingView the full article

On a restart with just under 100 laps to go, there were three strategies at the front of the field. The front row stayed out on old tires, the next two rows all took two fresh tires, while pole-sitter Joey Logano was the first driver with four fresh tires in seventh. Right in front of him was the #1 of Ross Chastain. As the race went back green and the field cut down into the dogleg, Logano ...Keep readingView the full article

Ryan Blaney had to fight through a lot of adversity to win Sunday's NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix Raceway, charging through the field after two loose wheels.  He held off a charging Christopher Bell with four fresh tires, who finished second after leading 176 of 312 laps. Kyle Larson finished third, Ty Gibbs fourth, and Denny Hamlin fifth.  Bubba Wallace, William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Michael ...Keep readingView the full article

After 12 cautions in a wreck-filled race, Ryan Blaney emerged victorious in the #12 Team Penske Ford. He had to overcome two loose wheels, and passed Ty Gibbs late in the race to secure his 18th career win and second consecutive at Phoenix. Christopher Bell led 176 of 312 laps, and finished second while Kyle Larson placed third. Tyler Reddick's quest for the four-peat ended with a solid ...Keep readingView the full article

The more things change the more they stay the same. NationwideXfinityO’Reilly Team Penske Turner ScottJR Motorsports Matt GimbelJason BurdettJim PohlmanAndrew Overstreet You get the idea: 29 wins across nearly two decades, three title sponsors and three teams means this is truly the Justin Allgaier era of NASCAR’s second tier division, not that he would ever look at it this ...Keep readingView the full article

In a race dominated by the sport's younger drivers, it was a 39-year-old veteran who emerged victorious Saturday night at Phoenix. This victory also vaulted Justin Allgaier into the championship lead as he seeks a second title as a NOAPS driver. "Just so proud of this team," said Allgaier. "Andrew [Overstreet, new crew chief for 2026] has done a great job taking over. He'd been telling me all ...Keep readingView the full article

While all cars passed inspection at the start of the Phoenix NASCAR Cup weekend, an issue has arisen involving the #38 Front Row Motorsports Ford, driven by Zane Smith. The team "was observed making an unapproved adjustment to the underbody during practice/pre-qualifying adjustments," a NASCAR statement released on Saturday evening read.  As a result, the car was inspected once again, and ...Keep readingView the full article

In support of the (below) argument in support of expedited fact discovery against Chris Gabehart and Spire Motorsports team owners Dan Towriss and Jeff Dickerson, Joe Gibbs Racing filed legal documents that revealed their hiring of a private investigator that followed them defendants after the Cup Series season had ended. Additionally, JGR filed exhibits in the form of declarations from team ...Keep readingView the full article

There was definitely a different feel for NASCAR Cup Series drivers to chase in their return to Phoenix Raceway four months after the 2025 championship race. By the end of the day, Joey Logano secured the pole for Team Penske, but only after a brief afternoon of practice in which there were several tire failures and spins that included the driver chasing four straight wins to open the 2026 ...Keep readingView the full article

Joey Logano and Kyle Larson will share the front row for the NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix as the 'real' season gets underway, following two drafting tracks and a road course to open the 2026 season. Logano lapped the Arizona oval in 26.561s, and the driver of the #22 Team Penske Ford beat Larson's #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet by 0.117s in an impressive lap. Austin Cindric will start ...Keep readingView the full article

Joe Gibbs Racing on Friday night outlined to the Western District of North Carolina its legal reasons for believing an expedited fact discovery against Chris Gabehart and Spire Motorsports are necessary. Typically, the discovery process begins after both parties participate in a Rule 26(f) conference, where all parties involved in litigation meet to discuss settlement options and negotiate the ...Keep readingView the full article

The general consensus is that it will take a top-three seed to contend for the NASCAR Cup Series championship come the start of the Chase for the Championship so is William Byron the least bit concerned with 13th through three races? Drivers talk about it. “Yeah, it’s funny. (Christopher) Bell and I were talking about this at driver intros last week,” said Byron during a Friday press ...Keep readingView the full article

This weekend isn’t about Anthony Alfredo but is instead about Alex Bowman, Blake Harris and whatever the Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 team needs in a substitute role at Phoenix Raceway. Like, Alfredo is not oblivious to the fact that a chance to fill-in for the ailing Alex Bowman is an opportunity to show up and show out in one of the best prepared cars in the NASCAR Cup Series but that would ...Keep readingView the full article

32-year-old Alex Bowman had to step out of the #48 Hendrick hevrolet in the middle of last weekend's NASCAR Cup race at Circuit of the Americas. The team lost five laps as Myatt Snider got behind the wheel. Over the past few days, Bowman was evaluated by medical professionals and has been diagnosed with vertigo. He will sit out the Phoenix race this weekend entirely, and has been replaced by ...Keep readingView the full article

Tyler Reddick leads the NASCAR Cup championship standings after winning three consecutive races to open the 2026 season in a feat never seen before in the history of the sport. And speaking of dominant showings, four-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou won the season-opener in St. Pete by over ten seconds. Now, the top level of stock car racing and open-wheel racing in the United States are ...Keep readingView the full article

As decided on Monday by Judge Susan C. Rodriguez of the Western District of North Carolina, Chris Gabehart will be permitted to continue working for Spire Motorsports but also under a limited restraining order regarding anything that overlapped with his previous duties at Joe Gibbs Racing. Gabehart and Spire have been sued by JGR for over $8 million in damages alleging a ‘brazen scheme’ to ...Keep readingView the full article

Garrett Mitchell, who is better known as YouTuber Cleetus McFarland, is set to make his NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts (NOAPS) debut at one of the trickiest ovals in the sport -- Rockingham. He will pilot the #33 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, a historic organization and the defending NOAPS driver champions via Jesse Love. RCR also has six Cup titles, all with the legendary Dale ...Keep readingView the full article

Last year, Christopher Bell became the first driver in the Next Gen era (2022 onward) to win three consecutive Cup races, with Tyler Reddick recently becoming the second. However, Reddick is now the only driver in the 78-year history of NASCAR to win the first three races of a new season, winning two drafting tracks and a road course. Since the modern era of NASCAR began in 1972, only eight ...Keep readingView the full article

The NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday at Circuit of the Americas drew 3.933 million viewers on over-the-air FOX. This number is down from the 4.132 million this same race earned last year but there are several broader television factors to consider when parsing the numbers. Due to the United States military action in Iran over the weekend, cable television networks saw a 93 percent ...Keep readingView the full article

After starting from the outside of the front row and winning Stage 1, Ross Chastain was in position to have a great day the Circuit of the Americas (COTA). Unfortunately, while in contention for a top ten following the final green-flag pit stop of the day, Chastain's car spun wildly on entry to what is Turn 19 on the full course layout, tearing through the gravel as the right-rear wheel ...Keep readingView the full article

By every definition, Derek Kneeland is a racer. He is a racer when he climbs the ladder each week to serve as spotter for Kyle Busch and Austin Hill at Richard Childress Racing. He is a racer when he gets behind the wheel of a Pro Late Model several times a year as his schedule permits. And to wit, the 36-year-old will be a racer on Saturday, March 28 when he makes his ARCA East debut at ...Keep readingView the full article