Daniel Suarez Has Lacked Consistent Speed, but Qualified 10th at Kansas

Despite a nearly comatose summer stretch, Daniel Suarez had a significant uptick in performance in the past couple months until his dismal Bristol Night Race run cratered his momentum. Nonetheless, it was not enough for him to fall out of the Round of 12 and now he seems to be back on track again as […]

John Hunter Nemechek's Kansas Record Not as Good as It Looks

Although John Hunter Nemechek only qualified 31st for today's Kansas race, he does have a better finishing record there than at most other tracks. His average finish of 16.3 at Kansas is better than his average finish at any other non-drafting oval and he has also won two NASCAR Xfinity Series races and one NASCAR […]

Switch to Rick Ware Racing May Better Suit Corey LaJoie's Style

Corey LaJoie makes his debut with Rick Ware Racing starting 27th in this afternoon's Kansas race after Spire Motorsports traded him for Justin Haley. While the mainstream NASCAR fanbase is completely done with LaJoie and seems unhappy that he hasn't been reduced to stacking burgers, don't be surprised if he actually improves. The Ware cars […]

Erik Jones Scores Best Qualifying Run Since Talladega Injury

Erik Jones has had an extremely forgettable season as he sits a miserable 29th in points with 0 laps led, but Kansas may provide Jones with one of his best opportunities to turn that around. His 16th-place qualifying run is actually his best since his injury at Talladega. It seems like a combination of his […]

Jimmie Johnson Still Unable to Capture His Old Speed

Jimmie Johnson qualified 35th for today's Kansas race. Although he thrice won there in days of yore, he has not been remotely competitive since his return to the NASCAR Cup Series in the Next Gen era as his best finish is 28th and his best average running position is 19th. He did run the Kansas […]

Daniel Hemric Replaced by Ty Dillon for 2025, but Outqualified Him at Kansas

Daniel Hemric was replaced by Ty Dillon at Kaulig Racing for 2025 yesterday with Hemric's No. 31 team turning into Dillon's No. 10 team for next year. Hemric's firing is understandable since he has been the second-slowest full-time driver this year. While Dillon won't likely do any better, his hiring may attract greater support from […]

Engine Issue in Qualifying Forces Chase Elliott to Start Last at Kansas

Chase Elliott qualified 38th and last for today's Kansas race after believing that he lost a cylinder during his qualifying run. This necessitated an engine change, but he loses nothing from that since he was going to have to start last anyway. Despite the weak qualifying run, Elliott likely won't have many issues getting a […]

Ty Dillon Replacing Daniel Hemric Next Year, but Shouldn't Contend at Kansas

Although Ty Dillon has been disappointing throughout his entire NASCAR Cup Series career to date, his connections to Chevrolet and Richard Childress have given him considerable longevity. This will continue in 2025 now that Dillon has been announced to replace Daniel Hemric at Kaulig Racing in 2025, with Hemric's No. 31 team becoming Dillon's No. […]

Austin Cindric's Playoff Run May End at Kansas After Ten Playoff Drivers Outqualified Him

Austin Cindric's improbable Cinderella story will likely grind to a halt in the Round of 12 even though his two best track types (drafting tracks and road courses) are both represented in this round. Cindric qualified a mere 17th for today's race at Kansas behind all the remaining playoff-eligible drivers except for Chase Elliott who […]

Kansas May Be Kyle Busch's Last Great Shot to Extend Winning Seasons Streak

Although Kyle Busch missed the playoffs for the first time since 2012, a win may partially salvage his season like it did for Chris Buescher at Watkins Glen. Today's Kansas race may provide Busch with his best opportunity for a win in a while as his 3rd-place qualifying run is one of his best this […]

Harrison Burton Qualified Amidst a Bevy of Fords, but Likely Won't Contend

Harrison Burton qualified 28th for what may be his last NASCAR Cup Series start as a full-time driver at Kansas. Although he qualified on par with most of the other non-Penske Fords with Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski starting on the row in front of him, he has not been particularly good there as he […]

Chase Briscoe's Momentum Continues as Stewart-Haas Racing Places All Focus on Him

Chase Briscoe qualified 9th for this afternoon's Kansas race, marking his best qualifying position ever at the track. Flat intermediates have tended to be Briscoe's weakest track type and he tends to run mid-pack in most Kansas races as his finishes range from 13th to 32nd and he has never led a lap at the […]

Bubba Wallace Scores Third Short Track Top Five of 2024 at Bristol

Bubba Wallace was the highest-finishing of the non-playoff drivers in yesterday's Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol, where he finished third after starting 11th. This continues his run as one of the lowkey best short track drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series this year as he has now posted top fives at each of […]

Daniel Suarez Had Miserable Bristol Race but Still Made Round of 12

Despite having arguably his worst run of the entire 2024 season at Bristol last night, Daniel Suarez still advanced to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Apart from his outlier race at Richmond, Suarez has really struggled on short tracks lately and Bristol was no exception as he started 35th and […]

Joey Logano's Crash Had Little Impact Since He Had Already Advanced to Round of 12

Joey Logano was fortunate to be locked in to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs thanks to his win at Atlanta to start the Round of 16 because he spun out shortly before the end of Stage 2 when he apparently checked up while approaching the substantially slower Josh Bilicki, which […]

Chase Elliott Had Nothing for Kyle Larson, but Still Finished Second at Bristol

Although it initially looked like Chase Elliott might struggle last night as he spent most of Stage 1 as the lowest-ranked Hendrick car when he was wedged between the Spire Motorsports cars of Carson Hocevar and Corey LaJoie, he slowly progressed through the field as the race progressed to eventually finish second, a good points […]

Austin Cindric Improbably Qualifies For Round of 12

As expected, Austin Cindric had an uninspiring run at Bristol but he had enough of a cushion over the NASCAR Cup Series playoff bubble drivers to advance to the Round of 12 regardless despite only finishing 13th and scoring no stage points. Although he normally finishes worse than he starts, it was relatively unlikely that […]

Chase Briscoe Recovers from Atlanta Crash to Make Round of 12

Chase Briscoe made an improbable comeback to advance to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs despite crashing in the Atlanta race that opened the round. Stewart-Haas Racing is clearly invested in making the most of its sole playoff bid in its final season as Briscoe vastly outperformed all other SHR drivers, […]

Bubba Wallace Has Significantly Improved On Short Tracks This Year

Even though people still tend to associate Bubba Wallace primarily with drafting tracks, one could argue that short tracks are starting to become his actual best track type. His fourth-place finishes at Martinsville and Richmond are his best of the season, he was running in the top five in the spring Richmond race as well […]

Daniel Suarez Unlikely To Run Well But Should Still Be Safe To Advance

Daniel Suarez enters Satuday's Bristol race in a pretty safe position to advance to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR playoffs, as he sits 36 points above the playoff cut line. However, he'll likely lose a lot of points after qualifying 35th at Bristol, which means he is very unlikely to earn stage points […]

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Used To Be Good At Bristol But Not Lately

In his Roush Fenway Racing days, Bristol was one of Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s best tracks, with six top-10 finishes in a nine-race span, including two second-place finishes, even though he never led there. But he has only had mid-pack speed since his arrival at JTG-Daugherty Racing and his average running positions were mediocre, too, not […]

Joey Logano Likely Giving Up On Bristol To Focus On Round Of 12

Because Joey Logano won the Atlanta race that opened the playoffs and Chris Buescher won at Watkins Glen despite missing the playoffs, Logano is the only driver locked into the Round of 12, which is a good thing for him because he has not been very strong at Bristol lately. Since the 2019 spring event, […]

Daniel Hemric Qualifies Much Better Than Usual At Bristol

Even though Daniel Hemric has been the second-slowest full-time driver in the NASCAR Cup Series this year ahead of only Harrison Burton, he has been good at finishing races, so he is still ahead of three drivers in points that have been faster, and he does have a knack for usually finishing better than he […]

Kaz Grala Solid In March Bristol Race, But That Likely Means Little

Kaz Grala has only made one Bristol start in the NASCAR Cup Series in this year's March race, where he finished 19th, but it's hard to draw any conclusions from that race since it was unlike any short track race in NASCAR history. It seems unlikely that this evening's race will be similar to the […]

Noah Gragson Unlikely To Contend As Stewart-Haas Racing Focuses On Chase Briscoe

Although Noah Gragson has won twice at Bristol in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, he finished a mere 34th in his NASCAR Cup Series debut there and didn't run much better with an average running position of 30th. Even though the Stewart-Haas Racing cars have tended to have more speed on short tracks than elsewhere, he […]

Austin Dillon Unlikely To Repeat Richmond Feat

Despite the fact Austin Dillon earned a dubious win at Richmond in August, don't expect a repeat performance at Bristol on Saturday evening, as apart from Dillon's Richmond win, the Richard Childress Racing cars have tended to be very slow on short tracks, and he qualified a miserable 30th, his second-worst starting position at the […]

Austin Cindric Not Strong At Bristol But Should Still Advance

Although Austin Cindric's last-lap crash across the finish line with A.J. Allmendinger in the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Bristol was one of his most memorable moments, he has seldom contended there at the NASCAR Cup Series level. He has never finished better than five laps down or posted an average running position better […]

Harrison Burton Looks Toward 2025 As Next Year's Deal Is Announced

On Friday, it was announced that Harrison Burton would be driving for AM Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2025, so now Burton is officially a lame-duck driver in the NASCAR Cup Series, and it seems unlikely he will race there full time again. Given his lame-duck status and given the fact that his […]

Chase Briscoe Likely To Advance To Round Of 12 After Strong Qualifying Run

Although it initially looked like Chase Briscoe's crash at Atlanta would take him out of contention for making the Round of 12, he unexpectedly got a better finish than any of the other playoff contenders at Watkins Glen while also tying for the most points in that race, which placed him tied for 11th with […]

Daniel Suarez Likely Safe In Playoffs After Stage-Point Gamble

Daniel Suarez was one of several playoff contenders who chose to go for stage points at Watkins Glen rather than maximizing his odds of winning. Although he qualified eighth and ran in the top ten for the entire first stage (ultimately finishing fourth in the stage), he and all the other drivers who pitted during […]