Posted on by Jordan Bianchi

Ahead of Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Texas Motor Speedway, the second race in the Round of 8, we’ll analyze the four drivers who find themselves below the cutline. Next up is Kurt Busch, who sits fifth in the standings.

BELOW THE BUBBLE: Chase Elliott | Clint Bowyer | Aric Almirola

Points below cutoff: 25

Reason for optimism at Texas: From the first time he turned a lap at Texas, Kurt Busch quickly acclimated recording seven top-10 finishes in his first 10 starts. More recently in April, he had one of the better cars during the spring race as he started on the pole, led 40 laps, placed third and second in the first two stages and finished seventh overall.

Reason for pessimism at Texas: Although he’s turned in several strong runs as of late at Texas, Busch has still not finished in the top five since a fourth in the 2010 spring event, a 16-race span. And his lone win here occurred nine years ago.

RELATED: Full schedule for Texas | Updated playoff standings

Reason for optimism at Phoenix: He led 219 of 312 possible laps during the 2005 spring race en route to his lone win at the desert track. And he recently had a five-race stretch (fall 2014 to fall 2016) where he finished no worse than seventh.

Reason for pessimism at Phoenix: If Busch needs a win to advance can he handle the pressure and avoid the kind of mistake that led to his Playoff ouster in 2015? That year he came into Phoenix needing a win and got his weekend started right by qualifying second, only to be penalized for jumping the start of the race. He never fully regained the lost track position and finished seventh.

Outlook: The Round of 8 is a favorable bracket for Busch, who’s previously won at Texas and Phoenix. This past success combined with being one of the most consistent drivers this season — he has the fourth-most top 10 finishes — presents him a prime opportunity to close the points gap and, if all goes right, maybe even claim a win. But he and the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing team must find that last little bit of speed if they are to beat the teams above in the standings and earn a berth in the Championship 4.

Posted on by Staff Report

It’s official. John Gianninoto, fueler for the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports team of Chase Elliott, is now the fastest fueler in the world.

With help from Sunoco, the official fuel of NASCAR, Gianninoto set a new Guinness World Record for the most cars fueled in an hour by a single person. A Guinness World Record official was on-hand to witness Gianninoto fuel 148 cars to set the new record in Queens, New York prior to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race weekend at Martinsville Speedway.

Gianninoto has fueled three trips to Victory Lane for Elliott and the No. 9 team this season, including Elliott’s first career triumph at Watkins Glen and a pair of victories in the NASCAR Playoffs Round of 12 at Dover and Kansas.

Watch Gianninoto become the world’s fastest fueler below.

Posted on by Zack Albert

The thought that the three Monster Energy Series drivers who won 17 of 26 regular-season races would drift easily into the Championship 4 field was a sensible conclusion before the NASCAR Playoffs began. With three of four berths seemingly predestined, the remaining contenders would battle among themselves for the fourth slot.

Sunday’s finish at Martinsville Speedway snapped that fourth opening right up, with Joey Logano pouncing in the Round of 8 opener and clinching his place in the Homestead-Miami finale Nov. 18. That leaves three spots remaining, with Kevin Harvick (seven wins this season), Kyle Busch (seven wins) and Martin Truex Jr. (four wins) hoping to fill them with a victory or on the basis of points.

RELATED: Full schedule for Texas

That quest continues with a snugger margin of error this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, site of Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). A win by either Busch, Harvick or Truex would allow the ballyhooed “Big 3” to hold serve in the postseason, but a Victory Lane visit from another playoff contender below the cutline would upset that order.

Kurt Busch, Chase Elliott, Clint Bowyer and Aric Almirola are the remaining postseason hopefuls aiming to spoil that season-long trifecta. A win by any of those four at Texas would eliminate one of the Big 3 from the Homestead title picture.

MORE: Playoff standings

A positive note for the top-ranked trio: Busch, Truex and Harvick rank 1-3-4 among postseason competitors in career driver ratings for Texas Motor Speedway; Elliott ranks second but has just five starts at the track. Busch has won there three times since 2013. Truex had strung together six straight top-10 finishes before crashing out in the spring. Harvick has a streak of eight consecutive top 10s with six top-five finishes in that stretch at the Fort Worth venue, including a triumph in this race last season.

“I think next week is our best bet as we go into the next two races I look at Texas as our best race track,” Harvick said post-Martinsville. “We ran really well there in the spring and won the race there last year and our mile-and-a-half stuff has been really good.”

This particular intermediate-sized track has developed character and a new look in recent years. Sunday’s 334-lap event will be the fourth Monster Energy Series race contested on the Texas track’s fresh pavement and reconfigured Turns 1 and 2. Track officials reduced the banking from 24 to 20 degrees in that section, while widening the racing surface from 60 to 80 feet.

In hopes of artificially aging the asphalt, track officials have been dragging tires for two weeks to apply rubber and Goodyear Racing is bringing a tire designed to promote wear. While some of the ‘new’ about the Texas layout may have worn off, it’s expected to produce a unique test for the playoff field.

RELATED: Goodyear brings new tire combo to Texas

“The race track since the repave is not so much fun but it is a challenge,” Bowyer says. “Within those challenges you have to be open-minded and excited about that challenge and ready to attack it. You definitely have to attack it. It is a track that the grip level is through the roof until it’s not. It is very tricky to get ahold of.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Defending Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champ Martin Truex Jr. told an annual gathering of Toyota employees Thursday that he’s ready for a more aggressive approach depending on who he’s racing, saying, “it’s time to stop getting run into and start running into.”

His remarks come four days after Joey Logano’s last-lap bumper nudge denied Truex a victory at Martinsville Speedway, and with it, a title berth in the championship race Nov. 18 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The comments from Toyota’s Plano, Texas, headquarters were first reported by Bob Pockrass of ESPN.

RELATED: Playoff standings | Dale Jr.’s advice to Truex

In earlier comments, Truex said he’d exchanged text messages with Logano, reporting that his rival’s response was defensive in nature. Going forward, Truex added that he’d stay true to his sportsmanlike driving style, even with a chance at a second Monster Energy Series crown on the line. But he also said his gauge for how aggressive to be would depend on the situation and his competition at that moment.

“I wouldn’t just wreck somebody to win a championship, just like I wouldn’t wreck somebody to win a race,” Truex told ESPN. “It might be cool for a couple of hours. In 20 years, you are going to look back and say, ‘Did I really win that race or was that cheap?’ Some people might be OK with that.”

DEBATE: No more Mr. Nice Guy?

Truex joined roughly 50 drivers from all forms of racing for Toyota’s Motorsports Day in Texas. The event is a prelude to Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM), the eighth of 10 races in the NASCAR Playoffs.

Posted on by Jordan Bianchi

Ahead of Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Texas Motor Speedway, the second race in the Round of 8, we’ll analyze the four drivers who find themselves below the cutline. Today we focus on Chase Elliott, who sits sixth in the standings.

BELOW THE BUBBLE: Clint Bowyer | Aric Almirola 

Points below cutoff: 31

Reason for optimism at Texas: Texas is where Chase Elliott became more than just the son of a popular former Cup Series champion but transformed into a star in his own right when he won the 2014 spring Xfinity Series race, his first-career victory in NASCAR’s No. 2 division. And on the Cup side, Elliott has never finished worse than 11th in five starts at the high-speed intermediate track.

Reason for pessimism at Texas: There haven’t been any Texas races Elliott would like to forget, it’s always been a place where he’s done well. If there is one area that gives pause it’s that he has not led many laps, totaling just nine circuits in five starts.

RELATED: Updated playoff standings

Reason for optimism at Phoenix: Elliott excels at Phoenix, having finished near the front in every Cup start he’s made there. Last year, he was leading the fall race when Matt Kenseth ran him down and passed him with 10 laps remaining.

Reason for pessimism at Phoenix: Sure, Elliott twice has come close to winning at Phoenix but he has not yet closed out and reached Victory Lane. And a runner-up finish for a second straight year will likely produce the same impact on Elliott’s title hopes as it did last season; another hard-to-stomach elimination.

Outlook: Although Hendrick Motorsports lacked competitiveness for much of the regular season, the No. 9 team has significantly elevated its performance in the Playoffs. Elliott is the only driver to record multiple wins during the postseason and has had the speed in his cars to run with the likes of Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick most every week. Further aiding Elliott’s cause is throughout his career he’s never produced a bad result at either Texas or Phoenix. It is a realistic proposition he wins one of the next two races.

Posted on by Brad Norman

Four wins. 10 top-fives. 10 top-10s.

Brett Moffitt’s 2018 Camping World Truck Series campaign has catapulted the 26-year-old driver into title discussions, and the confidence oozing from the No. 16 team after a second-place finish at Martinsville only makes Moffitt hungry for more.

RESULTS: Practice 1 | Practice 2 

“It’s great for my career,” Moffitt said. “I’m a competitor. I’m not looking backwards, I’m looking forward. Unless we win the championship I’m going to consider this an incomplete season for myself and for our race team. We’re looking forward and hopefully good things come from it.”

Despite an uncertain future for Hattori Racing Enterprises during parts of the season, Moffitt has quietly positioned himself for a spot in the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He currently sits in third place in the playoff standings, 15 points above the cutline heading to Friday night’s JAG Metals 350 (8:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM).

However, it’s a position he believes he has earned through his on-track performances.

“We’ve been arguably the second-best truck all year,” he said. “So I wouldn’t say we’re a dark horse at all.”

The Iowa native isn’t the only “surprise” driver to emerge in the Camping World Truck Series this season. GMS Racing’s Justin Haley and ThorSport Racing’s Grant Enfinger are two Round of 6 drivers who are getting recognition from their competitors, too.

MORE: Full Truck Series standings | Entire Texas schedule

“I think there’s been a lot of teams stepping it up this year, or toward the end of the year,” Moffitt said. “Justin (Haley) is one of them. They got off to a rocky start and then started performing well. I think the No. 98 (Enfinger) is doing the same thing.”

Haley, a 19-year-old driver from Indiana, already has two victories in 2018, but is currently two points below the cutline. Looking ahead to Friday’s race in the Lone Star State, he has the opportunity to close that gap based on his experience — and he knows he has to take advantage.

“I don’t know what’s clicked at Texas,” Haley said. “It is my best track. … Texas has been good. We’ve never finished outside the top six there in the starts we’ve got. We’ve been rebuilding our mile-and-a-half truck, it’s been since Vegas since we’ve ran it. We’re really excited to go to Texas. It’s been our best track, we finished third there in the spring. Obviously, now that Johnny (Sauter) has a win we can focus a little more toward the No. 24 truck, I hope. Getting us to the Round of 4.”

Posted on by Sponsored Content
Cat unveil with Ryan Newman
Caterpillar

Bigger may be better in Texas for most things, but Ryan Newman’s slick new paint scheme for the second race of the NASCAR Playoffs Round of 8 race at Texas Motor Speedway features iconic sponsor Caterpillar going smaller in the Next Generation Mini Excavators. Caterpillar brings many of the racing world’s hallmarks to its nine new models in their mini hydraulic excavator lineup: performance, versatility and serviceability. Then their engineers added operator experience and affordability. All packed into the smallest packages.

Newman’s No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet will recognize 44 customers that inspired the design of the machines with their names on the deck lid for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series AAA Texas 500 (3 p.m. ET Sunday, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Caterpillar employees and race fans got their first look at the car Thursday.

Newman was on hand for the paint scheme reveal with Caterpillar and pronounced the paint scheme “Awesome.”

“It’s an honor for me to drive the race car and to represent the names,” Newman said. “Don’t get me wrong, Caterpillar and the mini excavator are really cool, but it’s the names on the back. It means something more when you are representing those names.”

Customers have the same reaction to the new line of machines in both the 1- to 2-ton class and the 7- to 10-ton category.

Marc Blackhurst, operator, Waters Edge Designs
Marc Blackhurst

“They may be mini, but they are powerful,” says Marc Blackhurst, an operator with Waters Edge Designs. “The new lineup offers industry-leading performance right where you need it, which allows you to do more with a mini excavator than you thought possible.”

The new mini excavators have an exclusive Stick Steer system, which allows the operator to switch (with the touch of a button) from conventional lever/foot-pedal steering controls to left-hand joystick control.

Sounds like stock car racing and iRacing, doesn’t it?

The new line of Cat machines also has a new and exclusive option in the 1- to-2 ton class that Newman might really enjoy, especially in the heat of summer: air conditioning. For more on the features of the new Cat Mini Excavators, go to Cat.com: 1- to 2- ton class |  7- to 10-ton class 

Names on the back of Ryan Newman's car

Posted on by Staff Report

Few NASCAR teams got into the Halloween spirit in a bigger way than Richard Childress Racing, which held its weekly pit crew competition in full costume Wednesday.

The festive pit practice was captured by the team, including RCR pit crew coach Ray Wright, and posted to social media for a scary-good alternative take on the traditional four tires and fuel.

Posted on by NASCAR.com

Name: Stephanie
Current City: Chicago, Illinois​
Member since: 2009

Getting to know Stephanie
​
​Q. How did you first become interested in NASCAR?
“As child, I was always the girl playing with Hot Wheels. As I got older, my dad introduced me to NASCAR when the company he was working for sponsored Greg Biffle. I was able to meet Greg and tour his hauler, and the rest is history!”

Q. What is your favorite NASCAR Memory?
“Definitely going to my first race at Chicagoland speedway with my dad. The atmosphere was awesome!”

Q. Who are you favorite drivers?
“Kasey Kahne and Ryan Blaney. I have always enjoyed watching Kasey both on and off the track. Ryan would be interesting because he offers a fresh perspective being so young. I enjoy following him on social media.”

Q: Do you have a favorite in any of the following categories?
Memorabilia: “Signed Greg Biffle diecast, signed Kasey Kahne photo.”
Sponsor: “I like M&Ms/Mars because the cars are very creative.”
Favorite Place to Watch a Race: “High up in the grandstand to have a birds eye view.”

​Q: What are some of your hobbies?
“Watch all kinds of sports, hanging out with my dog, volunteering at Ronald McDonald House.”

​From all of us at NASCAR, we thank Stephanie for her continued support and look forward to hearing from her in 2018!