Circle Tracks

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

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

The return of The Chase for the Championship has immediately been pitched to NASCAR fans as a return to civility. This of course doesn’t mean a loss of intensity or consequence but those who were part of the announcement on Monday at NASCAR Productions believe that points racing will result in a product that is a little more professional. And in the process, everyone involved ultimately ...Keep readingView the full article

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

Starting in 2026, NASCAR will revert to a variation of the Chase for the Championship format it used to crown its champions from 2004-to-2013. In other words, no more win and you’re in and no more multiple elimination rounds. Most importantly, the sample size to determine the champion is no longer a single race but a 10-race points race. However, unlike NASCAR’s first version of a ...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

Ram is returning to the NASCAR Truck Series for the first time in over a decade this year, partnering with Kaulig Racing to form a five-truck effort for the 2026 season. The ambitious plan will include Brenden Queen, Justin Haley, and Daniel Dye as full-time drivers going for the title. It will also feature an all-star truck described as the 'free agent program' with various different drivers ...Keep readingView the full article

On Friday, Front Row Motorsports announced some personnel changes to its organization. Of note, Noah Gragson and the No. 4 team will have a new crew chief this year. Grant Hutchens will sit atop the pit box for Gragson this year, replacing Drew Blickensderfer, who moves into the role of Competition Director. Hutchens has worked as a Cup crew chief before, but only in a handful of races between ...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

While Brad Keselowski continues his recovery, he will opt out of the pre-season exhibition race at Bowman Gray Stadium. Keselowski suffered a broken leg while skiing with his family on December 18th, and underwent successful surgery soon after. The 68th running of the Daytona 500 follows takes place on February 15th, but The Clash is a full two weeks earlier. While the 41-year-old ...Keep readingView the full article

Seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson will drive the No. 1 Toyota Tundra for Tricon Garage when NASCAR heads to Naval Base Coronado for a unique street race in San Diego, California.  Johnson, a California native, will also be attempting doubly duty that weekend as he plans to run the NASCAR Cup Series race as well. Carvana will sponsor both efforts. While Johnson has over 700 ...Keep readingView the full article

Taking advantage of the Open Exemption Provisional, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson will have a guaranteed spot in the 68th running of the Daytona 500. The Open Exemption Provisional, which was created one year ago, can be utilized by a non-chartered team with a world-class driver to ensure them spot on the grid for any race where the field eclipses the maximum number of ...Keep readingView the full article

Over the course of three years and 71 races together, Corey Heim and Scott Zipadelli amassed 21 wins and 45 top-5s with three final four appearances and the 2025 Truck Series championship. It’s objectively a hard act to follow but Kaden Honeycutt isn’t allowing the pressure to exceed the privilege and intends to just put in the work in pursuit of the same results. “From my end, I think ...Keep readingView the full article

Last month, NASCAR legend Greg Biffle was among seven killed in a tragic plane crash in Statesville, North Carolina. The veteran driver spent the majority of his career with RFK Racing, which took it upon themselves to honor Biffle with a new display at their team museum, which is open to the public. It includes the car Biffle won his 19th and final Cup race with at Michigan in 2013, which was ...Keep readingView the full article

Longtime NASCAR executive, and formerly Daytona International Speedway president, Chip Wile is taking over as Drivers’ Advisory Council executive director. Wile assumes the position previously held by Cup Series veteran Jeff Burton, who is remaining with the group as an advisor.  From the press release announcing the organizational structure for 2026, ‘the move is part of a broader effort ...Keep readingView the full article

Steve Phelps became NASCAR's first Commissioner in March of 2025 after previously working as the president of NASCAR since 2018. However, he will leave that position at the end of January, and NASCAR does not plan to replace the role of Commissioner for the time being. Instead, his duties will be shared by other existing executives. As for why there won't be someone else appointed to the role ...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

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

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

Denny Hamlin's father, Dennis Hamlin, has died after injuries sustained in a house fire in Stanley, North Carolina, on Sunday. Hamlin's mother, Mary Lou, 69, is currently being treated at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Burn Center and is listed in critical condition. The fire's cause is still under investigation. Still reeling from a tragic December 18th plane crash that claimed the life ...Keep readingView the full article

Kohr Motorsports will have a special paint scheme on its No. 60 Ford Mustang GT4 in the 2026 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season-opener at the Daytona Road Course. Biffle, who was named one of NASCAR's 75 greatest drivers and a winner of 56 races across all three national divisions of the sport, was tragically killed in a plane crash in Statesville, North Carolina, earlier this month. He was ...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

On Thursday of last week, 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion and RFK Racing co-owner Brad Keselowski suffered a broken leg while on a skiing trip with his family. Keselowski underwent successful surgery and after a few days in the hospital, he has been released. He promised to "work relentlessly" in order to be ready to compete at the highest level of stock car racing in 2026. "Rolling out of ...Keep readingView the full article

Dr. Patrick Staropoli, who works as a  retina surgeon, is continuing his journey into the stock car racing world. In 2026, he will replace Nick Sanchez as the full-time driver of the No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet. Staropoli made his O'Reilly Auto Parts (formerly Xfinity) Series debut earlier this year, running four races with Sam Hunt Racing. He finished as high as 16th at ...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