Circle Tracks

After a court decision forced Rick Hendrick and Roger Penske to subject themselves to an oral deposition in advance of the 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports v NASCAR antitrust trial, Hendrick’s schedule is not agreeing to a date. As a result, 23XI and Front Row are asking the court to not allow the Sanctioning Body to put him on the witness stand. “For Mr. Hendrick, the deposition ...Keep readingView the full article

Chevrolet has unveiled its new body for the 2026 NASCAR Cup season. They have been utilizing the Camaro ZL1 since 2018, which succeeded the Chevy SS, and will continue to do so with an updated design for next season. In a release, Chevrolet explained that they wanted to align it with their recently released Camaro ZL1 Carbon Performance Package accessories kit. The changes include a larger hood ...Keep readingView the full article

As Motorsport.com does at the conclusion of every NASCAR season, it's time to take a look back at the ten closest finishes of 2025 in the Cup, Xfinity, and Craftsman Truck Series. Stock car racing is known for its action-packed events with no shortage of dramatic finishes. But surprisingly, the closest finish of the year would have only been good enough for fifth on 2024's list. Even still ...Keep readingView the full article

NASCAR has revealed the official start times for the 2026 NASCAR Cup, O'Reilly Auto Parts, and Craftsman Truck Series seasons. The complete schedule was officially in August, and details on the 2026 changes can be found HERE. But on Wednesday, NASCAR finally announced when these races will air and which networks will broadcast them (all times EST).  The Cup season will feature nine ...Keep readingView the full article

NASCAR is not yet ready to divulge details of its new championship format, mostly because they haven’t made the final decisions on it yet. What is all but confirmed is that the 2025 season was ultimately the last to use the version of a playoff that culminates with a ‘final four’ chasing the championship in a one-race best finisher take all season finale. This format was used from 2014 ...Keep readingView the full article

The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season begins now in a manner of speaking. There will be two days of tire testing on Wednesday and Thursday for Goodyear to continue refining its tire combinations for the high-speed half-mile following drastic racing product swings that range from traditional racing to extreme tire wear. The swing is largely believed to be a byproduct of temperatures, with cooler ...Keep readingView the full article

Judge Kenneth D. Bell, overseeing the 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports v NASCAR antitrust trial, has ordered Roger Penske and Rick Hendrick to subject themselves to a full pre-trial deposition, in person and with no restrictions as it pertains to this legal matter. The two motorsport mainstays has motioned to the court a means to limit the questions asked regarding their financials and ...Keep readingView the full article

On one hand, Michael McDowell didn’t win a race this season, in his first season with Spire Motorsports so that was a mission unaccomplished but there is also a privilege in that pressure that motivates him. For example, at 40-years-old, some in NASCAR would start pondering what comes after driving and that is especially true for a devout family man that has a wife and five children at ...Keep readingView the full article

Young's Motorsports signed Ryan Ellis to drive the No. 02 Chevrolet for the team in the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts season (rebranded Xfinity Series).  The team already runs the No. 42 car full-time as well, with Leland Honeyman driving the car in 2024 before being replaced by Anthony Alfredo in 2025.  Ellis was driving the No. 71 this past season for DGM Racing, ending the year 28th ...Keep readingView the full article

In a Monday legal filing, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports is asking the Western District of North Carolina court to force Rick Hendrick and Roger Penske to subject themselves to a thorough deposition in advance of NASCAR putting them on the witness stand during the antitrust trial next month. The two tenured team owners were placed on a witness list last month by the Sanctioning Body. In ...Keep readingView the full article

Parker Retzlaff will pilot the No. 99 Viking Motorsports Chevrolet in the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series. Danny Efland will work with Retzlaff as the crew chief, coming over from Am Racing. Veteran crew chief Pat Tryson, who led the No. 99 in 2025, will transition into a new role within the organization. "Parker brings youthful energy, talent, and a hunger to win that aligns ...Keep readingView the full article

The NASCAR Xfinity Series, which will be rebranded as the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series in 2026, will have Hendrick Motorsports on the grid every weekend. The No. 17 Hendrick Chevrolet will compete for the championship with Corey Day, an acolyte of Kyle Larson, behind the wheel. The 19-year-old ran eleven races with HMS this year, finishing as high as fourth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway ...Keep readingView the full article

Rick Hendrick and Roger Penske, just two days after they were motioned for deposition over the 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports v NASCAR antitrust lawsuit have motioned back to limit the scope of such conversations. “Movants find themselves, quickly and without much warning, in the unenviable position of being forced to give expansive and unnecessary deposition testimony as a result of ...Keep readingView the full article

Trackhouse Racing put together a video announcing the car number for each its of 2026 Cup Series drivers. The team is putting aside its original number, the No. 99, which Daniel Suarez drove for five seasons before parting ways with the organization at the end of this year. Unsurprisingly, Ross Chastain will continue to pilot the No. 1 he has driven to all six of Cup victories, including the ...Keep readingView the full article

In the aftermath of a Charlotte federal judge ruling in favor of 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports on the market definition for the lawsuit against NASCAR, plus the dismissal of counterclaims the week before, the two teams have dropped the Section 1 Sherman Antitrust Act portion and will instead continue with its Section 2 claims. Section 1 of the federal antitrust law prohibits agreements ...Keep readingView the full article

NASCAR Xfinity runner-up Connor Zilisch will drive an LMDh prototype for the first time in the IMSA-sanctioned test at Daytona. The 19-year-old will share the #31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R with Jack Aitken, Earl Bamber and Frederik Vesti at the Daytona International Speedway on 14-16 November. The American, who has already scored two LMP2 class victories in the IMSA SportsCar ...Keep readingView the full article

Rick Hendrick and Roger Penske have been ordered by the Western District of North Carolina to provide deposition interviews with lawyers representing 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports in advance of the antitrust lawsuit trial brought by the teams against NASCAR set to begin on December 1. A deposition is a formal interview under oath that is typically done as part of the fact discovery ...Keep readingView the full article

Overall, year-to-year, the NASCAR Cup Series experienced a 14 percent drop in television ratings for the 2025 season. To wrap up this season, the Cup Series championship race at Phoenix Raceway drew 2.77 million viewers on NBC, down from the 2.9 million it drew last year. Last year, overall, the NASCAR Cup Series drew 2.892 million, which was a one percent increase from the 2023 season, while ...Keep readingView the full article

Chase Briscoe could choose to believe that making the Cup Series final four in his first season with Joe Gibbs Racing was akin to playing with house money but he left Phoenix Raceway on Sunday far more disappointed than he imagined. “I mean, it was definitely a good first year, right,” said Briscoe on Tuesday ahead of the NASCAR Awards Show. “I texted our group chat and told them, ‘we ...Keep readingView the full article

On the weekend of June 19-21, NASCAR's three national divisions will compete at a brand new course at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego -- the first-ever NASCAR event to be run on an active military base. That historic event will include an entry by seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and California native Jimmie Johnson. The co-owner at Legacy Motor Club will drive the No. 84 Toyota Camry ...Keep readingView the full article

By the end of Tuesday night, Connor Zilisch and Jesse Love were performing a duet of ‘Sweet Caroline’ at the NASCAR Awards afterparty but there was a little awkwardness to get past following the events of Saturday’s Xfinity Series championship race.   Zilisch was the most dominant driver of the season, delivering 10 wins, 20 top-5s and 23 top-10s in 32 races, having missed one for a ...Keep readingView the full article

On one hand, the rookie season for Carson Kvapil was a disappointment, but on the other hand, he advanced to the final four and was able to scrounge enough success and attention that it got him a second full-time season at JR Motorsports, albeit under unique circumstances. Kvapil advanced to the championship race in the No. 1 car with crew chief Andrew Overstreet but they didn’t win ...Keep readingView the full article

Is it too early to think about the 2026 NASCAR Cup title? Yes, but that's not stopping sports bettors like BeT MGM. We still don't know if 2026 will feature a elimination-style format with an extended final round, a ten-season playoffs, or a return to a season-long points system. Regardless of the final format, Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin are likely early favorites, and BetMGM agrees. Both the ...Keep readingView the full article

Denny Hamlin has been racing in the NASCAR Cup Series for 20 years, ending the year inside the top five in the championship standings ten times. That impressive career includes 60 career wins (tied for tenth on the all-time wins list), three Daytona 500 trophies, three Southern 500 triumphs, and a Coca-Cola 600. He's even won the All-Star Race. And while Hamlin has never won a NASCAR Cup ...Keep readingView the full article

The judge overseeing the 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports v NASCAR antitrust lawsuit ruled again in favor of the teams against the Sanctioning Body on summary judgment on Tuesday afternoon. Summary judgment is a pretrial decision where there are no disputes of material fact. In other words, a judge could rule on the merits, based on evidence presented by both sides, and without a ...Keep readingView the full article