Five drivers clinch playoff spots at Darlington

By Dustin LongSep 2, 2019, 2:53 AM EDT

DARLINGTON, S.C. – Kyle Busch clinched the regular-season title, five drivers clinched playoff spots and two drivers have the same number of points for the final playoff spot after the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

Erik Jones clinched a playoff spot with the win early Monday morning.

Runner-up Kyle Larson, 13th-place finisher Ryan Blaney, 17th-place finisher Aric Almirola and 21st-place finisher William Byron each clinched playoff spots via points.

Two playoff spots remain heading into this weekend’s regular-season finale at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Clint Bowyer holds the 15th spot in the points with 625 points. Daniel Suarez holds the 16th and final playoff spot with 617 points. Ryan Newman also had 617 points but Suarez has the tiebreaker. Jimmie Johnson, who has never missed NASCAR’s postseason since it debuted in 2004, is 18 points behind Suarez.

Click here for points report

Click here for Southern 500 results

Sunday Cup race at WWT Raceway: Start time, TV info, weather

By Dustin LongJun 3, 2023, 12:48 PM EDT

Twelve races remain until the playoffs begin in early September. Ten drivers have won races. The pressure to secure a playoff spot builds as the Cup Series heads into the summer months.

Details for Sunday’s Cup race at WWT Raceway

(All times Eastern)

START: Six-time Olympian Jackie Joyner-Kersee will give the command to start engines at 3:32 p.m. … The green flag is scheduled to wave at 3:42 p.m.

PRERACE: Cup garage opens at 12:30 p.m. … Drivers meeting is at 2:40 p.m. … Driver intros are at 2:55 p.m. … Tim Bounds, pastor at The Crossing Church St. Louis, will give the invocation at 3:24 p.m. … The national anthem will be performed by Bebe Winans and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra at 3:25 p.m.

DISTANCE: The race is 240 laps (300 miles) on the 1.25-mile track.

STAGES: Stage 1 ends at Lap 45. Stage 2 ends at Lap 140.

STARTING LINEUP: Cup starting lineup

TV/RADIO: FS1 will broadcast the race at 3:30 p.m. … Coverage begins at 2 p.m. … Motor Racing Network coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. and also will stream at mrn.com. SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry the MRN broadcast.

STREAMING: Fox Sports

FORECAST: Weather Underground — Partly cloudy with a high of 90 degrees and a 15% chance of rain at the start of the race.

LAST YEAR: Joey Logano won the inaugural Cup race at this track. Kyle Busch was second. Kurt Busch placed third.

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Drivers to watch at World Wide Technology Raceway

Cup starting lineup at World Wide Technology Raceway

By Dustin LongJun 3, 2023, 12:34 PM EDT

Kyle Busch will lead the Cup starting lineup to the green flag in Sunday’s Cup race at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois.

Busch will be joined on the front row by Coca-Cola 600 winner Ryan Blaney.

MORE: Cup starting lineup

The second row will have Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick. The third row has Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano.

Corey LaJoie, driving the No. 9 car in place of the suspended Chase Elliott, qualified 30th after hitting the wall on his lap.

The green flag is scheduled to wave at 3:42 p.m. ET Sunday on FS1.

Kyle Busch wins Cup pole at WWT Raceway

By Dustin LongJun 3, 2023, 12:17 PM EDT

Kyle Busch collected his first Cup pole of the season and will lead the field to the green flag in Sunday’s race at World Wide Technology Raceway.

Busch last won a Cup pole at Phoenix in November 2019. He earned his 33rd career Cup pole Saturday with a lap of 137.187 mph on the 1.25-mile speedway.

MORE: Cup starting lineup

Busch will be joined on the front row by Coca-Cola 600 winner Ryan Blaney, who qualified at 137.153 mph. Blaney’s car failed inspection twice before qualifying. He will lose his pit selection for Sunday’s race. His car chief also was ejected. Brad Keselowski‘s car also failed inspection twice before qualifying. He loses pit selection and had the team’s car chief ejected. Keselowski qualified 19th with a lap of 135.743 mph.

Denny Hamlin (136.903 mph) starts third and is followed by Kevin Harvick (136.766) and Martin Truex Jr. (136.360). Harvick has two top-five starts this season and both have come in the last two events.

Corey LaJoie, subbing for the suspended Chase Elliott, will start 30th after hitting the wall on his qualifying lap. He qualified at 134.561 mph. Carson Hocevar, making in his Cup debut in LaJoie’s car, qualified 26th with a lap of 135.220 mph.

Green flag for Sunday’s race is scheduled to wave at 3:42 p.m. ET on FS1.

NASCAR Saturday schedule at WWT Raceway, Portland

By Dustin LongJun 3, 2023, 7:00 AM EDT

Saturday is a busy day for NASCAR. The Cup and Craftsman Truck Series are at World Wide Technology Raceway. The Xfinity Series is at Portland International Raceway.

Cup teams will practice and qualify ahead of Saturday’s Truck race at WWT Raceway. The Xfinity Series has practice, qualifying and its race Saturday at Portland.

World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway (Cup and Trucks)

Weather

Saturday: Sunny. Temperatures will be around 80 degrees for the start of Cup practice and climb to 89 degrees by the end of Cup qualifying. Forecast calls for sunny skies and a high of 92 degrees around the start of the Truck race.

Saturday, June 3

Garage open

8 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. — Cup Series
10:30 a.m. — Truck Series

Track activity

10 – 10:45 a.m. — Cup practice (FS1, Motor Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
10:45 a.m. – 12 p.m. — Cup qualifying (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
1:30 p.m. — Truck race (160 laps, 200 miles; FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Portland International Raceway (Xfinity Series)

Weather

Saturday: Mostly sunny with a high of 74 degrees and no chance of rain around the start of the Xfinity race.

Saturday, June 3

Garage open

10 a.m. — Xfinity Series

Track activity

11:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. — Xfinity practice (No TV)
12 – 1 p.m. — Xfinity qualifying (FS1)
4:30 p.m. — Xfinity race (75 laps, 147.75 miles; FS1, Motor Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Details for Sunday’s Cup race at WWT Raceway

(All times Eastern)

CATCH UP ON NBC SPORTS COVERAGE:

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MORE: Cup starting lineup

Read more about NASCAR

MORE: Cup starting lineup

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World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway (Cup and Trucks)

Weather

Saturday, June 3

Portland International Raceway (Xfinity Series)

Weather

Saturday, June 3

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