Circle Tracks

It was eventful and occasionally dramatic but Garrett Mitchell dba Cleetus McFarland made it to the checkered flag in his NASCAR O’Reilly Series debut at Rockingham Speedway on Saturday. Driving the No. 33 for Richard Childress Racing, McFarland finished 32nd and six laps behind winner William Sawalich and there was a lot that happened over 250 laps in the sand hills region.  Off the ...Keep readingView the full article

William Sawalich has been beaten up and emotionally challenged but it all culminated in his first NASCAR O'Reilly Series victory on Sunday at Rockingham Speedway. As a (younger) teenager, Sawalich won at every step along the way, including 13 victories in the ARCA Racing Series, but went 0-for-41 upon reaching what used to be called the Xfinity Series. There were some ugly crashes along the way ...Keep readingView the full article

Saturday's NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race ended with a first-time winner as William Sawalich captured the checkered flag in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. The win came in Sawalich's 42nd career start, and ended JR Motorsports' five-race win streak. His Rockingham win came in a Joe Gibbs Racing 1-2, beating teammate Brandon Jones to the win.   Justin Allgaier finished third ...Keep readingView the full article

Ahead of his highly anticipated NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series debut at Rockingham, popular YouTuber Cleetus McFarland (Garrett Mitchell) took part in the ARCA Menards East Series race at The Rock, finishing fourth in his career-best result. "After climbing from the car, a very excited Cleetus said: "Honestly, I just went out there and turned left for Greg Biffle. I had more confidence today ...Keep readingView the full article

Rodney Childers is amongst the first to clock in every morning at JR Motorsports and amongst the last to clock out several months into the next chapter of a no-doubt NASCAR Hall of Fame career. That’s how you know this is working out for the 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion crew chief now tasked with leading a No. 1 car split between Carson Kvapil and Connor Zilisch. After spending most of ...Keep readingView the full article

Post-race inspection for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Rockingham is complete, and there were no issues with the race-winning No. 1 Tricon Toyota of Corey Heim. However, fourth-place finisher Chandler Smith, who was leading the Truck Series championship standings, has been disqualified. In post-race inspection, the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford failed to meet rear body inspection ...Keep readingView the full article

Corey Heim absolutely dominated Friday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) race at Rockingham, but he had to fight for it in the closing laps.  Heim suddenly began to struggle with his No. 1 truck, wondering on the radio if he had a tire going down. As he navigated slower traffic, teammate Kaden Honeycutt ran him down, setting up an incredible battle for the win. They were side-by-side on ...Keep readingView the full article

Corey Lajoie stopped by one of his favorite coffee shops on the way to Rockingham Speedway on Friday morning. Local Patriot Roasting Company While there, and after placing his order, engaged in a conversation that kind of encapsulated the head space for the 34-year-old heading into this new opportunity in the Craftsman Truck Series with RAM and Kaulig Racing. “We were just chopping it ...Keep readingView the full article

Kaulig Racing has announced Carson Ferguson as the next driver of the team's No. 25 Ram 1500 'free agent' truck, with the accomplished dirt racer making his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut at Bristol next weekend. Ferguson was the runner-up in the 'Ram: Race for the Seat' competition, which decided the full-time driver of the team's No. 14 truck for the 2026 season. He lost out to Mini ...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

When it comes to the YouTuber known as Cleetus McFarland making his NASCAR O’Reilly Series debut this weekend at Rockingham Speedway, future NASCAR Hall of Famer Rodney Childers articulated the benefits and potential concerns as well as anyone. “We need the publicity and we need the personalities,” Childers told Motorsport.com on Friday morning. “You know, we have a lot of drivers these ...Keep readingView the full article

After a brief rain delay, qualifying got underway for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Rockingham on Friday. 38 trucks were competing for 36 spots on the grid, with two missing the snow. One of those was Jonathan Shafer in the No. 69 MBM Motorsports Ford, after a crash in practice meant he could not take part in qualifying. The other DNQ was Justin Carroll in the No. 90 Terry Carroll ...Keep readingView the full article

The national average for diesel fuel on April 1 was $5.490 and that is a strain to NASCAR teams like Kaulig Racing who say it has taken a toll on its intended budget before the season began in February. The military conflict in Iran has led to a surge in prices and while it dropped to just over $5 on April 2 following a national address by the President of the United States offering that the ...Keep readingView the full article

Joe Gibbs Racing wants the Western District of North Carolina Court to compel Chris Gabehart and Spire Motorsports to immediately produce any documents related to deleted text messages to each other but also a third-party subpoena to get those deleted communications from the cell phone service providers. “The nature and significance of the irreparable harm JGR is experiencing cannot be ...Keep readingView the full article

At Motorsport.com, you can find expert analysis, on-site reporting and breaking news from all around the racing world, but this article is tailored specifically for those who are just wading into the waters of the NASCAR world. This is your comprehensive overview of what you can expect, and many answers to the pressing questions you are likely to have. We'll try not to get too in-depth, offering a ...Keep readingView the full article

NASCAR has never been shy about changing up the way it crowns its champion, and the format has undergone a lot of changes since 1949. Red Byron won the first NASCAR cup title in 1949, Richard 'The King' Petty earned his first crown in 1971, Dale Earnhardt's seventh and final crown in 1994, Jimmie Johnson's historic run of five in-a-row in 2010, and Kyle Larson's latest triumph in 2025 -- all of ...Keep readingView the full article

Even as recently as 2025, championships have been won and lost on pit road in NASCAR. In this simplified guide, new fans can find all the information they need regarding how pit stops work, and how easily they can go wrong. With the Next Gen car that is currently used at the Cup level, it takes around 8-12 seconds for the top Cup Series teams to complete a stop. Options on pit road ...Keep readingView the full article

The NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday at Martinsville drew 2.394 million viewers according to the Sports Business Journal. This number is a slight decrease from last year, the race being held on the same weekend at the same track, which drew 2.422 million viewers. The 2026 edition did feature most popular driver Chase Elliott returning to victory lane after a spirited duel through traffic ...Keep readingView the full article

Spire Motorsports has announced Daniel Suarez as the driver of the team's No. 71 Chevrolet Silverado next weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. Freeway Insurance will fund the effort. Suarez is a winner at all three national levels of the sport, including the Truck Series. He has 28 Truck starts, but none since 2021. In those 28 previous starts, he has 10 top fives, 16 top tens, a pole, and a ...Keep readingView the full article

You have to separate Cleetus McFarland from Garrett Mitchell to see it sometimes but whatever name you call him is a deeply motivated albeit very inexperienced high-level racer with incredibly large ambition. But literally everyone who has worked with Cleetus says the 30-year-old has the resolve needed to successfully navigate his way towards the Daytona 500. This includes everyone at Richard ...Keep readingView the full article

In 2026, the grueling NASCAR Cup Series schedule will be punctuated by just two off-weekends. However, both the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) and NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series (NOAPS) will be racing on Easter weekend at the historic Rockingham Speedway. They will be joined by the ARCA Menards East Series. The track has a tumultuous recent past, going dark for several years and ...Keep readingView the full article

Surprisingly, Am Racing has withdrawn from this weekend's NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Rockingham. Nick Sanchez was set to drive the No. 25 Ford Mustang, as he has for the entire 2026 season. The team has ran every O'Reilly race so far this year. Sanchez earned an impressive third-place finish at Atlanta, but beyond that, they have just one other finish higher than 25th in the ...Keep readingView the full article

Beard Motorsports has reached an agreement with Casey Mears for him to run five NASCAR Cup races this year, driving the No. 62 Chevrolet.  Mears' first race with the team will come on April 26 at Talladega Superspeedway. He will also compete in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the second Daytona race, the second Talladega race, and the season finale at Homestead-Miami ...Keep readingView the full article

Daniel Dye was suspended by both NASCAR and Kaulig on March 17 after he was recorded making homophobic remarks about Team Penske IndyCar Series driver David Malukas over a live stream. During the Whatnot live stream, Dye made an imitation and said, “As soon as I start doing a David Malukas gay voice, I get a gold so let’s keep it going.” He made other comments as well, and later ...Keep readingView the full article

There has been a considerable amount of debate over the past week about who should be eligible for the NASCAR Hall of Fame and now Denny Hamlin has weighed in with his opinions as well. The debate centers around drivers who have had tremendous success at levels lower than the Cup Series and if they should continue to be enshrined alongside the likes of Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty, Jeff Gordon ...Keep readingView the full article