Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR officials have postponed the remainder of the Cup Series Playoff race from Texas Motor Speedway to a Tuesday restart because of persistent rain.

The Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 started Sunday afternoon, and 52 of a scheduled 334 laps were complete before wet weather forced a red flag. The race was set to resume Monday, but ongoing showers pushed that plan to a proposed restart Tuesday at noon ET (NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM).

RELATED: Full leaderboard

A NASCAR official statement regarding the weather at the 1.5-mile Fort Worth track stated: “With continued moisture and low temperatures hampering drying efforts, as well as a similar forecast for the remainder of this evening at Texas Motor Speedway, the resumption of the NASCAR Cup Series Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 has been pushed to Tuesday at 11 a.m. CT / Noon ET on NBCSN, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.”

Clint Bowyer was scored as the race leader midway through the opening stage. His No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford took the top spot during Sunday’s third caution period and was ahead when officials made the decision to postpone.

Stage 1 is set to end on Lap 105 with Stage 2 to be complete on Lap 210. The race would be official at the halfway point (Lap 167).

MORE: Standings as they run

Posted on by Zack Albert

Hendrick Motorsports announced Monday that Ryan “Rudy” Fugle will join the organization as crew chief of the No. 24 Chevrolet for William Byron in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series.

Fugle, 36, has spent the last eight seasons as crew chief for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series. He has collected 28 victories in his KBM tenure and was atop the pit box for two Gander Trucks championships — Erik Jones’ title run in 2015 and Christopher Bell in 2017. Fugle will also be reunited with Byron, who enjoyed a seven-win campaign in his lone season with KBM in 2016.

RELATED: Key figures in Silly Season

“The opportunity to join Hendrick Motorsports is incredible for me and my family,” Fugle said in a Hendrick Motorsports release. “The No. 24 has always been one of the premier teams in racing. We have the owner, the driver, the people and the resources to continue that tradition. William is a great talent, and we have a very strong working relationship. I’m confident in what this team can accomplish and look forward to the challenge of competing at the Cup level.”

Fugle replaces Chad Knaus, who helped Jimmie Johnson to seven Cup Series championships and has spent the last two seasons with Byron and the No. 24 team. HMS announced Sept. 29 that Knaus would transition to vice president of competition for the organization at the end of the season.

The 2021 campaign will mark the third crew chief in four years for Byron, who has made the playoffs the last two seasons and broke through for his first Cup Series victory in the 2020 regular-season finale at Daytona. Veteran Darian Grubb guided the No. 24 team for Byron’s rookie Cup Series season in 2018 before Knaus took the reins.

“I’m excited to work with Rudy again,” Byron said. “We have a great team in place, and I know he will be the right leader to keep moving us forward. I’ve seen first-hand what he’s capable of, his competitive nature and the high standards he has. With Rudy, I believe we’ll have a chance to win every single time we go to the race track, which is what both of us expect.”

Fugle’s NASCAR career began with Robert Yates Racing in 2006. He made his national-series debut as a crew chief in 2009, joining Germain Racing to helm Michael Annett’s efforts in the Xfinity Series.

Posted on by Staff Report

Persistent rain has again delayed the running of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs race at Texas Motor Speedway, with wet weather and mist lasting deep into Monday afternoon.

RELATED: Full leaderboard | Weather: Forecast, at-track video

Fifty-two of a scheduled 334 laps were complete after Sunday’s start to the Autotrader EchoPark 500 before a nagging rain intensified at the 1.5-mile Fort Worth track. That forced officials to postpone the remainder of the event to a Monday resumption at 10 a.m. ET, but wet weather continues to place those plans on hold.

NASCAR’s fleet of Air Titans and additional dryers got onto the track multiple times throughout Monday to combat the wet weather, but bouts of rain have severely hampered process. As of 4:30 p.m. ET, there is still no estimate as to when the track will be ready to race.

Clint Bowyer is scored as the leader of the race in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14 Ford. Stage 1 is scheduled to end at Lap 105 with Stage 2 to end at Lap 210.

The 501-miler is the second of three races in the Round of 8 playoff bracket that will whittle the field to the four drivers who will compete for the Cup Series championship on Nov. 8 at Phoenix Raceway.

Posted on by Staff Report

Which channels have NASCAR programming this week? We answer that and give the weekly NASCAR television listings here in the NASCAR TV schedule.

Note: All times are ET.

MORE: How to find NBCSN | Get the NBC Sports App | How to find FS1 | Get FOX Sports App

RELATED: How to follow races on NASCAR.com | NASCAR Live Stream

Monday, October 26
12 a.m., NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series SpeedyCash.com 400 at Texas Motor Speedway (re-air), FS2/FOX Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

Tuesday, October 27
Noon, NASCAR Cup Series: Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN1, 4) POSTPONED
5 p.m., Dale Jr. Download (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., Glory Road: Blacker (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App
6:30 p.m., Glory Road: NASCAR’s Lost Tracks (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
10 p.m., NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series SpeedyCash.com 400 at Texas Motor Speedway (re-air), FS2/FOX Sports App

On MRN:
7 p.m., NASCAR Live

Wednesday, October 28
5 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN1, 4)
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

On PRN:
5 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway

Thursday, October 29
6 a.m., NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series SpeedyCash.com 400 at Texas Motor Speedway (re-air), FS2/FOX Sports App
5:30 p.m., NASCAR ARCA Menards Series West (tape delay), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App
9 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, NBCSN/NBC Sports App

Friday, October 30
7 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: NGROTS, FS1/FOX Sports App
8 p.m., NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 at Martinsville Speedway, FS1/FOX Sports App
11 p.m., Dale Jr. Download (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App

On MRN:
7:30 p.m., NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 at Martinsville Speedway                                                   

Saturday, October 31
5 a.m., NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 at Martinsville Speedway (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
10 a.m., NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 at Martinsville Speedway (re-air), FS2/FOX Sports App
3:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series Draft Top 250 at Martinsville Speedway, NBC/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN3)

On MRN:
3 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series Draft Top 250 at Martinsville Speedway

Sunday, November 1
11:30 a.m., NASCAR Masters of the Clock: The Legend of Martinsville (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
12:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Martinsville, FS1/FOX Sports App
1:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Countdown to Green, NBC/NBC Sports App
2 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway, NBC/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN1, 4)
6 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series Post Show: Martinsville, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6:30 p.m., IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship at Laguna Seca, NBCSN/NBC Sports App

On MRN:
1 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR officials postponed Sunday’s Autotrader EchoPark 500 Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8 race at Texas Motor Speedway after wet weather halted the race 52 laps into the 334-lap event.

The race will resume at 10 a.m. ET on Monday on NBCSN.

Clint Bowyer, in search of his first 2020 win and set to retire to the FOX Sports broadcast booth following the conclusion of the season, led the field at the time of the red flag. The race is almost exactly halfway through the 105-lap Stage 1.

RELATED: Full running order | Best photos from Texas races

Bowyer’s Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kevin Harvick has won the last three fall playoff races at Texas and appeared set to cruise to the Championship 4 based on his points lead, but a Stage 1 brush with the wall while leading has him slotted in 36th place and one lap down with the race on hold.

Denny Hamlin slipped up the track on a Lap 28 restart and fell back to 28th in the running order, but the driver of the No. 11 Toyota avoided contact with the wall and worked his way back to 15th at the time of the delay.

There have been four lead changes, with Alex Bowman, Martin Truex Jr., Brennan Poole and Bowyer all spending at least a lap out front. The yellow flag for rain was the third caution of the afternoon after spins for Chris Buescher and JJ Yeley.

RELATED: Spoiler confiscated from No. 19 team

Contributing: NASCAR Wire Service

Posted on by Chase Wilhelm

There were a fair number of frustrated drivers following the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series playoff race at Texas Motor Speedway, but Ben Rhodes tops that list.

Rhodes brought out the final caution at the 1.5-mile track in Sunday’s second Round of 8 race when he hooked the right rear on the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports truck of Christian Eckes with three laps remaining.

The contact sent Eckes hard into the outside wall on the front stretch, ending his day while the pair were racing for the third position. Rhodes managed to continue as the race entered overtime but ruined his own chance of victory with significant damage on the left-front fender of the No. 99 ThorSport Racing Ford.

RELATED: Rhodes has choice words for Eckes, Kyle Busch Motorsports

Eckes exited his truck gingerly but mustered up enough energy to show Rhodes a pair of one-finger salutes before climbing into the ambulance for a trip to the infield care center.

On the radio following the incident, Rhodes was unapologetic and indicated it was retaliation for earlier, referring to Eckes running him up to the Turn 4 wall. After the race, his view hadn’t changed after finishing 20th with a race-winning truck.

“It’s two times the guy runs me out of the groove,” Rhodes said. “I almost knocked down the Turn 4 wall, completely out of the gas, hand over fist. I’m trying to catch it, I end up hitting him and then gets wrecked.

“These guys in the KBM trucks just run over everybody and race with no respect,” Rhodes added. “I’ll tell them they can have their own opinion, but I was in the truck. I know what happened. … It seems to be a lack of talent over there. I think that’s evident though when Kyle (Busch) hops in the truck and he goes and wins.”

To add insult to injury, Rhodes was involved in another on-track incident with Josh Bilicki on the final lap, making contact with the No. 00 truck.

Long after the checkered flag flew, Eckes waited outside of the No. 99 hauler to have a conversation with Rhodes. Once Rhodes emerged from the hauler, a confrontation escalated between the two drivers in the garage. Eckes later hinted on Twitter there could be more retaliation coming.

(Warning: The video below contains foul language. Viewer discretion advised.)

Now Rhodes faces a must-win situation heading into next Friday night’s Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway if he wants to make the Championship 4 for the first time in his Gander Trucks career. Rhodes owns two top fives and four top 10s in nine starts at the Virginia short track. He’s now seventh in the playoff standings, 45 behind fourth-place driver Zane Smith.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

Brett Moffitt gave GMS Racing teammate Sheldon Creed a forceful invitation to the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series championship party.

Already qualified for the Championship 4 race at Phoenix, Moffitt pushed Creed’s No. 2 Chevrolet clear of Austin Hill’s Toyota as the trucks approached the start/finish line for the white-flag lap in overtime. That was the impetus Creed needed to win Sunday’s SpeedyCash.com 400 at Texas Motor Speedway and join Moffitt in the season finale at Phoenix Raceway with a chance to win the title.

“Man, what a good truck my guys put together,” said Creed, who picked up his fourth win of the season, the fourth of his career and his first at the 1.5-mile Fort Worth Track. “We’ve been inconsistent here, but we’ve always had speed, and today, man, just awesome. I finally won in front of my mom and dad. They’re here today. … 

“Two trucks locked in for the organization—that’s awesome—and hopefully we can get the other two (Zane Smith and Tyler Ankrum) or at least one more next weekend. Hard racing today. Man, it’s crazy. We’ve just been working for this all year, and I feel like I’ve improved so much and put so much work into this. Man, going to Martinsville stress-free is so nice.”

RELATED: Race results

Ben Rhodes’ retaliation against Christian Eckes on Lap 146 of a scheduled 147 forced the overtime and sent the race five laps beyond its scheduled distance. Miffed that Eckes had forced him up the track in a battle for position late in the race, Rhodes clipped the right rear quarter of Eckes’ Toyota as the trucks entered the tri-oval and sent Eckes spinning hard into the wall.

Rhodes simultaneously threw away his winning chances and now must win next Friday at Martinsville to secure a spot in the championship race. GMS Racing’s Ankrum is in the same position after running 16th at Texas.

RELATED: Ben Rhodes not happy with KBM drivers

In a race that produced 10 cautions, there was action throughout, but none more dramatic than the catastrophic battle for the lead between Stewart Friesen and Johnny Sauter, both of whom are winless this year. 

After a restart on Lap 125, Friesen forced Creed up the track and grabbed the lead on Lap 127, with Johnny Sauter following into second place. Three laps later, Sauter tried a similar move on Friesen, with disastrous results.

Sauter’s No. 13 Ford broke loose under Friesen’s No. 52 Toyota and carried both trucks into the outside wall, adding misery to star-crossed seasons for both drivers. The wreck restored Creed to the lead for a restart on Lap 136.

Creed won the first stage wire-to-wire, but three-time series champion Matt Crafton passed him for the lead with five laps left in Stage 2 and held the top spot to the finish of the 35-lap segment. 

The first playoff driver to suffer serious issues was ThorSport Racing’s Grant Enfinger, whose engine expired in a cloud of smoke on Lap 92. Enfinger, who entered the race seven points below the cut line, now must claim victory in next Friday’s night race at Martinsville to advance to the Championship 4.

“We just blew up,” Enfinger said. “It just wasn’t meant to be. On to Martinsville next week—must-win. Looking forward to the challenge.” 

RELATED: Grant Enfinger out early at Texas

Hill held the runner-up spot at the finish, followed by GMS Racing’s Zane Smith. Those two Playoff drivers remained above the current cutoff for the Championship 4. Raphael Lessard ran fourth, followed by Moffitt.

Crafton, Austin Wayne Self, Dylan Lupton, Derek Kraus and Tanner Gray completed the top 10. Crafton remains 12 points below the cut line heading to Martinsville.

In his first race in more than five years, 2012 series champion James Buescher went a lap down during the first 35-lap stage but recovered to finish 15th in his debut in the No. 42 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet.

The Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series will finish off the Round of 8 on Friday with the NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 at Martinsville Speedway (8 p.m. on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR sent three cars to the rear of the field and confiscated the spoiler for the No. 19 car in the Cup Series before the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. The No. 19 of Martin Truex Jr., No. 49 of Chad Finchum and No. 96 of Daniel Suarez all failed inspection twice and will move to the rear during pace laps.

Additionally, it was found that the Joe Gibbs Racing team of Truex Jr. had violated section 20.4.12.b in the NASCAR Rule Book that states, except as specified, spoilers must be used exactly as supplied from the manufacturer.

RELATED: More story lines from Texas

As a result, the No. 19 team was fined $35,000, lost 20 driver and owner points and will start from the rear. It also lost crew chief James Small for the race due to ejection.

Truex was originally sixth in the starting lineup and 31 points below the cutline for advancement into the Championship 4.

Posted on by Chase Wilhelm

Noah Gragson was on his way to becoming a hero on Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway, taking the white flag with the lead to potentially seal his fate for the Championship 4.

But that all changed in the final corner, when Harrison Burton passed the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet driver to steal a much-needed victory away in the second NASCAR Xfinity Series Round of 8 playoff race.

Gragson took the lead away from fellow playoff driver Austin Cindric following a restart with 15 laps remaining in the 200-lap event. It was clear that Burton had the faster car, however, running down Gragson in the final three laps.

RELATED: See the thrilling finish at Texas | Race results

In hindsight, Gragson admitted he put too much steering wheel into it during the waning moments, heating up the front tires too much, which made it impossible to hold his line to keep Burton at bay.

“On the last lap in (Turns) 1 and 2 I knew he was coming quick,” Gragson said. “I figured may as well put all the wheel I can into it until slipping, obviously. But I don’t know if I overheated the fronts or what, it was tighter. Grew tighter as the closing laps came and just couldn’t get it done.”

Gragson, known for his aggression behind the wheel, felt he had a different approach as the pressure poured on him. That made the pill of losing the battle even harder to swallow.

“Normally I feel like I’d get excited in moments like that, but I was more patient and calm than ever,” Gragson said. “I felt like I was really well-prepared for this moment. Entry of (Turn) 3 you’re on top of the world, on exit you feel like a total POS.”

The series now heads to Martinsville Speedway next Saturday for the Round of 8 finale (3:30 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). It will be Gragson’s last shot to make the championship race at Phoenix Raceway.

With a 24-point deficit on the cutline, it’s mathematically not a must-win situation for Gragson, but it may as well be given how stiff the competition will be to fill the final three spots in the Championship 4. He’ll be battling for the opportunity with teammate Justin Allgaier, as well as Justin Haley, Austin Cindric, Ross Chastain and Ryan Sieg.

On a positive note, Gragson knows how to find Victory Lane at Martinsville, earning a win in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2017.

“Just try to go win the race,” Gragson said. “Try to go run as best as possible and do the best I can. There’s a lot of great competitors here in the Xfinity Series fighting for a championship. It’s very competitive. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be there. Just got to focus forward, keep our heads up and stay positive. Let the past be the past and learn from it.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

With a dramatic pass of the final corner in Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway, Harrison Burton stole the victory from Noah Gragson, who would have clinched a spot in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship 4 Round with a win.

Having recovered from a spin that caused the sixth of 10 cautions on Lap 107, Burton passed Anthony Alfredo for the second position on Lap 198 of 200 and took off in pursuit of Gragson, who had taken the lead on Lap 186.

Burton, who had run down Gragson to win the second stage of the race — his first stage victory of the season — closed quickly on the final lap and shot past Gragson’s No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet off Turn 4. Burton’s No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota streaked across the finish line .445 seconds ahead of Gragson’s Chevy.

RELATED: Full results

“We had such a fast race car,” Burton said after climbing from his car on the frontstretch. “I’ve never driven anything harder than that last corner in my life. I don’t know how it stuck. I lost my voice—I was screaming. Gosh, that’s special. I’ve never spun out and come back and won, so that’s cool.

“We were obviously pushing the limits all day… of speed. That’s kind of what we came to do, to be fast, to win our first stage of the year, which was a good sign, and our speed—what we did on that last lap was incredible. I don’t know how it happened, but I’m pretty damn glad it did. What a cool place to win. We’re going home with cowboy hats.”

After a multi-car wreck that KO’d the entries of playoff contenders Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones and Ross Chastain, Gragson grabbed the lead from Austin Cindric on the restart lap when Cindric’s No. 22 Ford broke loose in the outside lane. Alfredo took second and Burton followed into third.

Though Burton, who was eliminated from the Xfinity Playoff in the Round of 12, had the fastest car on the track at the time, he had difficulty overtaking Alfredo. But once he took second with two laps left, he closed rapidly on Gragson.

“I feel like we had a fast car there,” said a dejected Gragson. “I was a little tight on exit all day. Just frustrated at myself. I was pretty tight there at the end. I saw Alfredo holding Harrison off and thought we were getting away, I saw the 20 get by the 21 (Alfredo) and he ran me down in like two laps.

“I knew he was coming. I just didn’t expect him to get there. I don’t know. Frustrated. But thankful for my guys, (crew chief) Dave Elenz, and the rest of this team. We’ll go to Martinsville (next Saturday), I like that track. It had to be make or breaking your season right there.”

The race fell apart for Allgaier, Jones and Chastain after the Lap 186 restart. Six playoff drivers restarted in the top six positions, but, moments later, they were strewn through the field after Allgaier broke loose underneath Chastain to start a wreck that also collected Jones and Jeremy Clements.

“I tried to leave the 10 (Chastain) as much room as I could, but when he got to my quarter panel, I got loose,” said Allgaier, who has had an antagonistic relationship with Chastain in the past. “(Then) he just decides to hang a left because he’s aggravated and wrecks the whole field.”

RELATED: Big wreck shakes up playoff picture

Jones and Allgaier were eliminated from the race and finished 25th and 26th, respectively. Chastain was able to continue and came home 16th.

But the wreck had a dramatic effect on the playoff standings.

Allgaier in third place is just eight points ahead of Jones in fifth, with seventh-place finisher Justin Haley between them. Chastain is 15 points below the cut line in sixth.

Chase Briscoe, who secured a spot in the Championship 4 with his win last week at Kansas, finished 24th after a shock mount broke on his No. 98 Ford. Gragson is seventh, 24 points behind Haley, likely needing a victory in the elimination race at Martinsville. Ryan Sieg, who suffered suspension problems and finished 31st, is 43 points behind Haley.

Cindric finished fourth behind Burton, Gragson and Alfredo, with Brandon Brown rolling home in fifth. Michael Annett, Haley, Ryan Vargas, Josh Williams and Tommy Joe Martins completed the top 10.