Circle Tracks

NASCAR is in a season of change. Some of it is the result of self-reflection and the changing tides of sport and entertainment, and some of it will eventually be the results of the lawsuit brought against the Sanctioning Body, but things are changing in the Cup Series and around it. That is a broad summary of the annual state of the sport press conference held every year before championship ...Keep readingView the full article

Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Larry Phillips will soon be enshrined into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. On Tuesday, members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame Voting Panel met for an in-person closed session at the Charlotte Convention Center to debate upon the 15 nominees. This Class of 2027 was determined by votes cast from the 50-member panel. The panel includes current living members of the Hall of ...Keep readingView the full article

Chastain became an instant Cup Series cult hero when he deliberately drove his car flat-out into the Martinsville wall at the final turns, to ‘video game’ his way to the transfer spot that he required to challenge for the title at Phoenix this Sunday. His wall-riding exploit has since gone viral on social media, as well as being played on news shows around the world. Marks, who founded ...Keep readingView the full article

Richard Bowman has been named NASCAR's first director of Artificial Intelligence.  "Excited to share that I’m now Director, AI at NASCAR," Bowman said in a Linkedin post. "Even in my relatively short time here, it has been clear that this is an organization willing to engage seriously with both the opportunities and responsibilities that come with AI. I’m grateful for the chance to help ...Keep readingView the full article

After years of Cup drivers ransacking the lower divisions for race wins and championships, NASCAR introduced a policy limiting Cup drivers to a maximum of five races in Xfinity and five in Trucks, while also forbidding drivers from racing for multiple championships. On Saturday, NASCAR revealed that they will actually double the number of races from five to ten for the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto ...Keep readingView the full article

Even before the NASCAR Cup Series began utilizing the single source supplied NextGen car, Chase Elliott was waving a red flag urging the community to consider the perils of spec racing. He said that passing in the previous generation car became an increasingly more challenging proposition because the tighter rule book kept teams in a tighter box. In short, the more cars are the same, the closer ...Keep readingView the full article

This week, NASCAR notified crew chiefs about the Sanctioning Body's updated rules for cleaning pit boxes during the race weekend. Previously, teams would use all manner of tactics and chemicals to ensure as much grip as possible in their assigned stall, looking for any possible advantage while aiming to prevent cars from sliding through their boxes. But as of March 12th, cleaning of pit box ...Keep readingView the full article

In real time, upon leaving the infield care center at Darlington Raceway on Friday night, Ben Rhodes wanted to find Tyler Ankrum after the NASCAR Truck Series race to express some displeasure with some fisticuffs but quickly thought better of it. “So, yeah, I would love to go get myself a penalty and fight right now, but that's $75,000, so we won't be doing that,” Rhodes said. “Yeah ...Keep readingView the full article

Yarborough was one of the best to ever get behind the wheel of a stock car. In 560 starts, he won 83 races and sits sixth on the all-time wins list. His many victories including four in the Daytona 500 and five in the Southern 500. Yarborough won his three Cup titles consecutively from 1976 to 1978. "Cale Yarborough was one of the toughest competitors NASCAR has ever seen," said Jim France ...Keep readingView the full article

After historic snow postponed the Clash at Bowman Gray several days into the week, NASCAR has enjoyed optimal weather for Speedweek at Daytona. However, there is a real threat of thunderstorms on Sunday, and it's all about when -- not if -- the bad weather will arrive. In a proactive move, NASCAR has moved up the start of the 68th running of the Daytona 500 a full hour to 1:30pm EST. The NASCAR ...Keep readingView the full article

NASCAR's decision to move Watkins Glen to the spring will not last, as the historic road course confirmed plans to move the Cup date to the fall in 2027.  WGI will be part of the Chase for the Championship, and unless there is a dramatic change to the schedule, it will likely be the only road course in the Chase. This year, there are no road courses in the ten-race Chase after the Charlotte ...Keep readingView the full article

On Lap 194 of the 300-lap NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway, the caution flew for an engine failure back in the pack. Mason Maggio was limping his car around the apron in the No. 91 DGM Racing Chevrolet, white smoke billowing from underneath. He quickly turned behind the pit wall and came to a stop in the garage. Just as he did that, flames erupted from ...Keep readingView the full article

In qualifying ahead of Saturday's NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Rockingham, Corey Day put the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on pole with a 27.717s lap. He will share the front row with reigning series champion Jesse Love in the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, who fell 0.064s short of the top spot. "I felt really good," said Day. "We got a really good car, so thanks ...Keep readingView the full article

Brad Moran, NASCAR’s managing director for the Cup Series, detailed the thought process behind race control not calling for a caution for a crash involving Cody Ware that left a significant dent in the Turn 7 railing. Ware was able to keep the car under power, drove down pit road, and attempted repairs but the Rick Ware Racing No. 51 ultimately chose to park it afterwards. This became a ...Keep readingView the full article

It wasn't the loudest point of contention, but some in the NASCAR community did try to suggest after the Advent Health 400 on Sunday that race control should not have thrown the caution for a Cody Ware spin that set-up overtime and figuratively turning the race upside down. Denny Hamlin was the leader at the time, having led the most laps and just retaken the lead from eventual winner Tyler ...Keep readingView the full article

It appeared over the weekend that NASCAR implemented a new policy that made an extra effort to not reasonably throw a caution on the final lap of a superspeedway race. It appeared that way because NASCAR evenly applied that stance in both the Truck and Cup race across two different race directors. But also, throughout the weekend, solo car spins without any additional contact that unevenly drew ...Keep readingView the full article

NASCAR on Prime Video is back! As the Cup Series heads to streaming for the next five weeks, the popular trackside coverage that featured lengthy post-race shows is back. Alongside Danielle Trotta and Corey LaJoie, who will be there every week, the panel will have a rotating cast of NASCAR legends for each of the five races the streaming platform will broadcast. NASCAR Hall of Famer Carl ...Keep readingView the full article

NASCAR has taken action against Ryan Preece following the incident between him and Ty Gibbs on Sunday in the Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. Preece, the driver of the No. 60 RFK Racing Ford, was issued a $50,000 fine and the deduction of 25 driver points under Sections 4.3 and 4.4.A in the NASCAR Rule Book, which detail ‘wrecking or spinning another vehicle, whether or not that ...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

The entire Cookout Clash at Bowman Gray will take place on Monday, February 2nd as the track is currently being hammered with a winter storm that is dropping several inches of snow. While Sunday is set to be clear, temperatures will remain below freezing and a wind chill that could be in the single-digits. As a result, NASCAR officials have rescheduled the event for Monday. On that day, the ...Keep readingView the full article

NASCAR's pre-season exhibition race known as 'The Clash' continues to face a major obstacle in the form of winter weather. As crews clear the track and surrounding area of snow and ice, another system is set to move into the area just in time for the race weekend. The storm is expected to dump four to eight inches of snow and will cause temperatures to plunge into the low 20s with a feel like ...Keep readingView the full article

NASCAR now has a five-year sample size of data that concluded there is no doubt a better way to do superspeedway racing using the NextGen car but it needs to determine a pathway of getting there. In the short term, the Sanctioning Body is adjusting stage lengths to combat fuel saving strategies used by teams since the debut of this car, but it will also target regulation changes during a winter ...Keep readingView the full article

Carson Kvapil started Saturday's NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts from pole position, but his day ended just three laps into the event. The wreck was something you'd expect to see at a superspeedway, not a 1.5-mile intermediate track... Driving the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, Kvapil was running second and battling three-wide with JRM teammates Justin Allgaier and William Byron. Byron was to ...Keep readingView the full article

Blaney finished sixth and scored eight stage points in a race narrowly won by Kyle Larson from Christopher Bell, but the Team Penske driver was later disqualified when his #12 Ford Mustang failed post-race inspection. The reason behind the initial disqualification was for violating NASCAR Rule Book section 14.11.3.5, which lists the minimum extended damper lengths for each shock. The sole ...Keep readingView the full article

NASCAR has released a full list of owner points transfers ahead of the 2026 season for the three national divisions.  Below you can find a complete list of of every 2025 team, where they were ranked, and which team will have those points for the start of the new year. New car numbers starting with zero points are also listed below the table.  Owner points are critical in deciding ...Keep readingView the full article