Drivers to watch in NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway

By Mike HembreeAug 10, 2022, 12:00 PM EDT

When it comes to short-track racing, two NASCAR Cup Series teams have been dominant recently.

Of the eight most recent short-track races, Hendrick Motorsports has won five and Joe Gibbs Racing the other three.

The teams’ short-track power will be tested again this weekend as the Cup tour visits Richmond Raceway for the last short-track race of the regular season. Denny Hamlin, driving for JGR, won the April race at the track.

Sunday’s race (3 p.m. ET) will be televised by the USA Network.

Drivers to watch at Richmond:

FRONT RUNNERS

Kyle Busch

Points position: 8th
Last three races: 36th at Michigan; 11th at Indianapolis; 36th at Pocono
Past at Richmond: Six wins and 12 top 10s in the past 13 races

Busch’s season has taken a hard turn toward trouble. He hasn’t had a top 10 in the past eight races, so he’s arriving at Richmond at a good time. He’s the active driver leader in wins (six), top fives (18) and average finish (6.9) at the track.

Kyle Larson

Points position: 5th
Last three races: 7th at Michigan; 35th at Indianapolis; 5th at Pocono
Past at Richmond: Won in 2017; six finishes of seventh or better in past eight races

Like that other Kyle (Busch), Larson has been on a skid. He hasn’t won since the season’s second race. He was fifth in the spring race at Richmond, however, and typically runs well there.

Joey Logano

Points position: 6th
Last three races: 4th at Michigan; 6th at Indianapolis; 20th at Pocono
Past at Richmond: Won in 2014 and 2017; 17th in April

Logano has been a force at Richmond. In addition to his two career wins, he has 12 top-five and 15 top-10 finishes. His 10.5 average finish is second only to the number he’s put up at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

QUESTIONS TO ANSWER

Ryan Blaney

Points position: 2nd
Last three races: 5th at Michigan; 26th at Indianapolis; 33rd at Pocono
Past at Richmond: Best career finish of 7th April this year

Can he do it? Can Blaney, the only non-winner among the 16 playoff drivers, win to secure his place in the playoffs? That isn’t likely this week. He’s finished no better than seventh at Richmond (although he led a race-high 128 laps and won stage 1 in April).

Martin Truex Jr.

Points position: 4th
Last three races: 6th at Michigan; 21st at Indianapolis; 7th at Pocono
Past at Richmond: 3 career wins (two in 2019 and one in 2021)

Of the final three races in the regular season, Richmond is likely to be Truex’s best shot at joining the playoff grid with a victory. He has won three of the past six Richmond races and finished fourth in April this year. He fell out of the top 16 standings in the playoff race Sunday at Michigan.

Denny Hamlin

Points position: 17th
Last three races: 3rd at Michigan; 14th at Indianapolis; 35th at Pocono
Past at Richmond: Four career wins

Can Hamlin repeat his spring victory at Richmond in a race he led for only five laps? He has been one of the top Cup drivers in Richmond history, with four career wins and 11 finishes of sixth or better in the past 13 races.

NASCAR Cup playoff standings after Coca-Cola 600

By Dustin LongMay 31, 2023, 8:36 PM EDT

The severe penalty to Chase Briscoe and his Stewart-Haas Racing team Wednesday for a counterfeit part dropped Briscoe from 17th to 31st in the season standings. Briscoe now must win a race to have a chance at the playoffs.

The penalty came a day after NASCAR suspended Chase Elliott one race for his retaliation in wrecking Denny Hamlin in Monday’s Coca-Cola 600. Elliott is 28th in the points. The 2020 Cup champion also needs to win to have a chance to make the playoffs.

Ten drivers have won races, including Coca-Cola 600 winner Ryan Blaney. That leaves six playoff spots to be determined by points at this time. With 12 races left in the regular season, including unpredictable superspeedway races at Atlanta (July 9) and Daytona (Aug. 26), the playoff standings will change during the summer.

Among those without a win this season are points leader Ross Chastain and former champions Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski and Elliott.

Here’s a look at the Cup playoff standings heading into Sunday’s Cup race at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois. Drivers in yellow have won a race and are in a playoff position. Those below the red line after 16th place are outside a playoff spot in the graphic below.

NASCAR issues major penalties to Chase Briscoe team for Charlotte infraction

By Dustin LongMay 31, 2023, 4:41 PM EDT

NASCAR fined crew chief John Klausmeier $250,000 and suspended him six races, along with penalizing Chase Briscoe and the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing team 120 points and 25 playoff points each for a counterfeit part on the car.

The issue was a counterfeit engine NACA duct, said Elton Sawyer, NASCAR senior vice president of competition, on Wednesday. That is a single-source part.

MORE: Updated Cup playoff standings

The team stated that it accepts the L3 penalty.

“We had a quality control lapse and a part that never should’ve been on a car going to the racetrack ended up on the No. 14 car at Charlotte,” said Greg Zipadelli in a statement from the team. “We accept NASCAR’s decision and will not appeal.”

Asked how then piece could have aided performance, Sawyer said Wednesday: “Knowing the race team mentality, they don’t do things that would not be a benefit to them in some way, shape or form from a performance advantage.”

The penalty drops Briscoe from 17th in the season standings to 31st in the standings. Briscoe goes from having 292 points to having 172 points. He’ll have to win to make the playoffs. Briscoe has no playoff points at this time, so the penalty puts him at -25 playoff points should he make it.

Briscoe’s car was one of two taken to the R&D Center after Monday’s Coca-Cola 600 for additional tear down by series officials.

The penalty comes a day after NASCAR suspended Chase Elliott one race for wrecking Denny Hamlin in last weekend’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

NASCAR Championship Weekend returns to Phoenix in 2024

By Dustin LongMay 31, 2023, 9:21 AM EDT

Phoenix Raceway will host the championship races for the Cup, Xfinity, Craftsman Truck and ARCA Menards Series in 2024, NASCAR announced Wednesday.

The races will be held Nov. 1-3, 2024. The Cup season finale will be Nov. 3, 2024. The only other Cup race for 2024 that has been announced is the Daytona 500. It will be held Feb. 18, 2024.

Phoenix Raceway has hosted the championship finale for Cup, Xfinity and Trucks since 2020. Chase Elliott won the Cup title there in 2020. Kyle Larson followed in 2021. Joey Logano won the crown there in 2022.

This year’s Cup finale at Phoenix will be Nov. 5 and air on NBC.

Drivers to watch at World Wide Technology Raceway

By Dustin LongMay 31, 2023, 7:00 AM EDT

After the fireworks from the Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR heads to World Wide Technology Raceway, a 1.25-mile speedway just outside of St. Louis. Sunday’s race (3:30 p.m. ET on FS1) marks the second time the Cup Series has raced at this track.

Much is at stake. The race to win the regular season championship has intensified. Tempers are high. The pressure to make the playoffs builds. Ten drivers have wins this season. Twelve races remain in the regular season.

FRONTRUNNERS

Kyle Larson

Points position: 11th
Best finish this season: 1st (Richmond, Martinsville)
Past at WWTR: 12th last year

While a driver coming off back-to-back finishes of 20th or worse might not seem like a frontrunner, it actually does make Larson one. His topsy-turvy season has seen him place outside the top 10 in back-to-back races four times. In the three previous times he had consecutive finishes outside the top 10, he came back to finish second, first and second. Can he keep that streak going this weekend?

Bubba Wallace

Points position: 15th
Best finish this season: 4th (Las Vegas I, Kansas I, Coca-Cola 600)
Past at WWTR: 26th last year

Wallace has scored three consecutive top-five finishes, his best streak in his Cup career. He has climbed from 21st to 15th in the standings during this run.

William Byron

Points position: 3rd
Best finish this season: 1st (Las Vegas I, Phoenix I, Darlington I)
Past at WWTR: 19th last year

Byron has finished no worse than seventh in the last five races. He’s led nearly 20% of the laps run during that time. Byron has averaged nearly 47 points a race during that streak.

QUESTIONS TO ANSWER

Corey LaJoie

Points position: 20th
Best finish this season: 4th (Atlanta I)
Past at WWTR: 36th last season

NASCAR’s one-race suspension to Chase Elliott gives LaJoie the chance to drive a Hendrick Motorsports car for the first time. This will be the best car LaJoie has driven in his career. Many eyes will be on him to see how he does.

Ross Chastain

Points position: 1st
Best finish this season: 2nd (Dover)
Past at WWTR: Finished 8th last year after angering Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott in separate incidents

Chastain has finished 29th and 22nd in the last two points races. He’s not gone more than three races without a top-10 finish this season. After his struggles last weekend at Charlotte, Chastain saw his lead cut to one point over Coca-Cola 600 winner Ryan Blaney in the standings. Five drivers are within 17 points of Chastain in the season standings.

Aric Almirola

Points position: 26th
Best finish this season: 6th (Martinsville I)
Past at WWTR: 5th last year

Almirola has finished 13th or worse in all but one race this season for Stewart-Haas Racing. In the five races since placing sixth at Martinsville, Almirola has finished an average of 21.0.

FRONT RUNNERS

QUESTIONS TO ANSWER

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MORE: Updated Cup playoff standings

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FRONTRUNNERS

QUESTIONS TO ANSWER

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