Posted on by Zack Albert

TALLADEGA, Ala. — As Jesse Love lined up among the top 10 for an overtime restart at Talladega Superspeedway with a wounded race car, his Richard Childress Racing crew offered a quick reminder to “have the mindset of trying to optimize the day.”

After surviving Saturday’s biggest wreck to salvage a sixth-place finish on an afternoon full of pitfalls, Love managed to smile, with his optimization level mostly met.

“I’d say that’s Talladega,” Love said. “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

Love started from the pole position and led a race-high 28 of 98 laps, scraping his way to a top-10 result in Saturday’s United Rentals 250. The outcome helped the 19-year-old Xfinity Series rookie bolster his stature in the playoff standings, going from a slim three-point edge over the elimination line to a more favorable 22-point cushion with next weekend’s Round of 12 finale at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course looming.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos: Talladega

Love maneuvered low to miss most of the late-race bedlam that erupted entering Turn 1 with three laps remaining in regulation. His No. 2 RCR Chevrolet, however, caught the sliding No. 88 Chevy of Carson Kvapil on his nose, bowing and flaring the right-front fender as the two cars skidded onto the apron. His team opted against pitting for repairs, keeping his track position intact in sixth place. Love didn’t rise once the race went green for the final two-lap dash to the end, but finished where he restarted.

“I mean, I thought we maximized the day once that wreck happened with the 88,” Love said. “We’re not going to win (after that) unless something crazy happens, which we were kind of close. But no, I’m proud of our guys. I thought me and my spotter did a good job maximizing the day. I feel like I’ve kind of been the weakest link of the speedway stuff, and I feel like today I kind of made a good jump forward and controlled my own destiny a little bit better.”

His fate nearly turned on a Lap 75 melee that preceded the larger crash. When Jordan Anderson, Dean Thompson and Shane van Gisbergen became entangled through the tri-oval, Love slowed his car enough to avoid it. “God works in mysterious ways,” Love told his team over the No. 2 radio communications. “I’m glad we missed that wreck.”

The second bite nearly 20 laps later wasn’t as kind, but as No. 2 crew chief Danny Stockman surveyed the damage from the later contact, the optimization from his pit-box decision was still top of mind.

“It’s a speedway race, right? I felt like we brought the fastest car. I really felt like our pace was where it needed to be,” Stockman told NASCAR.com. “But you can’t control circumstances, and I felt like we controlled the circumstances that we were dealt as best as we could and probably got the best finish that we could with, obviously, the damage, as you see. So it was quite a lot of thought in not pitting — a lot of pictures, a lot of data that we went through to make sure that we weren’t rubbing a tire and all that stuff — and we just knew with a green-white-checkered that if we pitted, we’d be back there in 25th and not be able to get up there. So I’m sure everybody heard our radio conversation on the strategy that we had there at the end of the race with the green-white-checkered and it worked out.”

Austin Hill, Love’s RCR teammate, had his own damage to contend with after the Lap 75 crack-up snared his No. 21 Chevrolet. Liberal application of high-speed tape helped Hill meet the minimum lap-time requirement when the race resumed under green, and he eventually limped home 23rd as the final car on the lead lap.

Hill made his own salvage effort happen with strong finishes of fourth and first at the stage breaks. That bonus allowed Hill to collect 31 points Saturday, pushing his margin over the provisional elimination line from plus-27 to plus-37 heading to Charlotte’s Roval.

“I knew it was about to happen,” Hill said of the turmoil unfolding in front of him. “Everybody’s just moving around. Everybody’s so tight together, just moving around too much, and when I saw the 97 (van Gisbergen) get turned down the hill, I knew I couldn’t lift because I had guys behind me and just drove into everybody in front of me. So it was just unfortunate, but solid effort just to come back from what we did have, damage-wise.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

TALLADEGA, Ala. — A last-lap pass for the win is a recurring theme at Talladega Superspeedway and that’s precisely what landed JR Motorsports driver Sammy Smith in Victory Lane on Saturday. It was the only lap he led all day but it was good enough to win Saturday’s United Rentals 250 overtime thriller and earn Smith an automatic berth into the next round of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs.

It was a huge turn of fortune for the 20-year old Iowa native, who came into the race ranked last among the 12 playoff drivers and winless on the season. He started his No. 8 JRM Chevrolet 27th in Saturday’s 38-car field, but moved forward rapidly from the fall of the green flag, running near the front most of the day, avoiding multiple multicar accidents and making the move to the checkered flag when it counted most.

“It’s been a really tough year,” said Smith. “It’s been a while and it’s been a struggle, but I’m very happy to be here and looking forward to getting better on these ovals and road courses.”

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Talladega

It was a high-stakes, clutch performance for the young talent, whose only other victory came in April 2023 at the Phoenix Raceway one-miler. Just this week with playoff elimination a possibility, he piqued his team co-owner’s brain for tips on racing on the Talladega 2.66-mile high banks — his team co-owner being Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won six NASCAR Cup Series races at Talladega, including an unprecedented four in a row.

“We sat down Wednesday,” Smith said. “It wasn’t a whole lot, but asking him what he would do in certain situations [on the big track]. Feels really good to win again.”

Smith beat RSS Racing’s Ryan Sieg to the line by a slight 0.177-second with a three-wide battle on track right behind featuring Stewart-Haas Racing’s Riley Herbst and Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Sheldon Creed and Chandler Smith rounded out the top five.

Herbst was leading with a lap remaining, only to get passed in a massive push forward that included a run by Chandler Smith — ultimately both losing out to Sammy Smith and Ryan Sieg. Frustrated, after the race Herbst immediately walked over to Chandler Smith’s car and had words with the young driver.

“I was just telling him, he had his teammate behind him and was in the best spot you want to be in and I told him he made a right move but in the wrong place,” Herbst said. “He would have won the race and all he did was kill his run, my run and his teammate’s run and let the 8 [Sammy Smith] get away.”

Polesitter and series rookie Jesse Love led a race-best 28 of the 98 laps in the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, finishing sixth in a race marked with six cautions, a brief red flag, 11 race leaders and 28 lead changes.

Although relatively calm through the early goings — Chandler Smith won the opening stage and RCR’s Austin Hill won the second stage — the final laps lived up to Talladega expectation. Only three of the 12 playoff drivers managed to avoid being caught up — in varying degrees — in accidents on the afternoon.

Two perennial championship favorites and current playoff drivers, Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger and JR Motorsports Justin Allgaier were among those that led laps — as expected — but were also collected in multicar accidents.

Allmendinger still rallied to an 11th-place effort after his No. 16 Chevy suffered minor damage in a 12-car accident with three laps remaining that triggered a nearly 10-minute red-flag stoppage and forced overtime. Allgaier’s No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet suffered more damage in the crash and he finished 25th.

Reigning series champion Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer was also caught up in the accident and finished 26th. Fellow playoff competitor Kaulig Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen — a three-race winner this season — was part of a multicar accident earlier with 18 laps remaining and finished 35th.

Jeb Burton finished seventh with David Starr, Brennan Poole and Kyle Sieg rounding out the top 10.

Sam Mayer wheeled the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet to 16th place by the checkered flag, but his vehicle was ruled too low in the rear following post-race inspection, disqualifying Mayer and his car from the event and dropping him to a 38th-place finish.

Next week’s race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course will decide which eight drivers advance in the playoffs. With Smith’s win Saturday, three positions will be decided next weekend. Chandler Smith now holds a strong 64-point edge on the elimination-line points position with Custer, Hill, Creed, Love, Herbst and Allmendinger rounding out the top eight.

Allmendinger holds a slim seven-point advantage in the final transfer position over Allgaier. Van Gisbergen, who has won three road-course races already this year, goes into the Charlotte road course-oval hybrid 10 points back of his Kaulig Racing teammate Allmendinger. Mayer falls to 11th in the standings, 13 points beneath the elimination line, and Parker Kligerman, who finished 12th Saturday despite being collected in multiple wrecks, is 16 points off Allmendinger for that final transfer position.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to competition next week at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course for Saturday’s Drive for the Cure 250 Presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (4 p.m. ET, The CW, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Mayer is the defending the race winner.

NOTE: Post-race inspection concluded without further issue aside from the No. 1 Chevrolet’s disqualification. The No. 81 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was found with one lug nut not safely secured, which will result in a monetary fine.

Posted on by Zack Albert

YellaWood 500

(⏰ Sunday, 2 p.m.  ET | NBC | NBC Sports App | MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Weekend schedule | TV schedule | Weather tracker | NASCAR 101

Location: Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway
Track length: 2.66 miles
Race purse: $9,222,964
Race distance: 188 laps | 500.08 miles
Stages: 60 | 120 | 188
—
Starting lineup: Michael McDowell secures pole position
Pit stall assignments: See where drivers will pit
Defending winner: Ryan Blaney, October 2023

Key things to watch

Saturday session

Not shockingly, Michael McDowell ruled superspeedway qualifying again with his fifth consecutive Busch Light Pole Award on tracks where the aerodynamic draft dominates. McDowell posted a final-round lap of 183.063 mph, putting his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford in the first starting position for Sunday’s 500-mile race.

Ford drivers swept the top three spots, with Team Penske’s Austin Cindric and fellow FRM driver Todd Gilliland completing the qualifying podium. Fords claimed five of the top six spots on the lineup, with Kyle Busch starting fourth in the fastest Chevrolet and Denny Hamlin eighth in the top Toyota. | Full Saturday recap

Big story line

Alliances run deep in manufacturer maneuvers

The badge on the nose of each car in Sunday’s field might loom a little larger at Talladega, where NASCAR’s three automakers draw distinct lines of collaboration among their own. That includes coordination of pit stops in manufacturer-allied groups and aligning their aerodynamic help with like-minded drivers of Chevrolets, Fords and Toyotas.

That’s been the theme to multiple Talladega races in recent years, and that cooperation was key to Tyler Reddick’s victory for the Toyota camp here in April. The expectation again is that manufacturers will make their best-laid plans, except the stakes will be higher this go-around with playoff implications holding sway.

“It’s definitely a little bit tricky,” said Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suárez, a Chevrolet driver. “But you know, we are stronger together, so we have to work together as long as we can, but at the end of the day, we also are competing against each other. So we have to just be smart and try to help each other up front. It’s way easier to work up front than in the back, so we’ll see how things play out. With my experience here, every time that we come with 10 different plans, there’s something always different showing up in the race. There are so many different scenarios and different things that are going to happen that we’re not even thinking about. So we just have to be smart and try to have a good execution day.”

Talladega stands as the middle event in the three-race Round of 12. No postseason driver earned automatic advancement in the round-opening race last weekend at Kansas Speedway, with Ross Chastain spoiling that opportunity with his first win of the season.

Reddick is among the quartet of drivers currently below the provisional elimination line, leading a group that includes Suárez, Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric on the wrong side of the playoff bubble. A well-hatched strategy effort among Toyota teams last spring had its midrace hitches, but ultimately helped the 23XI Racing driver end up on top.

“I think back to early in the year for us at Talladega, I know things had to play out a very specific way,” said Reddick, who is four points below the elimination divider. “I feel like speedways have been a good one. When we have a car that isn’t wrecked, we can advance our way through the field. It’s up to me, though, in some of those situations to, once I get to the front, stay there.”

No single manufacturer has had a grand run of success in recent years at Talladega, save for a modest three-race streak by Chevrolet drivers from 2022-23. The last time an automaker had a corner on the Talladega market was when Ford won seven straight here (2015-18), part of a bigger string when Ford claimed 10 of 12 races.

History tells us…

A playoff driver is likely to win. The words “Talladega” and “wild-card” have been in harmonious lockstep all week, with the draft-dependent style of racing frequently factoring heavily into the outcome. Underdogs might salivate at the thought of adding their names to the list of Talladega surprise winners, but recent history suggests that the top hotshots have an advantage.

In Talladega playoff races since the elimination-style format was instituted in 2014, nine of the 10 winners have also been championship-eligible. The outlier in those 10 races is Bubba Wallace, who was not among the playoff contenders when he notched his first Cup Series victory here in 2021.

He may not be the betting favorite to win, but watch out for…

Todd Gilliland. Front Row Motorsports teammate Michael McDowell has garnered a bit more attention, scoring five of his series-leading six pole positions this year on drafting tracks. But Gilliland’s recent results in FRM’s No. 38 Ford have been another bright spot, and his average finish of 9.3 in the last four Talladega races ranks fourth among all Cup Series drivers.

Gilliland opened as a 50-to-1 dark horse for Sunday’s 500-miler, and he also flies under the radar as the only non-playoff driver with three top-10 finishes in his last four Talladega results. He’ll start a stout third in the 40-car field come Sunday. | Talladega odds

Speed reads

Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.

• Ready for a repeat? Ryan Blaney is hungry for another championship | Read article 
• Eyes on the No. 9: Chase Elliott on his Talladega fortunes, plus the path ahead | Read article
• Relief ramps up: NASCAR community rallies to help Helene victims | Read article
• ‘The mission continues’: Greg Biffle leads emergency response from the air | Read article
• Talladega twists: Postseason primed for a Round of 12 shake-up | Read article
• Aero changes: NASCAR officials aim to reduce lift at high-speed tracks | Read article
• Rowdy’s remainder: ‘Numb’ feeling for Busch with win streak still at stake | Read article
• Wallace, party of three: Bubba Wallace, wife Amanda welcome newborn son | Read article
• iRacing spotlight: Parker White takes title on eSports’ big night at NASCAR Hall | Read article
• ‘Full Speed’ ahead: NASCAR Studios, Words + Pictures re-up for Season 2 | Read article
• Superspeedway stunners: Inside Talladega’s history of surprise winners | Photo gallery
• Drafting-track dynamos: Ranking the best of the Cup Series | Photo gallery
• Bubble Watch: Margin of error narrows in Talladega visit | Photo gallery
• Power Rankings: Ryan Blaney in position for Talladega repeat | Photo gallery
• Turning Point: Lessons learned from the Kansas madness | Read article
• Racing Insights: Full finishing order projections; Blaney, Elliott expected to contend | Read article
• 36 for 36: Check out this week’s survivor pool picks | Read article
• Fantasy Fastlane: Looking at Ford fondly for Talladega lineup | Photo gallery
• Talladega all-timers: List of Cup Series winners at the Alabama track | Photo gallery
• NASCAR Classics: Rewind with full-race Talladega replays from the vault | Read article
• Paint Scheme Preview: Fresh designs to take on Talladega | Pick your favorite

Fast facts ⏩

Race-relevant statistics, brought to you by the experts at Racing Insights.

• Four of the nine closest finishes in NASCAR Cup Series history have occurred at Talladega Superspeedway.
• Alex Bowman has scored 24 more points than any other driver in the playoffs, a figure aided by his series-best 53 stage points in the last four races.
• Kyle Larson has gone 14 consecutive races without a top-10 finish on drafting-style race tracks, the Cup Series’ longest active drought.

Posted on by John Crane

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Chase Briscoe will not only be navigating the high-banking superspeedway turns at Talladega Superspeedway this Sunday (2 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

In addition to attempting to lock down a Round of 8 berth in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, the 29-year-old Indiana native will also be keeping tabs on his phone. His wife, Marissa, is expecting twins, and news could come at any moment.

RELATED: Talladega schedule | At-track photos 

“So far, so good,” Briscoe said. “She was texting a second ago saying she’s had pressure today, so, yeah, the C-section is Tuesday morning. So hopefully, she can make it to there and make my job a lot easier this weekend, if you can just keep them in there.”

The plan for how to navigate any possible news to come beforehand remains fluid, and while there haven’t been any “close calls” this week for the Briscoe family, Chase is keeping all options open as he juggles family and racing responsibilities.

Although he has plenty on his table, Briscoe is keeping calm and collected as he navigates both situations.

“I mean, I’m pretty even-keeled and easygoing all the time,” Briscoe said. “Yeah, I don’t really get anxious over it at all.”

Briscoe currently sits 25 points below the eight-driver playoff elimination line. In seven career Cup races at Talladega, Briscoe has finished inside the top 15 in six of them, including a fourth-place finish in April 2023. His six top 15s at Talladega are the most at any track in the Cup circuit.

The Round of 12 will conclude at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course next Sunday (2 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

Posted on by John Crane

TALLADEGA, Ala. — The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs acts as an avenue for 16 Cup Series drivers to take aim at the championship crown and seize the Bill France Cup. But with the field whittled to 12, only one — Ryan Blaney — has the opportunity to make history not seen in NASCAR’s premier series in over a decade.

As reigning Cup Series champion, Blaney’s opportunity brings an additional level of hunger. Should Blaney hoist the Bill France Cup for a second consecutive year, the 30-year-old would be only the second driver this millennium to win back-to-back titles and be the first to do so since Jimmie Johnson (2006-10).

RELATED: Talladega schedule | Drivers to win consecutive Cup Series titles

While Blaney doesn’t want to get ahead of himself with the second Round of 12 race looming at Talladega Superspeedway, the taste to make NASCAR history is all the more tantalizing.

“I’m confident with our group, and that’s not from a cocky or arrogant standpoint,” Blaney said Saturday. “It’s like I have faith in our group that we can do it and we’re good enough to where we can do it again. I just have so much faith in our team and our guys. So yeah, I mean, I’d like to, obviously. I think we’re in a good position. We just got to keep doing what we can and keep staying hungry.

“It’s funny, I think we’re all even hungrier for a second one than we were the first. … It’s almost like you tasted the forbidden fruit, and you want another bite of it. You want that feeling again. You want to share that moment with all your folks that work hard with you week in and week out and through the years. So yeah, hopefully, we can break that trend. We’ll see.”

And an avenue to perhaps clinch a Round of 8 berth and inch one step closer to the back-to-back title possibility becoming a reality? Win at Talladega, of course. Luckily for Blaney, he’s had success in more ways than one at the 2.66-miler.

Blaney’s Talladega triumphs could almost speak for themselves. Blaney has not one but three career Cup victories there, and all three hold the honor of being three of the closest finishes in Cup Series history. Following his 2023 fall victory at Talladega, Blaney concluded the Cup Series Playoffs with four top-10 finishes and an additional victory (Martinsville Speedway in the Round of 8) in the final five races en route to being crowned 2023 Cup Series champion.

To Blaney, the No. 12 team is even stronger than it was at this juncture in 2023. His Ford is faster. Team chemistry is crisper. And while Talladega might be one track where a win could be a distinct possibility, the No. 12 camp’s mentality is a simple one, regardless of track: execute.

“I don’t go to a certain place looking forward to it more than others,” Blaney said. “I look forward to every weekend and just trying to see what we can bring to the track and how we can utilize our efforts and skills the best that we can, and that’s really all I ask for. Kind of a big thing on our team is do your job to the best of your ability, and if you do the best to your ability, you can at least hold your head high, and whatever happens, happens. If you win, great. If not, you did the best job you could, and I think that’s just something we’ve thought about through the last year and a half, two years, and I think everyone is just kind of taking that in a good way — like I want to give all of myself on this weekend and this day and see what happens to it.”

Fresh off a fourth-place finish at Kansas Speedway, Blaney enters Sunday’s YellaWood 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) a sturdy 28 points above the elimination line, tied for second with Christopher Bell for second-most and six points behind playoff leader William Byron. And outside of a last-place finish at Watkins Glen International, Blaney has finished sixth or better in every 2024 playoff race to date.

MORE: Cup Series standings | Cup Series schedule

“Our speed has been great. I look at the other races from Atlanta and Bristol and Kansas and we’ve been running top five every week, so I think our speed is great,” Blaney said. “We had a little bit of execution issues on pit road last week, but you hope to clean all of that stuff up, and they work hard to try to get that better, but I feel great about where our group is at. It’s just a matter of staying out of trouble and just controlling the things we can control, but I love where we’re at right now pace-wise. I think for us to run as good as we did at Kansas last week really showed, that’s a place where we’ve struggled as a company ever since this new car and for us to run as good as we did, myself was fast. Joey [Logano] and Austin [Cindric] were great before they had their issues as well, and luckily, we were able to have a good finish out of it. I feel good about it, and we’ll just try to keep going. We’ll see.”

A fifth-place starting position Sunday sets the stage for Blaney to defend his fall victory at Talladega. And although there is still plenty racing to go before a Phoenix title bout can be a consideration, the aroma of optimism surrounding Blaney and the No. 12 team is as strong as ever. And perhaps, in due time, NASCAR history is made as a result.

The taste would never be sweeter.

Posted on by Holly Cain

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Front Row Motorsports driver Michael McDowell continued a superspeedway qualifying mastery as he claimed the pole position for Sunday’s YellaWood 500 at the Talladega Superspeedway (2 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

McDowell’s No. 34 FRM Ford turned a lap of 183.063 mph in Saturday’s final qualifying session around the 2.66-mile high banks, besting Austin Cindric’s lap in the No. 2 Team Penske Ford by less than two-tenths of a second.

It was McDowell’s sixth pole position of his career — all six coming this year — and five of them consecutively on superspeedway, including a sweep at both Talladega and Atlanta Motor Speedway as well as the top starting position at the Daytona International Speedway summer race.

“We knew coming here we’d have a shot at the pole and it’s a priority for us, so you feel that pressure of not making any mistakes and screwing it up,’’ McDowell said. “I’m really proud of the effort. We sort of had this in mind that today would be a day to come here and get the rest of the superspeedways locked down.’’

RELATED: Sunday’s starting lineup | At-track photos: Talladega

Cindric, a playoff contender and the 2022 Daytona 500 winner, smiled following qualifying and offered, “His right foot must be heavier than mine.’’

Ford drivers claimed six of the top-10 starting positions Saturday. McDowell’s teammate Todd Gilliland was third fastest in the No. 38 FRM Ford Mustang. Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch, a two-time Talladega winner, was fourth fastest in the No. 8 RCR Chevrolet.

Penske teammates Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano were fifth and sixth fastest followed by RCR’s Austin Dillon in the No. 3 Chevy. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin was the only Toyota to make the 10-car final round and he’ll roll off sixth in the No. 11 Camry. Wood Brothers Racing’s Harrison Burton and Kaulig Racng’s Daniel Hemric rounded out the top 10.

The reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Blaney is the defending race winner and has three Talladega trophies to his credit. Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing — the Regular Season Champion — will roll off 14th.

Cindric, Blaney, Logano and Hamlin are all current playoff drivers, as are Blaney and Reddick. Hendrick teammates Chase Elliott, a two-time Talladega winner and Kyle Larson will start 11th and 12th. Their teammate William Byron will roll off 16th.

Christopher Bell, who will start 21st, Alex Bowman (23rd), Daniel Suárez (31st) and Chase Briscoe (36th) round out the playoff lineup.

Posted on by Zack Albert

Greg Biffle’s invitation to what’s become a sweeping emergency response came casually on an otherwise quiet Saturday at his shop: “Hey, do you want to fly today?”

A friend had sent the request through Facebook, attaching a call for help from stranded tourists in remote Banner Elk, North Carolina, one of the mountain areas where Hurricane Helene’s winds and flood-feeding rainfall had hit hard. When Biffle and his team made their first attempt to reach the group that day, his was among a small few of helicopters running rescue routes from the Statesville airport. The next morning, there were eight. That figure ballooned to 20 by day’s end and has grown more in the days since, with pilots receiving much-needed supplies, the geographic coordinates where they were needed and then heading west.

RELATED: Racing community spurs relief efforts

Biffle, one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers, didn’t have a sense of the scope and magnitude of the devastation when the message arrived that first Saturday, mainly because the greater Charlotte area was largely spared from more severe damage. In the days since, Biffle’s sense of purpose has swelled, and the mission has grown along with it.

“I’ll tell you, the feeling you get when you win a race, you can only ask drivers, right?” said Biffle, a 19-time winner in his Cup Series career. “Because the feeling you get when you win that race, that’s the feeling you get when you’re able to help people in need.”

Biffle has seen plenty in the days since that first run, and his video posts to social media have amplified the dire needs of those living in western North Carolina. As the flood waters have receded in Asheville and many other mountain towns, more of that devastation has come to light, especially where the narrow, twisting roadways that reach the most rugged terrain have been washed away.

Days after the storm, Biffle was still making discoveries, including finding one storm victim who caught his attention by using the reflection from a mirror as a distress call from a small clearing. The work has been rewarding, Biffle says, but many essential needs — food and water, communication and transportation — are still being addressed.

“It’s been busy — a lot of seat time in the helicopter, more than I ever would have imagined in my life,” Biffle says. “But it feels good to be able to get supplies and things in need into these people that need the help the most, that are still cut off. The mission now is, even though the roads are starting to open, the grocery stores aren’t. Some of the grocery stores are wiped out, gas stations still don’t have fuel, the power is not back on everywhere, so these folks still need supplies and food, and they can’t just hop in their car and go driving around looking, because they’ll ultimately end up out of gas somewhere and stranded. So the mission continues.”

Biffle isn’t going it alone, citing the help of his wife, Cristina, and friends and family who have been closely involved in the coordination efforts. The cooperation has spread, though, to the greater NASCAR community, and Biffle lists multiple teams and drivers who have reached out with assistance. Biffle says Brad Keselowski called him to offer his RFK Racing team’s trucks and trailers to haul supplies. Chris Buescher was instrumental in getting a truckload of donations to West Asheville. Hall of Famer Ray Evernham’s contributions have been crucial, he said.

“I mean, the list goes on. I don’t want to leave anyone out,” Biffle says, also mentioning Joey Logano’s response to the call for help. “Team guys are up there on their days off with trucks, trailers, chainsaws. They said, ‘We just drove up there and found a road that was blocked, and started cutting and moving trees out of the way. We got miles in and found people, and they had food and water and supplies.’ So it’s just real cowboys, coming out of NASCAR and helping, and it’s great to see that. But it makes me proud to be a part of that community.”

As far as next steps, Biffle says that operations from the Statesville airport have been scaled back as some of the larger highways have reopened. Resources have been reallocated to regional airports in the foothills towns of Hickory, Lincolnton and Morganton — closer to the harder-hit areas. Biffle gave special mention to the unsung job of linemen striving to restore power to the region, working alongside other first responders in the hills.

Charlotte Motor Speedway announced Friday that its hurricane relief drive would be extended through at least the end of October, collecting resources each Wednesday with support coming from the stock-car racing industry and the Charlotte community. The rebuilding effort is going to be a long-range haul, and Biffle says he’s committed to the cause, finding urgent needs from the air each day.

“There’s communities over there that we discovered that are just devastated,” Biffle says. “The reason why I’m still going is people are still in need, and I don’t want to leave a soldier behind. That’s why I’m still at it.”

A graphic featuring images from Greg Biffle's rescue efforts

Posted on by John Crane

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Adrenaline and a sense of what-if best defined Rajah Caruth’s day following Friday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs contest at Talladega Superspeedway. And while the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet pilot concluded the race with a fourth-place performance after working around a last-lap wreck, the possibility of seizing a victory and locking in a Championship 4 berth wasn’t out of the picture.

“I’m pissed, man,” Caruth said following the race. “I took myself out of the game and we were right there with Christian [Eckes] and Grant [Enfinger] and some of the best plate racers and I sped, so I’m just pretty disappointed myself for that. But good to rebound for a top five. Still being below the cut. Not where I wanted to be, but could be a lot worse, for sure.”

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

A brief pause to watch former teammate Grant Enfinger burn the rubber down following his hometown triumph only fueled the what-could-have-been notion for the 22-year-old. The moment could only be added to what was a lengthy and action-packed day for the Georgia native.

It was a slow brew for Caruth’s No. 71 Chevy through the opening portions of the Love’s RV Stop 225, with the No. 71 Chevrolet starting 13th and finishing Stage 1 in 16th. However, Caruth concluded Stage 2 in sixth, well in line to perhaps make potential race-winning noise as the final stage began.

But trouble quickly bubbled. A speeding penalty on pit road, coupled with a blown left-front tire after attempting to slow the No. 71 Chevy down, forced Caruth, a driver fighting for playoff positioning, back to square one.

“At the end of the day, you know, the hardest thing to do for him, for sure, and even for us on the pit box, is just stay patient,”  No. 71 crew chief Chad Walter told NASCAR.com. “Ultimately, it comes down to about a lap and a half. We didn’t want to put ourselves in the position that we did when we had the miscue on pit road entry. It’s hard for these guys to get experience with that so sometimes you gotta learn the hard way. We were able to take advantage of a caution, get a wave around, get ourselves back on lead lap and then ultimately be aggressive and make some friends when we needed to to be able to put ourselves in position to avoid a wreck and come out with a decent finish.

“Certainly, 50 seconds before the end of this race, I felt like we were not going to be in a good spot, and we ended up being OK. But, you know, I don’t like other people’s misfortunes to be the reason we finished races. But we’ll take it, we’ll move on, and we’ll get ready for Miami and for Martinsville.”

Crafty dodging work during a last-lap wreck at the start/finish line helped keep Caruth’s finish intact. After entering Talladega eight points underneath the playoff elimination line, Caruth leaves the Alabama superspeedway with a slight improvement, now being five points behind Ty Majeski for the fourth and final Championship 4 spot.

Even still, there’s optimism aplenty for Caruth and the No. 71 team as the young driver continues to learn the drafting ropes; in two career Truck races at Talladega, Caruth now holds two finishes inside the top 15.

Now, the name of the game will be about preparation for Homestead-Miami Speedway, scheduled for Oct. 26 (Noon ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

MORE: Truck Series standings | Truck Series schedule

And perhaps, with a little tune-up work, it’ll be Caruth burning the truck rubber in playoff victory fashion.

“We’re going to be busy Monday at the simulators, using all the tools that we have at our disposal, working with our teammates to try to come up with the best homestead HendrickCars.com Chevy we can get,” Walter told NASCAR.com. “He’s only been there once, but thankfully, that’s more than none, and usually, we’re pretty good at the intermediate stuff. So, brand new truck going to Homestead. I got a lot of faith in it.”

“All hands on deck for Homestead,” Caruth said. ” … I’m confident in my ability to do so and see what happens when we get there. But nothing stopping during these two weeks. Just gotta keep going.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

TALLADEGA, Ala. – The home crowd favorite, Grant Enfinger claimed the victory in Friday afternoon’s Love’s RV Stop 225 Playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway – the Alabama native’s second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win at the big track and the most important, as the victory delivers an automatic entry into the season championship finale next month at Phoenix Raceway.

Enfinger’s No. 9 CR7 Motorsports Chevrolet led a race-best 34 of the 85 laps, won Stage 2 and held the point on the final lap when a caution came out ending the race.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

“We knew stuff was going to get dicey,’’ the 39-year-old Enfinger said of having to hold the field off following a restart with nine laps remaining to claim his first victory of the season – first ever for the team – and 11th of Enfinger’s career.

“We didn’t make all the perfect decisions today, but we had a Champion Power Equipment Chevy that was fast enough to get it done today, so even though we chose the outside [lane for a restart] once or twice and maybe we shouldn’t have. … it’s just Talladega right there and hopefully all the fans enjoyed it.

“There’s nothing like winning at your home track. Got my family here and first win with my daughter and my son here. On top of that, we get to race for a championship in Phoenix.’’

It was a typically wild event on the sport’s biggest track (2.66 miles) with the race once again decided in a final frantic push for the checkered flag – with Enfinger leading fellow Playoff driver, Tricon Garage’s Taylor Gray across the finish line under caution.

Daniel Dye and Tyler Ankrum made contact while running fifth and sixth – causing a multicar accident spinning about 200 yards before the finish line, bringing out the yellow and checkered flag to officially end the event.  The McAnally-Hilgemann Racing driver Dye slid across the line in third, Spire Motorsports’ Rajah Caruth, also a Playoff driver, finished fourth. Reaume Brothers Racing’s Lawless Alan scored a career-best fifth-place finish.

McAnally-Hilgemann’s Christian Eckes, the regular season champion, finished sixth, followed by Ryan Reed, Stefan Parsons, Bret Holmes and Spencer Boyd.

Playoff drivers, Tricon Garage’s Corey Heim and ThorSport Racing’s Ty Majeski finished 11th and 12th. McAnally-Hilgemann’s Tyler Ankrum was 14th.

“We had a fast truck and made a bad decision,” a frustrated Majeski said. “I hopped out of line and cost ourselves some Stage 2 points, so I don’t know where that puts us in the points, but I guess it could have been worse if we finished 12th. We’ll move on to Homestead.”

Rev Racing’s Nick Sanchez, who led 10 laps, finished 22nd after an eventful day. He was involved in multiple incidents and ultimately called to pit road by NASCAR on that final restart with nine laps remaining for an equipment check.

Enfinger’s win marks the first time in nine Talladega Playoff races that a Playoff driver won the race. He was not Playoff-eligible when he won at the track in 2016. This win lands him one of four positions in the championship race at Phoenix on Nov. 8 – the third time the popular Alabama driver has competed for the championship trophy.

“Obviously we can start focusing on Phoenix right away and that’s a huge advantage I think,’’ Enfinger said. “The way I look at it, we don’t have to worry about points for the next two races.’ … very, very proud of what this win means, but realistically, we still have a lot to do to prepare for the championship.”

With two races remaining in this Round of 8 to decide which three drivers join Enfinger in the Championship race, Heim leads Eckes by a single point. Majeski is 25 points back but only five points ahead of Caruth.

Gray is 13 points behind Majeski, Sanchez 20 points back and Ankrum 23 points back. A win by any of these seven is the automatic ticket for a shot at the title.

The series has a three-week break before the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoff Race at Homestead-Miami on Oct. 26 at South Florida’s 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway (noon ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Carson Hocevar is the defending race winner.

NOTE: Post-race inspection was completed in the Craftsman Truck Series garage without issue, confirming Grant Enfinger’s victory. The Nos. 9, 17 and 71 will return to the R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina for further inspection and engine dyno.