Posted on by Holly Cain

Austin Dillon held a hard-charging field off three times on restarts in the closing laps to earn his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2020 season in Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. It was a 1-2 finish for the Richard Childress Racing team with Dillon’s rookie teammate Tyler Reddick finishing a mere .149-seconds behind.

Before the Texas green flag, Dillon was 24 points outside the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs top 16 and now the Texas winner has an automatic berth. It’s his third career victory – with other trophies in the 2017 Daytona 500 and NASCAR’s longest race, the 2018 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway – 88 races ago.

RELATED: Official race results | 2020 Cup Series schedule

Dillon, 30, grandson of NASCAR Hall of Fame team owner Richard Childress, was emotional after the win, screaming “thank yous” into his team radio and then dedicating the victory to his wife Whitney and their one-month old son, Ace, back at home in North Carolina.

“Not bad for a silver spoon kid, right,” Dillon joked after climbing out of his No. 3 RCR Chevrolet, a reference to his upbringing in NASCAR’s brand of royalty and comment last year by Alex Bowman.

“Tyler Reddick, he raced me clean. 1-2 for RCR. This has been coming. We’ve had good cars all year. I’ve got my baby Ace back home and my wife and I love them so much. I’m just so happy. Thank God. To tell you the truth, it means a whole lot [to be in the Playoffs] for the family, for all our of partners.”

Team Penske driver Joey Logano finished third, reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch was fourth, still looking for his first victory of 2020. NASCAR Cup Series points leader Kevin Harvick finished fifth.

Erik Jones, Ryan Blaney, Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski and Aric Almirola rounded out the top 10.  Blaney led a race-best 150 of the 334 laps and swept the opening two stages, but it marks the second time he’s led at least 100 laps at Texas and didn’t get to collect the trophy.

Blaney and several other of the day’s frontrunners were making their way forward after green flag pit stops when a caution came out with 31 laps remaining for young driver Quinn Houff, who crashed while trying to get to the pit lane. That changed the complexion on the race and many of the afternoon’s best cars were then left to play catch-up while Reddick and Dillon were able to pit under caution instead of the green flag as the others had.

“Disappointing finish for sure,” said Blaney, driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford. “Dominant car all day, especially on long runs. Really proud of that. Just unfortunate the way it ended for us.”

“I’m proud of the speed we have and I feel like we can compete with the four and the 11 and those guys who have a lot of wins this year,” he added.

Reddick acknowledged the track position was a huge help at the end. And runner-up is a career-best finish for the former two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series champion in the NASCAR Cup Series.

MORE: Final-stage pile-up forces stoppage | Austin Dillon gear

“We had to catch a few breaks,” Reddick said. “Can’t ask for much more than we got there, me and my teammate on the front for the last couple restarts. He’s done this a little longer than I have and I’m a little bit rusty, haven’t been on the front row in a while.

“I just wanted it to be between us, not bring other cars into it and make sure we could fight it out,” Reddick added. “We got the restarts and just kept getting opportunities and couldn’t get it done today. But hats off to the three guys. They work hard and this gets one RCR Chevrolet into the playoffs. We’re below the cutoff line, so we’ve got to keep fighting. If we can keep running like this, hopefully we won’t have to worry about points.”

With his 11th top-five finish, Harvick now leads the NASCAR Cup Series standings by 91 points over Ryan Blaney in second.

Ten drivers have now clinched playoff berths with victories leaving six positions open with eight races remaining to set the 16-driver postseason field. The NASCAR Cup Series races next at Kansas Speedway Thursday night (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

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, July 20
4 p.m., NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series: Vankor 350 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

Tuesday, July 21
Midnight, NASCAR Truck Racing: 1999 NAPA Auto Parts 200 (re-air), FS2/FOX Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App
9 p.m., Dale Jr. Download: Mark Martin (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App

Wednesday, July 22
Midnight, Glory Road: Modified to Cup (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
12:30 a.m., Glory Road: Endurance Racing (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App
6:30 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, NBCSN/NBC Sports App

Thursday, July 23
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR The Decades: The 1990s (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6:30 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
7 p.m., Countdown to Green: NASCAR Cup Series at Kansas Speedway, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
7:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Super Start Batteries 400, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
11 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series Post-Race Show: Kansas Speedway, NBCSN/NBC Sports App

On MRN
6:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Super Start Batteries 400

Friday, July 24
6:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Day: NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series at Kansas Speedway, FS1/FOX Sports App
7 p.m., NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 200, FS1/FOX Sports App
9 p.m., Beyond the Wheel (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
10 p.m. ARCA Menards Series: Dawn 150, FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN
6:30 p.m., NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 200
10 p.m., ARCA Menards Series: Dawn 150

Saturday, July 25
Midnight, NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 200 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
7 a.m., ARCA Menards Series: Dawn 150 (re-air), FS2/FOX Sports App
9 a.m., NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 200 (re-air), FS2/FOX Sports App
11 a.m., NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 200 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
1 p.m., NASCAR Race Day: NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series at Kansas Speedway, FS1/FOX Sports App
1:30 p.m., NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series: e.p.t. 200, FS1/FOX Sports App
4:30 p.m., Countdown to Green: NASCAR Xfinity Series at Kansas Speedway, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
5 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Kansas Lottery 250, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
7:30 p.m., NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series: e.p.t. 200 (re-air), FS2/FOX Sports App

On MRN
1 p.m., NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series: e.p.t. 200
4:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Kansas Lottery 250

Sunday, July 26
No NASCAR content on TV.

Posted on by Staff Report

The beginning of the final stage got off to an eventful start in Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Shortly following the restart on Lap 218 of 334, race leader Ryan Blaney got loose racing through Turn 4, causing the field behind him to stack up. As drivers shuffled for position three-wide through the tri-oval, Aric Almirola clipped Kyle Busch, causing Busch to slide into the rear of Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr.

RELATED: Unofficial race results | Austin Dillon steals win at Texas

Truex’s No. 19 Toyota slammed into the outside wall on the frontstretch while Busch flew threw the infield grass to save the No. 18 Toyota.

“KFB,” Busch said after the race, candidly acknowledging his talents when asked how was able to drive through the grass without significant damage during the incident.

That caused an accordion effect further in the field as drivers tried to avoid the incident. The crash collected 12 cars in total, including Kevin Harvick, Chris Buescher, William Byron, Kurt Busch, Cole Custer, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Preece, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Bubba Wallace.

Truex was able to continue in the race following repairs, limping his car to a 32nd-place finish. Busch, the defending champion who has yet to score a victory or playoff points with eight races remaining in the regular season, rebounded to finish fourth.

Posted on by Staff Report

The 2020 NASCAR Salutes Refreshed by Coca-Cola is more than just a military appreciation platform — it’s a campaign that salutes all who have gone above and beyond to keep their fellow members of society safe and healthy. During a global pandemic that impacted almost every aspect of our daily lives, they have been there for us — doctors, nurses, EMTs, first responders, etc. Now, it’s our turn to be there for them and to give recognition where it’s deserved the most.

In this edition of NASCAR Salutes Refreshing Moments, NASCAR.com is highlighting the work of U.S. Army National Guard Specialist Charles H. Hoffmann.

RELATED: Learn more about NASCAR Salutes

Hoffmann has served in the South Carolina National Guard for two years after growing up in Clover, South Carolina. Through the COVID-19 pandemic, Hoffmann and the soldiers of the 117th Engineer Brigade (EN BDE) and 1050th Transportation Battalion have been helping deliver daily meals to children in Horry County, South Carolina. Hoffmann also helped raise money and organize donations to help distribute more than 2,000 books to children and families.

Service is in Hoffmann’s blood as both of his parents are veterans with his mother a Judge Advocate General (JAG) in the Tennessee Army Guard for 24 years. His father was a field artillery officer in the 101st Airborne Division. Hoffmann is also studying elementary education at Winthrop University.

In an interview with Roush Fenway Racing driver Ryan Newman that aired during NBC Sports Network’s (NBCSN) coverage of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, Newman informed Hoffmann that NASCAR Salutes and the USO had teamed up for a  donation to USO’s South Carolina Programming and the USO Dallas-Fort Worth.

During Newman’s conversation with Spc. Hoffmann, both men were told by Hoffmann’s commanding officer that they will be receiving a coin and certificate “given to outstanding soldiers for excellence” in the South Carolina National Guard.

“That’s one of the things I always learned when I went and experienced different things,” Newman said of different trips he has taken to military bases through the NASCAR Salutes Refreshed by Coca-Cola platform in previous years. “It wasn’t about what a soldier does, it was about the personal story you could share and converse about what makes a soldier a soldier.”

For the first time ever, NASCAR Salutes Refreshed by Coca-Cola kicked off with the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as the platform shifts to a mid-summer window due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. NASCAR Salutes Refreshed by Coca-Cola, which runs through July 31, will see the NASCAR industry honor United States Armed Forces and frontline healthcare heroes as part of this year’s expanded program — an industry-wide opportunity to recognize and thank those who keep society safe and healthy.

Posted on by Staff Report

Kevin Harvick officially notched 700 career starts in the NASCAR Cup Series on Sunday when his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford fired off at Texas Motor Speedway. Harvick became the 18th driver to reach the milestone.

RELATED: Drivers with best finishes in 700th start

The 44-year-old from Bakersfield, California, joined the NASCAR Cup Series in 2001 as the full-time driver of the No. 29 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. His first race was the Dura Lube 400 on Feb. 26, 2001 at North Carolina Speedway, where he finished 14th. That season, Harvick accomplished two wins as a rookie. He broke through to Victory Lane in just his third start that season: the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 11, 2001.

That victory marked the first of 53. The 2014 champion has won four races in 2020 — so far.

Crew chief Rodney Childers noted his driver’s career milestone over the No. 4 team communications in pace laps Sunday: “All right, bud. Have fun. Seven hundred starts is something to be proud of. Done a hell of a lot in that amount of time, so have some fun today. Go get you another one here today.” Harvick’s reply: “10-4, man. Thanks. Appreciate all the help. You guys have fun in there. See what we can do.”

Harvick, who has gained the nicknames “Happy Harvick” and “The Closer” over the years, boasts trophies from 22 tracks on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit, putting him three away from a clean sweep. He has yet to win at Daytona International Speedway’s road course (debuts in 2020), Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Roval (debuted in 2018) and Kentucky Speedway.

At Texas, Harvick has won three times. All of the victories took place within the last five years.

Posted on by Zack Albert

Timmy Hill said his victory in the iRacing Pro Invitational Series on March 29 came with one small regret — that he wasn’t able to celebrate with the winner’s traditional cowboy hat at Texas Motor Speedway.

RELATED: Hill edges Byron at virtual Texas

Back then, track promoter Eddie Gossage took to social media to promise that Hill would get the winner’s laurels when the Fort Worth track’s race was rescheduled after the COVID-19 outbreak. Sunday, track officials stayed true to their promise.

“We did a Victory Lane photoshoot with the Texas hat, and that’s really neat to be recognized,” Hill told PRN Radio before Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500. “That whole experience was neat to run well and get some exposure for our sponsors. I’m happy Texas Motor Speedway followed through and kept their word.”

Posted on by Staff Report

The No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of Chase Elliott and the No. 7 Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet of Reed Sorenson will move to the rear of the field for Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Both cars failed pre-race technical inspection two times resulting in the penalties handed out by NASCAR.

RELATED: Starting lineup | Set your fantasy lineup

Elliott, who won Wednesday night’s NASCAR All-Star Race, was originally set to start eighth after last week’s random lineup draw. Sorenson, meanwhile, was already slated to start last in the field.

The No. 51 of Joey Gase, No. 53 of Josh Bilicki and No. 77 of JJ Yeley all dropped to the rear for driver changes.

Posted on by PJ Walsh

The Action Network specializes in providing sports betting insights/analytics and is a content partner with NASCAR. Check out more NASCAR betting analysis here.

For the second straight points-paying race, the NASCAR Cup Series will run during the day at a smooth, 1.5-mile circuit.

Just like last weekend’s race at Kentucky Speedway, today’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN) at Texas Motor Speedway will produce very little tire falloff, making track position key.

In fact, this weekend’s event will feature the same tire combination used at both Kentucky and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, giving us two meaningful races to analyze in order to find mispriced NASCAR odds for Texas.

And after looking at results from both of those races, one driver continues to be disrespected by oddsmakers, providing plenty of prop-betting value.

Follow me on Twitter (@PJWalsh24) for any additional bets I make for Sunday’s race at Texas.

NASCAR at Texas Odds, Betting Picks

Odds as of Sunday at 7 a.m. ET and via BetMGM. Get an INSTANT $500 deposit match at BetMGM today or see more offers and reviews for the best online sportsbooks.

Matt DiBenedetto (+155) for a Top-10 Finish

What does Matty D need to do to get a little respect?

DiBenedetto just finished third at Kentucky and his fourth-best driver rating in that race proves it was no fluke.

That top-three result also afforded his Wood Brothers team a prime pit stall selection for today’s race, which will certainly help DiBenedetto keep or gain that all-important track position.

DiBenedetto finished second in February at Las Vegas, which is significant considering teams will run the same tire combination this weekend that was used at both Vegas and Kentucky.

And finally, the No. 21 Ford will start 11th in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500, giving DiBenedetto the advantage of early track position.

Posted on by Zack Albert

The frustration in Christian Eckes’ cool-down lap communication to his team was telling, a groaning, angst-heavy curse followed by an admission that he hasn’t quite reached the level of Kyle Busch — his mentor, teammate and team owner. The post-race thumbs-down for the FOX Sports cameras gave his emotions a visual.

What Eckes had to show for his Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway was a career-best second place in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series. The rookie led four times for 52 laps, but his Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 18 Toyota came up just shy of carrying him to a breakthrough victory in his first full season as Busch scooted away in a 10-lap sprint to the end.

RELATED: Official results | 2020 Gander Trucks schedule

“I definitely gave it my best effort,” said Eckes, who claimed his second top-five finish of the season. “Looking back on it, there’s probably a few things I could’ve done just to side-draft him and try to clear him, but I did my best. He’s so damn fast at aero games, and I’m not yet. So I’ve got a little bit of learning to do for Kansas, but overall really proud of my team.”

Eckes started seventh and made gains through handling adjustments that helped his truck come to life in the second and third stages. In the final green-flag cycle of pit stops, Busch provided a lesson on entering and exiting pit road, putting his truck out front by a significant margin.

Busch led by nearly four seconds before a late caution period bunched the field for the dash to the end.

“Led a bunch of laps, missed my marks on pit road I guess a little bit,” Eckes said. “I thought I hit it right, but Kyle was a straightaway ahead of me by the time I got out of the corner. It is what it is.”

Busch eventually took the upper hand in their late-race scramble, fending off Eckes by .777 seconds at the finish. But he remained impressed by the 19-year-old driver’s growth, a development curve unaided by extra track time from practice or qualifying in the series’ six races since COVID-19 at-track protocols were established.

His previous career-best was third, achieved three times in the last two seasons. Saturday, Eckes did one better.

“What can you say about Christian, he’s getting better each week,” Busch said. “Every time out, they get that chemistry going more and more with (crew chief) Rudy Fugle and those guys. Real proud of that Safelite Tundra running fast and being there to challenge us at the end.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

Kyle Busch held off 19-year old rookie Christian Eckes by .777-seconds to earn the victory in the Vankor 350 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday night.

It was master and protégé showing the way with Eckes still scoring a career-best second-place finish in the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota. The two – running first and second – held a 12-second advantage on the field during much of the final stage of the race.

They exchanged the lead for a lap following a restart with 10 laps remaining, but ultimately Busch was able to get around his young driver with eight laps left and hold off the field to earn his 59th series win – third of 2020. It was nearly a perfect competitive day as Busch was scored the winner initially in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race earlier Saturday at Texas. But his car was disqualified following technical inspection.

RELATED: Race results | 2020 Gander Trucks schedule

The two drivers – Busch (72 laps) and Eckes (52) combined to lead 124 of the race’s 167 laps.

Reigning series champion Matt Crafton finished third followed by Stewart Friesen, who earned his best finish of the season. Another former series champion Brett Moffitt finished fifth – his second top five of the year.

Tyler Ankrum, Justin Haley, Grant Enfinger, Ben Rhodes and Ross Chastain rounded out the top 10. Both Haley and Chastain also finished top-10 in the Xfinity Series race earlier in the day.

Busch joked on the FS1 telecast that he shouldn’t celebrate until after his No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota truck finished inspection but he was clearly pleased to earn the win and to see his own young driver challenge him so well.

“What can you say about Christian [Eckes], he’s getting better each and every week, every time out getting that chemistry more and more with [his crew chief] Rudy Fugle and those guys,” Busch said. “So real proud.

“But wanted to make sure we went out on a win.”

Eckes was simultaneously happy and frustrated to come so close to his first career win.

“We battled hard and it was really fun to go toe-to-toe with the best and just got to get a little better to beat him,” Eckes said. “I thought our truck was good enough to beat him I’ve just got to improve a few things. I’m really proud of my team.”

With 40 to go, Eckes held a .631-second advantage on Busch and the two were more than nine seconds ahead of the rest of the field before a series of green flag pit stops.

Busch nearly steered into the wrong pit box initially on his green flag stop – seeing the No. 18 sign, which is Busch’s NASCAR Cup Series number – before catching himself and motoring on to the right box. His advantage on track, however, was enough to put him back out front by three seconds as the pit stop sequence completed with 32 laps remaining.

A caution came out with 15 laps remaining after contact with Todd Gilliland and Ben Rhodes while racing hard inside the top 10. Gilliland’s No. 38 Ford suffered the worst damage and retired. Rhodes’ team made quick repairs in the pits and he returned to finish ninth.

It was an unusually tough day for several of the Texas track’s best, including former series champion Johnny Sauter, whose five previous wins in Fort Worth are most among active drivers. His No. 13 Ford had to retire only 62 laps into the race, hurting his place in the points standings, dropping him from 10th to 12th with only four races remaining before the Playoffs begin. The top 10 drivers in the driver standings vie for the title.

The NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series championship leader Austin Hill finished outside the top-10 for the first time this season. The driver of the No. 16 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota made a pair of extended pit stops before eventually retiring on Lap 107, in 30th place.

The DNF delivered a hit in Hill’s championship points lead, however. The young Georgia-native’s championship advantage dropped from 46 points ahead of Sheldon Creed before the race to only 22 points over Rhodes after the Texas checkered flag.