Posted on by Holly Cain

There certainly was no shortage of drama, suspense and emotion in Sunday’s Can-Am 500 at ISM Raceway — as you would expect of the race to determine which three drivers would join Martinsville winner Joey Logano in the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

In the end — as they had in the beginning and middle — the season-long high achievers of the “Big 3” in Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. showed why they are just that. But even they had to overcome sizable setbacks and strategy twists in a thrilling final push to settle who will run for the championship in Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 (3 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Regular Season Champion Kyle Busch overcame being down a lap Sunday — getting caught on pit road during a caution flag — to regain the lead for good with 36 laps remaining to put an exclamation point on his 2018 championship intentions.

RELATED: Breaking down the field

Fellow eight-time race winner Kevin Harvick of Stewart-Haas Racing joins Busch in the Championship 4. He rallied to a fifth-place finish Sunday after an early race flat tire put him laps down to the leader. And that was after a significant midweek penalty to the No. 4 team nullified his Texas win from being an automatic Championship 4 berth.

Joining Logano, Busch and Harvick is reigning Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr., a four-time winner in 2018 who shows up in Homestead with plenty of extra title motivation himself. His No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota team is transitioning out of the sport at the end of the season.

“Well, it’s exciting for us, I think, to be in this position again,” said Truex, who finished 14th Sunday. “This is our third trip to Homestead in four years, which I think is something we’re all really proud of as a group, and obviously going to be our last race together as a complete group, it’s definitely going to be a special weekend.”

For the first time in NASCAR Playoff history, the four drivers eligible to win the championship have more than 50 percent of the series’ regular-season wins entering Miami.

Points advantages, season trophies and regular-season honors are muted now, however — a championship trophy will go to the highest finisher of this single race.

RELATED: Late-race wreck shakes up playoff

Many are calling it the most competitive foursome in the championship race era. Three of the four have won Cup championships at Homestead in the last four years — and those three (Busch, Harvick and Truex) have accounted for 20 wins in the 35 races to date this season.

Team Penske’s Logano shows up in South Florida, though, with the best average finish (9.4) in the nine playoff races. The 27-year-old won his way into the title hunt at Martinsville and is the only driver without a title.

All four of these drivers have multiple wins on the season. They have each earned at least 20 top-10s and together have accounted for more than 5,200 laps led.

The highly competitive, high achieving nature of this year’s championship foursome certainly isn’t lost on those drivers.

“I don’t know how you could pick a favorite necessarily,” Busch conceded Sunday after his victory.

“Harvick has won (at Homestead-Miami), we’ve won there, the 78 (Truex) has won there. You know, Harvick has beat us all. I beat Harvick the year I won. Truex beat both of us last year. I think it’s just a matter of being able to go out there and race your race and do what you can with what you’ve got and have an opportunity to be able to be leading the race essentially on that last lap. That’s what approximate it boils down to.

“Anything can happen in between, and we’ve seen it the last few years kind of how crazy things can get. … I would predict this is the best four, the closest four that have been in our sport in a long time.”

Posted on by Staff Report

This week, Donut Media and NASCAR are partnering for exclusive racing content. Today: How outlaw moonshiners started NASCAR.

It’s NASCAR week on Donut Media, a week in which the car culture brand will celebrate and explore NASCAR’s roots and personalities as only Donut Media can.

Monday’s offering is an in-depth look at how outlaw moonshiners were influential in NASCAR’s early days. NASCAR’s moonshining origins are well-documented, but the video below offers a fresh take with plenty of historical context.

Want more from Donut Media on car culture, motorsports … even car pranks?

Subscribe on YouTube, and keep an eye out this week for more exclusive NASCAR content.

Posted on by Brad Norman

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of four stories examining why each driver could win the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship. Coming Tuesday: Martin Truex Jr.

RECAP: Martin Truex Jr. | Kyle Busch

• • •

Kevin Harvick will win the 2018 championship because … 

He has the fastest car in the field and a penchant for big-race performances that rivals anyone else in any professional sport. It’s no secret the No. 4 Ford has been operating at an elite level all year, and it won’t be any different Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Of Harvick’s eight wins this year — which are most in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, by the way, tied with Kyle Busch — four have come on 1.5-mile tracks. He’s been fast on unload, and his cars get even better during the races.

Let’s go beyond speed, though.

MORE: Kevin and DeLana through the years

This is the most decorated Championship 4 field in the history of NASCAR’s elimination-style playoff format. Harvick, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano are superstars, and whoever wins the championship Sunday will have without question earned it.

But of those four, even with so many big wins among them all, no driver has risen to the occasion and won when it mattered most like Harvick. Phoenix 2014 … Miami 2014 … Dover 2015 … New Hampshire 2016 … the list goes on.

Harvick is the author of the clutch win and feels like NASCAR’s version of Kobe Bryant. When the stakes are highest, he wants the ball in his hands, so to speak.

MORE: Clutch wins in playoff history

And a word about Rodney Childers. Yes, the crew chief and car chief Robert Smith are suspended from this race due to an L1-level penalty issued after a win at Texas. Yes, his absence will be felt.

Will it cause them to lose the title? No. Childers will put in 14 hours per day at the shop this week, and building the Miami car has likely been months in the making. The car is what the car is, and Childers and Smith had a big hand in building it. SHR has worked tirelessly to build a deep bench, and veteran Tony Gibson is the perfect, steady voice to call the shots Sunday.

To tweak a quote from Harvick’s post-race interview from Phoenix — The internet works well from Miami to North Carolina, too.

RELATED: Breaking down the Championship 4

Posted on by Staff Report

TriStar Motorsports driver Cole Whitt has retired, the team announced late Sunday night.

Whitt, 27, started 34th and finished 25th in Sunday’s NASCAR Playoffs Round of 8 race at ISM Raceway in Phoenix. It was his 13th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start of the season, with a best finish of 19th at Texas in the spring.

Whitt has 161 Cup starts under his belt, racing full time at NASCAR’s top level in 2014-15 and 2017, finishing 31st in points in his first two full seasons. In his 2012 Xfinity Series rookie season, he placed seventh overall, with four top-five finishes.

MORE: Cole Whitt career stats

Posted on by Official NASCAR Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Nov. 12, 2018) – As the Championship 4 drivers battle for a title at Homestead-Miami Speedway, NASCAR® and Snap Inc. will bring the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship™ to life through unique activations and content experiences for Snapchatters worldwide.

Snapcodes allowing fans to directly follow NASCAR, teams and drivers on Snapchat will be displayed on the drivers’ race cars during the Ford EcoBoost 400 on Nov. 18, in celebration of NASCAR’s season finale (3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NASCAR’s new show, “NASCAR Highlights,” now available for fans on Snapchat’s Discover page, will break the championship race into the day’s most exciting moments from pre-race to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship trophy presentation in Victory Lane.

In addition, fans in attendance at Homestead-Miami Speedway and watching around the world can share their race-day experiences with millions of Snapchat users through premium Our Story coverage on Snapchat Discover. The Our Story, an expertly-curated look at the day through publicly submitted video and photo Snaps, will provide a unique, behind-the-scenes look at the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship from the perspective of fans and drivers.

Fans at Homestead-Miami Speedway will also have access to creative NASCAR-branded Filters to decorate their Snaps.

“From the earliest tailgates to the wave of the checkered flag and everything in between, Snapchat is telling the story of NASCAR’s championship event like never before,” said Jill Gregory, NASCAR executive vice president and chief marketing officer. “We want Snapchat users to feel like they’re at Homestead-Miami Speedway, so with the Our Story, ‘NASCAR Highlights’ and Snapcodes, we’re thrilled to provide that experience.”

During the race, certain drivers will carry their own, individual Snapcodes on the front sides of their race cars. Others will display team-specific or NASCAR Snapcodes as part of the activation – a collaborative initiative between NASCAR, Snap Inc. and the Race Team Alliance.

“NASCAR has been a longstanding partner and adding Snapcodes to drivers’ race cars in conjunction with the race teams shows their commitment to innovation and creativity,” said Juan David Borrero, Snap’s Head of Sports Partnerships. “We’re excited to continue growing our partnership and look forward to bringing all the excitement of NASCAR’s championship race to Snapchatters around the world.”

“The Race Teams continue to look for new ways for our fans to engage with their favorite drivers and when approached with this creative idea immediately came on board for this innovative partnership with Snap and NASCAR,” said Jonathan Marshall, Executive Director of the Race Team Alliance.

For in-depth coverage around the Ford EcoBoost 400, visit NASCAR.com.

Posted on by Staff Report

Denny Hamlin’s and Kurt Busch’s cars collided shortly after a late restart Sunday at ISM Raceway in the Round of 8 elimination race, with the resulting damage ending Busch’s attempt at advancing to the Championship 4. The disappointment was evident in Busch’s face as he gave his post-wreck interview to NBC and other media. Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner Tony Stewart was seen consoling Busch.

But according to Hamlin, the veteran Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers bumped into each other again later and this time the result was more pleasant.

Good to see the two veterans were able to resolve the situation.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Aric Almirola was close enough to taste the victory that would have assured him of a Championship 4 berth and knocked Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kevin Harvick out of the final four.

With 12 laps left in Sunday’s Can-Am 500 at ISM Raceway, Almirola’s No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford lined up beside race leader Kyle Busch for a restart with 12 laps left. But Busch got the jump on the restart, and Almirola faded to fourth behind runner-up Brad Keselowski and third-place Kyle Larson.

RELATED: Race results | Playoff standings

“I thought we were a seventh- to sixth-place car, and that’s what I thought we were yesterday (in practice), too,” Almirola said on pit road, after getting a consoling hug from team owner Tony Stewart. “(Crew chief) Johnny (Klausmeier) and all these guys fought their guts out, and I fought my guts out inside the race car and gave it everything we had. We took a seventh- or eighth-place car and the next thing you know we were in position to win the race.

“I’m just really thankful for this group, and these guys on the Smithfield team are awesome. This is our first year working together. You look at all the teams we’re racing and they’ve got four, five, six, seven years working together, so what we’ve accomplished in one year is a hell of a lot.

“But right now all I can think about is being inside of Kyle down there in the new (Turns) 1 and 2 and just not being able to get the power down to get up beside him. It’s bittersweet. It was a good day for us, but today we needed to win — and we didn’t win.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Hendrick Motorsports rising star William Byron clinched the 2018 Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award after Sunday’s race at ISM Raceway at Phoenix.

Byron has four top 10s and 20 top 20-finishes with one race remaining in the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season and topped fellow rookie Bubba Wallace for the honor. His best result came in the summer race at Pocono with a sixth-place finish.

The Charlotte, North Carolina, native finished ninth at ISM Raceway to clinch the award — with Wallace finishing one spot behind him in 10th. It’s the first time this season the two rookies both finished in the top 10.

RELATED: Knaus to crew chief Byron in 2019

Byron will see a change in leadership atop the pit box next season with seven-time champion crew chief Chad Knaus moving over to lead Byron’s No. 24 team as current crew chief Darian Grubb will come off the road and back into a role in the Hendrick shop.

Byron competed full time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for JR Motorsports in 2017. He earned the championship and Sunoco Rookie of the Year in that series last season and earned Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors in 2016 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Byron’s three straight Sunoco Rookie of the Year awards across all three national series mirrors what Erik Jones accomplished in recent years. Jones won Sunoco rookie honors in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2017, the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2016 and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2015.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

AVONDALE, Ariz. – Holding off Brad Keselowski after a restart with 12 laps left in Sunday’s Can-Am 500 at ISM Raceway, Kyle Busch claimed his eighth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season and led NASCAR’s Big Three into the Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

After a wreck on Lap 269 of 312 ended the championship hopes of Kurt Busch and Chase Elliott—both of whom had been in the mix throughout the day—Busch grabbed the lead from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Erik Jones on Lap 277 and held it the rest of the way, through two subsequent cautions and restarts.

Busch’s victory, the 51st of his career and his second at the one-mile track—coming 13 years after his first one—tied him for the series lead with Kevin Harvick, who had to overcome an early flat tire to join Busch, Martinsville winner Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr. (14th on Sunday) in the Championship 4.

RELATED: Race results | All-time national series wins | Shop for winner gear

The 51st win broke a tie with NASCAR Hall of Famers Junior Johnson and Ned Jarrett, leaving Busch alone in 11th place on the all-time list.

By the time he took the checkered flag .501 seconds ahead of Keselowski, Busch had already clinched a spot in the title race on points.

“What a day! What a race!” Busch said. “It’s an awesome team and awesome group of guys. Can’t say enough about everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing—all the men and women there that work so hard to prepare such great race cars that I get to drive.”

Busch, who won the 2015 championship after missing the first 11 events of the season because of injuries sustained in an accident at Daytona, now carries significant momentum into the championship race.

“I’d like to think it gives us a lot, but I don’t know–talk is cheap. We’ve got to be able to go out there and perform and just do what we need to do. Being able to do what we did here today was certainly beneficial.

“I didn’t think we were the best car, but we survived, and we did what we needed to do today. It’s just about getting to next week, and once we were locked in, it was ‘All bets are off, and it’s time to go.’”


Truex didn’t have a contending car, but the reigning series champion did an admirable job avoiding the sort of trouble that dashed the hopes of other championship contenders.

Clint Bowyer exited early, thanks to a flat left rear tire that sent him hard into the Turn 3 wall on Lap 133. Kurt Busch led 52 laps and overcame a one-lap penalty for passing the pace car at the entrance to pit road under caution on Lap 135.

After regaining the lost lap, however, Busch was fighting for the lead after a restart on Lap 269 when the No. 11 Toyota of Denny Hamlin ran him into the outside wall. Busch’s No. 41 Ford bounced off the barrier and collected the No. 9 Chevrolet of Chase Elliott, who had led 16 laps and won the first stage.

Unable to continue, Busch finished 32nd. Elliott lost three laps under repairs and came home 23rd.

With Kurt Busch and Elliott out of contention, Harvick was assured of a Championship 4 berth unless Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Aric Almirola won the race. Almirola lined up second to Kyle Busch for the final restart on Lap 301 but faded to fourth at the finish, and Harvick was in.

“That flat tire, just leading the stage there, coming to the white, and the tire goes flat,” Harvick said of his early issue. “That just put us behind and that was really the turning point in our day, to not have everything go right. 

“I mean, we got ourselves back in contention there, and we’re going in the right direction and wound up just finding a spot at the end to just survive there and get to the finish.”

RELATED: Busch, Elliott entangled in late wreck | Harvick advances in adventuresome day

Harvick finished fifth behind Almirola. Jamie McMurray, Matt Kenseth, Austin Dillon, William Byron, and Bubba Wallace completed the top 10.

Byron clinched Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors for the series.

“We haven’t had very good runs, to be honest, the whole year, but this run we kind of went a completely different direction with what we were doing and it seemed to pay off, and just kind of had a solid weekend other than qualifying,” Byron said.

“Got some damage there, but we were able to come back, I guess, and finish ninth, so I guess that’s decent, and going to Homestead next week.”

Will there be more drama next week? The 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season will conclude next Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway with the Ford EcoBoost 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The best finisher among the Championship 4 will be crowned as the Monster Energy Series champion.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on by Chase Wilhelm

AVONDALE, Ariz. – Congratulations from team owners Tony Stewart and Gene Haas on pit road following Sunday’s Round of 8 finale at ISM Raceway completed a roller-coaster ride for Kevin Harvick en route to a Championship 4 bid.

Harvick rallied back from a flat tire early to earn a fifth-place finish in the penultimate race of the season in Phoenix, advancing to the final round of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs by 28 points to join race winner Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr.

Kevin Harvick, Gene Haas and Tony Stewart
Chase Wilhelm | NASCAR Digital Media

Harvick faced stiff competition from Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Aric Almirola in the closing lap, but a fourth-place finish for the No. 10 team fell short in a must-win situation.

RELATED: Race results | Elliott, Kyle Busch win stages

Although he wore a smile after sealing his fate for next Sunday’s title bout at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Harvick’s description of the day summed up how challenging it was to fight back.

“It’s real-life torture there,” Harvick said. “…Everything that went on today was just crazy, right? We kept ourselves in there and then at the end just put ourselves in a position where there weren’t any cars around anymore and just finish the race.”

Harvick started from the Busch Pole and led the first 72 circuits of Sunday’s Can-Am 500, but a flat tire with two laps remaining in Stage 1 sent the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford to pit road prematurely – losing a lap in the process.

Quickly returning to the lead lap as the beneficiary following the race’s second caution, Harvick worked the No. 4 back through the field to earn a fourth-place result in Stage 2.

“There’s nothing you can do about that stuff,” Harvick said. “You just regroup, put four new tires on it and go at it again.”

The focus now shifts to preparation for a run at a second career championship for Harvick, something he will do with interim crew chief Tony Gibson after an L1-level penalty sidelined crew chief Rodney Childers (as well as car chief Robert Smith) for the final two events and a 40-point loss heading into Phoenix.

The penalty makes Sunday’s comeback even more remarkable given he started the race with only a three-point cushion on the cutline.

“I think we have a shot every time we show up,” Harvick said of his chances in South Florida. “Our guys ­are doing a great job, obviously, to accomplish everything we did this weekend was quite the feat without your crew chief and car chie­f.”

“Really the biggest thing that Tony (Gibson) brings is just a ton of experience,” he added. “He’s very calm on the pit box, unless he’s winning the Daytona 500. … But for the most part on the radio, he was just dead calm all weekend and just pretty laid back with everything, and everybody just did their jobs.”

Along with his confidence in Gibson, Harvick made note that Childers will play a huge role despite his absence from the pit box in Miami, just as he did this weekend.

“The thing you’ve got to remember is those guys have all been together for five years,” Harvick said. “…The internet works well from Phoenix to North Carolina, as well, too.”