Kyle Larson On Outside Of Row One For Talladega

Kyle Larson narrowly missed out on the pole for Sunday's YellaWood 500 by a mere 0.022 seconds. Basically, his last sector was about a tenth of a second slower than Christopher Bell. That was the difference between second and first in Saturday's final round of qualifying. Larson has endured some awful luck at Talladega. The […]

Christopher Bell Comes Up To Snag Talladega Pole

Christopher Bell pulled off a surprise on Saturday by taking the pole position for the YellaWood 500 on Sunday. Bell got around the 2.66-mile track in 53.026 seconds or 186.591 miles per hour. It is interesting just how fast the Toyota was in qualifying on Saturday. Besides Bell, Denny Hamlin qualified in third, and even […]

Chase Briscoe Begins Texas Near The Rear

Chase Briscoe made it into the "Round Of 12" as the Stewart-Haas Racing car avoided carnage for the most part. However, the Ford starts Texas on Sunday in 30th after a poor qualifying effort which saw him bleeding time in every sector and coming out of turns. His practice session in the Ford was even […]

Christopher Bell To The Middle Again For Texas

Christopher Bell did a great job of doing everything but winning during the first three races of the NASCAR Playoff Chase. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver racked up top-five results and a ton of stage points along the way. However, the start of segment number two at Texas means Bell goes right back to the […]

Alex Bowman Under The Radar A Bit Sunday

The only reason Alex Bowman qualified 17th for Sunday's AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500 is because he drove a corner a bit too fast. It's that simple. That little sideways adventure cost him about 10-15 spots honestly. However, he had top-five practice times all across the board and even his testing numbers were quite good. The […]

Ryan Blaney Back On Bubble As Texas Looms

Ryan Blaney and his Team Penske Ford are back on the playoff bubble as they are right on the cut line. The "Round Of 12" sees Blaney starting 14th for the race on Sunday in Texas. Blaney is reasonably consistent on the intermediate track with four top-ten results in his past five appearances. The average […]

Ross Chastain Has To Feel Fortunate For Texas

Ross Chastain made it to the "Round Of 12" and now benefits from the playoff reset. He begins third in playoff points and 12th at Texas for Sunday. The TrackHouse Racing driver and his No. 1 car ran well at Texas before literally flying during the All-Star Race in May. It was abundantly clear that […]

Austin Cindric On The Bubble To Start Segment Two

Austin Cindric and his Team Penske Ford are in a bit of an uneasy position. The playoff reset has Cindric in 12th and arguably he is in a bit of a bind for segment number two. Intermediate tracks are not quite his forte yet. However, the No. 2 Ford car does start 11th on Sunday […]

Daniel Suarez Familiar With Texas Success

Daniel Suarez has progressively improved every time he has been on the Texas track over the past couple of seasons. He finished tenth last year in the Fall race but had top-five closing stage from the end of Stage 2. The No. 99 Chevy won the qualifier to the All-Star Race in May and nearly […]

Kyle Larson Starts Ninth From Texas On Sunday

Kyle Larson is nestled with a few Chevy's and a couple of teammates in ninth for the start of the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500 on Sunday. The good news is that the playoff points reset puts Larson back in fourth with a double-digit point cushion on the bubble. Even better for the Hendrick Motorsports Racing […]

Denny Hamlin Loves Intermediate Tracks Like Texas

Denny Hamlin over the past three seasons has been the most proficient driver on intermediate tracks. Texas is no exception as the 1.5-mile track does set up well for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver. With Hamlin now getting a boost in pit crew quality, things may be looking even better. Hamlin qualified eighth for Texas […]

Austin Dillon Another Chevy Qualifying Strong

Austin Dillon was among a string of Chevy's in the top ten in qualifying on Saturday for the Texas race. Dillon was eliminated from the playoff chase last week but qualified seventh with the No. 3 car averaging some solid top-five caliber times later in his laps. Dillon and his Richard Childress Racing car has […]

Chase Elliott In Solid Spot At Texas

Chase Elliott begins sixth for the race at Texas on Sunday but more importantly the No. 9 car is not too far from William Byron (third) and Kyle Larson (ninth). It would not be a surprise if the Hendrick Motorsports cars draft off each other a good deal during Stage 1. The other good bit […]

Michael McDowell Not A Surprise At Texas

Some will think that Michael McDowell qualifying fifth is a surprise for the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500 but it is not. McDowell and his Front Row Motorsports No. 34 car managed to stay just above 188 mph around the 1.5-mile Texas track for an entire lap (188.029 to be exact). Naturally, the wildcard is where […]

Tyler Reddick Pushes Hard To Start Fourth Sunday

Tyler Reddick and his No. 8 Chevy knows he needs to press a bit. Reddick knows what is at stake and will start fourth at Texas on Sunday. He was just 0.091 seconds off the qualifying run of Brad Keselowski. The Richard Childress Racing driver found speed in the early sectors but lost a bit […]

William Byron Starts Third For Texas Race

William Byron is starting to get back to that consistency from last season. Remember when the Hendrick Motorsports driver had 14 top-tens in 15 races. Now, maybe that level is not quite attainable now. However, Byron has been better of late and qualifying third at Texas only enhances his chances. It does not hurt that […]

Joey Logano Nearly Takes Pole At Texas

Joey Logano probably thought he had the pole position at Texas but his former teammate, Brad Keselowski, was just a tiny bit faster. Logano's 28.601 second lap was good enough to be outside Row 1 for this race. This could be a considerable benefit as the Team Penske driver looks to get off to a […]

Brad Keselowski Snares Pole At Texas

Brad Keselowski had a pretty fast car in practice. No one could have seen Keselowski running a qualifying lap like he did on Saturday. The RFK Racing driver managed to get around the 1.5-mile track in 28.573 seconds. That was good enough to qualify in the top spot for Sunday's AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500. Can […]

Chase Elliott Has Subpar Qualifying Effort Friday

Chase Elliott did not have the best qualifying lap on Friday, ending up a mere 23rd. The silver lining is that the Hendrick Motorsports Racing driver keeps improving on this type of track. The 0.533-mile course kind of suits Elliott's swashbuckling style of driving. The last few years have been interesting. Elliott won an All-Star […]

Kyle Busch On The Outside Looking In At Bristol

Kyle Busch and his Joe Gibbs Racing car are on the outside looking in at Bristol on Saturday night. He starts 21st which is not the greatest but far from fatal. The younger Busch has shown the ability to advance through fields on short tracks with ease. Overall, he is the only active driver with […]

Tyler Reddick Under Heavy Stress At Bristol

Tyler Reddick has been here before at Bristol. There was the dirt race that everyone talks about. Reddick was on his way to a win before Chase Briscoe torpedoed his checkered-flag aspirations. The Richard Childress Racing driver is right on the cutoff line. Well, he's a couple of points above it, technically. Somewhat fortunately, Austin […]

William Byron On Cruise Control For Bristol

William Byron has racked up good results with a stage win and extra stage points in the playoff chase so far. The Hendrick Motorsports Racing driver is now 48 points above the cutoff to advance. Barring some catastrophe of epic proportions, Byron will be in the Round of 12. With Texas, Talladega, and the ROVAL […]

Joey Logano Begins 15th At Bristol Motor Speedway

Joey Logano and his Team Penske Ford qualified 15th for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race on Saturday night. Logano has a solid average finish of 12.4 at Bristol. The No.22 car is third among active drivers in terms of short track results over the past three years and yet has not won a race. […]

Bubba Wallace Looks To Keep On Rolling At Bristol

Bubba Wallace had been rolling along and then the 23Xi Racing driver found a way to win last week at Kansas. To be fair, the Kurt Busch No. 45 car had been excellent at Kansas this year. First, it was testing, then qualifying, and then on Sunday afternoon. Wallace has been great in this ownership […]

Ross Chastain Still Marked At Bristol

Ross Chastain still races the way he is used to. That makes him a marked man as the TrackHouse Racing driver begins 12th at Bristol on Saturday night. The No. 1 Chevy has shown a knack for just being at the front at the right time. Chastain has had his issues at Bristol, particularly on […]

Brad Keselowski Rounds Out Top 10 At Bristol

Brad Keselowski will start the Bass Pro Shops Night Race from the 10th position on Saturday night. The RFK Racing driver has a role in this NASCAR Playoff Chase. Keselowski has led 13.5% of the laps in his past five appearances. That goes along with a win, two top-fives and three top-10 results. Keselowski is […]

Austin Cindric On The Bubble For Bristol

So, Austin Cindric is on the bubble as Bristol looms Saturday night. The good news is that Cindric will start ninth in his Team Penske Ford. The not so good news is that quite a few drivers are eyeing that 12th position which Cindric holds currently. The driver is among seven Ford's who qualified in […]

Christopher Bell Has Advanced In NASCAR Playoffs

Christopher Bell has been racking up points on the stages in the NASCAR Playoff Chase. Because of that and some nice finishes, Bell is locked into the "Round Of 12" already without even winning a race. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver will start a solid eighth on Saturday night. Like Denny Hamlin, Bell and his […]

Kevin Harvick Likely Needs Win To Stay In Playoffs

Two DNF's have put Kevin Harvick in an extremely bad bind. The Stewart-Haas Ford will start seventh on Saturday night from the Bass Pro Shops Night Race. Simply, the No. 4 car stands dead last in the chase a full 35 points behind the 12th place cutoff. There are plenty of mathematical theories to advance […]

Ryan Blaney Has Work To Do At Bristol

Ryan Blaney and his Team Penske car have been pretty solid. The No. 12 Ford stands fifth in the playoff chase and 36 points above the cut line. Blaney will now start sixth at Bristol. The bigger question is can Blaney win this week on the short track? He has led 10.5% of the laps […]