MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Martin Truex Jr. may be out of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, but the veteran driver still has compelling goals, as he proved with a pole-winning run on Saturday at Martinsville Speedway.
After a final-round lap at 96.190 mph (19.686 seconds), Truex will start from the top spot in Sunday’s Xfinity 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
Behind him and next to him, six playoff drivers, led by second-place starter Chase Elliott, will begin their battle for the final two positions in the Nov. 10 Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway.
And at the opposite end of the spectrum, playoff driver Denny Hamlin, Truex’s teammate, will start from the rear after a bizarre wreck in practice damaged his No. 11 Toyota, preventing him from making a qualifying run.
“I feel great about our car on stickers (new tires),” said Truex, who was 0.049 seconds faster than third-place starter William Byron, who posted a lap at 95.931 mph in the final round. “You never want to get too optimistic, but I fired off really good in practice, especially that second run with the track rubbered in.
“I was like, ‘If we can just hit the balance here for qualifying, it should be really fast.'”
Earlier this season, Truex announced he will retire from full-time racing at season’s end.
“We’ve got two more chances to win,” said Truex, who earned his third pole at Martinsville, his first of the season and the 24th of his career. “We want it bad, we’re working hard, we’re not giving up, and hopefully we can get it for everyone.”
Though he was fifth fastest in the final round, Elliott starts second because he was the fastest of the five qualifiers in Group A. That left Byron in third, Chase Briscoe in fourth and Ty Gibbs in fifth.
Harrison Burton, Alex Bowman, Ryan Preece, Kyle Larson and Austin Dillon will start from positions six through 10 respectively. The three Hendrick Motorsports drivers — Elliott, Byron and Larson — are the only playoff drivers in the top 10 on the grid.
Other playoff drivers qualified as follows: Joey Logano (12th), Ryan Blaney (14th), Christopher Bell (16th) and Tyler Reddick (31st). Logano and Reddick already have qualified for the Championship 4 with respective victories at Las Vegas and Homestead-Miami.
As qualifying progressed, Hamlin’s crew was trying to repair his primary car, which backed into the Turn 3 wall when the throttle stuck during practice, thanks to a chunk of rubber that found its way into the throttle body.
“We had just come back out, we had just made an adjustment to the car, and it was doing everything it needed to do,” Hamlin said. “It was maneuvering through the pack pretty well. I went into Turn 3, and the car just didn’t slow down, and the throttle hung on us. The throttle had no chance to come backwards.
“That certainly caught me off guard, but it happens. We just got unlucky.”
Truex was sympathetic to his teammate’s misfortune but wasn’t worried about a similar circumstance on his car.
“About as much as I’m concerned about getting hit by lightning,” Truex quipped. “One-in-a-million. I don’t know how — his number just came up.”
Truex tops Cup Series practice at Martinsville
With Goodyear introducing a new left-side tire compound at Martinsville, NASCAR decided to run an extended 45-minute practice session to allow teams to collect tire data.
Before snagging the pole in qualifying, Martin Truex Jr. topped the leaderboard in practice at 95.070 mph over Corey LaJoie (94.989 mph) and Denny Hamlin (94.884 mph).
Christopher Bell (94.855 mph) and Chase Elliott (94.836 mph) rounded out the top five.
Ty Gibbs (94.789 mph), Chase Briscoe (94.689 mph), Todd Gilliland (94.685 mph), Austin Dillon (94.482 mph) and Daniel Suárez (94.463 mph) completed the top 10.
Playoff driver Hamlin entered Martinsville 18 points below the elimination line, but his path to the Championship 4 got tougher as the No. 11 JGR Toyota crashed in Turn 3 during practice.
Hamlin told his crew on the radio that the throttle stuck which caused him to spin and back his car into the wall. He will start Sunday’s Xfinity 500 from the back of the field after skipping qualifying for his team to repair the rear damage.
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Entering Sunday’s Round of 8 elimination Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway, Christopher Bell is the only driver chasing a point total to make his third consecutive Championship 4.
The magic number? 34.
Thirty-four points will guarantee a trilogy for the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing driver at Phoenix Raceway next weekend as he continues the quest for his maiden championship. However, having a point target has put Bell and his team in a bind as they will also be in a points battle with Hendrick Motorsports drivers William Byron and Kyle Larson if there’s a playoff driver beneath them who wins on Sunday.
“It’s definitely putting us in an interesting position because one thing that my team does really well is just focus on ourselves and doing the best that we can for ourselves that day,” Bell said. “But with the points situation, I think it makes a little bit of sense to kind of see what the competition is doing. Myself, William and Larson, we’re in a points battle amongst the three of us. The thing that is playing against that is I’m sure William and Larson are going to be racing for the win, so that means that we’re going to have to be racing for the win as well. If the yellow flags make the strategy wonky, maybe it’s a situation where we just do whatever they do and try to stay on the same strategy with them, and we’ll lose together or win together. What you don’t want to happen is be on the losing side of it when they’re on the winning side of it and give up a bunch of points.”
Bell hit it right on the nose. Not only have himself, Byron and Larson won at Martinsville, but every driver that’s yet to punch their ticket to the Championship 4 has won at the Virginia short track.
Despite entering the penultimate race of the season with a 29-point cushion to the elimination line, Adam Stevens, Bell’s crew chief, has tossed out the notion of it being an advantage given how good the remaining playoff drivers are at Martinsville.
“The gap to the cut doesn’t matter,” Stevens emphasized. “The gap to our nearest competitor is what matters because regardless of what happens, we know one car is going to make it on points. So the gap to the cut, you have to assume there’s going to be a winner out of our playoff cars, so it’s the gap to our closest competitor.
“There’s only going to be one winner. So if three or four of them are at the front late, there’s going to be a lot of paint being traded, and that can set up some carnage — and some carnage that you don’t want to get caught in. So it’s going to be very interesting how it all plays out. Everybody that’s not qualified yet for Phoenix is a winner at Martinsville, which is kind of remarkable, isn’t it? It doesn’t even make sense. So everybody knows what they’re looking for there. Now whether we can all find it or not, I don’t know, but I would not at all be surprised if it’s not all of us in those top four or five spots.”
Bell has been near-perfect eight races deep into the postseason. He’s finished inside the top 10 in every playoff race except for Watkins Glen International and has finished runner-up in two of the last three.
It’s a position that’s new for Bell as he built quite the resume for himself in the regular season with three race victories and 10 stage wins.
In the two prior years when the Norman, Oklahoma native made the Championship 4, he needed to pull off heroics with walk-off wins at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval and Martinsville in 2022, followed by a massive shake-up at Homestead-Miami Speedway last year that opened the door for his golden ticket to Phoenix.
He won’t need a Freddie Freeman-esque moment from Game 1 of the World Series to make the Champ 4 this year, but Bell is staying mindful of the task at hand while feeling some relief being in the position he is now.
“Certainly, this is what we’ve strived for,” Bell said. “Everybody strives to have the most bonus points, and we didn’t accomplish that. We’re second, but still, second is better than the rest of them, so it has made our playoffs go extremely smooth. But we know that getting into the Round of 8, it doesn’t matter how many points you have, you’re going to have to be competing for wins. We’ve done that, and we’re in position. It was definitely a huge benefit having the points in getting through the Round of 16, the Round of 12, and yeah, it was a good head start in the Round of 8. If I didn’t have those points, I likely wouldn’t be sitting in this position today.
For Bell, near-perfect isn’t enough. What looked to be a solidified win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway two weeks ago was taken away by Joey Logano’s fuel management in the final green-flag run. It left Bell frustrated, knowing what could have been and that the No. 20’s title fate would’ve been set, and Martinsville wouldn’t have mattered.
But that’s not the case, and Bell isn’t taking anything for granted when the green flag drops Sunday (2 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
“I feel like people in the industry, they understand that, but the people outside of the industry, they didn’t understand the magnitude of that one position, right?” Bell said of his Vegas shortcoming. “And I got all week long, ‘Oh, you’re still plus-42, you’re plus-42, you’re in a great spot.’ But no, you’re not in a great spot. And nothing is guaranteed. I did everything in my power at Homestead, and that plus-42 shrinked to plus-29, and likely again this week, there’s a very good possibility that that plus-29 is going to shrink to plus-single digits depending on who wins the race. Nothing’s guaranteed except for wins, and that’s why winning is so important.”
Denny Hamlin crashed during Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series practice session at Martinsville Speedway, creating a significant hurdle for the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team, which will start at the rear of the field in Sunday’s Round of 8 finale.
Entering Turn 3, Hamlin carried tremendous speed before sending his Toyota into a skid, careening rear-first into the outside retaining SAFER barrier.
“(Expletive) throttle stuck,” Hamlin radioed to his crew.
Hamlin wheeled the No. 11 Toyota back to the garage area and exited the vehicle under his own power, slamming his helmet onto his roof upon exit in frustration. He was evaluated and released from the infield care center.
“I went in Turn 3, and the car just didn’t slow down, and the throttle hung on us,” Hamlin said. “So that certainly caught me off guard. But it happens, you know. We just got unlucky.”
The No. 11 crew pared away crumpled body panels from the primary car in the team’s garage stall, then sent the Toyota through inspection to determine if the wreck altered its measurements. The team worked through the afternoon to make repairs at the track, opting against unloading a reserve No. 11. Crew members went to the JGR No. 54 hauler and unloaded a massive tool cart, loaded with spare bodywork and components.
Hamlin said that No. 11 crew chief Chris Gabehart had shown him how a stray chunk of rubber had found its way under the hood, lodging into the throttle body to cause the incident. Hamlin indicated he’d had a sticking throttle before, but never one that held wide open. “I mean, if it’s a one in 100,000 chance, it’s going to fall on me,” Hamlin said of the fluke occurrence, “so I’ll probably have it again.”
The No. 11 Toyota had posted the fastest lap of Saturday afternoon’s practice at 19.957 seconds before the incident, a figure that was eclipsed only by JGR teammate Martin Truex Jr. and Corey LaJoie later in the session. Hamlin did not participate in Cup Series qualifying and will have to start Sunday’s Xfinity 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) from the rear of the field. The team will also be last in the pecking order for pit-stall selection and will try to make measured headway early in the 500-lap race.
“That will be the short-term goal, yeah, is certainly to try to find a way to put some cars between us and the leaders to stay on the lead lap,” Hamlin said. “It will be difficult to do that, but we’ll just give it our best shot. I mean, we’re not going to give up.”
Hamlin enters Sunday sixth in the standings, 18 points beneath the provisional elimination line. Sunday’s 500-lap affair determines the four playoff drivers who will vie for the Cup Series title in the Championship 4 on Nov. 10 at Phoenix Raceway. A win would seal Hamlin’s position in the quartet, and the 43-year-old veteran indicated that would be the most likely avenue to transfer: “Certainly, the chances of getting in on points now are done. We just have to figure out a way to win the race.”
Gabehart told NBC Sports the primary car performed well enough that it’s worth evaluating thoroughly before immediately opting for the backup.
“Most of the (rear) clip looks fine, we think,” he said. “We’re gonna go take a couple measurements here in a minute, and then it would just be replacing some body panels and a bumper and getting back to it. There was a lot of good things about this car. Obviously, it fired off really fast and then was even better yet there. And unfortunately, just swallowed a big clump of rubber and got stuck in between the throttle stop and the throttle lever and hung the throttle.
“It wasn’t anything anybody did wrong. It’s just a freak deal, and we’re going to do the best we can to get this fixed.”
Hamlin was on the brink of advancing last weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, sitting second behind Ryan Blaney at the drop of the white flag. The automatic spot in the Nov. 10 final at Phoenix, however, went to Tyler Reddick, who bypassed them both in a captivating final lap to reach the Championship 4 for the first time.
Saturday at Martinsville produced a new challenge for the No. 11 team, but Gabehart had worked in the days leading up to Sunday’s 500-lapper to try to keep his team and driver from dwelling on the disappointment.
“What a moment, right? So, most any track on the circuit, you get the lead with five to go, you’re probably going to close it out. Homestead’s not one of those tracks,” Gabehart said in a Thursday morning interview. “That’s why we love it, and so it was a heck of a moment. I and the team were certainly dejected, I mean, to get so close to winning your way in and not. But to be honest with you, that’s what we love about it. That’s why we do it. It was a great moment to be a part of. You don’t always get to be a part of the winning moment. Sometimes you’re in the losing side, but it was a heck of a moment, and we’re all focused on Martinsville and trying to make another one.”
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — The first 150 laps of an elimination race before the championship played out as calmly as a Martinsville Speedway showdown under the lights could play out.
Christian Eckes had the dominant truck in the penultimate event on the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series calendar and was on his way to a clear berth to the Championship 4 after sweeping both stages.
As the laps wound down, however, tension began to crescendo as a string of cautions bunched the field together and split strategies.
Taylor Gray, whose only path to the Champ 4 was a victory, came down pit road after a Lap 164 caution for four tires and was able to surge to the front of the field after a pair of yellows. The No. 17 Tricon Garage driver was in prime position and left Eckes a sitting duck with under 10 to go and cleared the No. 19 McAnally-Hilgeman Racing wheelman on a restart with five to go.
However, Eckes delivered a shot to the rear bumper of Gray in Turn 3 that sent the No. 17 Toyota up the track and back into the swarm of the field as Eckes went to score his fourth victory of 2024, solidifying his Champ 4 bid.
“[Crew chief] Jeff Hensley had a great strategy call … on way fresher tires and yarded him … raced him super clean, and he ships me into the fence in [Turn 3 and 4],” said a fired-up Gray after confronting Eckes in Victory Lane. “He races like that [with] everybody. He does that all year long. He’s done it to everybody. He races [Tricon teammate] Corey [Heim] like that. He races everybody like that. But nobody cares because he’s won four races now.”
Eckes, who won the 2024 Regular Season Championship, said he wasn’t going to let a dominant truck lose the race.
“These guys work way too hard for us to lose a race regardless of the circumstances,” Eckes said. “I had to race harder than I probably would like to. But at the end of the day, I didn’t want to lose that race. We led 187 laps of 200 so it’s just kind of a situation where I don’t want to race like that, but at the same time, I wasn’t going to let us lose.”
Gray said he understood the circumstances that could unfold at short tracks in late-race situations but was left befuddled as to why Eckes felt the need to move him when Eckes’ title fate was all but decided after the first two stages.
“It’s dumb,” Gray said. “Yeah, probably because it’s Martinsville so people are going to move you out of the way. But don’t ship me to the fence whenever I raced you like that down here. Also, he has so much more to lose than I do. I’m racing to win to lock in. He’s locked in. He won both stages … like it’s just … whatever.”
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Gray added that he “can’t do anything” in next Friday’s championship race at Phoenix Raceway with the thought of possible discipline.
“No, it’s just gonna make me myself look like an idiot, and I don’t want to look like that,” Gray said. “I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my career, done plenty of things. I’ve tried to clean it up the past couple years. And I raced him so clean down here [in Turns 1 and 2], and he ships me off into three.”
Tricon Garage owner David Gilliland said racers “don’t forget what happened” regarding Eckes’ move as Eckes begins to prepare for a bid at the Truck title. Had Eckes allowed Gray a win, Eckes likely would have advanced on points.
“He (Eckes) would have had nothing to lose to do that,” Gilliland told NASCAR.com. “Now he’s got everything to lose. So wasn’t very smart on his end but guess we’ll see what happens.
“Eckes is racing for a championship and that’s not a very good way to do it. Maybe that’s why he’s never won one.”
Eckes shrugged off concerns about retaliation at Phoenix and emphasized the need to race hard for a win at the Virginia short track as well as why he’s in the position, and arguably the favorite, to win a championship.
“We’re just gonna go in the next week with our mind clear,” Eckes said. “Hopefully they understand that it’s just Martinsville and a product of that. I’d be mad if I was him, too, but it’s Martinsville and I feel like you have to race hard here.
“[Truck owner] Bill McAnally hired me to win races. That’s what we’re here to do, and championships. It’s definitely a risk to race like that. But you know, in the same time, I felt like our truck was was good enough, and our guys deserve to win this week.”
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Christian Eckes wasn’t about to lose a race he had dominated, even if it meant using the front bumper on his No. 19 Chevrolet — twice.
After a restart with five laps left in Friday night’s Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 200 at Martinsville Speedway, Eckes first moved the Toyota of Taylor Gray and then the Ford of Ben Rhodes — both of which were rolling on 40-lap fresher tires — to win the race and earn a spot in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ Championship 4 race next week.
Six-time 2024 winner Corey Heim ran seventh and Ty Majeski came home 11th as both earned berths in the Championship 4 on points, eliminating Gray, Nick Sanchez, Tyler Ankrum and Rajah Caruth in the final event of the Round of 8.
Eckes, Heim, Majeski and Grant Enfinger will race for the title on Nov. 8 at Phoenix Raceway (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
After the restart on Lap 196 of 200, Gray used his better tires to squeeze past Eckes to the outside. Eckes regained the top spot by moving Gray up the track. A lap later, Rhodes passed Eckes, who completed the fourth lead change in the final five laps by shoving the No. 99 Ford on Lap 198.
Free of his competitors, Eckes crossed the finish line two laps later, 1.191 seconds ahead of Rhodes. Chase Purdy and Gray were third and fourth, followed by Sanchez.
“Like I told everybody, I wasn’t going to lose this race — this truck was too good,” Eckes said. “The 17 (Gray) was hard racing. I feel bad about the 99 (Rhodes). I just got way too loose entering the corner.
“(Hearing boos from the crowd). Everybody’s really happy with me — but I don’t really care. I’m proud of everybody for working hard, and we’re going to Phoenix.”
The victory was Eckes’ fourth of the season, his second at Martinsville and the ninth of his career, but it came with a price.
After climbing from his truck, Gray walked angrily toward Eckes and expressed his displeasure in no uncertain terms.
A victory would have landed Gray in the Championship 4 at the expense of Majeski, who instead claimed the last spot by 28 points over Gray.
“I got sent to the fence when I raced him perfectly clean in (Turns) 1 and 2,” Gray said. “What goes around comes around. I have to race him next year all year long (when both move up to the NASCAR Xfinity Series).
“The 19 (Eckes) was the class of the field, right? But it’s not my fault we had better strategy than he did. We came out on tires; we drove through the field and we drove to him. I raced him clean, and he drove me in the fence. I guess the only thing I could have done is wreck him like he wrecked me.”
Eckes swept the first two stages, his series-best 10th and 11th of the season and led 187 of the 200 laps. He held a substantial lead before a six-car accident in Turn 2 on Lap 190 caused the sixth and final caution and set up the frenetic finish.
For practical purposes, Gray, Sanchez, Ankrum and Caruth entered the race in must-win situations. Ankrum finished eighth, and Caruth came home 31st after losing 21 laps in the garage as his team repaired a brake issue on his No. 71 Chevrolet.
Despite finishing third in each of the first two stages, Sanchez was 39 points out of a Championship 4 position when the race ended.
NOTE: Post-race inspection concluded without issue, confirming Eckes and his No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing team as the winners.
This weekend, Martinsville Speedway (2 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) offers one final opportunity in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8 for the six postseason competitors not locked in to compete for the final two open positions in the Championship 4. Two of the coveted four spots are spoken for, thanks to Team Penske’s Joey Logano taking the victory at the Round of 8 opener in Las Vegas Motor Speedway and 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick pocketing the win at Homestead-Miami Speedway. That leaves just two spots open, and we know at least one of two spots will be claimed by a driver on points.
The following two drivers have clinched a spot in the four-driver field of the next round: Tyler Reddick and Joey Logano.
Can Clinch Via Points
If there is a repeat winner or a win by a driver who cannot advance to the next round, the following drivers could clinch by being ahead of the third winless driver in the standings. The same point requirements listed below would hold true if a new win comes from Christopher Bell or William Byron.
Christopher Bell: Would clinch with 26 points.
William Byron: Would clinch with 49 points.
Kyle Larson: Could only clinch with help.
Denny Hamlin: Could only clinch with help.
Ryan Blaney: Could only clinch with help.
Chase Elliott: Could only clinch with help.
If there is a new winner from Kyle Larson or another winless driver lower in the standings but still eligible to advance to the next round, the following drivers could clinch by being ahead of the second winless driver in the standings.
Christopher Bell: Would clinch with 34 points.
William Byron: Could only clinch with help.
Kyle Larson: Could only clinch with help.
Denny Hamlin: Could only clinch with help.
Can Clinch Via Win
The following drivers would clinch on their win alone: Christopher Bell, William Byron, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott.
NASCAR.com’s 36 for 36 continues at Martinsville Speedway.
With 36 races and 36 full-time Charter cars, our players select one car per race, but there’s a simple twist: Once they’ve made the pick, they can’t choose that car again for the rest of the 36-race season. Yes, that means every car will be selected exactly once … a survivor pool, by another name.
Follow along weekly as our panel of pickers — Dustin Albino from Jayski, along with Steve Luvender and Cameron Richardson from NASCAR.com — embarks on a season-long journey to think like strategists and prove their picking prowess.
We’ll also feature a fourth “community” 36 for 36 pick each week, as decided by fan vote on the r/NASCAR subreddit. Can the collective vote topple our trio of full-timers?
Current Standings:
Steve Luvender: 910
r/NASCAR Community: -109
Dustin Albino: -150
Cameron Richardson: -169
Race 35 of 36: Martinsville
Last week’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway was a thriller, and Tyler Reddick’s win was a great day for two of our pickers — Steve Luvender and the r/NASCAR community — who selected the No. 45. The weekend was less fortunate for Cameron Richardson, who picked 36th-place finisher Ty Gibbs, and Dustin Albino, whose Kyle Larson selection netted just 24 points after a struggle from the No. 5.
Our panel has just two races left for the season, meaning they’ve got only two drivers remaining on their boards. How will our pickers take their 50-50 chance?
Jayski’s Dustin Albino: No. 23, Bubba Wallace
Dustin’s pick last week: No. 5, Kyle Larson (24 points)
Total season points: 760 (third place, +1 since last week)
Dustin: What an epic collapse in the postseason. Not long ago, I was battling Luvender for the championship, and now, with two races remaining, I’m desperately trying to crawl out of the cellar. Every pick seems cursed, so next on the list — I’m sorry! — is Wallace. The southern Virginia paperclip-shaped track will always have a soft spot in Wallace’s heart, scoring his first national touring series victory here in 2013. Wallace has three top-10 finishes in the last four Martinsville events, including a career-best fourth in the spring race. He’s also wearing the Xfinity colors this weekend, which is also the entitlement sponsor of the race.
NASCAR.com’s Steve Luvender: No. 11, Denny Hamlin
Steve’s pick last week: No. 45, Tyler Reddick (57 points)
Total season points: 910 (first place)
Steve: My patience in saving Tyler Reddick for Homestead last week paid off with a win, so I’m feeling pretty good about my triple-digit points lead with two races left. Entering Martinsville this weekend, my pick Denny Hamlin needs to erase an 18-point deficit in order to advance to the championship race. With five wins at Martinsville — though his most recent came in 2015 — I think Driver No. 11 will put up some points Sunday.
Cameron’s pick last week: No. 54, Ty Gibbs (1 point)
Total season points: 741 (fourth place, -1 from last week)
Cameron: Sigh. Homestead went any way but in my favor and now it’s just hope and pray for the last two events. Going with Larson for this one because, similarly to why I picked Chase Elliott at the Roval, Larson has a single-digit deficit to the elimination line and will try to maximize points as well as go for the checkered flag at Martinsville on Sunday. Hendrick Motorsports was virtually unstoppable in the spring event, leading 238 of the 400 laps as William Byron followed by Larson and Elliott to complete the podium.
r/NASCAR Community: No. 41, Ryan Preece
r/NASCAR’s pick last week: No. 45, Tyler Reddick (57 points)
Total season points: 801 (second place)
With only Ryan Blaney and Ryan Preece left on the board, the r/NASCAR subreddit selected Preece for Sunday’s race. Here’s what Redditors had to say about their choice of the No. 41 this week in the voting thread:
u/iiRyanPreece: “My account’s namesake, Ryan Preece. Preece runs really well at the short tracks as we know. Blaney is obviously strong at Martinsville too but he is also very good at Phoenix. Preece regardless of availability is a very nice and strong pick for a short track, but especially one like Martinsville that is similar to places he grew up racing on.”
u/Extreme-Bite-9123: “This last choice is tough, but I have to go with Preece. I could see an argument for Blaney, I’ve made one myself, but Phoenix is his best track, and I doubt he wins this one. Preece probably won’t win, but a top five is likely considering how good he’s been lately. Hell, who knows. Stranger things have happened. I’m changing my answer, Blaney, if he makes the final four he won’t get stage points”
u/Joey_Logano (no relation): “Ryan Jeffrey Preece. The youngest NASCAR Whelen Modified champion gets the glorious honor of being our second to last pick of the season. I don’t even really know what else to say. Short tracks are Preece’s (Wonder) bread and butter. Preece won the pole for the spring race in 2023 along with a ninth-place finish in the fall. He also [won] the Modified race last season.”
u/notalifetextbook: “Blaney has more upside at Phoenix than Preece, even if he doesn’t win this week. If you play Preece next week then you’re gonna be burned. Play him here. He’s good at short tracks.”
Check back next week to see how our pickers fared as the season-long 36 for 36 journey continues. And, if you’ve got a competitive itch beyond meticulously managing your Fantasy Live lineup each week, feel free to save or print your own 36 for 36 sheet and see if you can beat our pickers and the Reddit community!
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Matt Mills said Friday that he was in far better health after last weekend’s fiery crash at Homestead-Miami Speedway, adding that he not had a conversation with rival Conner Jones since their on-track run-in.
Mills was transported to a local hospital after his wreck in last Saturday’s Truck Series race, and his Niece Motorsports team indicated that he was treated for smoke inhalation. Mills spent two nights at Jackson South Medical Center in Miami, where Mills said he was held for further evaluation until his oxygen levels improved. He was subsequently cleared by NASCAR officials to return to competition after his Monday release.
“I’m feeling a lot better each day,” said Mills, a 27-year-old Virginian in his first full season with the Al Niece-owned organization. “It’s five times better, so it’s good to be progressing so fast through this week, and I’m just grateful for everyone down at Jackson South Hospital in Miami, NASCAR medical team and just everyone that’s had my support through this whole thing. It’s definitely helped me just progress so fast during the week to get better, and I feel good, feel normal. It’s definitely been a recovery process, but going to the simulator last night and everything, everything felt great. I’m ready to get back to this race car and just move on from everything.”
NASCAR officials gave Jones a two-lap penalty during Saturday’s Baptist Health 200, and suspended him for one race on Wednesday’s penalty report. Former series champion Johnny Sauter will fill in for Jones in the ThorSport Racing No. 66 Ford for Friday night’s Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 250 (6 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM) at Martinsville Speedway.
Jones, 18, did not speak to reporters after last Saturday’s race at Homestead, apologizing for his actions in a statement on social media later that day. Mills said that Jones had reached out to him through text message and phone call, but that he had not responded to Jones’ communications.
“It’s been such a hectic week, just physically and mentally,” Mills said. “It was exhausting, just being in the hospital. It might sound dramatic, but just getting back to reality and feeling normal again, that was a lot to process itself. It’s been a hectic week just getting my safety gear, stuff like that, all replaced. A lot of that had to get replaced, so he has reached out, but being how it’s recent and how hectic the week was, just in all scenarios, I don’t feel like I could have a healthy conversation with him, so I was going to just maybe talk to him soon. But this week, I was focused on getting back to the race track and listening to all my doctors and everyone. So when I feel like I can have a healthy conversation about it, maybe I’ll reach back out, but I’m just looking to move on.”
Mills explained that the contact that led to the altercation was “just a racing deal,” when Jones’ No. 66 slid up in front of Mills’ No. 42 Chevrolet. Mills said he heard Jones lift off the throttle to get behind him, and said that his spotter had warned him that retaliation was coming. Mills indicated that he drove harder into Turn 3 to avoid contact, but said “he seemed pretty committed to getting to me.”
Jones blasted out an angry missive on his radio communications after the incident, seeming to indicate that he had been run into multiple times throughout the season. Mills said he was uncertain “if that was directed towards me or just everyone,” saying that he wasn’t aware of a history of issues between the two.
Asked if he felt that the one-race suspension was warranted or appropriate, Mills said he hoped a bigger-picture influence might come from it.
“I mean, I’m not a vengeful person, and I don’t think it should be really looked at as a punishment or a penalty,” Mills said. “I think Conner has talent, and I think this more should be looked at as a lesson that we can’t have that in our sport, especially at a track like that (with) high speeds. So I don’t want to say, like, ‘Oh, I’m glad he got what he …’ I don’t think that way. Like I’m just that nice, kind of quiet kid, kept to himself, like I’m not a vengeful person. So my whole thing, I want this to be a lesson or an eye-opener for him. Kids coming up through the sport, we can’t do that. We’re professional race car drivers. Each time we get on the race track, we are auditioning is how I treat it, whether it’s for the race team that we want to stay on, or move to the Xfinity, the Cup Series. People are watching us, so it needs to be a lesson, I think.”
After escaping playoff elimination, four drivers are set to battle for the right to be crowned champion — and it comes down to one race. Whoever can handle the pressure, seize every opportunity and cross the start/finish line ahead of their fellow contenders will accomplish the ultimate goal.
But this isn’t a battle for the Bill France Cup we’ve come to know the last decade in the NASCAR Cup Series — it’s the duel for the NASCAR México Series Championship, where stars south of the border aim to make history.
Xavi Razo, Alex de Alba, Rubén García Jr. and Abraham Calderón have mastered it all, overcoming fierce competition and a grueling season. Through nine regular-season races and two postseason contests — where three drivers were eliminated in each race and points reset — only one more event remains before one of their names is etched as champion. For many NASCAR Cup Series fans, the names Razo, de Alba, García and Calderón might not carry similar recognition as Kyle Larson or Denny Hamlin, but in México, they are nothing short of legends in the making.
The stakes are even higher than in years past as whoever claims the championship won’t just earn bragging rights for the season, but will also get the honor of being the face that welcomes the Cup Series to México next season for an international crossover where Cup and Xfinity series will share a tripleheader with the NASCAR México Series in its capital city.
Only 10.5 points separate the four contenders in what promises to be an all-out bullfight in the season finale at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez circuit on Saturday — which is site of the NASCAR Cup Series race on June 15, 2025.
“Now it’s all or nothing,” Xavi Razo, the current points leader, told NASCAR.com. “We have two multi-champions in Ruben and Abraham, and Alex de Alba has been good all year. I think continuing the momentum and attacking is going to be the strategy.”
Razo has erupted this season, equalling his career number of four wins in the first 11 races and netting top fives in all but one race. The 36-year-old is in his 11th full-time season and third driving the No. 7 JV Motorsports Chevrolet. Razo has truly turned a corner claiming the Regular Season Championship, with his team firing on all cylinders from atop the pit box all the way to the spotter stand.
“I think the communication we are having now, my knowledge of the car and trying to communicate all the information, we are doing a very good job. I think that’s the key that we’re like complementing each other in every single way,” Razo said.
Being in one of the fastest cars and competing for a championship has been a long journey for Razo. Battling testicular cancer back in 2014, he didn’t know if he would even be back behind the wheel.
Ten years ago at El Dorado Speedway in Chihuahua, Razo thought he was preparing for his final race after doctors found the cancer spreading throughout his body. Razo led 50 laps, his first time ever leading, and was determined to see Victory Lane for the first time. Unfortunately, after a mechanical issue, Razo didn’t convert his dominance into a win. Shortly after, he started treatment.
Spending eight months out of the car in 2014, Razo was focused on returning to racing and was keen to hunt wins once he got back. The only problem was that wins were hard to come by as he netted only four over the next nine seasons. He returned to El Dorado this past spring and went wire-to-wire, not allowing anyone or anything to barricade his entrance into Victory Lane. Razo then followed that performance by winning the very next race in Monterrey and he ended the regular season with another triumph before nabbing his fourth win of 2024 in the playoff opener at Querétaro Racetrack.
“My career has been very difficult, like everybody not just me, because, you know the cancer, changing teams or not having a complete season. It has been very hard. But today I can say I’m very happy and everything has been very good to now be super focused to win this championship.”
1. Xavi Razo, 1,099 points
Breathing down Razo’s neck by a mere three points is reigning rookie of the year Alex de Alba, who may have the most momentum heading into the finale as the most recent race winner.
“I’m the most prepared guy mentally for this race out of all four,” de Alba told NASCAR.com. “Because I won the last race in Puebla, that gave me a huge boost of confidence. I think the pressure is on them. I know I can do great. I know I can be in the top three places. But yeah, winning that last race was a huge boost for me and my team. I think it’s the most perfect way that I could have arrived to the final four.”
Not only did de Alba’s win come timely in the playoffs to lock into the Championship 4, but it was his maiden win in the NASCAR México Series. After winning the Challenge Series Championship in 2022 — México’s version of the Xfinity Series — de Alba was dreaming of being right in the middle of a title fight at Mexico’s top level of racing.
“I expected to be there,” de Alba said. “But it’s still like, I want someone to pinch me and say ‘OK, you won last year in the Challenge Series. Now you’re competing with these big guys, and you can do it.’ I still feel very surprised [to be in the Championship 4], but pretty excited to compete against all those guys. They’re pretty tough.”
With top 10s in all but one race so far this year driving the No. 14 AGA Racing Team Chevrolet, de Alba knows he has the pace to become the first rookie to hoist the big trophy in series history. The key factor for him will be if he can find a deeper aggression level against the three veterans he’s up against.
“Watching the replay of last year’s final in México, I think it’s going to be a second half of pure mess. Everyone wanted to gain some places on those final restarts.
“I think that’s going to be the key (this year), to be super aggressive on the restarts. There’s no point in saving your car at the last, 30 minutes of the race, right? I know we have a pretty good car on long runs. We have been very fast all year in those long runs, but the hardest part is going to be defending those positions on all those restarts.”
2. Alex de Alba, 1,096 points
The challenge for both Razo and de Alba is holding off Rubén García Jr., arguably the most successful driver in NASCAR México Series history. García is just one win away from tying the all-time record of 26 victories and aims for his fifth championship title — which would extend his record for most titles in series history — especially after the heartbreak of last year’s title fight.
“I’ve been fortunate to win a few (championships), and they all have been special,” García told NASCAR.com. “But this next one, in particular, felt like it was taken away from me. I led the whole deal until a lap and a half before the checkered flag, and the driver contending for the title wrecked me, ruining my day and my full season.”
Fueled by that disappointment, García kicked off the season with a victory at San Luis Potosí, dominating a chaotic race that featured eight cautions. Since then, the No. 88 Team GP Chevrolet has consistently finished in the top 10 and secured two additional regular-season wins in July.
García’s journey began with Rev Racing in 2016, where he spent four seasons in the ARCA Menards Series. Although the COVID-19 pandemic stalled his ascent in NASCAR’s national series, he remained determined to excel in every race he entered. “I started learning and getting experience since I was very young,” García said. “Now, at 28, I can capitalize on that experience. I feel that’s my strong card.”
He emphasizes the importance of seat time, noting that even top drivers like Kyle Busch or Larson continue to race at lower levels to refine their skills. He approaches racing and preparation the same. “I spend a lot of time on a dirt bike, which helps with hand-eye coordination and cardio. The more time you spend in a vehicle, the better.”
One would assume that being in contention to win a championship for nine straight seasons and the familiarity of being in this moment makes García the most comfortable. But like all motorsports disciplines, nothing is ever guaranteed and García isn’t taking the opportunity to add to his legacy lightly.
“It’s very hard to say that you can actually feel comfortable with these scenarios,” García said. “But definitely I feel like I have the most experience out of the other drivers. I’ve learned how to (get) along with my team in the pressure of being in contention for a title, so we have to definitely take that on our advantage. My team, I think is really well prepared to work with pressure. So, it’s a perfect scenario for us, we’ve been doing this for nine years, so we know what it takes to win the championship.”
3. Rubén García Jr., 1,091 points
García isn’t the only one with experience vying for a title; Abraham Calderón, a 17-time winner and two-time champion, is right on García’s heels, trailing by just 2.5 points. While Calderón won the second race of the season, it’s been the only trip to Victory Lane for the No. 2 Telmex Racing Team Chevrolet.
“It’s been a tough season for us,” Calderón told NASCAR.com. “We actually had speed in every single race, but we struggled with flat tires and other issues.”
Since his victory at Súper Óvalo Chiapas, Calderón has added only four more top-10 finishes, including a runner-up spot in the playoff opener at Querétaro. Despite these challenges, the foundation of a championship-caliber driver and team remains strong.
“I think in the past three races, we did what we had to do at the right moment,” Calderón said. “We know we are competitive, and the team has been working hard to give us the right tools to fight in every race.”
As he prepares for the championship showdown, Calderón emphasizes consistency and confidence.
“I’m not trying to do something different. I’m just trying to do my best,” he said. “I think that the team deserves this championship. We have the speed and we’re really competitive throughout the season, but the struggles and situations we’ve faced didn’t let us show that. I believe this is an opportunity we are going to take and make the most of.”
4. Abraham Caldrón, 1,088.5 points
The NASCAR Mexico Series may not be as familiar to U.S. audiences as its premier American counterpart, but it delivers the same intensity with a roster of talented drivers, showcasing the top-tier talent from Latin America and proving that NASCAR’s appeal transcends borders.
So while names, faces and tracks may be different, NASCAR México’s Championship 4 battle is set up to be just as electrifying as any battle would be in stock-car racing, but with its distinct flair.
Each driver carries their own unique story and motivation, setting the stage for a battle that transcends mere competition — it’s about legacy, redemption and delivering on one of racing’s biggest stages.
