Chase Elliott In Decent Spot For Sonoma

Chase Elliott excels at moving up a field on a road course. He does have four wins in his past 15 road races but 2022 was a different story. However, at Sonoma, Elliott has a runner-up and eighth to his resume post-pandemic. Starting tenth for Sunday's race is not a bad thing for the Hendrick […]

Chris Buescher Carries Some Speed At Sonoma

Chris Buescher qualified seventh for Sunday's race at Sonoma. The RFK Racing driver carried some of the speed that Brad Keselowski missed on his early efforts. Either way, the No. 17 car was awfully fast. Last year, Buescher was very quick during the second half of the race. He surged into the top three after […]

Martin Truex Jr. Begins Eighth Sunday At Sonoma

Martin Truex Jr. was the fifth of five cars to make it into the top eight qualifying for Sunday's Toyota Save Mart 350. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver near the front on the road course may be a recipe for success. Typically, he finishes well. Aside from last year's mess where he started and finished […]

Ty Gibbs Begins Toyota Save Mart 350 Sixth On Sunday

Ty Gibbs was among five Toyota cars qualifying in the top eight spots for Sunday's race at Sonoma. There was some drop-off in their speed on longer runs but short runs were mostly led by Toyota. Gibbs has never raced at this level on the California track but the former Xfinity driver knows his way […]

Christopher Bell One To Watch Sunday At Sonoma

Christopher Bell starts the Sonoma race from the fourth position on Sunday. One aspect of the race that rings true is this. It does not necessarily matter to have the fastest race car. See what happened to Kyle Larson on Saturday. Larson led the DoorDash 250 by more than 13 seconds. All it takes is […]

Aric Almirola Going For Double At Sonoma

Aric Almirola already has won one race this weekend. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver stunned many experts with a win at the DoorDash 250 on Saturday. Almirola did not have the fastest car but got a late caution to help his cause. The No. 10 Ford qualified 20th for the Toyota Save Mart 350 on Sunday […]

Webb Simpson Tries To Put PGA Nightmare Behind Him

Webb Simpson had one of the worst PGA Championship experiences imaginable. Consecutive 77's landed him at +14 which dropped him back outside the top 150 in the FedEx Standings. Simpson won two majors what feels like a lifetime ago but did finish tied for second in 2019 at this tournament. It was held in Hamilton […]

Garrick Higgo Continues To Struggle Heading Into June

Garrick Higgo is finding out how difficult it can be on the PGA Tour. The South African golfer has missed the cut in three of his past four tournaments. Worse, Higgo really struggled badly at the Charles Schwab shooting +8 to miss the cut. He has not finished better than 30th since February. There are […]

Vincent Norman Can Make Some Birdies In Canada

Vincent Norman is a young golfer in every sense of the word. Norman is 25, from Sweden, and still getting used to the nuances of the PGA Tour. After missing five of the first six cuts this season, Norman has seen the weekend in nine of his past 12 appearances. He showed at the Zurich […]

Sahith Theegala Wants To Bounce Back After PGA Championship

The past couple tournaments have not gone so well for Sahith Theegala. The American golfer faltered at the PGA Championship with a final round 73. Since consecutive top ten results in April, Theegala has struggled a bit with putting and has three straight fourth rounds over par. That is not typical usually. Despite some struggles, […]

Justin Rose Playing Better Golf Than Ever

Justin Rose has found the fountain of youth. The English golfer comes off yet another top 15 result at the Charles Schwab Challenge. He already has one win and four top-ten results on the season. Rose has gone from well outside the top 50 to 28th in the OWGR. His driving distance is a mere […]

Sam Burns Among The Favorites In RBC Canadian Open Field

Sam Burns finds himself in a nice position this week at the RBC Canadian Open. Burns took The Memorial off after a tied for sixth at the Charles Schwab Challenge. It was a wise move for the American golfer and he comes in with some confidence. His final round 68 brought him into contention and […]

Martin Truex Jr. Finishes Where He Began Sunday

Martin Truex Jr. qualified fifth for the Enjoy Illinois 300. After 243 laps, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver finished in fifth. The No. 19 car never led a lap and Truex Jr. only managed a fourth in Stage 1. He did move up late and showed some good acceleration over the final quarter of the […]

Kyle Larson Eventually Moved Up To Fourth On Sunday

Kyle Larson and Hendrick Motorsports Racing seemed to take awhile to get going at the World Wide Technology Raceway. By the time, the No. 5 car got into contention, it was too late for a win. However, a top-five result is not a bad consolation prize. Larson went from 22nd to fourth for a very […]

Joey Logano Finds Way To Third Place On Sunday

Joey Logano was another driver who benefitted from restarts and a few shorter runs toward the end of the Enjoy Illinois 300. Gateway did not start out kindly for the Team Penske driver. Logano began sixth, finished fifth during Stage 1 and seventh after Stage 2. The No. 22 Ford managed to get up to […]

Denny Hamlin Takes Second Place At Gateway

Denny Hamlin never could quite get to the lead on Sunday. He was close several times. Even on the restarts, the Joe Gibbs Racing car kept having to settle for second or third place. After Stage 1, the No. 11 car was third and the same fate was met when Stage 2 concluded. Though stage […]

Kyle Busch Wins At Gateway For Third Win Of Season

Kyle Busch survived the late cautions and carnage on Sunday evening. The Richard Childress Racing driver led 121 laps of the 243 raced. Ultimately, Busch racked up 59 points after winning Stage 1 and nearly triumphing in Stage 2. The No. 8 Chevy stayed fast despite lightning delays, power issues, and Denny Hamlin breathing down […]

B.J. McLeod Does Not Start Last This Week

B.J. McLeod will start the race at Gateway from the 34th spot. The two Rick Ware Racing cars occupy 35th and 36th respectively. McLeod finished his qualifying lap 0.995 seconds off from Kyle Busch on Saturday. The Live Fast Motorsports driver was 35th in practice with times in the 34.0 to 34.1 second range. McLeod […]

Ty Dillon Starts 33rd At Gateway On Sunday

Ty Dillon and his Spire Motorsports car begins 33rd on Sunday for the Enjoy Illinois 300. Dillon's lap intervals were not much better as he wound up an identical 33rd in practice. His qualifying effort was 0.976 seconds off from the pole-sitter (Kyle Busch). Even adjusting for differences in group times does not bridge the […]

Gray Gaulding Debuts At Gateway On Sunday

Gray Gaulding is no stranger to the NASCAR top level but he does make his debut at Gateway on Sunday afternoon. The Xfinity driver takes a Rick Ware Racing car into the Enjoy Illinois 300. Gaulding starts 35th and may not move up much. Both Rick Ware cars finished more than a second off the […]

Noah Gragson Begins 32nd For Gateway On Sunday

Noah Gragson sits 32nd in the points race and starts Sunday's race in 32nd for Legacy Motor Club. Gragson's 2023 season has been quite the disappointment and starting so far back at Gateway only makes matters worse. The No. 42 Chevy has not finished in the top ten once this season and has four DNF's […]

Ryan Preece May Have Long Afternoon Sunday

Ryan Preece did not have a good time qualifying on Saturday for Stewart-Haas Racing. He starts 29th for Sunday's race at Gateway. The No. 41 Ford could not muster any speed on the lap that mattered most. He was 0.63 seconds off from the pole (Kyle Busch) and worse, his 15-lap interval came in at […]

Erik Jones Another DFS Possibility For Gateway

Erik Jones had a disastrous qualifying effort on Saturday which resulted in him winding up 31st. However, his practice session saw him around seventh or eighth in terms of five-lap speed. The Legacy Motor Club team has endured a disaster of a season but one of the few gems last year was Gateway. Jones finished […]

Justin Haley Can Move Up On Sunday Again

Justin Haley may not have the front end speed of most drivers but his Kaulig Racing car can take advantage again Sunday. Haley, last year at Gateway, began 28th but finished 14th. This year, the No. 31 Chevy begins 23rd on the 1.25-mile course. His lap intervals were around the top 15 for awhile before […]

Bubba Wallace Needs To Keep It Together Sunday

Bubba Wallace starts the Enjoy Illinois 300 from the 20th position on Sunday. For the 23XI Racing driver, Wallace just needs to keep it together on the 1.25-mile track. Wallace stated 18th last year and wound up 26th. The difference is with Tyler Reddick and other Toyota's pushing, Wallace could be in for a better […]

Austin Dillon Mired In Middle Of Pack Sunday

Austin Dillon begins 16th for Sunday's Enjoy Illinois 300. However, the Richard Childress Racing driver may wind up mired in the middle of the pack. Dillon started 29th last year and moved close to the top ten but never stayed there. He wound up 15th largely because he kept losing time on the faster Ford […]

Daniel Suarez Begins 13th For Sunday Race In Illinois

Daniel Suarez had a better qualifying effort than some expected. The Trackhouse Racing driver starts 13th for the Enjoy Illinois 300. Suarez was very fast during the middle portion of the race and even got up to seventh after Stage 2. The problem was the No. 99 car could not hold track position. That is […]

Tyler Reddick Could Be One To Watch Sunday

Tyler Reddick starts ninth at Gateway and was fast on the track last year too. Reddick was then a member of Richard Childress Racing. His No. 8 then was third after Stage 1. Problems ensued but his speed in the Toyota is well documented for this weekend. The 23XI Racing driver looked good in the […]

Michael McDowell Begins Near The Middle For Gateway

Michael McDowell and his Front Row Motorsports car had quite the adventure last year. The No. 34 Ford led 34 laps but tailed off late as he finished 18th. When there is not a lot of data to go on, lap intervals and correlations are next. McDowell starts 21st on Sunday for the race and […]

Austin Cindric Qualifies Tenth For Enjoy Illinois 300

Austin Cindric will start tenth on Sunday afternoon from Gateway. The 1.25-mile course seemed to favor Ford cars last year and the Team Penske driver did finish 11th. Cindric even led 26 laps during the race and won the opening stage as well. The No. 2 car was faster early in the race compared to […]